Thanatos didn’t have time to lose. Whoever that person was, it was running in his direction. He felt the murderous intent from so far away. It practically came from the other side of the city. How was it possible? It was almost like they had a psychic connection, something that allowed them to feel each other’s presence.
"Teacher, are you okay?" The words from the kids brought his mind back to the real world. He had to leave now. Whoever was coming was strong, very strong.
"Yes, I’m fine, children. But it seems that none of you managed to take the bell. We have been playing here for a while. You need to return. Class is finished for today."
"Eh, already done. I wanted to win the prize."
"You can return from the same path we came here. Is not that far. I must go now, kids. Goodbye." He waved at them one last time, knowing he was never going to see them again.
"Goodbye, teacher!" "Let’s train more tomorrow!" After seeing the children walking back to the building, he sprinted into the forest at maximum speed.
Thanatos ran like a devil, trying to get as far away as possible from the person. He could still feel the connection with that person. If he didn’t find a way to severe it, then he was going to be found eventually. Don’t worry about now. First thing is to get out of the city. I can pass the territory and then run into the forest. If that person decides to try to follow me, then I can at least fight without worrying about consequences.
He wasn’t sure he could defeat this person alone, but he wasn’t going to lie down and die.
On the other side of the Capital a few minutes earlier, a group of special soldiers arrived after completing their latest mission. It was a group of elite soldiers from the Red and Blue Order. A dozen soldiers and magic users, they were all very strong, but the one sitting in a private carriage in the back was the most dangerous person in the group.
A member of the Black Order, the Puppet of Battle, Dante. He was playing with a pencil in his hand. His white and beautiful eyes looked into the emptiness without any interest. The mission was to destroy a tribe of demi human mercenaries that got too close to the nation. He was sent as a supervisor to secure the deaths of these scoundrels.
The members of the order were strong enough that Dante only had to interfere in the last moment to kill the leader of the demi humans. As always, the mission was boring and left him unsatisfied.
"You did a good job. That should be enough." A man sitting on the other side of the carriage spoke. He was the only person that could talk to Dante besides his companions without paying attention to his rank and power. It was Edan, the trainer of the current generation of the Black Order.
Edan had been training Dante since he was seven years old. When his talent for combat and magic became clear, he was adopted from the orphanage and taken into the Black Order. Dante's talent was exceptional, even for the current generation of members of the Black Order. He was so strong that a lot of people compared him to the heroes from other countries.
Although he was only 21, he had the power to rival the names of the High Priestess of the Republic, Gina Adler, the Supreme General Thane Ulick Rion of the Kingdom, and the Wise Golden Dragon, leader of the Draconic empire. He reached the realm of heroes, a power that could destroy or save a nation depending on his actions.
The orders' members and commanders were overjoyed to have such a powerful man on their side, but Dante didn't care. The reason he worked so hard to become stronger was because the only thing in this world that gave him pleasure was taking the lives of strong opponents.
There was a void in Dante's heart that only the fleeting thrill of battle could fill. Even if he knew of other powerful people, he could never fight them. He only could do that if his country went to war against other nations, that wasn’t going to happen, Dante knew that only the fearful and caution man are the ones that ruled over a nation.
If he tried to start a war by attacking one of those heroes alone, then his own country would turn against him. He didn’t want to die at the hands of weak people just because he was overwhelmed by numbers. That would be a wasteful death. They called him a puppet for his battle style, but in truth, that was an appropriate nickname as Dante's heart was bound by strings from others.
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In that moment, he felt a presence... His eyes lit up like a kid watching a new toy. "Master Edan, he’s here..."
"Who? What are you talking about?"
"The one I told you before. A few months ago, I felt his dark presence in the land. It was only for an instant. But now he’s here, in the forest, in the army territory."
"What are you saying, he’s attacking us, or did he infiltrate to steal our intel?"
"I don’t know, and I don’t care. Master, I’m going to fight him now. I can kill him, right? RIGHT?" Dante's expression twisted into a wicked and childish smile. His white eyes gleam with murderous intent.
"Wait, Dante, we need to question him. We need to find out for which country or group he’s working for-"
Edan didn’t manage to finish his sentence as Dante jumped out of the carriage and ran toward the army base. The other soldiers were surprised by Dante's sudden race. Edan spoke to them.
"Send a messenger to the main base in the north. There is an intruder. We are going to support Dante." They raced in the carriage toward the north, but Edan knew that they were never going to reach Dante.
Dante jumped from the roof of one building to the other, unable to contain his excitement. He was going to take a little detour into the main church of the Order to retrieve one of the relics of Los. He must be strong. That feeling he produces is an aura of evil. I want to fight him, I want to kill him, I want to question him about his past, about his actions. Is he a man or a woman or even human?
He pondered all the things he wanted to ask him while smiling like an innocent kid. His murderous intent mixed with curiosity and formed a new feeling. Obsession. The closer he got, the more obsessed he became with knowing this person. What is your name? What do you do? What do you desire? What does it feel like to be declared evil by the world?...
In the inner sanctum of the Church of Los. The relics of the Los and his companions rested, waiting for the time when the members of the Black Order needed them for a mission of great importance. Six pieces of legendary power, all of them wielded by the Founders. The most powerful objects in the country were always guarded by a single warrior.
The Guardian of the Relics spent almost all his time guarding the relics. The current guardian was a man named Etho. He was a bulky man, his body toned from decades of training, and the Sword of Judgment rested on his hip.
The air around him changed direction in a second. The locked heavy iron door broke. Not even the protection spells put in place were strong enough to stop the intruder. In the next few seconds, Etho grabbed the Sword of Judgment and slashed at the intruder.
"[God speed]!" He activated a special ability, and with miraculous speed, he cut the air, sending a wave of holy energy against his target... There was nothing there.
Etho turned around to see Dante grabbing the scythe of condemn.
"L-lord Dante, what are you doing here? You can’t break the door to take one of the relics; you need permission from the commanders. I know your position, but allow me to formally protest-"
Dante was again running toward the exit. He didn’t pay any attention to Etho plead, in fact he dodge the first attack without even glancing at him. Just like that, Dante came, broke the door, took a relic and left...
"I hope I’m not punished for this... sigh..."
Dante kept running toward the forest. He could feel his prey was running away. He’s almost at the limit of the private forest. Is he planning to run away from me in the wild? Or maybe he wants to fight away from the army, so we can have one on one? This is so exciting. I can’t wait to meet you. You are like that too. You want to go wild and fight with everything you have for once in your life. Destine has bound us together, so one of us grants the other a glorious fight before death, Uhmmm, hehehe. Let’s do it as soulmates!
Immersed in his delirium and ecstasy, Dante was breaking the roof as he landed on them with too much strength. The scythe in his hand was the only weapon he needed for a serious fight. Even if it meant killing his own subordinates, he wasn’t going to let anyone get in the way of his reunion.
Thanatos reached the limit of the territory of the army; a metal barrier was covering the perimeter. He spotted a guard patrolling the outside.
"What are you doing here?" Thanatos didn't have time to waste on an insignificant opponent.
He undid the [Transformation] spell and, with a single strike of his claws, took the head of the guard. Before the body could drop to the ground, he had already resumed his race. He ran for a minute that felt like years, but no matter how far he ran, he could feel the presence getting closer. He could almost feel him at his side. A wicked and playful smile appeared in his mind. White glowing eyes covered by long dark hair that looked like a woman came looking for him.
Shit, he’s getting close. What do I do? How can I break this weird connection? I can feel this guy is strong, stronger than anyone I have faced before. Can I really win if I fight him? Doubt took a hold of Thanatos' heart. After he learned to sense the strength of his opponents, his instincts told him that the chances of defeating this guy were less than 1%.
He grabbed the black book and began to flip through the pages, looking for a spell. Anything that could help him in this situation. He scanned the book looking for anything, but nothing was good enough. Nothing that could sever this feeling. After flipping through dozens of pages, he reached the part with the glyphs he couldn’t understand. One third of the book was still hiding his secrets.
How am I supposed to read this? I’m not a scholar or even an investigator. You never told me, Zek! An idea came into his mind, like lighting. The glyphs in his book were hidden in plain sight, keeping their secrets from Thanatos, who didn’t know how to read them.
Can I make my thoughts unreadable to him…? Maybe with this spell. It was a risky move, but he didn’t have any other way. He focused his mana and…
At that moment, Dante stopped in his tracks in the middle of the forest. "He disappeared…?"