"Morality belongs to those who wield power."

Cedric was awestruck as the image of a bloody titan rose from the ground.

Its divine might was palpable, unlike anything Cedric had ever known before. The red giant let out a booming laugh as its divinity slammed over their heads like a guillotine eager to finish the job. Cedric nearly panicked at the thought that he would have to fight a monster like that, but he’s never been more relieved to be wrong in his life.

The titan continued to fight the hobgoblin elite boss, smashing it left and until the battle devolved into a blinding, fiery match. He wiped the blood and sweat off his face, glad to have such a monster on their side.

Cedric jumped/limped his way back to the wall, where Kallie—his private healer for this battle—was waiting to whip him back into shape.

The civilian super gasped at the sight of him bouncing off of one leg, sending him a wave of healing aether from afar despite the increase in cost from the distance. “I literally just fixed you.”

Cedric shuddered from the pain the regeneration caused to bring him back to full health; he had to endure the sensation of receiving every injury again as bones snapped into place and his skin stretched to close cuts on his body.

It wasn’t the worst injury he ever had to heal before; the Tower took the icing on the cake and then some with all the near deaths he experienced there.This is just a drop in the bucket. “That’s what happens when you’re the MVP of the fight.”

“It looks like to me you're about to get that stolen.” Kallie said, jutting her chin at the fight between the two forces of nature.

The defense was nearly over, Cedric could tell, despite it being only about halfway through the night. There had only been two waves of monsters, and most of them were already dead while the dregs were running around like chickens with their heads cut off as their leaders—the elite and bosses—were either tied up in a fight or already dead.

The same thing seemed to be happening in the middle of the battlefield where the two juggernauts fought to the death. Coarse wails ripped through the air, silencing everyone who wasn’t already giving full attention to the divine retribution that was wrought upon the enemy of mankind.

He looked around, seeing if there was anywhere else he could help out. He doubted the kid needed anyway else to get in the way. Cedric tightened his fist. How the hell is he stronger than me? I’m a Challenger for God’s sake.

Gazing around the battlefield in front of the Western Wall, Cedric saw only a few more lingering fights, most of which were ending as he noticed them. Only the leader of the Bainbridge Defenders still actively fought, struggling to pin down the giant mountain lion as it desperately tried to reach its master, uncaring of the wounds the fully armored arcanist dealt to it.

Cedric leveraged his field to utilize the pure aether in the environment, which was surprisingly sparse since the arrival of the opaque, crimson titan avatar. A show-off and a selfish hog. Cedric scoffed despite knowing that such an issue was beyond the arcanist’s control.

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Fighting a monster like that elite boss took something special. Cedric thought he was, but that notion was put to rest—quickly and violently.

Shaking the stray thought from his mind, the soldier-turned-Challenger imbued his alignment into the aether he collected from the atmosphere, compressing it to scary levels thanks to his Sky Arts growth tree.

The best reward I’ve gotten from the Tower. He remarked, barely noticing the strain [Sky Sword: Prime]. He pushed Kallie back as he manifested his magic circle, Prime Atmos, using it to activate his one and only spell card, Ultimate Strike.

Then several things happened simultaneously in the moment before Cedric could launch himself.

First, the panther slipped from the armored arcanist’s grasp, running straight towards the golden bonfire in the center of the monster army’s remains. Second, the gravelly wails that sounded like a handful of pebbles being tossed into a blender abruptly stopped.

The golden fire began to vanish along with the red aura from the avatar. Its wielder fell to the ground as the roaring panther lunged towards him.

Cedric wasn’t going to let that happen.

The world distorted as the force of all his scores combined smashed into the ground, propelling him faster than he could perceive. For a monster like the mountain lion, he didn’t even need that; the aiming Cedric committed in advance did all the work for him.

He held his greatsword in front of his chest, allowing the colossal weight of it to drag him forward. The mountain panther didn’t bother to look in his direction so it never saw the seven-foot-long sword coming. Cedric's sword bisected the bus-sized monster in half at the waist, all thanks to a slice of the sky he was able to carry on the edge of his sword thanks to his skills.

The Challenger crashed into the dirt gracefully, only nearly tripping at the last second.He completely forgot about the guy who took on the real boss of the monsters until the kid hit the ground with a hard smack.

Cedric jumped to see what was behind him, then winced at the kid's unconscious, bloody body. He bent down, pulling him up at the arm to wrap around his shoulders. He was about to take him to the wall to get healed when he finally noticed something that’s been lurking at the edge of his awareness but just noticed now that the heat of battle died down.

The ground was shaking.

Screams rang from the town; Cedric's heart slammed in his chest. He needed to get back—there were people that needed his help.

The vibrations beneath his feet intensified. A sinkhole bigger than a house erupted right next to the pair, claiming countless monster corpses as two more boss monsters crawled out of its depths to join the fray. The grotesque insects screeched, and another horde of their soldiers followed in their wake.

Feeling at his nearly emptied reserves. Cedric gnashed his teeth together. He had to make a choice, either the people, or this—

He didn’t even get to finish the thought.

The kid he was contemplating leaving behind pushed off him, standing up on his own. He looked like he was about to stumble to the ground, but when Cedric tried to hurry up and help, the kid’s red, glowing eyes that shot towards him made him flinch.

“... Don’t worry about me.” The kid said, pulling what looked like to be a deer skull out of his vault as the monster rushed in their direction. “Go help the town.”

Cedric hesitated, but ultimately nodded, spending the last of his stamina for a boost of speed as he sprinted back to the wall. He ran as fast as he could, but his curiosity made him take a peek back.

The kid was slowly putting the helmet on his head even as countless monsters stampeded towards him, as if he was more careful of the artifact in his hands than he was of the giant insects almost upon him. The moment he put it on and let the dark shadows under the helm cover his face.

Loud cackles echoed through the battlefield as the very field around the arcanist morphed into something darker, more insidious.

Cedric shuddered seeing the kid change abruptly. Strong arcanists are always the craziest. The soldier shook his head, keeping his eyes forward and ignoring the massive amounts of arcanium stabbing into the countless dead bodies he passed.

Seeing something so evil manifest near their town, but he couldn’t judge. It was just like his master said. ‘Power is neither good nor evil; morality belongs to those who wield it.”

Whatever you gotta do kid. Cedric thought to himself as he jumped over the wall, plunging straight into battle with the giant centipedes that managed to dig underneath their defenses. Do whatever you gotta do to kill those monsters.