Chapter 031:

“Look lively bitches!” the youth named Mark yelled back just as Ed and Rus made it on the scene.

Unfortunately, it seemed like the one who needed that warning the most was Mark himself as Moore was already upon him with claws aiming for his throat.

“Mark!!!” the young girl next to him screamed as a white light materialized above her head, ‘I’m not gonna make it!’ her face expressed, soundlessly revealing her thoughts.

Just as she called out the name of her weapon, the claws met their mark; only instead of an explosion of blood and screams, sparks flew and the sound of metal grating against metal rang in her ears.

‘F-fast,’ She couldn’t help but admit as she caught sight of a big-bodied youth bearing a shield.

“Get back!” Ed ordered Mark as he struggled against Moore’s strength. He thought that he had grown used to the raw animalistic strength this kid had, but every time they clashed, he was surprised once more. He remembered the first time he had met swords with his father, back then it felt as if he was trying to push a mountain back with a toothpick and now he felt that same fear when facing down a kid younger than him. This left a bitter taste in his mouth.

As he was lost in thought, his shield, which was already in a sorry state, finally met its end as Moore’s claws dug through and across it.

‘Thank god, it was enough,’ Ed thought in relief as he heard the deranged screaming of his reliable partner behind him. ‘Where did Timothy meet this freak?’

Rus came in hot and heavy as he swung at Moore’s arm with everything he had. The transformed youth retracted his hand and swung the other at the charging hero.

With practiced motions, Rus ducked beneath the attack and dashed in close.

‘Smells like blood!’ In his berserker state, that was the most complex thought he could come up with as he stared Moore down with somber but resolved hands.

“Haaagghhhh” He screamed as he swung his sword.

“Awooooooooh” Moore roared back and his teeth seemed to grow longer in length as he tried to bite Rus’s face off.

‘Now!’ Keeping Timothy’s advice in mind, Rus had been waiting for this moment. Instantly, he abandoned his attack and altered the trajectory of his swing to intercept the bite.

Moore screeched in pain after the tip of the sword pierced the top of his mouth.

“I’m not done yet!” the young hero announced before letting go of his sword and unsheathing his dagger. Eyeing Moore’s now exposed chest, he plunged his new weapon deep, hoping to god that Timothy was right about Moore’s regenerative power.

‘Thick!’ Rus thought in dismay as he realized that his dagger was not penetrating Moore’s sturdy hide.

Understanding that he was about to be very dead very soon, he desperately threw his body weight against the weapon by slamming his shoulder against it.

That seemed to do the trick as blood sprayed everywhere.

‘I-I did it!’ He thought with glee before losing consciousness due to exhaustion.

Before he could fully pass out, he heard someone snicker from behind him and he was grossed out by how childish it seemed.

“Allrightyyyyyy! My turn!” Mark, who had been standing behind Rus while waiting for his turn, announced with a shit-eating green and mad eyes as he rested the hammer his sister had materialized on his shoulders.

The hammer’s hilt was wrapped with aged red leather and its head was a solid mass of dense-looking silver metal. The markings that were etched into the head seemed purely decorative but Alexander imagined that the engravings would look cool if blood coursed through them.

The expensive-looking hammer proved not only beautiful but also functional after Mark swung it against Moore’s head and it caved the transformed youth’s cheek in and dislocated his jaw.

For the first time since he transformed, Moore’s feet were off the ground and he was sent flying back.

“Nice. A new record! Thanks for playing, Zack Bro” Mark said with a whistle as he continued his swing and spun in place a whole turn, “Your turn, sis!” He called out before letting go of the hammer.

The weapon launched itself with intense speed, easily surpassing Moore and flying past him toward a petite figure who was readying herself.

“Haaaahhhh,” her delicate voice grunted as she made contact with the hammer and spun in place to steady herself.

“Sorry, Zacky!” She screamed at the approaching Moore as she swung the hammer with even more force than her brother.

A horrible sound reverberated throughout the maze after the hammer connected with the transformed youth’s spine and planted him into the ground, forming a new, Moore-shaped, crater.

“Interesting…” Alexander muttered as he stood a distance away, marvelling at the siblings’ strength ‘Those two are pretty good, but they don’t seem to be heroes,’

He stroked his chin as he pondered over the siblings’ purpose, ‘Considering the fact that they are from Graveclaws, then they probably have something to do with Moore,’

Perhaps they served the same purpose Clive did for Rus, whatever the case, it did not seem like they were that bad.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

‘The one named Mark seems to be a classic warrior or knight; as for his sister, her Wisker seems quite useful,’ Alexander recalled the information he gathered using {Eyes of Discernment}

{Devine Armoury: Ten weapons may be marked at any given time. Summon marked weapons from the armory whenever so desired. Duration: 600 seconds. Cooldown: 600 seconds.}

‘In addition to her Wisker, she is quite the brawler herself,’ The scene of the petite young woman viciously swinging a hammer twice her size deeply imprinted itself into Alexander’s mind.

He broke away from his thoughts as he noticed big Ed approaching him with Rus on his back. He decided to think things over later and was about to speak when something caught his attention urgently.

“You two!” He screamed toward the siblings “Get away!”

His plea startled the nearby Ed and the two siblings a distance away.

“Fuck is wrong with that guy?” Mark asked his sister while picking his ear.

“I don’t know,” She replied as she handed the hammer over to her brother.

“Well, let’s go see what the fucker wan-” But before he could finish his sentence, a baleful aura exploded out of the crater containing Moore.

“Shit, fuck, shit!” Mark stammered as he quickly grabbed his sister’s wrist and pulled her behind him.

“What’s happening!” Rebecca asked her brother.

“Fucked if I knew! How much time do we still have with the hammer?”

“I-I’m not sure, a couple of minutes I guess,”

“Rrrraaaaahhhhhhh!! Awooooooooooh” Moore’s voice spread throughout the crowd of students causing them to freeze in place with fear.

‘Fuck he is stronger!’ Alexander thought with grit teeth. ‘He really is a guardian!’

From within the crater, a deformed hand shot up before slamming the earth around it. Beneath the hand, which now more resembled a paw, cracks immediately formed and spread, hinting at inhuman strength.

“Timmy!” Ed gasped before dropping Rus.

“Let’s get them out of there,” Alexander said instead of replying as he raced toward the siblings. Ed hesitated for a moment before following behind.

“You really are a sadistic bitch, coming back for seconds!” Mark said with a laugh before swinging his hammer hard toward the hand.

Unfortunately for him, that action soon proved futile as the hand suddenly grasped the hammer, its abnormally elongated fingers keeping it in place.

‘H-how is Zack so strong?’ Panic began polluting his mind but before he could dwell deeper, he felt a sudden force lift him off the ground as both he and the hammer were tossed a distance away with grim casualness.

“Fuuuucccckkkkkk!” He screamed throughout his flight, only pausing in order to land with all the grace of a boulder.

“Mark!” Rebecca screamed but she knew better than to try and do something against the thing that just disposed of her brother with such ease. ‘Zacky has never been this fast before, what can I do?’

It was then that she jumped slightly as she felt a hand grab her shoulder from the back.

With a little yelp, she turned to find a youth standing a full two heads above her.

“Hi, I’m Ed and this is Timothy,”

“Hey,” Timothy greeted.

“H-hello, I’m Rebecca,”

“It’s nice to meet you Reb-” But before Ed could continue, a wild howling rang from the distance and the trio turned simultaneously only to be met with the horrific sight of Moore fully standing up.

“You know him?” Timothy continued unbothered.

“Y-yeah, that’s Zack,” Rebecca replied, “We kinda grew up together,”

“Then do you know how to stop him?” Ed immediately perked up and chimed in.

“U-uh, usually he stops on his own after a while or after Mark knocks some sense into him,”

Ed’s eyes grew sharp, causing Rebecca to gulp.

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like he does it to hurt Zack but it’s…” She stammered, “Anyway I don’t know, this time it’s different,”

Ed’s brows furrowed deeper and he turned toward Timothy. “What are we going to do?” He asked.

At some point, Alexander’s gaze had wandered to somewhere else but still, he answered the question posed to him.

“Actually, we might not need to do anything at all,”

Both Ed and Rebecca looked toward him in confusion.

“What?”

“What do you mean?”

They asked at the same time.

“Ed might not be able to feel it as he is a bit stupid, but you,” He turned toward Rebecca, “Can’t you feel it?”

It was then that she felt it.

………………………………………………..

Rebecca Kingsly’s Point of View:

It came to her after the young man named Timothy had asked her. There was indeed something she had not noticed previously. ‘It’s hotter than usual?’ She finally figured out what the weird sensation was and she immediately focused her senses toward the surrounding Magic.

Her eyes blew wide open as she witnessed the absolutely massive amount of Flame magic gathering above the students.

The nebulous cloud of potential was a characteristic indication that a spell was being cast, and a rather big one at that.

‘Only person among us that can do that is…’ Rebeccag’s face paled as she recalled the steel blue eyes of a certain magician her father warned her about.

Just as such thoughts muddled her mind, it happened.

The potential force was realized as a magical circle appeared beneath Moore shortly before a gigantic pillar of fire descended upon it.

Immediately after, the smell and feel of fire overpowered everything else as the confused screams of students overlapped with Moore’s own pain-filled howls of misery.

Rebecca covered her mouth with her hand, trying not to vomit at the sight of Moore’s flesh burning off into strips before being reconstructed by a disgusting black sludge; the macabre dance between both forces played to the tune of Moore’s screams.

Rebecca’s heart clenched at the horrible sight before her. Zach’s screams, which should have been familiar to her by this point, were robbing her of her ability to think clearly.

She dropped to both knees, feeling the urge to pass out overtake her.

But before she could, a youthful figure appeared before her, blocking out the fire.

Rebecca stared into the back which shielded her from the flames.

“Just making sure, but you can’t magic me a spear now, right?” He asked without turning to look toward her.

“N-no, I can after ten minutes, though”

The young man named Timothy seemed to consider this for a bit, “Nah, it will be over before then,” He said regretfully before casually strolling forward.

The sight of a lone figure advancing toward a blazing inferno while all else ran away deeply imprinted itself into Rebecca’s mind.

For some inexplicable reason, she felt relieved. “Who is he?”

Ed, the large youth who had previously introduced himself, sat beside her with a thud.

“Some inhuman bastard. It’s okay though, I think he’s got this,” Ed said with a sigh as he tossed the remnants of his shield away. “He seems pissed again,”