When it happened, it took a great portion of the wide battlefield by storm. There had been no prelude – no surge of Spirit Essence, marking its advent known.
When Arlosse opened the Hermetic Vault, he didn’t hesitate to send out one of the Immaterial Slashes he had stored from his exchange with King Alabas, the Flying Reaper Sword. To maximize damage – ensuring that he caught the largest body count possible – which would immediately free him from the crowd of assailants, he had the disembodied slash materialize an inch from him, its long, lethal edge lateral.
A loud noise, not too dissimilar to a thunderclap rolled out across the battlefield.
Because of the sheer speed the Immaterial Slash charged forth with, it butchered nearly fifty bodies directly in front of the Hollow Demonling in an instant. Those who had been struck barely registered that their lives were forfeit, but the attack itself neither waited nor cared.
It travelled far and wide, culling human, demon, and beast alike, leaving a trail, from an aerial view, that looked like a mesmerizing assembly of dominos toppling one after the other.
Blood sprayed everywhere, as did wails of agony. Both sank into the ground, making it richer.
The Immaterial Slash only stopped after it had killed a little more than five hundred warriors and travelled nearly a whole kilometre. Over that distance, only several dozen individuals had managed to avoid being cut apart, either because of unique Kanva, Far Ji, intuition, or the generous terrain, which featured great lumps of rock rising from the ground and deep depressions.
For several moments, the momentum of the battlefield died, and every eye looked or tried to look at the source of the sudden, striking death toll.
The Hollow Demonling felt the attention, but he couldn’t have bothered with it at that moment. Those who had been binding him from behind, attempting to sink their blades into his flesh, halted, trembled, and drew back.
They, much like many others, were struck aghast by what had just happened. Unluckily for them, Arlosse didn’t feel particularly forgiving right about then. His Spirit Essence surged from his body, its volume, vast indeed, cladding him like a malevolent blanket.
But then…
[You have single-handled blessed the lands with an abundance of Essence-infused blood. A portion of it is imbued within you]
[+75 to Spirit Essence]
The Hollow Demonling’s body nearly burst with overwhelming strength, and he put it all to good use without questioning the bizarre fashion in which he received it.
The Hermetic Vault opened once again, and the Fickle Viper was deposited into the Hollow Demonling’s hand.
Arlosse immediately turned and swung the katana with all his might, his Spirit Essence dancing along its edge. Sensing his intent, the katana’s blue blade extended and caught every single one of the humans behind the Incarnate in its baleful swing. They were all filleted perfectly across as they shrieked in deathly pain, their defenses deemed insignificant.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
The Demonling didn’t stop to savor their deaths. He pushed against the ground, his other hand still plastered on his chest, and leaped over to where a gathering of withering human soldiers was looking at him with pale faces.
When the Incarnate landed, the ground under the feet of these men jumped, and they were flung into the air, only to meet the winding blade of the Fickler Viper which angled and twisted while boring into their throats and sneakily piercing into the spaces between their armor.
Arlosse felt his skin, once again empowered by the additional Spirit Essence he had just received, warn him of a surge in Spirit Essence to his far left, then another to his right, and yet another position.
At once, the Incarnate stowed back the Viper and the Valiant Subject’s Ward was soon in his hand. Pinning the strongest presence among the lot he sensed, Arlosse aimed, activated Sundering Bunt, and flung the shield as hard as he could. The kite shield barely looked like a solid shape as it blasted on as an ugly trail of something brass and silver. It minced many, including the source of the presence Arlosse had just targeted.
But right then, there was a thunderous crackle, and in the next moment, Arlosse was blinded by a striking blue light and an incredibly hot burst of heat began to fry his thigh.
The Incarnate recognized the danger. Immense danger.
A quick, unnatural attack had reached him, leaving him no room to dodge.
However, he was no stranger to sudden peril. The Hermetic Vault opened, and the staggering bolt of lightning that would have surely blasted Arlosse’s leg to bits was gone.
Almost at the same time, the Incarnate felt something stabbing him from the back, and he groaned in agony.
Again. Something had attacked without him getting a warning. This was twice now!
A dagger was lodged in the Incarnate’s back and its user seemed to still be attached, but unseen to the eye. Whoever it was appeared to be strong enough to breach his defense, however unrefined it was.
FWWSH! FWWSH!
A rain of arrows flew towards Arlosse right when he thought to try and grab the assailant, and immediately, with great difficulty, he leaped away, the ground beneath him crashing inward.
The Incarnate landed safely away from the arrows, and nearly two meters away from where the Valiant Subject’s Ward had ended up losing its momentum. He quickly stowed it back within his Vault and then equipped it in his hand.
‘This is manageable,’ the Incarnate thought to himself as he sent a human warrior flying tens of meters away with a brutal roundhouse kick.
‘I’ve never felt so… alive.’ He severed the head of another enemy with the sharp edge of the Valiant Subject’s Ward and kicked it toward his allies.
‘If only I’d been like this back then…’ Arlosse’s blood boiled when a human warrior he snatched from the sky as he (the human warrior) leaped towards him begged for his life upon looking into his merciless eyes. He hammered the man into the ground, face first, crushing his head.
‘So, this is what those bastards I called my superiors felt… why they never cared…’
Right then, Arlosse felt his broken ribs get mended, the torn flesh in his chest repaired to its most perfect state. Finally.
Reform had healed his most concerning wound. Indeed, just the one. But Arlosse was glad.
‘No wonder they never questioned themselves. They could define themselves freely with their strength!’ Arlosse thought, reminiscing about his superiors from back in his past life.
No wonder…
The Incarnate’s Spirit Essence spiked and as he activated his new Kanva, Light Birr, his figure, quite to his own surprise, turned light and illusory for a moment before shredding sixty meters ahead in the blink of an eye. Arlosse only became solid and saw his surroundings clearly when he had the heads of two men, one of whom tried to stab his sword into his side a moment later, in his grip. He crushed the insignificant pests in his hands.
A dark sense of glee bled through Arlosse as blood stained his face. He donned an unseemly broad grin and made to search for the elusive bastard who had struck him twice now unseen, imagining how thoroughly he would tear out his spine and use it as a whip to—
“No.”
Arlosse stopped. This wasn’t right.
He was slipping. He was losing it.
Taking a deep breath, the Incarnate quelled the terrible thoughts that ran amok in his head.
There was no way he would become like the very men he considered to be slightly better than. Just because he now had astounding strength, and could understand the thrill in easily trampling over the weak, didn’t mean he had to become the same.
No way. Not this version of himself.
The loud galloping of a great beast came from behind Arlosse, and as his skin warned, he turned.
Before he knew it, a rather long, sharp something hooked him by the collar of his burnt tunic and settled him on the back of the beast. Arlosse was alarmed at first. He hadn’t registered that the large half-bull, half-deer beast he had seen had a rider.
Of course, this rider was not human and didn’t seem as though they meant him harm.
However…
“What did you have to kill many of our own for, you fool?!”
---
|Key|
[Stored Items]
(1) Fickle Viper; (1) Bash Brain; (1) Valiant Subject’s Ward; (2) Blue Slime; (4) Red Slimes; (4) Pink Slimes; (2) Immaterial Slashes; (1) Lightning Bolt