"…"
The danger zone… Did he fall asleep here?
The next moment, Darius woke up inside a ruined building surrounded by more automated turrets designated to attack anything it detected in a vicinity of 20 meters. The turrets were also equipped with silencers so as not to be too loud.
"Where the fuck am I…?"
He looked around confused at first, but then a sudden torrent of memories rushed inside his mind:
Two days ago, he calculated that Icarus would appear in this world on the 1st of July. Back in the game’s story, Icarus fell from the sky, and just like Ian, Amanda, and Rosy, he fell inside the Abyssal Wolves’ territory. More exactly, near the High-ranked monster: half-faced wolf, a half-white, half-black wolf that ruled the area.
Right now, Darius was inside the Half-faced Wolf’s territory and waited for Icarus to appear. It was currently 3 a.m. on July 1st. Inside the game, nobody was able to tell what time it was as the sky was constantly covered by clouds and the only light source were the constant flashes from the purple lightning, turning everything into one color.
So to understand… I’m in Southern City, at the periphery of the urban field, where miasma spirits take the form of monsters, as they don’t need a carcass like golems or zombies to move around. Exactly where the heroes will appear. And the reason I'm here... It isn't to save Icarus, but to make sure that everything unfolds as it should and counter any butterfly effects.
Darius frowned as he understood the previous Darius’ worries.
In his past life, some of the heroes that appeared in the world talked about how they suffered a near-death experience the moment they appeared in this world, saying how they fell in the middle of a monster wave. He suspected that his actions must’ve created some type of butterfly effect, making for more monsters to be around their spawning area than they normally should.
Now that he was there, he saw nothing different from normal… At least for now.
At least I got these.
He looked at his hands and saw his gloves with the transparent crystals at the back of his hands covered by a metallic surface, while more cables were going underneath his armor towards a diadem that was placed on his head.
-Bzzt~!-
He concentrated for a bit, and the crystal shone slightly with a blue light. The mana around him started gathering in his hand to create a slight blue spark. On the other hand, he focused on absorbing the miasma around him and creating a similar spark but of a dark-purple color.
Even the materials and design are the same… Then, I suppose, until the heroes appeared, we all took the same actions, with the exception of when we met the Demonic Wielders… That must mean, with the exception of me and the one from Annabelle’s world, everyone else brought these weapons as well.
He gazed at the three automatic turrets, the D-eagle handcannon at his waist, the magazines around his belt, the additional frag grenades, the smoke grenades, and the BULLDOG rifle with armor-piercing shots. He carried extra spirit pills, dopamine, and healing serums in several pockets of his armor, constructed of the field-boss-ranked Infernal Dog he hunted. Additionally, there was another anti-tank sniper, named Mobile Cannon, on his back. This one was surprisingly larger than the previous one.
The two gloves were Darius’ greatest weapon and also his greatest secret. With one glove, he was able to annul any type of ability using miasma, and with the other, any ability based on mana. Basically, if the crystal was from a normal boss-ranked monster, then any monster below that rank will have their abilities easily nullified. A field boss-ranked monster will have its abilities disturbed, while a monster with 1 rank higher will have its abilities weakened. More than that, there will be no effects.
Of course, he could also use some abilities of those monsters at will, but sometimes he preferred to just disturb the enemy and execute them with his own skills.
These weapons were also exactly what helped him acquire the powers to gain the rank of [Demon Lord] in his past life after getting the crystals from higher-ranked monsters.
-GRWOL~-
-BZZT!-
A loud growl resounded, and the turrets turned to the side. Darius also looked in that direction and saw the black-white wolf fighting with more oversized spider-like dark spirits, perhaps for territory.
[Attack mode: OFF]
Darius pressed a button on his wristband connected wirelessly to the turrets to prevent them from making any mistakes, and he just left the monsters to fight it out on their own. He wanted to intervene as little as possible, as all the monsters from this area were needed for Icarus’ advancement.
.
10 whole hours passed. It was 1 p.m., and there were still no signs of Icarus. Darius continued to look around, his anti-tank sniper in position while keeping his guard up. He had already finished half the bottle of water, and he was already eating his fourth protein bar. Normally, he wouldn’t feel hungry in such tense moments while in the middle of a monster field. But, maybe because nothing new happened or because it was just that quiet, his senses relaxed for a moment and his stomach started rumbling, requesting food even in such a predicament.
-Grrr~!-
"?!"
Behind the wall from his right, a deep growl attracted his attention, and Darius placed the protein bar he was eating down, then moved from his location. After a bit, a black wolf appeared and got closer to the deserted food.
-SLASH!-
In but a moment, the wolf’s neck got slashed with the plasma knife, and he quickly hid himself, the corpse turning into smoke. The next moment, another two wolves appeared.
From atop the elevated stairs, Darius gazed bellow at the two wolves that smelled around, detecting the miasma released by their companion's corpse and sensing some danger. Being spirit monsters, they didn't bleed; instead, they only expelled a murky substance that quickly evaporated and corrupted anything it touched. For that reason, Darius was wearing his gas mask at all times, together with his full armored combat costume.
The wolves continued to look around, and one of them couldn’t resist the smell of the protein bar and went to take a bite, while the other, more suspicious, continued to stay on guard. After a while, he decided to also look upwards, only to see the flash of the plasma knife's blade. The next moment, its head fell with a thud, alarming its companion. Turning in a hurry, Darius quickly rushed forward and inserted his other arm in the wolf’s mouth to block its vocal cords so as not to call for reinforcements, then swiftly slashed it and cut its head as well, killing the two wolves in a moment.
The gigantic spiders must’ve alerted the wolves. They started patrolling the area to protect their territory. I must find another hiding spot.
He quickly pressed on a button atop the turrets that immediately made them retract their legs, the turret, and turn into a 40 by 40 cm cube with a handle, easy to carry. He placed the sniper on his back, attached the three cubes to his belt together with his knife, grabbed a smaller gun with a silencer, and grabbed his protein bar, then moved away.
"…"
His whole equipment easily weighed about two times his weight. The sniper filled with ammo was about 22kg, his costume another 24kg, one turret about 10 kg multiplied by 3, and his backpack filled with ammo and explosives was another 18kg. Overall, about 94kg in total.
However, even with the added weight, his chiseled muscles and sturdy tendons made it for him to move without that much of a problem, swiftly moving around the area and looking around for a better hiding spot.
Now that he had finished eating, Darius was able to free his other hand wearing the miasma crystal.
I’m yet to test this ability, so let’s see if I can use it the same as in my past life.
He silently snapped his fingers, and a wave of barely-visible miasma was sent all around him for a distance of over 200m. Everything that wave hit, Darius was able to perceive it, just like a sonar.
The wave then struck multiple objects surrounded by miasma, informing him that miasma-infested beings or even spirits born from it were in his vicinity.
There are three wolves patrolling, and near me, another two gigantic spiders have infiltrated their territory. Let’s help those dogs find the intruders.
He grabbed a rock and threw it behind the wall, striking a metallic plate that resounded loudly, alarming the spiders and attracting the three wolves.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
-GRRR!-
Shortly after, the wolves appeared, and after seeing the spiders, they started fighting against each other almost instantly. Taking advantage of their conflict, Darius rushed over another wall and continued to snap his fingers so as to continuously gain intel over the enemy’s position around himself.
Shit!
In but a moment, he halted his steps and dashed to the side, behind a turned-wrecked car.
-GRRR!-
There, the white and black wolf stepped forward, scouting the area and smelling the air where Darius was a moment ago.
…. In-game, he wasn’t that huge.
If the other wolves were slightly bigger than normal ones, seemingly as big as a motorbike, then this one was as huge as a smaller house.
Although Darius saw even bigger monsters, the difference between his expectations and reality left him a bit conflicted. Although he already saw it before while battling the spiders, his perception made him think he was still not that huge.
… Perhaps it’s because of the distance. He seemed smaller before.
Not detecting anything, the half-faced wolf just turned around and continued on its way, looking around. It heard the noises from its brethren fighting against the spiders, but the wolf paid it no mind as it had full trust in its minions being able to win against the intruders.
-AWOOOO!-
It cried out loudly, then jumped on top of more debris, going to scout other areas further away, leaving this place to its subordinates at incredible speed.
The reason why Darius was so on guard against a mere high-ranked wasn't just because of the butterfly effect, but because the Abyssal Wolves are a few times stronger than the Infernal Dogs as a race.
Many times, a stronger type of monster could simply counter another type; occasionally, a higher-ranked monster ran into trouble or even lost to a lower-ranked monster. The ranks themselves showed the power output of the respective monster within the respective race and were not an overall power-ranking system. Hence why, even though that half-faced wolf was only high-rank, its combat level was similar to a boss-ranked one, showing the same danger level. The ranks themselves were given to the purity of their crystals, but that didn't necessarily equalize the power level.
"…"
It left.
Darius came out of his hiding spot from inside the wrecked car and then continued to wait beside a broken wall, keeping an eye on the sky. However, not long after coming out, a thunderous sound that persisted and became louder and louder attracted his attention from right above.
"Finally…!"
He whispered with a grin on his face.
On the dark sky, constantly lightened by dark-blue lightning, a comet-like object of a fiery-golden color was descending from the sky like a meteorite towards the ground. It was shining strongly and beautifully, and it was lighting up the sky with its shine and power.
-GROWL!-
-AWOOO~!-
-KHAAH!-
More growls, cries, and shrieks from both spiders and wolves resounded all around as they quickly ran away from the area. Some even went past Darius, but they all ignored him as the strong presence of the mana-filled meteor was scaring away any miasma-infested being while also purifying the miasma around.
"… Wow."
Even Darius was surprised at how the sun-like shine of the meteor was killing the infested bushes and grass while scaring all the miasma-infested beings away.
Darius rushed towards the area where the meteor was most probably going to crash while continuing to stare at it so as not to lose sight of it, but at the same time also being mesmerized by its shine.
The meteor fell behind a ruined building, and with a thunderous sound, a mana wave completely covered the whole area, also purifying it while dealing minimum damage to the surroundings.
Woah… It feels like I took a shower in holy water.
Darius experienced a sudden cooling down and relaxation following the wave's impact, making his entire body feel lighter and easier.
"?!"
However, the next moment, his heart started beating wildly as a sharp stab-like sensation into his very soul made Darius kneel down with both hands to his chest, a feeling like throwing up yet having his neck stuck, taking him over.
W-what is this? It shouldn’t hurt at all, as mana's beneficial to humans, especially in such a pure form…! This excruciating pain reminds me of-… Of when I died at the hands of the heroes.
Darius recalled his last moments from back then and recalled how the most excruciating pain wasn’t when his chest was penetrated, when bullets pierced his body, or when he was slashed multiple times. but when the essence of mana penetrated his being and reached his soul. That pain felt like all his organs were stuck or functioned in reverse, but on a more spiritual level. It was complicated to explain, but the word pain was the only thing that reverberated through his mind until he woke up from the influence of miasma and started recalling all he did.
Back then, he was unable to understand what that pain was about, but now he knows.
Miasma… my soul… It’s still corrupted by it…!
"Shit!"
Reaching this conclusion, Darius quickly used his gloves and made a barrier around himself that pushed the mana away from him.
"Haah, haah, haah…"
He had a hard time breathing while his whole body was sweating all over. Pretty sure this never happened when he purified and reconstructed his body with the essence of mana.
But well, maybe because that mana wasn’t as pure as this one, it wasn’t able to affect me so deeply, only concentrating on my physical body and not on my spiritual one.
He looked at his trembling hands and gently touched his neck, which was covered with a black-leather material against miasma. Underneath the protective leather, he was able to feel his own veins pulsing blood, bulging like worms.
That… was dangerous…
He slowly got up and tried to feel his own body again. On one hand, he was feeling his body much easier and livelier, but on the other, his pulse was accelerated and his breath rushed. It was obvious that mana was both essential and harmful to his body and also to his soul. But at least, as long as the mana wasn’t of such high purity, he should still be able to use it.
I can’t have miasma in me. I understand if I still had some influences from my past life, but to literally have my soul stained with it? That’s ridiculous…
Darius knew that miasma-infested beings were much stronger than normal living beings, the miasma being the essence of destruction. And as such, normally any miasma-infested being would have at least the tinniest bit of ability to summon miasma from within their own bodies, but Darius can’t recall being able to do that ever since he woke up the second time.
… Maybe that was because in that world there was miasma already everywhere, and I simply couldn’t tell, but…. What about now?
The air itself was already purified by the mana-wave just now, and miasma was quickly filling it up, but it still needed some time until it reached Darius’ area. So right now, he decided to try it out, focusing within to summon the tinniest bit of miasma.
"… Ugh."
At first, a cold little wind started to appear within his chest, but then his whole body started warming up, and the warmth rushed towards his chest, making it hurt while the coldness was getting smaller and smaller until it disappeared.
It was clear that his body was functioning on mana, so the moment that miasma appeared, every bit of mana inside his body struck against it. However, the amount of mana was still too small to harm his miasma-soul, but at the same time, Darius was feeling tired as he unconsciously used almost his whole power just to get rid of the tinny little string of miasma that escaped from the depths of his soul.
The fact that his whole body wasted this much strength just to fight against a small amount of miasma proves the reason why, once infested, the chances of getting purified are only if the mana source is about a hundred times that of miasma.
I thought it was weird… After all, the energy pills are still effective and don’t harm me... Ah, is just so confusing, I hardly get it...
After he absorbed some of the pure mana from around, just enough to replenish his exhausted reserves, he continued to have his mana glove activated to repel the purified field from around while walking forward behind the building, where he saw the cracked ground. A small crater was visible, and inside of it, a blonde boy was resting while his whole body was shining with the same fiery aura as the meteor just now.
This world's hero is here. Now I need to hide before he wakes up.
After confirming that the boy was Icarus, Darius quickly left the area and hid inside the ruined building beside them. After exactly one minute, the area was once again exposed to miasma, letting the monsters that ran away reconquer their territory.
From 12 o’clock, more wolves seem to scout the area carefully. Meanwhile, at five o'clock, the Southern City had already sent the rescue squad to get Icarus back to the camp. The target’s now starting to wake up… Alright kid, in-game, this was the part of the tutorial together with the training scene. Now show me what you got as one of the main characters.
With cold eyes, Darius observed the 16-year-old kid who just woke up and wiped his eyes, still unaware of his predicament.
.
What is this place…?
After opening his eyes and finally looking around, Icarus remained baffled to see that absolutely nothing resembled the world he once remembered.
The streets, the buildings, and even the sky itself were changed. It was as if… he woke up in an apocalyptic world with nobody around while only ruins surrounded him as far as the eyes could see.
"Hello…? Anyone here?"
He tested the waters by asking aloud, but not too loudly, as if afraid of waking up something dormant.
"Huh? What is this?"
All of his fear vanished like smoke as he turned to look at his own body and finally noticed the fiery aura it was emitting. He then became aware of the power he felt inside.
All of this didn’t terrify or scare him, but rather only made him more excited while staring around, only to once again confirm that there was nobody around.
He had always been a fearless and brave young man, but the adults had labeled him as a problem child. He hated to be ordered around, and for sure, he hated to be looked down upon by others. He didn’t shy away from conflict; rather, he liked to exchange some fists now and then, and he was used to being alone all the time, even though he was part of a prestigious family.
Being alone once again in a strange world didn’t seem to affect him all that much, making him only click his tongue at something that would make any other child cry and scream in despair.
[You finally woke up…]
"Wow. Who- or rather, what the heck are you?"
In front of him, a spiritual form made out of a similar aura as his floated while slowly turning more and more visible. After being able to see it, Icarus’ eyes opened wide and remained muted for a moment. The fiery ghost-like thing had the same appearance as his own from when he was a 7-year-old kid while wearing the exact same clothes as his own right now.
Asking the same question, "What are you", the ghost got closer and introduced itself.
[I am a personification of your desires. I am your power.]
"My… power? What?"
The ghost wanted to explain further, but then a growling sound attracted its attention, and its face turned urgent.
[We have guests. There’s no time for further explanations.]
"Huh?"
Icarus also turned and saw three black, shadowy wolves with bright purple eyes coming closer and closer while their sharp and white teeth flashed ominously from the purple lightning.