At the beginning of the Festival of Darkness.
Mori watched with amusement as the crowd ran, shouted, jostled, and panicked. He took a deep breath, relishing the smell of fear and desperation. This was precisely how he had imagined it would be! This was what it was supposed to look like. Humans had lived comfortably and without fear of the dark for too long.
He tossed the severed head he had held a few more times before throwing it away. Too bad the big reveal didn't happen. People might have been shocked, but it could have been more if the jerk hadn't ruined his performance. "Haha," he laughed briefly as he saw one of the Dark Monsters reach the back row of the fleeing ones, and red paint began to flood the street.
Mori felt the air move behind him and lazily sidestepped. "Hey, boy. You recovered pretty quickly," he commented as he dodged the flying spear and looked back at the raised platform where the royal guards stood, now all armed and glowing with mana. Mori grinned. The revelation must have been the biggest shock for these guys; they thought they were protecting the prince, but instead, it was Mori.
"What have you done with His Royal Highness, the prince?" came the question from the knight who threw his spear at him, reaching out his hand, and another blue glowing spear formed in his hand, made purely of mana.
Mori raised his hand one by one; he licked his fingers gourmandically and tilted his head. "He was brilliant! A taste of the highest quality! Truly royal blood."
The knight paled at the sight of Mori assessing the prince's taste. Mori heard the seven knights mutter in disbelief.
"He ate the prince?"
"Oh, by the Light! Cannibal!"
"Shit..."
"He's a lunatic and a monster!"
Mori flew a little closer to them, spreading his arms as if welcoming them before letting out a long laugh. "Precisely! I'm a lunatic and a monster! What are you righteous morons going to do? Shouldn't you kill me? Hm? Hm?" Mori was entertained.
"Come on! It should be easy, right? There are seven of you, and I'm just one little monster. Hehe." Hearing the expressions of the knights changing from horrified to disgusted and angry, Mori had to grab his stomach and laugh loudly.
"Get ready, monster!" The one with the spear shouted, throwing another spear at him, which Mori easily dodged.
"Buhahaha! Really? You're announcing to the monster that you're going to attack! That's so funny! You're so lame! Hahaha!" Mori honestly got the impression that they were a bunch of clowns.
The knights were getting more and more annoyed at his taunting. Five of them jumped into the air, and two of them drew their bows. Mori was still laughing loudly, but he watched as the five came at him with murder in their eyes. Flying had been relatively easy since Rank 4. Granted, it took a certain amount of training, but for any proper fighter who advances to Rank 4, this is the first thing they learn.
The first to reach him was the swordsman, who attempted to cut Mori in two. Mori ducked gracefully and immediately sidestepped as the archer tried to put an arrow through his head. Mori leaned to the side as the spearman followed his previous attack with a lunge toward Mori's chest.
Mori smiled. The knights were in sync and followed up their attacks smoothly, preventing Mori from counterattacking, but he had no problem dodging each of their strikes. Their movements sped up, becoming a blur.
The group of six, with Mori in the middle, moved through the air, but none of their attacks landed on Mori. He was like a slippery snake that proved impossible to catch. At one point, Mori's hands were covered in a black mass that formed into long, mantis-like claws, and the dark mass hardened, glowing softly with brilliant mana.
Mori licked his lips and crossed his claws in front of his body, blocking the incoming attacks, but a spearman who attacked from the side managed to stab him in the side, tearing off a chunk of Mori's flesh. Blood oozed from the wound, revealing part of his insides.
The spearman grinned, but Mori wasn't fazed. Instead, he took advantage of the moment the spearman felt victory was at hand and slashed at him with his claw. The lancer quickly dropped his weapon, and he was glad he did. The sharp claw of the mana-created spear sliced through effortlessly, and had the spearman not let go of his weapon, he would have lost his hands.
The spearman moved away from the group to create a new spear. At that moment, however, Mori's figure blurred and disappeared. The spearman felt a breath on his neck and barely had time to turn his head before he felt pain in his waist. He caught a glimpse of red glowing eyes before his vision went blank, and his body split into two halves and began to fall to the ground.
Mori raised a claw and licked the fresh blood. "One down. Six to go."
Mori smiled. This was just a warm-up for him. He was waiting for the real fun to arrive. Where are the Pacifists slacking off?
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Gray frowned and hurried forward with Gillen, noticing the two following them. Gray ignored the dead bodies lying on the ground, pausing only briefly each time they encountered a Dark One left behind or encountered a body showing the effects of turning into a Dark One.
Dark Magic was like a contagion. Not everyone transformed just from minor wounds, but the transformation was inevitable if a person has come into contact with dark mana too much. Dark Mana first invaded the bloodstream, then flesh, and finally the mana pool. At that point, the transformation was complete, and the afflicted would either turn into a monster governed by the foundation's needs or become a Dark Mage. To Gray, it felt like a metamorphosis into an entirely different species...
Gray paused momentarily at the thought, not knowing where it came from. He shook his head and focused on the disgust he strongly felt ahead of them. The powerful Dark One was not far away. According to the magic window that appeared after each time he killed a Dark One, he had already slain eight of them and should currently have three percent of his memory back. He wasn't delighted with this result, so he hoped that more Dark Ones would come his way to kill.
"Over there," he heard Gillen say, and Gray also stopped and looked ahead, where they could see a giant monster in the form of a bear lying on its belly across the street, slowly munching on half of someone. Gray looked around, but no one was alive except for the bear. "Guess?" Gray asked, gripping his gun tightly.
"Rank 3 for sure. But this one's intelligent, so think of it as a Rank 4," Gillen replied, pulling at the fur on his chin.
Gray's heart dropped, and he gritted his teeth. "Can we handle him with just the two of us?"
"Probably. The worst thing about the Dark Ones is that they're hard to kill unless you have the Power of Light like we do. Their wounds heal quickly, and it's hard to penetrate the layer of Dark mana that forms them. Their power is impressive, but their stamina loses a bit in this form. Aiming for weak spots—eyes, mouths, ears, and visibly thin areas is best. As for you, you'll have to hold back. You're only a Rank 2. You'd last about two straight punches before he'd beat you," Gillen explained.
Gray smiled. "I may be an attacker, but I can protect my body with mana."
Gillen smiled back. "You could withstand two strikes if you protected yourself with a layer of mana. Moreover, there's also your limitation. You must stay away and attack at most if you have an absolute advantage. You're dead if you get stuck in the middle of the fight."
Gray frowned, sighed, and nodded. After the incident with Selene, he stopped being so proud of trying to play the hero. His reform, however, was still just beginning. Old habits took a lot of work to break.
"Now, what about those two?" Gillen pointed behind him, and Gray looked back at his two friends following them the whole time.
"I'll deal with them," Gray promised, waving at his friends. Gillen nodded and swung his spear above his head. "Then I'll get started. Attack and retreat every time you see an opportunity," he announced and approached the bear.
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Donovan and Chan walked over to Gray and stood at his side. They all stared at the black bear. Donovan looked a little sick, but he didn't move his eyes. "Stay back," Gray told them.
"Hm. You don't have to worry. We know we can't do anything," replied Donovan.
Chan nodded. "It's just... just in case. Just in case there is something after all."
Gray shook his head. "Go help the civilians instead," he suggested to them.
Donovan smiled a little. "Hard to leave a friend behind."
"I'm not alone."
"We know."
Gray clicked his tongue but said nothing in response. "Then stay, but don't interfere," he warned them again and started after Gillen, who had already gotten close enough to the bear for the monster to notice. The bear threw the food into its mouth and stood up. Gillen's spear began to glow with a golden light.
"I keep getting interrupted while eating," the bear monster complained grumpily.
Gillen didn't react to the monster's words; he wasn't one to engage in banter while fighting. He started running. His tiny legs carried his body to the monster in a flash. Using the spear as leverage, he launched himself into the air and raised the spear above his head, which began to glow even more golden.
Black spikes rose from the bear monster's back, tearing out of its body and shooting toward Gillen. The raccoon race man immediately changed his trajectory, kicking his feet into the air before he spun his body and shot towards the bear beast like a spinning arrow.
Gillen hit the side of the monster, and Gray saw the black mass resist for a moment before it began to crumble and burst through. Gillen flew through the body and landed hard on the opposite side. A gaping hole in the monster's body now bubbled at the edges, with black smoke rising from it.
The bear monstrosity grunted in pain and turned towards Gillen, who immediately scrambled to his feet and swung a paw at it. Gillen ducked, but his eyes widened as he saw the bear's paw stretch out and follow Gillen's movement. He quickly set into motion and struck the paw with his spear.
Gray took advantage of the monster's back being turned and shot forward. His sword began to glow golden, and he drove it into the knee socket of the beast's hind leg. His attack was much less effective, but he still managed to make the monster lose its balance and quickly retreated again.
The bear monster suddenly bounced off its front legs and threw its entire body towards Gillen as it tried to attack him. Gillen shot out of the way, leaving a trail of golden light behind him, avoiding the black mass. The large body hit the ground with a thud, and the bear grunted in displeasure. Gillen immediately changed direction and aimed for the bear's head, which opened its jaws and tried to swallow him. Too agile for that, Gillen dodged the jaws and drove the blade into the monster's lower jaw.
Gray lunged forward again, sending a golden energy blast into the bear's back. The monster began to rise, even though its jaw was pinned to the ground by the spear, and it let its jaw rip with a sickening thud.
"Huuu... too much work..." the monster complained.
Gray paused when he saw the mass ripple behind the monster's neck, and a female of the bear race emerged. She was pretty, with flowing hair and pale pink eyes that looked sleepy. Except for a few artfully styled fur parts, however, she was naked, and Gray couldn't tell if her bloated belly was from being too full or if she was pregnant. It could have been both.
[https://i.ibb.co/cCXscjX/125961.png]
Gray felt uneasy because a woman of the bear race didn't even remotely resemble an evil monster, and if she was pregnant, how was he supposed to fight a pregnant woman? But despite the Dark Mage coming out of the black bear monster, the dark mass still moved on its own and attacked Gillen, who quickly recovered his weapon from the rest of the jaw.
Meanwhile, the woman let out a long yawn. "I want to sleep... I ate too much..." she muttered, looking at the uncertain Gray with utter disinterest.
"Gray! Get her!" Gillen barked at him, dealing with the monster bear.
Gray shook with indecision. His original nature was now a hindrance, and he couldn't move his body in indecision.
The bear woman, yawning again, despite her apparent fatigue and lazy atmosphere, shot off with unprecedented speed. "Hey!" Her sudden movement snapped Gray out of his daze, and he took off after her.
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"Dear, you'll strangle him," the Duchess announced as she saw her husband not letting go of Alarr and shaking him as if trying to shake the soul out of him.
"Tsk," the Duke clicked his tongue and released his grip on Alarr's neck, which he had clenched in his fist.
"Hurry up and tell me why you're not protecting my daughter? Tsk. When I think about how Elizabeth praised you, and you failed at the first opportunity, it makes me very angry... almost angry enough to teach you a proper lesson," the Duke commented, annoyed, raising his clenched fist in a threatening gesture.
Alarr rubbed his neck and glared at the raging Duke. Had Lady Elizabeth praised them?
Raiana stepped forward. "The situation was dangerous. We sent Lady Elizabeth and the rest of the team ahead while we tried to deal with the beast," she explained.
Duke glanced at Raiana, briefly looking at her horns, and frowned even more. Raiana lowered her head slightly in response to his gaze, and Alarr felt anger rise within him.
"Well, it's a comfort to know that my daughter has even fewer protectors..." Duke continued to shout but nearly bit his tongue when his wife approached him and hit him on the head.
Duke glared at his wife, but she calmly returned his gaze and gave a significant yank on the chain on her arm, making her husband flinch.
The Duchess looked at Alarr. "Excuse my husband. He is a very doting father. He wouldn't be happy with anything in this situation."
Alarr looked at the Duchess and sighed, his anger fading just as quickly. "I understand. Thank you, Lady Roseblood," he nodded, then looked at the hole Duke had made with his fall. "But I doubt the situation is resolved. You can't kill those things without the Power of Light," he said, gesturing with his hand as he noticed what was left of the monster moving like some bubbling black swamp.
The Duchess turned around. "True. These monsters are tough to deal with. How unpleasant."
The Duke turned as well and slammed a clenched fist into his palm. Alarr wouldn't have guessed it was the Duke at this point. He looked more like a fighter looking forward to a fight. Alarr recalled what he remembered from his lessons on noble houses. Duke Roseblood was more known as a fighting maniac before he was given the title of Duke. He only calmed down after his children were born and stopped actively seeking combat opportunities.
Alarr glanced briefly at the elegant figure of the Duchess. He suspected that he hadn't calmed down just because of his children but that his wife had also played a significant role. The Duke was quite well-known in the martial world. He was one of the few Enhanced Defenders who could use his defensive abilities to launch powerful attacks. After all, his previous attack was truly devastating.
"So... what do we do?" Raiana asked.
"We'll have to wait for a Pacifist or fight the thing off," the Duchess replied, and the chain unwound itself from her hand.
"Pacifists?" Raiana muttered, but Alarr knew who they were. He had heard of them before but had no idea they were specialized fighters against Dark Magic. He thought they hunted those who practiced Black Magic.
"They are the only ones who can deal with such monsters for good, my dear," Lady Roseblood explained. The black mass began to rise, and Alarr caught a glimpse of a single formed eye full of malice, but at the exact moment, the end of the Duchess's chain whizzed through the same spot, and the black mass burst apart again.
"Catching frogs was harder than that, ho ho," the Duchess chirped.
Alarr swallowed; Elizabeth's mother was perhaps even more frightening than her father. The Duke looked a little disappointed. "You can't..." he began.
"No. Do you want to be infected, dear?" his wife rejected him firmly.
Alarr jerked and stepped forward. "Infect?" he asked.
The Duchess looked back at him. "Yes. You'll slowly become a Dark One if you get too much Dark Magic in your body." Alarr immediately walked over to Raiana and began checking her wounds. He breathed a sigh of relief as nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
The Duchess watched them, and Raiana smiled a little awkwardly before they turned their attention back to the moving dark matter. Duke blinked at it. "It's rather slow," he commented.
"I think we've got him a bit wound up. He was pretty fast before," Alarr replied, earning a snort from Duke. "Of course. Instead of following my daughter, you..."
His wife interrupted him again. "Don't be mean, husband."
Duke fell silent again, muttering something grumpily. Perhaps the Duke's words had provoked the thing to make more because the mass shot out of the hole and froze much faster. The Duchess ran the chain through her body again, but it wasn't enough to subdue it this time.
"Now I'm pissed!" it roared through a mouth that appeared somewhere below. Duchess hit the spot again with the chain, but it move to another spot. Alarr frowned. Why had it suddenly sped up? Could it have been toying with them to make them stop being so alert? It was probably too much for the monster to deal with four opponents...
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he thought that. He remembered what the Duchess had said, that humans could become infected and turn dark. His gaze fell on the dead around him, and he quickly gripped the sword. "We're surrounded!" he called out loudly when he saw several dead were covered in black mana.
When he said that, the creatures stopped pretending to be dead and shot to their feet. Alarr cursed himself for his inattention. They were so intent on keeping the monster at bay that they weren't paying attention to what was happening around them. Alarr and Raiana stood with their backs to the Duke and Duchess.
[https://i.ibb.co/qMwgh1K/areeth.png]
Now five enemies stood against them. The reanimated dead, corrupted by the dark mana, surrounded Alarr, Raiana, and the Duke and Duchess. As they advanced, the creatures let out eerie groans, their movements jerky and unnatural.
Alarr tightened his grip on his sword, and Raiana readied her rapier, channeling her mana into the shape of swallows that circled around her, ready to strike. The Duke cracked his knuckles, and his mana took the form of a majestic whale, hovering protectively beside him. The Duchess swung her chain in a wide arc, her mana coalescing into the shape of a royal cobra, poised to strike.
Raiana shot her swallows, darting forward to bother at the dark monster on the left, momentarily halting its advance. The Duke literally threw a whale at the head of another dark monster, crashing over the monster on the right and pushing it back. The Duchess's royal cobra struck precisely, immobilizing the Drak one in the front.
Alarr channeled his mana, forming it into the shape of an electric eel. The eel crackled with energy as it surged toward the monster at the back, electrifying and stunning it, providing a temporary reprieve.