In the outskirts of the Progenitor forest, the Latix and Wycans were fighting. Battle cries could be heard all over the place as swords clashed and magic casted.
A young boy in his teens was slaughtering people as if they were animals.
He was used to seeing blood and war despite his young age.
The boy was obviously Elphis, the second son of the Wycan main-family and the sibling of Eldan Wycan.
The first and second regiments of the Latix were dispatched by Osiris to stall the Wycan troops who were led by Elphis. They were led by Generals Ronal and Erol.
The two families faced each other with killing intent as if they were facing their mortal enemy.
The opposition of the Latix were the Wycans, the second most powerful demon-noble family. The Wycans were led by General Marvid who is said to have slayed a Levile Dragon, a 3rd Echelon monster species. For comparison, a Levile Dragon was equal to one million Greater Goblins in raw power, which were a 10th Echelon monster species, that is the lowest ranked monster species.
Although Elphis was the one who was the ‘leader’ of the troops, General Marvid was the one who ‘commanded’ the troops. Eldan sent General Marvid because he knew Elphis would go berserk and rampage through the area. That is why Elphis is unreliable as a commander. But he would sulk if not given an important role, so Eldan had decided to make him the nominal squad captain.
The battle has been going on for quite some time now. There was no end to it. The soldiers were getting mentally and physically exhausted. Some had resorted to sneaking through the forest and escaping the battlezone to get some rest. The battle seemed to be going on for days now.
Elphis was getting impatient due to the long drag of fighting. Even battling which was considered to be ‘fun’ by Elphis lost its value as entertainment due to the monotony.
“Marvid! Do something! Let’s end this quickly and meet up with my brother.”
General Marvid let out a long sigh before saying, “If it were that easy, we would have entered the temple long ago. Both families are equally matched.”
“Ugh..I have decided! That’s it! I’m going inside the temple. Do what you can!”
Ronal and Erol spotted Elphis running away from the brutal battle area, and ran after him.
Ronal grabbed his dagger from his knee pocket and threw it in the direction Elphis was running. The dagger flew toward Elphis in an unnatural speed. It was natural since his attribute was Supersonic.
Ronal’s dagger cut through air and neared the unnoticed Elphis.
Ronal, next unsheathed his sword and ran.
He quickly caught up with his dagger which was still in the air and swung his blade.
The sword was rapidly reducing distance thanks to Ronal’s attribute.
4 meters..3 meters…2 meters…….1 meter….and it stopped. The dagger fell on the ground and Ronal was astonished as he saw the person standing in front of him.
Dust covered the surroundings as Ronal struggled to control his speed to stop due to the momentum. A silhouette of a middle aged man emerged from the brown dust and silt. The man’s Stealth attribute allowed him to move unnoticed.
Ronal’s eyes widened. “No way. There is a person who can move faster than a Supersonic attribute user?”
It was strange. Supersonic is supposed to be the fastest attribute, but here stood a man who had outsped a Supersonic attribute user.
The slow running Erol finally caught up with them.
“It is no big deal. Don’t have a natural power? Use an artificial alternative.” Marvid shrugged like it was natural and pulled a syringe out from his coat pocket. He waved the syringe in the air while speaking.
It was the Type 3 magic device, Clean Bolt. It allowed the user to run swiftly and smoothly as if skating on ice. The effect lasts for two minutes.
This magic device could even become a Type 2 if the duration was increased.
For someone with a stealth attribute, two minutes was enough to end a battle.
Elphis didn't look back and ran. It was a long distance from where Elphis currently was to the Elva temple since they were in the outskirts of the Progenitor forest.
General Marvid raised his sword and took a defensive stance.
The calm person who had the attribute of Scrutiny slowly unsheathed his sword. It was Erol. He wouldn't have become a general of an entire regiment if it wasn't for this attribute.
It enabled him to calmly observe a difficult situation and derive the perfect solution for it.
It lacked when it came to offensive or defensive skills, but it was the perfect attribute for a leader during war time.
Ronal charged toward Marvid and the two swords clashed. The air around them distorted while the steel and steel clanking created tiny yellow sparks of magic.
Erol stood in wait for the perfect opening to appear to join the battle.
Meanwhile in the forest, Elphis stopped running and thought for a second. How could I get to the throne room even if I went into the temple?
It was a valid question. It was good that he had this doubt.
The Elva temple changed its layout every five to six hours. It had already been more than half a day since all the heads of families went in.
Adding to this, this was going to be the first time he was going to enter the temple. Without a proper experienced guide, it was going to be hard to find a way to the throne room. It would at least take two hours at the minimum.
He wanted to get to the throne room quickly and as soon as possible because he was worried about his brother Eldan.
Then he got an idea. He ran back to where the Wycan family's army had been stationed to find a certain person.
This person had the exact attribute Elphis needed at the moment.
The person was a member of the Wycans branch family with the Rocket attribute. The attribute enabled him to launch things at unnatural speeds.
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“Throw me.”
“W-w-what young master.. I c-couldn't poss-” Before the man could finish, the impatient Elphis shouted.
“Just fling me with precision in the direction of Elva temple!”
The man, still concerned, picked up the tiny Elphis and raised him above his head. Then the sound of something traveling in the air was heard.
fwoooshh!!
Elphis let out a huge yelp and gasped
for air as he was thrown.
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The opening Erol had been waiting for, finally appeared after a long fifteen minutes of duelling. Ronal knocked Marvid back with his sword and Marvid struggled to regain his balance. The weakness emerged only for a tiny moment. It would have been hard for any ordinary person to notice, but for Erol, with his Scrutiny attribute, it was child's play.
Erol raised his sword up to his neck level and pointed it toward Marvid’s chest. Then after dragging it back and filling it with magic power, he launched it while mustering up all his might.
Marvid, who was too focused on Ronal, failed to notice the incoming sword. He did notice the sword in the end, but it was too late.
The sound of flesh being pierced was heard. Blood splattered everywhere and stained Ronal's armor.
“Heh..nice one. Who knew I would di—Kuheok!”
The dying Marvid couldn't complete his sentence as blood flowed from his mouth. His lower body numbed from the blood loss as he fell to the ground.
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Andreas
Shit. It had turned out like this. Eldan succeeded in the end with his plan. He used the other family heads as barriers to drain our mana. Why was he being so cautious when he is so much stronger than us.
There was no way for us to win now. Clara’s magic power was completely drained. It was conspicuous that just holding herself together was a struggle for her.
The surroundings became silent as the battle atmosphere calmed down. Still, Eldan showed no sign of moving. He just stood there while wearing a strange expression on his face.
“It seems you have succeeded in defeating Merlin and Viver. Good job.”
The words seemed to express astonishment on the surface but exploring closer revealed deep ridicule.
There was a cold air that permeated my body and I shuddered. Upon closer inspection, I could sense a dark and mysterious aura emitting from Eldan. It was time for round two.
I held up my sword and took an offensive stance to charge at any time. The nearby dust rose from the ground and surrounded the atmosphere of the room. Numerous skeletal undeads and undeads with flesh hanging down rose from the ground and the walls.
I filled my Luminivine blade with Aether energy and cast multiple Seraphic Slashes. The undeads were sliced like cutting butter. I cast the skill for what seemed to be about ten minutes. The undead died, disappeared back into the ground, then rose again from the ground. It was an endless cycle. Naturally, it required a vast mana pool. I glanced at Eldan who leisurely stood and yawned while reflex tears surfaced on his eyes.
This is just a baseless conjecture on my part but the main reason as to why the undead get easily killed might be because of my attribute, Aether. Aether is said to be powered by a celestial being which means it is strong against ‘evil’. If this hypothesis is true, then defeating Eldan might not be all that impossible. There might be a minute possibility.
I lunged forward at the incoming undeads and quickly sliced them all. The throne room appeared to be gigantic before these guys appeared. But now, it looks like a tiny cramped apartment room.
Clara did her job of support perfectly. It was almost too good that I was worried for her remaining and at the same time dwindling tiny mana pool.
Thanks to her help, I managed to avoid fighting the majority of the undead and headed straight for Eldan. As soon as I spotted Eldan among the crowd of undead I ran toward him.
–Whenever fighting an opponent who summons beings, it is always a good idea to ignore the summoned creatures and head straight for the summoner.
That was the advice Osiris had given me during training.
I spotted a perfect chance. Eldan was standing open right now. I can just kill with a—
Kuheok!
“Arghh! Eugh..”
I was dangling mid air right now. Right when my blade was about to cut through Eldan’s neck, a giant hand appeared from behind him and grabbed me by the neck. It was the giant undead he had summoned earlier.
At this moment, I remembered another piece of advice Osiris had given me.
–When getting into close combat with a summoner, the swordsman is always at an advantage. Or at least that is what the summoners want you to think. The summoner will never show his ‘real’ trump card. Even if he does, he’ll never let it get far away from him like the other summoned creatures. Watch out.
But it was already too late.
The undead giant squeezed my neck tightly as if to ‘pop’ it. I could feel my bones creaking and I couldn’t control my voice from screaming.
I immediately activated Gravity manipulation and lightened the force of gravity around the area by a lot. The undead giant began to float and the grip around my neck loosened for a second. I immediately took this opportunity to get as far away as I can from the undead. Ahh..my head is spinning. Did my blood vessels get damaged internally? Fuck..
The confused looking Eldan was floating in the air. Then he dropped to the ground creating a loud thud along the fall.
“This is an unusual skill.”
I increased the magic flow in the Luminivine blade. The undead giant had a thick body but it wasn’t uncuttable. My muscles were still lacking so I had to use Gravity manipulation yet again. It sucked real bad to use it. The pain was too unbearable but if I backed out here, then my friends would die.
I launched myself at Eldan once again while carefully avoiding the undead giant’s arms. But it wasn’t easy because the undead giant was quick to protect its master.
To counter this, I cast Seraphic Slash, filled with more magic power than usual to cut off its legs.
….
“Ahahahaha! This is funny! Did Osiris really recruit pure amateurs? It seems like the rumors are true indeed.”
“…”
The reason as to why Eldan was acting this way was….
Well, I totally missed the slash and it was by a large margin.
We are not going to talk about that. It was way too embarrassing. But to preserve Osiris’ reputation, I had to destroy the throne. Someway or the other.
Wait. Before proceeding with the next attack. Where was Clara? I looked around but couldn’t find her. Well her mana must have depleted.
I raised my aura. My body showed no change but an immense pressure filled the area. It was still not at the level of the demon high-nobles but it was at a usable stage.
I ran toward the undead giant this time instead of Eldan and my sword and its fist clashed. It exerted a formidable force each time it swung its arms.
“What! No, I can’t retreat! We’ve come this far! Just think about it, please.”
I glanced at the yelling Eldan and noticed that he was talking to a hologram screen that appeared in front of him.
“What? It’s that bad…”
The undead giant slowly lost its fighting intensity and liquified.
At this time something dropped from the ceiling of the throne room with a huge thud sound. I took a quick look to check the cause of the sound. Surprisingly, I found the wounded and battered Elphis.
“Brother! I have come to help you!”
Eldan didn’t pay heed to Elphis’ words and instead turned towards me.
“You’re one lucky guy. I will eagerly wait for the day we shall meet again.”
With these words, he slowly disappeared into the ground. There seemed to be a portal on the floor.
“Brother! No, don’t go!” Elphis ran toward the disappearing Eldan, but it was too late. He completely disappeared by the time Elphis reached the spot.
Who was he talking to? If even the arrogant and smug Eldan was acting like an obedient subordinate, then it must be someone even stronger than him.
While I was stuck in my head, I got reminded of the reason why I came here in the first place. It was to destroy the throne.
I walked up to get closer to the thro– huhh?!
The throne was covered in a dome shaped blue tinted three dimensional structure. My intuition told me it was a barrier. I was still a novice when it came to magic so I didn’t know how to deactivate or destroy the barrier.
I tried to wake up the mana drained Osiris but he didn’t budge.
Shit shit. This was bad. How do I even call for backup? I didn’t even know the way out. It’s been more than a day since we entered the temple.
I reflexively called out the only reliable person other than Osiris. “Heina…if only she were here..”
At this moment a screen appeared in front of me.
[Do you wish to call Heina?]
Huh? What is this…There were two options given so I naturally picked the one that would help me.
[Yes]
[Calling Heina….]
Then the call was attended. The voice that emerged from the other side was of Heina.
[Hello? Andreas? What’s the situ-]
[Heina! Thank god! Please come to the Elva temple as soon as you can.]
[Okay..]
Then time passed. It felt like hours. In the meantime, I even tried to remove my overcoat and made Osiris wear it but the regeneration effect did not take place. I felt a bit of despair.
I also found Clara who laid unconscious in a corner of the room. I picked her up and placed her near Osiris and Asher.
It felt ominous being the only conscious person in the room. Three people were unconscious and two were dead. The bodies of Merlin and Viver slowly began to rot. I couldn’t put up with the smell and after a while I retched. I became light headed as I became aware of my deeds. I had killed people.
Come to think of it, I had wanted a world where a certain level of threat was present to get rid of the mundaneness. Thinking back, I find it quite stupid and immature. I lost a precious thing in my quest for adventure.
It is peace.