“Hurry up! It’s not that much further.” A middle-aged man said, taking deep breaths as he desperately pulled his child behind him. He was followed by several other families, all of whom had little but the clothes on their backs. They took a few seconds to take a breather as the city came into view, but their expressions tightened when they heard the howling sounds behind them. Cursing their misfortune, they can only grit their teeth and continue to run.
These civilians, much like others in a similar situation, came from the numerous settlements dotted across the land that used to flourish. Unfortunately, the Waves put an end to that. The time and resources spent on building a city were tremendous, one that was especially difficult given that the economy was often in shambles right after the Waves. Those who still tried found their kingdoms stretched once the next round of Waves came. As such, dotted along the continent were the ruins of numerous cities. However, the city ruins were not necessarily empty.
Just because the rulers did not see fit to expend the resources did not mean that others wouldn’t settle them. Many people settled around the continent, either in the ruins of an old city or forging on their own. The reasons were often straightforward and along the lines of starting a new life or creating wealth which was far easier than in a city. This was because most rulers only paid serious attention to those within their immediate jurisdiction and turned a blind eye to the rest, as most settlements were self-sufficient but rarely more than that. In other words, it would’ve probably cost more to maintain the settlements than leave them to their own devices. While this alone often encouraged those to start a new life in the wilderness, it came with the issue of safety as it would receive no official protection and often wouldn’t have enough money to hire adventurers. This demerit was now fully shown as several settlements were rushing toward their nearest city as a direct result of the Wave.
The barking sounds got louder as the man desperately urged his family on. Unfortunately, his wife, who was right behind him, tripped and fell. This, on its own, was not much of a problem. The real issue was when someone running behind them hastily stepped on her ankle. “You bastard!” The man shouted when he saw this and quickly returned to help his wife.
“Honey, I think it sprained.” The wife replied with a grimace.
The man swore under his breath as he went to pick her up.
“No, honey. Leave me. Take our son and go.”
“What nonsense are you talking about? You didn’t leave me when I insisted on leaving the city, and I’m sure not going to leave you now.”
“Mommy, let’s hurry.”
“Sweetie, you see that city. You need to run as fast as you can there, okay? Your father and I will be right behind you.”
“Come with me.”
The man was about to admonish his son as he agreed with his wife’s thoughts but suddenly stopped and looked to the right at the distinct sound of horse hooves. Grasping at straws, the man quickly tried to wave down words. He didn’t think the cart would stop as he had fully seen what people could do when their lives were in danger. However, to his surprise, the horse seemed to be slowing down. Once he came to a stop, he saw a very simple cart that was being driven by an old white-haired lady with tiny black spots on her skin.
“Well, don’t just stand there gawking. They are right on my heels. Hurry up and get on.”
With a flash of purple, Martel and several other people appeared within the town.
Seeing where they were, the people’s expressions had a mix of bewilderment and relief before turning to him. “Thank you, Sir Shield Hero.”
Martel simply nodded before he sent them toward the shelter before he went towards the walls. Once he had given out basic instructions to his party, Martel had gone around rescuing people from settlements that would be unable to make it in time. While this number was only a dozen people, they were a dozen lives that would have otherwise been lost. Generally speaking, Martel wouldn’t have even bothered except that he was the only one who could quickly and efficiently save them, and he wanted to give his party some time to act independently in a serious situation. Eventually, he came across a well-armored figure. “Hestia, what is the current situation?”
“Sir, as we discussed, the basic defenses have been completed. Nothing else of note has occurred.”
Martel nodded as he glanced down from the walls below to the defenses. A simple turtle defense was the common tactic when defending the city from a Wave. Close the gate before the Invaders arrive and bar them from passing the walls. While this wasn’t a bad strategy, per se, there was a better option. Instead, closing the gates and creating a few layers of defense beyond held several advantages.
Once the gates were closed, they remained closed. As a result, any survivors were often left outside the cities with only climbing ropes to get, if they were lucky. Given how many people were still rushing to the city, relatively few could make it. Additionally, this also meant that the defenders couldn’t leave the city. They forfeited precious time at the beginning of the Wave when many Invaders were spread out in smaller numbers to thin the herd. They could prevent them from regrouping with others by taking care of them now.
Hestia hesitated for a moment before she continued. “Sir, I want to tell you something about Megumi.”
“What happened?”
“I’m not sure. Not five minutes ago, she suddenly became extremely restless and then took off after saying, ‘I have to go.’”
Martel slightly frowned upon hearing this. This was not her normal behavior, as she had been quite obedient to him since she had joined the party. Martel glanced to the side. “I’ll go find her since my ride is here.”
“Mommy, mommy, they’re getting closer.” The child said atop the cart that was fleeing towards the city.
“I know. We are almost there.” The mother replied, knowing full well that, at the current speed, they wouldn’t make it in time. Just as she said this, a blink-hound suddenly leaped up and disappeared, only to reappear above them. Startled by the sudden event, the parents quickly covered the child and braced for impact. With a massive wack… Nothing seemed to happen. They quickly open their eyes only to briefly see the blink-hound landing on the ground behind them and the old lady retracting her cane.
“Thank you.” The man said.
“Don’t thank me yet. We’re not safe, and I don’t know how many more of those I have in me.”
The blink-hounds didn’t care about their fallen kin. Rather the scent of blood only encouraged them further. It only took a few seconds more for the next blink hounds to attack. Though probably unintentional, two attacked simultaneously, flanking the horse’s sides. One blinked from the side to latch onto the horse’s throat while the other attacked its rear.
Making a quick decision, the old lady pointed her staff towards the blink-hound attacking the horse’s throat, and a burst of ki shot out, impacting the blink-hound and knocking it away. Unfortunately, this meant the other blink hound’s attack struck true and ripped out a sizable chunk of the horse’s hind. The horse wailed and nearly stumbled before it continued out of survival instinct. However, it was clear that the horse slowed down in conjunction with its blood loss.
The old lady gritted her teeth but could only persevere. The only other option she could think of was to use herself as a decoy by getting off the carriage or having them rush the city. Both options would’ve been futile given the nature and number of the blink hounds. As such, she could only persevere and hope they would make it. However, she also knew it would be extremely difficult for them to do so without receiving help. With her experience, she knew full well that help would be unlikely. In response to the Wave, most cities would turtle almost immediately, and none but the hero parties would dare venture out toward the Waves. However, these thoughts and worries were sent to the back of her mind as she could only forge a bloody path ahead.
At the smell of blood, the blink hounds only sped up their assault, and several flew into a rage. A few more blinked into the range of the cart but were quickly vanquished with a burst of ki from the old lady. However, this did not come at a cost as the old lady had already begun to sweat profusely, pant, and the subtle black spots on her body enlarged. Eventually, she could not keep up, and the horse was attacked again. The horse almost stumbled but managed to keep itself up, but could no longer run and slowed to a walk, much to its dismay. The old lady could only curse under her breath as she turned to face the blink hounds coming from behind.
At this point, the old lady didn’t know what to do. Run? Even before the blink hounds had appeared, she would have been in no condition to flee from them. Send out the family of three? They were just as poorly equipped. Stand her ground? It seemed like the only thing she could do, but it would only delay the inevitable. Her mind raced, trying to find the means of escape, but those thoughts were pushed aside as three blink hounds, knowing that the horse was out of commission, fixed their target on the most dangerous of their prey.
Nearly simultaneously, the three blink hounds dumped in the air and disappeared, only to reappear in front of the old lady. Just as the old lady was about to fight hard, she suddenly heard a feminine shout behind her. In the next instant, a silver gauntlet-clad fist appeared in her field of vision, smashing the head of the blink hound and sending it directly into the other two bouncing them away.
The old lady was startled as she quickly took in the person standing before her. She had long silver hair, something so rare that it startled the old lady as her brain spun rapidly. The only notable feature was that the blood vessels under the girl’s skin glow in her eyes were more draconic.
“Is it you?” The old lady whispered in shock.
However, the girl did not respond, if she had even heard her, and instead thrust herself towards the attacking blink hounds. There were not many, only a couple dozen, with more rapidly approaching. While this number nearly sent the four of them into despair, it seemed like little threat to the girl, at least for the moment.
Megumi didn’t know why she had a faint sense of unease, only that something was calling her, and she seemed to be getting closer. It wasn’t until she reached the cart that this sinsation relaxed. She’d become so flustered on the way that she had subconsciously activated her Blood Burning Talent. Unfortunately, because she activated it early, the side effects had begun.
Caught off guard by the sudden bout of weakness, Megumi briefly staggered. Sensing her weakness and seeing the disruption in her rhythm, the blink hounds quickly took advantage of the opening. Two nearby quickly flanked her from the front and behind. Though Megumi could defeat the blink hounds even in her weakened state, it wasn’t guaranteed. Rather, her unfamiliarity with the side effects and lack of experience caused her to be flustered, and she only began to defend herself.
Just as the blink hounds attacks were about to land, a ki-imbued staff suddenly shot and skewered the one in front of Megumi. Megumi was shocked but quickly turned around to protect herself from the other, only to see the old lady sent flying with the ki-infused hand, much like what Megumi had done upon her arrival. However, the old lady did not look as valiant as Megumi. She looked like she had a foot in the grave as a trace of black blood spilled out of her mouth, and the black spots now dyed nearly a quarter of her skin black.
Megumi was startled and had a strange sense of déjà vu but thought little of it as the few remnants of blink hounds quickly approached. Seeing the old lady’s bad condition, she quickly put herself between the old lady in there and the blink hound, but her guard was unnecessary as an arrow cleanly struck and instantly killed it. Surprised, the two of them looked at the source of the arrow only to see it had been fired by Cynthia, who was quickly approaching and carrying Martel. After a few more well-placed arrows, the remaining blink hounds seemed to wake out of their hunger-induced stupor. They quickly retreated to recoup with the blink hounds that were howling behind them.
Martel dismounted Cynthia and walked over to Megumi before giving her a flick on the forehead. “You little brat, don’t do something so foolish. You’re not alone anymore. You can always ask for help.” Martel rebuked, though there was no anger in his voice.
As for the old lady, she seemed far more relaxed about being saved, but something that Martel had said seemed to make her a little depressed.
Martel quickly cast a heal on the horse and brought it back up to good condition before he turned to the old. “Dougal’s curse?” He couldn’t help but ask with a frown.
A trace of shock appeared on the old lady’s face. “You know of it?”
“I do. I won’t be able to cure it, but I can at least suppress it.” Martel replied before he quickly cast a couple of spells. The black spots on the old lady’s body quickly receded, but only by half, and wouldn’t shrink any further. Martel couldn’t help but frown at this. “You must’ve been cursed for a while.”
“Indeed, I’ve gotten used to it.”
“Given the current situation, we won’t be able to heal you for now. The resources required to make the cure are very rare and will take some time to find.”
The look of surprise that just faded from the old lady’s face reappeared even stronger. “You know how to make the cure? I heard that the only person who knew how to make the cure had died hundreds of years ago.”
Martel could help but be surprised at this information. “I guess the person I know may be related to them.”
“Lily’s pharmacy? I would see if they had opened as they had closed before I had been cursed.”
Martel nodded. “Indeed, but we can talk more when we get to safety.” He said as he glanced in the distance as the sounds of the blink hounds were subtly drawing near.
The old lady nodded and got atop her cart.
“Can’t you just teleport us back?” Cynthia asked with a pant and displeasure as Martel mounted her. She had been running nearly nonstop since they had teleported to the Wave, and she wanted to break.
“I could, but I just use a lot of mana. Besides,” he began as he leaned forward, his breath tickling her ear, “I want to spend some more quality time with you,” he teased.
Cynthia could only gnash her teeth as her facial blush from her exertion became a little redder for another reason.
Martel, who acted like he hadn’t done anything, reached down. “Megumi, come on up.”
There was a brief pause as the old lady suddenly dropped her reins, but she quickly and calmly joined Martel, and they rushed off toward the city.
…
“Sir, should we move to the next phase?” Hestia asked Martel amidst the outer city defenses. Though she was trying to appear strong, the tiredness in her eyes showed that she, like many, was starting to reach their limit.
It had been nearly 2 hours since the Wave began. Roughly an hour ago, a large number of invaders appeared. While these groups were more than the previous few, it was still insufficient to justify any sizable defense. As a result, the several heroes who were around, their parties, mercenaries, adventures, and other able-bodied people had been traveling around the vicinity, killing them off. The enemy numbers were dwindling, but this did not mean it was over. Rather far from it. There were fewer because they had begun to gather in larger groups further away from the city, and their numbers were slowly growing.
Each race of the invaders typically had a leader. The goblins, for example, had a goblin king. Most of the invaders were disorganized in the absence of these leaders, but the leaders were here now. Unlike regular creatures, they were capable of leading organized assaults. Strangely, these creatures seemed focused wholeheartedly on killing as many humans as possible. One would expect most creatures in their circumstance to look for and secure food in the wilderness, but these leaders appeared to be on a mission. Why it was so targeted, no one knew.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Martel glanced in the distance at the ever-increasing horde and gave Hestia a nod.
“Sound the horn.” Hestia immediately ordered to signal to all the nearby parties that were still out hunting to return. At the same time, the forward defenses were being taken down as there would be far too many creatures in the horde to maintain the defensive line for long with their temporary defenses. Everyone would withdraw into the city walls to recover and recharge for the upcoming battle. Only those who were completely confident in their strength would dare step outside the walls when the horde arrived, while the rest remained atop the walls assisting where they could.
Martel glanced at Hestia. “Go and rest. We will be going all out during the attack.
Hestia nodded and withdrew.
Martel stayed atop the wall as his eyes narrowed into the distance. He had been having a strange feeling, almost a feeling of dread in that direction. He’d already sent many SRIN in that area to gain information but ran into a few issues.
Martel didn’t have a lot of spare SRIN. Most of them were busy constructing his base. While they could be recalled, it would take time and resources that wouldn’t be justified and leave him in a weaker state. Secondly, he had no SRIN placed in the area ahead of time. Finally, the SRIN were completely ineffective as they approached the Wave. It wasn’t that they broke, but their signals became jumbled. Martel could only summarize that, near the Wave, the space would cause distortion and interference. It would take time to analyze what was wrong and if it could be counteracted, but it was not a priority, and it would take time. Finally, Martel was a little worried.
Thanks to Rio, Martel knew fully that the demon should appear with each Wave. However, this information was considered top-secret. Aside from the fact that it would cause even more worry for it to be widely known that a sentient species was amongst the invasion, there was little to no evidence the demons existed. They rarely made themselves known, often hiding amongst the invaders to disappear later. As of yet, only a couple dozen were confirmed to have been killed, less than half of those that should have appeared. The rest appeared to have disappeared without a trace. It was hard to know if there was some kind of broader conspiracy or if they were just lying in hibernation until the rest appeared.
Martel was extremely wary of the demons. The reason was quite simple. He had the memory of meeting one from his alternate timeline self. While it was significant later in that timeline, he was about the same strength. He had needed to flee after an extremely difficult fight. Based on his alternate timeline memory and the little bits of information gleaned secretly raiding Royal libraries, the demons appeared to have the strength in the SS category, the same category he had just barely entered into and the strongest category of beings in this world.
Even with his wariness, if Martel did happen to run into a demon, he would try to kill them. Even after all his surveillance with the SRIN, he had yet to find a single demon, which meant they were hiding too deeply or could avoid his surveillance altogether. He wasn’t worried for himself but for those around him. If the demons decided that he and his party were a threat, they would take action to strangle them in the cradle. Though there was no direct evidence, several promising young talents had died mysteriously over the last several hundred years. Martel did not want that to occur to someone he cared about. All he could do was gain strength while waiting for the moment to prepare itself.
…
With a *thwomp* a large club wielded by an orc made contact with Hestia’s shield. Perhaps slightly taken aback by the surprising amount of force from the strength coming from the smaller woman in front of them, the orc couldn’t help but be taken aback before slightly losing his footing. In that brief opening, a bolt shot over Hestia’s head and pierced its neck.
Echidna slightly grinned as she had for the numerous orcs she had killed. The brief celebration was enough for her to be caught off guard when the blink hounds suddenly appeared on her flank. Startled, she tried to dodge, but the brief surprise slowed her. Luckily, a shield suddenly interceded for her, sparing her from the attack and giving Pasiphae a clear opening to cleave the blink hound in two.
“Don’t let your guard down.” Martel reminded Echidna as he withdrew his shield.
Echidna could only nod in embarrassment before quickly preparing to find another target.
About 15 minutes ago, the hordes decided to attack simultaneously, approaching the north, east, and southern gates. Currently, the northern gates were the most secure as many centaurs had appeared, wantonly slaughtering. The southern gate was having the most difficult time overall. However, lightning would often save those who were in a predicament. Helen was using her lightning abilities from her physique, drawing lightning from the storm clouds that had begun appearing above or casting her on magic, effectively becoming artillery, decimating enemies. Martel glanced at the approaching storm clouds and frowned. He dreaded and liked this type of weather thanks to the unpleasant memories and tactical advantage, respectively. However, he quickly brushed those feelings aside.
The western gate, where Martel was stationed, was the most defensible despite facing the bulk of the horde’s attacks. This is because both Martel and Yutsuki’s parties and the mercenaries were defending together, and they were all power leveled.
Overall, except for concerns for stamina, the hordes of invaders pose little threat to any of them.
The blink hounds, which are effectively slightly stronger than normal dogs to them, were only a nuisance because they could teleport past the tankers requiring the protection of the rear combatants. The goblins were cannon fodder. They were known for being relatively cunning, but that could not come into play due to the nature of an open battlefield and their complete lack of tools, having little more than sticks for weapons. The biggest threat was orcs, who were relatively simple-minded as they focused on brawn. However, they weren’t that strong, respectively, as the strongest among them only reached Rank D. Theoretically, the average soldier could deal with any orc. However, this did not mean one could ignore their numbers or be complacent in one’s current strength, as this was only the second of nine waves, each more terrifying than the last.
Eventually, the tide of the battle began to sway as the barely organized offensive lost cohesion. Martel’s complexion suddenly became dignified as he turned to Hestia. “There’s something I have to do. Hold down the fort while I’m gone.”
Hestia was surprised but gave a quick nod in response before she glanced at Rio, who nodded back, showing her complacency in assisting.
Helen could only sigh in exhaustion. Thanks to her persistence, the southern gate managed to withstand the horde first, giving her some breathing room. Thanks to her physique, she could use a combination of her stamina and mana to cause lightning strikes, enhanced thanks to the heavy clouds above. Just as she started to relax, she suddenly tensed up as she looked towards the clouds in shock.
Helen had a natural connection to the forces surrounding lightning. However, it seemed now as if something had interfered with that connection. She only experienced this when someone else was controlling lightning.
A sudden ping sound rang through the battlefield, accompanied by a mana wave. Startled, Hestia noticed differing colors appear above the heads of everyone she could see. Before she could think further, her complexion suddenly changed as she noticed an energy spike in the clouds. The next moment, a thick bolt of lightning struck the ground, but this lightning was abnormal. It didn’t branch out like normal lightning but stayed in one bolt, and its shape was that of a chain.
The lightning chain struck the very center of a large group of invaders attempting to regroup. It struck an orc killing it nearly instantly before it spread out like a web of electricity, leaving only charred corpses in its wake. Only after the third bolt of chain lightning struck did Helen finally move. Her body turned and lightning, and she shot up into the clouds. Upon arriving where she felt the spike of energy, she found nothing. She was confused but could only turn back when she glanced down and noticed that 75% of the roughly 50% remaining invaders had been wiped out from what appeared to be a single spell. Whatever the magic was, it was terrible as it had tremendous destructive power and did not cause friendly fire. She couldn’t help but wonder why the spell caster didn’t move until now but could only give up in the end.
The caster of the magic forcefully swallowed down a mana potion as he grit his teeth. Martel’s face was slightly pale as he resisted the urge to throw up the potion he had just swallowed. Being the third potion he had taken a short succession, he was experiencing the effects of mana poisoning. Because mana was a byproduct of the soul, the soul was only used to its unique mana. In contrast, the mana in potions contained foreign mana. While he could still use another and had no long-term side effects, the body and soul would reject it too much. Once he had settled down, Martel turned to Cali, who had come with him. “Let’s go.”
…
Within the forest, a man walked at a leisurely pace with a frown on his face. Though he looked almost entirely human, this was the demon that had come to the Wave. After undoing the seal on his strength, he approached the edge of the forest to obtain information. Shortly after he appeared, most of the invaders had been wiped out by lightning. The demon wasn’t happy about this. Besides the fact that lightning could be considered one of a demon’s rare weaknesses, given the brief strength he had witnessed, he felt that only creatures that could arrive in the last few waves could even threaten most of the world. However, it couldn’t be helped.
The world they came from was on the brink of destruction, leaving only many emaciated creatures far from their prime. However, nothing could be changed about that. He could only move forward with the cards he had been dealt. All he could do now was try to contact his brethren that were already in this world.
As he was in contemplation, a sense of danger overwhelmed him. With his sixth sense, he quickly jumped out of the way, only to see a masked figure emerge from the shadow and slash his leg with a dagger. Just as the demon gained his footing, he ducked as an arrow scratched his cheek, spilling purple blood. He was about to charge the person with the dagger but stopped and turned around as he sensed a third attack behind him.
In a brief instant, a scythe appeared from nowhere in the demon’s hand and was placed in front to block the heavy sword swung behind him. With a clang, the heavy sword was pushed back. The demon was surprised but soon gave a mocking glance as he detected the person’s strength in front of him was not as good as his own. “Such a warm welcome.” The demon smiled as his body began to crackle. “It seems you figured out my identity. Well, no matter. I do want to let loose.” The demon said as his body expanded from a man to a beast. He could be described as a humanoid ox with a massive upper body and horns atop his head. His facial features more closely resembled a goat. He gave a smile that exuded cruelty and bloodthirst as his eyes narrowed in anticipation of the slaughter ahead. Black-purple energy that seemed to decay everything it touched emanated from his body.
Under the mask, Martel can help but make a dignified expression. This was by far one of the strongest enemies he had ever faced. Even his three-layered ambush had failed to harm the demon. He briefly thought to retreat but decided not to. Thanks to Dimension Door, he should be able to withdraw without much difficulty, but if this demon escaped, it would be a hard time to find him again. He had lost a few SRIN attended to attach themselves to the demon as they had been destroyed by the energy surrounding him. As a result, Martel could only decide to go all out.
“Excalibur,” Martel whispered. In an instant, Cali, who had transformed into a jacket, suddenly dispersed before the black particles swam toward Gram. In less than a second, the heavy sword suddenly became larger. Instead of the combination of colors, he turned completely black with a glowing red pattern running through the center. The sides were no longer straight but wavy, and the tip was no longer pointed but rounded, which did not diminish its sharp edge.
A look of shock appeared on the demon’s face, quickly changing into a look of greed. “Is it a spirit? What a welcoming gift.” The demon said with a smile.
The next moment, Martel’s body glowed as a full set of armor appeared, completely golden with multicolored lights running in lines along the edges.
The demon’s face suddenly turned shocked. “A Soul Armament? Why do you have a Soul Armament like his?” He muttered in disbelief before he turned angry. “Why do you have such a good Soul Armament? If mine was as good as yours, I wouldn’t have become a demon!” With a roar, the demon suddenly lurched angrily toward Martel, swinging his scythe.
In response, Martel raised his shield. “Return to sender.”
The bloodshot eyes of the demon shot opened in surprise as he felt as if he lost control of his scythe once it struck Martel’s shield and bounced at him. In an instant, he could only raise his arm to defend himself, letting the scythe enter his flesh. With a start, he quickly withdrew the scythe from his arm. While the arm didn’t heal immediately, it only bled for a few seconds before stopping. Of course, Martel wouldn’t let go of the opening as several arrows came from afar. The demon snorted as he dodged the first arrow and spun his scythe like a windmill to deflect the other two. The next moment, he clad his foot in his black-purple energy and kicked behind him just as a shadowy figure stabbed him.
With a ruthless look, the shadowy figure only managed to barely strike the demon’s leg before being sent flying.
The demon snorted but seemed completely unfazed by the wound. “Shadow physique? Surprising, but still too weak.”
Martel’s eyebrow twitched at the loss of his soul clone. He was unsure how the demon predicted his strike other than having a tremendous sensory ability.
The demon quickly sidestepped again as two more arrows shot past them. “That archer is really starting to annoy me.” The demon said as he made a gesture as if he was going to charge. Martel’s complexion slightly changed as he imbued his sword with ki and swung. This attack stopped the demon, who had to turn around and infuse the scythe with his purple-black energy to block it. Once again, Martel was pushed slightly back while the demon stood still.
“A martial artist?” The demon asked, but there was no surprise in his eyes, only disdain. However, he said nothing more and immediately ran towards the archer.
Martel could only chase again.
The demon smiled viciously. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice? Martial artist and the mage? Rare, but that’s all. I’ve been fighting you alone this entire time, and you’re just using avatars made of magic, as all your attacks have the same aura. All I have to do is kill the real body, and the avatars will disappear.”
Martel’s boots sparked with lightning, and the pack on his back ignited, increasing his speed dramatically.
The demon didn’t seem surprised at the sudden change but laughed maniacally. The black-purple energy exuded converged at his feet which moved in a strange pattern, and he also increased in speed. Within a few seconds, the demon had come into view of the archer, clad exactly like the person chasing him. The demon laughed but was startled as a dragon roar shook the surroundings as several multicolored dragons made of ki and one of mana appeared.
The demon’s face took on a brief moment of shock before a look of ecstasy appeared. “Dragons? There are dragons in this world! I’ll look forward to having a good meal.” He said as he licked his lips. With ease, he quickly slapped away the ki dragons that did little to slow him down as they only had the strength comparable to a Rank A+ which was incomparable to his Rank -SS. He glanced over at the archer and was surprised to see what appeared to be the shadow of a young woman standing behind him with golden hair tied into a single ponytail. However, he sensed nothing but mana from it, which confused him, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t even worried that his foe appeared to be casting a spell as he didn’t intend to attack from melee range. Within a moment, the purple-black energy surrounded his scythe. “Demonic reap.” He shouted as a blade of purplish black energy shot from the scythe straight Martel, and he quickly followed, not stopping his momentum, intending to finish him off in case he managed to survive. However, the method by which he survived shocked the demon.
The moment before it reached Martel, a shield suddenly appeared around him. ‘Reflect.’ A sense of crisis suddenly appeared in the demon’s mind, and he barely managed to sidestep the blow that was reflected at him. Having nearly escaped the blow that was suddenly twice as strong, the demon was shocked, but not enough to stop as he instantly closed the gap, and his scythe pierced Martel’s chest through his heart. “I win.” The demon gloated.
Martel could only weakly raise his middle finger, and the demon suddenly felt bad. ‘Attribute Chain: Wood.’ Along with his middle finger, several thick roots shaped like chains sprung forth from the ground and instantly intertwined with the demon, Locking him in place.
The demon was stunned, instantly realizing his guess had been wrong. He never would’ve guessed that the real body was the one of the frontal assault, not the one from behind. With a lot of effort, he managed to turn his head only to see something that terrified him. His previous blow, which had been reflected, had just reached Martel, who had a similar shield appeared around him. The blow, which doubled in strength and speed again, shot directly towards the demon who was fixed in place. In an instant, the demon’s eyes suddenly became completely bloodshot. With a giant roar, his body began to smoke as his veins bulged. With effort, he finally broke apart the wooden chains around his chest. He could not completely move them around his legs and only twisted his body, bringing his arms around to block the blow.
The enhanced demonic reap struck the demon’s body with a resounding explosion, creating a dust cloud.
Martel couldn’t help but take a few steps back from the shockwave and sighed in relief when he saw that the attack had worked. He couldn’t particularly blame the demon for guessing wrong. His main body was in the front line because he was sturdier than his soul clone, which replaced HP with MP. The more they took damage, the less effective they would be at casting spells. He was extremely surprised that the demon had figured out that he was using clones. Initially, he didn’t want to risk losing his other soul clone as it would reduce his chance of victory. However, given the demon had assumed that his main body was the archer, he simply went along with it to lower the demon’s guard. The Reflect chain was a bit spur of the moment, but he had already foreseen the possibility, and it went smoothly.
Given the situation, most people would relax, given that the demon was struck by what appeared to be four times his highest strength, but Martel wasn’t most people. He wouldn’t let his guard down before he saw the body or at least got a notification of gaining XP. Seeing that neither had happened and he was currently weakened, he carefully watched for any movement.
The next moment, a bad feeling suddenly enveloped Martel. He instinctively used the electricity stored within an Energy Crystal as the world around him slowed down dramatically. A figure rushed out of the smoke the next instant like a cannonball. Martel was startled as all he could do was bring up the shield in front of him due to the tremendous difference in speed. With his enhanced perception, the world seemed slow, his reactions were fast, but his movements were limited. He only barely managed to put the shield in front of the butt of the scythe. With a slight flick, the demon launched the arm away with overwhelming force before he swung his scythe down again. If there was a pain worse than getting your arm chopped off, then it was getting it chopped off in slow motion as Martel could feel the scythe cut through his arm millimeter by millimeter. At the angle of the scythe, it could’ve continued to completely cut off his head. The demon could only pull back his attack as, if he continued, Martel’s sword would’ve pierced his heart with the best-case scenario, both of them dying.
Martel broke out into a cold sweat from the pain of the close call he just encountered. He wasn’t completely sure what happened, but the demon went from slightly stronger to stronger than him. Of course, the demon didn’t exactly look in great condition. His large body had shrunk tremendously, and the size of his skin implied that it wasn’t compressed but sacrificed for the burst of strength. The demon also suffered from a large gash that exposed bone and organs, and one arm appeared completely mangled from the blow. This showed the tenacity of a demon’s inherently strong body.
The demon’s furious face winced as he suddenly coughed up more purple blood, but he could only grit his teeth, preparing to kill the human before them. However, he suddenly glanced in a different direction as his complexion changed before coldly looking at Martel. “Remember, human, wait and wash your neck because I’ll come to take your life. We will be victorious no matter what, and our King will have the last laugh.” The demon shouted before he suddenly dashed into the forest, leaving Martel with a severed arm.
Martel stared for several seconds at where the demon disappeared before he said with some dismay, “And that’s only the second demon.”