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Volume 4
Chapter 41: Where Fates Gather
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The moment the fists collided, in a certain room in a separate space where time seem to be stuck, unable to affect the people inside it, the Magus of the Magus Archive looked up to the dull ceiling as if she had sensed something.
Shining with a dim glow, a particular pendant can be seen on her neck.
In her eyes were the look of longing but she has already been briefed to her fate and thus had to accept what The Teacher had deemed her to do.
"My past life is done. I am now the Magus, I... I have to do my job."
Even though she had resigned to this fate, she was still not used to the purpose of her survival. She was still aware of the last memories before her 'death' in this world and to her, this life that she has right now was 'saved' for a particular purpose.
"Teacher had shown me the truth of this world. I have to... I..."
Unable to hold her curiosity, she stood up from the chair in front of the giant book and then proceeded to look at a particular shelf in the deepest part of the Archive where not even the highest Ranking 'Users' of this world are allowed to enter without permission from the Magus.
Samantha couldn't hold her desire. This particular shelf was her history. From the very first time she arrived to this world, how she had survived 'that' war, how she had survived time and time again, how she had waited in a particular place in this world, how she found out that 'time' had started moving again, and finally how she had found out why the world started moving again and how she came to see 'him' again.
"More than 50 Years..." she murmured.
Reading through her own history, all the more her desire to see that person again burned in her heart. And thus, as she was absorbed to her reading, or better yet, to her 'dive' into her own history, Samantha let 'time' passed by, unwilling to see what things have been written on the Book of Legends.
*****
The strong impact of their colliding weapons created a sphere that parted the dust clouds in the surroundings. A gust of wind blew the particles into a foggy orbit as they clashed with a force that sent both their weapons to broken pieces.
Everyone's gazes were fixed into that moment of deadlock.
Frozen was the image of a dark skinned demon against a rising challenger with a body clad in battle scars. A second passed that felt longer, the two parted as they sent each other backwards by only the sheer force of their assaults.
Hagrid was planted back first into a wall of a building as Mefisto was pushed back up almost a hundred meters into the air.
"Ahahahaha!! Raven!" Hagrid yelled and threw the hilt of the broken weapon at a frowning Raven as the latter caught it and stepped back and disappeared as quickly as he had appeared in thin air. "Your rune's attribute is weak against his element. I'll use mine."
"Yes, Master."
Pulling himself up, Hagrid jumped another multitude of meters up in mid-air and Mefisto also dived down, slashing with a black sword that came from behind him. Hagrid had pulled up a high-grade invention from his inventory and met the attack from the falling demon.
"Die already!"
"Hahahahaha...!!"
The black sword followed a dark arc as it came slashing down for Hagrid while the latter had an ecstatic smile as he aimed for another clash with an upward backhanded slash. The small debris beneath them shattered into particles from the impact and created another set of dust clouds that surrounded their location as it expanded afar.
The residual energy created by their clash dissipated and expanded, and an explosive sound traveled further into every corner of the city, shaking the entirety of the whole territory within its walls.
And just as the passengers of The Archangel thought that one of them had an advantage, the two parted again as Hagrid landed on his feet and skidded, leaving a trail twenty meters long while Mefisto was tumbling and rolling even further into the sky.
Hagrid's smile couldn't be wider as his sword shattered in his hands and threw the handle off like it was thrash he picked up somewhere. He looked at his trembling hand then clenched it into a fist. He looked up in the air and gazed at the image of the black trophy he finally found after a long time.
"You really live up to my expectations!"
"Daring to mock me, Terran?!"
"This is the fight I've been waiting for! Show me! SHOW ME!"
Hagrid wore a laughing face distorted into an expression bathing in delight as he jumped again for another showdown. Mefisto's expression darkened from rage as he dived down, leaving a booming sound with a burst of air that manifested as a visible ring behind him.
Is Mefisto flying? Thought the passengers of the Archangel.
As far as they were aware, except for [Inventions] that had flight abilities, there was actually no flight magic in RPG: Terroa. Even FlowerLord who uses BlackTech can't fly like that without the flight armor.
"Hah!" Seeing that Mefisto did not use any weapon this time, Hagrid grinned widely and used his fists to meet the attack.
Fist and against fist, strength against pure and undeniable strength, every attack that Mefisto unleashed, Hagrid matches it with the same attack pattern and the same strength without being overbearing or even breaking a single anxious sweat. He was clearly enjoying the fight in every manner.
They were making two different colored lines in the sky and would clash at least twice every two seconds. Once they separated, they will fly towards each other again and repeat this cycle over and over until they separate again and then fly towards the opponent for another round.
Hagrid was displaying a might that made Volt and Thorn quiver watching the battle in a stupefied attempt to measure where he was placed in the rankings of power in all of Terroa.
As far as everyone knew, the strongest player should be that arrogant bastard of the Illuminati, Gats, that TV celebrity. He had a live quest once where he had fought against an S-Ranked monster and won explosively. Except for Volt who was an Engineer and won a fight of that level with difficulty –as per rumors, Gats' fight looked easy enough though it was a long fight.
But Mefisto was different... if ranking him in monster ranks could be said to be in the late A-Rank or early S-Rank, then it would be an understatement that Hagrid could match that power with his own explosive might.
After all, there was an unofficial poll some time ago in the forums on The Hall of Heroes (RPG: Terroa's player portal) about the strength of famous players and on the top thousands, there were players who voted for certain characters that labeled them as players of The North.
It means that out of the millions of players of Terroa, there are some who had recognized the strength of the players of The North.
Hagrid might have been in that list of names.
Who knows... they never checked. There were just so many of those kinds of lists that they're too tiring to read one by one.
With every second that passed, the more they were left with an impression of an undeniable truth. The change that happened with The Destroyer was something that went beyond their understanding of the game. Included in that as well is the fact that even though it seems that this "Mefisto" had the strength of a Boss Mob of Terroa, Hagrid's strength was something that's also beyond what they knew in the game.
It's as if Hagrid discovered something in this game that is not publicly known, and is using it to become one of the strongest known players of Terroa.
If so, is Gats the same as him?
The booming sounds of exploding power thundered throughout the city. The fists that clashed and met for over a hundred times now made the area around them into a flattened plane with all the medium sized debris around them reduced into pebbles and dusts.
No one had seen one of them get a big advantage over the other since the last clash. The two were contending with power against power. With all their might, they aimed to destroy their opponent with their strength while Hagrid clearly displaying minimal signs of advantages as he smiled and slowly pushed Mefisto inch by inch.
Finally, in what seemed to have been the longest quarter of an hour, Mefisto screamed in rage as he took six steps back after the last clash, raised his head to glare at Hagrid. By now, both of them were on the ground.
Mefisto then dashed with open palms and sharp claw-like fingers, head first as if a beast thrusting itself towards its enemies, ready to tear the flesh of the insolent Terran in front of his eyes.
Hagrid was no less as violent as Mefisto.
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Seeing this action, Hagrid's smile widened even more as he took a martial posture with his left leg as a front, left arm lowered like a sword in front of him while his right fist was cocked into a cannon at his side, ready to unleash an explosive attack. In martial Arts, this was a basic stance.
His form looked really imposing and surprised even the passengers of The Archangel as they saw that Hagrid's strength wasn't just a boasting of his in-game abilities, it was also seen on the way he perfected this form.
"T-That's karate...right?" FlowerLord murmured but it was loud enough that the people around her could hear the words she'd spoken.
"Tiger Style." Cramer slanted his eyes. "I've seen professional martial artists do this on TV and movies before. Man oh man, I really want to go all out against these types!"
Anyone who hears this speech would get goosebumps.
Especially FlowerLord who was closest to him, she thought back to that fight during the War of Two Powers.
Did he not go all out back then? After all, he lost a precious MOD back then.
Hearing this battle hungry freak speak of another player in a serious manner is like an unspoken compliment in FlowerLord's ears. She gritted her teeth in anger and irritation. Her pride and goal was being strong but right now, she couldn't do anything else but watch the fight since they are in a deadlock against Hagrid's henchmen.
Mefisto reached Hagrid and his claws left a dark trail in midair as it poised to cut Hagrid to pieces. An illusion as if 'space' was being torn apart could be seen as the black trail where hi dark claws passed through remained 'empty'.
"Die, Terran!"
"Hup!"
With his fast approaching attack, Mefisto slashed down and left an empty space ripped apart on the path of his hand. Like slashing the surface of a still water, the image of Hagrid distorted as the claws made the arc to his head.
But within the next instant, the hand that was headed to Hagrid's went on the wrong direction as the sword-guard left hand had become a guiding path. It [redirected] the attack and sent it into his empty left side, leaving the people watching their fight in awe while Mefisto, himself, in shock.
"You...!?"
It was simple yet profound, easy yet extremely hard to do.
Not only instinct but also experience, intuition, and a certain depth in understanding the art of a complete defensive pose, that single skill Hagrid displayed made his underlings smile in admiration while the watchers from The Archangel sweating from surprise.
At the next instant, what felt like a large truck hit Mefisto's body, screwing him on his flank, seemingly destroying his innards from outside. He was blasted off into the sky rocketing for at least two hundred meters away.
His arms and legs limped as if a comet leaving traces of air behind it. His face remained surprised onto what had happened a moment ago.
Looking at the man on the ground, Hagrid's fist was facing up against him.
After finally stabilizing his posture with difficulty, Mefisto coughed out a mouthful of black blood as he spread a dark pair of black wings like it was some part of his body, the formation of the swords on his back scattered into black particles of miasma, floating about aimlessly, as he stared with anger on enemy down below.
But even though he seemed to have been beaten right at this moment, his general appearance looked nothing of a beaten lamb.
In fact, there wasn't even a single sign of him being weakened despite being defeated pitifully just now. With a calm expression replacing his anger, he looked down on Hagrid and spent the next few moments contemplating.
"Being trapped there for years really made me weak."
"Hm?" After what seemed to be a murmur that drifted in the air, Hagrid pondered on the words he felt he heard from Mefisto, as yet another set of changes began to happen on the image of his opponent.
Hagrid focused his gaze and stood straight watching, as the floating miasma of pitch black particles floating around Mefisto began spiraling into a massive vortex formation around his body.
"I really hate your race!" Mefisto said in anger and he screamed with all intent of destruction as the rotational force of the vortex began to increase in speed.
"So you're the metamorphosis type huh?"
Meeting deadly powerful strikes from the Demons' dark matter was not a first for Hagrid for he had battled and won over against many of these so-called Demons in the continent of Tiara. Yet Hagrid could utterly feel the excitement on his blood surging as of this moment because none of those Demons had ever been able to make him go all out and use all he had before.
None of the so called Demons of the north could match his prowess except for this entity in front of his eyes.
To that, a clear light of happiness was reflected on his eyes.
So he waited.
He waited for the short moments of his opponent's transformation to finish so that he could fight with all he had to his heart's content.
"Show me what you're made of!"
With Hagrid's cry, he extended his right arm into an "L" to his back as if gripping or waiting for something. And then, from the building where he jumped earlier, an object shot forth as if called by an incredible invisible force.
Spinning in midair, a giant bluish black axe magnetically came to his hand.
Its blade was almost the size of its handle's length, almost as if it was a scythe with its reverse blade resting parallel to its handle. The imposing dim glow of its blade could be seen in clear daylight, sending a chilling sensation to the people looking at it.
It had the same glow as that of the ones on every MOD equipped inventions and this sight surprised the passengers of the Archangel, almost making them yell in surprise.
"That's a Rune!" FlowerLord couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Runes are like MODs, a gift of the ancient Terran race. Many players coveted any information that could lead one to discover a Rune but even after countless cash and effort, resources, and time to searching even the tiniest microscopic lead to a Rune's location, none had ever actually succeeded.
"Hehehe... I don't know how you change your appearance, but I know from our clash that you are indeed the opponent I've been searching for!"
"Insolent fool!"
"Hah! I seek strength to be undefeated!" When Hagrid yelled, his smile was that of a battle maniac, completely absorbed to the fight.
Mefisto screamed in rage and every black substance in his vicinity began to converge and create a pulsing sensation. He was high up in the air and had the sky as the background. Every soul present at the time could feel the minute changes on him with their skin. Every second that passed, the passengers of the Archangel became more and more baffled. No one could explain just what kind of game could utterly change an avatar's appearance, let alone its attitude... to the point that it seemed he had a personality shift.
And so, they all come back to that basic question that's been bugging them from earlier... "Is he still a person?"
No matter if it's the situation or a mission, or perhaps a quest that The Destroyer had undertaken, but as per general knowledge of an online game, even if it's the miraculous Virtual Reality of the 22nd century, it's still inconceivable to think that it will change the avatar's appearance to this extent just to give emphasis to a certain high-level quest or mission.
Or even if it is part of the story of a certain high-level mission or quest... is it still possible for a game to influence a player's mental state?
So far, none of them have ever heard of a high-level mission that could arbitrarily change an avatar's appearance, not to mention its battle capabilities and skills, just to give spice to the story of the said mission.
That said, looking at Mefisto from below, making another change on his own appearance and even his own attitude and personality, even if it is indeed a high level mission, it's still too farfetched to think that the high-level mission had affected even the player's own mental stability.
To change a player's personality within the game... is it even possible?
With a final pulse, the expanding plasma of black particles was forcefully sucked into Mefisto's body, forming a layer of monstrous edges and spikes on his skin. His shoulders, head, and his skin had a clear and distinctive mix of ash-black and scarlet color, changing into a bloody complexion of a devil, with only a minimal change applied to his expressions.
But what were actually quintessentially eye-catching to his appearance are the two large horns that protruded from his forehead curving towards the back of his head as if it was part of his hair.
Looking at him right now proved the words he introduced himself earlier.
The Devil.
His expression was more vivid. The contours and outline of his face was lighter and his expression showed the dark and sinister intent that harbored on his chest. The clear look of disdain bore upon his challenger. Hagrid looked up, smiled widely, and jumped, flying about with solely his leg power with shocking speed to meet him.
Seeing this, Mefisto grinded his teeth upon the Terran's impudence and cried out in rage towards his attacker.
"A mere Terran going against me?!!"
The black skinned person earlier vanished and what looked down on every player from above was an existence that transcends human logic.
No.
His existence was not of a player.
The feeling he gave everyone there was of a very strong Boss NPC about to unleash its might against the challengers of his quest.
"Winning the war had made you lot forget your place." He said calmly but the second part of his speech was spoken in full screaming wrath that's not even declared for Hagrid but for someone else as he seemed to clutch his chest. "And it is because of Terra that all my plans had been ruined! Terra! I will make sure that this Human will die just like you did! Now that I'm free, I will obliterate everything you care about! Starting with this Terran fool!"
Mefisto stretched his right hand and pointed it down towards Hagrid. On his palm formed a vortex of black particles, converging into a sphere not bigger than his own palm.
Seeing this action made FlowerLord twitch and she took a step back. Loni saw this and asked her in alarm, "Hey, you're an expert with BlackTech. What is that thing doing?"
FlowerLord's eyes were trembling with fear. Her anger vanished and she had already forgotten that the person she was looking at right now was actually the person she's been chasing after in anger.
"That's a very high attack upgrade, Black Cannon. Remember that attack that destroyed Xargoal-6 back in The War of Two Powers?"
Loniand the rest were startled. Cramer, out of all of them, grits his teeth. His granddefeat on that battlefield was the one with the largest impact on his career inTerroa. Not to mention that it was a hot topic on the forums even until now, hehad watched the video of how Xargoal-6 was destroyed by a single man.
There was also Fuma's intel. The one who destroyed that city and annihilated many citizens and players was also called [Mefisto] –which is a different Mefisto as the one they are facing right now.
So how could he forget?
After he died and was resurrected thanks to the [Insurance System], he had heard of that incident time and time again from the member of his household and his friends when they're teasing him.
"You mean to say..." His eyes widened as he felt a premonition. He and FlowerLord backtracked then he yelled towards his Captain. "We have to leave this place!"
Thorn was surprised and saw the two of them retreating. "What's going on?"
"He's planning to destroy the city!"
Thorn was shocked as he understood the meaning. Seeing that Cramer, who rarely displayed a frightened expression, was retreating frantically, he gave the order to retreat to their allies.
From Volt to Samara, they followed behind Cramer, while Cassiopeia stood there looking up with clenched fists.
"Master! Master!"
FlowerLord went back to her and pulled her by the collar. "Stop it, you fool!"
The black sphere continued to absorb black particles and its size continued to become bigger and bigger as well.
Feeling that there was something wrong with Mefisto's actions, Hagrid took a moment to study his opponent and narrowed his eyes as his smile vanished, looking down on his team bellow.
"Take cover!" He screamed in alarm.
With his momentum slowing down a bit from his actions, Hagrid's expression became serious as he manipulated his inventory. From the first set of the three quick set up function of the game, his strongest set, the third set, was chosen and his equipment immediately changed.
After a flash of light on his body, he was now wearing glittering gold and purple chest armor. He had a helmet that was shaped like a mouth of a saber tooth tiger. His shoulder armors, arm guards, leg guards, shin guards, and all the rest of his armor set had been changed and he looked like a knight of some empire that had a high-ranking position.
Hagrid's brash and imposing aura vanished and what replaced it was a noble aura that seemed to be influenced by the sheer glow of his armor set.
But what remained imposingly threatening though, was the large axe that he now pulled behind him. He was preparing to meet whatever attack that his opponent was going throw at his direction.