Karnage: For the people that asked about the pronunciation, I figured I would post it here rather than reply to you all individually in case anyone else did not know.
Sol'ixus - [Sol-eh-zus] It was either that or Sletheren, hehehe.
Okay So I have a bit of bad news, I originally thought I'd be able to give 5 chapters tonight but I overestimated myself. T.T I have three for you now and I'll deliver the other two in roughly two days time. This is the first, the other two will be out in 10-15 minutes.
Kingdom of Nar. Two months later...
*Boom*
A loud explosion rocked the Kingdom awake, there was not a person within the Kingdom that did not hear this explosion.
"King of Nar! Today shall mark the day of your death!" A loud and overpowering voice echoed through the city.
The citizens couldn't help but be shocked as they peered through their windows, left their houses and gazed towards the city gates which were completely shattered and ripped apart!.
The sight before them made their jaws drop as their eyes constricted in fear. A man, no he couldn't be called just a man.
His muscular body was towered at almost 12 meters high, from his revealed spine spikes protruded and were of a white-diamond color. His facial features were beastial and reptilian in nature as he possessed slit pupils and vicious similarly white-diamond colored fangs.
The moonlight shun down on his body which made it seem as though a God had descended. The natural night fog was thick and coalesced around his majestic body, giving off a feeling of surreal danger.
"All that stand in my way will perish along with it's ruler!" The voice was filled with anger and malice as it once more permeated the night's sky.
The soldiers that stood before this very beast-like man couldn't help but tremble as some directly passed out from the pressure emitting from it's body. No matter what they could not find the will to oppose it, and they all stood in an almost hypnotized manner.
*Boom* *Boom*
The earth below it's feet trembled as it moved at an incredible pace, it completely ignored every other building as it's eyes were dead set on the huge palace in the distance.
"M-Men lift your spears! It's approaching the King!" Finally a guard captain broke the pressure as he released the aura of the 9th Order which was completely consumed in the beast-like man's aura.
As his arms trembled he finally managed to lift his spear-
*Slit*
He was about to give another command, before he realized a soldier who served under him for many years had without warning stabbed him through his heart. He had quite a bit of trust in this soldier as he had done many under the table killings for him.
"Y-You....W-why?" The guard captain was shocked and could only managed to see the look in his subordinates eyes before he died with his eyes opened in shock.
The soldier had a look of madness in his eyes, a huge grin on his face as his face drooped with sweat.
"Hehe..hehe....To think I might get my revenge. Being patient..hehe...it actually works! That nasty king took my wife, had his way with her and then killed her in the most brutal manner all because he had taken a liking to her feet. My daughter is still locked somewhere in the dungeons...hehe...There's no way I'll let her suffer that same fate" The soldier laughed in a nervous and crazy manner as he saw the approaching beast-like man before him.
Fortunately for the soldier, the beast-like man totally ignored the soldiers who didn't dare get in it's way. It's eyes fixated on the palace.
"Hehe...it seems I was right" The subordinate laughed out wildly as he gazed at the back of the creature and threw his spear on the floor laughing in an almost crazed manner.
The soldier took a gamble on this beast as he felt as though it had a clear target and was powerful enough to carry out his vengeance. The soldiers who saw the scene had strange faces as they seemed to suddenly think about their own families, and the malicious deeds of this King.
The soldiers beside him could understand how he felt, some experienced similar events or had seen some of the events surrounding this King. Some were just outright afraid to get in it's way and clearly made a path subconsciously.
Quite a few, if not all the men below him were actually quite disgusted by the King. However, because of the two shadows that constantly guarded him no one had ever attempted an assassination.
Izula and Vazula were twins who were raised by King Einclad to be his bodyguards; as well as other things. They both possessed undying loyalty to the King and they would directly kill anyone under his orders.
Sure enough, two shadows appeared in front of the beast-like entity and were both frozen still under the pressure of it's charge. For the first time in both of their lives, they had felt fear as they saw the creature approach them.
Izula and Vazula who possessed Fire and Water Affinity respectively, showed their warrior's valor when they shook off the pressure and drew their weapons. Izula was a Fire Mage and as such in his hands was a scepter with a red jewel, Vazula drew an axe made of a special type of wood from which water gathered at it's edges rotating at a high speed velocity.
But as reality would have it-
"Earthern Charge!" A cold and sinister voice resounded out, before the sound of something which sounded like the ignition of a jet engine; pierced the air. The ground shook as if it were being commanded by it's lord and a strange scene ensued, the ground made a weird sort of groove directly increasing the beast-man's speed.
*Vrrrr*
*Shatter* *Shatter*
The both twins were both shredded as if they were hit by huge blades and their bodies fell in a pool of blood. An expression of disbelief plastered on their face, Izula was instantly killed being a mage with no defense at all despite the vigorous mana fluctuations in his body.
As for Vazula, being a Water Affinity warrior, he had slight regeneration and a tough body and was clearly able to see what had happened. He muttered a few words before dying with a wretched expression stitched onto his face.
"S-S-Soul Resona..."
If one looked closely, they would notice the two once powerful men's bodies were separated from the neck down in five parts. It seemed as though a truck completely made of steel with four guillotine blades had relentlessly crashed into their bodies.
The cuts were very precise and the accuracy could only be described as surgical. The reason for this, was the 12 meter giant whose claws were colored in diamond-white had four streaks of blood dripping from it. His hands were in a criss-cross manner in front of him which perfectly lined up to these cuts.
The speed at which it had moved had increased by at least 5 times when it used it's Earthern trait. Earth Affinity Warriors had a special bonus of strength once their feet were connected to the earth below them. This creature had obviously diverted this excess power to it's legs giving birth to an incredible speed that the both brothers could not fathom.
When the both brothers realized this, it was already to late.
"Such weakness! You people dare offend my lord with just this!" The entirely demonic voice moved forward as the earth beneath it trembled.
Not a single soldier or citizen had a single thought of revenge in the face of this monstrosity. Although quite a few of the citizens were happy inside, there was still a lingering fear as they wondered if they would be on the receiving end of those claws.
Still it could not affect their happiness as these two brothers had similarly caused them problems as they were the henchmen of the filthy King Einclad.
The people of the Kingdom of Nar had a few thoughts of their own. A commoner family discussed among themselves as they witnessed the scenes and had no idea what to think of it.
"Is it truly here alone for the King? Honey?" A common looking woman asked as she looked at her husband. Her face was stained with dirt and she seemed to be trying to hide her beauty.
"It...isn't going to attack us afterward? Right daddy?" Their little son seemed to have grasped a few things as he gazed at his father in worry.
"I don't know....let's wait and see, it made itself very clear that all it wanted was the King" The man had a sharp look in his eyes as he gazed at the creature with a bit of fear, as well as with a bit of hope.
"If it kills the King..can we go get big sister?" The boy asked, his eyes glittering.
"Indeed..if he kills that "thing", it will be for the good of Nar" The sharp-eyed commoner gazed at the back of the giant as his eyes narrowed, it that already neared the palace.
Surprisingly the commoner man referred to the King as a "thing" and not the beast-like man who he called by it's gender.
*Boom*
A loud sound echoed throughout the Kingdom as an imposing figure crashed into the palace, shattering a few walls yet it's charge did not stop.
Wherever it passed, what wasn't shattered was shredded by it's surgical like claws and Spinal vertebrae that possessed an otherworldly diamond light. The blocks of concrete on the palace were a strange site to look at, some parts were rubble while other parts were as if cut my diamond.
The guards who resisted were instantly trampled and shredded, the creature was not warded off by any type of attack and shed blood wherever it was opposed. The men in the palace upon recognizing the entity could not be stopped, choose to drop their weapons and flee as they did not want to die for the King anyway.
They all shared the same thought.
'If it can kill him, why care?'
Some ran in fear, while some were noticed snickering and pretending to be in fear. They had already realized what it's true intentions were, noticing Izula and Vazula who had left the palace did not return and yet the creature was here; they instantly knew that those despicable twin brothers were already dead!
The King Einclad was a weakling who was extremely adept at sinister schemes, he had hated the world because his strength had continue to decline and could not practice any type of arts anymore.
He had been bitten by a famous type of insect called the Garden Origin termite, which directly clogged the 'Soul Veins' in ones body and slowly sap away at one's Soul Force. After enough time passed, he was only at the 8th Order currently and if the guards moved in on him; he would certainly not survive.
This was why he ruled using fear as a main method, as well as the two twin brothers who were programmed to service his every need. These two brothers underwent special processes and were basically mind-controlled via the cruel methods practiced on them. It was innately ingrained into their minds that the King Einclad was all that they lived for.
He had invested quite a bit of funds into a specialized poisoned that he constantly fed them to ensure they would never pass the Saint Rank. The King of Nar was sure if they continued to advance, they would break this particular psychological influence and he would eventually be in danger.
The soldiers, as well as the people of Nar was quite fed up with this King; and today seemed to be his judgement day. Naturally most, if not all; had willingly stepped aside.
The Creature broke through all the walls until it finally found the one where the King was in. Upon entering, the creature seemed a bit shocked.
Inside the chamber, every single being was dead. From the King, to his playthings on the bed. They had all seemed to drink poison and as the creature was quite familiar with poison, it was sure they had all drink poison.
Some eyes were closed, while some were open and they all had a smile of euphoria as if they had been drugged before death. He could not sense any signs of life from any of the bodies and he had become even more sure.
What really shocked the creature was the note that laid on the bed-
"Hehe, I win" was all the note read.
"What a coward!" The creature snorted as it flung it's arm and smashed a portion of the walls in anger.
The creature coldly snorted, and turned to leave. However, he suddenly stopped and sniffed the air. A familiar scent entered his nostrils, suddenly a witty grin plastered it's face.
"....Master mentioned this guy was quite tricky and sly after analyzing him. I also am quite familiar with his methods, who doesn't know the King of Nar?"
"....He also said that poison takes many forms, it can be used as medicine; it can be used for assassination. Poison isn't just a means to an end, it can either bring slaughter or it can be the very thing that supports life. Poison is whatever you want it to be." Suddenly the creature had a grin.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
It walked up to the corpse of King Einclad and directly stabbed it's leg with a finger!
*Puh*
Surprisingly the corpses' eyes opened wide as blood flowed from it's mouth! The King had tried to fake his own death!
It seemed he could not speak and seemed to be under the effects of a particular type of poison. However, it seemed as though he could feel everything! Although his heart-rate seemed completely hidden under the natural sounds of the world, when the creature focused on it's hearing; it could hear a very faint and slow heart-beat.
"Hahaha! What a clever man! However, if I as fooled by such third rank poison; master would never let me off" The creature laughed as it picked him up and threw him on it's shoulders.
A few of the spikes on it's shoulders directly and easily pierced into the King's abdomen as blood ceaselessly flowed from it and yet he could not scream. The worse kind of feeling, was experiencing pain and not being able to scream for such a man. They would not be able to distract their minds and ease the pain with any psychological support and the veins protruding from his eyes were testament to this fact.
"What a clever man, cowards are indeed very intelligent!" The creatures voice was filled with disdain and malice but laughed jovially which shook the King Einclad.
The King knew he was going to die today, because that specific sadistic type of laughter was one he was all too familiar with.
The creature walked out of the Palace, and noticed quite a crowd. They all seemed filled with fear, yet the curiosity won out in the end.
The creature understood what was happening here as it realized their was quite a lack of resistance. He noticed the people all throw hopeful gazes at the King on his shoulders, he could tell the hopeful gazes weren't hoping for this King to survive. There was also a deeply rooted hatred that was unable to be hidden.
"It seems your people sorely hate you! Good! Let's let them be the judge shall we!" The creature laughed as it directly threw the King's body over to the people making them stunned.
"Well? What are you waiting for? He'll bleed out in about 10 minutes anyway" The creature laughed as it's humongous body flashed once more and with a single jump it disappeared from sight.
*Boom*
*Boom*
A series of loud explosions issued out as the creature leapt out of the Kingdom, leaving a haunting laughter behind it.
A 20 year old man understood it's intentions and before anyone could understand what it meant, the picture of his family's death flashed through his mind- and he was already upon the severely injured King Einclad!
"Dieeee!!!! For my family!!" The 20 year old man screamed in utter hatred as he begun stomping the King's frozen face. He stomped and stomped and finally the people understood; without much theatrics a look of madness appeared in their eyes as
they lifted their legs and took turns stomping the man to death.
As his body was at the 8th Order, it had still remained a bit durable and as such he felt the blow of every stomp for 10 minutes. His blood drained at an alarming rate; along with his strength and eventually bones started cracking and his skull was directly smashed into an unrecognizable sight.
A guard who had seen the entire ordeal, turned to look at the direction the creature escaped to and suddenly had a thought.
'If that creature is so powerful...What of it's "master"? '
The man suddenly felt a shiver.
'It's a good thing his master seems to only take offense on a personal level, and didn't wipe us all out in fury. It would seem he has a bit of compassion as opposed to this shitty King'
As he said so, he glanced at the body that seemed to be more akin to a sauce than an actual person. If it weren't for the human like bones that were broken into fragments it wouldn't have been recognizable at all.
Naturally, this creature was none other than Narcissus in his Soul Resonance Form. It had taken him two months to get to this point where he could use it at least for an hour.
**
As Narcissus exited the Kingdom, with a flash his body separated from the Giant Diamond Serpent and appeared naked on top of it's head. His runic ring flashed and he wore clothing instantly.
He gazed up at the moon for a bit as he knelt on the Giant Diamond Serpent's head and rubbed it's huge head.
'Master! One has already been accomplished! I will move on now to Serpent Falls and do as you say. Apophis can't wait to meet new kin' He thought to himself as a flash of warmth passed through his eyes.
"Apophis let's go...time to meet our Familia!" Narcissus spoke to the Giant Diamond Serpent who excitedly sped off leaving a rumbling on the ground scaring all beasts nearby.
**
Somewhere else in a dark forest, with trees that towered too high for one to see their true high; the sound of terrifying roars along with piercing screeches echoed. Sounds of creatures battling could be heard in every inch of this forest, blood seemed to permeate the entire area and none of the creatures within the forest were lower than God-Leveled.
Among this madness, a silhouette flashed by leaving an emerald fog behind him. His eyes were like a serpents, and were gold and emerald in color. His hair was likewise emerald in color and possessed a golden lustre.
His face was, which bordered on beautiful was incredibly cold and didn't seem human-like as his enlarged fangs protruded from his lips. A few tattoo's were noticeable on his body, two golden tattoos of serpents were on both of his arms. One was larger than the other and possessed wings and was a bit unclear as it dimly glowed, the other was of a basilisk serpent and was quite clear.
A tattoo of an Emerald serpent was marked on his chest, it seemed to glow with a faint eerie light and one could feel as though it were watching them which made it even more terrifying.
The last one was of a Chimera like horse that was completely black in color was plastered at the back of his left palm.
In his hands were two heavy and jagged swords that seemed to look like fangs, every now and then they left drops on the floor that made smoke arise as the drops ate away at the ground below them.
The scary thing about these two jagged, and curved swords that were a deep green in color; was that they each had an eye that seemed to resemble a serpents engraved on the hilt.
This was none other than Sol'ixus Hyperius.
His body was stained with dried blood that surprisingly belonged to him, however his jewel-like eyes showed a tinge of excitement under it's cold exterior. Sol had learned, that no creature could make use of his blood unless he willed it, as it would directly become a poison and have the opposite effect.
This had cleared worries he had as even if one hunted him down for his blood, they could not make use of it. He was thankful he had owned the Poison Affinity and that his blood seemed to possess a will that he could naturally control and would use the poison to eat away at the blood should it ever fall into the hands of anyone else.
However, Sol quickly pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind, now was not the time to be thinking other things. He had discovered this forest was filled with so many dangers if he did not focus he would easily lose his own life.
This was why he did not summon his Soul Beasts, luckily Nightmare had become another of his Soul Beasts which could be hidden in a similar manner. Although, Sol was a bit disappointed to realize he could no longer make anymore Soul Beasts after Nightmare as of now and dispelled the thoughts of attaining any others.
There was some good with the bad, as Nightmare directly entered into the Mid-Saint Rank upon becoming his Soul Beast and it's strength was no joke. Even if he summoned Nightmare within this forest, very few beasts would be able to match it's speed.
Nightmare was like a train on a track, no obstacle could stop it and nothing could run beside it without having it's stamina drain rapidly. Nightmare gained the Light Affinity from Sol, it's body had once more changed as parts of it's body were black and some parts were dark golden in color increasing it's majestic aura.
With the Light Affinity, this already powerful horse did not need to stop for rest. It could run at top speed indefinitely, this was a trait Sol found absolutely bizzare. Nightmare himself had felt this strong and bolstering power it had never felt before and was even more proud of itself.
Despite all this, Sol did not casually summon it as he deemed this forest too dangerous. This was evidence of this forest's brutality that seemed to breathe nothing but monsters.
**
After having calmed down from his initial thoughts and fears about Claire landing here; he remembered his pendant around his neck and checked it and found that she was no where nearby and had calmed down.
Narcissus' Soul Beast, Apophis, had pointed him in the same direction the pendant did and as such he was happy to know it indeed worked. Using the pendant as his guide Sol moved forward as much as he could. Sometimes he would have to take detours as the fighting had gotten to intense, the amount of times he had nearly lost his life was too many to count.
This reminded him of the Bloodmana Wasp Hive and this was also the reason he had not summoned any Soul Beasts. He didn't want to become and ever bigger target to these beasts who seemed to thirst for power as much as he did.
The strange part, was that in these forests; the strongest were not always the ones who won in the end. Intelligent monster sometimes got the better of the strongest, and sometimes the pack species emerged victorious in these bloody battles.
Sol had once more immersed himself in this conflict, his human behavior had once more been discarded as he seemed to fit among these beasts. He couldn't remember the last time he had spoken words, or had pointless thoughts.
Every action, emotion and reaction seemed to be attuned with his survival and his mind was as if he were a beast himself. During these two months, not only did he fight against them, he even ate with some of them. Although, they were by no means friendly to one another as they all had a common goal.
'Get stronger'
When a powerful beast fell, several different monsters would rush forward take a piece of these powerful beasts and consume it in front of one another while still being wary of one another. Fights constantly broke out and Sol himself also engaged in these fights.
The creatures of these forests actually spoke human words, yet they never once spoke to Sol as they regarded him an abnormality and some didn't even consider him human. Especially since they had seen him team up against powerful foes with the help of a few Serpent Type Beasts on several occasions.
Sol had met a few Serpent Type Beasts who sensed his aura and for a short time they stuck together before being attacked by a pack of Hellflame Hounds that were all at the peak Saint-Rank, with a few exceptions that were at the God-ranked level and their leader being a mid-ranked God.
Sol had learned from the Serpent Type Beasts, that this forest was called "Bloodwalk Forest"
Part of the reason he was never targeted was because of the rich poisonous aura that emitted from his body. The last opponent any creature in this forest wanted was a poisonous one; they knew all to well even if they managed to kill him being poisoned by a suicide blow would make them the victim of other beasts.
This did not make Sol safe by any means, rather poisonous creatures were not afraid of him and attacked him as they could feel that eating him would make their poisons more vicious and made him a target of these creatures.
There was a particular creature that hunted Sol for over an entire month called the Rainbow-Colored Centipede and Sol had only managed to recently throw off it's trail. Sol's body had acquired the Saint-Rank but his Dantian remained at the 2nd order, much to his displeasure.
Although he seemed to be at the 2nd Order, the creatures still didn't attack him rashly. Being Gods their intelligence already surpassed the average human, and they understood very clearly that no 2nd Order beast could survive even a second in here before being gobbled up as an appetizer.
This Rainbow Centipede was highly venomous and even Vritra took note of it. He could feel as though the Rainbow Centipede did not lose out to him in toxicity. After all, in Magnolia there were countless venomous beasts that no one had ever recorded, and countless new breeds were being found each day as these types cross-bred and new mutations were being born.
The youth had felt as though he had only seen a single part of the sky. It was foolish to believe he would know about all creatures in Magnolia, and this was a wake up call for him like no other.
Sol didn't want to engage the Rainbow-Centipede as he could feel it was different from all other beasts in the forest. It gave off an aura that was much more powerful than the usual God-Rank and he could feel as though it were bordering on a breakthrough and this was the reason it pursued him.
It wanted to consume him and induce it's breakthrough using Sol's body as a catalyst. Sol did not want to engage with it right away as he knew even if he killed it, it wouldn't be an easy task and not only would he be severely hurt afterward. The creatures of Bloodwalk Forest would never let him rest, they would actively attack to get rid off a dangerous predator in the future.