Within the current headquarters of the human resistance against Alyur, there was a man dealing with countless conflicts arising from everwhere. Weston had a splitting headache due to all the trouble coming his way. Despite it being such a tense situation, they were insane enough to pull something like this off. The worst part of this was that he knew exactly how this would unfold.
Alyur's constant onslaught caused Weston to be burdened even further. He could not and cannot reveal himself suppressing the Monster Faction. The moment he did so, those who truly had any power could do actual damage. Despite humans having the advantage in martial strength, the majority of their strength was being used to reinforce the barrier against Alyur. Despite there being countless lives lost, he could only hope that the upper echelon of humans could suppress the chaos. Even Revelation Stage powerhouses were sent out, the current main force against Alyur's monsters. This was completely sapping away at their ability to defend Aganth.
“These psychopaths, do they really not want to live? Why would they suddenly act out like this?” Weston paced back and forth, waiting for news to come back to him. As for those who had died, he could only silently mourn their deaths. Still, he had to act in the best interest of everyone. Although Aganth was currently being consumed by chaos, their current headquarters was still free from any conflict.
A person rushed forward wearing a military uniform. He yelled out without any sense of decorum, “It’s been verified that they’ve received the [Blessing of Domination].”
“A Great Devil. That’s why…” Weston rubbed his temples even more. Alyur, the Great Dragon of Moonlight was already far too much of a handful but now they had to deal with a Great Devil. “Despite not having revealed itself, this Hatchling has caused so much bloodshed.”
His fist tightened as his palms began to drip blood.
Weston could accurately deduce exactly what a [Blessing of Domination] implied.
“One side wants to kill the Hatchling while the other wants to save it. And we’re right in the middle, paying the price for it. Jynnette, I know you’re there. Come out already.”
A fiery-eyed girl already had her twin daggers ready for blood. All she needed was Weston’s acknowledgement and she’ll finally make her move.
With the current state of Aganth on the brink of collapse, even as much as he wanted to honor Jynnette’s mother, he could no longer hold her back. “Go.”
Jynnette didn’t blatantly rush out in a display of power but instead, she blended into the shadows. For such a hot-headed person to retain all of her anger and suppress it meant that the severity of the situation had reached the point of total breakout. Although she agreed with the Monster Faction's goal of finding and killing the Hatchling, it still doesn't justify the fact that there was so much bloodshed behind it.
By the streets, countless monsters battled against the soldiers of Aganth, trading kill per kill. The end result seemed to conclude mutual destruction. Within a red glint appearing from the monsters’ shadows, the very next moment, they had all been rendered into finely sliced pieces of meat. Not even bone could stop such sharp attacks.
“The Reaper of Aganth has finally made her move. Men! Charge on forward! Victory is on our side!” A head solider yelled out, increasing the morale of everyone here. All it needed to regain the troops' morale was for the appearance of one singular person.
Jynnette’s reputation preceded her, she was a person that many both feared and respected, but mostly feared. Her deeds were only second to her mother, one of the true powerhouses of Aganth, on the same level as Weston. No one has seen her for the time being but they all firmly believed that she would come and protect Aganth in the end as always. Weston's announcement of Jynnette's mother personally going out to bring back reinforcements has given everyone hope to tide through everything.
A hope that was based on a lie.
~~~
In another area, Sammuel’s battlefield looked exactly the same as Jynnette’s. Countless enemy bodies filled the streets creating a flowing bloody river. Sammuel sought out stronger foes, as time went on. It was clear that Sammuel’s battle strength among those in the Awakened Stage was unparalleled yet he still wasn’t a match for someone in the Revelation Stage.
Even still, he slayed as he wished, constantly increasing his EXP visibly with each kill. As it turned out, the sentient beings he had killed mostly had a Silver Card Quality, with a few having a Bronze Card Quality. These beings were all qualified to reach the Revelation Stage yet Sammuel culled their lives before they were given the opportunity to do so. And he will continue to do so. He had begun to change the battlefield slightly. As little as impact as he had caused, the amount of lives he had saved only continued to rise.
[Earned 17.53% | Star Quality EXP: 44.23/100%]
Sammuel was going on a complete killing spree. Compared to killing numerous weak creatures, the EXP he gained from killing even a single creature that had a Silver Card Quality was immense. He was only required to kill 5-6 people. And to reach his level cap, Sammuel only needed to kill around fifty more people. He needed to increase his Card Quality as soon as possible, this was the sole reason why he was only using [Ego: Base].
And based on the scale of the city of Aganth, it was more than doable, it was essentially guaranteed. Taking his blade, he slashed away at a beastman, cutting off his arms. He screamed in agony as his limbs were cut away. Sammuel put him out of his misery by cutting him in half.
The creatures he was fighting had started to become more and more competent. This change didn’t dissuade Sammuel at all since it was a fair trade-off. His enemies got more skilled but the rewards he gained from them were similarly worthwhile.
[Gained Ego: Beastman | Card Quality: Silver | Star Quality: 2 (37/50)]
[Learned Flash]
Sammuel’s eyes didn’t expect that this [Skill] would appear here. Looking up at the sky, he recalled one of the very few moments that had stuck with him. It was from a stranger named Verim. He used [Flash] and completely wiped away the horde of goblins coming after him. That majestic scene never left his mind. Now, he could finally showcase even just a fragment of its full power.
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[Skill:
Flash - Move faster than what the eye can see. Requires mana to supply the power.
Card Quality: Silver
Mastery: Amateur | EXP: 89.98/100%
Affinity Level: 1.53%
Combat Power: +10 ~ +30 | +50 ~ +500]
If Sammuel didn’t think it was completely oppressive before then he just couldn’t think of anything to say now. He could even fully steal the full understanding of such a [Skill] from those he gained [Ego] from. It was essentially stealing countless years of effort from other people and turning it into his own. Although his starting point was weaker than both Elias and Sadin, he was confident that he would eventually reach their point and rise above it sooner or later.
[Ego] is such a strong ability but why did Riccen and Gaben think that this was weak? Am I missing something? I’m essentially immortal given the right conditions, my progress is leagues beyond what others could hope to accomplish and I’m eventually going to gain the power of multiple [Ego] at the same time. Were they wrong or are Sadin and Elias just that much stronger?
Sammuel shook his head, he focused back on his task. It wasn’t a suspenseful situation at all. The Monster Faction had fully gone out, trying to cause as much chaos as possible to seek out the Hatchling. Too bad that humanity had acted far too fast that they weren’t able to fully exert as much surprise damage as they initially anticipated. Although Weston's hands were tied, it didn't mean his people were either. He had already sent out people as soon as possible.
It truly was a shame, despite being the current strongest powerhouse of Aganth, he was unable to affect the situation at all. Even as everyone was putting all their trust on him, the amount of things he could do was limited.
“It’s as if the Monster Faction went insane.” Sammuel looked at his upcoming victims. This creature was another beastman, he was eying down a young man. He viciously grinned. He raised his war hammer and slammed it down. Although the young man seemed to have survived through numerous encounters he was still weaker than his current foe.
[Flash | Gain Combat Power: +130.28 | Sammuel: 1,670.72]
Sammuel acted even faster than the speed that the beastman’s weapon was going down. Kicking the war hammer away, Sammuel maneuvered his sword, finding a gap between his movements and cut off his opponent’s arm. Before the beastman could retaliate, Sammuel had similarly disposed of him. It was as easy as slicing through his head.
Reaching his hand out, the young man thanked him and immediately ran away. As the man was running away, Sammuel’s resolve to follow through with this act solidified.
“This is war. There’s no point in pitying the enemy.”
As he slashed away even more of his foes, Sammuel felt an odd gaze staring at him from behind. Turning his head, he couldn’t find anyone at all but knew that the sensation was still there. For someone to be able to do something so sneakily, it could only mean two things, they were so much stronger than Sammuel that he was completely overwhelmed or the enemy had a special [Skill].
Given the two options, Sammuel landed on the most probable answer, the person observing him was from the Genesis Foundation. Sammuel used his index finger and middle finger and pointed at his eyes, he then proceeded to point them in the general direction where this Genesis Foundation member was. A simple warning was enough.
Continuing on with his slaughter, those eyes that watched him eased up and no longer followed him. This was great for an entire hour but those gazes returned with an even firmer grip. Threats like last time could only do so much.
He couldn’t even pinpoint where they exactly were. These people were truly a troublesome bunch. Sammuel made his way all over to the center of the city, the lifeblood of the economic trade, the Commercial District. Or at least, what remained of it. The previously lively and bustling environment was now rendered into a graveyard. The amount of people who have died inside the Commercial District was higher than anywhere else. The deeper he traversed the Commercial District, the bloodier the fights became.
There was even a scene where it seemed as if a person had taken countless other enemies by blowing himself up. Evident from a giant circular hole on the ground and the countless limbs thrown all over the place. The suppressed anger from countless years of oppression have finally come out in full force. Severe actions were getting more and more common as time went on. It truly was coming to a point where there could only be one survivor.
Sammuel had been slaying one creature after another. It had come to a point where Sammuel’s blade had been flowing and treated everything beneath it as meant to be cut. Everything had been going smoothly, he only needed to slay one more opponent to finally achieve what he needed. That is until a certain foe finally was able to handle his attacks.
Compared to the burly foes like he had been constantly fighting against, Sammuel was faced with a naga. Her upper body was that of a blonde beauty wearing war armor that had a dark blue hue. Her helmet had waves flowing around it, having frills attached to the side of it. There was no time to care about the details as she took this opportunity to attack first.
In her hands was a bow, bigger than anything Sammuel had ever seen. It had been radiating a bloodthirsty aura that made even made him wary. This felt a little symbolic. Looking at his stats, Sammuel felt that this was quite amusing.
[Star Quality: 2 | 49/50 | 96.73/100%]
He could quite easily slay another enemy that was much weaker than the armed naha before him but he didn’t feel like doing so. If he had used any other [Ego] then the battle would already have been finished before he could even take it to mind. But this was a test to see if he could overcome this challenge of completely relyin on [Ego].
If this is a world where [Skills] reign supreme, I should focus on refining my combat techniques. I can't just rely on using strong [Ego] to overwhelmingly win.
The dynamic of this battle was simple, would the naga be able to inflict enough damage to Sammuel that he would be rendered helpless or would Sammuel be able to bridge the gap and dispose of the naga. It was whether both sides could turn the battle into one that was favorable for them.
The naga winded up her bow without an arrow. Before Sammuel’s very eyes, an arrow made of mana was formed. His nerves constricted as if acknowledging the sheer power behind those attacks. Sammuel followed his instincts and disappeared to the side. Fortunately, [Flash] was a good counter to the naga’s attacks.
As the mana arrow wisped past him, the building that was directly behind him exploded. Small fragments of the building flew out. Sammuel had to use [Flash] again to get out of the blast radius. The battle had only begun but it was clear that Sammuel was already getting played around with.
He had been battling countless monsters the entire day meanwhile the naga seemed to have just arrived at the battle. Yet this was no excuse, there were only two outcomes, Sammuel would come to overcome the challenge or he would give up and use another creature’s [Ego] and win that way. The concept of defeat in this battle didn't exist.
The thought of defeat was so far removed from Sammuel that it was absurd. Even he didn’t think he could defeat himself. This mindset only revolved around those people within the same realm. This was a battle not rooted in whether Sammuel would survive or not, it was a battle embedded with the ideology of what Sammuel’s progress was.
He could either learn to fight in a genuine way or just find loopholes to keep cheating his way to victory. This was Sammuel’s current greatest weakness, his overreliance on [Ego]. Such a convenient ability had made him complacent. The drive he felt back then, clawing his way out of the depths of death’s graveyard wasn’t a passionate as before.
When he had to use every single tool available to him only to barely be able to scrape out alive. This was the mindset he wished to temper. If Sammuel couldn’t even defeat this naga then everything he had done so far was worthless. He wanted to prove himself… to himself.
I want to say I’ve reached this point because of me. It’s dumb and idiotic but I need to do this. Let’s do this.
Sammuel had actually closed his eyes.
[Deactivate Blessing of Domination]
[Deactivate Blessing of Moonlight]
With this maneuver, he was only left with 1,270.72 Combat Power, 500 Combat Power lower than the naga’s current power. He still had [Skills] activated during this period so it wasn't entirely one-sided against him. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to cheat but blessings are a bit too much.”