Chapter 46 : The Shadow of Kings.

"A god, a god of snow... I see, something's happening here too. After all, deep down, I hate all gods, probably because of Aleystria."

"Matilda, what do you know about this deity?" I asked, intrigued.

Elvaria, also driven by the spirit of Elvaristria, interjects: "Tell us everything, please."

Faced with our insistence, the old woman looks surprised.

"Oh well, the god of snow was sealed by the emissary of humanity and his group a long time ago," she says with a slight chuckle.

...The emissary of humanity, how does she know about that?

I abruptly grab the scarf wrapped around her neck. "Tell me everything you know. Now." My voice is cold, commanding. She looks frightened.

Suddenly, an intense pain shoots through me, and I’m thrown back several meters before crashing to the ground.

"Who did that?" I shouted. As I spoke, Valentin steps forward, his gaze filled with contempt.

"I understand you're on edge, Aley, and that you're changing. But threatening an old woman just to uncover your past… That’s not right." His tone is icy.

His words resonate within me. What is happening to me? Lately, I've been growing more and more violent… This isn’t me. I'm not like this. I swear.

"I'm sorry, Valentin. I’m losing control." I lower my head, ashamed. Valentin extends his hand. I grab it, and he helps me to my feet.

I cast a guilty glance at the old lady before stepping towards her.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. This is entirely my fault," I said sincerely. At my words, she chuckles softly before offering a kind smile.

"Oh, don’t worry, young man. You and the red-haired girl both seemed tense, that’s why I came to speak to you. After all, I need to look after the youth!" Her voice is wise, seasoned by age.

She mentioned that Elvaria was on edge too? I turn to her.

"Elvaria, have you also been feeling strange lately?" I asked her quietly. She nods, confirming my fears.

I see… We're really going to have to deal with this.

Suddenly, a bell rings in Blindrock. It's not a church bell, it's an alarm. What's happening?

"Aley, I sense monsters approaching!" Alfira shouts. Damn. I still had questions for the old lady. Oh well, they’ll have to wait.

"Take shelter, Mrs. Oxcrige," Elvaria adds, directing the old woman to safety.

The old lady quickly heads for a shelter as my companions and I draw our weapons. We need to be ready for anything.

"Where are you sensing the monsters, Alfira?" I asked.

"Outside the city! There are a lot of them!" she yells back. But the citizens of Blindrock aren't fleeing. They continue with their usual activities... No, it’s not that they aren’t fleeing; it's that they can’t hear the alarm. The city is too noisy, and only finely tuned senses like ours can pick up the sound amidst the commotion.

"Let's go!" I shout, activating "Quick Step." My body propels into the air. Once in the sky, I get a bird's-eye view of the city and its surroundings. And that’s when I see them.

In the distance, human-sized creatures covered in white fur are approaching.

Yetis... Rank A monsters, in large numbers. Thousands of them.

I’m going to wipe them out. To be honest, I hate this place. Ever since the dungeon, I’ve only wanted one thing: to reach Paradise. Everything else matters less and less. Something there is calling to me. And if monsters want to stand in my way, I’ll kill them.

But before I can leap into action, a black hole forms in the center of the yeti army. Several of them are swallowed up.

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The yetis, surprised, turn around but are immediately swept away by a black lightning bolt, as dark as the abyss. The magic cuts through their ranks, destroying, exploding, killing. It's pure rage. Suddenly, an even larger flash erupts.

A massive "boom" echoes through the skies, warping the earth. An explosion devastates all the yetis instantly, but before I can react, a creature comes charging straight at me.

Snow wyverns. These creatures, resembling small dragons, whose sheer temperature can kill. Rank S monsters, and there are far too many of them.

I can kill them. All of them.

I draw my two swords, ready to attack, when suddenly, a golden lightning bolt streaks through the sky, taking down a dozen wyverns in an instant. It’s Valentin.

"LEAVE SOME FOR ME, YOU JERK!" I shout, annoyed.

A hundred more ice wyverns approach us. A hundred rank S monsters?! Something’s wrong. They must be drawn to this city.

"Quick Step," I murmured. I dash at top speed toward a wyvern. It tries to bite me with its gaping mouth, but I dodge with ease. My air control has improved significantly.

"Will To Live..." I murmur again, before plunging one of my swords into its stomach. A magical explosion erupts. A transcendent burst of power surges, attracting the attention of all the other wyverns. They immediately charge at me, leaving Valentin alone.

"Perfect, now they're all mine..." I said with a laugh.

But before I can enjoy it, Elvaria appears like a red arrow, piercing the sky… or rather, the wyverns within it. She flies with the grace of a goddess.

Her lance is surrounded by green flames, and with the sun behind her, she truly looks like a deity. She aims for the ground and charges at an incredible speed toward the remaining wyverns, skewering them in one strike. The explosion that follows is akin to a nuclear catastrophe.

As all the wyverns lie dead, the massive mountain overlooking Blindrock begins to move. What? Pardon? The mountain was alive?

It takes on a humanoid shape, resembling the titan god Chronos. A gigantic stone giant.

"GRAAAH!" roars the titan, a massive mouth appearing on its stone face.

I grip my swords as tightly as possible. I'm going to wipe it out in one blow. But for that, I need to concentrate all my strength into one point and release it all. It’ll be like a bomb. An uncontrollable power capable of annihilating all life in Blindrock.

But it doesn’t matter… oh well… eheheh...

"ALEY! STOP!" Valentin suddenly screams, snapping me back to reality. This isn’t good, I’m spiraling out of control more and more.

"I'm sorry, truly sorry. I don't understand what's happening to me," I said, trembling.

Elvaria descends from the sky, floating beside us, her lance still in hand, ready to strike and blow the titan apart in one hit. But before we can do anything, the dark lightning from earlier reappears before us. It zips at superhuman speed towards the titan. The shockwave from its velocity is so powerful that it pushes us back, despite our immense strength. Who’s behind this?

The lightning bolts forward at unimaginable speed, leaving a trail of darkness behind it. Its brilliance is so dark that it seems to suck in the surrounding light, creating floating black holes in its wake. It cuts through the air like an arrow shot by the fury of the sky, heading straight for the colossal titan without slowing down. The impact is imminent.

Then, without warning, it plunges directly into the titan's massive body. The sky itself changes color, oscillating between darkness, light, and a twilight gray before everything seems to fade away. A titanic explosion follows, accompanied by a burst of pure magic and dust. The force unleashed is so massive that the earth trembles beneath our feet, and it becomes impossible to make out what’s happening at the heart of the cataclysm.

When the dust finally settles, a gaping hole appears in the titan’s chest. The stone giant, who seemed invincible, wavers. It trembles, its immense limbs crumbling, before collapsing heavily to the ground. The enormous mass of rock crashes down, cracking and shattering into pieces. The titan is dead. All in a single blow.

Who can possess such overwhelming power? Who can bring down a creature so massive, a being so close to the gods, in an instant, without hesitation, without apparent effort?

The dark lightning, now in human form, darts toward the city of Blindrock at an insane speed. It flies through the air and stops there. So, it's not an inhuman force, but indeed a person. A person... with such power?

"I'm going to search for him," I said to Elvaria and Valentin, the adrenaline still surging in me.

"Invite him to Novus Obris, please!" Elvaria shouts. Valentin, however, remains stunned, frozen in place. I can read the frustration in his eyes: his strength will never be enough to reach such a level.

I descend toward the city, ready to find this mysterious man, followed by Valentin. Elvaria returns to Alfira, who didn’t come… probably too scared, still traumatized by her encounter with Llyrnoth. She fears losing her powers.

When I reach the place where the dark lightning landed, I scan the area. Despite the chaos above their heads, the citizens of Blindrock continue to celebrate, entirely unaware of the danger that surrounded them.

I search, Valentin too, until we find him. A man, entirely wrapped in black fabrics. It's the merchant from the carriage I crossed paths with in the streets of Iveralmn. He's here. The man behind this overwhelming power.

I step toward him, but Valentin suddenly stops me.

"Aley, don't go near him..." he murmurs in my ear.

"Why not?" I asked, whispering back.

"He's an S-rank adventurer... but in truth, his power far surpasses that rank. He's known as 'The Shadow of Kings.' He hates royalty more than anything. He's reputed to have slaughtered women and children, burned entire kingdoms, all because of his hatred, as black as his clothes..."

"Why is he still in the guild then..." I asked, perplexed.

"I don't know..." he replied, still in a low voice.

"OKAY, STOP WHISPERING IN MY EAR! IT'S LIKE YOU'RE ELVARIA, WE'RE NOT A COUPLE, MAN!" I shouted, annoyed.

At my words, the man wrapped in black fabrics slowly turns his gaze toward us. Oops... we've been noticed.