The story of Adam’s current life was well known to the Iyrmen near him, as he had spent most of his time with them, and half of that time within the Iyr.

There was only one of them who had known it all, however.

Adam had met Jurot, apparently coincidentally, at the Adventurer’s Guild. He had helped deal with the Undead menace with the villages, and had assisted in Jurot’s vengeance against Balrog, freeing the children in the bandit’s grasp.

Adam, apparently coincidentally, came across an Awakened Forest and the Demon Lord, and could enchant weapons with great swiftness. He, who knew far too much about a large number of things he had no right to, from the Iyr, to the secret quests of royalty from another place entirely which he was wholly unfamiliar with.

Adam, who had defeated a Guardian who was more powerful than himself, in the span of seconds.

Adam, who showed no restraint to throw himself to Vandra, a mighty and great Dragon, one which would have surely fallen if the seven Experts had assaulted her the same way they had assaulted this random old man they had encountered.

Adam, who slew another Dragon within the month of meeting Vandra, but without three Silver Ranks beside him.

Adam, who had could defeat Kaygak, Gorot, and Mirot with almost only a single blow, three Iyrmen in two days.

Adam, who had lost only once in this life, and only to an Iyrman who could shrug off the blows of almost any creature in existence.

Adam, who had surely dealt the most damage to this stranger from a group of six other Experts.

That Adam, of all people, had fallen.

Death Save

D20 = 6

Failures: 0 -> 1

The amount of impossible things Jurot had seen Adam do, it made the word seem almost meaningless. Adam, his brother, who still had the ability to frighten the Great Elders, had been a pillar for them.

‘We should not have left the Iyr,’ the darkness said.

The entire group had frozen, from the young Iyrmen who had been refused a good fight, to the two who had chosen to work under Adam, to the Priests who had been left aside to make sure the others were safe, to the figures who had fought alongside Adam against this terrifying foe.

“You should step aside and tend to their wounds,” the old man said, noting how quiet everyone had become.

Vonda and Dunes rushed forward to the group, ready to stabilise them. Since the old man had given them permission, they assumed he wouldn’t turn his blade towards them.

Jonn placed a hand on Lucy’s shoulder, healing her with his pool of healing magic, making sure she was as healthy as could be. “You need to run,” the Half Elf said, before raising his blade to step forward to attack. His blade was not magical, and so would not be able to harm the figure ahead of him, though he did not know that.

“You should understand the distance between you an-,” the old man began, before bringing his arm up. The axe cut slightly into his arm, managing to draw a trickle of blood, though a heavier blow struck deeper into his mind as the charges were expended. He was face to face with a red Iyrman, whose eyes were pure white, brows creased.

‘Was it so easy?’ Jurot would never have expected Adam to go down before him. He knew, deep in his heart, Adam was stronger than any of them in this group. Jurot didn’t care, since Adam was the one to lead them to great glory. The stories which would be told would always have an addendum which included the Half Elf, and Jurot was fine with that.

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Diamond Rank.

It was something which would need to be created in order to fit someone like Adam.

Yet, just like that, the Half Elf, his brother, had fallen.

Jurot was forced back by a swing of the man’s blade, though the thunderous noise of the shield shattered against the old man. The Iyrman stopped thinking, since there was only one thing to do.

Jonn clashed with the old man, though he was forced back too. Jaygak wasn’t sure what to do, but Jurot was attacking, and so she leapt into the fray too, though the trio could do nothing against the stranger, whose blade continued to keep them at bay.

‘Run,’ Lucy thought. The word invaded her mind, and she knew that they had no chance against this mysterious foe. She had met him for the first time today, but he was intent on trying to end her life. She understood that they wouldn’t be able to deal with him.

However, she recalled the words Adam had said to her.

I promised, didn’t I?

Aren’t we friends?

My friends mean a lot to me, and I’ll go through hell with them if I need to.

I can’t leave my friend behind.

Lucy hadn’t been sure how serious Adam was in assisting her, though he had always tried to support her. The two had even fought when she was frustrated, but he had easily dealt with her, apologising for holding back.

‘Friend.’

She had no idea how heavy the word was for Adam.

Death Save

D20 = 6

Failures: 1 -> 2

Great Destroyer cut through the air and struck the magical blade. Lucy’s arms were completely tensed, her muscles screaming at her as she tried to tear the stranger in half. “How dare you think you’re worthy enough to face the likes of me?”

‘I won’t run!’

The old man stepped back, feeling his arms beginning to pulse from effort. They had managed to deal quite the number on him. He was still not completely healed from facing the pair of Iyrmen previously, but this group had managed to strike him much harder than they had.

“Worthy?” The old man’s forehead began to glow as he stepped to the side, not even bringing his blade up to block Jurot’s attack. “You are not able to use that word when speaking to me.” A small beam of light stuttered out from his forehead, before the entire area was engulfed in flames once more, and the four remaining figures fell to the ground.

Vonda had managed to get to Fred, with Dunes approaching Adam. Though Adam would have preferred he get Kitool, it was most obvious to stabilise Adam, since he had the one that had brought them all together.

It hadn’t taken long, but the old man, who had essentially only attacked twice, both times engulfing the area in flames, had defeated the entire group. The onlookers looked on in horror, as the titans they once knew had fallen so easily to this stranger.

“It is your misfortune…” The old man’s eyes fell to Adam, “your Fate, to have come across me.” He raised a finger, pointing it to Lucy, whose chest was shifting ever so slightly. He then turned his finger, blocking the axe.

Jurot was red in the face, his eyes white once more, having managed to bring himself up through sheer force of will. He tried to cut into the finger, the same finger which had almost turned Lucy to dust.

“I should have expected it to be difficult to deal with you Iyrmen,” he said, feeling a staff strike the back of his neck, feeling the energy invade him to try to freeze his body.

Vonda and Dunes hadn’t yet managed to approach Kitool, but she had managed to bring herself up in the same way Jurot had. She tried to stun the stranger, but he managed to easily shrug off its effects.

“Must you insist on defending her?” he asked, and the response came swiftly. Kitool’s knee struck him against the back of his head, and Jurot swung his axe wildly towards the old man’s neck. The pair struck him, but the axe only managed to draw blood when it would have easily killed any normal, and not very normal, man.

“She is a member of our party,” Kitool replied, weakly. She had very little strength, and whatever strength she could muster was focused on trying to deal with the threat ahead of her.

“I will not let you kill her,” Jurot managed to cough out.

“No?” The old man raised his sword, before he swung it down, cutting across Lucy’s throat.

Jurot watched as the blood trickled down to the ground, and his heart pounded wildly. His axe had right at the man’s neck, and yet he couldn’t cut into it, only barely drawing blood.

“You are still too weak to try and stop me from doing as I please,” the old man said, simply.

The words clung to Jurot’s heart like a poison, pumping the darkness through the rest of him. He dropped his shield and axe, unable to gather his strength, and fell to his knees, unconscious.

Kitool showered the old man with fist and knee, but she noticed Jurot dropping his weapons, and the old man casually struck her across her side, dropping her. Kitool crumpled beside him, falling onto her staff.