Zelos sat crosslegged on the tree stump, dressed in rags like he’d robbed a zombie with disheveled blonde hair tied at the end. He stared into the ground with an angry tinge to his eye.

“You destroyed half of Oni Village, yet you’re angry?” Yugo questioned, anger coating his words.

“I was attempting to destroy the part of the Village most populated by humans. If Ibaraki Douji hadn’t fought against me, there wouldn’t have been any important casualties.”

“Important casualties…”

“I only kill humans,” Zelos said, finally looking up to sneer at Yugo. “I don’t kill family.”

There was only so much Yugo could tolerate before even he lost his temper. He scanned Zelos, just to make sure this wasn’t some illusion or any other trick. Sure, he wouldn’t be able to permanently kill Zelos, but it’d feel good to grind him into the dirt.

Zelos

Rogue Myth

Level 600

*Note: This is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.*

Zelos is the second of the four Myths commissioned by your mother in Domus Fortis. For the first two hundred years of their lives, the Horsemen were made to get by through any means possible in Domus Fortis, creating a strong familial bond between the four. While Limos has taken on the “Older Sister” role, Zelos has taken the “Older Brother” role.

When they each grew to about Level 500, the Horsemen were formally introduced to Mamoru Ruma and given lavish lifestyles in contrast to the hellish poverty of Domus Fortis. This was not given to them for free, however. They were made to assist the Mamoru Clan in their plan to create “profitable destruction”, which led to the eventual creation of the Cults that would eventually give birth to Fallen Star and his counterparts.

In total, the Four Horsemen are responsible for taking the lives of about 500,000 people and have therefore generated over $50,000,000 for the Mamoru Clan. This is not an “official” record, but it should be known that Mamoru Ruma has labeled the Horsemen “Her–”

The System screen before him suddenly shut off as The Historian let out a pained cry from inside their shared Mindspace. He knew Zelos could control Myths weaker than him, but he’d underestimated just how sensitive Zelos’ senses were. Just scanning him was enough to put you in danger! Thankfully, both Yugo and The Historian had enough individual power to fight off Zelos’ control.

You two sit tight. I won’t be able to call on you too much in this fight.

The Minashire Monitor radiated confidence and support while The Historian gave words to those same feelings.

“You’ve trained with the strongest Myths in the world. You don’t need us to defeat Zelos.”

With that, the battle began. Yugo kicked off, charging aura in his legs as he lunged at Zelos. Zelos responded in kind, summoning a massive hammer the size of Shuten Douji and swinging it at Yugo with ease. Yugo collided with the weapon, shockwaves of aura shooting out where fist met steel. Seeing an opening, Yugo teleported behind Zelos and took a move out of Rui’s playbook – charging a Wraith Strike in his right hand and using his Conjuration abilities to coat it with Eletricity-Attuned Aura. The attack struck Zelos in the back with enough force to send him flying, but the Myth adjusted midair with the help of his hammer’s hilt.

Ideally, he would’ve wanted to let Zelos take the offensive to better prepare a counter-attack, but due to the urgency of the battle Yugo couldn’t afford to waste any time. He used Conjuration once again, forging four spider-like tendrils from his back made of Unaspected Aura – the easiest to manipulate.

Zelos recalled the hammer and closed the gap that’d formed between the two in a blink, but Yugo was ready for him. The second he appeared, Yugo stabbed a tendril into Zelos’ stomach and channeled Water-Attuned Aura into it, allowing the aura to flow freely through Zelos’ body. Just as quickly, Yugo stabbed a second tendril into Zelos’ body, except this time he channeled Electricity-Attuned Aura into it. Zelos screamed as the two conflicting auras sent literal shockwaves through his body, something that greatly satisfied Yugo. He was too old to let this one attack get to his head, though. Yugo summoned the final two tendrils and channeled Wind-Attuned Aura into them both, using them to blast Zelos into the distance rather than stab them into Zelos.

One more attack and we’re finished…

As Zelos flew across the remains of the Wild Man Colony, Yugo charged a full-powered Elemental Burst to set off wherever Zelos landed. Zelos didn’t have any specific elemental weakness. Most Rogues above Level 200 didn’t. Still, he decided to play it safe and go with a Water-Attuned Elemental Burst. If even a tiny fraction of the Electricity-Attuned Aura remained in Zelos’ body, it’d boost the strength of his attack. Recognizing that, Yugo detonated the Elemental Burst at Zelos’ location.

If only it were that simple. Of course, Zelos had some trick up his sleeve. While the Elemental Burst did go off at his location, it didn’t have the intended effect of blowing Zelos to bits. No, Zelos had been completely unharmed by the attack. It was Yugo who suffered the full effect of the Elemental Burst.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

So he has a “Counter” Skill… No wonder he hasn’t been guarding against me.

Yugo would’ve liked to confer with The Historian about now, but it was too risky to do that. Therefore, he relied on his own knowledge. Most Counter Skills only activate a small percentage of the time. The highest Yugo had ever heard was 25%. If he knew his mother well, she would’ve spared no expense to make sure Zelos’ Counter Skill worked the best.

I’ll go with 20%. That was the first attack I hit him with that got countered.

That was a safe percentage. It still put Yugo in a rough spot, but he’d trained against similar skills before. Yugo needed to strike him in vital locations and avoid using all-out attacks as they had the potential to backfire. It’d make the fight longer, but there wasn’t much he could do from beyond the–

“Suffer and die, human filth!” Zelos roared.

For the first time in the battle, Zelos went on the offensive. The man summoned a sea of Light-Attuned arrows behind him then swiped at the air, launching the barrage at Yugo. Despite Zelos making a show of conjuring arrows in front of Yugo, he’d in fact summoned them in every direction. Yugo was surrounded. He danced around them, watching as they effortlessly pierced the ground, detonating two seconds after impact.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t so lucky as to avoid getting hit. Yugo allowed the arrows to get close, teleporting out of the way just before impact. In theory, he could move just outside of the arrow’s range to keep himself out of harm's way. In practice, Zelos had been prepared for that. The instant he teleported, Zelos was there to greet him. With a sickening smile and a loud crack, Zelos stabbed an arrow into Yugo’s arm deep enough to reach bone.

One… two… bang!

The arrow detonated, instantly severing Yugo’s right arm. Thanks to his Conjuration ability, Yugo managed to replace the limb within moments, but Zelos wasn’t ready to let up just yet. On the contrary, Zelos looked about ready to end the fight. He created distance between himself and Yugo, gathering aura as he stared deep into Yugo’s eyes.

“Suffer… and… die!”

Yugo knew Rui had been impressed by his Elemental Burst. The boy was a lot easier to read than he thought he was. Yugo had been impressed by Ibaraki’s version of it. They weren’t the exact same technique, but they had the same effect: aura-laced explosions. Zelos’ version blew both of theirs out of the water. Yugo didn’t think the crater could’ve gotten any deeper! Yet, here he was: a head, a half of a torso, a skeletal arm, and a leg, all at the bottom of an impossibly deep crater.

As Yugo approached death’s door, Yugo felt only one emotion: anger. Angry was his normal state of being. It took genuine effort for him to appear as the nonchalant, happy-go-lucky version of himself people assumed to be true. In reality, his every waking moment was filled with negativity. His mind was loaded with thoughts of his family’s wrongdoings, his own wrongdoings, the deaths he could’ve prevented, and the things he could’ve done differently. He knew his death wasn’t going to be grand or anything. People who fought like he did rarely got a hero’s sendoff or anything so flashy. But he’d always assumed that his death was going to happen at a point in time where he’d be okay with it. For the longest time, he’d assumed that he would die at his mother’s hands – and he was happy to do that so long as he took her with him. Yugo was happy to die, so long as the Mamoru Clan died with him.

Now, though? Dying now? Here? By the hands of a Mamoru investment? That wasn’t going to happen. He refused. Yugo knew death was coming, but death was going to have to wait.

“There’s this saying where I’m from,” Yugo whispered to no one in particular, parroting back his Master’s words from long ago. “That strength loses meaning at higher levels. All that truly matters as you improve is intelligence.” A weak smile tugged at Yugo’s lips. “Lucky for you, you have one of the smartest Myths in the world living inside of you.”

Aura blazed through Yugo as used his Myths in tandem. From the moment he’d taken his Myths until now, he’d never used Conjuration to do more than repair a limb. There was a lot more that went into it than just willing a brand new body part. He needed to have a perfect understanding of human anatomy to pull it off. Yugo didn’t know the first thing about anatomy, but The Historian? He did. Relying on that knowledge, Mina’s ability to Conjure, and his own determination, Yugo reforged his entire body.

Zelos wasn’t just going to let him do that, though. Zelos charged at him with his hammer re-summoned. Unfortunately for Zelos, Yugo was in rare form. Somnia had described that altered state of her’s as being “controlled by her heart”. Now that Yugo felt the same way, he had a better appreciation for what she meant.

Yugo dodged Zelos’ hammer swings with ease, dodging effortlessly as he pelted the Myth with a barrage of full-powered Wraith Strikes. Zelos countered some, but Yugo simply Conjured new body parts to replace the damaged ones. Guided by the efficiency of this altered state, Yugo punched a hole through Zelos, though his Counter Skill meant Yugo himself was given a matching injury. Where Yugo could heal, though, Zelos could not.

“Enough!” Zelos raged, summoning two Light-Attuned Arrows in his hands and stabbing them into Yugo’s eyes. They detonated, sending Yugo to his knees.

“I can’t afford to waste my time here, Mamoru,” Zelos spat. “You are not my target.”

With that, Zelos disappeared into the forest. Yugo sensed him escape, feeling as his unique aura grew more distant with each passing moment. Despite the state he found himself in, his anger hadn’t dissipated. He wanted Zelos dead. This battle wasn’t over.

“Cllbbrbbb… brrck… hssschhhhh,” Yugo slurred.

“Ah, that’s no good…” The Historian mused from beside him. Yugo turned toward the noise. “When those arrows detonated, they took parts of your brain as well as your eyes. I’ll have that fixed up right away, Master Yugo. We’ll be back in the fight before you know it.”