《Supreme Monarch》
Chapter 1 C01. Prelude (I)
In a world of myths and legends, Magic, and mysteries, the four most dominant races in the world imed sovereignty over the four continents in this world called Neron. Although they were all fundamentally different, the four races of these four continents had lived in peace since the time of the ancient gods. However, the death of the gods leads to tension arising between the human race and the demon race.
Threatened by the growing power of the demon king, humanity decided to attack. However, even with the help of the dwarves. Humanity could not win against the demons and devils by their strength alone.
Thus, they relied on the holy ritual that would summon strong souls from another world. In other words, they summoned heroes. With powers beyond the limits of humanity itself, the heroes were tasked to save the world with the help of the allied forces'' armies.
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¡ªThe demon continent
¡ªDarknar Region.
After taking the path through the Darkin mountain range, the group of five had finally made it through the most dangerous part of their journey.
The group traveled through the ins as they approached a giant castle in the distance, they were approaching from the rear and as expected their path through the mountain range was the most difficult aspect of their journey, there were a lot of rock monsters living in the mountains.
These monsters weren''t a magic beast but they were increasingly hard to deal with, not only were they immune to magic their resistance to physical attacks were also very high, this made it almost impossible to kill them.
Their attack power was also impressive, the only weakness they had was theirck of speed, still, their numbers made up for it. These monsters were called mountain golems, they were over 5 meters tall and blended in well in the mountains with their bodies made entirely of rocks.
These factors amongst many others made the mountain range a very dangerous ce for anyone, it was hundreds of times more dangerous than the old Darknar forest and was thereforebeled as a forbidden zone, no one in their right mind would even think about approaching such a ce, yet these five figures had exited from there looking like they had just taken a stroll on their dusty backyard.
The five continued their journey as they approached the castle ahead, they had no scratch on them as they dusted the dust the monsters had covered them with off their armor. "That was easier than I thought it would be, I can''t believe they thought this path was that dangerous." The one who spoke was arge bald young man in silvery-white exquisite-looking full te armor.
He had arge ck hammer on his right hand and an evenrger white shield on his left. "The only reason it was easy was because of my special ability blockhead, any other party would have been wiped out by that many mountain golems." One of the only two females in the group retorted loudly.
She was quite short and petite, wearing red light armor, she had short red hair styled to the side, her face was a little round and her big bright scarlet eyes glittered like the stars, making her look like a child. "Children should not speak when adults are talking."
"You overgrown buffoon!" she snapped.
"That''s enough guys, we''re already close to the castle this is not the time for your usual bickering." The young man leading the group spoke in a soft voice as he turned his head to look at the two, he knew if he didn''t intervene now this could continue for quite a while. "Besides, we were blessed by the goddess of luck, we didn''t encounter any of the true terrors of the mountains."
He was a young handsome man with short blonde hair, a slightly longer nose, sky blue eyes, and a well-defined jawline. Being 5''10 he was quite tall, wearing a set of pure gold armor, the armor was designed with white runes and markings that made it look ancient yet magical. The longsword he carried on his back was equally as amazing, the de was made of some kind of crystal, the hilt was golden and had simr markings as the armor.
The other guy in the group chuckled and just kept walking. "What the hell are youughing at Rey!" the short girl yelled angrily at Rey, he had long ck hair and wore a dark blue robe, he was holding a wooden staff in his right hands and had a slim face with grey colored eyes, the wooden staff looked like it had been broken off a tree, but had an ancient aura that gave it a terrifying presence.
Rey just ignored her and kept walking, this seemed to anger her more as she was about to yell at him in response but was cut short by the other female in the group, "Alright Rosie, that''s enough, John already told you to stop. You should also know better than to engage her, Leo."
Rosie waspletely quiet after that she muttered something under her breath but didn''t make another fuss as Leo scratched his bald head in embarrassment.
"Looks like I''m still no match for you Elsie, you always know how to calm them down," John said with a smile as he looked at Elsie, she was a beautiful woman with dark purple long and curly hair. Wearing a long purple dress she only held two iron fans on both hands, the dress did nothing to hide her curves and the mountains on her chest looked like they would bust out of her dress.
She smiled and the group continued their mission to invade the castle from its rear. They weren''t that far off after exiting the mountains, they were already closer to the castle than they''ve ever been.
Thanks to the frontal attack by the allied forces they had gotten so close without being noticed, it was a simple n, draw the enemies attention byunching an all-out attack from the front while an elite group of the strongest people in the world would circle straight into the enemies base and assassinate their leader.
The instant they arrived within a hundred meters of the outer castle walls, the sentries on top of the wall finally noticed them. They were undead knights wearing a full set of silver te armor they had bows in hand and a short sword attached to their belts. One of the sentry immediately ran towards a single golden bell at one of the towers in the wall while the others prepared their bows to fire.
Their reaction speed was impressive, luckily for the group, Rey''s concealment spell had gotten them too close for the enemy to use therge artilleries in the towers at the ends of the outer wall. It was why the team had chosen to walk instead of fly, because of the dangers in the Darkin mountain range, the enemy would consider it as a line of defense, which meant they would set anti-flight magic and detection spells in the area as that was the only way to cross the mountain range rtively safe.
Doing that would have yed straight into the enemy''s hands as they would be used for target practice and even though they could survive the bombardment, there would be no point as the mission would be considered a failure.
The sentry arrived before the bell and was about to ring it, just then a white streak of light went through him as the top half of his body fell to the ground.
John swung his sword again and another white light sliced through a different sentry who had run after the previous the moment it notices he was dead. The rest of the undead knights fired their arrows as a red aura enveloped each arrow as it left their bows.
Leo moved in front of the group as he raised hisrge Shield and banged it with his hammer. "Come at me!" he yelled with a big smile on his face, his shield glowed brightly as the multitude of rage arrows rained down on him.
He raised his shield and blocked every single one of them, his hammer started to glow red as the strange red aura from the arrows enveloped it. "Not bad," he said as he dashed forward, but before he had even moved a gust of wind blew past him.
Arriving at the top of the wall in an instant was Rosie, she took a low stance, holding two silver daggers with a reverse grip. "me dance" the daggers in her hands caught fire as she moved around on the wall in a strange but fluid motion, she shed any undead knight that came close to her and they bust into mes with one swing.
Leo scratched his head "She''s stealing my thunder."
"Not the time Leo, we should end this as soon as possible." The group ran at full speed as they jumped on the top of the wall to give Rosie a hand, the wall was at least 15 meters tall but they had no problem scaling it. There were only about 7 sentries left, Rosie had taken care of more than 30 of them in so little time.
Rey pointed his staff at them and cast a single spell "Sunlight" the tip of his staff glowed brightly like the sun, the seven undead on the wall were reduced to ashes. They all jump down from the castle''s outer wall and as expected there was less protection here than the front entrance. Still, they didn''t have time to waste, it would only be a matter of time before the generals in the castle can sense them. Rey''s concealment would not be able to protect them for long, there were only about a hundred enemies in the ward.
"Ellie, we''ll go on ahead, can you handle things here?"
"Hehe... You insult me."
"Sorry... sorry... that''s my bad, alright Leo creates a part for us."
"Aye... aye, captain." Leo roar as his body emitted a faint aura, he dashed straight for the side entrance to the castle, smashing the heads of any undead or beast that came in front of him.
The others followed closely with John behind, protecting their nks, all except Ellie who just stood there with a faint smile on her face. Most of the undead knights and beasts had ignored the others for some reason and focused on her, they all ran towards her waving their weapons in the air, the tamed beasts roaring as loudly as they could.
The others had finally entered the castle, thanks to Leo they had managed to evade any traps in their way almost as if they could see them. Ellie then brought one of the metal fans in her hand and covered the lower parts of her face, She mumbled a word silently and her eyes glowed in a seductive light. All the knights and beasts that ran towards her were now visibly slowing down.
They seem to be aging at a rapid rate, which was strange because undead creatures didn''t age. They slowed down to a crawl as they all copsed on the ground and turned to dust.
The others had made it into the castle, although ording to their information they were in the South Wing of the castle and needed to make it toward the top floor of the North wing, they ran through the hallway of the castle trying to make their way to the other side, at this point, there was no need for Rey to keep his concealment spell up anymore, no matter how powerful he was, the demon generals in the castle would''ve already noticed them by now.
He needed to save his mana for if and when they were ambushed by any of the generals. They followed the map they had made of the castle making sure they were always on the right track. The castle was massive, it covered over a million square meters and had all of the strongest tamed beasts, monsters, and undead protecting the ce, not the mention all of the insanely strong demons that served under the master of the castle including the six demon generals.
Luckily they didn''t have to worry about most of these, especially the six generals, by now the war was at its peak and if the demons didn''t want to suffer any massive casualties that will dome them even if they won, they would send at least five of the generals to key locations and have them supervise the war, and if they were lucky all six of them would be sent out. The generals were the key to the war, although the group was confident in handling them even if they had to face three or four at a time, they would be in trouble if they faced all six of them.
Right now their only goal was the master of the castle, they didn''t have to kill the generals, with that in mind they would be able to hold off the generals while aiming for their master, they had also received the blessings of the goddess, this meant that their Luck would be almost supernatural, and the effects were already visible. So far they had only encountered a handful of stone knights, this meant there weren''t that many entities in the castle, meaning everything was going ording to n.
Chapter 2 C02. Prelude (II)
Ellie had joined back with the group at some point in time, she didn''t look to be out of breath in any way, and was somehow able to keep up with them in her tight outfit. "What took you so long?" Rosie asked somewhat worried. "Don''t worry about her, I am sure she was doing something perverse again."
"Hey, watch your mouth, sister Ellie isn''t like that." Rosie snapped back at Leo.
"It''s alright dear, he''s just a little bitter cause his hair won''t grow."
"HEY!" The others couldn''t help but chuckle with only Rey remaining silent.
"Alright, guys let''s focus we''re almost there." They all nodded in unison as they approached the north wing. So far they hadn''t been ambushed by a general, which meant the enemy had made a smart move, the remaining generals had chosen to protect their master instead of arrogantly trying to take them out. Demons were prideful and mostly arrogant so even though they had considered this possibility, it was a rather low one.
This was also good news for them, if the generals had chosen to protect their master instead of attacking them, it meant there were only about one or two generals left in the castle and they couldn''t afford to leave their master unprotected.
After fighting their way up the north wing, they finally arrived at the top floor in the north wing. They were in arge hall with a giant double door at the end of the room. The room had 21 Alcoves on both sides of the walls, the Alcoves contained 20rge pure white stone knights that could only be described as holy knights.
They held different weapons ranging from a shield to a sword. Each knight only had one weapon, whether it was a shield or a spear, a bill, a il, or even a harp.
Thest alcove had the statue of a female angel with four pitch-ck wings, one of which was broken. She had small goat-like horns growing in the sides of her head, the intricate details on her facial features made it look like she was alive.
The group suddenly felt a sensation wash over them, it wasn''t pressure or fear but a sense of calm. Against all their unease, they gathered themselves and moved forward.
They had only taken a few steps when they heard it, it was the sounds of music, a beautiful melody that came from the highest quality musical instrument. They instinctively got on their guard straight into a battle formation, looking around they saw the only holy knight holding a musical instrument, ying.
The knight was the only knight without a helmet. It was a knight made out of stone yet its movement looked smooth and gentle. They could feel his soft touch on the strings of the harp, the group were a little confused by this, the other knights hadn''t moved and the only one moving was ying an harp, the music it yed was like nothing they had heard before and gave them a sense of calm.
Since it wasn''t attacking they thought it would be best not to provoke it. They didn''t need any more distractions on their mission. They decided to slowly head for therge door ahead, but, the moment they took a step the knight turned its head to look at them, it smiled.
This wasn''t a gentle smile, it was the most twisted and creepiest smile they had ever seen. The smile was so wide it was practically a grin, it sent chills down their spines and goosebumps appeared all over their skins. "Dodge!" John yelled and the group instinctively dropped to the ground.
*Boom!
,m An arrow made of stone mmed the ground a few meters away from them, they all scrambled around and got back in formation. A knight with a bow had fired an arrow, the power behind the attack was so great it even cracked the sturdy marble floor that had been heavily reinforced with magic.
Having sessfully evaded the attack the group no longer had any choice but to fight. The stone knights all stepped down from their Alcoves, all except the smiling knight. He proceeded to continue ying the harp. "Leo, tank, I''ll provide support, everyone else focuses on dealing damage, watch out for any surprise attacks from the remaining two statues."
They proceeded to follow his lead, Leo used his skills to attract the attention of all 19 knights, while John proceeded to support him making sure he didn''t get overwhelmed and ganged up on. They moved around to avoid being surrounded and Rosie intercepted any ranged attacks, Rey thenunched spells that were suitable for stone monsters such as "Chain Lightning" and "Sonic Boom."
Ellie also used strange spells, she waved her fan and some of the knights decayed and fell apart, while others ended up unable to control their limbs, striking their fellow knights. With their wless timing and teamwork, the group made destroying 19 Tier 5 Holy knights look easy when it shouldn''t have been.
There were only a handful of the knights remaining when suddenly, the music yed by the harp changed. It was no longer as calming as it once was and was now as chaotic as a Storm.
The flow of Mana within their bodies became erratic, they were unable to control it anymore and the spellcasters were now unable to cast their spells. "What''s going on." snapped Rey who had stayed quiet all this time, without his spells he wouldn''t be of much use to the team.
John noticing the change as well. "We need to destroy the knight with the harp, this is most likely a result of its music."
"John is right, the change urred when it started ying a different tune."
"Alright cover me, I am the fastest so I''ll take it down before it even knows what hit em."
Before Rosie could even move the statue of the fallen angel pped its remaining three wings and appeared in front of them. A spear of light and darkness materialized in each of her hands respectively as she swung it at Rosie.
Unable to react in time she had no choice but to take the attack, surely she wouldn''t escape without a scratch.
*Boom!
Rosie opened her eyes in surprise as she hadn''t felt any pain, she looked up and saw John, he stood in front of her and had blocked the attack. "Are you hurt?"
"Er- uh n-no I''m fine," she said in a fluster and her cheeks turn bright red, John had wanted to make sure she was fine as he saw she looked a little feverish but the angel had alreadyunched her second attack. "I''ll handle this one, you take the harp bastard."
Rosie immediately snapped out of it, Leo was getting ganged up on and the others couldn''t help because they were unable to use magic. She activated a rage skill. This skill didn''t require control over Mana and enhances her attacks and speed so it was the only option.
Taking a very low stance she shot forward like a tiny bullet, as she crossed the distance in less than a second, the harp knight just kept ying his harp even as its head was shattered by the little girl.
With that, the other knights fell to the ground like their strings were cut and the others regained control over their Mana again. This left only the fallen angel statue still active, but with all five of them facing it now, it was only a matter of time before they destroyed it, and surely, after fighting a bitter fight for more than 30 minutes they finally won.
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Standing in front of arge majestic double door after defeating 21 incredibly strong Stone statues, they were breathing heavily, after taking a while to catch their breaths they finally looked at the door. "This is it," John said, trying to control his breathing, he knew he should be calm but he couldn''t hide the excitement in his eyes.
He turned around to look at hispanions. "This is what we''ve been preparing for, the challenges we''ve faced so far would be nothingpared to him. We may be here to save the world, but we''re also here to avenge the people, he is very cunning and will use any number of underhanded tactics to save his miserable life. No matter what happens today, we must take him down."
The others looked at him and smiled, even though they were the strongest Swordsman, warrior, assassin, mage, and witch, they still felt nervous standing here, because inside was the most powerful man in the world, beyond this door,y in wait, the Demon King.
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After their preparations wereplete, John stepped forward and ced his hands on the doors, but before he could even apply pressure to push, the tworge doors slowly opened as they revealed the view within.
The room was massive, but they were unable to observe further, as their attention was immediately grabbed by the figures in front of them.
There were seven figures in total, one of these figures sat on arge majestic throne at the far end of the room. Three figures stood to his right and three to his left. All five of them gulped at the sight of these people. Two males and a female stood on the left side of the throne, with the female standing next to the throne.
Two females and a male stood by the right side of the throne, these were all demons. It was obvious at first nce that those were the six demon generals, the demon King''s most trusted aides.
What they didn''t expect was to find all the demon generals here and not on the battlefield. John and the others couldn''t understand why. The allied forces were not only veryrge but formidable, they couldn''t understand why the demon King had not sent them out to help his forces.
John gritted his teeth and spoke. "This changes nothing, you four keep the generals busy for as long as you can, I''ll handle the cocky bastard sitting in the chair."
If these words hade out of anyone else, the others would question their sanity, but this was John, the strongest hero in the world, the man blessed by the gods. He wielded the holy sword ''Expira'' the only de that was powerful enough to kill the demon king.
They all nodded and readied their weapons as they entered the room. The moment they stepped foot into the room though¡ª
It was as if gravity had been multiplied several times on them, or maybe it grew sentient and decided it hated them. They felt stifled and could barely breathe much less stand, some of them even dropped on their knees.
The man sitting on the throne was wearing an exquisite raving ck coat with red lining designing its edges. He wore equally expensive-looking ck pants and jet ck boots with two strange gems embedded at the sides of each pair, as they entuate the faint red line that designed it.
He wore a snow-white shirt inside the coat, giving the overall feel of the outfit a rxed tone. If one had keen eyesight, they would see the dragon scale-like pattern on the simple shirt. His fingers wore eight gorgeous and vastly different rings that emitted a faint glowing effect.
Although his face could not be seen, he had short ck hair that was cleanly cut in a fade, he sat leisurely with his leg crossed and his head resting on his right fist as he closed his eyes rxed, and leaning back in his throne almost like he was disinterested in the Intruders that had just barged into his throne room.
This pissed John off even more as his determined spirit fought against the massive suppression he felt. "Holy blessings" The sword in his hands glowed as a faint holy aura wrapped around the five of them alleviating most of the pressure they felt.
He didn''t stop there, "Holy might" The sword emitted a white glow, they all felt a massive boost to their strength, no longer did they felt pressured, they were now back in fighting form, even more, confident than ever.
Attack!
He shouted as all five of them sprung into action, Rey and Ellie prepare their most powerful attacks right of the bat, Rosie activated all her enhancement skills and her me dance and Leo prepared to take the enemies'' attacks. They wanted to draw the general''s attention to them as John dashed for the arrogant bastard on the throne with his fastest attack, ''Lightning sh'' his sword vibrated intensely wrapped in streaks of silver lightning as he got closer to the demon.
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"Wh... What is this? what just happened?..."
Just as they got closer to the demon King, he had suddenly opened his eyes, the hazel-colored pupils seemed to turn red as it glowed. The next thing he knew all his friends had copsed to the ground behind him.
"You bastard, what did you do!!!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "You''ll pay for this, I''ll make you pay for this even if it''s thest thing I do!" he roared, his armor glowed and the aura around him kept getting intense, enough that cracks began to appear on the body of the armor, "Forbidden skill, Sacrifice."
This was ast resort skill that used the life force of the user in exchange for the power of the gods, a power beyond any mortal limitations, one even heroes could only dream of, he was serious when he made hisst deration. Now that his friends were dead, there was no longer any hope in leaving this ce alive when facing all seven of them, but with this, he would be able to take out the king, even without killing the generals, they would win the war as long as the bastard was dead.
None of the demon generals had even made a move, yet his friends had all died, it was as if they were just livestock that had gotten hit with the flu, he couldn''t forgive that, they were looking down on them and had used a trick to kill his friends, but he wouldn''t fall for that, with his skill he was now basically a demigod, it was his turn to look down on them.
"Gasp!..." he spat out a mouthful of blood as he fell to his knees. "Th... this is not right... How is this... how is this possible¡ª that this isn''t fair." with thosest words escaping his mouth he copsed on the ground. Dead.
Chapter 3 C03. Over A Thousand Years
Drip, Drip, Drip,
"Arghh... urg... Mhm... my head, what''s going on? why does it hurt so much..."
"Why does it feel like I just walked out of a furnace? what happened to me?...
Where am I?
What is this ce?"
As the water drops fell on his forehead, he slowly opened his eyes trying to take in his surroundings, the ce was dark and it felt a little damp and gloomy. He blinked a few times as he couldn''t process the information his eyes were sending his throbbing brain.
After adapting to the dark and damp environment, he was able to see quite well in the dark, he turned his head left then right and took in his surroundings, trying his best to hold back the pain he was feeling all over his body. There were grayish-brown rocks all around him it looked like he was in a crater underground or some kind of cave, or maybe it was the bottom of a dried-upke located underground, he really couldn''t tell.
Looking up at the ceiling it was just the same Rocky soil as the grayish-brown rocks around him, ''Did I fall...'' he wasn''t sure what happened to him.
After some time spent in observation, he closed his eyes and took deep breaths in preparation for what he was about to do next. He then fought through the surging pain and started to move, he wanted to get up, the pain he felt had gotten a little bearable. Still, it wasn''t as bad as when he had first woken up.
After finally pulling himself off the ground albeit staggering a bit, he started to walk, he aimed to leave this ce, there was nothing down here but rocks. He took a step and was surprised by how light his feet were, his body had felt like a ton of bricks only a moment ago. He continued his movement as he approached the wall.
The only opening he had found during his observations was a few meters above the ground, vines or roots were growing on the walls, almost like this was somewhere underneath a Forest. He was not in a cave or pit, it looked like there used to be some kind ofke here or maybe an underground spring, but it had obviously dried up.
He took one more looked around after getting to the wall and ced his right hand on a vine. ''An undergroundke huh, how did I get here___ Ouch ouch ouch... my head hurts, it''s a little hard to breathe down here, I can''t even think properly, I should first get out of here before I think of anything else.'' He started climbing the walls using the vines as rope, lucky for him they were quite sturdy. He climbed up to the crack in the wall he had noticed earlier on and found himself in a very narrow tunnel, it wasn''trge enough for him to stand or crouch he had to get on all fours, so he started crawling.
After a while the tunnel started broadening, it had gotten a little bigger, enough for him to no longer be on all fours, as he slowly got up and started to walk, the tunnel seems to nt slightly upwards which he thought was a good thing. The pain he felt was now getting better, the air was getting better as well, there were no odors or smells almost as if his nose wasn''t working and he could not pick up on any scent. He didn''t think about it too much as his only priority was getting out, he had seen some other openings in the tunnel that lead who knows where. He decided to trust his sense of direction as he felt he had a good one, and also take the part that leads upwards.
It''s been more than an hour already and he hadn''t seen a change yet, the tunnel looked the same since he started walking on his feet.
He was starting to doubt his sense of direction, but at the moment something else was going through his mind.
''My head still hurts quite a bit, but my body feels fine now, how long have I been walking for now, yet I don''t feel a bit of fatigue? I must have quite a lot of stamina, hee hee, in more ways than one aha haha... sigh, I''m an idiot, I should focus.'' after amusing himself in thought he started to walk faster.
Two hourster he finally saw light, he had broken into a jog for some reason in thest hour or so. He then climbed out of the tunnel, the exit was steep but fortunately, there were more vines here, unlike the tunnel.
The first thing he saw was the big bright moon, the moon lit up the area almost as well as the sun did a day. Taking a moment to adjust his sight he felt a cool breeze, it blew past him and touched his entire body, yes, it touched everything... that''s when it hit him, he had finally realized that something precious was dangling in the wind____ he was naked.
Feeling a bit embarrassed he frantically looked around, luckily there was no one there ''Phew... that would''ve been embarrassing.'' After he sighed relief, he started to look around again, in a moreposed manner, his eyes widened as he took in his new environment. There were trees all around him, it seems to be a forest with incredibly tall trees and strange vegetation around him but even with the height of these trees he could still see that there was a building at a distance to the east (Or what he assumed was east) it looked to be some sort of castle. After organizing his thoughts he decided to head for the castle just to get some damn clothes.
Now that he was finally out of the tunnel he could breathe much better and his sense of smell seemed to have returned, his headache was milder now so he could now think clearly. As he walked towards the castle he started to think about who he was and how he ended up underground, he couldn''t remember much but he finally remembered something, his name.
Tyler Falls, but he still couldn''t remember what happened to him or how he got to that dried-up spring orke. After more than 30 minutes of walking, he saw the entrance/exit of the forest, there were strangerge birds perched up in the tall trees at the entrance/exit watching him. Apart from some strange insects, he hadn''t seen any other living being on his way. He finally came out of the forest and saw the castle some distance away, the castle was insanelyrge and wide, it looked like the size of several football stadiums, although it was hardly noticeable Tyler could see the outer walls were partially destroyed.
Tyler walked forward towards the castle, he wasn''t that far of, and after walking almost 100 meters to the castle, he felt his body pass through something, he was a little confused. ''Was it my imagination?'' he ignored it and kept walking, for some reason he could feel imaginary eyes staring at him since he entered the forest, the moment he noticed he was naked.
After passing through one of the openings in the outer walls, he soon arrived in front of a huge double door one of which was on the ground having been rammed through. He had entered through the side of the castle and had to circle to the front to find this entrance. He noticed the front gate had also been smashed in, this ce must have been invaded at some point in time, he entered the castle and was amazed, although the entire ce was covered in a thickyer of dust the view was still fantastic, he was pretty sure he had never been in a castle before or he wouldn''t be this impressed with what looks to be an abandoned castle.
The walls were lined with gold and the ceiling was designed with colorful jewels that emitted white light that illuminate the entire hall the moment he stepped a foot in. For a castle that seemed to be surrounded by a forest, the walls didn''t seem old or show any signs of decay, the only damage in the castle was the damaged outer walls.
"This ce should be abandoned right? I just hope there is no dangerous wild animal here, it seems well built almost magical, and definitely belonged to royalty, hopefully, they left some clothes behind before they fled, or maybe they were killed off. Even if the enemy took all the valuables there should still be some servant''s clothing right?" Without waiting for a response from whomever he was talking to, he started to walk down the hall in hopes of finding some clothes to cover himself up and feel a little more secure.
There were two staircases in front of him, both leading up to different locations, there were also tworge doors that lead to the right and left. The ceiling of the castle was incredibly high, it was almost as if this ce wasn''t built for humans. Tyler had no idea where to go, from what he saw outside it could take him days just to explore the entire castle. "Oh well, might as well just start from the bottom and make my way up slowly, hopefully, I find what I want down here." Making up his mind he picked a door at random and headed in that direction, any room he stepped into was lit up by the jewel-like crystals in the ceiling.
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In the castle''s West wing, Seventh floor,
After spending what seemed like hours looking for clothes suitable for him to wear in the various rooms, Tyler finally found some. He had found some old clothes earlier in the servant quarters but they turned to dust the moment he touched them, he didn''t know how long this castle had been abandoned, it didn''t seem like more than a few months at first but now he felt like it must have been a couple of years and maybe even a few decades, judging by all the clothes he had found so far crumbling to dust.
The castle didn''t have much, it seems he was right and this ce must''ve been raided, as anything of value had been taken. The rooms only had furniture that might''ve been toorge to be moved and nothing else, everything was covered in a thickyer of dust and the air was stuffy. Each room he entered was illuminated by colorful crystals in luxurious Chandelier, he was a little surprised those weren''t stolen as well, the castle seems to be separated into four wings he had only been able to search one wing so far, luckily this was where the chambers were located so he had found some clothes.
He was now wearing brown linen trousers and a brown shirt he found in one of the fancier rooms, his underwear was from one of the floors below he looked like one of those startup characters from an old RPG game. After settling his first priority or mission, to get dressed, he sat on a sofa located in thergest room he had found on the highest floor on this wing, there were no damages to the room he figured it must''ve been reinforced. This was obviously the king''s room so as the only one in the castle right now he figured one of the safest ces in the castle was the king''s Chambers after locking the door with the lock that surprisingly still works he sat in the rtively cleaner sofa (Still covered in dust) to get some rest, he wasn''t tired but still felt mentally drained after all he had been nursing a headache for more than five hours now.
''Sigh... I should try to sleep it off...'' Tyler thought as he rubbed his temple with his right fore and index fingers. He then leaned back and closed his eyes trying to rx and fall asleep.
10 minster, although he was very rxed and his headache was almost non-existent he couldn''t fall asleep ''hmm I feel like my body is rejecting sleep like I have been sleeping for too long already, how long was I unconscious in that ce?'' Tyler unknowingly started massaging his temples again not because of the headache but in a bid to recover his memories.
As if reacting to his wish he started to remember something. ''This is not Earth, am I in another world? did I die? No, no... I was a war prisoner, I fell during the raid on this very castle. Damnit, what kind of a messed-up situation was I in? I remember I fell through a crack in my cell to that undergroundke and sunk like a rock straight down to the bottom since my legs were broken in the war so I couldn''t swim. I thought I was going to drown, I already said myst prayers and hoped to lose my virginity in the afterlife or if I somehow get reincarnated again but this is still Neron right? and I''m still in the Demon continent. I couldn''t tell by the forest but the castle, WAIT! this is the Demon King''s Castle and I just walked in here like an idiot.''(Stands up)
He remembered, this was another world filled with magic, he wasn''t sure if this was parallel earth or a different and how he came here he couldn''t remember yet, just that he had spent some time here and participated in a war that leads to his current predicament.
''No, wait if the castle is abandoned that means the demon King is dead right? Phew... I need to figure this out fast so I get out of here, even if the demon King is dead there must still be some powerful demons alive, it''s impossible for the humans and dwarfs topletely kill every demon in the demon continent even if they outnumbered the demons 4:1 they can''tpare in strength. That was why they had used such a messed-up strategy. Damn, how long was I under? judging by the look of this ce it should be a few decades or so, how am I even alive? Did thatke have powers of healing and hibernation, is that why it was under the demon king''s region? Poor guy probably couldn''t use it when he was about to lose, hehe, I''m getting carried away. Anyway, I''m not a mage or sorcerer but I had the minimum talent in magic even though my magic was so bad it couldn''t even get me an E Rank adventurer''s license. I had to brutally learn swordsmanship but if it''s just to tell what year it is I should be able to do it.''
After rambling andmpooning in his head for a while, he got up and walked towards the balcony, it was still night so it would give him a better result if he was directly under the stars.
He looked up and uttered a spell... Time Appraisal!, the date and time flooded his mind.
The year 1467
Tyler stared at the stars from the balcony dumbfounded, he couldn''t believe what the stars were telling him.
"You''re kidding right, how?
How have I been sleeping for Over A Thousand Years!!!!".
Chapter 4 C04. Magic Library
Several thousand miles away beyond the Darknar forest, at the edge of a cliff by the raging Red river, the wind was cold as the night was dark but the multitude of stars and the full moon expelled most of the darkness.
Two figures moving at an incredible speed heading for the cliff came to an abrupt halt at the edge of the cliff overlooking the raging current of the Red River. "Should we jump?" one of the two female figures asked the other in a fluster as she frantically stared at the bottom of the cliff and over her shoulder.
"Do we have a choice, it''s either the water or him. I''ll rather take my chances with the river." "But..." She didn''t wait to hear a reply as she immediately jumped off the cliff, the other female contemted for only a second, she pursed her lips in a bid toin but ultimately decided against it as she jumped off the cliff to the untamed waters below.
The cliff returned to its previous calm for only a short while, three other figures appeared in the distance dashing towards the cliff at almost the same insane level of speed as the previous figures. They also came to a stop at the edge of the cliff, they looked at the waters below, there were two men and a woman, therger well-built man asked waiting for confirmation like a trained soldier:
"Should we jumped after them?"
"No need, if they survive the jump the current will take them towards the more dangerous region of the Darknar forest, if the monsters don''t finish them a demon scout will," said the slimly built man with a long face and without a change in expression, he had short blonde hair and dark skin with long pointed ears.
After staring at the waters below for a while his bright golden eyes dimmed until it was now dark brown. He turned around and said to his twopanions.
"Let''s return before we are discovered."
"Alright."
The other two nodded slightly and turned around to follow closely behind. The female who was wearing a silver mask turned her head around for a second to take a look at the river below the cliff ''Stupid'' she thought before turning back to follow her team.
??????
Along the Red River near the Darknar forest, two figures could be seen swimming in against the now docile current headed fornd, they slowly crawled out of the water with all their strength, they stood up and walked slowly, their movements were weak and each step was harder than thest, still, they managed to walk all the way to arge rock by the side of the river in other to rest, they were obviously out of breath and panting heavily.
Fighting against the river''s current was hard enough but doing so while avoiding all the dangerous monsters in the water had clearly taken a toll on them.
,m The first to exit the river had Raven ck hair that only extended to her neck with light green eyes and a thin face, her nose and eyes were well proportioned and her lips were cherry red, a little thin but full, whichplemented her dark skin and long pointy ears, even wet and covered in dirt, it did nothing to hide her beauty.
"Are you alright Liz? How''s the leg?" she said turning her head to look at herpanion with a hint of concern in her voice. "I''m fine, my leg''s not broken I just twisted it a little in thending," Liz said with a faint but charming smile on her face. She was a little pale, her fair skin looked almost as white as snow but her dazzling blue eyes were glistening with life, she had soft facial features and her long blonde hair was tied in a ponytail to allow easy movement, even in her current condition one could tell she was quite beautiful as well. The red River wasn''t exactly known for being clean, the two women did note out without being covered in dirt, it was why monsters liked it, or maybe it was a result of their hard work.
Bothdies were wearing dark-colored easy to move in clothing, it was without a doubt covered in dirt and hard to decipher. "Don''t worry Rain I won''t slow us down."
"That''s not what I''m worried about, and you don''t need to stand yet, I am sure they won''t follow us this far, but we can''t stay here for long." Rain held Liz''s shoulders and stopped her from standing up, she looked around then pursed her lips and continued. "I think we can rest here for a while, the strong monsters in the forest won''t approach the red River, anyone that does I can easily handle myself. Once we rest for a few hours we should head down the river to the Demon King''s fallen castle, as long as we don''t get spotted by scouts when sneaking in, we can rest and recover there for a month or two before seeking refuge from the Daki tribe in the Eastern borders."
After saying that she stood up slowly and said "Wait here a bit I''ll get some dry wood we can use to start a fire, after all, I am not a demon like you, I don''t have as much resistance and I can''t see at night without magic." Rain said smiling, without waiting for a response she started to walk towards the forest in search of dry wood.
Liz wasn''t able to interrupt her friend as she had already started rambling and she talks pretty fast, she could only smile and say in a low but sweet voice "Alright, be careful." Rain did not stop nor did she turn her head as she just waved her hands indicating that she was aware. she soon disappeared into the woods.
Liz was left to her thoughts and the pain she felt in her legs, she had underyed the injury to her leg when she had jumped after Rain down the cliff, although she did not have a broken bone she was sure the bone in her legs had fractured. If she was human she would have died on impact, neither she nor Rain could use wind magic well enough to the point of breaking their fall and flying would just make them an easy target besides they were already out of Mana at that moment, and were unable to try anything else.
''Even though all the high-level demons and the five families are fighting with each other on who would be the next demon King they still send scouts to monitor the castle to prevent any one of them from getting desperate and doing something stupid. we should be really careful, it seems this might actually be the less dangerous n.'' Liz had let her thoughts wander as she waited for Rain to return, this region was mostly abandoned but several key locations were imed by the powerhouses in the demon continent so if they got caught by one on Their way they wouldn''t get off easy.
??????????
Astrology magic was a technique meant to use the stars alongside ones Mana,plimented with a corresponding magic Circle to do things such as divination, Fortune telling, and many more. It could also be used to calcte the date by receiving the exact rotation of the you''re on, by picking up on the wavelength of every single living organism that had formed m a consciouswork of information which can also be used to tell one''s location and even time.
This kind of magic was not actually rare but using it was a different story as most mages could only tell the time with it. To tell the date was a little more difficult but it didn''t have any special requirements as long as one knew the corresponding magic circle, it was important to picture it perfectly unlike other forms of magic that allowedfor little mistakes. So as long as you could do that and was not stupid, even someone as weak in magic as Tyler would be able to use it.
As for divination, it would take someone really special to be able to receive any feedback.
After being dumbfounded for a while, Tyler took deep breaths and calmed down, after all this was better than death by drowning, a fate he had been sure would happen. He walked back into the room and sat down on the sofa he was sitting on before, the night was cold but it didn''t bother him too much. Perhaps he was used to the cold or maybe he now had better resistance.
''Hmm what am I supposed to do now? I''ve been in aa for a thousand years and I''m sure all my formal friends are probably dead by now, right? I don''t even want to go back to the Human continent again, those assholes used me and my team as cannon fodder and when we got captured they didn''t even bother rescuing us and just started bombarding the ce.'' He furrowed his brows as he had bad been reminded of something truly unpleasant. ''I guess I''ll stay the night here and head for somewhere else by morning it might be too dangerous to stay at the Demon King''s Castle since I''m not aware of the situation in this era.''
"Umm, maybe I should go to the elf''s continent?"
''No, that''s probably a bad idea, after all, they don''t really like humans that much. They don''t care much for other races and they didn''t take any sides during the war, remaining neutral.'' Tyler stood up as he paced back and forth. ''I don''t know if that has changed during thest thousand years but it''s better not to take any chances. Damnit, with that logic no continent might be safe and with my level, I might not even make it out of the Demon continent alive.''
He went back to take a sit as he massaged his temples. ''I should try finding a weapon first, and maybe some supplies, even though I have been awake for almost seven hours, I''m not hungry at all but that might just be a side effect of sleeping so long, or is it more urate to call it aa since I hit my head on the way down.'' Tyler frowned a little as he got up to explore the other areas of the castle, it was better to find anything that would be of help to him now that he was still full of energy, but as soon as he took a step forward, he notices something, there was another door in the room next to the bathroom door.
Even though the room was veryrge or maybe it was because it was sorge, Tyler had carefully observed it when he first entered, there was only one other door to the room and it was the bathroom door the balcony had a different set of doors that looked nothing like the two other doors.
When he had entered the room the first thing he had seen was the veryrge bed positioned in the far end of the room directly opposite the door, there was a desk to the right of the room as well as a small empty bookshelf and the entrance of the balcony, and opposite that was the bathroom door, now however there were two doors. ''When did... is my memory still fucked up?''
Tyler was stumped at first before he remembered where he was currently standing in ''That''s right to not have something strange happen in the Demon King''s chambers would be the truly weird part in this.'' Aftering to this conclusion he decided not to investigate the new door after all that''s how most horror movies take a dark turn.
Tyler then headed for the door leading to the hallway, he only took a few steps when a cold breeze blew through his skin sending a chill down his spine.
Thump thump thump...
His heart was beating faster and louder
Step Step Step...
Each step he took was getting heavier as he got closer and closer to the door that leads to the hallway, he took one more step then turned his head slightly towards the strange door that had appeared out of nowhere only to see it tightly shut as nothing had happened. ''Was it all in my head?'' he couldn''t figure out what was going on and he couldn''t feel any malice or danger from the door, the only reason he wanted to leave was that this was the Demon King''s chambers, although it wasn''t like his intuition was that great, to begin with.
Turning his attention back to the door in front of him that leads to the hallway he strangely felt a sense of dangering from it instead, it was an innate fear that was creeping into his core.
He had an rming feeling that opening this door would have terrifying consequences. ''What''s going on here, why is leaving a more dangerous choice?.'' Tyler was confused he didn''t know if this was some kind of deceit spell or if he should trust his instinct after all he had been drifting in and out of consciousness for a thousand years he hadn''t trained for all that time maybe his senses got crossed because he hadn''t been using them for so long.
After a few seconds of deliberation, he decided to study the strange door first, before making a decision. He took a couple of steps and didn''t feel the pressure he felt before so he just continued and arrived at the strange wooden door, it looked almost identical to the other two doors, but had what he would consider magic Runes inscribed on it.
Tyler then began to study all the little details in the door, but he didn''t notice anything special about it apart from the little writings. ''Umm, it might just be a secret room that the Demon king kept his most prized possession. Did he use a concealment spell? if so why couldn''t I leave, is it part of the spell?'' Tyler came to a conclusion based on his previous experience with magic, he didn''t study much but he had a Tier 3 secret mage as one of his party members.
Secret mage was generally good at concealment spells so he had seen a few of them in his time as an adventurer. Tyler decided to open the door after some deliberation, it wasn''t because he was careless and not cautious but because it might be the only ce in the castle that was not raided.
This might be the only ce he could find a weapon in the castle. That way he wouldn''t have to wander the demon continent unarmed.
He ced his hands on the door nob then turned it and push.
Creak...
Tyler stood in front of the strange door he had just opened with vignce only to see the content of the room in front of him, there weren''t any weapons or any signs of danger.
The interior was full of rows and rows of tall shelves filled with books, different types of books and scrolls that he had never seen before and the weird part was unlike the rest of the castle there wasn''t a single speck of dust in the room or maybe it was a hall, a veryrge hall that looked as clean as the day it was built.
This was not what Tyler was expecting, this was a Library, and judging by the books on the shelves and the carvings on the walls, this was no ordinary library.
This is a Magic Library.
Chapter 5 C05. Potential
Tyler was stunned by the sight in front of him, he could not believe that there was a Library inside the demon King chambers, mostly because he couldn''t imagine the Demon King reading a book. He always thought demons were born with their magic and didn''t need to learn spells. It took him a while topose himself and organize his thoughts, he then took a step forward into the library in order to get a better understanding of what was in the library.
The moment he entered the hall the door behind him closed, he felt something shatter around him but he did not notice anything out of the ordinary. Just like the rest of the castle, the library was lined with gold, almost as if gold was amon metal. The walls were carved with strange symbols and drawings, there were no colored crystals to light up the room but it was strangely bright like it was under the sun.
Tyler started to walk towards one of the bookshelf closest to him to take a better look at the books on them. The demon King must''ve used an insanely advanced concealment spell to conceal the library, for a spell that had managed tost almost 1000 years after the death of the demon King it must''ve been something even above the legendary Tier 7 Magic.
Getting closer to the shelf he could see the titles of some of the books.
? Silent Incantations
? Greater magics
? Magic Circles
? Fundamental modus
? The Book of Death
Apart from thatst one, each book he saw was extremely valuable, to any magic user, this was a treasure trove that all races would die for. "Was this the real reason humans started the war?"
Tyler frowned slightly at this thought, if the humans had somehow found out about the knowledge possessed by the demon King, it makes sense why they were so bent on invading the demon continent and they probably deceived the dwarfs with their promise of rare ores and high leveled beast cores.
Even if the dwarfs notice somethingter on their interest in the materials from the high-level monsters would be more important to them, after all, there won''t be too many books here that would interest the dwarfs, their main focus was weapons after all.
Tyler didn''t hurriedly pick a book, he casually walk through the library in other to get a better understanding of the ce. The hall wasrge it would take him a while to look through the entire library, it was a shame he wasn''t skilled in using magic, his potential was not even at the Tier 1 standard. Even after trying all he could to learn basic magic spells, he couldn''t perform any of the spells, the only reason he had any magic was because of an innate ability he had, Potential Break.
At first, he had thought this was a cheat ability he had received for being reincarnated but heter found out that even though it was a unique and rare ability, there were a few people who had innate magical abilities as well, before even learning magic.
Innate ability is a unique ability that is different from each and every other innate ability. It would have been awesome if he was able to use magic as Potential Break was able to forcefully increase a magic user''s potential turning a Tier 2 mage or Magic Swordsman into Tier 3. But in the end, Tyler could only use it on one person and for only 60 seconds because of his limitations, still, this was an incredible ability for hispanions which was why he was able to join a rtively strong party and learned from a Tier 3 Magic Swordsman in other to be a D Ranking Adventurer.
"Sigh... what a shame," Tyler said as he began topose himself again, he started walking around the library, he saw various magic books and even Magic scrolls that contain various support type spells, thetter was quitemon in the human continent he had quite a few himself when he was an Adventurer, he secretly decided to take as many of them as possible when he leaves the castle after all the library was too valuable and the books might be easily tracked he didn''t believe he could protect himself if he took a book to sell.
After deliberating about it for some time, he started walking again to continue his exploration of the library. There were books and scrolls on the shelves on both sides of the hall. He read the names of each book and even took a look at the scrolls. An hourter, he arrived at a corner of the library. There were no books nor scrolls, the shelves here contained different types of essories, artifacts, and various items (Possibly magic items). There were rings, bracelets, masks, crystals, etc.
The items that were disyed in a magic library would be special, although Tyler was interested in them as he thought he had found a way to be stronger, he still didn''t touch them rashly he had heard of how dangerous magic artifacts were, not to mention a magic artifact belonging to the demon King, plus the fact that he couldn''t use appraisal magic.
There were many artifacts on the shelves about 150, to Tyler''s disappointment there were no weapons, but there was something that caught his attention. It was something he recognized.
It was an orb the size of a volleyball, it was dark in color like it was absorbing all the light around.
The orb was used to test the magic potential of people, Tyler had used a simr one in his evaluation in the Adventurer Guide, he could still remember the looks of the staff members present in the room when he found out he wasn''t even able to be a Tier 1 Mage
He creased his brows at the thought. ''Those staffs were totally mocking me weren''t they, it''s not like any of them had a magic potential to brag about. Bunch of dumbasses.'' After cursing at the dead, he thought about using the orb again maybe after so many years his potential had to improve a little or whatever kept him alive underground might have done something to improve his potential (Potentials are usually permanent), but he was still a little hesitant, it took him a while to get used to the idea not being able to use magic after being reincarnated to a world with magic, and there have been people along the way who had mocked him for being weak and even told him his innate ability was wasted on him. If he took the test just to be disappointed again he might die from the emotional impact.
It was not a very hard decision, to be honest, it wasn''t like he had much to do, and even if it was the same results he was already a warrior swordsman and could still use one of the other artifacts and magic items and crystals toplement his vast weakness so why not?
Tyler had finally decided to test his potential again after contemting for a while. His reason was because of the fact that he had no fatigue right now. As a matter of fact, his body felt amazingly fit, he had incredible bnce and control over all his limbs, he had instinctively assumed that all improvement was rted to him being a Swordsman, but he had no idea what happened to him or why his body was in such a great shape, so maybe his magic potential was better now if he can get a Tier 3 potential it would be insane and if he gets the same results asst time, he''ll be fine because of his improved physique and more importantly no one else was here.
He then walk to the shelf with the orb and picked it up. Taking a few steps back he concentrated as he had done in the past.
The orb was dark with lots of light gathering in a cluster in the center, in other to use it one must be holding the orb and will their Mana into it. The orb had the characteristics of attracting light out of the atmosphere which is a form of energy as a result it can attract the mana from whoever holds it, this makes it easier to sense the Mana within so even a novice would be able to sense his mana when holding the orb and once the orb contains the Mana the specks of light scatters within it and it, in turn, glows the more powerful the Mana the more excited the light within is the brighter the orb glows which shows the magic potential of the one holding the orb.
As Tyler held the orb and injected his Mana into the orb he slowly opened his eyes to look at the orb nervously, Crack...
BOOM!
"It exploded?" Tyler stood rooted to the spot as he watched the dust from the shattered orb fly everywhere.
??????
At the Red Riverbank.
Rain and Liz were taking turns watching the area while the other gets some rest, Rain was standing a few meters from the campfire when she sensed something moving within the forest.
*whoosh...
it was fast and agile and she didn''t get a good look at it.
She slowly retreated to where her friend was resting and whispered. "Hey Liz, get up. Prepare to leave we havepany the noise will attract other creatures." She said while tapping her friend''s shoulders while keenly being aware of her surroundings.
Liz got up without saying anything and prepared to leave while being on high alert and ready to provide backup for her friend. Even though her leg wasn''t healed she could use various enhancement spells to regain full control of her body for a while, it was how she made it in the river, to begin with. Now that she and her friend had regained some Mana they weren''t afraid of the monsters that patrolled the outer areas of the forest.
As soon as Liz had gotten up though... three shes of light flew at her from the forest at lightning-fast speed it was a silvery-white w-shaped energy attack, even though she was expecting an attack she was still a moment too slow to react in time.
"Water Barrier!"
Water drops were extracted from the air as they formed a barrier around Liz at high speed. Tier 2 Elemental magic - Water Barrier. Rain had reacted in time as her left palm that had formed the magic circle was stretched out facing Liz, she instantly raised her right index fingers at the spot the attack hade from and instantly cast a spell.
"Twin Max magic Lightning ricochet!"
Two thick bolts of silver lightning shot out of her finger straight at the spot the monster had attacked from.
whoosh...
The monster instantly left its location and appeared to the right of the girls, away from the terrifying attack. It was a silver wolf almost the size of an adult male. Its eyes glowed with a red luster, his fang wasrge and sharp and it had a hint of intelligence as he prepared another attack to finish off its prey, it had used the silver wolf innate ability ¡ãSpeed Bust¡ã and sessfully evaded its prey''s attack.
Thanks to its fast reaction and insane speed it had escaped the attack before it even reached him, giving him a chance to finish off its prey with its next attack. After all, it knew they would not be able to cancel the attack halfway through, and even if they were able to cast another spell it still had a few more ¡ãSpeed Bust¡ã in him, it could simply repeat the process.
Its fur started to stand on end as he prepared for its most powerful attack ¡ãRage Destruction¡ã which would enable him tounch an endless barrage of a more powerful and faster version of the previous attack it had used ¡ãSilver w sh¡ã.
At that moment though, two thick bolts of silver lightning struck him right in the head as it streaked through its entire body sending an electric current to attack its internal organs taking him down in his confusion.
As the silver wolf was overly confident in its speed and was in the process of casting a spell of its own, it wasn''t able to react at all to the speed and might of the Tier 5 spell - Lightning ricochet. it didn''t notice the magic circle that had appeared in its previous location and redirected the two-bolt of lightning to him with greater might, in the end, its body fell to the ground convulsing.
After seeing her friend''s spell make contact, not taking any chances Liz immediately cast a follow-up spell of her own.
"Max magic Ice spikes!"
The moment the magic circle appeared under the silver wolf body, the ground around it froze. In the next second, incredibly sharp ice spikes grew from the frozen ground. The convulsing silver wolf stopped breathing.
"Phew... if it was more than one we might have been in trouble. It''s almost Dawn we should start heading for the Demon King''s Castle." Rain said with relief in her tone, she hadn''t known what kind of monster woulde out of the forest, but she could tell it was fast so she prepared to counter its speed. She hadn''t fully recovered her Mana so she was unable to cast any Tier 6 spell if the silver wolf was with its pack they might have had to retreat into the river and hope no monsters appear.
Liz look at her friend and nodded without saying anything else. After Rain retrieved the wolf''s core and cut out some flesh for their trip, the two women started to walk along the river bank towards the direction of the demon king''s castle.
Some distance away, deep in the Darknar forest, a figure was sitting on the branch of a giant tree with his eyes closed, his right arm on his right knee cap as his right leg was on the tree branch and his left leg swayed below. He slowly opened his eyes and stood up, he turned his head towards the east in the direction of the Demon King''s Castle.
His lips curled up as he smiled and said in a low voice "Interesting." after the words left his mouth he slowly faded away like an oil painting.
Chapter 6 C06. Learning Magic
Dust epassed the Section of the library that held magic items and artifacts, after the loud sound of an explosion echoed throughout the library ended, the ce slowly returned to its previous calm and tranquility.
As Tyler watched the dust settle down before his eyes, he was at a loss for words, he didn''t know whether tough or cry, he had never heard of an event where the orb exploded, as far as he knew even those legendary heroes didn''t have their orb explode in their faces causing various theories to float around in his head.
''Was it too old? No, no, no, that''s a magic item we''re talking about, it won''t get ravaged by time unless the magic inside is used up, what do I do now? You''d think there would be an instruction manual here somewhere, it''s a library after all.''
Unsure of what had happened Tyler decided it best not to stress about the strange phenomenon with the orb and find another way to find out if he had any Magic.
Without the orb to guide him, he wouldn''t know where to start his studies and what aspect of Magic to focus on. However, the only way to know if he could use Magic now was to just do it.
Of course, this was not as easy as it sounded as he had no idea what he needed to do but without any tools or a teacher to help him. He had to try learning a spell and using it just to be sure. If he only had mana now and still could not cast spells then he had to find another way of gaining strength from this library.
With his path already determined by fate, he went back the way he came to pick a book he had seen before "Magic Fundamentals" even though he had learned the basics of magic before, he wanted to refresh his memories.
He took the book off the shelf and notice there were Twelve other volumes all lined up on the shelf. "This is going to take a while." Looking at the different other books on the shelf, he slowly sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall, opened the book to the first chapter, and started reading.
The basic theories of how magic worked were exined in the first few chapters. He had read half of the book and only learned one thing he didn''t know before, it seems he need to read more books to get all the basic knowledge he need to understand magic, but the one thing he learned shocked him to his core.
"There are Nine Tiers in magic, I thought there were only Seven."
Tyler frowned slightly he remembered in the Ruz Kingdom on the human continent he had only learned of Four Tiers and most people could only use up to Tier 3, it was rare to see a Tier 4 mage, wizard, or sorcerer, although a Tier 4 Magic Swordsman was a little moremon as magic Swordsmen were specialist and could only use a handful of spells, they tend to only Learn powerful spells thatplemented their weapons and fighting style and Secret Techniques.
There was only one Magic Swordsman back when Tyler was an Adventurer that was considered above the Tiers, he was a hero amongst heroes, he had fought on the Frontline in the war, and he was most likely the one to kill the demon King or so he thought, even if the demon King couldn''t use up to the Ninth Tier he knew demons could match heroes and even one-up them (Tier 5), so the demon King had to be far stronger, ''How did they win?'' It''s already been more than a thousand years even if he wanted to know the truth of the events that unfolded, it was probably toote, shaking his head he brought his attention back to the present and continued his previous train of thoughts.
Unlike Magic Swordsmen who were different from warriors, magic Swordsmen could be considered sorcerer''s with swords as they could use magic. Mages were a little different, they could use any form/aspect of magic they studied and were only limited by their magic potential and affinity.
Tyler flipped through the book and took the next volume, and the next, and the next... He was reading so fast he was bing a blur, he moved to where he sat to return and pick a new book, then he went back the where he was sitting, then he repeated the same motion again and again. He read all 12 volumes and started to read the other books on the shelf
? History of Magic
? Crux of Mana
? Mana Body
? Magic Runes
? Magic Circle
If he had read like this in college, he might have been the best student in the whole school. He learned about the basics and history of all 9 tiers of magic, he learned the formations of mage circles from magic Runes, he learned how to read basic magic Runes and decided to get back to thatter as it was a littleplicated and quite expansive, he learned about the different forms of magic. Elemental Magic, Control Magic, Necromancy, Spirit Magic, Astrology Magic, and Arcane or Bizarre Magic.
After more than 10 hours of reading, he finally stopped and picked up a book, Elemental Basic Spell book - Tier 1.
He had tried researching other ways of testing Magic potential but the only spell for that was all the way up at the 7 tier and that was not something he could even dream off.
He also didn''t notice his abnormal speed when he was reading the books. He had lost track of time and enjoyed the feeling of understanding what he was reading as he read it, which was what frustrated him when he was in school, having to study something over and over again before understanding it a little.
Scanning his surroundings a bit, Tyler noticed an open area in the center of the columns. There was a massive engraved Magic circle on it but he could not decipher it. However, it looks like a protection tube.
Tyler then walks to there with slight hesitation, there was enough space to try a spell but he felt hesitant. The library had shown itself to him by ident so he could kit be sure it would remain open to him.
Something this good to be true wasn''t natural and he had a stinging fear that if he left he would never return. This was probably his only opportunity in the library so he had to take it.
"Hmm, I should try to be Etta careful, can''t damage anything in here now can I? So what should be my first spell then."
He forced himself to calm down as he focused all his attention on his what he wanted to do. He was a little excited to be testing Magic but couldn''t let himself get carried away.
He flipped through the book almost halfway before finally stopping at a page containing a spell, up to seven basic spells could be contained within a single book as they didn''t contain much information, Tier 2 and above spells would take their books and be increasinglyplicated.
He had considered various spells to test but disregarded them as he was in a special ce and could not afford his spell to damage anything.
He decided to try a basic defense spell he had seen before to increase his chance of sess. After deliberating between his top two choices, which were the spells; Magic barrier and Earth wall.
This was not a perfect test, as he may still be a Tier 1 magic swordsman and proficient in a different element. If he fails he intends to try the safest spells in all the other elements.
He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, the anxiousness he thought had left him came back like a tsunami, taking a few more deep breaths he opened his eyes and stretched out his right arm trying to cast a spell, the moment the words left his mouth he heard his strangely deeper voice fill with unknown confidence he hadn''t possessed a moment ago.
"Earth Wall"
The Magic circle made up of magic Runes slowly started to form around his opened palm this was the final step in learning magic once the magic circle is fully formed it would be fused into one Mana body and would only take an instant to cast whenever the spell is cast again. As every rune in the circle was arranged in a ce he could feel the vibrations on the ground.
Tyler was getting excited by the second as each rune went in ce before his very eyes, this was a feeling he had never experienced before. Using his ability didn''t use much Mana and did not require a magic circle it was an innate ability that worked more like a skill which was what monster''s abilities were called.
The entire library began to vibrate as the magic circle became moreplete. In that instant, Tyler felt a huge surge of energy leave him and enter into the magic circle, he felt a little drained but quickly recovered.
The library started shaking violently, it was like a high-magnitude earthquake was about to ur. ''What in the world!'' Tyler eximed inwardly as he witness this scene, he had only performed a Tier 1 spell, it wasn''t something that would lead to such a reaction.
In that instant a giant wall that was over 3 meters wide shot up from the ground beneath his feet. It was sorge and wide that it almost hit Tyler in the chin when it rose. The wall was more than six meters tall, it looked like it was made to hold an ancient Giant''s temple, something that wasn''t made for humans.
*BOOM!
Before Tyler could react to the size of the wall, the library shaking intensified in the same instant the wall shattered in arge explosion. The shockwave sent him flying straight for the door over 60 meters away, which had been opened at some point in time.
whoosh... Bang!
Tyler was sent flying out of the library straight into the wall on the opposite side of the library''s door. "Ouch... what the... what happened?"
Feeling the slight pain in the back of his head had brought back his headache, and now he was feeling a little dizzy. He slowly got up from the ground and lightly massaged the back of his head to relieve the pain he was feeling from hitting the wall the speed at which he had hit the wall should have killed him or maybe would''ve is the better word to use, but his attention was not on this little issue, he was focused on something else entirely.
He stared nkly at the ce he had been shot out of "What happened? Did I mess up a basic spell? No, no, no, that''s not supposed to happen, even if I messed up. At most the spell will fail and won''t activate, it was even in one of the books I read." Tyler was deeply confused about the sudden turn of events, one moment he was activating a Tier 1 spell the other moment he was literally kicked out of the library.
He slowly approached the library door step by step, trying his best to be cautious and not let his emotions get the better of him. After reaching the door he ced his hands on the doorknob and turned it.
The door did not open, he tried again and again pushing and pulling but nothing worked, he tried breaking the door but it felt like steel his punches and blows making loud impacts that reverberated in the massive room but he did not pay attention to his own strength.
His heart beating faster by the second.
''Calm down, calm down, calm down, CALM DOWN YOH FUCKING IDIOT!''
Thinking back to what had happened before the library revealed itself to him. Tyler forced himself to calm down with a punch as he walked out of the room and out of the castle.
y by y, he spent another few hours repeating everything he had done till then before walking back to the Library door that hadn''t hidden itself but was still met with failure.
With no way to ess the magic library in sight, the one ce he saw the hope of survival, he was devastated, staring at the tightly shut door with red eyes and a red cheek, a series of bundled-up emotions finally swelled up within him.
There wasn''t much hope in surviving the demon continent as a human, humanity had made an enemy out of almost all inhuman races in this world, their only allies were the dwarfs and he wasn''t even sure that was the case anymore, he hadn''t realized it but the library had given him hope, yet the one chance he had to get stronger in this crazy world and, he blew it. Tyler fell to his knees with a somber expression, at that moment the reality of his situation hit him like a ton of bricks.
He had been extremely calm since he woke up underground and didn''t take the entirety of his situation to heart. It had all yed out like a movie in front of him, but this was reality. He was in the demon continent, not to mention the heart of the demon continent, the demon king''s castle.
Even if he was somehow a Tier 5 Magic swordsman or mage, there is no way he could walk out of the continent alive without any help, not only that but he had nowhere to go. If he tried going to the human continent he would be killed the moment he stepped foot on the borders, after all, some demons looked exactly like humans to be precise most demon races looked human and he had heard there were a few.
He didn''t even have any information on this period, he had no idea what the rtionship between the other races was like. He was alone in a strange world on the enemy base with no help and no strength to fight back.
He felt various emotions bust out of him at once. Sadness, despair, confusion, pain, sorrow. A single teardrop leaked out of his left eye as he felt the negative emotions swell inside of him.
He slowly sat down on the ground with his back against the door as he stared out the window with a mncholic expression. His one chance at survival was behind the door and he let himself be kicked out of it. His greed had overtaken him and he wanted to stay in the library until he had gotten what he wanted from it, he wasn''t better than the people who used and betrayed him.
In the end, what was the point in him surviving for so long, why did he awaken in this ce if he was just going to die soon anyway?
Chapter 7 C07. Ancient Rykir
BOOM!
The impact of a spell sent a rodent-like creature flying back several meters, there was a couple of the same creature lying dead around two female figures standing by the side of a river. They were both breathing heavily as one of them lowered their hand after casting a basic spell using their ability(skill) to boost its effects.
The one who cast the Fire Ball had dark skin and pointed ears, her light green eyes looked like peerless jewels that sparkles under the stars, and her short Raven ck hair was a little messy but it did nothing to hide her beauty, even in the exhausted state she still had an air of confidence around her whenbined with her beauty it made people involuntarily avoid her gaze. She lowered her hand and started walkingpletely ignoring the corpse of the dead creatures around her.
These were Basic beasts(Tier 1: Monsters) and even their core was worthless to them, herpanion followed slightly behind, she had long bright blonde hair tied in a ponytail, her skin was as white as snow and her sky blue eyes glistened like the stars, she looked like a goddess walking on Earth, although she was covered in dirt and minor scratches it only added to her charm.
Walking sluggishly along the riverbank, the twodies looked visibly exhausted, for the past two days they had been attacked by more than a dozen Tier 2-3 monsters and several hundred basic Beasts. Although these were all low-level monsters the frequency of these attacks was getting too close forfort.
They were unable to get a moment''s rest, thedies were no better now than when they had jumped off the cliff.
"Hey Liz, how''s the leg?"
Rain asked with a concerned look on her face, her body was covered in various small scratches and injuries like w marks and bruises from being thrown on the hard rocky ground.
"It''s fine you don''t have to keep worrying about it and stop trying to protect me every time. You look worst than I do."
Liz responded with a serious expression but couldn''t mask the bits of concern in her voice as she stared intently at her friend.
Rain was a little flustered by the stare as she hurriedly responded. "These scratches are nothing, don''t worry about it. Besides being your bodyguard it''s my job to protect you."
"You''re not my bodyguard anymore."
"That doesn''t matter, it''s like they say once a bodyguard always a bodyguard."
"No one says that."
"Don''t worry about it" Rain said smiling at her friend as she Shrugged, and continued.
"I didn''t expect there will be so many monsters patrolling the perimeters of this forest. if this keeps up we''ll run out of Mana before we get to our destination, we need another n."
Liz nodded her head in agreement as she bit her lips, she then turned her head around to take a look at their surroundings. "You''re not suggesting we should...?"
? "Yes. we need to cut through the forest, if we keep following the river, it will take us a week before we get there, and who knows what will happen." Rain said as she turned her head to face the forest.
It was the middle of the day, and the sun was shining brightly in the sky, yet for some reason, the forest looked dark and eerie.
The trees were huge, there were roots and vines everywhere you look, and this was just the perimeters, yet it was enough to send chills down their spines.
"Going through the forest is indeed dangerous, but if we keep doing what we''re doing now we''ll die sooner orter. Our best chance is going through the forest as quickly as possible, it should only take us a couple of hours." To Rain said, she then turned her head back at Liz with a serious expression she continued "It''s a gamble, but we''re already pretty close already, if we move fast we have a high chance of avoiding the dangerously high-level monsters before we run out of stamina and mana, what do you think?" she asked sincerely.
Looking at Rain stare at her with her eyes glistening, Liz felt it was hard to refute her, it was a dangerous n one that requires some form of luck to seed, but somehow it made sense.
Liz was stumped, for some reason, she didn''t feel like going through the forest was the best idea but it was hard to think of a better n, not to mention Rain had been the one doing most of the fighting she had barely been able to provide backup onlynding the finishing blow when the monster could no longer move.
Even though she was a Tier 6 mage just like her friend sheck actual battle experience and was always a moment too slow to react. If it wasn''t for Raine she would have died several times over on this trip alone.
"Okay fine. I''ll use magic sense and lead the way, that way we''ll have a better chance at avoiding the monsters." Liz said a little hesitant about the idea but came up with a basic n, before Rain could refute her n she continued. "I haven''t used as much Mana as you, it''s just my body enhancement spell which doesn''t take much Mana to maintain, it only has a time limit. I should be able to use it again in an hour or so." Liz said with a serious expression.
Looking at her friend being assertive in making decisions Rain was a little shocked, Liz was never this assertive before, she was even considered passive and quiet, so seeing her be like this was quite a sight, and it made it hard for Rein to Insist. The two girls seem to know how to convince each other to see their point of view.
"Alright, let''s rest for an hour and head through the forest like that. We should be there in about 2-3 hours at top speed." Rain said as she pointed at arge rock for them to rest their backs on.
Liz was d her friend had agreed, she had been feeling a little useless watching her friend protect her all this time while she just stayed back not doing much. With this, she could prove herself useful and not just someone that needed to be protected.
Walking to the rock, she sat down with her arms around her knees waiting patiently for her spell to reset.
????
The wind rustled through the dried leaves on the ground, as something passed through at lightning speed, Rain and Liz had entered the forest about an hour ago and were moving at breakneck speed towards the direction of the demon King''s castle.
Whoosh... swoosh... whoosh...
They were moving so fast yet so graceful as they maneuvered in-between and around the trees while avoiding the roots and vines that were practically everywhere as they headed in their general direction.
So far they''ve been able to avoid three high-leveled monsters thanks to Liz''s magic sense and they were only a few miles from their destination, after running for a few more minutes Liz spoke in a low voice.
"Hey Rain, we should cut through the left, there''s a monster up ahead," she spoke without slowing down her speed as she made a quick cut from her original trajectory.
Zing... BOOM!
They hadn''t made many movements to get off the path before a projectile flew past them at great speed and exploded.
"What was that?" Liz said a little flustered aftering to an abrupt halt.
"Liz get behind me!" Rain eximed as she rushed forward to protect her friend, but her reaction was a moment too slow.
Zing... BOOM!
Another projectile exploded right in front of Liz as the shockwave sent her flying straight at therge tree behind her.
Bang!
She mmed into the tree trunk, creating arge dent in the tree. "Gasp!" she was unable to react in time and could only gasp in pain when she hit the tree spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Zing...
"Greater Magic, water Fortress!" Rain shouted the moment she heard the sound of the projectile slicing through the air. She had used a Greater Magic to improve the effectiveness of a Tier 5 spell.
BOOM!
The explosion happened right after the barrier was formed, protecting Liz from instant death. "Cough, cough, cough..." Rain broke into a fit of cough after using the spell, it was obvious she was almost at her limit.
Covering her mouth with her left hand she tried her best to stay cautious and alert. She tried looking around for the enemy but it was of no use, she could not find it no matter how hard she looked.
With her Mana nearing its limit, she would be suicidal if she tried to use magic sense as she was not prolific at it. With no way to locate the enemy and being low on Mana, she pulled out the two daggers that had been well hidden behind her waist.
The only good news right now was the fact that whatever attacked them had notunched another attack. There were different possibilities but without knowing what the attacker was, it was hard to make a guess.
cing the des in front of her face she took a low stance, even though she was low on mana she had enough stamina to engage in an intense fight.
Thump... Thump... Thump...
The forest was oddly quiet but her heart was beating steadily she could feel her surroundings clearly, as she activated the only skill she has learned that was of any help in this situation.
"Blessings of the Wind."
It wasn''t as impressive as magic sense so most people won''t learn it but it uses way less Mana to activate and maintain less than one-tenth, since magic sense was also more dynamic the skill was considered useless but it was a different story for elf''s who had better senses than humans and most demons. She could feel the wind''s movement within 50 meters around her, she could feel every living creature in the area even the insects did not escape her grasp.
Zoom...
"There!" The instant she felt the monster''s movement she immediately shot out from where she was, the ground she was standing on could not withstand the force she exerted, in an instant, she appeared before one of the trees to her right about 10 meters away.
Using both des she shed at the tree, her movements were fluid and almost wless, the des created a streak of energy that spit the giant tree in an X shape.
Zoom...
Whatever was on the tree, had fled before she had even arrived there, it appears to have some kind of camouge ability, and is very fast.
Zing...
Another projectile shot out from a different location straight at Rain. Being already prepared for this oue she quickly rotated her left foot turning to face the attack, and in one motion she dash straight at the projectile.
Looking at the attack now she could see exactly what it was. It was some kind of de-like horn, a horn engulfed in ck mes, Looking at the horn heading straight for her, Rein didn''t show any signs of panic or hesitation, rotating her wrist she brought the daggers in front of her her her face then swung them at the horn.
She had no intentions of taking the attacks head-on, she swung her des from the same direction in a bid to redirect their trajectory.
ng!
Rain used her momentum and speed to change the direction of the horn, she already knew what kind of monster this was and it wasn''t a good match for her right now.
After sessfully redirecting the attack she dashes straight at the monster again only this time she swung only one de at the beast.
As the de approached the monster it immediately relocated and prepared its next attack.
Stab!
A de pierced into the shoulders of the beast revealing its true appearance, Rein had thrown the dagger in her left hand the moment she had attacked from the right leaving the monster only one route to escape.
After forcefully exposing the monster with herst attack, she could now see its true form perched up in the tree like a spider. It was a panther-like creature with two de-like horns growing on top of its head, vertically.
The creature had reddish-grey scales that seemed to be as hard as steel, and its eyes had a reddish hue to them as it red down at the person who wounded it, the beast''s aura was terrifying, even as a Tier 6 mage herself she still felt stifled in its presence, she had guessed what it was already but to stare at it directly was more than she bargained for, this was a monster that was on the verge of being divine it scales was marked with strange words that looked indecipherable, staring at them too long might cause madness or even death.
Tier 6 Magic Beast - Ancient Rykir
Chapter 8 C08. Monster
The Demon King''s chambers were calm, the serene environment was only interrupted by the wind as it blew in and out ruffling the hair on his head. The quiet environment continued for quite some time, there was no living being in the castle, not even insects.
Tyler slowly got up from the ground as he pats himself down for dust, he walked out of the room to the balcony. It was dark, but he could tell the sun would rise soon, he stared at the moon with a nk expression, all the emotions he felt a moment ago seem to have been reced by one, but he couldn''t tell what it was.
He took deep breaths to clear his mind and focus his thoughts on what was important.
"At least I can finally use magic, all I need now is to learn how to control it."
After taking a second to calm down, he started to think about what had happened in the library.
There must''ve been some kind of restriction in the ce that prevented the use of magic or there was a time limit on how long one can stay in the library. He didn''t know how the library remained intact for so long so maybe it had something to do with it.
If it was the former, it means it had nothing to do with the orb exploding, the orb didn''t use any magic spell or magic circles, it only absorbed the Mana from the user and reflect them as light.
So that meant there was a high possiblity he had been the one to mess up by activating a spell within a freaking library. However, Tyler had felt something like an internal clock when he had stepped foot inside the library.
He didn''t know when his time in there would run out and couldn''t risk leaving the library at that time. So he desperately needed to confirm if he could use magic else he would be wasting his valuable time learning spells.
However, if the library trew him out due to thetter, it means he still had hope of entering the library again.
With that said, he still didn''t know which it was but in the end, he was a little hesitant in leaving without trying to get back in, who knew there woulde a day he would want to break into a library so badly? He decided to go back to his original n and search the castle for anything that would be useful to him. He walked back into the room and went to the library doors one more time.
Thinking back to what he had done the first time, he 2ent through a rather long process of retracing his steps in ast ditch effort of entering the library.
Failure...
After failing to open it again he walked out of the room as he locked it behind him and took the keys. ''Hopefully, it''ll let me in again soon.'' As he walk down the hallway he decided to head to the other wings of the castle. The castle was veryrge and he had only been moving around in the west wing, there were a lot of ces he hadn''t been to.
In other to proceed to another wing he needed to descend back to the ground floor of the West wing.
"Sigh... what a shitty design if only I could teleport." Heined to himself as he walked through the hallway back the way he came, soon he arrived back at the entrance therge doors, and the stairs, he knew now that this ce probably lead to all wings in the castle.
He walked forward and took one of the stairs, he went straight through the door at the end of the stairs, it was simr in design to the rest of the castle, colorful crystals illuminated the way, there were fewer rooms on this wing, none of them looked like resting chambers, he wasn''t sure what they were used for.
The wing only went to the fifth floor, he came to arge hall as he exited the stairs, there was only a single room on this floor. Arge door stood at the end of the hall in front of him, it wasrge enough to fit a giant. Its design was exquisite, the door was made of pure gold and crystals ornamented the carvings on it, even with the thickyer of dust covering it, it exuded a faint glow that made it look majestic.
There were 21 Alcoves on either side of the hall and they contained 20 broken statues of what may be considered holy knights, thest one was a, or what looked like a female angel¡ª No, a fallen angel. The statue was cracked and one of her wings had fallen off, he felt a strange sensation from just staring at it¡ª at her.
He took his attention off the statue and walked to the door in front of him, on the way he felt the eyes of the knights move to stare at him but in the end, it might''ve been his imagination. He arrived at the giant door that made him feel like a dwarf, he gulped, cing his hands on the door he tried to push.
There was no sound. The door slowly open without making a single noise, for a second Tyler thought someone pushed the mute button on a remote, he had even failed to hear his heartbeat. As the door slowly opened the scene from the room''s interior came into his view.
An immense pressure the likes of which he had never felt before overwhelmed him for a moment, the room was sorge he was sure a few hundred people would fit in it. At the far end of the room was a throne made of a material he had never seen before, it had a metallic yet crystalline look and feel to it.
The throne was almost tall enough to reach the insanely high ceiling.
Tyler could only stand there stunned by the sight, he couldn''t figure out why for the life of him such a ce would be deserted. Surely there were still some high-level demons alive, shouldn''t they have taken over the castle and crowned themselves King... Or was there a reason why they did not? He finally took a step forward and walked to the throne at the far end of the room.
Soon he arrived at his destination, the throne looked intimidating up close, he was standing at the base of the short flight of stairs that elevated the throne. Climbing the short stairs he stood in front of the throne and extended an arm to touch it, it felt cold to the touch but strangely soothing... With a strangepelling force telling him to have a sit which terrified him. He withdrew his arm and proceeded to search the room for anything of importance.
Sigh... He had found nothing, just like the rooms he had searched previously there was nothing of value here as well, with his disappointment he proceeded to leave the room, but had the urge to touch the throne one more time, as he approached the throne he notices something, the throne was not attached or close to the wall behind, he proceeded to check it out.
Walking behind the throne he took a good look at the wall, He knocked on it and to his surprise, it sounded hallow. Searching everywhere for a secret button or lever he notice something on the wall, it was a small inverse crest the size of a ring, studying the crest he instantly remembered something, he had seen the crest before, on one of the rings in the Magic Library.
??????
Growl...
The Rykir was ring at Rain in agitation, it had been a long time since it had been wounded. Even though it had kept its distance in other to vet its prey''s capabilities, the prey had somehow managed to wound it, this was an unforgivable offense to a being of his status.
Growl!
Rain was momentarily taken aback by the sight of the Rykir''s scales, a Tier 6 being was not supposed to have divine runes on them, this was meant for being of higher Tiers, her situation was worse than she thought. ''I can''t believe we''re this unlucky, of all the Tier 6 monsters to encounter, why it, Liz is unconscious, this might get even more dangerous soon.'' Rain thought without a change in expression as she tried her best to remain focused and on guard.
As the Rykir kept ring at its prey a little annoyed, its ws extended out like small razor-sharp des, and its scales ignited into greyish ck mes.
¡ãShadow body. mes of hell.¡ã
The moment its entire body was engulfed in mes it bent its knees and disappeared, as it appears behind Rain almost instantly, with its w extended backward as it shed at her exposed back.
ng!
The sound of metal striking each other echoed throughout the forest, Rain had turned around instinctively and was able to deflect the w strike with her remaining dagger, albeit barely, the ground under her feet cracked and she was pushed back a few feet, her knees trembling.
Still, the Rykir was visibly surprised, not by the fact that she had blocked its attack or reacted in time. It had seen her speed before and knew she was only a little slower than it, even with the mes of Hell''s enhancement, but was more surprised over the fact that she was able to withstand its strength.
The skill it used was more strength-based, itpensated for its weakness. After a momentary confusion, it had finally noticed her knees and hands were trembling. It snared and proceeded to repeat his previous attack, it disappeared from view, she could barely block its strike once she wouldn''t be able to do it again, or so it thought.
Appearing above her head it immediately swung its ws at her head with all its might.
Boom! ng!...
The ground shattered like ss but again the sound of metal striking metal was echoed in the forest. ''What''s this? How is this possible?'' The Rykir was shocked beyond belief by what it had just witnessed, the wounded prey it had thought would make an easy snack was fighting on par with it, this was ridiculously an insult, it was on the verge of evolution to the realm of the gods yet a mere mortal was standing toe to toe with it, even while injured, uneptable, this was an outrage, no longer daring to hold back it let it''s emotions take control and went all out.
''Again!'' ng!... ''Again!'' ng!... ''Again!''...
The battle intensified as the Rykir was repeatedly parried that it forgot it had other attacks and skills, what the beast did not know was his opponent was on the verge of copsing.
After receiving the full brunt of the Rykir''s attack Rain could no longer feel her arm. She only had one de remaining and was able to keep up with the Rykir''s speed, she was basically reacting on instinct by relying on the blessings of the wind and redirecting the attack as much as she could but she was almost at her limit, the beast was getting faster and more random and she was now making little mistakes.
The chance for a counter she was hoping for toe never came, with no Mana and no abilities she was only dying the inevitable. "Sorry Liz, it seems like I can''t keep my promise anymore." She whispered under her breath as she continued the fight to the bitter end, she was sure her bones were almost all shattered she could barely raise her arm but she had no intentions of giving up.
Seeing its opponent slowing down slowly, the Rykir was finally regaining its dying confidence. ''This was more trouble than it''s worth, I''ll make sure to eat every single part of your body to honor your strength.''
The Rykir finally regained its sanity as it remembered it had other skills than the mes of hell and could attack in a variety of ways than its basic w strike.
Seeing its opponent on death''s door it decided to keep up its current attack pattern as a tribute to a Worthy opponent.
ng!... BOOM!
The fight had gone on for a few more minutes but in the end, Rain was unable to withstand the strength of the Ancient Rykir and was sent flying, mming into a giant tree
Gasp! Ack... She gasps in pain as she spat out blood. Still, she struggled to stand with the intention of fighting till herst breath. "Sorry, Liz... cough... cough...it was my idea to head into the forest... I should have been more aware." being in such a state it was strange how the only thing she could think of was her friend but it seems to be giving her the strength to keep on fighting in the hopes her friend would be able to escape when she wakes up.
The Rykir seeing its opponent struggle to stay on her feet felt relieved, it did not expect such an intense battle. Without trying to be careless it quickly shot out one of its de-like horns at its prey.
Zing... Bang!
Although the horn did not explode this time it impaled Rain on the shoulder to the tree.
The Rykir snare as it had gotten revenge for the de still stuck to his shoulder. It walk slowly to its wounded prey as it prepared its finishing blow.
¡ãBody of the Reaper.¡ã
The mes around its body intensified as its eyes glowed brightly with a red hue. Its w was covered in a reddish yellow me which was in contrast with the greyish ck mes around its body, the Rykir looked like a hound from hell ready to drag its opponent back with it.
It bent its legs as it prepared to pounce on his prey, however, at that moment the temperature around him dropped dramatically, the air was almost visible to the naked eye, and the space around it became incredibly dense, it was like time had stopped, but no, the air around was still moving, albeit barely, it could visibly see the mes around him dying out slowly, the sudden change in temperature cause it to lose his train of thought, as it noticed the ground around him was already frozen, the air was thin like it was standing on the peak of the tallest mountain.
"Ice Domain!"
Chapter 9 C09.Ice Domain
"Ice Domain."
A sweet but icy cold voice echoed in its ears as it felt his knees weakened, about to give out. Looked around in shock and vignce to find who had interrupted its kill. He saw a youngdy behind him, her skin was as white as snow her eyes were icy blue as she looked at him with zero expressions on her face.
Her whitish-blue long hair was let down to her waist, it flowed like a river as itplimented her pale skin in a way that made her look like a beautiful ice sculpture or maybe the goddess of ice.
Looking at those cold emotionless eyes staring at him, the Rykir felt a chill run down its spine and prate its bones. It didn''t take long for it to figure out what was going on. Without any hesitation, it immediately turned around and fled at breakneck speed.
It had lived a long life, its instinct had been developed over hundreds of years through various life and death situations, and it could practically smell when death was approaching.
To his dismay, thedy behind him reeks of death, and it was all directed at him. It didn''t have time to activate or deactivate any skills nor was it able to think in that direction, it had to act fast and escape, any wrong move could mean the end. Unfortunately for the Rykir, thedy had ns of her own.
"Ice prism."
With his skill "Shadow body mes of hell" and Body of the Reaper it could cross a distance of tens of meters in a few seconds but Ice Domain covered a range of 150 meters, it was toote to escape in just the time it took for ice
prism to form.
Four angr transparent surfaces emerged from the icy grounds as they trapped the Rykir in a semi-transparent prism. Without any hesitation, itunched an attack with his fiery ws at the transparent wall in front of him.
¡ãReaping sh¡ã
Three terrifying Crimson mes in the shape of a w escaped the Rykir''s ws as they flew at the prism with great intensity. This was a subsidiary skill that could only be activated after the main skill was activated. The main skill was usually not an attack skill but a control skill like ice Domain, the main skill was impossible to learn so it was rare to see anyone using it, not to mention the bacsh.
Boom!!
The attack was reflected at him two folds, flustered and confused the Rykir was unable to dodge the more terrifying attack, it mmed him straight to the ground and the Rykir was wounded by its attack. It started to panic, filled with foreign emotions like fear and confusion it tried shooting out its horn, only to receive the same results, it was hopeless, every attempt was doomed to fail, and one thought kept reappearing in its head over and over again, DEATH.
''What is this? Who is this Monster!''
??????
A distance away in the Darknar forest, in a barren area of the forest, the area was void of life, both nts and animals avoided the space, even though birds would asionally fly through the air, no monster could be found within a quarter of a mile radius. Even though this was the middle of the forest, unlike the rest of the ce the area was void of trees and vines, it was sandy ins that extend within a 300-meter radius.
Smoke could be seening from the middle of this area, as a group of people sat around a campfire as they roasted one of the mostmon animals that are found in the Darknar forest, a Red hawk.
The area was considered a safe zone as the beast and monsters in the forest actively tries their best to avoid the ce, there were a handful of ces such as this in the forest, each ranging between 200 and 1000 meter radius.
Darknar forest was expansive. After the Demon King''s region fell into ruins the forest had swallowed arge amount of thend around the castle. It wasrge enough to fit a fewrge cities.
In the barrennd the men sitting around the campfire, merrily chatting andughing with one another when they suddenly stopped as they simultaneously turned their heads and stared intensely towards the southeast of the forest, the hairs on their backs standing on edge.
"Did you guys feel that?"
One of the men asked hispanions with a frightened expression, he had dark orange skin an average appearance, and two small horns on his forehead.
"I''ve never felt anything like this before, what kind of monster is that?"
Another man replied with a simr expression on his face. He had a simr appearance to the one that had spoken previously only he had a single horn on his forehead.
The four men look visibly shaken as they felt a chill deep in their bones, this was the first time they had ever experienced something like this, and it felt like the temperature had dropped a few degrees as well.
"That''s not a monster."
A voice came from behind as the four men turned their heads simultaneously. "Ha boss, you''re back, what do you mean by that?" Bam the first to have spoken previously asks in surprise at the figure that had appeared behind them without them ever noticing.
"If there was a monster that strong in the forest we would have died a long time ago. It''sing from the direction. of the castle."
The figure spoke as he stared in the same direction as the others were previously looking. "We need to report this to Lord Aur."
??????
In the Demon King''s castle.
Standing behind the throne as he observed was had been engraved on the wall, Tyler suddenly turned his head to the right, staring at the wall in front of him. A cold sweat clearly visible on his forehead.
"What in the world is that? Crap, don''t tell me someone is headed here. Was this like an hideout to bandits."
He was both surprised and anxious by what he was sensing, having never felt this before he didn''t know what to make of it and his mind went rampant with ideals.
Clearly shakened by the possibility of being caught in this castle, Tyler quickly left the room that was supposedly the throne room and entered back into the hall with the statues.
There were no windows on the fifth floor of the North wing, so he simply walked back the way he came and left the fifth floor. Soon he arrive by a window overlooking the direction he had sensed the strange feeling from.
"What to do, what to do, what to do. Crap, I can''t just stay here and wait for whatever that is to reach me."
He was on the fourth floor, but in his anxiousness, he didn''t think about the height as he jumped down from the window without hesitation.
As a Warrior Swordsman, he could do things like this quite easily although he had trained his butt off to achieve what was a simple feat for most.
However, what surprised him was his softnding, almost like he didn''t have any weight. He felt the incredible sense of bnce he possessed.
Such a thing wasn''t normal but now was not a time to investigate this change, there was something of more importance at the moment. His life.
He didn''t know who or what was giving him this cold chills in his spine but Tyler knew he couldn''t just stay put and hope they were headed for the castle as he hadn''t spotted any other buildings around.
However, he currently faced the greatest adversuty of all. He didn''t posses any sort of engamce senses and couldn''t tell exaetly what that was or where it wasing from.
He also couldn''t just wonder aimlessly through the dangerousnd of demons so his best bet right now was to located the source of this feeling and monitor them from a distance.
Luckily this was also the direction he came from and there shouldn''t be any dangerous monsters around so he could always retreat back into the cave if he encounters something he can''t handle.
He may not be a rogue type fighter but he was always decent and sneaking around. So if he was lucky, perhaps he would encounter nothing or gain some valuable Intel on the enemy as he desperately needed to return vacj into the magic library.
?????
In the Darknar forest
Staring at the transparent ice walls that formed a prism trapping it, the Rykir was getting more aggravated and rash.
Even though all its attacks were getting reflected with twice the strength____ like an aggravated beast the Rykir was getting more irrational, its intelligence nowhere to be found.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Launching one attack after another, it tried its best to avoid as many of the reflected ones as possible which proved almost impossible. The only reason it was still standing was the two skills it had activated, still, this was a testament to how resilient the beast was. Even in this state the Rykir wasn''t stupid it could feel the temperature in the prism dropping rapidly as time passes, it didn''t want to find out what would happen when the temperature reach a certain extent.
The mes that engulfed its body were the only thing keeping him alive, it didn''t have much time until the skill times out and it would be reduced to an ice sculpture.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Itunched each attack at a single spot with one aim in mind, To escape.
¡ãBlood Rage!¡ã
The greyish-ck mes that engulfed its body bust in a Golden red hue, as the mes intensified the Rykir increased in size until it was almost four meters in height standing on all fours. As its size increased the intensity of his aura skyrocketed tremendously, it raised his right ws and shed at the ice wall with insane speed and strength.
BOOM! Crack...
The ice wall visibly cracked, it was a small crack that didn''t extend more than a couple of inches but, it didn''t reflect the attack like it did the previous times. The Rykir was visibly relieved, if this had not worked it would have to just sit there and make a pose for him to be an ice sculpture.
Just as it was preparing his next attack the spot that had cracked started to repair itself, the Rykir started to panic, even with his final Trump card he still wasn''t strong enough to shatter the wall in one hit. Why did ite here, to begin with, he had seen two fairly wounded females running through its territory and thought he would teach them a lesson, now, however, he was on the verge of dying because of that mistake.
The Rykir began to regret why it did not just let the two girls pass in peace. He had activated three skills already and one of them was very dangerous the longer it was used.
Activating another one might have serious consequences, but he did not have time to consider what might or might not happen, he only had one thought to escape and he would do everything in his power to do so no matter the consequences.
¡ãHell''s descent.¡ã
The number of mes his body emitted multiplied once more, the temperature in the prism started to rapidly increase, it''s scales show signs of melting. The Rykir did not wait for a second longer itunched a barrage of attacks at the spot that was about to be repaired.
Crack... Crack... Shatter!
The ice wall shattered under the shear force of so many attacks. The Rykir rushed out of the prism as soon as it could, it turned around to find thedy but it could not locate her.
,m The entire forest around him was covered in ice, the mist made visibility almost impossible, it was interfering with his senses, the trees and vines were encased in ice, it was like a forest made of ice. The Rykir was rmed, without knowing where the enemy was it was hard to decide on his next action running in a random direction was foolish and would lead to death.
Roar!!!
The Rykir roar echoed around him the sound carried intense mes that blew away the mist and restored its vision, it saw thedy again, standing in the same spot she had been, several meters away.
It had tried running away but had failed miserably, it was obvious that would be pointless now, his best option was to distract the enemy with one of its skills, then use that to create an opportunity to escape.
"Ice Prism."
Before the Rykir could even take a step he heard that icy cold and emotionless voice again. He was devastated, he spent all his life-saving skills just to escape the prism once, it did not expect thedy to be able to use such a powerful skill in such quick sessions.
There was no time for despair, it still had some time left on his skills, as long as it acted now he had a chance to escape. Just as he was about to repeat its barrage of attacks he heard the dagger of a voice again.
Ice Prism____ Ice void.
As thest words left her mouth the space within the prism lost all forms of an atmosphere, it was as cold and deste as the vacuum of space. The Rykir skills were now burning through his mana like gas and because of the skill blood rage, its life force was draining as fast as his mana.
The multitude of bad news didn''t end there as the Rykir body became stiffer by the second, its body was freezing from the inside.
The Ancient Rykir didn''t have a counter for this as his skill had been rendered useless, they kept his body warm but now the cold wasing from the inside, it had no idea of how to solve this problem non less it refused to die like this, in an act of desperation it burned through its life force faster as it dashed towards its opponent with bloodshot eyes, the beast moved at near light speed and arrived near thedy in an instant as it prepared tounch a kamikaze attack, taking thedy with him.
The Rykir watched as thedy stared at him emotionlessly with her ice-blue eyes, she hadn''t moved an inch since the very beginning, and even as heunched his suicidal attack, it made him realize one thing, he was out of his league, there was no hope in winning and worst of all it did not even scratch his opponent.
The Rykir was stuck in ce only a few inches from its target, its legs frozen stiff, It could only look on in despair as he froze to death.
Chapter 10 C10. Fated
Chapter 10: Fated
In one of the safe zones located in the Darknar forest.
Sitting around the camp fire the four men kept staring at the same direction, Along with the cloaked man standing behind them. None of them had made any sounds for over 5 minutes. ¡°Is it over?____ what was that.¡± A well built man said hurriedly before the two brothers could ask. He had Greenish Grey skin but had no other outstanding features, he was well built and tall, he carried arge brown Axe on his back.
The other three men simultaneously turned around to see the person who spoke, they then turned to look at the cloaked man with expectant gaze, looking at the man behind them, he was tall, but his figure was hidden under his cloak. Sigh! The man sighed loudly and walked to take a sit at one of the logs around the campfire.
After sitting down he looked at the four men and asked. ¡°What do you guys think that was?¡± ¡°A monster.¡± Thest man spoke first this time, he was a thin short man that looked human, he had green spiky hair and green eyes.
The cloaked man looked at him and shook his head in disbelief as he mumbled under his breath. ¡°How did i get stuck with such idiots.¡± He then raised his head and spoke. ¡°I told you before that was not a monster, did I stutter.¡±
The green haired man was flustered as he nervously replied. ¡°Ah sorry boss.¡±
rubbing the back of his head be looked away and stared at the ground.
The cloaked man sighed and spoke again. ¡°That was most likely a demon noble.¡±
Gasp! Gasps! Gasps! Gasps!
The four men gasps in shock and couldn¡¯t hide there nerves. ¡°I-Isn¡¯t this bad, shouldn¡¯t we be doing something.¡± Bam the two horned brother said those words without confidence.
The cloaked man looked at all four of them and chuckled, ¡°Rx, They most likely encountered an high level monster and had to fight using their full power or something close. Even if they where trying to sneak into the castle for some reason, they would leave immediately after that disy as they know there are scouts in all the safe zones in the forest aroun the castle. They would not risk their identities or family identity revealed.¡±
The man looked at the two brothers for a second, then he smiled, he continued ¡°Still we need to report this to Lord Aur. Bam and Bor you two can deliver the message. Make sure you repeat what i just told you.¡± ncing at the two brothers again to finish his sentence.
The brothers were startled when they heard their names. ¡°Ah yes boss!¡± they replied hurriedly as they hurriedly stood up in fright.
The cloaked man looked up at them nodding in approval. ¡°What are you waiting for, leave now.¡± hemanded, as he watch the brothers stumble around as they left the forest.
He turned his head back at the direction they were all looking at. ¡°I wonder who that was, they might even be stronger than Lord Aur.¡± even though he said that in a low voice the two men still heard him clearly as they gulped their saliva, trembling in silence.
??????
The area that was frozen rapidly defrost, even though the Rykir was still frozen in ce.
Rain slowly opened her eyes, she took in the view in front of her. There was ice all around her, as far as she could see, they were melting away at an abnormal pace, there was several melting ice walls around her, they must have protected her when she passed out.
She felt a sharp pain on her shoulder snap her out of her daze, cing her hand on the spot, she noticed she was bleeding, the de like horn that had impaled her was still lodged in her shoulder. she struggled to stand on her own two feet as she tried to get a sense of what had happened after she had passed out.
Looking at the ice around her she had a bad feeling, she hurriedly dragged herself forwards as she search for something.
Walking a couple of steps she saw ady crouched down by a tree looking at some wild flowers in front of her, thedy had long bluish white hair her skin was as white as snow, she looked a little pale, the flowers around her had little specks of ice on them, the scene made her look like she just walked out of a fairy tale.
Rain almost didn¡¯t recognise her, if it wasn¡¯t for the clothes she was wearing. Everything finally clicked for her, she hesitated for a minute, then she walked slowly towards thedy, ¡°Liz is that you______ Are you okay.¡± as she said those words thedy turned her head to look at Rain.
Looking at thedy cold and emotionless eyes rein paused, she stood there for more than 30 seconds, she took a step forward, then another, then another, she walked faster and approached the white haireddy.
She knelt down and hugged thedy from behind and tears rushed down her face, she cried as she apologized deeply to her friend. ¡°Am so sorry, this is all my fault. i wasn¡¯t strong enough to protect you. Forgive me¡ sob¡ sob¡ sob¡¡±
As she knelt down weeping on her friend did not respond, she remain in her original position undisturbed by the extra weight on her shoulders as she turned back to stare at the ground in front of her, watching the flowers as they slowly froze with an emotionless expression on her face.
???
In the Darknar forest.
Tyler walked in the direction he had felt the strange feelinging from, he could tell it wasn¡¯t a beast so it was probably a humanoid creature, although he could guess how strong this being was he need to confirm something, this made it worth risking his life on the possibility of danger.
He had just entered into the forest from the same direction he came out of, he could think more clearly now so he noticed certain things he hadn¡¯t before. The trees were huge and the ground was covered in roots and vines but there was asionally some strange wild flowers he had never seen before, growing at the base of some trees.
Although there wasn¡¯t any monsters or magic beast, he saw some wild birds perched up on the trees. They were brownrge hawk like birds that asionally flew away the moment they saw him.
The birds were neither monsters nor magic beast, he had seen them before in the outskirts of the human continent. They were rare creature adventurers would hunt to make a decent sum of money as they were considered exotic.
Looking at the amount of wild Hawks here he could see that there were a lot of them, this meant they originated from the demon continent and migrated at least one season a year. Tyler kept walking in a slightly different direction than he didst time.
As he got deeper into the forest he notice the wild Hawks were no longer on the trees ¡°I guess they only live in the perimeters¡± he mumbled to himself silently. He got deeper into the forest, the atmosphere became more dark and gloomy. ¡® Am starting to get creeped out here, why am even doing this? is this the type of dump shit Characters in horror movie do right before one of them gets dragged away into the dark.¡¯
Tyler was seriously doubting his brains capabilities as he had a huge urge to turn around, in the end staying alive was more important that making a dumb confirmation. Just as he was about to give in to his nerves he notice something from the corner of his peripheral vision.
To the right there was a tree that had been frozen solid. It was rapidly starting to defrost as if there was arge source of heat next to it.
Tyler looked at the tree with piqued interest as he got closer and closer to it, he could now see the ice visibly melting in front of him. He turned his head and notice there were simr situations urring up ahead, creating puddles of water on the ground. ¡°What happened here?¡± he said to himself in a low voice as he followed the trees and puddles towards the depts of the forest. ¡® I¡¯ve been making dumb decision like this for a while now something must really be wrong with me.¡¯ Tyler thought as he continued walking.
He walked randomly for about 5 minutes, before he finally saw something else apart from defrosting treed, he saw two figures in the corner of a tree. he was too far to see what they were doing, but not wanting to be careless he hid by the bushes and slowly approached them in other to get a better view of what was going on and if they were responsible for the strange situation.
As he got close enough to observe, he noticed one of them was crouched down staring at some kind of frozen wild flowers while the other wrapped her hands around the former for some reason.
He couldn¡¯t see there faces but he could tell that both of them were women, one had dark skin and the other was as white as snow. He felt something was off as he turned his head left and right to get a general sense of what happened.
That¡¯s when he noticed something else, there was another figure several meters away from thedies, although the figure wasn¡¯t moving and seemed to be stuck in ce, he could still sense an imposing auraing from it.
He concentrated and tried to identify what he was looking at, it looked like a statue, or maybe a sculpture. An ice sculpture, there was a part of the sculpture¡¯s body that was glowing, but whatever it was, it clearly wasn¡¯t a humanoid creature.
He could only think of one thing based on the current situation ¡® Is that? A magic beast¡ Did those twodies kill that magic beast? is that what i sensed before?¡¯ Tyler was rmed and shocked. A magic beast was at least Tier 3, a level at the peak of human strength, and he doubted the possibility of the magic beast in the center region of the Demon continent being weak, that was most likely an ultra rare and extremely dangerous Tier 4 Magic Beast.
He had never seen a magic beast in person, he didn¡¯t know much about them except for the ones reported by the Adventurer Guild, he knew they were stronger and more intelligent than other monsters at the same tier.
Since this was the demon continent, if the twodies were able to kill a magic beast of that level then they would have to be a Tier 4 Mage, magic Swordsmen, or warrior. Either way this might not be a good thing for him. The only mages and magic swordsmen around would be high level demons. Having no idea what the rtionship between humans and demons were in this time period he didn¡¯t know what he should do, in the end though, it was better to err on the side of caution, maybe retreat a little and observe from a safer distance.
Rustle¡.
Just as he took a step, the bushes and dried leaves on the ground around him startled him, his first reaction was to hide, but before he could even do anything the white haireddy turned her gaze towards him, her stare prated the distance andnded right on him.
The moment he saw her face he was stunned, she had snow like skin her lips where blueish purple, it was like they had been frozen in time but all they did was entuate her other features.
Her blue eyes were dazzling to behold, almost breath taking, even though she was a little pale she was incredibly beautiful, almost godly.
As Tyler stared dumbly at the white haireddy, she slowly stood up as she stared at him with an emotionless expression. At this point Rain realized that there was someone standing there at some point in time.
Her first reaction was that it was a monster, she no longer had any weapons as she had dropped her remaining dagger when the Rykir attacked her with the de like horns.
Reacting fast she quickly pulled out the horn lodged at her left shoulder, blood gushed out of the wound as she fought back her pain. ¡°Groan¡¡± as she pulled the horn out she held it in a reverse grip prepared to defend against any sudden attack.
Rain finally noticed the figure standing in front of her, over ten meters away was a tall young man. He was wearing an ordinary dark brown shirt with brown pants and a pair of brown leather boots, He had short ck hair neatly cut in a fade, hazel coloured eyes and no distinct features although with the amount of blood she had lost it was simply a miracle for her to be standing on her feet.
Not to mention the gloomy and dark atmosphere made it impossible to tell his appearance from where she was standing, all she could see was his hazel eyes that seemed to glow in the dark.
Her actions froze as she stared at the young man, even though she couldn¡¯t feel a presence from him she had a nagging feeling that he was dangerous. She looked at the white haireddy by her side, she was surprised she hadn¡¯t attack the man the moment she saw him.
Chapter 11 C11. Despair
Tyler snapped out of his daze the moment the dark-skinned girl had drawn out a de from her shoulder, she had been in pain when she did it and it snapped him back to the reality of his situation.
He wanted to take a step back but he quickly decided against it, any sudden movement could be seen as an offense. ''What is this situation.'' Tyler was getting restless at the standoff, he seems he had walked into a dangerous situation.
Looking at the white-haired woman staring coldly at him, he felt anxious as he noticed the specks of ice floating around her. This could mean only one thing, she had most likely been the one that killed the Tier 4 Magic Beast.
Looking at the twodies now, it was obvious, that the dark-skinned girl was covered in dirt and injuries, her shoulder was still bleeding, while the white-haireddy looked like she had just walked out of a painting with not a single scratch on her. It was obvious they were not on the same level, the ground she was standing on was frozen beneath her, at this moment the entire forest that was frozen had already defrosted, the only ce still covered in ice was under thedy''s feet.
If she had killed a Tier 4 Magic Beast, even with the help of the dark-skinneddy there was no way he would survive a confrontation with her.
This left him with only one option, to escape! what he needed to do right now was an escape, but with the way she was staring at him, there was no opportunity to retreat. Turning his back on her would only put him in greater danger, this was quite the conundrum.
With no feasible options avable to him, it was best to pick the most likely to seed.
What he needed now was a distraction, if he could confuse or distract the twodies for a second he believed he could escape using the trees as shields and with his new physique, he was slightly confident in his ability.
Of course, he had no idea what abilities or spells the twodies had so it might be pointless if they had arge area of effect spell, this was the only n he could think of as his Earth attribute spells would be useless in a situation such as this, not to mention, all he knew were measly Tier 1 spell.
The problem was he didn''t have any idea of how to distract them, any spells he used would take time as it would be his first time activating them and he might not be alive toplete them.
He couldn''t just throw stones at them and run away, with their strength and experience they might not even flinch. ''Damn it, what do I do? if I Stand here two long they might just attack... Think to damn it, think.'' Tyler grumbled internally as he racks his brain to find a solution.
Just as he was thinking about how to escape the air around the white-haireddy suddenly changed, the wind got colder the ground started to freeze rapidly as it expanded around her, with her being at the epicenter.
The Moment Tyler sensed this change he had no more time to be hesitant, it was all or nothing, his life would be determined by the sess of his next move, as long as she was affected for even a split second, he would have a chance to escape with his life.
Mages were only limited by their intelligence, unlike sorcerers they had no limit to how many types of spells they could learn within the range of their potential, as long as they could understand it, they could learn whatever spells they wanted with no restrictions to forms or attributes, although most mages preferred to be a specialist, simr to magic swordsmen, it was stillmon for mages to have a variety of spells, some talented ones could even learn a warrior''s secret techniques.
Tyler was left with no choice but to gamble, he had only used one spell, and there were still a lot of question marks about his abilities. With the number of restrictions he had, with being a sorcerer or a magic swordsman, those were not what would save him, right now, he needed to be a mage and nothing else.
It looks like he would use his life to test the fact, that if he was a mage he still needed to cast the spell instantly like a skill, even though there wasn''t a need for a magic circle he still didn''t know how long the cast time was, without further dy he tried casting his spell with all his might.
?Wave of Despair!?
????????????????????????
Rain was getting anxious by the second, She hadn''t even thought about how to handle the situation with Liz, yet another problem already presented itself.
Her shoulder was still bleeding and she was starting to get dizzy, but she could not take her eyes off the mysterious stranger. Rain wasn''t concerned about the stranger, there was no way he could match Liz in her current form.
Her main concern was Liz, she wasn''t in a good state right now, the longer she stayed in this state the more dangerous it will be for everyone including Liz herself.
Thump... Thump... thump...
Hearing her heartbeat getting faster she couldn''t help but be anxious, It has been a while since she felt any sense of panic or nervousness during a fight, but she couldn''t help worrying about Liz.
Just as Rain took a step forward in the process of making her move, she sensed a sudden change in the air, the atmosphere that had been slowly warming up suddenly cooled down drastically, the air got incredibly thin, she could barely breathe much less move, she felt a stifling feeling run through her bones.
She had felt this feeling before, when she got impaled to the tree by the Rykir, she thought she would die by its next attack, but just like this she felt the air change drastically, her body was unable to adapt that fast because of the injuries she had sustained during the fight so she had passed out. When she came too, the area was frozen and both Liz and the monster were gone, leaving only the white-haireddy. She wanted to brace herself to withstand it this time, she increased her guard and mentally prepared herself.
Expecting the world of ice once more she waited, but suddenly the air around the young man also changed, but it did not affect the world around him.
Rain felt relieved, it seems like whatever the young man had done was ineffective against the white-haireddy''s ice Domain. Just as she was thinking in that direction an eerie feeling crept its way into her body.
A greyish ck aura exploded from the young man''s body, it expanded extensively as if there was no limit to its range, Rain couldn''t react in time, as the aura gusted through her body, she felt an intense sense of fear she had never felt before.
She couldn''t help but stare at the young man in disbelief, what she was seeing was not the same sight as before. He was covered in the Greyish ck aura that wrapped his body like a cloak.
His eyes emitted a reddish glow that made her bones quake at the sight, her mind was flooded with all sorts of emotions as they were sending her one single thought. DEATH!
She couldn''t think as tears ran down her cheeks, there was no hope for survival, this was the end for her.
Despair, this was the only way to describe what she felt.
An overwhelming sense of horror bombarded her as she could no longer handle the immense pressure, her mind went nk as she fell to the ground like a log, before she hit the ground she noticed in the back of her mind the white-haireddy had already dropped to the ground, she had passed out.
??????
Back in the Safe zone.
The previous men sat around their campfire, the well-built man and the spiky green-haired man sat closer together as they chatted away about their previous experiences.
The green-haired man then asked "Yo, seriously though which family''s noble would make a move like that?" he yed with a leaf as he looked at the well-built man with a coy smile.
As the well-built man turned to look at the cloaked man who was sitting in silence, he lowered his voice and said "Why don''t you ask the boss, I''d like to know too." The green-haired man''s smile froze as heughed dryly.
The well-built man then turn back to face the green-haired man as he seriously spoke " Listen, Hach, you''re not that strong, you should stop being too curious, I heard there''s a human saying that goes____ curiosity kills a Hach." he chuckled softly in amusement.
Hach face changed colors as he hurriedly retorted "No one says that, dumbass. besides am not even that curious, I was just making conversation, this is why no one likes you Evans." as he said that Evan''s smile froze.
Evans turned to look at the fire and muttered to himself "No one likes me?"
Hach coughed to clear his throat, "Listen am not being nosy, am just saying if someone is making a move right now, this might cause the start of..."
He didn''t get the chance to finish when he heard the cloaked man''s voice.
"Quiet..."
The cloaked man stood up abruptly as he looked straight into the forest, his expression Unknown. He took a step forward and just stood there, Hach and Evans were silently watching him as they wondered, what was going on.
Evans raised his hands and pulled out the ax behind his back, gripping it tightly to prepare for whatever was toe, Hach raised his right hand as he prepared to cast a defensive spell.
The two could read the seriousnessing from their boss as he rarely spoke to them unless it was information rted to their mission, even when they thought he was making small talk with them or advising them, they would always find out that he was just providing the information needed for them to handle any situation that urs in the mission.
The cloaked man took a few more steps forward as he couldn''t ce the thing he was sensing, expanding his perception range as far as he could, suddenly he felt a chill run down his spine.
The thing that scared him the most was the fact that he had sensed something simr to this before, something even Lord Aur was scared of.
He was not a soldier, but a scout and at most a spy, without a second thought or further investigation he turned around, and nting his feet firmly in the sandy ground he shot out like a cannon. He''s foot caused the sand beneath his feet to crumble from the force as he dash through the two men now standing by the campfire.
"Run!" He yelled, the sound was too slow as he had already left the safe zone behind as he entered the forest and his figure quickly disappeared. Hach and Evans couldn''t even react in time as they couldn''t keep up with the cloaked man''s speed, they finally heard his final word to them as they were stunned, "Run? why did he say Run?" Hach muttered.
Evans snapped out of his daze when he heard those words, he yelled back as he turned around and prepared to follow the cloaked man. "If the boss says Run, you Run, are you a fool!."
Hach was surprised by that as he wanted to retort but he knew now was not a good time, he also turned around to run after Evans who was already a few steps ahead.
However, before they could take another step they noticed a massive wave of greyish-ck aura approaching them from behind, just looking at this aura sent chills down their spines, Evans gritted his teeth as he continued his futile escape attempt. Hach knew escape was no longer possible, his best option now was defense.
Indomitable will!
Protection against negative aura!
However, it was toote for both of them, the massive wave of greyish ck aura washed over them as it continued to expand in a radius that was too massive toprehend.
They felt all their fears materialize as they devoured them from within, their skin felt like it was being reaped apart, and their minds were being tormented thousands of times within seconds.
They were unable to withstand the mental pain and terror as they gave into despair and passed out, dropping to the ground like a pair of logs.
Tier 1 Control Magic - Wave of Despair.
Chapter 12 C12. Magic Crystals
"Wave of Despair."
As Tyler activate the spell, he wasn''t sure it would work, and even if it did a Tier one spell would at most be a visual effect in the presence of demons capable of killing what he believed to be a Tier 4 or even as far as a Tier 5 Magic Beast.
With that said, the only thing he cared about was a distraction. His goal was the visual effect of the spell, no matter how weak it was, he expected the twodies to be a little bothered by a spell like that. After all, they didn''t know how strong he was, even though demons were arrogant creatures (or so he was told) they wouldn''t be foolish enough to underestimate an enemy they had no intel on.
He hoped they would be hesitant aboutunching an attack and focus on resisting the controlling effects of the spell before they realize it was just the Tier 1 version of the spell. The moment they hesitated and prepared to resist his sudden move, that would be the best moment to make a break for it, even at Tier 3, he didn''t believe they would catch up to him in such a terrain(Or so he hoped), at the very least, this would give him a chance.
As the aura wrapped around his body, Tyler felt a little impressed by what he was looking at. This looked better than he had expected, and he felt his chance of escaping went up a bit ''It will work, I can make it.'' he thought, motivating himself as he prepared for the next part.
He had to move the moment the aura left his body as it would give him the best chance of not being seen as he escaped. After all, to high-level opponents, anyone that uses a Control spell as their first move must be confident in themselves and the spell.
Just before the aura exploded from his body he nted his feet and prepared to make a run for it, the moment he felt the first bit of Mana stir within him he made his move, but as he tried to take a step forward, there was no response from his legs as his knees gave out and he fell on the ground gasping for air.
He was confused as he kept panting on the groundpletely out of breath, he could no longer feel his arms and legs, his body was hot and still getting hotter, he was sweating profusely.
He felt an absurd amount of energy surge out of him when the aura exploded outwards. He could feel the exhaustion getting worse as he could hear his heart pounding against his chest. It felt like it was about to bust.
He fell to the groundpletely as hey there breathing heavily. His muscles ached yet felt numb and he had a huge urge to sleep, then his stomach started to growl as hunger found its way into the mix.
His eyelids felt heavy, his vision was getting blurry, and he wanted to close his eyes a little and take a little nap. Just as he was about to fall asleep, a thought that sent a chill down his spine ran across his mind. He was still in the forest, in front of two powerful demons, now that his n had failed spectacrly, he needed to find another way or means of escape.
His mind jotted back awake as his thoughts raced wildlying up with possible solutions, ''I gotta get up, I need to do something, anything.'' he struggled against the fatigue and pain as he tried his best to get up.
After a considerable amount of effort, he finally stood up, his arms dangling from his shoulders lifelessly.
Tyler felt the blood rush up his head as he stood up, making him feel dizzy and almost sending him right back down. He managed to bnce himself and withstand the sudden rush of blood.
He raised his head as he tried to look at thedies who for some baffling reason had yet to attack him, even though he hadid defenseless on the ground for a few seconds.
His eyes settled down, he no longer felt as dizzy as he did just a few moments ago, he could now see what was in front of him. ''Uh! what''s going on.''
He was dumbfounded at what he was looking at, the twodies believed to be hero-level (Tier 4) mages, were lying unconscious on the ground.
The entire forest around him was suddenly dead silent. This sent a chill down Tyler''s spine, he felt more terrified by this environment than facing an actual monster. "Did I do this?" Tyler was confused, it didn''t matter who cast it, a Tier 1 spell would always be a Tier 1 spell, he knew that there was a simr control spell like the one he used of higher tiers. He had seen the Tier 2 and Tier 3 version of the spell in the library so it didn''t make sense for a Tier one spell to be capable of this.
He had learned the tier 1 version of the spell as one of the spells that were safe to practice. Still, a Tier 3 control spell would be unable to knock out a Tier 3 mage. Even when. they were severely injured. It would be the same even against a Tier 1 or Tier 2 mage, sorcerer, or even a warrior would only enter a state of terror and panic either rendering them paralyzed or sending them running frantically.
Not even a Tier 4 or Tier 5 mage would be able to push the power of a Tier 1 spell to this extent, to be able to put enough pressure on a mage that they''re unable to resist and just pass out was not an easy feat. At that moment an eerie breeze blew past him jotting him out of his thoughts, he didn''t think too much about it anymore as this wasn''t the time nor the ce.
"What now? should I just leave." he stood there contemting for a while with aplicated expression on his face. Soon he took a few difficult steps and arrived in front of thedies.
As he got closer he noticed something, changes were urring with one of the girls. The white-haireddy no longer looked as pale as she did before her skin had a little more color and her hair seems to be getting darker. Before long her bluish white hair had turned blonde, she no longer gave him a sense of fear and coldness, and neither did he sense the feeling he felt before, the feeling that attracted him here.
He stood in ce as he muttered to himself "Was it her? what exactly was that transformation, they are both demons I guess." as he said that he turned his head to look at the dark-skinned girl, his expression wrapped, "Is she, an Elf!?"
Tyler was dumbfounded once again he could hardly believe his eyes, he had never seen an elf in his life even after spending over 3 years in this world, previously. "What''s an elf doing in the demon continent, what happened within thest thousand years." He didn''t know if the girl was an elf or if she was some kind of sub-demon race, but he instinctively decided to trust Earth''s fan fiction on what an elf looked like, after all, he was in another world.
Looking at both girls he had a lot of questions to ask, but he didn''t know how friendly they would be after waking up and realizing he was the one responsible for knocking them out.
He didn''t have much time to think about it before his stomach growling reminded him of his situation. ''I need to get something to eat, what can I eat in the demon continent?'' he hadn''t found any food in the castle, not that he expected the food to have survived centuries of decay would be edible he had only hoped to find a garden or something.
He needed to kill some kind of edible beast or monster or maybe find some wild fruits he had tasted before, but there weren''t many animals on the demon continent, he also hadn''t found a single fruit in the forest.
The problem was he didn''t have much strength right now, he could barely even stand much less hunt a monster. That was when he remembered something. "That''s right! those Red Hawks" The name was given by the adventurers that hunted those creatures, they didn''t know the actual name. The red Hawks weren''t difficult to hunt, the only problem was, that the usual ce they were found in the human continent was very dangerous.
The birds liked tall ces to rest, unlike this forest, there weren''t that many giant trees on the human continent. He had seen a lot of them on his way here, all he needed was a way to reach them from below.
He instinctively looked around to see if there would be anything of use around him not expecting to find something immediately, that''s when he spotted the ice sculpture he had noticed previously, although the ice around was defrosting rapidly the ice sculpture was as sturdy as a rock.
Letting his curiosity get the better of him he took very heavy and difficult steps toward the sculpture. It took him a while but he finally got there, it was a magic beast, the thing was on all fours yet it was already his height (maybe taller) and he was over 6ft tall.
He didn''t recognize the monster, he had never seen a magic beast before so it wasn''t strange. The thing looked like a panther covered in scales instead of fur, withicallyrge ws.
there was a part of the body glowing, he could guess what it was, he had heard of this phenomenon before, normally you just cut out the item and any edible body parts of a monster after defeating it, but right now the beast was frozen solid, he couldn''t get it out, and he doubted if any part of the flesh would be edible after this.
This was a very valuable item in the human continent, he imagined even the demon continent would be no different, moreover, this was most likely a Tier 3 or even a Tier 4 Magic beast, he wouldn''t be surprised if he found out it was stronger, the item would be more valuable and would definitely be of help to him in the future.
He hurriedly turned around to find something he could use as a hammer to shatter the sculpture for the item, then he spotted a dagger on the ground. It was dark in color with an exquisite design, he could guess it belonged to one of the girls ''I guess one of them is an assassin type''.
He walked to the spot with difficulty and picked it up, his arms felt heavy, every movement he made was incredibly difficult but he didn''t care, he just wanted the item, you could say this was the power of greed.
When he got back to the ice sculpture he raised his right hand holding the dagger, and with his remaining strength and the force of gravity he hammered down on the ice sculpture.
Bang! Shatter...
To be honest, he was expecting failure, considering how sturdy the Ice sculpture looked, he hadn''t expected the thing to shatter in one hit, either he was stronger than he thought or the ice sculpture must''ve been very fragile. In the end, though it was obvious the monster had been frozen all the way to its bones, the thought of being on the receiving end of this attack sent chills down his spine.
It didn''t take long for him to calm down, he looked at the shattered bits of frozen flesh below and saw the small glowing blueish white crystal defying gravity as it hung in the air, slowly floating down to the ground like a feather, it was like a gorgeous blue gem the size of a golf ball, it looked rough around the edges but looking at it one could not help but be attracted to it.
Tyler could not contain the joy and excitement in his heart as he stared at the beautiful gem in front of him, the dazzling glow that illuminated the area around it made him feel a sense of peace and tranquility, he could feel the boundless energy within it.
This was a Magic Crystal, the core of a magic beast.
Chapter 13 C13. Terrifying Hunger
Tyler stared at the crystal for quite a while, even just looking at it made him feel refreshed and energized. A Magic Crystal was a concentration of the purest, and strongest mana stored in a magic beast.
Magic crystals could only be found in magic beasts while ordinary beasts and monsters possessed what was known as a beast core. These were used to forge weapons and armors back in the Human continent, not only were they hard but flexible, but they also possessed attributes that added special effects to the equipment based on the beast the core was taken from.
Although there was a lot of information about beast crystals or cores he didn''t know about, he knew even less about Magic crystals. They were the cores of the magic beast, the crystals were formed of pure Mana and could be used as an energy source, using a magic crystal to forge a weapon was considered wasteful and most of its energy would be lost during the forging process.
Although he could sense a lot of energying from the magic crystal, the mana inside the crystal was wild and chaotic. It wasn''tpatible with humans and even demons (maybe the other races as well). The fundamental structures of beasts and humans werepletely different, and the way they used their Mana was also different. if he tried using the crystal in its current form to recover his mana he would most likely damage his Mana body.
The refreshed feeling he was feeling from the aura of the magic crystal was mostly superficial, it was a passive effect caused by the insane amount of concentrated Mana inside the magic crystal, in the end, his fatigue hadn''t disappeared and he was still drained of energy.
His growling stomach reminded him of this fact since he couldn''t find any fruits just by looking around, his only option was to go back and hunt one of the Red hawks he saw at the entrance to the forest.
Venturing deeper into a forest that had contained the magic beast was not a good idea, especially not in his current state. He soon walked to the magic crystal and picked it up, it felt cold and didn''t have the hard texture of a crystal.
After picking it up with his left hand he looked at the dagger in his right, he felt awkward, he would need to use the dagger when hunting and even when he would cut the animal in other to satisfy his hunger.
He would then be able to get some rest to ease the exhaustion, but one of thedies was badly wounded and he didn''t know any healing spells, he had thought about leaving them behind and returning to the castle but he was hesitant.
As a self-proimed gentleman, he couldn''t leave two beautifuldies unconscious in the middle of a forest, hopefully, if he saved them they would be grateful and help him by providing him with information.
At least this was the probably the best oue from such a dangerous situation and his only hope to gain the aid of actual demons if he could y his cards right. It seemed that he was trying to convince himself in their favor "Sigh...".
Still, his arms were weak and he could barely move much less carry two girls. To be honest, he wanted to justy down and sleep, it took all his willpower to just stand.
'' Yup, I need help to provide help.''
He thought he considered various solutions none of which seem feasible. ''Every time I use magic something bad happens, but luckily, it seems like am not a sorcerer as I can use various forms of magic, after all, both the elemental magic and control magic was that powerful, hmm... should I try? if care''s not taken I might pass out on the spot.'' he thought to himself in deliberation as he eyed his surroundings anxiously.
Thinking of all the pros and cons of using magic to save the two girls from being monster food he finally decided.
He didn''t know much about demons so he didn''t know their characteristics, if he was to base it on what he heard in the human continent, this would be a bad idea but it was hard to trust them now after what they did.
Besides, It was better to take a chance now with the ones that would owe him a favor or maybe just be grateful for not leaving them to die than wait or seek another one, which had more possibility for danger.
Gritting his teeth he decided to try, he took a few steps and got closer to the girls, he raised his hands above them with difficulty.
"Lesser Minimize Magic, Gravity walk"
This was a Tier 1 spirit magic spell, it would almost perfectly erase the effect of gravity on a target making them almost weightless. Normally this would only be used on lifeless things and objects, mainly to transport heavy loads. It was not used on the living matter because it hurt them but Tyler didn''t have any other options.
Flight magic was a Tier 3 spell, at this moment he only knew tier 1 spells and had to make do.
The moment he said the spell a magic circle appeared beneath the twodies, Tyler immediately focused on suppressing his energy, he may not know how to control his mana but he had felt the energy leave him several times now, and he now knew how it felt so all he needed to do was suppress that feeling and hope for the best. Besides he had used both lesser and minimize metamagic, even though he had just made up one of those. He felt it would help him limit the strength of the spell, either way, there was no danger in trying.
The magic circlepleted and disappeared, the girls slowly rose as they hovered a few feet above the ground, they were practically weightless, but this also meant their internal organs were weightless as well which would affect their bodies after some time. At that moment Tyler felt his consciousness draining as he lost his bnce and fell to one knee.
Luckily he was able to recover much quicker this time, his body was covered in sweat, and his breathing was heavier, but a smile slowly crept up his face as his eyes sparkled. "Looks like I can use magic." Even though he already knew that after casting two spells previously, this was the first time he was able to feel excited about it, still he knew he needed better control if he wanted to be a decent mage.
Tyler was no longer dyed, he had limited time until the effects of the spell ran out, he needed to get them to the castle ASAP.
He decided to pick the dark-skinneddy up first, she was the most in need of medical attention being so grievously wounded and still bleeding. It seemed like the wounds weren''t infected which was a good sign. He didn''t know any healing spells so there wasn''t much he could do.
All he could do now was to stop the bleeding, he tore a piece of his shirt which was most likely dirty, but so was the girl''s clothing. He applied pressure on her wounds to try and stop the bleeding, tearing another piece he wrapped it around her wounds and tied it tight.
He regretted not doing this before casting the spell, still, he made sure the makeshift bandage was firmly tied. After all this, he was finally ready to leave.
He picked up the dark-skinned girl and ced her on his left shoulder, then he picked up the blonde girl and held her under his right arm, they were practically weightless so it wasn''t a problem for him, to be honest since they wouldn''t touch the ground he could have just dragged them by their hands but he felt it would be a bit rude.
He was still tired and felt a little dizzy, he slowly walked back the way he came, back in the direction of the castle. The entire walk was hectic and keeping his arms suspended like that was bing harder and harder.
Even though thedies were practically weightless he felt like he was holding several tons of heavy luggage, it took him a considerable amount of willpower not to drop them.
It took him longer to get to the outskirts of the forest than he originally thought, he could finally see the Red Hawks perched up on the tree branches, several meters high. After arriving at the outskirt, he let down the girls, making sure their bodies were upright in other to prevent any issues from his spell.
Holding the exquisite dagger in his hand, he looked up at the birds, his neck was beginning to hurt from how high up they were.
Taking a deep breath he tried to rx himself a little, there were a lot of birds in the trees and he could tell most of them were asleep since it was currently the middle of the night, he hadn''t noticed it, being able to see so well in the dark had its disadvantages.
All he needed to do was aim for the most densely packed area and with one good throw, he might be able to kill one of them.
His arm felt heavy, he knew it would be hard to lift it not to mention throwing a dagger, but still, he had to try. Raising his right arm he swung it around with all his might letting go of the dagger as he aim for a flock of red Hawks.
The de sliced through the air missing the birdspletely and hitting the branch above them.
"Damn it"
Tyler frowned at the sight of such a sorry throw but before he couldin further the dagger fell back down and stabbed one of the red Hawks in the back sending it falling from the tree.
Thud...
Tyler seeing this scene felt a little embarrassed, he turned left and right making sure no one saw that, and he cleared his throat as he walk to therge bird that had just fallen.
''Just as nned. ''
Tyler took out the dagger from the back of the bird and surprisingly there was no blood on the weapon, it seemed this dagger wasn''t an ordinary one. He tried lifting the bird, and although he did, it felt like his arms were going to fall off.
,m He had no choice but to deal with it, he went back, and just like before he picked up the girls but this time he held what felt like a 5-ton bird in his right hand too. Continuing his return trip, he struggled to walk back to the castle, he seemed to be getting weaker and hungrier the more time passed.
He was soon close to the castle, still trekking slowly to the castle he felt himself go through something, it was the samest time too, but he had assumed it was his imagination, but now... with his curiosity piqued he wanted to investigate but now wasn''t a good time, the spell he used on thedies would soon time out, not only had he used a lesser version of a Tier 1 spell he also wasn''t in a good state of mind at the time.
It didn''t take long for him to get to the castle and follow the same direction back to the seventh floor of the West wing, he found a room close to the king''s Chambers and ced the two girls on the bed.
The instant he had done that the spell timed out and the girls fell on the dusty bed. He tried to find some clean clothes for them but couldn''t, the only clothes still left in the castle were a couple of brown shirts and some grey pants with a few pairs of ordinary boots.
He didn''t really have time for this though as his stomach was reminding him of his body''s predicament. Walking out of the room after cing the clothing on the sofa, he had changed out of his torn brown shirt into another brown shirt.
He soon arrived at the yard by the west wing with the dead bird in tow, he didn''t know where the kitchen was and didn''t have the time to waste searching for it. there were trees in the courtyard so he didn''t have any issues getting dried wood, he had spent a long time trying to start a fire with two rocks and finally seed.
Plucking the feathers and draining the blood was not as taxing as he had assumed, the dagger cut through the meat like butter and he had found water in the well, although he could create water with magic and get a cleaner and purer one, he wasn''t in a position to be picky. With the dagger everything seem so much easier than it would have been, he was starting to think about keeping it.
With things going smoothly his roasted meat was done within an hour as he brought a piece to his mouth and took a bite. Even though he didn''t add any spice or even salt the tenderness and juiciness of the meat made his mouth water. ''It''s no wonder this was considered exotic and was so highly sort after in the Ruz kingdom.''
It didn''t take him long to eat more than half of therge bird, with his hunger quenched he could feel strength returning to his muscles. He still felt exhausted, so he went back to the Demon King''s chambers to sleep, with the door to the library where he wanted to be as close as possible.
Chapter 14 C14. An Ordinary Day
As the first rays of sunlight shined on his face through the opened Window, Tyler woke up from his slumber and sat up, he rubbed his eyes as he took a look around the room to see where he was. He had been having a nightmare where he was trapped in the demon continent in the demon king''s castle with a strange door that leads to a library that didn''t exist.
That was quite a scary thought so he was d it was just a dream_______ "Damnit!" He facepalmed himself as he recognizes the room he was in, it turned out it wasn''t a dream after all. He got out of the bed and walked into the bathroom, the design seemed to be an old Western design back on Earth, but then again he couldn''t be sure.
Walking to the sink he pushed the head of the tap down and it lit up in a dim glow, water gushed out of it soon after. He could tell by the basic magic Runes inscribed on it that the water wasing from the well, it was a basic magic circuit system that had been set up throughout the castle, using magic Runes to connect the taps to the water in the well.
This wasn''t easy to achieve as one needed a massive power source, usually, only nobles would have it, after a hero had made the world understand the importance of hygiene. The summons from Earth seems to have had some influence on the demon continent as well.
He sshed some water on his face and went in to take a bath, now that he knew the water was working he might as well wash off as well as wash his clothes.
He hadn''t taken a bath since he woke up underground and he felt a little ufortable, there was no soap but he didn''t mind that he knew how to make them since they thought of him back in high school on Earth.
He had made it again when he transmigrated here a thousand years ago, he made it so often it was now burned in his memories. He had even sold the form to a store owner for quite a lot of money, maybe it was popr now in the human continent ''Perhaps I need to invent something simr here... hmm, still I''ll need a lot more information on this time period.''
After taking his bath and drying off he walked out of the bathroom feeling refreshed, that''s when he noticed his body was back in form. He felt his Mana had fully recovered and even felt like it had increased somehow, which was impossible right?
*Thud!
As his thoughts trailed off he heard a loud sounding from the room next door and he instantly knew who it was, he quickly dressed himself up and ran next door with the dagger tucked away behind his shirt, he was dealing with demons and had to be prepared just in case things didn''t go as nned.
He had thought of several ns when dealing with these demons put he didn''t n on gettingcent.
He soon arrived at the front of the door and opened it, he didn''t bother knocking so as not to seem overly polite. They didn''t know who he was or how strong he was so he wanted to make an impactful first impression or was it now a second impression?
Walking into the room he saw the blonde-haired girl on the ground moaning in pain as she held the back of her head, she appeared to have rolled out of bed and fell, hitting the back of her head on the floor.
He slowly walked closer, as he cleared his throat and spoke trying to make his voice deep, "Are you okay?" he asked, his voice slightly hoarse. The girl was visibly startled as she nearly jumped out of her skin, she looked up at the person who spoke and saw a tall young man with short ck hair and a cleanly cut fade, wearing a brown shirt and brown pants with ordinary-looking boots standing in front of her at some point in time.
Her expression changed instantly as she shrieked at the top of her lungs. The high-pitched sound startled Tyler a little as he retreated a few steps back, for a demon this was not what he expected, she seems to be overreacting to everything like all her emotions were jumbled up together making her emotionally unstable.
He scratched his head as he wondered how to approach her without getting an exaggerated response, the girl had finally finished screaming as she dragged herself to the edge of the room in tears mumbling words as she retreated away, "Please don''t hurt me, please don''t hurt me..."
Tyler was confused, there must be something wrong somewhere, he had felt the girl''s strength and knew it was no joke which was why he was nning to bluff his way through their conversation as he could not appear weak in during their negotiation.
She was most likely the one who killed the magic beast, yet here she was acting like a frightened kitten.
''Is it an act?'' he thought as he saw her curled herself into a ball at the end of the room, he couldn''t feel anythinging from her, he could tell she was strong but the Mana fluctuations in her body felt off.
That was when a thought hit him, ''Is this a side effect from the strange transformation she usedst night?'' it made sense. It was clear there was a massive difference between the white-haireddy and the blonde girl he was looking at right now, their aura was evenpletely different, if he hadn''t seen it with his own eyes he wouldn''t have believed they were the same person.
It was only normal for a transformation that powerful to have some side effects,st night it didn''t seem like she had any emotions and now she seemed to be overflowing with emotions, so that means her emotions were still unstable and she would be very sensitive right now, especially if her memories fromst night was not clear, making me into a monster in her mind.
Impressed by his observational skills and analytic mind he decides it was best to give the girl some space while he talked to her. It was best he capitalized on this golden opportunity.
He took a few steps forward and crouched down to talk to her. "Hey, am not going to hurt you, you don''t have to be scared. Look you and yourpanion were unconscious in the woods and I only brought you here so you don''t get attacked by monsters, why would I hurt you after that."
Hearing the wordpanion seemed to resonate with her as she looked to be in deep thoughtpletely ignoring what he was saying, after a while, she seemed to have remembered something as she yelled "Rain! where''s Rain?" Tyler was still in the middle of his big speech when he was startled by her voice. "Rain?" he looked out the window and didn''t see a cloud in the sky before it clicked for him.
"If you mean yourpanion she''s on the bed, she was bleeding a lot so I had no choice but to bandage her with an old shirt. I''m afraid I don''t have any medical supplies around."
The girl immediately jumped off the ground and ran to the bed to check on her friend, "Rain! Rain! Are you okay...." she was weeping even more now as she held the hand of her friend calling her name over and over again.
Tyler feeling a little ignored got up and walked to the side of the bed, "She''s unconscious, she had lost a lot of blood, I don''t know any healing spells so there was nothing I could do, if you have a healing spell it''s best if you use it now before it''s toote."
"Sob... sob... I... I don''t know any..." she replied still crying.
Tyler has finally received a response and felt relieved, after going through the trouble of helping them, and bringing them here if she had ignored him any longer he might have snapped. Based on what he had just witnessed, he decided to ask his questions in a way that would prompt her to respond, she seemed to really care about the elf so he would use that.
"She might have an internal injury as well as a few broken bones, if you want her to survive we should act fast. Do you know anywhere around here we can find a healer?"
"Around h - here? where? where are we?" she seemed surprised by his words as she raised her head to take a look around. ''Did she just realize where she was?''.
"You''re in the castle."
He found it awkward to use the word ''Demon'' in front of a demon, he didn''t know how demons referred to themselves and he didn''t want to sound weird.
"The castle... the castle... You mean!..." Her eyes widened as the look of shock was stered all over her beautiful face.
She instantly let go of her friend''s hand and jumped off the bed, she took several wide steps back as she stared at Tyler intensely, ''What now...'' Tyler thought in theint.
"Who... who are you?"
"Me?... I''m..."
"How did you get in here, that''s impossible... you can''t be."
"Huh?", ''Is this her family''s castle? oh God, I hope not.'' Things didn''t seem to be going as nned and Tyler was begining to get nervous qs he ced his hand on the dagger behind him.
Tyler tilted his head confused, he had no idea what she was talking about and why she was concluding on her own, ''what did she mean how did I get in here.'' he didn''t even know how to answer the question of who he was, he couldn''t just tell her, hey am Tyler nice to meet you. Even in the human continent, the name Tyler was found a little weird even though it was a verymon name back on Earth.
He had been the only one here, although there were summoned beings from Earth called heroes, for some inexplicable reason most of them seemed to be Asian and reincarnated ones weren''t reallymon, most of them wouldn''t even remember their past lives.
Not knowing how to respond he decided to keep his mouth shut. "No one has been able to bypass that spell, the only one that should be capable of that is... No... No... It can''t be!" muttering to herself Liz was getting Wilder and Wilder with her theories and Tyler didn''t want to see how it would end.
"Your friend doesn''t have much time, and I don''t know what has changed since I''ve been gone so I''ll ask again, do you know anywhere around here we can find a healer?" What he had said was the truth but Liz seemed to have read more into it, luckily it seemed like her emotions were settling down and she was more rational so she hadn''t overreacted to her thoughts.
She was silent for a while before she spoke again in a low voice "If this is really the castle, then there should be a settlement of freemen a couple of miles southwest of here. That shoylf he the closest settlement around."
"I see, I don''t think your friend should be moved and since I''m unfamiliar with the location it would be best if we both go, we should be back before dark."
Although he would rather she went herself, he still had more questions to ask and didn''t know if the elf would survive, it was better to stick with the blonde girl until he got his answers. Tying to push for information in her current state may end up just backfiring at him as he seemed to have gained some status in the girl''s eyes so he needed to take this slowly.
Tyler settled on that approach as he didn''t even know where to start his line of questioning from so this was the best option for someone as clueless as he was. Best not a ask a strange question that might turn her against him before he gained anymon sense.
She was fidgeting a bit as she avoided eye contact and responded to him, "Y - Yes... Sir."
''Sir? what''s with the sudden change in attitude?'' He decided not to think too much about it, the side effect from her transformation must not have worn off yet.
He looked at her and had to admit she was way more than pretty, she had a different air around her than the white-haireddy and it suited her quite well. He looked at her clothes and saw that it was filthy, they had many scratches and dirt was all over them. "You can use the bath, change into one of those clothes on the sofa and try cleaning your friend''s wounds. The castle is mostly empty so that''s all I could find, I''ll bring you some roasted meat in a while, you should eat before we set off.
Liz looked as if she wanted to say something but was finding it difficult, she swallowed her words and uttered a single phrase
"T... Thank you...
Sir"
Tyler couldn''t help but cringe when he heard thest word, it seemed she was even forcing herself to say it. "Please don''t call me sir" he felt like he had to say it, if he didn''t it might''ve gone on for a while. "But... ..... O... Okay..." she seemed to be a bit hesitant about it but ultimately agreed, the whole situation felt like he was having a conversation with a child.
He walked out of the room and closed the door, in the end, he hadn''t needed the dagger and even ended up trying to console her, it turned out demons weren''t anything like he thought they were, but then again this was only one and didn''t mean the others were like her.
Chapter 15 C15. Freemen
*Knock. Knock. Knock.
Come in.
A few hourster, Tyler opened the door and walked in a momentter with a bowl of the leftover meat fromst night''s Red hawk. He had heated them a little and found a bowl to ce them on in the kitchen.
After leaving the room earlier, in the mindset of giving her some time to bath and change her clothes, he had done a little more exploring towards the south and found the kitchen area, a trip that took him literally hours, on ount of the size of the massive castle.
Just like the rest of the ce the kitchen was also empty, he knew the castle had to have been abandoned after the war but still, he felt like the previous residents had moved out instead, all he found in the kitchen was a few bowls and some dusty utensils of excellent quality. It was a little strange but it wasn''t something to worry about, he still needed to get some information from the blonde girl.
He had only taken a few steps inside the room when he was stunned by the bewitching sight before him. She was only wearing a brown shirt and grey pants yet the aura around her had changed drastically from before, the simple dressing had given her apletely different vibe and he could smell her alluring scent from the door.
Her snow-white skin and beautiful facebined with her amazing figure that even such in clothes failed to hide made him feel like he was looking at a goddess. A true world ss beauty.
He was beginning to get a reaction from his body, the worst part of the matter was the fact that she wasn''t wearing a bra, then again it might''ve not been invented yet, in the past most women would only wrap them up with a white cloth underneath their outfit, you''ll think when the first female hero was summoned, she would''ve insisted on one being made. Afraid of losingposure he hurriedly ce the bowl on the desk as he said in with amanding tone:
"You can eat this, when you''re done meet me outside."
He had already left the room as soon as thest words left his mouth, he noticed in his peripheral vision how sparkling clean the room was and could only think she had used magic.
Liz on the other hand, was a little confused as she finished tying her hair up in a ponytail. ''Did I do something wrong'' she finished getting dressed as she walked to the side of the bed where Rain was still unconscious. She had cleaned her wounds as well as her body, her emotions were slowly returning to normal and she felt a little overwhelmed by her current situation.
Tyler waited outside therge double doors at the front of the castle, he was going through his n as he waited, things hadn''t gone anything like he thought they would but still, he wasn''t yet in a bad situation. As long as he got the information he needed he felt like he couldn''t give up hope yet, whether it was staying in the Demon continent or finding a way out, it all depended on the surrounding situation and how the rtionship between the four continents had developed over thest thousand years.
He knew he couldn''t be impatient and take things slow while being attentive to his surroundimgs as he gains some moremon sense in order to ask the appropriate questions.
Liz came out of the castle at this moment, she seem a little out of breath, almost as if she had gotten lost and had to Sprint around looking for the exit. ''Well, she was unconscious when I brought her here. She must think I''m an asshole right now.''
Tyler tried his best to avoid eye contact, he noticed she was also doing the same. ''Did she notice my reaction earlier.'' he felt a little embarrassed and scratched his head awkwardly.
"Why don''t you lead the way since you''re the one with directions"
"Okay" she seem a little shy which made him think she might have noticed something after all. She was a little too nervous, her hands were fidgeting a lot and it seemed like she wanted to say something.
Noticing this Tyler decided to speak again "Is something wrong?"
"Ah... Um... No... I mean... I''m... hmm... I haven''t fully recovered my mana yet so I can''t use flight magic." Hearing this, Tyler was speechless, he had totally forgotten about flight magic to begin with. It was a Tier 3 spell so he hadn''t learned it, for some reason he just assumed they''d be running, but why though, it seemed he wasn''t as smart as he thought he was.
Luckily for him, she was unable to use the spell right now as well otherwise he would have no exnation to give her why he couldn''t use it. Telling her he was only a Tier 1 mage right now was the fastest way to get himself killed. He immediatelyposed himself and spoke.
"I see, well that''s fine we can just run, it would only take a few more hours"
"Okay... Thank you."
She was visibly relieved, he didn''t know why but he felt she was quite a naive little girl. "Oh right. what''s your name?" he finally remembered he hadn''t asked for her name and was just referring to her as the blonde girl in his head. "Liz" she replied quite simply, she hadn''t even waited for him to respond as she moved forward prepared to leave. Tyler felt a little disheartened, he had nned toe up with a random name that wouldn''t stand out in the demon continent to tell her but it seemed like she wasn''t interested in him. This didn''t hold well for him as it increases the chances of her betrayer if she were to find out the truth about him.
They both started running, as soon as she had taken a step she instantly disappeared from his view, seeing this his heart sank.
How was he supposed to keep up with that, he instantly started toe up with various lies and excuses he would tell her on why he couldn''t go with her but as soon as he took the first step he arrived behind her and was in no waygging behind. In fact, he felt like if he wanted he could move even faster, he couldn''t help but smile as excitement bubbled up inside him. ''What happened to me?'' He felt incrediblyfortable in his body, his bnce was outstanding and he hadplete control over his body. ''Finally, something I can actually control.''
He ran closely behind as Liz navigated her way towards the freemen settlement, they didn''t have to go through the darknar forest, they headed southwest, in between the forest and the Darkin mountain range, it seemed the settlement was beyond the river, he was a little worried when he saw the river as he didn''t know how they would cross it, but as soon as they arrived there she had used a lower Tier spell and frozen a narrow tform for them to cross.
They ran at an insanely fast speed, even though he wasn''t sure how far the settlement was as he knew it wouldn''t take too long before they arrived, he needed to ask her his questions as soon as possible, reducing the distance between them he asked. "So, Um... what kind of settlement is this freemen settlement and do you think they would be willing to help?" Liz was quiet for quite a while and Tyler was getting anxious.
She thought of a way to answer the question as simply as possible to avoid talking too much.
"Freemen are nobodies, they reject the rule of the nobles and form their own settlement in regions that are not under any of the demon nobles'' provinces."
Tyler felt the exnation was too simple he was hoping she would say something that would help him understand more of this time period but she seem like the type that would try her best to shorten a conversation, or maybe she was just being wary of him.
Liz thought again and spoke "After the death of the king the five families decided to expand their regions in an attempt to increase their influence on the continent, they had taken over most of the neutral and most dangerous regions the freemen settlement usually was, forcing them to either submit or migrate. Since none of the families made a move on the king''s region the freemen settlement that refused to submit, migrated here along with a few demon nobles that had their region conquered and lost their titles".
She didn''t want him to ask a follow-up question so she tried her best to exin in detail what a Freeman was and why they were in this region. "Normally Freemen are off a lesser race like orcs, beastmen, and ogres, etc. but with the death of the king many demons that were only loyal to the king became freemen, as long as we find a demon in the settlement they would be willing to help us."
Thest words she spoke seemed to have been overemphasizing, it made him feel like she was talking about just him when she said the words ''help us'' but that couldn''t be right, why would demons go out of their way to help him when he was only human, he must''ve been thinking too deeply about it.
They carried on in silence for about an hour more, he notice she wasn''t interested in talking so he didn''t want to get on her nerves. It was truly nerve wracking ti be walking on egg shells like this.
Still, he was quite satisfied with the information he had gotten, at least now he knew there weren''t many demons in this region, the other settlement she mentioned might even be of use to him in the future, he would get more information when they get to the freemen settlement.
They ran for more than three hours at top speed and Tyler was starting to get bored, it turned out the ce was more than just a few miles away, at such speed they should''ve covered at least 400 miles in thest three hours, he noticed how easily Liz was able to navigate around each terrain without even taking a pause or slowing down once, he knew she was worried about the elf but still her speed and stamina impressed him, he was only able to follow her this easily because he was tracing her path as he follows her example in avoiding obstacles.
They were running through rocky terrain and he could now see ck smoke rising in the distance.
"Camp Fire?"
"No." Liz said as she increased her speed towards the smoke.
This impressed Tyler even more as he had assumed she had been running at full speed ever since, he increased his pace as well maintaining the same distance as he did before.
They got closer and closer to the smoke, they could now see what looked to be a town or vige in the distance, it had high walls around it made of wood, some of the houses were in mes and he could see movement in the town but was unable to make a clear observation from so far away.
Liz could only see the settlement in the distance and could only see the movement after they had gotten a little closer, she frowned a little as she said.
,m "They''re under attack."
Tyler could see the vigers or freemen running around as they tried to fend off some type of giant lizards, they were doing quite poorly and he could only see one person being able to hold his own, he had a hard time trying the protect the fighters around him, he looked sluggish yet he was still stronger than everyone there, this lead Tyler to believe that the fight might''ve been going on for a while now.
He was unable to locate any more of the attackers, not even the townsfolks. He didn''t know the full story so it would be too soon toe up with conclusions, none of the people in the town used magic so he assumed all the magic users in the ce were fighting to defend the settlement, they were approaching from the rear of the town so he guessed the main fight must be at the front entrance.
Tyler couldn''t help but sigh, it seemed like the universe did not want him to have an easy time today, turning his head to look at Liz he could tell she was feeling anxious, it was likely there was only one healer in this ce so if they were to die today then, what would happen to Rain.
Chapter 16 C16. Albert T. Cronoff
The cold wind blew in through the Window ruffling the ck Velvet curtain on the slightly opened window in the still dark room, it was almost winter and the air seemed to get colder each day. As the first rays of sunlight shone in through the curtain and on his face, Albert slowly opened his eyes, his vision a little hazy, he sat up on his bed, yawned slightly, and got up, he did some light stretches before walking in the direction of his washroom to ssh some cold water on his face.
He had light brown hair that had streaks of grey, it wasn''t too long and he usuallyb it back, giving him the air of a refined gentleman. His beard had the same streaks of grey as his hair and the conspicuous wrinkles in his chiseled features gave him an air of kindness, he had broad shoulders and a well-toned body that made him look like a professional boxer, his sharp prating gaze would make a lesser man tremble with only a stare, he looked to be in histe 40s but as a demon, it was hard to tell his actual age.
After sshing his face with water he took a towel to dry off, hearing themotion in the bathroom and being unable to shrug it off, Erin woke up as well, she had long lustrous, and silky blue hair that ran all the way down to her waist. Her deep blue eyes were like the boundless sea,bined with her soft facial features, she was a beauty that wouldn''t fail to turn the heads of all men, it was almost supernatural.
She sat up on the bed as she took a nce at the window, the sun wasn''t even halfway up yet she was forced to wake up. She didn''t really like getting up this early but had no choice as Albert was a mourning person and she wouldn''t be able to get any sleep with him moving around carelessly in the washroom.
Albert came out of the bathroom and saw his wife looking at him sternly, he chuckled "Ah... sorry I should''ve been more considerate." she ignore him and got out of the bed heading for the washroom as well, this wasn''t the first time this had happened and she knew it wouldn''t be thest.
She was wearing a light blue nightgown that revealed quite a bit, her stunning looks were made secondary by her amazing and curvy body, although she had a mature deposition, there was still traces of immaturity in her eyes. She went into the bathroom and mmed the door hard. Albert knowing how she gets in the morning didn''t say a word. He got dressed and prepared for work.
He had been a demon noble just a few years ago, yet now he was forced to get a job as a guard for the settlement, luckily, thanks to his strength he was quickly promoted to the captain of the guards, which gave him quite a pay raise butpared to lording over your own region though, this would be considered as quite the downgrade.
After getting ready he saw Erin finallye out of the bathroom, "It''s quite a lovely morning don''t you think." She looked at him strangely for a while before she sighed "Will you be back for lunch?" Albert seemed relieved, even though his expression hadn''t changed, "Of course."
She smiled at him as she went out of the room and into the kitchen to make breakfast, it wasn''t arge house, it only had two rooms, two washrooms a kitchen, and a living room with space for dining. They both had breakfast, ck tea, some brown bread, and scrambled eggs with a side of bacon. Although it wasn''t much, they were both quite satisfied.
Albert said goodbye to Erin as he left for work, Erin didn''t have a job, but she was also quite strong so she would help the settlement whenever it would get attacked by monsters or sometimes go hunting even though she wasn''t a professional Hunter, the town gave her an exception and she got somepensation for her help. Her only job on most days was to take care of the house till Albert returned. The sun had already risen by now and the streets were starting to get a little busy.
The town wasn''t thatrge and was only called a town because it had the defenses of one, there were only a few districts in the town and Albert was in the residential district. The innermost district of the town was the administrative area of the town, in addition, the area also contained storehouses forbat rations and even the general supplies of the town.
The town was located in the middle of a rocky in, there wasn''t much protection from the terrain and it was unsafe for merchants toe and go. The town would procure goods themselves and the traders in the town would purchase their goods from the town and proceed to sell them in the marketce, the town wasn''t thatrge so every single adult had a job, from tailors to cksmiths, herbalists, hunters and many more.
Albert could see other men rushing out of their houses as they headed for their workce, only most of these men weren''t like him, some had pale red skin and almost looked human with either one or two sharp dark horns growing from the top of their foreheads, although demons could have horns or even tails, their skin color was always the same as humans and elf''s, besides only lesser demons, was unable to hide those features.
This ce was the Red ogre settlement, so most of the residents here were ogres, there were other exceptions like him as this was a freemen settlement so it didn''t matter what race you were, still most people gravitated towards their kind so the settlement like these usually contains more than 80 percent of a particr race.
Albert had always rted well with ogres, he even let them stay in his region without demanding them swear loyalty to him. So when he needed a ce to run to, they had helped him out to the best of their abilities. He arrived at the guard office close to the entrance of the town, the town''s poption wasn''trge, right now it contained around 700-800 residents.
He soon arrived at the guard''s office, he noticed the guards on the night shift were just rounding up and preparing to leave. "Ah... Captain Cronoff, you''re early as always, Good morning sir" one of the guards that noticed him greeted. "If am everte you all would take it as an excuse to ck off."
"Hehe, captain we''re not all aszy as Baine."
"You asshole!" The guard named Baine snapped. The entire office burst intoughter as they all argued and talked with each other, mostlyining about how boring their shift was.
Albert just watched the scene in front of him without interrupting, he shook his head and walked in the direction of his office, "Goodmorning, Captain" a young handsome man dressed.in silver full te armor greeted him with a smile, "Oh Kelvin, you''re still here." This was Kelvin, a demon who also escaped with Albert from his region, he was now the Vice-captain of the guard and responsible for the night shift this week, he had long blonde hair styled to the side and blue-colored pupils with a slim face.
"You''re early as always sir, am sure you annoyed the Ms. again today."
"Ha ha, I can''t seem to help it, how was your shiftst night?"
"It was strangely more quiet than usual."
"Hmm... it''s been this way for a while now, I wonder what''s going on out there."
"Ha ha no need to worry so much sir, winter is almost here I''m sure they''re just migrating a lot earlier this year"
"Really... I hope so."
"I should be on my way now sir, I''ve already organized your schedule for the day so you don''t have to worry about that."
"You didn''t have to do that."
Kelvin smiled and walked past Albert as he headed for the exit, "It will always be my job to assist you, it matters not if you''re no longer a Lord, besides am the vice-captain, Goodnight sir" he wave his hands and was headed for the exit,
"Dumbass, it''s morning!" one of the guards yelled out at him as he tried to act cool, Albert sighed and decided to ignore the fuss and bickering that had just started, he walked to his office door and entered.
Entering his office, he saw a thick stack of papers on his desk, he had epted the job as a captain thinking it would make for a change of pace as a former Lord, only to find himself doing pretty much the same thing, the only exception was when there was a monster attack and the town needed all man on deck.
Although heined about the simrities often, he was d about this, if it turned out he was doing somethingpletely different so soon it might''ve taken longer to adjust, right now the only people he was responsible for were the guards, the rest of the town was left to the chief, he preferred this than the politics of being a ruler, the only reason he had been a Lord was for the mere fact that he was born into the role.
He sat behind his desk and began his work, soon he came before a list, the name of his wife Erin Cronoff was written on the second line of that list, "I almost forgot, she''s part of the hunting party today, I wonder if she''ll be okay." it wasn''t that Erin wasn''t strong enough to protect her self, he just couldn''t help but worry whenever she had to leave the settlement by herself, after all, she didn''t really like the outdoors, not to mention he had a weird feeling about this.
??????
After seeing Albert off, Erin started preparing her equipment for today''s hunt, she was a magic user so she didn''t have much equipment, she wore light clothing, a dark purple robe with a hood. wearing a single silver bracelet on her left hand and carrying a small pouch.
After all her preparations were done she left the house, having alreadypleted her chores the time had gone by quite fast, the streets were busy with both men and women as they walked in all directions, and the sun hung high in the sky as the bright light shined on her skin, she frowned a bit then covered her head with the hood as she walked through the districts headed for the town''s gate.
There weren''t many carriages in the town and since the gate wasn''t that far from her house, she decided to walk, she seemed quite popr in the town as almost everyone who saw her greeted her warmly, and most men admired her for her beauty and seductive features and often sent lustful gazes at her, they all respected Albert and wouldn''t act on any of those impure desires. The women all liked her gentle personality but didn''t really bother speaking to her except for exchanging pleasantries, she had a faint smile on her face as she nodded slightly to all their greetings, and it didn''t take her long to arrive at her destination.
She saw five figures waiting by the side of the entrance to the town, there three men and two women, all of them were ogres and had different types of weapons on them.
Ogres were quite strong but rarely had any magic potential, even when they did, they were quite limited in that aspect. "Yo... Erin, Good morning, d you could make it" one of the female ogresses in the group weed her as soon as she saw her, she had a bow on her back but carried no quiver for arrows. She ran over to Erin and held her hands, "Come on, we must leave now if we want to return before noon, Jarret already located our prey so we won''t spend all day finding one." she said with a bright smile as she dragged Erin by the arm and they headed out of the town.
Chapter 17 C17. Erin Cronoff
The sun hung high in the sky, shining brightly, the heat it radiated felt like it was still the middle of summer, however, the asional cold wind that blew through the dried fields would remind everyone that winter was near. Erin stared at the sun in agitation as she lowered her hood more to cover her face.
The female ogress that had been the first to wee her stuck closely by her side, she had the same pale red skin as the others and a single dark horn on her head, she was a young woman of around twenty in the flower of her youth. She had a pretty face, and she was cute in the way a kitten or other small animal would be. still, while she looked adorable she had a predatory glint in her eyes that seemed to aim at Erin''s chest.
Though she masked it well with a cute but yful smile, she locked her arms around Erin''s and proceeded to harass her with naughty and inappropriate questions. Although Erin was older than her, she didn''t really pay attention to such ''trivial'' details.
"Why didn''t youe out drinking with mest night, you promised."
"I didn''t say such things"
"Ohe on... I begged you toe and you nodded."
"I didn''t"
"You''re so mean."
"..."
"So how bout tomorrow, we''re free right? we can go shopping for underwear."
"I''d rather not..."
"If you don''te, I''lle over to your ce and..."
Before she had a chance to continue the other female ogress noticed her naughty hand movement and ran over giving her a kick in the face, "Keep your hands to yourself you perv!" her head was flung backward and her feet left the ground. She hurriedly got up, holding her nose sheined, "Hey!" "Hmph... are you okay Erin?" Erin looked at her chest that had almost been molested and chuckled, "I''m fine, it''s nothing you guys are so extreme."
The second ogress was a woman with twin dark horns, she had curly red hair that was messily cut, it was in a good length for movement and didn''t look as if she cared much about her hairstyle, she also had a pretty face and she had a keen edge to her eyes. Her arms were muscr and her palms were covered in callus from wielding a sword, she looked more like a warrior than Callie the bow-wielding ogress.
She was quite surprised by Erin''s response, it wasn''t that she never spoke to them or even smile at them but, most of the time the only reason she spoke was because of Callie, with her pushy and naughty personality, she was the only one able to get such a reaction from Erin.
K ruffled her hair, "You really shouldn''t enable Callie like that, she''s already too bold as it is." Erin nodded and before she could speak one of the guys in the front spoke. "That''s enough guys we''re already here."
The group had left the town for quite a while now, they had made it to a dried field, further ahead was an entrance to the Darknar forest. They didn''t need to enter the dangerous forest as the beast they hunted usually roam this area. All the monsters here would be around the Tier 2 or 3 standards, a party of six like them could handle a group of these monsters.
Although higher-leveled beasts sometimes wander out of the forest, this wasn''t a problem for their party, even without magic, ogres were natural-born fighters. Following a party member who had a skill that could be used to track and locate they have sessfully found some games in record time. He had used the skill back in the town''s gate and located a group of twin-tailed warthogs.
The Twin-tailed Warthog looked like any ordinary warthog from Earth, only muchrger and obviously had two identical tails. They didn''t have any active skills and because they were ordinary beasts, they didn''t have much intelligence and were not that difficult to hunt. There were three warthogs in this group, they were eating the dried grass and roots on the field.
After catching sight of their prey, the group slowed down their pace and got into formation with two of the tallest male ogres in the front and two to the side, Callie and Erin were left in the back.
The twin-tailed warthogs might not be a very high-level monster to them but they possessed a very troublesome passive skill that made it hard to hunt. They had high physical attack resistance almost to the point of nullification even from higher leveled opponents,bined with their raw strength they were almost impossible to kill_____ well almost.
Everything had a w, every defense a weakness and this was no exception, it was also quite an obvious one at that, as long as one attacked with magic the warthog would make easy prey. The only problem was, that ogres barely had any magic casters, their skills and even secret techniques weren''t considered magical attacks and were almost ineffective on the beast.
The ogres had already gotten close enough to the warthog now and the two in front charged forward with a roar, the three warthogs turned their heads simultaneously and their twin tails lit up in a dark and gloomy aura, one of them immediately charged at the ogres with the other two staying on the defensive.
The ogres in front were holding massive shields, one of them wielded a battle ax and the other a halberd. They were both tall and broad which made them look intimidating. The one wielding the halberd was named Talen and the other was Hart. Talen''s shield emitted an orange aura and immediately the warthog ignored Hart and chard at him, Hart didn''t mind this and dashed at the two remaining warthogs, he raised his battle-ax and shed down diagonally.
A stream of orange energy escaped the ax and shed at the two twin-tailed warthogs, they raised their heads and received the attack head-on. The orange energy shattered like ss upon impact without doing much damage. The two warthogs shrugged the attack and charged straight at Hart.
Seeing their n seed Hart smiled and his shield emitted the same orange aura as Talen, with that they had the full attention of all three beasts, they defended the warthog''s simple attacks with ease, still, their attacks were powerful and it sent them retreating a few steps each time, they dodged as much as they could but were slowly being pushed back, with the warthogs almost perfect physical defense, their attacks had little to no effect on them.
The others sprung into action after seeing this, the two swordsmen nked the beasts, and Erin and Callie were left tounch a bombardment on the warthog from the rear, Callie drew her bow, and an arrow made out of orange light formed. She raised her arm to the sky and shot it, the arrow flew at breakneck speed to the sky until it suddenly lost momentum, it shattered into a thousand pieces and formed new arrows. "Arrow Rain" the orange arrows dropped down like rain on all three warthogs without hitting both Talen and Hart who knew exactly when to move out of the way.
The impossible-to-break skin of the warthog tore open like paper at the rain of orange arrows, this was the difference between a physical attack and a magic spell. The Warthogs growled in anger and pain, normally twin-tailed warthogs moved in groups of 20-30 and rarely strayed from the group, the party had to lure them away from their group in other to hunt, but today Jarret had located rare strays with his innate ability, Spirit Vision. The problem was Twin tailed warthogs that strayed from their group were considered outcasts, as outcasts, they develop an active ability that allowed them to survive on their own.
This ability could only be used when threatened. Rampage was a lifesaving ability that stray warthogs developed when their lives were threatened. This could be considered a gift from nature, a way to maintain the bnce of power, but then again it was a problem for hunters. As the arrow rain fell on the warthogs the attack failed to prate deep into their skins, even though it was a magic attack the strength of the spell wascking.
The eerie dark aura that covered their tails expanded to their entire body and they broke out of the influence of the provocation skill used by Hart and Talen.
Without discrimination, they were about to charge at a random enemy with all their might, but the group was experienced and they knew this already, Jarret and K, the two swordsmen in the group attacked the beast from behind, their swords engulfed in an orange glow.
Bang!
Although they had seeded in halting the beast''s random charge, they were doing little to no damage whatsoever, and now that the warthogs were on a rampage, their attacks just made them angrier, Callie shot another light Arrow and created an Arrow Rain, but unlike thest time, the attack did less damage and it didn''t even slow the Warthogs down.
While the group did their best to keep the Warthogs at bay, it was painfully obvious that this wasn''t going in their favor. "Erin, Anytime now would be great!" K the female Swordsman yelled as she went in for an attack, she made sure to avoid the beast''s field of vision, raising her de high in the sky she made a light jump, "elerate."
Her de moved faster than it should, bing a blur. It descended on the Warthog and bounded it to the ground, although it was obvious the attack hadn''t done much damage as the beast soon got up and was barely injured.
"Tsk."
Erin who had only been standing there with her eyes closed, gently opened them, a tranquil aqua-blue aura enveloped her as her hood came off revealing her beautiful face, her silky dark blue hair fluttered in the wind. She parted her soft lips and uttered a phrase, "AquaLight"
The tranquil aqua blue aura surrounding her extended to herpanion, their weapons each emitting the same aura. The aura seemed to have calmed their nerves, giving them nock of confidence, their movements became more fluid and seamless.
Their des were now able to prate the skin of the twin-tailed warthogs with ease. Finally able to put up a fight the group got more energetic, Callie shot out four magic arrows that now had a blue glow, and Hart couldn''t help but smile as he bashed the head of a warthog with his massive shield.
With Hart and Talen now able to do damage, they could finally keep the attention of the beasts without worry, leaving Jarret and K to freely do massive damage, Callie and Erin no longer had to do a thing, the others just made quick work of the monsters.
With their years of experience and their great teamwork, even if they had been weaker individually, they would have still easily defeated a few Warthogs. Their only advantage was their defense and without that, they were nothing more than just hogs.
When thest warthog dropped on the ground, the group rejoiced and Jarret retrieved their prey. After extracting the beast crystals from the bodies, the guys carried the warthogs out of the fields before deciding to rest, they didn''t want to run into another monster, which would end up wasting more of their time, they knew Erin didn''t like staying outside in the sun.
Callie ran over to Erin as soon as the fight was done, she now had her arm in a lock as they sat next to each other by a tree. She sat a little too close forfort and had a big smile on her face, "Sooo....?" she said, Erin drank some water out of her pouch, she sighed softly and said, "So what?" Callie looked at her without blinking then with a sly smile she said "Hehe... don''t pretend you don''t know.... did you guys do itst night? how was it? Tell me, tell me tell m..."
Before she had a chance to finish, K came out of nowhere and karate chop Callie on the head so hard that she bit her tongue. "Ouch..... my tongue..."
"Stop asking weird questions"
"I didn''t say anything weird..." Callie pouted as she wrapped her arms around Erin pretending to cry.
K was getting annoyed by the minute as she watched Callie putting up an act, Erin felt helpless and couldn''t help but pat her on the head. "You''re too soft on her," Kined. The guys couldn''t help but chuckle at this familiar sight, "Come on. we should head back, it wouldn''t be a feast without some roasted hogs." Hart said licking his lips.
"Why is it that all you think about is food."
"It''s because he''s an idiot."
"Hey! I think about a lot of things."
"Like what?"
"I''ll have you know, I have a lot of profound thoughts."
"Haha yeah right, I bet he can''t even spell the word profound."
"Why is everyone picking on me, Callie is the one who''s harassing Erin."
*p p p... Talen pped to break up the side chatter, he hadn''t said anything the entire time and only ever smiled.
Jarret chuckled, Talen is right, we should head out, it''s almost noon.
They soon departed after their short break. Soon they could see the Town in the distance,ing down a hill, they had a good view of the town, that''s when they saw it.
"Is that... Are those what I think it is?"
Chapter 18 C18. The Calm...
The office belonging to the guards wasn''t thatrge, there were over a hundred guards in the settlement, but this building could contain a maximum of fifty people. They had structured the ce to operate in batches. Switching between the night shift and day shift. The building contained a few offices for administrative purposes, several public bathrooms, and arge lounge or the so-called break room.
Albert sat behind his desk signing one stack of papers after another. For a small settlement such as this, they had a surprising amount of paperwork for him to do. Although it was mostly because of their terrible organizing skills, still, having been here all day, he was starting to get bored. Standing up from his seat, he left the office in other to take a walk using the excuse of patrolling the perimeters.
When he left the office, he had to walk by the lounge in other to exit the building, looking at some of the guards on duty,zing around doing nothing, he couldn''t help but shake his head. It had been a lot peacefultely, for almost a month now, there had been no monster attacks or siege. He walked by the break room with silent steps, non of the guard had even noticed him.
Exiting the office, he was greeted by the sight of the busy town as people move up and down the streets. it waste in the morning and the town was at its busiest, taking a step outside he heard a familiar voice scream his name. "Albert, Albert, Albert, Albert,..." the voice kept muttering his name loudly as it got closer at a rapid pace.
Turning his head he saw a child Sprinting at him at a rapid pace, as he got closer he held the brakes,ing to a sliding halt as he kicked up dirt all over the ce. *cough *cough the child was affected by the dust as he broke out in a coughing fit. "Are you okay?" Albert asked worriedly, after waving his tiny arms around to get rid of the dust the child smiled and looked at him.
He was a young boy that looked like he would be around the age of 5 or 6, he had short blonde hair and tanned skin, he had two dog ears and a short tail, and he also carried a wooden sword around his waist. The child puffed out his chest and hit it "Am a man, a little dust is no problem for me."
"Oh I see, that''s fine then."
"Hey, hey, hey... I don''t like the doubt on your face am serious." Albert couldn''t help but chuckle at that, the boy pouted a little and he parted his head, he wanted to protest but his wagging tail had betrayed him. "So, young man, what brings you here?"
"Am running errands for my mom, she''s been too busytely so as the man of the house I decided to help."
"well, that''s certainly what a man should do."
"See, see, I told you..." Little Timmy was quite pleased with thepliment and his short tail did nothing to hide this, his face was stered with a beaming smile. He was Albert and Erin''s next-door neighbor and his father had died in battle more than five years ago so he had taken a liking to Albert who always took care of him.
"Hey you said you''ll teach me how to fight, I''m 6 today so when are you going to teach me." Albert nodded thoughtfully and smiled, "Of course, but today''s your birthday so we have to celebrate, today''s also the day this town moved here so we''ll be having a feastter, why don''t we move your training to tomorrow."
The kid was very pleased when he heard that he hadn''t thought his mom would have the time to celebrate his birthday so he was only looking forward to spending it with Albert. "Okay, I should go now, my mom might be worried if I''mte." Albert nodded and sent the kid off, he watched the scene for a while before heading off in the direction of the town wall.
He walked out to the wooden fence surrounding the town, it was made of sturdy Wood that had beenyered several times, making it as thick as a brick wall, well it was practically the same since the thing was reinforced with magic.
The wall was over 10ft tall and had four lookout rowers at each end of the wall, Albert went to one of the towers and climbed up using thedder. It was a tall tower and was made only of wood, after reaching the top he saw the two sentries station here sitting on the ground ying some sort of card game. There was nothing else here except arge ballista, a bell, and what looked like a telescope.
They hadn''t noticed him yet and he just walked next to one of them, "You both seem to rx.", "Fuck!" They both jumped out of their skin in fright. One of them was a two-horned ogre while the other was a beastman, specifically a wolfman, he had shiny sliver wolf ears and tail.
"Oh, Captain it''s you... we almost killed you" Albert stared at the two clumsy idiots pointing the cards in their hands at him like a weapon.
They both followed his gaze and saw the ''weapon'' in their hands,ughing awkwardly, they scratched their heads and straighten up, "what brings you here sir?"
"Just Patrolling... noticed anything today?"
"No sir, it''s been quiet today as well."
"I see"
He then turned his gaze and looked out into the distance, in front of him, he saw rocky ins as far as the eyes could see with several small hills, there was no creature in sight, still being outside now and looking at this sight gave him a feeling he couldn''t exin. It was quiet, too quiet, it made him remember the feeling he had before his region was invaded, it was like the calm before a storm.
After staring at the view for a long time, the other two were starting to look at him weirdly. "Is something wrong?" the wolfman asked "sigh... no, nothing, you guys get back to work.", "yes sire" they both answered in unison standing at attention, "you don''t have to be so formal all the time, just be more vignt" "ye... o-okay," they said.
Albert turned around and jumped down from the tower, hended elegantly without even making a sound or getting dust on his armor. The other two looked at him with open jaws as they apuded. It wasn''t that they were unable to make the jump, they could, quite easily, in fact, it was just the fact that he had made no sound as hended without the use of magic, such a thing was incredible.
p Walking away from the tower he decided to take a stroll through the town to get to the other sentry towers, he hadn''t even taken a step when¡ª
Rumble... Rumble... Goudou...
The earth trembled lightly, but the quake was getting stronger by the second, the sentries on the tower lost their bnce and the ogre fell on his butt, having superhuman reflexes, the wolfman kept his bnce and listened carefully. They weren''t near a volcano, and the ground in the demon continent didn''t quake for no reason. ''what is it?'' he tried his best to focus his superhuman hearing trying to trace the source of the quake. Soon, he picked up on the source of the quake, and his already bronzeplexion darkened.
Albert jumped all the way from the ground, back to the tower, not using thedder this time. He looked at the wolfman and asked, "Raz did you hear something?" Raz looked at his captain never changing expression and calmed down a little, "It''s bad sir, a horde ofrge monsters are heading this way, and by the sound of it there are a lot."
"Can you tell how many?"
"I''m notpletely sure, but I''ll estimate at least 300."
"...What! the ogre named Jin yelled in disbelief, "how is this possible? why didn''t we notice this till now¡ª"
Albert looked at the distance and his irises turned into a slit, his vision extended and crossed a massive distance. He saw a horde of lizard-like giant creatures kicking up dust as they charged at the settlement in a frenzy ''No, why them.''
He turned to face Raz and Jin, "Sound the rm, and prepare the ballistas for battle." without saying another word he jumped off the tower and disappeared from their view, Jin looked at Raz and asked, "Do you think he saw the monsters?" Raz who still had his eyes closed listening, opened them and answered. "I wouldn''t be surprised, hurry up and ring the bell"
"Oh right"
As the sounds of the bell echoed throughout the town, everyone in the town apart from a few neers sprung to action, the children, and adults that were unable to fight were brought into the Chief''s mansion, in the inner district, the center of the town, the ce was reinforced with magic making it the safest ce in the entire settlement.
Albert appeared back at the guard office and gavemands, this was an emergency and everyone was to report to the town''s gate to mount a defensive barrier. The night shift was dragged from their houses and ordered to do the same. Kelvin Keave, the vice-captain of the guard was charged with protecting the chief''s mansion, he was strong and would normally be deployed in battle but protecting the weak and leading their escape would be a better job for him.
??????
The town guards and all the Hunters in the town had already taken their position outside the gates, the melee fighters would be unable to help if they stayed within the walls of the town, some of the ranged fingers had gone and joined the sentries in the tower and other had just climbed the wall itself, giving them a better vantage point.
The ogre chief stood at the front, he had two dark horns and arge sword almost the same size as him rested on his back, he stood firmly at 7ft tall and had a chiseled body that looked like it was cut out of stone. He wore metal iid armor on his legs revealing his chest and abs. Unlike his usual self though, today he had a serious expression on his face.
Standing beside him was the captain of the guards Albert Cronoff, he hadn''t changed anything since he left his home this morning, the only thing different about him was that he was now wielding a weapon, hung by his waist was a sword.
It was a thinly long de that looked like a Miao Dao, it waspletely ck but had some exquisite markings on the hilt, it also had magic Runes running through its de. The other ogres and beastmen stayed behind them and readied their weapons. Warriors with shields stayed in front with the others behind them, there were a few beastmen that could use magic, they had stayed in the towers with the guards.
Looking ahead they could see the horde of lizard-like creatures stomping their way to them, they stood at almost 7ft running on all fours, they had dark green scaly bodies andrge red eyes, their fangs dropped greed liquid that melted the ground on impact, they looked absolutely terrifying to behold.
Some of the guards and hunters were starting to get nervous, even if this was an ogre settlement and located in a dangerous location, they still only had about 400 people who were able to fight, this also included retired guards or hunters. which was an impressive number from a poption of about 800-900.
Still, against an army of 300 strong monsters, they were sorelycking. Albert couldn''t help but turn his head sideways to the left, it was the direction Erin and her group went hunting. He was worried and a little anxious, it was almost noon and they had made arrangements to have lunch together, he couldn''t help but pray to a higher power that she wouldn''t be able to make it back on time, after all, he wasn''t confident in them winning this fight.
These weren''t any ordinary monsters, if they had been facing any other monsters he was sure they would be able to win even with such numbers, either they annihte the monsters or they simply drove them off. He red at the approaching mobs in anger, he had already put Erin through enough, and he couldn''t bear to do it again.
''How could this happen, how did I not sense it...'', it didn''t make any sense, why would monsters like these, monsters that usually stayed in dark ces be here and in such numbers? Something was wrong somewhere, and Albert was determined to find out what. If it turns out that someone was behind this, he wouldn''t rest until he murdered everyone they have ever known or loved.
Albert was a gentle soul, he didn''t really like violence, it was why he got along with Erin so well. Still, when it came to his family, he wouldn''t bat an eyelid and would kill whoever threatened their safety.
The monsters were only a few meters away and the chief had drawn his weapon snapping Albert out of his thoughts. He drew his ck de and, it vibrated, the others behind felt more confident seeing this and got into position as well. it was time, they couldn''t afford to be careless against these monsters, after all these were all Lesser Basilisks.
Chapter 19 C19. The Rampage (1)
Fire!
The chief yelled as soon as the monsters came into range. The sentries on the tower immediately fired the ballista stationed in the two towers at the front. The ballistas looked like giant crossbows made out of pure ck metal-like substances.
These were made of beast cores, and had special properties, therge ck arrows loaded on them were made of the same substance. The ballistas could also fire regr arrows and would add special effects to the arrow. They had decided to use up all the beast arrows first to try and deal a massive blow to the horde.
With a white hue, the massive arrows were fired, and the ballistas could fire more than five arrows per second. It only took two of them to light the sky up in a rain of arrows. The speed wasn''tcking either, the arrows could cover a distance of over 300 meters within seconds.
Boom. Boom Boom...
A fury of explosions reverberated over the battlefield, the ballistas had fired straight at the lesser Basilisks over 300 meters away. Seeing the force of impact and the explosions, everyone on the battlefield had a sigh of relief, well, all except Albert.
The dust and dirt produced by the massive impact of the arrows hadn''t even fully settled down when a massive wave of energy wiped out the explosion. Everyone was speechless, this was the first time they had ever seen a lesser Basilisk and they were now beginning to understand why they were so terrifying.
None of the exploding arrows had even made a scratch on them. It was obvious their level whenpared to the strength of Tier 3 exploding arrows was vastly different. "Next round!" The chief yelled one more time as the Basilisks crossed the 250-meter mark.
The sentries loaded a new round of arrows, they had already exhausted all their exploding arrows and were now loading on another set of beast arrows with a different effect. "Fire!" The chief yelled again, his voice ignoring the distance of the battlefield.
Fsh... The arrows tore through the air with greater precision. Still, the Basilisks were high-tiered monsters and had some intelligence, they could sense the sudden danger of the new attack, and even in a frenzy, they still had survival instincts.
The horde immediately scattered, still headed in the same direction, there was no more space in between them and they had more room to dodge the attack. Although they all reacted in time, the ballista''s attack speed got faster the closer an enemy was. Still, most of the lesser Basilisks were able to avoid the arrows, and the few that didn''t try to parry the attack with their ws, but unfortunately for them, the arrows were too fast and had a prating enhancement effect on them.
By the time the sentries ran out of prating arrows, more than twenty lesser Basilisk had died on the spot, the others ignored the dead and proceeded towards the town without slowing down. "Next round!" The chief shouted and this time the casters in the towers sprung to action.
They loaded ordinary arrows on the ballistas and provided various enhancements, from, prating arrows, magic arrows, lightning arrows, and even some explosive arrows. Most of them didn''t have any spells that would be effective from over 200 meters so this was the best form of attack right now, their only aim was to reduce the enemy''s numbers as much as possible before they made it to the melee fighters.
"Fire!" The chief yelled again and the sky was lit up with a rainbow of colors. The rain of arrows descended on the Basilisks and most of them did their best to avoid it, the attack had a variety of effects, and thanks to the explosive arrows, more of the lesser Basilisks had received the attack this time.
Although with the variety of enhancements used, the actual number of lesser Basilisks killed was less thanst time. More than 200 Basilisks had made it passed the 150-meter line and were now too close for the ballistas. to be used. The chief raised an arm and the ranged fighters and castersunched their attacks.
Although they had better aim than the ballistas, they were far weaker, their attacks barely gave any damage to the steel-like scales of the lesser Basilisks. This fact reminded everyone again, how much stronger the lesser Basilisks were than the usual Tier 3 monsters that attacked the town regrly.
Without hesitation the chief jumped into the fray and sent about ten lesser Basilisks flying back, his huge weapon was wrapped in an orange glow and his body seemed to have gottenrger, he ran through the monsters sending at least one flying with each swing, the raw strength he disyed was jaw-dropping.
After seeing their spells do little damage to the monster, the fighters were all losing confidence in themselves and were shaking in fear, but seeing the chief single-handedly shatter the momentum of the horde, confidence began to bloom within them.
Still, the Basilisks'' scales were hard and sturdy making it difficult to kill them with one swing, the ones sent flying tumbled around a bit and got up, then they charged at the chief in anger. The lesser Basilisks roared, dark green mes shot out of their mouths at him, the chief lightly swung his de and the attack was deflected hitting some of the other Basilisks in the side. The chief was actually holding his own against hundreds of lesser Basilisks.
Still, with what the ballistas had done to them, the lesser Basilisks were scattered around the battlefield and he wasn''t able to draw the attention of every single one of them. Clicking his tongue he stabbed his sword into the ground and activated a skill.
¡ãFortress¡ã
An illusionary shield appeared around him, before quickly dispersing like the wind. The chief smiled wildly, he held the hilt of his de with both hands and bent his knees, with a light jump he was already several meters in the air.
Swirling himself in the air he activated another skill, "Falling star." his alreadyrge de got evenrger as he plummet down swinging the giant sword. *Boom! the impact shattered the ground, creating a crater, resembling the one a meteorite would leave in its wake.
That attack had killed off any monster within a 10-meter radius, but with the way the lesser Basilisks were scattered, it had only been a handful. The skill had taken a lot out of him and his breathing was a little irregr, still, he raised his head and charged at the rest.
Some of the monsters were able to run around him heading straight for the town, the chief didn''t bother trying to stop them and just focused on the ones In front of him.
Secret Technique: Thunderstrike!
With the roar of thunder, Albert disappeared from his previous location, appearing behind the lesser Basilisks in front of the group. The monster''s head fell to the ground without resistance, its body stumbling to the ground and tripping the other monsters beside it. He didn''t even pay attention to his kill as he charged at the horde with his de drawn.
The moment the others saw this, they began their attacks. The ranged fightersunched their arrows and spells, while the melee fighters stayed in formation as they attacked and killed the monsters that somehow got by the chief and the captain.
With the warriors tanking for them, they were able the halt the advancement of the horde. Albert hadn''t halted his attack either, he ran straight at a group of lesser Basilisks and brandished his sword. The attack had sent the monsters stumbling back but did little damage. "Tsk... I guess I need to use a technique." he frowned.
"Secret Techniques - Shadow step."
nting his right foot firmly on the ground, Albert shifted his center of gravity slightly, he adjusted his breathing and held his long de with both hands. With his speed and footwork technique, he shot forth like a magic bullet. Only this time, he didn''t seem to be alone.
There was something or someone closely trailing behind him, it was almost like his shadow. Well, it was his shadow. The shadow trailed him like his clone as they maneuvered around the battlefield, avoiding any monsters that weren''t their target. He aimed to locate thergest cluster of monsters around taking out as many monsters as possible with his next technique. With how to spread out the monsters as it was proving a little difficult to locate that many, he no longer had any time to waste opting for the next best thing. The instant he arrived before a group of 12 lesser Basilisks, the shadow split from him.
"Secret Techniques - 24 Twin sh."
Twenty-four sh of silver and ck auras escaped the de of both the shadow and him, descending upon the 12 lesser Basilisks and spitting them in several pieces. It was a sight to behold, his movement and swordsmanship had been so smooth and fast that it was mesmerizing to behold.
Having been reunited with his Shadow, behind the skewered monsters, he felt his heart tighten and his breathing got heavier. Raising his head to look around him, he couldn''t help but grit his teeth and he got back up holding his sword tightly.
For the others, the battle felt one-sided for a brief second, while Albert and the chief were holding back more than half of the monsters. Although there was still a lot that got by them, they were able to hold their own with the help of the tanks and ranged fighters, but, the moment the ranged guards and hunters stop their attacks to reload or recover their Mana, the monsters gained more ground.
It was evident that once they had exhausted their spells and arrows the monsters would overwhelm them. They didn''t have enough rangers to set up a quality rotation system and with the number of lesser Basilisks, Albert didn''t have enough stamina to perform a secret technique that many times.
The fight was getting more chaotic and out of control, the monsters were beginning to gain the upper hand. The chief used one skill after another and was able to cut down a monster with each strike, along with Albert doing the same, he felt like they should''ve been winning but, still, they were only two men and were unable to pin down over 200 seriously strong Monsters.
Arghhh!!!
A loud high pitched scream was heard, and some of the less experienced hunters turned around to take a look. A man had been set aze by a lesser Basilisk''s poisonous mes, they cringed at the sight, and one of the hunters that turned around lost his head as a lesser Basilisk in front of him had pped it off.
Their formation crumbled instantly and a monster broke through, it headed straight for the gate and mmed head first into it. The gate was reinforced with magic and was very sturdy so it didn''t shatter from the impact. Before the monster could try again though, some of the experience guards surrounded it, and working together, they managed to kill it, but before they had a chance to rx, more monsters broke through their defense and ripped the guards to pieces.
They didn''t m into the gate like the first as they just opened their jaws and dark green mes shot out and thebined force sted through the gate and setting one of the houses in the town on fire. The lesser Basilisks had prated their defense and some of them had made it inside.
Chapter 20 C20. The Rampage (2)
Erin and her group could not believe their eyes, what appeared to be Basilisks were attacking their town in great numbers, but that was simply impossible. Basilisks were insanely high-leveled magic beasts that were never in groups, they were dangerous monsters that could kill a man with a single stare.
If those were all Basilisks, then the fight would be over before it even began. "Wait! Those are Lesser Basilisks, they don''t have that ability, there may still be hope." Jarret said after using his spirit Vision. Erin couldn''t help but worry, she knew Albert would most likely be fighting in the front lines and wouldn''t retreat unless everyone else had done so first.
Callie looked at the group nervously and asked. "What should we do? isn''t that a dangerous situation, s- should we g- go help?" she was fidgeting a lot, it was clear she was a bit frightened. "We should be careful, we don''t want to disrupt their formation and cause them to make a mistake leading to someone''s death.
Just then though, they saw the lesser Basilisks break through the formation and ughtered some guards as they destroyed the gate with their poisonous me breath. The group cringed at the bloody sight, Erin could no longer take it and sprinted straight at the town, if nothing else, she had to save Albert no matter what.
This may be selfish to the people in the settlement who were incredibly nice to her the entire time she was here but, she couldn''t think about that right now. Albert was the one who helped her when she had no one, he even went as far as marrying her against the noble''s traditions in other to save her life. She would do everything in her power to let him live even if she had to sacrifice herself for him.
Running at full speed it was obvious she wasn''t a demon, her physics was almost human. "Water movement" her legs turned a little translucent as she levitated up a few centimeters from the ground, the ground bubbled up and water came out of the ground under her feet, as she glided with the water at great speed towards the town''s gate.
The others didn''t have a chance to stop her before she had cast her spell. They gave each other strange looks and dashed after her, they all cared about Erin and wouldn''t let her charge into danger without backup, they all ran at great speed that was only a little inferior to water movement.
??????
p Albert was breathing heavily as he watched the five lesser Basilisks surround him, he had messed up his rhythm trying to rush back and defend the town. Rebuilding the town was easy, but he was worried about the kids and non-fighter citizens in the Chief''s house, although he had left Kelvin in charge of protection, they had only left a handful of men behind to help him.
Even with him, they wouldn''t be able to stop that many lesser Basilisks.
He gritted his teeth and used a skill, he didn''t have that many skills, but the ones he had were lethal. The chief wasn''t faring any better than him, in fact, you might say he''s faring worst, "SKILLS: Demon aura. Vibrating sh. Chained strikes." He used three skills in one go andunched his attack.
Using that many skills at once were taxing enough, but, although he was running low on stamina, he had enough mana to spare. The lesser Basilisks were unable to keep up with him, with the skills activated, he dashed at the monster in front of him. The beast was unable to react, Albert''s de sliced through its skin like a hot knife through butter, using the momentum he chained his attack to all five monsters around him, with each strike more powerful than thest, he cut them all cleanly in half.
The attack took a lot out of him, it was getting harder and harder to breathe, he saw the chief charge forward as he pushed himself to the limit. Not wanting to be outdone, he forced his legs to move out of sheer will, he used the opportunity provided by the chief to dash back to the gate, he wasn''t going to let the monsters ughter the children.
He ran at an incredible speed but before he could get far two dark green beams of mes shot in front of him cutting off his route, "tsk" he clicked his tongue in annoyance as he saw another five lesser Basilisks surround him. Using any more secret techniques would certainly be more trouble than it''s worth, he was running low on stamina, although he still had a lot of mana, he was out of useful skills.
One of the Basilisks shot out another dark green me at him, he only took a step as he dodged the attack and sprinted at the beast, using his Miao Dao he jumped up, and with the help of gravity, he swung the de down with all his strength. ng! The de was deflected by therge scales on the monster, it was evident that without skill or secret technique, one would never even make a scratch on a lesser Basilisk, after all these were all Tier 5 monsters.
The chief was getting exhausted as well, he had used over 25 skills in this fight, which was impressive, he still had a lot of stamina, after all, he was an Ogre Chieftain, but his Mana was almost empty, using even one more skill would send him into aa and in a battlefield such as this, he would die in an instant.
He turned his head and saw Albert''s sword being bounced off of the monster''s scale, he knew what was on Albert''s mind even though his expression hadn''t changed much. After knowing him for almost a century now, back when he was still a Lord, he could now pretty much read him like a book.
Albert had tried several times in the past to teach him his secret Techniques but being a brute like himself, he was always unable to fully grasp it, maybe if he had, with his insane amount of stamina he would be able to end this fight. Looking back at the town''s gate he saw his people struggling to survive, they were in a miserable state and were just barely hanging on, many of them had already died, a few were mortally wounded and the town had already been breached.
At that moment he knew what he needed to do, Azar Igna, the chief of the Red ogres, smiled. He may have been a brute but he was a battle-obsessed brute, he had wanted to wait until this waspleted but he may never get that chance, now would have to do.
"Special skill - Thunder Rampage!"
Orange aura wrapped itself around his massive body including hisrge sword, he dashed towards Albert with a war cry, as he moved it felt like a typhoon, each step shattered the ground, and each swing shattered the bones and scales of any and all monsters they came in contact with, the leap in strength was massive.
He had seeded inbining the secret technique "Thunderstrike" with the ogre skill "Blood Rage" to form an ultimate skill. Every race possessed a lifesaving skill and even strong monsters and magic beasts had one. Blood rage was one of those skills, a rampage skill was a skill that didn''t require the use of Mana, nature intended it as ast resort whenever one''s life was in danger, it was a very dangerous skill that many would avoid using no matter what.
He charged at Albert and destroyed any monsters in his way, the skill had a very short time limit and he didn''t have much time to waste. Before Albert could turn around to look at him he grabbed his shoulder and using all his might, threw Albert towards the town. Albert was a little confused when he felt himself being lifted off the ground. He had sensed the Spike in Azar''s aura and knew he must have been using his rampage skill, he wanted to protest but he was too far away and had hoped to find an opportunity to help him so he would have time to deactivate the skill before the time limit.
Yet, Azar had run towards him instead and threw him in the air, did he lose his mind? no, not possible, this was Azar he was talking about, looking around he saw Azar desperately trying to reduce the number of monsters like his life depended on it¡ª well it did. Albert looked at where he was headed and saw two lesser Basilisks, having broken passed the hunters, they were burning down the houses in the town as they headed for the Chief''s mansion where the elderly and kids were, as well as the pregnant women in the town.
He now understood why Azar had done what he did and a bitter smile appeared on his face, he quickly controlled his body in the air and held his de tightly. He didn''t have enough stamina to do a secret technique, but he might be able to use gravity topensate. He raised his de in the air and randomly came up with a name for the new technique he had just created.
"Gravity sh!"
With a crimson glow, the de descended on the first beast and split it in half, there was a little resistance as this was the first time using this technique, but hepensated by using the skill vibrating sh. Hended a bit awkwardly but quickly bnced himself, the other Basilisk was almost shocked, it opened his mouth and send dark green mes spewing out.
Albert wanted to dodge it but the Chief''s mansion was directly behind him, if he moved out of the way now then he might''ve been the one to kill the kids himself. Without much of an option he raised his de using his Mana to cover it he spun the de at such great speed that it resembled a shield.
The me came crashing down on him, but he was able to fully block it, with a sigh he prepared to face the beast inbat, "Cough... cough!" he coughed a little blood on his palm and staggered a bit, feeling a little dizzy, he had forgotten the mes a lesser Basilisk spewed was poisonous, with his stamina low he seemed to be making silly mistakes.
"Demon Aura" using a skill he suppressed the poison deep within himself, giving him the ability to fight for a while. He met the beast inbat, parrying all of its w strikes andunching attacks of his own, but they were not making any dents.
With the battle intensifying, the settlement had lost more than a hundred fighters in the fight, although the same could be said for the monsters, it was still safe to say, the monsters were on the verge of victory. The long-range fighters tried their best to keep the monsters at bay but the monsters had spread out, attacking from various angles, they had seeded in breaking through their ranks, into the town setting it aze.
Albert was sessfully repelling a lesser Basilisk, even though he wasn''t dealing any damage when suddenly two more appeared, without the use of skill and techniques he was unable to kill them. All three beasts charged at him, sending w strikes and spewing mes.
The poison he was umting within him was beginning to stack up and it was affecting his movements, allowing strikes that were easy to dodge to hit him, sending him flying and mming straight into a wall. He felt his backbones shatter and his ribs broken. It was hard to lift a finger much less fight, the Basilisks could sense this and all came in for the kill.
In the face of death and despair a rare smile appeared on his face, he had no intention of giving up, nor did he n on letting low-level monsters like these kill him, he was a demon noble, a being feared as one of the previous 78th demon Lords. If he was going to die it would be on his own terms. His skin color darkened and two twisted ram horns slowly started to grow on the sides of his head, his aura skyrocketed and his eyes glowed with a sinister hue.
"NOOOOO!!!"
Before he could finish, he heard a very familiar voice from a distance, raising his head he saw a female figure in the distance heading his way, riding through the wave of what looked like a storm, she raised her hands and a soft blue aqua aura wrapped around him, giving him his previous calm, the poison in his system disappearing by the seconds and his injuries slowly healed. To have such an influence from that distance he knew there was only one person capable of this, this was Erin Cronoff his wife.
Chapter 21 C21. Nymphs
Erin arrived in front of Albert in a raging wave of what could only be described as a tsunami. The three Basilisks surrounding him were blown away by the storm, tearing them apart. She looked angry and tears could be seen in her eyes, she had picked up speed halfway through her journey here, when she felt her connection with Albert getting weaker.
She red at Albert and he was stumped, his skin had returned to it''s previous colour and there were no horns on his head, he slowly got up from the rubble and dusted himself off, he walked over to Erin and looked at her, "Sor..." before he was halfway through his words she had given him a resounding p across the face, if this was a lesser man the p might''ve taken his head off.
She raised her hands to wipe her eyes as she muttered to herself, "You idiot, you promised, why would you want to kill yourself" her sweet voice was shaky and she was almost at the verge of crying, Albert wanted to console her, even though he was the one on the verge of dying a few moments ago.
Roar!!!
A loudmotion was heard at the gate, when Erin had arrived the wave that escorted her had thrown the battlefield upside-down. The barely stable formation of the guards and hunters was destroyed, the only good new was that Azar was sent flying knocking him unconscious and saving his life, in the end he didn''t get the glorious end he had wanted.
Although Albert was fully healed, his stamina hadn''t recovered at all and he still wouldn''t be able to do damage to the monsters without a skill or a technique, he griped his sword tightly and said. "We have to protect the them" Erin raised her head and nodded, now wasn''t the time for a lengthy discussion.
Before Albert could take a step forward though, she stopped him. "You wait here, I''ll support the others." Albert looked like he wanted to say something but the look on her face shut him up, he stood his ground as she walked in front of him, she closed her eyes and an aqua blue aura slowly surrounded her, it wrapped itself around Albert''s sword and all the melee fighters in the town.
Seeing this all the fighters at the gate and in the town had renewed spirit, they all knew what this was and only one person in the entire settlement could do it.
??????
At this point Callie, K and the others had finally arrived at the gate, they could see the messy battlefield, the ming buildings in the town meant the monsters had broken in, they saw their fallenrades scattered all over the battlefield, some were burnt to the bone, others were ripped apart, the smell of death hovered above the battlefield, they had even spotted some friends that were barely recognisable, their blood boiling in rage.
Talen and Hart as usual, charged into the battle, there was still more than a hundred monsters in the front gate alone, not to talk about the ones inside the settlement, they use their usual formation and attack the monsters closest to them. Although lesser Basilisks were way stronger than the twin tailed warthogs they just faced, they didn''t have the troublesome skill that nullified physical attacks, as long as they used a skill they would be able to damage them.
Hart and Talen drew the attention of one monster and the rest went to work, Callie fired one magic arrow after another and K and Jarret used their attack skills, although they were damaging the monster, the beast was just too strong and they could not get a good enough strike in to kill it, it swung it''s ws at Hart with great force, reacting quickly he raised his shield to block the attack.
Boom!
Like and explosion the attack sent him flying a few meters away, he hadn''t expected the difference in strength from the warthog, seeing this Talen immediately activated his defensive skill. "Aura of Impunity" an orange aura wrapped around his body and his Shield glowed bright. Jarret dashed forward timing his attack for when the monster would attack Talen.
Boom!
Another resounding boom echoed in their ears but unlike Hart, Talen had only taken a few steps back. "What power" Talen was shocked by the raw strength of the beast, he had faced a Tier 5 monster before, but the lesser Basilisks was on a whole ''nother level.
"Horizontal sh!" Jarret yelled as an orange horizontal aura sent the lesser Basilisk tumbling down. "Now!" he shouted and the other began their bombardment on the creature. "Arrow Rain"
"Fire smash"
"Twin light sword" the attacks came in hot and by the time Hart was able to get back up the monster was dead. They all looked at the battlefield and saw over a hundred more of these monsters, their anger seemed to have disappeared as they now understood why the town was in such a mess.
If only one of these monsters could push them this far then, there was no hope in winning, their only option now was to escape, but now that they were already here, turning their backs on a monster of this level was the same asmitting suicide.
Just then however, aqua blue aura enveloped their weapons and a tranquil feeling had calmed their chaotic thoughts, they all knew what this was and who it belonged to, looking ahead they saw the same thing happen to everyone on the battlefield and felt a sliver of hope, even though Erin wasn''t a mage and didn''t have many offensive spells she was still the most powerful person in the Red ogre settlement.
??????
Albert watched as Erin left his view, even with her spell AquaLight he knew he was still a little too exhausted to fight by her side, without stamina there wasn''t much he could do, not to mention secret technique, he wouldn''t even be able tounch an ordinary attack with enough strength, at least now he would be able to manage against any stray Basilisks that wondered here.
He tightened the grip on his de, his fingers digging into his skin. He knew he wasn''t the strongest demon lord in the continent, in fact he was rankedst and was no longer even considered a demon lord, but he couldn''t believe there would be a day when he would feel this week.
After failing to protect his home, he had thought he was unfit to be a Lord and had taken a back seat to Azar, settling for being just the captain of the guards but now, what good was he? in the end he was also a shitty captain.
Looking around he could see the fire was spreading, he needed to do something to prevent it from reaching the chief''s Mansion, he went towards the building and got the guards they had left behind to retrieve all the Tier 1 water strolls they stored in the armory under the chiefs mansion. He would try his best to save the town, and if all hope were lost he needed to be ready to help the kids, elderly and pregnant women in the mansion escape, he knew Erin would be able to give them a chance.
"Huh... where''s Kelvin?"
"He''s dead sir."
"....Dead?"
??????
Erin walked towards the town''s gate, she wore a gorgeous silver bracelet on her left wrist and couldn''t help ying with it, it had three blue gems embedded in it and looked like they had water inside of them. She stood a few meters from the gate and saw the brutal scene in front of her.
Even Though they were faring better than they did before, being able to damage the beasts without the use of a skill, the difference in strength was still obvious. The lesser Basilisks had scales a thousand times harder than steel, they were still only able to make small scratches and didn''t even slow the monsters down, there were piles of dead bodies on the ground and even some of the fighters still standing were badly injured, some were poisoned by the dark green mes and some were crippled.
She was unable to use the same spell she used on Albert because even for her using it in such a scale would render her unconscious especially after using AquaLight earlier. She let go of the bracelet and one of the gems on it shattered. Water continuously shot out of it like a tidal wave, she open her mouth and an enchanting voice echoed across the battlefield,
"Water Serpents"
The entire battlefield was silent almost like time had stopped, the only sounds that could be heard were from the water gushing out of her bracelet and the mes burning the housing behind. Every one had paused for a moment even the Monsters, almost as if they were enchanted by the outer worldly voice they had just heard.
The water that left her bracelet surrounded her like she was standing in the middle of ake, her figure glowed like the sea and her hair was as transparent as ake, she looked like the goddess of the sea descended down and was now walking onnd (well, on water right now), this was not actually wrong though.
The entire battlefield had turned to stare, it took a while for the monsters to get their senses back, Basilisks were also serpentine creatures so it was understandable why they were so easily influence by her. Callie, Jarret and the others couldn''t help but awe at the sight, they had heard rumors and knew Erin wasn''t a demon, but they had no idea she had divine blood in her.
Erin opened her eyes and the water around her rose, it morphed into 7 giant serpents made of water, the moment these serpent appeared the lesser Basilisks went berserk, it was obvious they had sensed danger, they knew when they were outssed, without their berserk skills death would be imminent.
They had sensed something, a more dangerous creature that posses a certain degree of control over their race, lesser Basilisks were Tier 5 monsters, and even though they weren''t magic beast, the higher a monsters Tier was the more intelligence they possessed. Looking at the creature surrounded by what felt like Tier 6 serpents they knew they weren''t a match.
Erin could sense the anxiety in the monsters, being a water nymph she had certain links to water creature and although the lesser Basilisks weren''tpletely water creatures, she could still feel it. She had a certain amount of influence over them, with the aura of the Seven Tier 6 water serpent she hoped she could suppress the monsters enough to order them to retreat.
Failure, the monsters were scared no doubt, even with a berserk skill monsters couldn''tpletely resist the influence of a higher Tier monster, the difference between each tier was massive, and the more you went up the more the difference grew. ''Something or someone is interfering.'' With the easy way out now out of the question, she now had to just face the problem head on.
ROARRR!!!!!
The unison cry of a hundred lesser Basilisks echoed through out the town, everyone on the battlefield heard the deafening roar and felt nauseous. "What is this?"
"what are they doing?" the fightersined at the sound of their eardrums banging, Talen looked at the scene confused. "Are they scared, shouldn''t they just try to run or are they just preparing to die?''''
Erin was a little confused when she heard the scream, just then a thought shed passed her mind, she frowned her beautiful face distorted a bit, she immediately yelled. "Everyone attack, we need to finish this as fast as possible so we can get out of here before theye!" The others were a little confused, but being warriors they didn''t hesitate to act, this was the first time they had seen that expression on Erin and they immediately feared for the worst, theyunched their attacks with more vigor and determination than before.
Erin was no exception, she sent all seven water serpent to attack, normally she would leave at least one or two behind to protect herself, but this was no time to worry about trivia matters like that.
Chapter 22 C22. The Might Of Tier 6
Erin''s ''Water Serpent'' could kill a monster with one bite, they maneuvered around the battlefield, killing off one monster after another, while avoiding the guards and hunters, giving them the freedom and space to fight an isted monster.
Jarret and the others didn''t want to fall behind, using their skillsbined with the effects from AquaLight, they killed a lesser Basilisk every few minutes. Azar was still unconscious, even if his wounds were healed he wouldn''t be off any use in this fight, he had used up part of his life force and would need a considerable amount of time to recover.
The ogres and beastmen who were considered the race with the most stamina and endurance were visibly exhausted, the only thing that kept them going was the passive effect of AquaLight. The battle had been going on for a while now and they were all mentally and physically drained, still they persevered on. The monsters attack pattern had changed drastically after they all went berserk, making the fight even more difficult.
??????
Albert had the guard run around putting out the fires on the buildings surrounding the Chief''s mansion, there were quite a number of lesser Basilisks that had broken into the town, they ran around setting more buildings on fire, Albert, with the help of the guards was barely able to kill any that roamed in his direction.
He was breathing heavily, even his Mana was getting low at this point, he could sense the urgency in Erin''s heart and knew something was wrong. ''Should I try evacuating the kids?'' he tried his best to remain calm but the constant worry of the people in the Chief''s mansion made him loseposure. He had recently found out his vice captain of guards had died when the first monster had broken into the town, he hadn''t even put up a fight and had died on ident after receiving a stray attack while trying to put out the mes on a nearby building.
,m ''Did I misjudged him, was he unable to fight at his peak while protecting something, or was he always so weak." Thinking of this the image of the handsome blonde young and promising demon in a shy armor came to his mind.
During this momentarily distraction the monster he was fighting sent a w strike his way and he failed to react in time, the attack sent him tumbling back and the guards he fought withunched their attacks in other to give him time to recover, he slowly stood up and shook the distracting thoughts off his mind.
Calming himself down he nted his right foot on the ground and shot out like a cannon ball. As he passed the beast he was able to use his momentum to slice it in half, he felt his heartbeat fluctuate and the stinging pain from his muscles brought him to his knees.
"Captain are you okay?!"
"Don''t worry I''m fine" he was sweating a lot but the others didn''t question him again, they knew he was the only reason they were still alive and would try their best to protect him untill he recovered his stamina.
??????
Despite all adversities, with the seven water Serpents rampaging around, they were able to make considerable progress, reducing the number of the lesser Basilisks by more than half, there were less than 50 of them still alive now including the ones inside the town.
Erin was getting increasingly more anxious, she could sense somethinging, it was still to far for the others to sense, including Albert, but because of her connection with the lesser Basilisks she could share their senses. She poured more Mana into the bracelet and another gem shattered, seven more water Serpents rose up from underneath, herplexion turned pale and she looked like she was fading away, even for her this was pushing it a bit too far.
She immediatelymanded the newly arrived water serpents into the battle, this relieved the pressure on the tired fighters, they were able to catch their breaths and rejoiced. Callie on the otherhand had a worried expression on her face, she didn''t know why, but she didn''t like the way things were going, ''Erin please don''t be reckless'' she was already almost out of Mana just firing ordinary magic arrows, she couldn''t even imagine what Erin was dealing with maintaining two insanely powerful spells.
The water serpents were like natural disasters, they practically destroyed a chunk ofnd each time they attacked, Erin had single handedly changed the entire battle, looking at her expression though, one would not be able to tell, it was like she was in a losing battle fighting desperately to survive.
The ranged fightersunching attacks from the towers and the walls had slowed down, everyone was practically low on Mana, they had already used all the Mana potions they had on hand. Potions were not asmon in the demon continent as it was in the human continent, only casters would carry one or two on them, melee fighter wouldn''t even bother, after all for them most battles were fought in high speed and the fact was they were too expensive.
Ogres rarely used these things, so the settlement only had a limited supply of them, healing Potions were even worst, the main ingredient only grew in the human and elf''s continent, so the cost was astronomical, for a small settlement like this it was almost impossible to stock up on them, they were fortunate to have someone like Erin who had high level healing spells.
With the numbers of the lesser Basilisks reducing, the fighters of the settlement hadn''t lost anyone else, with over a hundred guards and hunters attacking less than 50 lesser Basilisks along with the 14 giant water serpent, the battle was as good as won. In less than five minutes they were able to reduce the numbers to below 10.
Rumble... Rumble... Rumble...
Just when they saw victory in sight, the ground itself felt like it was about to open up and swallow them whole. "What''s going on?" the residents of the settlement was startled, confused and terrified they tried their best to stay on their feet, Jarret quickly used his spirit Vision to search for the source of the problem, his expression sank as he broke out in cold sweat. "No! Why, we''re doomed." the others couldn''t help but panic when they heard this, it was obvious something more dangerous than freaking Tier 5 Lesser Basilisks was heading this way.
Albert felt the ground rumble beneath his feet and he could now sense what was approaching, in their current condition they stood no chance in facing that many of them, hell he couldn''t even handle the lesser Basilisks on his own now, ''we heed to retreat, we should take the kids and run, we might have a better chance of survival'' to be honest he didn''t really believe that. It was better to stand ones ground when they had the home ground advantage than to take a bunch of kids and old people and create an even bigger problem for themselves.
He had gotten the guards to bring all the attack and support scrolls the town had from the armory, they were all low level spells, only Tier 3 and below, still they made for decent distractions, right now there was 3 lesser Basilisks surround his little group, he could tell these were the only ones left in the town, leaving about 6 or 7 remaining outside.
He held his Miao Dao with both hands, taking a low stance, the guards next to him were exhausted and dizzy, even their armor felt like it weighed a ton, as he charged in for an attack leaving the guard to activate a scroll to create an opportunity for Albert to exploit, suddenly though, they held arge roar, the high pitched vibrations the roar contained disoriented their brains for a moment, Albert still on the move forgot to take his next step and fell t on his face.
The Basilisks didn''t miss this opportunity and spewed out dark green mes at the confused guards, the me burnt them to the bones, the heat melted their armor in seconds, the sound of burning flesh was only epassed by their pained screams. Albert tried his best to stand but his brain seemed to be getting his intentions wrong and he just copsed back down on his face.
??????
Erin expression was twisted, 5 giant lizard like creature had appeared in the distance, their roar seem to have affected everyone on the battlefield except her, she could''ve easily been able to erase the effects if she wasn''t already stretch out as it is, the Monsters were getting closer and closer to the battlefield, they were faster than the lesser Basilisks and judging by how they crushed the ground in every step with only a handful of them being able to cause massive tremors.
These were also lesser Basilisks, the only difference now was the fact that these five were all magic beasts, being Tier 6 intelligent creatures, there was a massive difference between an ordinary beast and a magic beast even of the same Tier. Which made it all the more terrifying when they were a full tier ahead.
The magic beast arrive at the battlefield within seconds, the shockwave their steps created sent the guards flying in the air, the monsters raised their head and snatch anyone that flew in their direction, swallowing them whole, seeing this Erin was enraged, she controlled all 14 of the giant water Serpents and sent them in the direction of the 5 magic beasts.
The magic beast all opened their mouths, a massivelyrge amount of dark green mes spewed out of them as they consumed all 14 of the giant water serpent, Erin felt a part of her soul being ripped out of her body, she had expected the monsters to be strong but this was ridiculous. Those were all Tier 6 water serpents, even if they were not real monsters and wouldn''t be a match for the real deal, there was no reason why they would be so easily defeated.
With most of her life force being drained after losing her water serpent she didn''t really know what else to do, if it was possible for her to withdraw with Albert she would, but turning her back against such terrifying and intelligent monsters would only lead to death. Her gaze swept the battlefield and she knew there was no longer any time to hesitate, gritting her teeth thest gem on her bracelet shattered.
"Water dragon."
As the water escaped the bracelet, arge serpent trice the size of the previous ones emerged from below and immediately it opened his mouth wide.
"Water Cannon"
Arger amount of water gathered around the dragon''s mouth and shot out like a Cannon, the attack sent one of the magic beast flying as the lesser Basilisk''s body was shattered by the water pressure.
Panting like crazy Erin was getting paler by the second, her beautiful eyes were losing their luster and she felt faint each second the water dragon was out. "Water Cannon" another massive water Cannon was shot out killing another magic beast, "*gasp, cough, cough cough..." she fell on her knees and coughed out blood, it was obvious that each attack the water dragon shot out took part of her life, she didn''t know if she would make it long enough to kill all five magic beasts but as long as she killed enough before she died then maybe Albert would have a better chance of surviving.
She squeezed her chest as she struggled to stand up, "Water Can..."
"No!" Callie yelled as she dived forward and disrupted her spell. "You can''t just kill yourself, why would you do something like this." She had tears running down her cheeks, she had known Erin was pushing herself since the beginning and had her group slowly approached her while they fought off the lesser Basilisks.
Erin was confused, they were in the middle of a dangerous situation and would die if she didn''t do something, and to be honest the only person she was worried about was Albert. "What are you doing, we don''t have much time, let go of me!" she yelled, Callie shook her head in tears and screamed in response. "No! I know you only care about Albert but we all care about you, even if we''re not strong enough I''ll rather die than let you kill yourself." Erin was at a lose for words, she hadn''t thought much of the people here to consider feeling anything more than surface emotions for them and she usually stayed indoors not interacting with any of them, the only reason why she asionally goes out hunting was to help Albert, yet now...
Before she could even understand her feelings a magic beast had already appeared in front of her in the little amount of time she had hesitated, after all they wouldn''t just stand there and let themselves get killed off one by one.
"Watch out!" Callie yelled and shoved Erin out of the way, being distracted Erin couldn''t help but just watch as the monster bit off Callie''s head. She had no choice but to watch the entire scene unfold as she flew through the airnding roughly on the ground.
Chapter 23 C23. Ice Queen
"Callie!!!"
Erin screamed at the top of her lungs, she hadn''t expected someone else''s death to affect her so much. It had seemed like as long she she saved Albert then she would be fine, but now, seeing this scene she felt like her heart was about to bust. Various emotions flooded her mind, the pain of losing a friend was beginning to drive her mad.
Jarret and the others who had witness this felt the same emotions as Erin, without thinking they charged at the monster frantically, using every single skill they could muster,unching one attack after another.
The magic beast took the attacks head on shrugging off the attacks like they were nothing, it sent several w strikes at the four, Talen and Hart ran forward taking the attack with all their might, still, it was foolish of them to think they could handle an attack from a Tier 6 magic beast head on. BOOM! the attack shattered their arms as they were mmed into the ground causing arge crater.
They gasped for air as it felt like all their bones had been crushed, Jarret and k ran forward andunched a barrage of sword strikesbined with their strongest skills, even though they were exhausted. They didn''t care and pushed their bodies to the limit and beyond.
The Tier 6 lesser Basilisks just stood there taking the attack like it was nothing, although because of AquaLight they were able to damage the scales of the monster, they were still only able to make scratches, even with their strongest skills. Most of the remaining fighters were trying their best to keep the remaining magic beasts at bay, at this point there were only about 7 monsters left alive, yet the mood around the battlefield was like death was imminent and they were only dying the inevitable.
In just the few seconds they arrived, the magic beast had taken more lives than the entire army of 200 Tier 5 beasts had done in hours. It was ridiculously how easy this was for them, at this point many of the fighters had lost their lives leaving only about 30 remaining. Erin looked around and saw this, she knew Albert loves this people but never cared, now however she at least wanted to protect as many as she could, she could feel him, Albert''s life force was fading, it seemed like she had failed to protect the man that helped her when she needed it the most.
The only thing she could think of now was to eliminate the remaining 3 magic beasts, as long as she was able to do that even after she dies the remaining fighters would be able to handle the rest. The problem now was the fact that she could only use the water dragon''s attack one more time before her life force fades away, even though Callie wouldn''t want her to do this and had stopped her before, there was no other options. It looked like she would have to just kill one and hope for the best, thinking too long would only get more people killed, clenching her fist she steeled her heart.
??????
As Albertid on the floor unmoving he couldn''t help but hate himself for being this weak, he could feel everything going on in the battlefield from down here, he knew five insanely power creatures had arrived in the battlefield, creatures he might''ve struggled with at his peak, not to mention in his current state, he could barely move a finger much less hold his sword.
The three Basilisks around him seemed like they were mocking him, they made strange noises as they circled around him, after killing off hisrades they hadn''t attacked him yet, almost as if they were waiting for something.
Albert however had other problems, he felt the life draining from Erin at a rapid rate, his eyes narrowed, he wanted to get up but no matter what he tried he couldn''t muster up any strength.
He wanted to help, he needed to save her, he tried his best to muster as much energy as he could. ''GET UP, GET UP, GET UPPP____ DAMNIT! why... not again... why." His thoughts raced, the more he felt the connection with Erin fade away the more frustrated he was, he couldn''t even move his fingers right now, for the second time in his life, he was scared and it wasn''t of death.
''Somebody.... anybody... please... save her...''
*ROARRR!!! The monsters roared, it seemed like they were finally ready to strike. They must''ve been done tormenting him as they all pounced on him, wanting to rip him apart.
"Greater Magic Ice Pir!"
He heard an angelic (maybe demonic) voice from an unknown direction resounding in his ears, he felt like he might''ve been hallucinating already and couldn''t help but hate himself even more. However, arge pir of ice suddenly rose up from beneath him, his body was elevated by the pir.
The lesser Basilisks already in motion mmed head first into the pir, cracks appeared on the pir but didn''t do much damage, meanwhile blood gushed out of the three lesser Basilisks heads as they struggled to get up, Albert couldn''t believe what had happened, to the best of his knowledge no one in this settlement wielded this much power.
He tried to raise his head a little, and from his now higher vantage point he saw two figures appear in the distance, a male and a female. Both of them wore in clothing with the male wearing a in brown shirt, brown pants and a pair of ordinary boots, the frmale also wore a in brown shirt and grey pants her shoes seemed like the only decent thing she had on, yet judging by her aura one would be a fool to underestimate her.
He could feel a strange aura within thisdy, for some reason he felt like if he angered her it wouldn''t take her two long to eliminate him, the only other person he had ever felt this powerless against was Erin. He hadn''t imagined that there would be someone else on that level he didn''t recognize, after all as a formal demon noble he knew all the high leveled demons even those in the Great Five.
Looking at the guy though, he couldn''t sense anything from him, making him feel like he was human, but even humans had a feel about them that shows their strength, this guy on the other hand, felt like he didn''t even exist. He felt like an helpless child right now justying on top the pir of ice waiting to either be killed by monsters or whatever the duo had nned for him.
??????
Liz and Tyler came rushing in when they saw the monsters were about to kill someone else, to be honest Tyler was a bit hesitant to rush into an unknown and dangerous situation like this but Liz just kept running, they had entered through the copsed wall by the side of the town so they hadn''t noticed that many monsters.
Tyler had been able to see the Town from several miles away, he saw the guards try desperately to put the fire out around thergest building in the Town. He saw them fend of the monsters for a while before something happened and they just froze allowing the Monsters to kill them, he had thought they wouldn''t have been able to make it in time to help thest survival before the monster killed him but strangely enough, they just circled around his body giving them enough time to help.
The main reason he wasn''t scared was because he knew the strength of thedy in front of him, he had seen the effects personally, he knew she would be able to handle most monsters and even magic beasts. Even if things went sideways, with his current speed and stamina, he was sure he could get away, as long as he didn''t use any spells that would drain him of all his energy. He also felt like he could get a decent sword from one of the dead soldiers, although he knew this was a terrible thought, he didn''t really have a choice.
The lesser Basilisks recovered quickly from the concussion they received, they stood right back up and red at the two new enemies, one of them charged forward at the two with his mouth wide open, ready to bite off the heads of these offenders. Liz looked at the beast and raised an arm, she was in no mood to mess around, this was the only ce in miles where they could find someone to heal Rain, and yet these disgusting creatures were burning the ce to the ground, what''s worst if the healers in this ce had died already, she couldn''t forgive them.
"Twin Magic Ice Lance!"
Two Lance made of ice formed from thin air as they hovered above her bringing down the temperature around her, she pointed a finger forward and they shot out, they tore through the air like lightning, the lesser Basilisk running towards her tried to dodge, but the Lances were just too fast and pierced though it''s head and chest leaving onlyrge holes in its ce.
The two remaining Basilisks hesitated a little but that was not a concern for Liz as she cast another spell. "Broaden magic Ice spikes!" the ground under the two monsters froze in an instant asrge spikes made of ice shot out from beneath, only one of the monsters was fast enough, the other was skewered by the many ice Spike and the increased range.
The other opened it''s mouth and shot out dark green mes at the woman. Liz flicked her wrist and an ice wall raised up from the ground blocking the attackpletely, Tyler watching the entire show was increasingly impressed, he knew she was strong but didn''t know she was such a graceful fighter, her timing was exceptional and all the spells she used came with an intent.
The Basilisk was shocked by the ease at which she had blocked it''s attack, it knew it stood no chance and it''s best option now was to retreat back to the Tier 6 magic beasts, it turned around having decided to run, but surprisingly she was standing in front of it the moment it turned around, raising and arm she uttered a word.
"Shockwave."
An invisible force shattered the monsters bones and sent it flying back several feet, she had taken down three high leveled monsters within the span of a few seconds. Tyler was short on words, he didn''t want to look too stupid so he pretended like he expected such an oue and walked over to the man on the ice pir.
Seeing this Liz returned the Ice pir back down and made it disappear, Tyler walked up to the aged man and helped him up, he sat him down and rested his back on a wall, the man was looking at him strangely as if expecting him to do something strange. ''Dude stop looking at me like that, I don''t swing that way.'' he smiled gently and asked "Are you okay?"
Albert was wary about the strangers that had appeared, seeing the strength of thedy he didn''t want to say anything that would give them a reason to hurt the kids but after hearing the man''s question though he felt like this might not be a bad thing. He could still feel Erin''s life force rapidly draining and if these people could be of any help to her, then there was nothing he wouldn''t offer them.
"Please, my wife... she is... she''s fighting at the front gate, am afraid she won''t be able tost long, please... if you can help... if you can save her... i don''t have much... so... please... if you can save her... I''ll offer my life... I''ll give you everything... even my soul"
Tyler was dumfounded, what the actual fuck is this, what exactly about him made him think he could save anybody, why the fuck didn''t he ask Liz. Crazy thoughts flooded his head but still, looking at the man''s determined, yet tear filled eyes he couldn''t bring himself to refuse, besides, the sudden red glow of his pupils made him a little tense.
Sigh "Alright sure, I''ll give it a shot" that was all he could promise, an attempt, with Liz here as long as the monsters were the same as the previous ones he was sure she would be able to handle it.
Albert felt a little relieved by the strange man''s words, he wasn''t sure how strong he was but he felt like if he was able to hide his power so well in front of him, he must be something special.
Tyler stood up and as he was about to leave he sensed something, looking around he saw a long, thin de, it looked a little like the Japanese katana but different, looking at Albert he asked, "can I borrow that?"
"Huh... yes of course!" he responded quickly and Tyler gave him a gentle smile, he picked up the de and felt the weight, he hadn''t used a sword like this before but it felt so natural.
''if only I could keep it.''
Chapter 24 C24. Broken Swordsman
Erin felt the pain in her heart grow by the minute, she had no choice now, Albert''s aura was faint but he was still alive. With about 40 fighters left on the battlefield she knew that taking down the three Magic beasts would guarantee their victory, but, how? she had already made up her mind to go the extra mile. It didn''t matter whether she lived or died as long as she was able to save everyone here.
She only had a few attack spells and only the water dragon would be strong enough to kill the Tier 6 lesser Basilisks in one hit. The only drawback was that each attack steals away part of her life force. She had already used it twice already, she knew she only had one more in her, she needed to figure out a way to kill all three of them with one attack.
First she had to find a way to get all three Tier 6 lesser Basilisks to gather in one spot. She moved the water dragon towards the lesser Basilisk that was toying with Jarret and the others. The dragon mmed the lesser Basilisk to the ground, the damage was minimal. The Basilisk got up and opened it''s mouth, a massive beam of dark green mes shot out at the dragon, the dragon did the same and a massive beam of water shot out of it''s mouth and shed with the mes.
BOOM!
The area was covered in steam after what seemed like an explosion, the Tier 6 monster was sent flying back and mmed into another Tier 6 magic beast. The third magic beast was close to them making this the perfect opportunity to eliminate them all in a single shot, not missing this golden opportunity Erin adjusted the position of the water dragon taking aim in other to get a clean shot.
p "Water Canno..." Cough. Cough. Cough...
She broke into a Coughing fit and even spat out blood, the Tier 6 magic beast still standing knew this was an opportunity to get rid of their strongest opponent. It opened it''s mouth wide, dark green energy gathered in it and rapidly expanded, it shot out with great speed as it aimed at Erin undefended body. ¡ãPoisonous fireball¡ã
"Erin!!!" Jarret and the others yelled as the mes consumed her melting even the ground she stood on, in seconds arger crater of molten magma formed and there was no sign of even her bones.
The air shuddered with a collective gasp, as everyone stared at the crater in disbelief, even though she was a bit anti-social, Erin would always help out when someone was hurt, healing their wounds without a second thought. They wouldn''t even want to bother her unless it was serious, it was no exaggeration to say that every one in the town loved her, not to mention, she was the strongest person in the entire settlement. Without the chief, the captain of the guard and now Erin, what were they supposed to do, they no longer had a sliver of hope.
"Phew... looks like I made in time."
Everyone''s attention was drawn towards something, it was a strange voice that sounded positive, why? they looked around and spotted a strange man standing to the side of the sea of magma, holding ady on his arms. She had long blue hair and wore a dark purple hooded robe, this was non other than Erin, still alive.
No one could believe their eyes, how was this possible, they had all seen mes consume her, yet she was in the hands of a strange guy in painfully in clothing. Erin herself was stunned she hadn''t even felt the man pick her up, she had felt only the intense heat of the mes before she knew it a strange man was holding her like a princess, she felt a bit embarrassed even Albert hadn''t carried her like this.
The man looked at her and smiled, he asked in a low and gentle voice. "Are you okay?" She felt a weird feeling bubbling inside her. "Huh... y-yes am... I am fine." She didn''t know why she was like this perhaps it was the fact that she came so close to death, or perhaps it was the fact that this man saved her life or maybe it was something else. "Don''t worry your husband is safe, he asked us to save you."
"Us?" she turned her head and saw a very beautifuldy standing by the side of the young man, she must have arrived at some point in time.
Having confirmed thedy was safe, Tyler put her down and took a look at the current situation, he noticed that everyone was staring at him for some reason, looking at Liz who had just arrived, he could tell she was a bit surprised by what had happened.
??????
After picking up the sword from the ground and feeling how easy it was to use, he was feeling more confident by the minute, not only did he still have the dagger but he now had another high leveled weapon. Although he didn''t know if they had any special effects or how to use them. He still felt like, with both weapons he would be able to go toe to toe with a rtively strong monster.
Boom!
They heard the sound of an explosion. (or what sounded like it) without a second''s thought Liz dashed in the direction, Tyler had no choice but to follow, he kept up with her a lot more easily than before, it seemed the sword had a passive skill to improve the wielder''s agility, a smile appeared in his face, if only he could keep the weapon, perhaps if the old guy dies, shacking his head he expelled the thought.
The town wasn''t thatrge so they made it to the front gate rtively quickly, before they had gotten any closer though, they saw a giant dark green fireball about to consume ady in dark purple robes. Liz raised her hand in an attempt to cast a defensive spell to save her, but she could tell she wouldn''t make it in time, that''s when she noticed a shadow blew passed her like lightning, she could barely even make out what had happened.
Tyler used his full speed, dashing passed Liz and saving thedy, he could sense a faint connection between the old guy and thisdy, which was strange, but he didn''t have time to think too deeply about it. He had promised him he would try to save her and if he could he would like to keep his promise, the bonus was one more person he could gain information from.
What surprised him was the fact that he was actually able to make it to her in so little time. This was the first time he had ever moved so fast, the feeling was exhrating, looking at the battlefield he spotted only 6 monsters still standing, there was piles of bodies everywhere, almost none of which was intact, the scene instantly calmed him down as he felt the tension in the air.
He could see signs of fear in the remaining fighters face, judging by the amount of bodies he could see they must have lost over 70% of theirrades, with the size of the town, there wouldn''t be anyone they didn''t know amongst the dead. He had felt something simr to what they were feeling right now so he knew he had to take this seriously.
The battlefield was eerie silent for an odd amount of time, he was waiting for Liz to begin her attack, but for some reason she hadn''t and it was starting to feel weird. ''Is she waiting for me to start, is this because blew passed her?'' He felt all the gaze looking at him waiting for him to make a move, even the magic beasts seem to only care about the two neers.
The pressure was just too great, not wanting to look like a pussy, he walked forward slowly. Jarret and the others felt like the gravity in the area had just been multiplied, only a step from the strange man with ordinary clothing made them all take a step back. Even though they had seen him rescue Erin, the amount of pressure he exuded made it feel like he was after their lives, what''s worst they had zero confidence in stoping him.
Erin tried her best to stay conscious, she had wanted to see what the young man was capable of, she hadn''t felt any auraing off him, yet he was able to save her in time. With such speed he had to be no weaker than a Tier 6 Swordsman, buy suddenly, the moment the young man took a step, the atmosphere changed, with her current condition she was unable to withstand it as she lost the grip on her consciousness.
Liz wasn''t that shocked by the sudden change in the air, even though her memory was a bit hazy and she didn''t really remember what happened in the forest, she still remembered the feeling she felt before she passed out and the only one present there was him. Not to mention he was able to freely bypass the seal on that castle without the use of magic, she had briefly regained consciousness back in the forest and had seen him walk through the barrier like it was a bubble, she knew this amount of pressure could not bepare to what she had experienced.
The Tier 6 magic beast felt some pressure, they roared loudly snapping the other three remaining Tier 5 Lesser Basilisks out of their daze, they charged at the neers with renew vigor. Tyler felt annoyed, for some reason everyone was just standing there looking at him, just watching the monsters try to gang up on him, he wanted to snap at them but held back, he had noticed one group of ogres rushing to intercept one of the three beast.
Jarret and the others had rushed in to help, they wanted to be of use to the man who rescued Erin, the others seeing this rushed in to intercept the other two trying their best to thin out the herd. Liz wave an arm and tworge ice Lance had killed off one of the monsters leaving the remaining two to the rest.The three Magic beast were angry, they charged at Tyler as they prepare to shot out anotherrge fireball.
Tyler seeing everyone finally spring to action felt relieved, he held the long thin de tightly, it had been more than a thousand years since he fought with a sword, for some reason he was starting to get excited, one of the magic beast was faster than the rest so that was his first target, if the fight got too hard he nned on a quick retreat.
nting his foot firmly on the ground, he felt every single muscles on his feet, using his newfound control over his body he sent as much power to his feet as possible,
Boom!
The ground shattered beneath his feet as he exploded forward at a speed faster than light, he appeared next to the first Basilisk spinning his body he swung the de at the monster in a diagonal sh.
Bang!
The steel like scales of the monster shattered under his de as the monster shot back like a Cannon, flying over a dozen meters away and mming into the ground. Tyler felt like the moon seeing this, he wasn''t sure how he got this strong but he loved it, he had always felt like an extra baggage to his friends, but not anymore (not that they were still alive) now that he had such control over his body he could now tell that his swordsmanship was seriouslycking, even with such strength he had been unable to kill the monster in a clean cut.
Not wanting to give chase he switched targets and appeared above another magic beast, he held the de like a spear and thrusted it straight at one of the eyes. The monster groaned in pain and sent a w strike at him, Tyler jumped off, still in the air the monster stopped mid strike and opened it''s mouth wide, spewing out dark green mes at the falling Tyler.
Tyler smiled, using his body control he twisted himself in the air, he used the momentum from the mes andunched forward slicing the monster''s top half clean off from it''s open mouth. Without slowing down he dashed straight at the third magic beast.
The entire battlefield drew a collective breath, after the ground shattered where the strange man stood, he disappeared, appearing only briefly as he sent the Tier 6 lesser Basilisk flying like a Cannon ball. It was like he was glitching his way through the battlefield, this left everyone in awe, they had never seen a Swordsman move that fast and have that much control, not to disregard his ridiculous strength. Yet, if what they just saw made them gasp, what happened next struck them dumb.
Chapter 25 C25. The Might Of Tier 1
Tyler appeared before the third magic beast with the long sword in hand, ready to strike. Only to find the beast in the air having already jumped the moment it saw one of it''s kin die so easily. Before he couldprehend why the beast had decided to jump he saw a giant ball of dark green fireball already upon him, it had been shot by the first beast he had sent flying, their recovery speed was staggering.
Tyler forcibly stoped himself mid motion, it seemed like at a high enough level, even monsters would be capable of teamwork. He couldn''t help butment at himself over hisck of awareness of his surroundings, as a Swordsman that should have been elementary.
He bent his knees slightly and jumped up after the magic beast in the air, in one quick motion, he thrusted his sword at the belly of the beast, pun intended. The stomach area didn''t have any scales and it made it easier to cut through the monster. He went through the beast, punching a human sized hole in the monster''s stomach as he came out the other side, being covered in disgusting fluids he wasn''t too thrilled about his kill this time.
The first Lesser Basilisk that wasn''t as injured as he would''ve expected, seeing it''s attack miss and it''sst kin killed off like that, turned around and fled, with non of it''s peers alive it''s natural instinct to survive kicked in. Tyler being agitated by the blood and goo all over him wasn''t in the mood to give chase, looking around and seeing the rest of the monsters being handled, he decided it was fine to use magic, as long as he tried his best to control it, it should be fine.
Pointing a finger at the escaping monster he cast a spell. "Fireball" his voice was low but a number of ogres and beastmen could still hear him, including Liz, they couldn''t help but wonder what was wrong with this guy. Granted he was a ridiculously strong Swordsman, but even if he was a magic Swordsman that had limited spells, fireball was only a Tier 1 spell.
Against a monster at the peak of mortal existence, a Tier 1 spell was like trying to melt metal with a candle, yet for some reason, they couldn''t bring themselves to ridicule him, perhaps it was because he just saved their lives, especially Erin''s.
Suddenly though, a massive ball made of fire so hot it looked a bit white, appeared in front of his fingertip, the heat was so great even the person the furthest away felt like he was being embraced by the sun. The ball of me left his fingertips as it travelled through the field melting the ground below it and consumed thest magic beast, burning it to dust.
Everyone''s mouth hung down, they were dumbfounded, how was this possible, a measly Tier 1 spell, defiled all sense of logic, everything they thought they knew about magic was put in question, Liz was the most dumbstruck one of all
She was a mage, a powerful one at that, yet what she had just witness was unexinable even for who she suspected him to be, this felt wrong, it felt like he was cheating, she felt awe, frustrated, admiration, fear, hope, it was like this man was not of this world.
Tyler felt just as stumped as the rest of the crowd, he had expected the spell to be more powerful than it should yet this was ridiculous, he felt the massive amount of energy leave his body but unlikest time he didn''t feel faint nor did he dropped to the ground gasping for air, perhaps his body was getting used to this, or perhaps one of the weapons on him had something to do with it.
He stood there as he watched the others recover from shock and kill the remnant monsters, it had been an hard fought battle, and they all looked exhausted and miserable, although they were a bit sloppy now there was more than 30 of them, against 2 monsters they quickly dispatched the monsters and they all copsed on the ground exhausted.
Tyler couldn''t me them, he knew what war was like, although this was just a little battle, he had no doubt, they had all gone through hell. He walked through the battlefield back into the town to where Liz was standing. "I''ll clean you up." she offered, Tyler was a little flustered as his thoughts trailed off. "Clean" she said and bubbles appeared all over him sucking out all the dirt and blood before disappearing into nothing.
He instantly remembered the lifestyle spells they used on the human continent and felt embarrassed he had thought of something else, although the spell was a little different, it appeared demons used lifestyle spells as well. ''I should try learning some as well, hopefully they aren''t broken like the spells i can already use.''
??????
Some distance away.
The Darknar region was know to have tworge defining properties, the Darknar forest and the Darkin mountain range. They were located in different parts of the region and was only connected by the red river that cuts through both of them. They also share a simrity in how dangerous they had be.
The Darkin mountain range was a more dangerous ce loaded with dangerous mountain golems and other rock type monsters, these monsters were hard to kill and were worthless to hunters making any trip to the mountain range not worth the effort. There were a couple of mines that provided rare ores within the mountain range but these ces had already been imed by the Great Five families.
Any trespassers would have the wrath of one of the Great Five familiese down upon them, this ressified the ce as a forbidden zone. Usually no living soul would enter, but right now a hooded person entered the mountain range with steps that made it seem like they were skipping through.
The hooded person followed a narrow path up a mountain. They soon came upon arge opening that looked like the entrance to a cave. The person entered the cave without any reservations.
Three figures hiding inside the cave, turned their gaze to the hooded person that had just entered and made a slight bow before returning their gaze back to it''s previous location. A female figure sat at the end of the cave, the three male figures stood around her, spaced out in some sorts of tactical manner, they all had slightly glowing weapons that provided the only source of light in the cave.
"Damn it!" The woman suddenly eximed, the three men that that were staring at her each took a step back. They all turned their heads as they looked at thedy with respect and an hint of fear. She slowly stood up as she trembled in anger "Damnit, Damnit, Damnit...." she continued her tantrum kicking the earth and punching the walls.
The cave shook violently almost at the verge of a cave in, yet non of the men in the cave seem to care nor did they attempt to stop her, they just stood there as they watched her continue untill she started to calm down. The hooded person looked around and whistled, one of the men walked over to the girl slowly and asked "Miss Izabel, what is the problem, was the attack not sessful?"
"Shut up!" she snapped sending a fist straight into the man''s face.
He was sent flying out of the cave and down the mountain, she panted heavily as she red at the rest, they all didn''t flinch and just avoided eye contact. Well all except the hooded person, she finally calmed down and paced about biting her nails. "Who the fuck were those idiots, where did theye from, why were they so strong, how am i supposed to exin this, damnit, damnit all." Hearing her rant the others could piece out what had happened, generally.
The hooded figure broke into a fit ofughter, the voice was a little high pitched and sweet, she removed the hood revealing the figure of a young woman in her early twenties, she had a pretty face and doll like eyes with short silver hair and a carnivore''s predatory gaze.
As she wiped the tear drops of her eyes fromughing so hard, the one called Izabel was already boiling in anger. "Why are you here?" She said in a sharp and curt tone. "Huh... ain''t you happy to see me, and after i came all this way to make sure you''re fine~"
Izabel was pissed of by the response but forced herself to calm down. She had other things to worry about right now. She ignore the girl and stared at the two remaining male figures in the cave.
They both looked at each other and the guy further back spoke first. "If strangers interfered, we can just returned back, and report it, after all this wasn''t part of the n." Izabel red at him and the guy shrunk back, she took heavy steps to him and the guy was sent flying out of the cave. "Idiots!" she yelled as she red at the other one and he lowered his head down. "Any more bright ideas!" There was no response.
The youngdy chuckled. "It looks like your n was a disaster, hehe, why don''t you ask for my help... I''ll make your problems go away i promise~" Izabel red at her and ignored her, "Sigh... you''re such a bore,e on, I promise I''ll behave~"
"Why are you still here, if you have nothing else to say please leave, you''re just a distraction."
"Qw that hurts you know... sob... I came just for you~"
"Leave!"
"Sigh... fine, I''ll go, but you''ll regret this you know~"
"Just go!"
Thedy sighed in resignation and put on her hood, whistling she proceeded to exit the came and left the same way she came.
Izabel went back to her previous spot and sat in the ground, she stayed quiet for quite a while, the two guys that got sent out of the cave had manage to climb back up, they dusted themselves off, and went back to position like nothing happened.
It was only after a couple of minutes more did she get up. "I need more information, Griff, there are two strangers in the settlement, one male and one female, try to find out who they are, the girl''s a demon but i''m not sure what the guy is... Hmmm... try to be careful, they''re dangerous."
"Alright." The first guy to get punched replied, he had short white hair, and an handsome face, he wore light armor with very few metal braces and he carried two golden daggers on his waist and had bright golden eyes with a vertical slit.
He smiled as he faded away into the shadows, Izabel walked forward, towards the entrance of the cave, it was nowte in the afternoon and the bright sunlight reflected off her golden vambraces. She had light brown hair styled in a twin tail, her oval face and soft facial features made her look like an adorable child around the age of 14, she wore skin tight leather armor with gold coloured metal vambraces and greaves.
She had an intricate silver amulet that hung by her neck running down to her childlike chest, it gave off a faint glow and had an ominous aura around it, she didn''t carry any weapons which was strange for her style of outfit, she jumped of the mountain and the other three guys follow suite.
Landing elegantly, she walked of the foot of the mountain. "ne, visit Aur, he should have some scouts all around this area, tell him I''m willing to make an exchange if he has any useful information." Another guy dressed simrly to the previous one nodded, he had long ck hair and green eyes, he simrly disappeared into the shadows without saying a word.
"Alright we''re heading back, I should probably report this to father before that bitch has a chance to." she held the amulet in her neck with her right hand and recited an Incantation in a low voice, a fivefold magic circle appeared underneath her, it took about 10 seconds and the two of them had disappeared from the mountain range.
Chapter 26 C26. Aftermath
Tyler watched the town folks clean up the battlefield, they had all copsed to the ground the moment the battle had ended. After a quick rest they moved the injured into arge building by the side, none of the dead had a clean death. They were either burnt alive or ripped to shreds, it wasn''t a pleasant sight but they held themselves together and gathered the bodies(what''s left of them), some also moved the bodies of the monsters and started to collect their cores and the 5 magic crystals from the magic beast, three of which were killed by him.
He had noticed that there were people hiding in the building at the center of the town, he figured those must''ve been civilians, this probably included kids, it exins why they were working so hard to clean up the gruesome sight.
It took quite a while to finish everything, there were very few people who could use magic left alive. From what he had seen so far, most of the residents of this settlement seemed to be ogres. He had heard a little about them and knew that they rarely possessed magic. Liz had gone to check up on thedy he had saved, ording to one of the ogres that had approached them she was the only healer in the town, she had gotten impatient and decided to check up on her.
They hadn''t said much, they told him the chief of the settlement was unconscious along with the captain of the guards and the vice captain, he found it dumb that they didn''t have anyone else capable of taking charge standby in the shelter, but he guessed that was part of their nature.
There was someone taking the lead though, they said his name was Jarret and he was the leader of the hunting party Erin, the woman he saved was part of. He waited patiently and now it seemed like the sun was about to set. The chief was the first one to awaken, he was then briefed on what had transpired after he fell unconscious.
They soon brought Tyler and Liz to the chiefs house, it was quiterge and could be considered a mansion, walking in the front door they saw arge muscr man, d in armor only from the waist down, he had short white hair and a clean shaven face, standing at 7ft tall he looked like an intimidating half giant.
As soon as Tyler and Liz walked closer to him, he dropped to his knees and the guards behind him followed suit, Tyler was surprised by this, he was told this man was the leader of the settlement, he didn''t know if it was wise to do this, but seeing the guards followed suite he guessed that they must not have had a problem with it. "I don''t know who you are but you have my deepest gratitude, i cannot express enough how grateful i am that you saved my town, if it wasn''t for you, my young boy would be dead by now, thank you." The guards echoed hisst words as they kept their head lowered.
Tyler felt a bit awkward just standing there, he wanted to say something but didn''t want to sound ignorant, losing the respect he had just gained. "Please, feel free to request anything, as long as it is within our power, we will do everything possible to make sure you have it." The chief said as he stood back up, Tyler just looked at Liz then nodded, she walked forward and spoke "My friend is badly injured, we are unable to move her here so i would like to request for your healer to escort us back to save her life."
The chief looked at her strangely for a moment he then looked at Tyler and asked. "Is that all you require?" Tyler''s heart almost skipped a beat, he felt like he was back in school and the teacher just randomly picked him out to answer the most difficult question, he quickly calmed himself down and tried to speak in a dignified manner.
"Not quite, I would like some information myself, don''t worry it wouldn''t be anything too difficult." The chief seemed a bit relieved, in this world, there was nothing more dangerous than a free gift, as everything always came with a price. "I was told you were the one who killed three of the five magic beast, please also allow us to return the three magic crystals to you, and ept the extra two as a show of our gratitude."
Tyler didn''t say anything, he nodded his head as he received the five magic crystals from a guard, it looked and felt just like the previous one he had, only a little weaker. The chief continued "As you already know, we only have one healer here, she''s the most skilled healer I''ve ever seen so i am sure she would be able to help your friend, as i am aware you also saved her life. I''m sure she would be eager to repay her dept, as for your information, I would be happy to tell you anything you need to know." Both Tyler and Liz nodded, she was a little relieved they had found an healer that was quite capable.
The chief led both of them to his office and offered them a seat, before they could start discussions though, a guard came in requesting to take a Mana potion to Erin, who had just woken up, she wanted to begin healing the injured but was short on mana. The chief had granted him permission almost instantly, Liz wanted to go and see the healer at work but decided against it, she didn''t want to be a distraction and she was quite curious about what the man besides her was interested in knowing.
The chief sat down in his chair and Tyler began, he had thought hard on what to say but nothing came to him, he decided he would just tell the truth but be a little vague about it. "You see, for reasons i cannot say I''ve been in state of deep sleep for a very long time, now that I''m back I almost can''t recognize anything around me because of the drastic change over the years. I would like you to give me as much information as you can on this area and what had been going on in the continent over thest few centuries." Tyler said as he sat leisurely in his seat as he waited for their response.
The chief was a little confused, he knew demons had long lifespan and some could live for centuries but he didn''t understand why one would need the information about the demon continent from an ogre, a minority in the demon continent. Tyler could see the look on the chief''s face and had half expected it, he prepared something for this but in the end he didn''t need it. "Allow me to answer your question, my Lord."
Everyone in the room turned around toward the voice that spoke, Albert had just entered the room, he had already changed out of his armor and wore aplete set of an early western styled suit, his hair neatlyb back. He had a noble air around him, andmanded a certain level of authority.
''My Lord?'' Tyler thought as he remembered who this man was, he had gone back and reluctantly returned his sword, so he had gotten a better look at his face. "This is the Darknar region my Lord, the formal Demon King''s region, and as of 5 years ago there are only 77 regions in the demon continent including this one, originally there were over 900 regions, this was during the demon King''s rule."
He walked to the side of the desk and stood by the Chief''s side, looking at Tyler he continued. "After the death of the Demon king, the entirety of the Demon continent entered into a time of chaos, we lost some of ournd to the humans and were in a constant state of a civil war. That was untill five families formed from the formal demon generals took charge, they expanded their reach and absorbed the other regions belonging to the weakest nobles as well as the strength of those nobles unto their families."
"The other families tried to do the same but only seed in staying relevant, the civil war ended over 5 centuries ago and now only 77 families and some high level demons were able to retain their regions. Through out this time none of the other families had seeded in taking over this region, there was an unwritten rule that whoever ims thisnd would be crown the new demon King, although some had manage to expand into it a little, they would be interfered with by the others."
Tyler felt a serious headache by all this, in the end it sounded like he was trapped in a box, before he could think any further though Albert continued. "This region is divided into three main parts, the ever expanding Darknar forest, the Darkin mountain range, and the Greyad fields. There were a few cities in this region but they were all abandoned centuries ago. Recently settlements like this one can be found scattered all around this region.
Without an army or hunters to routinely clear out the monsters, this ce immediately became the most dangerous region in the entire continent, with various legendary beasts taking residence in various locations in the region.
Anyone that was willing to move here had no choice, it was their only option, there are also scouts from each of the five great families stationed in safe zones near the demon king''s castle. I am unsure of their true intentions but i heard the castle had a series ofplex seals and concealment ced on it by the demon King himself and even with centuries of effort, they are still only able to partially ess the castle."
Before Albert could continue a knock came from the door, after receiving permission a guard entered the room, "Chief, we''re ready for the cremation, everyone is gathered at the gate." "Alright." the chief answered and the guard hurriedly left, please excuse us for a moment, we must attend the cremation ceremony, it''s our way of honoring the dead"
"of course." Tyler replied, Liz seemed a little ufortable, it was obvious she was getting impatient, her fried was still in a critical condition after all.
Tyler felt a little bad that he had almost forgotten about that. They were invited to watch the ceremony and Tyler epted, he didn''t want to be stuck in an awkward atmosphere with Liz, she also epted and they both left with the chief and Albert.
Getting to the gate Tyler finally noticed something, it was the aftermath of the battle, most of the poption in the town now were children, the elderly a few pregnant women with only about 40 or so fighters. With this ratio and in a dangerous ce like this, there was no way they would survive the next monster raid. He felt bad for them, if nothing was done they might not even survive a week.
The ceremony wasn''t that long, the chief gave a short speech, the smaller kids cried and even some of the pregnant women, the pile of bodies had been covered with some kind of tarp to prevent the kids from seeing such gruesome sight, the bodies were set aze and burnt quickly, they all showed their respects and left.
Tyler and Liz watched this from a distance, Liz was a little upset, seeing this scene made her think of Rain and if she would survive, it was almost dark now and thest rays of sunshine was about to be gone. She knew they could no longer return back to the castle today, all she could think about was the worst case. Tyler could feel the emotionsing off her, he ced his right hand on her shoulder and said "Don''t worry, she was stable when we left, in that state she would be able tost a week, two days is nothing."
He had no idea what he was talking about but it seemed to work, she had calmed down a bit, as the ceremony ended the chief and Albert walked back to Tyler and Liz, they were apanied by someone else this time, it was thedy he had saved at the gate, she saw his gaze aimed at her and her cheeks heated up a bit and she avoided making eye contact.
"This is Erin, she''s the only healer in our town and has agreed to escort you back to heal your friend... we would also like to escort you back as well, we can no longer stay here and although you have already done so much for us, we would appreciate and of coursepensate you if you can escort us out of this region, of course after your friend is healed."
''Escort you¡ª I''m the one that needs an escort!'' before Tyler could say anything Albert interjected. "Forgive me Azar, I failed to mention this, i have already offered my Lord my life in other to save Erin and i will now be serving under him until the day i die."
"HUH!!!" Both Azar and Tyler echoed each other''s surprise.
"Cough cough... My apologies, I hadn''t realized something like that happened, we can talk more about it on the way to... by the way young miss, where is your friend?"
"She''s resting at the demon king''s castle."
"WHAT!!!"
Chapter 27 C27. Im Weak
As the night grew closer, the colder the wind got, many of the residents in the settlement had lost their homes in the fight earlier. The entire town was in shambles, there were very few buildings still standing and even those weren''t left intact. The residents had all gathered in front of the chiefs mansion after spending some time in what remained of their burnt down houses, salvaging any personal items they could find.
The chief then announced their next destination, it had been exactly five years today since they moved here, they survived all the monster raids that happened in that time frame with little to no casualties, after spending their entire lives in Blzaberg, the region that was ones ruled by the Cronoff''s, a rtively safe ce with very few monster raids due to the systematic sweeps of any monster nest by the knights of the Cronoff family.
They had thought life in Darknar would be hell, but untill now they had been doing fine. The monster raids here had only ured about ones or twice a week and because they had set up their settlement a distance away from both the Darknar forest and the Darkin mountain range, they had been able to handle any monster that came as they had ample time to prepare.
Even though the monsters were stronger here than Blzaberg, and the frequency was higher, they still managed to survive with zero casualties so far and had nned to celebrate the anniversary of the day they move here, five years ago today. In the end, this had reminded them of how dangerous it was in Darknar.
The chief then exined the n to head toward the demon king''s castle, the crowd immediately broke into a murmur, they were all shocked and terrified by this statement. Being ogres they had no right to approach the castle with so many high level demons, including the five families being interested in it.
Many had voiced their concerns and some had suggested one of the barrennds in the vast Darknar forest, but Azar had shut that down, with their current fighting prowess they would all be eliminated before they even got close, even with their formal strength they still had less than a 40 percent chance of making it, this was the main reason they had settled here and not done that five years ago.
There was a reason only scouts from the Five Great families were able to live there, although the ce was void of monsters, it was also void of food and anyone living there would have no choice but to venture into the forest to survive. That brought them to the biggest problem, the safe zones were located in the most dangerous parts of the forest and was only meant as a resting point when exploring. It couldn''t sustain the lives of over 400 people.
Trying to live there would be the same thing as slowlymiting suicide. They would either stave themselves or get annihted by one of the four kings the moment they left the zone to find food.
The chief managed to calm everyone down, he was able to get them on his side with just a few words, he didn''t go into too much details and suddenly ordered a feast. "The time of mourning has past, it''s time we celebrate the lives of our loved ones, tomorrow we leave our home in search of a new one, but tonight, we celebrate life!" They all cheered loudly, arge bonfire was built in no time at all, and Jarret and his group retrieved the prey they had dropped earlier in the day.
Tyler watched this scene as he couldn''t help but pity and admire the ogres, even though they were hurting, they still had the strength to think and act rationally, even the kids looked strong willed. He couldn''t help but remember their reaction earlier when they found out both him and Liz were from the demon king''s castle.
??????
The wave of emotions came like a storm, both Albert and Erin were more shocked by this information, they had a better understanding of the situation within the Darknar region than anyone here. It was one thing for a man like Albert, a demon noble that one''s ruled his own region to say he had offered his life to a strange man he didn''t even know his name, but to find out that man came from the demon king''s castle was next level.
To enter the demon king''s castle one had to have adept knowledge on seals and concealment magic, and even then, they would only be able to break the firstyer of the sealing spell around the castle, granting them ess to very limited areas of the castle. The Five Great demon families had sent several spirit magic casters to study and break the barrier surrounding the castle, but, every single one of them had failed. With only an handful managing to bypass the firstyer of the intricate andplicated fiveyer barrier around the castle.
The barrier was abination of both sealing and concealment spells,yered upon each other, it was unknown what was powering the spell for more than a thousand years now but whatever it was it was surely more valuable than any of the treasure the formal demon generals of the demon King had taken away from the castle when they had abandoned it, this had now be one of the goals in the race to be the next demon King, another way to show their strength, proving themselves worthy of the tittle Demon King.
This meant a few things for Tyler and Liz, either they were outcast with no choice but to hide in such a risky ce, somewhere if found could bring the wrath of the entire Five families raining down upon them, or they were part of a small Noble family that wanted the secrets of the castle and hade upon an unfortunate situation, having no choice but to seek out a healer.
Judging by their strengths thetter was most likely the case, no family would want to make an enemy out of one of the strongest members in their ranks, otherwise they would just be handing theirpetition more ammunition against them. After arriving at this conclusion, they felt a little relieved, it would be unwise of them to make an enemy out of the Great Five families by escorting outcasts.
At least with the help of a noble family, even if the five families were pissed off by their actions, noble politics wouldn''t let them retaliate freely, after all they wouldn''t know if one of the other Great Five had an hidden hand in the issue. Albert on the other hand was shocked for a different reasons, he was now d he had sworn his life to this young man, it didn''t matter what was the truth, he knew it would be a lot more interesting than being the captain of the guards in a small settlement.
Erin felt a strange sensationing from within her, there was something about this young man that was affecting her within. They didn''t spend much time in the topic as they had a lot to do, having everyone prepare for the journey tomorrow.
Time went by quickly and soon the preparations were done, the twin Tailed warthogs were prepared and spiced up to be roasted,rge barrels of beer and wine were brought out from the chiefs mansion.
They started their feasts as soon as the moon came up in the sky, and their ceremonial celebration, it seemed like this was a tradition, a way to honor their fallenrades. Tyler was offered some wine and meat, he didn''t argue or declined as he vividly remembered what Happened to him in the forest due to hunger.
He had given his leftovers to Liz and hadn''t eaten all day, he knew he could probably go more than a week without food or water, but, he had to prepare for the worst. If he needed to use multiple spells soon the extra nutrients would be useful, he also needed to numb his aching head with alcohol, unfortunately, it seemed like alcohol had no effects on him anymore, well he could still savour the sweet and bitter taste.
Liz wasn''t in the mood for a celebration, not when Raine''s life was at risk, she was still a little impatient and wanted nothing more but to leave right now, but even she knew that was foolish, with such numbers, they''ll be lucky if they even made it to the Red river much less the castle. She left the group and went to one end of the town, it was quiet here and the noise from the celebration was lost in the distance.
Liz sat in the grass as she stared at the moon, it hadn''t been that long since she and Rain had seen the stars together yet it felt like forever, she felt like this was her fault, if she hadn''t held Rain back she would have been able to escape the Ryrik. She wrapped her arms around her knees and balled herself up. It felt lonely without her friend, the night was cold but she hadn''t noticed, all she wanted now was to feel the warmth of her friend.
"Hey, you''ll catch a cold if stay out here too long." Liz felt the warm hand on her shoulder, it felt like someone had dragged her out of the verge of drowning. She turned her head to see who it was, it was non other than Tyler, he brought a nket he had borrowed from the chief and ced it over her shoulders.
Not wanting to overstay his wee, he turn around and said. "I know you''re worried about your friend but, worrying is not going to help her, just try to keep yourself strong enough to make it back to her in time." He wanted to walk away leaving her to her thoughts, to be honest he wanted to seem cool and aloof, he didn''t have much experience with girls especially one this pretty, actually calling her pretty was probably an insult.
"I... I don''t know how to feel." Those words stopped him in his tracks, he could hear theplex emotions in her voice, he didn''t know how to handle the situation, he turned to look at her again. "What do you mean?" She was quiet for a long time and Tyler was beginning to question himself before her voice pulled him out of his head again. "I feel like it''s my fault she got hurt, if she hadn''t stayed to protect me she would''ve been fine."
Tyler could tell that she felt guilty of being weak, it was strange hearing that from someone as strong as she was, but he knew being weak didn''t necessarily trante to fighting strength.
He had felt that way before, everytime his formalrades got hurt because of him he would me himself, and even though they said otherwise, he could see the truth written on their faces. "I''m sure your friend wouldn''t want you to think like that."
"I know... but still."
"I see, you feel guilty, if you were stronger you would have been able to protect her, and i am sure she felt the same as you, so listen carefully. There are two kinds of guilt in this world, the kind that drowns you until you''re useless, and the kind that fires your soul to purpose. One of those would ruin you, the other would make you stronger. So decide, which one are you feeling. If you decide on thetter,e see me, I''ll help you get stronger."
He walked away as soon as he said that, mostly because he didn''t want to say anymore stupid things, how in the world was he suppose to help her get stronger, it seems trying to act cool hade back to bite him in the ass.
Although he didn''t know why, he just had an urge to help her(She was insanely beautiful). He thought about it some more and figured he could find a book that would help her in the magic library, although he had no idea when he''ll be able to enter the library again, it seems like his life was getting moreplicated by the minute and he wasn''t helping matters.
Chapter 28 C28. Dawn
Tyler watched as almost all the adult residents of the Red ogre settlement as they went to work on their preparations to migrate. The sun hadn''t even risen yet and they were already almost done with their preparations. It seemed they had heard from the chief of the situation surrounding the two strangers that had saved their lives and were in a hurry, so they could make it back to theirpanion in time.
This sight was actually quite impressive to Tyler, just like before he hadn''t fallen asleepst night and felt almost no fatigue. It was like his body was overflowing with energy and didn''t know what to do with it. He watched the town folks party all night as they sang and danced, eating and drinking to their hearts content. He had joined them in eating mainly because he wanted the alcohol but had painfully found out it had no effects on him. He wasn''t disappointed or sad about that fact though, it would save him from a nasty hangover.
The ogres had brought out 11rge carriages, they were quite lucky that most of their stables were not destroyed by the mes of the lesser Basilisks. The carriages wererge enough to fit about 50 fully grown adults, they were made of wood but was lined with Orids, one of the mostmon metals in the demon continent, it had simr properties as steel but had undergone fundamental changes due to the high density of Mana in the demon continent, they were more flexible and had a higher density.
One of the carriages was used to carry all their supplies, foods, clothes, weapons, and so on. Azar had told Tyler that they only had two small spatial storage box in the settlement and they were only used for their most valuable items, what''s more both of these boxes had been given to them by Albert.
A small spatial storage box was the mostmon dimensional storage item in this world and had a dimensional space of about 100 cubic meters with the medium andrge spatial storage box being varying due to the massive influence of the magic runes used in it''s creation process.
Albert had a medium spatial storage ring himself, he usually handed it to Erin as he didn''t want any extra weight on his hands when he was fighting. They stored all their belongings and to his surprise Albert had shown him everything he owned, he was really acting like he worked for him and Tyler didn''t know how to react. Albert had quite the collection of weapons in his storage ring, there were mostly swords but, there were different types of swords that even Tyler hadn''t heard of, ranging from the katana to the great sword, no matter the size or shape, as long as it was a sword Albert had it.
These weapons weren''t ordinary ones at that, he could tell that every single sword in the ring was at the very least made from an high level beast core, some were even magic weapons. He told Tyler that the weapons now rightfully belonged to him and even offered him the ring but Tyler promptly refused, it felt like he would be making a dangerousmitment if he epted it, so he told Albert to keep it and if he ever needed a weapon he would borrow one likest time. Albert reluctantly agreed, he had been standing next to Tyler since then, just like a loyal Butler which was a bit awkward for Tyler.
Albert also didn''t need sleep, he was a demon noble and could go months without one. Tyler felt awkward with him just standing beside him quietly and decided to get some more information out of this.
.
He asked about the 77 regions in the continent and found out quite a bit, he tried his best not to ask questions that made him look like a fool, and just focused on general topics. For instance the regions surrounding this one were the Sentro region, the Rantre Lahoured Region, the Denminatre Region, the Taine Ze Region and the Mounta Region.
Each of these regions belonged to one of the five Great families, they had made sure to expand their regions in a way it brought them closer to the Darknar Region. The closest region right now was the Sentro region, he hadn''t asked for anything specific but when he found out the five families were keeping a close eye on the demon king''s castle he was hit with a massive headache.
''Maybe going back there in such numbers isn''t the brightest idea.'' He might''ve been lucky in the past, and had not gotten noticed because he was alone, but going there with hundreds of people felt like he was courting death. He thought about what to say to the ogres in other to have them wait for him and Liz somewhere far from the castle but nothing came to him, in the end going back to the castle like this would give him a time limit on how long he could stay before they came for him.
Thinking about this logically though, it was impossible for the five Great families to monitor the castle constantly for 1000 years, they would be more wary about each other than a stationary building. At most they would have some scouts some distance away from the castle. This was mostly to keep themselves in check. it wasn''t a perfect n as they could still try to move in secret, but, they would have some underhanded solutions for that as well.
After arriving at this conclusion, he had a sigh of relief, as long as he wasn''t that unlucky, there was no reason why the five Great families would pay attention to a settlement of ogres, migrating through the darknar region.
??????
As the sun began it''s rise, Liz and some of the kids woke up, she was very pretty so some of the female kids had ran to talk to herst night, they seemed to remind her of something which cheered her up a bit, they had all fallen asleep around her and she did the same, it was quite a lovely sight to see. Erin seemed to be popr in her own rights, as all the other kids and even the adult female ogress sat around her, she wasn''t smiling but she didn''t seem to be bothered by it, they all had funst night in one way or another.
Tyler just sat there watching the ogres ready 5 six-eyed bulls, these wererge wild bulls that, as the name suggest, they had six eyes, they were just Tier 2 beasts but were not only faster than most steads but had more stamina and durability. They could travel for days without food or water and had a little bit of battle strength, they were almost 6ft tall and had dark grey hair.
Liz got up with some of the kids and they showed her were to wash up, they had also provided her with better clothing and a cloak. Tyler thought she looked like a cute assassin but wouldn''t say a word. Erin wore her usual dark purple robe with the hood and Albert now had a full set of Raven ck leather armor, armed with his Miao Dao, he looked very formidable, the armor he had worn previously was based on speed but this was a more well bnce suite with a few metal vambraces and greaves.
He had also offered Tyler some of his other sets of armors but he refused, he only epted a change of clothes, now wearing a white shirt, ck pants and a pair of ck beast boots. These were made of white hoppers cores, these creature were only found in the North, they had a passive effect that improves the users movement speed in cold areas.
The effects was a little interesting but he had only chosen these because they were the only ones that fit, equipment made of beast cores or magic crystals could not be adjusted by magic. Soon they were done with everything, some of the kids boarded a single carriage and the others split between the rest, Liz and Erin had been pressured into entering the kids carriage and they were unable to refuse, Tyler felt a little annoyed that the kids were practically ignoring him and even t out avoiding him, not realizing his disposition was scaring them off.
Through out the night he had a nagging feeling that he was being watched, he even patrolled the town several times but didn''t see or sense anything, the whole time he had a serious expression on his face which the kids had noticed. Albert had noticed this as well, he had also stayed up all night with him and escorted him around the town, they didn''t exchange any more words with each other after he had finished his questioning.
Ones chief Azar came to inform him of their departure, he soon boarded the carriage as well, ever since Albert announced his intentions of serving him with his life, the chief had been more polite towards him, treating him like he was someone of high authority in the town. whilst his attitude towards him was in no way rude before, there was a clear difference between now and then.
Azar and Albert each drove a carriage, while Jarret, an Ogress named Gail and a beastgirl named Nadine drove thest three, Nadine had tanned skin, a pair of dog ears and a fluffy looking tail, she wore silver armor on her chest, legs and arms opting to wear a super revealing outfit everywhere else. With her childlike appearance it made Tyler feel very ufortable looking at her. Gail on the other hand hid behind a cloak a walked listlessly so Tyler didn''t get a good look at her.
Each of the carriages were linked another except the one driven by jarret which was linked to two extras. Nadine had an argument with Jarret about them treating her like a child and only giving her the one with only two carriages, she was quite loud and ended up switching with Jarret who wasn''t in a mood for games.
Without further dys Azar levelled their formal home with a single swing of hisrge de, hemanded and all five six-eyed bulls kicked off in the direction of the demon king''s castle.
??????
About 30 minutester, in the now dested Red ogre settlement, a figure appeared out from the shadows, it was an handsome man with short white hair, he wore dark speed based armor and had two golden daggers strapped to his waist. He had bright golden eyes with a vertical slit. Looking around he frowned slightly, his eyes glowed slightly and he walked around the ruins of the town as if he was searching for something.
The man soon crouched down in an empty space and he sighed. "Nothing." he raised his head and looked around one more time but soon shook his head, "Well, this is a first, if only i had been able to ce a soul curse on one of them this would''ve been easier, who the hell was that guy."
He had spent all night trying to approach the town and ce a soul curse on one of the residents, but every time he got a little closer, someone had noticed him. He would stare at his direction for a long time and even move around, trying to find him and he had also moved around looking for a way in. They had repeated this circle several times with him unable to get any closer.
This was a first for him, as it didn''t matter how strong his opponent was, as long he he approached them without any malice or killing intent, his shadow movements wouldn''t be noticed, especially in the dead of night.
He stayed there for a few more minutes before standing up and walking in the direction of the demon castle. "I guess I''ll have to do this the old fashion way then, this is not going to be easy, they already erased their tracks as they left." He smiled slightly and licked his lips. "I can''t wait to be done with this so i can return tody Izabel, maybe she''ll step on me this time." His face got a little red as he said that he was fidgeting weirdly and soon disappeared from sight, the sun had just fully risen to the sky bringing in the full beauty of dawn.
Chapter 29 C29.. Winged City
Sentro, a region located to the north of Darknar, it was ruled by one of the Great Five families and directly neighbored Darknar. Parts of this incrediblyrge region was Vazel, a small region formally under the Darknar region but was conquered and now served as the bridged between the Darknar region and the other regions belonging to the Zorak family.
The borders of the expanded Sentro region and Darknar Region housed one of thergest city in the demon continent, Winged city. The city had almost fallen into ruins a few years after the death of the demon king but rapidly became more popr the moment it came under the protection of one of the Five Great families. The city had a poption of over 7.5 million permanent residence.
Although the other four family''s regions also bordered Darknar region, they did not have an easy ess to the ce as the Zorak''s did, their routes were either obstructed by mountains,rge rivers or even the very dangerous Darknar forest, which had no safe routes. This sprang a thread of jealousy within the other Four families.
They had all fought hard to obtain the region and due to the home ground advantage and range of deployment, the Zorak family had secured the region, absorbing it into the Sentro region. Still, the others had pressured the Zorak''s into opening the city for all their families use. It was a way to keep an eye on them, preventing the Zorak family from making any use of their advantage, it was also why the poption of the city was sorge.
With the help of the Zorak family and the acknowledgement of the other four families, the city had secure trade routes to every other major trade hubs in the demon continent, even so entrance to the Darknar region was strictly forbidden, anyone found guilty of this would be immediately striped of their titles or may even lose their lives.
??????????
Two figures could be seen running towards the gates of the city were there was a long line of people of various races waiting to enter the city for various reasons including trading, joining the hunter guilds were you can get jobs hunting monsters and even odd jobs like mining, although sometimes they could be asked to clear out the monsters in a newly discovered mine.
This was basically the same as being an adventurer in the human continent, the concept had been adopted from the humans a thousand years ago when the fighting force of the demons were reduced because of the war.
The guards inspecting the identifications on everyone seeking entrance to the city spotted these figures in the distance and immediately yelled for backup. His team came out and held their weapons prepared for a fight. A few momentster they saw the faces of these figures and instantly recognized them. They had dark orange skin tones along with one and two small horns on their foreheads respectively.
They ran frantically at the gate, because of this the guards were now on high alert, even though they recognized who it was they still had no idea who or what was chasing them. Seeing the two brothers draw closer and closer to the gate, the guards were now visibly confused, as far as they could see there was nothing behind them chasing after them, the sentry''s in the watchtowers hadn''t sound the rm yet which meant they also didn''t notice anything.
They decided to wait for the duo to exin themselves, it didn''t take too long for them to arrive in front of the gate, the people in line couldn''t help but stare at them with different expressions, one of the guards walked to them as he looked at their exhausted faces, they were panting like crazy, unable to speak.
"Calm down you too, what''s the rush?" Their faces were pale and they were panting heavily, struggling to speak they opened and closed their mouths several times as they gasped for air. After catching their breaths for a minute they both stood up straight. "We need to see Lord Aur." They both said in unison. "Huh... why? did something happen out there?"
"Boss said to report to him directly"
"Boss? oh Lord Zomatsu, alright follow me."
He lead them through the gates and everyone in line voice their strong opinions on that, the guards just ignored them and lead the brothers into the city.
"So how''s that fool Hatch?"
"Oh he''s, well, you know hatch."
"Fufufu... yeah same old hatch. By the way, why were you both running like you were being chased by a wild beast."
They both looked at each other and scratched their heads. "Well, B-boss said to hurry." they avoided the guard''s question almost like they were embarrassed about something.
The guard noticed they were hiding something, but it wasn''t his problem so he just ignored it and lead them through the city.
,m The city wasrge and the air was oddly clean, even with therge poption, there was enough space on the streets for them to easily move through, they boarded a private carriage and made their way to the center of the city where a small castle was located.
The city streets were bustling with traffic, there were other private carriages going up and down the streets, demons and other races strolled on the sidewalks as they go about their business, and stores and stalls sold their wares.
The streets were paved and so was the sidewalks, there were magicmps on every street to light up the night, most of the people they saw wore casual clothing with only a few in armor. The city was divided into five sections or borough. Royal borough which was located in the center of the city, north borough to the north, south, east and west borough to their respective locations, the city gate was located in the west borough so this was a rtively high ss borough.
There were rich Merchants and high ranking hunters living here, looking out the windows, one could see several high ss restaurants and hotels with buildings over 10 levels high. They could also see guards d in full te armor patrolling the streets.
The carriage ridested a full 45 minutes before it stopped at the gate of the castle, the castle was located at the top of a hill and there wasn''t any other buildings a few meters around it. There was two guards d in full te armor holding silver Spears standing by at the gate, when they saw the brothers and the guard exit the carriage, one of them left to inform the master of the castle. The guard boarded the carriage back to his post after informing the remaining guard on what happened.
Bam and Bor waited patiently for the first guard to return, they had been tasked to report the situation in the Darknar forest to lord Aur, he was an high ranking noble of the Zorak family and was in charge of supervising everything going on in both the winged city and Darknar, reporting directly to the elders in the family.
The guard returned after some time, he lead them into the castle and up the stairs to arge door, this was Lord Aur''s office, the guard left as soon as they arrived. Bam then walked forward and knocked twice, a deep and crispy voice came from within. "Enter"
The brother gulped their dried mouths and took a deep breath, they opened the door slightly and walked in. Behind arge and exquisite desk was a elderly man that seemed to be in his forties (Human age). He had a chiseled face and his back was as straight as the de of a sword, his hair waspletely grey and his face was cleanly shaved. He had deep blue eyes and wore an elegant ck suit with a simr coat.
The moment the brothers walked inside the room Aur put his quill down and looked at them, his gaze was sharp and prating, the brothers started sweating buckets. "Why are you here?" "We... Hmmm... Er... T-The boss...,"
"Be fast I don''t have all day."
"Ah.. Yes sir. THe boSs wanted us to update you on what happened around the castle two days ago."
"Something happened, well go on then."
They proceeded to narrate the entire story on what had happened in the forest, the strange and terrifying aura they felt and what their boss Zomatsu had told them about the situation. "Zomatsu said that huh. I see..." He stood up from his chair and walked to the opened window behind him, he stood there silently for quite a while as he thought. ''It seems one of the other families are reaching their limits, but to make a basic mistake as running into a Lord ss monster make me have some doubts about this theory, could it be a trap? A way to lure the others into making an abrupt move.'' in the demon continent, most nobles didn''t ssify monsters with tiers rather they used their own ss based ranking system, basic, intermediate, advance and Lord Level.
With basic being Tier 1 and 2, intermediate being 3, advance equals Tier 4 and 5 and Lord ss being, Tier 6. Monsters of higher Tier was almost non-existent so it wasn''t practical to provide an urate ss system for them. Aur turned around and looked at the two brothers "Return back and tell Zomatsu to head here immediately."
The brothers promptly retreated out of the room, theirs hearts pounding as the previous pressure slowly faded away, they left the castle and took the same path back down the hill, they wouldn''t be able to get a private carriage untill they got back to a public street.
They boarded another private carriage out of Royal borough, all the way back to the gate, they were more terrified of Lord Aur than they were of their boss Zomatsu. This wasn''t just because of the difference in ranks, but because of the immense difference in strength, as they alighted their carriage in front of the city''s gates they were immediately stunned by what they saw.
"Boss!!"
They both yelled in perfect unison, directly in front of them was the cloaked figure of their boss Zomatsu. He had sent them here to report the situation on the Darknar forest mainly because he was in charge of the teams operations in the Darknar forest. The Five families didn''t just upy more than 50 percent of the Darknar forest for no reason, most people thought it was just for the secret treasure in demon King''s castle but it was mostly for the resources located inside the forest, the amount of rare and unique resources inside the forest was just too valuable to the families, it was why they had fallen into such a stalemate.
"Boss, why are you here, Lord Aur actually asked us to inform you of something" Bam said hurriedly. "Yeah he wants you to visit him as soon as possible." Borpleted. They couldn''t see Zomatsu full face but they could notice that his skin was a lot paler than before, he was sweating a lot and he looked a little jumpy. This waspletely in contrast to his previous calm and calcting self.
Zomatsu looked at the pair and finally realized where he was, he had finally made it. After losing consciousness a few meters away from the forest he had woken up in a panic, his emotions were out of control and he had ran here frantically all day without even bothering to check on the rest of his team or maybe he was too out of it to remember them. He tried his best topose himself but failed miserably.
It wasn''t too difficult for him to understand what had happened to him, the only problem was the fact that he had no control of his emotions right now.
"Where is Lord Aur, I need to see him."
"Huh... we just told you. He also wants to see you, he''s in the castle."
"Oh, um... you guys wait here, I''ll be back soon." He then boarded the private carriage that they had just alighted from and headed for the castle. Bam and Bor were more than confused, they didn''t understand why their boss had suddenly arrived here after sending them down or why he looked like he had just lived through his worst nightmare.
Chapter 30 C30. Zomatsus Fears
The brothers watched the carriage leave for a while, they just stood there dumbly, waiting for something to happen but it never did, they both calmed down and threw the worries out their minds. It wasn''t their job to worry, if the boss hadn''t said anything to them then it must''ve be above their pay grade. They both left the sidewalk and went to wait for the boss in the guards office.
Zomatsu sat in the luxurious carriage in great difort, he anxiously tapped his foot on the floor waiting to get out of this torture box. As he sat there in torment, his mind slowly trailed back to what had happened two days ago.
???????
He dashed off the moment he sensed the most terrifying energy he had ever felt in his live. With his enhanced speed, plus his gear tempered for agility he was like a blur to the others around the campfire.
Even Though he had no problems with his ipetent teammates, they still weren''t worth risking his life to save them, he decided it was best to just leave them with a warning. If they were smart enough to react the moment he spoke then they had the chance to survive.
He blew passed them like the wind, making his was through the dangerous Darknar forest like it was his backyard. After spending years here already, he already knew how to transverse the forest without attracting any monsters. Even if he did, with his ability he would be able to avoid the monster before it ever sensed him.
After making it out of the forest, he had thought he was home free. The boarders to the Sentro region was up ahead, no matter how powerful the demon was he wouldn''t want to antagonize the Zorak family. Still, what happened next surprised him, he had travelled so far yet the terrifying amount of negative energy had already caught up with him. His momentarily stop had doomed him, he was sted with the remanent aura and lost consciousness almost instantly.
He had been sure it was a noble, an high ranking noble that should be at the same level as Lord Aur, that wasn''t something that he should worry about, even with the immense difference in strength between him and Lord Aur, as an assassin type fighter he was confident in his survivability prowess. If he really put his mind to it he was sure he would be able to get away from the pursuit of someone at the same level as Lord Aur, but reality pped him t on the face.
??????
The trip to Aur''s castle was only 45 mins but for Zomatsu, it felt like a 5 hour ride. He alighted off the carriage and walked in through the castle''s entrance, the two guards were surprised to see him but made no attempt at stopping him, they hadn''t even bothered to announce his arrival to lord Aur.
He walk by them and they greeted him with a nod, walking into the castle, he went up through the stairs and soon arrive at the front of the door belonging to lord Aur''s office.
*Knock. Knock.
"Enter."
Aur''s voice came from within the room, Zomatsu then opened the door and entered the room, Aur was back at his seat reviewing paperwork. He raised his head and saw Zomatsu enter his office, his constantly stern expression twitched for a split second before returning back to normal.
He looked at Zomatsu and asked "Did something unexpected happen?"
"Yes." Zomatsu gave a quick and short response before walking to the sofa at the side and taking seat without Aur''s permission, it was obvious he had special privileges in the family.
Aur calmly waited for him to calm down before speaking again. "What happen?" Zomatsu got up and paced back and forth for a bit, he then stoped and answer. "At first, I thought it was just a noble from a lower family wanting to investigate why the five are so interested in the castle, instead of just an old fashionedst demon standing wins, but then, I... i... I felt something else. My senses are never wrong but, even i, doubted them."
"What was it?"
"I am not sure myself, it was like nothing I''ve ever felt before, the level of power I sensed, it felt, it felt.... I''m not sure how to describe it but, that''s not the important part."
"Not the important part?"
"Yes... Before I could even try to expand my reach more an absurd amount of negative energy exploded from that thing, I tried my best to escape, i used every single skill i had but i was only able to make it a few feet away from the forest before i passed out."
There was silence in the room for an ufortable amount of time, the air was tense and the pressure was ridiculous. Aur finally spoke to break the tension. "What do you think it was." Zomatsu walked to a seat directly opposite Aur and sat down, he ce his left hand on the desk and started tapping, "I''m not sure, the only time I''ve ever felt anything remotely close to this is from him." Aur narrowed his brows, then sighed loudly, he rested his chin on his hands in a thinking posture.
"So, you think a leader has made a move?"
"That''s the only exnation, not even a behemoth has that much power."
"Hmm... that leaves only the four." Aur got up from his seat and walked back to the window, he thought for a while before turning back around.
"Return back and try to investigate what happened as discreetly as possible, I''ll have backup ready in case you run into any trouble, i am sure if it was a leader, they would''ve realize their identity would be exposed if they hung around any longer so I''m sure it''s safe. I''ll also send information back to the elders, they''ll decide our next move." Zomatsu didn''t seem pleased with the order and frowned, still, he opted not to refuse it, he slowly got up and left the room without saying another word.
Aur watched him leave and close the door behind him, his expression didn''t change much but one could tell the aura around him now was more intense. Zomatsu got special privileges because of his innate ability, Superior sense. It made him the family''s number 1 scout even though his fighting ability wasn''t up to par.
This didn''t sit well with Aur as he felt the most important thing ever was strength, with zomatsu''s personality also rubbing him the wrong way, he ended up despising him. However Aur was a demon noble and wouldn''t act so childish as to interfere with him for such petty reasons, which was why this gave him the perfect opportunity. The order he gave Zomatsu was logical but he knew he wouldn''t see it that way, which might cause him to take that item with him providing Aur with a reason for his actions.
"Aika, send someone to monitor Zomatsu. If they notice that item on him, let them find an opportunity where finds himself in a dangerous situation he may not be able to handle. Then make sure he wouldn''t survive it."
"Yes my Lord." An ethereal and ghostly voice echoed in the room as it faded the same way it came.
Aur then went back to his seat, he sat down,he then ced a hand in his breast pocket and soon he pulled out a pocket watched with a gold chain attached to it. He flipped it open and took a look, it was still morning, he snapped it back closed and returned it back to his breast pocket. He sighed and got up, walking to the bookshelf by the side, he pulled out a single green book and ced a finger in the magic circle on the wall where the book had been, a secret door opened next to the bookshelf and Aur entered through. It was a small room and had only one item floating in the center.
Aur entered the room and the door closed behind him, the room went dark instantly with the only source of light being an orb giving off a faint green glow. He approached the orb, it was the size of a tennis ball and just as round, Aur walked over to it and held it, he didn''t try to move it from the center of the room and just held it in ce for a while.
He stood there for more than ten minutes before blurry green figures started to appear all around him, the room had changed at some point in time and was now a boundless colorless space with no wall or structure.
The blurry green figures were huge, they were like green holographic projection standing about 5 meters tall with everything below their waist constantly fading away giving them the appearance of genie. There were 10 green figures around him, four of them looked female while the others were males.
"Oh... it''s the young master''s favorited, little Aur"
"Why have you called an elders meeting, you''re not even an elder."
"Ha ha it''s been a while since ist saw you old fools, i was hoping to hear about your deaths, ha ha"
" Sigh... i am busy, what''s this about."
"fu fu fu... look i''m fading."
They all spoke on top of each other with some being thrilled and some annoyed, Aur cough and tried to apologize. "I am sorry, bu..."
"Shut up and get to the point." Aur was a little startled, he really did hate interacting with the elders and would rather handle the situation himself but this time was different, the mere possibility that it involves a Leader was enough to take the situation out of his hands.
*Cough cough. "We noticed an unusual amount of strange activities in the area near the king''s castle, Zomatsu had sense what he believed to be a leader in the area. We are conducting more investigations as we speak." The room went oddly quiet for a bit, soon some of them started muttering to themselves and each other. "Quiet!" A female voice silenced the noice, she had been one of the few that hadn''t spoken a word since the beginning.
Her figure was blurry but one could make out her sharp cold gaze that made Aur shuddered in fear. "The implications from having a leader break the rules is very severe, this is not something to joke about youngd, are you absolutely certain." Aur almost instinctively took a step back but stopped himself.
,m He fought against the pressure with all his might and answered. "This was brought to my attention by Zomatsu, i am sure everyone here knows his ability very well, so unless there is someone out there with strength equal to that of a leader which is impossible i am confident in his judgment."
No one spoke again until thedy broke the silence. "Very well, we shall discuss this with the young master, when your investigation isplete, report back to us, oh and one more thing, if this turns out to be a waste of our time, know this, neither you nor Zomatsu will escape your punishment." With that said the blurry green hologram figures disappeared one at a time with someughing and others waving Aur goodbye.
The room had returned back to it''s previous appearance and Aur walked out of it as quickly as he could, once he was out he started panting heavily, the pressure was insane and no matter how many times he did this he would never get used to it. "Ha, Ha hahahahaha...." Heughed manically for a while until he finally copsed on his seat. "Looks like I''ll finally be able to rid myself of you, no matter what happens next, your life is as good as gone." Heughed some more untill he started coughing.
Aur stood up and went back to the window, a beautiful scenery was in front of him, this was the royal borough, being on a hill the sight below came to view. There were exotic trees nted everywhere, therge mansions all around,bined with the fancy carriages with gold iid, the people that walked the streets were well dressed, thedies wore fancy dresses and Jews and the gentlemen wore suits with half top hats and carried cains.
He could see the fountain in the centre of the street in front of him, there was a couple getting there portrait made in front of it, unlike mostrge cities in the human continent, the air here was surprisingly clean and fresh. Aur took a deep breath as he calmed down watching his beautiful city from above.
Chapter 31 C31. Preparation Is Key
Zomatsu left the castle disgruntled, he had emphasized his fears to Aur yet all he said was to go back and make a confirmation, every high-ranking member of the Zorak family knew about his ability so it didn''t make sense for him to return for confirmation without any help.
Although Aur had mentioned backup, who knew when and if that woulde if he was to encounter something simr to what he felt before he would be dead before any sort of backup could reach him.
Zomatsu was too tired to think clearly right now, there were still some side effects from that st of negative energy lingering in his body, he was lucky to have just passed out, he suspected that both Hach and Evans had died already, they must''ve taken the full brunt of that attack, someone of their level would die instantly.
He boarded a private carriage and headed for a hotel near the outer district of Royal borough, ckwing Hotel. It was arge building going almost 30 levels, the tallest building in the city. The hotel had about 250 rooms and several quality restaurants, it was the most famous hotel in the city, but still, because of its high charges it was only popr with the highest ss merchant and nobles, so it was pretty quiet most of the time.
Zomatsu entered therge lobby which was superbly decorated and had a refined feel to it. He saw a female dark elf at the receptionist''s desk, she smiled and greeted him.
"Hello sir, wee to ckwing hotel, how may I be of service?"
Zomatsu didn''t say a word and just brought out a ck card, the receptionist looked at it and immediately bowed. "Wee back, Lord Zomatsu, I''ll send someone to prepare your room immediately." He nodded and then took a seat in the lobby.
Thedy then came over and offered him the choice of a beverage. "Would you like some tea while you wait, we have every tea avable on the continent and even exotic ones from the various continents."
"No it''s fine, just have them hurry up."
"Of course."
He was still feeling different spikes in his emotions and could only me the residual negative energy within him. He waited for a few more minutes before thedy came to inform him that his room was ready, without waiting a second longer he hurriedly walked by her and headed straight for the elevation tform at the end of the hall, he grab his card from her hand and left.
Once he got to the tform he pushed 30th on the list of doors on the wall, he was immediately transported to the tform on the 30th floor. He walked out of the tform and headed for the room at the end of the hall, there were only five rooms on this floor and one of them was designated for him by the family. The Zorak family-owned less than 10 percent of the businesses in Winged city but they were receiving taxes from the remaining 90 percent so it really didn''t matter.
The ckwing city was one of the businesses that they owned, it was a ce for the elites of the elite, and was often used by their own family members for business, a ck card represented a high-ranking member of the family and one of the five rooms in the top floor of any ckwing Hotel would be prepared for the holder of the card.
Zomatsu entered the massive room and said the room was filled with exotic and tasteful furniture, every single piece being of excellent design and decoration. The grey carpet upon the floor was thick and soft, swallowing the footsteps of those who trod on it.
It had arge bed, an exotic desk, and ck leather chair, a well-stocked bookshelf, and even a fully-equipped mini-bar. He just walked straight to the bed and copsed, having been under such an intense situation for such a long period of time, he was mentally exhausted, he had fallen asleep even without taking off his cloak.
??????
The light in the room saturated for a second before returning to normal, a little girl around the age of 13 appeared out of the void, she wore a ck mask that covered the lower parts of her face and a simr colored dress with white linings. She had Amber-colored eyes and green hair with a French twist, she had greenish-ck greaves and the same colored gloves with metal knuckles.
She walked soundlessly towards the sleeping Zomatsu and ced her right hand a few inches over his back, a green two-fold magic circle appeared on his back, and the two circles turned counter to each other as they shrank inside his body, simultaneously her left eye started to glow, it slowly changed color and turned green.
She then return her hand to her side, walking back in reverse, almost as if she was going backward in time all the way back to the spot she had appeared on. The lights saturated again and she disappeared from the room, the wind blew in through the open windows and Zomatsu turned,fortably in his sleep.
??????
Zomatsu slowly opened his eyes with great difficulty, it was alreadyte in the afternoon and he had told Bam and Bor to wait by the gates, he also had something to do before he met up with them. He got off the bed and walked to the washroom, taking off his cloak he sshed some cold water on his face to wake himself up, he looked at the reflection in the mirror in front of him and saw his face.
The features of an almost absurdly handsome man appeared there, the type of guy that women would flock around. He also looked quite young, in human age he would be about 23 or 24, he had short blonde hair, bright golden eyes had, and angel-like skin, he was also well built and quite tall, about 6ft, most people would kill for his appearance but he was pissed.
Every time he saw his face he would always be reminded of the past and the rage and frustration from that time would juste storming back.
*Bang!
He mmed his fist into the mirror and shattered it, although it instantly started to fix itself, he left the sink and went to take a shower, he also put his clothes in the cleaner, it uses magic to instantly clean any soft or had fabric, it didn''t work on armors.
Zomatsu soon finished freshening up and got dressed, he donned his cloak and left his room, he returned to the lobby and told the receptionist he was leaving and wouldn''t return anytime soon, the dark elf greeted him politely and waved him goodbye. He left the hotel and hired a private carriage back to the city''s gate. As soon as he alighted from the carriage he saw Bam and Bor chatting away with the guard on duty as they seemed to be having fun.
They soon spotted him and ran over to greet him, Zomatsu just nodded and asked "Have they brought our supplies?" Bor nodded in return "Yes, they even provided us with three Tier 1 horses." he was a little excited when he said that, tier 1 horses were different from ordinary horses, these were horses that had been trained by beast tamers with their special abilities, they were once ordinary horses now closer to a Tier 2 demonic horse.
He nodded his head and stretched his arm, holding a ck card, he handed it over to Bam. "Take this, go to the Runic''s weapon shop in South borough and get yourself some upgrades on your equipment, try to be as practical as possible, don''t just pick the most expensive weapons." The brother''s eyes sparkled when they saw the card, it widened, even more, when they heard their boss''s words, taking the cards without hesitation, they both headed to the Runic''s weapon shop.
Zomatsu seeing them leave, walked back to the private carriage that brought him and headed North, the trip was about an hour-long, he alighted off at the corner of a street in the middle district of North borough, this was Raven street, the area was a little overpopted and everyone here looked shabby and exhausted, most people staying in North borough were of the lowest ss, most of them either worked at the mine outside the city or one of the many ores refinery factories.
The houses here were old and weren''t well built, although Raven street wasn''t as bad as some of the ces in the outer district, it still reeked of urine and waste, although a working sewage system had been introduced several hundred years ago, for ces like these, the city wouldn''t bother maintaining them.
Zomatsu walked through the streets, people were vending their wares on the streets and stalls selling street foods, the road was busy, and not many carriages came this way. ces like this had points whererge public carriages would wait and pick up passengers, they ran a fixed route and avoided the more dangerous locations.
He moved through the crowd with ease, even standing in front of someone they would hardly notice him, taking an alley to a small apartmentplex he entered a room at the back of the building, the ce only had a single metal bed and a bench, it looked like no one had been here in years.
Entering the room he locked the door behind him, he walked to the bed and bent down, he moved out the floorboards under the bed and a smallpartment opened up, there was a small metal box there, he reached in and brought out the box, the box was dark brown and had several advance magic Runes carved on it, mostly a form of protection. Looking at the box, it was easy to tell, it had special properties, it wasn''t clear what the box was made of but it was definitely something special.
Zomatsu ced the box on the bed and crouched to look at it, he ced both hands on specific parts of the box and recited an Incantation too fast to follow, the runes on the box glowed and a clicking sound was heard, the box slowly opened up and revealed the content within. "Perhaps over the years they might have gotten a clue to your existence and maybe even figure it out, but I would''ve loved to keep them guessing a while longer. Unfortunately, I may not have that luxury." He snapped the box closed and proceeded to exit the room after cing it in his storage box.
He no longer trusted Aur, to be honest, it wasn''t that he had fully trusted the family to begin with. Having not been born a pure-blooded noble, the family had cast him out, they had only brought him back when they found out how useful his ability was as a spy.
For noble demons, their innate abilities were hereditary, and only the pure bloods would inherit them, other mixed blood would be lucky to develop their unique innate ability, while most wouldn''t have any. Zomatsu hated the family and the fact that he looked like the man who abandoned his mother. He had no choice but to return to the family as a scout, although he once had a reason for doing this, that reason was now long gone.
He knew even though they had given him special privileges, the fact of the matter is, they still didn''t restore his nobility, whenever a problem too big for them to handle arose, the family wouldn''t think twice before abandoning him yet again. So he spent most of his free time, abusing the privileges given to him on finding anything that could be of help to him at a time, a time just like this.
As he turned the corner, he snapped his fingers and. *Boom!... The sound of an explosion was heard, and the room he had just left had blown up, erasing any traces of him being there, he was now ready to leave the winged city with the two brothers who had now gotten a massive upgrade to their equipment and might actually be of some use to him.
He would head for the Darknar forest to investigate what was going on around the king''s castle, and he was now prepared for anything, unexpected. As he left the city''s gate and mounted the horse, riding into the distance a green magic circle was blinking on his back, too dim for anyone to notice.
Chapter 32 C32. Traversing The Terrains
Eleven massive carriages were being pulled by five equallyrge bull like creatures as they galloped through the ins in a particr direction. In one of such carriages, Tyler sat with some of the other ogres. They had been traveling for over three hours now, yet the ogres had been staring at him the entire time. It was getting ufortable and he couldn''t take it anymore. "Is there something on my face?" He asked with a faint smile.
"Ah... Err... no, my apologies, it''s just, we usually don''t interact with many demons especially one as strong as you, well, apart from the captain i mean."
"Mmm, I see." He said awkwardly, he was d they thought of him as a demon, this meant he hadn''t been fooling himself and they knew all along, he then picked up on a word the ogre had said and muttered. "Captain?"
"Oh right, yeah, Lord Cronoff is the captain of the guards." One of the ogres spoke to him, he was obviously a member of the guard to call Albert captain, then again, perhaps everyone in town called him that. "Lord?" Tyler questioned. "I guess you wouldn''t know, captain Albert was ones a demon noble, an Earl no less, it was only about 5 years ago his region was conquered by thebined force of three noble families."
"I see..."
"Oh, um Lord, may I ask for your name?" It was the first time Tyler had been so bluntly asked his name, for some reason no one ever bother to ask the obvious question, they always found clever ways to address him without making it obvious, this was actually quite strange to begin with. It wasmon courtesy when meeting someone for the first time to exchange names, or was this just for humans, the reason they didn''t ask him his name hadn''t really bothered him much as he hadn''t thought he would spend so much time with these people.
Since no one asked for his name he wouldn''t foolishly offer it to them. The ogre asking his name had been very blunt about it, he had no idea if people where just scared about asking for his name or it was just their culture, so was this guy the bravest ogre alive or was he just an idiot.
Looking at his simple looking face Tyler concluded he was an idiot, a big one at that. He didn''t panic though, he had already thought about this for a long time and had decided toe up with a fake demon like name, especially after hearing the normal names of the demons and ogres he had seen, he had masterfully crafted a name for himself. "You can just call me Ty"(pronounced tai). Tyler said confidently, very proud of his naming prowess. The ogre broke into a big smile that confirmed to Ty, he really was an idiot.
He was tall and well built, unlike most ogres he had seen so far his pale red skin was a little darker than others and his grey eyes projected the image of a child. He had short spiky red hair and two dark horns on his head. He carried a battle axe by his side and an abnormallyrge shield on his back.
He pounded his chest and proudly pronounced. "Ah, Lord Ty, please call me Hart, I am Hart Balford, think of me as your shield for now, i promise no monster will get near you untill we get to our destination. Mwahahaha..." The others around him just shook their heads. Tyler could notice now that the people on the carriage sat in groups, they all wanted to be around people they were closer with, as they chatted away during their long journey.
Hart sat next to three other people, they sat directly opposite him, there were two males and one female, although the girl seemed a little bit depressed. He remembered seeing her crying a lotst night, even during their feast. He figured she must have lost someone very close to her, the other two guys were also a little down and only Hart looked cheerful, Tyler could tell he carried the same heavy heart as the rest of them, he must''ve been trying his best to lighten their moods. ''I guess he wasn''t aplete idiot after all.'' They all introduced themselves to him, the big guy was named Talen, with Jarret sitting next to him and then K.
Tyler had seen Jarret before, he was supposed to be driving one of the carriages but had given up his post to someone else when the beast girl Nadine had annoyed him. Talen carried the exact same shield as Hart, he had long back hair tied up in a ponytail and ck pupils. His frame was wider than Hart and he was a bit taller too, he had a single horn on his head and a scar the shape of a two parallel lines across his left checks. He had a quiet disposition and Tyler couldn''t remember if he had seen him speak the entire night.
Jarret on the other hand was vastly different than the two. He was tall, a little thin but not skinny, his body beneath his clothes was a solid steel. His ck hair was sloppily cut and thus looked uneven. It looked quite messy. His ck eyes stared keenly at Ty, though there was no intensity only reverence, which also made Ty ufortable.
He carried a sword on his waist that defer from others, it was simr to a katana but the hilt waspletely different. The girl was quite pretty but she didn''t seem to pay Ty any attention, she looked like a skilled warrior and also had a sword by her side.
.
During the next few hours they encountered multiple monsters on the road, there were a few strong ones here and there, but nothing the others couldn''t handle. It had taken Tyler and Liz a little over 3 hours to get to the settlement but apparently it would take them a full day to get to the castle. If the carriages had been pulled by ordinary horses, it would take almost 3 full days to get there.
They had forgo any sorts of breaks in other to make it in time. Tyler had thought about running ahead with Erin and Liz in other to make in time but had heard that Erin didn''t have the physiques of Tier 5 or 6 and wouldn''t be able to handle such speeds, although if she really wanted to she could match such speeds with water movement, but such a long distance would leave her with little to no Mana left to heal Rain.
He found this piece of information intriguing, he had seen her using a spell before. Although she almost died and he had to save her, the spell was no joke so he could guess she wasn''t weak, at the very least she should be at the same level as Liz maybe even higher, so why didn''t she have superior physiques.
Using higher Tier magic required higher tiered Mana bodies, which in turn strengthens the physical body. The higher your magic potential was the stronger your Mana body would be and the more easier it would be to improve, it didn''t matter if you could actually use a spell or not, this was one of the reasons why warriors and magic Swordsmen could go toe to toe with mages, they tend to spend more time training their mana bodies in various aspects, including speed and strength.
Still, there was a limit to all this. A higher tiered Mana body would naturally improve ones physiques just like how in MMORPG games higher level yers would get a permanent stat increase as they leveled up even without assigning any free stats or equipment boost. This would be the same for everyone at the same tier and normally couldn''t be increased.
It was only a few millennials ago a summoned hero had introduced the concept of secret techniques. By training in various footwork and enhancement technique one could increase their speed and strengths without needing to be of higher tiers.
This was the final step that made the warriors finally able to keep up with magic users. There were thousands of secret techniques that had been developed over the years. Most of this techniques favour melee fighters and were almost impossible to be learnt by pure magic casters.
Learning just one technique would be an aplishment for even warriors, who had trained their bodies vigorously since birth. Because all technique didn''t apply to magic, it gave warriors and Swordsmen a huge advantage, they could improve their Mana bodies even without actually learning the technique.
Truth be told, this would''ve only improve the gap between magic casters and warriors a little, as the Techniques were almost impossible to learn, it didn''t appeal to magic casters who would rather focus on improving their control and learning more spells.
So then, why was her body not at the same level as her magic, she had to have had a Mana body, right? He had tried asking Albert but he said it wasn''t his secret to tell and Tyler had to respect that. He had secrets of his own, although right now he had more questions than secrets but that wasn''t the point. It was pretty obvious she wasn''t a demon, he had no clue what she could be, although it really didn''t matter to him, he only wondered because he was curious.
??????
Over the next five hours, the group spent their time chatting away in the carriage and fighting the monsters they couldn''t avoid, they were finally getting closer to the red River which would mean they had only about 40% of the journey left, this was music to Tyler''s ears, he was starting to get tired of the trip, he didn''t really have much to chat about with the group and they tend to be overly respectful when addressing him, moreover Liz was in a different carriage and he couldn''t use the chance to get closer to her so he could get some useful information.
Although he had gotten somemon knowledge out of the groups random chatters and when he managed to direct their conversations, as ogres that had spent thest 5 years isted from the rest of the continent, they didn''t know much. However he now knew the basic structure of the areas around here now, to the west was the massive forest of Darknar, the Darknar forest, to the North was the Greyad ins and to the east was the Darkin mountain range, an area overrunning with mountain golems, it was like a forbidden zone to them.
Although there was valuable ores in the mountains, because of the level of difficulty in obtaining them no one ever bothered going in. Even the five families would only send their best teams in when they were in need of something specific. They already had ims to all the mines there and didn''t even have to protect it themselves as the golems would do their job for them.
Ty wanted to know about the regions surrounding Darknar and if there was any signs of civilization around, and how the town''s and cities are structured in the demon continent. He thought of a way to ask his question but as he was about to, he heard a loud bagging sound and the sound that seemed like an explosion with the carriage he was on forcefullying to a halt sending several ogres tumbling to the ground.
Having maintained his bnce, Ty alighted the carriage to see what had happened, alongside Jarret, K and Talen who had also maintained their bnce unlike Hart whose face was nted on the floorboards of the carriage. Looking ahead they saw something strange.
There was a massive boulder that had dug a small crater on the ground mostly from the force that had been applied to it. Tyler knew that wasn''t there before evident by what his eyes caught next. Something had mmed into the first carriage as well, leaving behind a stter of flesh and gore. It was undoubtedly a body(what was left of it.) and Tyler hurriedly turned his head around.
They had gotten close to the Darknar forest at some point in time and were now moving quite close to it''s perimeters as they approached the castle so everyone could clearly see several figures moving in the outer parts of the forest, when suddenly another figure was sent flying in the air like a bag of bones as it headed in their direction about to m in almost the same spot as before.
Chapter 33 C33. Interrupted Part 1
In the ins between the Darkin mountain range and the Darknar forest. A group stood by eleven carriages along the outskirts of the forest when sudden a figure was sent flying out of the forest in their direction. The body flew against the wind as it aimed at the carriage almost roo urately. Tyler thought about what spell to use to stop it''s rapid approach and was about to move, but before he could do anything someone jumped forward and cast a spell.
"Mist Cyclone!"
Mist like smog started spiraling inwards as it engulfs the body in the air killing it''s momentum and bringing it down without any force.
The one who moved was the beast girl Nadine impressing Tyler with her quick reaction time. At this point almost everyone had alighted the carriage aside from the kids who were forced to stay inside since the carriages were reinforced. When the bodynded on the ground without turning to a pile of sttered flesh, they were finally able to tell what it was. It was a reptilian humanoid creature that was about 2.8 to 3 ft tall with scaled skin of reddish ck and bright yellow eyes.
It had long wed fingers and a jaw like a crocodile, with legs that were sinewy and digitigrade. Small ck horns protruded from it''s head, and it had a reptilian tail. The creature was equipped with a shabby looking armor and carried a short sword on it''s left hand with a dented round shield on its right arm that had a broken bone protruding from his skin most likely from trying to block a powerful impact. Itid on the ground moaning in pain as everyone.stared.at it, all except a few.
Albert and Azar narrowed their eyes as they stared in the direction the creature had flew from. Anotherrge boulder was hurled in their direction and several other ces close to them, which told them that they were not the intended targets but had just gotten in the midst of something troublesome.
Azar leaped.forward and swung his huge de diagonally like a bat. Sending therge.boulder straight into the ground. They then saw a group of simr creatures of around 40, running around recklessly in their general direction as they asionally turned around andunched desperate attacks at something. They ran out of the forest with little options and Tyler could almost feel the earth vibrating underneath his feet. Towering creatures that were more than five times the size of these red scaly creatures, were in pursuit as they asionally caught up and sent another creature flying in their direction, some of which picked up boulders and threw them randomly like idiots.
Nadine caught most of the flying creatures but she could only cast her spell so many times and even when the others tried to help there was still a few that hadnded hard on the ground or on top of the carriages, raining down blood and guts. The sight was irritating and Tyler was increasingly getting pissed, Liz and Erin had gotten out of their carriages as well and were now standing next to Tyler as Liz cast a spell that protected them from the bloody stter. Therge creatures soon exited the forest as they continued their chase of the smaller creatures revealing their appearance for all to see.
They were hulking, giant humanoid creatures with dark beige hairless skin, they wore very little clothing save for a anima-skin loin cloth. They had gnarled teeth and tusks, wieldingrge spiked clubs and poorly made hammers. Although they appeared slow, they had long arms that almost seemed to extend when they swung their weapons at the faster creatures that were trying to flee whileunching attacks of their own.
Therge monsters may have had lesser movement speed than the smaller ones but their dexterity was surprisingly high as they were able to block most of the attacks while sending one of the red scaled creatures flying almost every few seconds. The red scaled creatures were losing fighters each second and therge monsters were still hurling rocks at them.
"Trolls." Erin spoked softly but both Tyler and Liz clearly heard her as they now knew what thoserge monsters were. The smaller monsters were disorganized yet relentless, they tried various tricks and attacks as they desperately tried to flee. There was a single member of the smaller monsters that looked like the leader as it barked orders, trying to take control of the chaotic situation. It had light brown scales that were tinted in a yellow hue and a pair of reptilian wings was attached to it''s back, Although one of which appeared broken.
With the sounds of sttering bodies and trolls footsteps making the ground tremble, Tyler wasn''t able to hear what these monster were saying but he knew from their use of equipments, these weren''t mindless monsters but intelligent creatures with some type of culture or society. The winged scaly creature soon spotted them and an hint of hesitation appeared in it''s eyes.
They were not a group that loved mingling with other races but right now they had gotten caught in a messy situation that they couldn''t have prepare for so maybe this group were their only lifeline. The winged scaly creature wore fur clothing and carried a staff that had a crystal embedded on it''s head. It waved the staff and the ground beneath the troll closing in on it caved in and the troll fell in with aloud cry that came to a sudden halt after reaching the bottom.
"Trap magic?" Liz questioned but no one responded, the winged scaly creature pointed it''s staff at them and all it''s lesser kin that were running wildly headed in their direction. Either they were trying to pull a fast one on them, or they were now seeking their help to handle this problem. It didn''t take long for the scaly creatures to reach them as they halted their approach a few meters away, their numbers that had previously been around 40 moments ago had already been reduced to less the 30.
The winged scaly creature stopped in front of Azar as it stared at the others of it''s kin that had been saved by the group in front of it. Tyler could now clearly see the difference between this creature and the other scaly ones. It''s body was more defined and it had a feminine shape, with an outfit that did not belong on a reptilian creature. Her face had a more, softer feature that resembled a slender dragon.
She bowed to Azar before turning her back to face the trolls with the rest of her kin. She was saying this would be theirst stand and they could chose to help or ignore them. Making the decision when she saw that her kin were saved by these people, she didn''t have the luxury of feeling guilty if they were to die and leave these people to face the trolls alone.
Seeing their prey stand their ground the trolls stopped running and strolled to them dragging theirrge weapons behind them. The scaly creatures prepared for battle, although it seemed that they weren''t used to fighting an opponent head on. They were most likely the type that uses traps and trickery and would only fight when their opponent were seriously injured.
One of the trollsunched at them and they scattered. The winged one used another spell and a hole appeared on the ground. Although unlike thest one this hole wasn''t deep enough or wide enough to swallow the troll but this was expected as the troll was now struck in the ground. The other scaly creatures sprung into action as they ganged up on that troll, trusting their weapons, at it from varying directions, before the other trolls could react they had seeded in killing one of them.
With that troll dead the other trolls didn''t flinch as they grouped together and attacked, swinging theirrge weapons all around. Bodies flew in the air like in cartoons as the trolls moved feely in the battlefield without resistance. They seemed to be having fun as weird noices ofughter asionally escaped their mouths. There was only around ten of them yet they were toying with their opponents who outnumbered them 3-1.
Tyler finally had enough, when someone made a move and arge body was lifted up in the air,nding around 5 meters away. The battlefield grinded to a halt as everyone looked at the half giant with a massive great sword in his hand. Azar had made his move, he had an ugly expression on his face from watching this bunch of lowlifes massacre a group of weaklings with a smile on their ugly mugs.
Normally he would have no problems with whatever this was, as long as it did not interfere with him and his people. After all stuffs like this happen all the time, the strong would prey on the weak to get what they want. What he couldn''t stand was when people bring their sadistic and warped tendencies to the battlefield. He was a battle obsessed ogre that knew the battlefield was a cruel ce that could make or break the flow of events in this world, it wasn''t a ce for needless ughters.
He knew he shouldn''t be involved in something like this when they were short for time. Especially after he had failed to protect his home and his people but he had a lot of anger within him that looking at these things brought out of him. Orange aura slowly wrapped around him as his grip on his great sword tightened. Another troll had alreadyunched at him from the side and Azar just twisted his body back before nting his foot firmly on the ground.
Skill: ¡ãMountain sh¡ã
The troll attacked with a spiked club but missed it''s intended target, it was about to withdraw it''s massive club when it no longer felt the weight of its right arm. It proceeded to look down and what it saw confused it greatly. It''s arm was resting on the ground still holding it''s weapon and blood gushed out of both the part on the ground and the one still attached to him.
A stream of pain flooded it''s mind as it''s expression contorted. It roared loudly in pain trying to stop the bleeding, grabbing the attentions of the rest of it''s kin. This wiped the smiles of their faces as they all turned to look at 7ft tall the man standing in front of them in shock, hesitation and maybe even a bit of fear.
No! Several mocking smiles bloomed on their faces as the troll who had lost an arm stopped the bleeding and made a grunting sounds of what seemed like a condescending chuckle. It pick up it''s lost limb and ced it back in ce. The arm was immediately attached back and healed up without even leaving a mark. The troll looked at Azar as it flexed it''s renew arm and gestured to him with his hand at the stunned Azar in what seemed to say. "Come, try again."
Chapter 34 C34. Interrupted Part 2
Looking at the troll that had just reattached his arm like it was nothing taunt him. Azar''s expression changed, it wasn''t a pleasant one as he realized he had gotten in way over his head when his anger had suddenly subsided a little. This was why humanoid monsters were so hard to deal with. Even without being magic beast they possessed a certain level of intelligence that made them harder to fight. Although magic beasts possessed intelligence that could sometimes surpass humanoid creatures, thetter could use weapons armors and artifacts that would factor in their fighting prowess, humanoid monsters could sometimes even employ battle tactics and strategies.
Trolls were generally known as dimwitted creatures whose only known quality was their strength and regeneration racial ability. However, this didn''tpletely apply to all trolls as they could adapt to harsh conditions and develop various other traits over time. From what Azar could see these were not ordinary Tier 3 trolls but they were Gray trolls, serving under a strong undead creature they were stronger that regr trolls and had a lot more energy than usual.
There were ten trolls standing before him and even though they were weaker than him individually, with the help of their regeneration ability and battle instincts, and thebined factors of their numbers he was at a huge disadvantage. Azar turned his head around and saw both Albert and Tyler staring at him or perhaps they were just staring at the battlefield. He had acted too rashly and had gotten them involved in a battle that would dy them from their objective without even asking for permission.
He knew fully well that were in a hurry and yet, he still let anger control him, what kind of chief does that. Azar gritted his teeth. He needed to end this himself and fast, he didn''t want his saviors to get upset, deciding to leave them behind. That would be the same as him sentencing his people to death. "Skills: ¡ãOgre''s Strength¡ã, ¡ãHigher Dexterity,¡ã ¡ãCritical Strikes¡ã and ¡ãBurst Impact.¡ã"
Activating four skills at once an orange aura enveloped his sword and his arm and leg muscles budged. He disregarded the taunts of the trolls, sending strength to his legs he bent his knees slightly and jumped. With a burst he mmed into one of the trolls in front of him, the impact sending the others around him tumbling back. Azar wasn''t going to make the same mistake again. His de had pierced the shoulders of the troll beneath him so he quickly pulled his sword out and swung it at the head of the troll.
*BOOM!
A huge boulder that seem toe out of nowhere mmed into Azar before he could finish off the troll beneath him. Although he had reacted quickly and had managed to block it with his sword, even with Ogre''s Strength activated he still wasn''t prepared for that much Force. The attack sent him flying back as he mmed into one of the carriages. At this point no one could hold back any longer. They couldn''t watch their chief lose without doing anything about it and they couldn''t afford to waste any more time.
Thwish...
An arrow let loose from the jaws of a crossbow from the cloacked Gail and pierced the right arm of a troll that was about to attack the red scaly creatures. Jarret and the others then ran forward and engaged inbat. To be honest they were all frustrated about the battle in the towns gate and were acting purely on emotions. Albert intercepted another boulder that was aimed at them, he was a noble demon so keeping his emotions in check was easy for him.
All the ogres and beastmen went into formation and they tried to keep the trolls at bay. Even without any discussions, or any opportunity to make a functioning n they moved in fluid motions and fought in almost perfect sync that showed their experience.
They were already used to this as they had encountered several monsters in this journey already. However, Although these trolls were just Tier 3 at most, they felt more powerful than the Tier 5 lesser basilisks they had just fought against. Most of the ogres and beastmen hadn''t even fully recovered their stamina and Mana from thest battle that happened just yesterday not even factoring the minor fights against the weak monsters they had encountered on this trip and yet, they were locked in another intense brawl.
The tiny red scaly creatures and the winged scaly one were proving useful as they fought in a way that provided support to those that needed it. They used various traps that appeared out of nowhere alongside creating pits and sinkholes on the right locations in battlefield before ganging up on any foolish troll that fell in it. Azar managed to join the fray after being healed by Erin who was conserving her Mana and couldn''t join the fight.
The only ones not participating in the battle right now was Tyler and Liz who just watched from the side. Tyler seemed to be staring deep into the forest with a serious expression and Liz provided support from the side when she saw an opportunity. The previously smiling trolls no longer smiled when they saw their numbers dwindling. Their bloods boiled with excitement as their battle instincts kicked in. They sung their weapons wildly at the enemies around them, they had no offensive skills or abilities but their strength was enough to push the group back.
Still, they were unable to kill off any of their preys as the ones with shields attracted their attention and were somehow able to withstand their attacks even after taking steps back. In the end they were the ones still losing numbers. There were only around six of them left as thanks to the scaly creatures traps the ogres were able to finish off four of the trolls before their regeneration had the time to kick in.
The remaining trolls had finally adapted to the addition of the ogres on the battlefield and the battle had suddenly gotten harder for them with the trolls urately able to avoid the traps andunch adequate and urate counter-attacks sometimes ignoring the provoke skill of the tanks. Some of the red scaly creatures had died in just the few seconds the trolls had taken the battle seriously.
Albert couldn''t afford to lose another person so he quickly got serious as well. The trolls wererge and had long arms that gave them and incredible reach with the addition of their weapons so they were able to take on multiple enemies at a time and were sneering the entire time. They didn''t seem to think there was a possibility for them to lose and kept swinging their weapons wildly.
Albert used a secret Technique "Shadow step." He then sashed at one of the trolls in front of him, swiftly avoiding a vertical club Strikes by twisting his body in the air, followed closely by a ck shadow. He followed the Technique with another one. 24 Twin Strikes.
Twenty four evenly spit attacks of silvery light and ck aura descended on the troll who was still in midst of it''s attack and was unable to perform an evasive maneuver or even simply blocking the attack. The troll was split into 24 cleanly cut pieces reducing their numbers to five. Azar not wanting tog behind stepped forward, he carried his massive great sword and even though he was considered an half giant amongst the ogres he was still way smaller than the trolls.
With their massive spiked clubs and long arms their reach surpassed Azar as well. However, he wouldn''t let them move again. Azar stepped forward, with most of his skills still active aside from Burst impact. His movements was almost as swift as the wind. And then, faster than that, he swung the great sword in his hand. The de left a orange afterimage in its wake as it cleaved through the air.
This stroke was an outstanding one, bearing the full might of the ogre chieftain as it clever the troll in half leaving behind only four more. Azar was panting heavily from how much energy he had put into that attack. He turned to look at Albert who now faced a different troll alongside the other ogres, beastmen and the red scaly creatures that provided support.
He hated to say it, but this was harder than the battle against the lesser basilisks with the trolls incredible regeneration turning the tides against them. They had to use their most powerful skills and Techniques just to take one down before it regenerated. The fight continued and they managed to take down another troll but now most of them no longer had any stamina to keep this up.
Azar thought long and hard about this. Thest time he used this ability he had almost died and had ended up not doing much to change the oue of the battle. Moreover his life force hadn''t recovered yet and he would only be able to maintain ¡ãThunder Rampage¡ã for a few seconds. Turning his head to look at Tyler who didn''t seem to have any intentions of joining the battle and he couldn''t bring himself to ask for anymore help.
Gritting his teeth Azar was about to activate ¡ãThunder Rampage¡ã when he suddenly felt something, turning his head he saw something almost upon him. It was a massive Hamaxe,rger than his great sword and was engulfed in pale grey mist as it spined and speed towards him. The speed of the weapon was so great that even just turning his head to look had already made it toote to dodge.
Azar was also in the midst of using a berserk skill and was in no position to even raise his de and attempt a block or parry. Azar''s heart tighten, while he wasn''t scared of death, he knew full well that dying here would be a massive blow to the remnants of the red ogre settlement. His heart tighten and just as pain, frustration and despair were about to have their way with him, he felt a tug on his shoulder and before he knew it his feet were off the ground.
Azar was then flung backwards in such a startling motion that he lost the grip of his weapon. He strained his eyes in the air to see what had just happened only to see the young man in a white shirt and ck pants standing in his previous location as he caught his two handed great sword with a single hand like it weighed nothing and swung it casually. Azar mmed into the carriage behind him with less force than he expected and immediately tried to stand up.
The massive Hamaxe was deflected by hisrge great sword and Azar finally noticed it''s origin as a ck chain was attached to it and had dragged it back. By the entrance of the forest stood over 10 trolls alongside a massive troll that had the chain wrapped around it''s right arm. It was more than 5 inches taller than the other trolls and had a darker skin tone that was almost ck. It wore armor sparingly across its body and wore an helmet made out of the skull of an unknown beast that even in death radiated a bloody aura.
Tyler tilted his head and looked at this massive monster that had just appeared out of thin air as it tugged on his chain and his Hamaxe flew back into its grip. ''Mmm... I guess i was right about being watched this time... Huh, perhaps i was right back at the town as well and someone was actually watching me. Geez Ty that''s a rookie mistake, Shit. I should learn something like Magic sense when i get the chance." Tylermpooned as he realized that someone might''ve been watching the town.
Chapter 35 C35. Test Of Strength
The once intense battle between the ogres and beastmen of the settlement,bined with the scaly red creatures versus the trolls came to an halt at the arrival of eleven more trolls that had suddenly appeared at the edge of the forest. None of the other trolls made a move either and the scaly red creatures had retreated behind the carriages before anyone had noticed. Albert stopped the pursuit of the three trolls who were slowly retreating back to what was most likely their leader.
Although they were not as smart as other humanoid monsters they were still better off than other trolls. They didn''t seem to mind the death of their kins most likely because they knew their leader was watching and they were confident in his strength against these opponents.
Albert didn''t like the look of this, and the sneer on the troll''s ugly faces as they retreated was evident that they were still looking down on them even after being on the losing side of this battle. Trolls valued strength more than anything and would only acknowledge those that wields it, so it was probably natural for them to disregard the weak ones amongst themselves.
Although normally they would have fun fighting or massacring weaker opponents when they went hunting for food, but they didn''t mind going up against stronger opponents as well. Gray trolls were especially more vicious and sadistic. Having sessfully withstood the corruption of undead creatures ordinary cave trolls had evolved into gray trolls with greater resistance to fear and a slight increased in their cognitive functions as well as higher dexterity and battle strength.
They would only show fear and respect to those that couldpletely suppress them.
The leader of this group of trolls, a Gray-War troll caught the hilt of his hamaxe and spun it around by the chain while it leisurely walked towards the group with his entourage in tow. The beast had an air of dominance around him and carried himself with confidence and what might constitute as dignity for a troll. The 10 trolls around him were also vastly different from the others they had seen so far. They wielded bone weapons from unknown creatures that could be passed as swords, maces, clubs and some even wore them as parts of an armor.
The war troll strolled to the battlefield at his own pace and once the three trolls had retreated to his side, he mmed one of them in the head with the side of his hamaxe causing what would be a fatal wound for most races. However, as a troll the wound quickly healed up as it''s regeneration ability kicked in. The Gray-War troll snorted, then it ignored the scared faces of the other two and stopped just a few meters away from Tyler who was now at the front of the battlefield after switching ces with Azar.
Of course Albert had immediately ordered his team to pull back when Tyler had decided to step in and the only one remotely close to him now was Liz and Albert himself. Erin still remained at the carriage side healing those that had gotten injured in the battle as much as she could while conserving her Mana.
The ten trolls that appeared with the Gray-War troll spread out to form a semi circle around the group in an attempt to box them in ce with their carriages acting as a wall behind them.
The Gray-War troll swept his gaze around the battlefield before locking his gaze on both Albert and Tyler. "Ku ku ku, for you to be able to see through my camouge shows you have some skills. You were even able to block my initial attack. Not bad, Not bad, my blood is boiling in anticipation. However, you''re still weak." He turned to nce at Liz before staring at the distant Erin and made a sound of chucking.
"Did you think you could hide from me? Keeping your strongest fighter in the rare is a coward''s tactics. Ku ku ku... No matter i am going to kill you all anyway, your bones will make excellent weapons for m ty men."
Returning it''s gaze back to Albert, Tyler and Liz it spoke again raising it''s head high. "Since the three of you are the strongest here you can all attack me at once. As a show of respect for your bravery i will not permit any interference from my tribe." It spoke with a horse and slightly broken voice that seemed like he hadn''t used his voice for a while now.
Tyler hadpletely ignored the beast ranting in front of him and was staring at the massive de he was holding as he was in the midst of his thoughts. ''It''s light, way lighter than it should be. Does this de have any weight reduction enchantments attached to it. Even so it shouldn''t be this light right. Then again i did take care of those Magic beast a lot easier than i thought and i know my speed and body control is nothing to scoff at. The only issue is my magic, i didn''t do any proper mage training in the past and only used my innate ability... Huh, speaking of my innate ability, do i still have it? With my current level shouldn''t something like Potential Break be a proper overpower abili¡ª''
"Insolence!"
He didn''t get a chance to finish his thoughts when the Gray-War troll snapped from being ignored and threw it''s Hamaxe again. "Ice Wall." Liz pronounced and a massive wall of ice shattered in front of Tyler as the Hamaxe fell helplessly to the ground.
"How dare you, bunch of weaklings ignore the mighty Kadiz Ral Ke Lizor!" Kadiz bellowed as dark grey mist started to be expelled from it''s skin. The other trolls around him took a step back, and then several, trying not to get caught up in Kadiz''s attack. Tyler saw the Gray-War troll preparing to attack and thought again. ''Damn i lost my train of thought, what was i just thinking of? Anyway i shouldn''t just stand here and do nothing. Magic is unstable and any minor mishaps would leave me incapacitated and i still don''t trust anyone here to help me if that happens. So i suppose close quarterbat is my only option.''
Tyler raised his head to look at therge Gray-War Troll in front of him. ''This guy seems strong, should be almost as strong as those magic beasts right? He should be even more challenging than them. Since it looks like it has a lot more battle experience than me, this might be good for me and also a way to gauge how strong I''ve be so i can make more effective ns in the future.''
Tyler lips curled up slightly into a smile as he gripped the two handed sword he was wielding with one hand tightly. "Alright, I''ll y with you for a bit." Tyler said tauntingly at the war troll that was now swinging his hamaxe by the chain like a fan above it''s head. The troll''s anger grew and it''s aura intensified as it continued to bellow. "Rodents like you dare look down upon the great Kadiz, the left hand to Mighty Zerahut of the Four kings."
Albert''s eyes twitched upon hearing that but quickly returned to normal as Tyler then gave him an order for the first time since he had sworn himself to him, making him feel a little relieved as he happily obeyed and retreated back to the carriage alongside Liz. The Gray-War troll roared as it used the created momentum from the intense spins and sent the Hamaxe flying at Tyler with a greater power than it had so far.
Tyler then stabbed the Great sword in the ground before speaking. "First test, Strength." As soon as he finished speaking a massive impact reverberated in the field like a massive explosion had just went off. Dust and dirt was kicked in the air making visibility difficult.
The war troll withdrew his weapon and chuckled with his hoarse voice. "Did you really think that such weak arms would withstand the full powered attack from the great Kadiz... ku ku ku..." The other trolls behind it startedughing along side the war troll and most of the Red scaled creatures were panicking. If these people were to lose they would have no where to run to as the trolls blocked the entrance to the forest and they would only be used as target practice out in the ins.
The winged scaled creature approached Albert and asked in a low and shaky voice that projected the terror they had been through. "H-hey... s-shouldn''t... we run, he might be d-dead?" Albert turned his head to look down on the female creature and asked. "Your kind are called kobolds correct?"
"Ah, yes... sorry we should have said something earlier."
"It''s fine, now is not the time, and about my master. I understand your worry since trolls are your natural enemies but there is not need to fear, if they somehow manage to kill my master then there is no way we would be able to escape from them." Albert said confidently, he was definitely weaker than his master so if the Gray-War troll was somehow stronger than him, even with the help of Erin, there was nothing they could do to escape.
Of course he hadn''t factored in Liz strength since he wasn''t too sure of it either, but he was positive his master was stronger.
The female kobold gulped at that and turned her gaze towards the dust that was about settling down. Laughter''s from the trolls ceased, with looks of shock now fully stered on their faces as they saw the young man still standing in his prior position with an arm extended outward to support the great sword in front of him.
The Gray-War troll frowned, he didn''t understand how a puny man with no aura could possibly survive that attack. He then heard the young man speak again. "Strength test. Data insufficient, you need to try harder, oh great KA Diz..." Tyler said as he smiled at the troll. He had watched the other trolls fight and could roughly gauge their strength so he expected this war stroll to be at least twice the strength of an ordinary troll. Which means he was now stronger than a Gray-War troll since he withstood it''s attack and barely felt it.
He had already confirmed his speed against Liz so there was no point in doing that now, and although he wanted to test his vitality he would have to do that privately. Now all he needed was to gain some battle experience against higher level fighters like this Gray-War troll who was a warrior, unlike the other trolls who had just been relying on their very sharp battle instincts. This Gray-War troll was one that had evolved after going through countless battles and developing it''s battle prowess.
The Gray-War troll, hearing the mocking tone of the young man forgot his worries as his heart boiled with anger and it dashed at Tyler with mad eyes. Tyler pulled out the great sword from the ground and readied himself to learn as quickly as possible as they were still in a hurry. The troll jumped high in the air and the grey mist or smoke that engulfed his hamaxe expanded into a projection of a giant Hamaxe that wasrger than the trolls massive body, the beast then swung the projection at Tyler from above.
Tyler couldn''t think of any skillful way to counter the attack and since he had no secret Techniques of his own since he had failed to learn them in the past, he decided to use a basic skill most swordman knew, an Uppercut sh. With a light swing of his de upwards the misty projection of an Hamaxe shattered from only the wind pressure.
The Gray-War troll was dumbfounded, but his battle instinct allowed him to recover quickly and immediately twisted himself in the air and prepared another strike. With a diagonal swing of his extended weapon with the momentum it gained from the wind pressure that had shattered it''sst attack, it sent an intense sh of dark grey energy straight at Tyler.
''Grievance sh.''
Tyler on the other hand wasn''t interested in such attacks, he wanted an intense physical battle not an exchange of skills. He swung the great sword lightly to meet the attack and the wind pressure sliced through the aura as it headed for Kadiz. Kadiz quickly brought his weapon to his chest to block the attack, however, the force was beyond his expectations and without any foothold in the air his body was sent flying back by the impact.
"I don''t have much time to waste, so it''s high time you get serious so we can end this."
The other trolls watching the battle had cked jaws as they watched their leader being toyed with. They may not be the brightest bunch but they could recognize true strength when they saw it. Kadiz tumbled several times in the ground before stopping, he picked himself up and stared at the man in front of him in disbelief. His eyes drained of his previous arrogance.
Chapter 36 C36. Gray-War Trolls
Kadiz massive body flew like a projectile untill it made a devastating impact with the hard rocky ground, bouncing off a couple times before hitting a massive rock. His troll regeneration kicked in and he recovered almost instantly before getting up to his feet. His head felt dizzy for a moment, and he couldn''t believe what had just happened. Was this a dream or did someone like him just get tossed around like a weakling.
? "Your regeneration ability is impressive. That should mean you still have a lot of energy to continue, alright bring it on."
Kadiz unconsciously took a step back at the continuous casual tone of the young man before him. There was no way a war troll like himself would continuously fail to notice the strength of their opponent after trading blows with them. His previous attacks were amongst his most powerful, and yet, the man had managed to shatter both of them so easily like he was blowing out a candle me.
That was not even the scariest part, the fact that this man looked at him with not even a shred of hostility in his eyes made him ufortable. He didn''t even think he was being considered an opponent much less a worthy opponent. The man looked at him with as much interest as you''d give a pet. Well, one you wanted to use as a test subject. His mouth was dry yet Kadiz still swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
"What nonsense!", Kadiz bellowed. "Me a pet? Me! The great Kadiz Ral Ke Lizor, the left hand of Lord Zerahut, The Undead king of the west." Kadiz let go of the handle of the Hamaxe in his hand as he held his head, roaring both in pain and absolute fury. He continued, "I cannot lose! I will never lose."
Kadiz tightened the grip on the chain of his hamaxe as the grey mist his body exuded turned to pure ck smoke. Silvery glowing runes and glyphs of different shapes and sizes started appearing all over it''s body.
Tyler had no idea what this mad troll was screaming about but he had a bad feeling about this. He then saw the runes and glyphs appearing on the trolls grey body and no longer took this lightly, he was unable to read or decipher the runes or glyphs even though he had already studied basic magic runes so he had no idea what they meant.
The Gray-War Troll tugged on the chain and pulled in his weapon, he then gripped his hamaxe tightly and some of the runes on his right arm squirmed around like they were alive before moving through the handle of the Hamaxe unto it''s de. The weapon vibrated softly and the troll nted it''s right foot firmly on the ground. The massive body of the Troll forcefully kicked off the earth with a mighty bang, and lunged at Tyler with incredible speed.
The practically flying troll flung the axe side of it''s weapon down at Tyler in a swift motion. Tyler quickly brought the great sword forward to block the attack, he was fast enough to consider the attack slow however, with the resounding sound of metal hitting metal Tyler slid back a few feet, his weapon trembling in his hand.
A frown grew across Tyler''s face, "That wasn''t just brute strength, was it? Interesting. Those markings should have something to do with this." He didn''t get the chance to analyze further as the mad troll charged at him again, immediately closing the gap. It swung the Hamaxe diagonally and Tyler hurriedly took a step back, enough to avoid the reach of the Hamaxe.
However, the Gray-War troll immediately let go of the hilt of the Hamaxe, extending it''s reach with the chain. Tyler had no choice but to meet the attack with his sword. Swinging therge great sword would be too slow to meet the attack so he brought the weapon to his side, using his left arm as support.
The hammer side of the Hamaxe meet the great sword and another resounding ng was heard with Tyler being pushed several meters to the side, his weapon vibrating violently. Kadiz continued his relentless attack and chased after Tyler to close the gap, his movements swift and fast. Tyler wouldn''t learn anything from just defending so he swung the great sword with his right arm at the approaching troll.
There was a sound of shing metals again and the great sword was deflected, but it wasn''t by the Hamaxe. Rather the weapon was deflected by the bare skin of the Gray-War troll''s left arm that still had it''s glowing silver runes intact. Tyler''s eyes narrowed.
While that had only been a probing attack, the Gray-War troll had deflected that strike with only it''s skin. It would seem that the runes on its skin did more than just improve it''s speed and attack strength, it''s skin was now harder than most metals.
Tyler chased away these distracting thoughts that had no ce in a high speed battle. The troll had continued it''s attack after deflecting Tyler''s. It swung the Hamaxe at him from above and Tyler forcefully controlled his body from the awkward position of having his attack deflected and jumped back a few feet.
|Blindness|
One of the runes or glyphs on the Kadiz chest shed red and a wave of the ck smoke like aura from the Gray-War troll swept at Tyler in an instant. Unable to block it a vail of ck curtains covered his vision and everything went ck. Kadiz had used a spell that causes temporary blindness at Tyler, he then continued his mad dash to close the gap one more time and swing his hamaxe with all his might.
The vail in front of Tyler shattered almost instantly as he had forcibly resisted the spell without much effort, but that instance was enough for the Gray-War troll to close the gap. Tyler saw therge weaponing down at him, he twisted his body to the side and avoided the horizontal strike. He was about to use this opportunity tounch a counter strike of his own when, suddenly another rune or glyph in the trolls chest glowed and it used an actual skill.
|Flow Control|
This was a skill that Tyler knew well, it was something every experienced warrior had in their repertoire. He immediately regretted his decision to attack right now. The Hamaxe stopped short of hitting the ground and switched directions with a red arc of light trailing behind it as it sliced through the air aiming at Tyler.
Tyler, now with little options twisted the great sword in his had into a reverse grip, holding it like a shield to meet the attack head on. The Hamaxe mmed into the great sword and it vibrated vigorously as Tyler was pushed back three paces.
Tyler felt his arm vibrating as he saw a crack appear in the middle of the great sword. He turned to looked at the enraged troll who was already upon him with a faint smile. He was d he did this, taunting the troll was indeed a good idea as this level of intensity was something he couldn''t get even if he had ask Albert to spar with him.
He was learning a lot from this battle, although Tylet was certain he would win easily if he used his overwhelming speed and strength to attack, he wouldn''t gain anything from that. This was a very suitable stage for melee training. The troll''s unexpected change in attack pattern and intensity as well as the unknown ability it was using to make his attacks affect Tyler even though it''s strength was insufficient was something Tyler hadn''t expected.
These were all factors that would''ve be dangerous for him if he had gone toe to toe with someone even a little bit stronger. With hiscking skills and techniques, no matter how fast or strong he was he would undoubtedly still lose in front of someone like Albert or Liz without the use of magic, and even that had its own drawbacks.
The massive Hamaxe appeared in Tyler face breaking him out of his thoughts. The troll had thrown it''s weapon again and Tyler could only tilt his head to avoid the attack. The troll immediately tugged on the chain causing the Hamaxe to stop mid flight and return back to him. It lunged at Tyler with a deafening roar that contained his full wrath and fury.
Tyler no longer avoided it''s attacks as he lunged forward as well and met the troll head on. He swung his great sword which was deflected by the trolls left arm and the troll countered with a diagonal Strike only for Tyler to swiftly avoid it. Tyler continued swinging the greatsword, and the Gray-War troll continued its adroit deflection of his blows while also trying to strike back. They continued this fierce battle for a while when suddenly, another glyph on Kadiz body lit up, and it cast a spell.
???????
In the west side of the Darknar Forest, an underground cave like structureid underneath a steep hill surrounded by dense vegetation. The tall trees andrge leaves block almost all rays of the sun, causing this ce to be in a state of eternal darkness and the wind that came down hill made the area cool and damp, giving it and eerie atmosphere.
Two hulking giant creatures stood guard at the entrance of the cave. They wore full sets of bone armor which wasbined with a type of metal and held long bone spears and shields with skins almost as dark as the dark and damp forest.
Inside this cave that seemed to expand unnaturally, there were several other simr creatureszing around while others dug out the glistening red rocks on the cave walls and gathered them in a pile. These massive creatures doing such manualbours were indeed Gray-War trolls. They either worked or rested in rotations when suddenly they all stopped and gathered to the side, standing as straight as they possibly could when they had head the sounds of footstepsing from one of the tunnels in the cave.
Three creatures appeared from one of the unlit tunnels revealing themselves within the rays of the dim lighting of the touches in the cave. An undead creature wearing a slightly tattered luxurious robe with purple threads that designed it''s edges, holding a wooden staff with small red crystals embedded in it and arge one attached to it''s end. It wore a bone crown with the red crystals adorning the tips of the spiked parts of the bone crown.
The undead creature moved leisurely with two knights trailing behind it. They were also undead creatures with blood red coloured dried up skins and red full te armors that looked imposing. They carried long swords and a massive red shield as they marched uniformly alongside their master.
The Gray-War trolls lowered their heads when the undead creatures came in and they dropped to one knee with trembling hands. The undead creatures walked by them as it headed for another tunnel within the cave. It soon stopped upon nearing the entrance to the tunnel and turned it''s bony head to look at one of the trolls closest to him, startling the troll.
It had rotten skin attached to its white bones beneath it''s robe. It''s face was a mixture of the rotten flesh and a skull, however, beneath its rotting exterior lies a pair of evil eyes brimming with intelligence. Although those eyes where nothing more than floating lights in it''s empty eye sockets.
This was a Lich, it was shrouded in an aura ofnegative energythat covered its body like a thin fog, giving off a menacing atmosphere that send chills down the spines of the Gray-War trolls.
"Where is Kadiz?"
It spoke with a ghastly voice that didn''t seem to belong to the living, making the troll it spoke to lower it''s body reflexively. "He... er... He left... he went to subdue the vige of kobolds in other to expand our territory to the east as per yourmand." The troll spoke with great respect and apprehension.
"I see, how many went with him?"
"Around 10 regr trolls and 10 elite trolls."
"Hm... For just a few kobolds? ...Kadiz may be getting too weak for his position, perhaps i need to make some changes around here." It said conclusively as it walked leisurely into another tunnel with it''s two Doom Knights and slowly disappeared into the darkness.
Chapter 37 C37. Breaking Point
*ng! ng! ng!...
Boom!
The constant sounds of metal striking metal resounded in the ins by the outskirts of the Darknar forest alongside the asional BOOM. Albert watched closely as Tyler and the Gray-War troll called Kadiz went at it. Most of the group around him seemed to be getting restless and Liz became more ufortable the longer this fight went on. To be honest, he had underestimated this troll as he was caught off guard when it had suddenly went berserk and used an unfamiliar ability that granted it the means to use spells and skills.
Trolls were simr to ogres in the sense that they were unable to use spells and most of them couldn''t even use skills, relying mostly on their inherit strength and racial regenerative ability. Which was why everyone had been in shock when they saw this massive troll being able to use both. Azar, having been saved by Tyler and no longer possessing a weapon, received a long sword from Albert as the group organized themselves to defend against the trolls that had already surrounded them.
While Kadiz may had promised them that his men wouldn''t interfere, the group wasn''t that naive, they knew better than to trust in the words of a troll. Albert was still watching the fight intently as he thought he had finally realize what Tyler''s intentions in this fight were. Having already been informed by Tyler of his previous hiatus from action for a couple hundred years now, he figured Tyler was now trying shake of his rust from such a long break.
Although Albert hadn''t witness Tyler''s fight with the Tier 6 magic beasts back at the town personally, and had only heard the details from the guards, he could still specte. Still, there wasn''t much he could tell from hearing alone, he still knew that Tyler wouldn''t have had the mindset of learning in that situation with the lives of so many people on the line.
Albert thought Tyler may be trying to get back to his peak due to the fact that he was now returning back to the demon king''s castle in such numbers, which had a higher chance of attracting attention. Perhaps this was also a way to elerate his ns. Heading to the Demon king''s castle was indeed dangerous and may even cause an uproar all through out the demon continent, putting them in the eye of a very dangerous storm.
However, for the residents of the settlement, this was their best option and a way to show their saviors gratitude. It wasn''t like they had any other better alternatives, heading anywhere in the demon continent with such numbers and so little fighting force was practically a death sentence. Whilst this way they had the protection of someone like Tyler and Liz.
Whereas for Albert this was much more. He wasn''t exactly a vengeful person but he wouldn''t miss an opportunity if he was ever given the chance. Although he wouldn''t do anything against his new master''s wishes he still felt like being in the center of the major events about to unfold in the demon continent would give him the best chance at avenging his family and everyone that had been under him. Maybe even finding a way to solve Erin''s current predicament.
???????????
|Smog of Darkness|
Another glyph on Kadiz chest shed red and he activated a new spell. The ck smoke like aura his body exuded gusted out of him like an explosion, creating a thick smog, covering more than a 15 meter radius. The smog was a denseyer of smoke that seemed to have the attribute of absorbing all the lights within, making the inside of the smog void of light therefore bing as dark as night. It was actually interfering with all Tyler''s senses.
Albert''s team retreated with the arrival of the smog as they could feel the immerse danger emanating from it, even the trolls around them seem to be apprehensive and hesitant, with the less equipped ones even taking steps back ignoring the their group.
Tyler instantly lost track of the Gray-War troll that was in front of him only a moment ago, he was now unable to tell where this cunning beast had gone. The smog drained away his sense of awareness little by little and it slowly started to feel like he was in the vacuum of space. Tyler held his breathe as his intuition told him not to breathe in the contaminated air or he might be corrupted.
This smog felt a little like the aura he exuded when he had used the spell ''Wave of Despair'' although this contained a lot less negative energy. Tyler felt himself being trapped within this empty void, slowly losing awareness of his senses, feeling isted from the world outside the smog.
He also felt the smog try to invade his mind but was resisted, not sure what to do next Tyler readied himself for an attack. He doubted this was all there was to such a powerful spell and as if on cue he barely felt something headed towards him rapidly. Tyler swung his weapon and a loud ng was heard. He barely felt the presence of the troll before it disperse again, merging perfectly into the smog.
Tyler had just barely stabilized himself when another attack hit him in the back. Well, it aimed for his back but was quickly deflected by the cracked greatsword. Tyler was now sweating a bit, he was pushing his senses to the limit and yet was only barely able to sense such simple attacks. ''I really should''ve learnt magic sense.''
Magic sense was a Tier 3 spell, so Tyler couldn''t have learnt it back then even if he wanted to, however, that didn''t stop him fromining. Still, even after quicky striking back at the space the attack originated from, he was unable to feel any contact.
After finally adjusting a little, he could now sense everything around him within a 3 meter radius but was unable to locate the troll again. Several attacks aimed at Tyler''s blindspots, flew at him from different locations making him think the Gray-War troll was everywhere at once, or maybe it had really merged himself into the smog.
With the current situation the way it was, Tyler thought he might actually lose if nothing changes. His battle instinct was surelycking so he was barely able to keep up with the disappearing troll. He already knew his swordsmanship was subpar but his movements now were a bit too sluggish. He had been relying too much in his sight to fight and now that he had to use all five sense just to barely keep up, he realized how truly weak he was.
Tyler felt like someone that was originally right handed, suddenly losing their right hand and unfortunately they weren''t ambidextrous. Moreover he wasn''t used to welding a greatsword so his dexterity was already a littlepromised. Tyler controlled the frustrating thoughts from building up within him as he struggled to block the trolls attacks. ''I might''ve been a little too cocky earlier, now it''sing back to bite me in the ass.'' Hempooned.
Although Tyler knew this wasn''t his limit, he couldn''t help feel the pressure from his current predicament. Determined not to rely on his speed, he tried his best to make better use of this situation.
Another attack mmed straight into the greatsword in his arm, making the the crack in the sword growrger. Tyler tried his best to focus as much as he could, the more attacks he deflected, the better his reaction got. He couldn''t learn any advanced techniques over night so the best he could do was improve his battle instincts and senses. With the continuous stream of attacks from all around him, he could now cleanly dodge the attacks without needing to punish the heavily damaged greatsword.
After another round of attacks, Tyler noticed the trolls energy was growing rapidly, the smog was expanding and the attacks were getting faster, stronger and more erratic. The troll must''ve been getting frustrated as well, however if this continues, it might end up involving the residents of the settlement and could lead to a devastating death caused by a desperate opponent. ''Fine, I guess it''s time to end this.'' Feeling a little satisfied with what he''d learnt, Tyler no longer tried to cleanly dodge the iing attack.
With a slight twist of his body he narrowly avoided the attach. Letting his Mana flow into the greatsword, Tyler used his second and most powerful skill as a swordman. ¡ãBurning Strike¡ã The oversized de moved swiftly as it cut through the dark smog with a fiery aura that rapidly expanded as it left the de. The more Tyler''s senses got used to the smog the easier it was to locate the troll.
Somehow the troll was able to move through the smog almost instantly, appearing in different locations before attacking. Although Tyler knew he was fast enough to stop the troll, his main goal had been improving himself so he just took the attacks. Now however, he might''ve gotten all he could from the fight so it was about time he ended it.
A pained wail escaped the mouth of the troll from within the smog as a figure was sent flying out of it. Albert who had been trying to prate through the dense fog ahead with his eyes, all the while staying alert to the nervous trolls around them felt relieved when he saw the figure that flew out and the now dispersing smog. Not know what was happening within the smog had made him doubt his master a bit but he quickly shook the thought out of his head.
When the smog finally disperse, Tyler let out a loud breathe, holding his breathe the entire time was a lot harder than he had expected but he was d he no longer had to do so. The Gray-War troll moaned in pain as it struggled to stand up. There was a long burnt mark on his chest alongside a missing arm.
The wound on it''s chest didn''t seem to be recovering and the troll was finding it hard to stand up properly. Tyler tilted his head a little, wondering why the troll''s regeneration ability wasn''t working. ''Is it vulnerable to fire?'' If that was the case then this troll really wouldn''t be a threat to him if he used magic as the only offensive spells he knew was fireball and magic Arrow.
The Gray-War troll forced itself to stand properly as it roared loudly like a mad beast. It took a stands and swirled it''s Hamaxe by the chain. ''Is it nning to just attack from there?'' Tyler felt that this match was over, even without using his speed such basic attacks like throwing it''s Hamaxe at him wouldn''t touch him. He was previously the lowest ranked swordsman in the adventurers guild of the human continent, if he hadn''t perfected the art of dodging as well as the art of running away, he would have been dead a long time ago.
"Damn you! Don''t you dare look down on me!" Kadiz Bellow with near madness in it''s eyes.
Just as expected it threw it''s weapon at Tyler with all it''s might. Disappointed, Tyler moved out the way as he nned to finish off the troll with his next attack. However, Tyler''s expression froze the moment he had moved out of the original trajectory of the weapon. This was because, a sudden glow of the rune on the de made the Hamaxe turn at a right angle, correcting it''s trajectory back at him with a sudden bust of speed.
"!"
Tyler hurriedly swung his greatsword to the side, aiming to knock away the Hamaxe which was almost upon him. However, he was a moment toote, and the Hamaxe scraped his right shoulder, sending an impact through his body.
Although the attack hadn''t hurt much neither did it leave a mark on his body aside from the torn shirt, however, thinking of this as a first person shooter game Tyler felt like he had made a great mistake.
"Ghahahahahah, I did it, I hit you, I finally hit you. Hahahaha..."
Hearing the taunting yet delusionalughter from the mad troll, Tyler felt like a vein had popped in his head.
Chapter 38 C38. Bloodlust
Kadiz Ral Le Lizor was once a simple no named cave troll like hisrades with no district role amongst his peers. They lived in a cave sitting atop a Grade 1 Rubinx mine in the western parts of the Darknar forest. Since trolls easily adapted to any environment they find themselves in, these cave trolls grew to love the rare red ores found in the mine and would generally dig them out for fun.
However, this had attracted the attention of something. The undead King of the West Zerahut noticed these trolls as they sometimes adorned themselves with the unrefined ores. Zerahut decided to take this mine for himself and the trolls were powerless to stop him. They''re puny brains couldn''tprehend why an undead creature would need a lot of red Runbinx ores but they could not stop him, rather the trolls that had managed to survive his onught were forced under his servitude
Kadiz worked the mine alongside his 127 other trolls that had survived from a tribe of more than 300 trolls. For the next 10 years they worked the mine for the undead and slowly their life energy were drained by the undeads minions while slowly being influenced by negative energy with more that half of hisrades being unable survive the process.
The remaining trolls evolved and became gray trolls. They were more slender and some might even say malnourished, but they were more muscr and a bit faster with some of them developing the ability to speak.
Kadiz was one of those chosen few, he felt a sense of aplishment he had never felt before. He was then recognized by the undead King to take over the long vacant role of the trolls chief. Kadiz, for the first time in his life received recognition. Amongst his simr looking brethrens he had always been a nobody, he was good in a fight but most trolls were. They were originally cave trolls who only brawled using their fist and clubs, no one cared if you could use a sword.
However, the undead King noticed his skills, he bestowed him with a name alongside the Dark-Syphon. Kadiz wasn''t exactly sure what the dark syphon was but he knew he could now slowly Syphon energy from his core and store it in the weird symbols that asionally appear on his skin granting him the ability to cast spells and even use skills.
Trolls were considered humanoid monsters or demi-human, but they didn''t have Mana bodies, possessing only beast cores and if they were strong enough magic crystals, therefore they were generally unable to use spells and in their case even skills, only possessing a racial ability. As long as their cores weren''t destroyed trolls could regenerate from any injury, even being sliced in pieces wouldn''t stop them so it wasn''t a bad tradeoff.
For the next two decades Kadiz used his new found strength to faithfully serve his new master. He did whatever he was told including the massacring of any foolish tribe or individual that refused to serve under his master''s rule. His aplishments was so great he was promoted several times untill he became the left had of his king and was blessed once again with a magic weapon.
His reverence for Zerahut grew, so much so that he became a bit over eager to serve. His wish came true as something strange happened a few days ago that sent shockwave through out the entire forest. His master then gave him a new order, to head east and expand their territory, bringing in any strong monsters or any settlements of intelligent creatures under his rule.
Zerahut''s ultimate goal aside from amassing more knowledge abd power was to rule the entirety of the ever expensive Darknar forest and Kadiz hope to be the one to offer it to him. However, something unexpected happened.
Kadiz did as his mastermanded and headed east, he followed the trail of the weakest monsters that could be easily captured, without realizing it he had made it across the eastern forest in less than a day. In only a day they had subjugated more that three tribes of intelligent creatures including two different tribes of kobolds, at least that''s what he thought when he suddenly received a report that more than half of the second vige had escaped with their chief. Anger arose within the belly of Kadiz. Worthless creatures like these dare disobey the will of his king. An insult, they did not deserve to live, death itself was too kind for such insolence.
Kadiz ordered the group of the 10 ordinary gray trolls he had brought with him to hunt down this creatures and massacre them however they should leave behind their leader for him to y with. He then killed off the remaining kabobs in the second vige and strolled after his men in the hopes that they hadn''t gotten drunk in their sick games and killed the leader by mistake but what he saw next put a frown on his face.
His men had also intercepted a group of ogres and beastmen migrating through the outskirts of the forest. Of course these new arrivals were of no consequences as Kadiz was confident in defeating any ogre, however the few individuals that was travelling with the ogres worried him.
There were three demons with the group and of course whatever race the
blue haireddy was. Kadiz frowned because these individuals were stronger than he had expected, he didn''t think that challenging them carelessly was a good idea so Kadiz used a skill, camouge, him and his remaining group of 10 elites trolls slowly turned invisible and they slowly approached the entrance of the forest.
He wasn''t really bothered by the involvement of a few demons as he was very confident in his own strength. Although lord Zerahut had once warned him about getting involved with any demons inside the great Darknar forest. Kadiz was interested in testing his strength against the strength of demons, besides these were not inside the forest so it should be fine.
Kadiz stayed behind and watched the battle between the ogres beastmen and kobolds against his ten ordinary trolls and was disappointed. So far only one ogre was interesting and of course one of the demons that asionally stepped in to help. It didn''t appear like the other three individuals were going to step in and Kadiz keen eyesight noticed the young man stare at his location.
Although he wasn''t staring directly at them Kadiz thought he might''ve noticed them. ''I can''t sense any aura from him, an assassin type? Even still, he should be weaker than me if I''m not even registering his presence. The two females are the issue.'' Kadiz sensed an icy cold aura emanating from the blonde female and a calm yet soul crushing aura from the blue haired one, however Kadiz mind calmed down when he saw her healing the group.
She may have been their strongest member but as a healer she couldn''t have much offensive abilities. Kadiz confidence grew when he realized he only had the blonde icy female to worry about.
He had considered retreating for a while before deciding against it after that realization and staring at the magic weapon in his hand. Kadiz smiled and strolled forth, first he picked up a huge boulder with a single arm and flung it like he had justunched a catapult. The massive rock was aimed at therge ogre that was the most trouble for his troll, he wanted to demoralize the enemy before making his appearance.
He was a bit shocked when his surprised attack was easily deflected by the young man he had previously ignored and considered a weak assassin but he quickly recovered and challenged all three of them while pretending he didn''t already know the limitations on the blue haired female.
Everything was going ording to n, yet, why. Why was he currently engaged in a fierce battle between himself and the young demon, the weakest of the bunch. Why was his blood boiling with rage, and worst of all, why couldn''t he hit this guy.
Kadiz roared in pain and rage, he used every Technique he had learnt, every attack pattern he knew, yet each time he attack he would always hear that sound. That annoying sound of metal striking metal. He wanted this man dead, he wanted this group to knee before him as he dragged them back to serve his master.
|Smog of darkness|
Kadiz used his final trump card, while he may not be able to fully utilize the power of his magic weapon Kadiz could use the power of the glyphs, the power gifted to him by his master as a way to forcefully control the weapon. The chains of the Hamaxe woulde alive and actively move around to strike at their targets. Combined with the power of the smog he could attack from literally every single angle almost at the same time.
Yet, he was still met with failure. Kadiz attacks got the closest he had ever gotten to reaching this mountain of a man but was still deflected away. His frustration built up the more his efforts was wasted, his mind slowly losing the grip on really. ''Connect, just connect, why can''t I reach him... CONNECT DAMNIT.'' He desperately fought clinging to a single thought to maintain his grip on reality.
However, with a single swing of the man''s cracked sword Kadiz lost an arm and was severely burnt across the chest. He fought through the pain, with a single thought in mind Kadizunched what he knew to be his final attack, putting all his syphoned energy into the magic weapon and was finally blessed with sess.
"I did it, I hit you, I finally hit you. Fwhahahahaha..."
Kadiz continued hisughter as he felt a sense of relief and satisfaction. A felling of euphoria rose within him just from finally having an attack connect with the young man before him. Kadiz had forgotten all about his men, his master or even the other demons and ogres all he could see now was the shocked face of the man before him and his heart melted with pleasure.
The pain it felt from losing its arm and the burning wound on his chest didn''t matter to him. It was a war troll that was born to fight, and even in a situation like this he had managed to surpassed his limit. He found pleasure in this minor aplishment and was pleased he finally made the man who had previously just looked at him as a pet change his gaze.
"Trash."
Kadiz tion was broken by a single word uttered by that young man. He raised his smiling face to look at the young man, he knew his achievement was miniscule but he thought it would be a big blow to someone that had looked down on him and he was right. However, Kadiz quickly regretted his decision.
Every single fiber in his body was sending him danger signals and he felt a chill run down his spine. He tried to take a step back but his legs wouldn''t move, Kadiz struggled to breathe as he saw his ordinary trolls copse to the ground with the elite barely able to move.
He also noticed that even the ogres and beastmen were affected by this, they were struggling to stand and the kobolds aside from their leader had all passed out. Kadiz was surprised to see even the other demons be affected by this. He was scared, a Gray-War troll like himself was actually feeling fear. Kadiz knew what was going on and couldn''t help but wonder why he hade to this ce to begin with.
The same young man that he had thought was the weakest in the group because he didn''t have an aura was actually now emitting a suffocating aura that had rendered the entire battlefield silent.
"YOU, YOU INSIGNIFICANT, ABSOLUTE TRASH! HOW DARE YOU PIECE OF SHIT LAY YOUR FILTHY HANDS ON ME! I''LL KILL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!"
It was asif a volcano had just erupted, a massive amount of bloodlust exploded out of the young man, suppressing everyone in the battlefield. It didn''t matter whether it was friend or foe, everyone within range felt their ability to breathe being stripped from them, their knees buckled up beneath them. It felt asif gravity had been multiplied a thousand times, most of them were on the verge of passing out.
Kadiz Ral Le Lizor was no exception, every word that left that demons mouth made his soul quake, his knees hit the ground hard and his remaining arm felt like if weighed a ton, his grip in his magic weapon lessen and he let go.
Unable to process any information through his mind he manage to catch a glimpse of the massive greatsword the man wielded slicing through the air with a arc of beautiful slivery light trailing behind it as it aimed for his neck.
*Smash! THUD
With the sound of the greatsword shattering on his hard skin Kadiz view changed as he saw the blue sky. He no longer felt his body and soon he felt nothing.
Chapter 39 C39. Demons Pride?
Ghahahahahah, I did it, I hit you, I finally hit you. Fwahahaha..."
The Gray-War trollughed tauntingly at him in clear delusions. It was battered and had even lost an arm, but it''s eyes shone with lights that reflected the madness in it''s soul. Tyler felt like a vein had popped on his forehead, this entire situation was ridiculous and annoying. He thought he would only be a little irritated when suddenly he felt a surge of pure rage, hate and unstoppable wrath.
His grip on the greatsword tightened andrge amount of mana flowed into the de. Tyler wasn''t sure why he was so angry right now, but the more he heard the trolls voice the more he wanted to rip the heads of every single troll on this battlefield.
,m "Trash!"
Tyler unconsciously spoke those words with gritted teeth. His rage rising continuously made his thoughts narrowed, he felt insulted. Normally, this should be on a simr scale as when someone was on a win streak but lost the streak to a weak opponent just because they went easy on them at the start, yet, this felt more infuriating.
A simple annoyance was all he should be feeling, yet something inside of him felt disrespected, it felt like spheme. Amon troll dare reach out their filthy hands to touch the sun, how can he forgive such insolence, how could he not render punishment upon them.
"YOU, YOU INSIGNIFICANT, ABSOLUTE TRASH! HOW DARE YOU PIECE OF SHIT LAY YOUR FILTHY HANDS ON ME! I''LL KILL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!"
So intense was his fury that Tyler was struck speechless. With his volcanic roar came an explosion of energy from within him that rendered the entire battlefield still. If it wasn''t for the quaking of knees and ttering of teeth''s, someone would''ve mistaken the stillness for a ce where time had stopped for a moment. Tyler''s hazel coloured pupils glowed red and it narrowed in on his target.
With a step he appeared before the Gray-War troll and swung his de with a skill. ¡ãBurning Strike¡ã The already cracked de could not handle anymore punishment and shattered upon impact with the trolls hard skin protected by the runes and glyphs on them, but the fiery red aura that escorted the attack took off the head of the troll.
Tyler let go of the broken sword and his gaze turned to face another troll. It was an elite troll who stood close to Albert''s group. Everyone that met his gaze felt the life drain out of them. It was such a piercing gaze that it made them retreat. Liz took a step back as well, she wasn''t sure why but she had a bad and familiar feeling about this that made her skin crawl.
They were not the targets of his rage yet they still felt fear. So how could those that received the bloodlust directly withstand it. Of course they couldn''t. All three of the ordinary trolls had already copsed and the so called elite trolls were on their knees with a face full of fear.
"Not enough."
Tyler''s rage could not be calmed by one life. The hate that erupted within him threaten to drive him mad if he did nothing, he needed to release it. He saw the fear filled faces of the trolls and wasn''t satisfied, he wanted them to feel something worse than fear. With that Tyler decided to use a spell.
With his right index finger pointed at the trolls, a menacing amount of greyish ck aura wrapped around him as he uttered a phase to the helpless trolls that were trembling, almost at the verge of copse.
"Know Despair."
Liz mind almost went nk, her memories of that event might been a bit hazy but she knew exactly what this aura meant. For a mage that was almostpletely immune to cold a chill still ran down her spine as she hurriedly moved forward. Although she was scared, her love for her friend who might die if that spell was used now pushed her forward. She couldn''t let him use it.
Tyler''s gaze was fixated on a single troll, he wanted to release the rage within and the first thing he thought about was the spell that couldpletely drain him of energy.
"Wave of Des¡ª"
"Ice des!"
Tyler''s spell was interrupted when several flying swords killed off his intended target. His anger rose even more and he was about to re up when suddenly he felt a tug on his arm, turning his head to look he saw a blonde and beautiful girl with tear filled eyes holding on to his arm.
"Please..."
His rapidly rising emotions cooled down at an even faster rate when he heard those words and saw the tears that fell down her slightly red cheeks.
"If you do that... they might die... and my friend, my friend would not survive."
Tyler was dumbstruck, why was he so angry that he was about to use a spell that could also knock him out, not to mention everyone on this battlefield. Even if he was the only one standing likest time how would he move so many people across the river.
The hate and rage within him almost seamlessly disappeared and Tyler finally regained proper cognitive functions. He sighed deeply, ''Something''s wrong with me? Why do i suddenly have so much pride... Is it the so called demon''s pride? Am i really no longer human, or is there a deeper meaning to this.'' He pondered but could not find the answer.
Tyler then patted Liz on the head and nodded to her with a faint smile. He wiped her tears with his hand feeling a bit apologetic for making such a beautiful girl cry, although her cheeks appeared reader he figured it was the stress.
He needed to figure out what was wrong with him but now was not the time, he might be able to find some answers in the magic library but he had other things to worry about right now. For example, what to do with the rest of the trolls who were now grovelling on the ground in fear.
The entire residents of the settlement and the leader of the red scaly creatures who had managed to withstand his aura stared at him with widened eyes and apprehension. They might be both terrified and awed and even Albert and Erin looked a bit pale.
Albert was the first to recover, the fact that the terrifying pressure his master just exuded hadpletely disappeared without a trace had shocked him a bit. He quickly went over to Tyler''s side and asked. "My lord, what do we do with the rest of these trolls? As well as the Kobolds?"
"Kobolds?"
"Yes, the red creatures."
"Oh, well, I don''t really care so do whatever you want."
Tyler wasn''t interested in those red creatures from the start, they definitely live deep in the forest so they had no helpful information for him. He also felt a bit tired now and didn''t want to be responsible for killing the rest of the trolls. However, there was something he was a bit interested in.
He walked over to the headless corpse of the one known as Kadiz and picked up the massive weapon that had managed to hit him, the most likely cause of this mess. The troll was over 17 ft tall so it''s weapon was naturally muchrger than what Tyler could hold properly, however, the Hamaxe shrunk dow to what he could wield the moment he touched it.
The chains wrapped themselves around his arm and Tyler immediately didn''t like the weapon anymore. It was slowly draining his energy and Tyler felt ufortable with how it felt. He walked back over to Albert and the others and handed the weapon over to the Ogre''s chief Azar. It was an apology for destroying his greatsword.
Azar refused to ept the magic weapon at first but Tyler didn''t say a word and just threw it at him. Albert soon returned back to him with startling news, he had gave the trolls an ultimatum, to submit to his master or die and they immediately choose submission, which was a strange move for gray trolls but Tyler didn''t care about that.
His only problem was why, why the hell was Albert adding more baggage to his already impressive load. The bad news didn''t stop there though as the leader of the so called Kobolds had also submitted, perhaps it was out of fear of Tyler of fear for their lives in the wild, Tyler didn''t care. His headache just kept getting worse.
???????
Since the battle had ended the group quickly recovered themselves with the help of Erin. The cleaned up the battle field by storing the corpses of the trolls and kobold in the chief''s storage box just like how they''ve stored any monster they''vee across so far. Of course the magic crystal from the gray war troll was give to Tyler who now had Seven in his possession.
The group boarded their carriages and left, they were fortunate that no one had died and their group had gained the protection of 12rge trolls who rode on top of therge carriages.
Their faces was enough to scare any monster that was attracted to their location so they were able to make up for the time they spent fighting. The kobolds didn''t seem to like the trolls very much, but they didn''t offer much resistance when they had to share the same carriage as them.
Tyler was getting annoyed for apletely different reason. He didn''t care how many creatures followed them as he was still in denial about who they were actually following. He remembered he came on this trip for apletely different reason but was now trapped in a carriage with ogres that didn''t have much information.
Tyler sighed deeply, the group of ogres that had originally sat a cross from him were still there so Tyler thought he would continue from where he left off. They seemed more respectful of him now and the Hart fellow wouldn''t stop smiling at him.
He was going to ask about the closest cities and towns to this region and how they were structured in case he needed to escape this predicament. He wanted to be more tactful about it though, if it sounded like he was conducting an investigation, he had no idea how they would react.
"So how did your town survived so long on its own? Did you guys make everything you needed yourselves?" He asked, Hart was a little confused, he looked like he didn''t understand the sudden question, Tyler thought about adjusting his strategy but before he could, Jarret answered the question.
"We mostly just hunt around the town and defend against monster siege, we had moved with a lot of supplies thanks to the captain''s spatial storage ring, it contained enough food and materials thatsted the entire town for 6 months. During that time we gathered all the cores and magic crystals we collected from the monsters."
"The captain let us borrow the storage ring anytime we needed it, so ones a year we send a team to Winged city in the north, with both the ring and the chiefs storage box, they''re able to exchange the cores for money and buy a year''s worth of supplies, we usually buy materials we aren''t able to get around the settlement, foods, seeds and rare ore for elder Berlin, oh Berlin Bungo is our famed cksmith who ims he had been taught by dwarfs as a kid."
"He''s a very talented cksmith and his weapons and armors are highly sort out for, although he''s not very sociable, he still donates more than half of what he makes from selling his products to the town, that''s why we always make sure to buy him as many rare ores and materials as he needs."
Tyler was a bit pleased by the information he had just gotten, all he needed to do was head north and he would find a city, with the fact that he was probably a demon and no one could tell otherwise, all he needed to do was be able to traverse thend all the way there, surviving any trouble that came his way and he would be able to buy supplies and even a mound, with that he had a high probability of leaving the demon continent.
This brought him to his next problem, he had no idea what currency this continent used, did they use silver and gold coins like the human continent or was itpletely different, what''s worse, he couldn''t think of anyway to ask that question without projecting himself as someone withoutmon sense.
Chapter 40 C40. Turning Tides
In the Darknar forest, some distance away from the rocky ins close to the outskirts of the Forest. A slim figure moved atop the trees with swift and fluid motions beforeing to a stop. It then stood atop arge tree branch as it watched the group of ogres, beastmen, Kobolds and trolls under themand of a few demons get on elevenrge carriages that headed North in the direction of the demon king''s castle.
The figure wore a simple ck robe made of silk with ck pants and golden colored boots, he had long silver hair that went down to his back and Scarlet eyes. His extremely handsome features was onlyplemented by his pale white skin tone.
He had a wide smile on his face as he muttered to himself in clear delight. "Interesting... I''m d my whim to let those girls be has turned out to be even more interesting... Kukuku, I can''t believe i didn''t notice it in time to see the fight, but that aura, I wonder... which one of them did it belong to..."
His eyes crossed the distance of several miles and alternated between the grey haired aged demon and simple looking young man. He settled on the aged old man and chuckled. "Well, I guess it doesn''t matter... I''ve finally found something truly worth my time."
"Lord Ferlis!"
"Awk!!!"
Ferlis almost jump out of his skin when a person suddenly appeared next to him and called his name in a scary tone.
"Oh, Silver, ha...ha, what are you doing all the way out here."
"Surely you jest, lord Ferlis, we came here to retrieve you."
The one who spoke was a female d in ck skin tight armor, she had silver hair that only went down to her neck and a pair of red pupils that hid a certain level of anger within them. Her skin was as pale as Ferlis and she entrancing figure to go with her pretty face.
"Hehe... how did you find me so soon."
"You''ve been missing for over a year already."
"Yeah? wow, time sure moves fast doesn''t it..."
The female known as Silver red at her seeminglyckadaisical lord Ferlis and spoke. "Your presence is urgently required back home."
"Really! I can''t leave now... I just found something a lot more interesting."
"If you''re talking about those demi-humans I can send someone to monitor them for you."
Ferlis was speechless at her quick response, he then sighed inwardly as a faint smile bloomed on his face.
"Don''t bother, wouldn''t want anyone to temper with my toys or scare them off, besides you would just be wasting the lives of you men if you do that. Ferlis then turned and disappeared into the woods. The silver haired girl turned her gaze to look at the distant carriage that sped off towards the red river and thought. ''Interesting toys huh? why not just catch them now?''
She then proceeded to follow in the direction that Ferlis had sped off to.
??????????
In the Darknar forest western region, underneath a steep hill surrounded by dense vegetation was a cave whose entrance had been expanded by unnatural means and was guarded by two hulking creatures geared in bone armors mixed with a type of metal, they exuded a dense smoke like aura that repelled any living being from approaching them.
Inside the caveid a massive underground mine that had been expanded to form argebyrinth that lead to several secret locations in the western parts of the forest. There were several Gray-War trolls working the Grade 1 Runite mine in this ce but deep inside of the tunnels, was a well constructed passage way that lead to arge ck double door.
Two Gray-War trolls were walking down this unlit hallway like it was illuminated by something. They were formally cave trolls so they could see quite well in the dark, although they still prefer using touches. The trolls walked proudly to the double doors that was one or two feet taller than them.
They lost their previous pride and nervously opened the doors. The room ahead came before their eyes. Unlike the hallway leading here this ce was illuminated by touches that burnt with blue mes. The room was oval in shape and was almost masterfully crafted with various runes or glyphs on the walls.
There was arge stone throne at the end of the room that didn''t share the same craftsmanship as the rest of the room but stood elevated behind a few flights of stairs. Standing by the side of the stone throne was two Doom Knights d in blood red armor and wielding a massive red shield and a long sword. Their deathly gaze sent shivers down the trolls spines.
An undead creature sat atop the stone throne, it wore a slightly tattered luxurious robe with purple threads that designed it''s edges, holding a wooden staff with small red crystals embedded in it and arge one attached to it''s end. It wore a bone crown with the same red crystals adorning the tips of the spiked parts of the bone crown.
It had rotten skin attached to the white bones beneath it''s robe. It''s face was a mixture of the rotten flesh and a skull, however, beneath its rotting exterior lies a pair of evil eyes brimming with intelligence. The lights in it''s eyes flickered like dancing mes before settling on the two trolls that had just entered the room.
Immediately the trolls dropped to their knees and one of them spoke with trembling voice.
"Y-you requested us, my Lord."
"Yes.... He died"
The trolls stared at each other in confusion as they were wondering who this lich was talking about.
"Um... My Lord, wh¡ª"
"Kadiz "
The room fell silent for a full minute, it was know that amongst all the Gray-War trolls residing in this undergroundbyrinth, Kadiz Ral Le Lizor was the strongest. An ordinary Tier 3 warrior that could go toe to toe with even a Tier 5 monster thanks to his magic weapon the Dark-Syphon.
Kadiz might not realize it but the reason why he was given an essence stone to swallow in other to get the runes and glyphs that appear on his body was because, trolls generally couldn''t effectively wield a magic weapon thanks to their inability to actively ess the energy stored in their cores.
The essence stone he had swallow to gain power was the core of the magic weapon he wielded. Zerahut had identally extracted the essence of a magic weapon during one of his experimentations, and although it was easy to return the essence back to the weapon, he opted on giving the stone to Kadiz to see of he would survive the process.
He was impressed by Kadiz tenacity and hadter given him the empty shell of a weapon as a reward to further deepen his loyalty towards him.
Thanks to the essence stone in his body Kadiz could use the abilities of the magic weapon without needing the weapon itself. Zerahut was able to sense the essence stone directly so he could always tell if Kadiz was alive or not and a few hours ago, he no longer sensed it. The essence stone must''ve returned back to the weapon which would only happen when Kadiz dies.
Zerahut spoke with a ghastly voice. "You both are the next in line to seed him. Find out what happened to Kadiz and whoever returns back his weapon will receive the same strength I gave him."
The two trolls eyes shone brilliantly when they heard that, so far only the troll chief and whomever he chooses could leave thebyrinth and as war trolls, not being able to fight was their greatest punishment, the power the undead spoke of was only secondary.
"We''ll leave at once."
Zerahut nodded and the two quickly got up and exited the room before Zerahut''s ghastly voice made them halt for a moment.
"...Oh and, do not get involved with a demon, if the weapon is in the possession of any demon leave it and report back to me."
The trolls nodded and left the room closing the door behind them. Zerahut then moved his hand and retrieved a dark purple orb from within his robe, the orb was uneven and coarse to the touch, it had a faint glow that emitted negative energy.
''I didn''t think I could gather enough negative energy to fill this orb in this lifetime and yet, here it is, fully charged.'' Zerahut rubbed the orb with his right hand and if he had lips he would have been smiling but unfortunately he did not. It was only two day ago that this orb had barely any negative energy yet and explosion of negative energy that originated from the east had instantly filled it.
He was ted by his good fortune and was also frightened by whatever could produce this much negative energy in one go. His original n was put on hold untill he could investigate the situation out east and now he was receiving this information about the death of Kadiz who had gone to the east on his own ord.
Zerahut returned the orb back to his robe and snapped his bony fingers before speaking. "Shadow assassin."
An undead creature d in ck and tattered ninja outfit appeared out of thin air and knelt before him.
"Head to the south and give Daenererys a message from me... Mmm, yes, tell her I seek audience for talks of an alliance."
The shadow assassin nodded and disappeared the same way it came. Zerahut then stood up from his throne and walked down the short flight of stairs towards the end of the room close to therge double doors. He ced a finger on one of the runes on the wall and a stone que was elevated till it was around four feet high.
The que had a slot around the same shape and size of the orb Zerahut had on him. He brought out the orb and ced it on the depression. A clicking sound was heard and the same purple glow the orb emitted sipped into the que. Soon all the runes in room glowed a simr colour and Zerahut immediately removed the orb.
"That should be enough, I can''t rush this at this point in time, best to gain control gradually to avoid any oversight."
He ced the orb back inside his robe and exited the room alongside his two Doom Knights. Not long after they arrived at another room ten timesrger than the previous one. Entering the room a foul stench assaulted his nose but because he was undead, Zerahut didn''t mind the stench.
Rows upon rows of rotten corpses, ranging from monsters to demi-human and even several hundred trolls wereid down in the room. Zerahut held the Orb of Death in his hand and as the glow intensified he cast a spell on a section of the corpses.
"Mass Magic - Create Undead."
Normally the create undead spell could only create one undead at a time and even with the use of the mass magic meta magic it could only create at most three undead at a time and drained arge amount of mana. However right now Zerahut had cast this spell on over 200 demi-human corpses.
These were among the weakest race that resides in the Darknar forest. Goblins, the goblin corpse moved slightly before being wrapped in a nket of negative aura. Soon zombified goblins rose up from the dead and knelt before their master.
"Fufufu... Impressive, not only can I raise so many at a time now but they didn''t even lose their tier... fufufu... This should be enough for now, i shouldn''t raise my strength too fast and attracted any attention." While there was a lot of restrictions to the create undead spell, the orb of death had negated them all.
Zerahut then instructed the undead goblins to follow him as he walked out of the room fill of corpses.
Chapter 41 C41. Awakened
Tyler couldn''t think for much though as the carriages came to another abrupt halt, they had reached the red river. Looking at the way the group moved around and whispered to each other, it seemed they didn''t have any creative way of crossing it. Tyler had thought the Six-eyed bulls would be able to jump across, taking the carriages with them. He might''ve actually been looking forward to it, but unfortunately for him, there was no such spectacle.
They had nned on having Erin take the kids across with water movement as the river was too deep for them. While everyone else swam across and Albert using gravity walk on the carriages and having the chief carry them across one by one and with the additions of the trolls they could get the carriages across quicker.
The six-eyed bulls could swim so it was, well, it was an idea... but Liz felt like it would be a waste of time and just froze arge section of the river making them a very sturdy ice bridge. The jaws of the ogres were practically on the ground at this point. Not only was she able to use a Tier 5 spell so easily, she still had enough mana to be able to use an Over Tier meta magic.
With that done they all boarded the carriage again and it was now smooth sailing to the castle, Tyler asked a few more questions but didn''t get any more useful information. He soon gave up and decided to rx and enjoy the rest of the journey. He could also get the so-called famed cksmith to make him a nice weapon like Albert''s Miao Dao.
The trip was almost over, they had been on the road for almost the entire day, only taking on breaks mainly for the kids onboard. There were about a hundred and fifty kids which was a lot, but they were surprisingly all well behaved. Maybe it was because most of them were still mourning the deaths of their parents. It could also be the effect of having Erin and Liz ride with them, Tyler knew it was also helping Liz feel better.
They hade across several monsters that despite the presence of the troll atop the carriage still built up the courage to attack, this had made their journey a bit longer but they no longer had to fight the monster themselves and just retrieved the corpses when the trolls had made quick work of them.
Tyler was starting to get a little interested in the usefulness of the trolls, they were the perfect tanks giving their overwhelming regeneration ability and brute strength.
The ogres and beastmen in his carriage all chatter away and he tried his best to listen in on any conversation that would provide him with any more information but unfortunately, all they talked about was idle chatter.
They traveled for another hour before the carriage started slowing down, at this point the sun had already set, it was already dark now and only the crescent moon illuminated the sky. The clouds had blocked out all the stars, Tyler peaked out the window and could finally see the castle in the distance, he felt a lot of anticipation right now as he couldn''t wait to check in on the library, maybe him being away from the castle for a while would help.
All four six-eyed bulls soon came to a stop some distance away from the castle. Tyler then came down and went to the front of the carriage to ask Albert why they had stopped, he noticed Liz was already out and was also wondering the same. "Well, my Lord... Um... the barrier is still active and Azar''s carriage was unable to pass through," said Albert looking at Tyler weirdly.
Tyler on the other hand was confused. "Barrier?"
"Yes sir"
He thought to himself if he had encountered a barrier there before, Azar was driving the carriages at the front of the group and Albert''s was at the back, this was because they were the two strongest people who could drive the carriage, and it was a way to protect themselves from attacks from both directions.
Tyler looked ahead and saw Liz looking back at him also clearly confused, she had also not encountered the barrier when she was here, she had assumed Tyler had somehow disabled the barrier and was one of those few individual demons the noble families feared.
A behemoth with power that rivals leaders, maybe not the leaders of the five great families but still a feat that earns them respect from all 70 families. There were Seven such known individuals in the continent and they ruled their own regions making a total of 77 regions.
These seven regions had remained the same since the beginning, not even the great five had bothered them. Whenever any of this behemoth dies another would rise to take his ce by way of a tournament, winning the rights to rule the region.
These people valued strength and never bothered with noble polities. Most of them were ofmon birth and a few were not even demons. Still, they have granted a rank the same level as a demon lord and given regions to govern.
Although there were more than seven such individuals, some of them valued their privacy and had refused to show their identity to the public. The only people aware of these individuals were the leaders who only show them respect on the surface and of course disdain the idea ofmoners attaining the same rank as them.
Most times lower-ranked families would often try to recruit a behemoth into their fold, in other to boost their strength and rise through the ranks. Due to the fact that she had found him in the castle able to enter a part of it that was impossible even for the great five, Liz had considered Tyler one of those and had tried to be as respectful as possible without trying to pry into his past.
It was the reason why she had never ask for his name which was probably the same as the others. After all, it wasmon knowledge that unknown behemoths were very secretive. It was why they worked alone and didn''t bother creating a family of their own, of course, there were a few who just didn''t want the responsibility that came with a family.
Azar and the others in front felt simr emotions, clearly, Liz and Ty had said they came from the castle, so why was the barrier still active. It was very important to know that the barrier surrounding the demon king''s castle was a fiveyer barrier, and ayered barrier wasn''t asmon as a fold. Most casters, to strengthen their barrier would use multiple folds on them, creating a two-fold barrier wasmon in Neon.
Fold barriers were ways to multiply the strength of any barrier, the more folds you wanted the more Mana is needed, because it was a rtively simpler method to strengthen any barrier and was the popr choice for casters, folds could go all the way to 10 as long as the casters were of a high enough level, they could even surpass this. Whereasyered barriers were insanely moreplex, they didn''t necessarily increase the strength of a barrier but would make it more impossible to break.
Layered barriers wouldbine any barrier with another and even add elements of different forms of Magic, the highest level ofyered barrier ever achieved was 3, a Grand sorcerer had managed to create a 3yered barrier several thousand years ago. This grand sorcerer was a high elf, a race that was known to be gifted in magic. It was believed that no one would be able to achieve that level again, but that record was shattered by the demon King one thousand years ago.
The Demon King had set up a fiveyered barrier around his castle, probably hoping to protect his most valuable possessions until he was revived. Although Tyler knew that was no longer possible, the fiveyered barrier consisted of a sealing spell, spirit barrier, greater concealment, and two other spells the families hadn''t figured out yet, they needed to break the spell to know what it was, no appraisal magic had worked.
They had been sessful in breaking the first two spells which seeded in granting them ess to a limited section of the castle, this was because the concealment spell had kicked in, concealing the most important parts of the castle from them, they had spected that one of the other twoyers was a recovery spell that repairs the broken first twoyer Making the barrier impossible to break.
This brought them back to the basics. Power, it was known that even a 5 fold barrier required a massive amount of energy to sustain what''s more a 5yered barrier, without an immense amount of power, the barrier around the cattle would have run out of energy one thousand years ago.
If they could destroy the power source then they would shut down the barrier, but in the end, the power source would only be located inside the castle protected no doubt by the concealment spell.
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When the five Demon generals had left the castle with their minions, they had made sure to take everything they could from the castle, it wasn''t out of petty greed but, they knew that there was something incredibly valuable in the castle and after a futile effort in searching, they didn''t want to leave any stones unturned, it was why the castle was so empty even though no one had gotten ess to it in over a thousand years.
Tyler could see the strange looks given to him by everyone there, well except Albert, he felt a little ufortable but had a pretty good poker face so he looked as calm as he always did. He slowly walked forward to where the first carriage had stopped, Azar had gotten off his seat and had ced his hands on an invisible wall, Tyler felt like he was watching a mime perform.
He couldn''t see anything ahead of him and felt puzzled, still keeping his calm exterior he focused his eyes on trying to emte what he had heard about magic vision, it was a watered-down version of magic sense that even an idiot could perform and thanks to his improve senses due to the fight with the troll, he easily figured it out.
,m His pupils constricted and his vision felt different, arge bluish and translucent dome covered the massive castle, it even expanded over a hundred meters from the castle, Tyler was stunned, this was his first time seeing this sight, the dome exuded a gentle aura and felt as fragile as a bubble, ready to burst at the slightest touch.
Yet, it had remained standing for so long now, feeling a little overwhelmed his approach to the dome slowed down a little, but his curiosity quickly perked up and he wanted to touch it. As he got close enough to touch the bubble, he reached his left hand forward to poke the barrier and was quickly disappointed.
His hands had passed through no problem, it was the same feeling he had felt twice already and he now knew why at the same time Azar who had leaned on the barrier still feeling it up fell right through hitting the ground face first. Tyler wanted tough but kept his cool he looked at the others and spoke gently.
"You may enter."
Liz and the others were dumbfounded, it didn''t make sense, him being a behemoth and managing to break the barrier was shocking enough, but now, finding out that he didn''t need to break the barrier and allowed him in was the next level. First, it meant the barrier must have had anotheryer to it, a sixyer barrier, the very idea of such a thing was ludicrous
Next, it meant the barrier recognize Tyler as its master or Tyler had found a way to deceive the barrier into thinking that, either way, was insane. How was that even possible, this could only mean one thing, whether Tyler was a behemoth who surpassed even the formal demon generals or he was the reincarnation of the demon King.
No matter what it was, what possibility they chose, one thing was certain in all their minds.
A New Demon King had Awakened.
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End of Volume 1: The Awakening.
Hope to see y''all in Volume 2: Behemoth
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Chapter 42 C42. Tranquility
A few meters away from the demon king''s castle, stood a group of ogres, beastmen, kobolds and trolls as they all watched the actions of a single man.
Tyler watched as the expressions on everyone''s faces changed drastically when they saw his hand pass through the barrier in front of him. He had half expected this, and could almost feel the changes to their emotions and their shock.
Although he was just as confused as the rest of them or maybe even more, while they''re able toe up with all sorts of crazy theories to who he was, Tyler himself knew for sure who he was and there was no reason why he should be able to do this, then again he shouldn''t be able to use magic and be as strong as he was, so who knew anymore.
Maybe the barrier was only for demons, maybe humans and other races could pass through it as well, actually that didn''t make sense, if it was something that simple, the five great families would''ve already figured it out. So what did it all mean, was he the only one allowed inside, did the barrier recognize something on him or was he just an exception, did that make him special or was he seriously no longer human.
Questions he had painstakingly pushed aside were now trying to weave their ugly heads back up. He sighed inwardly, he didn''t have any answers to these questions and wouldn''t get it from anyone here..
He repeated himself ones more, snapping everyone out of their daze.
"Whatare you all waiting for, you may enter."
With a collective spark, they all snapped out their daze and Albert couldn''t help but smirk. Azar hurriedly got up from the ground, he was d everyone was too focused on Tyler to notice the embarrassing sound he made when he fell.
He quickly got back on his driver seat and urged the rest of the carriages to follow behind. As thest carriage entered the barrier, Tyler walked in as well. He felt the usual sensation assaulting his senses and confirmed his guess. He got on the carriage, this time electing to ride up front with Albert.
They were only about 100 meters from the castle walls so it only took a few minutes to get there. If the six-eyed bulls had ran at full speed, it would have taken seconds, the sky was already dark and it was only because of the trolls that they had made it on time, otherwise they would have had to set up camp and spend the night in the ins.
Soon they proceeded through the open (fallen) main gate and into the outer ward. It was obvious none of the castle''s previous protection was active. With the carriagesing to an halt in front of therge arched double doors of the castle, Liz quickly got off her carriage and ran over to Ty.
"Um... May I take the healer to see my friend?"
For some reason she was now asking permission to enter the castle.
He was sure the girls must''ve been heading for the castle before they encountered what he now believed to be a powerful Tier 6 magic beast, based on the difference in the magic crystals he had received from the lesser basilisks and the Gray-War troll.
"...Of course, that''s why we brought them with us isn''t it?"
She was a bit flustered by his sudden response but didn''t have the time to think too deeply about it. She left with Erin who had just gotten off the carriage. Without further ado they entered the castle and headed for the 7th floor of the west wing and Tyler could only hope she remembered the way this time.
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Tyler watched the ogres as they moved around awkwardly clearly feeling pressured by the massive and imposing castle, well all except Albert who just stood by his side like a loyal Butler. He was now getting used to it but it still felt a bit weird. Most of the kobolds were still passed out and the trolls just stood by the side quietly.
He remembered noticing what looked like a stable by the side of the castle previously, although he hadn''t gone out to confirm. It was a massive building that could not be missed, it looked like it must''ve been used to tame dragons or Monsters of that caliber, of course even for a fantasy world dragon''s were still just myths.
Tyler then walked over to Azar, the towering 7 foot giant that looked down on everyone like a king. He immediately dropped down on one knee the moment he saw Tyler approaching, ''Huh, what''s with the continuous change of attitude'' Tyler thought as he stopped in front of him.
"You can use the stable in the back for the bulls and the rest of your people can stay in the rooms on west wing for now."
"Ah... Er... thank you my Lord, not only did you save our measly lives but you even offered us lowly ogres a ce in your castle, you have my eternal gratitude. From this day forth, I Azar Igna, chieftain of the red ogre tribe shall lift my de only in the service of Lord... uh.."
"Ty, you can call me Ty, and you don''t have to do..."
"Yes Lord Ty, I will be your de and my people shall be your servants."
''You can''t just sell the livesof your entire town toplete strange...'' before he couldplete his thoughts he saw the lineup of the entire town appeared suddenly behind Azar, and with fluid and practiced motions, they all knelt down on one knee swearing fealty to him, even the massively dumb trolls seemed to have been included in the n and the leader of the kobolds stood in ce of her people.
Their movements were so sudden, it stunned Tyler for a moment. It wasn''t just the adults, but the elderly, the kids, every single person that had came with him made one fluid motion in such perfect harmony that it rendered him speechless.
The sight was impressive and looks of determination in their faces was like a knife stabbing into his heart. He saw the looks of admiration in the eyes of the kids he had thought hated or were scared of him and his mind momentarily stopped working. It had taken quite a while to finish processing what had happened.
''W - WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!''
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Liz and Erin finally arrived in front of therge door that lead to the room she had previously left Rain unconscious body in. Liz opened the door and the view from within came into sight. She saw her friendying on the bed still in her previous position, she wasn''t moving and Liz could tell by the colour of her skin that she was in a worse state than before.
They both ran towards her and Liz could not help but panic. She had great hearing and the room was deathly silent, yet, she couldn''t hear her heartbeat.
Arriving before Rain her heart sank, she wasn''t breathing and her skin was cold.
"We''re toote."
Liz cried as she fell to the ground in despair. After so much effort, in the end it had all been for naught. The familiar feelings of guilt and uselessness were starting to overwhelm her.
"There''s still a chance." Before she could even begin to process therge amount of negative emotions building up inside her, she heard the soothing and watery voice of Erin, which instantly calmed her down. Erin walked over to the bed and ced her hand on Rain''s heart, she couldn''t feel her heartbeat but she could sense a faint energy running through her body.
Her lifeforce. She could feel the very life within her soul slowly fading away. It wasn''t toote to save her, as long as her life force hadn''tpletely been extinguished she had a way to help.
"I can feel a faint aura within her, but, since her heart has stopped, this greatly limits the methods i can use to save her... Right now, we need to move her into a body of water."
"A body of water?"
"Yes... Although normally a natural body of water would be ideal, but, since her life force is still quite strong, even a bath would do."
"Can we use the one in bathroom?"
"That should work, let''s move her"
As the twodies tried to careful pick Rain up, wanting to take her to therge bath in the bathroom, they heard another voice in the room.
"I''ll help." Tyler said as he walked into the room, he had rushed here after giving the excuse of being worried about Liz as he wanted to avoid the troublesome situation he had found himself in. Truth be told, he was actually headed for the demon king''s Chambers, aiming for the magic library, but had overheard Erin speaking, it seems they had probably still gotten lost as he was able to catch up with them after spending some time with Albert''s people.
The girls looked at him in confirmation and he walked over and picked up Rain. Either she was surprisingly light for a girl or he was now quite strong. He walked into the bathroom and ce her in the empty bath as Liz hurriedly turned the water on.
The bath was filled in no time and Rain floated on the surface of the water lifelessly. Erin took off her robe and Tyler couldn''t help but advert his gaze. Her outfit was a little revealing and her assets were quite robust. She entered the bath and ced her hands on Rain''s head.
The mood changed drastically as she uttered a simple word. "Tranquility." Tyler had never heard of the spell and from the looks of it, neither had Liz. The entire bath radiated an aqua-blue glow and Rain was slowly submerged into the water.
The air in the bathroom was cool but not cold, calm but not cating. It was an environment that they had never experienced before. The Mana in the air sparkled like fireflies as they slowly floated to the water in the bath.
This had been going on for a while now and Tyler was getting bored, although it was impossible for him to get agitated or even feel any strong emotions except, well, tranquil.
He knew he should be worried for the girl''s life but his mind still felt peace, all the slight and hidden pain in his heart seemed to be melting away. For the first time since he woke up, he felt peace.
Liz on the other hand, looked like she was being tortured, it didn''t seem like the environment had any effects on her. He thought about consoling her but knew he wouldn''t help. Just as his thoughts wondered about, the sound of sshing was heard.
Someone was gasping for air, struggling to breathe underwater, she jump out, she coughed frantically and it seemed rather painful as she tried to stabilize her lungs. "Rain!" Liz shouted in delight and relief, she hurried over to the bath and saw her friend panting heavily.
She looked better than she had been just minutes ago, her clothes had been torn in several locations during the fight and she had scratches and injuries in those location.
Now however, there was nothing. Not only was she practically brought back to life but all her wounds and even fatigue had been taken care of. Tyler saw this beauty alive and felt actual relief. He didn''t know them and he hadn''t even spoken to the elf yet so he had no idea why he cared so much. Of course he wouldn''t want to see anyone die for no reason but in the end, they were still demons.
Rain slowly recovered her senses in the arms of Liz and Erin was getting out of the bath, with her clothes wet. Tyler promptly decided to excuse himself as he saw the figures of both girls. Although Rain didn''t have the size to match Erin, her figure in a torn skintight outfit was a little too much stimtion for him to handle.
Her short ck hair stuck to her face because of the water, preventing Tyler from getting a better look at her features which led his eyes to wonder around her body.
He immediately walked out of the room with the excuse of giving the girls time to rest and catch up. As he left the room he saw a figure walking down the corridor, it was Albert who must have been looking for him.
Chapter 43 C43. Tyler Falls
Albert walked over to Tyler and spoke first. "Ha... Forgive me Lord Ty. You left so suddenly I was unable to keep up and i am unfamiliar with theyout of the castle so i amte to you side."
Tyler wondered what this old dude was talking about for a moment beforepletely giving up.
"Sigh... It''s of no consequence."
"Thank you sir."
"Have the others settled in yet."
"Well... my Lord, The trolls seemed to be fine living in the stables with the bulls and the kobolds are still unconscious so we left them in the carriages for now. And although the residents of the settlement appreciates your generosity. they didn''t want to impose on their new Lord and decided to set up camp at the outer ward untill they located the servants quarters."
"I see, well that was my fault for not giving any specifics... oh well, you can pick any empty room on this floor, it''s alreadyte so we can talk about what''s next in the morning."
"As you wish, oh and with your permission, while they''re locating their quarters, the tribe would all like to be of use to you my Lord and would like to take care of the castle for you."
"Huh... Mmmm... Sure, feel free to go wild "
"Thank you sir."
Tyler ignored the old man and went forward, he entered the demon king''s Chambers and locked the door.
There was still something he desperately needed to try and he prayed to every entity he could think of hoping he gets ess to it. It was the main reason he still stayed in a potentially dangerous ce like this.
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Tyler entered the demon king''s chambers and immediately copsed to the ground. His heart was beating rapidly while he was sweating profusely. His emotions were out of control and he had no choice but to sit down and try to calm down.
He had no idea what was going on. Was it fatigue? exhaustion or was he suddenly sick. No, he was tired, but it wasn''t physical but mental. He had needed to be on high alert from the moment he met the two girls in the forest. He tried to make the wisest decisions possible at any given time but, were they the right decisions, he had no idea.
He decided not to dwell on it as it was pointless to think about such things right now. It seemed the effect that Erin''s tranquility spell had on him had faded. He massaged his temples with both his index and fore fingers. What he needed now was not to second-guess himself, what he needed was to think of a way out of this mess.
So far what he has ced all his hopes on was the magic library, if he hadn''t found it when he did, he would have probably been dead by now so it was still his best option especially now that the ogres, beastmen and trolls were here.
The problem lies in the fact that he has no idea what triggers the magic library and he had a lot of things to figure out if he would survive this ce. Then again he couldn''t just strive to survive anymore could he, he hadn''t expected the ogres to swear loyalty to him after all they were freemen and from what he had heard they would rather risk death than serve under any of the current demon nobles.
He couldn''t help but remember the kids, the looks of admiration they gave him, life is cruel. Why did they have to give him an extra baggage. He had been too dumbfounded to refuse their pledge and he didn''t even know how to face them. How in the world was he supposed to lead them when he couldn''t even lead himself out of this mess.
''Ow... my head hurts... Let''s not think about this for now. If I can''t even return back to the library again then staying here would be pointless and I might as well just kill meself to get it over with... Wait, why am I contemting suicide all of a sudden... Goddam demon king.''
Why he suddenly med thete demon king for his predicament he had no idea, but he needed to get back on topic. He didn''t know the requirements of entering the magic library so it would be wise not to do anything too drastic and approach it normally.
ording to the information he had gathered thus far, the castle was protected by a massive barrier that for some unknown reason only allowed people in when he touches it. To be frank this information was quite scary and would no doubt, attract more trouble towards him.
Putting the fear aside for a moment, he focused on the more important fact of the information. Judging by the idle chatter he had heard so far, the barrier wasn''t a simple one. It possessed at least oneyer of concealment spell.
That exins why he hadn''t noticed the library door when he first walked into the room. So far the door hadn''t been concealed again which meant his presence here was also having an effect on the castle. That brings him to his next issue.
Where was the library located. He had examined theyout of the entire seventh floor of the West wing and he hadn''t found a spacerge enough to contain such a massive structure. ''Pocket dimension? or somewhere else... Mmm, perhaps the astral ne? No. No. Probably not.''
The library was most likely connected to the castle using spirit magic. The demon king''s mastery of spirit magic was impressive. To be able to transport such a massive building into another dimension was not an easy task, not to mention sustaining a stable connection with the library even after death.
That also includes theyered barrier outside. ''What exactly is powering these spells? That reminds me, there was a secret door in the throne room, is the power source there? from what I gathered, it requires a ring in the library to open. Hehe... What a shrewd demon king.'' With that realisation his already calming nerve were agitated ones more.
He sat down on the sofa with killing anticipation. This room was hot, very hot and he could no longer breathe. Wait no, that wasn''t true, the room was fine and the temperature in the room hadn''t changed a bit. If anything, he was the one getting abnormally hot.
''Mmm a bath? perhaps I need one.'' he thought to himself. ''How long has it been now. A week, less, more. No, it should be less right. Six, I think. It''s been six days since then huh. I haven''t thought about it much... It''s strange, it''s like I''m trying to fill my head with a lot so I don''t have to face myself.''
He slowly got up, his heart beating steadily as he walked to the balcony. It was quite a cold night, but, it wasn''t the cold that bothered him. It was the strange feeling of nostalgia.
''Was it like this? the night I found out I had been asleep for over a thousand years. I see.''
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Tyler falls, he was originally a university graduate with a degree in Science. Still, he found himself still working part-time at the local convenient store in his neighborhood. Even after searching for a job several times, in every singlepany in the city. Most times he had been tly rejected. This would''ve been enough to drive anyone into a pit of despair.
After spending four years in school, enduring the hardship and torment that was college life, in other to get a degree and still being told you were unqualified for the job would even send some to suicide. But he wasn''t that discouraged by it. This was because, he was blessed with a younger sibling that took the pain away, his little sister.
He also had a mom, but she was a bit weak and was unable to do any strenuous activities. His father had died in an ident the same year he entered high school.
His sister was quite brilliant and was praised for her academic achievements. She was the only reason why he had any motivation to work harder. His father had left enough savings behind to put him through school and take care of the family''s daily necessities but it wasn''t enough for his sister.
Perhaps he had. felt his son would graduate to be a fine member of society and immediately be epted into argepany, being able to take care of his mom and sister for him. Or perhaps it was just all he could save, but, Tyler had no choice but to shoulder the responsibilities of the family even though he wasn''t able to get a job in any suchpanies.
He took on several part-time jobs and paid for his sister''s tuition untill she graduated high school. Although she was offered a schrship to the university of her choice, it only covered 80% of the yearly total tuition and the first year daily expenditures.
He still had to make up the difference which was no small amount, she had offered to ept the schrship from a lesser know school, they had offered her a full schrship with all expense paid but Tyler couldn''t let her do that. He had turned out mediocre and couldn''t let his much more talented little sister end up like him, who would.
Working day and night to pay the rest of the fees his sister went to the best university around and graduated, top of her ss and he couldn''t be any prouder. She was only three years younger than him and had even skipped a grade or two graduating at the age of Eighteen.
With him graduating at the age of twenty-one, it meant they had graduated at the same time. Anyone hearing this would raise an eyebrow at the vast disparity between the two siblings, but his sister thought different. The fact that he was able to attend sses while working several part-time jobs and most time not being able to sleep and still finishing with decent results was amazing to her.
Even when everyone ignored him and rushed over to congratte his sister on their graduating ceremony he still hadn''t cared. The single words of heartfelt gratitude he received from his adorable little sister was enough for him. She had also been scouted by manyrgepanies and was offered a well paying job opportunity in arge city.
Tyler had felt like a father the day she left home to work at a new city. It was a pitiful sight to see and he now felt embarrassed about it. Unfortunately he really was unlucky.
On the way home from dropping his sister off at the airport, he had an ident after swerving away from a little kid who had ran into the road and mming into a tree. It was an instant death and he hadn''t even felt it.
He woked up in arge cave in the middle of the forestpletely naked. ''Wait... wasn''t that the same thing as thest time... Why the hell am I always naked.'' since he possessed the same body as back on Earth. He had thought he was summoned here, after all thenguage here were all automatically tranted to him and all he needed to do was learn how to read a few sybles.
As he stared at the beautiful night sky, he couldn''t help but wonder how his mom and sister were doing. ''Why am I thinking of all this. Am i somehow preparing myself to die here?'' he sighed. ''Come to think of it, I look exactly as i did when I transmigrated here more than 1,000 years ago.''
''Hm... does that mean i was unconscious but i died and was reborn in the future. No, that''s not right. I remember falling down there and from what I gathered this world is the same. So... hmmm... there is still some parts that doesn''t add up. Why hasn''t anyone figured out I''m human yet, or am I really no longer human... Damn... dying might be a lot easier than this... Shit, I''m being sucidal again.''
*Knock knock knock...
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Chapter 44 C44. Shadow Walker
In the dead of night a shadow moved through the edge of the forest as it rapidly approached the demon king''s castle at a staggering speed. The shadow warped several times and a figure appear out of it, the figure slowly revealed himself to the glistening moonlight.
It was an handsome man with short white hair, he wore dark speed based armor and had two golden daggers strapped to his waist. He had bright golden eyes with a vertical slit. The same figure that had appeared in the destroyed red ogre settlement. "This is strange... Am i headed in the right direction?"
He looked around again and his eyes glowed slightly. ''Its faint but this should be correct... why then... why are they headed in this direction.''
"Desperation?"
''No... Unless... I see... so that was it huh. To think they would take such a risk just to avoid serving a demo Lord. Such scums. If it wasn''t for those two I might''ve taught them a lesson today.''
Getting out of his own head he shook the tempting thoughts away as he knew the two unknown strangers were too dangerous to mess with. Especially the guy that was able to sense him. His face shed through his mind and he couldn''t help but grit his teeth. He didn''t know why but looking at him made him ufortable.
He frowned slightly as he picked up the trail ones more and faded into the shadows. Moving at a fast pace he should be able to catch up with the group in a few minutes. He had purposefully slowed down his pace to avoid the perception range of that individual.
As he predicted he soon could see the group slowing down ahead. ''Wait... what? why are they slowing down there?'' This was beyond his calctions and expectations. Normally they should have taken a detour after getting to this point and headed their original direction. It wasn''t logical to slow down now.
After tracking them for almost a full day now he was sure they had experienced hunters in the.group, not only were they harder to track than expected, they had also taken routes that gave them the highest chances of evading detections from the scouts in the forest while keeping their travel time as short as possible.
It took him a lot of effort to pick up their trail before it went cold, which wasn''t easy. Any other tracking rouge would''ve already lost the trail unless they wanted their cover blow by that man. An eerie breeze blew as he melded back into the shadows.
He approached the group ahead from the shadows as he nned to get a better view of the situation up ahead. Soon the group came to an halt as the riders in front got off to inspect what appears to be an invisible wall. ''Are they dumb... Don''t tell me they came all the way here for the castle.''
How could that be possible, everyone in every corner of the demon continent knows about the issues surrounding the demon continent. If didn''t take a genius to figure out how dangerous of a ce this was to intrude in. Even the seven behemoths, who had the powers to match a demon Lord wouldn''t carelessly approach this ce. After all this was equivalent to making an enemy of the Great Five families.
Thinking of the Great Five sent a chill running down his spine even though he was from one of them. Well, maybe it was because he was from them that he knew how fearsome they truly were. Most lesser demons would believe the Great Five were strong in numbers and name only but would not realize that they were sorely mistaken.
"Hmm... I might be rushing to conclusions too early." It was better to observe their actions carefully, they might have actually sensed him and were putting up a front to lure him out no matter how unlikely that may seem.
Watching the group carefully he saw them reach out to touch the barrier with an hint of confusion and curiosity in their eyes. ''An act?'' he wondered but wasn''t convinced, but why would. they be confused. ''Did theye here in ignorance. how can that be?'' That was not supposed to be possible, right now there should be no one living on the demon continent that would be this ignorant.
Someone soon alighted from one of therge carriages and walked up front. It was the same guy that had made his journey so troublesome. With is ability to ce a soul curse on his targets he would be able to track the person to the ends of the world no matter how skilled and powerful they were. It was impossible to erase the cursepletely and it was very hard to detect.
cing a soul curse would also allow him to use a spell of remote viewing on the target, bypassing any anti-detect and counter spells ced on them. Although he wasn''t a spell caster he had prepared the necessary tools and scrolls before setting off. This was an habit of every skill member of a noble family including the Great Five.
He frowned upon seeing the ogres treating the man with respect. If it wasn''t for him, he wouldn''t be hiding in the shadows behind the buses like amon pervert. "Tsk...", ''I promise, I''ll kill you soon.'' he thought as the other stranger in the group alighted her carriage.
This was the first time he had actually gotten a good look at her and his heart almost left his body. Although he was captivated by her beauty this was not why his heart skipped a beat. She was beautiful, yes, he could even confidently say she was even more beautiful than his beloveddy Izabel that he wouldn''t mind her stepping on him also.
When he thought to this point, a striking pain assaulted this heart. He felt like he was thinking about something sacrilegious. Shaking his head he decided to cleanse all irrelevant thoughts from his mind. What was important about this seemly superficial fact was that demons physiology was different from humans. The purer a demon bloodline was the better their physicals appearance.
What this meant was that thedy that had just alighted was of a hight statue than thedy Izabel. Wasn''t this dangerous, in other for her to be of a higher statue she had to either be the direct daughter of a demon Lord or maybe the great granddaughter of one of the Leaders of the Great Five.
''Should I retreat? this might be more dangerous than I thought, but if one of the great Five is making a move shouldn''t I observe so i can report this back. Lady Izabel would get high praise if she brings in information of this level and she might even get an edge over her.''
Thinking of the cloakeddy in the cave a sudden cold washed over him. Forcing his attention back on his target he opted on observing them. Everything was finally unraveling for him after the realization that one of the Five might be making a move. The strength of a pair he had never seen before could only be possible if they were from the Five.
Even if they were the trump card of a regr noble family trying to undercut the five ot be recognized as one of them. This was still valuable piece of information. As his thoughts wondered he noticed thee guy with the above average looks who he now believe to be one of the outer ranking members of one of the great Five like himself. He was most likely serving under the girl as her servant just like him and a specialist in detection which was why he was noticed.
The hatred he harbored for him all this while were slowly melting away as he felt a strange sense of kinship building within him. He watched as he approached the barrier nonchntly. The other stared at him strangely and Griff had a bad premonition.
The guy stretched out his hand to touch the barrier and it slowly went through. The tall brawny ogre that had ced both hands on the barrier that Griff hadpletely ignore fell through the barrier like a log with his face mming down on the ground.
Even from this distance he could swear he heard a collective gasp follows by a deafening and heavy silence with everyone''s jaws dropping to the floor, and he wasn''t an exception.
He could see all his analysis and conclusions copsing before his eyes as he stared at him dumbly. He hadn''t even realized he was no longer hidden in the shadows as his mind was a flurry of confusion. The group soon recovered from their stupor before boarding their carriage and proceeded to enter the barrier.
Griff had been lucky enough to witness his family''sst attempt at breaking the barrier surrounding the castle and it didn''t look anything like this. It took over 8 hours just to break the firstyer and grant them limited ess to some areas in the castle, while theyer automatically repairs itself. Yet....
All he did was touch it. ''He touched it... Who... who is he?'' All his previous thoughts and emotions were immediately shattered by a simple move. What was left could only be described as an inmate sense of fear. He hadn''t seen the fight between the lesser basilisks and the settlement as the spell of remote viewing would only show the view to the caster unless another spell is used to supplement it.
Lady Izabel was the only one with enough skills to watch the town without being notice. If any of them had tried to use a spell like Mirror Connection to view her Remote observation spell they would have most likely been found out and that wouldpromise their mission. When someone wanted to observe a person from afar, a lot of preparations were necessary, although not many people paid attention to anti divination spells.
Any decent mage or warriors would be able to tell when someone was spying on them. If he had watch the fight he Might have thought differently, being the servant ifdy Izabel his main job had been the gathering of information and he always pride himself in that aspect. Almost all her servants that had mastered the shadow skill, his version was the most suited for being a spy and the fact that someone like him had misjudged someone so tantly was a dagger in his heart.
Grabbing his heart with his right hand he watched the group enter the barrierpletely. He slowly approach the barrier as he could barely make out the appearance of the group ones they entered the barrier. From what he knew when the firstyer of the barrier was.broken, it took more that 12 hour for it to repair itself and even longer if the secondyer was also destroyed.
He had a.sliver of hope as he got closer and closer to the barrier. The castle was not that close to the forest so it was harder to move in the sparring buses. He left the cover of the leaves and walked to the barrier. While his.shadow abilities would help.him hide in the shadow of objects, he could not hide in his own shadow and in an open field like this, there wasn''t anything he could hide in.
He was now only an inch away from the barrier and he could almost touch it with his face. As long as he enters the barrier as well it meant the guy from earlier really is a behemoth at the same level as the Elders of the Great Five, and stronger that even the leaders of the other noble families. He reach out an arm, his aim was to prate the barrier the same way the guy did.
A wall... It was like a thick and solid wall. "This... I have to report this... This is dangerous."
Chapter 45 C45. Magic Library (II)
*Knock... Knock... Knock...
Tyler''s attention was jolted awake, his thoughts returned to normal as he stared at the door that lead to the hallway. For a second there he had thought the knock came from within the library and almost lost it. ''That would have been scary...'' He wanted to ask the person that knocked to enter but when he realized the state of the room he quickly got up and walked to the door.
After resting for a while now he finally felt a lot better, his mental exhaustion had been alleviate by the thoughts of his sister and mother. Even though he knew that there was no longer any hope of returning back to Earth. He had investigated it several times in the past and had never found a way back, he had also died on Earth beforeing here so his body was probably long gone.
Only heroes that were summoned here were generally able to return back to Earth. He shook the depressing thoughts off as he opened the door to see the aged demon, Albert standing there.
"My apologies for interrupting you my Lord, but the everyone''s a little restless Right now."
"They are?"
"Yes sir, as freemen, they have never sworn their loyalty to anyone before and had only lived by their own rules. Now that they have lost that title, they are quite unsure of what to do next."
''That''s why they shouldn''t have done that.'' He thought to himself while tilting his head slightly. "Anxious huh... If they need something to keep them busy for now, they can try having a bonfire in the ward. There''s nothing special I need from them so they should just rx for now." He paused and thought for a while.
If he was sessful in entering the library, he would spend as much time in there as possible untill he had gotten what he wanted or was forcefully kicked out again. Last time he spent more that 24 hour in there so if he was to base his assumptions off of that, then...
"I might be busy for a while so if for some reason they feel they can''t rx, you can get them to do some stuffs around the castle, they can clean and maintain it for now while getting themselves familiar with the ce, it has been a while since anyone''s used it so it''s a little dusty."
"As you wish, we will get on it right away."
"Huh, get on it? wait, I didn''t say right now.... and he''s walking away." Albert had already walked quite a distance away before Tyler could even finish his sentence.
As Tyler watched him leave he sighed and shrugged, if Cleaning made them excited then he shouldn''t stop them.
He turned around to return back to his seat when a sudden jolt of electricity shot through his brain. ''Huh...'' He turned around puzzled as he tried his best to think of the reason why that happened. He felt like someone with malicious intent had just touched a part of his body. But no one was next to him right now.
Being cautious he activated magic vision but the results were still the same.
Tyler then walked out of the room into the hallway, he stared down the hall for a while but nothing changed. Giving up he decided to head back in, that''s when he heard the sound of a door opening. He turned warily to look only to see Liz exiting the her room, she turned in his direction and saw him staring at her.
She then took slow steps as she headed for him. Tyler felt exhausted waiting for her but he felt like he shouldn''t move or that would be rude. She finally arrived before him and before he could say anything she bowed deeply to him. Tyler was startled and wanted to say something but before anything could leave his mouth she beat him to the punch again.
"I want to offer my gratitude... Not only did you help us in the forest but you also went out of your way to help my friend. If... Sob... if... You hadn''t done anything when my mind was in such a state i might not only have lost myself, I would have also lost my friend."
Tyler listening to her sincere words of gratitude and could only focus on one thing. ''That state? Does that mean she remembers what happened in the forest... Perhaps shecks control whenever she transforms. I supposed if that''s the case then knocking them out was a good thing.''
"It''s fine, no need to bow I was also interested in helping your friend as there is something ick that both of you may be able to provide me with." Liz slowly raised her head as she stared at Tyler a little hesitantly.
He knew this was risky. Laying his cards on the table was never without risks, but at the rate things were going, he had a bad feeling the wheels of fate was spinning, and not in his favour. Besides they were bound to figure him out sooner orter, it was best to control the situation now while he had the chance.
Having had some time to think he came up with various ideas as his mind went into overdrive, preparing for any scenario that might happen. As always his main objective was information but Knowledge without wisdom is like water in the sand. Wisdom was also profitable to direct.
He looked at Liz with a calm expression and asked. "How is your friend now?"
"She is fine, the healer said... Hm... I mean, Erin said she just need to rest for a full day or two to recoverpletely."
"I see... Hmm that''s good then, I guess I''ll tell you what I need and you can fill her in when she wakes up."
"..."
"Mmm... Well I''ll just sum it up for now. Like I said before i have been asleep for a long time now and while I''ve been away things around here have changed greatly."
"Asleep? how long."
"Roughly a thousand years."
"..."
Tyler saw the look of surprise on her face changed to one of instant realization and confirmation. He could guess what she was think and surely she hade to a wrong conclusion and he wasn''t going to correct her. This was one of the reasons he was telling her this based on the reactions of everyone when he touched the barrier.
Heter heard from her and the ogres that freemen stood against the ruling ss of this continent and they were only here because this region was unruled. Based on this facts he wondered why an high level demon like her and a dark elf of simr strength would be here. Moreover they had taken a dangerous route through the forest instead of going around it.
He came to the conclusion that they were also trying to hide from high ranking demons just like he was. If anyone could understand his situation even with a misunderstanding, it would be them. They were probably criminals or outcasts that ran away from home in search of a safe haven or something simr.
Whatever the case, it made no difference to him as long as they were of use to him. As the silence continued, Liz was the first to break it as she spoke softly.
"Why were you asleep for so long."
"That''s of no consequence to you, so don''t mind it, besides you should be a little aware of what happened a thousand years ago. I had no choice but to enter a state simr to sleep." He said trying to affirm her misunderstanding even more, which seemed to have worked.
"Okay... what do you want to know from us."
"Everything."
?????????
????????
With that his most dire need for information was solved. Although he hadn''t gotten the information yet, as the girl still wasn''t in the right frame of mind to give a detailed description on what she knew. Just like him, she was also mentally exhausted. Now that her friend was out of the danger zone. ''Hehe... Danger zone.'' He asked her to rest up and would get the information from her both of them were awake.
As he locked the door to the demons king''s Chambers he took a deep breath to calm down and walked to the strange door in the room. He finally had the chance to test the door to the library. Although he had alsoe up with various ideas and theories on how the library worked.
He still had to test it before he coulde up with other ideas and maybe find a solution. Perhaps he would have to tell someone about this ce in order to get a more informed solution. Someone like Erin might be more knowledgeable on concealment spells than a novice like himself.
Thinking of this he immediately shook the idea off his head. He had no intentions of revealing his most valuable trump card to anyone no matter how long he had to wait. Since he now knew he was most likely the only one that could enter the castle freely he would camp here for as long as it took. Besides he really had no where else to go.
He soon arrived at the door to the library and a familiar feeling started to swirl within him. Rather than being nervous he was more hopeful, what''s the point of a trump card if you can''t use it. He twisted the door knob and pushed...
A slight creaking sound could be heard as the door slid open slowly. "It opened! It really did open!" The emotions he felt was indescribable as he watched the door open before him. He was relieved, he was ecstatic and he could barely contain these emotions. Why it opened now was a mystery, did the connection between dimensions stabilized? or was this an effect of the spell itself.
So many questions ran through his mind and as usual he had no answers for them. What he knew now was the answers to this questiony within the library. Without hesitation he walked inside the room and the door closed behind him.
The bright light from within almost blinded him as the view from within settle in his eyes. Tall wooden bookshelfs as far as the eyes could see, filled with books of different colour and sizes in different section of the hall. He saw the walls that were lined and designed with gold, the strange symbols and drawings carved on the tall walls, and even though there were no coloured crystals to light up the room the ce was still as bright as if it was under the sun.
The familiar ce he had only entered once in his life almost brought a tear to his eyes. He was finally able to enter the one ce that had most of the answers he needed, well except the information he wanted on the current situation in the demon continent.
Although he didn''t know how long he could stay here and learn, he still took a moment to absorb the emotions within him as he looked a the majestic sight before him.
"Finally Back!"
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Chapter 46 C46. Magic Runes
After finally calming down, Tyler no longer wasted time. He had no idea why he was expelled outst time, perhaps it was because he used a spell or maybe the connection between the castle and the dimension the library was located was unstable. If it was the formal then all he needed to do was refrain from practicing his spells here and he would be fine.
If it was thetter then there was nothing he could do for now so he needed to study everything he could about spirit Magic and concealment spells. Although he had wanted to learn the Tier 3 spell - Flight.
''I suppose it can wait. If I''m able to stabilize the connection of the library then I would have all the time in the world to learn it.'' With his mind made up he took several step into the library as he searched for the section were Spirit Magic was located.
Although he had also wanted to figure out more on what had happened to him on their way here. Losing control of his emotions and almost casting a spell that could ruin all his ns. He still didn''t have any idea on where to start with that and had to put it on hold, at least for now.
The library was massive and he had to walk for a while, searching each section and rows for anything rted to Spirit Magic which took more time than he had originally thought. He had been searching for almost an hour now and he still hadn''t found it. What''s more he had no idea where he was as he had been walking in an haphazard manner.
"Fuck... why didn''t I keep track of where I was going." Feeling a bit frustrated and impatient he picked up his pace and jogged around the library looking for either the exit or the Spirit Magic section.
Time slowly passed by and Tyler finally found it. He breathe a sigh of relief as he approached the first bookshelf and pick up the first book. He flipped through the book gradually in a rx manner. He needed to fully understand the situation of the library so he didn''t try to rush through it.
His hand turned another page as he nced through the page and turned to the next. He flipped through page after page, after page, after page, and continued untill he finally got to the end of the book. With a smile on his face he ce the book back on the shelf and chuckled to himself.
"Hehe... I really didn''t expect something like this... Damn. I can''t read a word."
He wasughing at himself as he pick up another book and rapidly flipped through it, cing it back on the shelf he pick another and another and another untill thest book ced on the shelf. "I can''t understand anything... Wait wait wait.... what is this? Did i lose the ability to read or something."
Confusion was stered on his face as he stared dumbly at the books he had dropped on the floor. This made no sense. He was able to read the books herest time and he could still read the titles on these books so why couldn''t he read the content.
Refusing to give up just like that, he got up and ran to another section of the library. Searching books after books from different sections to find out if he could read anyone. He ran at full speed but felt slower for some reason. Not paying any attention to this he went in a random direction as he search each section leaving a mess along the way.
Almost 30 minutester he finally stopped at a shelf as he stared at a book intently. "I can read it." As those words left his mouth a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders as he copsed on the floor in relief. He read through the book to find out if it was written in a differentnguage and finally noticed something.
With that a light bulb went on in his head as he finally figured out the problem. When he first arrived in this world he had noticed that allnguages in this world was automatically tranted to him upon hearing. This only required a bit of investigation to figure out the reason behind it.
Upon transmission he was granted a passive level of magic sense that transforms any word with intent into anguage he could understand. That alongside his weak innate ability were the only things he got from dying on Earth.
He had learnt how to read thenguage in the Ruz kingdom manually. It was obvious the skill was still active even now so he hadn''t thought about the reason why he could read the books in the magic library in the first ce.
Thenguage in the demon continent was definitely very different from the one in the Ruz kingdom as the human continent spoke more than six differentnguages. He had since epted this fact as normal and had forgotten something basic. Magic books weren''t written In any mortalnguages, they were written in Runes. Magic Runes to be precise and the reason he could read this book was because he had learnt a little about basic magic Runes when he was studying to be a magic swordman and had reinforced the knowledge his first time in the magic library.
The section of books he had tried to read had contained higher levelled spell books and they were naturally all written in intermediate or advanced magic Runes which were foreign to him at this point in time. Moreover concealment spells were of higher Tiers and at a minimum they started at Tier 2.
Tyler sighed deeply as he regretted the amount of time he had wasted. All this time he should have just focused on building himself up step by step. "I guess you can''t skip the basics huh." He slowly got back up and ced the book back on the shelf ignoring the ones he had dropped on the ground that were still scattered all over the ce.
He had wasted enough time already and he needed to begin his sturdy of intermediate Magic Runes. He really wasn''t looking forward to this as Learning magic Runes was like studying a secondnguage. It wasn''t something you could do in a day. But right now he didn''t have a choice if he wanted to make progress as a magic caster.
He walked for a while untill he found the section he had previously found the basic magic rune on. On his way he couldn''t help but wonder why such a massive library wouldn''t have a magic librarian or catalogue that would help him navigate the library with ease.
The ce was actually well organized with numbers in the shelfs and each section only containing rted books but there was no way he would know what each section was specialized on without reading the titles on the books. This was the reason why he spent so much time searching for the section in concealment spells.
He located the shelf the books on Magic runes were on thanks to his recollection of the number on the shelf fromst time and he proceeded to find the books on intermediate magic runes.
The books on basic runes had only filled the bottom part of the shelf next to it but the ones on intermediate magic runes covered the entire shelf. They were separated it three levels and he had no choice but to start from level one. Magic runes were the foundation of magic. They were symbols that had been imbued with magic essence and contain immerse strength that produced various effects depending on the rune that is used.
Each rune contained a different essence and can produce a unique effect. Although these effects are invisible to the naked eyes mages, sorcerers, wizards and various magic castersbined these runes in specific orders and then imbued magic energy (Mana) upon them to produce different spells. These runes can also be used on weapons and materials to produce various effects as long as they are supplied with magic energy.
It is believed that magic runes are really thenguage of the gods, although countless mages have tried to study this and find out their true origins, no one has ever seeded. Magic runes also contain nature''s essence, when such runes are connected and merged with a Mana body they can be used to even produce skills that can be used by even those that are not attuned with magic and have very little magic potential.
The more advance a rune was the more specific and more unique their effects will be, the harder it was tobine them. They are like the pixes on an high quality image, useless on their own but whenbined and depending on the quality and quantity, they will produce a magnificent and an extremely clear picture. Runes also have different types ranging from elemental to nature bound and various others.
So basically, the higher the level of a magic rune the morepact they needed to be, the more they had to be in perfect order to create an actual spell. This also went the other way around, the higher the tier of the spell, the more advance andpact the magic runes needed were. It was why it was so hard to see a high tiered mage back in the human kingdoms.
Well except for summon heroes, they usually came with their own cheat code, unfortunately Tyler wasn''t summoned here.
Tyler had spent more than 12 hours already, yet he was still on the level one of the intermediate magic rune. There were thousands of different magic runes and if these were not separated in sections like they were, he most likely would have not known where to start from.
After another 12 hours study section, he was finally done and although he wanted to build on this momentum and finish all three levels of the intermediate magic runes, he still didn''t know how much time he had left since he couldn''t learn much on concealment spells withoutpleting this step. He had no choice but to learn more spells and broaden his horizons giving him more options in battle, but before that though he had yet another problem he needed to resolve.
Firstly he wanted to retrieve the artifact that seem to be linked to the throne room. The ring that might also be a key to whatever was behind the throne. Although thinking about it now that might actually be a bad idea, he decided against it after giving it some thought.
He went to the earlier section that contained all the tier 1 spells, since they were all grouped together in a small section of the library. After all a single Tier 1 spell book could contain more than three tier 1 spells but only one magic book could contain a single tier 2 spell and above.
The spells were all separated by elements and forms, he needed to start from here because he wanted to expand on his basics before moving on to higher, more powerful spells. Although for him tier 1 spells were almost more powerful than higher tiered spells but that was partly due to hisck of mana control and was quite te dangerous for him.
He also couldn''t test his theories on that here as he was still unaware of what would upset the library. All he could do now was learn as much as he could now and test everything outter when he was out of the library.
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Chapter 47 C47. Mana Control
Tyler thought for a while on which spell he should learn first. Although there was a lot of Tier one spells he was interested in, he decided to put the thought aside for now. He wanted to research more on Mana control and basic Tier spells wouldn''t help him do that.
He still remembered all the close calls he had whenever he would cast a spell. Even if he got stronger and learnt more powerful spells, it wouldn''t be of much use if he ended up incapacitated each time he used a single spell, and who knew what strange effects would happen if he used higher tiered spells.
Tyler searched around a bit before finally taking a Tier 2 spell book off one of the shelfs. He then walked around for a while before he found what he was looking for. It was a section of the library, dedicated on Mana control. There were several degrees of Mana control for casters at different level of potential. The higher ones potential was, the more difficult it was to control their Mana.
There were very few grandmages and sorcerers in the past and most of them had spent centuries researching this problem, some even ended up relying on magic artifacts to control their strengths. Tyler couldn''t help but smile upon reading this part. He was relieved he wasn''t alone in this even though those grand mages and sorcerers were most definitely dead by now and there might''ve been various breakthrough in thest thousand years.
He was also very pleased in hisparison to a grandmage. It was important to note that such a title wasn''t given lightly. These were all magic casters with umonly high magic potential and incredible achievement in their pioneering the vast void that is the unknown aspect of magic.
Tyler had heard of a Grandmage in the human continent, two in fact. He heard they could extend their lifespan for decades and one of them at the time was over 200 years old. Most humans would only have a potential of tier 1 and those that reached Tier 2 were considered as the gifted, then there were the rare few that had reached the peak of human potential and capped on tier 3. Those were usually the higheres ranked adventurers whether they were full on mages or just magic fighters.
It wasn''t until the human race had faced the consequences of their reckless actions that heros that surpassed those limits appeared. Amongst those heros was the Grandmage Deneil Askain Steinford. From what Tyler remembered he was a true legend that lived in the Le Aliztan Empire. He had risen to fame even before the Human alliance was formed, back in the days when the kingdoms and Empires were still at odds with each other, this was predating the great war.
He was promoted to a rank of equal status with the emperor, although he had no administrative duties. He created and lead the Magic Institute of Le Aliztan and was the head researcher for magic, the creation of new artifacts and Mana control. Thinking of this Tyler couldn''t help but think about reading some of his research notes. ''No, I need to focus on what''s in front me and not something that might never happen.''
He proceeded to read as many books on Mana control as his level of magic runes allowed. Time flew by quickly and Tyler was unaware of it. He barely felt the flow of time in the library and didn''t know how much time had passed so far. The lighting in the room was constant and there were no windows to indicate the time of day.
Tyler spent hours in that section untill he finally read enough to understand the basic. What these books told him was that Mana control was directly rted to how one builds their Mana body. The Mana body could be considered as the core for every living and intelligent creatures in this world.
Basically, it was the same or equivalent to the cores and magic crystals in magic beast. Only, unlike beasts, this wasn''t just the source of Mana in the body, this would also strengthened the physical body to the limits of it''s potential, providing the various tiers of physiques. However, When an intelligent lifeform is born they don''t automatically possess a Mana body. They would possess what was know as a Mana pool.
This Mana pool is then influence by the amount and purity of the natural energy around them which canter develope into an innate ability, if the child was extremely lucky. The Mana pool grows with the body until it reaches it''s limit and then slowly mutates and forms what is now know as a Mana body. This is also why ones a Mana body forms, it decides the potential of that person and can no longer be increased.
Tyler woke up in this world already and adult and was not blessed by the effects of an hero summoning spell. He had not gone through such a process in his life and even though he had an innate ability he barely had enough potential to use it. Now however, he felt like his body was most likely forcefully fed with enough natural energy to bypass such restrictions, it was no wonder he barely had any control over it.
Heroes received blessings that negates any negative effect from not developing their mana pool into a Mana body while those that were reincarnated used their previous knowledge to properly develope their Mana pool to get a rtively high potential. But, he didn''t fit into any of this categories. He had died yet he wasn''t reincarnated and he didn''t know if he was summoned as their was no one where he had woken up.
An hero summoning required more than fifty mages, in order to perform the ritual and they also needed the blessings of a priest so all heroes that had been summoned so far, were all summoned by one of the three churches. While sometimes they were used for politics based on which church summoned them, Tyler never witnessed such things, having transmigrated during the time of the great war.
The entire thing was giving him an headache. Was his imprisonment in the underground prison of the demon king''s castle a coincidence. He decided not to ponder questions he couldn''t possibly get the answer to and focus on how to fix his current predicament.
So far he understood his Mana pool hadn''t develope well with his body to form a perfectly synchronized Mana body. Right now he couldn''t do any thing about that and to fully fix this problem he would need to master all levels of an advance magic rune. But he could still start the process now. He didn''t know how long he had been here but he felt he didn''t have much time left.
He sat down on the floor and adopted a meditation pose. ording to the book he needed to feel the source of the energy surging inside of him until he could visualize his Mana body. Tyler tried to focus intently as he turned his attention within him. It was quiet, for a period of time there was no sound in the vast library.
No footsteps, no flipping of books and not even the sound of breathing. Tyler was fully immerse in himself for hours until he finally found it. He saw a body that looked simr to him made out of pure energy. The energy was out of control within the body and he could even see cracks slowly appearing on the exterior of the Mana body. Tyler''s heart tighten, he hadn''t expected the situation to be so dire.
To think he had gotten so much more stronger than he was just for his Mana body to be on the verge of self destruction.
Tyler didn''t have time to think too much as he immediately acted.
He instantly followed the instructions on the books and extended his consciousness within the Mana body to get a feel on the situation inside. He had no knowledge on advance magic runes and couldn''t mend the cracks while slowly expanding his mana body to contain so much energy.
Tight... He couldn''t prate his own Mana body. The thickness and shear amount of energy inside him was ridiculous, moreover it felt like it was still growing. Tyler tried again and again, wanting to enter the center of his Mana body with his consciousness but was barely making progress. He had no choice but to forcefully expand his Mana body from this distance.
Normally it would be impossible to expand ones Mana body as it formed naturally with their potential so even expanding it would only improve their stamina and not their potential. They would only improve their Mana reserve if they used magic crystal during the process. The odds of sess was also abysmal and the magic crystal would be wasted, there was also a chance of damaging the Mana body so such a process was not without risk.
Tyler had enough mana reserves and stamina so all he needed was the expansion. He also had magic crystals on him and since he didn''t need to use them to improve his stamina, he wanted to use them to contain his Mana body so the cracks doesn''t get worse during the expansion.
He reach into his pockets and felt out two Magic crystals, bringing them out he absorbed the chaotic energy within and forced them to envelope his Mana body. Normally it was very dangerous to use a magic crystal directly but Tyler had no intentions of letting the energy into his Mana body.
Spreading out his consciousness he stired the Mana within his Mana body and swirled them around. It felt like he was in the eyes of a whirlpool and the vast amount of Mana surged around him. If it wasn''t for the energy from the magic crystals supporting his Mana body from the outside, he had a feeling his Mana body would''ve shattered right now.
He then used intermediate magic runes as a conduit in forcing the energy to evenly expand the Mana body without further damaging any part of his Mana body.
It was a delicate process and he didn''t rush it, he couldn''t fix the damage that was already inflicted on his Mana body and he didn''t want to be the one to damage it further. Time passed slowly as he finally felt his Mana body expand slightly.
Although he would like to continue, this was enough, the energy from the magic crystals were almost exhausted. If he got greedy and tried some more with only level one intermediate magic runes he would definitely destroy his Mana body himself even with additional magic crystals.
Tyler immediately retrieved his consciousness and watched as the Mana within his Mana body settled down slightly. He had a sigh of relief as he could finally think about what he had just realized.
Whatever was underground had slowly over the period of a thousand years forced natural energy inside his shell of a Mana body to the point of almost destroying his mana body. Anyone else would have never survived such a process and the only reason he survived was because he had never evolved a Mana pool into a Mana body so his Mana body was like an almost empty ss container.
There was no way this could now be considered a coincidence. However who could have wanted him to absorb so much energy and have knowledge of the strange location he had woken up in under the castle, was he supposed to be used as an experiment or was he some kind of vessel for them.
There were a few people that came to mind when he thought about this and at the very top of the list was the most powerful being in the world at that point in time, the person whose rage and anger was so bottomless, it had almost swallowed him in the rocky ins by the outskirts of the Darknar forest.
It was non other than the previous demon King, Uryil Von Niilx Darknar.
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Chapter 48 C48. Curious
Albert left the seventh floor of the west wing in the demon king''s castle and headed down, he could tell that for some reason his new master was mentally exhausted. Perhaps it was due to the circumstances that surrounded this castle and the fact that the red ogre settlement had apanied him, or maybe he had expended a bit too much mana during the fight in the rocky ins.
Albert guess was that Lord Ty had most likely isted himself for centuries and kept himself in a special state simr to sleep in other to recover from a certain injury. He wasn''tpletely sure about the details but it wasn''t like it mattered to him anymore.
He had already used a demons pact when he offered his life to Lord Ty so he wouldn''t betray him no matter who he was. Even without the pact he would still never betray him, after all, he was someone that had saved both his and Erin''s lives. Going against him would do a lot more than dishonor his demon heritage.
Albert reached the first floor of the west wing and saw Azar waiting for him. The Chief of the Red ogre settlement turned to face Albert and asked with a serious expression. "Well?"
"Well what?"
"Don''t give me that. What did you think when you asked him about it? Does he think we were too presumptuous and full of ourselves or maybe he thought we were lying."
Albert sigh as he shook his head. "I think he was just caught off guard by your earlier request, especially since you''re all freemen. Besides, It looked like Lord Ty wasn''t ready for arge group of servants at the current stage of his n. He had only went out to seek a healer for his twopanions, well I am not entirely sure if they are hispanions or not but he had only epted our pledge out of his endless benevolence. It was obvious with our numbers and our few fighting force we would have died trying to find an unupied safe zone, if we had encountered the trolls on our own who knows how many lives we would''ve lost."
Azar folded his arms to think and soon said. "I guess you''re right... Well, what''s done is done. After saving our entire town twice, there was nothing worthy of our thanks than our lives. I''m d Lord Ty didn''t reject it.... By the way do you think Lord Ty is him?"
"I wouldn''t know, besides I don''t really think it matters who he was. My demon pact was made to the man who saved my life and not his past self. Whatever his n is, i am sure the tides would be changing soon."
"Huh what do you mean?"
Albert turned his head to look around the hall they were in, attracting Azar''s attention before turning back to look at him in the eyes and spoke slowly. "Can''t you tell, No matter who he was before, Lord Ty is now the seconding of the king. Such a thing would most definitely stir the wheels of fate as the tides of our destiny shall be decided by our Lord''s future."
Azar looked at him with aplicated expression, and sighed loudly with a pwaa... "You know, there are times that I just can''t understand you at all."
Albert chucked softly and changed the subject. "How''s the others settling in?"
"Well... This ce is huge, just the servant quarters of this wing is enough to contain 1000 ogres, but it''s quite apparent that this ced hadn''t been used for centuries. It''s exactly like the stories said, no... It''s even more extravagant, everyone is really curious about the interior but..."
Azar paused, then he took a step forward and lowered his voice a little before continuing. "We can''t just wander around without permission so my wife suggested cleaning the castle instead. She was even more excited than she usually is and has already organized the women to explore... *Cough *cough. I mean clean the entire castle which is why I asked you if we could."
"We?"
"Well of course, you may not know this but i always did love to clean... Hahahaha..."
Albert stared nkly at this half giant who was trying to deceive no one but himself and shook his head.
"Well, unfortunately i already asked and... Yes, he gave you permission to do as you wish but not to push yourselfs to much."
"It''s great that Lord Ty worries about us but we''re ogres, this level of physicalbor is nothing. Apart from the kids the men is also going to join in on the cleaning and make sure the entire castle is spotless before Lord Ty wakes up in the morning."
"I see... So everyone was in on it. What about the trolls and kobolds?"
"Well the trolls must''ve been more terrified than we thought, they passed out the moment we set up some hay for them in the stables. As for the kobolds... well, most of them have woken up, their leader, the female Dragonwrought kobolds said her name was Tarka Harkail, she is exining their situation to her people as we speak."
"Oh..."
"Is there something you wanted them to do?"
"Hm, yeah but not now, they should get some rest till morning."
"Alright then, I guess we''ll get to explor... I mean cleaning immediately hahahah..."
"You seem overly enthusiastic."
"Haha, what in the world do you mean, my wife is the one making me do this, i swear, hahaha..."
"Okay, I''ll leave that to you for now, while i go check in on Erin."
"Leave it me!" Azar said with a beaming smile on his face as he gave an enthusiastic thumbs up.
Albert nodded and proceeded to head back up to the seventh floor. He soon reached the room where the girls were and knocked. After a while it was Erin who came to open the door and Albert asked. "Is everything alright? How did it go."
Erin looked a little tired as she yawned and said "Everything''s fine for now, she wasn''t breathing so I had to use tranquility, that''s why I''m a bit tired."
"I see... So you''ll be keeping an eye on her for the night?"
"Yes... Liz and I would take turns and since I''m tire I''ll rest first."
"My apologies then, you were resting. Hmm... where''s the blonde one?"
"I just said her name geez... She''s taking a bath first."
"Okay... Then I''ll be off now."
"Yeah goodnight."
Albert saw the door m on his face, he had wanted to ask if he should call up one of the other female ogress from downstairs to help them watch the girl but he hadn''t even been given the chance. Lord Ty had asked him to rest but he couldn''t just do that, he decided to supervise the clean up operation of the castle and prevent any mishaps from happening, of course he only wanted to make sure the ogres didn''t touch something they shouldn''t and wasn''t interested in their exploration mission, not at all.
He left the seventh floor again and did as he had nned. With him and Azar supervising the group, they were able to explor... I mean clean the entire castle before Dawn. Still, there were ces where Albert felt like magic shouldn''t be used although not many ogres could use magic to begin with. It seemed female ogress were more likely to be able to use magic. Since the settlement now mostly consisting of females, there were more lifestyle magic casters avable since they had either been too old to fight or pregnant. Although most of them could only use lifestyle magic.
Albert supervised his group untill they had gotten to what he believed to be the throne room, it was very obvious due to the massive throne at the end of the room. He had wanted them to clean the room as carefully as they could but upon entering the room he felt a faint pressure emanating from the seemingly metal throne. Although the pressure was almost no existent, he mad the quick decision of exiting the room immediately.
It wasn''t that he didn''t want to clean the throne room but, it was because he could tell the throne was dangerous. He was sure the thing was an artifact a magic artifact. Carelessly touching something like that was foolhardy.
Even for him he wouldn''t approach it recklessly, besides the room looked sparkling clean already so what''s the point. He took his cleaning crew back to the previous room. They had cleared out the broken piece of the statues and kept them close to their alcoves just in case their Lord would need them.
With the cleaning of this roompleted, they were done with the interior of the castle. Yes all four wings had beenpletely explor... I mean cleaned and what was left was the outside. The castle was lit up by colourful crystals so they had no lighting problems but there were no such crystals outside. They had to wait for the sun to rise so they don''t make a mistake, after all not all of them had ¡ãDarkvision¡ã to be able to see in the dark.
The castle was massive covering more than a million square metre or over 250 acres. It was no small feat to clean the entirety of the castles interior within a single night but their passion for ''cleaning'' was impressive. Albert praised thedies sincerely and even felt a small sense of aplishment himself. He didn''t dwell on this thought though as he lead a few ogress to Lord Ty''s room. They may have had ulterior motives but it would be an insult to clean the entire castle without cleaning lord Ty''s room.
Of course normally, he wouldn''t disturb him in the middle of the night but it was almost Dawn and he should be standing there hours before Lord Ty wakes up, then he would use the chance to also request permission for thedies to clean his Chambers. Albert and two otherdies arrived at the seventh floor in no time at all. One of thedies was and ogress and the other a bunny girl.
Yeah, she had bunny ears and tail, although she was an older woman, you could also tell the fact that she must have been quite beautiful in her day.
They all stood by their Lord''s door as they waited for him to wake up. It was already past Dawn and the sun hadalready fully risen so Albert decided to knock and let him know they were outside.
*Knock. Knock. Knock.
There was no response, he knocked again and met a simr situation. He opted on waiting for a while just in case but he saw the concern faces on thedies beside him. cing his hand on the door knob he twisted and pushed. Surprisingly the door was not locked, he didn''t know why he imagined Lord Ty locking the door before but he was obviously mistaken.
The door opened and Albert saw the interiorpletely. It was of a muchrger size than even the other rooms on this floor and the designs on the walls were even more detailed and exquisite. A singlerge bed stood at the end of the room next to an entrance to a balcony, several exquisite yet dusty sofas surrounded a small coffee table that was ced atop a thick and soft carpet.
An emty miniature bookshelf stood at another end of the room next to a ck desk and chair with the door that should lead to the bathroom being on the other side, the room was indeed beautiful even in it''s current state, yet, that was not what had caught their attention, they all stared nkly at the empty room as thedies mouths opened and closed a few times without saying a word.
Thedies behind Albert were shocked. The room waspletely empty and judging by how quiet it was there was no way someone was in the bathroom, their mouths finally produced sounds as they silently mutter to themselves "Our... Our Lord isn''t here."
"Where did he go?"
Chapter 49 C49. Unease
The strage silence emanating a sense if unease and the rapidly rising tension upied the empty room that was formerly the demon king''s chambers deep inside the massive castle known only as the demon king''s castle as the actual name of this ce had been lost in sands of time.
Three figures stood still by the entrance of this chamber clearly still in shock or maybe it was confusion. Two if these figures were clearly more shaken thatthe third as their eyes widened and their mouths opened and closed several time before finally mumbling something to themselves.
Albert narrowed his eyes at the muttering of the twodies behind him as he observe the room. It was already beyond rude of him to enter this ce without permission and it wouldn''t be outrageous for him to lose his life for something like this, so searching the room any further was definitely out of the question.
However, with the current situation at hand the the presence of the twodies behind him, what exactly was he supposed to so next.
Although he felt there was surely a good exnation for this, he also didn''t want any escted rumors to spread amongst the recovering residents of the Red ogre settlement and especially amongst the newly added kobolds and trolls.
The red ogre settlement and kobolds had only just fully sworn their loyalty to Lord Ty and even though that may have been because he had saved their lives and had also offered them a ce to stay. It was still a fact that most of them had only done it because of his strength alone, especially the trolls.
After all this was the demon continent, a ce where strength was everything, and although the demons had mellowed down over the past millennium. Strength was still a major factor amongst the top. It was the reason why the Great Five exist on a whole different level that the rest of the nobles.
With that said, it was no surprise that everyone here knew the value of being under a being such as a behemoth, and after the trauma they had faced under the horde of Tier 5 Lesser Basilisks, it was only natural for them to seek the safety of a powerhouse at the same level of a Demon Lord or in short, a Behemoth.
However, if they suddenly learn that their new Lord had sudden disappear without a trace, it didn''t matter the reason. They would assume it had been too good to be true, and there would be panic amongst them which could lead to someone making a rash decision that could get someone else killed or even worse attract more trouble to the rest of them.
Albert then closed his eyes as he apologized to Lord Ty within his heart before activating a skill. He hadn''t sensed anyone leaving the castle and even though Lord Ty practically had no aura most of the time, he was still a living being and had a presense. With this skill he should be able to sense him.
Even if he had used an invisibility spell like the Tier 2 camouge and the Tier 4 invisibility. However, those spells could not hide ones presence. Unless there was an higher tiered spell he wasn''t aware of that does that. (His knowledge only extends to Tier 5)
As long as he could find traces of his presence he would be able to tell were he went and if he had actually left the castle or if he had used a secret passage in this room. Albert thought thetter was the most reasonable assumption based on where they are and what he had heard lord Ty say so far. He solidified his resolve abd activated his skill.
,m ¡ãKeen Eyes of a Demon¡ã
His brown coloured pupils glowed slightly and his irises turned into a slit as he tried to observed the room. Just as he had thought, this ce wasn''t ordinary as his eyes were forcibly closed by an invisible force. He suddenly dropped to a knee and the thedies behind him were startled.
They eximed as they ran over to help him up as soon as they could. That was when they noticed his eyes were actually bleeding, they were so startled and almost screamed. "Captain! Are you okay."
*cough... "I''m fine, I just did something I shouldn''t have..."
"Are you sure... Please use this handkerchief to wipe the blood."
"Thank you."
"Er... What about our Lord? Is he okay?"
"...I''m sure he''s fine. There is a lot we don''t know about this ce so it''s better if we don''t go searching anymore. Lord Ty is just busy at the moment and he hasn''t granted us permission to look for him so all we have to do is wait."
"...Hmm, are you sure?"
Albert finished wiping the blood off his face as he turned to stare at her for a few seconds, with a slight smile he asked. "Have I ever lied to you before?" The female ogress got a little flustered as she hadn''t expected that reply. She shook her head as her reply.
Albert was confident in his response. It wasn''t that he confirmed anything with his skill. Although there were a lot of variations on the Tier 1 spell ''Keen sight''. Albert had been the only one to turn it into an high level skill that had a variety of functions. Yet, he hadn''t even seen anything before the room aggressively shut down his skill and even attacked him. What this told him was that he was right and there was really a secrets passage or something simr hidden in the room.There might even be something more valuable here.
He was a formal demon Lord and even though he wasn''t privy to the most valuable information of the top nobles, he was still aware of the reason why the Great Five wanted this castle. Although he wasn''t quite sure what they wanted exactly, he still knew there was something the word valuable couldn''t describe hidden here. He had also taken the chance to look around the castle during his supervision of his cleaning crew and hadn''t found anything.
The only ces he hadn''t searched thoroughly was the throne room because the aura the throne emitted frightened him a little. He also didn''t have any ns if searching this room if he hadn''t discovered that Lord Ty was missing.
With a sigh he pped his hand once to get thedies attention as he spoke. "Since we have intruded on the Lord''s Chambers without his permission, even if we are to get punished we must first of all make sure this ce is sparkling clean." The twodies nodded in agreement, they hadn''t even paid much attention to the punishment part as they felt that was natural.
They had onlye under Lord Ty''s rulest night and they were already being a nuisance. If they got away with only punishment then they would consider themselves lucky, there are servants in noble households that are killed off for less. More importantly they were.relieved by Albert''s attitude and confidence that their master hadn''t abandoned them and wanted to show their loyalty even more.
They proceeded to clean the room, and as none of them had the clean spell they had to do it manually. Of course this was on purpose as they would rather take their time making sure the ce was clean. While they were busy Albert wasn''t just standing around doing nothing either, he knew from the rest of the castle and by Lord Ty''s outfit in their first meeting that he had woken up to an empty house.
It was like going to bed at night only to wake up and realize that you had been robbedpletely while you slept and the robbers took everything. Although Albert heard the story from histe father about the formal demon generals he was still stunned on how they had thoroughly cleaned out the castle without even leaving a decent set of clothes behind. Well he knew they were looking for something so they had no choice but still, having finally stepped his foot into this castle personally, he felt that the most feared demon Lord''s in all of the demon continent were nothing more than petty thieves.
Albert then opened therge double folding doors that lead to arge space that could not be considered a closet by most but another room and brought out some of the best outfits he had collected over the years that Tyler had expressed interest in back at the settlement and ced them neatly in shelves. Based on that, he more or less knew Lord Ty''s style, he liked simple outfits, neat pants and shirts along with coats and hats, he didn''t have simple shoes though so he only ced some ordinary boots there.
With the ce no longer empty Albert felt as sense of pride and went back to supervising the twodies as they cleaned the room. Since the whole ce was empty they didn''t take as much time as they would usually take so they rounded up quickly.
The room was sparkling clean when they were done and Albert lead the two of them out, he also proceeded to tell them about keeping the disappearance of Lord Ty a secret so as not to create unnecessary panic and they both agreed. They had full trust in Albert which was another reason why they so quick pledged their loyalty to Tyler because Albert had already done the same.
Since he saif Lord Ty would be back then they trusted himpletely. As they left Albert locked the door behind him taking onest look at the room inside. It would be a lie to say he wasn''t curious about the indescribable treasures thaty within but, that was all, a lingering curiosity.
He shut the door and left with thedies, since it was already bright out, he wanted to check up on Erin before he nned to take a break. Thedies headed down while Albert knocked on the door that lead to the room the three women were. It was silent for a while before suddenly, a ruffling sound came from within and soon he heard someone scuffling to the door.
The door was swung open and a pair of daggers stared at his soul. They weren''t actual daggers, but just a re, yet Albert''s heart tighten. This wasn''t a feeling he would get from an ordinary person and he knew only someone stronger than him could make him feel this way. This was also the same feeling he got from the blonde girl... Liz... This was the same feeling... perhaps this was even a little sharper.
The cold gaze that didn''t seem like they were observing him casually moved around him and he could feel several point in his body go numb. Naturally he understood what these were, weak points, in the span of a single second she had located so all his weak points and just by her re alone they were going numb. It made him wonder what would happen if she was holding a weapon. Wouldn''t he be dead?
At tier 5, Albert was considered strong by most, he was at the same level as most of the other demon lords in the demon continent so how could so many people stronger than him appear in such a short time frame.
The person that was instilling such fear in him had Raven ck hair that only extended to her neck with light green eyes and a thin face. Her nose and eyes were well proportioned and her lips were cherry red, a little thin but full, whichplemented her dark skin. She had long pointed ears that were twitching a bit and right now she looked a little pale and sickly but her eyes were still sharper than his sharpest de.
"And who the hell are you?" She asked in amanding tone that demanded a response as her eyes narrowed and the atmosphere in the hall got a lot heavier.
Chapter 50 C50. When It Rains...
Albert''s back tighten as he almost reached into his coat to pull out his sword from his spatial storage ring, but immediately renounce the instinct. As far he knew she was the girl Lord Ty had went out of his way to help and being aggressive towards her might displeased his new master.
"I said who are you?'''' She repeated her self again, this time with more force that made the already dense atmospherepletely still. Her slender figure seemed like it could strike at any moment and he wasn''t confident of surviving her first strike. She must have been an assassin type because he didn''t think his instinct would mislead him and he felt like she was more dangerous if he let her make the first move.
Staying silent wouldn''t help either, so his best bet was to diffuse the rapidly escting situation. Obviously she hadn''t fully recovered yet and her hostility may just be a side effect from being on the verge of death.
"Ahem... Pardon me, I am Albert Cronoff, a servant of my master, Lord Ty and I only wanted to check up on the situation here and on my wife Erin Cronoff. She''s the healer that attended to youst night.''''
"Huh?"
Rain looked both shocked and confused by his clear and concise response. Her expression told him, she had no idea what he was talking about and was puzzled by the content of his reply. She looked at Albert strangely and finally took her time to observe him closely, in order to tell if he was lying before taking a look at her hands and the strange room she was in. She couldn''t help muttering to herself.
"Where, Where am I?"
Albert being the high ranking demon he is, heard her mutters clearly and responded. "You''re in Lord Ty''s castle the previous residence of the demon king." If Tyler was here to hear this he would have had an heart attack from that statement. Rain on the other hand was even more confused, she had no idea who this Tai person was and certainly didn''t remember entering their castle.
Her memories were a little fuzzy and she finding it hard to recall herst memory when, a word from what the old man had said finally registered in her head. "Demon king''s castle" She mumbled again with widened eyes.
At this point Liz also a high level demon heard themotion and woke up. She and Erin had nned to take turns keeping an eye on Rain throughout the night but it turned out they had both underestimated how tired they both were and had both fallen asleep at some point in time.
Erin had physically exhausted herself in the fight against the magic beast and Liz was mentally fatigued. She sat up from the sofa she had fallen asleep on and turned to the bed instinctively to check up on Rain only to find just Erin by the side still asleep. "Rain?" she shouted snapping herself awake and also Erin.
Raine hearing the familiar voice, turned around to see Liz in the room and hurried over disregarding the man in front of her. "Liz you''re here. I''m so d, are you okay? these people didn''t do anything weird to you did they. Common talk to me."
Liz could barely believe her eyes, it was only yesterday that her friend was practically dead and was brought back to life. She couldn''t believe she was the one in front of her going off in her usual rants. Tears slowly built up in her eyes as they flowed down like a river, her eyes glistening in the light as she hugged her friend.
"Hey what''s wrong. What happened when I was out? did they really do something to you, tell me, I''ll make them pay with their lives." Although it sounded like she was justforting her friend, Albert who had only taken a step into the room immediately took two steps back.
Erin had woken up fully by now and even she felt a bit emotional when she saw the two friends. She had talked with Liz for a whilest night so she knew quite well, just how much Rain meant to her. Liz sobbed a little before she replied to Rain. "It''s alright, everything is fine. You''re fine."
Although Rain was still a bit confused she knew when to ask questions so she justforted her friend. She also noticed her hair colour had retured to normal which made her finally realize the people here must''ve help her out and finally lowered her guard.
Soon the girls were able to calm Liz down and they soon exined to Rain what had happened so far. Albert wasn''t invited to their conversation so he was kicked out. Rain was still confused on the identity of Tyler and Erin was surprised the two girls hadn''t met him before a few a day ago. Still, Rain was thankful he was able to forcefully cancel Liz transformer before it went out of control.
She wouldn''t be able to forgive herself if something had happened to Liz because she suggested they cut through the forest. Liz then told her of how they got to the Red ogre settlement only to find it being attacked by monsters and was almost destroyed. That was when she witnessed Ty''s incredible speed as he blew passed her to save Erin. Erin felt a little embarrassed when she heard her name and blushed a little at the thought.
Liz then continued to narrate his fight with all three magic beast although you couldn''t really call that a fight. However to someone like Rain killing Three Tier 5 magic beast with ease wasn''t that impressive, she was pretty confident she could do it too especially because lesser basilisks weren''t speed based monsters.
Even the fight with the Gray-War troll wasn''t particrly interesting to her, although she was a bit curious on why he had suddenly lost his previous cool and unleased an aura that could even affect Liz she still couldn''t bring herself to admit defeat. He was probably just a little stronger than her anyway.
However, what came out of Liz mouth soon after shocked her to the core.
"He... he walked through the barrier." Her face was stered with shock and confusion. It wasn''t all that different from the faces of everyone who witness Tyler performing this seemingly simple feat.
She, more than everyone here had a better understanding of the Five-Layer barrier that protected this ce, after all she had specially prepared a tool to help bypass just a section of the barrier.
"Huh, wait, my dagger! Where''s my dagger."
"Dagger?" Erin and Liz spoke simultaneously as they looked at Rain in confusion. Rain ignored the girls as she sprang up tossing everything in her wake as she searched desperately for something.
"Hmm Rain, I don''t think there''s anything here or i would have noticed it earlier"L Liz said softly, even she didn''t know why Rain was so frantic in losing a pair of daggers even if they were magic items she should know that their lives were more important than those. She didn''t know much about the weapons Rain uses because she almost never needed to use them in front of her so she had no idea if they were magic items or not.
Rain felt her heart tighten as she realized that she had lost both daggers. She remembered she had thrown one at the Ancient Rykir and had steeled herself to lose it but now she realize she must''ve dropped the other one when she passed out. ''I can''t believe i lost it, damnit, I got us in so much trouble just to get it.'' She thought as her face paled even more.
"Umm... Rain, can you exin what''s going on." Liz asked still confused about her friend''s exaggerated reaction. Erin was also quite interested in the reason as well, as her healer she was also concerned about her body, using tranquility may have restored her life but she had still lost a considerable amount of lifeforce that only time would fix. Rain sighed and thought for a moment before speaking.
"Those daggers i had with me this time were special. They were magic artifacts."
A collectively gasp ran across the room as the looks of surprise were on disy. Magic Item and magic artifacts were vastly different from each other mostly due to their rarity and value. With magic artifacts being more valuable as the process of making them had been lost for millenniums so therefore they were very finite in number and incredibly powerful.
This however did not limit the demon nobles as they had collectedrge quantities of magic artifacts over the years adding to their power. Infact the power of a single artifact had cost thest demon king his life without giving him the time to counter. Whereas magic items could be made by even a low ranking magic caster, although they would have to fail a million times to seed just once, it was still technically possible.
Erin wasn''t surprised by the fact that the girls had a magic artifact but by the fact that the one holding it was a dark elf. She knew the situation of the dark elves in the demon continent. She was curious about the situation of the pair but she knew better than to pry into other people''s secrets.
She felt a bit shy, and was unable to ask anything so she made an observation instead. "Mmm... If thest ce you had the dagger was in the forest and, Um... since Lord Ty was the one who brought you from there perhaps he also found the dagger."
"Really!" Rain spoke with piqued interest as she saw a little bit of hope in the horizon. "Should we ask him directly?"
"Isn''t that a little rude, he saved your life after all."
"Then what should I do."
"Well... You can just go thank him first then perhaps we can find a way to ask himter, he did say he wanted to speak to you."
"To me, huh... why"
"I guess he just had some questions, he wanted to talk to the both of us so maybe he''s curious on why we took a route through the forest."
"Oh..."
Erin had almost spoken the words I''m also curious when Liz had said that but forcibly controlled herself. Rain seemed to bepletely fine and not even a bit of fatigue showed on her face, even though her lifeforce hadn''t fully recovered yet. They all still decided to visit Tyler so Rain could thank him personally and Erin was still just curious about the pair so she tagged along.
Although they needed to get Rain cleaned up first. She was still on the same torn and tattered outfit she had on the entire time, they had to get her to take a bath first.
Erin then lent her a pair of clothing that were most suited to her style, which was a bit loose around the chest area but was fine everywhere else. It wasn''t a shy outfit, onlypromising of a long ck pants and a white long sleeve crop shirt. Rain was pretty satisfied with it and the other two girls soon got ready as they exited the room and making Liz lead them to Tyler''s Chambers before cing a knock on the door.
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Thanks to all my readers who are supporting this novel. Win win event is here and i hope we make it all the way to the end, also.
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Chapter 51 C51. Living In The Castle
*Knock *Knock *Knock
The girls lightly knocked several times on the door leading to Tyler''s chambers but received no response even after waiting for a while, the ce was quiet so they assumed he must''ve left the room for somewhere else in the castle. The only problem was, the ce was massive and they had no idea where to start from.
Moreover, wandering the castle aimlessly and without permission was probably not a good idea, given the situation they find themselves in right now. Pondering this, Erin made a suggestion, their best bet was to ask Albert about it. He had been moving around this castle since they arrived and he should be aware of the whereabouts of Tyler. It was also easier for her to find him due to their connection.
Rain hadpletely forgotten who she was talking about and had to be reminded by Liz that it was the old man she almost attacked. She chuckled in embarrassment, not entirely sure what had happened to her but her emotional state had been a mess.
The girls finally came to a decision on their next move, so they headed down the stairs in search of Albert who had left their room earlier. Thanks to Erin they were able to find him pretty quickly on his way out of the castle.
Albert was about to go check in on Azar who he was told had gone to the
stables with a couple of the previous Red settlement guards to feed the Six-eyed bulls and maintain the carriages. They had finally settled in on the servants quarters along side the kobolds who were still getting used to being around other races.
Kobolds weren''t very sociable to begin with, perhaps it was their mischievous nature or a sense being ostracized by the other demi human races for being weak. The only one they had been able to freelymunicate with was the female Dragonwrought kobold.
The previous energetic bunch had fallen asleep after the fatigue they had umted from explo¡ª cleaning the massive castle and the battle that had happened yesterday and the day before.
Albert saw the girls heading towards him and halted his steps as he turned to face them. Rain then quickly apologized about her previous behavior this morning which Albert had no longer bothered with. The event had even further increased his resolve to improve himself, at least to the level of the two girls, aiming for Erin''s level was unrealistic.
He also didn''t want to hinder his new master in anyway, he felt like with his current strength someone like him didn''t deserve to offer his life to someone at his level.
He regretted ever being satisfied with his current strength and although his magic potential wouldn''t increase, his swordsmanship should be able to close the gap. He could also try to improve his stamina so he could learn more secret Techniques. After Rain''s apology was done and Albert''s eptance, Erin then informed him of their intentions to find Tyler, although they didn''t mention the reason why.
Albert saw no reason to hide the truth from them since he still wasn''t sure of the rtionship between the two girls and his master. He decided to tell them everything. Well, he didn''t really tell them everything as he failed to mention using a skill in his master''s chambers and receiving a severe bacsh. He also didn''t mention his thoughts on the matter, only that he thought Lord Ty was busy in a secret section of the castle.
The girls had no trouble epting this as they were well aware of the true ins and out of the demon society. They knew full well the value the Great Five had ced on this castle and how hard it was to enter. The fact that most of the directions the development of the demon continent have taken so far revolves around this Castle was prove of that. They all knew that this ce must''ve contained a vast secret, and the one who is able to enter at will would obviously not be oblivious to that.
"What now?" Liz asked as she turned her head to face Rain. Rain shrugged as she casually responded. "I don''t have any of my daggers so it''s not like we can leave. We just have to wait."
"Oh..."
Albert hearing their conversation realized they were not as close to his master as he had thought and decided to take note of that. Erin then asked Albert what he was up to and he informed them about Azar, since they didn''t really have much to do they decided to tag along. Rain was surprisingly really interested in the Six-eyed bulls than they thought as she seemed to have a thing for strong mounds.
It didn''t take long for them to arrive at therge stable by the side of the castle. However, looking at the building it was almost an insult to call it a simple stable. The building was made with bricks and was about three storeys high with intricate runes carved on the walls.
They spotted Azar''s huge frame from a distance, he was giving directions to some of his men and a fewrge hulking creatures. Albert soon approached him and he stopped his work to greet the group. Since the girls weren''t interested in what both men had to say, they went inside the stable to show Rain the mounds.
"I''m surprised you were able to get the trolls to listen to you so easily."
"Oh that, hehe... It''s all thanks to this weapon on my back, once they saw it their attitude immediately changed and they turned obedient, Almost like dogs. I have to thank lord Ty for bestowing it upon me."
"Oh I see, it seems thest owner of the weapon had really traumatized these trolls."
"Hahahaha... I know, isn''t that great."
"Sigh... Not necessarily. Anyway how is your work going."
"As fine as it possibly could."
"Well that''s good."
Since their exploration had allowed them to clean the interior of the castle. There was no longer much that needed to be done this instance. Well there was yu broken main door and main gate of the castle, as well as there other fallen parts of the outer wall, but, these things weren''t exactly urgent. Thanks to the barrier, they had enough protection from the outside, unless a Demon lord suddenly attacked personally.
Perhaps they would also need to reset the traps in the outer and ward and walls as well as fixing the broken ones. The problem was, they didn''t have any of the tools necessary for things like that, and they wouldn''t know if they were overstepping their bounds.
Although, with the additions of the kobolds who were adept at trap magic, they might not need any tools, and besides Tyler had told him to do as he pleased.
Albert suggested the idea to Azar''s who suggested they wait till the kobolds were fully recovered, they still had to take care of themselves untill Lord Ty returns. Albert then gave some instructions to Azar about resting after he was done, then he told Erin he would be returning back to the castle to rest for a while, after all he hadn''t slept in days and even though he could go months without it, it still wasn''t a good idea.
The girls had gotten some sleepst night so it wasn''t like they needed it. Erin nodded to Albert and they continued to y with therge bulls in front of them. Although wether Rain was actually ying with them or torturing them, she had no idea.
When Azar and his workers were done feeding the bulls and maintaining the carriages, they left some food for the trolls, and the girls, having gotten bored followed behind. They didn''t know what else to do since now that Rain and Liz knew someone upied the castle, they didn''t feel like they could explore it anymore, at least without permission. So they just loitered around the castle''s exterior until it was past noon when the ogres finally woke up.
They spent the time discussing and getting to know each other better, although they didn''t reveal any secrets, they slowly built the foundation for their friendship. When most of the female ogres woke up, Azar who hadn''t slept at all for some reason provided them with the provisions to prepare lunch for everyone. Even though they had relocated in such a hurry they still had emergency rations that wouldst them for months so it wasn''t a problem staying here for quite a while.
Getting everyone together for a meal was a one of the best ways to get to know beach other and although they finally felt terrible for abusing the freedom Tyler had given them to roam the castle, Albert had to reassure them that it was fine.
The castle had several dining halls and also a veryrge one most likely for asions. The entire settlement was contained in that single hall and they ate and chatted merrily with the inclusion of both Liz and Rain.
They spent the rest of the day together as well and also had dinner in the same fashion. Like this the day ended and everyone went to bed in their self assigned rooms. Liz and Rain also shared a room and invited Erin to bed with them leaving Albert alone for the night.
The night was cold and quiet but the group slept peaceful untill the next day.
The cold wind woke Albert up at his usual time and he got up and ran through his usual routine. He opened the window to let the mourning air in only to see specks of snow falling down from the now clouded sky.
Snow rarely fell during winter in this region of the Demon continent so Albert was actually ecstatic about this. With just the cold, it was easy to counter but the snow was not, most of his fears was alleviated, well, at least untill Springes. It was currently the 5th day of the Kaz Merian month so they had about three months untill they would have to truly worry about the scouts.
With a sigh of relief he left the windows and entered the bathroom. After washing up he put on his suit and left the room. His master had left the managing of the castle up to him so he needed to make sure things ran smoothly until his return.
As Albert descended down the stairs he saw Azaring out of his room with a yawn, even though the weather was extremely cold he still had no shirt on, his dedication to his style was impressive, then again, perhaps he was just busy doing something that did bit require a shirt and would keep him warm.
"Arghhhh..... Morning Albert, you''re up early as usual.''''
"Well of course, it''s already an habit.''''
"I don''t know how you''re so serious so early in the morning.''''
''''..."
"Well, what are we doing today."
"...I suppose we can try fixing the main entrance, then I n on getting the kobolds to fix the traps."
Azar looked at Albert with a knowing expression. The main door to the castle was massive and even with his strength he wouldn''t be able to bnce it up while fixing it. It also didn''t look like it was made of normal wood, and he wasn''t sure if the brutes from the Ogre race could be delicate enough to fix it, and obviously this eliminated the trolls from the equation.
"We should ask him for help then."
"You don''t really mean him do you?"
''''Who else would I be talking about. We no longer have a craftsman or Carpenter amongst us so we have no choice in the matter, besides all of the hinges are made of Duranium and the doors are also lined with Tritanium, he''s the only one we have that can handle such high level materials."
¡Pwaaa... Azar sighed loudly and exaggeratedly before adopting a look of resignation. "Fine... I''ll go call Bungo.''''
Chapter 52 C52. The Eccentric Blacksmith
Azar listlessly left Albert''s side and went deeper down the hall to find someone. For some reason when they were making their choice of rooms, he chose the one at the extreme end, furthest away from the others and hadn''t been out since.
Azar wasn''t equip to handle people like him and always did his best to avoid any form of lengthy conversation with him, mostly he would send someone in his ce but he had no such luck this time.
He soon approached thest door at the end of the hall and could faintly hear the sounds of metal striking metaling from behind the door which made him frown. They had only been here a day and he was already so settled in that he was now using his room as a workstation. Azar didn''t like it when people toke advantage of others and he wouldn''t be kind to anyone that did, even if Bungo was a bit strange, he should at least have somemon sense.
Then agian perhaps right now he wasn''t the best person to be taking the moral high ground. Still, Azar couldn''t just ignore it when someone took it too far, if he didn''t stop him now, he might soon start ripping stuff out of the walls to finish his work.
Azar furiously pounded on the door instead of knocking and his strength almost ripped the door from it''s hinges. Feeling a bit embarrassed by the loud bang he had created, disturbing the peace of the quiet hallway, he calmed down a little and waited for the door to be opened. It was a loud knock so he was confident Bungo would have heard it no matter what he was doing.
Soon he heard some slight noiseing from within as someone approached the door. The door swung open and a short burly man with a thick beard appeared before him, he had a single dark horn on the top of his forehead that went with his bald head. His pale red skin was darker than usual and he had a gloomy atmosphere around him.
Berlin Bungo stared at the unusual visitor for a while before his grey eyes settled on Azarpletely. The dull look on his face instantly disappeared and an ecstatic smile appeared across his face. He immediately spoke without restraints. "Chief, you came at the right time. This ce is amazing, you have to see this, it''s incredible. I''ve been working for so long now yet no one hasined about the noise, do you know what that means."
"That, they''re tired of you."
"Haha Chief you jest, No... This entire castle is not onlyced with valuable metals but somehow they had managed to carve magic runes all around the entire castle. At first I had no idea how they were able to stabilize the various properties of high level metals and what the runes were for but now, I think I''m starting to get it. I''m also sure some of the runes are for soundproofing and reinforcing and also some form of preservation."
"Oh... Since when are you a Runesmith?"
"I wish I was Chief, this ce is a treasure trove for Runesmiths. Come look at this, I think I can incorporate some of this runes into my work giving enough time. I wasn''t really too keen on leaving the settlement but i really owe a lot to Lord Ty for bringing us here. If just the servants quarters has wealth like this then I can''t wait to see what''s in the other parts of this castle."
When Berlin spoke of Tyler it finally dragged Azar out of the flow of the situation and he remembered why he came here. Berlin was a type of entric that was weird and stayed away from people when he wasn''t interested in them but could go off for hours if he found something interesting to talk about or if he was speaking to someone with simr interests.
"Speaking of Lord Ty, we need your help to perform a task for him."
"Really, do you think if I do well he''ll let me study the rest of the castle."
"Mmm... Maybe."
"Brilliant! what''s the task."
"Oh it''s just fixing the main door of the castle as well as the main gate, if you can. We no longer have a Carpenter or Carftsman to handle some of the job so you''ll have to work alone.''''
"Well, that''s fine... Mmm, I''m still working here but I guess i can stop for now, so let''s go, I''ll grab my tools.''''
Azar was speechless by Bungo''s immediate eptance, normally he would want to finish his work no matter how urgent the situation was, he also didn''t cared who called him but now he was in such a good mood and had so much appreciation for Lord Ty that he was willing to leave his work iplete.
Berlin quickly graped a small tool box from amongst a pile of different sized ones and headed for the door in a set of coarsely-designed coveralls, that were surprisingly well maintained. Although it had a couple of stitches on them, they were made of veryfortable and easy to move in fabric. They both left his room and headed to the main entrance of the castle.
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Albert watched Azar leave disgruntled and sighed inwardly, he then proceeded to leave the castle and headed for the outer wall, to check up on the guards he had posted tower at the front of the castle,in order for them to observe the surrounding situationst night. He hadn''t expected the snowst night so he had been a little paranoid when he couldn''t find Tyler.
He had been quite worried about the scouts in the area spotting them the entire journey here so he made sure they took extra precautions and erase their tracks as best they could. He was also quite worried about the scouts finding out about Lord Ty before his ns werepleted.
He didn''t imagine the settlement being part of his ns at first, not to mention the additions of the trolls and Kobolds, although with his nonchnt attitude towards the entire situation he might have set up several contingencies.
Still, he would do what he could to help while not getting in his master''s way. He walked towards the main gate of the castle, the towers were located at the at the four edges of the four walls that surrounded the castle but one needed to go through the guard houses located by the main and side gates to ess the towers.
The wall was several times taller than the one in their previous settlement and was wider as well. After entering the guard house he found some stairs and headed up slowly. Soon he arrive at the entrance to the tower and found the two men he had sent fast asleep as they embraced each other for warmth.
Albert''s eyes twitched a little and he spoke sternly in a rtively normal voice but the aura that radiated out of him made the two jump in fright as they ended up headbutting each other. They cried in pain and Albert paid it no heed as he spoke again.
"What are the two of you doing when you''re supposed to be keeping watch?"
The pair looked at each other as they felt a bit awkward after realizing what Albert had seen. "It, suddenly got really cold and we weren''t really prepared for it."
Albert shook his head as he chose to ignore the pair and focus on what brought him here. "Did anything happenst night?"
"No sir... There were no movements in the forestst night, and with the sudden snow i doubt there would be any such movements anytime soon."
"I see... well, don''t let your guard down just because it''s quiet out there."
Remembering what happenedst time Raz and Jin had a twisted expression on their faces. They still hadn''t forgotten the sensation they felt as they watch their home being destroyed without them being able to help much. It had only been few days since then so it hadn''t sunk in yet and they still felt like what had happened wasn''t real.
They both stood at attention and nodded their head in affirmation to Albert''s words. Albert saw the look in their eyes and nodded. "Alright, it''s about time you change shifts. Go rest and I''ll wait for your recements."
They both thanked Albert and quickly left, Albert then turned his head to stare at the distance as he watched the snow pile up on the tall trees in the forest, he used his skill ¡ãKeen Eyes of a Demon¡ã and searched around the tower for a while untill Raz and Jin''s recements arrived.
They were a pair of female ogress and beastman/beastkin a doggirl. It seems most of the sentries the settlement used were abination of ogres and beastmen as a way ofplimenting their skill sets.
The ogress had a pair of dark horns, her hair was dirt blonde and ruffled in a way that seem she gave up on it a while back. She looked young and had a pretty face that wasplimented by her tanned skin that should have originally been a pale red.
She carried a single short sword on her waist and a purple crossbow on her back wearing purple light armor underneath a thick brown fur cloak that had her usual hood. She walked somewhat listlessly with a bored expression on her face.
Her partner was a petite young girl that had an adorable looking face and a pair of golden gold ears on her well maintained golden hair that was a stack contrast to the messy dirt blonde hair of her partner. She wore thick magic robe that proved she was a magic caster and carried no weapons. Walking first into the tower her green eyes brightened as she saw Albert and she ran to him.
"Captain!" She arrive in front of Albert quickly as he deactivated his skill and turned to face her. "Oh Lora, you''re already here."
"Of course, you said to always be on time."
"Mmm... I''m d someone listens.''''
The girl seemed pleased with herself as her ears were twitching in delight, "Oi.. why you sucking up to the captain again... Hey captain, why are we still working even though this ce is surrounded by a barrier, and besides it''s really cold out today. Gail said rubbing her arms together as a way to negate the cold. She walked next to Lora and continued.
"Besides with the thickyer of snow out here I''m sure there''s no one that would attempt to breach the barrier and leave themselves defenseless."
Albert turned to look at her with his usual expression, he knew where she wasing from as even with cold Resistance there was still a limit one could take. But with Lord Ty busy, if another demon Lordes personally, no amount of snow would stop them. There were even a few elders of the Great Five that could use Mass Teleportation magic and bring with them a small army.
The snow would help with the scouts around the area and as long as they didn''t have too much information on Lord Ty the Great Five wouldn''t move untill spring because of a lot of unknown aspect. They would tend to send someone strong to investigate for a while before making a move, they just had to be watchful of that.
Albert sighed and said. "Theck of preparation would always lead to failure." He then stretched out and
arm and flicked her in the forehead. "Stop beingzy and get to work, besides, the scouts are not our immediate concern."
Gail''s expression didn''t change as she rubbed her forehead. She was trying to understand what he meant by immediate concern but was soon distracted by the over hyped Lora who was waving at Albert as he left the tower.
Chapter 53 C53. Four Kings
Berlin Bungo stood at the side and had several trolls lift the massive door up after fixing the broken hinges, there was nothing he could do about the dent in the wooden part of the door as a basic restoration magic had no effect on it. They managed to ce the door back on it''s hinges and Bungo was able to perform the finishing touches without a problem. He had also copied a couple of the runes he found on the door to study themter on.
Azar having just let go of the door alongside the trolls felt drained eventhough he barely did a thing, even for its size the door was more heavier than they thought, most likely because it wasn''t any ordinary door.
Once the job was done Alzar sent the others off to the main gate to continue their work, he chose to remain behind and wait on Albert. Stretching his arms to rx his muscles he soon saw Albert returning from the outer ward heading in his direction.
"Oi, where did you scurry off to?"
"Mmm... I just wanted to check in on the sentries I positioned. Is the door fix already?"
"Of course, how long did you think you were gone for. My wife and the others already made breakfast."
"Oh, I guess I lost track of time."
"Well you managed to avoid all the hard work, but since it''s you, I guess it''s fine."
"..."
"Oh, Bungo just left with the trolls to fix the main gate."
"Yeah i saw them on my way here, shouldn''t you be helping then?"
"I sent a few ogres with them so it''s fine, I still need to supervise the kobolds in setting up and repairing the traps on the walls and wards."
"Alright that''s good."
" So what now, Lord Ty hasn''t been down in a while it feels like we''re the only ones here."
"It has only been a day or two... He must still be busy, but he did say to not push yourselves. How bout you take a break for now and have breakfast, I''ll escort you and the kobolds in fixing the trapster."
"...Well, at least that''s a n, I think that would be best."
They both continued their chat as they all headed for the dining hall for breakfast, Albert also had someone take food to Gail and Lora in the tower as well as Bungo and the trolls fixing the main gate, the broken wall would have to wait for now as they couldn''t fix it even with magic, there was a lot of previous metals required for such a venture that would need to be purchased in a city.
Liz and Rain had also joined them alongside Erin as they all ate and talk together, they seemed to have gotten really close in just the short amount of time they had been together. The meal was a simple onepromising of a type or variation of oatmeal and some purple fruits along with a slice of pie.
The oatmeal wasn''t much to talk about but the pie was made with one of the most popr berries in the demon continent called pillian berry, which were practically just blue berries onlyrger. They tasted great andplimented the meal well.
When they were done with breakfast a lot of kids were finally feeling like themselves again and ran to y in the inner ward. Rain and Liz now hung out with Erin all the time as they talked about various things, most of which were idle chatter and they never once dove deeper in their pasts.
Albert and Azar went with the now active Kobolds and managed to fix more than 80 percent of the traps in the castle. The kobolds weren''t used to being among other races so dealing with them was a bit difficult.
Time went by quickly and the day soon came to an end with activities like these, to everyone this was a weed change of pace and they appreciated the peace and quiet of an empty Castle.
Albert felt a sense of peace return to him that he hadn''t thought would happen this soon, he knew this was just a cebo effect from being in an empty and peaceful environment that wouldn''tst long.
This was why he had spent the entire day thinking of various ns he could suggest to Lord Ty if he ever requested it. He didn''t know if Lord Ty had already thought of them but he would try to be useful as much as he could, beside this would also keep the people of the settlement safe so in a way it was like he was still doing his duties as captain of the guards.
This was the second day they had spent in this castle so far and Lord Ty hadn''t been present for either, he could only hope they hadn''t done anything that would vex him. After they all ate dinner Albert did his usual rounds checking on everyone, it turned out Erin was spending the night with Liz and Rain again, perhaps she was still mad at him or maybe she just found people she could truly get along with without her feeling exhausted.
He finished his rounds pretty quickly and wanted to end the night by checking in on his sentries again. He went towards the wall with fast strides and arrived quickly, climbing the stairs he entered the tower and saw Lora asleep on a makeshift bed and Gail using a magic item to observe the surrounding.
The item was portable one eye silver telescope that had the power to see certain auras even through obstacles. This meant it could almost see through objects and was perfect for watching the dense forest. Gail seemed to be fully concentrated on something which was unusual for her, she hadn''t noticed Albert walk in and she was usually the sharp type.
"See anything?"
"What the unholy fuck!"
Gail yelled clearly startled by the sudden voice beside her. "Oi captain, how many times do i have to tell you not to do that."
"Oh... my bad, it''s still an habit.''''
"Well get rid of it!" She yelled angrily startling Lora awake. It was impossible for someone not specialized in stealth or have an usual amount of perception to sense Albert while distracted so Everytime he moved he was almost used to this type of reaction.
"You''re so loud Gail, what''s up?" Lora said rubbing her eyes. "It''s nothing, go back to sleep." Gail replied not wanting her to notice Albert which would end up ruining the current sleeping rotation they had in ce. "Oh, ahhhh-hhaaaaaa okay, goodnight." She yawned as she folded up and went back to sleep almost instantly.
"So, did you notice anything?" Albert asked again as he hadn''t yet received an answer. Gail scratched her messy hair and replied a little hesitantly. "Well, I''m not sure if this is much but.. um... Ahhh... Although there is movements in this section of the forest, there doesn''t seem to be any strategic patterns to it so I''m not sure if it''s the scouts, they move semi randomly through the forest so i think they''re beasts."
"Really, what do you mean semi randomly."
"Mmm... yeah, i think they''re changing or expanding territories so most of the weaker monster are moving elsewhere."
"Expanding their territories? If that was really the case it would mean, one of the four kings has perished."
"That''s why I''m not entirely sure about this, for one of the four monster kings to die in battle, more than one of the other three would have had to team up against them."
"Yes, although that''s not out of the question giving how intelligent they are, a fight between kings would''ve caused a hugemotion and would never had gone unnoticed even by us, and the fact that the others are making a move in winter proves this was sudden."
Albert thought about the information for a while, this was a big deal, if one of the four king''s that had ruled the Darknar forest for centuries had really died, this would cause massive changes in the entire forest and could even send waves throughout the demon continent.
It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say the four kings or maybe three kings now was also one of the main factors why the Great Five hadn''tpletely imed the entire Darknar region. The Darknar forest contained more than half of the resources in the entire Darknar region so the fact that the great Five were hesitant in iming more territories deeper into the forest show how fearsome the four king''s were.
So how would one die without destroying arge chunk of the forest with them. ''Hmm,e to think of it, i had sensed a massive amount of negative energying from the direction of the forest a while back. I hadn''t paid it much attention back then so perhaps...''
"Captain. Captain! CAPTAIN!"
"Uh, what is it."
"There is more movements"
Gail said seriously as she watched the forest through her single eye telescope. Albert activated his skill and his eyes glowed slightly and his pupils turned into a slit. He then turned towards the direction she was looking at. His eyes functioned even better than the one eye telescope and he was able see exactly what she was looking at.
Towards the southwest of the forest there were shadows moving around in a section of the forest. Concentrating even harder he could now vaguely make out the shapes of these figures. There was a pack of wolves and judging by their glimmering silver fur, they were most likely silver wolves, engaged in a fierce battle with a different type of wolves and Albert couldn''t tell which type just by their fur alone as it wasn''t
unique enough.
He could make an educated guess as to which species those were, judging by other factors like their sizes and how they fought on par with the silver wolves they were most likely Dire wolves. Normally these monsters wouldn''t run into each other like this as they lived on the opposite sides of the forest. The fact that they were now fighting over territory means the bnce of power in the forest had really been broken.
Albert closed his eyes and massaged his temples, his previous tion this morning over the snow went out the window and he was now full of worries. There was no doubt in his mind that the scouts for the Great Five would''ve already noticed this a while back and had probably already sent words back to their respective families. It wouldn''t surprise him if the other families had already received news of this.
He now realize how much he had underappreciated his previous informationwork when he was a Lord. His information now was surelycking and he hoped to discuss this issue with Lord Ty as soon as possible. As his thought wondered it seemed like the silver wolves had won in the time he had his his eyes closed and the dire wolves were forced to retreat, both sides having arge number of casualties.
Even the survivors of the brief but intense sh had grievous wounds and were struggling to maintain their ranks almost like they were expecting another round of attacks. Gail let out a sigh and spoke to Albert. "I think we need to investigate this section of the forest if we want to know what exactly is going on."
Albert stared at her curiously, the fact that azy person like her was actually taking this so serious, shows how serious this situation was.
"You''re right.''''
"Should we make a request to Lord Ty."
"A request huh."
She looked like she was more interested in the situation than him, perhaps it was her instincts as a sentry at y or maybe it was something else but Albert had no choice but to agree with her. However, Lord Ty wasn''t avable right now and he had no idea when he would be back. Even if he was to sent a team out on his own authority he wasn''t even sure if they could exit the barrier without Lord Ty''s help.
As he thought to this extent a sudden force enveloped the entire castle. It was a feeling that was hard to describe and every single person in the castle could feel it. Albert was even sure if the barrier wasn''t up that this force would enveloped the entire region.
The space inside the barrier felt distorted and heavier, it made every feel like taking even a single step would have dangerous and disastrous repercussions. This went on for only a short while though, as the force was suddenly eclipsed by a presence and disappearedpletely.
Albert turned to head back to stare at the castle, a long sigh of relief escaped his mouth as he thought. ''Looks like Lord Ty is finally back.''
Chapter 54 C54. Tier 2?
In the vast darkness within him, Tyler''s consciousness hovered above his Mana body. He didn''t want to believe his conclusions, because just the thought of the demon king manipting his life in Neron for more than 3 years until he was finally captured and imprisoned under the castle frightened him to his core. Someone like that would''ve to be nearly omnipotent.
How in the world could someone like that be killed off by mere humans, even if they had the aid of an artifact. If he was truly that powerful, he should''ve known he was going to be betrayed by his generals and prepared for it. Does that mean something went wrong, or am I his backup n?
Tyler was starting to get a migraine and didn''t want to torture himself anymore, wasting more of his time. Perhaps all this might be part of some master n, or maybe he was being delusional but, as long as he was alive, he wouldn''t give his body to anyone.
He took a deep breath even though he was just a spiritual consciousness and was incapable of such actions. He slowly returned his consciousness to his body and opened his eyes. Though he only expanded his Mana body a bit, it was enough for now as he couldn''t rush the process even with knowledge of advanced magic runes.
What Tyler hadn''t expected was the damage that had been done to his Mana body already. He felt frustrated as he knew that expending too much mana at once like what had happened in the forest could permanently damage his Mana body. Even in a very dangerous situation, he needed to be fully aware of his mana flow at all times, which would not be an easy task.
''Mmm... What should I do now?''
He didn''t know why but he felt his time in the library wasing to an end and he wouldn''t have enough time to learn all the way through all three levels of intermediate magic runes. Sigh... "I guess I can just learn the spells without activating them for now... Mmm, I wonder if there are any skill books or tomes here?"
He picked up the Tier 2 spellbook he had brought with him and started reading. With his knowledge of level one intermediate magic runes, he quickly learned the theory of the spell and all he needed to do was build the magic circle with those runes to activate the spell within him. He memorized the structure of the magic runes as he left that section of the library and walked in a particr direction.
He would learn as many useful tier 2 spells as he could on his way to his destination so he asionally stopped and flipped through other books he had picked up along the way. Since Tier 1 spells took very little time to learn and there were a lot of them on a single book, he also picked up some of them and learned them. He had also picked up some of the magic scrolls he had seen along the way, taking his time to stack up on the ones he might need.
Since he couldn''t learn Tier 3 and above spells yet, he picked Tier 3 scrolls like |Flight| and |Communicate| along with various others, including divination scrolls, Anti-Divination scrolls, and ended up being forced to turn his shirt into a makeshift bag he tied around his waist.
Just like this, a few more hours went by and he arrived at his destination. Tyler stared at the artifacts and magic items in front of him and he smiled. Last time he was too scared to touch them but right now he had learned a spell just for this and even took the risk of expanding his Mana body to give him more control.
Tyler looked at the ring in front of him and raise a hand in front of it.
"Appraise Magic Item!"
As the magic circle slowly formed in front of the ring. He constructed the magic circle with ease and it soon took shape and the spell activated. Tyler instinctively turned his head around to stare at the library, however, nothing happened. His guess was right, the level of disturbance was almost non-existent and could not disturb the library.
Focusing back on the artifact, knowledge about the ring in front of him entered his brain like it had been there all along.
????
?Monarch Ring? [Artifact]
The ring of a Supreme ruler. It contains the insignia of the King and holds his authority within. This item bonds to its welder when it is first activated and can only be used by another when the owners'' soul is destroyed or no longer bond to this ne.
Currently Bound to None
Primary Effect: Monarch Authority.
Secondary Effects: ?????
????
"What a useless piece of junk."
Tyler was annoyed by what he saw in his mind. The ring was basically useless to him and the only reason he still had an interest in it was that it was probably the key to the secret door behind the throne. Why would he want something that was mostly more trouble than it''s worth luckily it would only be bound upon activation so he didn''t have to worry about that?
He picked up the ring and stuffed it in his pocket and proceeded to the next item and activated Appraisal on it as well. It was a ne whose chain was made out of an unknown metal and had what looked like an angel wing attached to a sky blue gem that resembled a teardrop attached to it.
????
?Iris Tears? [Artifact]
Thest drop of the goddess of the sky caught by a hermit and preserved in a sea crystal giving the energy within an additional element. As the goddess of the sky, Iris hasplete control over the wind and clouds, able to change the weather at will.
Primary Effects: [Spell] Weather Control. Tier 7
Secondary Effects: Complete immunity to all attacks of the wind element.
Secondary Effects 2: Greater Resistance to attacks of the water element. (Tier 5 and below.)
????
"Wow!" Tyler eximed in Surprise, any form of Resistance was something that one developed over time as they advance in magic. It was something that follows the direction a magic-user follows in their magic careers, a fire mage would develop fire Resistance as their mana bodies had been constantly fused with fire magic runes. This was why most people loved to be specialists as they felt the contradiction of the elements would damage their mana bodies.
Tyler wasn''t sure about this though as he had heard about heroes using multiple elements, but he wouldn''t disregard it either, especially with the current state of his Mana body. The fact that the Iris Tears ne was powerful remained within him. The only problem though was the design, it was too girly.
"Huh, I promised her I''ll help her get stronger didn''t I, this might be good for her right?" He thought about it for a while and disregarded the thought, he wasn''t nice enough to randomly give something this valuable away, even if he did, he would have to get something of equal value back in return. Either way, it was good to take it with him for now.
He picked up the ne and stuffed it in his other pocket as he walked up to another item that caught his attention. He had a vague idea what it was as it had the shape of a storage box caved into it but he used Appraisal on it just to be safe.
????
?Spacial Infinity? [Artifact]
A king''s storage space should be the best. This one has no limit, what more could you ask for.
Must be bound to host.
Currently Bound to None
Primary Effect: Unlimited Spatial storage.
Secondary Effect: [Skill] Spatial Distortion Tier 7
- To control space is the right of a king, but this one can only offer distortion, allowing my king to bend the rules to his will. Please forgive this one oh my king.
Secondary Effects 2: [Skill] Spatial Movement Tier 5
- This one is proud to offer my king the power to move anywhere within your line of sight by deceiving space with the cost of Mana for a limit of 4 times a day.
Uniqueness - Living Properties.
????
Tyler stared at the ring in disbelief. He had always wondered why they made storage rings as a storage box seems more logical since most people could only equip a limited number of magic artifacts and items at a time as it taxed the body and mind. While a storage space ring count as a magic item a storage box did not, but who knew that these things hid such secrets.
Two skills, ignoring the sentient description of the item and skills, he was amazed at how amazing the skills were. Controlling space was a type of magic he didn''t even know existed and now he had ess to it. If just a storage ring was this broken he wondered what the other items would contain.
So far his luck was good and all three items had no side effects although only magic artifacts had negative side effects since they were so much more powerful than magic items. Well, he had heard that those artifacts with side effects were failed products by Mages and Sorcerer''s that weren''t skilled enough to make those artifacts and the ones that werepleted had no such thing.
He couldn''t help but wonder if every single artifact and item here waspleted and without ws. Well, there was only one way to find out and he would be fine even if they weren''t. He picked up the Unlimited storage ring and wore it on his left index finger when a sudden wave of energy left his body and entered the ring trying to activate it without his consent.
A sudden chill ran down his spine as Tyler immediately knew, he fucked up. The sudden disturbance in the space started a chain reaction as the ground quaked, the wall shook violently and Tyler once again was sent flying out of the library mming headfirst into the wall at the opposite side of the library''s door.
The library door shut with a bang and the room returned to its previous calm. Tyler rubbed the back of his head and stood back up, he understood what had happened better now than the first time and he couldn''t help but shake his head in disappointment.
His thoughts were quickly shattered by the drained feeling he felt as he raised his left arm to look at the magic artifact in his finger. Large amounts of energy were quickly leaving his body and being absorbed by the ring almost as if it had a will of its own. Tyler''s mind quickly shback to the uniqueness he has seen in his mind about the ring. It had a living property, which meant it could act on its own sometimes.
Wasn''t this a negative effect, well it was toote to regret it now, as Tyler forcibly controlled the amount of energy that left his body? He was already pissed off from thinking about what the previous demon king might have done to him and he wasn''t going to let such a thing happen again especially not by junk metal like this.
Since this thing likes energy so much Tyler was going to teach it a lesson. He inserted the magic runes of the spell ''Wave of Despair'' into his energy and forcefully fed it to the ring in one fell swoop. The ring vibrated in his finger and soon quieted down.
Tyler observes the now docile ring for a while before nodding in satisfaction. He didn''t need to activate a spell for a simple existence like this. He then continued the activation process since it was already almost done. It only took about 30 seconds before an aura of force escaped the ring.
Tyler felt the skill within the ring enter his mind as they gave him ess to how they were used. The effects of both skills were felt in the aura as Tyler could sense the distortion in space. His own aura then merged with the Ring''s and exploded outwards, it filled the entire castle and was only restricted by the barrier outside.
Tyler felt like he could control the space within the barrier, bending thews of reality to his will. Although this was limited as it was only the power of a magic artifact. He recalled the aura back into the ring and the effects were gone.
Now that he was done with that Tyler breathe a sigh of relief, if he hadn''t excitedly put on the ring he would have still had a few hours in the magic library.
He shook his head to stop thinking about it as he walked to the balcony for some fresh air. He had been cooped up in the library for a while so he needed this, but upon entering the balcony he was stunned by what he saw, a beautiful white sceneryy right before his eyes.
"Snow?"
Chapter 55 C55. Investigate
Walking up to the balcony, Tyler was surprised to see snow in the demon continent, for some reason he had assumed the ce wouldn''t snow even though he had noticed the weather getting colder each day.
The wind blew past him and he felt a slight chill. It wasn''t as bad as he expected so maybe he had some cold resistance. He would have to schedule a test for things like that pretty soon, it was too bad he didn''t have a system or something that could help him measure his stats.
He walked back into the room and tried to renter the library but the door wouldn''t budge. "Worth a try I guess." It was a bit far-fetched but, for some reason, he had associated opening the library door to first going to the balcony and back since that had been his routine the two times he had entered the library.
He sighed deeply before activating his magic vision and sure enough. There wereyers andyers of advanced magic runes on both the door and its frame.
Naturally, he couldn''t understand them but recognize some runes that confirmed his theory. The door was connecting the massive library that was located in a different dimension to this ne and the spell must be getting weaker, which is why the connection was unstable.
Until he could learn some advanced magic runes about concealment and dimensions, he would have to wait for the connection to restabilize itself.
Staring at the dozens of scrolls scattered on the floor alongside his now torn shirt, he let out a yawn, there must''ve been over a hundred scrolls on the ground which gave an inkling of satisfaction.
Feeling a little stiff from being cooped up in the library for so long he decided to take a bath, it had been a while. Since it was currently dark out he felt like he could take it easy this night before he had to deal with the troublesome situation outside again tomorrow. He also needed to think of what to do with the group from the settlement as well as the others.
Now that, he was feeling a lot more confident, he felt like he couldn''t just leave them be. Even if he no longer needed to stay here, he would need to set them up in a safe location. "This requires some investigation." He unconsciously said out loud. He walked into the bath and spent almost an hour just rxing and not thinking about troublesome things.
After getting out of the bath he realized he had no towel and needed to air-dry himself. ''I need to go shopping, maybe the so-called winged city or the distant sun city might be better.'' He thought as he walked into his closet to get one of the other brown shirts and brown pants procured for himself a while back only to witness a different situation here than when he left it.
There were more clothes here now than before, he also recognizes some of them from Albert''s spatial space. His brows twitched, ''I thought I locked the door.'' sprinting to the door he was surprised to see it open. Now that he thought about it the room was sparkling clean, not even a peck of. dust could be seen anywhere. He frowns a bit as his mind raced.
''Did I let to my guard down? What exactly were they trying to do? Do they know about the library? Damnit I was too much in a haste. What should I do now? If they are after the secrets of the castle since they can''t enter without me should I kick them out?'' He scratched his head as various thoughts went through his mind at once increasing his paranoia.
Tyler walked back into the closet and got dressed. He wore a ck shirt, white pants, a grey boot, and an equally ck fur coat. They were all clothes of decent quality and the style was simple enough for him, he could even tell the boots and belts were ordinary magic items.
He looked at the clothes in the closet again and thought. ''Why would they leave all this behind if their aim was the library, wouldn''t they rather just leave the room as is so I wouldn''t find out... Mmm... Did they only enter to clean? Then where would I say I was, knowing them they might not even ask. Mmmm this is most likely the case but I should still take some more precautions, I guess I''ll have to use my new skill earlier than expected.''
With that settled he was relieved, he didn''t need to bother with the topic again and could just focus on the future. Since the people from the settlement said they''ll obey him, he might as well put them to good use. ''I wonder if they have any rogues amongst them, I should ask them about that, it would be good to have them scout the surroundings. It''s high time I stop being passive, it has only brought me problems.''
''Mmm... This may be temporary but I should fortify this ce as much as possible. Even with the barrier, it''s always better to be cautious.'' Tyler made ns on what he would like to do next, he would have to visit the nearest city soon to gather more valuable information and even earn some capital. It didn''t matter which world it was money was always an important factor in any culture.
The only difference was how money was earned. Strength in this world made earning money a lot easier so he should be able to earn quite a lot with his current strength. He also had a few reasonably strong fighters amongst the residents of the settlement he could put to use. "I should have the old guypile a list of everyone''s strengths and weaknesses for me. That should help me make better use of them." Tyler had a slight smile on his face as he was feeling quite pleased with himself.
He took a seat on the now sparkling clean sofa, before taking out theitems he had in his current pants pockets and held them in his hands. He was going to ce them in his new special storage ring as a test on how it worked. He thought about cing the items inside the ring and focused on them. It didn''t take him long to figure it out as the items faded out of his hand like they were erased out of existence.
He then stared at the scrolls in front of him and extended his arm to them. He wanted to see how far the range of the ring was and if it could store anything. Focused on the scattered scrolls, he activated the ring and all the scrolls soon faded away. It seemed he could store things from a distance but it took Mana. Storing the artifacts earlier hadn''t so he was intrigued to learn more.
He tried to store the desk in the room but it seemed it was too far, the range wasn''t that impressive. ''Mmm... I wonder if I can distort the distance between me and the desk so I can store it.'' It seemed further experiments were needed and other factors might be able to affect the rules of the ring. Just as his thought was starting to wonder though, it was quickly jolted back by a loud sound.
*Knock. *Knock. *Knock.
A knock came from the door the moment he was done cing his torn shirt in his storage space as he thought of various possibilities. Tyler didn''t bother getting up this time, they had already entered the room before so it made no sense to stop them now. He raised his voice slightly and told the person outside to enter. However, he was stunned by what happened next.
The moment the door was opened he could no longer find the door to the magic library. It was like when he had first walked in here and thought maybe he hadn''t noticed it, but now it seemed the door had some sort of concealment ced on it. His drive to study everything about concealments spells went up a notch.
When Albert entered the room he saw Tyler sitting leisurely on the sofa in the room as if in thought. He had also changed his clothes and Albert was please he didn''t look pissed at the fact that they entered his room without permission.
Tyler saw Albert enter the room and bow before him, it seemed he had noticed Tyler''s absence and had most likely sensed his return when the aura of the ring merged with his. Albert spoke cautiously and informed Tyler about the situation outside in the forest and the first image that came to Tyler''s mind when he heard that was of the frozen magic beast he had seen in the forest.
That reminded him, he still had the magic crystal from the beast and the dagger of the dark elf girl which he should probably return. He had kept the dagger in the drawer of the desk in this room before he entered the library and had taken the magic crystals with him which were now in his storage ring. He was quite lucky as the two crystals he had used in the library were from the magic beast from the settlement.
He still had the one from the frozen beast in the forest that was purer and had more energy, he was interested in researching the best way to use it and didn''t want to waste something so valuable. He had also ced the remaining crystals in his storage ring to be safe, there were five left in total. Albert also proposed to Tyler what they should do next which Tyler was intrigued by.
Sending a small group out to investigate was what Tyler also wanted and he immediately agreed but it was already toote to send them out right now. Most of the creatures in the forest would move around at night and with the extra activities going on in there it would be too dangerous to send anyone in. Tyler turned to face Albert as he said. "Alright prepare the team you think can handle this, I''ll send them out first thing in the morning."
"At once sir!"
"Also,pile a list of everyone in the castle for me, including all their skills and abilities, can you do that?"
"Of course, it is only natural for you to be aware of all the abilities of your underlings."
With that Albert swiftly left the room to get everything set up by morning. Tyler sighed as he thought of the conversation he had just heard and realize something. The forest outside was incredibly valuable. It might even be of equal value to the Great Five as the magic library.
This meant they didn''t just camp there to keep an eye on the castle but to make im to a section of the forest. And to enable them where these so-called safe zones. If he wanted to limit the spread of information on the happenings of this region to the Great Five, he might have to kill the scouts and maybe even find a way to render these safe zones unsafe as he didn''t have the manpower to manage such arge forest.
"Manpower huh? That''s not something I can increase so easily, Perhaps I need to learn some summoning spells. Hmm, I should research it first."
First of all, he should learn more about these four kings, perhaps even find a way to subdue them, killing them may not necessarily be the best option with the amount ofmotion just killing one had caused in the forest, killing another would be a disaster.
"It all boils down to ack of information, setting up an informationwork should also be a priority."
Tyler thought out loud as he rested his head on the sofa, he wouldn''t be able to rest well for a while so maybe he should now. After expanding his Mana body and giving the abundance of Mana within him some room to breathe, he had felt a false sense of vigor but now he was exhausted again and he slowly drifted asleep.
Chapter 56 C56. Scout
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As the gentle wind blushed across his hair, Tyler was suddenly woken up by a knock at the door, he opened his eyes and saw the morning sun peeking in through the thick clouds. His thoughts then wondered as it focused on the artifact ''Iris Tears'' and how it could control the weather. That was indeed a high-level spell.
"Enter!"
Tyler said and Albert entered the room and bowed before speaking. He was always so punctual and serious, Tyler thought maybe he had been acting too rude to this old man, he didn''t want to be the type of boss that abused people''s had worked so Tyler thought he should show him so appreciation soon, and maybe even reward him. Of course, that would all have to wait for now.
Albert had assembled a team of six and was requesting Tyler''s permission to send them out, he also handed him a t silvery-white metallic card, the size of a small book that had a ttened magic crystal imprinted on the center of the card along with some runes that designed its edges.
Infusing the crystal at the center with a little bit of mana, it suddenly projected a disy of what Tyler would call a holographic image of a rectangr screen, that showed a long list of names.
This item was a low-grade magic item called ?Overseen? used mainly by nobles to manage and keep track of their subordinates. Tyler could physically touch the screen and scroll through the list of names which included the names of the kobolds and trolls, clicking the names would disy more details like their skills and abilities. The only unfortunate part was, the names weren''t followed by their images.
Tyler let the item disappear into his spatial storage and stood up. He would need to go through the list carefully at ater date after putting a face to the names but for now, he had something else to do.
He nodded to Albert and they both left the room with Albert trailing behind him. It wouldn''t take long for them to arrive downstairs but Tyler thought it was a good opportunity to get to know this aged man better and spoke to him. He was surprised at how rusty hismunication skills were bing but luckily, Albert carried the conversation and they soon arrived downstairs without any awkward moments.
Six individuals were kneeling there waiting for him, including the female winged kobold. Tyler felt this was a little too dramatic and gestured for them to stand up but their heads were down so they hadn''t noticed his gesture, which made him feel like he was left hanging.
Albert coughed and the group raised their heads. Tyler felt a bit embarrassed but yed it off and asked for their names. There were three males and two females constituting both ogres and beastmen. Tyler had seen one of them before, if he remembered correctly his name was Jarret and he was soon proven right.
Albert came forward and introduced them to him. "These four are formal sentries of the red ogre settlement, these two are Gail Rizeric and Lora Harint, they are a duo of long rangers with one being adept in magic and the other using a crossbow, she is also able to handle herself in close range."
He said that pointing to the dagger on her waist before moving to the second duo. "These two are Raz Hilma and Jin Kallz, they are both skilled at tracking and can handle themselves decently in a fight but their most outstanding talent is their survivability." The two looked away from Tyler in embarrassment, it was as if Albert had just thrown shades at them. However Tyler didn''t think he did though, so he ignored them and turned his head to face thest two.
"This is the leader of the Moon tribe, a formal kobold settlement in the eastern parts of the Darknar forest, her name is Tarka Harkail, she is the most familiar with this section of the forest and her Trap magic would be very useful in this mission so I took the liberty to include her in this."
The female Dragonwrought kobold proceeded to lower her head even further, it was considered rude to speak in the presence of onces master, without first being spoken to, so all she could do to exercise her thanks was bow deeply. Tyler controlled himself from sighing in front of these six so he turned his head to face thest guy and Albert immediately introduced him.
"And this is Jarret Zeni, although he isn''t a rogue I decided to include him on this mission because of his innate ability."
"Oh, so you possess an innate ability?"
"Yes my lord."
"And what is it?"
"Spirit vision."
,m Looking at Tyler''s questioning gaze Jarret requested permission to speak and exined to him what his spirit vision could do. Unlike magic vision that almost everyone could use and could only sense things that rte to the use of magic depending on the level of the caster. Spirit vision could do all that and more, it worked like a telescope, an X-ray, infrared, and so much more than Tyler felt, if it was applied well and of a high enough level he could even see through dimensions.
However, his level was too low for that but it was still a valuable ability. "Alright then, before you leave how do you report your progress or handle an emergency?" Tyler asked curiously as the group turned to stare at Albert.
"Well sir, I''m afraid we lost a lot of valuable men in ourst battle and that includes most of our casters that we''re able to use the ''Communicate'' spell. We could only provide them with all our anti divination scrolls and some other scrolls as well."
"I see... butmunication is important in such missions so..." Tyler forgot to practice how to take things out of his storage ring so he made a reaching motion as the image of what he wanted, appeared in his mind and he pulled out a few scrolls and handed it to Jarret.
"Here, use these but only when it''s important and if you run into any trouble I''lle immediately." He was very interested in capturing a scout to interrogate first before deciding if he needed to kill them all. Since he had no information about them he wouldn''t just carelessly wander into the forest himself, but he didn''t want these guys to die too easily.
Jarret epted the scrolls with sincere appreciation, he had been nervous since he wasn''t used to such missions but now he was a lot more confident. They all bowed one more time before they left and Tyler escorted them to the barrier just for show. When they left he and Albert decided to return to the castle.
As they left Tyler saw the gray trolls moving around the outer ward of the castle, they didn''t go near the castle itself and just patrolled close to the walls. He also noticed the main gate had suddenly been fixed and now that he thought about it, the door to the castle was also fixed along with the obvious traps in the ward and naturally he asked Albert about it who told him about their cksmith and what he had asked the kobolds to do.
Tyler stood rooted to the spot for a minute, ''why in the world were these guys acting like they own the ce when I''m not even sure how long I''ll be here.'' He shook the thought off his mind and proceeded to inquire about this cksmith.
Tyler had wanted to meet this famed cksmith for a while now and he thought this was as good as a time as any. He also wanted to explore the rest of the castle before heading to the throne room to check out the secret room, he thought he would see the cksmith first then head up.
However, just as he entered the castle he was greeted by a flood of people, the ogres and beastmen seemed so happy to see him as well as the tiny creatures called kobolds. It was almost like they were relieved. ''What, were they thinking I ran away or something?'' Feeling a little guilty cause he had thought about running away several times already, he only smiled and epted their greetings.
The noise seemed to attract more people though and they were all hyped about having breakfast with him. It was like he was now a celebrity and these were his fans, even though when he had saved them it hadn''t been like this.
Perhaps they were all still grieving at the time, Tyler was starting to get used to his newfound fame when he saw Liz and her friending down the stairs and the whole castle was captivated by the three goddesses that looked like they were descending from heaven.
Tyler felt like an uing artist whose big signing was interrupted by the most popr superstar in the industry. To be honest he felt a bit annoyed that he was amongst those that were captivated. "Tst" he clicked his tongue as he naturally turned his head to avoid being dazed by the three beauties.
''Wait, three?'' Tyler looked again and realized he had missed one. It was the samedy he had first saved when he got to the settlement. ''If I''m not mistaken her name was... Erin right? wasn''t she Albert''s wife... Since when were those three so close.''
The room returned to normal when they arrived before Tyler and greeted him politely. He remembered he had a lot to ask these girls so he postponed his exploration and visit Bungo for now but he didn''t want to talk seriously in front of so many kids. He then simply responded to their greetings and they had a light chat as they walked to the dining hall.
Albert had informed him of what happened in the past two days so he knew they would have breakfast here and although he didn''t really feel any hunger he still ate and was pleased with the taste. At the very least it was better than what he could make himself.
When breakfast was over Tyler invited the girls to the fourth floor of the north wing. He had noticed a couple of rooms that could be considered an office and picked one at random for their chat. When they entered, he motioned for them to take a sit and he did the same.
Rain opened her mouth to speak first but Tyler interrupted her. "That reminds me, I picked up a de in the forest, next to where I found you, I supposed I should return it now." He made a reaching motion and pulled out a ck de from the void as he walked over and handed it over to the stunned Rain. She hadn''t expected him to so willingly hand over a magic artifact that could potentially even pose a threat to his control over this castle.
Though she wasn''t really sure how strong he was, if he was able to overpower Liz in that state it shouldn''t be that much of a threat to him but it was still valuable and for some reason this annoyed Rain a little.
Tyler on the other hand no longer had use for the dagger, he had a section full of more valuable items so he wouldn''t jeopardize an important source of information for a single item he didn''t need.
He wanted to extend a friendly hand so he wouldn''t let greed influence him. Tyler then return to his seat and proceeded to speak as leisurely as he could to give a sense of confidence and superiority, however, he wasn''t given the chance to, as his entire n had crumbled to pieces by the next words that came of the dark elf''s mouth.
"Please fight me."
"...Ah!"
Chapter 57 C57. Behemoth
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A sudden gust of wind raised the snow in the air as the temperature dropped even further. The sounds of catering teeth could be heard as two figures tried desperately to wrap themselves in a single fur cloak as they tried to walk in the thickyer of snow while dragging on the reins of two horses behind them. The level the snow had reached was too high for them to ride the horses and they couldn''t leave them behind.
"Why. Did. We. Bring. Only. One. Winter. Coat. We''re. Gonna. Freeze To. Death."
"You. had. your. own. Bag. Why. Didn''t. You. Bring. One. For. Your. Self."
"I. Thought. it was. Your job. To. Pack. Clothing. And mine. To pack. our gEars."
The argument continues at a snail''s pace in the blistering cold for a while before a voice cut in from the front and broke their conversation. "Will the both of you be quiet." There were no signs of difort that came from the voice, proving it was unaffected by the cold. A sign that someone possessed some level of Cold Resistance.
He rode on a horse that was somehow able to move on top of the snow without sinking. The owner of the voice wore a thick ck fur cloak, with a hood over his head that covered most of his face. He carried no weapons only a small box that was attached to the belt on his waist.
He jumped down from his horse and brought out a fur cloak from his spatial box and threw it at one of the brothers. "Here, I asked you guys to equip yourselves well for the trip and you couldn''t even buy a winter coat." He then walked over to the head of his horse and cast a spell. The horse immediately neighed and took off running in the direction they hade from.
Without a pause, he proceeded to do the same to the other two horses before walking forward towards the entrance of the forest. Bam and Bor finally able to breathe after each equipping their furcloaks, hurriedly followed behind their boss Zomatsu as they had finally reached their destination. The Darknar forest.
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In the vast interior of an exquisitely designed hall in the south wing of the massive demon king''s castle, stood several figures as two of them stood at the center of the hall several meters apart and Tyler was one of these figures alongside Rain who stood in front of him with Albert and the two girls standing further to the side.
This was a wing Tyler hadn''t been to before so he was unaware of this Practice hall as Albert had put it. Like the rest of the castle, this hall was massive, to say the least. It was about 300ft long and 200 wide and there were more than five of them on this section alone.
Tyler watched the dark elf in front of him with piqued interest, it was only a few minutes ago when he was just about to question these girls and even made a nice gesture in returning the ck dagger in order to gain a level of trust but was instead challenged to a duel.
Of course, she said it wasn''t a death match but she still wanted him to go all out. Although she appreciated his help she wasn''t willing to just bow down to him like the rest without knowing if he was strong enough to match her. Tyler had been a bit speechless before he finally agreed to the match. To be honest, this wasn''tpletely bad, he needed to test his new spells, gain some more battle experience and find out how strong this dark elf really was.
Rain stood a few meters away from Tyler, she remembered when she had asked Tyler to fight her everyone in the room had gone speechless and even Liz tried to convince her otherwise. To be frank, there was no real reason for her to do this as they still owed Tyler for saving her life, but after hearing the story about what had transpired in her absence, there was one word in that story that irked her.
Behemoth.
She had heard the tale of the seven deadly demons that had shaken the entire continent more than eight hundred years ago. They were either regr demons, lesser demons, and even subsidiary races with strength rivaling that of a demon lord.
While it was easy for the Great Five to handle any family or families that went out of control. It was a lot harder to deal with Seven individuals'' demons with that could match a normal leader. They were forced topromise. Handing over some of their most undesirable regions to them to govern over without their interference.
The region may be undesirable but the behemoths still dly took in and they thrived. Over the years several more behemoths had risen to fame, with some joining the hunter guild, merchant guild, and even joining some of the great Five and other weaker Families in order to gain something beit wealth or fame.
To Rain, these people were nothing more than brutes that knew nothing more than proving their strength. She felt that the reason they never establish a family for themselves was just because they couldn''t think past their bloodlust.
All they thought about was either money or their next fight. She had also met a behemoth before and therefore didn''t have any favorable opinions of them. She couldn''t ept being weaker than an ignorant idiot like that and couldn''t stand the fact that Liz was talking about this possible behemoth so fondly.
Rain remembered what had happened back in the darknar forest better than Liz and she knew that what Tyler had used that day must''ve been a Tier 6 spell or maybe even higher. With that said, and him being a magic swordsman, that must''ve been his most powerful spell, but in a setting like this, he wouldn''t be able to use it.
p She readied herself, she didn''t believe she was all that far off from a behemoth and she was going to prove it in this fight. Even if she lost, she would have already made her point and proved to Liz and everyone here that this guy wasn''t worth the hype.
Albert came forward and asked Tyler if he required a weapon, Tyler simply shook his head and asked Albert to start the fight. Albert walked to the center of the two and took several steps to the side before saying. "Begin."
Rain was surprised that Tyler hadn''t taken out his sword and wondered if he was keeping it forter when he runs out of mana. ''In that case, I''ll just have to force it out.''
"Twin magic, Lightning."
Rain stretched out an arm and Tyler could see electricity crackling on her fingertips as two thick bolts of silvery-white lightning shot out of her outstretched fingertips, traveling in a snake-like motion at Tyler with great speed.
Reacting to her attack, Tyler cast a spell of his own, this time opting to use the defense spell "Earth wall." He felt a massive drain of his Mana and immediately reined it back. Expending too much Mana was very dangerous for him so he needed to be extra careful.
This was the best time to gain more control and he would take full advantage of it. A massive wall of stone shot out from the ground a few feet ahead of him, it was wide enough to cover his entire field of view. Tyler quickly moved to the side knowing fully well that this wasn''t enough to stop her spell.
The lightning shattered the center of the stone wall and prated through the hole it created in less than a second, before finally being stopped by the enchanted walls in the hall. However, the few seconds his wall had bought him was all Tyler needed. Avoiding the attack head-on would have caused her tounch an immediate follow-up attack while giving her a false notion that he intended to defend against the attack allowed him some precious time to prepare.
All the spells Tyler wanted to test he had just learned and would need some time to create and imprint the magic circle on his Mana body before he could cast them with just a word. He had done the same for the fireball he had used in the fight against the lesser basilisks back at the settlement. He created the magic circle when he had wanted to roast the red hawk meat.
Tyler hurriedly created the magic circle of a spell before quickly casting it. "Magic Arrows." Another surge of energy left his body creating over a hundred magic Arrows which filled the air around him and shot at Rain in an instant. The spell magic Arrow could normally only create about three to five arrows since it was a tier 1 spell so when everyone had seen Tyler''s version creating over a hundred, it was no exaggeration to say they were dumbfounded.
Rain, having destroyed the wall of stone created by Tyler had no intentions of making a reckless pursuit without any preparations. She made use of the extra time to cast some enhancement spells on herself.
Mythical Hardening.
Greater Dexterity.
Geater Fire Resistance.
Haste.
Protection against Negative Energy.
She knew he could use a high-level fire spell from listening to Liz and Erin speak so she prepared herself for a fight against a fire magic swordsman. Preparing her next attack she saw Tylere out from behind the half stone wall and cast a spell of his own.
Countless white arrows appeared in the air and shot at her with great speed, they quickly appeared in her view before she could even blink. Rain quickly jumped sideways to avoid the spell, it had taken her by a bit of surprise as she didn''t know anyone could create that many arrow within a single attempt.
"Water Barrier." She stretched out her left arm and a wall of thin wateryer formed spiraling in front of her and absorbed the few arrows that had cornered her. She immediately raised her other arm and cast another spell at Tyler.
"Thunder Ball!"
A massive ball of electricity appeared in the air and shot out at Tyler with the deafening p of thunder, making the spectators cover their ears. Tyler watched the massive ball of electricitye at him helplessly, the spell had arge area of effect so he wasn''t sure he could avoid itpletely.
Tyler then turned his head and looked at a spot behind Rain, his ring trembled slightly and he disappeared from his spot just as the ball of electricity had charred the marbled floor ck. Arriving behind Rain, Tyler cast another spell he had just finish creating the Mana circle of.
me Sphere."
A 5-foot-diameter sphere of fire appeared in the hall with Rain as its epicenter. Tyler tried his best to rein in his Mana but the spell had still gone beyond a simple tier two spell. The heat was so intense he started to even sweat a little.
Tyler knew she would be unable to dodge or use a defensive spell and wasn''t really trying to kill her but right now he was beginning to think he had gone overboard. However, what she did next shocked him.
Without any hesitation or even sparing a thought for the scorching mes around her, Rain swiftly turned around and lunged at him with her dagger drawn, she was unable to dodge or defend against the mes but with her Tier 6 fire Resistance spells active, she barely even felt the heat.
The mes soon disappeared after Rain had exited its range, brandishing her weapon at Tyler before he could even recover from the shock. Although she was annoyed by the fact that she had drawn out her weapon first, she no longer had any intentions of holding back.
"Spiritual Daggers."
Several illusionary ck des appeared hovering around her and she picked up one of them to wield in her off-hand while the rest asionally moved on their own as she continued her ferocious barrage of attacks.
Tyler narrowly avoided the sudden attacks by the dark elf and tried to create some distance between them by taking wide strides backward but Rain''s pursuit was relentless and she wouldn''t let him get away. Her attacks only got harder to dodge when the illusionary daggers had appeared.
He had no weapons and she was incredibly fast. Faster than Liz to be honest and Tyler had to focus to avoid her vicious swings. Even though he was still faster than she was, her movement techniques and grace, coupled with her beautiful swordsmanship and his amateurish techniques made her more than keeping up with him.
Rain swung her des at him several times in quick session, even while controlling several weapons at once, it didn''t seem to affect her attack pattern at all. She twisted her upper body slightly, her legs spun soon after performing a spinning back kick that carried traces of a silvery-white aura.
¡ãBandinshing Kick.¡ã
A wave of the sliver aura gusted out at Tyler, who was too close to dodge the wide rage attack, Tyler used his new skill once more. Spatial Movement,and appeared several feet away from the attack. He then used another spell he had finally managed toplete the magic circle on even under such onught.
"Darkness."
Chapter 58 C58. ...It Pours
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"Darkness."
Tyler Mana surged forth and immediately, absolute darkness spreads from a point next to Rain. This spell was originally a tier 1 spell that would only be able to fill a 15-foot-radius sphere with magical darkness for a duration of 15 minutes. However, with the sheer amount of mana the spell had consumed from him, he could sense that the range of the spell had massively increased, almost covering the entire hall.
The darkness was pure, even a creature with Darkvision would be unable to see through this darkness, and nonmagical light would be unable to illuminate it. Rain was a dark elf, so naturally, she possessed the racial trait of Darkvision. Originally, she had wanted to continue her pursuit using her Darkvision, but when she noticed that it couldn''t prate through the darkness, she halted her step and took a defensive stance without hesitation.
She was a little familiar with this spell so she had expected an immediate attack from her blind spot, however, after waiting for a few seconds, nothing happened. Although she didn''t know why he hadn''t used this time to strike, she wouldn''t waste any time and give him an unforeseen opportunity.
Without further dys, she cast two high-tiered spells.
"Dy Magic. Electrosphere."
"Max magic Daylight."
The moment Tyler cast darkness, he immediately began his formation of several magic circles for the spells he had learned including several Tier 1 spells. Fighting an actual high-leveled opponent was a lot harder than he thought and he could no longer half-ass it. He was beginning to lose a step in the fight since he wasn''t used to fighting as a magic caster.
The dark elf was using a bunch of enhancement spells that disregarded his speed advantage and he didn''t have any such spells since he hadn''t thought they would be useful. Well, he was wrong, her experience and skills were superior to his and he needed a chance to catch his breath and give himself a semnce of preparation.
He knew he had a lot of weaknesses but he wasn''t expecting to be so totally overwhelmed by a girl that literally just came out of aa. ''Sigh... I''m not a very good magic caster.'' If he wanted to learn more about magic, he would need to find a teacher, however, he felt like if he asks this dark elf or Liz he would be embarrassing himself.
Tyler had been influenced by the Gray-War troll''s spell, the fog of darkness in learning his darkness spell. Though he was a lot weaker than the troll''s as he could only take away the sense of sight. This was why Tyler hadn''t chosen to attack instead, he knew she would sense any attacks he threw her way but as long as he stayed still she wouldn''t sense him and he should be able to buy himself enough time to finally set up all his spells.
However, the absolute darkness in the room was suddenly nullified by the intense brightness of day. Both the darkness spell and the Daylight spell were pr opposite and normally they would cancel each other out but Tyler was stunned when his spell shattered first.
Rain, finally able to locate her target didn''t give Tyler any time to be shocked as she cast another spell. "Triplet Max Magic. Chaos Lightning."
With the thunderous crackling of purple electricity, Rain stretched forth her left arm, and three massive bolts of dark purple lightning arc through the air at Tyler from several angles like they had a mind of their own, closing him in a box as they struck down on him.
The attack was incredibly fast but Tyler had reacted fast enough to use his skill: spatial movement. However, most of his field of vision was obstructed by the huge purple lightning and Tyler could only teleport a few feet away from his prior location. He was about to move when he noticed only one of the purple lightning had struck the ground he had stood on, shattering the densely reinforced marble floor.
The other two purple lightning had bounced off the ground in his direction, Tyler thought about using spatial movement one more time when he realized he had already used it a total of three times today and only had one left. He needed to save thatst one for a serious emergency and from the looks of it, those purple lighting could also bounce off the ground one more time.
Gritting his teeth he no longer wasted time and cast several defensive spells at once. "Fire shield."
"Lesser Resistance - Lightning."
"Leaser Magic barrier."
Tyler almost felt faint from the sheer amount of mana he was losing, these were all supposed to be weak Tier 1 and 2 spells, yet they drained more energy than he thought higher-tiered spells should. Thin and wispy mes wreathe his body and a faint translucent barrier appeared around him.
The Chao lightning struck Tyler head-on and shattered the magic barrier that protected him. The fire shield soon dissipated before his eyes along with the chaos lightning. Tyler was about to sigh in relief when suddenly Rain appeared before him at a low angle already brandishing her weapons towards him. It didn''t seem like she was the one that had just cast several high-tiered spells in a row.
Her stamina and Mana reserves were certainly not something to scoff at. Tyler narrowly avoided her uppercut strike before taking wide strides backward and preparing for her follow-up attack. He came into this fight with total confidence in victory and had ced several restrictions on himself, he hadn''t even nned on using a weapon to better control his magic power but somehow he was now at aplete disadvantage and he wasn''t even sure he could win against this girl even with a weapon.
Although he was poorly equipped and she was probably wielding a magic weapon, not even including the several illusionary des that were still hovering in the air around her. This situation was still due to hisck of judgment and poor decision making which he desperately needed to improve as well as many other things.
His calm exterior was inplete contrast to his chaotic thoughts that processed several things at once. Another Brandishing kick was sent his way and Tyler countered with a wind de spell as he continued his retreat when suddenly.
A giant ball of electricity struck Tyler from behind. Luckily, he was able to resist the sudden shock due to his lesser Resistance lightning spell still being active, but his moment of surprise had cost him in such a high-speed battle.
Boom! Bang!
A kick was sent Tyler''s way and he was unable to avoid it, opting to block it instead but the force had sent him off the ground, sliding several meters through the marble floor before he was finally able to stop himself before hitting the wall.
Tyler felt the weight behind that kick and was sure that if he was still a normal human being his arm would''ve shattered from receiving the full brunt of that attack. His arm felt numb for a moment before slowly returning to normal. He felt increasingly annoyed at hisck of awareness in this fight but quickly cast a spell to calm his growing nerves that had no ce in a battle.
This was his n against the so-called demon''s pride, and even if he was beinginfluenced by the past demon king. Until he knew more about it, he wouldn''t let himself get too emotional in any situation. ''Silent magic - cate.'' He felt a sudden calm that enveloped him and all his chaotic thoughts soon became normal again.
Tyler stabilize his stance and raised his head to look at Rain, however, she was no longer in her previous location and Tyler was unable to track her even with magic vision. He was about to use a protective spell on himself when suddenly he felt a gust of wind to his side. Rain had appeared out of the blue in full motion, with her des ready to strike.
Phantom Kill.
Tyler could see the intent in her eyes as it prated his soul. She was really about to take his life and given the way he had fought until now, he wouldn''t be able to stop her. She was already in his blind spot and he didn''t have any time to use any spells, neither could he move out of the way on time. Tyler saw multiple desing at him from different lethal directions as he was certain that even with all that he had learned, he had no spell that would save him here.
With swift and fluid motions that overwhelmed one''s opponent, multiple daggers sliced into almost every single critical location in his body as the technique Phantom kill was true to its name.
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Rain was getting increasingly more anxious the longer this fight went on, the moment she had taken out her dagger and used Spiritual Daggers, she had been on the offensive, trying to force this guy into either using a weapon or admitting defeat.
However, somehow he was always able to narrowly dodge or avoid her attacks using minimal movements. It was obvious he wasn''t using any footwork techniques or skills yet his movements were so precise and acute that she almost believed he could predict her next attack.
She felt a blow to her pride and immediately took this fight more seriously only to be countered with the darkness spell. Feeling a slight panic like she was baited and had just walked into his trap she hurriedly tried to defend herself but to her surprise, no attacks came. ''Is he mocking me?'' With a bit of anger, she went all out, casting two high leveled spells at once to get rid of the darkness and set a n in motion.
After setting up the dyed spell electrosphere that would activate at a very specific time which she had to make sure she pushed him within range without being too obvious about it.
She had to admit that his physical abilities were absurdly high, which indicates his magic potential. Still, although his attacks were powerful, they were all too straightforward and simpleminded to use against someone on her level and she couldn''t understand why he was doing that.
She then cast her most powerful multi-target spell on him draining almost all her remaining Mana reserve but she was sure he should also be getting low on mana as well and she used her skill, Mana Essence, to confirm.
However, what she saw was so strange it made her skin crawl. He certainly had a vast and almost limitless amount of mana which was intimidating on its own but as she watched his mana drastically reduce when he cast several powerful spells to defend against her Chao Lightning and she was about to feel relieved when something impossible happened.
His Mana immediately recovered almost as if he hadn''t used any spells. ''A trick, yes he must be using False Mana Essence to scare me, yes that''s the only exnation.'' She refused to believe that someone that wasn''t even a full mage had such ridiculous levels of mana recovery.
This was thest straw, her anxiety had turned into anger and she no longer held back. Her grip tightened on her des and she used another skill. ¡ãMisty steps¡ã Her body faded away with a cloud of mist before he could notice her and she appeared next to him already brandishing her de. As expected he was still able to avoid her strike even after taking him by surprise. Rain didn''t get discouraged as she slowly leads him to her trap with near-perfect execution.
Her trap had worked, and although he was able to resist the electric shock she was able tond a well-ced kick on him and use the time to find the perfect opportunity to execute her most fatal and lethal technique. The phantom kill was a sess and even this absolutely strong behemoth had fallen victim to the multitude of critical strikes it produced.
Chapter 59 C59. I Win
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The Phantom kill was a secret Technique that was known only to high-ranking dark elves that specialized in assassination. It was a technique that guaranteed the death of its intended target as long as they were able to meet certain conditions. No amount of resistance or passive defensive skills could stop it. It was a technique that was practically impossible to block.
While not especially shy, this technique focuses on attacking all of the opponent''s vitals with one fluid motion and the perfect control of multiple des. When used correctly it multiples the attack power of the user by more than 100 folds on their first strike, it was truly a one-hit kill.
Although this was the first time Rain was using this technique in an actual fight, she knew that amongst her peers that had learned this technique at the same time, her mastery was second to none.
Rain''s spiritual Daggers created six illusionary des and she was wielding one of them leaving five hoverings in the air around her andunching attacks individually without her needing to fully control them.
However, to fully utilize the phantom kill technique, she had to take control of all six des and aim them at their respective targets. Although the technique could be used with a single de, the more des one could use masterfully the faster the strike and the more effective the technique was.
All her attacks wereunched instantly, leaving no room for escape.
Her intentions were never to kill this man, he had gone out of his way to save her after all and even though he had his reasons for doing that, she should be grateful he hadn''t used her condition to exploit Liz like most demons would have.
Yet, here she was attacking this man without any hesitation. She didn''t know when he had managed to get under her skin so much but every time he narrowly avoided her attack without pulling out his weapon made her feel like she was being looked down upon and she may have gotten a bit too frustrated and now there was no turning back.
There was a chance if she killed him they would all be stuck in this castle forever and slowly starve to death but it was toote now. Her body was already moving on its own and she couldn''t stop it. All six spiritual Daggers and the ck dagger cut down into a different part of his body and tore through his vitals.
Her de strikes were so fast that even Albert and the others couldn''t see what was happening but it made Albert feel nervous. This was only supposed to be a spar, yet this happened. The fight had slowly gotten more intense and even Albert had sensed the killing intent that emanated from Rain during thatst strike. However, his body was just too slow to react in time and before he could even take a step to stop this fight the battle was already over.
Liz, on the other hand, didn''t know how to react, she stood rooted to the spot and Erin was the same, with the color in their faces slowly draining. They couldn''t believe a simple bout had lead to this tragedy. They had all gotten acquainted with each other and they all knew how important Tyler was to the ogres, beastmen, and kobolds.
Even Rain had gotten to know them all during the few days she had been up, so why would she get so carried away to do this. Rain felt her mind went nk when her attack had connected sessfully, she knew her attack was lethal and there was more than a 99% kill rate for the phantom kill, half of her had hoped he would narrowly dodge the attack just like before but even she knew that wasn''t possible once she had gotten that close to her target.
Rain''s mind was finally clear of the frustration she felt, but looking at the dead body underneath her, it was already toote for that. However, as she tried to pull out her weapon from the dead body on the ground, something truly ludicrous happened.
Her de was stuck, it was as if it had been jammed into a rock, she wanted to pull harder when his body suddenly shifted weirdly, it warped distortedlybefore ultimately fading away like an illusion, which revealed her weapon that had merely been plunged into the ground. Rain''s mind went into overdrive along with everyone that witnessed this.
''What just happened?''
She was dumbfounded but her body instinctively shot backward leaving behind her ck de that was still stuck on the ground. However, she soon felt a palm on her back that stopped her retreat. She turned her head hesitantly with a nk expression on her face and just as she feared, she saw him standing behind her with his arm stretched out and her blood immediately ran cold.
A bone-chilling aura ran across her spine that almost made her knees buckle under the pressure. He soon smiled and spoke gently, yet it was a tone thatmanded authority, "Looks like I win." There was nothing she could say to refute him. Her mind may have still been active but her body was no longer hers to control.
It was a feeling she had never felt before, even from her n leader. His aura alone made her feel insignificant, her most powerful technique was rendered useless before she could even realize it. She had yed right into his palm. It made sense now.
Why she couldn''t reach him, why he wouldn''t even pull out a weapon to fight her. She was just that much weaker than this man, who seemed to have been having fun toying with her heart the entire time. ''Asshole.'' Was the only word her chaotic mind could think of as she bit her lips in frustration. This was the first time she had lost to someone other than her brother, and she hadn''t even stood a chance.
"I lost, I admit defeat." She said with a bitter smile.
"No need to be so down, you''re the first person to push me so far in over a thousand years. I''m quite impressed."
Rain saw the genuine smile on his face when he said that as he took his palm off her back. She felt his aura rescind and her nerves rapidly calming down which made various emotions start to rise within her.
She could see Liz running towards her so she decided to apologize. "Sorry. I''m sorry about earlier." She was apologizing about herst attack, most people would''ve died from that and it definitely wasn''t supposed to be used in a practice bout.
"It''s fine, this had been very educational for me so I''m d I epted this bout, besides, how can I refuse a serious request from such a lovely youngdy."
Rain was flustered by his response and the final lid that kept her emotions in check popped like a wine cock and she broke down crying.
Tyler almost lost hisposure with her sudden outburst as he thought. ''I should stop using those types of spells if something like this is going to happen every time.'' He was the one that had just managed to escape death, yet it now looked like he was just bullying a girl.
Luckily for him, Liz and Erin arrived just in time. "Are you both alright?" Erin asked in a worried tone and shot Tyler a look. ''I didn''t do anything.'' He wanted to protest but kept silent. Liz went to console Rain and she just fell into her arms like a baby. It didn''t take long for her to stop crying in Liz''s arms after Erin cast a soothing spell that negated the effects of his spell, Touch of Despair, a Tier 2 spell in the Despair series. Which Tyler had felt was more convenient than its Tier 1 counterpart.
Tyler looked at the scene and sighed inwardly, perhaps he could''ve ended the fight in a more suitable manner. if he had wanted to just overwhelm her with strength, he was sure he would''ve lost control and ended up killing her.
Rain seemed to have fallen asleep after the soothing spell and Albert offered to carry her out. Liz then went over to Tyler and he thought she was about to berate him or something but she didn''t.
"I''m d no one got hurt, I thought for sure thatst attack would cause a lot of problems, I''m sorry my friend got carried away..."
Tyler nodded but did not speak and Liz continued.
"I can''t believe you survived the phantom kill without even a scratch on you."
"That''s true, herst strike had really surprised me," Erin added, strangely more enthusiastic than usual.
"That''s right, and how were you able to fool Rain with an illusion, she should be able to see through any illusion magic due to her racial skill."
"Mmm... I just distorted the space around me a bit andbined that with an illusion spell, it''s no big deal."
"Wow, you can use such a high-level special magic?" Their eyes gleamed with a childlike excitement that Tyler hadn''t expected. He then quickly changed the subject before they could bombard him with questions he could not answer.
"How about we head back up and resume our discussion."
"...Oh... Okay." They both seemed a little disappointed by that, it was now obvious that they were really interested in hearing more about spatial magic which Tyler technically couldn''t use.
Albert carried Rain out of the room and the two girls trailed behind him leaving only Tyler behind. He proceeded to ce his hand on his chest and sure enough, his heart was beating heavily. He was surprised at how he was able to hide the loud sound from the others, but he still felt his arm trembling before his eyes.
What he felt during thatst attack was no doubt the threat of death. He was certain that if he hadn''t activated his ring and gotten those two skills, he would''ve died in this match. This was the third time that Tyler had ever felt threatened by death in his life and he couldn''t get used to it. The first was on earth, just before he actually died.
The second was here on Neron, the moment he and his friends were captured by a demon general. Coming face to face with someone of that level as someone that wasn''t even a Tier 1 swordman was enough to give him a heart attack. And finally, he felt the same feeling when facing that dark elf.
? Well, it wasn''t the same. He turned his head to looked at his trembling hands. What he had felt when faced with thatst attack was, insulted. Something within him felt absolutely livid. He was d he had identally activated his ring and had a way to end that fight quickly otherwise he wasn''t sure what he would''ve done to everyone in this hall.
As it turned out, his n for managing the demon''s pride with the cate spell was wed as it was harder to do that in the heat of battle. Still, he had learned a lot from that battle. For instance, the value of pieces of equipment and Artifacts. The usefulness of enhancement spells and skills in battle and more importantly, the strength of a Secret Technique.
Tyler reached into space and pulled out a ring, he stared at the Monarch Ring as he wondered if he should activate it to be safe. It didn''t have any skills but maybe it would increase his basic stats. He sighed deeply as he decided against it. The ring was useless for now and he felt like putting it on would attract trouble. If he could open the secret door without needing to activate it, he would do so.
Tyler then walked out of the hall after returning the ring into his storage space and he headed back to the North wing. He entered the office room and saw that Rain had woken up and looked as if nothing had happened with that carefree smile on her face as they watched Tyler enter the room.
He proceeded to take his seat and stared at the girls before he spoke.
"So... Now that we''re done with your little test, how about we get straight to point. Let''s start from the beginning then, who are you girls? Where exactly are you from, and why were you headed for this castle?"
Chapter 60 C60. Frozen Cadavers
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Deep inside the eastern parts of the ever-expanding Darknar forest...
?
The thick grey clouds had cleared up slightly for the sun, which was almost at its zenith and shone brightly in the sky. Yet, it failed in Illuminating the dark and dense forest that was now covered in ayer of snow.
The trees in these parts of the forest were practically humongous, and their thick tree trunks stood tall, while their leafy branches spread wide. Because light could barely prate into the depths of the forest, there was a feeling that anyone inside would be swallowed by the ckness.
There were nondmarks in the forest, and it was impossible to tell in which direction one was moving. A sense of unease filled everyone, as though they had been devoured by a monster. The sky-scraping trees further intensified that uneasiness, and most people would have been frightened by this scene.
However, the group of six that navigated this forest skillfully, were unperturbed by the scene. They were either used to this atmosphere or were well trained to survive in the wild.
Jarret leads the group as they advanced through the forest. His Mana wasn''t unlimited so he couldn''t use his ability often but thanks to thebined experience of the group and Tarka, the dragonwrought Kobold, being somewhat familiar with the forest, they were able to make it this deep into the forest without attracting any unwanted attention to themselves.
Although they still encountered some strays along the way, they were mostly weak monsters and were quickly dispatched. This was their first time working together so they openly challenged those weaker monsters without fear of attracting the attention of the scouts.
Albert had informed them of the observation tactics of the scouts so they had alreadyused the anti-divination scrolls right before they entered the Forest.
The spells the scrolls contained were around the Tier 3 and Tier 2 standards and wouldst for a full day so as long as they stayed clear of anything that would demand the full attention of the scouts upon them, they should be able to avoid the gaze of their monitoring spells. Their mission was to use Jarret''s ability along with a divination scroll and observe the situation in the two safe zones closest to the castle as well as document the activities of the monsters in the area.
There have been several changes in the monster''s activities in the forest so even the scouts would be too busy documenting the same information, so they had been presented with the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the chaos.
The Darknar forest was primarily divided into four sections, which were mostmonly known as the North, West, East, and South, and was generally differentiated by the vastly different environment in each section. For instance, the eastern parts of the forest were more notable for their tall trees and rare herbs along with wild fruits and flowers.
The west was more notable for its dense hills and caverns along with the various undergroundbyrinths that housed several valuable ore mines. Naturally, thesebyrinths were very dangerous and extremely hard to navigate through as they naturally weakened sensory-type magic.
The South was dominated by several marsnds and swamps and was generally home to dangerous reptilian predatory creatures. While the North was a mountainous hignds with several specialkes whose waters were known to have special properties like healing and improving one''s physiques.
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The group had been inside this forest for a few hours now. Although they wanted to improve their teamwork by facing of against stray monsters, they were still only a team consisting of several ranged fighters and a single swordsman. They needed to do everything they could to avoid fighting and only engage when absolutely necessary.
It would still take them a while to get to the first safe zone since there wasn''t an exact path leading there and the snow was also slowing them down. Jarret, as the appointed leader, organized their formation. He had Gail scout ahead for the group, making sure they were always headed in the right direction and avoided anyrge groups of monsters, while Tarka would hover a few feet ahead of them in case of traps.
Lora and Raz were stationed at the back due to their superior senses as beastmen as well as mages and Jarret were apanied by Jin in the middle of the group. Jin was equipped with aposite longbow and a green quiver filled with arrows strap on his back. Their formation wasn''t exactly the best formation for their team, but it would do for now.
They walked through the narrow pathway ording to Jarret''s directions and the information received from Gail. They were able to easily map their entire journey so far as not to get lost in the forest that at this point, had nothing but whites and the slight green to identify their location.
After confirming their location with his ability one more time, they finally came across one of the locations on their list. Walking out into the opening in the middle of the forest, they saw several lumps on the ground, that had been covered by some snow but sparse revealed the body ofrge furry creatures.
These were monster cadavers. From Albert''s description and what Gail had seenst night, this was the previous location of the battle that urred between the silver wolves and the yet to be identified wolves. The group immediately set up a perimeter for their investigation, there were corpses from both sides involved in that battle.
There were around fifty wolves engaged in battlest night and both sides seemed to be about even with the silver wolves having a slight advantage in numbers.
The group investigated the scene of the fight hoping to pick up the trail of both parties. ording to Gail, the silver wolves had imed this territory so they needed to ascertain howrge their territory was and where the other party had run off to. Jin and Kaz studied the cadavers and were able to tell they belonged to both silver wolves and Dire wolves.
Having identified the second wolf species, increased the severity of the situation because Dire wolves were usually found in the far end of the western parts of this forest and this was still considered the far end of the eastern parts of the Darknar forest.
The scale of the battle was also huge and it didn''t seem they started here. Unfortunately thanks to the snow, they were unable to pick up the trail of the dire wolves and only located the trail of the silver wolves. When their investigation wasplete, Jarret brought out a storage box and ced all the monster cadavers into it.
Even if¡ª the now frozen flesh wasn''t particrly useful, the beast cores within them were still valuable, and so were their furs.
After storing the cadavers they proceeded to track the silver wolves, mapping the area around their territory. Along the way, they saw some killous, rodent-like creature the size of a roon. These were worthless tier 1 creatures whose only ability was to spit out mildly acidic needles. Of course, any creature that lived in the Darknar forest was deadly in its rights.
The killous however, was only dangerous in massive numbers, but due to the extreme cold, they would naturally be hibernating at this time of the year so they only met a small number of them.
The group easily disposed of them and discarded their remains. Since the territory had already been imed there wouldn''t be that many monsters here.
They soon found the pack of silver wolves, as expected, they stayed close to their water supply so, using Jarret''s Spirit vision, they mapped the wolf''s territory without attracting their attention.
There were only about Twelve wolves left in the pack which was a little different from Gail''s reportst night. But it also looked like their alpha was wounded, so maybe they had lost a few more of their kins in a recent scuffle.
If they acted now, they might be able to tame the pack but they couldn''t make that decision themselves and Jarret didn''t want to waste a valuablemunication scroll on a suggestion.
However, his thought process was suddenly interrupted when someone tugged him on his shoulder. It was Lora whose sharp ears and nose had picked up something from behind them.
Due to the miserable state the pack was in, they couldn''t afford to be careless, so they must''ve only sent out a few wolves to hunt and unlucky for their group, the hunting party just happened to be returning at this exact moment. Three were about six or seven silvers wolves carrying some dead killous in their maws back to the pack, which meant they were now trapped in between them.
Jarret''s ability allowed him to see through objects, and also through low-level invisibility spells. He could also see from a distance but he did not have a bird''s eye view so his field of vision stayed the same.
It was unlucky that he had tasked Gail and Tarka to map out the surroundings ahead of them and not behind. The forest naturally didn''t allow for easy movements and with the addition of the snow, it would be harder for the group to escape the iing wolves.
''Unlucky huh... Aren''t I just useless, was I really the best person for this job? How can I lead anyone if I couldn''t even save her.''
Jarret had never once dreamt of being the heroic type, he had always prided himself for being able to make the best of what he was given. He had neverined a day in his life and he never felt sorry for himself. He was a decently skilled swordsman but he did not have the strength of Hart or the endurance of Talen.
He also did not have the natural fighting ability of K neither could he ever outwork her, but he never cared. He was the only one amongst his formal party members with an innate ability so he studied it in order to be useful to them. He made calm and precise decisions based on the situation and had never doubted himself before.
Not until quite recently.
Jarret cared deeply for his previous hunting mates, but amongst them, there was one person he always wanted to impress, someone he truly cared for, but up until the end, it never happened. He wasn''t even sure if she ever noticed his feelings for her. He had never been able to confess his love to Callie, and now that she was gone, he would never be able to.
He didn''t know why he med himself for her death. Perhaps, if he was stronger, he would''ve been able to save her. No, perhaps all he needed to do was master his so-called gift. If he had full awareness of that battlefield, he would''ve been able to save her.
Maybe if Lord Ty had arrived just a few minutes earlier she would still be alive today. He would be able to look forward to seeing her beaming and mischievous smile again. "No" Jarret snapped himself awake, he couldn''t be thinking such sphemous thoughts about his savior and current master.
He also couldn''t afford to be indecisive at this critical moment. Amongst all the members of his current party, he was the only one that would not be able to escape through the treetops as he was a warrior, not a scout neither did he have any skills that would help him avoid the wolves so they had no choice but to fight.
He remembered what lord Ty had told him in the castle, if ever they were in any tough or impossible situation, all they needed to do was contact him and he woulde and save them.
With that, he was filled with renewing confidence in himself and an ignited respect and loyalty towards his master. His brain then began to dissect their situation, whileing up with a n.
Silver wolves tend to attack in numbers so if they were going to survive, they needed tond a fatal and decisive strike on the weakest group on their first attack. And while the alpha silver wolf was wounded right now, it was still a magic beast and their team was too unbnced to take it on.
Besides, they were selected for their survivability and not their attack power, naturally, they were not expected to capture or tame any Monsters at the risk of their mission. With that his decision was made, they wouldunch an attack on the six silver wolves returning to their pack, after a sessful hunt.
Chapter 61 C61. Frozen Corpses
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Six silvery-white creatures ran across the snow-covered forest without any halt, they moved swiftly around the trees and bushes, avoided rocks and even the unseen roots that had been buried by the snow with amazing briskness and agility.
This disy, showed their innate familiarity with their territory, even though it was now a lot smaller than it used to be. The wolves approached their pack with several dead killers in their maws when suddenly, arge and unnatural pit opened up in front of them.
? The pit came, literally, out of nowhere. It wouldn''t have been a surprise if all six of the wolves had fallen into that hole but, the wolves were nimble creatures and wouldn''t go down so easily. However, in a group, there would always be one that was too slow to keep up with the others, or in this case, too slow to react.
A single silver wolf had fallen into the pit and was met with deadly sharp spikes at the bottom, killing it instantly. There was no time for them to take a breath though, as several arrows flew at them from their right. There were five arrows aimed at all five remaining wolves.
The arrows sliced through the air with great speed but the now aware silver wolves were just too fast. Their innate ability was Speed boost, which allowed them to drastically increase their speed for a short period of time.
Most of the monsters that lived in the eastern parts of the Darknar forest were agile and speed-based monsters, due to the difficulty in traversing the terrain.
The silver wolves scattered to the left of thest attack, but as it turned out, the enemy had predicted this as well. A barrage of wind des came out suddenly from that direction and with most of them having already used Speed boost, the attack sliced up two sliver wolves on the spot.
Seeing two more of their kin die before their eyes, the remaining three silver wolves, dropped the beast in their mouths and went berserk. The skill ¡ãRage Destruction¡ã was used simultaneously and their fur stood on end as their eyes glowed brightly with a faintly red hue.
With their berserk skill, Rage Destruction, not only would their base strength and speed be multiplied. But, they would be able to use all their other skills indefinitely, although the berserk skill would rapidly drain their life force the longer it was activated.
Jarret already being aware of this immediatelymanded his team to attack. They could not give the wolves time to pick them off one by one or worst, call for help.
Gail, who was stationed atop arge tree from about 120 meters away. Reloaded her purple crossbow and shot out multiple arrows at once. Of course, with the wolves increased physical abilities and their ability to use Speed boost countless times, they were able to easily dodge and avoid her arrows. However, her n was never to hit them.
The wolves moved as predicted and Jarret, the only close-ranged fighter in this group, charged straight for the sliver wolf at the center. The others tried to intercept him but a furry of wind des from Lora and Raz, including the well-timed and urate shots by Gail, forcing the wolves to redirect their focus back to them.
Tarka cast support magic on Jarret that booster his strength and speed to keep up with the agile wolves. She was a Dragonwrought kobold with many useful abilities and trap magic was just one of them. She could use low-level healing spells as well as boost her allies with support magic.
Jin came from behind Jarret and drew the string of hisposite longbow to its limits until its limbs began creaking. With a whoosh, the bowstring sliced through the air almost as far as Gail''s arrow which had been fired from a crossbow.
Jarret threw a small de at the sliver wolve that was left to him, his aim wasn''t that urate but it didn''t matter. He had drawn the attention of that beast to himself. The Beastunched at him and threw two sliver w strike in front of Jarret. Jarret immediately lunged out of the way and changed his target.
The w strike hit the ground and the silver wolf couldn''t help but turn its gaze to look at the prey that was running away, however, at that point in time. Jin''s arrow hit its mark, with the effect of a skill, it went through the wolf''s head and killed it on the spot.
Seeing another of their kin die in front of them, the remaining silver wolves instinctively knew they could not win. They also weren''t given the chance to call for help due to the consistent ranged attacks that came their way.
Without a chance at winning, the two silver Wolves spammed their speed boost ability and took off running. With their boosted speed it would be impossible for the group to chase after them but that was not their objective in this fight.
Jarret knew the wolves would circle to their pack so he immediately ordered his party to retreat.
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After finally escaping the silver wolves'' territory, the group could now finally take a short break before continuing on the rest of their mission.
They had alreadypleted the first part of the mission and now had to head for the first safe zone closest to them.
However, due to their hasty retreat from the silver wolves'' territory, their fragile formation had copsed and they seemed to have stumbled into another monster''s territory before they had to realize it. They had sat at the bottom of arge tree to catch their breath when blew passed them.
The monster gave off no aura, if it wasn''t for the killing intent it radiated when it was about to strike, Jin would''ve lost his head. Jarret immediately drew his de and deflected an attack to Kaz''s neck before the others could react.
"What was that?" Jin said in a fluster instantly raising his alertness level. The monster moved so quickly it didn''t even make a sound and none of the others could even see it.
Jarret''s spirit vision had alerted him of something approaching rapidly and he had barely been able to block it. Yet, he did not see the monster himself. Gail rushed back sensing the danger and Tarka took flight, giving the group some air support while everyone else braced themselves for an onught.
As if on cue a barrage of attacks came raining down on them from all sides, it was like being beaten by over a dozen monsters but Jarret had confirmed there was only one. "A Bandersnatch." The words escaped his mouth without a second thought and the looks of dismay appeared on all their faces as they finally realized their current predicament.
"A-are you sure? Maybe it might just be something else." Jin said in a worried tone. A Bandersnatch wasn''t that much of a high-level monster, in fact, it was only at the Tier 3 standards yet, its name instilled fear in the group. This was because Bandersnatch was a purely speed-based magic beast with speeds that could rival that of one of the four kings, the ancient Rykir.
Such speeds weren''t something fighters at Jarret''s level could handle without help. The only positive was the fact that its strength was sorelycking, as testament by the fact that they can withstand so many of its attacks.
"Hey, Jarret what do we do?"
"Should we use the scroll?"
Jarret was speechless as they took the attacks of the Bandersnatch, he didn''t want to use the scroll and report utter failure to Lord Ty, requiring him toe save them. No, they needed to survive this fight on their own. There were a lot more dangerous monsters in this forest than this and if they couldn''t handle this they would be better of dead.
Gritting his teeth Jarret braced himself andmanded. "No! Everyone focus, these attacks are nothing. All we need to do is distract the monster, then we''ll use the camouge, soundless and odorless scrolls.¡ª Now Lora, on my mark cast shockwave straight ahead, Gail watch out for Lora''s attacked and if you spot the monster shoot it, Tarka, cast pit ahead of us when Gail attacks. Raz and Jin stay close to me and attack when I give the order."
"Yes."
"Okay."
Alright."
"Nicely done."
"No problem."
They all responded positively to his determined spirit and followed his orders, staying on the defensive while Jarret focuses on his ability until he finally yelled "Now!" Lora unleased the third-tier spell shockwave and a figure was sent flying back in the air. Being an experienced ranger Gail didn''t miss her chance and fired multiple arrows apanied by her skills. ¡ãPrating Arrows¡ã
Three arrows pierced through a flying figure and pinned it to a tree. No¡ª the figure was somehow able to dodge two of the three arrows and had avoided a fatal blow. Without revealing itself the monster disappeared for a moment before a loud thud was heard as something fell into a hole that had suddenly appeared.
"Use it now," Jarretmanded and Lora brought out three scrolls from her bag and activated them with a thought. The scrolls burnt in a purple haze turning to dust.
The forest was quiet and only the sound of the wind ruffling the leaves on the trees could be heard as the group disappeared from view and made a hasty retreat. They were left with no choice but to head for a different safe zone in other to avoid the Bandersnatch''s territory not even dating to know if it had survived that fall.
The group took several detours as they headed for the second safe zone with the camouge spell still active. The trip took them longer than it should because they were extra aware of their surroundings. Normally there shouldn''t be so many monsters territory so close to each other but they had spotted several Tier 3 and above monsters on their way, and these monsters im a lot smaller territories than they should, it was like they were giving up on the rest of the deeper territories for the four kings(three now).
It took them a while to make it past these territories and they had finally arrived some meters away from the safe zone ording to Gail''s report. The others took this time to finally rest and Jarret and Lora got to work activating more anti-divination scrolls until he was ready to spy on the scouts using his ability. "Huh?" Jarret let out before he had the chance to control himself. "What''s wrong?" Lora asked, "Did they notice us?"
Jarret shook his head with a confused expression on his face and said. Ah... No, there is... there is no one there."
"Huh..." Lora couldn''t help but let out the same word Jarret had earlier. When the others heard this they couldn''t help but approach the two to find out what was going on.
"What do you mean no one there?" Gail said as she dropped off a tree in front of them and walked towards Jarret. "I''m not sure myself, but from what captain Cronoff said, there should be scouts in all the safe zones closest to the castle but I can''t find anyone in this one."
"Do you think it''s a trap?"
"We took a lot of precautions, they shouldn''t know we''re here."
"Maybe they are aware of our arrival in the castle and had gone to report it."
"There is no need for all of them to leave for just that."
"What if this has something to do with the drastic changes in the forest."
"Yeah, perhaps they ran into one of the four king''s and both parties annihted each other."
"Well that might be it"
"I don''t think a bunch of scouts can kill one of the four king''s Kaz, even if they had several artifacts and still sacrifice their lives, if it was that easy the Great Five would''ve already conquered this ce."
"Alright, we ain''t getting anywhere by just discussing this lets head in and investigate before we report this to Lord Ty," Jarret said while pping his hands to get the other''s attention and they got their things together and headed inside the safe zone.
The normally sandy safe zone was now covered in snow, and as you can imagine it wasn''t easy to move around on it. Since this was a safe zone the group spit up to search for clues, if any. Using some detect scrolls they all had a limited version of magic sense and they began their search. They moved around the ce for about 10 to 15 minutes before they heard Raz yell out. "Hey, guys! I found something."
The others quickly gathered around him and he started to dig out the thickyer of snow around the perimeter of the safe zone which soon revealed something they all couldn''t believe. A body was buried under the snow and even though the corpse was frozen, the body was most likely not even more than a few days old. The weather for the past few weeks had been extremely cold even before the snow so the body looked like it had been well preserved.
They dug out the body and found a second one along the way. They searched for a few more minutes and didn''t find any more. Jarret frowned slightly, this was a safe zone and yet two scouts had died here, what did this mean. Did a monster somehow enter here, this ce wasn''t protected by magic, it was just observed that monsters didn''te close and if a monster was forcefully brought here, they would do anything in their power to leave.
Jarret brought out one of themunication scrolls from his bag and immediately activated it. This was beyond his understanding and he would just report it.
Chapter 62 C62. Liz Alcar
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In the demon king''s castle, on the fourth floor of the North Wing. The luxurious office that was now devoid of most of its furniture was eerily silent and an awkward atmosphere ruled the air.
Five figures were present in the room consisting of two males and three females, they sat opposite each other with one of the males standing beside the other awaiting instructions.
Tyler didn''t care that Erin and Albert were present, from the looks of it, the girls were already friendly with Erin and there wasn''t a point in hiding this from them. Besides he didn''t expect an exact answer to his question on the girl''s past but he also needed to have asked that question.
While there would normally be a level of distrust between both parties. As one would not generally want to give out too much information about their past to someone, they''ve only recently met. The same could actually be said for him, however, he wanted to make it known that, he wouldn''t be epting anything less.
Since they knew he was the only one able to ess this castle, they surely knew he held all the advantage. After making several hypotheses, he came to several conclusions, all of which include the girls being on the run from something or worst, someone.Naturally, his first thoughts were to leave them be until he was done with this castle and left.
However, now that he had decided to stay here for a while. He needed them the tell him everything. Even if they didn''t want to tell him too much about themselves personally, they needed to tell him everything about their circumstances.
So even if he decides to let them stay, he would have an idea of what he was getting himself into.
Sensing his intentions, the girls had no choice but to consider the issue seriously. When they made the n to rest in this castle, they only had the intention of hiding here for a while, before seeking help from one of the strongest freemen settlements in the demon continent, the Daki Tribe, which was located in the eastern borders of the continent.
Darknar region was located near the southwest end of the demon continent, closer to the human continent, and close to the Silent sea that separated the Demon continent from the dwarfs. So the journey all the way across the continent would be long, tedious, and extremely dangerous. They would have to cross multiple regions with ties to the people that were after them and it wasn''t even a guarantee that they would make it there alive.
Now, however, there was someone here at the level of a demon lord and he even had people like Erin and Albert under him. The fact that he would inevitably im the title of the demon king was a plus, after all, a behemoth that had imed the secrets of the previous Demon king for himself would not be stooped by anyone. They had already discussed this with Erin and sought her advice which was pointless giving how anti-social she usually was.
Tyler seeing the girls hesitate, sighed inwardly, this was as he expected so all he needed to do was offer them an alternative, and if that didn''t work an ultimatum. That way he would get all the information he could out of them, he was just about to say something when the girls surprised him yet again, and Rain spoke first.
"I''m sorry it''ste, but I want to thank you properly for what you did for me. Liz told me how much trouble I put you through, and you even epted my duel without asking why¡ª well I guess you already know that uh, yeah I''m sorry, I also got carried away back then and did something truly rude to you, I''m really sorry." They both stood up and bowed in apology which wasn''t what Tyler wanted right now so he tried to get the discussion back on track.
"Mmm... That''s fine i..."
"...And also, if you''ll permit me, I would like to ask a favor of you, please feel free to say no."
Tyler fell silent for a while, the conversation had taken a turn he hadn''t predicted and thest request she asked had almost gotten everyone there killed. He knew quite well he wasn''t a genius and looking at the dark elf she looked quite sharp, seeing how she had taken control of the flow in their conversation several times already.
Tyler wasn''t stupid, he wouldn''t engage in a battle of wits against a superior opponent. There were many ways to outsmart a genius and right now he would use the most basic, and bluff his way through, after all, with his masterful control over his body, his poker face was imprable.
"I see... so that''s it."
Rain eyes widen when she saw that her intentions had been read so easily, she really didn''t have any intentions of tricking him though, she just wanted to get him to be willing to help them, making it seem like he would be the only one to truly benefit from it and not be at his mercy, where they have to offer him something else in return because they truly had nothing else that could warrant his help.
However, now that she had been seen through, they were in a less favorable situation than before.
"Mm, that''s not what I meant, I only wanted to ask for your help once we disclosed our situation to you." She tried to correct the situation. Tyler wasn''t sure what she meant but he was d his simple n had worked and he assumed amanding pose and asked the girls to speak.
Rain got flustered by the sudden change in his presence and could barely formte her words. "Well... I''m...Um..."
"My name is Lizabeth Belloria Alcar, I am the third daughter of the Alcar family, one of the Great Five Families." Liz cut off the nervous Rain as she decided to juste clean and hope for the best, and when she had spoken herst words the room fell silent. Albert squinted his eyes in Surprise and Tyler was blown away.
He hadn''t really understood the difference between the Great Five and the other families until he heard they were created by the formal demon generals who had most likely plotted against the demon king and had taken away everything from this castle. He could also remember how hopeless it felt when he hade face to face with one of them in the past.
With the quality of the castle and the contents of the library, he was afraid to find out how many magic items and artifacts those five had taken with them. Liz continued without giving them more time to contemte more.
"While the Alcar family is arge one, I am one of the five direct descendants of our family which means my father is the current demon lord of the Alcar family, Cain Lyra Alcar."
Both Tyler and Albert were shocked once again by the news. It was one thing to be part of one of the Great five, even as part of the branch family, or even as normal pureblood from the main family, but to be a direct descendant was insane. Tyler wanted to palm his face as even he knew the implications of this, what the hell did a direct descendant of one of the great five do that warrant the family to be after them. He didn''t know if she had just run away and they wanted her back or if they hadmitted a crime.
Depending on which it was he would need to adjust his ns drastically. "And why would they be after one of their direct descendants?" He asked maintaining the same expression on his face. Liz looked away from him and stared at the ground, she seemed to be contemting if she should tell him everything or maybe just a bit.
This took her only a few minutes as she looked at Tyler with a newfound determination. "I''ve always had trouble controlling my innate ability. Most purebloods from my family can use the Ice Domain at will but I could not. Once purebloods are born, we spend only a year with our mothers before they take us for a test and we are trained to be the strongest nobles in the continent."
"This is how the Great Five had maintained their strength since the era of the Demon generals my great grandfather."
She took a break and thought about something for a moment before she continued. "For the past 1000 years no pureblood had ever failed the test, well, that was until I took it. The matter caused an uproar amongst our elders and lucky for us, we were able to keep the issue from getting out especially to the other Great Five."
"After an investigation was conducted into why they found out my mother wasn''t a pureblood either. She had passed the test so the issue wasn''t revealed until me."
Tyler felt like this was building up to be a tragic story and from the looks on both girl''s faces he was right, he thought about asking her to just get to the point but controlled himself. She was showing him her vulnerability as a show of trust, to prove she meant him no harm and he had to let her or he would be an asshole. She continued after her short break and Tyler gave her his attention.
"My mother was revealed to be half-demon and half snow spirit. Her father had met a snow spirit on one of his journeys through the mountains and they fell in love even though they knew it wouldn''t be epted. They had my mother and the snow spirit had passed away during childbirth because normal spirits couldn''t reproduce but because the snow spirit was already dying, she was able to use her remaining life energybined with my father''s essence to bear a child."
"Once this fact came to light, my mother was banished to a branch family. Since she was more demon than spirit, they had let her live and I instantly became the shame of the family, a ck sheep. Well, I was also just the third daughter and the fifth child so I was hidden away from the public all my life."
"Rain here was my assigned bodyguard and my only friend. We grew up together, well I say that but she is a dark elf so she''s a lot older than I am. We lived under my family''s castle and asionally I would be taken out to do some more test."
"At least that''s what I thought until the tests started getting more and more intense and painful. They were conducting experiments on me, ying with my genes to see which ones would react. That was when she awakened."
"She?" Albert couldn''t help but speak up when he heard that and realize everyone but him knew what she meant. "Another me, the trauma and pain I experienced created a personality within me that had awaken her innate ability. Rain just calls her Snow, I don''t really like giving her a name."
Tyler remembered the perfect beauty that was the white-haireddy¡ª Snow. She had a frightened and yet frightening aura that had attracted him to her. "Huh? you said she had awakened her innate ability, does that mean you can''t use that ability on your own?" He asked that remembering the image of the frozen forest and the dead magic beast that was definitely stronger than the Tier 6 lesser basilisks.
"Umm... Yeah, unfortunately, I never unlocked the ability myself and I still don''t know how." Liz said a little embarrassed by the fact. "I see, but still, you haven''t told me why they are after you."
"Mmm... It happened a few weeks ago when my family realized the strength of Snow was growing rapidly for some reason, they tried to figure out the reason and the procedures got even more extreme than before. I had thought I was going to die but Snow came out and went on a rampage, she killed everyone in the room and even the guards that hade to stop her. After that incident, I was deemed too dangerous and they wanted to get rid of me."
"That was when Rain stepped in and saved me. Even though she was part of my family''s dark elf legion, she went against them and got me out of there. They had sent her brother after us but we somehow manage to escape and we headed here to hide until we recovered. We were going to head for the eastern borders and seek aid from the Daki tribe."
There was a lot in that story for Tyler to digest and he had picked up on a few words like brother and Daki and he wanted to ask about that but as he was about to, a sudden ringing entered his head requiring him to ept amunication spell. He unconsciously epted the spell and a familiar voice entered his mind.
"Lord Ty, we have a problem."
Chapter 63 C63. Demons Pact
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The sound of themunication spell was like the ringing of a bell or a chime in his ears, and Tyler had to ept the request for it to stop. There was only one person that would contact him and he knew exactly who it was. Tyler epted themunication request just by thinking about it and a familiar voice entered his mind.
"Lord Ty."
"Yes"
"There''s a problem, we found something strange at one of the safe zones."
"What is it?"
"I believe it to be the corpses of some of the scouts that may have resided here."
"Corpses? Did you kill them?"
"No sir, it looks like they might''ve been dead for a while now but the cold weather preserves the Corpses."
"I see, can you tell what killed them."
"No sir, we didn''t find any signs of struggle when inspecting the bodies."
"I see, can you tell what family they belonged to?"
"No sir, but there''s a problem."
"A problem?"
"Yes sir, we found the bodies inside the safe zone."
"Huh..." Tyler wasn''t entirely sure what he meant by safe zone, he was sure he had heard the word before but he didn''t know why it would be a problem. Still, he wouldn''t let the others know he was clueless.
"Mmm... Alright, bring the bodies back for inspection." He hoped perhaps if Albert studies the body, he would reveal more information to him and maybe he could even identify them. "As you wish." Jarret''s response was immediate, almost as if he was expecting this.
They had already finished more than 70% of their mission so it was logical to call them back when something so unexpected happens. The spell ended with that and Tyler turned his attention back to the girls. Even though they couldn''t hear the message, they had been strangely aware of the fact that he wasmunicating with someone.
Before that though, Tyler turned to look at Albert and spoke softly. "Jarret''s team will be returning soon, have someone watch out for them and inform me when they reach the barrier."
"Yes, my Lord."
"Also take some precautions in case they were followed."
"As you wish."
With that Albert left the office to ry his orders and Tyler turned his attention back to the girls. Liz understood his intentions and spoke first. "Um, when we first left the family, we had aimed to seek the aid of the Daki tripe, but, we''ve been talking about it, and we... Mmm, we were, err..." She was clearly embarrassed as she spoke and she yed with her fingers as she stared at the ground.
Rain felt the same but she was able to get herself together a lot easier than Liz and spoke first. "We had intended to spend the rest of our lives in hiding but we wanted to ask you to¡ª err... If you can possibly take us under you as well, we are both rtively strong and we won''t be a burden to you I swear." It was obvious she and Liz had talked about this with Erin.
The Daki tribe was the strongest settlement of freemen on the entire continent. They usually kept to themselves and had a reputation of epting only the strong into their midst after putting them through a deadly trial for their amusement.
There wasn''t really much known about them as the top families never bothered about them, they normally considered them a minor hindrance. Moreover the Daki tribe were located in the eastern end of the continent. They reside in the hills closest to the Scarlet seas. This wasn''t and desired by any of the demon lords as it was considered and called the barren hills, the tribe consisted of only a few members so none of the nobles considered them a threat and they just ignored them.
Even though they consisted of only the strong, they were still only consistent with subsidiary races that were still considered inferior to a demon noble. Rain wasn''t confident they could withstand the wrath of one of the Great Five if they were ever to find out the girls were taken in by the tribe, it had been their only option at the time but, from what she had heard from Liz and Erin, from the fight they had some minutes ago and the mere fact he had control over this castle instilled a different hope within her.
A behemoth wasparable to a lone demon lord and Rain believes he knew the secrets of the castle and would benefit tremendously from it, it wasn''t hard to see the storm he would cause throughout the continent and she didn''t know if he had a n to handle it, but the addition of two Tier 6 fighters that he could trust should only help him. If he wasn''t interested in them or had no use for them besides the information he wanted, they would surely be cast out at ater date so they had agreed on bing one of these behemoths'' underlings.
He had gone out of his way to save a simple ogre settlement and even allowed them ess to such a valuable ce, they felt that being under him would be better than the Alcars. Compared to a group of freemen a single behemoth was enough to cause the other demon lords to hesitate, moreover, Tyler had already promised to help Liz out before.
Tyler''s face was visibly stered with hesitance and Rain, seeing this hurriedly added. "We are also prepared to use a demon''s pact and even though I''m not a demon myself, I can also be contracted as long as I provide a little of my blood."
Tyler didn''t understand what she meant for a minute, the word pact was obvious, she was talking about some kind of contract that would put him at ease but he wasn''t sure what it was. He thought about it for a while and started to think back to what he heard in the human continent, there was a spell that could ce a person under the absolute control of another which was simr to a contract, a ve contract.
Seeing him try to remember something Liz chimed in to exin, she thought perhaps he hadn''t used the skill before. It wasn''t unusual, even though it was a skill that all demons could use unless they had miraculously activated it at some point in time, they wouldn''t even know it existed as the nobles took great care to prevent the knowledge of the skill from being wild spread. It was a skill that needed to be taught in other to unlock it and it could not be taught to other races and subsidiaryraces.
She knew most behemoths wouldn''t know about that much about the spell and even if they had somehow unlocked it, they wouldn''t understand everything about it, as for why Tyler didn''t know it, she thought he was probably having some trouble with his memories, most likely the reason why he was still getting stronger as evident by his battle with Rain.
She also wondered why he only seemed to use low-tier spells, and how he''s able to get them all to over tier so drastically. She decided not to focus too much on those issues and just took her time in exining everything in detail about what a demon''s pact was.
Basically, a demon''s pact was a racial skill every demon was born with. When activated, the skill would be reflected in the eyes of the demon casting it, causing their eyes to glow in a red hue and an intricate magic circle of an unknown degree would be constructed in them. It was an easy process that would bind the casters'' words to the person they stared at when the magic circle was fully constructed causing them to fall under the control of the deal that was just agreed upon by the intended target.
When a pact waspleted it would only be broken when the souls of either party left this ne. This was a spell that was mostly used during the rule of thest demon king and hadst been used more than Eight hundred years ago when the Great Five were solidifying their dominance over the continent. Demon nobles could naturally assert dominance over weaker demons and other subsidiary races so the spell was only used between parties of simr strengths and had no blood ties.
In a way, it was simr to a ve contract only one had more freedom and the consent of both parties. The ve contract forces dominance onto a target against their will, as long as their will had been broken, while using a demon''s pact required the willingness of both parties, and apart from enforcing the deal of the contract, the only other effect was to prevent lies and deception, a demons specialty, well, most demons. The pact could not force a party to obey another against their will unless it was within the agreed deal. It would only prevent any form of deceit that interferes with the deal, which could lead to the death of the one to breach the contract.
Hearing her exnation, Tyler understood why the nobles wanted to control the spread of such a dangerous skill, there was no room for error, any mistake when making a contract would bind you to that wed deal for life. He could imagine the horror that could cause and he could see some despicable perverts deceiving naive girls to agree to a weird contract.
It was a good thing the skill had to be taught in order to learn it as it prevented it from spreading too quickly. Thinking about this he suddenly remembered something, there was something oddly familiar about Liz''s description about the effect the skill had on the eyes. Didn''t he see Albert''s eyes glow red at their first meeting, the thing had surprised him and he felt like he was trying to find out if he was human so he had hurriedly epted his request to save Erin.
''Wait, does that mean I unknowingly participated in a demon''s pact? This shit is too scary.'' It was fortunate he had heard about this now and hadn''t agreed to any strange deals, the thought alone was terrifying and Tyler was d he had such masterful control over his body to be able to maintain his poker face yet again. With this, his worries of roaming the demon continent in ignorance were reignited.
''Does this mean I need to ept their request, the main issue is their ever-growing expectations of me, I might copse from the pressure one day. But... the fact still remains that they are right, with two Tier 6 mages by my side with themon sense of demons, it would make things somewhat easier for me. Sigh... thinking like this, does that mean I''m considering staying here for good? No, they want protection I can just stay until I figure out a way for that without me putting myself in danger. To be honest it doesn''t feel like I have many options or choices, to begin with.''
Tyler''s mind was a sea of chaos but he soon resigned himself to his situation. There was nothing to really lose from this. The fact of the matter was, they could help him protect the magic library even if they had no idea what they were protecting.
As long as they proved useful, there was no harm in keeping them around, after all, thanks to the bout with Rain, he was now fully confident in his strength. At the very least he was way stronger than everyone within this castle.
"Hmm... Alright then, I''ll ept your loyalty to me and like I promisedst time I''ll help you both improve your strength."
Chapter 64 C64. Spatial Distortion
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Tyler spoke with such confidence and conviction that he was almost starting to buy into his bullshit. Well, it wasn''t exactly bullshit since he had an idea on how to do that. For now, he could always provide them with the artifacts he couldn''t or wouldn''t use or need.
There was always the option of, helping them expand their Mana bodies when he was done learning advanced magic runes. And although he couldn''t permanently increase their magic potential, they could increase and improve their repertoire by learning new spells and skills.
When Liz and Rain heard his words, it was like a huge burden was lifted off them, they both simultaneously breathe a sigh of relief and even Erin seemed pleased. Tyler could pick up on Erin''s emotional fluctuation for some reason, well it didn''t matter, what matters now was toplete the demon''s pact as soon as possible.
He still needed to visit the fifth floor of this wing and find out what was behind the secret door in the throne room. Without further dys, Rain stood up with Liz and she used her dagger to make a small cut on her palm. Since she wasn''t a demon and wanted to partake in the pact as well, they needed to use a moreplicated method in activating the spell.
Liz then uses Rain''s blood in drawing a magic circle on the back of her left hand, she then proceeded to cast a spell. ?Synchronize? the spell took effect and the blood magic circle on her hand glowed brightly. She then activated the skill and Tyler saw a familiar sight. Her eyes glowed slightly with a red hue and an intricate magic circle formed within them, the same also applied to Rain.
Liz then walked towards the spotted Tyler and knelt before him with Rain by her side. The spell was ready and all they needed to do was voice the deal and for Tyler to ept it. Unlike Albert, the girls didn''t desperately offer him their lives as that would be contradictory to the freedom they wanted. They had offered him theirplete loyalty in exchange for what he thought they considered protection.
Tyler didn''t need another life in his hands so he epted the deal as is. The main factor was the spell prevented their betrayal and he didn''t think he needed anything more from them. The skill waspleted and Tyler felt nothing, truly this was a terrifying ability if your awareness of it was so low. Once the girls had stood back up, Erin came over a little excited and talked to them, Tyler thought she had the air of a maturedy but she seemed a little childish right now.
Since that was done, Tyler proceeded to ask the girls some more questions about the structure of the noble families. Since they were both isted throughout their childhood, they had little to no important information and just told Tyler about what Rain heard when she would train with her elder brother twice a week.
Still, for someone as clueless as Tyler, this was very useful to him. He was able to learn a little about the elves and dark elves'' current situation. Rain was a little too young to know the reason but, it seemed like the discrimination between the other elves and dark elves had gotten worse at some point in time so a small number of the dark elf poption left the elf continent and migrated to the demon continent.
However, they were unprepared for theplicated situation in the demon continent and most of them died while others were captured as ves and used as sex toys. It was only about four centuries ago that the Great Five exerted their influence and freed them all, not out of goodwill but because they found them more useful as pawns than toys. It wasn''t like the demons were that simr to humans that they couldn''t match the elves'' beauty, there were even demons whose beauty surpassed that of elves as evident by Liz herself, which made the need for dark elves '' toys obsolete.
The girls didn''t know any of the specifics after that and could not even tell Tyler how the Great five had used them. They knew the Alcar family had a group of dark elves they send out on missions but Rain had never been on such missions, even though she was stronger than most of the members of that team. He learned that she had a brother but it didn''t seem like they had anything that remotely resembles a proper rtionship.
As it turned out, her brother was also the one who lead a team after them and when they had caught up with them he hadn''t even given them the time to exin and just attacked with every intention to kill. Hearing this Tyler decided not to pry further, they didn''t have any more information so he just watched as the girls discussed amongst themselves in boredom.
Time passed quickly and as Tyler was in the midst ofmpooning, Albert knocked on the door and was granted permission to enter. He reported the fact that Jarret''s team had arrived and were standing outside the barrier. Tyler nodded and as he was about to stand up, he remembered he had wanted to try out something. He brought his left hand close to his face and thought this was also another good opportunity. One that did not require him to put his life on the line.
He had already used both of the skills the spatial ring possessed and was pleased with the effects. Since he only had one more use of spatial movement, he wanted to test out the full effects of spatial distortion instead. The skill that had saved his life and prevented something bad from happening back there. Thinking back to the descriptions and limitations of both, he remembered that when using spatial movement he could only move to a location within his line of sight, which had been the hindrance in thest fight.
Even if he had wanted to use spatial movement here, he could only try by looking through the window in the room but he felt like that would look a bitme so he had no choice but to test more of the effects of spatial distortion. ording to the very weird description, the skill allowed him to bend the rules of space. Using this effect he was able to deceive the space around Rain, making her target an illusionary body he had created whilepletely ignoring him for just a moment, and that was enough to grant him victory.
Focusing on the ring on his hand, he repeated the process that happened previously and fed it with a bit of Mana, he then activated the skill, ¡ãSpatial Distortion¡ã The skill was activated and Tyler felt the connection to the entire space within the barrier, he then stretched out his arm to touch the air in front of him.
????????
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Deep in the eastern parts of the Darknar forest.
Jarret leads his team headed back to the castle, they had already mapped out this section of the forest so they were able to optimize their trip back. Still, after venturing so deep into the forest it was impossible to avoid all the monsters even if they knew where they were.
The forest chain ofmand had been broken and most of the frightened and weaker beasts were migrating towards the outer areas of the forest.
They killed several low-level monsters on their way back and took the corpses of the useful beast and left the useless ones. They also did as Tyler had suggested and picked out all the rare herbs and fruits they found. Basically, there were not to go around looking for stuffs but retrieve anything of value in their way.
Although the monsters they met on their way back were weaker ones, ranging from Tier 1 and 2, their numbers were always the problem. It was fortunate that they had only met a few Tier 3 monsters due to them already having ng an idea of where they were, and the Tier 3 ones they met were not as troublesome as the Bandersnatch.
To be honest it was thanks to Gail and Tarka scouting ahead that they had avoided so much trouble.
"Hey, Jarret," Lora called out to him as he finished cing the bodies of a Tier 1 White Hopper in the storage box. They wererge rabbit-like creatures with red eyes and posses the ability to hop as high as 17 ft off the ground. They were only seen in winter and normally wouldn''t be in this part of the forest as they lived near the mountains on the northern end of the forest. They possessed fluffy white fur and had a passive ability that causes people to ignore them when they stay still in the snow for few seconds.
Aside from Jarret, even Gail would miss them regrly and they would sometimes try a sneak attack, well, Tarka could usually sense them as well as she caught quite a few in her traps. Jarret didn''t mind this as he knew their fur was quite valuable and their flesh was also considered a delicacy. He killed anyone he found without fail and now had more than 50 of them in his spatial storage box. Jarret didn''t turn around when Lora spoke to him and just answered.
"Yeah, what''s wrong."
"Oh umm, it''s nothing, just, isn''t it bad to take those bodies with us? Wouldn''t their families investigate when they stop receiving reports from them?"
"Doesn''t matter, they would investigate anyway and whether we take the cores or not, we would still be targets, besides the bodies didn''t look like they''ve been dead for more than a week. I heard that they should only send reports back at most once a month... unless something important happens so it should be fine for a while. Don''t worry, I''m sure Lord Ty knows what he''s doing."
"Oh... okay..."
"What, are you nervous?"
"Er.. well the bodies were a bit creepy."
"Huh really, I didn''t notice anything."
"It was faint but I could feel a weird energy lingering in their bodies and it gave me the chills."
"You too, I thought I was the only one." Tarka cut into their conversation when she heard what Lora said, as she hovered above their heads. "I didn''t sense any energy but, the feeling I got when I was close to the corpses was, um... eerie," Raz added.
Jarret looked at him and thought, he then shook his head and spoke. "Well that probably had something to do with how they died, the Captain should be able to figure something out when he sees it, so let''s hurry up."
They finished what they were doing and picked up the pace to the castle. Jarret no longer actively hunted the white hoppers and they made it out of the forest in record time. They headed for the castle after making sure they weren''t being spied on and without fail they were stopped by an invincible wall surrounding it. One could see outside the wall from within but it was different from the outside. Although they could see the castle, they couldn''t see anyone within even though they should see someone in the watchtower in front of them, they saw nothing.
Jarret knew the sentries must''ve already spotted them so he didn''t worry, they just had to wait for Lord Ty to arrive and grant them ess. Jin seemed fascinated with the invincible wall and Jarret couldn''t help but remember the chief, he had naturally ignored what happened as everyone was stunned by Lord Ty but he couldn''t help butpare what Kaz was doing to the image of the chief. If he wasn''t an Ogre himself, he would say all ogres were weird.
Just as he had that thought though, Jin who had leaned on the invisible wall acting cool fell right through, and just likest time, hended face first.
Chapter 65 C65. Negative Corruption
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In the demon king''s castle, standing before an invisible wall was six figures, one of whichid t on the ground and Jarret couldn''t believe his eyes. He had just imagined Kaz falling face-first just like the chief and the scene in his head had yed out almost exactly as he had imagined it.
He tried to control his expression but that was broken when Raz and Lora lost it. Raz was holding his stomach fromughing too hard and Lora did little effort to hide her amusement.
The only ones notughing seem to be Gail and Tarka who had almost exhausted themselves being on high alert the entire trip with Gail rubbing her eyes having missed the show and Tarka not caring much for the scene. Jarret was finally able to control himself as he didn''t want to disgrace himself before Lord Ty. He walked through the barrier and the others finally got themselves together and followed him, Jarret turned his head around and to his surprise, he found no one there, aside from the two sentries in the tower waving at them, he also didn''t see anyone near the barrier.
He had expected to see Lord Ty and captain Cronoff standing there with Lord Ty''s hand through the barrier but he was not. He decided not to dwell on it anymore and just head into the castle where they met Albert and he took them to a room on the ground floor of the north wing. The room was of moderate size and just like the rest of the castle it was splendidly designed.
The room had several empty cabs in it, and two long metal tables that formed the shape of an ''L'' in the center. Albert then asked them to leave the dead scouts there. They were also to meet up with Azarter and give him the full details of their mission.
He told the others aside from Jarret to leave first, Lora felt a bit curious about the bodies but the creepy feeling she felt previously caused her to leave without any arguments. Gail on the other hand was exhausted and just left listlessly behind Jin and Raz who was also trailed by the hovering Tarka who seemed to have recovered some energy already. Albert then sealed the room and Jarret brought out the bodies from his small storage box.
The two deathly pale corpsesid on a long table in the room and Albert proceeded to inspect them thoroughly. They were a contrasting pair of tall and short men, both demons. One was not so thin but wiry, he was dressed loosely like a magic caster and he was a bit short for a demon around 5''5. He had green spiky hair and green eyes that were still open most likely because he died so suddenly.
After inspecting his body they found a small storage box that was easily forced open by Albert. Generally, only the owner of a storage box could use it unless they permitted someone else.
However, they could still force through the encryption depending on the person''s strength. Obviously, Albert was a formal demon lord so forcefully opening a small storage box was easy.
The box contained a few robes, ordinary magic staff, and scouting equipment. It also held weapons that probably belonged to the other members of his scouting party, like swords, axes, and gloves.
The other body was a tall well-built man with short ck hair and a short beard. He had grey eyes and just like the other one they had ordinary-looking features. The guy had arge battle-ax still frozen to his hands and going by just the look, it was well made, probably an extraordinary magic item.
Albert made a rough inspection on their clothing and appearance, before activating his skill and proceeded to make another round of inspections before Tyler walked into the room with the three girls in tow as they were quite curious about what had happened and Tyler had no reason to deny their curiosity. He may also require their inputs and advice so why not.
Jarret immediately fell to one knee upon seeing him enter the room and Tyler tried to stop him but failed. Once he had gotten the greetings out of the way he went to see what was so strange about the bodies. As he got closer Tyler felt something strange oozing off the body and froze. He activated his magic vision only to almost facepalm himself.
He had figured it out, it was him, he had somehow killed two people he didn''t even know existed and had wasted everyone''s time worrying about what happened, there was even a chance that these two were not the only ones.
Albert saw the look on Tyler''s face changed slightly and understood something. "I was nning to report what I just learned but it appears Lord Ty has already figured it out with just a nce." Tyler was wondering what the hell this guy was going on about again when Albert suddenly continued.
"Well, I supposed I should exin this to the others, with your permission of course." Tyler nodded quickly as he was also interested in what this old guy had to say. Albert happily continued as he had spent a lot of effort trying his best not to miss anything in other to impress his master.
"Well, starting from their origin, they wore the insignia of the Zorak family, one of the Great Five. I am not sure why there are only two of them but, I think something major happened in the Darknar forest sometime within thest week, and one of the four kings that ruled a section of the forest died."
"This had left a vacuum of power within the forest and the other kings are trying to take more territory for themselves before another king is born within the next decade."
Rain and Liz''s face darkened when they heard those words as they had a good idea of what happened. Tyler was fascinated by the story of the four kings and wanted to hear more on that but unfortunately, Albert had already moved on so he would have to ask himter.
"My guess is, they had sent the other scouts to report the matter in person to their direct supervisor. When something so important happens, it is the policy of the scouts to report in person as the currentmunication spells has a range limit."
"This might also be bad for us as well since we don''t know when this had happened exactly and when the scouts had left. So we can only guess the time it will take for reinforcement to arrive which would lead them to discover us." Albert said with a frown.
Although they had the advantage of winter and the protection of the magic barrier. If arge force from all five families came and surrounded them, they would be like mice in a cage awaiting their deaths, even with magic they couldn''t survive here forever without relying on any outside resources.
"As for these two, I know they died instantly from abination of a mental attack and a lethal dose of negative energy as you''ve noticed already."
He walked over to the bodies and continued. "Moreover, their bodies are still giving off a strong dose of negative energy which amazes me. I know some spells corrupts their targets with negative energy but for it to not only kill them butleave suchrge amounts of negative energy residue, it must''ve been a spell beyond the level of mortal understanding."
Tyler felt ttered and embarrassed as he heard that. He wanted to take credit for it but felt awkward about revealing the actual Tier of the spell.
If he said he had done this with a tier-one spell he felt they would think he was just trying to brag which might lower their impression of him. He decides to wait until Albert was done before he said anything.
"Their bodies seem to be intact since it was frozen but I don''t think they can be revived since their bodies are suffering from negative Corruption."
"Negative Corruption?"
Tyler wanted to ask but he hesitated and was ted when he heard Liz ask the question instead. "Yes, I have only heard of it myself, this is the first time I am seeing it in person. From what I heard there is a ce in the south, it was one of the main battlefields in the war with the humans a thousand years ago. Apparently, because of therge amount of death there, the ce was filled with enough negative energy that it corrupts anyone who dies there now, turning them into the undead."
"Really?" Liz spoke again seemly fascinated by the new information she hadn''t heard of yet. She only knew what Rain told her and Rain only knew what her brother told her so they were quite interested in anything they weren''t aware of.
"I have only heard rumors so I''m not certain but, with these corpses almost busting with negative energy, I think we would find out sooner orter. They are not too strong so even with the increase in strength from being undead I''m sure I can handle them myself. I think there is a chance they turn into something incredible with the amount of negative energy they possess and might even possess some intelligence. We could gain valuable information from them like that."
"Do you have a way to control them?" Tyler finally spoke unable to contain his curiosity. "Er... My apologies, my Lord but I don''t. However, since they are the undead without a master to force them, even without the ability to feel fear, they would not dare attack a superior being like yourself that is beyond theirprehension, with that we just have to keep them locked up until we find a way to control them."
Tyler wasn''t sure about the wholeprehension thing but he didn''t think too much about it. He was interested in knowing if he could control the undead, and since he was the one who created them(indirectly) maybe they would naturally be obedient to him. Perhaps he could also create an army of the dead or summon them.
"Umm, how long does it take for them to turn." The person Tyler had almost forgotten was in the room spoke this time.
Her voice was pleasant to hear and Tyler was wondering why she didn''t speak often. Erin asked the question because she could see everyone thinking and she didn''t feelfortable not knowing when the corpses would suddenly start moving. Rain smirked and asked teasingly. "Is a demigod scared of the dead." She brought her libs close to Erin''s ear and blew. Erin shrieked adorably and Tyler almost lost hisposure.
He cleared his throat drawing attention back to the matter at hand and Albert answered. "I am not sure either, but I think it would be within a day or two, although I think if we expose them to more negative energy they would transform immediately." Rain and Liz immediately turned to look at Tyler and he could feel their gaze locked on him.
It was only natural they knew what had happened as well, after all, they had been a recipient of the same spell.
Albert was a bit confused by the reaction of the girls and even Erin seemed to be in the know. In the end, it was only him and Jarret that appeared clueless. His question was soon answered by Tyler''s next words and he realized that every thing that had happened till now, must''ve been a part of his n and he already knew what was happening in the forest. That meant he had eliminated one of the four kings by himself.
Tyler strolled forth with his hand in his pocket as he tried to look cool and spoke nonchntly.
"Alright then, let''s create some undead."
Chapter 66 C66. Undead Duo
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Tyler walked towards the dead scouts with an idea on what to do, he would not use aplete spell, as that could potentially be dangerous for him and everyone else.
Luckily the incident with the Spatial storage ring had given him an idea of what he needed to do here, so he was d he didn''t have to risk his spell going out of control and damaging his mana body further.
? Tyler walked to the long metal table the two bodies were ced on and ced a hand on each of their heads. He then created a semi magic circle of the spell ?wave of despair? within him and directed it at the two. This was a crude method of creating the undead as he was sure he had seen a book rted to this in the library, so there had to be a simple spell for this at a higher tier.
Tyler''s magic circle was contracted to only produce the negative energy required for the spell but not actually cast the spell, he then used some runes from another spell he had learned toplete the magic circle, allowing the negative energy to be transferred by touch.
The reason he hadn''t just used the Touch of Despair spell was because, that spell, as a single target spell did not produce as much negative energy as the Wave of Despair. There were also various problems in just using the spell directly.
He could do something soplicated quite easily now because he had a great understanding of the first level of the intermediate magic runes and this was a tier 1 spell with basic magic runes and a few intermediate runes.
Once the magic circle was done, he funneled the negative energy inside the two corpses. There was a chance of failure but Albert said since their bodies were still intact after taking in so much negative energy already, the chance should be minuscule. The table soon vibrated under his hand and Tyler immediately stopped. The two previously lifeless bodies started convulsing vigorously which startled Erin.
Liz went over to hold her hands and Tyler wasn''t sure if it was because she was also scared or maybe she just wanted to support Erin. The bodies shook rapidly and a greyish ck aura slowly escaped the frozen corpses'' pores and wrapped around their bodies. This reminded Tyler of when he had met the girls and he instinctively turned his gaze towards them and they looked away awkwardly.
The bodies slowly calmed down but the aura of death still emanated from them. Everyone watched closely as the bodies slowly morphed into something else. This was the first time any of them was witnessing the creation of the undead and there was a mixture of various emotions amongst them.
The aura slowly diminished and the figures of the previously frozen corpses were now drastically different. The tall guy was now even taller and could even be called a giant, it was almost eight feet tall and had grey shriveled skin that seemed to have little to no flesh in them as they clung tightly to its bones, making it look like a skeleton. Its face was even more dried up and a ck helmet that wasn''t there before was now covering half its face.
Looking at the body now it had the same menacing ck armor that oozed the same aura of death. It also had a ck shield that had what Tyler thought to be a tormented face on its front and the same ax it had previously only it had gottenrger. The other guy had grown a bit taller as well, it wore a decrepit ck robe with a simr cloak and its skin was simr to therge guy only some part had already peeled off revealing tainted white bones on its face and arms.
Tyler could tell that one was a mage and the other a warrior but, he didn''t know exactly what they were so he turned to ask Albert only to see the bewildered expression on his face. Just as Tyler was about to ask him what he knew anyway, the empty sockets of the undead Duo suddenly lit up. At this point, the aura wrapped around them hadpletely dissipated.
Only a faint fog-like substance escaped their bodies with a menacing look to them. The dead arose and suddenly moved, being on guard, Albert immediately pulled out his sword from his spatial storage ring. The two undead struggled to stand and an audible sound of bones grinding could be heard. Tyler thought this could be the side effects of using a frozen corpse so he made a mental note about that.
Once both things stood up their previously empty eye sockets that now possessed little white mes dancing in them, darts around the room and the girls took several steps back. Even Rain who Tyler had thought would not be afraid had also taken steps back with Albert being on high alert.
The undead turned to look at Tyler and hesitated. This was the first time he came faced with such imposing figures and the aura of death around them gave him goosebumps. The gaze of the dead didn''t linger on him though, as therge guy d in a pitch-ck menacing knight armor let out a shriek that almost took away their hearing.
The shriek was soul-piercing and it made the girls feel like a thousand needles were piercing their skin at the same time. Although they were all able to resist the wail, Jarret on the other hand, wasn''t able to. His ears bled profusely as he rolled on the ground screaming in pain.
Before anyone could react, the undead knight stopped and pounced on Albert as it turned its back on Tyler without giving him a second nce. Albert braced himself for the impact and used a defensive technique. "Mountain Stance." He raised the de in front of him and the ck knight''srge ax came down upon him. A resounding sound of metal bouncing off a solid object was heard and the ck knight staggered back after losing its bnce.
Erin used the opportunity to run over to Jarret''s side and heal him, with Rain and Liz apanying her in case the second undead decided to attack as well.
The ck knight did not retreat, it roared and lunged at Albert a second time only to be met with the same results. Albert knew he couldn''t keep this up as the undead never got tired and he would be the one running out of stamina. From the previous attacks, he had gotten a grip of the level of this undead. It was around the top of Tier 3 and was even way stronger than Jarret, even though they were both Tier 3.
The ck knight may have been at the same level as Jarret when it was still alive so the improvement from turning undead Was impressive. However Albert knew that wasn''t all, the undead never tires, never hunger, and had various resistance to control magic so this Tier 3 warrior knight known as a ck knight would even be able to go toe to toe with an ordinary Tier 4 fighter.
With that Albert prepared to end this fight immediately. He took another stance and used a skill. ¡ãDemons Aura¡ã A faint golden aura could be seen around him as he intercepted the undead''s charge. Keeping his de in its sheath he swung it forcefully and the ck knight reacted quicker than expected and raised its shield in an attempt to block the attack.
However Albert simply used more force and therge imposing figure of almost 8ft was sent flying, mming into a wall at the far end of the room causing arge bang. The room was reinforced with magic runes yet Tyler still felt like the room shook from the impact, he wondered if he had any spells that could restrain such a creature but someone else had intervened before he could.
"Spirit Bind"
Erin said after she was done healing Jarret and aqua blue illusionary vines appeared from within the walls and bound the monster in ce. No matter how it struggled the monster could not escape the seemly fragile binds. Albert made a sigh of relief and everyone in the room turned to face the second undead in the room.
It hadn''t made a move the entire time, even though Albert was secretly keeping an eye on it, there were still plenty of chances for it to strike.
The undead mage made several rough movements and the sound of cracking bones could be heard causing Albert to take a fighting stance, yet the undead creature did not move. It turned its me-lit gaze at each of them beforending at Tyler and it immediately averted its gaze. Tyler was annoyed, this was the second time they had ignored him and he was no longer having it. He decided to see how strong this one was personally and test his spatial skill while he was at it.
Taking a single step something that shocked even him happened, a hoarse and odd voice that didn''t seem like it belonged in thend of the living reverberated in the room. "I... T-this one... cannot... win." Everyone''s eyes went wide as they stood rooted to their spot. "This one has no choice but surrender." It spoke again and Tyler was sure of it, the mage undead could speak.
"A Lich." Those were the only words that escaped Albert''s mouth as Tyler slowly processed what a Lich was. A powerful undead magic caster that was rumored to be amander type that leads other undead in battle, they possessed strong offensive magic attacks and could continuously cast a single spell without limit. For ordinary lich, the spell varied but was usually the tier one spell Fireball and Tier 2 spell, Arcane beam.
''Wait wasn''t this what we were hoping for? if it can talk then it is quite intelligent right, so we canmunicate.'' Tyler nced at Albert and he understood, he quicklyposed himself and spoke. His words seem to drag the girls from their daze and their shocked looks turned to curious gaze.
"What do you mean by surrender?"
"This one has judged its current situation and knows it can''t win against anyone here."
"Does this one have a name?"
"This one has no name as this one has just awakened from the void."
"What do you remember before waking up?"
"This one remembers only hatred for the living and the infinite darkness."
''I guess it really was far-fetched to think they would remember being alive when they tend to only hate the living.'' Tyler realized something so he decided to ask a question himself. "Do you not feel any hatred towards us right now, how are you able to remain calm?"
The lich turned its head to look at Tyler only to immediately avert its gaze before speaking wearily. "This one was born without a master so this one has decided to preserve its life and seek only knowledge. This one also knows it''s unwise to offend its source."
"Source?" Albert said confused and Tyler was just wondering how the lich knew about him, did they share a connection, or was an undead without fear that much of a coward.
It wasn''t rare for an intelligent undead to get along with the living for personal gain like knowledge or to satisfy a particr curiosity, but even Albert hadn''t heard of an undead that wanted to preserve it''s life. "Perhaps, it''s a result of the circumstances surrounding it''s death, it may have been able to resist some of the mental influence of your spell before he died." Rain chimed in trying to provide a possible reason.
The lich must''ve been a magic caster when it was alive so they all thought this was an eptable answer, and Albert thought the same after the girls filled him in on what happened. The only problem now was what to do with the undead duo. One of them was unreasonable and the other was a coward that could not be trusted.
Tyler sighed and left the rest to Albert, there wasn''t anything he could do, at least not yet.
Chapter 67 C67. Death Wail
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To the west of the Darknar forest, three figures entered the forest and proceeded in a very specific direction with great familiarity. As they moved, they kept an eye out for monsters and any strange auras in the forest.
Zomatsu however, sensed the changes that had urred in the Darknar forest almost immediately. He already had a mental map of the entire eastern section of the forest in his head based on his prior investigations.
He had a perfect memory and his brain worked like a machine, whatever he stores within would never be forgotten and he could ess that information almost instantly. He processed all the information in his mind and used his ability to sense everything within his range of 200 meters and it didn''t match his file. Not only were there a lot more weaker monsters around but there were also a lot stronger ones than thest time he was here.
Having every single scouting report he had ever sent stored in his brain, he instantly figured out the most likely cause of this anomaly. The demon noble they had sensed before, they must''ve battled and somehow managed to kill one of the four kings of the darknar forest, and judging by the location he had sensed the fight in, the oldest of the four kings, the ancient Rykir was most likely dead.
To be honest, he found this hard to believe, a creature like the ancient Rykir was hard to deal with and he didn''t think an ordinary demon noble could do such a thing. Perhaps a demon lord might be able to, but none of the current demon lords could make such a move without being noticed.
''Unless there were more than one noble, or maybe it wasn''t an ordinary demon noble.'' The ancient Rykir was the most cunning and intelligent monster amongst the four kings. It had also lived the longest and possessed speeds beyond all the others. It was also on the verge of breaking through to the ranks of a legendary beast or a King ss monster.
The only other possibilities were if it wasn''t just one demon noble, but a fight like that would''ve attracted too much attention, so maybe. "A behemoth?" That was the most urate assumption he could make with the information he had to work with, but ording to his information, none of the Seven known behemoths should be capable of this but there were a lot of them still keeping their abilities hidden. ''That means none of the Great Five had a hand in this, but that is not 100% urate.''
''If I consider all the variables, the possibility of it being a behemoth is 63.85% and the possibility of this person being under one of the Great Five is 19.66% while there are still factors that are unknown to me, this is most likely a hidden power. Perhaps this is also a blessing in disguise and I finally have a way out of this mess. For a hidden existence of that level, my value to them based on the information I can provide should be around 71 percent, I don''t like rough estimates but that would have to do, there is still a 29% chance of being killed though.''
Zomatsu continued his observations as he leads the two ogre brothers towards their previously upied safe zone. His ability was extremely useful for things like this so he was able to stay several steps ahead of all the monsters in the area and they had managed to reach their destination without encountering any monster ambush. Zomatsu raised his senses to the limit as they entered the safe zone.
At this point he was more than 98% sure that Hach and Evans had died from the attack of that behemoth, otherwise, he would have already sensed them when they entered the forest, and if they had made it out of the forest as he did, they would have met each other in the winged city, or on their way there. He just needed to confirm it by finding their bodies and if they were eaten by monsters he would still find some traces of them before getting around to tracking down the behemoth.
He estimated based on their usual response time, that they would have made it only a few feet from the safe zone before being consumed by negative energy. Unless they had stayed to try and defend themselves which would''ve been stupid of them. ''Right, I should increase the possibility of thetter, those guys are surprisingly more stupid than you''ll think.''
Zomatsu sent the two brothers out to search the perimeter for signs of Evans and Hach, he could handle the safe zone himself. Even without his ability, he was a skilled enough scout to notice the abnormalities in the snow. He soon found signs of digging, something had been dug out of the snow recently and moved. He didn''t notice the thing being dragged but he imagined they were ced in a storage box.
Judging by the shape and size of the disturbed snow, he could surmise that, it must''ve been the Corpses of his previousrades that had been buried in the snow.
Looking around he could tell, whoever had dug out the bodies of Hach and Evans were quite skilled and they had almost perfectly erased their tracks. Zomatsu smiled under his cloak, it didn''t matter how skilled they were, no one in this world could hide from him. He soon picked up a trail quite easily, it was headed southeast, the same direction as the demon king''s castle.
"This can''t be right. Did someone actually manage to break the barrier?" This was quite the discovery as he could potentially exchange this information to one of the other Great Five for his freedom. He sighed as he soon realized that, it was a far fetch idea. Still, Zomatsu continued his investigation as he called back the ogre brothers and lead them through the forest following the trail he was tracking.
With the use of his ability, he was able to tell the group was taking roundabout routes to avoid almost all the monster''s nests and even the stronger monsters. He could urately predict their exact location so he took the quickest and safest route. It was easy enough to catch up to the group and even from the vast distance, he could tell how many they were.
They were a group of six humanoid beings and judging by their diverse auras, he knew they were a group of different demi-human races, most likely ogres and beastkins with one being either a goblin or a kobold.
They maintained a massive distance between the group and followed them for a few minutes purely on Zomatsu''s ability. The group soon headed out of the forest which prompted Zomatsu and the ogre brothers toe to a halt.
Zomatsu and the brothers walked across the perimeter of the forest to maintain visuals of the group until they reached their destination while avoiding being noticed by them or anyone else. They waited at the edge of the forest as they watch the group of six stops in front of the barrier that enclosed the demon king''s castle.
They stood there for a few minutes and Zomatsu was wondering why, when suddenly one of the six people fell right through the barrier face first. Zomatsu jaws went loose and so did Bam and Bor, they could barely believe their eyes yet what happened next, struck them dumb. They stood rooted to their spots as all six figures went through the barrier like it didn''t exist.
Zomatsu took off his hood in public for the first time, revealing his extremely handsome features, he knew it was ludicrous but, he felt like they were part of the reason his eyes were ying tricks on him.
Breaking the barrier would''ve been more eptable than this, it didn''t feel natural for something that had given the entire continent that much trouble, would be so easily under the control of a bunch of ogress and beastmen. Zomatsu shook his head and forced himself not to care about such matters, all he needed to find out was if the one in charge here could be of use to him or not.
????????
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Zomatsu and the brothers decided to camp in the outskirts of the forest as close to the castle as they could without getting noticed. This was quite dangerous because monsters usually roamed out to the perimeters often and they couldn''t spare a moment to rest. He needed to keep his ability active the entire time, which was quite draining, but as a Zorak, he had a lot of mana potions with him.
It had only been about an hour when he suddenly sensed something, it was faint and he wasn''t really sure what it was, so Zomatsu increased the range and potency of his ability and it even prated the Fiveyer barrier.
This, however, turned out to be the biggest mistake he had ever made in his life.
A deathly shriek that sent a chill down his spine and gave him a simr feeling to death, prated his entire body to the point that, he felt like his skin pores were being torn to shreds.
He received a sudden jolt of pain so excruciating that even someone like him that had been trained to have a high threshold for pain fell to his knees screaming in agony.
The shriek was loud and terrifying but the brothers were only mildly disturbed by it. They were distant away from the castle and the only reason they heard it was because they had activated spells that enhanced their hearing and eyesight to keep watch of their surroundings while Zomatsu focused on the castle.
At most their ears were bleeding as they had little resistance to this type of attack but what was happening to their boss was beyond theirprehension. He should have better resistance than they did, so this shouldn''t be a problem for him, yet the opposite was true.
Zomatsu on the other hand knew he was at fault, increasing the range and potency of his ability, Superior Sense, without knowing the exact situation of the castle was a bad idea, his eagerness from being shocked earlier had lead to a miscalction. His ability had magnified the mental and physical attack of the ¡ãDeath Wail¡ã by several folds, and it had ignored his resistance.
His head felt like there was arge drum being bang on the inside of it and his brain couldn''t function properly.
His ears and nose bled, and his eyes felt like they would bust out of their sockets. The brothers gained control of themselves and moved in to help their boss. They had a couple of Tier 3 healing scrolls and some protection against negative effects scrolls on hand so they could at least help him enough so he could regain his senses. This was the Darknar forest, and they were nowhere close to a safe zone, it was very dangerous to leave their boss in such a state here.
Especially since they were close to the perimeter and may be spotted or heard by the people they were spying on. Although, Bam and Bor thought the ones inside should also be feeling the same difort as they did, so they would have some time to help Zomatsu recover. Bam hurriedly brought out a scroll from his bag and rushed towards the screaming Zomatsu to activate it while Bor hurriedly did the same only a hair slower.
However...
A sudden saturation in the space around them made them freeze. The temperature hadn''t changed, but the brothers felt hot, they were now sweating and their backs were soaked.
In the midst of their trembling hands and watery eyes, a figure slowly appeared out of nowhere. It was a young girl around the age of 12 or 13, she wore a ck mask that covered the lower parts of her face and a simr colored dress with white linings, she had Amber-colored eyes and green hair with a french twist.
She had on greenish-ck greaves and the same colored gloves with metal knuckles.
Seeing the young girl stand next to the pained Zomatsu made the brother shudder in fear. She turned her emotionless gaze upon them and their faces changed drastically, tears ran down their eyes as a single word escaped their mouths at the same time.
"Ghost."
Chapter 68 C68. The Ghost
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Snowkes fell from the ashed sky and the wind blew them softly in a single direction. The trees in the Darknar forest were covered in a multitude of white snow and only a few birds flew in this extremely cold weather.
The scene that would be a beautiful sight in the minds of others, was not appreciated by two trembling figures standing at the edge of the forest as they stared at a child in front of them with their facespletely drained of color.
They''ve heard the rumors, and both knew full well what seeing someone from the Ghost Legion meant. Not much information was known about Lord Aur''s secret unit, the Ghost Legion, and it was obvious why. When they made a move they never left behind any traces or witnesses. The only reason there was a semnce of their existence was the fact that Lord Aur had no other guards protecting him. Even though he was stronger than most demons, there were still quite a number of people stronger than him and if one of the other Great five thought it necessary to dispose of him, he would need strong guards around him to buy himself time to escape.
They knew what this all meant, lord Aur had sent his personal legion to do something to their boss, and they would be killed just to tie up loose ends. Bam swallow a mouthful of saliva as he clenched his fist, he didn''t want to die like this, treated as garbage to be disposed of.
They were born into the Zorak family even though they were ogres from a now-extinct branch of the ogre family that was most likely eradicated by the Zorak''s. Yet, they never once considered betraying the family. And now, this happened.
The girl simply looked at the two for a moment before shifting her gaze back to the pained Zomatsu. A short de made of green energy formed on her right hand and she walked towards Zomatsu, a green magic circle appeared on his back and glowed before fading away. She then walked next to him and kicked. A body flew through the skies like rubbish and mmed into a tree with a loud bang.
Zomatsu gasped in more pain as he struggled to breathe, he could barely think yet he knew instinctively why he was being attacked. He ced a hand on his belt and gripped a small box as tightly as he could. The girl noticed his actions and confirmed her secondary objective, she moved like there was no distance between the two, almost gliding through the wind. Her de moved in a smooth and swift motion towards his heart when a sudden interruption caused her aim to be off and the de pierced Zomatsu''s abdomen.
Bor was surprised by what just happened. He turned his head to look at Bam who had justunched an attack on the ghost with a dumb expression on his face that seemed to ask, what in the world are you doing? Bam''s expression was almost the same as he because he also had no idea what he was doing. He just couldn''t watch his boss die in front of him without doing anything. What''s more, they were going to die here anyway so why let the ghost do as she pleased.
Bor could understand what his brother was thinking because, it was one thing to be weak and stand no chance, but it was something worst to give up before you''ve tried. The ghost turned her head to face the two and her eyes narrowed, a jolt of electricity went through the brothers and they forced their selves to focus. Borunched a barrage of spells.
"Lightning!"
"Fire Arrow!"
"Fireball!"
"Wind Cutter!"
"Arcane Beam!"
They spent every single Mana they had andunched as many spells as they could at the girl, not minding how loud they were or if the shy spells would attract any attention. As a matter of fact, they were hoping it would attract the attention of the people within the castle or even a strong monster that would be a good distraction and an opportunity to make a move, perhaps they would miraculously be able to escape.
However, they had once heard their boss talk about a theory, whatever can go wrong, will go wrong, and everything right now had gone wrong. What they were hoping for was nowhere to be seen as all their spells saturated until they disappeared in front of her.
The dream they had of receiving help before they died came crashing down without even giving them a shred of hope.
The girl raised an arm and the dagger made of light flew out like it had been shot out from a crossbow. None of the brothers had any Mana left to defend themselves so they opted to dodge the attack, however, they were merely Tier 2 mages, how could they be able to match the attack speed of a member of the Ghost Legion. The de pierced through Bam''s chest cleanly leaving a hole in its ce and Bor couldn''t even see it happen.
Bam''s body still tried to move in other to dodge the attack, unaware that he was already dead. He raised an arm to move only to lose his bnce as he fell t on the ground bleeding out from the gaping hole in his chest. Bor finally realized what happened but he didn''t have any time to grieve, as another de of green energy appeared in the Ghost''s hands, already preparing her second strike.
Bor tried to move but his legs wouldn''t let him, he no longer had any confidence in avoiding the attack. His expression went pale as he felt it was all over and could do nothing but ept his doom when suddenly, he heard a loud thud. Forcing his eyelids up, he saw Zomatsu trembling hands as he struggled to get up but he didn''t see the ghost anywhere.
He was dumbfounded and confused and stared nkly at the spot she once was until he heard the coughing sounds of Zomatsu which snapped him out of his daze and he rushing towards him. He used the light healing scroll on him which alleviated most of the pain, stopping the bleeding from his abdomen and helped him recover some of his cognitive functions.
Bor then looked at the still Bam whoid there with a pained expression that remained frozen on his face. There was no doubt in his mind anymore, his twin brother was dead.
"You... need... to... run," Zomatsu spoke with difficulty. "I used *cough, cough* A tool that imprisoned her but, in my... Current state... s... She would not be trapped for long..." *cough cough.*
Bor blinked his eyes several times as he couldn''t understand what was going on. Was this the same boss he had been working with all this time or did the Ghost do something to him?
His boss would never suggest a n that did not include his own safety to him so he figured there had to be something wrong with him.
Zomatsu noticed that Bor wasn''t moving so he tried to exin. "She''s only here for me so... As long as you run, there is a chance that you might escape. There''s even a chance that the ones in the castle might notice you ande to interfere. I doubt they would appreciate people running around out here."
Bor understood the reasoning behind his thought process a little, however, he could also clearly hear the uncertainty in his voice, which was a first. Perhaps if he ran towards the castle, the Ghost wouldn''t chase him but there was no way Zomatsu would survive until help arrives in his current state.
Bor looked at his brother again and gritted his teeth, running towards the castle also poses the problem of being shot down by the ones inside it. Either way, he wasn''t the type that left people behind especially now that the family wanted him dead, who else was going to take him in without his boss there. He ced Zomatsu''s arm around him and lifted him. Zomatsu tried to protest but Bor pped him right across his face. He had no special reason for doing that and he did it only because he had always wanted to p his boss and this just gave him the perfect excuse.
They were probably going to die anyway, so why not. Zomatsu did not expect the p and was a bit confused as Bor dragged him up and they started walking towards the exit of the forest. However, they had only taken a few steps when the space around them saturated again. Bor forced all his strength into his feet and shot forth. They bolted with Bor doing all the running and Zomatsu being dragged along.
He tried to create as loud a disturbance as he could while running but soon fell t on his face like a de of green energy went through his chest. He was lucky the de had missed his heart but it was still a critical hit.
?
Amra walked out of the void and looked at the two targets rolling on the ground, she had no more time to waste so she opted to end this as fast as possible. If she were to get spotted by other members of the Great Five, she would be creating a big problem for Lord Aur.
She created several light des and shot them at the two aiming to end it in a single attack.
However, Zomatsu wasn''t having it. He brought out a single gauntlet from his spatial box and wore it, creating a solid wall made of crystals in front of them that blocked all the attacks. He then shattered the wall by cing his gauntlet-wearing arm on it and the shattered shards floating in mid-air, with a flick of his hand, they shot out like bullets at the Ghost girl.
Amra tried to saturate the space around her in order to fade the spell out of existence but, as space saturated a bit, the shards flying at her shattered it, returning the space to normal leaving a faint smile on Zomatsu''s face that was dripping with blood from his eyes and nose. "Die bitch" He cursed knowing fully well that this was not enough to kill her. Amra tilted her head a bit almost adorably, as her figure faded out of existence.
Zomatsu couldn''t help his smile as he raised his arm"Whirlwind." A tall column of air spinning round and round at a rapid pace appeared around him and Bor as it carried them towards the edge of the forest. He had no intentions of killing someone like her with a single Tier 4 spell so the aim had been to make her disappear willingly, giving them a chance to escape.
However, his hope was smashed when the Whirlwind lost its saturation and faded out of existence, leaving them in mid-air as they dropped down so close to the edge of the forest. He was so close yet so far, he had no idea when the thought of leaving the forest equated to being saved in his mind but now, he knew that was foolish. No one woulde rushing out to save him when they were unaware of the situation, especially since they would be leaving the safety of their protective barrier.
He turned his head as he saw the girl walked out of the void and several daggers of light appeared around her. This would be his resting ce and in the end, those assholes would have that book, his mother''s momentum. He wouldn''t die so easily though, Zomatsu''s brought out a magic crystal from his storage box and stuffed it into the slot on his gauntlet.
"Triplet Over Tier Magic - Crystal Dome."
Three crystal domes appeared around him and Bor, draining the magic crystal dry as it crumbled to the ground and so did Zomatsu''s body. He could no longer even lift a finger. He knew this was nothing but a way to buy time, but he still wanted to hang on to thatst shred of hope that help wille.
After a few minutes, he heard the dome around him shatter and he saw the Ghost walking leisurely towards him. Of course, no one would help someone like him, why would they. He struggled to turn his head to look at the unconscious Bor who had been the only one that hadn''t abandoned him till the end.
Amra tsk at the sight, as she raised her hand tounch an attack and Zomatsu closed his eyes and waited for his demise, but it never came, so he reluctantly raised his head to look at her.
His previously emotionless face had something on it, it was an emotion he instantly recognized. "Fear?" He uttered confused as he turned his head to match her gaze and he saw it. Two figures had wrapped out of space and had appeared almost as if space itself had weed them in.
It was a young man that couldn''t be much older than him, wearing a ck shirt with white pants and a ck fur coat, alongside him was a dark elf beauty that clung to his arm tightly with a satisfied and somewhat embarrassed smile on her face.
"Well, this is interesting, two for the price of one. How generous."
Chapter 69 C69. Master Of Space. I
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A cold wind blew through the forest as four people stared at each other in an almost deafening silence. Zomatsu struggled to keep his head up, wanting to study the man that had just spoken. His vision was a bit blurry so he couldn''t see his face but he could tell that this man was quite young, or at least he appeared young.
Maybe it was because of the blood in his eyes but he thought for a second there the young man''s face had been a little red when he had first arrived. Looking at him now, however, Zomatsu shook the thought off his mind as there was no reason why that would be the case. He was also more concerned with who this man was and what his aim was, why he had said what he said, and if he would be willing to help him.
He also looked at the dark elf girl beside him that had drawn out a ck exquisite de that had a strange glitter in his eyes as he realized that it was a magic weapon if might even be at the rank of an artifact.
Zomatsu was in no condition to move, much less fight, so there was nothing for him to do right now, however, this had been the chance he was praying for so he needed to make himself appear useful or he might be discarded for a more valuable captive like the Ghost. He struggled to speak as his voice sounded hoarse and dry. "I... I am... A... Formal... Scout... From... The... Zorak... Family... Please... Help... Me... And... My... *cough *cough* Myrade... I''ll give you... Anything... You want... Any information on them I have."
For a noble this was a disgrace, to lower your head while betraying your family was the biggest blemish on their name, but right now, Zomatsu couldn''t care less. He never felt like a member of the Zorak family and wasn''t under a demon''s pact so this was fine. Normally no other noble families would fully ept him at this point.
His only other option was to be given the grace of bing a freeman that secretly worked for any family that wanted the information he had, and if he was lucky he could be a servant of a behemoth which may be a good or bad thing depending on the personality of the behemoth.
Tyler lowered his gaze to look at the young handsome man that spoke to him first. Even after he had calmed down from what had happened with Rain earlier, he had still been a little too distracted to notice the insignia on the young man''s cloak was the same as the one on the body he had turned into an undead.
Seeing one of them now still alive he had to use every single facet of his control over his body to maintain his expression and prevent it from turning weird.
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A few minutes earlier, back in the demon king''s castle.
Tyler left the room with the undead duo as he had no interest in monsters he couldn''t control but nned on researching it back at the library when he found the chance. Rain and the other girls followed behind him as they weren''tfortable being stared at by the undead Lich. Since they finished the demons pact they''ve been a little morefortable around him than before and the dark elf called Rain seemed to be the life of the party that made the shy Liz and quiet Erine out of their shells a bit.
Still, Tyler thought she might''ve gotten a little toofortable. She must''ve already gotten over what happened in the training hall and was even quite eager to talk to Tyler about a rematch and was also being a little bit too nosy, but Tyler felt she had a good grip on that as it never got annoying and thanks to her, they were all growing on him.
When they had first heard about the strange bodies that exude negative energy she was the first that rted it to Tyler''s spell when they had first met. She asked him what spell was that and Tyler told her which shocked everyone into asking about the fireball he used and how he made a Tier 1 spell that powerful. There was already the Over Tier meta magic that substituted mana to increase the spell''s tier.
Naturally, that was Tyler''s response, he had already spent some time thinking about it and that was the answer he came up with. However, a normal Over Tier would increase a spellstier by only one no matter how much mana one had used, but since the girls weren''t sure of that, Tyler had gotten a lucky break. He still had no idea how he can do that, and it still bothers him.
After leaving the room with the undead and arriving at the main hall of the north wing, they realized that almost everyone in the castle had been affected by the Death Wail from the undead.
Tyler had thought all the rooms in the castle were soundproof but clearly that was not the case. The ones affected weren''t as serious as Jarret had been so they didn''t need immediate help. The effects had already ended and most of them recovered the moment the death Wail ended and Tarka had healed the ones outside, so not many people needed Erin''s help.
Tyler watched Erin check up on the affected ones in the main hall when suddenly, one of the sentries Albert had ced on a tower came rushing down to him and knelt. She reported a strange urrence going on outside. At first, they weren''t sure what had happened but they soon noticed a whirlwind that came out of nowhere.
Rain seemed quite familiar with the spell as she spoke first. "It''s most likely the Tier 2 wind element spell Whirlwind, it doesn''t have much attack power and its movement speed is mediocre at best so it''s only used as distractions, if there is a fight going on then I think someone might''ve noticed us and wants to attract us out for some reason."
Tyler nodded as he agreed with what she said and Rain looked pleased with herself. He thought for a while about what to do and decided. With Albert handling the undead he couldn''t send anyone out to check and he wasn''t a fan of just waiting for the situation to develop as he wouldn''t be in control of such developments as fate always had a way of messing with him. His only option now was to go himself.
His speed had made him confident in surviving most situations before but now that he had the Spatial Infinity ring he was sure he wouldn''t die out there as long as there wasn''t a restriction set up against all forms of Teleportation magic. ''Shit! I only have one use left for spatial movement.'' He sighed inwardly.
In any case, he had scrolls he could use in case of an emergency so he made up his mind. "Alright, I''ll go check it out."
"What!" Both the sentry and the girls eximed in unison and Tyler was almost startled. "Umm, lord Ty, why don''t you send me, I''m quite skilled in reconnaissance, well I''ve never actually done a reconnaissance mission but I was trained by the best."
Tyler looked at Rain puff her chest out in confidence and couldn''t help admire the childlike look in her eyes. He tilted his head and chuckled.
"It''s fine, I n to capture them and not just see what''s going on. They might prove to be of use to me."
"Then why not send the three of us, I''m sure we can handle that as well," Liz interjected and Erin nodded. Tyler wasn''t sure why they were trying to protect him but he still hadn''t told them that he only wanted to go because he was now a master of escape and wouldn''t put himself in unnecessary danger. He also wasn''t the type to put other people at risk for his safety, well, unless he hated that person, then it was fine.
He shook his head and answered. "No it''s fine, I can get there faster and leave if the need arises so it''s safer this way." Although the girls were ttered he cared about them enough to worry, they knew it still wasn''t safe to let him go alone and he was the most important person in the barrier, without him, they would all be doomed. While Rain was eager to prove herself to him and Erin was thinking about the bigger picture, Liz was sorely just worried about his safety and was about to speak when...
"There isn''t much time to waste so I''ll be going now," Tyler said waving his hands as he was about to use spatial movement to leave the hall. Spatial movement could only take him to somewhere within his line of sight and Tyler wouldn''t be able to reach the barrier from within the castle. Logically he should have walked outside the castle before using the skill for thest time today. However, he was running out of excuses to tell the girls so so he just wanted to escape.
He wished the skill was like the Teleportation spell that could take you anywhere you had been to before within a certain range, if it was he would be able to go from here all the way to the barrier without having to waste hisst use of the skill for nothing.
Due to this thought process, he was thinking about the entrance to the barrier, the one he had first entered this castle through as he activated the skill when suddenly, he heard a voice yell out to him. "Please wait!" Rain yelled as she saw Tyler about to disappear and almost tackled him in a bid to tag along, her persistence was either admirable or troublesome.
However, Tyler wasn''t prepared for this as he had hurriedly turned around to see the dark beauty flying towards him and his lips met a pair of cherry red ones that were as soft as marshmallows and sweeter than strawberries. Well, that was all he could think topare them to as he unknowingly activated both the Spatial Distortion skill and Spatial Movement, appearing outside the barrier in the same ce he had to visualize earlier, yet his mind was not on this achievement but the warm body pressed against his.
Rain slowly pulled herself away from Ty as she ced her hand on her lips with a timid expression that Tyler would have never guessed this girl could make. He hadn''t even recovered from the kiss yet when he saw her smile slightly and locked arms with him pressing her ample bosom on him. "We should go, right? You said we don''t have much time." She said with what Tyler considered the most seductive expression a girl could have.
Of course, Tyler had masterful control over his body so he quickly recovered. It may have been over a thousand years since he kissed a girl but now was not the time for that. After calming down a bit, he looked around wanting to use spatial movement again so they could arrive at the barrier having forgotten he was out of use, however, he soon noticed they were already out of the barrier.
He thought back and realized what had happened, by activating both of the skills in the Spatial infinity ring he could achieve the same effect as Teleportation.
He was increasingly more impressed by his ring and couldn''t help but feel like a true master of space. Not to mention the fact that he had also teleported outside the barrier a fact that he had automatically considered impossible and had been limiting himself with that thought. It was indeed true that only entry to the castle was restricted by the barrier so he had no idea why he had thought that way when it came to teleporting.
Tyler then heard the loud sound of shattered ss that gave him back some of his senses and he raised his head to see. Using his magic vision he spotted the silhouette of three figures in the far distance. It was a distance that he could cover in a few seconds if he used his full speed, but Tyler could shorten that time to zero just by deceiving the space around him and eliminating the distance.
Tyler then activated Spatial Distortion, a skill that had no limits. He then took a single step.
Chapter 70 C70. Master Of Space. II
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Tyler turned his gaze towards the badly wounded young man on the ground as he struggled to look up at him. His cloak had been tattered so his face visible for him to see. Even under the blood that had covered half his face, Tyler could still tell how handsome this man was and it kinda annoyed him, well just a tad.
His golden pupils seem almost lifeless and his body was in a terrible state. Not that he was in any immediate danger from the injuries though. Perhaps he had been toyed with and there was no real intention to kill, or he had already used some low-level healing spell.
He also saw the body of an injured ogre close to him in an even worst shape than him. He then shifted his gaze to the young masked girl in front of them as she held a de made of greenish-white light energy and was observing them warily.
She took a step back the moment his gaze was locked at her and Tyler tilted his head slightly. He then took a step forward and the masked girl did the reverse. Tyler repeated the motion and she repeated hers.
He finally stopped next to the ogre and waved an arm as he cast a Tier 2 spell he had learned for situations like this. "Light Healing."
The gaping hole in his chest and the various wounds he had, slowly started to close as he was encased in a pure white aura. Rain who was keenly keeping her attention on the masked girl since the beginning had still noticed the spell Tyler had used and was a bit surprised.
There were two types of healing magic, holy or divine healing of the light element that was used mostly by humans, and then there was arcane healing magic that was mostly used by sorcerers and spirit beings like treants and dryads.
Of course, some could use both, it wasn''t something that was seen often. It was amon rule that mages focus on a section of magic thatplements their style and raises their effectiveness, after all, they couldn''t learn an unlimited number of spells and were limited by their potential. It was why Rain had only learned spells that increased her potency in a fight. As an assassin-type mage, she had far less spell count than an ordinary mage of her level and didn''t have the luxury of learning spells that weren''t directly useful in battle.
She had seen Tyler use an arcane spell of the dark arts and after seeing him make undead she had imagined he was interested in necromancy. Yet, here he was using a holy healing spell of the light element, however, Tyler hadpletely forgotten about the spell limit and had learned spells based on what he thought he would need since he was still restricted to Tier 2.
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Amra stared warily at the two strangers that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and hesitated, she hadn''t sensed them approaching which meant they had just appeared out of nowhere. Even ignoring the guy she couldn''t sense anything from, the dark elf he came with was dangerous enough to warrant caution.
The guy suddenly looked at her and she instinctively took a step back, only to take several more steps as he approached. She had been wary of a sudden attack however, it never came, she instead saw him stop and use a healing spell on the piece of trash she had thought was dead and stabilized his breathing. ''So he was just a healer. That makes sense, that means the only one I have to worry about is the elf.''
Amra thought as she came up with a n. Her mission was only Zomatsu''s mother''s book, as well as putting an end to his defiance and naturally to erased any witnesses and loose ends, preventing any information on the Ghost Legion from leaking.
However, with the interference of the two strangers, that was no longer an easy task. Although the mission was important and she had never failed her missions before. Her life was more valuable than this mission because if for some reason she dies here and was revived in the enemy''s base, they could use all sorts of methods to extract information from her that would be detrimental to the Zorak family.
Still, now that she knew she didn''t have to worry about the guy, there was a chance for her to finish her mission and also take care of one of the intruders while she was at it. Although she would have to leave behind a loose end, this was the best possible solution.
Rain could swear that she had only blinked once, yet the masked girl in front of her had disappeared from view. Rain tightened the grip on her dagger and used a spell. "Blessings of the wind." Even if the girl''s ability could evade magic sense, as long as she was still moving on this ne, she wouldn''t escape Rain''s notice. Just as the spell was activated Rain sensed the wind split towards Tyler and Rain didn''t hesitate as she appeared in front of Tyler and light particles appeared from the shattered de of light she had destroyed.
Several des of lights appeared in the air as they aimed for Tyler and Rain lightly brandished her de destroying them all. Amra appeared out of the void as two des of light appeared in both her hands and with light steps she moved around Rain, circling her as she aimed tounch an attack from behind Tyler while also shooting out one of the light des at Rain.
Blessings of the wind were still active so Rain had almost perfect awareness of everything happening around her, so such a tactic was useless. With a swing of her de, the de of light shattered and Rain raised an arm to cast a spell.
"Triplet Magic - Lightning Ricochet."
Three silvery lightning bolts escaped her fingers as they snaked around and aimed at the swiftly moving masked girl. Amra saw the Lightning bolting at her and made a quick cut with a graceful spin and evaded the attackspletely. However, three magic circles appeared in the air, deflecting the three lightning bolts with twice the strength towards Amra.
Amra, noticing this, activated a spell of her own. "Illusionary Haze." An explosion of greyish white particles erupted from around her as it swallowed two of the three Lightning bolts aimed at her, as they disappeared. She then proceeded to jump off a tree as she gracefully somersaulted in the air, creating several green light des that shot at the third lightning bolt and somehow managed to cancel the attack.
She swirled in the air andnded like a leaf as two more light des appeared in her hands. Rain prepared to intercept her advance but she narrowed her brows when the masked girl had switched targets. She had managed to get closer to the unmoving Zomatsu and with a single step, she could reach his neck. Rain seeing the mask girl switch targets so abruptly knew she had been yed.
It was now painfully obvious that silencing that guy was very important to her and Rain felt that he should be a rather important member of the Zorak family and not just a scout to warrant the attention of such a strong assassin. The information he could provide would be valuable to lord Ty but right now there was no way she could get to her in time to interfere.
Amranded in front of the almost unconscious Zomatsu and with a single step she could relieve him of his head. She didn''t want to make the same mistake she had made with the ogre she thought had died but was still barely conscious. She would make sure there was no chance of survival and even if they had a tool for resurrection, her de had the ability to interfere with the mind, allowing only an empty vessel to be revived.
She took the step and with a fluid motion, sliced off his head. However, she felt no resistance. It wasn''t like her de had cut through flesh and bone but air. She blinked several times only to realize that the near unconscious body that hadid in front of her was no longer there. Amra felt puzzled and confused but immediately snapped back to her senses when she sensed a gaze locked at her from behind.
She turned her head and saw the figures of the young man wearing a ck fur coat and the dark elf who smiled at her alongside the unconscious body of the ogre. She could''ve epted it if their speeds were so fast that she couldn''t see them take away Zomatsu body and stand next to her but why would they move the body of the ogre as well. No, they didn''t, she didn''t know how but somehow they had made her appear next to them and none of her resistance spells stopped it.
With a bit of panic at the thought of being attacked, Amra hastily jumped backward, in a bid to escape the caged trap they had caught her in. However, she felt herself sink into the arms of someone and her eyes widened because the group was no longer in front of her. The arm that had caught her held firmly to her shoulders and another reached out towards her mask, as his index finger made contact and was about to pull it down.
Amra panicked, failing her mission was one thing, but getting unmasked was the greatest shame of a Ghost, second only to getting captured. She had no idea how the guy she had thought was just a healer had done it, but for some reason anytime she took a step or made an action that should get her somewhere, it somehow takes her to him. Still, she couldn''t let herself be captured, the space around them saturated intensely.
Tyler no longer felt the weight of the young masked girl in his arm and he soon realized she was nowhere to be found. He shook his head as he murmured. "She escaped." He had to admit, the young girl was incredibly skilled as she had made such a swift decision to retreat. The greatest fear was the fear of the unknown and she had no idea how powerful the ability that was being used on her was.
Tyler felt a bit of disappointment though, as he had nned to use the girl for various experiments with his new skills as he had just learned that they weren''t as straightforward as he had originally thought. Moreover, they could even bebined with other spells to make them more effective.
Still, he had learned a lot from their brief exchange though, for one, he wasn''t able to use distortion on her ability and couldn''t change her destination. He didn''t know if this was limited to innate abilities or skills or maybe higher-level spells.
"Should I go after her?"
"No, there no need for that."
Tyler sighed as he looked at Rain who was looking at him with bright eyes and a charming smile seemingly in admiration. She also had an eager look on her face that seemed to want something from him. She had kept the assassin at bay while Tyler healed the ogre and studied their fight. The confident look on her face seemed to scream at Tyler. Did you see me, wasn''t I useful?
In short, she wanted to beplemented and Tyler was a bit tempted to denial her. However, he only entertained the thought for a split second andjust said "Good job." Before turning his gaze back to the man that had offered him valuable information. He needed to use light healing on him before he dies along with that knowledge.
Chapter 71 C71. Ceate Undead
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In the outskirts of the Darknar forest...
Tyler had three red ogres pick up the bodies of Zomatsu and the two brothers, one of which was now a corpse. He didn''t know the resurrection spell and wasn''t entirely sure if the ogre could survive the process either. He remembered the first thought that came to his mind when he saw the dead body of the ogre. ''Finally... A body I can experiment on.'' He had no idea why that was the first thought that popped into his head and was a little disturbed by it.
Of course, there were still the bodies of the trolls and the monsters Jarret''s group had returned with for him to use, but Tyler didn''t want to waste such valuable materials on a test run. However, the body of a Tier 2 ogre wasn''t that valuable to him.
When he had first confirmed that the masked girl had escaped, he contacted Albert with amunication scroll and got him to send three Ogres to help him carry the two unconscious and one dead body. He could''ve also stored the dead body in his storage ring but, the living matter was a different story, and since his ring had a living property, he had to be mindful of what he stored in there as he didn''t want anything that would cause him problems in the future.
With the help of the ogres, it didn''t take long for them to return to the castle and ce the dead body in the sameb room where they had created the undead duo.
The unconscious demon and ogre were ced in a room somewhere else for Erin to look into. They would be out for a while so Tyler thought he might as well conducts some experiments on the dead ogre so he gets more data on what happened to the previous duo.
Liz had a strange look on her face when Tyler and Rain entered the castle together but Tyler didn''t notice it as he was busy directing the ogres on where to go. He also saw Albert walking towards him seemly done securing the previous undead somewhere else in the castle. ording to him, there was a temporary cell in the lower parts of the south wing and Tyler couldn''t help but wonder if it was the same ce he had been imprisoned in.
He still hadn''t gotten the chance to fully explore the castle and it seemed that Albert knew it better than him now. Still, he was the only one with ess to both the magic library and the secret room behind the throne room so he didn''t mind this minor issue. Albert followed him inside the room with the newly retrieved corpse and the girls went with Erin to attend to the injured men. They seemed to drag Rain along forcefully as she had wanted to stay with Tyler.
This was fine for Tyler as he did not want any distractions.After learning from Albert that he had unknowingly created a couple of undead, it was indeed a surprise for him, but now he had the urge to try again. It was one thing to create something by ident, the problemys in repeating the feat. Although he wasn''t that much of a fan of necromancy, he also needed quite a lot of manpower now that he had failed to capture the masked girl.
Tyler entered the room with Albert and went up to the dead body with a gaping hole in its chest that had been ced on the same metal long table. He inspected the body for a while noticing the slight warmth it produced as it had only been dead for about an hour now. Tyler then recalled what Albert had said about the amount of negative energy that had caused thest two scouts to transform so he devised a n.
Turn undead was a Tier 1 spell that could turn a corpse into a zombie or skeleton, but those were too weak to be of any use to him. However, there was a higher iteration of the spell such as Mummify, Create Undead and probably more he wasn''t aware of yet.
Create Undead was a Tier 3 spell he knew about but had never read. He needed the next level of intermediate magic runes to learn it but Tyler nned to try and achieve a simr result with only his current knowledge. He stood by the head of the ogre and ced his hand on its head. Tyler now had more experience manipting magic runes without constructing a circle so the next part was a lot easier.
The hard part was controlling his Mana so it doesn''t go berserk, causing him to receive a bacsh. He used several magic runes from the Tier 2 version of the Tier 1 wave of despair spell. ''Touch of despair.'' He then used runes from the same just as he had done previously so he could transfer the negative energy via touch.
Tyler did this for hours, he didn''t want to lose control so he had to take it slow. This was also a good way to improve his Mana control as well as perfecting the magic runes he was using. He also engraved the runes inside the vacuum of the corpse as the dead loses their mana body. And in the case of a demi-human, their cores would solidify and could no longer be used unless a redirection spell was used within a certain period.
Tyler was learning a lot from this experience as he was creating a core for this body from pure negative energy, as thest gore has been destroyed by whatever killed him. He realized why even though the previous two undead couldn''t attack him, he also couldn''t control them.
Those corpses had umted enough negative energy and slowly developed their cores without any imprint by their creators making one of them go berserk and the other was left with no goal but self-preservation.
This required more Mana than he thought and Tyler didn''t know why just a Tier 3 spell would take this much Mana but he soon realized that he was now practically creating a spell and this was the process.
Although he wasn''t creating a new spell from scratch and already knew the concept of this one, the fact that he hadn''t learned the spell andcks adequate knowledge on the runes required meant he had to go through this process to create a lesser version of the spell. He had been going through this process for more than four hours now and Albert just stood there the entire time before he finally saw the table vibrate.
Tyler opened his eyes slowly and saw a familiar sight as before, only this time was less chaotic. ck aura encased the body of the dead ogre as the table kept vibrating. Tyler soon saw the aura slowly diminished and the figure of the previous pale ogre was now drastically different. He was now even taller than before like a miniature giant.
It was almost eight feet tall and had dark grey shriveled skin that barely had any flesh in them as they clung tightly to its bones making it look like a skeleton. Its face was even more dried up and revealed the bones of its teeth from its exposed jaws. A ck helmet that wasn''t there before was now covering half its face.
The body had the same menacing ck armor that oozed the same aura of death. And just like thest one it also had a ck shield that had what Tyler thought to be a tormented face on its front and welded a ck long sword.
This was a ck Knight just like the previous one Tyler had created but unlikest time, this ck Knight did not wail but turned its head around to look at Albert before directing its gaze at Tyler, it then moved towards him.
Its massive frame was quite intimidating and Tyler almost took a step back, only for the ck knight to drop to one knee in front of him. It could not speak but it was almost like the knight was awaiting orders from its master.
*p p p.
The sound of pping came from within the room and Tyler turned his gaze to the source only to see Albert as he enthusiastically gave him an apuse. "Congrattion master, you created a spell from scratch," Albert said with a faint smile on his face. He was amazed by what his master had just done. Some mages dedicated all their life into the research and creation of a single spell, yet although the concept of the spell already existed, his master had still created a new spell in under a few hours.
Tyler just nodded as he was aware, although he didn''t think this was a big deal as the spell he created was only the Tier 2 version of an already existing Tier 3 spell - Create Undead. This spell allows a user to create an undead creature from a corpse that would bepletely loyal to its master. The spell would create a peak Tier existence depending on the level of the material used. For instance, if the body used was Tier 1 it would create a peak Tier 1 undead knight that would be superior to other Tier 1 creature.
However, Tyler''s spell wouldn''t do the same. It could create Undead creatures at the same level of the material used and wouldn''t exceed the level of the spell. There were a lot of other factors and restrictions that made his spell inferior to the original, but Tyler didn''t really care about that right now as his main aim wasn''t to create a spell. Besides when it came to spells, the tier didn''t really matter to him, all he needed to do was sacrifice arge amount of mana and the spell could even surpass Tier 3.
He also had only wanted to master the process of creating an undead and had also wanted to know how to control them, which he had learned. Now all he needed to do was create a spell to imprint his will on an undead''s core.
With this, he didn''t need to learn the original spell anymore. As long as he learned the second level of intermediate magic runes he would only need to rece his current magic circle for the spell to get it.
Tyler looked at the massive knight before him and gave amand. "Stand up." The knight obeyed without dy and got up, awaiting further instructions. Tyler then felt a flood of new information enter his head as he now knew the ck Knight''s skills and abilities.
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ck Knight - Tier2
Skills: Death Wail, Aura of Hate, Death sh, Dark Vision, See Camouge, Magic resistance (Tier 2), Physical Attack Resistance (Tier 2), Shield Bash, Corruption, Drain Will, Drain Essence.
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Tyler could practically see all the skills the ck Knight possessed, he couldn''t help but sigh deeply as he thought. ''Would''ve been better if it wasn''t just a Tier 2 Monster.'' He would have to put a little more effort into his next attempt. Now that he had an interest in the undead, he would have to research more on necromancy before making any further actions.
Tyler looked down at his left palm and saw a faint dark misty aura escape from a cracked portion of his skin. He secretly cast light healing in it and although the crack disappeared and the aura got fainter. He could still feel a faint corruption evading his system. Sigh... ''From one problem to another. I guess necromancy isn''t as easy as just creating an undead.''
With that, he made a quick decision. The library would have some information about necromancy but Tyler didn''t know how long it would take for the connection to stabilize. His best option was to visit a city''s magic institute and hope he finds something on this.
Although he could probably send Albert or Jarret to do the job. He was stillcking in many ways and he needed this experience to grow. Since he had decided to stay here for a while, he would do everything possible to protect the ce. The first order of business was to get information on the closet city from the unconscious guy he had upstairs, as well as get the Darknar forest under his control.
Just as he made his decision, a knock was ced on the door. It was Jarret who hade in with a report from the sentries.
As it turned out, arge number of Trolls and goblin riders were headed in this direction.
Chapter 72 C72. Unknown Assailants
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The sky was in a shade of silvery grey and ck, contrasting the night sky and silver moonlight that had been blocked by thick clouds which left the eastern parts of the Darknar forest in a state of absolute eerie darkness.
However, Two hulking grey creatures d in traditional bone armor, lead arge group of simr but slightly shorter creatures and a lot of smaller green creatures riding on the backs of beasts covered in reddish-ck fur. And while they move through the forest clumsily and without grace, they were able to move unhindered through the dangerous terrains.
Not only did they all possess Night Vision, but theirbined aura was so forceful and overwhelming, that it drove most of the other monsters away. Gray trolls gave of a deathly aura due to their extended or prolonged proximity to the Undead, which made it natural for all living creatures to actively avoid them and even stronger monsters would not attack them unprovoked.
Right now, more than thirty Gray trolls were marching further east and they were all fully d in bone armor and wielded spiked clubs or bone spears and maces. They were also apanied by more than sixty goblin riders that had been forcefully drafted from the various goblin tribes in the western parts of the Darknar forest.
The goblin riders rode on red wolves, a smaller bread of the dire wolves that had been tamed by them. They were the size of regr wolves from the earth which matched the size of the goblins as well.
Goblins were generally around 3-4 feet tall and had dark green skin tone with long noses and pointed ears, their faces were usually twisted and ugly. Of course, there were different kinds of goblins with them all having different characteristics and appearances.
There was the Hogboon, they usually resided in mines somewhere in the Dwarven continent. They were dangerous monsters that looked simr to a normal goblin with dirt brown skins and unruly hair. There were also the Hobgoblins who had evolved over the years to look simr to humans and demons but still retain a pale green skin tone. They usually got along well with other races and were more intellectual than other goblins, being able to trade with other races. There was even a settlement of Hobgoblins living as freemen somewhere on the demon content.
Finally, there were the knockers, a weirder breed of goblins, usually only around 2ft tall. Not much else was known about them aside from their vicious nature and hatred of other races. It is believed they usually live underground somewhere in the far south of the demon continent.
?
One of the Gray-War trolls that lead this small army, wielded a bone shield and spear, the other, arge bone sword that seemed to have been made from the spinal cord of arge reptilian beast. As they marched forth through the forest, the Gray-War troll with the shield turned its head and grunted in annoyance as it spoke to the other.
"Oi, are you sure this the right way? We''ve been walking for a while now."
The second Gray-War troll with the bone sword did not immediately respond, but it instead took out a small bottle from the beast''s skin pouch on its waist and held it up high. A single speck of red light was visible inside the bottle within the dark forest.
He shook the bottle a bit and the light stayed attached to the front ss of the bottle. Turning the bottle in another direction would cause the light to move until it was back facing the direction they were headed.
"Yes, the chief''s magic weapon should be in this direction. Lord Zerahut said this thing is drawn to the weapon and if we find the weapon we find the one who killed the chief."
"Didn''t lord say to not fight demons, why we bring many scrubs?"
"Shut up, are you stupid, how we supposed to kill whoever could kill the chief without scrubs. Besides, if there are demons we can just sacrifice them and escape."
"Huh, isn''t that bad, their tribes not that strong to begin with, the rest die."
"Unless you want to die, then you can stay behind and fight a demon. If they don''t kill you, lord Zerahut will."
"Huh, I guess you''re right as always Kazko."
"You''re just too much like the others, don''t just be a brute Rekaz."
"Rekaz not a brute."
The Gray-War troll with the shield Rekaz snorted while scratching its bald head as they maintained their current pace. The one known, as Kazko would asionally check the bottle to adjust their direction based on the interference of therge trees in the forest.
The snow did nothing to slow down the trolls who had high immunity to the various elements, although that did not mean they could not be harmed by the elements. This was just a natural side effect of their crazy regeneration ability.
Because of this ability, trolls could generally survive and adapt to any harsh environment. They also had a wild variety of evolutions, which would also provide them with different abilities than their other counterparts.
The goblins were all d in poorly made beast hides cloak, which negated most of the cold. They wielded short des but had small crossbows on their backs as they rode on their wolf mounds.
Moving through the forest a bit more, the trolls came across a small clearing in the forest and their nose twitched slightly.
"Do you smell that?"
"Disgusting, ogre blood."
"Yeah. We might be getting closer."
The Gray-War trolls stepped forward and the Gray trolls behind them followed suit. They were about halfway through the clearing when, suddenly, an arrow flew from their left and pierced one of the trolls on their necks.
The troll in question did not budge, the arrow was quickly pulled out and the wound healed almost instantly. Sensing an enemy, the Gray-War trolls turned their gaze northwards, in the direction the arrow hade from.
About a hundred and twenty meters away, stood several figures, d in hooded thick fur cloaks on a few tree branches. Some held Composite longbows and others wielded crossbows. In total there were around Ten such figures standing on those trees with most of their facial features hidden behind their cloaks.
"Who are they?" Asked Rekaz annoyed.
"Don''t know, but they don''t smell like demons."
"Can we kill them?"
"Huh, Don''t have time, send some goblin scrubs after them, the one with the weapon might escape."
"Pwaaa... Fine, but I need to kill something soon." Rekaz sighed in disappointment and was about to order several goblin riders to kill those figures while they continued their mission to track down the magic weapon.
However, the new arrivals had other ns in mind. A volley of Arrows was fired at that distance and rained down in front of the Gray-War trolls, halting their progress. Without pause, another volley was release, this time it was aimed at the Gray trolls and goblins behind them.
Of course, attacks like this weren''t a threat to the trolls but it was very dangerous for their goblin riders. Rekaz raised his shield to block some of the arrows aimed at them, while the others used their weapons, although most of them were too slow and still received the attack.
The constant volley of arrows continued and it only served to annoy Rekaz to no end. Not to mention their goblin riders were falling like flies. His short fuse soon ran out and he roared in fury. However, the group seemed to be amused by that as one of them wielding a purple crossbow fired a single arrow that tore through the air before the sound could keep up, and before he could raise his shield, it punched a hole through Rekaz left eye.
Underneath the hood, a taunting and mocking smile were visibly stered on the figure''s face and Rekaz brain was flooded with rage, without even bothering to ask Kazko he flung his outstretched arm backward and threw his spear with an insane amount of force. The spear flew almost as fast as thest arrow had and urately shattered the tree branch a few of these hooded strangers were standing on. However, none of them were hit by the attack, having already jumped to safety.
Rekaz roared like a wild beast and charged forward with mad eyes, one of which was alreadypletely healed. Kazko had wanted to stop him but it was toote. Kazko then ordered Ten gray trolls to follow Rekaz leaving him with a little more than twenty trolls.
He also sent forty goblin riders after them to negate the troll''sck of speed, especially in a chase.
He chose to leave the rest to Rekaz and proceeded forth. Shaking his head in disapproval he thought his kin was too hot-headed. Lord Zerahut had promised to only reward the one who brought back the weapon but they had agreed to work together until they found the person that kill Kadiz and took his de.
No matter how confident they were in their strength, they were also painfully aware that there were levels to this. Kadiz had been more than a notch stronger than them so, in order to kill the person that killed him, they needed to work together, and only after seeding, would they have a duel on who would return with the weapon and im the title of chief.
Yet, Rekaz had let his war gene and rage take his eyes away from the prize. Kazko snorted and marched forward with haste. He was trailed by a little over twenty Gray trolls and twenty goblin riders. Not wanting to make any mistakes he took out the bottle with thest Essence of the Dark-Syphon and shook it to confirm his direction.
When the speck of essence settled on the ss Kazko eyes went wide. Not only was he headed in the wrong direction or maybe the one who killed Kadiz had moved since thest time he checked it, but as it turned out, the speck was pointed in the same direction as the one Rekaz had gone.
Kazko halted his steps and by default his small army came to a halt as well, he realized something was amiss. However, the magic weapon was their only target and Rekaz was now a step ahead of him. Panic, Rage, and Confusion were the emotions that rose inside of him and Kazko hesitated for only a second as he immediately ordered his tropes to chase after Rekaz unit.
Due to their sudden change in direction and the forest terrain, the trolls ran chaotically in Rekaz general direction. Being a Gray-War troll with superior attributes than the others Kazko ran faster than his kins and soon took the lead with the goblin riders.
He was determined to im the magic weapon before Rekaz as it would be disastrous for their race if such an idiot became chief. However, as he took the lead, several gray trolls and goblin riders around him suddenly disappeared. Looking around it turned out they had probably fallen inside of some hidden pitfalls, he immediately noticed more of these pitfalls up ahead and a hint of panic became visible in his eyes.
Kazko tried to halt his men but aside from the agile goblin riders, a few more of the trolls still could not react in time to save themselves. In just a single move the enemy had reduced his team of over twenty trolls to under fifteen.
Filled with anger at these unknown assants and himself for being so careless. He took out hisrge bone sword from the strap on his back and roared. His roar was wild but carried a hint of intent within the madness. The air around him reverberated with his roar and he soon found his targets.
Chapter 73 C73. On Two Fronts
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Kazko considered himself a special type of Gray-War troll. He may not have been as strong as Rekaz or his other kins when it came down to raw strength, but he had still risen through the ranks and was now on the verge of bing their next chief. Naturally, by right, he would also be the left hand of Lord Zerahut.
Being an unusually more intellectual troll, he had always been considered an outcast even before they had evolved from cave trolls to Gray trolls. And even as a Gray-War troll, a superior species to the Gray trolls, he had still been mocked and ostracized as the weakest.
Despite all that, he slowly surpassed all those who mocked him just by being patient and calcting. And now that he was so close to the end goal, so close to the finish line. How could he make such a costly miscalction?
Anger the likes of which he had never felt before began to rise within him. He wasn''t exactly angry at the enemy that had put him in such a state, no. He was mad at himself. He was mad because he had failed to notice it earlier. This was a trap. He had no idea who could be orchestrating such a n to split his forces but, it had to be the one who had killed Kadiz.
The fact that they had opted for such a n meant theycked the numbers to take them on in a head-to-head confrontation. If only he had sensed this earlier, he wouldn''t have taken those ten cloaked figures lightly and would have stopped Rekaz from heading in alone recklessly, no matter the cost.
Kazko ordered his men to halt and stay on the defensive. They were only allowed to asionally hurl rocks at the enemy and not charge in as there were traps everywhere. He had the troll surround and protect the goblin riders while the riders fired at any enemies they saw.
He already found his targets so he held his sword with both hands and charged in alone. He roared again and his unique skill activated. He was able to locate all the traps in front of him. Trolls generally couldn''t learn skills, they could only use their innate ability and for a select few like Rekaz, they would also possess the berserk skill.
However, Kazko was able to rise to the top not only due to his intellect but the unique trait that allowed him to consciously manipte the flow of mana from his core to learn actual skills. Being a bit slender for a troll, he avoided the traps quite easily and swung his sword.
There were about ten small creatures on the tree in front of him, one of which had a pair of reptilian wings and hovered above the rest. ''Kobolds'' Kazko thought, as his bone sword extended forth like a whip, about to wrap around all ten creatures in an attempt to crush them all in a single strike.
"Die Reptiles!"
He yelled as his attack was about to make contact, too fast for the kobolds to react. Then suddenly, arge hammer came out of nowhere and mmed his bone sword away and into a nearby tree, making Kazko''s eyes widened with shock.
This wasn''t because his attack was blocked. Rather it was because therge weapon that blocked it, wasn''t any ordinary weapon. It was an Hamaxe, one that was attached to a long ck chain which was then tugged on and the weapon flew back to in the direction at which it came.
"Dark-Syphon."
Kazko muttered while turning his head in said direction. He saw the figure of arge shirtless man walking in his direction with a faint but excited smile on his face as he caught the weapon casually and the chains wrapped around the ck vambrace on his right hand with almost sentient vigor.
He was arge man that stood at least, 7ft tall and had two dark horns on his head. He wore metal iid armor on his legs revealing his chest and abs and even in such blistering cold, he moved freely and unhindered. He had short white hair, violet pupils, and a clean-shaven face. He strolled towards Kazko and judging by his aura alone, he would be an intimidating sight for most people.
?????????
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Further down the forest trail...
Rekaz roared with hate and anger as he lunged at the three cloaked rangers on the tree branch closest to him after they had hurriedly avoided hisst spear attack. He jumped lightly and his mighty fist descended upon them like a meteor.
Several arrows were immediately fired from the other rangers still perched upon severalrge trees, they aimed for hisrge fist. Rekaz tried to disregard them all and continue his attack but one of those arrows turned out to be an enchanted arrow with a paralyzing effect.
The arrow briefly halted his movements but Rekaz rage was so strong that he was able to break free from the arrow''s effects instantly, well almost instantly. However, that was all the time the rangers on the branch needed to getaway.
Rekaz fist finally made contact with the tree and arge Boom was heard with snow and roots, alongside dirt and debris flying everywhere. The tree was obliterated by the sheer force of his attack and shattered along with anything within 30 meters ahead of him. The cloaked rangers atop the trees took off immediately, they didn''t bother to try anything else and just retreated using the treetops
When the dust had finally settled enough for Rekaz to locate his opponent, he became even more furious. He turned his head around and saw a few Trolls running towards him alongside goblin riders. They had finally caught up to him. Rekaz didn''t dwell on them anymore and ordered.
"Take them down." As he ran forward to retrieve his spear. The trolls picked up rocks andrge tree branches, hurling them at the rangers while they tried to give chase. The goblin riders proved themselves to be a lot more useful than Rekaz had thought as they swiftly chased after the nimble rangers.
The goblin rangers would also asionally fire their crossbows at the cloaked rangers and although their attacks were more urate than that of the trolls. The rangers still proved to be more than a notch above them.
Rekaz pulled out his spear from therge tree trunk it had punched a hole in and immediately threw it. His aim was true and it almost found his target, however, another ranger dragged his target by the cloak out of the way in time.
The ranger that had been pulled turned around in mid-air and fired several consecutive arrows from their long purple crossbow. Each arrow seemed to have an enchanting effect and Rekaz instincts told him to avoid direct contact with those arrows at all cost.
As a War troll, his instincts had never failed him but the mocking smile on that ranger''s face was so infuriating that he decided to forgo caution and threw hisrge shield at the iing arrows. Without pause, Rekaz picked up arge rock and as his shield meet the arrows, an explosion went off from the impact of one of those arrows.
His shield was sent flying back and in one smooth motion, Rekaz hurled the rock at the rangers while he also caught his shield. His skin seared from the intense heat of the shield but he paid it no heed, it would heal soon enough.
The rock flew urately at the rangers who were hopping from tree branch to tree branch, but again they were able to quickly avoid the attack at thest moment. Another ranger fired an arrow at Rekaz but he easily deflected it with his shield.
The Gray trolls behind him hurled rocks upon rocks at the escaping rangers but the rangers were all too fast for such simple attacks yet, they were still unable to escape. It didn''t make sense to Rekaz. They were fast enough to dodge their attacks with such timing and precision so they should''ve been able to move faster and should have already gotten away from them, so why? why were they moving so slowly only while they run?
He may have been faster than ordinary trolls but he was still slower than these rangers and even if the goblin riders could keep up, they were all too weak to do anything without the trolls defending them. However, the cloaked rangers only seem to get faster while dodging their attacks.
"You insects dare mock me!! You''re all dead, I''ll kill you, I''ll kill you all! I''ll use your bones as poles to hang your heads!"
Rekaz bellowed in rage and frustration as he emitted a greyish ck fog-like aura that was almost as thick as smoke from the entirety of his body. His left leg spread wide and his right arm sprung back, his muscles budged and the grip on his spear tightened.
The aura he emitted quickly wrapped around the spear, giving it a terrifying and menacing aura. Like a catapult his arm short forth and with a whoosh, the spear cut through the air like lightning.
"Dark Spear."
The aura that surrounded the spear slowly morphed into the shape of an unknown beast. It moved like it had a mind of its own and when the rangers tried to get out of its path, it altered its trajectory.
This was not a skill, rather it was a simple technique he had taught himself. Rekaz may have not been able to use skills like Kazko, but he was still the most talented troll inbat, second only to Kadiz.
He had identally done something that no other trolls had ever done. He created a technique that most trolls criticized him for due to jealousy. This was the reason he had gotten along with Kazko at all. They were both outcasts amongst their peers and thanks to that, lord Zerahut had recognized their talents and made them second only to Kadiz.
Recognizing the gravity of their situation and knowing fully well that they could not dodge the attack. Two cloaked rangers quickly halted their step atop arge tree and took out their weapons. One held aposite longbow and the other a purple crossbow.
They both activated several skills and shot out a few enchanted arrows to meet the spear head-on. Colorful attacks shot out of their bows, aimed at the iing spear. However, the spear adjusted its trajectory and the death aura around it devoured the arrows.
They each quickly brought out a scroll and activated it. A translucent defensive barrier appeared in front of them in an instant, and in the next instant, the barrier was shattered by the dark spear about to consume the both of them in its deathly aura.
"Max magic - Banishment!"
''It disappeared?'' Rekaz eyes narrowed at the sudden development. His most powerful technique had just disappeared before his eyes, how could he not be shocked. He slowly raised his head to the side and squinted his eyes at the figure that had just appeared out of nowhere and was hovering in the air.
She was a young girl that wore the same type of fur cloak as the rangers, however, her hood stayed lowered revealing her features. She had a tanned skin tone and a pair of dog ears that rested at the top of her thick and lustrous ck hair that was styledzily in a singlerge braid.
She looked to be in herte teens, however, she also gave off a childlike demeanor. Her tapered eyes gleamed like onyxes even in the dark forest and her smile told Rekaz that she was mocking him.
"Ray Of Enfeeblement."
Rekaz thought he heard her say something when suddenly, a ck beam of enervating energy shot out from her left index finger toward him. He could not feel threatened by the beam and his instinct told him nothing, however, he aired on the side of caution and raised his shield to deflect the beam.
Now that he had lost his weapon he needed to be wary of the neer. His anger had slowly died down a little and he was now thinking clearer. The beam struck his shield but to his dismay, what he had expected, was not the situation that followed.
Chapter 74 C74. Ogre Chieftain
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Kazko stared at the shirtless ogre with a strange but curious gaze. Surely that was the weapon they were after, the reason he had so careless fallen for some mere kobolds trap, the entire objective of this mission.
And yet, here it was, being brought to him by an ogre chieftain at the very least. The ogre walked proudly towards him as he gave off quite the intimidating aura for a mere beast. Kazko halted his trolls from attacking the small creatures who were now retreating at the arrival of this ogre and he tightens his grip on his weapon.
Looking around, it didn''t seem like there was anyone else waiting in the shadow to strike. After confirming this, he ordered half of his goblin riders to chase after the retreating kobolds as they were the fastest trope he had and wouldn''t be of much help against such an experienced ogre.
He decided to air on the side of caution and sent in a few of his Trolls to attack this ogre and feel out his moves and fighting strength.
He wasn''t that battle eager that he would charge in without first knowing the strengths and limitations of his opponent. Especially one that oozed with so much confidence, he was actually strolling into a battle against so many superior opponents.
Ten goblin riders went after the kobolds who were craftily using traps and the forest terrains to gain the advantage and the goblin riders tried to stay ahead of their tactics and fire their crossbows at them asionally. Six trolls then charged at the ogre chieftain while swinging their massive weapons at him. A few wielding spiked clubs and the others with bone spears.
The ogre chieftain took a wild fighting stand and activated what looked to be a skill. Orange aura engulfed the entirety of his body and even therge Hamaxe on his right hand. With the sound of an explosion, the ground he stood on caved in and shattered, kicking up snow and dirt everywhere, as the ogre shot forth faster than the trolls could keep up.
He moved so confidently and without hesitation that it made Kazko believe he must''ve fought against several trolls before, which exins the weapon. He leaped off the ground and with the hammer side of his weapon, he smashed the skull of the troll in front of him straight into the ground. Trolls regeneration could heal almost any wound inflicted on them but the time varied based on the severity of the injury.
However, if their heads werepletely crushed or burnt with fire, they would be unable to recover from that and die instantly. The ogre didn''t stop there though, using his built-up momentum, he spun around mid-air and threw his weapon at the next target closest to him.
The troll tried to defend itself by raising its club in a bid to block or deflect the iing attack, when suddenly a rune carved on the side of the Weapon glowed and it changed its direction. Making a sharp curve away from the flimsy defense and mming straight into the troll''s face.
|Flow Control|
Therge weapon threw the troll off its feet but failed tond a decisive blow. It made another curve towards a different troll but its speed had already been cut in half and it was easily deflected away by a spiked club. Several more Trolls then charged at the insolent ogre with their weapons descending upon him.
The ogre smiled and tugged on the ck chain in his arm and immediately, the Hamaxe came flying back to him with the ax side taking off one of the arms of the troll charging at him directly from the front. The troll lost its bnce from the sudden weight difference from losing the arm that held his weapon overhead and the ogre did not fail to take advantage of that.
He took several wide strides forward and leaped up mming his right foot on the troll''s face and ensuring it lost its bnce and fell on its back with the ogre now on top of the giant troll. The other trolls did not hesitate when they saw this and continued their attacks.
Three trolls wielding spiked clubs and a spear swung their massive weapons at the ogre who stood on top of their kin with all their might, not minding if their kin died on the spot. However, the Ogre''s smile only grew wilder and Kazko instinctively knew, this wouldn''t end well.
Boom! Stter.
There was arge sound of an explosion and shattering flesh and bones, followed by the gory sight of blood and other bodily fluids. The three trolls and the one who had just recovered from being sent flying by the Hamaxe seemed to believe that the ogre was dead as they grunted happily to themselves.
Yet, Kazko''s instincts told him otherwise. His eyes quickly scanned everywhere, trying to find the ogre chieftain but it was of no use. No matter how hard he tried he couldn''t locate the ogre and he was almost on the verge of believing he had escaped when suddenly a glimmer of light entered his eyes.
At the point in time, the three trolls had finally noticed as well and their necks raised their heads upwards. What they saw made their knees tremble and their bodies froze.
The ogre was way up in the air and hisrge Hamaxe had suddenly gotten abnormallyrge. If that was all there was to it, then they surely would not be in this state and it was not. The absurdlyrge hamaxe had a humongous orange and translucent projection of the same weapon, covering more than a 5-meter radius, and it descended on them.
Kazko was aware that Kadiz magic weapon had a skill like this, and had prepared for it, but this was way beyond his wildest expectations. He didn''t know if this was due to the magic essence havingbined with the magic weapon and making it whole again, or if another skill was involved.
BOOM!!!
The massive projection finally descended on all four trolls who could not evenmove a muscle and with the resounding sound of a massive explosion, it created a massive impact that reverberated throughout this section of the forest. The impact destroyed everything in its wake and even sent Kazko and his small army flying back several dozen meters.
The strike had created a massive crater in the forest that covered more than a 30-meter radius, destroying any life in that area. The single attack had taken the lives of more than the original six trolls and a few goblin riders that were close to the impact had also lost their lives. It had also cleared out therge trees and vines in the area.
Kazko was sent flying and tumbled on the ground a few times before he brought out his sword and stabbed his de on the ground to stop himself and finally stood up. He saw the ogrend in the center of the crater and whistle in Surprise and admiration at his own handiwork, seemingly proud of himself.
Kazko clenched his teeth, his tusk threatening to tear through his skin. This was the reason he had originally teamed up with Rekaz, they were supposed to fight this guy as a team as Rekaz was the only one that would''ve been able to take his attacks while creating openings for him to exploit.
Kazko tightened the grip on his weapon while he turned his head to look around, there were a few more than he had expected. Quite a few trolls were still left alive so it looks like throwing their massive bodies at this guy was their only choice if they were going to retrieve that weapon.
The goblin riders he had sent after the Kobolds still hasn''t returned and the ogre hadn''t even bothered trying to stop them at that time which made him think that he wasn''t alone. He was an ogre chieftain so he probably had several more ogres in hiding and they had probably already taken care of those goblins.
However, as long as there weren''t any demons among them, there wouldn''t be a problem. This was a disposable army, to begin with, so there was no problem sacrificing them for their ultimate goal.
"Attack! Kill that bastard all of you."
He yelled while pointing his de at the ogre still standing in the crater of his own creation and every single troll still left alive charged madly at him. The goblin riders also took off running, their attacks might not be threatening but they would be the X-factor in this strategy.
He had already seen what the ogre could do against multiple trolls at a time, but that was simply because he was faster and more agile than the trolls. However, with the goblin rider''s timely interference, it was likely to create several vulnerabilities during the fight. Kazko walked slowly in order to get in range so when an opportunity presented itself, he wouldn''t fail to strike.
His little army was just about to pounce on the ogre chieftain when suddenly, several wind des came flying out of the forest at the front of the trolls which stirred up dirt that obstructed the trolls vision, bringing them to an abrupt halt.
A petite cloaked figure then came flying down from one of the trees in the forest and swooped down at the ogre chieftain, picking him up from behind and flying away with him, towards the north.
Kazko brows furrowed at the sudden development and ager suddenly bust within him. "After them, don''t you dare let them escape." Kazko bellowed with rage as he dashed forward with the other trolls and goblin riders as they chased after his escaping prize.
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Still in the eastern parts of the Darknar forest.
Towards the east of therge crater created by the ogre chieftain. Three simrly cloaked figures exited the cover of the woods and walked out into the open, staring at the scattered trolls and goblin riders that desperately ran after the two flying figures that were headed north, in the direction of the Greyad ins.
They soon turned their heads back andstared at the crater in front of them, clearly impressed by what they saw. One of them spoke excitedly. "Wow man, that was nuts... I can''t believe the chief had that much power, to begin with."
The others nodded in agreement before a female voice chimed in. "Well, that was also due to the strength of that magic weapon, I heard it might actually be a relic."
"Wow seriously, damn I want one... And we didn''t even get to do anything this time."
"Yeah right, so what should we do now, go after them? Or do we go check on how the battle with the second War troll is going?"
The figure that stood in the middle and hadn''t spoken yet nodded silently before finally speaking. "The chief should be fine on his own till they get to the ins and with the way things are going, he should be able to stall for enough time. Besides, while Nadine is with the other party, she might get carried away and cause a problem so let''s head there."
"Hahahaha... Man, you two really don''t get along do you."
"You know they say whenever a guy and a girl fight a lot they probably secretly like each other."
The cloaked guy in the middle sighed and spoke.
"Surely you jest. Enough jokes though, don''t forget this is also a test and they are all watching, let''s hurry up."
"Roger that."
"Aww... fine. you''re always so boring, it''s why Callie didn''t like you."
The cloaked figure in the middle twitched a bit before ultimately calming down and they all took out a single scroll and activated it. Instantly their feet left the ground and they flew in a different direction than where the trolls had headed off to, albeit, it was still towards the north.
Chapter 75 C75. Maddening
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"Ray Of Enfeeblement."
Rekaz raised his shield up in an attempt to block the ray of dark energy that came at him before he had a chance to react. However, his shield did not deflect the energy as he hoped.
Instead, the energy wraps itself around him and he felt his energy slowly being sapped away from him. His knees buckled and hit the ground, his vision became a bit blurry and he slowly felt faint before the effect of the spell suddenly ran out.
Rekaz raised his head, the spell hadsted no more than three seconds. Yet, when he looked up, he saw the smile on the girl''s face grow wilder as she was almost on the verge ofughing at him. It was almost like she was only looking at a pig rolling in the mud.
His anger skyrocketed and immediately hit its limit. The girl stuck her little tongue out at him and once the rangers had gotten far enough away that she no longer had to worry, she cutely waved at him before flying away.
Rekaz vision went blood red, there was nothing else he saw but his targets. Even the gray trolls that had just arrive again behind him and were still hurling rocks at the rangers didn''t register in his mind.
One of the trolls offered him another bone spears and he snatched it. His dark grey skin was rapidly changing to bloodred and the same colored aura as thick and as dense as smoke escaped his pores.
He charged forward like a raging bull, determined to kill every single one of those that had continuously mocked him and were still looking down on him.
Being ostracized by his kind for so long had made him overly sensitive and gave him a short fuse and could be considered his greatest weakness. But, it could also be considered his greatest strength.
Rekaz leaped up several feet into the air and thrust his spear at the flying figure of the cloaked girl. She turned around and then smiled at him, before weaving in the air and narrowly avoiding his full-powered thrust. He then crashed back down into the ground after gliding in the air for as long as a 1,600 pounds troll could. Rekaz didn''t waste any time in the ground and just shook off the fall and tried again.
While a troll could almost instantly heal all injuries and even regenerate missing limbs, that didn''t mean they did not feel pain. However, Rekaz was now recklessly taking damage from his antics and shrugging it off like it was nothing. Every time he jumped, he would narrowly miss and then crash back down, breaking his legs or arm by the impact.
Still, he shrugged them off like they were nothing and kept trying. Despite his failures, his injuries were now healing faster, but he still wasn''t getting faster or any closer to hitting her. He didn''t know why his body wasn''t reacting the exact way it should.
He was a war troll and had an unmatched mastery of the troll''s innate trait of adaptation. The more he fought, the better he bes and the more his fighting style adapts to match and surpass that of his opponent.
With this, he became the strongest troll in the Labyrinth and was sure he would''ve surpassed Kadiz if it''s wasn''t for that magic weapon that would soon be his. However, right now, that wasn''t happening.
He was sure the effect of the spell she had used on him had worn off but now he wasn''t so sure. Rekaz gritted his teeth and shook the thoughts off his head. There was nothing he could do but forge ahead and smash his way through. Right now. His mind was only focused on one thing, to kill her.
He ran ferociously, the other trolls and goblin riders were behind him struggling to keep up, but he disregarded their presents and kept chase. He did not care who was behind him, all his soul was focused on the ones in front of him. Arrows came flying in from the other rangers that were far ahead of him but he blocked them all with his shield.
His attacks were finally getting faster but his attempts at hitting the cloaked girl were now getting wilder and wilder and he couldn''t understand why. Was she really getting faster or had she been holding back all this while.
As he jumped up into the air in a bid tounch one more attack the girl turned around mid-flight and cast a spell, "Mist Cyclone." A Misty tornado appeared in the air around him and threw him off course and he was sent flying in another direction and mmed straight into three goblin riders that had kept chasing the rangers ahead and asionally shot their crossbows at them but so far they had all missed.
Rekaz soon stood up and tried to shake the pain away. His left arm was broken and bent out of shape but it was rapidly degenerating. However, it didn''t look natural, his now blood-red skin was getting shriveled up the more he was in this state. His tusk gotrger and his eyes got wilder and he no longer looked like he was in his right state of mind.
He suddenly took off running and leaped forward, throwing a spear at one of the rangers. The cloaked girl cast the same spell again and it redirected the spear but he did not halt there and with a smooth motion, he threw the shield at the girl and she was forced to take the attack head-on.
She then cast a defensive spell that created a three-fold barrier in front of her but the shield was toorge and it shattered the barrier and sent her tumbling back. However, her flight spell was still active and she was able to stop before hitting the ground. She stabilized herself and took flight once more, the smile on her face gone. She immediately double-cast two more spells ''Wind de,'' and another ''Ray of Enfeeblement.''
Rekaz tried avoiding the Windde but he yed right into her hands and the Ray of Enfeeblement struck him once more. His body felt weaker and he was losing more of his strength the boost from his berserk skill was losing its effects and it was starting to run the risk of threatening his life.
Not wanting to be outdone, he finally decided to try something else. He kicked a tree and the tree fell right off, his strong massive legs were like an ax that could not be stopped. The tree fell back in his direction and he caught it. With one fell swoop, he hurled the tree at every single figure he could see. Horizontally, the tree flew far and wide and Kazko held on to one of the vines still attached to the tree and took flight.
No longer possessing his spear or shield, he let go of the branch when he was right above his targets and like a falling star, he crashed back down to earth.
The rangers tried to change the direction the moment hended but he would not let them. Picking up several Rocks, he hurled them in their direction, shattering all the branches they could run on. So now the only path they could go was right through him.
Having finally halted their momentum, he deactivated his berserk skill before it took his life. He balled up his fist and red at the insect that had given him so much trouble. He was ready to attack but he still waited. The goblin riders have already surrounded them and the Gray trolls were gaining in on them. Very soon, he would have them surrounded and with no way for them to escape. A smile finally crept its way into his face and the bloodlust he exuded could almost be smelt in the air.
The rangers knew they had to get by him in order to survive but they still hesitated. For some reason, it felt as if they had no intentions of killing him and were just leading him somewhere but that only served to infuriate him more. He wouldn''t be controlled and pulled around by mere insects.
As he waited for his troll minions to arrive, the beastgirl suddenly flew straight at him with the previous same annoying smile on her face. ''Does she think she could win against me with brute strength? hehe... What a joke.'' He tightened his fist and immediately threw a forceful punch the moment she had gotten within his reach. The force was so great that it created a wind pressured attack that tore through the ground as it went further.
However, she did not seem discouraged by the attack, instead, she just sorted and charged forth anyway.
Her flight speed suddenly boosted as a light orange aura surrounded her. The sudden change in speed surprised him but he could not adjust in time. She then took out two halves of what looked like an ornamented Bo staff from behind her cloak and put them together. Rekaz could not stop his attack so he proceeded to intensify the strike. However, just like before, she swirled and narrowly avoided his attack and with continuous momentum, she forcefully swung the Bo staff at him.
BOOM!
The force of the weapon felt like a mountain had crashed on him and he was forcibly sent back a few paces. He had tried to block the strike using his left arm since he no longer had his shield but his bones had shattered upon impact and he could not believe that such a tiny little girl could wield that much raw strength.
Rekaz was confused. What was going on, he should not be in this state so why? No matter how angry he got he couldn''t keep up with this girl. It didn''t make sense. Just who was she?
He red daggers at the girl and his body soon emitted a grayish-ck aura as thick as smoke. He directed the aura to his fist just as he had done with his spear and used the technique with just his fist.
With a roar, he threw out a punch and the aura shot forth like a gust of dark wind. In response to his attack, she quickly cast a spell "Wind st." A st of wind countered his attack and they canceled out each other. Feeling angry at another failure, he roar and lunged at her wildly.
He threw another fist at her but she sharply twisted her body to the side and avoided it. With a swirl, she whipped her Bo staff at his waist and Rekaz wasn''t fast enough to dodge it. A forceful blow wasnded and Rekaz swore he heard a snap.
Ignoring the pain, he threw his left fist out as well as he knew she was too close to avoid it this time. However, she quickly cast a defensive spell, "Magic Barrier." Although the spell had protected her from taking damage, she was still sent flying. But unlike Rekaz she could use the flight spell and was able to stop herself just short of hitting arge tree
Not wanting to give her any time to regain her bearing, Rekaz lunged forward and threw out a barrage of punches. He used abo attack because he didn''t want to give her any space to avoid it again. However, she no longer needed to.
With a wave of her hand, she cast another spell, "Mirror Image." Three illusory duplicates of the beastgirl appeared in front of him. They move in sync with her and matched her actions perfectly. Rekaz couldn''t tell which one was the real one so he aimed this attack at the one in the middle hoping she hadn''t switched.
However, that turned out to be an illusion instead, and the two by the side cast a spell, "Entangled." Vines sprung out from within the snow andshed at him. Binding him firmly in one spot
He flexed his arms and continuously broke through them, trying to set himself free, but it just kepting faster and faster. He felt like he would be there all day but luckily for him, his trollpanions had finally gotten closer and so did the goblin riders who aimed their bow at her.
However, that had only given the cloaked rangers the space to escape as the goblin riders could not stop them on their own. With his men getting closer he had thought she would try to quicklynd the finishing blow and was prepared to counter in a way that would give his trolls the time to surround her, but she had broken his expectations and immediately flew north.
Chapter 76 C76. Lopsided Duel
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In another section of the forest trail, Kazko dash after his prize after getting over the sudden stupor that came upon him when a flying creature had taken the ogre chieftain away.
As he ran further after the flying pair,promising of an ogre chieftain and an unknown cloaked girl, the trees and vegetations around him got sparser and sparser. The dark and gloomy atmosphere got a little brighter and the pathways got broader. It was clear that more light was now able to prate the leaves of the tall trees a lot easier than it did previously.
Kazko raging mind suddenly slowed down. He was wondering why the group was headed out of the forest but he could not stop now. The magic weapon was just within his grasp and he could not let it be taken away from him. This was a golden opportunity to be the new chief of the Gray trolls and attain powers that matches his intellect.
He quickly made his decision and swung his bone sword at the pair flying away, the weapon extended like a whip and it cut through the air and any branches in its way to his targets. However, the ogre chieftain was able to deflect the attack with his massive Hamaxe. The whip-like de was knocked back and entangled itself in between severalrge tree branches.
Kazko just pulled harder and all the branches snapped out of their tree trunks like dried-up sticks. He swung his sword again and like a catapult, the branches were sent flying at the duo and came raining down on them like spears. The cloaked girl tried to maneuver in the air in a bid to avoid the rain of makeshift spears but Kazko whip-like de had already been swung a second time from a different angle and she had flown right into it.
"Bang! Boom!
Two bodies were sent mming back down onto the ground with the sound of an explosion. The ground shattered at the force at which their bodies had received from that attack, kicking up dust, dirt, and snow in the air all around them. Kazko finally sneered as his attack had finally made contact with his prey.
They may have been adept at dodging and the ogre chieftain may have been a little strong, but, in the end, they could not handle the strength of a troll. All he needed, was just tond his final attack and that would finally be the end of it.
A few trolls were also trailing behind him and ahead of them were the goblin riders who all had small crossbows strapped on their backs. Kazko walked forward with renewed vigor and confidence as the dust and dirt began to settle. He was going to end their lives quickly and retrieve the weapon before anyone else can interfere.
However, he suddenly froze at the sight in front of him. The ogre chieftain stayed on his feet and held the cloaked girl whom he could now confirm to be a beastkin with golden hair and a pair of golden dog ears on her head in his arms. They appeared to bepletely fine after taking the full brunt of his attack.
Kazko grunted angrily and readied his sword again and the goblin riders surrounded the pair. They aimed their crossbows and Kazko immediately ordered them to fire. The ogre chieftain let down the girl in his arms and she immediately ducked, he tightens the grip on his weapon before swinging it around forcefully.
"Continuous Grievance sh."
One of the glyphs on therge Hamaxe glowed red as several waves of orange energy gusted out at the arrows, knocking them away but the attack did not end there. The ogre chieftain continued to swing his weapon and several more waves sent the goblin riders flying back with their wolves and it even killed a few of them.
Kazko held the weapon in front of him to block against the brunt of the attack but he was still pushed back several folds. The troll behind him all also withstood the attack but before Kazko could think of a counter. The girl yet again took off flying with the ogre chieftain in hand.
Kazko roared with rage as he flung his whip-like bone sword at them only to be met with the full force of the magic weapon. The Hamaxe flew at him with great speed and Kazko could not move out of the way in time so he used his left arm to shield against the attack.
Crack! Shatter! BOOM!
With the resounding sound of an explosion, Kazko massive frame was sent tumbling back until he mmed into a tree. The attack had shattered the ground he had been standing on and his left arm waspletely gone. However, If he hadn''t used his arm to defend the attack, his head would''ve been nothing more than shattered bones and brain matter.
Kazko grunted angrily as he watched the pair hovering in the air without leaving. His arm soon began its regeneration process albeit being a tad slowpared to reattachment. Kazko dark grey skin began to change slowly as he stood up with the help of his sword.
He angrily roared and ordered the gray trolls and goblins to fire at the pair in the sky. While the goblin riders used their crossbows and fired volleys of arrows at the pair, the trolls hurledrge rocks at them as Kazko activated his Berserk skill.
The ogre chieftain smirked then he tugged on the ck chain of his weapon and it returned to him. He raised his left arm and the beast girl immediately let go of him. As he descended back down like a rock, he raised his weapon overhead and created a massive illusionary Hamaxe that descended upon the attacks, shattering the arrows and rocks hurled at him.
|Meteoric Descent|
Unlike thest time, the weapon wasn''t abnormallyrge as well, so the illusionary Hamaxe was a lot smaller than earlier. Kazko stared angrily at the illusionary weapon for a moment, he then returned his sword to the strap on his back and bent his knees slightly. The blood-red aura his body had only just begun emitting quickly gathered around his right fist with spiraling intensity.
Kazko sprung up like a frog and met the illusionary weapon with his fist. His eyes glowed red and his muscr frame budged even more. ¡ãSmashing Wave¡ã This was a skill he hadn''t possessed at the start of this battle but after surviving the ogre chieftain''s attack once. His body had adapted enough to counter it.
The illusionary weapon shattered under his might and his body continued onwards to meet the actual weapon. The two miniature giants, although one was only 7ft tall and the other above 17ft, they were both still giants in their own rights. They soon shed in the air and one side clearly had the advantage due to his momentum. A body was sent flying through the air with so much force that it shatters severalrge trees on its way down and still created a five-meter deep and fifteen-meter wide crater.
Kazkonded with force, his huge frame kicking up snow in the air. He nted his foot and immediately charged at the crater. The beast girl tried to stop him but the goblin riders kept firing arrows at her and she also had to defend against the trolls who were also trying to drag her down.
As Kazko dashed forward, he saw the ogre chieftain struggling to stand back up and he sneered. "Common insect, You die for this!" He yelled as he jumped up and prepared another Smashing wave to finish up his opponent. However, he heard a small chuckleing from the ogre.
While it was true that war trolls were adept at fighting and excelled in the midst of battel with their raw strength and impressive adaptability that most species didn''t dream of. Ogres weren''t exactlycking in that aspect. Especially an ogre chieftain that was obsessed with battles.
While ogres didn''t have the same regeneration ability as the trolls, their battle instincts were still top-notch. They were also amongst the few demi-humans that could freely manipte their core''s energy to learn actual skills and in some rare cases, they could even cast spells.
???
Azarughed in excitement, this was it, this was what he loved the most. This tension, the intensity, this was a real fight with his life on the line. This was the first real fight he had been in such a long now. A fight where he didn''t have to worry about much. His blood was boiling and his arms, trembling with excitement. If it wasn''t for his master''s orders, he definitely would''ve gone all out right now. But he still needed to save the fun for just a little while longer.
Without hesitation, he jumped up and met the troll''s skill with one of his own. ¡ãMountain Smash.¡ã While the actual skill was called mountain sh, Azar thought it fit to rename it since he was using the hammer side of his weapon and wasn''t trying to kill his opponent.
He swung his weapon at the iing fist and with the resounding sound of a Bang! The two parties were flung back by the impact of their attack. Azarnded on his feet and lunged forward which was mirrored by the Gray-War troll.
???
Kazko was surprised by the result of theirst sh. He had hoped to finish up his opponent with thatst attack but he had somehow matched his strength. Feeling more anger and frustration build up within him, he redirected his rage at his opponent and the spiraling aura on his fist intensified.
¡ãRoaring Fist.¡ã
¡ãMountain Smash¡ã
The two attacks meet again and this time the ogre chieftain was forced several paces backward. The beastgirl also seems to be having trouble with the goblin riders and trolls persistent attacks. She had originally only needed to avoid their attacks but right now she had to asionally use her spells to keep the trolls at bay.
This would eventually lead to her running out of mana and plummeting down to her death. Kazko sneered at this thought and his left arm was slowly engulfed in the same spiraling red aura as his right, he bent his knees slightly and prepared to take on this ogre with all he had.
¡ãTwin Roaring Fist.¡ã
The aura his body exuded intensified, and it melted the snow around his feet as he lunged at the ogre with a sneer. Kazko was pretty fast for a troll, but still,pared to ogres and beastmen. His speed wasn''t much to write home about. However, trolls could ovee such hindrances with their high dexterity.
He moved quickly but just as he was about to descend on the ogre chieftain with a barrage of attacks powered by his Roaring fists. The ogre smirked wickedly and for the first time, a dark aura oozed out of him and gusted outwards with such force and intensity that Kazko lost his bnce but did not fall.
|Smog of Darkness|
Kazko felt his mind go nk as he recalled how dangerous this spell was. He immediately tried to defend himself but it was toote, before he could react therge Hamaxe came from his side and smashed him off his feet.
Chapter 77 C77. Plan Of Attack
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A Few hours earlier, in the demon king''s castle.
Located on the ground floor of the north wing was a room that contained two long metal tables positioned in an L-shape, and standing within this room were three living creatures and what looked like a massive ck armored skeleton with practically ck shriveled-up skin.
One of the living beings in the room knelt on one knee and reported to another while thest, stood by the side and listened. Tyler received a report from the sentries stationed on the tower on a very concerning situation.
ording to Jarret, the sentries had noticed an abnormallyrge movement in the forest a distance away from where they had just fought the masked girl and whatever it was, was now headed in this direction. They had originally thought it to be monsters attracted to the smell of blood but it was just toorge to only be that.
The disturbance it caused was also not natural to these parts of the forest and it felt organized. It almost felt like, whatever that was, be it monsters or not, they were tracking something.
Tyler could sense the vague nervousness in Jarret''s voice when he had given the report. He was probably thinking the Great Five was tracking those scouts'' corpses back here, which made him feel responsible as he had been the only one without any scouting experience on that mission.
Naturally, the thought had also crossed Tyler''s mind. Based on the information he had gotten, he hadn''t predicted any such movements so soon. While they were safe in the barrier for most opponents, the Great Five could break through the firstyer of the barrier protecting this castle, which was bad for them.
Still, there was nothing that could really be done without first identifying what was approaching the castle. If it was one of the Great Five armies, they needed to know howrge a force it was and how powerful they were. Tyler ordered Jarret to immediately return and have the sentries confirm the enemy using a remote observation scroll and if they were headed here or not.
It was risky to use certain observation tools and scrolls on unknown opponents because most intelligent creatures Wound have some sort of protection against it and opponents like the Great Five would even give aggressive countermeasures set in ce which would let them know when someone tries to spy on them and also attack.
Tyler thought about what to do for a while before turning to his new creation (the undead knight) and ordering it to follow him as he left the room and was trailed by Albert. There was a part of him that wanted to send his new knight out to fight so he would feel like a necromancer but that was unrealistic.
He only had one knight he could control and wouldn''t want his first actual undead creation to die pathetically against arge army. Until he gets more, he decided on the best way to utilize this creature at the moment.
He had the undead knight stand guard in front of the jail Albert had ced the two earlier undead in and relieved the scared ogre of his duty. Since his undead wouldn''t get tired and could stand forever, it was the best guard until he learns how to control those two.
The lich stood quietly at the far end of the cell but the ck knight had to be restrained with so enchanted chains as it kept struggling. It quieted down in front of Tyler though, which was weird, but soon started throwing a tantrum again the moment Tyler was done and left.
Tyler then sent Albert to prepare the settlement to defend the castle and gather as much fighting force as possible. The castle still didn''t have any defense mechanism so they had to do everything themselves. Of course, due to the fiveyer barrier around the castle, they would still hold an advantage even if it was the Great Five.
They would still be in trouble if that happened though. The ideal situation would be to avoid fighting anywhere near the castle but they would have to know the strengths and weaknesses of their enemy to have any chance of doing that.
If their enemy''s target was the castle, then there would be nothing more they could do but attack them from within the barrier. Tyler left the castle and met up with the girls who had heard the news from Albert and were wondering how they could help.
He shrugged as there wasn''t much to do right now, at least until Jarret returned with the information he wanted. Still, after privately browsing through the list that Albert had prepared for him, he had Erin use her spell to calm down everyone in the castle and improve their morale.
When sheplied and was done, Tyler felt the nerves of everyone calming down which was a relief. He couldn''t think of what to do next so he went back up to his new office and awaited the report as he continued to browse through the list in the Overseen, hoping to find someone with an interesting ability. Of course, the girls had followed him up since they didn''t have anything to do either.
Tyler disappointedly leaned back into the couch as he sighed, he then brought out a few scrolls he was considering using to get the information himself. However, Albert soon knocked on the door and came in with Jarret in tow.
Jarret quickly took a knee and Tyler asked. "Were they able to confirm the enemy?"
"Yes sir, they had no protection against divination on them so it was fairly easy. We confirmed it to be arge group of the same trolls we encountered on our way here my Lord, they were also apanied by some goblin riders."
"Trolls again?" Tyler was confused and turned to face Albert hoping for confirmation, which Albert gave by a simple nod.
"Yes sir, it was a group of around thirty Gray trolls lead by what we believe to be two Gray-War trolls, as well as around sixty goblin riderspromising of different goblin tribes."
Tyler let out a sound that seemed to be a cross between being dumbstruck and confused. He blinked his eyes a few times before finally asking.
"Where are they headed?"
"We are sure of it now my Lord, the group seemed to be headed here. Perhaps they came to rescue their capturedrades."
"Can trolls sense each other?"
Jarret remained quiet for a while before Albert spoke up instead. "While I''m unaware of the full capabilities of this species of trolls. I don''t believe they should be able to do that."
"So why would they be headed here?"
"I''m notpletely sure of that my Lord, but I think they may have been searching for something, but were then attracted by the battle between the demon and the masked assant you mentioned, and now, they may just be tracking their sent."
Albert then brought up his left hand to stroke his chin before continuing. "There''s.also the possibility that there is something on the trolls that had surrendered to you. Something they are able to track and want badly enough to send such arge force out for it."
Tyler thought seriously about it, either of what Albert guessed was most likely the reason for this and he was leaning towards thetter. After all, why would a bunch of trolls head in this exact direction in such numbers just to search for something?
However, what exactly was that valuable that they would want that badly. Aside from the one he had fought, the rest of the trolls had been so shabbily equipped that it was sad. His mind had immediately disregarded everything they had on and he hadn''t even paid attention to Albert when he had listed it to him.
The only thing that looked a bit descent was that piece of crap weapon he had given to the ogre chief. ''Wait, that''s it.'' A light bulb went off in his head as he remembered that the weapon had been magic so it should have been quite valuable no matter how weak it was to him.
"Jarret"
"Yes my Lord."
"Have Bungo use appraisal on that weapon I gave your chief, yeah him... Have the weapon appraised and bring me the details."
Tyler knew the famed cksmith Bungo could use an higher-tiered appraisal magic than him thanks to the list so he had Jarret run an errand. Although, it was a lucky break the enemy hadn''t been the Great Five as it was too early for that. They still couldn''t straight outfight the trolls in front of the castle. There were still a few issues they had to handle.
"Thirty trolls huh..." Tyler leaned back to his seat and thought about the issue for a moment. It was true that to him thirty trolls Gray trolls and two Gray-War trolls were weaklings, however, there were still too many of them for him to take out without creating some kind of scene. This was the problem with only knowing low-tier spells.
Not to mention, there was a high possibility that this was still the work of these so-called Great Five, in an attempt to test the Strength of whomever it was, that had intruded on what they believed should''ve been theirs for the taking.
He needed to handle this situation with the utmost care. Whether he could stop them from spying or not was apletely different topic. His main goal now was to seize control of the situation.
"I know."
Tyler raised his head to see Rain with her hand up as she excitedly said. "Why don''t you just send us out there and we''ll take care of all those nasty ass trolls, right Liz."
"Hmm, yeah, sure, we should be able to handle that many trolls no problem," Liz added in a fluster and Erin gave a nod.
Tyler almost snapped and said sarcastically. Geez, why didn''t I think of that? But a sudden realization then dawned on him. Bait. His main problem was the possible prying eyes of the Great Five, however, a fisherman doesn''t dive into the river to hunt for fish by himself, no. One could catch arge fish simply by dangling a juicy bait in front of them.
That may not have been the best analogy but, they were right. However, Tyler also couldn''t send out two fugitives of one of the great five to fight as bait for him. That might even cause more trouble than the trolls.
Albert had been in the room when the girls had told their story so he immediately recognized what Tyler was concerned about and offered his suggestion. "Sir if I may offer a suggestion."
"Go ahead."
"How about I lead a few of the strongest ogres and beastmen with a couple of trolls and intercept the Gray trolls before they reach us."
Tyler''s eyes sparkled when he heard that and he was immediately inspired by that n. "There''s no need for you to go... Say, what''s the name of the one I gave the magic weapon I want to be appraised."
"That would be the formal chief of the red ogre settlement sir, Azar igna."
"I see, have him prepare a team of the fastest fighters he has and intercept the trolls, then have them lead them away from the castle. Mmm, towards the greyad ins would be fine. He''ll have his full force waiting there and they should be able to kill and capture every single troll without fail."
"At once sir."
"Remember, not a single one can escape."
"Yes my Lord."
"Arrrh what about us..." Rain expresses her disappointment in not being included in Tyler''s n by letting out a strange sound.
Tyler turned his head to face her before he chuckled softly and spoke. "No need to pout, I have something very important for the both of you, oh and for Erin as well."
Chapter 78 C78. Something To Worry About...
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Somewhere in the eastern parts of Darknar forest,id a massive barren patch ofnd that was void of life, both nts and animals avoided the space. Although birds would asionally fly through the air, no monster would normally be found anywhere close to this ce. There were several of these types of ces in this section of the forest and although it wasn''t perfect, it was still considered a safe zone.
Covering an area of around 1200 meter radius, was cracked rocky earth that emanated a low level of heat that was hardly felt however, it was enough to keep a person rtively warm during the winter but got even hotter in summer. As the snowkes fell on this patch of crackednd they slowly evaporated due to the constant heat the ground emitted
While this was a safe zone, it also came with its form of danger, especially in the summer. It was indeed lucky for the group stationed here that the season was currently winter. At present, four petite figures could be seen seated around a campfire although, with the heat from the ground, there was no real reason for the campfire, they simply did it based on their daily habit.
They sat rtively closer to one another practically shoulder to shoulder as one of them waved their arms weirdly in the air as they operated a floating crystal mirror. The mirror showed a scene from the Darknar forest, it was a scene showing a group of gray Trolls and goblin riders, marching east towards the demon king''s castle.
The group sat around a campfire consisted of all female demi-humans, two of which had pale red skin tones and a pair of ck horns protruding from the top of their heads. The other two had rtively normal skin tones but they both had thin long tails that extended from below their waist.
They also had curved goat-like horns protruding from the side of their heads. The two ogresses had a pair of red and white crossbows by their sides while one of the lesser demons had a pair of short swords on their waist and the other, had no visible weapons.
The female lesser demon with the short sword sat in-between the three as she manipted the crystal mirror in front of her. They kept tabs on the troll army for a while as they progressed slowly down the forest trail. Things had been quite busy in the forest over thest week or so, not only had they not notice the Death of the Ancient Rykir, but they''ve been unable to keep up with the drastic changes that had urred during this short period.
Not to mention that st of Negative energy that almost killed them. If they weren''t geared with items that resisted negative effects due to them having to cut through the western parts of the Darknar forest - the undead king''s territory, to return home. They would''ve died that day.
There was also the fact that they had sensed a disturbance in the forest earlier today, however, whatever it was had been able to hide from them a little too well. There was something big going on right now and they needed to get in front of it.
"Oi Ava, what exactly are those trolls doing? Last time I checked, shouldn''t they be based in the west?" One of the female ogresses asked the lesser demon operating the mirror.
She had long curly red hair, the same colored eyes, and her features could be considered pretty but her appearance had a wild side to it. She had a red crossbow by her side and wore leather armor with few metals lining it.
The ogress next to her had very short ck hair, blue eyes, and a calmer appearance, although it really couldn''t be considered as gentle. She also wore leather armor lines with orichalcum and a white crossbowid by her side. She also spoke to the lesser demon called Ava.
"Fi''s right, even if they were expanding due to the disappearance of the Rykir, they still shouldn''t be this far out east."
"Yes, you''re right Lilou, but it doesn''t look like they''re here to expand their territory it looks more like they''re searching for something. Those two leading the groups seem to be a new breed of gray Trolls, did you see the bottle the one with the sword pulled out several times now? I think they''re using that to track something."
The girl known as Ava answered them as she tried to make sense of the situation. She had slightly greenish-ck, hair that had been tied in a bun and also green eyes. Her skin was a little tanned but it still retained its original color.
"What could they be tracking?" Asked thest lesser demon in the group. "She had long dark brown hair that went all the way to her waist and was quite a beauty. Her blue eyes sparkled like the sea and she wore a long raven ck mages robe
"I have no idea Mia, I also haven''t seen that type of bottle before." Mia nodded her head and the group went back to watching the crystal screen.
After watching the trolls move around for a few hours, something finally happened. They were attacked by a few unknown assants. The event to follow was a little strange and as a result, the trolls had been forced to split up without their consent.
"What the¡ª who the hell are they?"
"How would I know!"
"This is getting out of hand shouldn''t we call the boss."
"I would if I could, the boss left to report the Ancient Rykir''s death to the family, I''m not even sure when she''ll be back." Said Ava, however...
"Speak my name and I''ll magically appear."
A slightly rambunctious voice suddenly came from behind the four girls who had been so focused on the crystal monitor, that they hadn''t noticed a female figure silently approach them and stretched her head in between the girls to take a look at what had them so distracted.
"Oh hey, boss... BOSS!"
"Wow, reduce your volume."
The girls shrieked from being startled and the cloakeddy ced her fingers in her ears cutely as she tried to protect her hearing from that high-pitched scream.
"Why are you so surprised, I told y''all I''ll be back today didn''t I?"
"..."
"Well... yeah but, a lot happened after you left and wepletely lost track of time."
"A lot huh, like what? oh and by the way what are you watching." Saying that she removed her hood and long silk-like ck hair fell gracefully down her amble chest. She had a charming beauty that could not be described by words alone. However, her eyes were dull andckluster that she tends to keep them closed.
It was unknown if she was partially blind or not, but blindness could normally be cured by amon tier 1 healing Spell so that was not likely the case. She also didn''t have any problems moving and they were sure she had a way to see. Whether that was with her eyes or a higher-tiered magic sense was still unknown, even to them.
Ava was the first topose herself, she was already used to the antics of her half-sister so she quickly brought back everyone''s attention to the matter at hand. She cleared her throat then spoke clearly, "Well sis, a couple of days ago we spotted some trolls traveling across the forest subjugating weak demi-humans settlement. They headed southeast but did not return after leaving our assigned monitoring range, and now, just a few hours ago, there was more."
"More trolls?"
"Yes, a lot more of them, and this time, they were apanied by goblin riders, they also headed Southeast, however, not in the exact direction as thest. This time they''re headed straight for the demon King''s Castle, but it looks like they''re searching for something."
"And what could that be?"
"Not sure but right now they''ve encountered some unidentified figures."
"Ooh... interesting lemme see lemme see."
She rushed forward and stood behind Ava as she rested her chest on her head, she stared at the screen with her eyes still closed but they soon slightly as something caught her attention.
The crystal screen disyed one of therger gray trolls with a sword as his attempt to kill several small creatures fail due to the interference of an ogre chieftain.
"A freeman, what''s a freeman doing here?"
"Freeman? Does that mean the others were freemen as well?"
"Most likely."
The crystal screen proceeded to disy the fight between the ogre and the trolls. It was a surprise for them the see a troll being cautious in front of an opponent and devising a n. However, what they saw from the ogre was even more impressive.
Not only did he stand his ground against so many trolls and goblins. There were. times he looked like he had the advantage. "That looks like a magic weapon, do you know what rank it is, boss?"
"Umm, I guess, it should be ranked between Famed and Relic."
"That high, that''s almost an artifact, should a mere freeman be allowed to wield such a thing?" Asked Ava.
"No, they should not... I guess I''ll have to make another trip back to Sky city." Nora the leader of this group of scouts made her conclusion. Like the other families, each scouting group they sent to the Darknar region must have a demon noble leading the group. It didn''t matter if they were purebloods or not, but they were given responsibilities and privileges that could not be entrusted tomoners.
Nora velcerm Balmyster was pureblood, a demon noble, and while not the strongest of the candidates in her family, her style and specialty were more suited for this task and she had dly epted the assignment, simply because she would get to spend more time with her adorable half-sister.
"So what do we do while we wait for you to return. Isn''t dangerous to leave things the way it is now ."
"Well, we are originally just here to observe and only interfere if necessary, so there''s no need to be too concerned about that, I wouldn''t want anything to happen to my precious little sis here," Nora said as she pinched Ava''s cheeks and yed with them.
She turned her head to face the girls with a charming smile on her face as she tried to reassure them that there they were fine until she returned.
"All you need to do is keep an eye on the situation, as long as you don''t stray too far from the safe zones each day. You''ll all be fine. As I said, there''s nothing to worry abo¡ª"
However...
Her smile soon froze, the words she was about to say were immediately stuck in her throat as her closed eyes widened and she stared in disbelief at the scene that unfolded before her eyes.
For some reason, Ava''s head was in the air having been separated from her body. Blood gushed out of her neck and sttered everywhere. Her body twitched slightly but soon fell lifelessly on the ground and her head soon followed. Her eyes still open from the sudden decapitation.
Mia screams in horror and dismay, while Lilou and Fi immediately reached for their crossbows. No monsters would dare enter a safe zone so this was done by an enemy.
Lilou and Fi readied their bows and took a defensive stance around Mia and Nora. They were also distressed by the sudden decapitation of their friend but now was not the time to worry about it. They were clearly under attack and needed to defend themselves.
"Well would you look at that, there was something to worry about after all. hehe~"
The voice came from behind Nora where a figure d in ck and dressed casually, had mysteriously appeared amid a sudden fog that made Nora''s brain go numb even more. Lilou and Fi immediately aimed their crossbows at that location but to their surprise, the figure was gone.
Chapter 79 C79. Hopeless
The girls didn''t know when the entirety of the safe zone had be so foggy. This shouldn''t even be possible, yet their visibility had almost been cut off. A safe zone was normally one of the few ces in the Darknar forest that wasn''t always dark. With theck of tall trees, the moonlight would normally be able to shine down upon them. However, the thick grey clouds covered the sky in its entirety.
They weren''t sure when the snow had stopped but the sky looked as if it would birth a storm. With the silver moon no longer visible in the sky, the night felt darker than I ty should, and as the fog got even thicker around them, a shiver ran down their spines.
"Boss, boss, get yourself together, we''re in big trouble here," Fi yelled and Lilou continued. "Mia you too, we don''t have time for this right now the enemy is strong."
Mia tried to cover her mouth with her hand and stop screaming. She knew the two were right but her body was reacting on its own. What terrified her the most was the ease at which herrade had just died, even in front of their boss. Ava had lost her head faster than any of them could even react.
The fog continuously got denser and their visibility got worse. Lilou and Fi tried to stay alert but Mia and their boss, Nora, were still shaken by Ava''s death. As they tried to move into a tighter formation, they suddenly heard a sounding from beside them and hurriedly turned around and fired their crossbows, arrows flew urately through the air but failed to hit a solid target.
They both immediately took a step back in case of possible attacks. With their visibility as bad as it was now, it was clear to them that this fight would be insanely difficult without Mia and Nora''s magic supporting them, still, the pair didn''t lose hope. Lilou quickly reached into her pouch and brought out a few scrolls. Fi fell back to Lilou''s side and kept watch while she used the scrolls on both Mia and Nora.
"Valorous Mind."
A golden aura enveloped the two girls and calmed them down. Mia''s trembling hands soon stopped and she was finally able to control herself with a renewed sense of courage. Realizing the situation they were currently in, she immediately cast some enhancement spells on Lilou and Fi.
"Clear Vision."
"Mythical Hardening."
"Lesser Resistance - Physical Attacks."
"Lesser Strength."
"Middle Agility."
"Middle Dexterity."
She was able to cast six enhancement Spells in a row without a break. Not only was her cast speed impressive, but she was still only a tier 3 witch and couldn''t use that many spells, to begin with. Unfortunately, that was all the enhancement spell she could use on others.
Lilou and Fi''s vision became clearer with a wider range, they could now see further than they originally could in the thick fog. Standing leisurely at a distance, a slender silhouette appeared in their view and they immediately fired their crossbows while using their skills to boost and add various effects
¡ãThousand Arrow shower¡ã
¡ãContinuous Shots¡ã
Countless arrows flew in that direction, giving the figure no space to retreat nor advance, and it could only ept its fate. The arrows rained down on the silhouette and destroyed it, the girls were about to take a step forward to confirm the strike when suddenly a shout came from Mia. "Behind you!" The two ogresses quickly dove sideways and a streak of silvery-white lightning arced through their previous location with deadly intensity.
Knowing fully well that they would be attacked again if nothing was done they quickly rolled on the ground and turn around, firing several arrows at the ce the lightning had originated from. Their arrows struck nothing but misty air and they lost track of the silhouette again. The girls tried to stay alert while Mia tried to snap Nora out of her daze.
Whoever was attacking them was skilled vetoing theirprehension, to Stan even the slimmest of chances to survive, they would need her strength. Nora''s eyes were watery at the loss of her little sister. Yes, she knew this job was a dangerous one from the beginning. The family usually lost a scout once every few months and sometimes even more.
She only took this job because her sister had been forced into it. Her sister wasn''t a pureblood that had been born by one of her father''s many concubines. Being a lesser demon was a problem for the nobles as it was seen as a stain to their highly ranked noble titles. This mission was the family''s subdue way at getting rid of her and Nora had vowed to protect her, yet, she couldn''t even see iting...
"Well, this is disappointing."
The voice reverberated in the foggy safe zone and Fi and Lilou fired their arrows in opposing directions. They had been sure the voice had originated from that direction but their attacks struck nothing.
"I had hoped you guys would put up a little fight but I guess I had greatly overestimated the so-called scouts of the great five."
"Shut up!" Fi snapped angrily and continued. "For someone hiding like a coward you sure like to talk big."
"Who said I''m hiding."
The voice this time did not reverberate throughout the fog. Instead, Fi had clearly heard it from the female figure that had suddenly appeared mere inches away from her face. Before Fi had even registered the presence of the figure, a ck exquisite dagger was already plunged deep inside her chest.
Lilou''s eyes widened and she immediately tried to strike back at the figure but it was already gone.
"FIALA NOOO!!" Lilou screamed at the top of her lungs and this finally brought Nora back to her senses. There was nothing she could do to bring back her sister. With the family wanting her dead, there was no way they would waste valuable resources to bring her back to life.
She also couldn''t stay moping while her sister''s killer, kills everyone here right in front of her. That was not something Ava would''ve wanted. Nora held back her tears and balled up a fist with determined eyes. If she couldn''t save her sister, she would avenge her.
"Summon Monster; Ant Giant." (Soldiers - Basic ss)
"Summon Monster; Hell hound." (Intermediate ss)
She stood up and cast two summoning spells back to back. Two magic circles of silver and red appeared on the ground within the fog and two creatures soon appeared within it. One of the. was arge red ant twice the size of an adult male, it stood semi-upright with four of its limbs and wielded two w-shaped rusted swords on the other two. The second summons was arge ckish-red hound, its paws were ignited by hellish mes and so did its eyes.
Noramanded her summons to track down and kill the intruder and they both took action. The hellhound left a fiery trail behind and the giant ant used its feelers in tracking the movements within the fog and the girls paid attention to it.
Mia cast Cure Wound on Fi and she was able to recover fully from the stab. She was fortunate that the de had missed all her vital organs which allowed her to fully recover with only a tier 2 spell. However, Fi didn''t think luck had anything to do with this.
She was sure if the figure wanted her dead, then she would be dead. A loud ng was suddenly heard which was followed by a bang and Nora sensed her Summons had located the assant. She quickly cast another spell to clear up their visibility problem.
"Wild Gale!"
This was a Tier 4 spell that summons a strong wind in any direction directed by the caster. However, it did not do much more than that and had no offensive prowess. The wind blew the fog away and they all finally saw their opponent stand in the center of two dead monsters.
She was a dark elf whose beauty was beyond what the girls had ever seen before. Up till now, they had thought Mia and Nora were amongst the most beautiful girls in the world however, they now felt like that was delusional. It wasn''t like them to be flustered by another girl''s appearance, after all, non of them swung that way but this was different.
This was a beauty that only the elves could possess. Most of them hadn''t met any high-level demon from their family so they weren''t sure if any demons could match this dark elf. Nora quickly snapped out of it when she realized it was her summoned monsters thatid on the ground beneath the elf''s feet.
While the ant was only a Basic ss summon, it had high durability and the hound was an intermediate ss summons that wasparable to a Tier 3 magic beast, and yet, she had taken them down in seconds. Her nerves tightened and she quickly recalled the monsters and summoned another one.
Summon Monster; Dire Ape." (Advanced ss)
Arger magic circle than the one from the previous two appeared on the ground with a purple glow. The figure of arge monster soon rose from the ground and although Fi and Lilou were prepared in case the dark elf wanted to interrupt the summoning spell, that never happened, the dark elf just stood there staring at them with a yful smile on her face.
Arge ape-like monster soon arose from the magic circle and roared. It stood over 10 feet tall and was covered in pitch-ck fur. It had arge tusk protruding from its mouth and wore metal greaves and vambraces.
The giant ape charged at the dark elf in a sight that looked as though it would swallow her whole, however, she barely took a step and avoided the m that shattered the ground. The ape continued its rampage and attacked the elf but she appeared to be barely moving and was still avoiding the ferocious attacks that sent the earth flying with each swing.
It felt like she was floating at times and the two rangers quickly got involved. Mia cast several buffs on the ape and tried to curse the dark elf but nothing worked on her. Fi and Lilou''s arrows were numerous, with the effects of every skill they could muster, yet it was almost like she had eyes at the back of her head as she avoided every arrow without even using the dagger in her right hand.
What was even more surprising was the fact that Mia had several magic mines set up around this safe zone and had been trying to set them off anytime the elf stood next to them but they all just shattered by her mere presence. It was painfully evident to all of them that they were way out of their league.
"Boss, you have to run " Whispered Mia, "What, what are you talking about."
"We can''t win this, you have to survive, we will try and buy you as much time as possible, if you summon your phantom steed you should be able to escape her reach."
"No I can''t do that, I''ve already lost Ava, I can''t lose you guys too."
"You won''t lose us, boss, we''ll always be with you, so please survive."
"What? that''s nonsense, let''s think of a way for us to escape together."
"There''s no way, besides you need to report this to master Luci."
Nora bit her lips trying to think of an alternative when she suddenly saw the dark elf attack for the first time and the Dire Ape lost an arm so easily. It was clear she was just toying with them and trying to give them faux hope. She wasn''t even sure if her phantom steed could escape this elf''s clutches but...
"Triplet magic Ice Lance."
A beautiful and melodic voice rang out from the sky and turned Nora''s confusing predicament into Despair. There was another one. A godly beauty with blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale white skin, stood in the air as she cast a single spell that killed her Advance ss Dire Ape in a single hit.
This was no longer a matter of contemtion, it would be a miracle for her to escape by herself not to mention with the girls.
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Summoned nmonster images avable on my Discord Server: https://discord.gg/XvdFxsBkwe
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Chapter 80 C80. Annihilate
Nora watched the blonde-haired demon in the sky as she slowly descended. She had no idea why she hadn''t been able to sense her before now even with her magic sense already active. It was already an impossible task dealing with the lone dark elf and yet, a demon with simr strength had now joined the fray.
She wasn''t the type of summoner that was predicated on strength, to begin with so this situation couldn''t get any worse because this was rock bottom. Most of her summons was specialized in stealth, tracking, hunting, and defense. The reason she was chosen to lead a scouting team was based on her adaptability and survivability and not her strength in actualbat.
The Darknar forest wasn''t a ce that strength alone could manage, especially when one decided to live here long term. All the safe zones in the forest were a different type of barrennd and even for demons that could go years without eating, it still wasn''t wise to stay in the safe zones for an extended period.
The safe zones create an isted space that interferes with the monster''s mental state. While demi-humans and demons could resist this, they would need to leave the safe zones for about an hour each day to survive. Of course, this specific information was only for the safe zone they reside in and she didn''t have much information on the others.
There were probably safe zones that didn''t interfere with the mind, but for the ones that did, it meant they needed more than just the ability to fight to survive there. A scout needed a variety of skills in their arsenal when venturing into the Darknar forest.
However, depending on their potential, one could only learn a limited number of skills and spells. And while potential did not affect one''s ability to learn a secret technique, such Techniques were insanely rare and there were very few people that could actually learn one.
Due to these limitations, most nobles would only use their limited spell and skill slot to learn useful abilities that would increase their fighting strength and not their adaptability as Nora had. Due to that, she had been one of the best candidates to lead the scouting team for this generation.
?
Liz watched the girls below her hesitate and sighed softly. They were obviously terrified and that was all because Rain had toyed with them for an unnecessary amount of time. Her original job had just been to seal the safe zone and make sure no one could escape but she had been forced to interfere due to how long this had gone on.
Liz gracefullynded on the naturally cracked ground of the safe zone that constantly emitted a faint heat and melted every ounce of snow that fell on it. However, the moment her feet touched the ground, it froze around her feet.
This phenomenon only served to frighten the girls even more as they all took a step back. Fi and Lilou wanted to raise their bows and take aim at the snow demon but their instincts were screaming at them that if they did that, they would no doubt end up just like the Dire Ape on the ground.
Liz ignored the frightened scouts and approached Rain with a stern expression on her face. "Why are you messing around, we still have three more of these safe zones to clear out."
"Hehe~ sorry, I thought they would be stronger but they''re so cute I just can''t help messing with them. Tehe~" She said that yfully while trying to act like a klutz, Liz however, wasn''t buying it.
"Don''t tehe me, we only have a brief window to do this before the others are out of the forest and the other scouts start paying attention."
"A.... fine, you''re no fun at all."
Liz''s brows twitched slightly and immediately rxed. She smiled softly and spoke seemingly to herself. "Fine, you can stay here and have fun. I''ll go and handle the rest myself and I''m sure Lord Ty would only praise me."
Rain paused abruptly like she had been struck by lightning. She turned back around stiffly andughed nervously. "Hahaha... I was just kidding, haha, watch I''ll end this immediately."
Nora heard their brief conversation and a sense of terror the likes of which she had never felt before reached into her heart and gripped it. Her expression paled and her hands trembled. Cold sweat ran across her spine and she reflectively took a step back.
"Boss, we''re already out of time. They won''t expect your mound. You have to escape now."
"W-what..."
"Lilou is right boss, this is your only chance, they''re still looking down on us, so please, if you care about us at all you''ll do it."
Nora tried to resist the urge to just run away even though she knew deep down, that they had no chance regardless of her presence here. The girls saw her hesitation so against their screaming instincts, they took action in a bid to force Nora''s hand.
"ming Arrows."
"Piercing Arrows."
"Explosion Arrows."
"Piercing Arrows."
Fi and Lilou used every type of enchanted arrows they had on their hands and even boosted it with skills while Mia boosted their attack power and uracy to the max as well as casting an attack spell of her own.
"Poison Javelin."
A dark purple liquid was formed in the air and fired like a projectile in the dark elf''s direction. Rain smiled at the incredibly slow attacks that were now headed her way. If she wanted to she could easily avoid every one of these attacks but she could sense that the girls had a n in mind and her curiosity got the better of her.
"Over tier magic - Water Barrier."
Drops of water were extracted from the air around her and formed a sturdy barrier in front of her which absorbed most of the attacks except for the exploding arrow which exploded on impact and with a loud boom it created a fog of hot steam.
"Now!" Fi yelled as she fired more exploding arrows at the water Barrier that was surprisingly still intact.
"Summon Mound - Phantom Steed." (Intermediate ss)
Nora cast another summoning spell and a Large quasi-real, horse-like creature appeared on the ground in front of her. The horse mane, hooves, and tail were engulfed in a ghostly blue me but it was equipped with a saddle, bit, and bridle.
Nora quickly mounds the steed and Mia cast the spell silence and Haste on the Steed. The steed neighed loudly and ran off into the woods. The girls made a sigh of relief when they saw Nora disappear deep into the forest and turned back to face their fate.
Rain saw the phantom steed running away from the safe zone and chuckled nervously. "Oops, looks like I got careless."
Liz almost dropped an ice pir on her head but ultimately controlled herself. She sighed in resignation and said. "It''s fine, Lord Ty asked us to let at least one get away but we were not supposed to show our faces to them. Lucky for you I''ve been using a concealment spells on us. Once she''s out of range she would only vaguely remember us and will not be able to describe our appearance to anyone even with the aid of magic."
"Oh, so there''s nothing to worry about then haha..."
"Well for me yes, I did a good job, but you seem to have forgotten that lord Ty has been watching us since the beginning so he saw you mess up... Tehe."
Rain''splexion seems to drain in an instant upon hearing Liz''s yful remarks as a sudden realization seems to have dawned on her. "NOOO... why didn''t you tell me earlier... Alright fine, I''ll just have to finish this quickly and handle the rest."
Liz was a little surprised by Rain''s reaction and how effective her simple tactic had been. It was normally hard for her to talk some sense into Rain unless it was something she wasn''t interested in. She was a little too free-spirited that she always tends to get them in troublesome situations.
She was also able to either talk or fight her way out of almost any situation which made it hard to scold her. However, her recent infatuation with Lord Ty seems to have be quite useful in situations like this.
"Alright girls looks like ytime is over, I''m guessing you''ve already said your goodbyes."
Mia was about to retort while trying to buy them time so maybe they could figure out a way out of this predicament when the dark elf suddenly vanished. The ground she stood on shattered a secondter and she could no longer control her field of vision that was now staring at the sky and soon the trees that were now upsidedown, followed by the ground where she saw the rest of her body still standing stiff.
Her mind was fading, she saw the same thing had happened to Fi and Lilou, and everything soon after that went ck.
Liz walked over and tossed a small box over to Rain. She easily caught the box and stores the headless Corpses inside, along with their heads of course. She then took out something from within the spatial storage box. It was a ck glowing and ominous-looking crystal that resembled a magic crystal.
"Be careful," Liz advised and Rain nodded. The two girls then activated the Flight spell and took to the skies. They hovered around a hundred and twenty meters above the safe zone and Rain stretched out the arm that held the ck magic crystal.
With a light flick of her wrist, the crystal shot down like a bullet and was plunged deep into the earth''s surface. Rain then disabled the sealing spell on the crystal and immediately she raised her left arm to pinch her nose.
A foul, dark and deathly aura exploded out of the earth and encased the safe zone in a negative and corrupted aura.
"It''s bad even from this distance, lord Ty really is a genius."
"Of course he is, that''s why I like him." Rain said as she puffed up her chest like she was the one that had been praised. Liz sighed rolling her eyes as she took out a. parchment from another spatial box in her possession. It was amunication scroll and she cast a concealment spell before using it. Aftermunicating with the person on the other side she turned back to Rain and spoke.
"We''ve corrupted two safe zones so far, and it looks like the trolls are still in the forest so we are making good progress. There''s only three more to go, the next one is south of here, let''s go I''ll handle this one."
As thest words left her mouth she took off flying south in breakneck speed, leaving Rain cking. "Hey wait for me!" Rain yelled as she took off after Liz as well. The safe zone wasn''t necessary that far away but would usually take hours if one were to run through the forest.
However, it would only take a few minutes through the sky. While flying through the Darknar forest was faster. There were also more dangerous monsters that ruled the skies. Although they were rarely seen, those that saw them would need a miracle to escape. It was why they flew so close to the forest without ever going too high.
They arrived at the next safe zone within ten minutes and stopped a few meters away. Liz floated closer carefully and just as expected. There were five predatory beastmen gathered around a campfire in a safe zone that had a small frozenke in the center.
Liz didn''t bother getting any closer. She raised her slender left arm and rubbed the exquisite ne on her neck. It was something Lord Ty had lent her specifically for this mission''s sess. A faint smile appeared on her face as Rain finally caught up to her.
The thick clouds got darker and silvery-white lightning began to crackle. They danced across the clouds and soon gathered on a single point. The five predatory beastmen sensed the sudden change in the weather and raised their heads to look up.
They were bestowed with a wonderous sight of a godly beauty that stood amiss a storm of lightning and thunder. It was like the goddess of storms was staring at them. They all stood rooted in ce as a faint smile appeared on her perfect features almost taking their breath away. If they were to die today, they felt like it would''ve been worth it to see a goddess smile.
The lightning danced across the clouds, gathering on a single point, and as if reading their minds, it came down upon them and before they knew it, everything went white.
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Summoned nmonster images avable on my Discord Server: https://discord.gg/XvdFxsBkwe
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Chapter 81 C81. Events Unfolds
On the demon king''s castle''s fourth floor.
Tyler sat in the same office he had been using so far and Albert was sitting beside him. Normally this would be considered taboo for a servant to sit next to his master and although Tyler didn''t mind, Albert wouldn''t dare. However, right now, Albert''s mind waspletely focused on something else.
He sat onnthe sofa next to Tyler as he struggled to control a floating, circr crystalized mirror that should have around a 35-inch circumference. The mirror did not reflect the face of the person in front of it as it showed a scene that should not be possible given the ce they were in right now.
The scene reflected in the mirror right now was of the outside of the barrier. It showed the snowy forest but soon switched back to the interior of the castle and then the outside ward. Albert was making weird hand movements as sweat drizzled down his distinguished face even though his expression remained the same.
Tyler had been watching Albert struggle in controlling the monitoring spell for a while now, he had even requested a snack. This was quite theedic scene and he felt like he could watch this forever. A matured lookingdy with a white bunny tail and ears soon knocked and entered the office with a tray of fruits and a bottle of some sort of fancy wine in hand.
She bowed gently at Tyler and Albert but Albert was too busy to even notice her. She ced the tray in front of Tyler and politely asked if he needed anything else. Tyler declined politely because he wasn''t used to such treatments, he didn''t know when, but a few female ogress and beastkins were now acting like maids and standing outside the door awaiting instructions, well perhaps he shouldn''t say they were acting.
He didn''t bother stopping them as they would insist anyway so he focused on eating his fruits and drinking the wine as he kept his eyes on Albert who suddenly seems to be getting better. Tyler felt a little disappointed as his show was about to end. There wasn''t any entertainment here, and this had probably been the most fun he''d had in a millennium.
Those thoughts soon faded away the moment he heard a sigh of reliefing from Albert. He must''vepletely mastered the spell so Tyler congratted him.
"You did it, good work."
"Thank you, sir."
The reason he hadn''t done this himself was simply that he also didn''t know how how to operate the spell and didn''t want to look silly, that was why he wisely delegated the job to Albert. The poor guy had done his best and mastered the spell in record time.
Tyler then shifted his gaze back on the floating mirror in front of Albert and saw, arge group of trolls marching in this direction when their march had suddenly been interrupted by an arrow that had pierced the neck of one of the so-called gray trolls.
The event that followed surprisingly yed out as Tyler had predicted mostly due to the strength and speed of the ogres and beastmen. Tyler then took note of the once that stood out to him as the battle progressed smoothly.
Using the ogres and beastmen as bait had just been to attract the attention of whoever was keeping an eye on the trolls and he had thought of two ways to handle that.
The first was unlikely as it would require the ogres to be way more powerful than they were currently, which was ironic because that n required them to lose. Or specifically pretend to lose while waiting for someone to swoop in and save them in order to capture them for information.
Of course, this was based on the assumption that the Great Five were watching personally and not just the scouts. Otherwise, it would turn out to be a very unfortunate story. However, Tyler did not think the settlement was strong enough to do something so risky, so he went with his second idea.
Whether or not the Great Five had instigated the trolls to attack them was irrelevant, the fact remained that they had scouts in the forest that would still be watching the situation. He also wasn''t sure how or what method the Great Five would use to monitor the situation. It was known that each family secretly kept tabs on the other so using their scouts to do this was unlikely.
To instigate something like this, they would need to have been moving secretly even from their scouts. However, Tyler still needed to take care of the scouts and while the safe zones weremon knowledge on the Demon continent, their exact locations were a tightly guarded secret.
It was also one of the reasons why entry to the Darknar region was strictly forbidden. He needed a way to pinpoint the locations of all the remaining safe zones that housed scouts within a limited time frame and such a task was easier said than done.
It had taken Jarret''s team hours to locate two safe zones even though they were aware of their general location but they didn''t have that much time. If the scouts noticed them, they would send a report back to their family and the situation would get worse.
To avoid such a thing, Tyler needed to keep them focused on something else and that was the ogres and beastmen. And to locate the safe zones within a short time, he had left that job to a professional.
After going through her file Tyler was aware that Erin was quite skilled in astrological magic, or more especially, divination. While the stars were covered with thick clouds, she had still surpassed Tyler''s expectations.
Tyler ignored the chase going on, on the screen and looked up, Erin sat on the sofa in front of him with her eyes closed as sparkling water droplets danced around her. It was quite the enchanting sight that drew his attention. He wasn''t sure how her spell worked but she was able to sense whoever was using divination magic within her massive range.
Normally, most people could only block divination and asionally counter it. However, she could not only sense how many people were watching the trolls but even their exact locations.
Thanks to her, Tyler had confirmed that only four divination spells were being used besides hers. That proved that no secret powers were at y although there was still the slim chance that one of the Great Five was dumb enough to use their scouts and a strong opponent was hiding almost them.
However, that was fine. As long as it wasn''t beyond his expectations, he could always find an alternative. He turned his head back to the screen and saw the appearance of the ogre chief, Azar Igna.
This would be the first time Tyler would be seeing this guy fight with his new weapon so he instantly became curious. Azar charged amid several Trolls and dominated. Even against the Gray-War troll he also seemed to have the advantage and Tyler was impressed.
"Was that guy always that Strong?"
"Not to this extent sir. This mist is as a result of his highpatibility with the weapon you gave him."
"Oh..."
Tyler wasn''tpletely sure what the old man meant but nodded non the less. He had been amazed when he had first seen the specs on that weapon and although he was entirely sure how magic Weapons were ranked, he was sure by the effects of the weapon alone. That must''ve been a real high-grade magic weapon.
Tyler reached into space and pulled out the parchment from his storage space and unrolled it.
????????
Dark-Syphon [Magic Weapon - Relic]
An ancient relic of the dark demon
necromancer Adelt Wilderbelt. After his failed attempt in the ritual to be a Grand Lich, he had used the residual energy from the ritual in creating this weapon hoping to one day recover it and advance.
Primary Effects: Increase the physiques of the wielder by 50%
Secondary Effects:
Skills: Can use the listed skills a limited number of times each day. Skills still use energy from the core and cannot be used when energy is low.
Grievance sh - Creates a wave of grieving aura that inflicts piercing damage in the area at which this weapon is swung.
Meteoric Descent - Creates arge illusionary version of this weapon when the wielder is descending from a height of at least, 15 feet. The illusionary weapon carries 500% of the wielder''s total attack power.
Spells: Cast the listed spells by consuming energy from the weapon''s core. Energy can also be reinforced with mana for a stronger effect.
|Blindness| - Inflicts opponent with temporary blindness. Duration depends on their resistance.
|Flow Control| - Can manually control the flight pattern of this weapon when thrown as a projectile.
|Smog of Darkness| - Creates a thick smog the covered a range of 15 to 20-meter radius. Smog can drain the awareness of anyone trapped within and weirded can use any skills and spells without limit. Duration 10 Minutes.
|Soundless| - Erases the wielders would for 10 minutes.
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Excluding the spells and skills, the primary Effects alone were enough to rank this weapon quite highly. Increasing one''s physiques was a warrior''s wet dream. Many would risk their lives just to get an item that gave a 5% increase, and this had a whopping 50%
Tyler almost regretted giving it away but quickly got over it. He couldn''t use such a Brutish weapon to its full potential, and that would be a disservice to the weapon.
Tyler sighed as he shook the thought of his mind. He returned his attention to the floating mirror and watched the battle unfold ording to n. While he hade up with the general n, he really couldn''t take all the credit as Albert had been the one to perfect his n into something that could be implemented by the Settlement.
The battle with the trolls became more heated and the screen switch to view one of the safe zones. Normally it would be dangerous to use a divination spell on a safe zone as there were sure to be defensive measures set up around them.
However, with Erin here those measures were nothing to worry about. She may have been sitting quietly with her eyes closed but she was doing more work than him. Tyler soon watched the two girls, Liz and Rain proceed to massacre the scouts in the safe zones.
He hadn''t given them any restrictions when fighting the scouts and he had given Liz the Iris Tears just so they didn''t make any mistakes but as it turned out. The scouts were weaker than he had expected and they were taking on each safe zone on a turn-by-turn basis.
The first to fight was Rain but she seemed to have gotten carried away and needed Liz to interfere before she took the battle seriously. The mirror didn''t offer any audio so Tyler hadn''t heard anything they had said to each other.
They then flew to each remaining safe zone and without breaking a sweat they massacred every scout there and managed to corrupt all the safe zones using Tyler''s corrupted magic crystals. Thanks to this, Tyler was now down Five magic crystals, although he had borrow them from the settlement he still felt the pain.
The idea hade to him after reading the information on the gray war trolls and saw how Albert had isted them in the wall. They naturally exuded a deathly aura that corrupts the living and was a natural deterrent.
Since Tyler was interested in visiting a city, he couldn''t leave the castle without first buying himself more time to protect it and the safe zones were a problem. After thinking for a while about how to solve this issue, he suddenly remembered his experience when he had first seen a magic crystal and came up with the idea to infuse magic crystals with negative energy and the dark magic crystals was a result of that.
They would constantly emit negative energy that would not allow any life in the safe zones for at least a few months. It would also take a while for the Great Five to react to the death of their Scouts as he had instructed the girls to let a single scout escape with a vague description of what had happened.
Naturally because of theck of specifics and the fact that they all had spies in each other''s families. The Great Five would all naturallye to a wrong conclusion that one of them was moving against the others and take their time in their investigations. Or at least that was what he hoped. However, even if they send scouts back, They would have to pick a safe zone hundreds of miles away as those five were the closest.
After watching the girls finish their mission, there was no longer any need to worry about being spied on. At least for now. The crystal Mirror turned to the ogre fight that should almost be done by now.
However, what Tyler saw next made his eyes grow wide. "What, in the world..."
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Chapter 82 C82. Desperate Anger
|Smog of Darkness|
Kazko was still in motion when he saw one of the glyphs on the ogre chieftain''s weapon shed red as he activated an eerily familiar spell. He waved the Hamaxe and ck smoke like aura was gusted out of it like an explosion, creating a thick smog, covering more than an 18-meter radius. The smog was a denseyer of smoke that seemed to have the attribute of absorbing all the lights within, making the inside of the smog void of light, therefore, bing as dark as night.
Although it was already nighttime and the forest was usually always dark. Dark Vision didn''t seem to work in the smog and Kazko''s senses were practically being blocked as he lost track of the ogre chieftain.
He tried to brace himself for what was about to happen next but nothing could''ve prepared him for this.
The Gray trolls behind him seem to be apprehensive and hesitant, they were elite trolls so they managed to withstand the aura and did not retreat. However, the goblin riders immediately lost control of their mounds who were clear frightened by the aura. The goblins felt fear grip their hearts and some of them were thrown off their wolves.
Those that were caught in the smog were immediately corrupted and they died on the spot. Gray trolls were immune to negative Corruption so they had an easier time with this spell but Kazko was in a world of his own.
The smog immediately drained away his sense of awareness and the next thing he felt was pain as his body was lifted off the ground and tumbled back a few feet. He quickly got up and tried to defend himself but another attack came from behind him and sent him flying.
Kazko body hadn''t even hit the ground yet when suddenly another attack came from his side and altered his direction. He knew the longer this spell went on the harder it would be to get out of this so he fought through the pain and activated his Berserk skill.
His skin color became tinted with his blood as a red steam-like aura oozed from his body. He gathered even more spiraling aura on both his fist that it became the sole source of light in the smog. His body was still in the air after getting hit by the Hamaxe a second time but he quickly punched the ground and used the knockback from the exploding earth to twist his body in the air andnd on his feet.
Afternding he raising his arms above his head and interlocked them. They came down like a hammer and smashed into the ground.
¡ãRanging Smash¡ã
BOOM!!!
With the sound of an explosion, the smog was forcefully dispersed as the ground and all the trees within a 30-meter radius shattered. Kazko raised his head to find the ogre bastard, only to see them already flying away from the battlefield. He looked around and saw the goblin riders in shambles. He immediatelymanded the trolls who had withstood the smog''s effect and his Raging Smash to go after the group.
Kazko was desperate, he couldn''t return without that weapon as it would mean all his hard work and patience had been in vain. He had endured a lot from his peers to get to this point, so failure right would only validate their mockery.
''A troll only needs strength, there is no need for a weak intellectual troll.''
He ran desperately with all his might, and if trolls were capable of tears he would be crying buckets right now. The weapon was so close and yet so far. He raised his arms as he tried to grasp the flying pair in the distance. If only he could reach them. What else could he do to catch them?
''If only... if only I was just a little... only a little faster.''
His mind was flooded with that single thought and as if responding to his desperate desires, his body adapted. The spiraling crimson aura slowly moved through his veins, passing through every muscle until it finally gathered around his feet. As Kazko took his next step, the ground shattered beneath his feet and his body shot forth like a cannonball.
¡ãRoaring Boost¡ã
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??????????
The Gray trolls promptly freed Rekaz from his entangled prison and the goblin riders chased after the cloaked rangers. Rekaz received his shield from a Gray troll that had picked it up for him and one of them also offered him their spear.
He then proceeded to chase after the cloaked rangers but something just didn''t feel right in this situation. He ran ahead of the Gray Trolls due to his naturally superior abilitiespare to them but his mind wasn''t fully immersed in the chase.
Although he had a way to save himself, the tanned beast girl still had the perfect opportunity to kill him, so why didn''t she take it. Was she after something else and not his life? if so, why did they attack him to begin with? He cracked his brain but only got a headache in response.
This was not his area of expertise, it was at times like this that made him value the intelligence of Kazko. Without him here there wasn''t really much he could do so Rekaz decided to take a different approach. What would Kazko do?
He tried to think of a clever solution to his problems but almost ended up tripping on his own feet. This was not working. Even trying to imagine what Kazko would do was taxing.
The whole situation began to vex him the more he tried to think about it. He Furiously shook his head and roared. The dark grey aura around him intensified and he picked up his pace. Whatever the problem was, all he needed to do was smash his way through and leave the thinking to Kazko.
He raised his spear and his arm sprung back. The dark grey aura engulfs the weapon and he threw his Dark Spear. Like lightning, the spear shot forth, and the aura took the shape of an unknown beast as it moved like it had a will of its own.
The tanned beastgirl turned around and cast several fold magic barriers but the spear smashed through the barrier like they were nothing but ss. She smiled and prepared to cast another spell. However, Rekaz had already picked up arge rock and tossed it at the girl. If she was going to make his spear disappear again then she would leave herself vulnerable to the massive rock behind the weapon.
The tanned beastgirl tsk audibly and took out both halves of her now separated Bo staff and reattached them. Orange aura engulfs her weapon as well and she immediately swung the staff to meet the Dark spear.
BOOM!
p Followed by the resounding Boom, her body was sent flying after crashing with the dark spear but one of the retreating cloaked rangers immediately jumped and caught her in the air.
The Dark Spear''s momentum was halted momentarily, but that was all it took for therge rock to catch up and smash into the spear. The rock shattered on impact, however, the spare lost its aura and fell lifelessly down. Rekaz caught his spear and continued his chase.
He was getting closer now as the trees were getting sparser and fewer in between, which was making it harder for the rangers to move from branch to branch. He was now questioning the sanity of these rangers. Why were they headed out of the forest, into an open in where they would be used as target practice.
''They must be dumb.''
Rekazughed inwardly, it was quite rare for him toe across people he was smarter than. That must''ve been why they had missed so many opportunities to attack and just ran away like the cowardly dogs they were.
The cloaked rangers soon jumped down from the trees and ran on foot, they were already only a few feet away from the outskirts of the forest and he could see the bright moonlight that shone up ahead.
Rekaz sneered. This was his chance to strike. Although they would be able to kill these pests quickly once they left the protection of the trees. There was still no reason why he would pass up on a golden opportunity when one has presented itself to him.
He lunged forward at one of the rangers and used his shield to bash him off bnce before he could dodge. He raised his spear high in the sky as he was about to impale the off-bnce ranger before any of the other rangers could interfere.
However, a ball of fire the size of a basketball was suddenly shot at him from the right. The heat informed Rekaz that he was in danger before the fireball could fully reach him. Trolls were incredibly weak to fire and even a weak spell like this could do some damage if not properly handled.
He halted his attack and turned his shield around to block the fireball. Three more cloaked figures came charging at him with two at the front and onegging behind, most likely the one that had cast the fireball spell.
??
The two that charged at him wielded Long swords and moved skillfully as they swung their sword with precision and speed. Rekaz growled in frustration. The rangers ahead did not stop and were getting away including the one he had almost just killed while he was stuck dealing with these neers.
He raised his shield to block the attack and ordered his tropes after the rangers. *ng! His shield deflected the swords of the two swordsmen and Rekaz followed it by stomping the ground hard. Coming from a 1,800 pounds troll. The weak forest ground quaked violently and took the cloaked swordsmen off bnce.
Rekaz did not miss this opportunity and thrust his spear at the pair. However, the mage behind them did not allow that. "Lava Arrows," five arrows made of moltenva flew at him with intensity. Rekaz grunted through his teeth and again he was forced to halt his attack, every single one of these pests was more annoying than thest.
He raised his shield and blocked all fiveva Arrows without many problems. This gave the swordsmen time to regain their bnce and strike. Rekaz used the shield that was still stained with moltenva and bashed one of the cloaked swordsmen.
However, he must''ve activated a defensive spell as he only took a few steps back after being hit by his full strength. The second cloaked figure moved behind him and used a skill.
¡ãValiant Torrent!¡ã
Rekaz couldn''t defend it in time as a wave of intense blue energy almost took off his waist, still, his bone armor had negated the strength to some degree and the intense wave of energy didn''t prate through his bones. The cloak swordsman retreated after her attack had fail which revealed her appearance to Rekaz.
"An ogre, amon ogre..." She was an ogress with twin dark horns protruding on the top of her forehead, she had curly red hair that was messily cut, it was in a good length for movement and didn''t look as if she cared much about her hairstyle, Her narrowed eyes stared keenly at him.
Rekaz turned around and finally noticed the shape of the horn on the top of the second swordsman''s cloak, he remembered the cloaks of several of those rangers that had gotten away were in simr shapes.
"Rodents and insects..." First, there had been the beastgirl getting in his way and making a fool out of him. Now two maggots that called themselves ogres were doing the same. They won''t fight like trolls, always running around and mocking him.
Him, a Gray-War troll that was on the verge of being chief, he was an evolved troll that should not be challenged by a mere ogre, and yet... Rekaz brain went red hot, his skin radiated an intense aura that melted the snow around him. His skin tone took a reddish-ck tint and his frame got a lot smaller. Hair grew from his bald head and his limbs became slender but firm.
The ground shattered as he lunged forward with a terrifying speed.
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Chapter 83 C83. Evolution
Trolls were generally dimwitted creatures with little to no brain cells to write home about. However, like in everything in life, there would always be an exception. And as the most versatile and durable demi-human race in this world. There were a lot of those exceptions.
Kazko felt a surge of invigorating energy course through his veins. He hadn''t expected this and he was even more taken aback by the rapid changes his body was going through, his muscles felt tighter, his legs longer, his arms a little shorter but they felt more bnced and new skills began flooding into his head.
¡ãRoaring Boost¡ã
As his body shot through the air, he could sense a clear difference. He felt stronger, more agile, and his body finally felt like it was meant for battle. The sense of insecurities he had whenever he wouldpare his frame to his peers seemed to slowly fade away. As an innate sense of confidence slowly took root in his heart.
"What is this... Feels familiar... wait, am I evolving again." Having already been through this process twice already, Kazko instinctively knew what was happening. Trolls were very versatile creatures that had a scrappy will to survive no matter what.
Although it generally took years for a troll to adapt to a new environment and evolve. This entire situation had brought him more hardship than years of enduring the harsh effects of being constantly exposed to the negative energy of the undead.
As Kazko evolved amidst his flight, he retrieved the bone sword strapped on his back and gripped the hilt of the weapon with both hands. The moment he caught up with the pair of ogre and beastgirl, who was still flying away with the ogre Chieftain being carried by the beastgirl. Kazko activated his new skill and, with a precision that was unlike that of a troll, he swung his de at the pair.
¡ãLacerating sh¡ã
The de was coated with a crimson aura that savagely tore through the air, threatening to slice the flying pair in half. The ogre chieftain swung the ax side of his Hamaxe at the attack in a bid to block it, however...
*ng! BOOM!
With the resounding sound of metal striking metal, the pair was flung out of the forest and mmed into the rocky terrain of the outskirts of the Greyad ins.
Kazko''s body kept its momentum andnded forcefully in the outskirts of the forest as the ground shattered from the weight of his massive frame. Before the dust had even settled, he lunged forward with speeds the likes of which he had never experienced before, his body was more mobile and his core sent power to every fiber of his being.
He could sense the massive increase in his strength from his evolution and his mind couldn''t be more ecstatic. He had thought he needed the magic weapon to be stronger and desperately clung to the idea that strength was what he needed to validate his existence. However, whether or not that was the case no longer had any value in his eyes.
He was now stronger than even the previous Chief (Kadiz) had been with the magic Weapon, and he would get even stronger with it. Kazko charged at the ogre chieftain and the blonde beastgirl, both of which hadn''t recovered yet from the earlier crash.
He raised his weapon above his head and as he got closer to the pair still struggling to stand. He swung his bone sword and it extended like a whip that urately sliced through the air, aimed at the ogre chieftain.
*ng Bang!
Kazko''s eyes narrowed as his bone sword bounced off a metal surface that had suddenly appeared in front of the pair. That surface was the face of arge shield and behind it stood a tall figure with long back hair tied up in a ponytail thatplemented his ck pupils. His frame was wide and he had a single horn on his head, a scar the shape of two parallel lines cut across his left cheek.
He wielded a long ck halberd that seemed to have been made out of high-quality metals. Kazko wasn''t sure where this guy hade from but one more ogre wouldn''t stop him in his evolved form. He tightens the grip on his sword and was about to strike when his new and improved battle instincts warned him of danger.
Kazko used his new skill; ¡ãRaging Boost¡ã and shot backward, avoiding what appeared to be another ogre wielding a simr shield, charging rapidly at his previous direction coated in a fiery aura as he swung his battle-ax.
The ogre chieftain soon stood backuppletely fine and so did the beastgirl, Kazko finally calmed down and raised his head to look around. Simr figures soon faded into existence after most likely dispelling a mass camouge spell.
There were a group of more than 30 ogres and beastmen apanied by around 10-15 kobolds that were most likely the ones that had first attacked him. However, that wasn''t all...
A group of around six Gray trolls stood next to the kobolds as they red at him. His nerve tensed a bit and although he had evolved into a Battle Troll, his instincts to him this was a battle he could not win, at least without help.
Kazko excited expression from his evolution slowly died down as his brain finally started working again. He was now painfully aware that he had fallen face-first into their trap. And just as he was contemting on how to escape or maybe inform Rekaz so they could work together on this.
He heard a loud explosion from his left and turned his head to take a look. His eyes immediately widened at the scene that followed soon after.
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Rekaz anger rose without limit and his body reacted to it. He thought of nothing but how to make these ogres suffer for what they''ve done and his aura intensified like wildfire.
The ground he stood on shattered beneath his weight as Rekaz lunged at the ogre in front of him enraged.
He charged straight at the swordsman in front of him with furious intensity as he thrust his spear forward. The ogre quickly jumped back but Rekaz would not let him get away that easily. His right foot kicked off the ground faster than ever before which must''ve surprised the swordsman as he mmed straight into the ogre, whose feet were lifted off the ground as he was sent flying back and mming straight into a tree.
The mage that had been behind the ogre swordsman quickly cast another spell. "Widened Magic - Wind Cutter." Razor-sharp winds flew straight at Rekaz, the winds sliced through everything in its path but Rekaz did not spare it a second thought. He waved his shield and the winds chipped away at it as well as slicing through the exposed parts of his skin.
However, Rekaz was so enraged that he did not react to the wounds inflicted on him. It was almost like he had lost his ability to feel pain. As he waved his massive Shield in the area in front of him, the force canceled out the remnants of the wind Cutter spell and Rekaz countered by throwing his spear at the mage.
The mage quickly used the flight spell and avoided the attack by going airborne and he flew away from him. Rekaz was getting even more heated as he watched another prey trying to run away from him. He ground his teeth against each other in his never-ending frustration, he charged at the mage and retrieved his spear, his mind was flooded with thoughts of stopping the pest and as he ran, an unexpected change began to ur.
His skin got redder and redder, it looked simr to when he actives his berserk skill as the aura around him intensified tremendously. His frame got slimmer and smaller, his leg got longer and he felt faster and more agile.
Rekaz picked up his spear from when it had been plunged into the ground and was about to chase after the mage when the female ogre suddenly appeared behind him and her de cut through the air at an insane speed towards his left thigh.
Rekaz eyes easily followed her movement, which was a first as he moved his shield slightly and blocked the attack, knocking her arms back. With the girl being off-bnce, he halted his chase and swung his spear at her head. The female ogre recognizes her predicament and quickly activated a skill.
¡ãFortress¡ã
His spear met her head but it felt like he had hit a solid wall. However, his strength must''ve been greater than she had predicted as her feet were swept off the ground and she stumbled back several paces.
Rekaz seized his opportunity once more and gave chase. The girl was quite resilient as she quickly regained her bnce and took a fighting stance, gripping her weapon tightly. Rekaz growled and raised his spear high in the sky, he then swung it down like a sword, an arc of red trailed the path of the de as it descended upon her.
Unable to dodge she raised her sword above her head and received the attack. Her feet sank to the ground and her knees trembled. Rekazughed out loud as he raised his spear again and before she could move another heavy strike came down upon her. This time a crack appeared on her sword and her knees hit the floor.
Rekaz repeated his actions over and over again as heughed madly. The mage had circled back and cast another wind Cutter spell but Rekaz ignored it. His regeneration was up to the test and even when the mage used a fireball, a troll''s weakness, it did little but increase the intensity of his strike.
This was not the strength of a Gray-War troll, neither was his newfound resistance to fire something that he originally had. This was the power of an evolved troll, the strength of a Berserker Troll.
Jarret recovered from the troll''sst attack as he witnesses the current situation. The troll that was currently pounding on K had evolved right in front of them and this was not part of their n. He quickly used themunication scroll and informed the others as he immediately charged in before this new smaller but stronger troll killed his friend.
¡ãRazor Wind¡ã
Jarret swung his sword several times and several shes of Razor-sharp windrger than the ones produced by the wind Cutter spell short forth at the troll''s vitals.
Rekaz sensed the imminent danger and halt his assault to defend which gave the mage the chance to save the girl who had almost been beaten to death. It was clear that they could not handle this troll along but they didn''t have to.
As Raz picked up K off the ground while the troll defended against Jarret''s attack. He immediately flew away towards the prepared battlefield where Tarka would be able to heal K as she was at the brink of death.
Jarret continued his fury of attacks as his Mana was continuously drained with each attack that left his sword. He needed to buy time for Raz to get far enough but as he looked up the troll was already charging at him with a furious gaze.
Rekaz had his shield up and ran at the pest that had yet again prevented him from finishing off his prey. He usually wasn''t able to use skills but after his evolution, he now had several.
¡ãFurious Charge!¡ã
Bang!
Jarret''s body was knocked back, however, he remained on his feet. He raised his head to take a look back and saw that Jin was already out of the forest. Now all he had to do was slowly retreat there. However, as he turned his head back, the troll''s fist had already covered his entire vision.
BANG!
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Chapter 84 C84. Arrival
Rekaz used his Furious Charge once more, opting to stop short of his bash, and threw a punch at the distracted ogre. His fist mmed into the ogre and sent him flying until he mmed into the tree behind him. He once again used his charge and stopped short of the ogre that was struggling to move.
He swung his spear at the swordsman the moment he got close enough. A loud sound was heard and therge tree behind shattered. However, the ogre had somehow managed to dodge the attack.
Rekaz turned his head tounch another attack when the ogre suddenly took off running but stopped a few secondster and took a defensive stance with a bloodied face.
Rekaz thought the fool wanted to run away but was scared of being cut down from behind. He sneered and charged once more at the ogre but the same process repeated itself. It seems just like all the others this insect was also trying to lead him somewhere. What nonsense.
¡ãEndless Fury¡ã
A faint red glow encased Rekaz body and he nted his right foot firmly on the ground and kicked off. Jarret had thought he could still keep up with the troll''s increased movement speed a little but it suddenly increased by a notch.
The Berserker Troll charged at him and with a wave of his spear. Jarret felt like the weight of the world had been ced on his arms as they immediately went numb the moment he had tried to block the troll''s attack.
His feet were swept off the ground and before he knew it he was already flying through the air. Rekaz did not stop his pursuit as he chased after the swordsman using another Furious Charge!
Jarret''s mind felt numb for a second, he wasn''t sure what was happening but he had this piercing feeling that he was in danger. He looked up and saw an angry red troll charging at him with a massive spear in tow.
He tried to raise his sword as he flew through the air, trying to maneuver his body around to block the charge but his arms felt heavy and he could only watch as the massive spear stabbed at him.
Rekaz speed was greater than he could''ve ever imagined and with the speed buff from his new berserker skills Furious Charge and Endless Fury, he was way faster than the ogres and beastmen and was even able to catch up to the still airborne swordman. This was finally his chance to end this annoyance and even with all his new abilities and skills, he would end this with his very first Technique.
"Dark Spear."
A dark aura oozed out of him and engulfs his spear but unlike the previous times, the aura had a tint of red and was more intense. Rekaz cut off his charge and power was transferred into his legs as he leaped up to meet the swordsman in the air, his hands sprung back like a catapult and it shot out. The spear aimed at the swordsman''s heart.
*Boom! Crash
Rekaz attack sent the body flying out of the forest and crashing into the ground on the outskirts but he wasn''t happy. A sudden arrow had been fired from the outside of the forest and while it could not stop his attack, it had shifted his aim slightly. Due to that, he wasn''t sure if the swordsman was dead.
He''s still huge frame came crashing down on the rocky soil of the outskirts and Rekaz immediately activated his charge again wanting to finish off his opponent for good. However, a familiar figure came out of nowhere and mmed her Bo staff into his shield.
Even with his new strength, he was still forced to a halt, and Rekaz could not help but snarl. Of course, this was non-other than the tanned beastgirl that had toyed with him back in the forest.
Rekaz finally raised his head and his eyes widened. Most of the goblin riders and Gray trolls he had sent ahead werepletely trapped in severalrge pits and sinkholes all around him. Looking around something caught his attention. Another figure he vaguely recognizes was staring back at him.
He hadn''t been sure at first but that must''ve been Kazko.
?????????
?????????
Kazko''s eyes widened as he stared nkly at was had yed out before his eyes. Firstly several cloaked figures had run out of the forest as they were trailed by goblin riders and a few Gray Trolls, which had made him happy that Rekaz would not be far behind but what happened next shocked him.
The cloaked figures that were most likely the rangers that had instigated this whole thing, ran tortuously across the terrain and the goblin riders and trolls who had opted for the quickest route to their targets, all fell in severalrge pits and sinkholes that had probably been set up ahead of time.
Kazko turned around and saw his Gray Trolls that were still chasing after him and were now about to exit the forest, and just before he could tell them to stop, a massive sinkhole opened up beneath their feet and just like that, his previous number advantage was no more.
He turned back around to see the Kobolds gathered together as they had most likely cast a ritualistic spell to achieve such a feat. Kazko gritted his teeth. He wasn''t dumb enough to charge into an unfavorable situation so he needed toe up with an alternative.
As he contemted, something else happens, he felt an explosion of savage and berserk energying from the Forest. He could almost guess what it was but he didn''t want to believe it. He had thought he was finally superior and even without the magic weapon he would still be made chief but now he was being challenged again by the same troll.
Luckily the ogres didn''t seem interested in attacking him immediately as they probably didn''t want to be caught off guard by Rekaz and wanted to challenge them both at once with all their enemies in front of them.
Kazko felt a little insulted but he also needed some time to formte a n, and if the ogres were foolishly giving him that time, he wouldn''t let his ego get the better of him.
He would just have to make them regret it with their lives. It didn''t take long before a few figures first flew out of the forest probably wounded and Kazko still waited and sort through all the new skills he had received from hisplete evolution.
Only a few minutes went by and Kazko eyes widened. A ranger fired an arrow into the forest and soon a figure that was coated in the dark aura of Rekaz dark spear technique was sent flying out of the forest. Next, a massive red-figure crashed into the rocky soil just as he had done.
He had expected Rekaz to be different but this was insane. His previous bald head had long mohawk-styled ck hair, his skin had a blood-red tint to it that was a little different from their normal berserk state. His frame also looked smaller as he should be around 11-12 inches tall which was probably simr to his present height.
Rekaz also had a more slender build to him but his aura felt like it was constantly going berserk. With his abnormallyrge tusk and Furious eyes, he was the perfect embodiment of a berserker.
Rekaz did not notice him as he immediately lunged at the figure that had been impaled with his Dark Spear. However, a ck hair tanned beastgirl had suddenly jump in front of him and had stopped Rekaz with a single swing of her Bo staff.
Kazko didn''t waste any more time and activated his skill. ¡ãRoaring Boost¡ã His body was shot into the air and he arrived in front of Rekaz. Kazko was about to ask a question however, it seemed like the ogres were done waiting as an arrow coated in fire arc through the sky and Rekaz was forced to block it with his shield.
Kazko quickly got behind Rekaz as the rangers behind fired a volley of fire arrows at them. Rekaz raised his shield high in the air and sessfully blocked the volley of Arrows that were rained down upon them. The moment the volley stopped Kazko immediately lunged forward at the ogres and his actions were mirrored by Rekaz who picked up a new spear from the ones his Trolls had dropped before they fell.
As they charged forth, Kazko saw the two shield-wielding warriors charge at them with several other shield warriors. Altogether ten shield warriors were charging at them. Kazko immediately slowed down his pace as he let Rekaz take the lead.
¡ãFurious Charge¡ã
Rekaz shield was coated with a crimson aura as he mmed straight into ten shield warriors and won, albeit slightly. He was able to push the shied warriors back a few paces but he didn''t stop there.
Kazko took the opportunity to use Roaring Boost and leaped over the group as he activated another skill ¡ãLacerating sh¡ã, His aim was still the ogre chieftain who held that magic weapon. Kazko believed that if he could snatch that weapon, they would trample over everyone here.
However, they were still only two trolls, and were severely outnumbered. Spells of different shapes and colors soon flew up at him and canceled his attack. Kazko momentum was altered and hended awkwardly and before he could regain his bnce the ogre chieftain and tanned beastgirl with the Bo staff appeared in front of him.
BOOM!
Kazko''s body was sent flying and he mmed into the rocky soil as he bounced off several times. Rekaz seemed to be holding his own with the shield warriors and rangers as he had already activated his Berserk skill and Kazko had no choice but to use his own.
? His now light grey skin slowly took a red tint as a bloodred steam-like aura was exuded from his skin. Like a bull that saw red, Kazko charged wildly into the Battle and with a swing of his weapon. The ogre and beastmen in front of him were sent flying. Spells and arrows came flying at him but Kazko disregarded them and only blocked the ones in front of him.
He no longer felt pain in this state and continued his charge. Again, the beastgirl with the Bo staff came at him and Kazko immediately punched the ground with the strength of the skill. ¡ãRoaring Smash¡ã The ground shook violently and the girl lost her bnce as Kazko bone sword extended like a whip already aimed at her head.
However, the bone sword was intercepted by the Dark-Syphon as the ogre chieftain charged at him. Kazko immediately let go of his weapon and with both hands, he used the skill again. This time causing a massive quake that shook the entire battlefield.
Everyone except Rekaz lost their bnce and before the Trolls behind the ogres could react in time, he did it again, and again. The area about a 60-meter radius around him waspletely demolished and aside from the goblin riders that did not have the regeneration ability, all the Gray trolls trapped under the sinkholes were freed and they finally regained their numbers.
With Rekaz and Kazko charging wildly into the battle and the trolls backing them, they steadily imed control of this battlefield as bodies flew everywhere. And although there were a few notable fighters that gave them trouble like the Ogre chieftain, the two rangers with a purple crossbow and aposite longbow, the two shield warriors, and two beastgirl mages.
Kazko and Rekaz could simply just take their attacks without feeling any pain and their regeneration would immediately kick in. They would steadily reduce the numbers of their fighters and concentrate their full force on the few outstanding fighters.
With that, victory was imminent. Kazko sneered, everything was going ording to his n. Within just a few minutes he was sure to have the magic weapon in his hands. As Kazko thought of this, he suddenly had a sour taste in his mouth. Something was about to go wrong.
He was hoping this was just him being paranoid but as he turned around, he saw all his Gray Trolls that had been wreaking havoc against the ogres only a few minutes ago were frozen in fear.
He was afraid to raise his head but had no choice, he raised his head and his eyes went wide. The space behind the group was weird. It looked distorted and warped and right before his eyes, three-figure slowly walked out of the void into the battlefield.
The moment their figures were fully visible, an intense and dominating aura surged out of them and the once intense battlefield went deathly silent.
"I guess it''s about time I tag in."
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Reference for the evolved trolls on the Discord Server: https://discord.gg/XvdFxsBkwe
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Chapter 85 C85. Challenge
Azar immediately felt the shift in the battle as the newly evolved trolls went berserk and ran wild amidst the battlefield. Up until that point, everything had roughly gone ording to n. However, they hadn''t expected the Trolls to evolve amid battle.
Both trolls were now faster, more agile, and even more skilled than they had been before, and although he could sense that these trolls had grown far stronger than him.
He was still confident in taking on one of the evolved trolls without their berserk skills. However, this was not a one-on-one battle and there were two of these evolved trolls, not including the ten plus Gray trolls he had to worry about.
Azar was in charge of this battle but he wasn''t suited to be a general. There were five Gray trolls on his side but he couldn''t utilize them properly as the evolved trolls were too fast for them to handle. He has the Gray trolls protect the kobolds who he had assigned to the side. They were to asionally try and immobilize as many of the enemy Gray trolls as they could.
The mages and rangers in the back were tasked with restricting the evolved trolls as much as they could. While Tarka could use low-level healing spells, their force did not have any other healers so they could not afford to be careless.
The evolved trolls in their berserk state were just too much for them to handle properly and Azar didn''t know if they could win like this. They had a force of more than 30 fighters and outnumber the enemy 3-1, yet they were now at a clear disadvantage even though they had sessfully eliminated all the goblin riders cutting g the enemy''s forces by more than half.
This just showed Azar how unpredictable a troll was. If he had known about this earlier on, perhaps he wouldn''t have taunted the trolls so much, well maybe not. Azar gritted his teeth as he fought against the Battle Troll. Maybe he could turn the tide around if he used his berserk skill. ¡ãThunder Rampage¡ã But that was incredibly risky and had a very limited time limit.
The Berserker Troll seems to be getting stronger as his aura intensified and more of the shield warriors in front of him began to fly back. He wanted to help them but even with the aid of Nadine and Lora, he was still barely holding back the Battle Troll from massacring his men.
As the battle went on, the volleys of spells and arrows began to thin as the rangers and mages were both running out of mana and arrows. The Shield Warriors besides Hart and Talen were also sweating buckets as they were visibly drained.
Azar had always had Albert or Kelvin to rely on with stuff like this and was always free to run wild on the battlefield. However, this time was different, he had to focus on the entire battle and not just the opponent in front of him.
As the seconds went by, the pressure he felt from his people getting brutalized made him feel like he had no choice but to also go berserk and was on the verge of activating his skill when suddenly.
The air got heavier and felt stifling. The Battle Troll in front of him suddenly halted his step and so did the Gray trolls behind.
With suchrge frames, they were surely easy targets for the rangers and mages to pick off. However, none of the rangers had also made a move.
The entire battlefield that was only seconds away from turning into a bloodbath had suddenly just grounded to a halt.
The Gray trolls in the back looked petrified and the evolved trolls hesitated. He was a little slow on the uptake as he had spent most of his time sinceing here, either attending to the Trolls and the Six-eyed bulls or practicing with his new weapon. But as he saw the looks of relief on the faces of his men, he instantly knew what was happening.
The space warped and constricted as three figures walked out of the void and appeared in the middle of the battlefield. Azar and everyone from the settlement immediately gave way for these figures to pass and they walked forward towards the evolved trolls with unhurried strides.
???????????
Kazko frowned at the sight of these three figures that had just appeared after that strange phenomenon that had urred. He looked at them with perturbation in his eyes as his thumb tapped on the hilt of his sword.
He had only just taken control of this battle, and just as he was about to achieve his goal, something else just had to interfere. His eyes narrowed in a cold glint of fury, but he still managed to hold himself back.
He knew a little about magic and whatever spell it was that had brought those three here and instilled fear in his men must be of a rtively high rank and he should be wary of the caster a little.
Kazko recalled his trolls that were scattered on the battlefield and they slowly retreat behind the two of them in what one would call a defensive formation.
There was no longer any trace of the once chaotic battle that had been going on earlier on this ins as an eerily silence ruled the air.
The thick grey clouds in the sky had slowly been thinned out and the light of the silver moon illuminated the somewhat bloody battleground but somehow seem to only focus on these three.
p The three figures constituted of two males and a female and while most Gray Trolls and Gray war trolls normally couldn''t discern specific differences in other races, Kazko could. And with his new form, he was able to tell everyone apart without trouble.
The female among the three was the first to capture his attention. He was not interested in other races sexually, but there was something about her that made him feel inferior, almost like he was the lower lifeform and Kazko immediately deemed her the magic-user he should be wary of.
She had long lustrous and silky blue hair that ran down to her waist. Her deep blue eyes were like the boundless sea,bined with her soft facial features, she looked like what the ancient tomb he read describes a sea goddess as. Not that he had ever seen one.
The second was an old man that exuded a fearsome presence the likes of which he had never seen before. The only thing he couldpare it to was the two Doom Knights that guarded lord Zerahut. However, Kazko believes he was stronger than those knights right now so he quickly moved his gaze.
Thest was a young man that did not exude any aura. However, hemanded a different presence. Kazko could see that the earlier two trailed slightly behind this man and all the fighters on the battlefield looked at him in a sort of reverence or respect.
Perhaps he was their leader. He had once heard a story that humans elected weaklings as their leaders and perhaps demons were the same. ''Wait Demons?'' With a sudden realization, it was like a bucket of ice water had been dumped on him.
He remembered the warning lord Zerahut had given them before they left and it frightened him. His usually sharp mind went numb as he just stared nkly at the three as they walked closer to them when suddenly.
"WHAT NONSENSE IS THIS! How dare you fools interrupt my fun and dare ignore me! You pigs are all dead, DEAD!"
Like a jolt of lightning, Kazko mind started working again. He was sure that Rekaz had forgotten the warning lord Zerahut had given them, but even Rekaz wouldn''t challenge opponents he couldn''t win against and that reignited another realization in him.
They were no longer as weak as they once were. Kazko had always surpassed his limit from the time he was a simple cave troll, to being a Gray troll and then a Gray-War troll, finally, he was one of the first trolls ever to evolve during battle and Rekaz had done the same.
Three was no longer any need to fear demons and even if they couldn''t win, with the two of them working together they wouldn''t lose either. At the very least, they would be able to escape after dealing a fatal blow to the enemy.
Kazko raised his left arm to stop Rekaz from charging in recklessly as they still had to be wary of the female magic-user.
He tightened the grip on his sword and pointed the tip confidently at the three figures that strolled towards him as the rest of the ogres slowly retreat behind them as well.
"That''s enough, I don''t know who any of you neers are, but if you stand in our way we''ll show you no mercy."
"Fascinating."
Tyler came to a stop a few meters away from the light Gray troll d in bone armor and so did Erin and Albert, he blinked several times as he switched his gaze between the red troll and the gray one with a slightly excited glint in his eyes.
"Wow, I was expecting it but you both can actually speak, and so well. Thest one spoke as well but you could tell he wasn''t that good at it. Or maybe he just hasn''t spoken a lot."
"Last one?" Kazko''s expression was one of even greater perturbation as he analyzes the meaning behind this man''s words.
"I have a question for you if you can understand it. I was off the impression that it took trolls a long time to evolve and they should only be able to evolve a maximum of twice if I''m not mistaken. So from the information I have of your species, you should not have been able to evolve anymore, so how did you both do it? moreover, you did it during battle rendering the n I was so proud of invalid."
Kazko''s eyes stared nkly at this strange man that kept spouting nonsense and he could see that Rekaz was almost at his limit. He wanted to say something when he was rudely interrupted by the man again.
"You know I was never really much of a collector in my day, and I never liked those that always wanted to have something as long as it was extremely rare or considered a limited edition. They tend to annoy me when they brag about it, but looking at you two now, I''m starting to see the appeal."
At this point, even Albert wasn''t sure what he was talking about but he understood thest part of wanting those rare specimens and just nodded his head.
Tyler soon continued on his rambling as everyone just stared at him nkly. "Hmm, I went off topic there for a moment my apologies. Basically, I find you both very interesting, most demi-human species are unable to evolve and get any stronger, their potential is decided during the first few years of their lives, and although trolls could. The two of you have somehow still managed to surpass your limits and that has piqued my curiosity and I''ll like to find out how you did that, no worries I am not cruel so you will be well taken care of."
Tyler raised his head at the two unique trolls and with a smile he spoke. "So how bout it, why don''t you two be my pets."
"..."
"Huh?"
Tyler suddenly sensed the change in the atmosphere as his excitement rapidly drained from his eyes as he brought an arm to his chin and thought.
"Oh right, you were both on the verge of winning before we interrupted right, so of course you wouldn''t want to be under someone you''re stronger than... Yeah."
He waved his arm and Albert who then asked the ogres and beastmen to retreat further back and continued.
"How bout this, although thest time I technically lost to that War troll, I''m quite confident I can win this time. You all can attack me at once, and if you can make a single scratch on me, I''ll admit defeat and even hand over the magic weapon you''re after."
Rekaz anger could no longer be contained as his aura exploded like a volcano and he lunged at the arrogant demon in front of him, however, the man''s eyes shed red and Rekaz temporarily lost control of his legs and fell on his face.
"I don''t remember giving you permission to start."
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Join the Discord Server: https://discord.gg/XvdFxsBkwe
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Chapter 86 C86. Found You
Kazko''s expression changed the moment Rekaz body hit the ground. He may have had more self-control but even he was on the verge of charging at this young man and would''ve ended up falling for whatever trick this man had used. Thinking this man was the weakest amongst the three had also been a mistake.
Although he had only felt it for a second, the moment his eyes had changed color, pressure the like of which even lord Zerahut would only dream of, had dominated this ins.
He was unsure of what had happened, but it was clear that this man was at least as strong as the blue-haired magic user and if they were to face all three at once, they would find it difficult to escape with their lives.
Looking at the three already close to him, he knew instinctively that escape was no longer an option. His brows narrowed and a thrill of cold ran from the bottoms of his feet to the top of his head.
There had only been a few times he had felt this but Kazko was sure of it, it had only happened in his struggles along the edge of life and death. It was a sign of impending doom.
Kazko quickly rejected that idea, even if the odds were against them, there was no way he would lose here. The young man was still underestimating them due to the level of strength they had shown so far but that would be his greatest mistake.
They had only just evolved and hadn''t fullyprehended the expanse of their strength. The more they fought the more they would adapt to their new bodies and be able to fully utilize their power and find the best ways to use their new skills.
Still, the numbers disadvantage was a problem, ''Numbers?.'' Kazko sneered as the arrogant words of this young demon registered in his mind.
He tightens the grip on his de once more, his fingers digging into the flesh of his palm. "So... You want to fight us alone huh, we''ll oblige... Of course, once we win, that weapon is ours."
Tyler turned his gaze back to the light grey troll and with a slight smile, he nodded. "Naturally, and like I said, as long as you leave a single scratch on me, you win. And if I win, you''ll both be my pet...Mmm, maybe pet is a little demeaning for warriors like yourselves so let''s just say you''ll both submit to me."
"Submit huh... Kukuku... Do you think you have the power to make a Battle and a Berserker Troll submit to you?"
"Huh, That''s a good question, I guess we''ll find out."
"Very well, the trolls behind me will just get in the way so don''t fret, they''ll only be watching this fight."
"Mmm, how noble, although this feels kinda familiar, hope you fare better than thest one."
"You insolent..." Rekaz said as he finally stood up in a frenzy, "What did you do to me?"
"I have no idea."
"YOU BASTAR!¡ª"
"REKAZ!" Kazko quickly cut him off as he signaled for the Gray trolls behind him to step back. "Calm down, you''ll get your chance, first we retrieve the weapon."
Rekaz stopped hesitantly, his teeth were grinding audibly as his eyes got redder and redder. He raised his shield and took a wild fighting stance.
Kazko walked behind him and held his bone sword with both hands as they both reactivated their berserk skills that had been deactivated when these three had suddenly appeared.
Tyler saw the trolls ept his challenge and gently nodded. He held no weapons but still chose to step forward, opting to start at a closer range than any magic caster would. Aftering to a halt at around the 10-meter mark.
"You may begin."
As thest words left his mouth, Rekaz body had already kicked off the ground and charged at him with a crimson aura. Kazko trailed only slightly behind and was able to match Rekaz movements perfectly.
Tyler had his arms in his pocket and even as the raging Berserker Troll charged at him, he did nothing.
As Rekaz reached a sufficient distance for him to strike. He canceled his charge and his arms sprung back and immediately shot forth as he thrust his Spear at the young man only a few feet before him.
¡ãDestructive Strike¡ã
The spear was engulfed in his crimson aura as it tore through the air creating several simr attacks on its way. The intense attack would normally be impossible to dodge from that distance but the young man just took a step to the side and avoided them.
As Tyler tilted his body to the right to avoid the attack, he saw the Battle troll already in front of him having somehow predicted how he would move. If this was a normal fight between equals then he would''ve been in trouble, however, the trolls were still too slow and he just took a step back and avoided the troll''s, Lacerating sh.
The red troll charged at him again with his shield held up and the moment he was within range, he swiped it with immerse force and although Tyler thought about just blocking it, he quickly changed his mind and took several steps back. Yet again the Battle troll had somehow guessed his move and had already appeared before him even with the speed difference, it seems to be able to read the flow of the battle.
¡ãHorizontal sh¡ã
The Battle troll swung his sword horizontally and a streak of greyish red aura gusted out at Tyler giving him no space to dodge. Rekaz also ran forward in a bid to strike if the young man decides to block the attack. However, they both suddenly lost track of him.
Kazko''s brows twitched as he immediately raised his perception and soon located the young man behind them. His left leg cracked the ground as his right swept around in a swift motion and with a swing of his arm, his bone swordshed out like a whip.
¡ãWhish.¡ã
His bone sword was coated in a crimson aura and the strike split into six identical attacks that moved semi-randomly with an intense force.
However, Tyler saw through the effects of these whips quite easily. There was no need for him to restrict his speed in this fight and he could see the real attacking at him rather slowly.
Tyler took a step forward as he avoided the real attack and the others just went right through him. Kazko frowned but Rekaz had already gotten back his bearing and activated a skill. ¡ãEndless Fury¡ã, his aura intensified, and with thebined effects of his berserk skill and Furious Charge, his ability had broken past its limit.
His weight shattered the ground as he lunged forth faster than even the sound of the shattered earth could keep up with. He roared ferociously as he used a technique. "Dark Strike." The Dark aura that engulfs his spear shot forward like a raging beast threatening to devour Tyler whole and yet Tyler still avoided the attack by moving slightly to the left.
"STOP SQUIRMING AROUND AND DIE!!!"
Rekaz bellowed in a fit of frustrating anger as a burst of ravaging energy shot out of his body destroying everything within a 15-meter radius around him. Kazko had no choice but to jump back so he could stay clear of that attack as he knew Rekaz was consumed by rage and wouldn''t consider the implications of that move.
He also saw Tyler jump back and easily avoided the attack. Rekaz immediately charged at him again and Kazko did the same. They fought with intensity as Kazko kept striking at him whenever Rekaz would create an opportunity but It didn''t seem to matter.
It didn''t matter how well he coordinated his strikes, it didn''t matter the technique or skill they used, this man just simply weaved his way through all of them, and although Kazko had always known that speed was the greatest weakness of a troll, that was no longer the case for them, they were currently moving faster than even sound and yet it felt like this man was on a whole different level.
It didn''t matter how strong they had be if non of their attacks could touch him and with the way things were going, they would lose eventually.
As the young man avoided Rekaz attack by moving left Kazko immediately cut him off and swung his de several times.
¡ãContinuous Lacerating sh¡ã
Several waves of energy sliced through the air as it approaches the man who he had cornered. However, he was somehow able to move out of the range of his attack in time and even Kazko was getting frustrated, and naturally so was Rekaz.
"STOP RUNNING AROUND LIKE A COWARD AND FIGHT LIKE A PROPER TROLL."
"Well I''m pretty sure I''m not a troll but alright, I''ve already seen all I needed to, let''s end this."
The two unique trolls were special. After watching their attacks from such close range for a short while he could tell that they were far superior to that Gray-War troll he had fought a while back. Not only were they capable of actual teamwork, well at least one of them was. But even the red troll''s fighting style and technique were nothing simple.
He must''ve had an immense level of battle instincts and although his strikes were wild, they were also precise and focused and if he wasn''t that much faster than them and was able to perceive their attacks at a faster rate, he would have found it difficult to keep up.
However, what Tyler was impressed with the most was the Battle troll. He fought with a level of intelligence that Tyler hadn''t expected. Naturally, his familiarity with the red troll was important in their teamwork but the mere fact that he was able to read the flow of a battle so well was amazing.
With his curiosity satisfied, there was no longer any need to continue with this charade, after all, he had already located his actual target without having to show his cards. Tyler''s body came to aplete stop as he stared nkly at the two trolls encouraging them to attack.
Kazko was a little confused by this man''s motive. He had a clear advantage with his speed but that didn''t mean he would have the advantage of strength or was he still underestimating them because he was so much faster.
As a Battle Troll, a troll born from battle and for battle, his blood boiled with rage at this insult. His body trembled with anger and his aura went wild. There was no doubt Rekaz was the same. He was a Berserker Troll, born of rage and wild ferocity, there was no way they could stand for such insults.
Both their auras felt like a volcano had erupted and it even startled the ogres and beastmen who instinctively took steps back and so did the Gray Trolls. They both shot forth faster than the loud bang of the ground that had caved in under to their feet as they lunged at Tyler.
¡ãDevastating Crash¡ã
¡ãRoaring sh.¡ã
They both came storming forth with their strongest sure kill attacks as their weapons descended upon the young man before he could even react.
BOOM!!
The immerse force of their attacks had shattered everything around them in more than a 50-meter radius, reducing this battlefield to aplete mess. The resulting shockwave sent the Gray trolls and some of the ogres and beastmen who were still rtively close to that attack flew back.
Rock, dust, and snow were kicked up in the air all around them and non of the fighters outside could tell what had happened.
The troll''s attack had even been too fast for a few of them to follow and they all had worries in their eyes as they hope lord Ty had somehow managed to avoid that devastating attack that had destroyed arge portion of the battlefield.
"No need to worry, Lord Ty isn''t so weak that such an attack would kill him," Albert reassured the worried fighters still left standing.
However...
There was still a collective gasp as everyone''s eyes went wide when the dust settled down revealing Tyler still standing in his original position. The trolls in front of him with their weapons trembling slightly, still on his shoulders.
Web-like cracks formed on their des and with an echo, their weapons shattered like ss. The trolls themselves didn''t seem to understand what was happening as they both stared at the demon with expressions that represented the terror in their hearts as this young man gently smiled at them.
Their eyes went white the moment his eyes regained that red hue and their bodies went limb as they fell like giant logs creating a loud Thud that echoed throughout the battlefield.
Tyler gently turned his head to face the forest and his eyes glowed red once more as his pupils turned into a slit, his vision instantly crossing the distance of more than a thousand meters andnded on several dark cloaked figures that were perched atop several trees as they stared in the direction of the battlefield intently.
With a smile, Tyler spoke under his breath, "I found you."
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Chapter 87 C87. Skills
Tyler didn''t spend all that time inside the cattle doing nothing. He received the report on therge horde of Gray troll and Goblin riders heading in the direction of the castle sometime around the mid-afternoon andte afternoon. He then came up with his n and handed Albert his instructions before the sun had set.
The ogres had then engaged in battle with the Trolls sometime around midnight. Which meant he had around 5-6 hours between the two events. Naturally, he didn''t justze around eating fruits drinking wine although he would''ve preferred chips instead but couldn''tin.
Within that time frame, Tyler had requested for Albert to teach him magic sense as that was one of his greatest ws. While skills were more difficult to learn as, unlike spells that mainly required a high intelligence level to memorize and construct runes using one''s own Mana.
While spells required magic circles to be infused into the Mana body so one could achieve the desired effects and also develop resistance. Skills require mana essence to be infused or rather inscribed into the physical body as well as the soul, it then strengthen the body while also achieving the desired effects.
Mana essence was simply the natural mana that exists in this world. Naturally, it wasn''t easy to learn a skill, one needed to follow a specific method or form although there were rare asions where skills could be developed by ident or by racial traits and evolutions.
Other than those, one generally learns a skill by being taught or by using skill books. Skill books or tomes contained the forms that, once etched onto the Body and Soul, the skill can be instinctively used without any practice, though their efficiency and effective use require varying amounts of practice and hard work, depending on the talent andpatibility with the user.
Naturally, there was also a shortage of high-level skill books, and finding a high-level skill that wasparable with you was even harder. Of course, there was an abundance of low-level skills and also skills that wereparable with all.
There was also a limit on the number of skills that could be learned by a single individual base on the strength of their Body and Soul. That said, magic sense was a mid-tier skill that had a wide range ofparability and was a sensory type skill that requires no physical action to learn, although it was still quite difficult.
Tyler had spent five hours learning the skill from Albert and the old dude was quite eager to teach. He even taught him his original skill ''keen eyes of a demon.'' From the name alone Tyler had felt hesitant to learn it as he still held a slight sliver of hope that he was still human but that hope waspletely shattered by the speed at which he had learned that skill.
Barely 10 Minutes.
Of course with Tyler''s slightly inquisitive personality. He ended up messing around with the forms of the two skills, creating a brand new skill. Although he knew it was dangerous, his curiosity had still gotten the better of him but it had paid off quite nicely as he had ended up creating a new skill by infusing some of the runes of the wave of despair spell and he ended up with quite the powerful skill.
The skill intimidated weaker opponents that fall under his gaze. As long as his opponents had no resistance to mind attacks, he could even knock them out with a single nce as demonstrated by the two unconscious trolls by his feet.
Being the creator he needed to name his skill and had thought of various names but couldn''t decide. Although he had narrowed it down to three, which were, ''Demons Might, Forceful Gaze, and Haki.''
Tyler turned his head to face the Darknar forest and his eyes glowed in. seed hue as his vision crossed the distance and his gazended on several dark figures hidden in the forest. He signaled Albert to retrieve the unconscious trolls, as well as the remaining ten-plus Gray trolls as space warped around him and his figure, disappeared from the ins.
He wasn''t naive enough to believe that there was no one besides the scouts watching the battle between the ogres and trolls even though Erin had confirmed that there wasn''t anyone else using divination magic to spy on the battle. There were other ways to achieve the same results and the simplest was to just send specialized spies.
He had Erin use divination and confirmed his hunch but she could not locate them so he had to improvise. Magic sense could not cover a distance of thousands of meters but all he needed to do was feel for the direction in which he was being watched and search manually using Keen eyes and magic vision. Sure enough, he had spotted several figures during the fight with the trolls.
Space about 2,000 thousand meters away from the Greyad ins warped and distorted as Tyler''s figure appeared next to the figure of an unsuspecting spy d in what looked like a tattered ninja outfit.
"Found you."
The spy was a little startled but did not produce the reaction Tyler was expecting. The forest was dark and Tyler didn''t have Dark Vision but his magic visionbined with his magic sense allowed him to see around him quite well, allowing him to fully discern the appearance of these spies.
"Undead?"
Currently, there were four of such undead spies around him and Tyler felt a mixture of relief and disappointment. He was relieved because this meant the Great Five didn''t have anything to do with this attack and disappointed. After all, the Great Five didn''t have anything to with this attack.
He had just wasted so much time and effort because of some damn overzealous Lich.
Seeing this undead and knowing how the gray trolls evolve into gray trolls and Gray-War trolls, he immediately knew who the mastermind of this was. After realizing the objective of the trolls Tyler had the magic weapon appraised and the description told him the story of a demon moron that failed his advancement from an Eldar Lich into a Grand Lich and had to use the failed ritual''s remnant energy in creating the weapon to preserve the energy.
''What an annoyance.''
The undead spy in front of him quickly took out two short swords and so did the remaining three around him. They all simultaneously lunged at him but Tyler was no longer in the mood for games.
He only needed one of these for research as undead creatures could not be interrogated. With his usual nimble movements that seemed to the undead spies like he was blinking around the trees.
Tyler avoided all their strikes and appeared before one of the spies wielding a single long katana-like sword. He casually swung his leg at the undead spy who quickly raised both arms in an attempt to block the strike, however...
Crack. Bang! Whoosh... BOOM!!!
The sound of cracking bones was heard for only a moment as the body of the undead spy flew like a missile, covering the distance of over two thousand meters, and crashed into the rocky soil of the outskirts of the Greyad ins startling the ogres and beastmen who were busy cleaning up the battlefield.
The other three seeing this immediately melded into the shadows as they quickly retreated. Undead''s did not feel fear, they wouldn''t be intimidated into running away. Their actions right now simply meant their original orders required them to bring back the information they gathered at all cost and they were not ordered to fight.
Tyler''s irritation was rapidly growing as he stretched an arm into space in front of him and retrieved a single parchment. It was a scroll and with the wave of his arm, the parchment caught fire in a purple haze and disappeared.
Tyler''s feet soon left the ground(tree) and he took flight. His figure appeared over 200 meters in the air, he then pointed a finger at the retreating shadows as he cast a spell.
"Twin-Widened Magic - zing Sphere."
Without any regard for his Mana two massive spheres of yellowish-white mes that spanned over 100 meters in diameter consumed everything within the sphere including two retreating shadows that hadn''t even made it past 100 meters.
As Tyler watch one of the shadows getting away with his keen eyes of a demon, he pointed his index finger at the shadow and the sphere of intense mes moved upon it, leaving a trail of nothing but ash and dust until it also consumed thest undead spy.
Tyler looked at the scorched forest and sighed. There were probably a lot of valuable resources in that section of the forest and he had just burnt it to smithereens because of a little irritation.
"What a drag."
He turned back to face the Greyad ins and with the sound of a Sonic boom, his figure disappeared as he flew back to the Greyad ins with insane speed.
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The trip back to the castle was quite troublesome as Tyler couldn''t use spatial movement with that many people and evenbining the skills didn''t work. Of course, the group hadn''t arrived here unprepared.
They had ridden on one of therge carriages pulled by the Six-eyed bulls and would return the same way. Tyler however, had no interest in riding with them. He returned to the cattle using thebined skills of spatial movement and Spatial distortion which he was now calling Spatial Teleportation.
Arriving at the castle with the pair he saw Liz and Rain who had long since returned from their mission and hadpleted their task wlessly.
As soon as the girls noticed him Rain ran over excitedly as she practically jumped him, his face swished in between her chest.
"You''re finally back, did you see me, did you see me..."
Tyler couldn''t talk with her breasts in his face and if he couldn''t go days without breathing, he probably would''ve suffocated. Liz soon ran over and pulled her fried off him as Tyler sighed deeply.
Her enthusiasm was quite right, even with the unexpected situations that urred, his n had still beenpleted as well as it possibly could. Aside from the one scout, he let go because he wanted to sow a seed of distrust in the Great five that would buy him more time. They had all made sure there were no loose ends.
Tyler chuckled slightly. "Yes I did see you, I remember seeing you y around and almost mess up if Liz hadn''t intervened."
"Huh, wait that''s not what I wanted you to see..."
Tyler couldn''t help butugh at her embarrassed expression and even Liz was hiding herugh which further made Rainin even more.
Tyler chuckled and patted her in the head. "I was only joking, you both did a great job and everything went well thanks to your efforts... It''s already quitete so let''s all just take a break and rx."
"Hmph..." Rain''s cheeks were flushed as she slightly pouted and even Liz looked a bit embarrassed as well.
Tyler then turned back to face Albert as he continued. "I''ll head up to rest first, when you''re done organizing everything you should rest as well. Oh and Erin, good job as well, you spent a lot of mana today so try and rest as well. Hm, I think I''m saying rest a lot."
Erin''s face went slightly red as well but Tyler didn''t notice. Learning two skills and creating one had taken more out of him than he had thought, not to mention he had let his Mana run wild during thatst spell so he needed to rest.
There were only a few people still awake in the castle and they all greeted Tyler as they awaited the return of either their husbands or brothers.
Tyler headed up to the seventh floor of the west wing and into his chambers as he copsed on the soft bed. The sheets had also been changed but he was too tired to notice, he should probably try and increase his stamina next.
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Chapter 88 C88. Aurs Decisions
Vol 2. Epilogue
Pow! BANG! Crack! Thud...
A sudden impact sent a bloodied body across the interior of the dark room and it soon mmed into a thick brick wall, leaving cracks like that of a spider web on the wall as the body gasped in pain unable to breathe. The sounds of cracking bones was audible in the otherwise quiet room as the body dropped to the hard stone floor in a dull thud.
The bloodied body slowly squirmed around as it tried to move in an attempt to stand up only to copse back down over and over again. There was a single lit touch at the far end of the room that was apparently the only source of light. The dim light revealed the slim and slender figure of the body.
Her mask had fallen off at some point in time, revealing a bruised childlike facial features with ember green eyes that had almost lost their luster. Even with the cuts and bruises on her face one could still tell how cute she would be under theyer of blood on her.
The room was small and dark with markings, runes and strange designs on the walls. There were also no pieces of furniture inside the room. As the young girl struggled to stand, another figure walked out of the shadows and approached the mangled up girl on the floor.
The figure was lithe and slender with ck watery hair that reached the lower parts of her back. She wore a simr outfit to the childlike girl at her feet. Spotting a simr ck mask that covered the lower parts of her face and dark purple metal greaves that matched the same colored gloves with metal knuckles.
Her outfit was just as tight as the girl before her with the only difference being their vastly different proportions. Her purple-colored pupils stared at the girl below with disdain and a slightly hidden murderous intent. Walking over to the girl, she moved her hand and made a slight gesture with her fingers and Amra''s body was flung up like she had been pulled by something.
Her body mmed into the ceiling and was then slowly lowered to around the same height as the woman. She looked like she was being held up by invisible ropes. A crisp and curt voice soon entered the ears of both girls from the entrance of the room and through therge door that had just been swung open.
Two figures then entered the room. "Is she ready?" Aur asked as he walked hurriedly inside the almost dark room escorted by another female figure dressed simrly to the other two except for the colors of her greaves and vambraces.
"She hasn''t spoken a word since she returned a week ago but she should be ready."
"Good," Aur responded, turning to the girl beside him hemanded. "You may begin."
The girl with red hair and matching greaves nodded as she walked over to the restrained Amra. She looked like she was around the age of Amra but had more bounce to her steps. When she was about a feet length of Amra, she stopped and extended her right hand activating her innate ability.
"Invade Mind."
Every member of the Ghost legion was trained to withstand mind control and other control effects magic or skills. Their minds would rather break than reveal any information regarding their master. Since most of them weren''t demons it wasn''t logical to use a demons pack as only one person could be added by blood. However, there were other, more brutal ways of getting information out of them. This process requires a lot of time and they would have ample opportunity to either escape or take their own lives unless the one using this process was Aika.
She could bind her targets to the point that escape or death wouldn''t even ur to them. The one using the mind control ability was B and this was her only duty amongst the ghost, making her almost as valuable as Aika. B''s eyes went white as her ability was sessful, there was barely any resistance as that had been beaten out of Amra over the past week.
"Aika, use crystal mirror, I want to see this myself."
"Yes, Lord Aur." The ck-haired woman replied as she walked over to B and ced her hand on her shoulder casting the spell, "Crystal Mirror." A single gem of crystals appeared in that air and rapidly expanded to form a mirror made of white crystals as images shed through the surface.
Several faces appeared in the mirror as B scanned through Amra''s memories until they finally found what they were looking for. It was the face of a cloaked figure moving in the snow with two orange-skinned individuals. They fast-forwarded through her memories and watch as the cloaked man weaved his way through a forest from afar.
Soon they saw him reach a safe zone only to find it empty and they watched him from above thanks to the spell. "Curse of Remote Viewing" That Amra had used on him back in the city. They continued to view her memories at several times the normal speed of events and soon they had found what they were searching for.
About a week ago Amra was sent out by Aika to keep an eye on the now treasonous Zomatsu. With the help of her spell, she had monitored him from the hotel to an apartment where her spell was blocked by severalyers of defense. That was all the clue she needed to deem him treasonous but she did not act. After watching him back to the Darknar forest and as he tracked a group of ogres and beastmen, she finally found an opportunity to strike.
Yet, not only had she failed but something that they couldn''t fathom had happened to her. She managed to escape back here but she wouldn''t speak and all she did was shake in fear at a corner of the room. Left with no other options they had to resort to such barbaric means to break her will and the instincts they had drilled into her to resist mind-reading stacks.
The image in the crystal mirror changed and they saw Zomatsu break down to the ground in pain. Since there were no sounds they didn''t know why such a thing happened but they knew it was an opportunity for Amra. Sure enough, she had made her move and not even Aur could criticize her for it. Even though he thought taking action without proper information on what was happening was too rash.
Surprisingly the two trash that apanied him had gotten the courage to interfere. At this point, the mirror had changed its view to that of Amra''s eyes as her spell was no longer in effect the moment she showed herself. One of the trash was quickly disposed of and the other followed, or so they thought. Zomatsu surprisingly did not take the chance to escape but interfered and the mirror went nk.
The memory continued soon after and they saw both Zomatsu and thest remaining trash hit the ground. Things were progressing smoothly yet Aur was developing anxiety. He wanted to see nothing. He wanted Zomatsu to meet his end and the mission to be sessful, yet the fact that he was standing here and invading his subordinate''s memories said otherwise.
The screen fluctuated and two figures appeared out of nowhere as they had just strolled into their backyard. Aur''s brows twitched and his body trembled slightly. "Spatial Movement...?" He couldn''t help but mutter attracting the attention of Aika who quickly turned her head around as her eyes narrowed. She soon realized her mistake and focused back on maintaining the crystal mirror that was about to break.
They focused more on the screen wanting to see the face of the individual that could use such skills. They saw the figure of a man and a dark-skinned woman but luck was not on their side as the mirror immediately cracked and the rest of the memory became hazy. Fragments of memories shed by quickly but their keen senses did not miss any image.
They saw Amra engage in a fight with the dark elf but before they could figure out what happened next the memory changed to Amra in front of an unconscious Zomatsu and was just about to take off his head.
Aika felt a sense of relief, even though they had met a formidable enemy as long as they aplished their main objective then this failure was manageable. However, Aur knew better. The scene changed and Amra was now in the arms of the strange man and Aur noticed his left arm that held into her shoulders as it continuously infected Amra with something, but it must''ve been so weak that no one had noticed, especially Amra.
Amra somehow managed to escape but Aur had an ugly expression on his face. He folded his arms and tapped his feet rapidly on the ground causing small cracks on them. ''Who the hell was that!? Why in the world could he use that skill, don''t tell me someone has broken into the castle ahead of us...'' He frowned and turned around, he needed to report this to the elders. Luckily he could push all the me this time on Zomatsu as he had nned. He could always find another opportunity to kill him. That is if the man in the memory doesn''t kill him first.
No one would take in a traitor of one of the Great Five and judging by how intelligent this man was, he would most likely just torture some information out of Zomatsu and kill him. He had used several anti divination spells on himself before entering the scene knowing fully well that someone might be watching. That meant he didn''t want the Great Five to know who he was, meaning even though he was strong, he was still no match for one of the Great Five.
As Aur turned to leave he was stopped by Aika''s voice as she asked. "What do we do with her."
"She is no longer of use to me, get rid of her," Aur said without even turning his head as he left the room and B immediately canceled her mind control magic and followed him with hurried footsteps.
Aika waved an arm and the invisible strings holding Amra up snapped, dropping her down like nothing but a bag of bones. She looked at her with aplicated expression as the previous malice and disdain were nowhere to be seen. Her eyes held a hint of pity, concern but still held her usual cool calm.
Aika shook her head after resigning herself to Lord Aur''s orders. She slowly turned illusionary until she hadpletely vanished leaving only the bloody and near unconscious Amra in the dark and quiet room.
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p End of Volume 2 - Behemoth
Next, Volume 3 - Mysterious Merchant
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Chapter 89 C89. The Taine Ze Region
Vol 3: Prologue (1)
The barrenndscape of the Taine Ze region was a ce directly under the rule of the Brimstone Family, one of the five Great families. The region was mostly a desert region as more than 60 percent of this region were barren and the only ces that weren''t a sandy desert were the sections the Brimstone family had absorbed from the surrounding regions and converted into theirnds.
In this massive barren area ofndscape where little precipitation urs and, consequently, living conditions were hostile for both wild nt life and even beasts, a striving and blooming city stood at the center of it all.
Of course, there were more than a dozen cities in this region. However, none of them even came close to matching this one. The ce was in no way inferior to the Winged City and was evenrger and livelier, spotting over 10 million permanent residents most of which were hunters as the sands contained various dangers lurking underneath. The city was a sort of gathering ce for strong hunters as this was one of the most dangerous regions in the demon continent, second only to the Darknar region.
Most of the trades that urred here deal with weapons and beast cores, alongside rare metals like adamantine and even Duranium. Due to this fact alone, the Hunter Guild had grown tremendously over the years and now hold a certain level of influence and as long as they don''t directly go against the Brimstones, they would be left alone, giving them the same amount of freedom as freemen with added benefits.
That was until 5 years ago when a certain demon noble had incited all the different hunter guilds in the entire continent, causing them to merge and unite, creating a single guild that had given them enough power to rival the ruling ss. Higher ranking Hunters now had the same amount of privileges as low-ss nobles with various other perks.
The new rank of demon bar was even created mainly for high-ranking merchants and Hunters.
There were even a few behemoths that had joined the Hunter Guild in thest few years, making the entire Great Five
family hesitate. Now the Hunter Guild could operate freely in any region as long as they don''t interfere with noble politics. Most of the stronger freemen would naturally choose to join them as well.
This ce was Sun city, one of the top fivergest cities in the demon continent which held thergest Hunter guild in the continent. Naturally, that was now considered the Hunter Guild''s HQ. Needless to say, the Brimstones weren''t pleased with that particr noble for creating a force that could almost rival them. However, what they felt was just demons'' pride as no amount of quantity couldpete in the face of absolute power. And the Great five could be said to be an embodiment of absolute power.
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In the center of Sun City, stood a massive castle as it intimidated every and all buildings in the city no matter how tall they were.
A petite cloaked figure skirted down the halls of the said castle as she whistled to herself in delight. The figure was brushed by two heavily geared guards as she turned a corner in the hallway that was restricted.
One of the guards was about to raise his arm to stop her when the other hurriedly grabbed his hand. The guard in question turned around in confusion and was about to berate his partner for not following the instructions given to them by the elders but was stunned by the deathly pale face of his partner that seemed like he had just been drained of all his blood.
The guard hurriedly shook his head and brought his index fingers to his mouth as he beckoned his second to be quiet and let that figure leave in peace. The petite cloaked figure stopped a few meters away from the guards and turned her pretty head around and with a yful smile, she spoke softly. "Aww... How boring~" She then continued her whistling as she proceeded down the hall with steps that seemed as though she was skipping.
The guard that almost stopped her was frozen in his spot. He hadn''t sensed it before but he now knew who that was and had almost lost his life for making such a foolish mistake. Just thinking of how he was so close to death made him sweat buckets. He tried to take a step back only to trip on his legs and fall on his metal-d butt.
The cloaked girl continued her journey not minding themotion she had caused behind her as she headed for arge arched double door at the end of the dark hall.
With a swoosh, therge arched double door that looked like they couldn''t be moved easily swung open, and the cloaked girl waltz in the room like she owned the ce.
"Heeeellow... how could you guys start without Lil o me~"
In the room sat a long stone table with 12 ck seats and 5 other cloaked figures seating on the various seats. There were also three other figures in the room that didn''t bother to hide their appearance bringing the total number of people seating around the long stone table to an even eight with the addition of the cloaked girl, there were now nine people in the room.
"Don''t ever barge into a meeting an hourte and make demands. Take a seat and shut up."
An aged man spoke sternly without even turning his head to look at the cloaked girl''s figure like the others had done. He sat at one of the head seats at the end of the long stone table. He had short white hair with slight streaks of red and had a stoic expression on his face and an eye patch ran across his left eye.
He had a neatly trimmed beard of white and wore an extremely luxurious red and white robe. His fingers were adorned with several rings that gave various glowing effects that matched the glint in his scarlet-colored pupils.
"Whoa... How scary~" The cloaked girl said as she skipped ahead and sat next to one of the other two figures that weren''t cloaked. One of which was a youngdy, she had light brown hair, styled in a twin tail, her oval face and soft facial features made her look like an adorable child, she wore skin-tight leather armor with gold-colored metal vambraces and greaves.
The cloakeddy sat down next to Izabel and proceeded to shift her chair closer to her, dragging it on the ground which made a loud scraping sound that brought res in her direction. However, she didn''t even spare a nce at those eyes as she went ahead with what she was doing until she was close enough to Izabel to lock arms with her.
Izabel''s brows twitched but she forced herself to calm down and the aged man turned his gaze to thest uncloaked figure in the room, prompting him to stand up and continue reading out the file in front of him. He was a somewhat middle-aged man with short brown hair and green eyes and wore a monocle over his left eye. He had an elegant demeanor and wore a simple-looking but luxurious ck suit.
"Sincedy Citrus has finally decided to join us, I''ll go over the report one more time."
Citrus wasn''t even paying attention to the man speaking as she was busy rubbing her cheeks against Izabel''s chest. The middle-aged man''s expression did not change even though most of the cloaked figures in the room were openly expressing their annoyance. He cleared his throat before continuing.
"We''ve received the report from both Lady Izabel''s group and our scouts stationed in the eastern parts of the Darknar forest. ording to Lady Izabel, their group had failed to eliminate the target and capture the Nymph because of the interference from two strangers."
He adjusted his crystal monocle and. continued. "ording to her, their original n was changed when a sudden horde of lesser basilisks ran out of the Darknar forest in a frenzy. They didn''t have a choice but to use the artifact to take control of that horde, recing the original n that involves the use of mountain golems for a revised one with the lesser basilisks."
"Well, that wasn''t a bad decision. Any one of us would find it difficult to capture 10 mountain golems for the original n and a horde of 200 lesser basilisks should have had the same effects, if not better." One of the cloaked figures spoke.
"Normally, that would be correct. But it should''ve been obvious that lesser basilisks wouldn''t go berserk and run into the sun for no reason. Moreover, there was about half a dozen magic Beast with them. Lady Izabel should have immediately reported this change and as such, she is fully responsible for this failure."
"Hey!" An ice-cold voice that almost made everyone in the room freeze came from Citrus as her eyes narrowed at the middle-aged man, making his body instantly tense up. "Watch your tone, low-ranking trash like you has no right to speak to my precious little sister like that. Try it again and. You''ll die."
Aamon Val Brimstone''s expression didn''t change, but everyone heard his dry gulp of saliva and could see the faint trembling of his entire body. There was no way he could be considered a low-ranking noble as he was a Tier 4 mage and head of the Information and Strategic department. He was also considered a demon Marquis so how could anyone consider him a low-ranking noble.
However, even with all that authority and power, he still could not bring himself to refute what this very youngdy had said to him. Neither did he think he could guarantee his own safety if she actually decided to take his life. The air in the room was so stale and heavy that no one could to bring themselves to speak.
An awkward atmosphere ruled the room until a fist was suddenly mmed on the hard stone table, creating web-like cracks on what would be a heavily reinforced table. "Enough!" The white-haired aged manmanded bringing everyone''s attention to him.
"We do not have time for your nonsense Citrus, behave yourself for the rest of this meeting or get out."
Citrus clicked her tongue and scoffed under her breath. "As long as he watches his tone." She then proceeded to rest her head on Izabel''s shoulders and Izabel could do nothing but lower her head shamefully.
"Alright, you may continue Aamon."
"As you wish, Lord Malik."
Aamon then brought out a simple-looking yellow crystal and threw it to the center of the table, the crystal hovered a few inches above the table before it slowly started to spin. It then revealed a holographic map of the Darknar region before zooming in to focus on the Darknar forest.
"As you can see, this is the previously recorded activities in the Darknar forest, and although our influence there is limited, we still control more than 10 percent of the forest resources. However, our scouts reported that a burst of negative energy went off in the eastern parts of the forest recently. Although they were able to survive it due to them being close to the western region that is ruled by the undead King and we had already geared them towards attacks of that nature."
"So you''re saying this burst of negative energy is rted to the berserk lesser basilisksdy Izabel encountered?"
"I believe so."
"And what about the two demons that interfered."
"Yes, them. This is when it gets moreplicated."
"How so?"
"ording to the reportdy Izabel''s subordinate brought back. He concluded that the female demon should be a high-ranking demon noble from one of the other Great Four, but ording to his description, we couldn''t find a match in our information database."
"And the Male?"
"Yes... Hm... Before that, there is a piece of information in the report that we just couldn''t believe so we had someone extract his memories, please see for yourselves."
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Chapter 90 C90. The Brimstone Family
Vol 3: Prologue (2)
In a secret section of the Brimstone family''s castle, the Brimstone castle. A private meeting was being held by half of the top elders in the family, alongside the highest-ranking members of two of the most important divisions in the family. The head of Information Aamon Val Brimstone and the head of the specialized assault unit, Izabel H. Brimstone.
Present was also the former head of the specialized assault unit, Citrus H. Brimstone alongside five of the ten elders of the Brimstone Family, while seated at one of the head seats of the long stone table was the current head of the Brimstone Family. The Demon lord Malik Vyle Brimstone.
At this moment, however, the room was deathly silent. It was so quiet that even the breathing of everyone present here could be heard loud and clear. They all stared at the holographic projection in the center of the table in disbelief, even Citrus had a look of surprise on her face which soon warped into something more ugly and unsightly.
The tension in the room rose before it was suddenly broken by a crisp voice. "Alright, that''s enough. Aamon, finish your report." Malik spoke in a stern and curt tone that snapped everyone awake from their daze. Marquis Aamon bowed slightly at the demon lord before continuing his report.
"As you all had seen. The report was urate, this makes the failure to capture the Nymph even more damaging. Not only is the female demon a possible member of one of the Five, but she may also even be at the level of a Demon Duke. Adding a behemoth who can enter the demon king''s castle at will and it bes even more of a problem."
Aamon adjusted his monocle and continued, "Luckilydy Izabel was smart enough to recognize the severity of the situation and send one of her aides out to Winged City to find out more from that Aur fellow since the Zorak family''s scout safe zone is closest to the castle."
"Have we received a response from the
riff-raff?" Demon lord Malik suddenly asked after mostly remaining quiet the entire meeting. Marquis Aamon then nodded and replied. "Yes my Lord, we''ve just received the response this morning. However, judging by his demands, I reckon the Zorak family has even less information than we do in this matter, we were lucky in that aspect."
"I see..." Demon lord Malik nodded and leaned back into his chair. He closed his one good eye and thought for a moment before speaking again. "So, what do you all think should be our next step? how do we approach this?"
Citrus waspletely ignoring everyone in the meeting and only seemed to want to bother the dejected Izabel. The other five cloaked figures whispered amongst themselves before Marquis Aamon spoke first. "If you would permit me, my Lord. I have a suggestion."
"Hmm... Go ahead."
"Capturing the Nymph is still very important and I suggest we add capturing this unique behemoth to the top of our list as well. However, we must proceed with caution, ording to our intel they''ve been inside the barrier for several days already and we have no idea what treasures they must''ve found in the castle already. I also suggest we try to entice him into our family with the title of a demon Duke."
"Outrageous!"
"Insolence!"
"What nonsense is this!"
"You dare ask us to make an outsider the same rank as an elder!"
Furious growls and scoffs went off in the meeting room as all five elders were sent into a zing rage by Marquis Aamonst suggestions. They went on to attempt to berate the lowest-ranked in the room, only to be immediately silenced by a resounding blow to the sturdy stone table, making more cracks on it.
"SILENCE!" Demon Lord Malik suddenly bellowed and the room went dead silent. "Marquis Aamon, I take it you have a good reason for making such a bold suggestion."
"Yes my Lord." Marquis Aamon then went on to recount the report on the destruction of the Tier 5 magic beasts by that behemoth alone. "I believe he is easily amongst the strongest behemoth this family has ever seen and including the fact that he has ess to that castle, I say his value far surpassed that of just the title of Demon Duke. If I had my way I would bestow him a region to govern and even offer him a few maidens from the branch families as his concubines anddy Izabel as his bride."
"Stop!"
Those sudden words were not aimed at Marquis Aamon, rather they halted two Detachable Demon des that had already drawn a drop of blood from Marquis Aamon''s neck. Citrus had already appeared in front of him before anyone knew it, as she crouched upon the stone table with two daggers that had a sinister shine to them with masterful curves. They were connected by a chain that went through her robes as they wrapped around her slender waist.
The des were only inches away from the Marquis''s neck, they pressed at him from both sides that even a slight push by this young girl would take off the head of a Tier 4 mage. Her killing intent alone made him freeze and cold sweat was starting to drip down his back. If the voice of Demon lord Malik had not stopped her before she could finish the job. There was no doubt in his mind, he would''ve died without realizing why.
"The next time you speak about Izabel in that tone again. No one will be able to keep your head attached to your body." Her disrespectful tone was like a matter of fact. Even in the presence of the current demon lord, she had still dered that no one could stop her and no one in the room disagreed with her.
She walked across the table and returned to her seat and Marquis''s Aamon just copsed on his chair the moment the pressure was lifted, his legs still trembling in fear even though his facial expression hadn''t changed much.
Demon Lord Malik sighed in exasperation as he spoke. "I understand your point of view Aamon, so I''ll keep your suggestion in mind. Now then, does anyone have any other suggestions?" His gaze swept across the entire room and he acknowledges their silence as a no. "Very well then... Izabel."
"Y-Yess sir!" She stuttered as she shot to her feet at the mention of her name. It was already obvious to everyone that she had been anxious the entire time, especially since marquis Aamon kept picking on her failure the entire meeting.
"I will give your specialized unit another opportunity to redeem yourselves. Don''t fail me."
"Thank you, Sir."
Demon lord Malik''s eyes roamed the room andnded on Citrus who was still rubbing her cheeks on Izabel''s arm and spoke. "This time don''t forget to ry your findings back to us before you make any moves and take all the help you need."
"Yes sir."
"This meeting will end here." Hemanded and stood up, walking out of the room before anyone could object or interject. Marquis Aamon followed behind him and the five cloaked figures slowly faded away like an illusion. Of course, they were not there from the start and had always been a projection from their respective province.
Izabel stood rooted to the spot as her body trembled slightly. Her eyes were almost watery and her cheeks were a little red. She had silently endured both marquis Aamon and the elder''s ridicule and mockery the entire time simply because she had nothing to refute them with. Her ns had failedpletely and even the two strangers that had interfered were now ssified as S-level threats.
She didn''t even receive any aplishment for discovering them as she should have. The demon king''s castle was a big deal to the great Five and she had been the one to discover a behemoth that could enter the castle at will faster than all the great five scouts and informationworks, yet. She didn''t receive any praise,pliments, or rewards but scornful gazes from the Marquis and all the other elders.
She was sure if her sister hadn''t shown up she would''ve received a massive punishment. She might''ve lost her job and even her noble title might drop. Izabel squeezed her fist and made up her mind. She hated to do this but she no longer had a choice.
"S-sister Citrus... You said you were willing to help mest time right." She turned to Citrus and lowered her head in a bow. "Please... Lend me your help this time."
With Izabel''s headpletely lowered Citrus''s mouths curved widely into a bone-chilling smile. It was such a sinisterly bad creepy smile that it would make anyone who sees it tremble in fear.
"Of course."
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After escorting the Demon lord to his chambers and sessfully handed him over to his guards and servants, although it was just a formality. Marquis Aamon walked back down the halls of the Brimstone castle in an attempt to reach the exit as fast as he could without arousing any suspicious or curious gaze.
However, he was often stopped and greeted by the various nobles and ministers that came in and out of the castle daily. Due to noble etiquette, he was unable to ignore them and had to engage in some small talk.
After finally making his way down to the side entrance of the castle, where his carriage was parked, a sweet and feminine voice suddenly spoke to him. "Leaving so soon, Aamii~"
Marquis Aamon stopped in his tracks as he struggled to turn his head to the side. Citrus strolled down the hall to him, she smiled and said. "There''s no need to be in such a rush, if others saw you then their minds would wander and you never know what would happen~"
She stopped right in front of him and pressed her chest to his. Her left hand wandering around the lower parts of his body as she continued speaking. "If something like that happens and they find out about me then... I might have no choice but to cut this off... Hehe~ you know quite well if I cut something. It stays permanently cut no matter what kind of healing spell you use."
She brought her lips closer to his before moving them next to his ears and whispered. "Your acting today was a little poor, I''m sure my father suspects something, but lucky for you those geezers didn''t and my father still gave the mission to her." Her left hand grabbed firmly at his crotch as his hands and knees kept trembling slightly.
"See... if you do a better job next time, I promise to do something your rigid old wife wouldn''t dream of." Her tongue slipped into his ears and down his cheek until she gave him a slight kiss on the lips that was more of a peck. She then chucked at his reactions before skipping away like a little kid.
Aamon''s eyes wereckluster for a good while before finally returning to normal. He squeezes his fist tightly as he angrily trailed off to his carriage and left the pce. He finally exploded when the carriage was a fair distance away from the castle.
"That Bitch!" His fist mmed into the carriage wall almost destroying it.
He screams several curses and profanities and his assistant just silently watched him from the opposite side of the carriage. "What does she think she is. Pleasure, who in their right mind would feel pleasure from a sadistic psychopath like you!" His fury was almost limitless and it wasn''t cooling down.
He had done everything she asked of him for the sake of his family but she still almost killed him in that meeting. If the demon lord hadn''t stopped her she would have taken off his head. His frustration was growing and he was getting even angrier by the minute. Most of that anger wasn''t even aimed at thatdy but himself.
Even after all that, he looked down at his pants, not only was there a slight patch of wet stain from the slight pee that had escaped him every time she had threatened him but, his manhood was still rock hard from just her touch. ''What kind of a weakling am I?''
"Fan, when we get back to the vi, get me a girl," Aamon spoke to his assistant. "What type would you prefer Sir?"
"Doesn''t matter, just find one that is easy to dispose of and send her to my room."
"I''ll see to that as soon as possible."
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Chapter 91 C91. Contemplate
On the fifth floor of the west wing in the demon king''s castle.
A male figureid on the bed in one of the rooms in this wing unmoving. As the rays of the morning sun that escaped through the thick clouds in the sky shone on him. The figure slightly squirmed around before slowly raising his head and he sat up. He opened his eyes and his vision was a little blurry but got clearer as he blinked his eyes.
He slowly turned his head left and right as he observed the contents of the room he had suddenly found himself in. The room was almost practically empty but it contained all the essentials that looked to be of rather high quality and was sparkling clean.
As he turned his head around, a sudden ringing entered his ears and he soon felt like there was a loud beating drum in his head.
His vision got hazy and he suddenly began to feel faint.
"You''re awake. Please don''t move around so suddenly, it will still take some time before you''re fully recovered."
With great difficulty, he turned his head to the side as he saw a hazy female figure in a sort of maid outfit sitting beside his bed. At this point, the ringing intensified and his vision went ck, his body falling back to the bed as he fainted.
He wasn''t sure how long he had been unconscious as he raised his eyelids once more. His head still felt numb but he was still able to learn from his mistake as he opted not to sit up immediately this time. He slowly turned his head to the side where he hadst seen the female maid sitting however, his eyes went wide as he saw something amazing, somethingpletely different fromst time.
There was indeed a goddess standing over him as she cast her aqua blue blessings upon him. Ah yes, he must''ve died and gone to heaven. Sure, he hadn''t nned on that but the aura she exuded made him feel so calm and rx that he didn''t mind dying if this was the result.
Suddenly, the aqua blue light stopped and Zomatsu returned to his senses. What in the world was he thinking. Since when was dying eptable to him. His body immediately shot up as he narrowed his eyes to re at the person that had done that to him.
"Oh, you shouldn''t move so suddenly. You suffered quite an intense mental attack and healing mental problems is not my specialty."
''Mental problems?''
With a somewhat reserved but mostly calm and soothing tone, she had spoken those words and Zomatsu was unable to tell if she was being apathetic, mocking him, or was genuinely concerned for him. Whatever the case may be, he couldn''t just stand here to figure it out. He had no idea where he was so he needed to find a way to escape.
He quickly reached for his waist to retrieve his gauntlet from his medium storage box but to his dismay, there was nothing there. As a matter of fact, he wasn''t even wearing pants.
"Please calm down, I''ll inform Lord Ty that you''ve awoken so do rest until hees."
The calming tone of the blue-haired beauty before him brought a semnce of calm to his mind. He watched thedy walk gracefully out of the room and a young beastgirl walked in and stood by the door.
Zomatsu was sure she was there to keep an eye on him which meant, right now there was nothing he could do, at least not without information on his current location.
After a while he finally felt better so he slowly got up and wore the simple grey pants and the brown T-shirt that was ced next to his bed. The beastgirl didn''t seem like she would bother him of he didn''t try anything stupid so he walked over to the window in the room and opened the silk curtains. .
The view that came into his sight confused him. Large grey trolls were patrolling the walls at the distance and he asionally saw small humanoid creatures he believed to be Kobolds moving around the ward checking on their traps.
This ce must''ve been a castle but he wasn''t sure why and how he got here. His memories were a bit hazy but he soon began to recall hisst memories. There had been a mental attack and he had let his guard down.
He remembered following a group of ogres and beastmen towards the demon king''s castle before being attacked and in his attempt to attract the attention of the people within the castle, he had offered a strange man information in exchange for saving his and Bor''s life.
''Don''t tell me, is this, the demon king''s castle?''
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On the south wing of the castle...
Tyler stood by the entrance of the cell he had ced the undead Duo in as he contemted on something. The magic library was still locked and he wasn''t sure when it would be open again. This was definitely taking longer than the first time so that means the connection between the castle and the library was getting weaker. That meant Tyler needed to maximize his next chance inside the library.
He had realize that he didn''t know much about magic aside from a few low-level spells. Sure he understood magic runes way more than most but there were just too many fundamentals he was clueless about.
If it wasn''t for the scrolls he had retrieved from the library, thatst battle with the trolls would have been a lot more troublesome. He closed his eyes as he examined the contents of his spatial ring. Most of the scrolls he had brought out had already been used and he had also spent five magic crystals in the process of corrupting the closest safe zones to the castle.
The current contents of his spatial ring were sorelycking. He only had a few scrolls left and a single magic crystal. The one he had gotten from the frozen hide off the magic beast Liz or was it, Snow, had most likely killed in the forest.
Although, the settlement did have arge stockpile of scrolls and beast cores. Most of those scrolls were not as useful to Tyler as they were all just low-tier attack spells and Lifestyle spells and the cores were not something he could use on his own.
Basically, there was a lot he wascking right now, including manpower. While he had bought himself some time with the Great Five by allowing a scout to escape with inurate information. He still needed to make valuable use of that time.
Based on what he had learned from Albert, the Great Five all had spies in each other''s ranks, meaning they would suspect each other once news of the deaths of their scouts reaches them and theck of details from the scout that escaped would only serve to further their suspicions.
They would then have tounch further investigations into each other and even when theye up short. Their next suspects would be the other families and the Behemoths. The whole process should buy him about 3-5 months.
With only that amount of time to work with, Tyler wanted to find a good magic teacher that could teach him more than just spells while also stocking up on scrolls. The castle also had a staggering shortage of supplies and it would be a good idea to replenish it. However, he also couldn''t or didn''t want to leave the castle without beefing up its security.
On that aspect, he thought about the two undead in front of him and if he could control them by infusing more negative energy into their cores thereby leaving his imprint in them he would, but the problem was.
Tyler raised his left hand. There was a visible crack that asionally oozed a slight amount of negative energy. He wasn''t undead so dealing directly with so much negative energy was dangerous. The crack on his hand was a sign of negative Corruption and he didn''t want it to get worse.
Sigh... At this point, it was probably better to create new undead with the bodies of the scouts the girls brought him as it was safer to use an actual spell than deal directly with negative essence.
Although his spell was just a Tier 2 spell, he could always just let his Mana run wild and increase the spell''s potency, or even using the over-tier meta magic would achieve slightly simr results.
''Uh, that''s not a bad idea I guess.''
As Tyler thought in this direction, he suddenly heard footstepsing slowly from down the hallway. He turned his head to look but the person was further away than he had expected and their footsteps were getting slower.
Using the skill, Keen eyes of a demon, his vision crossed the slight distance and he saw a female figure walking hesitantly in his direction. Tyler chuckled inwardly as he left his undead knight and walked down the hallway to meet up with the figure before she lost her will and ran away.
It was adorable how someone so strong would be scared of such weak undead creatures. Having walked a considerable distance away from the undead. Tyler finally met up with Erin and she looked relieved to see him. She was probably d she didn''t have to proceed any further.
"Oh Lord Ty, Hi... I was just Ummm... I was justing to inform you that the scout you brought back from the Forest is finally awake." She said in a slightly nervous tone as her face grew a tint of red, she moved her hands together and awkwardly yed with her fingers.
"Oh really, that''s perfect timing. Let''s now... Mmm... Have Albert wait for me there, I''ll head up soon."
"Umm Okay." She nodded and quickly turned around and left with hurried steps. Tyler chuckled inwardly and walked down the hall in the opposite direction that Erin had run off in. He soon came across an open room. Unlike theb rooms in the North wing, this room was empty and quite small.
inside this room was the undead spy Tyler had kicked to the Greyad ins. Their survivability was certainly impressive as Tyler hadn''t had much hope for this one at the time he had kicked it so Albert could handle it.
The undead spy was chained to the ground and a restrictive barrier had been ced on the room by Liz. There wasn''t much Tyler could do with this undead as he didn''t want to experiment with negative energy. The only reason he was here was to get more details on this undead and if possible learn how to create one of his own.
They were incredibly useful tools he could use to map out the Darknar forest and even the rest of the Darknar region. Although they could probably do more, he didn''t want to risk the chances of getting caught by the Great Five simply because he sent them outside the Darknar region.
Tyler then walked closer to the spy that was continuously trying to use some sort of escape skill since the moment it was ced here. He didn''t know if the undead had infinity Mana, but this one was surely putting their unlimited stamina to good use.
He used Appraisal on the thing as the information flooded his brain. The only other person in the castle that could use Appraisal magic was Berlin Bungo and he was busy with quite a lot of tasks handed to him by Tyler himself so he had to do this personally.
"Appraisal!"
Shadow Assassin [Undead Creature] Tier 3.
An immortal Undead Rogue of the Third Tier that was created by an Eldar Lich''s racial skill.
"Damn it!"
Surprisingly, there hadn''t been as much information as he had hoped from the spell even though he had used more mana than the norm. Perhaps this was because this was a low-tier all-purpose appraisal magic as it was more efficient to use a high tiered specialized Appraisal magic for things like this.
However, The spell had still shown him the information he was most interested in and that was more than just the name of the undead.
The shadow Assassin was created by the racial skill of an Eldar Lich and no spell could replicate a racial skill.
So frankly speaking, unless Tyler nned to turn into an Eldar Lich. There was no way he would be able to ever create a shadow Assassin.
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Chapter 92 C92. The Zoraks
There were different types of Appraisal spells and skills of various tiers. Some specialized in appraising items or magic items and others Beasts and monsters. Naturally, there were also ones that could appraise people although those were incredibly rare high-level skills that used thebined forces of both appraisal magic and divination to tell certain information about someone the skill or spell was used on.
Not wanting to think about this anymore, Tyler returned his attention to the shadow Assassin as he shook his head.
Thankfully he had gotten the general information he was after but it was a frustrating bit of news. Although he still wasn''t aware of what triggers the creation of certain undead creatures he had already created. It was still disappointing to know that only an Eldar Lich''s racial skill could create the shadow Assassin.
So far he had created a ck Knight from the corpse of a warrior and a Lich from the corpse of a mage. Perhaps the ss of the corpses had a major factor in the undead creation. Of course, the strength of the spell and the level of the corpse should also y a major role in that aspect.
There was still a lot he didn''t know about necromancy and heading into it blindfolded was not a very good idea. Tyler sighed inwardly and turned around to leave the room. He had thought about testing something on this undead but now was probably not the right time.
He needed to deal with the scout upstairs and then the two unique trolls before using those scouts'' bodies in creating more undead to increase the forces in the castle even if it was only by a little.
He walked back to the north wing, before heading to the west and up to the fifth floor where he saw Albert waiting outside the room they had kept the scout in. Albert bowed slightly the moment he noticed him and Tyler acknowledged it before entering the room after Albert had opened the door for him.
Walking inside the smaller but equally an exquisitely designed room. His eyes swept through the interior of the room andnded on the incredibly handsome male figure that sat on the bed in one corner of the room.
There was also a female figure stationed in the room that had bowed at him upon his entrance but Tyler could not pay much attention to her as the male scout had stolen his attention. He hadst seen this scout in the forest almostpletely drenched in blood so Tyler almost didn''t recognize the person right in front of him now.
He looked insanely handsome. The type of guy Tyler would often see modeling in top magazines back on earth. He had short light blonde hair and golden colored pupils. Even wearing the same starter character outfit that Tyler had worn previously. He looked as though he was wearing a top-brand outfit.
Tyler slowly got more irritated the more he looked at this man. Tyler never really thought much about appearance but if he was to judge himself. He had always considered himself to be quite handsome and even faced with this guy''s appearance, Tyler still thought his appearance wasn''t that far off.
What pissed him off though was the fact that this guy looked better in almost the sameme-ass outfit as the one he had first found in this castle. He made it seem like the clothes were of a much higher quality than they should and that made him a bit jealous.
Tyler quickly shook these distracting thoughts off his mind as now was not the time and his irritation seemed to have made ye scout nervous. Tyler walked into the room as sat on the sofa as Albert stood next to him.
They both stared at him for a full minute before Tyler finally opened his mouth to speak. "Name?"
"Zomatsu Zorak," Zomatsu said with little to no hesitation in his eyes. His voice firm and showed no signs of fear or intimidation. He had already regained hisplete memories and now fully recalled the sequence of events that had unfolded in the Darknar forest.
In exchange for his life and Bor''s he had offered to provide this young man with any information he wanted and although he wasn''t sure if Bor was still alive. The moment the man had entered the room he had chosen to tell him whatever he wanted to know Without a second thought.
Naturally, he hade up with several ns on how to handle this situation and turned it into a more favorable condition for him but that all went out the window when the man had walked in. It wasn''t that he was intimidated by his aura and wanted to talk because he couldn''t handle the pressure, No. It was in fact the opposite.
He had not noticed it before due to his predicament but the man in front of him exuded no aura. To be frank it was more like he had no aura and that had Zomatsu more than the pressure he felt from the Zorak family''s young master. Zomatsu was a genius in his own right. He was someone that mostly acted based on his information.
Due to that information, he knew that this could only be done if someone was several degrees above his level. Frankly speaking, he was too weak to evenprehend the aura of the man before him and that was not someone he could afford to annoy with petty tricks, but he still had to at least ask something first.
"My apologies if I''m being rude but, myrade, the one next to me at the time. Is he okay?"
Tyler tilted his head as he tried to recall, he then remembered who this guy was talking about and answered curtly. "Yes, he is, as I recall, his life and yours were part of the bargain for information I need from you so naturally, I''ll keep my word."
Zomatsu didn''t think much about the matter anymore and nodded. He was grateful the two brothers had tried to save him, so he at least wanted one of them to make it.
"Is that all you wanted to ask?"
"Yes sir."
"Very well then, let''s start from the beginning."
"The beginning?"
"Yes... From the beginning, tell me everything about the Zorak family."
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As time went on, Tyler learned everything he had wanted to know about the Zorak family and naturally he had asked several other questions along the way. Questions about the cities under the family. Their region''s specialty and their economic structure.
The Zorak family''s region was the Sentro region that was located northwards of the Demon King''s castle. To get to this region, one would have to cross the Greyad ins, a trip that generally took around two days on a mound just to get to the border city of the Sentro region. A city formerly part of the Darknar region, the Winged City.
Aside from that, there were several otherrge cities in the Sentro region and the capital city was ckwing City, located to the east of Winged City and spotting a poption of over 2 million permanent residents.
While the capital city, ckwing City was amongst thergest cities in the demon continent, the Winged city was the one that had piqued Tyler''s interest the most. It was arge border city that was originally the centerpiece of a small region named the Vazel region.
The region had been originally ruled by a low-ranking noble during the time where there had been hundreds of ruling ss demon nobles. Itter came under the Darknar region but was now serving as a border city for the Great Five, albeit still under the control of the Zorak family.
The city was now one of thergest trade hubs in the continent with merchantsing in from far and wide. Since the Sentro region was also close to the sea. It is said that the city had traded with dwarfs a few times in the past making it the best ce to find quality weapons and equipment.
Zomatsu seems to be an intelligent and well-informed scout as he also shared information about other regions to give Tyler a fullyprehensive answer to his various questions. ording to him the Great Five also weren''t just camping inside the Darknar forest to keep an eye on the castle nor each other.
They were mostly focused on plundering the resources from the Forest. The scout''s job was also to map out the forest and identify or locate any and all valuable resources. They were free to retrieve the resources but if they couldn''t they could simply request for a unit from the family to aid them.
Most of these were done in private and it was important for them not to arouse greed in their ranks as well as in the other families and worst of all the behemoths. They didn''t really try to take control of a higher percentage of the forest, opting to let nature run its course.
The questioning section went on for hours as there were a lot of things Tyler was interested in and Zomatsu tends to answer all his questions in detail and in a fashion that made them easier to understand. Tyler didn''t sense any signs of lies or forms of concealment with his magic sense, neither could he notice anything off in his speech patterns.
Of course, he wasn''t really that good at telling if someone was lying not but ording to Albert''s own words, he was very good at it. Turning his head to face Albert he received a nod and Tyler judge it to affirm his conclusions, but of course, Tyler would not stop there.
He Intends on asking Erinter on, to confirm this with divination but until then. He would work under the assumption that this annoyingly handsome young man wasn''t foolish enough to lie so boldly in front of him otherwise he would have to take his jealous¡ª I mean, take his righteous Fury.
Till then¡ª "That will be all, since you''ve kept your end of the bargain, you and yourrade will be free to leave in a short while."
Zomatsu''s eyes slightly widened, perhaps he was just surprised that Tyler had actually meant what he said and was willing to let a risk like him leave this ce with his life. Naturally, there was various ways in getting him to keep the secret of the castle but most of the other families wouldn''t go through that trouble. Especially after hearing about his situation in such detail.
"Of course, you''ll have to enter a pact of secrecy, but that shouldn''t take too long." Almost like he had read his thoughts, the man responded.
Saying that Tyler briskly stood up as he was about to leave the room and immediately seek Erin''s help so he could get back to his own issues as he really didn''t like looking at this handsome young man as he looked like the type to steal other people''s girlfriends for the sport.
Suddenly though¡ª
"Please wait!"
The loud panicked voice of Zomatsu rang in his ears as Tyler stopped in his tracks, wondering why this young man sounded so panicked.
"Please don''t... I know I''m notpletely worth the risk, at this point I am no more than just a traitor of the Zorak family and non of the other families would even look at me now but... I assure you, I can definitely still be useful to you if you would take me under your protection."
The calm stoic expression that had never left the face of the incredibly handsome young man now had a look of desperation and a look of panicy even further within.
The rapid change in the situation stunned even Tyler and rendered him speechless. From the look that had been stered on the face of this young man, Tyler would''ve never predicted this oue.
''Damn, not this again.''
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Chapter 93 C93. Shadow Rogue
Tyler stared nkly at the handsome scout that was now kneeling before him. He was a bit rattled by the sudden change of events. Frankly speaking, he hadn''t saved this guy because of his offer, to begin with. He would''ve saved them simply because he wanted any information out of them and it didn''t matter if he was willing or not.
The deal he had made with this guy made things a lot easier so he was willing to let him go as long as he entered a demon''s pact alongside hispanion about keeping everything that happened here a secret. A demon''s pact was a very reliable method of sealing the risk that came with letting this guy leave so Tyler hadn''t been worried about that, to begin with.
However, the situation had taken another turn and perhaps at this point, he should''ve expected this from everyone that finds themselves in any kind of predicament. Their situations may be different but at its core, this was fundamentally the same situation as it had been with both the settlement and the girls.
Still, he could no longer afford to be asx with these things as he had been in the case of the settlement. At that time he was still dealing with a lot of troublesome issues after only just awakening from what was essentially a thousand-yeara and even with his newfound strength and resistance, that long of apse in time was surely going to affect his mind.
He was lucky he hadn''t made too many bad decisions due to the stress and frustration that had slowly built up over time. It was a good thing he was now strong enough to handle the repercussions from those impulsive decisions he had made. His new physiology and the influence of the demon king may have had a role in that as well but he still didn''t have the time or method to confirm all that.
Using the silent spell, cate, he returned his mind to its previous state of calm and analyzed the current situation while weighing the pros and cons of epting this young man''s request. However, he still wasn''t too sure of what this young man was capable of so there wasn''t enough information for him to make a decision right away.
While he still needed manpower, he couldn''t ept a potential risk for just that.
"Say, you seem like quite an informed and intelligent fellow. So why would the Zorak family brand you a traitor?"
Zomatsu''s face twisted for a brief moment before it returned to normal. He had already expected this line of questioning as it was only natural but still, thinking about the reason made him sick.
His hesitation onlysted a second as he soon spoke with his previous conviction.
"My father was once one of the Elders in the Zorak family but I was only a product of one of his mistresses. She was a lesser demon so I was never meant to be part of the family, to begin with even though I was born a demon Noble. My father never had a son with his numerous wives so before he passed away he brought me and my mother into one of the branch families."
"I had a very useful innate ability to the family so I only spent a few years as part of the branch family and was quickly brought in as an outer member of the main family, although my mother was not allowed in as the main family discriminated against lesser demons. Of course, the branch family was not any better, but I had no choice but to leave her there when the family had promised to protect her."
"I guess I was a bit too naive, why would they care about a single lesser demon. The mother of a foolish boy they could easily manipte to do their bidding."
Tyler sensed the intense emotions swirling within this young man as he continued with a determined expression.
"Iter found out that there were two reasons why the family felt it was worth it to allow a lesser demon into a noble household even before my father had made his decision. The first was the usefulness of my ability to the family and the second was my mother''s family''s Xerox Gauntlet."
"Xerox Gauntlet?"
Zomatsu hesitated for a bit when Tyler had asked that question. It was true that he was desperate and needed help but that did not make this any easier. This was his mother''s heritage he was talking about here, what''s more to a stranger he had never met before.
"Yes, the Xerox Gauntlet is a Special Grade Magic artifact that had been passed down in my mother''s family for a long time. It can copy and store five skills, spells as well an innate abilities, making it quite a problem for the Great Five who considered their innate abilities as a purebloods heritage."
Is that why they are after you?
Yes, the Gauntlet currently has the innate ability of the Zorak family stored within it and up until recently, they had been made to believe that the weapon had gone missing when my mother passed away due to their negligence."
"I take it you''re the one that made them believe that."
"Yes, Sire."
Tyler chuckled and spoke, "Alright I''ll consider this, however, I don''t do charity, if you want toe under my protection, you''ll have to prove to me how useful you can be, otherwise, I might as well kill you right now."
A cold wind swept through his soul from those lost words but Zomatsu still persevered on. "That will not be a problem."
"Excellent."
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After setting a series of tasks for the one know as Zomatsu to impress him. Tyler left the room with Albert in tow and they soon arrived at the front of his ''Lab room'' on the first floor of the north wing.
As they entered the room, all Tyler saw was a small box on one of the long metal tables and unlikest time, there were no bodies here already waiting for him. Of course, Albert had already inspected all the bodies but there were a lot of them and not a lot of room on the long table for that many bodies.
Walking towards the spatial storage box, Tyler picked it up and observe the space within to confirm its content. Any spatial storage was usually a bound item that could only be essed by the user but they could also be set so everyone could use it without having to break or bypass any magic encryption.
He chose two of the bodies and they appeared on the metal long table before him. Turned out he didn''t need to make any reaching motions to pull something out of storage space. Hopefully, he hadn''t looked weird doing that.
There were a few things he needed to do here other than creating some undead. He didn''t have the proper Create Undead spell neither did he have any special necromancy skills so he had to feel his way through this by trying his best to regte the strength of his spell.
Thanks to the expansion he made to his Mana body, he had gotten a semnce of control over his Mana but it was far from perfect. He could generally just restrict the flow of his mana or let it run wild which tends to increase the potency of a normally weak spell by several folds for some reason.
He still wasn''t sure why that was and didn''t have the luxury of researching it yet. Letting his Mana run wild also wasn''t good for his mana body so he had been trying his best not to go too far. At least not enough that he causes more damage to his already fragile Mana body.
The two bodies on the table were of beastmen both of which had characteristics of predatory animals from earth. He couldn''t tell what specific animal it was though as their bodies werepletely charred ck by lightning. It was a miracle their bodies were even still intact after receiving Liz''s Attack.
Tyler took a deep breath and tried to regte his Mana flow. He moved his Mana around his body as a test of control and did this for a while before he finally felt a bit more confident. Raising his arm above one of the charred bodies he cast his spell bypletely restricting his Mana flow so the Tier 2 spell would produce Tier 2 results.
"Create Undead."
A ck smoke-like aura suddenly encased one of the bodies on the table and the metal long table vibrated as the body slowly morphed into a familiar figure. The vibration suddenly stopped as the dark smoke-like aura visibly diminished and the body moved.
The undead got off the table and took a knee in front of Tyler. Just like thest one, it was a massive creature that stood almost 8ft tall with grey shriveled up skin that stuck to its bones making it look like a skeleton. Its face was also more dried up and revealed the bones of its teeth from its exposed jaws that gave off a terrifying and menacing look.
A ck helmet that wasn''t there before was now covering half its face. It was d in raven ck demonic-looking armor and wielded a shield that held the souls of its victims trapped on the surface apanied by a ck long sword.
This was a Tier 2 ck Knight and just likest time, all of its skills flooded into Tyler''s head. Tyler sighed andmanded the ck knight to stand in the corner. He had expected this result as thest one he had created was at the same time he created the spell so the strength of the spell remained the same.
The second corpse was the same ss as the first so it was now time to see what happens when he increased the potency of the spell a little. Raising his arm over the second one, he cast his spell again.
"Create Undead."
Mana stirred within him and Tyler tried his best to gain control on how much was used but still couldn''tpletely maintain the absurd amount of mana that went into the magic circle. He quickly cut off the flow before things went out of hand and as luck would have it, the spell had achieved his goal and overtired.
A denser amount of ck smoke-like aura encased the body and it instantly began convulsing vigorously as the metal long table rapidly vibrated. The phenomenon ended soon after and the body slowly morphed into a simr figure as the first. However, the aura that was emanating from this undead was way stronger than the first.
This one was a Tier 3 ck knight and Tyler was happy to see the change. Still, this was not what he was after. He had confirmed that increasing the potency of the spell through his uniqueness would create stronger undead do now he would move on to a different ss of undead.
He ordered the second undead to the corner as well, then he took a short break as a way not to put any strain on his mana body as Albert just stood by the entrance quietly. After a while, he brought out another set of bodies as they appeared on the long metal table.
Since he wanted a different ss from warriors, these two were as far as he could get. Two female figuresy on the long metal table, their heads separated from their bodies but still arranged atop their shoulders just a few inches away from their necks.
One of them was a lesser demon with curved goat-like horns protruding from the side of her head and a long thin green tail from her lower back. Her skin was now deathly pale which gave off a strange variation to her beauty. She had slightly greenish-ck, hair that had been tied in a bun and also green eyes.
Tyler approached this one and without much reserve, he cast his spell again.
"Create Undead."
An absurd amount of mana surged within him but Tyler did little to stop it as he only made sure he had enough Mana left to stay conscious and not end up in a sorry state as he had been in the Forest.
A dark smoke-like aura surged out of the female corpse and encased it in a thick cocoon of negative energy and Tyler immediately felt a certain level of corruption assault his mind. The spell seemed to have broken way past its limit but unlike all the previous times, he felt a massive bacsh from the aura which made the crack in his left palm grow evenrger, threatening to turn him into the undead.
Tyler quickly took several steps back in a fluster which startled Albert a bit but he could not approach the massive cacoon of negative energy before him so he had no choice but to watch.
Tyler didn''t panic, he had always known that dabbling in necromancy would have consequences so he was a little prepared. Reaching into space he pulled out several scrolls and activated them instantly.
Protection Against Negative Energy;
Negative Shield;
Light Blessings;
Remove Curse.
Of course, non of these were strong enough topletely heal him, but at the very least, when the glow from the spells had faded, his body returned to his previous state with barely any negative Corruption.
The thick cacoon of negative energy slowly started to disperse and a slender female figure squirmed around and stood up. Tyler''s eyes widened when he saw the figure move, she didn''t look like any undead he had expected to see as her skin was still intact only gaining a greyish-white hue and retaining her previous appearance although one could say she now had a deathly beauty.
The creature stood up with the grace of a living being, d in a somewhat seductive, ck rogues robe that was apanied by a hood. She had two curved short swords strapped to her slender waist as she walked over to Tyler and took a knee.
"I await your orders, master."
Chapter 94 C94. Risky Business
The undead creature squirmed a bit and stood up from the long metal table before walking over to Tyler with nimble footsteps and an umon grace for an Undead. She then knelt before him and Tyler finally took in her appearance.
She looked simr to her previous self with greenish-ck hair that was tied in a tight single bun. Her now glowing green eyes that would pierce straight through the soul. However, she had also lost her demonic features.
There were no longer any goat-like horns protruding from the side of her head or a long and thin green tail from her lower waist. Her skin tone was now deathly pale and dark cracks that looked simr to the one on Tyler''s palm appeared sparingly and almost fashionably on her skin.
As he watched the female undead knee before him, Tyler''s mind was suddenly flooded with the information about this creature as well as a descriptive list of all her skills.
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Shadow Rogue Peak Tier 4 Undead.
An unnamed but powerful immortal undead rogue that was created in the depths of negative energy, grasping the secrets of the shadows.
Skills: Shadow hide; Invisibility; Shadow Movement; Assassinate; Darkvision; Greater Stealth; Magic Sense; Mark Soul; Darkness Aura; Shadow Assault.
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It took Tyler a while to fullyprehend what was going on here. The beautiful and seductive undead rogue looked so human or demon like it was staggering. If it wasn''t for the pale tone of a corpse that remained on her or the sight cracks on her face that resembled the one on his hand.
Tyler wouldn''t have believed she was a. undead. Not to mention the tone at which she had spoken to him. It sounded nothing like the ghastly voice of the undead Lich he had locked up in the south wing. Her voice had a pleasant tone to it but it still felt cold and distant.
Tyler saw a slight shadowy aura around this rogue as she awaited her orders. His mind finally went through all the skills she had and he sighed. He silently cast cate on himself to calm his nerves as he saw Albert rush over to him.
"My Lord, are you okay?"
Albert stopped a few meters away from the undead as he stared warily at what had escaped that cacoon made entirely off negative energy. She didn''t look anything like what he had expected and he had even brought out his weapon just in case it went berserk but that hadn''t happened.
Tyler slightly raised his arm to assure Albert that everything was fine as he also gave a slight nod. He then returned his attention to the tier 4 creature in front of him. This experiment had definitely borne fruit as Tier 4 was the strongest undead he had ever created, although he had technically only created 3 undead.
"Rise."
Tylermanded and the undead rogueplied. She had no expression on her face only the cold stare of an actual corpse. As she rose to her feet Tyler inspected her skills and characteristics. There was a weird description of her species, he wasn''t sure what the word unnamed meant exactly.
Was it part of some sort of backstory or did it just mean this individual undead didn''t have a name and could be named. He didn''t know if naming the rogue would have any effects on her strength but it was worth a try.
Thinking about a decent name for a beautiful female undead rogue he unsurprisingly came up nk. That wasn''t the type of thing he would have stored up in his head. He soon gave up on being creative and just settled with the first name that came to his mind.
"Zelda"
The moment he said the name the look in the undead face shifted a little. While she had an expressionless face, her eyes now had a glint of individuality. Tyler still wasn''t sure what was the point of the name. Perhaps high-level undead could develop new skills and abilities and would require the name for easier identification or perhaps it was something else.
"Zelda, stand by."
Zelda promptly nodded and before Tyler could even blink, she had disappeared. He wasn''t sure where she was exactly but he could still feel her presence in the room. Although if he wanted to find her he could, he opted not to as she had just followed his orders.
,m Tyler sighed out of sheer mental exhaustion. He was d he had managed to create a simr undead creature to the shadow Assassin. One that was even far superior and intelligent. He thought about what to do next, it would be nice to create more of these shadow rogues but after what had happened during the process, he felt a little hesitant.
The surge of negative energy and the dense cacoon had threatened to corrupt his soul. Although he still had a few sets of those scrolls he had used earlier, relying on them was a little too risky. However, just having one shadow Rogue wouldn''t achieve his goal.
''I guess one more wouldn''t hurt.'' The second corpse was already out so Tyler felt like he should take a slight risk once more as a pair of shadow Rogues would help him immensely.
Walking over to the second body on the metal long table, he saw Albert take steps back from the corner of his eyes already predicting what he was about to do. This body looked to be one of an ogress, it had long curly red hair, the same colored eyes, and her features could be considered pretty but her appearance had a wild side to it.
Although it wore leather armor with metal linings, all of these bodies had already been stripped off their equipment so Tyler could only guess that she was either an assassin type or a ranger due to her outfit. He extended his arm above the corpse and just like before, he cast his spell again. Having already gone through this once, he prepared the scrolls beforehand so when the cacoon was formed he immediately activated it.
The same process repeated itself and before long, the dense negative energy subsided and the previously dead body squirmed around a bit before it stood up. She had the same deathly pale skin tone as thest and had lost her hornsbined with anything that made her look like an ogress while still retaining her facial appearance.
d in a simr raven ck rogues outfit, she held a one-handed red crossbow that gave of a bone-chilling aura. She walked over to Tyler and took a knee repeating the same words as the first.
"I await your orders, master."
Shadow Rogue Peak Tier 4 Undead.
Simr information about the undead creature before him flooded his mind. Again he needed to give this undead a name. He had expected this one to have some differences in skills but everything was identical.
''I supposed there may be slight differences as time goes on. Then again I''m talking about an immortal undead here, there''s probably no chance of growth unless I force it.''
"I guess I''ll call this one Kali, seems legit."
As the name left his mind the information he had about the undead changed slightly and the shadow rogue acknowledges its new name. Tyler gave the same order to Kali as he had given to Zelda and she simrly disappeared into the shadows. Tyler figured they were using the skill Shadow hide and were hidden within the shadows in the room.
He only had one more set of scrolls left so he brought out another corpse. This was also the corpse of an ogress with very short ck hair, blue eyes, and a calmer appearance inparison to how Kali had been before she became a shadow rogue.
Tyler cast the spell again and following a simr process the dead body moved after losing her ogre features and knelt before him awaiting a name. Tyler didn''t think much about it and just gave it the name re because he was bored.
re spotted a simr raven ck rogues outfit as thest two but wielded a white one-handed crossbow that also gave off a bone-chilling aura. The variety of their weapons gave Tyler the confidence that they would all developed or specialize in slightly different paths than each other.
Tyler gave re the same order like thest two and she immediately activated the shadow hide skill and disappeared before his eyes.
With that done, Tyler had no more intentions of creating any more undead. The reason was simple, he had run out of the scrolls that would keep him from being corrupted. Unless he can upgrade his Create undead spell to Tier 3 there would be no point in creating any more undead.
It was still disappointing that this was as far as he could go. If he tried to increase his forces like this he would be here for years and still becking enough manpower to protect the castle if ever there was a day where the barrier wouldn''t be there to protect them.
Tyler ordered the two ck Knight in the room to go patrol the walls at the southern end of the castle as there weren''t enough gray trolls to properly go round the castle. He then walks out of the room apanied by Albert and maybe their shadow rogues. He really couldn''t be sure but he vaguely senses their presence constantly around him.
Tyler''s next destination was to meet the two unique trolls he had defeated. He had already used Appraisal on them and had gotten the basic information about their species but he still had a lot he wasn''t aware of. For instance, he would like to know the process of their evolution and if he could replicate it on other species with magic.
Perhaps such a spell was too advance for him at the moment but at the very least he needed to know where he stood and in which direction to direct his future research. Apparently there were magic research institutes in almost every major city on this continent and Tyler was interested in visiting one of those.
Tyler headed back to the south wing and Albert lead him into one of the insanelyrge fighting halls he had sparred with Rain in which was strange as he wasn''t sure while Albert had kept the trolls here. As therge double doors opened, however, a strong wind suddenly gusted out of the hall, informing Tyler of what was going on.
Apparently, the red troll or Berserker Troll had either challenged Azar, or maybe it was the other way around. The point being, they were now intensely going at it inside the massive hall with the Battle troll quietly watching from the side and several ogres and beastmen standing at the other side, cheering loudly for their former chief.
Tyler stood rooted on the spot as he stared at the hall with an almost dumbfounded expression on his face. The scene within looked like the ogres had organized a mini fight club under his nose and a vein suddenly budged on his forehead.
To be honest he wasn''t mad at the ogres for doing this under his nose. They had probably just wanted to settle the score with the trolls once and for all, however. The rage within him burnt simply because they looked like they were having fun while he was busy risking his life and worrying about how to keep the castle and everyone within it safe.
The moment his rage rose to a certain point, everyone happily cheering in the room including the pair that fought wildly, froze. Cold sweat poured out of their bodies like running water as they all turned around like rusted puppets, Their eyes widened in fright and apprehension at the stifling aura that had suddenly dominated the room.
"And this is?"
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Chapter 95 C95. Being Extra Petty
Although his fight with the trolls had originally been done with the condition of them submitting to him if he won. The fight had still ended a little too sudden for the trolls to understand what had happened. It was hard for them to believe that someone had taken the full brunt of their attacks head-on and still came out unscathed.
The red troll especially, had not been able to ept his defeat and had almost ran wild demanding a rematch so Tyler was forced to sent Albert to beat some sense into them. After that, the two unique trolls had been quiet the entire time they''ve been here. It was a bit of a surprise for Tyler to see them being so active here.
He didn''t remember handing out any assignments to the ogres and beastmen recently so they were free to do whatever they wanted in their spare time. Which meant technically, there was nothing here for him to be mad about as he had also permitted the settlement to freely move around the castle, with the exception of his chambers and the throne room.
However, he still felt annoyed seeing this group being so carefree while he had almost been turned into an undead. Perhaps what he felt was a side effect from being corrupted so many times. but even he did not understand why that simple annoyance rose to anger so quickly.
"And this is?"
At his words, the room froze for a good minute as everyone stared at each other in apprehension and slight confusion. It took a while for Azar to gather himself and approach him to exin.
"Apologies my Lord, we had nned to inform you earlier but the red troll was recklessly trying to stir trouble so I decided to put an end to that."
"Red Troll." Tyler''s gaze was shifted to the Berserker Troll and the massive body of the troll flinched. Even after receiving a beating from Albert, the guy must''ve still been bitter about his loss. Perhaps this was the general trait of a Berserker Troll after all the name did not sound like that of a calm and rational species.
Tyler sighed in exasperation but immediately used cate to calm his rising nerves which seemed to return the flow of air inside the hall to normal. He still felt a bit annoyed but he was able to move past it and focus on the reason he came here.
He was interested in finding out more about the two unique trolls species especially their evolution paths but even with their high intellect for trolls, there was no way they would be able to tell him anything about that.
He had just nned to observe them for a while to make sure they were willing to obey him before finding something for them to do in the castle. Although he had wanted them to lead him to the moron of a Lich that had sent them here, that would have to wait until he was ready. Right now he needed to focus on himself and also the supplies for the castle.
Returning his attention to Azar he nodded and sighed. "I see... Well since y''all want to fight so badly, there''s no need to be so reserved." A devilish smile crept across Tyler''s face as everyone in the room including Albert who stood beside him, took a step back.
"There''s also no need to fight each other, you can''t go all out... I''ll provide your opponents."
As those words left his mouth the shadows in the room moved around weirdly as three beautiful female figures d in raven ck rogue''s outfit appeared in the hall around them, weapons drawn.
"I just created these three and I had wanted to see how they fare against the trolls but since y''all are eager for a fight, why don''t you join in."
Azar''s brows furrowed, it wasn''t that he didn''t care for a fight, if anything he weed it. However, the aura these shadow creatures exuded seemed strange. It felt unnatural and unstable but they were by no means weaker than him.
Most of the ogres and beastmen in the room were apprehensive about fighting these creatures and that included the Battle troll. However, Rekaz the berserker troll refused to be intimidated and was even eager to ept the challenge which made the smile on Tyler''s face grow even wider.
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Tyler stood by the side with Albert as he watched the two unique trolls and the ogres and beastmen prepare to fight his new undead trio. Frankly speaking there wasn''t much he would gain from this fight. He already knew the skills of his undead and he didn''t n on pushing the group too far.
So there was no real reason to do this and he knew that. Basically, he was just being petty but he needed the satisfaction of making this bunch of ckers actually sweat a bit to make up for him almost being corrupted. It may also be the corruption talking but who cares, he was bored anyway.
The battle was bound to be interesting as the fighters did not match well with each other. His undead were rogues and two of them even wielded crossbows which put them at a disadvantage against so many warriors and the few mages.
''I suppose this will be a good test on how intelligent the shadow rogues are.'' It would be a good thing if the undead he nned to use for the gathering of information were smart enough to survive being in a predicament like this even though they were clearly stronger than everyone they were up against, based on tier only.
"Begin!"
Albertmanded after everyone had gotten into position but before Rekaz could even activate his charge, the three shadow rogues disappeared. Azar tried to locate them with his eyes when he suddenly felt something move behind him.
Azar swiftly turned around while swinging the de of his Hamaxe at the space behind him. However, the opponent wasn''t there and his eyes narrowed when he saw the ckish-green haired shadow rogue appear before two of their only five rangers and immediately knocked them out with some kind of ck aura.
A sudden bolt of realization struck him as he hadn''t expected this from the undead, but it appeared that they were going after the ranged fighters first. "Protect the Rangers!" Azar yelled as Kazko immediately understood the situation and lunged at the shadow rogue using his skill. ¡ãRoaring Boost¡ã
p With the sh of red, his figure was flung forward like a projectile shot out of a slingshot as he swung the new de he received at the shadow rogue. However, she must have used a skill as the shadows around her moved and her body had instantly melded with it and his attack struck nothing but air.
several arrows were suddenly fired at the remaining three rangers from the side. The rangers had tried to defend themselves or get out of the way but the strike was too sudden and had struck all their vitals.
Contrary to expectations though, there was no blood sttered everywhere from that attack, instead, as the arrows struck home, they disintegrated like watery shadows and the rangers had all simply been knocked unconscious.
Azar could barely believe his eyes. To think they had lost all their rangers so quickly made him a bit nervous. It was one thing to go head to head against an opponent but he wasn''t adept at fighting opponents like these that fought sneakily and avoided any direct confrontation.
The red troll charged at the two shadow Rogue wielding crossbows and Azar joined him while the other ogres and beastmen tried to back up the Battle troll as much as possible.
Tyler watched the battle in satisfaction at the teamwork of the trolls and ogres. The only people that could match up against his undead were Azar and the two unique trolls. Against a normal opponent, the strategy they had employed would''ve been effective but keeping your only rangers in the back when going up against assassin-type opponents was just asking for trouble.
Rekaz charged at the two rogues with his new spear raised high. However, they easily moved around him and fired multiple arrows at the other ogres and beastmen. The rogue Kazko was going up against also did not fight back and asionally found the opportunity to attack the weaker opponents.
Azar realized what the shadow rogues were trying to do but there was nothing he could do to stop them as he could not even touch them. The battle went on like this and soon only the three of them were left standing against the shadows.
Turning their heads to the side they saw the wide smile on Tyler''s face and it almost drove them insane. There is no way they would give him the satisfaction of losing like this.
For some reason, their thoughts seem to resonate with each other as they all acknowledged what they needed to do next. Without hesitation, they all activated their berserk skills, and charged at the shadows with reckless abandonment.
Albert sighed with reservation at their line of thinking. Who would''ve thought those three would make such a decision at the same time. However, just like Lord Ty, they had let their emotions get the better of them and all they were doing was prolonging the inevitable.
With a Savage burst of energy, all three of them had a drastic increase in their abilities and they charged at the three shadow rogues with their various other skills.
With the increase in speed, they closed in on their opponent faster than they had even done before and prepared tond their attacks before the shadow rogues could escape. However, the Shadow rogues did not try to escape, rather they also charged in.
Azar, Rekaz, and Kazko all sneered at this foolishness. The only advantage the shadow rogues had against them was their speed and their shrewd ability to merge with the shadows and escape. Choosing to take a frontal attack from three Tier 4 warriors such as themselves was a foolish decision.
With their rapidly increasing confidence, they all used their strongest attack skills without hesitation.
¡ãMountain Smash¡ã
¡ãLacerating sh¡ã
"One Spear Six Strikes."
Each attack aimed at a different shadow rogue and with a multitude of colorful auras. Their strikes were true to their targets, destroying both the shadow rogue''s feeble attempt to block and the shadow rogues themselves.
Smiles blossomed on their faces as they all turned to look at Tyler with confidence in their faces. However, the same evil grin that had been on his face from the start of this fight still remained stered on his face, and immediately, the confidence drained from their souls at the same time.
Shadows grew from the ground behind them rapidly as the bodies of the shadow rogues formed and they instantlyunched a devastating barrage of attacks on them.
Skill - Shadow Assault
The undead had an unlimited supply of stamina so the attacks continuously descended upon them like a meteor shower. Their precision and coordination were without ws and their strikes did not miss.
Even when they managed to get an attack in, the shadow rogues just turned into shadows and appeared behind them again. In less than 5 minutes all three of them fell to the ground unable to withstand the strike anymore.
Seeing them finally aware that all Tier 4 were not built equal, Tyler halted the rogues with a satisfied expression on his face. He approached the exhausted trio and congratted them. "Good job, that was indeed entertaining... The next time I''m chanced, let''s do it again with more rogues alright."
The color seems to drain off the trio''s face as they struggled to catch their breaths and Tyler just briskly walked away and out of the room. The shadow Rogues had already disappeared without him even giving them the order.
He felt strangely satisfied after practically torturing an innocent group for no reason at all. Perhaps he was slowly joining the dark side. Here''s hoping otherwise. Tyler walked out of the hall with no n in mind.
He didn''t have anything he needed to do urgently so he thought he would just hang out with everyone and rx his mind before he visited Bungo for his new weapon.
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Chapter 96 C96. New Weapons
After spending an entire day with the girls and everyone else yesterday. Tyler decided it best to finally stopzing around and get his weapon made. He had been sitting with the so-called famed cksmith for a while now and he had to admit. The guy may be weird but, he was also quite the storyteller.
Although what that had to do with cksmithing, he had no idea. He also couldn''t tell which of his stories were false and which were exaggerated, although they were still very interesting and a bit informative.
Tyler wanted a sword specially made for him, a magic weapon if you will. Rain also needed one more dagger to make up for her missing de as it didn''t feel right for her to wield a single de. Although technically, she could use the spell, ''Spiritual Daggers'' topensate for that if needed, such a course of action would greatly reduce the effectiveness of the spell.
She sat next to Tyler in the cksmith Bungo''s newly assigned workshop as he narrated a lot of his old adventures to them while he worked.
The ce was supposed to be a cksmith''s workshop but it wasn''t as hot as Tyler was used to from the ones back on the human continent. He had curiously asked him and Bungo had told him about the recently discovered wide applications of magic runes which could be found on his forge and even more were on the walls of the castle including his new workstation.
ording to him, he believes the runes on the walls maintained the temperature in the room and the ones on the forge allowed the temperature in the forge to get as high as possible without any heat escaping out. Tyler simply nced at the runes and was able to tell that he was mostly correct.
The runes were all intermediate runes and he could only understand a few. He was impressed with the fact that this ogre who was incapable of reading magic runes had still figured it out.
After deciding on the design and preparing the materials, Bungo went into the forge and ced the ores and cores he would melt inside the furnace. Of course, there were easier ways to melt metals and ores but most great cksmiths were old school and would rather do it manually, or so he said.
Tyler''s sword was being forged from the cores of both the Tier 5 lesser basilisks and the core of the trollsbined with a piece of Duranium Albert had given him when he heard about this, iming it was useless to him at this point. Duranium was supposed to be one of the rarest metals in the world. ording to Bungo, there were nine of such rare metals in this world starting from the softest and least valuable which also meant they were a lot moremon than the others.
While iron was a metal still found on Neron, it was also one of the mostmon metals on the and therefore was not part of the list and neither was steel or even magic steel.
The list of the rarest metal on Neron starts with, Copper, Silver, Gold, tinum, Orichalcum, Adamantine, Duranium, Tritanium and finally, Quantium. Tyler found their names interesting especially thest one, so he asked Bungo about it but it turned out that he had never seen or heard of anyone obtaining Quantium before. It definitely lived up to its name as the rarest metal in the world.
Tyler thought it might be fun to make a weapon out of that but simply gave up on that idea. The only reason he wanted a weapon was for insurance purposes, just in case there was ever a time he was unable to use magic for some reason. He made a specific design for Bungo, describing a sword simr to the Japanese katana, the odachi. I mean, who wouldn''t want a Japanese weapon in a fantasy world.
Sure he had only seen a single elf since he got here but she had definitely lived up to the legendary beauty of the elves. If he wasn''t such a stand-up guy, he would''ve been so in there. ''Hehehe...'' Tyler chuckled internally as he took a nce at Rains chest as she sat ever so close to him.
Returning to the matter at hand, he had chosen to make his weapon simr to an odachi and not a katana because the design was very simr to Albert''s Miaodao. Naturally, Tyler''s version was slightly different. The length was longer than the katana but also shorter than the actual odachi and Miao Dao, a little simr to the Tachi but wasn''t as curved. He wanted to be able to wield the weapon with one hand without the length getting in the way.
The melted ores and cores were poured into the mold and the magic crystal Tyler provided was added to the mix. He used the Tier 3 magic crystal he had gotten from the Gray-War troll since using a magic crystal when forging a weapon was a waste of the energy within. Most of the Mana within can''t be contained within the raw materials so the use of magic crystals was usually frowned upon.
Of course, Tyler had received the five magic crystals he had turned into dark magic crystals from the settlement''s stockpile which surprisingly only had six magic crystals within. He promised to pay them back but they refused although he would just do it anyway. Especially after what he did to their chief due to his petty nature.
While most cksmiths would berate whoever ask them to use magic crystals in creating a weapon, Bungo, however, did not challenge Tyler, instead, he took it as a challenge. He nned on being the first cksmith to retain 50 percent of the energy of the crystals.
ording to his research, the highest percentage of energy retain while forging an item with the use of magic crystals was recorded at around 20% no matter what method was used in the forging process. Of course, Tyler believes there was magic that would help with that but it must''ve been of an insanely high level.
Bungo wore an enchanted glove and ced the magic crystal in adle. He then, with the aid of the glove cast a spell. Blue mes immediately melted the crystal inside thedle and just as the melted ores and cores were being poured in the mild, he slowly added the liquefied magic crystal.
When he was done, he started the process again for Rain''s dagger while waiting for Tyler''s mold to cool. Bungo had a lot of enchanted tools that made his work easier. He could shape the des with a few swings of his hammer without having to reheat the sword. The entire process only took about two hours and both his sword and Rain''s dagger werepletely done.
Bungo was quite excited to show off his work. He even went as far as to add some magic runes he had learned recently. Tyler however took one look at the runes and was disappointed. All it said was ''Silence'' but Bungo had thought it said ''sharper''. Well, it wasn''t all bad, the finished product was amazing. Rain''s dagger looked simr to the original although they could tell it was way inferior.
She even told him her original des were magic artifacts called, Epitome of Destruction. It was quite the long name but it did live up to it with its effects and the single skill it had. The dagger, when used as a pair boosted the strength and speed of its user by 30 and 20 percent especially, it also had the passive effect of causing destruction. Basically, every attack made with the de would chip away at the target until it finally stacked enough to cause absolute destruction.
It also had the skill that could shatter any barrier depending on the level of the user. This was their original means of essing this castle. The dagger wasn''t as effective with just a single pair left but it was still a magic artifact and was still on a different level than other magic weapons.
Her new dagger also had the silence rune drawn in it and when she swung it around it made no sound even as it cut through the air with great speed. She looked pleased with the results and Tyler decided to appraise them.
????
Magic weapon. (Dagger) - Epic Rank
Yet to be Named
A de forged by a famed cksmith with great concentration and focus. It contains the properties of two vastly different cores and a frame of Duranium was used to stabilize the attributes.
Primary Effect: Focus (Passive)
Whenever the wielder is in a focused state during battle. They would slowly recover their stamina and any injury they had sustained will start to heal at a rapid pace.
Secondary Effect: Poisonous mes - Skill.
Launch arge ball of poisonous Green mes at a target. The attack consumes a radius of 15 feet.
????
''Wow, she lucked out.'' She had gotten the two most useful skills from the two cores that were used in forging her de. Rain received the appraisal sheet from Bungo and couldn''t help her smile. It was a shame she lost one of her des and could no longer use the set effect, but this was a great recement.
She happily hugged Tyler however, Tyler waspletely dejected at the moment. He had gone over to take a look at his sword and it looked incredibly cool. The de had a tint of red and the hilt wasn''t like the Japanese swords but it look awesome. However, the moment he appraised the weapon he lost all the excitement that had built up within him.
????
Magic Weapon (Sword) -Epic Rank
Yet to be Named
A new type of sword forged by a famed cksmith. This weapon was forged with a magic crystal and has surpassed the previously recorded assimtion percentage, it contains more than 30 percent of the energy of the crystal.
Primary Effect: Rapid Burst - Skill
Consumes durability to produce a burst of rapid and explosive strikes with an attack power that surpasses the user''s tier.
????
''That''s it?'' What aplete and utter waste of a magic crystal. The skill also meant the more he used it the sooner the weapon would be useless. It turns out there were a lot of reasons why it wasn''t a good idea to use magic crystals when forging a weapon. Thinking of this differently, however, this would be the best weapon for him.
He nned on being a mage and intended to mostly fight as a mage so the only time he would use the weapon was if he was ever in a desperate situation. With such a powerful ability, this de may one day save his life.
Thinking this way he cheered himself up and pulled Rain away from him. For some reason, she was still hugging him. "Why are you still holding on to me!"
"Hehe... I forgot."
She stuck her tongue out cutely acting like a klutz but Tyler suspected she knew what she was doing. "Alright let''s go then." Tyler then ced the de in his storage ring and was about to leave Bungo to his work when suddenly Rain asked him a question.
"So what do you n to name your weapon."
"Name?"
"Yeah, it''s important to name a magic weapon."
"Oh "
"Yeah, I''m gonna name mine Verlion. Isn''t that cool." She said ying with the dagger in her hand. Tyler thought about it for a while and just picked a random name.
"I''ll just call mine Narsil."
"Wow, as expected of lord Ty, such an amazing name." Bungoplimented with bright eyes. Rain nodded rapidly in agreement and Tyler was wondering why they were so excited. "Well, thanks... alright let''s head out "
"Okay."
They were already halfway through the door when Tyler suddenly stopped and turned his head around to look at Bungo. "How''s the artilleries for the towersing along?"
"Yes, I''m almost done with the first one. I''ve just been having trouble adding the runes you gave me to the final product. But, I''m also running out of materials for the next one."
"I see, I''ll add those material to my list then. Keep trying with the runes."
"Yes of course."
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Chapter 97 C97. Z Says Be Prepared
The air outside was quite warm, yet the snow still fell from the thickyers of ashen clouds. This contrasting effect was done by none other than Tyler. He had to use a scroll that controls temperature. It was indeed a low-level scroll as heter found out that a few of the beastmen could use the spell.
Normally the spell was only a lifestyle spell but the scroll was at the tier 3 standard. Somehow the person who made this scroll had forced a low-level spell inside a high-tiered material. The spell made the area within the barrier as warm as the weather would feel during spring.
The reason he had done this was simple, he was bored. Having more questions than answers was indeed a frustrating feeling, to say the least. After attempting to return to the library for days now he was left with no choice but to move on with his n.
He needed to leave this ce for a while and it wasn''t just to learn more about magic or get information but he just needed to getaway. To not think about his problems here for a while. Perhaps being cooped up here was the reason he was so easily irritated.
However, he couldn''t just leave without preparing and he couldn''t leave this ce unprotected. Even if there was a barrier, it had been known that the firstyer could still be easily breached and who knew what would happen if it was breached when he was away. Tyler needed this ce to be a fortress, well, maybe not to that extent.
He also felt bad about practically torturing Azar''s group in the training hall two days ago so he decided to find a way to make it up to them. To be honest, there wasn''t much he could do, and offering a verbal apology might sound sarcasticing from him.
The only thing Azar''s group seems to enjoy was fighting and improving the efficiency of their skills which was a great thing for the group. Thanks to his little shenanigans, Azar, Kazko, and Rekaz had formed some kind of bond over that incident. They still flinch when he tries to talk with them and spend most of their free time training in the ward.
Even though he had told them that they could now use the training halls and that he had just been messing with them, they didn''t seem to believe him. It was a good thing the trolls were now close with the ogre''s thanks to Azar''s new friendship with them but Tyler still felt like all their training was aimed at him.
Of course, he didn''t think they had any intentions of challenging him as that would be foolish. No, their goal seems to be Zelda and the others. They were obviously obsessively training so there could probably challenge and defeat his shadow Rogues.
They seem to now be aware of the difference between tiers. The stronger one got the harder it was to urately judge their strength through tiers alone. From tier 2, tiers were generally further broken down into levels. The Basic level or simply referred to normally by the tier.
The intermediate level, the advanced level, and finally the peak tier. Azar was probably just at the basic rank and so were Rekaz and Kazko, while his shadow rogues were at the peak stage. Being a tier 4, the difference between ranks was a lot wider than it was for Tier 3 and subsequently Tier 2.
However, he had only just created Zelda and the others so there was a chance, whilst abysmal. There was still a chance that the three battle nuts would somehow prevail over his undead and he could clearly visualize the smugness that would be stered on their faces when that happens and he definitely didn''t want that to happen.
He needed to redirect their newfound obsession with defeating Zelda and the others as they were meant for more important things. Since the three needed to be distracted before he left, Tyler came up with a very generic n of action.
With that, he created a tournament featuring the ogres and beastmen against the two undead he had locked up down in the south wing. Naturally, the promise of fighting Peak Tier 3 undead may not seem as enticing to Azar, Rekaz, and Kazko but he had managed to convince them otherwise.
The undead had a limitless supply of stamina and a Peak Tier 3 undead could go toe to toe with Basic Tier 4 warriors like them. He also added a cherry atop the cake that is the tournament. Those that could defeat one of the undead would receive a prize and if you can defeat both, well, Tyler promised something very special.
What that was, he had no idea but whatever, he would slowly think about it on his trip. He was just happy he could finally put the two undead he couldn''t control to good use. Perhaps they would help the fighters of the settlement reach their potential and improve their skills as they got stronger.
He didn''t n on watching the entire tournament personally. He had already exined his ideas to Albert and he would organize the rest of thepetition without him.
Right now, Tyler was still patrolling the outside of the castle. The Gray trolls were hard at work with some of the ogres fixing all the damaged walls with the limited materials they had. Well, it was more like they were doing a bad job patching the walls as not even Bungo understood how most of this castle worked and the materials used in its construction were insanely rare.
Tyler had alsomissioned Bungo to build some artilleries for the four towers. The designs he came up with were a mix of modern technology mixed with magic. He had started Bungo off with as simple a design as possible and nned to get more creative as he got used to making them.
They were a type ofrge machine gun that firesrge enchanted arrowheads as bullets. He had no ess to gunpowder and didn''t even know if that would be effective in this world so hepromised.
He had also spent thest day creating undead from some of the Basic ranked beast corpses and the weaker troll corpses as those low-grade materials probably wouldn''t make any decent undead no matter how powerful the spell used was.
As expected, the monsters all turned out to be zombified monsters and the troll, skeletal trolls. Since they were all weak, they were all stationed in the rear entrance of the castle as they would only be used as canon fodders but that was still better than nothing.
After messing with negative energy again, the negative Corruption was slowly building up within him but Tyler used light heal and managed to slow down the process. Since he would be gone for a while he needed to take someone a little more ustomed to this world with him. Deciding who to take with him had also been a major source of headache for him.
He needed someone with the demon continent''smon sense and also someone capable and could use magic. He also needed someone that wouldn''t draw mock attention to him and that eliminated most of the first names that came to mind.
Tyler strolled through the courtyard of the castle with three girls trailing behind him for some unknown reason.
This was the case ever since thest battle with the troll and the elimination of the scouts. At first, it had just been Rain since Erin had been tasked with healing Zomatsu and his ogre friend and Liz was helping out while making sure the shadow Assassin didn''t escape.
He wasn''t even sure how they had gotten rid of Albert who was the one that usually escorted him around.
The first round of his mini-tournament didn''t start untilter in the evening so there was no reason for Albert to be gone. They might have bribed him but Tyler didn''t think Albert would fall for that.
While he enjoyed spending time with them, he still wanted some privacy but ever since he announced he would be leaving the castle in the morning, they''ve practically been glued to his hips.
The girls had been the ones to first suggest he took someone with him before Tyler had even seen the benefits in doing that. Rain had then volunteered to be the one that tagged along with him and immediately the others had also aggressively volunteered.
perhaps that was the reason this was happening.
They''ve all been hanging around him since then. ''Sigh...'' He had thought about the problem extensively. He already had a job in mind for Rain so she was out of the question. Erin was a little too shy for him to take out and now that he had magic Sense, he could clearly sense a faint connection between her and Albert which didn''t seem natural but since they weren''t telling him anything about it, he decided not to pry.
However he wouldn''t let them drag him into any more mess, if that were to happen he would immediately cut ties with them unless the situation greatly benefits him. As for taking Liz along, well it wasn''t a bad idea but, he didn''t want to draw any unnecessary attention to himself there.
In the end, he wouldn''t be taking any of them but he couldn''t bring himself to tell them just yet. With them out, his choices were now down to three. The petite beastgirl Nadine, she had impressed him in the battle with the trolls; Lora, the Tier 3 mage from the sentries, and Jarret just for his innate ability.
He couldn''t take Zomatsu as he was a wanted man otherwise this would''ve been the perfect test for him.
As they strolled through the courtyard, the three girls chatted amongst themselves and Tyler took them around to make sure the preparations were going smoothly. He finally took a break on one of the empty towers as he watched the busy kobolds set up new traps outside of the castle''s walls.
He had to admit that bringing them here had finally proved useful. The leader of the kobold was also a magic caster and Tyler had considered taking her with him but he had no idea if there were any racial hierarchy in the city and wouldn''t want to be ostracized before even aplishing any of his goals.
The girls stood beside him and they finally came out and ask him. Naturally, it was Rain who spoke for the two. "Hey, umm... lord Ty."
"What''s popping?"
"...Umm, So... who will you be taking with you to the city."
"Well... Since I need someone familiar with the city and is also a magic caster, I''ll take the girl called Nadine."
"Uh!"
They seemed disappointed and almost dejected. Tyler thought they must''ve wanted to visit a city desperately. He smiled and said. "Yeah, I would need you all to do something for me while I''m gone so don''t feel too bad."
"Oh."
Their response didn''t have any energy in it for a moment but they didn''t dwell on it too much and perk up again. "So what do you need us to do."
Tyler smiled before nodding and rying his instructions. It didn''t take long to exin before they all got the gist. Tyler also asked for their thoughts on the matter and permitted them to carry out his orders any way they see fit. He wasn''t a genius so he wouldn''t n everything on his own, the finer details had been left to the self-proimed genius, Zomatsu.
He was very interested to see how his n would fare. If everything goes ording to Z''s prediction then the annoyingly handsome fellow was way more useful than Tyler thought.
p Once they were done the girls finally left him alone after Rain ran back to give him a surprise kiss on the cheeks. Tyler didn''t mind that but he wondered if she had actually just forgotten earlier or if she was avoiding the notice of the other two.
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Chapter 98 C98. Lacking
On the ground floor of the South wing. There were currently more than 60 people gathered in one of the massive training halls in the castle. At this point, It was alreadyte in the evening and the preparations for Tyler''s mini-tournament had beenpleted.
Surprisingly, there were more than 40 fighters participating. To be frank this wasn''t much of a tournament, it was more like a prize-winningpetition. Everyone interested would be free to challenge one of the two undead that had been restrained in the center of the hall.
There was no special rules during the fight, one just had to incapacitate their chosen undead within a period of 15 minutes to move on to the next and final round.
When the first round ends those that qualified for the second round would receive a prize. The next round would have them face both undead creatures at the same time and those that are able to win would get an additional special prize.
Of course both prizes were still a mystery as Tyler wasn''t even aware of what it was himself. This event was surprisingly quite motivating to everyone, as they felt a special prize would be something incredible, increasing the pressure Tyler felt by a notch.
Of course, there were a few people who Tyler had forbid from participating in thispetition namely Rain who was a little too eager to win a special prize. Tyler had a bad feeling she would make a demand of him instead. Not to mention, she was already way stronger than both Undead creatures.
Erin, Liz, Albert, and the recently added Z, a name Tyler called Zomatsu after he kept butchering his actual name. Z had also made it down to observe thepetition as well.
With more than 40 fighters participating, thepetition was bound to take a long time so Tyler had Albert separate the two undead, giving them enough space for two battles at the same time.
The fighters then split into two semi-equal groups as they chose who they would rather fight against. It seems more had chosen the calmer Lich that stood quietly rather than the savage ck Knight that raged about trying to break free of its restraints.
Z shook his head at their foolishness and Tyler couldn''t help but chuckle inwardly. Z''s thoughts were correct as the Lich was a more frightening
foe than the knight. The girls sat beside Tyler in the corner of the room where a small seating area made entirely of the dining chairs that had been moved here, it was unknown if they were even interested in thispetition as they mostly chatted amongst themselves.
There were also a few ogres, beastmen, and even kobolds that sat there, opting to observe rather than participate. Albert, the events coordinator, stood at the center of the room as he prepared to start the first match. He had worked hard on this and Tyler thought he would get him something as well if he ever figures out what he was going to get the others.
"Begin!" Albert spoke as he snapped his fingers and the restraints on the ck Knight was released.
The battlemences and a beastman with ck dog ears, wielding two long swords charged at the released ck Knight, while an ogre ranger with a ck crossbow attacked the idle Lich by firing several arrows consecutively at it before dashing forward.
The ck Knight used its Death Wail the moment it was set free and the charging swordsman halted his steps as he tried to resist the attack. A barrier had been set around the designated battlefield so the sound of the wail did not affect the people outside the barrier and while Albert was also within the barriers, he could easily resist the wail.
The ck Knight charged at the stunned swordsman and bashed him with its massive Shield. The swordsman staggered back and tried to regain his bearing but the ck Knight was relentless. It roared and its oppressive and hate-filled aura loomed over the swordsman as the ck Knight swung its sword.
The swordsman tried to block the attack but was promptly sent out of the barrier by the unexpected strength of the strike. The ck Knight tried to madly charge after him but was immediately stopped by Albert who sent the ck Knight flying back with a single backhanded strike.
Meanwhile...
The ck dog eared Beastman had just begun his attack on the Lich, shooting out several arrows from his ck two-handed crossbow and dashed forward to make his next move depending on how the Lich nned on defending itself.
The Lich, however, did not make a move. The mes in its eyes flickered a bit and the arrows struck him without any resistance. Contrary to the beastman''s expectation though. The arrows hadn''t done any damage as most of them had gone through its tattered robes and even the ones that struck its bones did not do damage.
Zomatsu shook his head in disapproval as it was supposed to bemon knowledge that skeletal undead creatures had great resistance to piercing attacks but apparently this beastman did not get the memo.
The Lich raised an arm and a burst ofpressed negative energy gusted forth at the beastman and immediately knocked him unconscious. Both fights had ended almost instantly which made Tyler a little disappointed at his so-called troops.
Thepetition continued and most of the ogres and beastmen kept losing without even putting up much of a fight. Tyler didn''t understand why they were all suddenly so bad. He hadn''t personally witnessed it but this group had survived a battle against Tier 5 Lesser Basilisks.
He now took this as a serious problem and as he watched each fight he slowly understood why this was happening but he still couldn''t be sure. Zomatsu felt the sudden change in Tyler''s presence and immediately figured out his concerns.
"Pardon me for intruding but, I think the ogres and beastmen are not really ustomed to fighting a strong opponent on their own. None of them seem to have a bad form or look particrly nervous so that means they are either experience in hunting or had received good training but that training must have been as a group."
"Hmm... So you mean."
"Yes, they were most likely trained to work with and feed off their teammates. Even hunting parties generally move in groups and never fought monsters on their own. This might very well be the first time they''ve ever engaged inbat against a truly strong opponent without a team."
He was indeed correct. In thest fight with the trolls, only a few of them had been able to fight the trolls on their own and the rest had worked with teams. As freemen, it wasn''t really efficient to train fighters with low or average potential on how to fight on their own as their limited resources were better off elsewhere.
They would train people like that on how to survive dangerous situations and not how to win. It was better to focus on fighting as a team,pensating for your teammate''s weakness.
Tyler understood where that line of thinking wasing from but he could not apply that to warriors who generally only had low magic potential to begin with. Warriors needed all the training they could get to surpass their potential otherwise they would alwaysck behind mages and magic warriors.
Looking at the sorry states of most of the fighters challenging the undead. Tyler knew they needed better training and equipment. Most of them seem tock effective skills and even the few mages didn''t have a wide variety of spells. It was clear that most of their fighters hadn''t even reached their potential yet and were justcking the necessary resources but some just needed to work harder.
Thepetition continued and so far, no one had evene close to defeating the undead Duo. Tyler was wondering what Z would think if he found out that the two undead were his formerpanions but he quickly took that thought off his mind as something interesting finally happened.
The shield warrior known as Hart, the one Tyler considered a very lovable idiot took on the challenge of the ck Knight. He had done well against the trolls but Tyler wanted to see how he would fare on his own. He roared like a beast as his body glowed in a slight orange hue as he charged at the ck Knight who also charged at him.
Challenging the Lich right now was Jarret, he wasted no time using a skill as razor-sharp wind tore through the air at the Lich that still hadn''t moved from his previous location even after battling so many opponents.
Tyler was secretly impressed by the Lich''s swag but he still rooted for Jarret. The Lich quickly cast a spell and a wall of me rose from the ground, absorbing the razor wind however, Jarret wasn''t done yet. He swiftly moved behind the Lich and forcefully swung his sword diagonally.
¡ãTempest des¡ã
Several des of powerful howling wind followed his strike and before the Lich could create a defensive barrier to defend himself they all descended on him, sending the Lich tumbling back to the ground.
This was the first time the Lich had been moved from his spot and it didn''t look happy about it. As Jarret moved forward to press on his attack the Lich''s mouth opened and a ghastly voice rang out as it cast another spell.
"Bone Immure."
Bone spikes shot out of the ground as it trapped Jarret in a cage made of pure white bones. Jarret tried to destroy the cage but his weapon bounces off it like he had just struck a hard metal surface. Before he couldpose himself to try again with a skill the Lich had already cast its next spell.
"Lightning."
A bolt of dark silver lightning streaked out of his fingers as it aimed at Jarret. Trapped in a confined space there was no way he could block or avoid the attack, he would surely die the moment the lightning reached him.
With no way out of this, it was clear to him that he had lost this fight. As the lightning descended on him. Albert appeared before him and simply crushed the attack with his bare hands. He waved a fist and the bone cage shattered releasing Jarret.
The Lich took a step back as it had no intentions of fighting this opponent. It wasn''t sure why they kept sending weak opponents at him but it looked like they didn''t want him to kill those opponents.
With Albert interfering, it meant Jarret had lost and the next opponent stepped up to take on the Lich. Meanwhile, Hart''s huge frame had been sent flying out of the barrier which was a disappointment fir Tyler.
Tyler sighed, both of them had done better than the others but still, they had fallen short of his expectations. Perhaps the undead''s aura of Hate and aura of death had something to do with this but he couldn''t be sure.
The next fighters were Jin and Raz, fighting the Knight and Lich respectively. Their fights were quite impressive but they had also fallen short of expectations. It took a while and Tyler had almost given up on the settlement when someone finally won.
Nadine had managed to defeat the Lich while Gail had defeated the ck Knight just byunching enchanted arrows at it and nimbly maintaining her distance. The next challengers had also won their battle as Lora and Talen had also managed to sneak out a win.
Naturally, Azar and the two unique trolls had won their battles but to their surprise, it wasn''t an easy fight. Thepetition had really saved the best forst and even the spectators behind Tyler had gotten louder towards the end.
With Rekaz and Kazko defeating their opponent, thepetition came to an end. It was somewhat enjoyable and a good fare ware event for Tyler as he wouldn''t be here to watch the next round against both undead. Only seven people had qualified for that but it was bound to be more entertaining.
However, Tyler had other things to worry about. He also needed to design a rigorous training regimen for the settlement. He decided to have the self-proimed genius design the training and also give Albertmand of his two Tier 2 ck Knight for the weaker members of the settlement''s training.
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Chapter 99 C99. Throne Room
Tyler stood on one of the towers in the walls of the castle as he watched Bungo install therge turret-like marching gun although this one had a bulkier design to it as several runes were carved on the barrel giving it a mystical feel.
The instation process took quite a long time as Bungo wasn''t really ustomed to this type of machinery. Tyler had thought it was strange for Bungo not to know more about this type of artilleries as it should''ve already been invented in the human continent by now.
While most summoned heroes wouldn''t bother with inventions, there were bound to reincarnate that would use their knowledge to survive in this world. Still, he had to start somewhere, perhaps even find more cksmiths to make moreplicated machines.
The instation was soonpleted and Bungo began teaching the sentries how the machine was operated. Tyler didn''t need to learn that so he left the tower. The skies were still as cloudy and ashen as always but it had been a while since the snow fell from them.
The area inside the barrier was still warm from the constant use of the temperature maniption scrolls. He had quite a few of them and couldn''t think of a better way to use them.
After leaving the tower, Tyler headed straight for the topmost floor of the North wing, the fifth floor. As he exited the stairs he came before a slightly different sight than he had first seen.
He came into therge hall that held the massive and exquisite golden doors with crystal ornamented carvings on them. The door stood at the end of the hall in front of him, looking as imposing as ever as it towered over Tyler even from a considerable distance away. It was surelyrge enough to fit a giant.
Last time the doors had been covered with a thickyer of dust and even though it had still imprinted its magnificence on him, this time was on a whole different level. Tyler could almost swear the doors were glistening in the light.
The 21 Alcoves were still present on both sides of the wall and still contained the 20 broken statues of what may be considered holy knights, thest one was an angel, or what looked like a female fallen angel. The statue was cracked and one of her wings had fallen off but Tyler could no longer locate the broken pieces of her wings of any of the holy knights on the ground.
There was instead arge pile of the. at the corner of the hall. Albert probably felt the pieces were too valuable to be tossed out so he left them there.
Tyler walked over to the statue of the fallen angel and took a better look at it. He felt a strange sensation from just staring at it¡ª at her. However, unlike thest time, he didn''t feel threatened just looking anymore and could resist whatever it was that had intimidated him previously.
"Appraisal."
Naturally, he wanted to know what these statues that exuded a faint amount of pressure even after a millennium were. He hadn''t done this earlier as either Albert or the girls were next to him. However, Albert was now preparing for his departure and only God knows what the girls were up to.
????
Lillith Marble Sculpture [Legendary Sculpture]
A Tritanium infused marble sculpture of the fallen archangel Lillith. This sculpture contains traces of the magic metal Etherium and may possess living properties. A semnce of divinity lurks around it.
Primary Effect: Unknown.
Secondary Effect: Unknown.
Requires 1,000 magic crystals to activate.
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Tyler stood rooted to his spot, his face stered with shook. He had no idea what a legendary sculpture was but it absolutely wasn''t ordinary. It took him a while to regain his senses and think about the information he had just received.
The statue or sculpture before him was clearly not meant just to be a visual art that adorned this hall. Judging by the appearance of Effects it was more like a type of Artifact or a magic item but why he couldn''t see the effects were beyond him.
He tried over and over again but nothing changed no matter how much mana was used. With a deep sigh, Tyler promptly chose to give up. All he needed to do was learn high-tiered appraisal magic or skills and try again.
He took his attention off the statue and walked to the door in front of him, on the way he felt the eyes of the knights move to stare at him and Tyler no longer considered it his imagination. However, he ignored their stares and arrived at the giant door that made him feel like a dwarf.
Without any hesitation, he pushed lightly. The doors opened without any resistance and Tyler didn''t feel like he was even applying any amount of pressure. As expected the door slowly open without making a single noise that made him think the world had gone mute.
As the door slowly opened the scene from the interior of the room came into his view once more.
A light breeze swept past him as the door opened. The previous pressure he had felt was no more. He looked straight and as expected, there was a throne made of materials he had never seen before but he assumed there must''ve been some amount of Quantium mixed within it.
The metallic yet crystalline look and feel of the throne had made him think of the insanely rare metal. Of course, he couldn''t ignore the magic metal his Appraisal magic had told him about in the sculpture of Lillith.
Tyler stood there and admired the throne for a good while before he finally took a step forward and walked to the base of the short flight of stairs that elevated the throne that still looked intimidating up close.
Not wanting to waste more time he climbed the short flight of stairs and now stood in front of the throne as he extended an arm to touch it once more. The metallic yet crystalline surface felt cold to the touch but strangely soothing... With a strangepelling force telling him to have a sit once again, he withdrew his arm and proceeded to cast his appraisal spell.
"Over tier magic - Appraisal."
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Throne of the Supreme¡ª
Unable to appraise
Unable to appraise
p Unable to appraise
Unable to appraise
Unable to appraise
Unable to appraise
Unable to appraise
Unable to appraise
Unable to appraise
Unable to appraise
Unable to appraise
Unable to appraise
Unable to appraise
Unable to appraise
Unable to appraise
Unable to appraise
Unable to appraise
...
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An immediate overload of useless and repetitive information was suddenly forced into his head by whatever it was that was protecting the throne from being read. Tyler''s brain suddenly felt like it was about to explode as the information kept repeating itself in his head with no sign of stopping.
Tyler held his head as he was forced to his knees in excruciating pain. His mind was about to go nk but Tyler knew he couldn''t let that happen. If the information kepting it might kill him. He tried as hard as he could to muster up the strength and quickly canceled the spell that had been hijacked by the throne.
The pain slowly subsided as he began to regain some semnce of his thoughts. He quickly cast cate on himself to calm his mind as he managed to stand up, panting heavily. Tyler red at the metallic throne with clear malice in his eyes. He really wanted to just smash this thing apart for that but was wary of any more defensive mechanism.
He had wanted to attempt entering the secret room without activating the monarch ring but this was not a good sign as he climbed down the stairs and exited the throne room. He clearly wasn''t ready for anything in there and he didn''t want to know what type of protection was in the secret room.
As he came out of the throne room a sudden ringing entered his head which made him flinch in fright but soon realize it was just themunication spell being used. He epted themunication request and Albert''s voice entered his mind.
He was reporting hispletion of the preparations for Tyler to leave for Winged city today and Tyler thanked him for his hard work.
Tyler also told Albert to tell Nadine she was apanying him right before he hanged up the call. He had already informed her beforehand so this was merely a reminder.
He took his time heading to the gate so he could continuously use his healing spell on himself to be fully recovered from that mental assault. Upon getting to the gate he saw a single six-eyed bull attached to a single carriage. It was obviously the same carriage as the ones that brought the ogres here but right now the carriage wasn''t asrge as he remembered.
It was of rtively normal size with the same simple design. It wasn''t until he focused did Tyler realize that this carriage was a magic item. He wondered how a tribe of freemen got their hands on so many rare mounds and magic carriages before his eyes settled on the two people standing by the carriage and it clicked for him.
It was Albert... He remembered asking a question previously and Jarret had given him an answer that also answered this question. When the Great five had tried to influence the lives of freemen, stating that they needed to either be the citizens of a region or relocate to an unupied region. Albert who had been a Lord of a small region had provided this tribe with everything they had needed to survive.
Perhaps he had also done that because he knew he would need their help in the future, his foresight wasn''t bad. Albert and Nadine dropped down to a knee upon Tyler''s arrival and Albert spoke first.
"We''vepleted all the preparations you requested."
"Nice, good job my guy."
Tyler said trying to lighten the mood but it didn''t seem to work as the girl Nadine looked incredibly nervous and was trembling visibly.
Tyler looked at the petite girl with a very cute face and fluffy tail that made him want to pet her. He remembered the wild side she showed in the magic crystal mirror when she had fought against the unique trolls and even when she had defeated the Lichst night and couldn''t believe she was the same person acting timid here.
Tyler chuckled before walking over to her and calming tone, he greeted her. "Hi there, looks like I''ll be in your care for some time."
Nadine''s face flushed red as she tried her best topose herself in her response. "I- I''ll d-do my best."
Her shaky voice made Tylerugh a little and that made her face get even redder.
"There''s no need to be so nervous, I''m not scary am I?"
"Uh, n-no... just, err, sorry"
Tyler didn''t understand why she was now apologizing so he thought he would stop there before she broke down or something. He turned to Albert and asked. "Is everything in there?"
"Yes, Nadine is also aware of what to do to get into the city."
"Alright, Let''s head out. Oh and, do keep an eye on Z, I''ll call you if his information checks out so you can let him out of confinement."
"Yes sir."
"Is he done with the training regimen for them?"
"I believe so, I''ll implement it as soon as thepetition ends."
"Alright, I''ll be back sometime next week, maybe earlier so see you then."
"Yes sir."
As Tyler turned to board the carriage, he suddenly saw a dark figure running towards him from the castle. He instinctively knew who it was and he could see two other figures that were flying after her.
As Rain bolted to a halt she grinned at him and before Tyler could even ask a question, she had already moved forward and kissed him. Unlike thest peck she gave him on the tower, this was a deep kiss.
As she pulled herself away from him, she quickly whispered something into his ears before bolting away like lightning just as the other two girls had reached her location. They flew down in front of Tyler and Liz felt like she should apologize for her friend. "I''m sorry about her Lord Ty, we couldn''t stop her."
Tyler''s mind finally spun again as he chuckled trying to hide his surprise. "Hmm, it''s fine... Are you guys here to see me off?"
"Um, yeah... we were all supposed to do that but Rain wanted to sneak into your roo¡ª Oh umm, she was just sad you weren''t taking her along."
"Wait did you say sneak?"
"Oh no, we have to go please be careful out there."
Before Tyler could find out more Liz had already dragged Erin in the air as they flew away. Erin looked helpless as she was being pulled around by the two.
"Well, that was weird."
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Chapter 100 C100. Merchant Guild
"Well, that was weird."
"Indeed it was sir... Do you want me to find out what they''re up to?"
"Huh, sure why not... Just make sure you''re careful about it, girls are quite frightening when they want to be."
"I''m well aware my Lord."
"Spoken like a man with a lot of experience on that..."
"Unfortunately so my Lord."
"Uh, now that''s interesting, so what happened."
"I''d rather not speak of it, forgive me, my Lord."
"Oh, no qualms."
"Thank you, sir."
"Alright then, we''ll be off now."
"Do be careful my Lord."
"Sure will."
Nadine then boarded the driver seat of the carriage and Tyler joined her. The carriage was parked in front of the gate so she had to wait for therge metal gate that had only recently been fixed, to be opened. However, Tyler halted her for a moment.
Even with all the scouts in the area gone, he still nned to be extra careful. This was still a part of the world he was unfamiliar with and couldn''t make any careless mistakes.
He reached into space and brought out five parchments with a slightly golden tint to them. This was a sign that the scrolls were of rtively high quality and they were. These were all anti-divination scrolls of the fourth tier and above.
Tyler handed the parchments over to Nadine who immediately began activating them a few of them were counter detection spells as well. While she was doing that, Tyler had his eyes closed as he visualized the area of the Greyad ins he had fought the trolls in his mind.
Once he sensed Nadine was done activating the spells he immediately activated his ¡ãSpatial Teleportation¡ã skill which was just the Spatial Movement and Spatial Distortion skillbined.
Nadine''s expression went nk the moment she saw the space around her warp for a bit before her view of therge metal gate was reced by an almost endless snowy in. She held the reins of the Six-eyed bull but didn''t make another action as surprise or shock was still all over her face.
Tyler saw her expression and chuckled softly. She probably hadn''t expected him to be able to move such arge carriage with Teleportation as such a spell could normally only be achieved by incredibly rare artifacts.
Tyler didn''t ask her to move, instead, he took the opportunity to summon two of his shadow rogues that were still hidden in his shadow and the shadow of the carriage.
"re, Kali."
The two female undead rogues rose from the shadows and knelt before Tyler atop the carriage.
"Find out where the remainder of the Four Kings are located in the forest and especially that moron of Lich in the north. Be extra careful around them and report to me immediately something happens."
"As youmand." Their voice echoed each other and they soon disappeared from the ins.
Tyler then turned his head to Nadine as he smiled and said. "Alright, let''s head out if we want to make it there before it gets toote."
"Err... O-kay." Her voice was still shaky but she soon got herself together and tugged on the reins of the Six-eyed bulls as they galloped down the field in the direction of the border city.
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Time flew by and soon even the ashen clouds began to get darker. Their carriage galloped through the ins with an impressive pace, the magic item absorbing most of the shock from the uneven roads.
They were finally getting closer to the city after crossing through the Darknar region by taking the route suggested by his coachman Nadine. They no longer saw as many monsters on the way as before and It was now smooth sailing to Winged City.
It hadn''t snowed all day but the roads in the Darknar region were fully covered in ice and a thickyer of snow due to zero maintenance. However, this hadn''t been a problem for their carriage as it turned out the six-eyed bulls had a passive ability called Fiery Aura that activated in extremely cold weather and could melt the ice and snow within a 15-meter radius.
This was the reason Albert had given the bulls to the settlement in the first ce as they could survive and were freely able to move in almost any terrain. As the sky got darker, their visibility became even more limited.
However, as they crossed into the main road of the extended Sentro region, Tyler could finally see the lights of arge city structure in the distance. They would make it there in less than 30 minutes or so.
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Winged City stood at the border of the Sentro region and Darknar region. It was also not that far from the Mounta Region which was also a region controlled by the Mereotti family, one of the Great Five.
The city was surrounded by tall walls on all four sides. Being a major trade center in the continent the city''s protection was top notch. There were highly skilled knights stationed on the walls and throughout the city whose job was to maintain the peace and enforce thews.
The city had five boroughs that were distinctly different from each other. They were each located in the four cardinal directions of the city with the central or royal borough being the ce where the nobles reside.
The south district or borough was sometimes used to billet the troops directly under the Zorak family, and so it was fully furnished with barracks and other military facilities.
The innermost district of the North borough was also the administrative area of the city. In addition, the district also contained storehouses forbat rations. Thus, it was almost as heavily guarded as the Royal Borough.
The other two boroughs was mostly a residential district, where the people of Winged city made their homes. This ce best fits the image that came to mind when one thought of a city. Although there were also some residential areas in the north borough, it was mostly for military personnel.
There were several zas in these two boroughs, and thergest of them was called the Central Winged za. It was filled with high-rise stalls selling quality vegetables, spices, and other suchmercial products.
Amidst the crowds, the stall owners energetically shouted their sales pitches to the people walking by and even the carries that slowly drove by, while the older women haggled with the merchants as they looked for fresh food. Drawn by fragrant scents, young men purchased skewers of roasted meat that oozed with warm juices that watered their cold mouths.
The moon now ruled the sky as its light prated through the thick ashen clouds. Although the snow hadn''t fallen the entire day, there were still someyers of snow on the streets that were slowly being cleared by workers. However, this did nothing to derail the rowdy atmosphere in this ce. It seems to go on like this as if aiming to continue till dawn.
The magicmps on the side of the streets lit up the za almost as well as the sun would and the crowd of people produced enough body heat to make this ce feel warm. However, the za suddenly went silent as a majestic beast drew a carriage and entered the za, heading for a seven-story building nearby.
Everyone in the za froze where they stood, their eyes were drawn by the imposing six-eyed bull as it slowly came to a stop in front of the building. Their eyes were naturally drawn to the two figures that alighted from a carriage that had been pulled by such a rare beast.
Naturally, they would be curious about its owners as the majority of the carries used in this city were pulled by ordinary horses. Even the highest-level merchant and members of the Zorak family would only use tier 2 demonic horses. Anyone who could possess such a rare and valuable creature would not be so ordinary.
The two figurespletely alighted from the carriage and the crowd could finally see them. One of these two people was a girl, who looked to be in herte teens. Her eyes gleamed in the moonlight, while her thick and lustrous ck hair waszily styled in a singlerge braid. Her tanned skin made her cheeks look a little flushed and slightly twitching dog ears rekindled a tickling sensation in the crowd that made them want to protect her.
What drew their attention the most though was the slight air of elegance which surrounded her, followed closely by her exotic beauty and the innocent look in her eyes that would make anyone do a double-take. Although the ckish-grey thick robe she wore was in in make, it still looked like an opulent dress on her.
Her partner soon followed after her but no one could tell what the gender was. It was a tall figure who wore a long ck coat thatpletely hid his figure, a hood also covered most, if not all of his/her face.
However, this did not matter to the men in the crowd who already fell for the young girl. Their hearts burned with rage at the sight of this figure who showed no respect to the adorable girl he rode with. Their minds had processed all sorts of scenarios about the nature of their rtionship and had already painted that figure their life sworn enemy.
The pair then looked around a bit before the girl happily leads the cloaked individual into the building. This only seemed to anger the men in the crowd more.
The onlookers watched the pair vanish into the seven-story building, and then immediately began whispering about what they had seen. They no longer seemed afraid of the identities of this pair as nobles didn''t tend to move around with beastkins or other subsidiary races.
The other reason they didn''t care anymore was that the building they had entered was the Merchant Guild and judging by the type of carriage and the rare beast that pulled it, they were most likely foreign merchants that came from a faraway region.
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The pair walked into therge lobby of the almost empty merchant guild building. Normally this ce would be bursting with a crowd of merchants making deals and providing amission for escorts including other activities provided by the guild.
The merchant guild provided a tform for all the different merchant groups that came from all over the continent to be acquainted with each other, providing more opportunities for those who were able to build multiple connections.
The guild also helped the merchants send requests to the hunter''s guild for merchants that require protection during a trip which was cheaper for unknown or rookie merchants that had no reputation, it prevents them from being cheated.
There was only a single receptionist on duty at this time, perhaps it was due to thete hour.
Tyler and Nadine strolled over to the young male receptionist and Tyler spoke first.
"Good day, we would like to trade some wares with the guild."
The male receptionist looked a little nervous by being spoken to by a fully cloaked man he couldn''t see the face of, he looked to his partner and she smiled at him making his heart flutter. He found some courage and answered the man''s question.
"D-do you have a merchant license from the guild "
"No."
"Are you by chance a hunter or part of the magic institute?"
"No."
"Well if you''re are not part of any of those institutions, extra charges would be applied to any trade you make with us. Would you like to join the guild?"
"No "
The receptionist''s face twitched, heposed himself and rephrased his question.
"Joining the guild would provide you with some additional benefits and we would be able to buy your ware at market price. Would you consider joining the guild?"
"..."
There was finally a pause from the series of short responses and the male receptionist sighed inwardly. This was his first week working here and being rejected like this was beginning to damage his confidence, but it looked like he had finally gotten through to this guy when...
"No."
Another devastating denial, he could no longer handle it so he had to give up on his recruitment. The guild didn''t urgently need more members and although he was new, he was still just doing this newbie a favor, besides how much ware could these two provide the guild anyway. The girl may be a beauty but they were still just subraces like him and he didn''t have to show them any more courtesy.
"Alright, please have a seat. I''ll send someone to count and confirm the quality of your products."
Tyler and Nadine went over to the side and took a seat. It took the guild a while to confirm everything about the product they had in the carriage. After about 30 minutes the same male receptionist ran over to them in a panic and apologized profusely for the dy while inviting them to the third floor and inside a private meeting room or rather a V.I.P room.
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Chapter 101 C101. Merchant Guilds V.I.Ps
At the topmost floor of the merchant guild building. Situated inside one of the more luxurious offices in the building was a blonde middle-aged man with a prominent mustache.
He sat on the sofa across from a very beautiful and alluring woman as they chatted with familiarity. However, it was still clear to all who witness this scene that the older man was actually being apprehensive and respectful towards thisdy in a beautiful crimson dress as she took a sip from the ss of exotic wine in front of her.
They continued their supposedly casual discussion with her taking the lead. "By the way Rio, I heard something strange recently."
"Hmm, and what might that be Lady Syphilia?"
"Well, I''m not exactly sure how urate this was but I heard something strange is going on in Darknar, they said several scouts suddenly returned two weeks ago."
"You say you heard but didn''t you just get that from your spy inside the castle. If lord Aur finds out about it, even you might be in trouble."
"Fufufu... surely you''re joking, that boorish man wouldn''t find a rat if it was right under his nose."
"That''s quite harsh."
"Just forget him, so do you think it''s true. I think thest time something
interesting happened was when the Alcars tried and failed to break that barrier."
"True."
Thedy finished her drink in a single gulp and the maid in the room rushed over to refill her ss.
"I''m not sure you should be drinking this much, Lady Syphilia. This is the frozen grape wine from the north. You know how you get when you''re drunk."
"Oh shut up, I still know how to hold my liquor, unlike someone in this room." Her big brow pupils shed at him In a seductive tint, her cheeks a little red.
Just as he was about to respond though, a sudden knock echoed in the rooming from the only double door in the room and the maid that stood next to it moved closer to see who it was.
She came back to inform him of the visitor and he slightly frowned. He apologized to thedy before him and hurriedly got up from his seat, walking over to the door to see the male receptionist that was supposed to be on duty at the reception hall on the first-floor standing had abandoned his post and was now standing in front of his office.
"This had better be important, how many times must I tell you all not to bother me when I have a guest."
"My deepest apologies sir, but we have an urgent situation that requires your attention."
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The merchant guild''s building was arge seven-story building in the Central Winged za. It contained various lounges, offices, storehouses, and several luxurious VIP rooms that were designed for entertaining important guests and the discussions of important matters. Inside one of such rooms that were filled with tasteful pieces of furniture, sat a petite young girl and a fur coat hooded figure.
The pair had been immediately ushered here the moment the male receptionist had been reported the contents of their carriage.
This was an expected reaction, after all the only things that were stored in the carriage were rare herbs and nts gotten from the Darknar forest along with the preserved bodies of several white hoppers. Normally monster corpses were the territory of the Hunter''s Guild but the white hoppers were considered a delicacy. A rare and exquisite delicacy.
Not to mention their furs were also extremely valuable and had quite useful effects for concocting potions.
A female receptionist walked shortly after the male receptionist had left and offered them some beverages alongside some colorful snacks that looked like candy-infused cookies.
While the cloaked figure rejected him, the young girl beside him happily epted the drink and sweets and ate them leisurely as she sipped her beverage. After around 5-10 minutes the doors suddenly flung open and a middle-aged man in a suit walked into the room with the earlier male receptionist trailing behind him.
He had blonde slick back hair and a prominent mustache. He didn''t appear too old but had an air of someone whose been through countless struggles. His deep blue eyes scanned the room for only a second before proceeding to fully enter the room and walking to take a sit.
The man sat down opposite the pair and politely greeted them.
"Hello there, I am terribly sorry about the wait. There were just a few things we had to be absolutely certain of before we could have a serious discussion."
"It''s fine, this was to be expected." The hooded figure replied from underneath his hood and judging by his voice which he had made no effort in hiding, he was a man. The middle-aged man nodded in satisfaction before introducing himself.
"My apologies for thete introduction, my name is Riokar Vird, the merchant guild manager or Guild Leader if you prefer. Our merchant guild had been having some slow days but for thest few days we''ve suddenly been stacked with work which leads to us being understaffed, so I apologize again for the dy."
"That is fine, we came at an unorthodox hour and haven''t waited for too long so do not bother yourself about it."
"Much appreciated."
"I suppose I should introduce myself then. You can call me Lix, The one next to me is call Lilith."
The hooded man spoke softly pointing at himself before pointing at the young girl who was still busy stuffing her face in sweets.
"Only single names?"
"For now, yes "
"Oh... I understand, well then, let''s get down to business."
"..."
The look in Riokar''s eyes changed and the air around him became more serious. The male receptionist took it as a sign and excused himself. Riokar then spoke to the pair with a glint in his eyes
.
"If I may ask, where exactly are you both from?"
"We would like to keep that private if you don''t mind, but I guess you can say we''re from the far east."
"I see... I didn''t mean to pry but to be honest, we were shocked by all the products you brought us today. Most of those herbs can only be found amid dangerous ces like the Darknar forest, the ze Mountains, and the Vermilion Rain forest in the far east, so I guess you''ve answered our biggest question."
The expression on Riokar''s face finally softens and he nodded. It was obvious his previous apprehension was due to where those herbs were obtained. Entry to the Darknar forest was strictly forbidden and anyone not from the Great five selling something from there would bebel a criminal and the merchant guild would not like to be caught in between something like that.
Naturally, one wouldn''t just openly admit to a crime especially not demons. However, Riokar wasn''t the merchant guild leader for no reason. He could read auras, even from monsters. He could clearly read the aura of these two and he could even read the aura of the cloaked man and he had judged them for telling the truth.
A faint smile grew on his face and he spoke with a sense of confidence. "I was told you have no intentions of joining our merchant guild, however, I don''t think you understand the importance of the merchant guild to the fullest."
He reached into his suit and pulled out a glimmering purple card and ced it on the table. "You see, the merchant guild does more than just trade goods and services with the various cities and regions. We also have certain rights and privileges that mostmoners would only dream of."
He pushed the card in front of the cloaked man and smiled. "This is a VIP merchant license. Although you would still start as a rank one merchant, the difference between this and the ordinary rank one merchant license is the same as the difference between a lowlymoner and a noble. I can tell that both of you are strong but as subraces, you wouldn''t get far in this world without this kind of status from either our guild, the hunter''s guild, or the magic institute."
Riokar leaned back into his chair and continued. "From the fact that you''re not wearing a hunter''s bracelet around your wrist means you have no intentions in joining the hunter''s guild. Otherwise, the guild itself would''ve initiated a. trade with us so they could negotiate on your behalf. With that said I reckon your best option is to join the merchant guild. It would be impossible for you to sell those herbs yourselves without a license and with the VIP license, the guild only takes 10% of your revenue unlike the usual 30% for ordinary members and 50% for non-members."
Riokar smiled confidently, he was sure these two were still new to the battlefield that was the world of business and was still very green even though they were strong enough to explore the Vermilion Rain forest. Of course, he wouldn''t cheat such valuable assets. Why antagonize the chicken that could constantlyy you golden eggs over a single golden egg.
The cloaked man chuckled softly at that, which surprised Riokar a little. He then heard him speak. "You''re mostly correct."
"Mostly." Riokar frowned, he hesitated for a bit before ultimately opening his mouth again. "What do you mean?"
The man slowly raised his hands and removed his hood. This move slightly surprised Riokar. He had assumed the man didn''t want his figure to be revealed because he was a part of an ostracized species or for a reason simr to that. However, what he saw now couldn''t be more furthest from the truth.
The cloaked figure had turned out to be a young man with short ck hair that was cut in an unfamiliar style. He had hazel-colored pupils and a slightly thin face. His overall appearance was a little above average and he didn''t have any general resemnce to the thousands of people he had seen over the years meaning he was from a rather faraway region.
However, his appearance was still that of an ordinary demon. There were no horns, neither were their tails of any sub species to be found.
His presence was almost non-existent and if one was not looking at him directly, there was a very good chance they wouldn''t notice him.
This, however, sent chills down his spine. There was no greater fear than the fear of the unknown. Riokar''s eyes moved between the young girl that was obvious of the beastkin species and back at the young man who was clearly not a subsidiary race.
It wasn''t rare for demons and subsidiary races to move together, as a matter of fact, most hunter teams were formed of several sub-races and demons, eachplimenting the weakness of the other. What was strange here was the fact that the demon of the pair was the one hiding his appearance. This could mean he was a wanted man or maybe even something worse, but then again. Why would he reveal his appearance now?
''An illusion,'' Riokar activated his innate ability to perceive the truth. It didn''t matter how powerful this man was, his eyes of truth would tell him if there was any foul y going on here.
''Nothing.''
"As I said, you were mostly correct. But I don''t really need the VIP license. However, I wouldn''t mind joining the guild as a regr member for a single favor."
"One favor, are you sure!?"
"Yes."
Riokar as the guild leader was willing to grant any request that was within his powers to perform. Although he wouldn''t tell the pair that outright." He pretended to think for a minute before clearing his throat and he continued.
"Hmm... Are you sure you won''t change your mind?"
The young man named Lix just starred at him quietly without a response and he sighed. "Alright, let''s hear your request and if it is something within my power, then I''ll consider it."
"Naturally I wouldn''t ask anything outside your range of influence."
Riokar narrowed his eyes at this man''s choice of words and slowly responded.
"I see."
"Excellent, all I require is your rmendation letter for the magic institute."
"..."
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Chapter 102 C102. The Zorak Magic Institute
Riokar''s eyes widened the moment he heard that statement. He hadn''t expected such a request and was blown speechless by the certainty in the young man''s voice. He had pegged them as a strong yet inexperienced group but now. Now, it looks like he had surely underestimated them.
At this point, he became painfully aware of what a fool he had been. This entire meeting and the direction of the conversation had most likely already been predicted and he had just yed right on the palm of their hands. It wasn''t like there was something wrong with what they were trying to do. After all, this was only a business and although he was the type that loved being the only party to benefit in the end, it was still fine as long as everyone involved benefits.
The real problem would be if he was on the losing end of things, that was something uneptable for a merchant of his caliber. In the end, this young man had brought him a lot of extremely valuable resources just for a rmendation letter for the magic institute. It was a deal he would continuously benefit from, to be honest, it was a deal he couldn''t afford to refuse.
This was a deal that was specially designed for him. Basically, he had lost the battle of wits before the negotiation had even begun. He had no idea how someone from the far east was able to n an encounter with him but that no longer mattered.
Joining the Hunter Guild and the Merchant Guild was rtively easy. For the Hunter Guild, as long as you were strong or were able to use magic, you would only have to pay a small fee to register and you would be epted. Although you would have to start from the bottom and slowly climb your way up the rankings as potential alone could not tell a person true strength or value in actualbat.
The Merchant Guild on the other hand was even simpler. The guild only requires you to sign a contract that gives them a percentage of the total value of your wares. They would also provide you with certain benefits and statue the higher your rank went.
However, joining the magic institute was a different story. The normal process was insanely difficult. It was after all the only one of the three organizations that were created and managed by the nobles. Naturally, it had the reputation of mostly epting members from other noble families.
The magic institute was most likely created by the Great five due to the massive rise in the power and influence of the Hunter Guild, which was then closely followed by the Merchant Guild. Insignificant as the organizations may be to the Great Five, there was no doubt that the system employed by the guilds that granted demons and subsidiary races alike, status equal to that of a demon baron was a threat to the purist of the nobility.
There was also an increase in strength of individuals ofmon birth due to the interference and training of the Guild''s behemoths. The great five had no choice but to create the Magic Institute. A ce where the younglings of the lower-ranking nobles could go and study magic as well as a ce where extensive magic research could be conducted.
Of course, to have an organization that was equal if not superior to their twopetitors, they had no choice but to open the institute for the most talented bunch of themon folks. It was also a way to scout talent for their families and keep the other organizations in check.
That said, the magic institute also couldn''t be arrogant, even if they were superior on their own. Against thebined forces of the Hunter and Merchant guilds, they would surely fall and if the Great Five tried to directly interfere, they would lose the support of the masses which may not seem important but would surely be a devastating blow to the nobles.
Naturally, they had to show the Hunter''s Guild Master and the Merchant Guild Master some respect. Granting them the ability to rmend one person into the magic institute every two years no matter who it was they wanted to chose.
The Merchant Guild Master, Riokar however, had never rmended anyone since he had taken over the Guild. He received gifts and incentives every year fromrge merchant families that wanted him to rmend their heir or heiress into the institution. He had even received femalepanions from those families or high-ss escorts.
Most of them would go to any extent for a member of their family to enter the institute. After all, graduating from the institute was indeed a golden opportunity for these families as anyone that sessfully graduated from the magic institute would be granted a nobility title, albeit that of only a demon bar. Still, they would be able to rank up as long as they were strong enough.
There were five different Magic Institute in the demon continent, each created by one of the Great Five, so they were only located in the regions governed by them. The magic institute typically had two separate divisions. The Magic academy division that was only located in the capital city of any of the Great five''s region.
This was the most important part of the institute and was what the merchants were aiming for. The second was the Magic research division. This division was located in almost all the cities in their regions. While the Magic research division specialized in just magic research and exploration. They also serve as a recruitment center for the Great Five.
Naturally, they would also function as a guild for the recruited graduates of the magic academy to work in.
All that aside, Riokar was currently in a predicament of his own creation. The choice given to him by this young man was incredibly favorable to him. Yet, he didn''t want to give anyone his rmendation letter. He had his reasons for not giving it out thus far. But was it really a wise choice to send this man away.
Potions were rare in the demon continent, there weren''t many potions maters around and therefore not many stores can sell them and even those that were sold were of incredibly low quality. This wasn''t just because the main ingredients weren''t indigenous to the demon continent but the other supporting ingredients were also rare. However, this man had just brought him severalrge barrels full of those insanely rare ingredients.
Those barrels alone were worth more than those merchants had offered him for his rmendation but that wasn''t all. There were also wild and exotic fruits and berries that weren''tmon in this part of the continent. Including the white hoppers, this man was offering him more than 20 times what his rmendation was worth.
Even the VIP license he had offered wasn''t even up to that. He was already nning to buy the goods at a higher price than their market value if he had taken the card. Riokar was pressed, a man like this was not ordinary, if anything he was most likely a behemoth. If that was the case, what exactly could he do right now, should he p away his friendly gesture.
Riokar gritted his teeth, this was a losing battle. He had now been box in. Everything this man had done from the start had been for this. His refusal to join the guild, the vague hint at where he came from, him hiding his appearance and then revealing it to just him. Everything had been carefully nned out and executed to perfection and there was no longer anything he could do about it but still, he couldn''t back down.
"I refuse, I cannot give out my rmendation please reconsider our offer."
The young man''s expression did not change, there was no tick for Riokar to work with. He smiled gently and slowly shook his head, he reached out and patted his partner in the head prompting her to stop eating the sweets as he replied. "That''s too bad... Well, it''s to be expected, I guess we''ll have to try our luck again in another city."
Riokar''s heart tightens, it was one thing to lose a customer but it was even worse to lose a customer to thepetition. Not to mention this wasn''t just a customer, this was potentially a golden hen thatys the golden eggs.
The Merchant Guild was not as united as the Hunter Guild. They all operated individually by the cities they were located in and only had a surface alliance so naturally, there was still apetitive spirit within them.
"Wait!"
Riokar suddenly shouted out as the man was about to stand up with his partner. He seemed to have weighed the two options and had made a decision. "I''ll do it. I''ll give you my rmendation on one condition."
"And that is?"
"You ept my previous offer as well and be a VIP member of the Merchant Guild. Also, if you ever happen to gather any more rare herbs and exotic creatures, you have to sign a contract to only trade them with this branch."
If he was going to sacrifice something he needed to get as much as he could for it. With a merchant license, one could trade in any city at any branch of the merchant guild so this was a big restriction he was imposing. Of course, he didn''t expect the young man to ept this offer just because of the VIP status.
This was just the beginning of his counterattack, once he takes the bait of his sample offer, he would create a chance to make his real offer look even better and this man would surely be unable to refuse it. This was the basics of negotiation. However, what happened next surprised him yet again.
"I ept."
"Huh?"
"We have a deal then?"
"Huh..."
"Hm... are you okay?"
"Haha, you made his brain freeze Lor¡ª uh, sir"
"I did?"
"Huh... Sorry sorry I''m not frozen, I''m just a little surprised. You realize you would have to travel here from the far east every time you want to make a trade correct."
"That''s fine."
"Oh, um, right..."
"Are you okay?"
"Huh, yeah I''m great, I am great... Right, the contract. I''ll have someone prepare it soon, and as for the goods we''ll buy them all for 10% above their market value, is that okay?"
"That is fine."
With that casual response, Riokar confirmed that thisd had nned everything that happened tonight just for the rmendation to the magic institute. He must really value the institute highly to go as far as this.
Time passed by quickly and the young man signed the contract and took the purple card. Riokar also signed a prewritten letter and stamped it with his seal. A small bag of coins was then ced on the table in front of the young man and Riokar exined.
"The total worth of the goods was 23,570 Dc, removing the Guild''smission of 10% that brings us to 21,213 DC."
The young man picked up the small pouch, bringing it closer to himself he looked inside, there were a bunch of different colored coins in there, around 60 in total with various symbols engraved on them. They were coins made of silver, gold and tinum, all together they formed the demon''s continent currency known as demonic coins or DC for short.
Although, he couldn''t locate any coins made from the yellowish metal know as Orichalcum.
He closed the pouch and ced it inside his long coat. He then picked up the letter and nodded. Without engaging in further talks he bid the Guild Leader farewell with a polite bow and left the building with his partner in tow.
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Chapter 103 C103. Merryside Inn
Tyler and Nadine left the Merchant Guild building and board their carriage. They had spent a considerable amount of time in the building and it was already quitete in the night. The za that had looked as though it would stay busy till dawn when they had first arrived was now almostpletely empty.
Most of the stalls were closed and only a handful were open. This was good for Tyler as he had been ufortable with all the stares and res he had received from the crowd since the moment they entered this city.
He wasn''t sure why but every guy that saw her seemed to be attracted to Nadine. They were all immediately captivated and just stared at her with either lust or adoration in their eyes. He was d he had decided to hide his face for now in case things hadn''t gone well. Those adoring and lustful eyes that gawked at her soon turned to piercing gaze that stared daggers at him.
He knew this little girl was pretty cute but he wasn''t sure it was enough to warrant this much attention from the guys. Perhaps she was using a skill, racial ability or maybe he had just been spoilt by hanging around so many world ss beauties like Liz, Erin and Rain.
They boarded the carriage and headed for an inn in town as rmended by the Merchant Guild Leader. The inn wasn''t as fancy as the hotels in Royal borough but it was one of the most luxurious one this borough had for new merchants and Hunters.
On the way Tyler spent most of his time just staring at Nadine''s face which seemed to be getting redder and redder. He was curious to how he had ignored it but perhaps he was finally starting to see it. Her was not the enticing beauty of an adult, the charming attraction of a matureddy but it was an adorable and childlike beauty that seem to stir up an innate instinct within a male.
Perhaps some of it was also a racial trait of the beastmen species.
"Er... Lord¡ª lord Ty, is there something on my face."
Tyler looked at her reddened face and shook his head. "No, i was just wondering something."
"Oh, umm sure go ahead, what do you wanna know?"
? "Well it''s alright if you don''t want to tell me... Mmm... Do have any passive skills or abilities?"
"Skills? I''m sorry lord Ty, i don''t have any passive skills."
Her head seemed to dropp with her response, she was clearly a little disappointed in herself.
"I see."
"I''m, sorry if I''m not very useful."
"Huh? oh don''t be sorry about that, i don''t need you to have any passive skills, and besides, you can always just learn one."
"Oh... Okay."
Her voice was getting even lower and Tyler felt like he had cause it. He couldn''t take back what he had said so he simply forged ahead and patted her on the head. "There''s no need to feel down, i did pick you to apany me for a reason." That alone was enough to perk her up so Tyler didn''t dare ask another question.
Their trip was short, and they soon arrived in front of a four story building in less than 10 minutes, since they came on a carriage, they had to pay 5 Dc to keep their mount in the inn''s stable. That was no longer a problem for them since they now had a sizable sum on their person.
The inn was rtively high ss but it was still a popr traditional inn in the za were most travellers and mid tier Hunters stayed regrly. Tyler dusted off his boots at the front of the inn and climbed the short stairs to the western-style saloon doors, and opened them with both hands.
It was alreadyte so the windows were closed which made the interior of the inn a little dark since it was only illuminated by a few magicmps. Tyler had expected to see the same colorful crystals as in the castle but he hadn''t seen them even in the Merchant Guild VIP room.
The inside of the building was quite spacious. The first floor was a dining area, with a counter further within. That counter was backed by shelves that contained dozens of bottles of alcohol. The door beside the counter most likely led to a kitchen.
A staircase by the left of the counter, most likely led to the upper floors. ording to the male receptionist at the merchant guild, the guest rooms were located on the upper floors. The inn was rtively lively at this hour of the night and one could see the scattered customers within seated around several round tables. Almost all of them were men of different subsidiary races.
Everyone''s attention had switched to Tyler the moment he entered the room. They looked at him as though they were sizing him up. The only person who did not look at him was a woman at the edge of the room who was busy scoffing down several tes of food on her table as her party member watched her in disbelief.
This tavern scene made Tyler furrow his brows under his cloak. He had half expected this but this ce was too simr to the inns on the human continent. The only noticable difference was the rtively high quality of the furnitures here and the fact the the ce wasn''t as filthy as the ones he had been to.
Tyler sighed internally, and looked into the inn.
A well built woman in an apron stood there, her rotund arms protruding from her rolled-up sleeves. They were more ripped than even the arms of the half giant Azar.
Her aura was imposing and her facial features was strangely more feminine than one would have imagined. Her dirt blonde hair was tied to a single pig tail. The woman who looked more like a body builder than an innkeeper sized up the neers as she poured a drink for a purple skinned man that sat by the counter.
"A room? for how long." A voice that sounded deep but feminine rang out to them.
"Yes, we would like a room for one night."
The innkeeper stared at him for a while before turning to look at Nadine who was busy staring a everything in the inn like a new born baby experiencing life for the first time.
"...You''re new here right, did someone rmend this ce to you."
"Yes, the Merchant Guild."
"You just joined them?"
Tyler was a bit annoyed by the string of questions but decided to suck it up and get this over with. "I did."
"...And they sent you here huh, okay, a single room is 5 DC, dinner will be ck bread and Kinya soup with hog meat. If you want beef that''s an extra coin."
"The food is fine, can we get a double room instead."
"The double rooms are at the top floor and there are no one there at this time, are you sure you want one?"
"Yes, why?"
Tyler thought he heard thedy grunting for a moment.
"There are several high ss inn''s in town and a few of them are even better than mine, do you know why the Merchant Guild referred you here?"
"I''m assuming you didn''t bribe them so could you tell me why?"
The innkeeper furrowed a frown and turned an annoyed look at Tyler.
There was a frightening aura that seemed to suppress everyone in the hall and those that were still staring at them turned rapidly to face their drinks orpanions.
"You wanna be a smart arse, or do you wanna try and think about things a little, or is you brain hiding inside a hood just like your face."
Tyler almostughed out loud from her retort but chose to remained calm, despite the innkeeper''s annoyed and t out insulting retort. If he wanted to go back at her, he was sure there were many things he could say to make thisdy blow a fuse but didn''t want to be kicked out of the inn thiste at night.
The battle with Rain as well as the information gotten from Zomatsu had allowed him to realize how strong he was and those that could actually threaten him were few in between but he still couldn''t go about throwing his weight around.
The innkeeper turned her head to look at the girl besides him after not getting a reaction and saw her still staring curiously at the surrounding like some type of puppy.
She sighed audibly and spoke. "Look, it''s fine if you want to sleep in a room away from others, but if you don''t make any connections with other merchants from various ces you''ll not go far in this city. The merchant guild may promise connections, but that''s usually only for VIP members. They usually leave everyone else to figure things out for themselves. So do you really want to sleep on the top floor?"
"That''s fine, and we''ll pass on the food."
The innkeeper looked at the cloaked figure disdainfully before snorting. "Fine, that would be 8 Dc upfront."
Tyler ced a single gold coin on the counter and received a single silver coin as change. He then received the room''s key from the innkeeper and proceeded to step forward, followed closely by Nadine. The two of them were bathed with the appraising looks of the few people in the hall, with Nadine receiving the usual adoring looks and Tyler the opposite.
As they headed up the stairs. There were whispers of people secretly talking about them but no one bothered to approach them, which was a bit of a let down for Tyler.
Reaching the fifth floor they were easily able to locate their rooms by the symbol drawn on the wooden te attached to the key and the one on the doors of each room.
????????
????????
After the two neer''s silhouette vanished up the stairs, a group of five sitting at the corner of the hall with theirrade still stuffing her face with all sorts of food like there was no tomorrow started a discussion about them.
The group had two males and three females, one of the male had two small horns on his forehead and a pale orange skin. The other was a normal demon but he had what looked like ram horns protruding from the sides of his head. They both wore thick brown cloaks but did not cover their faces with the hoods.
The male demon had short red hair, brown eyes and an attractive facial feature while the ogre had a messy ck hair and simr coloured eyes. He also had handsome features but gave off a calm demeanor unlike his partner.
The three females all had the same coloured cloak. The one stuffing her face had long blonde hair that almost seemed white. She had a pale pink skin tone, a pair of demon horns on her head and bat like wings were twitching just above her waist as it revealed her overly sexualized outfit under her cloak.
The girl that sat next to her had short ck hair that covered her left eye with sky blue eyes. She had no visible protruding features aside from the thin long tail that extended down her cloak. Thest one looked almost exactly the same as her with short white hair that covered her right eye instead,plimented by her ck pupils.
All three girls had a pretty face and the other men in the hall had asionally been stealing nces at them prior to the entrance of those two strangers.
"Hey did you hear that, they''re from the merchant guild. I thought for sure they would be a new Hunter team." The male demon spoke first.
"So what." The second male in the group responded.
"So, don''t you think they''ll be perfect for that?"
"They''re just newbies, how can we thrust them with something like that."
"Newbies, did you not see them arrive in the exotic mound earlier? I bet the merchant guild has already made them VIP members."
"You think so?"
"Well I''m not entirely sure, that was just my guess, but with that mound and the sturdy looking carriage, they should be perfect for it right? What do you think Kylyra?"
The seductive girl with long blonde hair that almost seemed white, took a break from eating as she stared at the lesser demon with a perplexed expression.
"I''m still hungry."
"Ah¡ª"
"..."
"..."
"..."
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Chapter 104 C104. Currency
The wooden door closed with a thud.
The room was bare, apart from a pair of decent wooden bed frames with apanying chests. There was a single open closet to the side and no other furniture in the room. It looked like they had just converted a slightlyrger single room into a double room and couldn''t be bothered to add another closet, instead, it looked like they were meant to keep their stuff in each chest or decide who gets the closet.
After opening the window blinds, they could directly feel the cold air and moonlight that shone in through the thick ashen clouds.
Tyler was somewhat disappointed as he finished his circr sweep of the room. Although he had not expected much from an inn, the merchant guild had still hyped up this ce as high ss. Perhaps this was what high ss meant formoners or they were just messing with him.
Even the abandoned Demon king''s castle was a hundred times better than. this. Of course,paring a castle to an inn for merchants and Hunters was unfair.
"I can''t believe he would call this ce high ss and dare let you stay in a ce like this, Lord Ty."
"Don''t mind it, this is only for the night, once we join the magic institute we would be provided with better lounging."
Tyler tried to soothe Nadine after closing the window blinds, without expressing his dissatisfaction. The room only possesses a single magicmp that barely illuminated the entire room. But Tyler''s vision was almost perfect at night, perhaps it was due to the racial change he went through or something else.
Nadine was a beastman and therefore had Darkvision so she was fine as well.
Still¡ the life of the hunters we''ve met so far and the once downstairs seem to be pretty banal."
"Hunters huh."
They were practically the same as adventures in the human continent and there was a time Tyler was one of them. Aside from hunting monsters and apanying merchants on protection duty, they mostly spend their time drinking, eating, and having sex with whores as well as each other.
He supposed that could be called banal, well when the great war had started, they were forcibly enlisted into the fray so maybe despite all that, it had been a lot more interesting then.
Hunters tend to be an integral part of a monster siege and they were mostly the ones that kept monsters from attacking the small towns and viges by actively hunting them down. In a perfect world, they would be lookup upon like heroes to themon man but this world was not perfect.
While the strongest of the bunch were hailed as heroes or in the Demon continent, behemoths. Most of them weren''t. This was because the ruling authorities or nobles did not smile at the existence of armed groups which they could not control. Therefore, aside from the prices theymanded, hunters did not have much status until recently and those that do were still only the powerful ones.
Basically, it was all down to strength, the strong got stronger and the weak remained the same.
ording to the information he got from Zomatsu, some regions actively recruited hunters with absurd wealth and status while others had banned them from their region entirely.
Tyler banished the thoughts from his mind. There was no point in worrying about those regions for now. He still had several agendas on his list before he could visit the magic institute tomorrow.
Tyler took off the thick coat on him revealing his outfit underneath. He wore a white T-Shirt and ck pants. His half-boots were made of a reddish-ck leather, and they were embroidered with silver thread.
Tyler took off the ck gloves he wore to hide the single ring on his left middle finger and ce them in his storage ring. His ring was very different from the typical storage rings. Even though most of them had slightly different designs they were mostly the same.
He wasn''t sure if anyone would notice it or not but he didn''t want to take any chances.
Tyler worked his shoulders and savored the sensation of being free from his thick clothing. Just then, Nadine asked a question:
"Speaking of which, should I deal with those five in the corner?"
Tyler had no idea who the hell she was talking about, but he knew she could keenly sense the intent of all the gazes locked on them and had probably noticed an abnormality. Why she didn''t say this about all the guys that were giving him deathly looks because of her he had no idea.
Tyler kept hisposure and with a straight face, he replied as though he was already aware. "Ah, the ones in the corner. We don''t have to worry about them for now, there is a chance they could lead us into a golden opportunity."
"But, but, what if they end up causing problems for you lord Ty."
"Well, if that happens then we would have a legitimate reason to handle them however we see fit. It would be bad if we are the ones stirring up trouble and are found out. All our work thus far would be wasted."
"I understand Lord Ty." She said nodding her head.
"Hm, hey, don''t call me Lord when we are in town, just call me Ty, or better yet Lix."
"Understood, er... um... Mr. Lix."
"Maybe don''t just call my name in public and we''ll be fine."
"Understood."
Tyler took a seat in one of the beds and continued their conversation. "Let''s go over the n for tomorrow."
"Yes!"
Tyler turned around and found Nadine genuflecting before him which had startled him for reasons that were unknown to him. He was d her head was currently lowered and she hadn''t seen his reaction but he still wanted to ask what the hell was she doing before suddenly remembering something.
Technically, he was still her master and she had probably judged that this was the best attitude of a vassal awaiting orders. Which had further threw Tyler off as he hadn''t expected this from what he hade to understand about her personality.
The situation was a little annoying for Tyler but he couldn''t fault the girl for trying so hard to be polite even against her normal personality.
Though he had locked the door and the other rooms were supposedly empty. He had no idea what would happen if someone saw this scene.
"Stand up."
"Yes sir."
"Sit down there."
"Um okay."
"Good, now let''s continue." Tyler sighed in slight exhaustion as he sat on the bed opposite her.
"Firstly, aside from joining the magic institute. We have the original objective of selling the ores and beast cores as well as the monster corpses we have in our possession."
"All of this is handled by the Hunter guild but we could still probably get the Merchant guild to handle it for us, however, we would miss out on a chance to build some connections. Joining the Hunter guild is also not an option."
"Why''s that?"
While the Merchant guild does not particrly deal with monsters and anything rted to that, including ores and cores as they only focus on exotic goods including spices, herbs, food, wine, fur, fine clothes, jewelry, and many other luxurious goods. They could still establish contact with the Hunter guild on the behalf of their VIP members for a smallmission.
Tyler nodded his head before proceeding to answer Nadine''s question. "Joining the guild wouldn''t achieve my objective as it takes a long time to rise through the rankings of the Hunter Guild. It was also more convenient for us to use the Merchant guild."
"As expected of you lord Ty."
Tyler didn''t know if she was being serious or maybe she was messing with him. What he had done was a simple deduction based on the information he had. Things definitely wouldn''t have gone smoothly if they hadn''t encountered Zomatsu and gotten so much valuable information out of him.
Most of what had happened today had gone exactly as Z had predicted. Tyler had to admit, the man might be a genius and had surely proven how useful he could be. He should remember to contact Albert in the mourning and get him to let Z out of his confinement.
The situation in the city was also as he had described it which made it a lot easier for Tyler to handle. It was a wonder how Z had gotten such detailed information about the merchant guild leader and his personality but Tyler could only thank him for it.
He also couldn''t be careless around Z as the dude didn''t seem to be the type that was also trusting of others. Tyler generally didn''t have the luxury of cking off around the ones in the castle but he needed to be extra careful around someone as smart as that.
Bringing his attention back to the matter at hand, Tyler then proceeded to exin the rest of the n to Nadine. He had already given her the gist of it in their ride here but not in so many details as he didn''t want her to overthink her role.
From this point on there wasn''t anything special he needed her to do. They had aplished most of their initial goals and had alreadyid the foundations for everything else. Although he hadn''t expected the goods he sold to the merchant guild to go for such a high price.
Tyler had learned quite a lot about the currency of the demon continent from both Albert and Z. The currency system in this continent was a little different from back in the human continent, as while everyone there used tinum, gold, silver, and copper coins, each kingdom or empire had their own variation and depending on the size, shape, and weight, the coins from different nations were all valued differently.
However, in the demon continent, every region used the same currency called demonic coins. They are made of silver, gold, tinum, and Orichalcum. The sizes shapes and weights of the coins were all generally consistent and seldomly varied.
That was probably due to the consistent method of the manufacturing process no matter what region made them. Unlike the humans that had different designs on the heads and tails of their coins like the faces of past kings and emperors, while the other side had the precise specification of the amount the coin were worth as payment in exchange.
The demonic coins were a little different. It only had a single symbol on the head of the coins that represented numbers which were the value of the coins.
The tails had symbols that represented the seal of the ruling power that had created the currency. It was not the seal of any of the Great five but the demon king.
The symbol on the front represented the numerical value of the coins, ranging from 1-1000. The silver coins had values of 1, 2, and 5. Which were the mostmon denominations used in the streets as 1 or 2 DC''s could buy a decent meal from a low-ss restaurant.
Food was the cheapestmodity one could purchase but that only meant the value of other things would skyrocket. When primary industries are cheap, secondary industries be expensive.
Gold coins had a value of 10, 20, and 50. A middle-ss worker would generally earn around 30-50 DC''s in a week. If you were to convert the price of thergest silver coin which was valued at 5 DC into dors, it would be about 10 dors. and thergest gold coin would be around 200 dors.
There were also tinum coins that were valued at, 100, 200, and 500 DC''s. tinum coins were mostly used by merchants and high-ss citizens or forrge purchases. The pouch Tyler had from the merchant guild contained mostly silver, gold, and tinum coins as Orichalcum coins were rarely used.
They were valued at 1000 DC and were only circted amongst the nobles. Even high-ranking merchants would be lucky to see one, much less own it. Tyler split the coins in his pouch into two equal half''s and handed one to Nadine.
He ced the rest in his spatial storage and proceeded to conclude his exnation on their ns for the week. The time was already way past midnight and Tyler could no longer patrol the surrounding area as he had nned so they went to bed.
Naturally, they slept in their own beds but Tyler did not go to sleep. He no longer needed to sleep as often as he once did so he chose to keep watch while Nadine got some rest.
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Chapter 105 C105. Hunter Guild
The next morning, Tyler ¡ª Still dabbed in his hooded coat and apanied by the beautiful Nadine. Opened Hunter guild''srge main doors and walked in.
The first thing he saw as he entered the room was the counter further down ahead, where three of the guild''s receptionists greeted the Hunters with smiles on their charming faces as most of the Hunter''s they attended to were practically drooling over them. Tyler couldn''t help but wonder if everyone on the demon continent were just horny perverts.
There were warriors in specialized full te armor, nimble fellows in light armor and bearing bows or crossbows, as well as robed magic casters with their staves and grimoires.
On the left was arge door, and on the right was a notice board. There were several pieces of parchment upon it that most likely contained quest or job offers from the merchant guild and magic institute. Several Hunters were chatting in front of it, most likely discussing with their party members about the jobs that were avable for their ranks.
The atmosphere here was rowdy so early in the morning and Tyler was a little annoyed by that. He didn''t need to bother with anyone here though as he had no ns of bing a Hunter so he walked towards one of the receptionists.
The eyes of everyone present focused on the pair that had just entered and most of them still gawking at Nadine while ring at him, he could also feel those eyes sizing him up from head to toe as much as they could.
There were even those that had activated their skills, trying to pry on the figure under the hood. It was a good thing he had used another set of anti-divination scrolls this morning before heading out.
Tyler was also surveying the Hunters in turn. Most of them wore slim gold and silver strapped bracelets on their arms that had symbols on them represented their ranks although the metal on the mostly leather bracelets already signified what ranks they were. There was also no copper-ranked Hunter around. From what he knew the Hunter guilds ranking was a little different from the adventurer Guilds back in the human continent.
The adventurer Guilds used letters from F to S when ranking their adventurers based on strength alone. However, the Hunters of the Demon continent didn''t solely judge strength. This was because the human continentcked a lot of powerful individuals while that wasn''t exactly the case here.
The monsters in this continent were also worlds apart from the human continent so survivability was a very valuable trait when ranking a Hunter. It was why every new hunter had to start from the lowest ranking and work their way to the top no matter how strong they were. Of course, they still favored those with magic.
The rankings in the Hunter guild went from Rank 9 to Rank 1 but were poprly referred to by the metals on their Hunter bracelets. Ranging from Copper to Quantium. When Tyler had looked around and didn''t see any copper ranks he was referring to the lowest ranking Hunters. A Rank 9, a number that was generally depicted on the metal parts of their bracelets.
Feeling vaguely out of ce, Tyler advanced to the counter followed closely by Nadine.
A party of Hunters had just departed, freeing up one of the counters. He stepped forward and said:
"I''d like to sell some cores and monster corpse to the guild."
"Thank you foring, may I ask if you''re a member of the guild."
It was a simple question, simr to what he had gotten from the male receptionist in the merchant guild, but this one was only a courtesy ask as he wasn''t wearing a metal ted bracelet that shows he was a member of the guild.
''No, I''m not."
"Then would you like to join the guild, you''ll only have to pay a slight fee and do a potential test even if you''re not a magic caster."
This was what he needed to avoid the most so Tyler quickly shook his head and replied. "No. I already joined the merchant guild so there is no need."
He brought out the purple glimmering card from his coat. His VIP Rank 1 merchant license. The female receptionist had been ready to continue her pitch when she saw the purple card and had no choice but to stop. She then took the card and slightly bowed before Tyler and proceeded to leave the counter, entering the door to the right.
The surrounding hunters that had been paying attention to the neers were in shock. These two did not look like they were merchants at all, especially the hooded figure that moves through countless hostile gazes so casually like he had felt nothing.
Even the Gold Rank hunters here would tremble under such pressure, yet they were meant to believe that he was just a merchant. If all merchants were like that they had a bad feeling that half of their weekly ie would disappear.
The female receptionist returned soon after and invited Tyler upstairs into a meeting room. Tyler followed behind her with Nadine who was still attracting almost all the male''s attention as they entered the room where he saw an elderly man with a full head of whites seating on the sofa in the well-furnished room. He wore an expensive-looking white mages robe with gold iid threading.
His long white beard gave him the appearance of a typical wizard in various folklore Tyler had heard about. This was the kind of person Tyler would expect to see in charge of the magic institute but not what he had pictures when he thought about the Guild leader of the Hunter Guild.
Even the innkeeper he metst night seemed better suited to this role than him. He decided not to dwell on the topic too much as he felt a strong aura emanating from this old man the moment he entered the room. It wasn''t something he couldn''t handle, although he had barely felt it, Tyler still tried to put up a front.
He pretended to be disturbed by the aura at first but slowly got used to it. This was also one of the pieces of information he had gotten out of Z and if it works, Tyler would have to seriously reconsider his opinion on him.
The old man stared at him in a bit of surprise and apprehension before finally calming down. A faint smile appeared on his face as the female receptionist that had lead Tyler to this room bow and left the room.
"Not bad, Not bad at all. Looks like you''re not just an ordinary merchant, the fact that you have a VIP license without me ever having heard of you shows the amount of value the Merchant Guild has of you. I am Ivan Geriyl, the Guild Leader of this branch of the Hunter guild."
"You can call me Lix, this here is Lilith."
The current Hunter guild was no longer lead by a guild leader. After they all united into one, it was natural for them to appoint a new leader from all the previous guild leaders. Naturally, the new leader would be given a higher title than the rest, which ended up being the Guild Master, not to be mistaken for the Guild Leaders.
The old man nodded at Tyler''s introduction and gestured for them to seat on the sofa opposite his and they obliged. He then leaned back into his seat as he asked:
"So how bout it, why don''t yo¡ª"
"No thanks."
"Huh, hahahaha... I haven''t even asked yet, you''re truly something. Ghahahahah..."
He picked up the ss of water in front of him as a knock came in from the door and he gave permission for the female receptionist to enter. She brought back two sses of cold water and ced them in front of the two guests before asking if they would like anything else.
They both declined any more refreshments and the female receptionist excused herself again from the room.
"Alright, looks like you want us to skip the small talks and get down to the business at hand, right?"
"We would appreciate that."
"Very well, so what exactly do you n on selling us."
Tyler brought out a small box half the size of his palm from within his cloak and Nadine handed it over to the old man. Naturally, that was a small storage box filled to the brim with ores, cores, and monster corpses.
The reason he hadn''t kept the herbs he had sold to the merchant guild in there was only partly because it was full. He wanted to make an impression on more people in the merchant guild and no longer needed to do that here.
The guild leader, Ivan received the box and checked the content within, he whistled, "Quite impressive, there are a few high-level creatures in here. Are you sure you don''t want to be a Hunter, that would suit you a lot better?"
"No thanks."
"Ah, too bad." He pped his hand once and the female receptionist returned. "Here, have the contents of this box appraised and calcte their worth."
The receptionist nodded and left with the box. Guild Leader Ivan then looked at the hooded man and said: "It''s a shame... I''m not good at pitching my guild, but how bout it, if you join the Hunter guild I''ll put in a good word for you and your starting rank would directly start at Gold Rank. Huh, isn''t that tempting?"
Ivan could barely see the lips of the man under the hood curl up slightly. He was sure he had made a good offer when:
"I''ll have to decline, I n on joining the magic institute so it wouldn''t be wise to already be a member of both the Hunter and Merchant Guild beforehand."
Ivan''s eyes twitched for a second before ultimately calming down. He smiled and chuckled to himself. "Well, that''s a shame. It looks like that sly dog has finally used a rmendation huh, that makes me even more interested. That''s fine, the Hunter guild and the magic institute work well together than us and the merchants so for now that should be eptable."
As Ivan went on and on without any interruptions from Tyler and Nadine, the female receptionist soon returned with the box, a piece of parchment, and a pouch of coins. She ced everything in front of Ivan and gave Tyler a weird look before leaving the room to wait outside once more.
Ivan read the parchment and chuckled, "It looks like you brought use some rare finds, even with our 30% charges you still get a whooping 11,940 DC''s, that''s enough money to feed a small town for more than half a year."
Tyler also chuckled to cover up his surprise, as he had expected more from the beast cores than what he had gotten from the herbs but he was wrong. Once everything was handled his VIP merchant license was handed back to him alongside the pouch of coins.
It was a much smaller bag than thest so Tyler didn''t bother checking its content and just ced it into his coat. He thanked the guild leader and left the meeting room. Walking down the stairs they were met with simr gazes as before but there was something different hidden amongst them.
Tyler ignored the feeling he got and walked out of the building. They hadn''t taken the carriage today as he had paid the inn to take care of it for two days. As Tyler walked down the street with Nadine in tow, he turned a corner into a narrow and deserted alleyway and saw a male figure at the end of the alleyway, his face stered with an annoying smile.
Several figures joined him and some came from behind as they all started closing in on them with the same sinister grins on their faces.
"Oi, you''re a rich fellow ain''t ya, how bout you give us everything you got on ya, and let us also have some fun with you little toy over there."
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Chapter 106 C106. Band Of Thieves
Standing In the middle of a dark alleyway, Tyler''s brows furrowed under his hood. He tilted his head slightly as he stared nkly at the metal tes on the bracelets of the figures that had just appeared and were slowly surrounded them.
They were a mix of mostly gold and silver and only one of them had a bracelet of a pale greyish-white metal te on it. That color meant he was tinum ranked Hunter and signified he was the strongest and most likely their leader.
They were apparently all Hunters and were all draped in dirt brown cloaks but did not try to hide their faces with the hoods. It was either they were very confident in silencing them or the guild wouldn''t or maybe couldn''t do anything against them for doing something like this.
Thews of this region were very strict towards Hunters, whenever they''re caughtmitting a crime, their punishment was usually twice or three times higher than normal. It was a way the nobles could attempt to tame the wild hunters that sometimes felt they were above thew and no longer answered to the ruling authorities.
The cloaked men had sessfully trapped them in the center of the alleyway. Making a headcount, there were eight of them, with most of them being gold rank and only three were at the silver rank. With their leader being a tinum rank Hunter, the group was probably very confident against a single pair of rich and naive merchants.
Even if the hooded figure was a little strong, he would at most be at the tinum rank as well and being outnumbered four to one, with their leader facing him directly. They had nothing to worry about.
''Give me a break¡'' Tyler sighed as he took a step forward. It irritated him to see the grins on these idiots'' faces as they acted so confidently in front of him. He already had magic sense but even without it, he was easily able to tell when these clowns had started following them.
"Oi, oi, it hurts my pride if you don''t take this seriously." The tinum ranked Hunter spoke again. He had messy short ck hair with ck eyes. He had two short horns protruding from his head with a long tail that was visible from underneath his cloak.
The man was probably a lesser demon, maybe an imp but Tyler couldn''t be sure. Most of the others had simr properties with slight differences so Tyler guessed they were a Hunter party formed of only lesser demons.
"Hehe... Just shut up and drop that fat coin pouch inside your coat, don''t think I can''t see it. Leave the dog girl too, don''t worry, we''ll send her back to you alive... yeah alive..."
A skinny blonde man holding a long glimmering dagger said from behind Tyler as he turned a lustful gaze at Nadine, licking his lips at hisst words.
"See it, You can see it?"
Tyler said underneath his breath as he ced his hand on Nadine''s shoulder to keep her from retaliating. He knew she was stronger than these guys but didn''t think she could handle them all herself without causing a ruckus.
He had been forced to cate himself because he didn''t want to cause any noise in the city but he couldn''t ignore thest words that had been spoken to him. He slowly turned to face the skinny man and asked a question.
"Hey, you there."
The man was startled at the unfazed tone of the figure in front of him but immediatelyposed himself. "What... oh, trying to beg, just leave the coin pouch here and we won''t kill you... We''ll only hurt you a lot."
¡ªKu...kukuku...
Theughter of the men behind him echoed in the quiet alleyway for a moment when a sudden cold voice returned the ce to its original state.
"Be quiet when I''m talking to you."
For some strange reason, they couldn''t refute him or get agitated at being talked down to. They were either dumbfounded by his stupidity or just shocked at his audacity.
"You said you could see my coin pouch earlier did you not? Is that an innate ability of yours or did you use a Skill? Or was it a higher tiered scroll?"
The men were so confused by what was happening that they couldn''t think of their next step. Their only thoughts were: What is wrong with this guy.
"Shut up!" The tinum ranked Hunter roared in fury. "I get it now, you''re trying to buy time ain''t ya... Hahaha.... too bad, no one''s gonnae save you so just had the bag of coins over before I change my mind and kill you myself."
"Okay."
The other Hunters were starting to feel like their boss was taking it a tad too far. Killing a member if a guild would not go unpunished but their jaws went lose the moment they heard the hooded man''s response.
There were generally two ways this normally went. Either the guy trembles in fear and immediately hands over all their belongings, sometimes even willingly offering up their partners to avoid being killed. Or they try to be courageous and attack hoping to find a chance of escape but that never goes how they had hoped.
It was natural since the group was careful about who they chose to attack. Never picking on anyone with the right connections or were too powerful for them to defeat.
However, this had gone nothing like what they were expecting. They were simply unable to predict this guy''s responses at all. As most of them stood in their spots still stunned. The man reached into his coat and tossed a familiar-looking pouch at the tinum ranked Hunter.
The messy-haired fellow almost failed to respond in time and fumbled when catching the pouch but ultimately caught it. He felt a huge jolt of relief, for some reason he had thought they had bitten off more than they could chew but in the end the man had just been puffing out smoke.
He smirked and was about to ask for the dog girl when he suddenly realized something. The weight of the pouch was insane, how much did this pair make from just a single transaction with the guild.
Thanks to the fairly recent cirction of the higher denominations of tinum coins. Merchant no longer had to risk carrying arge chest of heavy coins whenever they made their usual tropes to restock their wares so one could now carry high sums of money on their person making it a lot easier to move aroundrge sums of money without always need a chest.
However, the weight of this pouch was ridiculous. There should be around 20 thousand DC''s in there. His greed shes in his eyes and made his mouth water. 20 thousand DC was an insane amount of money. He could buy a well-furnished house, a Tier 2 horse-drawn fancy carriage and he would still have enough money left over to enjoy himself every night with a different girl for a good year.
The temptation to take a peek at the contents of the pouch was too great and his mine was too weak to resist the urge. He lowered his gaze to open the pouch, expecting to see the glimmering shine of the coins but was met with a bunch of dark and dull ck rocks.
"Gar.. garbage...! You gave me garbage!! you fuc¡ª"
His mouth was unable toplete his rant as an arm was stretched out and a hand grabbed his face before he could even raise his head. The guy that should be standing a few meters away was now just inches away from him, grabbing a hold of his head with his left hand.
His men seemed stunned, it didn''t seem like they had seen him move either, he wasn''t even sure if they couldprehend what was going on right now.
Anger rose within him, how could a tinum rank Hunter like himself be treated like this. He raised his arm to try and pull off the hand on his face but it wouldn''t budge. If someone told him the hand was attached to his face he would believe them.
He tried harder but the grip only got tighter and a pained scream that sounded like a wail of a dying animal resounded throughout the alleyway. It was only then his men broke out of their stupor and shouted.
"What the hell do you think you''re doing you bastard. You''re dead, dead!"
Tyler had swiftly closed the short distance between himself and the tinum rank Hunter and grabbed the man by the face. His body was then hoisted off the ground.
The man could not even dodge, much less resist the sudden clinch. He had tried to get away from his grip but it was pointless, even without putting much strength into this, these men were surprisingly weaker than he thought.
The men around him who were screaming curses at him still hesitated to move. They were probably still wondering what was happening here. How strong was this guy, if he could lift a grown man who was also a tinum rank Hunter with one arm like it was nothing. The imaginations of everyone present were now considering that topic.
Still, it only took one person to escte things. Another gold rank Hunter lost hisposure and went mad. "Damn you bastard, Die!!!"
He spread his arms and two magic circles quickly formed before he swiped his arm like he was throwing a weapon. Tyler could see the others around him also preparing their spells and some drawings out their weapons. The shadow under his feet vibrated slightly but quickly stopped.
Nadine was also about to move when Tyler gestured for her to stop. There was no longer any need for them to do anything else. As the gold rank adventurer was about to release his spell when a figure fell from the sky and mmed him into the ground, probably after jumping off the tall buildings that formed this alleyway.
"That''s enough!"
Four other figures also came from behind and one of them yelled out to the band of thieves. The group of five were also Hunters with metal-ted bracelets on their wrists.
"Who the hell are you guys, why the hell are you interfering with the Rancor gang''s business."
The gold rank Hunter with the long dagger spoke first, trying to understand the situation. One of the four figures in the back answered his question with a chuckle.
"Interfere, I''ll say we just saved your lives, you should be grateful, if you still can''t understand that then I wonder how you lots became gold ranks."
The one who spoke was a male, his metal te was a pale greyish-white meaning he was also a tinum rank Hunter, as a matter of fact, all four of them at the back were tinum rank Hunters. This was probably why they dared challenge such numbers.
when the gold rank Hunter heard the man his eyes twitched and he took a step back. His otherrades were also hesitating, and the one that was the first to attack was still being held back by an unidentified figure.
"We, w-we can''t leave without our boss."
He said those words cautiously as he didn''t know what would happen to them now that they were so outssed. Tyler turned to look at the man with the long dagger and asked again. "You, I''ll ask onest time, what did you use to look through my coat?"
The man could not see his eyes but his body was nearly convulsed by that question. He hesitated for a second before looking back to see the four Hunters just quietly staring at them. He gulped and spoke carefully: "It''s my innate ability, Perceptive Gaze. I can use to locate anything of value within my range."
He didn''t want to give out such information but the grip on his boss''s head was getting tighter and tighter. He hoped that would be enough to satisfy him and he was d to see that it did. The man just nodded at hispanion before turning back to him.
Tyler lightly tossed the man he was holding towards the side. Well, it was light for him, but the speed at which the man flew nearly shattered the wall he mmed into.
"You bastard!.."
One of the other men yelled but retreated when Tyler faced his direction.
"Alright, you guys should get lost before things get worse." One of the other males amongst the group of five spoke sternly from behind and the thieves hurriedly helped their unconscious boss out of the crater and ran away with some of them still cursing back at Tyler with hate in their eyes.
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Chapter 107 C107. Unrivaled
Standing in the center of the dark alleyway, Tyler watched as the band of thieves scurried away despite the brave and threatening words that left their mouths as they did. The shadow under his feet rippled slightly but soon returned back to its original shape.
He sighed internally, naturally he ounted for greedy folks like those to try something sooner ofter but it was still a pain to deal with. Not to mention, he now had five slightly stronger ones to deal with. Well, an ant being slightly stronger does not stop it from being an ant. Although their were probably some scary ass ants in this world so maybe that analogy was dead already.
The figure that had fell down from the sky and restrained the first gold rank Hunter that had tried tounch an attack at Tyler release him and she stood up. If Tyler''s hood wasn''t covering most of his face, he was sure she would''ve noticed his change in expression.
There was only one word he could use to describe the person in front of him and going by what he knew, he was right. Subus, thedy in front of him was like the epitome of seduction. Any ordinary human male that saw this demon would definitely lose their souls in her audacious curves and lewd outfit.
She had long blonde hair that went all the way to her waist, her crimson eyes had a predatory gleam to them. Her pale pink skin tone seemed to glisten in the light and a pair of demon looking horns protruded from the side of her head as bat like wings were twitching just a few inches above her waist.
Her short brown cloak did very little to hide her leather outfit which Tyler would consider a seductive swimsuit. It was made of a full Silvery metal that was stitched on a thingyer of brown leather fabric. Her cold resistance must''ve been off the charts since the armor only covered her more private areas.
A yellowish golden metal ted bracelet was strapped on her left wrist meaning she was an Orichalcum ranked Hunter. The strongest in their group.
Tyler silently cast cate on himself to calm down. He turned his head to get a better look at the four behind him which drew a ''tsk'' from her but he chose to ignore it. There were two men and two girls behind him, all with demonic features like tails and horns in their bodies.
Tyler saw Nadine''s serious expression that wasn''t there when they had faced the band of thieves earlier, she must consider this group to be far more dangerous than those guys. He was about to say something when the guy in front spoke.
This person looked like the team''s leader although he wasn''t the strongest member. It was something Tyler hadn''t expect to find in the demon continent were strength was quite important. The young man wore some sort of banded armor ¡ª strips of pale grayish-white metal were woven together with the same metal threads over a leather or chain backing ¡ª and carried himself like a warrior.
The man had a thin or wiry frame, but was also muscr and was light on his feet. He had short red hair and brown eyes with an attractive facial feature. He also had ram like horn protruding from the side of his head.
"Sorry about that, those guys are always causing trouble for our guild, they don''t represent the majority of us Hunters so please didn''t think too badly of the guild."
He took a step forward to get closer to Tyler and Nadine quickly tried to step in front of him and cut him off in case of an attack but Tyler slightly raised his arm to stop her. The lesser demon stopped upon seeing that and scratched the back of his head a little confused.
"Hey, why don''t we talk in the restaurant up ahead, I''m still a little hungry."
Tyler turned his head to look at the one who spoke. It was the subus girl who was still shing her lewd body at him probably trying to get a reaction. Tyler ignored her and silently walked away in the direction she was talking about with Nadine in tow.
The group of five followed behind silently until they got to a two storey building. Tyler couldn''t read the name of the restaurant but he recognized the drawing of food and drinks. His learning of the writtennguage had only gone as far as recognizing the numbers on the Hunter''s bracelet.
They pick an empty table at the end of the room an sat randomly around the table. Or so they wanted Tyler to believe as they were all still rtively close together and able to make a move should anything happen.
Once they were randomly seated, the leader of the party spoke to Tyler again:
"Sorry about that again, and for taking your time. Before we begin though, let''s start by introducing ourselves."
He had a charming smile on his face and winked at Nadine, however he did not get the reaction he was hoping for as her expression turned scornful. He quickly adjusted his gaze back to the hooded Tyler and continued.
"I''m called Dohel Mat, the leader of this party. We call ourselves ''Unrivaled'', neat right?"
"Shut up man, you''re embarrassing us, we don''t really call ourselves that."
"He''s right."
"Seconded."
"What! why are you all turning on me here..."
"Let''s order already, I''m hungry."
Tyler saw the group bantering off each other and couldn''t help but remember his former adventurers party members. Of course he was always the odd man out but that was beside the point. He quickly used cate on himself again before things went out of hand and the group finally got back in topic.
The group were forced to ce an order by the Orichalcum ranked Hunter and offered to pay for whatever Tyler and Nadine wanted but he declined. Nadine got a ss of cold and freshly squeezed juice and the others received their orders as Dohel continued his introduction.
"This guy here is, Larut Jawl. He''s a ranger and you can also call him our party''s scout."
The guy Dohel was talking about was most likely an ogre, he had pale orange skin like the one Tyler had found in the forest. Larut carried arge crossbow on his back and a small dagger on his waist. He was equiped simr to Gail and Tyler found that fascinating.
"...And the one stuffing her face in food is Kylyra Agrat and I''m sure you can already guess, she''s a subi and our ace."
As expected, she was indeed a subi. Dohel was also a lesser demon yet he hadn''t mentioned his species but for some reason he made it a point to inform Tyler of hers. Perhaps it was a kind of warning for him to keep his distance and be careful around her.
ording to what he knew, Subus usually gained essence from pleasurable activities which generally implies having sexual intercourse with men and women alike. Although they could also temporarily substitute sex for activities like eating or something that gives them a sense of pleasure.
Thinking of it now he understood why she was stuffing her face in food right in front of him. Thews generally tends to be harsher on Hunters so she probably couldn''t go around sucking men dry, or engaging in other implicit activities.
"These two are Aine and Anne Syel. They''re both mages so don''t let their size fool you, they''re quite strong."
The two girls with simr facial features, one with ck hair and sky blue eyes, the other with white hair and ck eyes. They made a peace sign to Tyler and went back to sipping on their drinks.
Tyler wondered where they had learnt that sign from before returning his focus back on Dohel.
"I supposed it would be rude of us not to introduce ourselves aftering this far. I am Lix and she is Lilith, pleased to meet you."
"Pleased to meet you."
Nadine echoed hisst words with a straight face.
"Wonderful, I hope we can all get along. Then, Mr. Lix, you can just address me by my first name. Right, while it feels a little wrong to get to business so abruptly, we don''t want to waste anymore of your time when it looks like you have a lot to do."
"I''ll get straight to the point, since you''re probably aware that we have been monitoring you since you left the inn this morning and I apologize for our rudeness. As for why, it''s simple, we need a reliable merchant for a job Ang going directly through the merchant guild was not an option."
"Meaning?"
"Well..." Dohel sighed deeply being a little hesitant to continue but steeled himself and spoke again. "To be honest we had gotten ourselves into a bit of a troublesome situation and the only way out is by doing a very dangerous job and we need a merchant for it. Of course, we are not here to involve you in our mess, we just need your up in transportation."
Dohel took a sip of the tea that had just been ced in front of him and continued. "There are several reasons why we decided to ask you directly instead of going through the merchant guild. First of all, we needed a merchant that wasn''t too weak that we had to constantly protect as the journey would be long and tedious."
"Second, we spent most of our funds preparing for this and we cannot afford to pay an hiring fee upfront. Although, there were probably a lot of rookie merchants we could probably convince. The first reason prevents us from doing that and although you''re a VIP merchant, you''re still only a rank 1 so we thought you would be more affordable than other more established merchants."
"Is there a third reason?"
"Your carriage."
"Is that so."
"Yes. It wasn''t obvious but we were still able to tell that it was an enchanted carriage. With a normal mount and carriage the trip would take longer bit with yours our travel time would be cut in half."
"I see "
""We also couldn''t go directly through the merchant guild as this job is not an official job request from the Hunter guild so the fee would be several time higher."
"This all sounds like a lot of hassle, but I''ll get to the point. What can you offer us for our help?"
"I can show you a good time, it will surely be a night you''ll never forget."
Those words came from the subi that had been stuffing her face only a few minutes ago. She had already cleaned up her te and was now giving Tyler a seductive smile.
Tyler looked at her for only a split second before turning back to face Dohel. If he foolishly wanted a subus to drain his life away he was sure he could find one in the several brothels in the city.
Kylyra almost mmed her head on the table after being ignored yet again. It wasn''t her idea to seduce him to begin with and yet her confidence was suffering because of it. Dohel chuckled awkwardly, perhaps he had hope that Tyler would be swayed by a subus to lessen their financial burden.
...Sigh... "Our potential gain in this is around 30,000 DC, that''s a lot right. We would also like for you to sell the materials to the merchant guild, using your VIP merchant license would reduce the guildsmission so we''re willing to offer you 20 percent of our total ie."
"50."
"¡ªWhat?"
"50 percent."
"Umm, well, there are still five of us and we would be the ones doing most of the fighting so don''t you think taking 50 percent is a bit..."
"No, I''m afraid the job sounds troublesome and there''s no guarantee you can get that amount of money, I also don''t need to bother with this so no, I''ll only ept 50%"
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Chapter 108 C108. Runics Weapon Shop
The five hunters stared at Tyler intently, it was indeed true that he had no reason to bother with such a shady and dangerous mission when he was already a VIP merchant with ess to valuable resources.
Based on that alone, money would no longer be a problem for him, and judging by the strength he disyed in the alley, his ability to transport goods to faraway regions due to his rare mound, he was already doing them a favor just by considering their request
Dohel sighed inwardly, he turned to hispanions and they shared a look of understanding. They''ve already wasted a lot of time searching for a decent merchant and even going as far as wanting to hire the shady merchants that had ties with the underground.
And even those had rejected their offer. The job was just too risky and the reward wasn''t even guaranteed. They no longer had a choice but to use theirst negotiation chip.
It was a shame they had to give this up but this was a golden opportunity to get an actual VIP merchant. With his VIP discount, their gains would surely be a lot higher than expectations and with the predicament, they''ve found themselves in. They really could not afford to give up more than 20% of their actual loot especially now.
Dohel clears his dry throat before he spoke again:
"We appreciate you considering our proposal, and believe me, I wish we can offer you more but like I said earlier. We need every penny we can get so how about this..."
He reached into the pouch by his waist and retrieved something, before cing it at the top of the table. Tyler''s eyes squinted underneath this hood as he tilted his head slightly and Dohel surely wouldn''t miss the opportunity.
"Seeing as you have a magic carriage. I take it you''re quite familiar with magic items right?"
He did not give Tyler any opportunity to speak as he quickly added: "This right here is an Epic ranked magic item, of course you know how magic items are ranked right? It starts with Ordinary, Extraordinary, Rare, Famed, Relic, Epic, Legendary, and to top it off, Artifacts, or magic artifacts if you prefer. That means this right here is only two ranks below that of a magic artifact."
A smile grew on Dohel''s face as he could sense the rising interest in the hooded man even though his partner was just quietly staring as she sipped the drink in her cup.
He was right, Tyler''s interest had been piqued but it wasn''t because of the item Dohel had brought out. Rather, he was more interested in what wasing out of Dohel''s mouth as this was the first time Tyler had learned more about magic items.
To be frank, he was under the impression that magic artifacts were entirely different from magic items but to his surprise, magic artifacts were just the highest level magic items. Although, he wasn''t entirely wrong in his thinking.
"Amongst the list I just mentioned, magic artifacts are further separated into four ranks based on how strong and unique the artifact was as not all magic Artifacts had been created equally. They were further ranked into four grades. Starting with Special Grade artifacts as the weakest and possessed the least amounts of effects."
"Followed closely by Celestial Grade artifacts, Divine Grade artifacts and finally to top it off were God Tier artifacts, although thest one is just rumored as no God Tier artifacts has ever been found."
As Dohel, kindly exined to him the list of magic items and artifacts. Tyler finally lowered his gaze to take a look at the magic item on the table. It was something like a stick of about thirty to thirty-five centimeters in length. It emitted a faint but wild aura that was barely visible.
This was undoubtedly a wand that looked to be made out of ivory. The handle was inscribed with quite the high-level runes that probably consisted of only first-level intermediate runes and as such, Tyler was unable to decipher its meaning.
There was a slightly glowing green gem attached to the front end of the wand and it gave it an indescribable feeling.
"What is this?"
"This is the wand of chaos, we haven''t gotten it appraised yet so we''re not exactly sure on the details but ording to what we''ve learned, this is a summoning wand that is worth nothing less than 20,000 DC maybe more. That should be more than enough to upset your losses right. Truth be told, we were nning on keeping this as it seems like a great lifesaving card to have. Although we can''t sell it ourselves due to the restrictions ced on high-grade magic items trading, as a VIP merchant, you should be able to do that no problem."
Tyler stared at the wand for a few minutes and thought about it. He wasn''t really bothered about being dragged into anything troublesome to begin with as it was the fastest way to get introduced to the hidden powers in this city but he still wanted to get something for his efforts, and a magic item was surely worth the effort.
Not to mention, the magic item in question was something that could help him protect the castle. Although there was an abundance of magic artifacts in the magic library, he still couldn''t enter and he wasn''t even sure if it was a good idea to used anything from there in Public given as they were all valuable magic artifacts.
"Alright, we have a deal, what are the details of the mission."
"Really, that''s great, well, first of all, we need to prepare and I''m afraid we can''t tell you the details yet but, please meet us at the cities entrance first thing in the morning."
"Tomorrow huh..."
"Is that going to be a problem?."
"No, that would be fine.
They all nodded and Dohel smiled at them before the group quickly finished up their order as they stood up and bowed to them, bidding farewell before leaving the restaurant.
Tyler watched the group leave before cing an order for some food when he suddenly realized something very important. Those damn idiots hadn''t paid for the mountains of food that gluttonous subus had eaten before they left.
He used cate on himself before remembering he would see them again, surely this time they would pay for this. The food arrived and they both ate. Although Tyler didn''t need to eat he was curious about the delicacies of the demon continent.
They served him several specialties of the Sentro Region. Which were all a bit spicy but quite tasty and he ate them all without taking down his hood. When they were finally done with dessert they both left the ce and took a private carriage to therge weapon shop in the south borough called Runic''s Weapon shop.
This ce came highly rmended by Zomatsu. It wasn''t the popr ckwing Weapons shop but the owner had a direct connection with one of the Ore refinement industries ran by an earl which was what Tyler was truly after.
The trip took about an hour but they finally arrived. The ce was just a two-story building but it was stillrge andpared to the other buildings in the area, this ce stood out quite a lot. They alighted the carriage and as usual, Nadine drew most of the men''s attention and Tyler drew hostile res.
The shop was filled with exquisite-looking armor that was on disy behind a thickyer of enchanted ss. They glisten and shone like they were made of rare and valuable metals but Tyler could tell that, although they were valuable armaments and weapons, they were not that impressive and were purely meant for show.
A male clerk greeted them as they walked in and asked if they required an assistant. Tyler nodded under his hood and the clerk came over to introduce the various types of weapons and armors they had in stock.
Tyler listened quietly for a while before asking for ores, of course, most people wouldn''te here for ores so the clerk gave him a suspicious look. He then brought out his VIP license and handed it to the clerk.
The clerk stared at the license for a while before leaving their side and headed for the back. A few minutes passed before the clerk came back out and invited them to the back.
Tylerplied and followed the clerk closely behind. The back was partly a storehouse forrge quantities of weapons and armaments. The Runic''s Weapon shop also had a few cksmiths on staff that produced most of their wares.
Tyler knew the top floor was for the more expensive and higher quality wares that were reserve for special customers and also contained VIP meeting rooms. The area they were in contained arge storehouse, several forges, and offices for the staff.
As they trailed behind the clerk, he leads them into one of those offices, one that was a littlerger than the others. Situated inside the office was a short middle-aged man in purple overalls that were only worn as pants revealing his ck tank top and bulging muscles.
He sat behind a desk as he used a tool that resembled a quill to engrave something on a short de.
Even after the three of them entered the room he continued his work as the clerk introduced them to him. The clerk pointed to the sofa by the side and asked them to sit. Tyler obliged and so did Nadine.
They both sat down and patiently waited for the man to speak. The man finally raised his head after a long time of working on the dagger. He took a look at Nadine and then the hooded figure that sat beside her, squinting his eyes a bit perhaps trying to use a Skill to take a peek underneath the hood.
Once he was either satisfied or disappointed with the results he nodded his head with the same deadpan expression on his face and spoke with a hoarse voice. "You''re supposed to be a VIP merchant yet I have never heard of you before. Where exactly are you from."
Tyler turned to face him and responded curtly. "We came here because we were told that you had connections to provide us with more than the normal amount of refined steel, as well as some Orichalcum, and adamantine."
"And who exactly told you that."
The room grew quiet for a brief moment before Tyler spoke again. "It''s fine if you can''t handle it, we''ll just have to try elsewhere."
The expression on the short man''s face finally twitched a little. He nodded his head and said. "Fine, but this will cost extra. How much do you want?"
"Around a thousand tonnes of steel and as much orichalcum and adamantine as you can manage within the week."
He stood up and pick a small parchment on the drawer next to him and took a nce at it. He then went over to his seat and spoke again. That''ll be a total of 56,250 DC, you''ll have to pay half up front."
Tyler reached inside his robes and threw two small boxes at the man and he easily caught them. "Half of that amount is in there, please put the metals in those boxes and I hope they''ll be ready by the end of the week."
"The man nodded and a faint smile grew on his face. "Alright, I know this iste and you already know that but I am Ferl Runic, the owner and head cksmith of this shop. Do you also want to make some weapons or armaments from those materials?"
"That''s fine, I''m only interested in the. materials.
"Alright, I''ll have my assistant draw you a contract, but of course, you can choose to forgo it if you do not want any paper trail." The man said with a strange smile stered on his face.
"A contract is fine." What was the point in using a fake name if he was still going to be scared of a paper trail?
Ferl frowned slightly and rang a bell by the side.his desk, soon after the male. clerk entered the room and lead Tyler and Nadine back to the main shop. A contract was soon drawn and Tyler took it and left.
The moment he was out of the shop Tyler''s entire being felt like screaming. He fought desperately against the urge as his mind kept spinning.
''Why the fuck was that so freaking expensive, Damn it!, my wealth is all gone.''
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Chapter 109 C109. High Class Expenses
Tyler took a deep breath and sighed, he felt agitated and Nadine was starting to notice. He hadn''t expected all the money he hadn''t earned over the past few days to practically disappear in an instant, to the point that he was almost in dept.
He currently owed Ferl a whooping sum of more than 20,000 DC. Money like that wasn''t easy to earn even for him as right now he only held about 11,000 DC and that was already set aside for something.
He thought about the quickest ways he could make money and the first thing that came to his mind was the magic institute. However, joining the magic institute right now might actually be a hindrance. He had until the end of the week and he highly doubted the magic institute would give a request worth over 10,000 DC to a newbie.
He also couldn''t raise his rank in the guild within that period. He thought about sending Zelda back to the Darknar forest to gather up some more resources but instantly abolish that idea as it went against the merchant guild leader''s assumption on where they had gotten their wares.
Although there was still the request of those Hunters that called themselves Unrivaled. He still couldn''t be sure of what their ie would be unless he actively interfered with the flow of events along the way.
With that train of thought, a n slowly blossomed in Tyler''s mind and his agitation rapidly cooled off as a smile crept across his face.
Without wasting any more time, they quickly boarded a private carriage straight to Royal borough, where he could shop for some quality clothes for himself and the girls.
The carriage ride took quite a long time to get to the Royal borough than he had expected. When they arrived it was alreadyte in the afternoon.
Tyler needed to shop for quality clothes for himself, and not just ordinary clothes, but also magic items (clothes). Since he didn''t want to wear any heavy or bulky armor, he would need to get clothes that had been made out of beast cores or high tiered fur.
Luckily he brought Nadine along to shop for the girls as he had no intentions of actually doing that himself. Magic clothes were expensive and after spending all the coins he had on hand for refined ores and Steel. He only had the 11 thousand plus DC with Nadine to rely on.
He also needed to request the merchant guild to provide him with food, spices, and utensils along with some necessities for the castle so he needed way more money than what he currently had on him and that was ignoring his recent dept.
Tyler came to a high-ss clothing shop for nobles that wouldn''t attend tomoners normally, but with the VIP merchant license, he would be allowed in. This was one of the so-called perks the guild leader had told him about.
The shop was more than five stories and had mostly ss on the outside that showed a disy of their fanciest outfits and recent designs. Tyler showed the guards that stood by the entrance his VIP card and they frowned but still allowed him in.
He could faintly hear them snorting at him, clearly in disdain. They were probably nobles who thought lightly ofmoners and didn''t feel they should be given special privileges just because they were in a Guild. Tyler ignored the pair and gave Nadine the list from the girls and also received about 5,00 DC from her.
Leaving her to her thoughts, he walked over to the men''s section and made quick choices. Even for a high-ss clothing shop, they didn''t have a lot of magic or enchanted clothes. Well if they were thatmon everyone would have at least one.
Tyler picked a few T-shirts made out of the threads of a Crimson spider and a giant goat''s core. Some high-quality long coats with hoods made out of various beast hides and cores. The same quality pants and boots.
They all had varying effects but none of them had skills. One of the t-shirts he bought was made out of the scales of a silver wyvern. It was also silver in color and for a simple shirt it had a lot of style to it, Tyler ced them all in his spatial storage when the attendant wasn''t looking and paid exactly 2,950 DC for them.
Meeting up with Nadine who was already waiting for him at the entrance which had actually surprised him as he had thought she would spend a lot more time picking out outfits for two. Turned out, she had spent more than all the DC she had on her and had to stop halfway and return with what she could buy.
That meant all they had on hand was now less than 2,000 DC. His pouch that had been filled to the brim this morning was now almost empty. Not wanting to think about this matter anymore he left the shop with Nadine in tow.
Walking out of the high-ss boutique, they boarded another carriage back to the merryside Inn. The trip took them about an hour and they soon alighted in front of the inn. Walking into the inn they drew stares from the Hunters and merchants inside although since it was still rtively early in the evening, there were not that many people here.
Tyler walked over to the innkeeper and paid for another night in their previous room as well as for taking care of their mount and carriage. With that, they both disappeared up the stairs from the various gazes that were locked upon them.
Tyler also hadn''t noticed the Hunter party that had recruited him so he assumed they must''ve been out preparing for the job. Entering the room Tyler used several protection scrolls to prevent sudden attacks and remote spies.
He had done his best not to attract too much attention, however, his n needed the attention of certain individuals and in his attempt to garner those people''s attention he might have drawn in the attention of some unwanted individuals.
"I will be inspecting the surroundings for a while. You stay here and wait."
"Huh, please let me apany you. It is my job to protect you on this trip."
Nadine had an unusually serious and slightly nervous expression on her face, it was like when he had first asked her to apany him on this trip. Tyler firmly shook his head and refused.
No, I''m only looking around the neighborhood. There are also a few ces I''d like to visit discreetly¡ and the other reason why you''re staying here is to ward off intruders. You must stay on your guard and never ck off. While I don''t think there are any vulnerabilities in our defenses for the moment, this ce might well be considered enemy territory, so you must never rx."
"O... Alright."
"if something happens you can use the scrolls I gave you to escape, before attempting to contact me. Make sure you prioritize your safety first, understand."
"Understood."
After bbering on and almost losing himself in his speech. Tyler finally convinced her to stay behind as he went out through the window that was on the fifth floor.
??????????
??????????
Corno Nigour awoke in a dark room after being healed by a healer. Even after several light healing was cast on him, although the bruises and broken bones on his body were healed, he still felt pain from the sides of his head. The ce that man had gripped.
He was sure his skull had been fractured but the man that stood next to the bed he awoke on said he was fine and kept repeating the same thing no matter how many times he asked. Being paranoid he used a healing paste on the spot. It was amon item on this side of the continent. While not as effective as a low-grade healing potion, it was cheap and did what it was supposed to do.
p Corno stared at the skinny blonde man that stood by the door with a gold-ted bracelet on his left arm. He was Carn Lockbrook his second inmand. Corno Nigour was a mid-tier member of ''Numbers''. An underground Organization that had roots in almost all of the major cities in the Zorak region.
He was in charge of running the organization operations here in south Borough. The organization had a group in each borough here in Winged city except the Royal borough. To think someone like him that inspired fear in others would meet a pathetic loss like that to an unnamed merchant. That was an insult.
He was only a member of the Hunter guild as a cover for the organization, but he was still a tinum ranked Hunter and had the employ of several gold ranked hunters at the time. So how could he be so utterly humiliated like that?
Corno Nigour is a lesser demon, a lower ss member of the demon race, someone that would never be considered an equal to actual demons not to mention nobles. He was born to be at the bottom and up until a few years ago, someone like him wouldn''t have been allowed to rise in both the Hunter guild and the organization.
He had spent years working for the organization and was finally rewarded with a promotionst year. Being the boss of his own division that specialized in smuggling goods and even ves.
ve trading was illegal in most of the Demon continent. Although most noble households still had ves, it had to be due to their own efforts. This meant that when a ruling family expands their region after defeating another family''s military. They were free to deal with the remaining family members as they saw fit.
They could allow them to join their family as an outer member. Allow them to keep theirnds and be vassals or simply take them as ves. Of course, they could also take anyone in that region as ves. However, they were forbidden from selling or trading those ves.
Strictly speaking, the act of buying and selling ves was forbidden but not very itself. It was quite a conundrum for themon folks.
However, this was just a way to prevent former nobles from being owned bymoners which would end up tarnishing the noble title albeit just a lityl. Of course, there were still a few regions that were too far to be influenced by the Great Five so ve trading was still allowed. This includes the seven regions lead by the seven deadliest behemoths.
Corno stood up and asked the skinny blonde man what happened next as he wasn''t entirely sure. The man named Carn told him about the interference of the tinum party, Unrivaled, and how they had to retreat after he was mmed into a wall and almost died.
Anger rose within him as he heard that story, it also intensified when he heard the name of that party that had saved the merchant. Corno stood up and asked: "Doesn''t that party have dealings with the north division?"
"Ah, yes boss, it was also why we had no choice but to leave. We weren''t sure what type of dealing they had."
"Forget it, gather all our men then send some to track down that merchant... He''ll pay for this humiliation¡ª also send a request to the west division, tell them I''ll pay 1000 DC for Mr. 99''s help in this matter."
A look of hesitation and apprehension came upon the face of Carn the moment he heard that name and he asked. "Do we need to enlist the help of that person, we..."
"Shut up, have you forgotten what that merchant did to me? Even if I had my guard down, do you think he will go down easily! Just Shut up and do what I say!"
"Ah, yes boss."
Carn hurriedly ran out of the small room and Corno turned to the other person in the room and ordered. "Cast another healing spell on me."
"There is no need, I have already done what I ca¡ª"
"WOULD EVERYONE JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP AND DO WHAT I SAY!"
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Chapter 110 C110. Worthless
Many roads in Winged city were paved in cobblestones and it wouldn''t be a stretch to say the same of all the cities under the protection of any of the Great Five. However, for a border city like this one that was in the front lines of monster siege and enemy attacks, there were a few exceptions to this as they were generally more focused on protection and security.
In this case, it would be the southern parts of the city or south borough as it was now poprly called.
Since most of the roads in the south were unpaved, in times like this when the snow had fallen for a while and mixed in with the mud, it, in turn, creates a sight that did not belong to a city. Of course, this did not imply that the standards of the city were low. Rather, the standards of the other cities were too high and even this city was a cut above the other nobles'' main cities.
Tyler slowly walked down a narrow pathway, he was headed south but had no particr direction. The sun had set a while back and even though the streetmps were automatically lit. There were still certain ces the lights could not reach and aftering to a broad clearing in a deserted part of town by town the corner of a junkyard, he was met with such a ce.
Standing at the center of this ce he sighed, his posture painted a clear picture of annoyance and impatience. "Isn''t it about time you all reveal yourselves? You''re not doing a good job of hiding your bloodlust."
There was a few seconds of silence in the air before suddenly, several cloaked figures slithered out of the dark and slowly walked towards him withdrawn des and they soon surrounded him. There were more than thirty of them and one of which Tyler recognized. He had messy short ck hair with ck eyes. He had two short horns protruding from his head with a long tail that was visible from underneath his cloak.
This was the imp tinum ranked Hunter that had tried to rob Tyler earlier. It seemed they had gone back to get more people for this and had decided to tail him until he was alone. Most of the people that surrounded him did not seem like Hunters. Their bloodlust was pure and it didn''t seem like they were only interested in money this time.
Tyler had been fully aware of the tail that was ced on him since this morning although they hadn''t followed him into the Royal borough for some reason but continued stalking him as he left the borough back to the merryside inn. It took a great deal of self-control not to just send Zelda after the tail.
"Looks like you finally noticed us.
Ghahahah, well it''s toote... you''re now nothing but a caged rat." The imp said sneering at Tyler with maddening and bloodshot eyes.
Sigh... "What a drag... If you''re going to attack me then make it quick, I have other things to do." Tyler said cocking his head as a faint smile could be seen on his face underneath his hood.
Several veins budged upon the imp''s head ready to bust. He ground his teeth in his mouth andughed. "That arrogant attitude of yours pisses me off, do you think you''re better than us."
Although that was clearly a rhetorical question, Tyler still found it necessary to provide an answer. "Yes, yes I do."
Upon hearing his immediate response, rage boiled within the tinum ranked Hunter and a sound that could only be described as a scornful incredulous scoff left his mouth. Heughed loudly and said:
"Good, good, this is good, if you''re not like this then this wouldn''t be fun... Ghahahahahah... We''ll make you grovel on the ground like the dog you are, no one will be able to save you this time."
"First it was a rat and now a dog, you can''t seem to make up your mind even with your insults. Either way, an insult is still an insult and I can''t let it slide. Still, it''s a relief to know that trash like you exist in every continent, to be honest, I was nning to track you down at some point in time so you''ve surely saved me the time and effort. As a reward, I''ll spare you lives if you go down on your knees and beg for your lives."
"You... You insolent bastard, you''re dead, dead! KILL HIM!!"
At hismand, more than 20 men charged at Tyler with great speed. Or rather, what they believed to be great speed. Those that held des prepare them and the rangers and magic users prepared their bows and spells.
However, they hadn''t even taken more than a step when the man they were after suddenly disappeared from their view. Their eyes went wide in shock and confusion arose in their minds before their brains had even fully processed what was going on.
The next thing their mind registered was their boss being hoisted off the ground by a hand that had gripped his face like thest time. The tinum ranked Hunter cursed and screamed behind his palm but no matter how he struggled he couldn''t get free.
The other men hesitated for a second before they heard their boss muffled voice continuously scream: "Kill Him, Kill this BASTARD." Tyler shook his head underneath his cloak as he muttered to himself.
"I guess trash will always be trash, no point in this anymore."
The hand that gripped the tinum ranked Hunter tighten slightly and a cracking soundbined with the sickening crunch and squishing of bone and flesh was quite audible in the dark expanse that it made the men around him cringed.
The tinum ranked Hunter''s body fidget for a moment before it slummed down lifelessly and dropped to the ground like nothing but a bag of bones.
"Huh? Well... This was unexpected."
Tyler stared at his bloodied left hand in disbelief as he muttered to himself although the deathly silence that had epassed the ce made his voice reach the ears of everyone around him.
"My apologies, I hadn''t expected his head to be that fragile. I had originally intended to toss him back while I deal with you lot so I don''t kill him on ident but I guess that''s pointless now huh..."
As the group of around 30 armed men stared nkly at him. Tyler made a reaching motion and pulled out a short white towel from the void. He proceeded to wipe off the blood and goo on his gloved hands then tossing the towel atop the dead tinum ranked Hunter.
Shifting his gaze back to the lot that just stared at him with looks of either, confusion, despair, or hateful anger. They all simultaneously took a step back in apprehension as their gaze met his.
Fear the likes of which no of them had felt before crept its way into their hearts and took root. They had no idea how much strength was required to crush a man''s head like it was nothing but their souls screamed at every fiber of their being.
"So, now what? Are you all going to try and flee from a supposedly rat/dog that had clearly gotten lucky and killed your leader or are you''ll going to avenge him?"
The men''s gazes all shifted in a single direction clearly looking for some kind of leadership from their second inmand, and the figure of a skinny blonde man holding a long glimmering dagger and standing by the side was the recipient of their questioning looks.
Tyler''s eyes naturally shifted with theirs as he located another possible candidate for his questions.
Carn Lockbrook gulped a mouthful of saliva even though his mouth was as dry as a desert. He had never dreamed that something so obscene could ever happen. He hadn''t expected an oue like this even when Corno had wanted to hire an elite from the organization just for this man he had thought he was being a bit paranoid at the time.
However, he would''ve never imagined that Corno would die so easily. To be honest he hadn''t really seen what had happened. All he saw was the hooded man appearing in front of Corno and the next thing he saw was Corno''s body on the ground with his head crushed.
His heart tightened as he realized how far out of their league they were. They had surely provoked someone that even their supervisors would be scared of. Worst of all, they had failed to hire Mr. 99 as he had declined their offer, saying he would only help if he finds it interesting.
Numbers was an organization that tends to assign a number to their elite and strongest members. The lower the number the stronger and more dangerous the member was. The organization was led by the ones with single digits but everyone in double digits was still on another levelpared to most of the poption of this world.
Carn right now was wishing they had offered more for Mr 99''s help. He didn''t know if he should order a retreat or try to fight. Perhaps the man was being serious and had only gotten lucky but his speed was clearly not something they were equipped to handle.
However, running away blindly was equally if not more of a dangerous move. Carn moves forward slowly after resigning himself to the expectations of his men but his advance held no confidence in them yet he had still made this move.
This was because he had steeled himself for what was toe as a retreat was not even an option. If any of the other divisions find out that they ran away from a single man then they would surely still die but would surfer a more gruesome fate than their boss.
His brain spun as he thought of a desperate n of attack. A way to at least injure, incapacitate or unmask this opponent when suddenly he heard the casual tone of the hooded man once again and his words made Carn''s bones shudder.
"Now that the most useful one amongst you went and died on his own. I guess that makes the lot of you even more worthless, perhaps your corpses would prove to be of use to me."
The man stretched out his arm in Carn''s direction. It was just an empty hand that held no weapons, but his body suddenly emitted a pressure the likes of which they had never felt before. It was a pressure that didn''t seem to stem from his aura but from a feeling that was hitched in the back of their minds ever since they had seen their boss died.
"Ahh¡"
Several hoarse cries came from around Carn.
They were cries of fear.
His presence was filled with unimaginable power. His seemingly casual gesture was like daggers that stabbed at their souls. A sense of death loomed heavily over their heads. This feeling told clearly of their impending doom.
A thrill of cold ran from the bottoms of Carn''s feet to the top of his head and an extreme level of fear and panic the likes of which he had never felt before assaulted his mind. Carn did not know what the man was trying to do but he had a premonition based on the rapid change of the air around him.
This man was already strong enough as it was and they had never considered the possibility that he could also use magic which now seemed to be their greatest mistake.
"ATTACK!!! Launch every attack you have now! Don''t let him make a move!"
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Chapter 111 C111. Zelda
ATTACK!!! Launch every attack you have now! Don''t let him make a move!"
Carn''s voice broke slightly as he shouted his orders and it sounded more like a scream. He hadn''t screamed to raise his men''s spirits or morale, neither did he do it as a way to attain control of this situation. He had simply just given in to his fears as a sense that f dread gripped his heart by the casual motion of that man.
At his words, the men around him also became flustered and hastilyunched a vast amount of spells and arrows at the hooded man while also wailing in fright.
"|Curse Arrow|, |Fireball|, |Fire Rain|, |Emerald Burst|, |Scorching Ray|, |Magic Arrows|, |Confusion|, |Open Wounds|, |Poison|, |Fear|, |Blindness|..."
The hooded man performed no other actions as he just stared at the iing storm of spells and arrows thatshed against him.
These were all Tier 2 spells and below and even the arrows held no enchantment so Tyler was fairly confident that he had enough resistance to resist them all without even lifting a finger.
Just as he had expected, the spells did not damage him and the arrows could not even chip the fur on his coat. After taking on a barrage of their strongest attacks, the man has stille out unscathed.
"Well, that was pointless."
At the hooded man''s casual tone, one of the men closest to Carn screamed wildly after being stricken with fear as he saw all their attacks being so ineffective that they might as well just be bright colors in the dark night.
As members of the organization, they were used to dangerous situations and had even faced stronger opponents than them, but this was just ridiculous. What exactly were they supposed to do against an opponent that could not only kill their boss in a single move but could also shrug off the strongest attacks of more than a dozen mages and archers.
Fear the likes of which he had never felt before gripped his heart and in desperation, he pulled out an ominous ck scroll and immediately activated it.
Carn''s eyes widened upon seeing that particr scroll in the possession of the man. Mix emotions weld up within him as he couldn''t even react in time. That was a valuable item they had been tasked with smuggling through the city by a certain noble.
There was no conceivable reason why such a thing would be in the possession of that man. The only possible answer he could think of was simple, the man had stolen it from the organization, and quite recently if he still had it on him knowing fully well what the organization does to traitors.
Then again, there had been several scrolls alongside a variety of other items in the list so perhaps he had just been stupid enough to think a single scroll would not be missed.
However, Carn held his breath, he could not think of such a thing in this situation. This man''s reckless foolishness was now a ray of sunshine in the dark nightmare he had somehow found himself in.
That was a peak Tier 5 dark attack scroll. A scroll that contained the same raw power of a demon elder and even some weaker demon lords. No matter how much resistance he had. The hooded man shouldn''t be unable to stand against such a spell. Carn refused to believe that such a shady fellow wielded the same level of strength as a demon lord.
"DARKBOLT!"
The ck scroll was engulfed in greyish-white me and turned to dust. In its ce, a massive beam of brilliant darkness was unleased at the hooded man faster than the speed of light. Most of the men around him were blown away by the force of the spell and even Carn could not imagine the man being able to avoid an attack at this level.
With a loud whoosh, a seemingly endless torrent of darkness in the form of a grayish-ck radiance flooded towards Tyler in an instant and engulfs him as he simply raised his left arm to shade his eyes.
This was fifth-tier magic, a spell that borders at the verge of the sixth tier ¡ª a height Carn could never hope to attain.
This attack would annihte all below the rank of an elder, and even elders would meet the same fate. The difference was only if they were reduced to sightless atoms, or if there would be some remains left behind.
Even behemoths should receive some damage, demon lords would also not be spared. Right?
Yes¡ª it would surely be strange if that was not the case.
So why, why was he... Why was he still there?
Monster.
He didn''t know who had said that but he wholeheartedly believed him as no normal merchant should be this strong.
The monster dress like a man had not been sted into glowing ash, sprawled on the ground, or pulverized into meat jelly, but he was still standing nonchntly, and even acted like he was also surprised by the oue.
"¡ªHuh, I took that head on to test my resistance and durability but¡ This is a strange oue¡ I guess this goes to show that I can''t ever let my guard down as even trash like you can be lucky enough to possess something so fascinating."
The spell just then had blown his hood away as the material was at best at the Tier 3 standard and even his coat had patches of dark burnt marks as he had not defended with any magical means and while he was unhurt, the spell still had an effect on him.
Tyler stared at his left arm as the torrent of darkness disappeared. The crack on his arm had corroded his glove and destroyed it. The crack seems to absorbed the negative energy in the darkbolt and expanded.
Tyler sighed inwardly. If this went on he might turn into an undead in his sleep but he still had no idea how to handle this. He cast a few lights heals on his arm until it became manageable and turned around to take a look at the effects of that spell.
The clearing he was in had a fenced-off junkyard behind him and it had been blown to smithereens by the residual effects of that spell.
If he hadn''t absorbed most of the force he was sure the damage would''ve been much worse. Thisbined with the fact that his face had now been revealed to these clowns, Tyler felt like he was quite unlucky this time.
"So much for being discreet huh... With my hood gone, I guess we''re done here."
His voice didn''t seem particrly upset or worried they had all seen his appearance which was quite different from the normal residence of this city and it would be easy for him to be identified but his tone just carried a wave of indifference.
Carn gulped at his words, both he and his band of thieves were not equipped to deal with situations like this and most of their eyes had lost their luster as aplicated expression was stered on their faces.
"What''s wrong, do you not have anything else to surprise me... Well, I guess I''ll take my turn now, Zelda."
A shadow moved from beneath his feet and a shadowy creature soon appeared out of the ground and with the sound of an explosion.
A beautiful female undead lunged forward as the ground shattered beneath her and in an instant.
Yes, it had happened in an instant.
Although Carn wasn''t sure if they could call this a battle since this had started they had not been able to take their eyes off their target. However, The female undead ¡ª who had suddenly appeared before them and should still be in their view ¡ª had moved mysteriously and was now in their midst.
With a speed that the eye could not even see, Zelda swung her twin daggers, tracing several beautiful curves of the weapon''s sickly green light in the air.
"Impudent worm, learn your ce."
Her cold words made the hearts of everyone that heard it tighten and the man that had used the dark scroll earlier copsed lifelessly to the ground, his head rolling away from his body.
"...Huh?"
Nobody knew what had happened. They had all been excited when the man had suddenly produced such a valuable scroll but the situation had not unfolded how they had imagined it and now, a creature that looked like the reaper had taken the shape of their most lustful fantasies and hade for their lives,¡ª stood before them.
Before any of them could even recover from their stupor, the alluring shadow rogue moved again. Her de moved beautifully like she was performing an intricate dance. With every swing of her weapon, a body fell to the ground lifelessly.
While the men may have been scared shitless, their pride as men wouldn''t let them just stand around and die at the hands of a girl. Well, at least some of them weren''t. They tried to surround her with their numbers and all swung their des.
It was evident the strongest amongst them were the Tier 2 mages and most of them were Tier 1s, especially the warriors. However, they were quite experienced when it came to fighting in a group, or maybe it was just their specialty to gang up on people.
They attacked Zelda from all angles, instantly filling up any holes created during the fight. Zelda was a rogue, an assassin-type fighter, and while she could still use some magic. She still wasn''t built to take on so many opponents at once in a frontal assault.
However, she was not an ordinary rogue but one that was born in the depths of darkness and specialized in the shadow arts. Not to mention the anger she felt towards these maggots for daring to point their filthy des at her master.
Skill - Shadow Movement.
Her figure turned blurry for an instant and she melded into the shadows on the ground as she instantly moved behind several men that had only just been attacking her andunched a barrage of attacks at them.
Skill - Shadow Assault.
Her strikes carried the force of darkness and more than half of Carn''s men fell lifelessly to the ground as Carn stared at the scene still frozen in fear.
"U-Uwaaaah¡ª!"
A magic-user that watched Zelda continuously kill his friends from the rear could no longer stand it anymore. He wailed in horror as he turned around and ran wildly away. No longer able to think with any form of rationality.
Zelda turned her ice-cold gaze at the retreating fellow and an exasperated grunt left her greyish ck lips. Her figure quickly melded with the shadows and she rapidly moved and shot out of the ground in front of the scared man with dripping pants as she spun her slender legs and the head of the man caved in and his body was sent tumbling back several meters.
"Annoying worm."
Zelda muttered to herself, her usual nk expression had a slight hint of annoyance on them as she was about tond back down and return to carrying out the task her beloved master has entrusted her with and dispose of the remaining worms.
However¡ª
Before her feet hadpletely touched the ground and she was about to sink back into the shadows. Arge blunted weight mmed straight into her back with a force like it had been shot out of a cannon.
Bang! Boom!
Her body was sent flying as she mmed into the ground like aunched projectile.
Tyler who had only silently been watching the battle narrowed his eyes as he traced therge weight that was attached to a chain back to its source.
A dark figure wearing a ck long coat with a long straighten cor, a ck top hat, and a white metallic mask that covered the entirety of his face walked out of one of the alleys.
He held a sickle-like weapon on his hands that was attached by a chain to the weight on the ground as he tugged on the chain and pulled the weight back to him. Spinning the chain with his left hand he spoke in a slightly metallic butx voice.
"I had some time and only came here out of a nagging curiosity but it seems I missed out on quite the fun huh... That''s quite a shame. I guess I should''ve epted thatd''s request to begin with but oh well... Who do I kill first."
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Chapter 112 C112. Number 99.
Following what sounded like an incredibly powerful impact, Zelda''s body was sent flying several meters away from her original location. Her slender figure mmed into the ground a few meters away from Tyler in an impact that sounded more like an explosion and resounded in this quiet part of the city.
While the residents that lived in this part of the city generally could not afford to keep their lights on past a certain time and due to the cost of owning and maintaining a magicmp, they generally went to bed early. Tyler was a little worried about attracting outside attention due to the house.
Although public locations like zas and main streets had the city provide the cost of their power supply. There were no such locations around here and this was not even a residential area, which meant there were very few residents around which made the area abnormally quiet at night.
And while the guards around such a deserted location would not be the cream of the crop, thebined sounds of thest dark spellbined with this would probably attract their attention and that would be bad for his future in this city.
At this moment, there were just about seven men still left alive after Zelda''s onught. They all had wet patches on their pants and an expression that showed they could not fullyprehend what was happening. Being unable to keep up with the rogue they had lost most of theirrades and even the one that had tried to flee wasn''t spared from her de.
And yet¡ª
Someone had been able tond such a devastating attack on the person they had all been unable to eveny a finger on. With heavy breaths that made it seem like they had just used up all their energy, they tried to identify the neer, hoping he was on their side.
Tyler''s gaze also traced the source of the attack that had sent Zelda flying and found a tall masked figure standing at the end of the alleyway as he slowly and casually walked out into the clearing. The figure held a sickle-like weapon that was attached by a long chain to what seemed like an adamantine cone-weighted ball.
The figure wore a long ck coat with its cor straighten as though it had been reinforced by metal ting. The coat looked like it was of a pretty high quality and was probably a magic item. It had jet ck twoyer leather pauldron on its shoulders and wore ck pants and a pair of jet ck leather boots. He wore a ck top hat and a white metallic mask covered the entirety of his face as he walked out of one of the alleys.
.
"Mr. 99, you... why are you here?"
A voice that sounded like the cross between someone on the verge of tears and constipation resounded in the quiet alley. Naturally, Tyler''s gaze shifted to the one that spoke. It was the skinny blonde man with a long dagger who the others had looked to for some leadership after the death of the tinum ranked Hunter.
He hadn''t moved from his spot since the moment Zelda began her assault as he stood in a ce frozen in fear with ttering knees. The figure approached the scene unhurriedly and spoke with a slightly hoarse and metallic voice that made Tyler believe he was using magic to hide his voice for some reason.
"I had some time and only came here out of a nagging curiosity but it seems I missed out on quite the fun huh... That''s quite a shame. I guess I should''ve epted thatd''s request to begin with but oh well... Who do I kill first."
His eyes were visible through the mask so Tyler could clearly see his fierce gaze pointed in his direction. He had bright yellowish-green pupils with a vertical slit and they seemed to glow in the dark. He walked casually into the clearing, tantly disregarding the figure of the shadow rogue who had survived his strike and was slowly trying to stand back up.
He walked at a steady pace as he spun the chain around with the heavyweight like it weighed nothing. He soon came to a stop a few meters away from Carn and spoke to him in the same tone of voice, all the while keeping his gaze fix on Tyler.
"Where is thatd?"
"Lad... err, if you mean the boss... He''s... umm, he''s dead." Carn spoke with an incredibly awkward tone as he struggled to maintain hisposure by twisting his head in the direction the body of his boss was.
"Dead uh..." The man followed his gaze and saw a body whose head had been crushed by the side. "I didn''t think he was that weak. He really was just all talk huh... Congrattions looks like you''re the new leader here, for now anyway..."
With what Carn thought was a yful but confident tone, he continued. "So which one of these two killed him?"
Carn had wanted to raise his fingers to point at the hooded man but soon froze as soon as his gaze was met by him.
No. 99 noticed the direction he had wanted to face and chuckled slightly with the same metallic voice he continued: "I see, I see... So that one huh? This should be fun."
Saying those words he left Carn''s side as he strolled forth, his gaze fixed on one. The man before him was quite young. He had slightly short ck hair that was cut in an unfamiliar style with facial features that did not resemble those born in this part of the continent.
He wore a ck coat that had been tattered by something powerful fairly recently. His skin also seemed slightly pale and judging by the damage to the surrounding, he must''ve engaged in a bitter right against Corno who was a tinum ranked Hunter and was at the intermediate tier 3 level.
He shifted his gaze towards the shadow rogue that had just managed to stand even with her right arm and left leg broken from thest impact. He chuckled softly as he understood the situation and spoke:
"Well hello there, please forgive my earlier rudeness and allow me to introduce myself. I am Mr 99 of Numbers. It''s a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
He spoke in a magnanimous manner as he made an elegant bow aftering to a stop a few meters away from Tyler. He didn''t seem to feel bothered by being outnumbered by the haggard rogue and the young man who may have been in a better state than the girl but must''ve still taken damage from whatever trump card Corno had used.
He hadn''t witnessed the full fight so he was unsure of the exact strength of the man but he knew he couldn''t be that much stronger than Corno. The girl was a little stronger so he had immediately taken care of her and with those wounds, she would not make any impact in the battle toe.
Raising his head back up in a fluid motion after not getting a reaction from the young man, he spoke again: "I would ask for your name but there''s no point as you''ll be dead soon. Do forgive my bluntness, by the way, this ce has now beenpromised so unfortunately, I don''t have the time to y with you."
,m Tyler tilted his head at that statement and was just about to say something when the aura around the masked man suddenly intensified and several colors shed around his body as his foot suddenly kicked off the earth and he lunged at Tyler with a speed that was in no way slower than the one Zelda had disyed earlier.
The man held the sickle-like weapon in one hand and spun the chain that had the weighted ball attached to it on the other. His movements were also not as straightforward as Tyler had expected as he was probably using a movement Technique.
His steps were nimble and light like those of an assassin and he made quick cuts as his figure suddenly split into three.
Tyler was surprised as he couldn''t tell which of the three was the real one even though he had his magic sense at full throttle. It was simr to how the man had appeared without him noticing. Somehow the masked man was able to evade his magic sense.
Perhaps it was his ability or maybe a skill. The possibility of it being a magic item was also quite high as everything the man wore was of very high quality.
Tyler didn''t have the time to cast any spells as the man was now too close. He thought about evading the attack then countering with his fist but he didn''t know how many secret techniques the man knew and how they would affect him.
With that said, he had no choice but to meet the attack head-on. Tyler reached into space to retrieve his magic weapon ''Narsil,'' so he could meet the masked man''s strike only to stop halfway through his motion as a sudden jolt of numbness assaulted his body.
That moment of hesitation was enough of an opportunity in a fight as No. 99 immediately let go of his sickle and held the chain to extend his reach the moment he noticed Tyler freeze up. He was experienced enough to take advantage of such a golden opportunity.
"Die!"
With a metallic growl, he viciously swung his weapon and it moved like a whip as it swiftly sliced through the air at the immobile Tyler.
Boom!
A loud sound echoed in the clearing and contrary to expectations, No. 99 frowned. His eyes narrowed as he red at the figure in front of him that had managed to interfere with what would''ve been a fatal strike.
Tyler''s eyes narrowed as well as he also stared at the mangled Zelda who had used shadow movement to appear in front of him and had tried to block the attack. However, the de was like a sickle, a kusarigama of sorts, which meant the de was curved downwards.
With thebination of her damaged leg and her broken arm, she was unable topletely block the attack and the de had pierced clean through her shoulder. Her body bled a reddish-ck liquid as she struggled to stay on her feet.
Carn and the other men still left alive had cked jaws at the current state of the person that had caused them so much devastation and despair. However, No. 99 seem to be annoyed by this
He couldn''t believe it. He had used one of his strongest skills and techniques in his first attack against this girl and there was no way she should be able to move even with the aid of a low-grade healing potion or a recovery skill and spell.
Yet, here she was standing on a broken leg and ring at him even though he had his weapon in her shoulder des. He quickly pulled out his weapon and jumped back. Even pulling his weapon out of her hadn''t garnered the right reaction from her.
"What is this!"
Tyler stared at Zelda in surprise as well. It was true the undead felt no pain, no fear, and no fatigue but he hadn''t expected her to move with such determination. Her leg and arm were broken and all she could do was stand but she still rushed to try and save him even without his orders.
Before Tyler could even think of why his body had failed him. Zelda bent her one good leg and like a specialized pogo stick, she lunged forward. Her speed was barely half of what it was but she moved without hesitation.
Number 99 was startled but he quickly recovered and prepared to meet her de. He moved swiftly, easily avoiding her swings and with his adamantine weighted ball. He sent a strike that sent her tumbling back on the ground.
However, she immediately tried to stand back up like she hadn''t felt any pain. This made, No. 99 frowned as he felt unsettled by her strange movements and decided to use a skill that wouldpletely annihte everything in front of him.
Quickly getting her footing, Zelda was about to lung forward again when she suddenly felt a grip drag her back. Feeling puzzled, she turned around to see her master who immediately stretched out an arm and flicked her on her forehead.
Although Tyler hadn''t put any strength into it, there was still enough force to jerk her head back. And although she felt no pain, the sudden strike had damaged her confidence and caused her to look at Tyler with tear-filled eyes, and a confused expression was stered on her face.
"That''s enough, I''ll handle the rest."
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Chapter 113 C113. Unfathomable
"That''s enough, I''ll handle the rest."
With those words, Tyler proceeded to cast the spell ''Touch of Despair'' on Zelda as he patted her on the head. It was a given that as she was a type of the undead race, normal healing spells would not work on her.
An undead creature would naturally only receive damage from all types of healing Spells that did not contain an influx of negative energy. Although the spell he was using would normally cause a feeling of dread and despair on its target, Zelda was already immune to all negative status effects as an Undead which made this the perfect healing spell he had for her.
Tyler didn''t have the time topletely heal all the wounds on her as the masked man had suddenly taken fighting stance the moment he had sensed the negative energy from Tyler''s spell and seen the gaping wounds on Zelda''s shoulder slowly closed up.
He hadn''t been aware of what she was but as he felt the surge of negative energy flow into her and was slowly healing her wounds, he quickly realized that she was of the undead race, perhaps a type of lesser vampire or something simr.
He wasn''t well informed about the undead so her exact type was a mystery to him and he found it a little intriguing but he still needed to act quickly as he couldn''t let her be fully healed. She was the stronger of the pair and her shadow ability would be troublesome to deal with.
Now that he had confirmed the man to be a support-type magic caster and would only have a few long-range spells in his arsenal. He knew he had to immediately close the distance without fail.
Number 99 swiftly reached into space and brought out a small bottle from his storage box and then crushed it over his feet. The contents poured on his boots and a slight yellow glow enveloped his boots. This was the high-level and expensive potion that gave the effects of the spell haste. It increases the speed of the user by more than 30% for a brief period of 30 seconds and cost more than 100 DC.
That was quite expensive for a single used item but Number 99 paid the cost with no heed. He activated several more support skills and kick-off. With a loud boom, the weight of his foot shattered the ground he stepped on as he instantly closed the distance between him and the male magic caster, his de tracing a yellow arc on the air as he swung it.
"Zelda, stand by."
Hearing her master''s order, Zelda immediately nodded and disappeared into the shadows. Tyler then swiftly moved slightly to the left and avoided the swung sickle-like weapon. His body felt a lot heavier now as most of the cells in them seem to be affected by negative corruption.
Tyler frowned slightly as he realized that this was mostly a bacsh from the massive amounts of negative energy that had invaded his system earlier due to that ck scrolls attack and his use of the Touch of Despair'' spell had made it a little worse.
Without the use of a high-level purifying spell, it would be impossible topletely get rid of all those corrupted cells in his body and even Erin''s purifying aqua aura had failed topletely heal him. He was now finding it even more difficult to use his mana properly and couldn''t even use his rings abilities.
Tyler tilted his body back and avoided the weighted ball as it barely grazed his coat. The attacks from the masked man were fast and fluid, ranging from the clean slice of his sickle to the brutal swings of his metal ball as he moved around Tyler nimbly, with a footwork Technique that Tyler couldn''t fathom.
He took wild strides to prevent Tyler from getting out of his range and short and narrow cuts that kept Tyler on his toes as he fought with both ends of his weapon. Tyler kept attempting to pull out his weapon but the moment he tried to use his mana, a cold thrill would run down his spine and slightly numb his movements making him appear awkward and unskilled.
Carn''s jaws had practically dropped to the ground at this point, his men were also on their knees as their eyes could not even follow the movements of those two. They had never seen any battle at such a high-level in their entire lives so witnessing a battle fought at such insane speeds that they saw nothing but blurs made chills run down their spines.
If the two weren''t fighting in such a small and enclosed space, Carn was sure they would not even be able to tell where they were. Carn couldn''t help but marvel at his stupidity. To think they had been stupid enough to challenge a man that was able to keep up with the crazy number 99.
There was a reason he had initially been against the hiring of Number 99 and that was simply because of the rumors that were circting the organization about him. Numbers was an organization that did everything with the aid of the numeric figures from the west.
Although everyone was assigned a number when they first joined the organization. The only ones that could actually be addressed by their numbers were the top hundred members and amongst all One hundred of them, number 99 was one of the most well-known even though he was supposedly ranked at the bottom of the elites.
This was due to his sporadic personality and how dangerous it was to catch him at the wrong time. He had once annihted an entire division that had hired him over a senseless mistake and the organization had done nothing to him for some reason.
ording to what he heard, he was already strong enough and had umted enough points to rank up all the way to the top 20 but had chosen to stay as number 99 simply because he liked the sound of the number and imed it suited his personality quite well.
Carn could not feel any relief from his appearance and neither did the fear he felt get better with number 99 winning this fight. Even if everything went well and he won, there was a chance he would still kill them just because he got a scratch on his coat.
As Carn''s thoughts ran wild, the battle before him got even more intense as Tyler was unable to use neither his spells nor his backup which happens to be his sword.
He quickly gave up on his attempts to retrieve the weapon and decided to simply use his fist instead. With his decision made, his movements suddenly tightened and he stepped in.
Number 99 felt a mixture of emotions as he rapidlyunched a fury of attacks at the young man with the aide of his slightly longer kusarigama. He was using an advanced footwork technique to keep the man in front of him within range but still, no matter how hard he tried, how quickly he executed his Techniques, he just could notnd a hit.
At first, he had thought the man was just lucky due to his awkward movements and clumsy reaction to his swings that seem to jerk him around, but now. All of a sudden his awkwardness had seized and he avoided his attacks with ease, almost as though he could predict his movements.
He furrowed his brows and decided he needed to end this fight right now before he ran out of time. This ce was in the outskirts of the south district and although there weren''t that many guards patrolling this area at this time of the night, the few that were stationed here should already be on their way due to the loud impact of his first attack.
While he would normally appreciate the challenge of a strong opponent, this situation had only served to annoy him rather than excite him. Not only was there still the undead girl to worry about but now, this guy that was supposed to be a support-type magic caster was keeping up with him with pure physical abilities.
This didn''t make sense to number 99 as even with a high-level Mana body to improve his physique, he should not be able to contend with him while he was using his Secret Tempest Treads footwork technique.
Making a prompt decision, he decided he couldn''t let this go on anymore and was about to use and attack skill when the man''s movements suddenly tightened and he closed the slight distance between them in his split moment of distraction.
His right arm bent and extended backward as his hands clenched tightly into a fist. Like it had been shot out of a cannon, the fistshed at him before he even had to thought to cancel his skill and take measures to defend himself.
*Crack! Pow! Whoosh! Boom!
Several strings of sounds rang out in the dark clearing and No. 99''s body instantly mmed into the ground on the other side of the now-empty junkyard after being sent flying by Tyler''s fist which had made contact with his metallic mask, cracking the surface.
Tyler was a little surprised by how effective his fist had been. The strength he had put in that punch hadn''t been much as he was unable to fully control his nerves and didn''t want to damage his arm as he was unsure of what type of resistance that mysterious fellow would possess and didn''t want to be caught off guard, however, his strength had still surprised him yet again.
He flexed his arm a little in an attempt to get used to his slightly numb muscles as the masked man suddenly got up from the ground. He must''ve used a defensive spell or skill as he hadn''t taken as much damage as one would expect from such a devastating-sounding attack.
His outfit also seemed to be of a higher quality than the one Tyler had purchased earlier so they probably had some level of defense. The masked man''s eyes had a level of rage within them as he red at Tyler before his body suddenly lunged forward like a raging Beast.
Tyler also kicked off to meet the man halfway as he prepared tounch another slightly stronger punch. However, the masked man promptly let go of the handle of his sickle-like weapon and with a sudden stomp, he dug his right foot into the cracked ground and came to an abrupt halt.
Without losing momentum he tightly held the chains of his weapon as his body suddenly spun around while spinning the chains of his sickle-like weapon and rapidly creating a sudden turret of razor-sharp winds that spun around him like a tornado as it continuously expanded toward Tyler who was still on the move.
¡ãHurricane Vortex¡ã
Although it would normally be easy for Tyler to stop himself mid-motion due to his ultimate control over his physical body, he was not able to do so at this moment due to the slight numbness of his cells because of the negative corruption he had yet to recover from.
Left with little to no options, Tyler raised his arm in an attempt to block the massive tornado he was on the verge of colliding with and was sent flying back by the Weighted ball of the masked man''s weapon.
Tyler felt the impact and his arms felt heavy but he could not allow himself to be swallowed up by the hurricane so he forcefully twisted his body mid-air and was able to cut off his momentum which caused him tond on his feet.
Before Tyler''s feet had even touched the ground the masked man or Mr 99 had immediately canceled his skill and cast one of the few spells he could use.
"Resilient Sphere."
This was a spell of the fourth tier. The spell creates a sphere of shimmering force that would immediately enclose its target inside a transparent or illusionary barrier.
Nothing¡ªnot physical objects, energy, or other spell effects¡ªcould pass through the barrier, in or out, although the one trapped in the sphere could breathe there. The sphere would be immune to all damage, and any creature or object inside could not be damaged by attacks or effects originating from outside, nor can a creature inside the sphere damage anything outside it.
The sphere would be weightless and justrge enough to contain the creature or object inside. Anyone enclosed within it would only be able to push against the sphere''s walls and thus roll the sphere at up to half its original speed. Simrly, the globe can be picked up and moved by others from the outside basically making the ones trapped within it, a caged hamster.
Number 99 finish casting the spell and knowing full well that the only way to counter that spell was by dodging itpletely, he dashed forward with a wild grin under his mask as he prepared to finish the man off with one of his deadliest skills the moment he attempted to avoid his spell.
However¡ª
Something that even he, a high-ranking member of the organization could not understand happened before his eyes.
The man had not been able to dodge the sphere of shimmering force that would trap him like a rat and just as he was about to close in on him and make his next move, something that challenged his understanding happened.
The spell that even a demon noble at the peak of the fifth tier would not be able to escape shattered before it had even gotten close enough to the young man before him.
"Waah... What just happened?"
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Chapter 114 C114. Magic Potential
Mr. 99 was born with a Tier 5 magic potential but he had only reached the peak of the fourth tier even after so many years of training. Magic potential didn''t necessarily guarantee the level of magic one could use. Just as the term ''potential'' suggested, it was just a marker that indicated what level of magic one would be able to use provided they practiced and trained hard enough to reach it
In a way, it was also a limiter that could not be broken. For those that had a high magic potential, it would be a shining beacon that provided hope and gave them the motivation to work harder. A goal that they could achieve as long as they were dedicated to the cause.
However, this was a little different for those that were curse with low magic potential. It would be a shackle that would forever hold them down as they stare at the distance that they could never reach. Of course, one also needed the talent to reach their potential, this was because a magic potential did not generally tell the whole story.
Some had been gifted with high magic potential but were unable to use even the simplest of magic spells. They would generally have to train with the sword, spear, or bow to be able to fulfill their high potential.
This was because magic potential generally referred to the level of one''s mana body and a high-tiered Mana body without any affinity for magic would only provide improvement to one''s physiques and their talent for fighting would receive a boost. Since they did not have the talent for learning magic but could train through their physical bodies.
However, No. 99 did not fall into any of these categories. He had an equal talent for fighting as well as a matching affinity for magic and while this would be a good thing for most, it only served as a headache for him as he would need to spend a lot more time training both his magic and his body.
There was a reason why a magic caster''s physical constitution was generally a lot weaker than those of warriors and rangers even with a higher tiered Mana body. This was because one needed to train their actual body to the limit to gain enough body control so they would be able to perform feats that matched the physiques their mana body provided.
Just like how Mana control was important for casting spells no matter how strong one was. Body control was also important for warriors to be able to reach the potential of their mana body and this was almost as hard to achieve as Mana control was.
In a way, Tyler was the weird one as he had possessed an insanely high body control from the beginning which had given him a high-tiered physique. Number 99 also couldn''t spend a lot of time studying magic, or rather he didn''t want to spend years studying magic as the higher the tier the longer and harder it was to learn more about magic.
He was not dedicated enough to study the fifth tier of magic and had chosen to remain at the peak of the fourth tier. The reason was quite simple, he did not feel like he needed to gain any more strength as he could already get whatever he wanted with his current level of strength. Plus, high-tiered magic items and potions could always be used to make up for the deference whenever he had to face an opponent of the fifth tier.
He was always well informed so he knew quite well of the power system in this world and being at the peak of the fourth tier with the ability to stand against fighters of the fifth tier with hisrge variety of skills and secret techniques, he knew he was already considered a powerhouse in the demon continent.
However¡ª
What was this situation, how was someone able topletely resist a spell that even tier 5 existence could not? His eyes went wide with shock and for the first time in his life, he felt an emotion that was foreign to him, he felt fear.
Number 99 wanted to stop himself but could not. His momentum had already taken him forward as he proceeded to prepare his skill anyway.
The man did not seem to have expected the oue and as his feet fully touched the ground he moved to avoid the spell instinctively. It was a move that one would expect and Number 99 could predict it.
Perhaps he was wrong and this was a trap, however, he didn''t have the luxury of time. He was only equipped with his standard gear and needed more magic items if he ever wanted to stand a chance when facing such a foe.
With that train of thought, he knew he needed to escape but that didn''t seem possible right now as the undead girl was still lurking around somewhere in the shadows and he couldn''t show her his back. If he wanted to escape he would need to force his way through.
However, that was easier said than done. Number 99 narrowed his eyes as he canceled the skill he was about to use and decided on another one. He would have to sacrifice something if he wanted to make a sessful retreat.
Anger zed within his heart at his overconfidence. He hadn''t expected to encounter something like a hidden behemoth in a border city like this and one that had even managed to escape the notice of the organization. If he ever got the chance, he would surely kill everyone from that godforsaken division that had challenge such an opponent without first reporting him to the organization.
'' Absolute idiots, morons, bastards, damn monkeys, you''re all dead you damn fools...''
He continuously cursed everyone he could think of inside his head as he finished setting up his skill in a bit of frustration.
Storm Barrage
Wielding his weapon like a whip, he flung it several times in quick session at Tyler who had moved to the right in an attempt to avoid the previous spell that had already been resisted by him.
His barrage of wild swings tore through the air with enough speed and strength that it began to create miniature sonic booms. Creating a literal storm that devasted the area around him and everything within it. This was one of the highest-ranking skills in his vast arsenal.
The wind storm devasted the massive junkyard as it destroyed everything in its wake. One of the remaining seven men left alive was ripped to shreds by the storm and as the others finally recovered themselves enough to flee, the wind was still too strong and it picked them off one by one.
Carn tried his best to get away but he was no different than the others as his feet were swept off the ground by the pulling force of the storm. Tyler seeing this whispered to himself and a shadow swept Carn off the air and retreated.
He was the only one left alive and Tyler did not want him to die before he had gotten any information out of him.
As Zelda took him away, Tyler''s attention was brought back to the storm that was headed for him. He took a look at his left arm that had finally settled down and thought for a moment, he could now use spells but did not want to go overboard so what was his best move.
Thinking about that for only a moment he ran out of time as he couldn''t think that fast in only a second. ''Might as well just keep testing my limits.'' Without using a spell he nted his feet firmly on the ground, sending strength to his legs as the ground cracked where he stood.
"BOOM
Faster than lightning and apanied by the p of a thunderous boom, he shot forward like a cannonball with his fist clenched and met the storm with the swing of his arm.
p Number 99 continuously swung his weapon like a whip and the storm got more intense the faster he went. He only needed to do this for a few more seconds before his escape tool would activate and he would be able to leave this godforsaken ce without any issues, however...
Just as he was about to swing his weapon once more, the storm before his eyes waspletely blown away and a force the likes of which he had never felt before blew him away.
As a high-ranking member of the organization and someone with his connection and wealth. He was always equipped to the teeth with high-tiered equipment. Although the ones he wore now were not his best, they were still all high-tiered.
If one was to calcte the value of the items on his person right now, it would be more than what an average noble with a territory earns in a year.
The equipment he wore had severalyers of defenses that protected him from both physical and magical attacks. However, he could see the force that had blown his storm away, shatter through all his defenses, and sent him flying.
The metal iid magic jacket he wore under his coat waspletely shattered and even his coat was blown to pieces. His metallic mask that was made of Duranium was further cracked and the spell that hid his voice was canceled.
The force mmed into his body and for the first time in his life, he felt pain.
*Gasp!
As his body flew through the air his mind was about to go nk but he could still feel the counter of his escape ticking. If he was to fall unconscious even for a moment, the counter would stop and he would probably die here or worse, face the disgrace of being captured and tortured for information.
Gritting his teeth, he refuted that idea. "Gale." He quickly cast a spell that stopped his momentum midflight and ced him on the ground, however, that was a mistake as the man had already closed the distance and was about to throw another punch.
''Fortress.''
Number 99 quickly shouted in his mind as he hurriedly tried to defend himself with his arms and almost instantly, he felt a mountain smash into his arms as they instantly went numb. His feet left the ground once more and he was sure that if he hadn''t used the fortress skill, he would''ve lost more than his arms.
Number 99 refused to give up as he twisted his body mid-air and threw a kick at the man that was still chasing after him even as his body was still flying from his punch.
Vortex Crash.
A spiraling wave apanied his kick as it smashed into the man and made him stagger as he was able to kill the force around him andnd on his feet. The escape tool was activated and green light slowly began to wrap around him as he could barely remain on his feet.
Tyler lost his momentum from that attack but that was all, he refocused his attention on the man called 99 and he saw something strange around him. Tyler had a bad feeling about that and knew he couldn''t let whatever the masked man was doing bepleted.
It was a bit risky but he would have to use the touch of despair spell one more time. As he came to his decision he shot out and closed the gap in an instant, extending his arm to make any form of contact with the masked man when he saw his figure slowly start to fade.
Tyler quickly hastened his steps and got closer, his arms only inches from the man''s neck as he tried to defend himself but Tyler would not let him and immediately switch his target andshed out at his chest.
With the spell active, his hand grabbed onto something unexpected. The first thing he felt was something hard under the torn jacket, followed by a soft, yielding sensation as his fingers sank in.
"Aweik!!! "
A high pitch shriek that was a cross between pain and pleasure escaped the masked man''s mouth and a fist that carried a strength he hadn''t expected mmed into his face in panic as Tyler''s body froze slightly and the masked man? vanished from his view.
"What... was that?"
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Chapter 115 C115. Leaving The City
In the dark and now emptied junkyard, Tyler stood at the same spot for quite a while as he nkly stared at his right hand with what others would consider a dumbfounded expression on his face. He squeezed his hand several times and reyed thest sensation he had felt in his mind.
''What, in the world was that? Some kind of defensive spell? ''
His mind felt weird as he tried to make sense of what he had felt. The masked man''s movements, his tone, and the way he carried himself had all told Tyler that he was indeed a man so what was with that sudden high pitch voice at the end.
Tyler sighed in a sudden wave of mental exhaustion as he threw the matter to the back of his mind, not wanting to stress about irrelevant things.
He had already spent way too much time in this ce and could faintly hear the sounds of footstepszily approaching this ce from a distance. Looking around at the current state of his current location, he could not afford to be caught here so he should not waste any more time just standing around.
This entire series of events hadn''t gone ording to his ns at all and he was once again reminded of how limited he was in a proper fight as hecked a variety of utility skills and spells as all the low-level spells he knew were all too shy and wasn''t suitable to be used in the confines of a city.
It was a good thing he tended to make multiple backup ns which may or may not be a sign of hisck of confidence in his first n from the beginning. Perhaps this would be considered a bad habit but now was not the time to think about it.
"Zelda."
The shadow underneath his feet moved and a shadowy figure of the beautiful pale skinned greenish-ck haired girl with eerily glowing green pupils appeared before him and knelt.
Tyler had expanded his magic sense to the max and could not sense or locate the figure of that skinny fellow so he assumed she had moved him somewhere else. He gave her simr orders for all the corpses on the ground that hadn''t been minced up by the storm.
Zelda nodded slightly and immediately went to work so Tyler took the brief moment and brought out a dark brown scroll from his spatial storage and proceeded to activate it. Since there was nothing he could do to repair the damaged area and although he hadn''t even been able to silence everyone that saw his face, he still wanted to do his best in preventing any investigations using magic¡ª from revealing anything about him.
Once Zelda was done moving the bodies a considerable distance away with the aide of her shadow movement skill, she came over and with his permission, she took Tyler with her to the location.
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As their figure turned into shadows and disappeared into the night. Two chubby-looking guards holding magterns walked out of one of the alleys and into the unlit clearing next to the junkyard.
"Oi! anyone there? Come out now!"
A guard with short brown hair and an unkempt beard, wearing silver full te armor and holding a magtern with his left hand and a long sword in the other, shouted into the clearing as they exited the alley into the clearing.
"This is Winged City''s patrol force and this area is off-limits tomoners, surrender now." The second guard spoke next.
Although he sounded moremanding and professional, he looked the least motivated among the pair as his sword was still strapped on his waist and he walked a little clumsily as his plumped dark-skinned face was flushed a little red.
He was bald and had a trimmed ck beard with brown eyes and a dark skin tone. A short horn protruded from the side of his head and a long tail drooped from his back to the ground as if to say, it was toozy to move around.
The bald man yawned after his words and then proceeded to walk in ackadaisical manner. They both also had one-handed crossbows strapped to their backs but they had forgotten to bring along any ammunition for it as they moved further into the clearing.
While the ce was in aplete mess and there were shattered rocks and debris all over the ce, the pair had simply ignored it as they felt the situation in this part of the south was mostly like this. However, as they turned theirnterns so they could see further into the dark since both of them did not possess Darkvision or any other night sensory-rted skills.
Their eyes suddenly widened and their mouths went agape. The junkyard that was normally full of junk from the several ore refinement factories was now void of anything but sand and dust. Even the walls were now nothing but debris.
"What! Ar... Are you seeing this too or did I drink too much today?" The bald man spoke with his mouth still opened as he stared nkly at the empty space.
"I... My... What... What should we do."
They were just ordinary patrol guards with the minimum training required to join. Although most demons and even lesser demons were born with at the very least a Tier 1 magic potential. Both of them had still failed to achieve their potential in both magic and swordsmanship.
Although the patrol guards were usually required to be at the Tier 1 standard. The requirements for the ones assigned to the south borough were very loose.
The brown-haired man known as Gaap Namtar had never seen anything like this in his entire life. His mind could not process how an entire junkyard of that size was emptied in mere hours. He didn''t know much about magic but he was sure no one that could use magic capable of this would need useless junks that even the streets rats in this ce wouldn''t touch.
He was so confused that his mind almost went nk. He reflexively took a step back but suddenly stepped on something squishy and he lost his bnce and fell on his butt in a metal nk.
Being startled by the noise, the dark-skinned balled man named Patric Pazuzu jerked back in fright. His drowsiness suddenly cleared as he intensely stared at his partner on the ground who looked suddenly pale like he had just seen a ghost.
"Oi, Gaap, what''s wrong."
Not getting a response, he drew his de, and with hisntern stretched out, he carefully walked over to his pal and tapped him with his sword.
"Oi Gaap, you okay."
As the de tapped on Gaap''s shoulder, he fell back with his eyes rolled up as he had passed out. Patric was shocked and pointed hisntern at the ground to see what his pal had been looking at.
However,
What he saw immediately turned his stomach upside down as he felt everything he has eaten and drank was fighting its way out through the wrong hole.
The ground all around them was covered in bloody fresh body parts from several demons and blood, goo, and brain matter were sttered all over the ground.
"What... What the hell happened here!"
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¡ªThe next morning
As the sun forced its first rays through the thick ashen clouds, Tyler and Nadine promptly left the inn for the final time this week. They did not take any public or private transportation this time around as they opted on using their eye-catching carriage, heading straight for the city''s gate right here in the west borough.
This was the day he had agreed he would meet up with the Hunter party that called themselves, Unrivaled. He also needed to find out more about the mission before they would head out of the city toplete the task.
The job the party had vaguely exined to him didn''t seem like it would be legal and while Tyler hadn''t originally not mind due to him wanting to be introduced to the underground society of this city. With the events that urredst night, that was no longer an issue but Tyler still needed to ept this job because he urgently required a whooping sum of more than 30,000 DC so he could not afford to decline their mission no matter how troublesome it turns out to be.
Tyler was wearing a jet ck long coat with red threads that designed its edges and a hood that was draped over his head and almostpletely hid his face as he was now ustomed to doing although there was someone that may or may not be a man out there and was aware of his appearance.
If he was lucky, the man would not be able to tie the identity of Lix back to his appearance as he hadn''t seemed like he was directly working with those thieves and had only appeared out of curiosity. With that, he should not have any information about him unless those buffoons had submitted a written report to him and that seemed unlikely.
Tyler sighed inwardly, he had already taken the skinny man back to the castle alongside the corpses that were intact utilizing his spatial Teleportation. He had wisely delegated the responsibility of interrogating him to Albert and Z as he wasn''t sure he would be able to ask all the right questions if he did it himself, not to mention he didn''t even have the time.
After finding out about the events that urredst night with Tyler, Nadine had been dejected because she hadn''t been there to protect him although Tyler felts she was just sad she missed the fight.
However, she now seemed to be in a good mood again because Tyler had bought her some sweets from the inn and probably also due to all the adoring looks she got from the men around as she drove the majestic carriage that was pulled by the rare and exotic six eyed-bull as they headed for the main gate.
Since their inn was located at the central winged za in the west borough and wasn''t that far off from the main gate, the trip took only a few minutes.
On arrival at the gate, they quickly located the five lesser demons that made up the party, Unrivaled standing by the side of the gate with severalrge wooden barrels ced neatly next to them.
The barrels were well made and were about five feet tall and three feet wide. It was lined with Steel and was tightly sealed so even air couldn''t prate it.
Tyler couldn''t help but wonder what those were about as their carriage pulled up in front of the party of five and Tyler noticed they were all fully geared in rtively high-level pieces of equipment and carried decent quality weapons.
However, before he could fully observe their individual equipment, one of them had immediately caught his attention. The Subi wore a simr revealing armor like thest time he saw her, albeit with the additions of some impressive-looking pair of metal greaves and vambraces that adorned her seductive figure.
Although she also draped on her usual brown cloak that hid most of her body, she wielded a massive battle-ax that looked like it would weigh a ton as she casually held it over her shoulders with a single hand.
Tyler was surprised, shocked even, simply because he had assumed a subus would naturally be a magic caster that used support-type spells to aid her allies but as it turned out, she had enough strength to fight at the frontline and Tyler remembered Dohel had called her their ace once before.
''I guess you can''t judge a book by its cover huh.'' Tyler sighed inwardly as his interest in this girl grew slightly. His intense gaze at her although it was hidden under his hood still emitted a faint pressure that made Kylyra''s nerve tingle as she moved slightly behind Larut to avoid his line of sight with a flushed face.
The carriage came to aplete stop in front of the party of five and Dohel quickly weed Tyler and Nadine, who were still going by Lix and Lillith.
"Ah you''ve arrived, thank you. I surely never doubted you would."
Tyler saw the other party members of Unrivaled roll their eyes at Dohel''s words and chuckled. He then alighted the carriage and shook the man''s hands with his gloved hand. They exchange some pleasantries before Tyler went straight to the point.
"Now that I''m here, you can now tell me what this job really is about, am I right?."
Dohel wasn''t surprised by Tyler''s bluntness as he had expected this from someone as mysterious as he was. He gave a wry smile as he approached Tyler and spoke in a soft tone that prevented others from listening.
"We''ve secretly discovered an unexplored Grade 3 Gold mine."
Chapter 116 C116. Taking Risks
There were several routes leading out of Winged city to the various other parts of the region and two of them lead northeast towards one of the bordering regions of the Sentro region, the Mounta region. Naturally, tHis was a region ruled by one of the other Great five families, the Mereotti Family.
One of these routes headed south, and then west along the outskirts of the Sentro region and the Darknar region. The other went westwards, then south.
Both routes had their own aspect to them and when given a choice of which route to chose from. Hunters would normally choose the first route as it provided more chances to encounter monsters from both the Sentro region and the Darknar region and monsters from thetter were usually more valuable because they were now considered exotic as entry to the region was forbidden.
However, several factors went into that decision and they would normally not chose such routes when escorting a merchant as it was the wrong choice, from a bodyguard''s perspective.
There were also not that many Hunters that could confidently choose such a route as it was incredibly dangerous and they would have to be quite confident in themselves to do that.
That said, the group had still wanted to go by that route even though they had to pull along severalrge barrels on a carriage and could not let them be destroyed.
This bold choice was because they were not transporting their barrels utilizing an ordinary carriage, rather, this was a magic carriage that was made to travel the wild and was being pulled by an exotic beast that rivaled a Tier 2 demonic horse.
Although the carriage could contain them all as it would expand magically which had shortened their travel time, there were a few ces where they had to get out and navigate the beast through the dangerous terrain.
They also couldn''t let the carriage suffer any damage and would rush forward to intercept any monsters headed their way leaving Tyler and Nadine behind to look after the carriage.
While that may seem like they were taking a great risk leaving their merchant alone in the wild, the presence of the mysterious Lix that could easily toss a tinum ranked Hunter with a single arm and Nadine, who was clearly a high-level magic-user meant that they had nothing to worry about and could focus on their battle with peace of mind.
In addition, they would not be entering the region, just traveling along the borders. Thus, any monsters that appeared would not be too overpowered and could be taken down by everyone working together. It was also a good chance for them to observe the full strength of the hooded man named Lix if they were to ever encounter arge hoard of monsters and could not stop them all.
After leaving Winged City for a while now, the sun was at its zenith although it was barely visible through the thickyers of ashen clouds. However, the travelers could now see a vast stretch of dense and primeval dark green forest in the far distance deep into the Darknar region as they traverse through the borders between both regions.
The thick tree trunks stood taller than anything they had ever seen before, while their leafy branches spread wide. It was due to the abnormallyrge size of the trees in the forest that made them able to see it even from such a massive distance.
The vegetation in there looked richer than anything they had ever seen before and even light could not prate the depths of the forest, which gave them the feeling that they would be swallowed by the ckness.
While the eerily-looking Forest still looked menacing from this distance. They could only gulp at the tempting resources that would be found in such a treasured location, but right now, they could fight against any urges as they were after their mountain of treasures.
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The group traveled in a precise arrangement. They would ride on the carriage for a few hours through the safest parts of the journey with Larut as the driver as he would use his ranger skills to scout ahead and prevent running into unexpected trouble and wouldter alight and be arrayed around the carriage as they moved forward in the dangerous zones slowly.
This arrangement would allow them to rest in the carriage during parts of the journey which would greatly reduce their original travel time as it eliminated the need for any breaks during the day as the six-eyed bull could travel for days without rest.
Tyler and Nadine sat on the driver seat at the front of the carriage and Nadine generally drove the carriage as Larut the ranger walked ahead of the carriage, Dohel their leader and also a warrior walked on the left, and the twins, Anne and Aine walked on the right while Kylyra the Subi was left on her own to walk at the rear of the carriage, although Dohel had felt bad about it, she seemed to have been released to receive this assignment.
Tyler didn''t know why, but he had a feeling he may have done something to freak the girl out however, he decided not to think too much about it. He had also taken the time to take note of the equipment this group of experienced Hunters had decided on for such a dangerous trip.
Dohel the leader of the party, carried a ck greatsword that was almost the same size as he was, and was strapped on his back.
He wore simr banded armor like thest time only this one looked better and was probably made of higher quality material thanst time. Therge de glimmered like a magic weapon but Tyler couldn''t tell how strong it was.
Larut had a long metallicposite bow strapped on his back and a thin longsword on his waist. He wore brownish-ck leather armor and his glimmering ck boots were most likely his magic item.
The twin girls by the side known as Aine and Anne wore white and ck mages robe respectively and wielded Long wooden staffs that were adorned by small gems at the end.
They all seemed to be well equipped with each of them having at least one magic item. This meant they were a very professional team and hadn''t squandered their earnings like most other hunters, opting to focus on improving their gears instead.
There had been no snow for the past few days now so although the clouds were still thick and ashen, visibility was good and they had only met low-tiered monsters their entire trip which was why everyone was not too tense. However, Larut''s usually calm voice suddenly contained its first hint of severity as he spoke:
"Mr. Lix, this stretch is a more dangerous area than thest. Although we should still be able to handle any monsters that appear here, please be careful all the same."
"Understood."
As Tyler nodded, he suddenly thought of something. Since his arrival or awakening in this continent, he had basically been trapped in the Darknar region and had only been focused on the monsters that dwell in the forest and areas around the castle.
Which was why he had no idea on what to expect from the Sentro region and had only gotten information from Z about the cities and their inner working and not the surrounding beasts and monsters which may have been a rookie mistake.
Although he had heard a rumor once that there had been a summoned hero on the human continent that had something that could tell him what sorts of monsters dwelled in a given location. He had nothing on him that could do that and would be unable to prepare an adequate n for this journey which was a major concern for him.
Although after the various battles he had been through, and even the one against that masked manst night. Tyler was quite confident in his strength against most opponents, however, Tyler still felt that baseless arrogance would someday lead to a humiliating defeat.
He didn''t n on doing anything during this trip as he had only been hired as a merchant and for his ability to transport their goods. Although with his ns for the group he may have to help them once in a while, he was still a little hesitant as he wasn''t confident in his ability to serve as a guard for anyone.
This was also one of the reasons he had brought Nadine along as she was more experienced in using magic and could make quick split-second decisions without any incidents.
However, Tyler sighed inwardly in exasperation. This job was more of a pain than he thought and if he wasn''t also in desperate need of cash he would have rejected this mission on the spot.
Thinking back to his conversation with Dohel back in the city, his annoyance seems to only grow.
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"Now that we''re here, would you please enlighten us on theplete details of this so-called high-paying job of yours?"
Even after getting right to the point immediately after meeting the party of five. Dohel didn''t seem to be fazed by it and had a wry smile on his face the entire time. He nodded softly at Tyler before moving closer to him and speaking in a very soft tone probably as a way to prevent others from hearing his next words.
"We recently discovered an unexplored Grade 3 Gold mine in the western end of Fabelt''s Pass."
There was a series of emotions that would normally assault anyone that gears those words and Tyler was no exception. However, his expression and demeanor were well hidden with both his hood and coat, and Dohel could not get the satisfaction of seeing the look on his face.
Tyler wasn''t well informed on the entirety of the demon continent and therefore had no idea why the on earth was this guy so excited for. Hell, he didn''t even know where on Neron this Fabelt pass was neither would he know what a Grade 3 mine fully entails but he naturally knew what the hell a Gold mine was.
While gold was not that much of a valuablemodity as it had been back on earth. It was still plenty valuable and there was no way something like that of a gold mine would not be incredible.
A gold mine would naturally have more than enough gold and even a mix of other metals in it topletely clear Tyler''s dept and earn him even more money than he had earned from his trip to the merchant guild.
Although Tyler was sure these five could not manage or defend a mine themselves. He knew that the rules of the demon continent did not allow individuals that did not possess a noble''s backing would not be permitted to own any such natural resources in a region that belonged to one of the great five.
Technically, it was a crime toy im to anything that could be considered a source of resources and was located within the boundaries of a region that was being governed by any noble family.
However, there was still something called pioneers rights that allowed whosoever discovers an unexplored location in a region, to take the risk and explore the ce first before reporting it back to the ruling family. They would also be granted a reward as a form of incentive. Although, suchrge rewards would only be paid in installments and after several taxes and restrictions, there would be very little money left.
Tyler however, did not think this was a pioneer mission. As far as he knew, a pioneer mission was meant to only take ce at the same time as when the ce was discovered which was meant to discourage most from actually exploring the dangerous location themselves.
Tyler had seen this group prepare for this mission and now knew why this was such a shady job. After discovering the Grade 3 Gold mine, for reasons that escaped Tyler, these five had decided not to report the mine to the city for a reward. Rather they would take the risk and explore the mine themselves.
A mine was usually a ce where monsters regr build their nest and without knowing how many monsters nest was inside a mine. It was very dangerous to explore that mine.
Tyler could now clearly understand why the group had struggled to get any merchant to help them and why they would not tell him the details until now. Death would be mercy if the Zorak family were to find out about this.
Sensing the hesitation in the air, Dohel hurriedly spoke again.
"It''s a little too crowded here, why don''t we talk about the rest on the way."
Chapter 117 C117. Journey To The Fabelt Pass
Hearing Dohel''s words, Tyler narrowed his eyes under his hood. He knew a little about mines as he had heard about the ones in the Darkin mountain range that were currently being monopolized by the so-called Great Five.
He hadn''t bothered to find out more about them at the time because he didn''t think he would ever be in a position where that mattered to him. Yet here he was now regretting that decision and hisck of insight.
However, he was still well aware of how valuable an unexplored mine would be. Based on the information he had gotten from the red ogre settlement he knew the mines in the Darkin mountain range and even the ones in the Darknar forest were all Grade 1 mines.
Although he was not a hundred percent sure about it, Tyler believed that a Grade 1 mine should be the highest rank of any ore mine. Of course, there was also the issue of the metal that could be extracted from the mine like Orichalcum and adamantine, so a Grade 3 Adamantine mine would be more valuable than a Grade 1 Gold mine.
With the logic, this so-called unexplored Grade 3 Gold mine was not that valuable and perhaps the nobles would not put that much attention on it, but Tyler doubted that the moment he thought of it.
An unexplored mine no matter what rank it was would contain endless possibilities as it was unknown what would be found at the depts of the mine. There was a chance it was connected to another mine or lead to something of even more value. Perhaps there was even a legendary monster living there as well.
If the noble were to find out about this illegal exploration, then all the work that had gone into Tyler''s new identity as Lix Tetrax the VIP merchant would immediately go to waste. That thought made Tyler a little irritated but, he quickly used ''cate'' to calm himself and focus.
There were only a few days left till the materials he had requested from Runic to be ready and he still owed him money. There was also a need for him to purchase skill books and materials that would be needed for his time in the magic institute.
As soon as he had made up his mind, Tyler promptly turned his gaze at Nadine who was still seated at the driver''s seat of the carriage. She nodded under his gaze and Tyler sighed.
Dohel was right, it was indeed very dangerous to conduct any further discussions within the city premises so they needed to leave.
Tyler had already discussed most of the details of his n with Nadine and since she was a native of this continent and had been briefed by Albert on how to avoid the wrong kind of attention from the ruling sses. Tyler had given her the authority of calling off this mission if she thought it would be tooplicated and dangerous.
However, since this was only a Grade 3 mine that should not be located anywhere close to a living settlement, there should not be any problems apanying the group on this mission.
As Dohel saw the two of them make eye contact ¡ª although Tyler''s hood still hid the majority of his face ¡ª It would seem that he was under some sort of misconception and decided to address Nadine in an airy, light-hearted tone:
"It''ll be fine, don''t worry. Things won''t be too troublesome as long as we don''t get carried away and stick to the n. And besides, nothing will escape the eyes and ears of Larut here. Plus, as long as I''m in charge everything will go smoothly. I''m quite awesome, don''t you think so, my dear Nadine?"
In response to Dohel''s proud and confident demeanor, Nadine slightly rolled her eyes and ignored him. Tyler wasn''t entirely sure why she was like this as he had always thought she enjoyed the attention she constantly received from the men around her.
Then again, she did seem to have a superiorityplex. So perhaps she just felt that someone like Dohel did not qualify to speak directly to her but only admire her from a distance, maybe, who''s to tell.
The four other members of Unrivaled chuckled at Dohel''s rejection as it seemed they all approved of Nadine''s action. Well, all except Kylyra who still stood behind Larut and was giving Tyler strange looks.
Larut didn''t seem to be fully amused and wanted to get back on topic so he interrupted Dohel from the side:
"It''ll be fine. We''ll only be traveling through the outskirts of the Sentro region and Darknar region. Therefore, we shouldn''t meet any overly strong monsters we can''t handle unless our luck is very bad."
"The outskirts huh..."
Tyler recalled the map of the Darknar region he had seen in the red ogre settlement. Several regions were surrounding the Darknar region and although the details of the map were not clear, it still alighted some notablendmarks that Tyler remembered.
Dohel had mentioned the mine is somewhere in the Fabelt''s Pass, a ce that was close to the Mounta region. It was supposedly an uneven in with severalrge hills that had been the location of a massive battle several centuries ago.
The ce once housed arge city that was now nothing more than ruins. It was quite a dangerous region and Hunters wouldn''t normally hunt deeper into the ce. Logically speaking, there was a good chance there would be something rare hidden in such a ce, and in this case, it was an unexplored Grade 3 Gold mine.
Being unable to resist the temptation anymore, Tyler sighed inwardly and nodded at the party as they promptly went to work loading the fifteenrge barrels into the carriage without any further exnations.
Tyler didn''t need them to tell him what was inside those barrels as he could clearly sense signs of life within them. Whatever was sealed upon those barrels was clearly alive and therefore could not be stored in any spatial storage box or ring making their need for a qualified merchant justified.
Tyler knew he couldn''t get any more information out of Dohel until they were clear of the city so he kept quiet and boarded the carriage with the party as they headed for the gate to leave the city.
Entrance to Winged city was free although one would be subjected to a rigorous string of inspections and could only stay in the city for seven days unless they applied to be citizens of the city.
Tyler and Nadine had originally entered the city on a trade pass that gave them a ten-day stay in the city due to the quality materials they had brought along. Naturally, they had hidden the more troublesome materials in Tyler''s spatial storage ring.
While leaving the city was not as troublesome as entering. There was still a strict and time-consuming process attached to it for those that did not possess any form of identification from the city.
However, Tyler now possessed a VIP merchant license and would be considered a high-ss citizen so he no longer had to be subjected to such time-consuming treatments. With this, he would be able to enter any city in the demon continent with no inspection, which was also one of the reasons he had chosen to be a merchant as only high ranking Hunters had such privileges, and the process to be a high ranking Hunter was just too long.
He simply showed the guard his license and the guard''s brows twitched slightly before promptly signaling for his carriage to be allowed through.
With Nadine at the driver''s seat, the carriage sped through the gates as it headed south in the direction of the Mounta region. They traveled for about two hours inside the carriage Before signaling for Nadine to stop and exining their formation to Tyler who could understand their thought process quite easily as a former adventurer himself.
However, before they could make any further movements, Tyler needed to be informed about the rest of the situation at hand and Dohel understood that as he immediately approached him and spoke:
"We should be a considerable distance away from any prying eyes and the twins should be able to stop most people from listening to us remotely so this should be fine."
He turned his gaze at Larut and he nodded with understanding and brought out a brown parchment from his pouch. As the only rogue type ranger in the group, he was naturally tasked with navigation and held their only map of the area.
Maps weren''t exactly easy toe by as they were usually very expensive and most of those sold on the market did not contain anything of importance. Hunters generally had to fill in their maps as they explored further and would usually only exchange information amongst each other.
It was natural for a party of their ranks to own only a single map. This map was the usual one sold at the store but the group had spent years adding more details and information based on their exploration and the information they bought off other hunting parties.
Larut walked closer to Lix and spread the map on therge rock next to him. He proceeded to describe the nature of their trip by outlining the routes they had chosen and what they were expecting on the way.
The route they had decided on was a bit of a mystery to them and they weren''t sure of the monsters that roamed the areas. Their party hadn''t been confident enough to take the route on their first journey to the Fabelt''s Pass as the information they had now was bought off a party of Adamantine ranked Hunters called, Red Ruby.
ording to the information, they shouldn''t meet any crazy strong monsters as long as they don''t stray too far from the route. Larut proceeded to exin several more things to Tyler but his mind was still fixated on something else.
Although Dohel couldn''t see his face, he could faintly sense his unease at the whole situation and a slight feeling of anxiousness overwhelmed him as he approached Tyler the moment Larut was done and added:
"I''ll be honest with you, while the journey to the Fabelt''s Pass isn''t too dangerous as long as we stay true to the route, the Fabelt''s Pass itself is another story. We had barely made it back alive and us fleeing in desperation was what led us to the Gold mine."
He had an unusually serious expression on his face as he continued.
"Not only is returning there dangerous, but it is also illegal and we are still unaware of what we would encounter in the mine itself as we didn''t have the courage of proceeding further at the time."
Tyler''s eyes scanned around as he saw simr expressions on the other four faces. Larut returned the map to his pouch and added. "We understand how reckless this might seem to you but like we told you earlier, we found ourselves in a desperate situation and this was our only way out of it."
The twins nodded and spoke in unison. "Yes, we hope you won''t change your mind about helping us."
Tyler thought for a bit. There was a lot he didn''t understand about the situation as something about it just irked him a bit. However, he was in no position to beining and he also had ns of his own as he would no longer put his life in the hands of another.
Thest time he did that he ended up sleeping for a millennium so no thanks. He nooded in approval and a bright smile bloomed on Dohel''s face along with the twins.
Tyler then watched Dohel exin his formation to him as he secretly issued an order to someone in his mind.
''Zelda, do it.''
''As youmand.''
Under the peaking sun in the slightly less clouded sky, a shadow moved from under Tyler''s feet and disappeared in the direction the carriage was headed as a faint pressure was lifted off Kylyra who hadn''t spoken nor had she eaten anything the entire journey. She tilted her head slightly, wondering why she had felt so strange to begin with.
Chapter 118 C118. ColdFire
A simple-looking magic carriage galloped slowly through a rocky path as a group of five walked in an arrayed formation by its side as Kylyra casually munched on her packed snacks from her position behind the carriage. Seeing her act like she usually did, Dohel made a silent sigh of relief as he had been wondering why she had been so unusually quiet this whole trip.
A trip to the Fabelt''s Pass would usually take around a week and a half but thanks to the magic carriage and the tier 2 Six-eyed bull, they would be able to make it there in only a full day depending on the number of monsters their encounter during the trip.
Being a little ignorant to the type of monsters they would encounter in this part of the continent. Tyler decided on browsing his horizon by asking the experience Hunter party for the information so he would be better prepared for whatever Zelda would send his way.
Right now he was considered a merchant from the far east so not being aware of the monsters that dwelled in this region should be considered normal.
Tyler thought about the best way to phrase his question before turning to fave Dohel in the side and asked:
"By the way, Mr. Dohel, what type of monsters would you say are indigenous to this Fabelt''s Pass."
"Ah please, I told you before to just call me Dohel Sir Lix. Also, there are several monsters that live in the Fabelt pass although there are a few more notable ones like Lesser Basilisks and Giant scorpions."
"Is that so... How strong would you say these Giant Scorpions are?"
Dohel had a strange expression on his face the moment he heard Tyler''s question which made Tyler think he had asked something strange but he could not figure out why such a question would be considered strange.
He had only asked for the level of strength of the Giant Scorpions because he already knew enough about Lesser Basilisks. However, he quickly came to the conclusion that he was being looked at like that because he had prioritized finding out more about Giant Scorpions in the face of an advanced monster like lesser basilisks.
,m Indeed he was right. A lesser basilisk was an advanced ss monster only a step away from the legendary beast, an actual Basilisk. Dohel was surprised when he heard Tyler asked about the Giant scorpions first even after hearing about the presence of lesser Basilisks.
Giant Scorpions were Intermediate ss monsters that were mostly around the upper Tier 2 level to around the mid-Tier 3 level. Such a creature could not even bepared to an ordinary advanced ss monster much less a lesser Basilisks.
The fact that the mysterious Lix had disregarded the news about the presence of lesser Basilisks meant that he was either already aware of their strength personally or he waspletely clueless about a lesser Basilisk and Dohel could not imagine someone like Lix, a man capable of traveling all the way from the far east here and was strong enough to render a tinum rank Hunter like themselves powerless under his grip as being clueless.
The first option was most likely the case as information on monsters at the advanced ss was not widely spread and even VIP Merchants would need a lot of money to purchase such information. Giving as he had only just be a VIP merchant, Dohel could only guess that Lix hade faced to face with an actual Tier 5 creature and lived to tell the tale.
For some reason, he also couldn''t picture the cool and mysterious Lix losing to a monster even if he was by himself. They had originally thought of Lix to be slightly stronger than an Orichalcum ranked Hunter like Kylyra but now, however, he could not imagine Lix being any weaker than a Tritanium ranked Hunter. Hell, he may even be strong enough to be considered amongst the strongest Hunters in this world.
Quantium ranked Hunters were usually the stuff of legends. In the history of the demon continent, there had only been a single hand full of them at a time and right now, he was only aware of two of them.
There was the Scarlet Ravens, a team of seven all-female Hunters that, although their individual strength was not quite at the Quantium rank, theirbined force was indeed at that level.
There was also the Golden Feathers, a party of four extremely strong individuals whose feats were the stuff of legends and were based in ckwing City. Dohel knew there was one more group of Quantium rank Hunters in Sun City, but he did not know much about them.
The fact that the mysterious man known to them only by the name Lix was a fighter at such a high level made his back tightened as he realized how bad thing would be for them if something was to go wrong.
Scratching his cheeks awkwardly, Dohel tried to speak normally but failed. However, just like always, Larut came in with a timely assist:
"Hmm, well... err, you see¡ª"
"Giant Scorpions are only Intermediate ss beasts and are nothing to worry about, the real problem would be running into a horde of lesser basilisks. Their tough scales and poisonous mes would be hard to deal with. However, the Fabelt pass is also home to an actual Lord ss monster, the ColdFire Drake. An intelligent magic beast that is also known as the King of the Pass."
The King of the Pass was a Lord ss monster that could use ice and fire-type magic and was therefore frighteningly powerful. Because itsir was in the innermost parts of the Fabelt''s Pass, there were virtually no eye-witness reports about it. Although its existence had been a topic of discussion since very long ago. The information the group had been able to find of it was extremely vague as most of the Hunters that had seen it had never made it back alive.
The creature was said to be as old and as cunning as the oldest of the four kings that ruled the Darknar forest, the Ancient Rykir. While Tyler was unaware of how old and cunning the ancient Rykir was. He held a powerful magic crystal that was once the core of the creature so he was keenly aware of how strong the monster would''ve been.
His interest in this so-called king of the pass was shot up to the extreme.
"A ColdFire Drake, is it something like a dragon?"
"Huh, ah no... Well, I guess that''s as close as one could get to an actual dragon as there is no record of them. Although, there are a few legends and myths of dragons once ruling the world. We don''t have any records that far back so it''s impossible to prove it."
Larut touched his chin and thought for a second before adding: "I guess if we go by the myths, a drake would be simr to a dragon, or rather a lesser species of one so maybe the ColdFire Drake would be like one."
''Interesting, I''d really like to see it. I wonder if it''s anything like the infamous Smaug... Hehe...''
He did not know if their information was true or false, but if it had lived all these years, it should possess a surprising intellect. After all, it was able to live in a region ruled by one of the great five and had still managed to not only survive but im arge territory for itself. If he could capture it¡ He should be able to strengthen the defense on the castle.
Tyler pieced together a hazy image of what he thought the monster looked like in his mind based on his impression of the word drake.
With a name like ColdFire Drake, it was most likely a beast with a simr shape and appearance to a reptile or maybe it was something like a serpent instead. The fact that he also had no idea what dragons in this world would look like irked him a little. Then again perhaps this world had all the kinds and types of dragons.
Just as Tyler''s imagination was about to run wild picturing the various shapes of a creature that may already be extinct, Dohel called out to Nadine again in a flighty tone:
"Well then, if weplete this mission perfectly, I wonder if my lovelydy Nadine will develop any affection towards me."
Nadine didn''t seem to have heard him though, as she simply focused on driving the carriage while keeping her guard up as Tyler had instructed which may have damaged Dohel''s confidence.
Dohel put on an exaggerated look of shock, but nobody seemed to really care about it as Kylyra was still busy with her snacks and the twins were on the other side of the carriage and couldn''t see him. Larut seems to smirk at Dohel''s bad timing which may have been a product of his growing nerves.
Seeing Larut''s smirk, Dohel quickly rposed himself and they proceeded on their way. With his nerves finally calmed he was able to initiate a conversation as everyone chatted casually as they moved under the sun that had finally won its battle against the thick ashen clouds.
The path they took was only lightly covered in snow and the carriage could easily move on the uneven surfaces. While the sun shone brightly for the first time over the past few days, the cold in the air still remained the same and the group was only fine because they had equipped cold resistance gear.
However, this did not reduce the effort needed to travel in the snow, and the more they walked, the more sweat Tyler saw on their faces and as the cold wind hit. He could clearly see their perspiration rapidly evaporate, chilling them even against the effects of their cold resistance gears.
As he watched everyone breathing slowly get heavier, he was d his body had evolved over the years he was asleep underground. While he was seated on the carriage and not ving away amongst the party, he was sure he would not feel fatigued from that muchbor.
Only Dohel remained energetic and cheerful, talking andughing with the others, who were marching in silence:
"You guys don''t have to be so tense... We have the all-seeing Larut on our side and with my amazing reflex, I''ll be able to react the moment something happens, just leave the rest to Larut."
"Why on Neron are you bragging on my expense."
"What''s wrong, didn''t you say you were the best ranger in Sentro, why are you backing off now."
"I only said I was the best ranger currently in Winged city, don''t escte my words without my permission."
"Aine thinks Larut is good enough to rank at the top of all the rangers in Sentro."
"Yeah, yeah, Anne thinks so too."
The twins nodded in unison as Larut chuckled dryly at the pressure they were cing on his shoulders.
Chuckling softly at Larut''s predicament, Dohel decided on changing the topic: "So, sir Lix, by any chance are you and the lovely miss Nadine dating?"
"Hey! don''t ask such personal questions, what''s wrong with you."
Contrary to Tyler''s expectations, it was. Kylyra who spoke up from behind after being silent the entire trip. Her harsh tone had even startled Dohel who scratched his head awkwardly as he had wanted to start a light-hearted conversation to distract everyone from their growing nerves.
"Ahh yes my bad... I apologize for my insensitivity."
Tyler chuckled and responded briefly as it seemed Nadine had tunned out the soundsing out of this man''s mouth and hadn''t heard anything he said. Her expression was still serious as she concentrated on her surroundings.
"It''s fine, there''s no harm in wanting to know more about the people you''re traveling with. However, I''ll advise you to please don''t ask unnecessary questions Mr. Dohel."
Dohel''s mouth was forced closed as he felt a sudden chill even though he was not perspiring and the cold should not be able to ovee his cold resistance.
Chapter 119 C119. Frost Salamanders
Feeling the strange cold assault his body. Dohel stood rooted to the spot for some time when Kylyra''s voice suddenly snapped him back to his senses.
"Stop standing around dumbly and do your job. If you have so much energy to spare why don''t you join Larut and help keep an eye out."
"Ah but... I''m supposed to be the leader, I shouldn''t be doing grunt work like this."
Larutughed silently at the dumb look on their prestigious leader''s face as Dohel tried to put up even more of a protest. However, Kylyra wasn''t having it this time. She felt irritated as she was not only rejected by a guy she didn''t even like but t out ignored, and the only reason she had even done that was that their dumbass leader had made her do it.
Then there was the ufortable feeling she got back at the city''s gate. Seeing the one responsible for her misery look so cheerful like he was having fun. She didn''t miss the opportunity to get back at him.
"Just shut up and get to work."
"But¡ª"
Dohel was about to put up more of a fuss when he saw Kylyra give him the stink eye and swallowed back the words he was about to say as he chuckled dryly. Anne and Aine giggled by the side which made Dohel feel like he was being targeted for some reason and wanted to defend himself when Larut''s voice suddenly cut in from the front of the carriage.
"Shh! There are movements." His voice contained a trace of tension and his calm demeanor now adopted the traits and vignce of a professional Hunter.
Everyone turned to face the direction he was looking at as they readied their weapons and Kylyra moved forward to take the position of a vanguard.
"Where?"
"There. Over there," Larut said in response to Kylyra''s question. He pointed down the path towards the side of a steep hill by the entrance of a cave to the side in the distance. However, they were still too far off so nobody could see anything inside the dark cave whose entrance was slightly covered in snow. Even so, none of them doubted Larut''s senses.
"What should we do?"
"Should we go around it?"
"That would add at least an extra day to our trip."
"Hmm... Let proceed with caution. If they don''t leave the cave we''ll just ignore them." Larut said as he signaled the group to take a defensive formation.
"Alright, we''ll follow the n. Mr. Lix, please fall back and help us defend the carriage if any monster somehow gets by us."
"Understood."
"Thank you."
Tyler had no problem with this as he had no intentions of helping out just yet as he remained seated atop the driver''s seat in the front of the carriage although Nadine was the one with the reins.
The group moved forward slowly and cautiously while sticking closely to the edge of their path. They were currently traveling up a hill so the paths they could actually take due to the size of the carriage were few and in between as most of the paths that lead to the Fabelt pass were incredibly tight and narrowed.
While they tried to move as far away from the cave entrance as possible. The size of the carriage had made it a little difficult as they were still rtively close to it.
As they moved ever closer to the cave in an attempt to proceed down the path. The group suddenly heard movements from the dark cave and the snow and ice that had originally blocked most of the entrance began to quake violently.
"Damn it!"
"Looks like we won''t be able to avoid a fight after all."
The ice in the cave suddenly shattered from a loud impact and a pile of snow caved in on the entrance. However, as if to say they weren''t bothered by the snow. Monsters slowly moved through the snow and revealed themselves.
They were bluish-grey scaled creatures that moved on all fours. They had ice-blue, four-legged serpentine bodies, long reptilian heads, and very long spiked tails with razor-sharp ws that most of them used to climb up the side of the cave walls as they observe the group.
There were about sixteen of them that came out of the cave as they move about in the snow like it was nothing. Their reptilian eyes scanned the party of Hunters in front of them and a few of them moved forward to meet them.
"Damn it, our luck must not be good if we ran into so many frost smanders so soon," Dohel said as he brought out a small bottle from his pouch and poured the contents on the de of hisrge greatsword.
Frost smanders were Intermediate ss monsters that were usually only seen around this time of the year as they usually hibernated during the other three seasons. Their strength dually varied between the upper Tier 2 to the mid Tier 3 standards so they were ssified as Intermediate ss beast.
Since they were rarely seen and only ever appeared during winter. This was the first time the group had actually seen them in person. However, their information contained details on this monster and its weakness so there was no panic in their eyes as the monsters approached them.
"There are about sixteen of them, how should we deal with it," Larut asks as he fell back and equipped his crossbow.
"Let''s just attack and see what happens," Kylyra answered
"How about be we just stick to the n instead. Aine and Anne, please get ready."
"Okay."
"Roger."
"Larut, seal up the cave entrance and drag down those perched on the wall. We need to take them out in one go."
"No problem."
"Kylyra, once Larut''s give the signal, you''re free to go wild."
"Finally, something to do."
Tyler watched from behind as the party swiftly and effortlessly went to work. He could not help but admire their wless teamwork. Their movements showed their experience and trust in each other, understanding all theirrade''s tendencies to their core. Even Dohel looked like apetent leader right now.
"Uh, Mr. Lix, do you need any support magic?" Anne spoke to Tyler in a soft voice that most people wouldn''t have heard. However, Tyler had clearly heard her question so he simply smiled under his hood and shook his head.
"Ah, not for us. Please focus on supporting yourrades."
"O-okay."
"Alright then, Larut, we''ll start once you''re ready."
Larut nodded and took to a knee as he aimed his crossbow at the lead smander that was slowly approaching them.
*Whoosh! Boom!
An arrow flew through the air with a whoosh and pierced the stone wall of the cave entrance next to several of the blueish gray smanders and before the smanders could understand what was happening, a loud boom resounded in the hills as the cave entrance copsed along with the four smanders that had been perched up on the wall.
With the entrance to the cave shut, Larut smiled thinly.
He sent another arrow downrange when the enemy was about thirty meters away. The arrow traveled in a straight line and cleanly pierced a frost smander''s cranium and another explosion followed suit. The frost smander at the end of the formation took a few wobbly steps before copsing to the ground, where it died.
The other frost smanders look on in confusion before shrieking and growling at the one that had fired the arrow. Driven to frenzy by their bloodlust, they finally charged at their enemies with staggering speed.
"Alright Now!"
The moment the words left his mouth, Kylyra''s foot kicked off the earth as she lunged at the small horde of frost smanders, charging straight at them. The party immediately went into action as well as Dohel held his great sword with both hands and charged after the reckless Kylyra.
Larut fired some more arrows as support although he could not use any more explosive arrows. His strikes should still be enough to slow down the monster''s movement speed even if by just a little. However, frost smanders were incredibly fast and nimble, especially in cold environments.
With quick and slithery movements, the frost smanders all easily avoided Larut''s barrage of arrows and the few of them at the lead opened their jaws wide as a dark blue ball of icy energy gathered in them for a few seconds before severalrge waves of freezing breaths were fired at the approaching Kylyra and Dohel, threatening to turn them into ice sculptures.
"Protection Blessings."
"Magic Shield."
As Kylyra raised her battle-ax in an attempt to block the freezing breaths. Aine and Anne cast twoyers of protection on her. Although the magic barrier couldn''t stop the freezing effects of a freezing breath, it could negate most of the physical damage attached to the attack while protection blessings would increase her elemental resistance to the attack.
Dohel shadowed Kylyra and stood behind her when she received the attack. Once she was done they both shot forth at the massive blue lizard-like creatures ahead of them. Frost smanders may not be highly ranked monsters, however, they were very dangerous in areas like this at this time of the year.
It would be foolish for the party to underestimate them at all. So Naturally, they had to reduce their numbers as soon as possible. There were around eleven of these monsters before them and while they would not be able to stop them by themselves, they had full confidence in their team.
BOOM
Kylyra foot kicked off the ground the moment she got close enough to the monsters. Her body flew through the air as she raised her battle ax overhead and a burst of pinkish mes engulfed the de. Her body came crashing back down to earth and she immediately swung her ax down.
¡ãFrenzy Crash.¡ã
Her massive battle-ax had created a small crater where she hadnded and the monster that received her de, died in an instant. The pink me swept across the area around her like a wave up to a 10-meter radius and although the frost smanders that were hit by mes alone did not receive much damage, their bloodlust was immediately redirected to Kylyra.
Seeing her skill work its magic so easily, a seductive smile crept across her face as she tightens her grip on the battle-ax and prepared to face them all head-on.
With Kylyra attracting more than half of the frost smanders to her and Anne backing her up with several support and enhancement spells. Dohel only had three Frost smanders to face with the help of Aine and Larut.
"Dark Vine Hostage."
As Aine cast her spell, several thick ck vines shot out of the snow-filled earth and wrapped rapidly around one of the smanders. Larut also fired a barrage of arrows at another and Dohel was free to go head to head with thest remaining frost smander.
It would be hard for him to face multiple frost smanders at the same time as each of these smanders had roughly the same amount of strength as a tinum-ranked Hunter. The only reason these monsters were not ranked higher or considered more dangerous was due to their staggering stupidity as they were fairly easy to track and were easily susceptible to crowd control spells.
However¡ª
As Dohel charged at the frost smander, his de was met with a w strike and the moment he tried to retract his weapon, a sudden beam of freezing breath came from the side and hit him point-nk.
The attack came from his blindspot and even Larut, a ranger with the best senses amongst the group had been unable to see the attacking.
Several more frost smanders came from underneath the earth all around them as the ones behind them nimbly charged at the unsuspecting Dohel, Aine, and Anne, while the others ster their freezing breath at Dohel.
Tyler''s eyes went wide the moment he saw this as even him¡ª from the high vantage point of the carriage driver''s seat¡ª was unable to sense the cold-blooded monsters as they performed an increasingly well-timed and well-coordinated sneak attack.
"Huh, did I just watch monsters execute a trap to perfection? Interesting."
Chapter 120 C120. Team Battle
Dohel was stunned the moment he felt his body temperature being lowered at a rapid pace. The only reason he had not taken any actual damage was because of the cold resistance gear he had on him at the moment. However, his body had still stiffened up slightly which had distracted him for a brief moment, and in a battle against wild beasts like these, one could not afford anypses in their concentration.
The frost smander in front of him took the opportunity and charged at him with its jaws wide open, aiming to rip Dohel''s outstretched arm off.
As Dohel prepared to face the beast, his peripheral vision caught sight of the two other frost smanders by either side of him, as they broke free from both the dark vines that bound it and the other was able to escape the barrage of arrows that had pinned it down.
They both ignored their attackers andunched at him simultaneously. Their movements¡ª albeit a tad slower than the one in front of him¡ª still matched the monster''s bite attack and he was now almost surrounded by three frost smanders.
With the length and weight of his greatsword, he would be at a disadvantage if the monsters get too close, and without the help of his party members behind him, he would be unable to face all three monsters at once.
¡ãVokan''s Smash.¡ã
Taking a huge step back, Dohel immediately activated a skill and mmed his greatsword into the snow covered earth. Instantly, the snow around him melted away. The powerful impact sent the frost smander in front of him tumbling back and created arge dent in the earth.
Cracks flowing with magma spread out on the ground around him, creating a type of domain as the temperature inside began to skyrocket.
The two frost smanders that charged at him from the sides had finally entered his range. Their bodies instantly began to slow down and before he knew it, their speed had been reduced by more than 50%. The first smander that had been sent tumbling back a little had already recovered and charged back at Dohel. However, it quickly came to a stop right before the 10-meter radius wide Vokan''s domain around him.
Several other frost smanders that were still far away opened their jaws and sted another wave of freezing st at him. However, due to the massive change in temperature inside his temporary domain, their attacks barely had any effects on him.
"Darn it! I can''t believe I had to use this so early. What on Neron is going on."
Breathing heavily, Dohel grumbled under his breath before using the chance tounch an attack at the slowed-down monsters in front of him. While he was already low on stamina, he still needed to end this quickly. Pushing himself, he immediately used another skill and swung his weapon at the two monsters at his sides.
¡ãLightning Fangs.¡ã
As he skillfully swung his weapon at them, two streaks of light sliced cleanly through them like hot knife through butter. Dohel''s breathing got heavier as he began to sweat profusely. He used the little time he had bought himself to scan the surroundings and get a clear picture of what was happening.
"What the f¡ª"
His eyes went wide as he finally understood what had happened. There were about fifteen more frost smanders that had somehowe up from the ground behind them andunched a surprise attack.
The information they had bought had only mentioned that there would always be around 30 frost smanders moving together around this time of the year and most likely living in a cave. It had mentioned their strange attraction to heat even though they were weak to fire. They were also very susceptible to crowd control.
There had been nothing about an ability to dig much less the cunning to think of ambushing their targets. "Tsk." Dohel clicked his tongue in annoyance. This was the absolute worst situation they could forcibly find themselves in this early into the journey.
He turned his head to look at Kylyra who was still engaged in a battle against six or seven frost smander. Her weapon sent the monsters tumbling back but almost immediately, another one would take its ce and shed its ws at her. Their strength was no joke and she would lose her bnce if she didn''t properly defend against it.
Although she still held the advantage, she was unable to reduce their numbers at all. The scales on the bodies of these creatures were incredibly hard in the cold and they also had crazy high durability against most attacks.
The only reason they had been able to kill so many of them was because they had been able to use the monster''s weakness of fire to their advantage. However, Kylyra did not have any fire-type skills and therefore would have to slowly whittle the health of the enemy down.
Normally, it would be Dohel''s job to assist her so she doesn''t get overwhelmed but things had quickly gone awry. He turned his head and saw several more frost smanders attacking Larut and the twins. If he were to let that continue, Kylyra would be in trouble without Anne''s spells to back her up.
Larut fired arrows after arrows at the rapidly approaching frost smanders but was barely able to prate their skin. Without the enchantment on the magic arrows he had used earlier, it would seem like it was impossible to kill these things with his crossbow.
Their speed was also impressive and their snake-like bodies allowed for nimble movements. One of the frost smanders quickly closed the distance between them and lunged at him with open jaws.
"Dark Vine Hostage."
Dark vines shot out of the ground and wrapped around the monster that was already in the air about to bite his head off. Larut was a little startled but his experience with situations like this allowed him to quickly recover and draw out the short de by his waist.
¡ãIncise ming Burst.¡ã
His de moved like a surgical instrument and in one fluid motion, he sliced several strange markings into the dangling creature. The moment he was done he spun around and kicked the monster off the air, sending it flying back as it mmed into another frost smander.
Boom!
Like a ticking time bomb, the monster immediately exploded upon impact, taking the life of the second monster with it. Anne took the chance to focus back on Kylyra and Aine used another spell, this time on Dohel who was on the verge of copse.
"Invigorate."
A surge of renewed energy surge within Dohel as his breathing instantly became better as he recovered a bit of his stamina. There were about twenty Frost smanders still alive on the battlefield and the ones Kylyra was facing had suddenly increased to ten.
Dohel knew the party would be in trouble if he didn''t do something. For all he knew, a few frost smanders might''ve sneaked behind them to attack the carriage and if they had hired a normal Merchant, this whole journey might''ve gone down the drain only a few hours into it.
"Aine, buy me some time!"
"Okay."
Dohel adopted a different fighting stance and his aura slowly but steadily increase. Standing still amid such a battle was obviously not a good idea and even monsters like the frost smanders wouldn''t miss such an opportunity to attack.
However, Anne was already done double-casting her spells.
"Dark Arrow Rain."
Being a witch, Aine didn''t have as many offensive and even enhancement spells as her sister. However, the spells she had were all high-leveled spells and as a witch ¡ª she could use several mediums and methods in increasing the strength of her spells.
Bringing out a wooden doll from her pouch, she simultaneously cast a second spell, almost at the same time as the first.
"Cursed Puppet."
Arrows made purely out of dark energy materialize in the air and fell like a devastating storm on the area above Dohel, who remained unmoving. Anne, who was serving as support for Kylyra at the moment, also chimed in and cast a defensive spell on Dohel in a timely manner.
"Magic Shield."
A translucent blue shield materialize above Dohel and serve as protection from Aine''s wide-range attack. Most of the frost smanders were bombarded with dark arrows but none of them received any fatal wounds. Their durability was just that high.
At the same time as the Dark arrows fell, Aine broke her wooden puppet in half and three of the frost smanders closest to her drop dead. Their backs mysteriously twisted in a weird posture.
Havingpleted his charge, Dohel lowered his stance and lunged at the ten frost smanders that had surrounded Kylyra. Larut and Aine could keep the others at bay for a few minutes while he assisted Kylyra in dispatching of those ten so they could focus on the ones behind.
¡ãVolcanic de Dance.¡ã
His steps were like that of a volcanic eruption and the ground he stepped on slowly melted into liquid magma. His movements were as swift as the wind yet it was also as chaotic like a storm. And then, faster than even that, he swung the greatsword in his hands. The shing de left a reddish afterimage in its wake as it cleaved through the air.
The swing were such an astonishing one, that it made an impression on Tyler''s mind as his interest was piqued and he felt that watching this from the side was finally worth it.
As Dohel swung his sword in a warrior''s dance, his heated de cleaved through the bodies of the frost smanders with ease as Kylyra began sending the monsters flying in his direction with her heavy blows.
The battle only went on like this for about one minute before all ten frost smanders were dead on the ground. Either missing their heads or their bodies were cleanly cut in half.
Dohel smiled and gave a nod to Kylyra who didn''t seem to be tired or even had a scratch on her. He knew she had the racial skill that allowed her to heal herself and she could even convert food to energy so she had a massive amount of stamina but with him panting like a pig, he couldn''t help but be embarrassed.
Kylyra immediately shot out towards the frost smanders that were being held back by Larut and Aine as Anne also tried to support them as well. As Dohel tried to follow Kylyra just like always, he suddenly lost control of his legs and fell. Anne switch her target for support and tried to heal him, but he was more mentally drained so healing spells would not help much.
As Dohel was forced out ofmission by the strain he had put on himself earlier. The battle between the remaining four members of his party and the frost smanders went on for some time without and the group was barely able to retain the advantage when something suddenly changed.
??????????
Seeing the party struggle without Dohel''s fire abilities to finish off the highly durable monsters. Tyler couldn''t help but sigh deeply as he watched the show from the distant carriage. A few frost smanders would also asionally slip by them to attack the carriage but that was a mistake they could live with as Nadine would immediately eliminate the monsters with a single lightning spell.
A spell Tyler hadn''t even known she could use to begin with. Then again he had probably seen it on the list Albert had prepared for him back then but had simply ignored the information as it hadn''t been of any significance at the time.
Several series of events unfolded, and with the battle dragging on longer than he had expected, Tyler finally felt it was time to put an end to it and as luck would have it, he was blessed with the perfect opportunity to make his move.
"While this was a little educational, it''s about time to put an end to it wouldn''t you agree?"
Raising his right arm up slightly he stirred the chaotic mana within him and cast a spell:
"Overtier magic - ming Arrows."
Chapter 121 C121. Back At It
Kylyra charged at the group of around eleven more frost smanders that had appeared from underneath the earth with her battle ax raised high above her head like a hammer of justice, or something. Just like thest time, she sent power to her legs and leap up almost as though she had freed herself from the restraints of gravity, and her weapon was suddenly engulfed in a pinkish-red me.
¡ãFrenzy Crash.¡ã
BOOM!
Gravity once againid ims to her body as she crashed back down to earth in an impact that sent shockwaves of pink mes all around her. Just like thest time she had used the skill, the target of her de had been crushed under the force of such a devastating attack. The pink mes that had gusted out of the impact had also sent the other frost smanders into a frenzy driven by nothing but their bloodlust.
They instantly ignored their previous targets and dashed towards the subus in what most would consider staggering speed. Anne quickly cast ''protection blessings'' on Kylyra again and several more enhancement spells and also boosted her cold resistances just as a few frost smanders had sted her with their freezing breaths.
While she could now resist the freezing effects of the attack, she still took damage and because Anne''s Mana reserves were important to her survival. She would not cast healing spells on Kylyra as it took a lot of mana and Kylyra had the racial skill. ''Self Heal.''
As soon as her body began its healing process, Kylyra charged in again at the approaching horde of monsters with a wild smile on her face.
"Alright, let''s dance."
Her bat-like wings pped a few times and her body shot up just as two frost smanders were about to crash into her. If she had an effective long-range attack, it would''ve been a good idea tounch an aerial assault on thend-based creatures from above.
However, all her skills and abilities were meant for closebat. She hovered in the air for only a few seconds before deciding on her next course of action. Dohel didn''t seem like he could go on any longer and she needed to be the one to take care of the rest of these monsters.
Her pink mes held no burning effects and thus, was an ineffective attack against these monsters whose only weakness was fire. To make up for theirck of Dohel''s fire abilities, she would need to be extra creative.
"Psychokinesis."
Using her only ranged spell, she caused a psychic attack on the monsters. Although the skill did not work well on non-humanoid creatures, it should still be able to buy her a few seconds to get her bearings as she prepared her next strings of attacks.
However, her feet were yet to touch the ground when she noticed from the corner of her eyes that the monsters were still charging straight at her and had even gotten within range to send a w strike at her.
It would seem, her spell had been immediately resisted as the monsters had already surrounded her even with the interference of Larut and Aine''s long-range attacks.
''Shit, what happened.'' Kylyra was confused, that spell wouldst a full ten seconds on humanoid creatures of her level so even if these were just monsters. They were still a full level weaker than her and should still be affected for at least 3-5 seconds.
She hastily avoided the razor-sharp ws that wereunched at her and tried to use the spell once more.
-Failure.
Without a moment''s rest, the monsters all assaulted her with multiple w strikes and bites.
She pped her wings again and used the increased maneuverability of flight to avoid most of the attacks. Only take the ones that were not fatal as her body continuously healed itself.
She tried to cast a different spell on the closest Frost smander but her mind suddenly felt burred as she noticed that her spirit was somehow in a weakened state and she could no longer control her mana enough to use any type of spell.
Thinking of the reason why such a thing was happening to her, her head suddenly felt hot and she instantly felt irritated as she quickly realized why. Her eyes narrowed as she briefly red at the cloaked man seated peacefully on the carriage. It was his fault. ''Damn it, why did I listen to Dohel, that idiot.''
As subi were beings of pure lust, creatures that reject their lust can metaphysically harm them. She hadn''t realized it earlier because she hadn''t engaged in any illicit activities in so long as she could usually make do by eating good food but when the hooded man had rejected her advances in the restaurant even after she had used her, sexual Inducement racial trait.
The shock had definitely damaged her and because she could not use the skill, Lust Empowerment with food, and also hadn''t bothered to have sex with anyone since then. She was unable to recover on her own and this was the result.
Kylyra gritted her teeth and raised her ax to meet the maw of the frost smander about to bite her head off. Blocking its bite attack, she mmed it to the ground while trying to fend off the others.
Larut no longer used his bow as he drew his short de and charged in to help Kylyra from beingpletely surrounded. Aine also used her dark vines to restrict the movements of a few of the monsters.
With Dohel still unable to stand, Anne needed to now asionally attack with fireball which was the only effective attack against the fast and nimble frost smanders that had an incredible amount of durability and various other resistances to other elemental attacks.
The battle was more of a brawl at this point and the party was finding it hard to take a breath. Anne was running low on Mana and she did not have the time to use a recovery potion which was actually quite expensive. Although the price paled inparison to her life.
The group was struggling to stay alive but their experience and adequate teamwork even without their leader had allowed them to reduce the frost smanders numbers to less than five which had lessened the pressure on them a little.
Suddenly though, several mounds of snow shot up from behind them, and around six more frost smanders came out from underneath the earth and immediately lunged at them.
"Damn it, not again."
Larut couldn''t help but yell in frustration. As the only ranger in the group, it was his job to always be aware of the situation around them as well as the enemy''s location and numbers. So the fact that he could not sense these ambushing Frost smanders frustrated him to no end.
"Aine use a defensive spell."
"Sorry, I''m out of mana."
"Damn it!"
"I''ll intercept them, Larut, cover me."
"Huh... I''ll try."
Sigh... "While this was somewhat educational, it''s about time to put an end to it, wouldn''t you agree?"
For a moment, the party hadn''t been able to tell where that voice had originated from, but they soon mentally traced its location and naturally, it was the mysterious merchant know as Lix whose strength was still a mystery to them.
He spoke with such a calm and casual tone that it made them feel like he had only been watching a bunch of idiots y around in the snow. Larut wanted to refute the voice saying something along the lines of, we would be able to handle it ourselves. However, he immediately caught a glimpse of Anne and Aine who were breathing heavily with some level of difficulty as they were almostpletely exhausted.
Before he could even think further, the man known as Lix raise an arm and spoke once more, this time, his words onlypromised of the incantations of a spell:
"Overtier Max Magic - ming Arrows."
Larut, Aine, and Anne were stunned. They were well aware of the hidden strength of the mysterious merchant known as Lix but had assumed he would be a warrior-type fighter based on his incredibly high physical strength.
However, reality had been apletely different story as it turns out that he was also capable of using magic. Still, they felt a bit of confusion about his choice of spell. It was indeed true that the frost smanders were incredibly weak against mes and fire-based attacks, but, the ming Arrows spell was just a spell that summons a few arrows at a time.
While he could kill at least one of the frost smanders with that, it would only serve to piss the others off and that might cancel out Kylyra''s crowd controls skill''s effect, which would only serve to make things more difficult for them.
Perhaps he could only use low-tier spells and was only serving as a distraction for his partner Nadine who seemed to be a rtively high magic caster herself. Although she had two halves of a bo-staff strapped to her waist which would suggest that she was also adept at fighting.
Kylyra was in the midst of a brutal and exhausting battle with severalrge frost smanders when she heard the spell the mysterious Lix was about to cast. She held no hope in it being of any use in their current situation and she didn''t feel like anything would change unless he came down personally to help.
She quickly prepared her skill, Frenzy Crash as a precaution against the inevitable bacsh that would create several uncontrolled rampaging frost smanders. If they were allowed to run rampant without anyone to directly aim their bloodlust against.
However¡ª
What happened next sent chills down their spines and their throats went dry. The rarely bright and sunny winter day has further illuminated the sky in a constetion of arrows.
The sky was lit up by hundreds of ming arrows that had just appeared out of thin air. It was something that did not seem possible even from a high-tiered spell and yet, here it was.
With a wave of his hands, the arrows flew like they had minds of their own, and not even the tough scales of the frost smanders could protect them from the onught. The arrows prated their skin like hot knife through butter and every single fronts smander on the battlefield was instantly covered in holes as they dropped down to the down lifelessly.
"How... How is this possible."
Larut voice was shaky as he asked that question even though he did not expect a response. The girls around him didn''t seem to understand how one had created hundreds of ming arrows with a basic Tier 2 spell.
"... Amazing."
Naturally, the ones most affected by this were the two girls who specialized in magic and understood it way better than him. The twins Aine and Anne were of course, dumbfounded. They were aware of what a metamagic was and what the overtiered meta magic was used for.
"That was incredible, way beyond what our master can do."
"Agreed, this is the first time I''ve ever seen something so simple and yet I can''t even understand it."
It wasmon knowledge that one needed to have a vast amount of mana reserve to be able to use it. However, they were off the impression that it could only increase the strength of a spell by a single tier. Yet, what they saw now had defiled everything they had thought was possible.
"Are you lot alright? You all look a little pale."
"Huh, yeah¡ª um... thank you."
Snapped out of her daze by Tyler''s words, Kylyra spoke in a stuttering tone that did not suit her personality. The other members of Unrivaled had also snapped back to reality as they were professionals and knew they could not spend much time standing around in a dazed else they would be ambushed again.
Chapter 122 C122. High Risk, High Reward
As the minds of the Hunter''s finally settled down a little. Anne quickly rushed over to Dohel''s side ¡ª who had copsed on the ground a while back afterpletely exhausting his mental focus, mana, and stamina alike.
She quickly brought out a small bottle from her pouch and made him drink the bottle''s entire content. It was one of the items that were a necessity for a Hunter party. A general recovery potion, although not as expensive as a mana potion, stamina potion, and healing potions, was still a very expensive item.
The potion boosts the natural recovery rates of the body for a short amount of time. While not as effective due to the short duration, it was still considered one of the best items for Hunters especially when used inbination with recovery magic.
The others had also copsed on the ground upon seeing this as they breathe a sigh of relief. They were also breathing heavily as they cautiously eyed their surroundings with their weapons being at arms reach.
Tyler on the other hand had something else on his mind. He had never seen a smander before so he had no idea on the worth of their cores as they were soically weak to fire-based attacks. Whatever was made with the cores or scales would probably have the same absurd weakness.
Then again, it would be their only weakness. If one equipped a full set of armor made from both the core and scales of a frost smander and also equip a charm or item that provided ridiculously high fire resistance, they would have an insanely high defense against physical and magic attacks due to the high durability of the monsters.
Such a thing would surely be valuable even if tools that gave high fire resistance were hard to find. Looking at the current state of the Hunter party he was apanying, he couldn''t help but feel a little bad. When he had asked Zelda to go on ahead and sendrge hordes of monsters their way, he hadn''t expected it to happen so early.
Then again, perhaps this had actually been a nasty coincidence that had nothing to do with him. It would surely be troublesome if a strong monster coincidentally ran into them while they were engaged in a fight with arge group of monsters.
While such a thing was no threat to him, he still didn''t want this group of five to die on ident so he was a little concerned as he wasn''t sure he could actually protect them if a strong monster acted like these frost smanders andy traps for their preys.
Thinking of how these monsters had been intelligent enough to hide in the snow as well as dig through the earth and ambush the group, Tyler began considering something else.
Taking a look at Nadine, she nodded and jumped off the carriage as her figure hovered in mid-air and she flew away to scout their surroundings. The carriage had remained untouched during the entire fight, despite several frost smanders trying to attack it.
The six-eyed bull was also unfazed by the sight ofrge lizards rapidly approaching it. If they had used a normal horse, it would''ve been a hassle to keep it calm the entire time.
Nadine had taken care of all the frost smanders that attacked quite easily due to their weakness against heat so the monsters hadn''t even gotten a chance to challenge the bull.
Tyler nodded and alighted the carriage as he walked towards the party leader Dohel, who was now able to stand on his feet despite practically being in aa only a few seconds ago. Magic was truly a wonderous thing.
"Mr. Dohel, how are you feeling? Are you better now?"
Dohel''s usual light-hearted expression was non-existent but he still put up a smile on his face. He nodded slightly and responded:
" Yes, I''m quite alright thanks to Mr. Lix."
"I see... That is good then."
"We never intended for you to partake in the fighting but we hadn''t expected the monsters to be so cunning. My apologies for getting you involved."
"Huh, no please raise your head. There''s no need for that. I already epted the job so I''ll do what I can for us to seed. I was only lucky this time around thanks to the obvious weakness of the monsters. So I''ll be counting on your help if we were to be attacked again."
Dohel had a wry smile on his face but could not respond to Tyler''s words. The others had a face that said they did not believe Tyler''s words at all. Aine and Anne also looked at him in awe as well. It was as though he was someone at a level none of them couldprehend.
"We had originally agreed on splitting the profits from the mine 50/50 and because we had nned on taking care of the monsters along the way ourselves, we never discussed monster loots."
"That is correct."
"Well, how bout we do the same here."
Tyler tilted his head at Dohel who was trying to sell him on the idea that this was a good arrangement as they had killed the majority of the monsters here and would be sacrificing a lot to satisfy him.
While that may be true, there was also something else that factored into that decision but Tyler didn''t care for it.
"Sure why not."
Dohel was about to say something else when he suddenly froze as he heard Tyler''s words. It wasn''t that he was trying to be ungrateful to someone that had just saved their lives. He simply had no choice but to try and convince Lix to ept this deal as they required all the procedures they could get from this trip. Especially after already giving up 50% of the mine to him.
However, he had never expected Tyler to immediately ept the deal and it had taken him by surprise.
"By the way, what do you n to do now?"
"I''m sorry?"
"Well, obviously your information is iplete and you''re a little... ill-prepared for the monsters along the way. Knowing that, what do you n to do next?"
The question came as a surprise to everyone at the party and Dohel couldn''t help but frown. It wasn''t that he hadn''t thought about that but, he had just been caught in on Tyler''s disy of strength that he had almost forgotten.
The frost smanders were supposed to have been easy opponents to deal with as long as Kylyra could attract their attention and he would finish them off with firebase attacks. They had even destroyed the entrance of the cave because they didn''t want any surprises yet, that was exactly what happened.
The information they had purchased did not mention anything about them being able to burrow through the earth andy traps for their targets. Perhaps this was because anyone that experience this would not survive without an extremely powerful individual on their side like Lix.
"While I''d like to return and gather more urate information so we could better prepare ourselves for this. I am afraid that is no longer an option for various reasons."
"So that''s the case."
"Yes, my apologies for dragging you into this, and from here on out we will do our best to take care of all the monsters that appear ourselves so we don''t have to trouble you each time."
"I see."
"Hold on!"
Tyler turned his head around to see who had yelled and to his surprise, it was Kylyra who was walking over to him with an oddly serious expression on her face. She came to a halt next to Dohel before speaking again.
"Sorry about this but could you please lend us your help from now onwards. We''ll split everything 50/50 and of course, we''ll also do our part and take half the monsters."
"What are you doing."
"Be quiet, I know what I''m doing."
Dohel was stunned speechless at Kylyra''s sudden change of attitude. She was never this assertive and always free-spirited. Unless the topic was about food or sex, she would barely show any interest.
She was originally supposed to be the leader of their party, being the strongest of the bunch but herck of interest and motivation had caused the job to fall on him.
Seeing as she was very serious about this, he had no choice but to back down and ept it.
Kylyra on the other hand was not in a very good mood. She and herrades would''ve died earlier because of her. If she had known the effect Tyler''s rejection had on her psyche would affect her abilities on the battlefield, she would''ve tried to immediately fix it, even if she had to have sex with any random guy.
Due to this, she now knew she wouldn''t be able to fight at her maximum for a while and if she half-assed it, someone might die. This was something she could not ept and who better to help with it than the one responsible for it in the first ce.
Tyler looked at the serious Subi before him wondering why she was looking at him with such a sharp and prating gaze. It was like she was telling him to take responsibility for something but he was sure he hadn''t done anything that need him to do that.
Not able to think of any such reasons, he quickly pushed the thought to the back of his mind as this was fine as well. It didn''t seem like Dohel wanted him to im most of their profits so Tyler decided on an alternative.
He pretended to think for a bit before speaking in response:
"Why don''t we do this. You''ll all be responsible for taking care of the monsters just like you have been and of course, you''re entitled to all the proceeds from that but, if we encounter something you can''t handle yourself, we''ll lend a hand and take 50% of the spoils."
"Huh... Oh, umm... that''s fine I guess."
It didn''t seem like that was a response Kylyra had expected but there was no reason for her to refuse such a beneficial proposal for their party.
Dohel saw her hesitate a bit and quickly spoke in her stead. "We ept your offer. Thank you once more for your help."
"Do not mind it."
??????????
??????????
Amidst the vile corpse-stench that hung in the dry cold air, Anne proceeded to heal the slight wounds on Dohel with the spell ''Light Healing''. With nothing else to do, Larut began the extraction of the cores from the bodies of all 35 frost smanders on the ground alongside the reluctant Kylyra.
He also took off the fangs and ws of the creatures which needed extra care as they were extremely sharp. Tyler could see these items being used for really durable weapons but he was also aware that they also served another purpose for Hunters.
Larut and Kylyra swiftly finished dissecting the corpse of the beast and they ced them in a spatial storage box. The storage box seemed to be the only one the group had and up until this point, Tyler hadn''t seen them use it.
After also cing half the cores, fangs, and ws in the storage box, Larut approached Tyler with what should be his share of the loot. Taking a nce at the bag, Tyler counted about eighteen cores and a lot of fangs and ws.
"You can keep those, I have no need for it."
"Huh, are you sure, they can be quite valuable you know."
"I believe you can also trade them to the Hunter guild for points so you could get promoted, I''m I correct?"
"Ah yes... but these are still yours."
"It''s fine, it would be better for you''ll to get promoted so you can stop taking on such dangerous missions so please, do keep it."
A wave of surprise swept through the party of five. An unexpected gesture of kindness from the insanely powerful and mysterious man known as Lix. Someone they had assumed to be a bit self-serving but honorable. Now, however, they all felt like this man was more incredible than they had thought.
A being that would surely one day be a living legend. His name was sure to travel far and wide across the entire continent. He would be a great demon that could one day stand above even the seven greatest behemoths.
Everyone including Kylyra was certain of that.
Chapter 123 C123. Journey
After taking a few hours to rest so they could fully recover from the mental fatigue they felt, as well as their mana and stamina. The Hunter party and the pair of mysterious merchants continued the rest of their journey to the Fabelt''s Pass.
To avoid a repeat of what happened with the frost smanders, the group had decided to be extra careful throughout the rest of the trip. That meant they would have to extend their journey by taking longer routes through the dangerous zones on their way.
Their alertness level went through the roof which ended up making everyone a little tense as they traveled in awkward and ufortable silence. Even the ever cheerful Dohel had toned down his jokes and advances towards Nadine, which was actually a bit of a bore for Tyler as he had unknowingly found him quite entertaining.
Just when Tyler thought his first experience traveling through the wonderous demon continent was going down the drain thanks to his needless interference. Someone surprising spoke to him from the side.
"Um, Mr. Lix, do you have a moment."
Turning his head around to take a look, Tyler saw the gazes of both Aine and Anne fixated on him in a somewhat excited and curious gaze. It was almost as though they were sparkling. Although he was unable to tell their voices apart, so he had no idea who exactly had spoken to him.
Thinking about who to respond to, Tyler found himself in a weird dilemma. He didn''t want to hurt or offend them by addressing the wrong twin. Back on earth, he remembered that his younger sister''s best friends at the time were twins and they always got mad at him when he got their names mixed up.
Tyler agonize over this issue for a brief moment before he finally realized that he had no reason to care about that as he has only just met them and should not be expected to immediately tell them apart by voice alone.
Still, he wouldn''t just be rude to the people that had just offered him a lifeline. Something to save him from the crushing boredom that was already threatening to grip his heart.
He decided to use a tried and tested sure-fire method that wouldn''t fail in his response. Since he wasn''t sure who to address with his reply, he would simply speak to both of them.
"Of course, is there a problem?"
"Huh, no... I uh... I just wanted to ask you something about magic."
Seeing that it was Anne who spoke, Tyler smiled and finally addressed her directly.
"Is that so... Hmm... Well, I am also interested in asking you both something as well so why not."
Anne''s eyes seems to grow bigger upon hearing Tyler''s interest in them and they both smiled faintly. Tyler wasn''t sure if that was the first smile he had seen on them, but he thought they both looked quite adorable right now as he saw their tails twitching from excitement.
Tyler then swiftly leaped off the carriage without asking for it toe to a stop and walked to the right. His movements were so fluid that even the ranger Larut ¡ª who had turned around out of curiosity to see what was happening ¡ª didn''t think he could mimic it.
As Tyler approached the twins, they both shifted to the side and allowed him to walk in between them.
"How bout I go first, I have a few things to ask you about magic."
After seeing the girls nod their heads, Tyler began with his questions. Kylyra seemed interested in their conversation and shifted her positioning from the back of the carriage slightly to the right so she could take a look.
"People who have been corrupted by negative energy, perhaps due to exposure to undead creatures or maybe a curse, would inevitably turn into the undead right? Is there a way to save them or even a way topletely resist negative corruption?"
"I''m sorry, I don''t know much about negative spells so I can''t say anything about this."
"I also don''t know much about it myself, I''ve only been able to learn one curse that uses negative energy thus far."
They both looked quite saddened by the fact that they could not answer his question which made Tyler sigh inwardly.
He turned, and his head faced Kylyra who was a little startled by his sudden gaze but quicklyposed herself.
"Me neither. I don''t know much about negative corruption but I know there is resistance to such Spells and also items that protect the wearer by absorbing negative energy but those can only be found in the magic research institute and only their members would be allowed to purchase it."
There was also the issue of price, being as such items would be insanely expensive but she had chosen not to mention it as it would be impossible even for someone like him to join the magic institute without a rmendation.
"¡I see."
Tyler was slightly disappointed when he did not get the answer he was looking for. Although he was still d that there was still a chance he could find something somewhere inside the magic institute.
Since that was the case, he would have to worry about how to deal with the corruption on his left handter.
He had used the Touch of Despair spell on Carn back at the abandoned warehouse Zelda had taken him to but had only gotten insignificant information out of him before he passed out.
Since he was the only survivor left, he felt like it would be a waste to expend him to no effect. He had no idea how much the man could take before he either died or turned undead, and since Tyler had no other means of interrogating, he had felt the best thing was to take him back to the castle for Albert and Z to handle.
As Tyler thought distractedly about that, Anne continued speaking:
"That said, we only know little about magic, to begin with. Perhaps higher ranking Hunters at the guild could also help you with that if you make a request. There is the strongest mage in the guild Berot Dimzo ¡ª while there are also people like Kline, a dark wizard, and Bell a spirit mage ¡ª that could also be of assistance. Then there are ces like the seven behemoths regions that held a lot of wild sorcerers and wizards, it might also be easier to trade for items there as everything depends on one''s strength, and I don''t think there are that many people that could defeat you inbat Mr. Lix."
"You tter me, but thanks, that was quite insightful."
ording to the information obtained from Z, the seven independent regions at the edge of the demon continent that was ruled by the seven greatest Behemoths known to this world were each like a nation of demi-humans, ruled by a single demi-human.
ording to Rain, they chose their leaders by way of a tournament of power, so the strongest would always rule. Z also mentioned that amongst the original seven behemoths that had challenged the great five, only five still remained and not many people were aware of that.
There was a change recently writhin thest century but aside from that, the only other change in their ranks happened more that 600 years ago. This only showcased the level of strength these seven possessed as not many could stand up to them.
The seven regions were also not a great ce for themon folks to live in. It was located in the harshest of conditions and the strong would constantly prey on the weak as even very was still fully allowed there. It was also one of the reasons why the. incept of freemen still exist and so do the freemen settlements.
While the seven regions were no longer in opposition with the great five, they also didn''t get along well with them. They were strong enough to feel like they could rule the continent themselves while not even being purebloods, most of them were not even demons, to begin with.
Tyler was interested in the regions, but he had not found his feet in this world yet and did not have the excess energy to spread his tentacles anywhere outside the Darknar region at the moment. Just keeping his current schemes running required a considerable amount of energy, resources, and manpower, most of which he had yet to even obtain.
"Then, may I ask about something else?"
Tyler continued questioning the twins as they walked until he was satisfied.
He asked Aine, Anne, and Kylyra so many things that the guys looked at him with a strange gaze as they felt left out of their conversation.
Tyler''s question also didn''t focus on any one topic as he would ask about anything he had been curious about since awakening here. Although Nadine was present, he still felt a little bit more rx amongst these hunters than he did with the ogres in the castle who probably still thought he was someone else.
He asked questions that included magic, skills, the Hunter guild, the politics of the region, secret Techniques among other things.
Although he had to ask his questions with extreme care, the answers were still a little helpful. Tyler was certain that this had greatly increased his knowledge about this continent.
However, he still felt like he was stillcking some crucial information about various things. While he had gotten a lot of information from Z about this continent. It had been from the perspective of someone at the top, and having learned about the continent from the perspective of a rtively low-ranked Hunter, he realized that there was a vast disparity on both sides.
Thinking about the difference though, Tyler could understand why there were such disparities. He made a mental note to investigate more personally when he returns to the city. It would also serve him well not to take any outsourced information at face value from now on.
"Um... Mr. Lix, can I ask you something?"
Tyler''s thoughts were interrupted by Aine but he did not get irritated, rather he felt like he had been sinking in too deep into something he couldn''t solve anytime soon so he appreciated her timely words.
"Sure, go on ahead."
"Uh, right... Th-the fire arrow spell you used earlier, that was a tier 2 spell right."
That is correct."
"Then how were you able to summon that many arrows."
"Hmm... Are you... Are you not aware of metamagic?"
"Huh? Yes, I know of it."
Tyler tilted his head slightly as if to say he was confused on why she was asking such a question even though she already knew the answer which made her fluster a bit as she tried to exin herself more clearly. But before she could gather herself to form the words, Tyler doubled down on the wrong answer.
"I simply use an Overtier metamagic."
"Huh... Yeah, but..."
Seeing as Aine and Anne were too flustered to hold a proper conversation. Kylyra decided to step in and lend a hand.
"That still shouldn''t be enough for so many ming arrows to appear. An Overtier metamagic should only increase the spell by one tier but that felt more like a fifth tier spell."
Tyler turned his head around to look at Kylyra. His gaze lingered on her for a while which made her suddenly feel ufortable and almost as flustered as the twins. She quickly waved her hands in the air as she realized she may have been too direct and tried to take a step back.
"I Ummm.... err... I''m not saying you''re lying or anything... I errr... That''s not what I wanted to say... Hm¡ª"
"Ummm, don''t worry about it, you''re quite correct... Huh, I guess I can, yeah, I''ll tell you something interesting so listen closely."
Dohel and even Larut at the font of the carriage perked up their ears as they suddenly felt interested after secretly listening in on their conversation.
The twins had bright eyes and even Nadine seem oddly interested in this so Tyler cleared his throat and spoke clearly.
"In other to make that many arrows I simply had to... Use more mana, simple right?"
The look of excitement in the girls'' eyes visibly died in a wave of disappointment as Dohel almost face palmed himself as he heard Tyler chuckle after that in satisfaction.
''What the hell was that, a joke?''
Chapter 124 C124. Moonless Night
After traveling through the Sentro region for almost the entire day, the party finally decided to set up camp for the night. This trip was originally supposed to take only a single day with the help of the magic carriage but thanks to the frost smanders fiasco, the group had decided to be extra careful the remainder of the trip.
With their minds made up, they had decided to take several detours so they could avoid as many monsters as could in the high-risk areas, which was actually a bummer for Tyler as the trip had suddenly be a whole less interesting.
Although the group nned on sleeping inside the carriage due to the insanely cold weather at night. They still had to set up a perimeter around a campfire that they would then use in making their dinner.
Aine and Anne had cast abination of the detect spell and the rm spell over a 20-meter radius but the group had also set up a physical rm system as a precaution against unknown elements. They had brought out four metal poles from their storage box and set them up around the camp.
The poles went into four points around the campsite, and then thin, ckened silk-like threads that looked like spider threads were tied around the poles, forming a perimeter. They then tied a knot in one of the threads and pulled it over to the side of the carriage, where they attached a small magic bell to it.
This was their rm system and the bell would not make any actual noise when rang as it would immediately force anyone under its influence awake and into a forced state of alertness.
Tyler had offered to help out with setting up the campsite as it interested him but the party had not agreed to his proposal saying something along the lines of: ''This was their duties as the Hunters amongst them.''
He was indeed just a merchant on this trip so he could not overstep his bounds. Nadine seemed to please that the group was showing him respect or something but Tyler just felt bored again as he watched the group busily go about their duties.
He decided not to get in their way anymore and since standing there was kinda stupid, he told the group that he would be going to take a look around and scout their surroundings, and of course, Nadine had insisted and tagged along.
While Larut had wanted to discourage him about taking on such a dangerous job. He couldn''t imagine there was any creature in this ce that would be a threat to this cloaked man and with him scouting their surroundings, they would have nothing to fear this night.
The group had decided to set up camp at the base of two steep hills as a precaution against being surrounded by monsters at any given time so only two paths were leading in and out of the camp.
Tyler thought about where he should go for a moment before he quickly decided to head to the top of one of these hills so he would get a better view of their current location. While he could easily scale up the 9-meter tall hill, he opted not to and went around slowly as Nadine followed quietly behind.
Tyler didn''t feelfortable in any type of awkward silence so he decided to spark a conversation, perhaps get to know this young beastgirl better as the only thing he knew about her was what was written in her file.
"Say, Nadine."
"Yes my Lord."
...Sigh..." what do you think of this Hunter party."
Nadine was quiet for some time, making Tyler feel like he had asked the wrong question. Thinking about it now she didn''t seem to have taken an interest in the party at all and had barely spoken to any of them. Hell, Dohel was practically the only one she had spoken to and that was in disdain.
"I haven''t met any other Hunting parties so I don''t have a frame of reference topare them with but from what I have observed. They are nothing but a group of weaklings that have lost touch with reality and probably have slight delusions of grandeur. Their party is also badly constructed and they seem to rarely make rational decisions. They are also quite stupid seeing as they have constantly failed to notice your greatness and show you the respect you deserve."
Tyler was just about to think of something else to ask Nadine when he heard her sudden reply which took him by surprise as he hadn''t expected it to be so detailed. It seems she hadn''t just been ignoring the group but had also been observing them, but her conclusions seems a bit too harsh for some reason.
''What the hell does she mean by respect I deserve. What would be the point of a new name and a hood if I go around looking for people to show me respect.''
Feeling a little overwhelmed, Tyler momentarily couldn''t think of any way to respond to Nadine. He wanted to scratch his head but held himself back as he said the first thing that came to mind.
"I-Is that so."
"I''m sorry if I said something out of line."
"Huh! no... it''s fine, I don''t want you to feel like you can''t speak your mind around me so please don''t mind it."
"Thank you, sir."
"Don''t worry about it. Hmmm... It is one thing to observe and also another to get along with the people you''re traveling with. I noticed you haven''t even spoken to any of the girls, do you not like them or something?"
"Hmm... I don''t have an opinion on them. I''ll do my best to get along with them if that''s what Lord Ty wishes."
"That was not what I asked you."
Nadine lowered her head slightly at Tyler''s sudden change of tone. She thought about the question for a moment before opening her mouth again to speak:
"I''ve met several demons when I was younger. The settlement was still in captain Cronoff''s region at the time and most of them would usually discriminate against us demi-humans. Even lesser demons like them were no exception, actually, they were usually the worst."
"They would visit our settlement most of the time and harass us. Some even assaulted women and children and although the captain did not tolerate such things, there wasn''t much he could do as most of the neighboring regions had been keeping an eye on him, looking for any excuse or opportunity to attack. That meant they would usually get away with it and some would even do it again as there were nows that protected demi-humans nor deter anyone from trying to take advantage of us."
"If we were ever to retaliate, the other regions would bring their forces into captain Cronoff''s region and try to subjugate us while also attempting to take over his region from him. I was quite young at the time so I don''t really know the details but the captain still lost his region after he help us move into the Darknar region."
Tyler hadn''t expected his simple question to spark such an intense memory and as he turned his head around to look at her face. He instantly regretted why he had brought up such a topic in the first ce.
Her eyes seem to have swollen a little and although she seems to be holding herself back. Tyler could feel the intense emotions that were swelling up inside of her.
He had no idea what he should do to defuse this situation and he could not simply just dismiss it but, what exactly could he say to prevent this girl from crying in front of him.
However, before Tyler could even think anymore about her. Nadine suddenly clenched her fist and raised her head with a smile. Her clear as the night sky.
"I still don''t remember most of what happened back then but for some reason, I still can''t stand lesser demons and I don''t think they are worth any more than the magots in this world."
Tyler''s mouth almost went agape from the harsh words that hade out of such an adorable looking face as well as the gentle smile she had on her right now. He could tell that her emotions had been genuine but she had forced them under control in an instant, perhaps trying not to show him such a weak side of her.
Tyler couldn''t help but sigh... He knew most of the history of the red ogre settlement and how they had moved to the Darknar region five years ago.
He was also aware that Nadine right now was 17 years old based on her file, which meant she would''ve had to experience those things at the young age of 11 or 12. Such a thing would''ve surely shaped her personality to this point.
"I see..."
Tyler said those simple words as he walked over to the young girl and patted her on the head.
"It''s fine if you don''t like them, however, do try to get along while on this trip okay?"
"Yes sir."
"Good girl."
"Hehe..."
For some reason, him patting her head while saying the words ''good girl'' had made her giggle a little as her fluffy tail gently wagged behind her.
Tyler couldn''t help but chuckle softly as he walked up the hill slowly with the now energetic Nadine in tow. They didn''t speak any further after that and soon arrived at the top of the hill.
The sight before him was that of countless hills lined up on the uneven ins as far as the eyes could see. The sky was still a bit clouded so one could not see the stars that decorated the skies as the moonless night stole away the beauty from the scene before him.
Tyler was still impressed by the sight before him as while he did not yet possess Darkvision, his eyes were not what they used to be and he could now see quite clearly at night.
As Nadine stood beside him and also admired the sight, Tyler spoke without even turning his head:
"So, were you able to locate it."
Nadine felt a little confused by his question as she didn''t know what he was talking about. However, as she was about to ask about it, a female voice that sounded both enticing and ghastly came from directly behind her.
"Yes my Lord."
Nadine reflexively drew out both halves of her Bo staff and turned around as she was about to lunge at the intruder when she suddenly paused. A shadowy figure had suddenly appeared behind them and took a knee before Tyler.
Nadine had never been this close to this person but she was aware of who she was. It was Zelda, lord Ty''s undead rogue, and his second bodyguard since she was obviously the first.
Nadine was not a rogue but she was quite the skilled fighter herself and was also a mage. She was amongst the strongest members of the red ogre settlement Even though she was only 17. However, she hadpletely failed to notice the approach of this undead even with her magic sense constantly active.
She quickly returned the Bo staff to the straps on her waist and apologized instinctively.
"Sorry, I didn''t notice your approach."
The words had already left her mouth when Nadine suddenly wondered why she was apologizing to an undead creature. As far as she knew they were mindless immortal monsters that hate the living and while this one was under lord Ty''splete control, she had not seen anything different from it.
"The fault lies with me, please do not worry about it."
Nadine''s eyes widened. An undead creature had just responded to her apologies with words that did not sound like it had escaped the mouth of a monster that hated the living.
Tyler, being unaware of his partner''s surprised expression moved his conversation along as they could not stay up here for too long.
"I see, that is good then... As I said, there is no longer any need to send any more monsters our way. The frost things had been more than enough and I don''t want this trip to take any longer than it has to be. If I need anymore monster cores I can just Teleport here from here on out."
Tyler thought paused for a second as he contemted something before addressing Zelda again.
"Hmm... Now then, there''s something else I''d like you to do for me."
"I am at yourmand, my Lord."
"Locate this King of the Pass and report its location back to me. You don''t have to engage it, I just need its location."
"Understood."
"By the way, did anyone follow us up here?"
"I did as youmanded and swept through the surroundings twice. No one had dared to do such a thing."
"I see... Alright, you can leave now."
"Yes my Lord."
As those words left her deathly pale lips, the hauntingly beautiful undead shadow rogue, gently disappeared into the shadows, and get presence was soon erased from the hills.
Chapter 125 C125. Quick Work
Tyler and Nadine finally returned back to the campsite at the bottom of the steep hill after being gone for about an hour or so. At this point, the group were already done setting up the camp and securing the perimeter as well as creating a campfire where a pot of some kind of brouth was being made.
Most Hunters would usually only pack dried foods for a short trip as it was less time consuming and made it easier to clean up the campsite in the morning. However, the group had opted to make something from scratch because they felt it would better help them recover from the massively draining fight from earlier.
While that may be an arbitrary thought, they still rather take it as face value as their minds needed something to take their minds off the monsters and help them regain their mental fortitude.
As Tyler and Nadine got closer to the camp and crossed through the perimeter. The group of five that sat on logs around the campfire all simultaneously turned their heads towards them as they had probably been informed by the rm spell cast around the campsite.
Tyler had been curious on how the rm spell worked so he hadn''t tried to hide his presence and had kept his eyes fix on the group to see who would react first but to his surprise they all reacted at the same time. Perhaps the spell had informs them all at the same time using some kind of method he wasn''t yet aware of.
As he and Nadine got close enough to the group at the center of the camp, Dohel was the first one to speak to them:
"Wee back, please do not stray too far from the camp next time, it makes it harder to monitor the movements outside the perimeter."
"I see, do forgive my ignorance."
"Huh, no no no no no... That''s not what I meant. Besides you''re not a Hunter so it''s only natural that you''d not be well versed on things like these, right."
As Dohel panically tried to exin himself, the twins Aine and Anne both weed Tyler at the same time.
"Wee back Mr. Lix, we''re done with dinner so pleasee and join us."
Larut and Kylyra both nodded at the invite and although Tyler had no interest in eating their brouth, he still epted their invite as he thought it would be a good opportunity to get to know this group of Hunters better. It would also help him get a clearer picture on the life of an Hunter.
Tyler then epted their invitation and proceeded to take a seat in the logs next to the twins with Nadine trailing behind him, who naturally sat by his side.
As they sat around the campfire, Aine stood up and served them both a bowl of the steaming hot brouth and Tyler epted it. The soup waspromised of bits of meats, potatoes, nuts, mushrooms and several others things Tyler wasn''tpletely sure on what they were.
It looked rich with nutrients but didn''t seem like it could ever be considered a delicacy. Since Tyler didn''t need to eat as often as he once did, he didn''t feel like putting this thing in his mouth but had no choice in the matter.
Nadine held her bowl silently as stared nkly at it as well, perhaps waiting for Tyler to start eating before she did. Or maybe she also found it unappealing. *Sigh... Since it would be strange if he just sat there and did nothing, and probably rude if he did not eat, Tyler forced himself to take a bite.
He took a spoonful of soup and meat to his mouth and without wasting anymore time, he ate it. The chewy texture of the meat made him wonder what beast it was from but aside from that, he was currently stunned. His eyes went wide at how surprisingly tasty the brouth was.
The simple looking brown soup that looked a bit like mud was packed with so much vour that they all exploded in his mouth at once, giving him several sensations that he hadn''t expected. If this was a certain cooking show he was sure his clothes probably would have exploded in sheer ecstasy or something dumb like that.
"Not bad."
"I know right, Aine and Anne are the best cooks you can find amongst all the Hunter party''s in the guild." Dohel proimed with a bright smile on his face as he ate. His cheerful and airy attitude seem to have returned probably thanks to the good meal.
"I see... Very well done, I hadn''t expected it."
Tylerplimented the twins sincerely as he saw Nadine finally began to eat from the corner of his eyes and gently chuckled.
Aine and Anne blushed slightly as they lowered their head in embarrassment at Tyler''s sincere praise.
"Oh... You guys can''t be shy now. This is one of the best meals you guys have ever prepared for us. It''s almost as though you took extra care for some reason... Hehe... You know what I me¡ª" Ack!
Kylyra had immediately elbowed Dohel in the stomach as the idiot didn''t know when to shut his mouth even when she had been giving him signs to shut the hell up.
It was a bit of a relief to see the liveliness of the group returned to them after the demoralizing events that had taken ce earlier on.
Tyler now felt a little bad that he had inwardly insulted the meal that had been carefully prepared for his sake but there was nothing he could do about that so he kept his mouth shut and watched as Dohel''s grumbling got him smacked on the back of his head by Kylyra.
Their banter continued all through out the meal untill they were done eating and cleaning up. Tyler found their chats and bickering entertaining so he did not interrupt them until they were done.
Once the cleaning was done, it was bow time for the group to rest after once more securing the perimeter and feeding the Six-eyed bull. The monster had the fiery aura and was able to freely regte it''s body temperature so the cold really had no effects on it whatsoever and leaving to sleep outside was no problem.
However, as Larut went to check the perimeter, he suddenly heard several muffled rustling sounds at the end of the hill moving closer to the perimeter and as if to make matters worse, the rm spell suddenly went off and everyone could instantly feel the presence of several trespassers.
The air surrounding the group instantly stiffened up as their previous rxed looks had immediately change to a serious one after being forced into a state of alertness. They quickly armed themselves and stood up as they red at the direction the sound had originated from.
"Are those... Hoppers?"
Faced by Aine''s question the group saw several ck rabbit like creatures hop into the perimeter of their campsite with red glowing eyes and long de like ws and Larut quickly refuted Aine''s assumption.
"No, those are mutated ones, they''re stronger than the normal Brown Hoppers andmon in this area and actually most of the world really. I highly doubt if regr hoppers can survive here."
As the one with the most information on this area and in general, the group didn''t doubt Larut''s words at all. Hoppers were tier 1 creatures and definitely wouldn''t be able to survive in such a dangerous region.
These ones were alsorger than regr hoppers and stringer even if it was by a single tier. They would not be a problem to handle if their was only a single one of them but mutated hoppers rarely moved alone.
How many of them are they?"
I count 20, no 30, there''s moreing!"
Damn, where the hell did theye from?
What if they''re being chased by something. Wouldn''t that be bad?
Should we move the camp?
No we don''t have the time. If they''re really running from something then we need to chase them back, they''re not like the smanders, they''ll run away of they see they can''t win, survival instinct and all that.
Let''s just destroy them instead, I need something to vent on right now.
"We don''t have time for jokes Kylyrae-on! Everyone get ready."
Fine...
Mr Lix, please let us handle this for now.
I have no problems with that.
Alright here theye, make sure to keep the. away from our ride understand.
Charge!
As he watched the group engage in a brawl with giant rabbits only a few meters away. Tyler felt a little confused on the creature they were fighting. He had seen this so called Hoppers before, as a matter of fact he had sold a few of them to the merchant guild for quite a lucrative amount of money.
However, those were white in colour and where apparently white Hopper that usually only appear in winter so he had expected the mutated hoppers to be a little white as well. Moreover, he had originally thought the creature was generally rare in the continent but apparently only the white ones where and they were generally Brown Hoppers easily found in most ces in the demon continent.
The battle was not difficult at all as these were only Basic Tier 2 creatures and the grouppletely outmatched them in every conceivable way possible. None of them had even held back at all, it was as though they were taking out their earlier frustrations on this poor dumb creatures that had chosen the wrong time to attack them as they ughtered them with almost every attack.
As wave after wave of these monsters kept charging blindly at them, the group easily cut and shot them down without hesitation. The monsters only had high attack power and really low defence and with their speed and techniques, the Hunters were able to avoid their attacks and kill them easily.
It didn''t take long for the monsters to finally realise that they werepletely outmatched and outssed, and immediately most of them began to retreat in the other direction. Before long the fight hade to an end with countless... well not countless but several dead bodies of the monsters scattered on the ground all around them.
Since these were tier 2 monsters, their cores were a little valuable so this had turned out to be a surprising bonus haul for them.
Tyler watched the group gather the bodies and extract the cores with little interest. They soon cleaned up the brief battlefield and began setting up or securing the perimeter once more.
After everything was done, everyone retired back into the carriage with relieved expressions. The temperature in the carriage could be regted with magic and the space got wider the more people got in which made it quitefortable.
With the perimeter secured for a second time and the rm spell reactivated, there was no need for anyone to keep watch but Tyler had still taken the job anyway. He did not need constant sleep and would find it hard to fall asleep with so many people around so he thought it best to stay outside.
Nadine had also insisted on apanying him even though she needed sleep just as much as everyone else and had even fallen asleep on his shoulders just five minutes into the job. Her slightly twitching wolf ears and her cute sleeping expression made her look like a proper child which made Tyler feel bad for dragging her along with him, well, it wasn''t like he had many options.
...Sigh!
He let loose a breath of cold air as he wondered why he was even here to begin with. For some reason he hadn''t been able to get a moments rest since he met those two. He probably shouldn''t have walked straight into that forest without thinking should he.
Then again, it wasn''t like he waspletely in his right mind at the time. Well whatever, what''s done is done and it''s not like he could change it.
Raising his head to stare at the sky, he could see the clouds slowly get thicker as they moved to cover up the sky slowly as the gentle wind blew and snowkes began falling from the pregnant clouds.
''What a drag...''
Chapter 126 C126. Underground Mine Part 1
The group set out at daybreak, along the widest path amongst the many in the hills that led to their destination.
"We should be at the Fabelt Pass soon."
Larut spoke loudly from the front of the carriage. He sat at the driver''s seat as he drove the carriage through what they still considered to be amongst the safest parts of their journey.
The others in the carriage nodded in response as the carriage ride continued in silence for several more hours without any monster encounters. Yesterday had been quite the eventful one so the group had mentally prepared themselves for an, even more, tougher journey ahead of them today, but to their surprise, it had been smooth sailing so far.
They decided to stick with their original n and ride on the carriage through the safest parts of the region and walk in their usual arrayed formation through the more dangerous parts. However, they had only encountered low-level monsters so far and of course, the group would quickly dispatch them even without Tyler''s help so they had earned quite a lot of cores today alone.
After traveling inside the carriage for a few more minutes. Larut finally spoke the words everyone wanted to hear the most right now:
"We''re here."
As Tyler alighted from the carriage with everyone else to take a look at the ce, his eyes went wide at the stunning sight before him. The ce was a vast area ofrge hills in uneven ins with very few trees and Tyler could seergely broken stone columns scattered across the vast in of uneven earth. The snow that had covered everything around them overnight, had made the ce look even more boundless and vast
Tyler could see the ruins of a giant city in the distance and broken parts ofrge stone statues and sculptures of mythical monsters were lodged almost everywhere. Tyler and Nadine both took the impressive sight in with a breath as the group prepared to enter the Pass.
ording to the group''s information, this ce was the most dangerous part of their trip as the entirety of this Pass was filled with monsters, most of which were extremely dangerous and some were even quite intelligent. There were also dangerous demi-humans living somewhere in the pass and they were usually hostile to outsiders so the group had to be fully prepared.
Or at least, as prepared as they could be. Larut brought out the map from his pouch and began studying it intensely while the others prepare their weapons, items, and potions for easier ess in a heated battle. This made Tyler feel more and more like a noob as he had no such supplies to gear up with.
Well, it wasn''t like he needs such things anyway. Once Larut was done plotting out the team''s route and giving them further and more detailed exnation on the n for the rest of their journey, the group promptly got into their usual arrayed formation with Tyler and Nadine seated at the front of the carriage in the driver''s seat.
They then marched into the pass with extreme caution and Larut led them through what he believes to be the safest and shortest route to the ce they had stumbled upon the Grade 3 Gold mine.
The mine was located at the base of a steep hill by the side of arge rift in the earth. They nned to go around the hills until they get to the top of the right hill, thereby avoiding theirs of several of the more troublesome monsters on the way there.
They had obviously learned their lesson from thest time they were here and we''re currently ying it extremely safe. Most intelligent monsters normally wouldn''t stray too far away from their territory so they wouldn''t climb to the top of the hills to search for food as it would also make them easy targets for flying beasts, which were also one of the deadliest predators in the pass and the groups biggest concern.
However, although the thought of the monsters that could be encountered in their had made everyone tense, someone amongst them actually seemed to be excited. Eagerly searching around for any such monsters with childlike anticipation. Nadine was intrigued by Larut''s description of the various monsters that roamed these skies and was eagerly hoping to challenge one of them.
Be it fortunately or unfortunately, she could not find a single one of such monsters anywhere in the sky. In the end, they had managed to reach the top of therge hill in no time at all.
Taking a look below, they could see the entrance of a cave by the base of the snow-covered hill. Their eyes also traced along the path down the hill and they saw several other smaller caves by the base of the several hills in the area. It would normally be hard to tell which one of these caves was connected to the Grade 3 Gold mine but the group had obviously marked its location on the map and was sure it was the cave directly below them.
The cave was also the closest to the rift and thus could not be mistaken no matter how thendscape had changed due to the thickyers of snow all around them.
Since it would be dangerous to leave the carriage here unattended, the group located a path for the carriage to travel down to the base of the hills. The path went through the entrance of a few monstersirs but lucky for them, they did not attract any unwanted attention from them.
They were also able to locate an empty cave to hide the carriage in until they returned from their dive into the mine that had already be a monster''s nest. Maybe even a nest for serval types of monsters which would be quite a disaster.
Anne then cast a spell around the carriage to ward off most low-level monsters and also a camouge spell to make the thing harder to detect.
They then took a quick break to get themselves in the right frame of mind for a deep dive into an underground mine and soon walked straight into therge cave.
Upon entering the cave, Tyler saw nothing but rocks, dirt, and some snow which made several red gs go off in his head but he soon calmed down as he took a second and more a careful look at his environment, there was a crack in the wall at the far end of the wide cave that didn''t seem to be made from any external means they could think of.
The cracked part of the wall seemed to contain a narrowed path that led deeper into the cave. Theck of any external force that opened the path told Tyler the reason why the Grade 3 Gold mine had not been explored up till now.
The crack in the wall that had revealed the path had most likely only appeared recently and so the mine was unknown to all.
There was no natural light source in the cave so the only source of light they had right now was the illumination of daylight from the outside of the cave. Therefore, it would only get darker the further they went. Dohel, bing prepare for this already, brought out the only spatial storage box with the group and took out a single ironntern with basic runes carved on it.
This was a magtern that had been enchanted with the spell, continuous light. He handed thentern over to Larut who lit it up using the inscribed incantation and a bright white light was emitted from it. The light illuminated a radius of about 15-20 meters around them which would be enough for now as they all went through the narrowed path in the wall.
The path before them was incredibly narrow, so much so that only a single person could walk through it at a time so the group had to now proceed in a straight line with Kylyra in front Incase of any surprising attacks. They moved through that path for a few minutes before it slowly began to expand around them as they walked.
After about ten minutes of this, the passage in the cave had finally gotten wide enough to fit everyone and they were now able to get back in formation. The path they went through was slightly sloped which meant they were slowly heading down the further they went.
So far there was nothing special about this cave as it looked simr to the various others Tyler had seen before. To be frank this ce kind of gave him an oddly familiar impression as he recalled the ce he had woken up in a while back in the Darknar forest.
As they went deeper into the cave, they suddenly began to hear the rattling sounds of something and the dull sounds of tapping. There were several of these soundsing from further down the cave.
Larut quickly signaled the group and everyone went into action preparing for battle against whatever was making that sound. They proceeded with caution and Tyler finally spotted where that sound wasing from. It took a while but Larut soon noticed it as well and frowned.
"Damn it."
"What, did you see it. Are theying?"
"No, they''re digging."
"Huh!"
Larut seem a little frustrated for some reason and Tyler wasn''t sure why. From what he could see, those were all monsters that were not much stronger than the mutated hoppers which the group had handled very easilyst night, and there were not even that many of them, so why?
"There are about ten Giant Ants digging a tunnel in front of us."
"What! Ants? not the Night Terrors?"
"No, apparently this cave should have multiple types of monsters nesting in it."
A monster''s nest was usually a very dangerous ce to handle much less mine In. Even the lowest leveled monster nest would take several higher-ranking Hunters to handle and destroy such a ce.
So when the group had decided to mine the gold in this ce, they actually never had any intentions of destroying the monster nest in this mine. They had nned to only silently mine the gold in one section of the cave while killing any monsters that came close to them. However, there was an exception to this n.
The problem was, the group had not encountered Giant Ants on their first trip here but hade in contact with something else. Something far more sinister, far more dangerous. And as though that was not enough, the appearance of the Giant Ants in front of them meant that this ce was nested by not just one monster, but several.
This was a disaster. Not only because of the monsters but now that the mine had been confined to house two types of monsters. It meant it could be massive enough to contain several more.
With the different types of monsters having different attributes, strengths, and weaknesses, there was no way they could be prepared for all of them. Not to mention, theirck of information meant they would always have to be wary of the unknown.
In the end, this was truly the worst-case scenario.
Chapter 127 C127. Underground Mine Part 2
Inside therge cave that was connected to a Grade 3 Gold mine. Tyler stared at the party of five slightly perplexed.
Tyler couldn''t understand why this group of supposedly experienced Hunters suddenly looked panicked and frustrated even if it was just slightly. He found it odd that they would consider this group of ant workers as more of a threat than the group of mutated hoppers that had greatly outnumbered themst night.
Not wanting to be kept in the dark about such an important issue, he decided to ask the reason for this. Turning his head slightly to the side, he spoke to Dohel in a low voice.
"Is there a problem with those monsters?"
Dohel also turned his head around to face Tyler and although he could not see his face, he could tell by his voice that he did not understand why the group looked slightly panicked right now, and on further considerations, he understood why that was the case.
They had never discussed anything about the monsters they would meet in this cave with Lix so it was only natural that he would be unaware that the appearance of the Ant Giants meant that this mine did not contain only a single monster nest as they had assumed.
"Well Mr. Lix, I''m afraid these are not the monsters we encountered here on our first arrival."
"I see... So you''re bothered by theck of information on what other types of monsters could be lurking in here."
"I''m afraid so. We knew it was impossible to be fully prepared on what we would encounter here as this is an unexpected mine but, we still had hoped there would only be a single monster nest here even though that may have been naive, to begin with."
"I see... So what''s the problem?"
"Huh..." A dumbfounded experience swept ess Dohel''s face as he stared nkly at Tyler before he managed to speak again. "Excuse me?"
"Why is the existence of a variety of monsters a problem?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Isn''t it an Hunter''s job to hunt down different monsters?"
"Well that''s technically correct but¡ª"
"Then there''s no problem. Several monsters nest just means different monsters to hunt, and probably more valuable cores and better profits, isn''t that right?"
"That''s... That may be so but... we don''t have the manpower and resources to defend ourselves while also mining for gold and we won''t be able to go deeper into the mine where purer and even rarer metals are most likely going to be."
"Like I Said, why is that a problem?"
"Hmm¡ª" Dohel was about to fumble a response when Tyler suddenly cut him off.
"After all, you have me do you not?"
Dohel''s eyes widened... That may have been the most arrogant statement he had ever heard and if it hade from anyone else but Lix, he would''ve rolled his eyes but... They were all fully aware of how strong he was even if they didn''t know much about his abilities and specialties.
With his physical strength alone he could probably take on an advanced ss monster all by himself and if they add his magic to the mix, they could only imagine how strong he actually was.
Although they had made a deal which entails them sharing the profits of a monster''s loot 50/50 with Lix if ever they were toe across a situation in which they were unable to handle the monsters themselves. While it had only been for an instance, Dohel hadpletely forgotten about that.
However, now that he thought about it, this was probably a good chance for them to learn more about the mysterious merchant known only by the name Lix, and about his abilities and magic potential.
Dohel turned his head around to take a look at hisrades and saw them give him a look of approval, the nervousness slightly fading away from their faces. He then sighed inwardly to slightly losing his nerves and then nodded at Lix.
"You''re right, we do. Please forgive me for not considering that myself and do lend us your strength in dealing with the monster thates while we''re busy
mining the minerals in this mine."
He said thest few words while lowering his head in a respectful bow and remained like that until Tyler finally replied.
"I don''t see any reason why you should be asking me that. Didn''t we already have a deal?"
"Haha you''re right, I apologize if I sounded weird."
"Don''t bother with it."
"Alright let''s move, we''ll advance in the usual formation and Mr. Lix will back us up from behind if need be."
"Ai ai."
"Roger."
"Let''s make quick work of these overgrown insects, I''m getting hungry."
Saying that the group quickly drew their weapons and Aine and Aine prepared their spells with Anne promptly casting the silent spell on them as they slowly approached the hard-working monsters who were still busy digging a tunnel through the hard rocky cave wall with theirrge ws and mandibles. It was as though the rocks were made of nothing but mud or something soft as they tore through it with little resistance.
As they silently approached the busy ants, whose objectives in digging another tunnel were still unknown. It was safe to assume that this mine would be a vastbyrinth of tunnels that could span several hundred meters maybe even miles.
This would greatly increase the difficulty of this mission as they would now have to spend arge amount of time searching for where in thebyrinth was rich in rare minerals, making it impossible to fully explore this mine in a day or two.
However, the group was just a few meters away from the monsters when they noticed something inside the tunnel the monsters were digging. There appeared to be some gently glittering rocks at the side of the walls and scattered all around the tunnel. It appears to rock with streaks of yellow running through them.
The party''s eyes went wide as they gulped a mouthful of saliva. Thest time they were here, they had only spotted the gold ore deeper inside the cave but now, it appears that there was gold inside this tunnel as well, at least if they dug deeper into the rocks the Giant Ants were already digging, they would probablye across actual pure gold or even other rare metals and minerals.
This revtion meant that they did not have to go any deeper into the dungeon where the chances of encountering extremely dangerous monsters were very high.
Perhaps letting the ants do the work for them would make things easier for them but monsters were very unpredictable and they could not be sure why these monsters were digging a tunnel. There was a chance they would summon more ants as time went on or even attract more dangerous monsters with the amount of sound they were making. So they needed to take them all out quickly before that happens.
"Dark Vine Hostage."
Aine cast her spell and thanks to the silence spell that was still active, her voice had not alerted the ants that were still busy working when suddenly, ck vines sprout out from the hard ground around all ten Giant Ants and wrapped tightly around them, binding them all firmly in ce.
The startled ants waved their mandibles around and squeaked loudly trying hard to break free from the magic vines that bound them. However, the party would not let them off that easily.
¡ãBreaking Arrow Shower¡ã
Larut quickly aimed his crossbow and fired a barrage of arrows that whooshed through the air with a silver glim as they shattered the heads of several of the Giant Ants and Dohel quickly charged in to finish off the rest.
The Giant Ants were only Basic ss monsters but their basic strength was still impressive. While about six of them had lost their lives to Larut''s attack, the others were able to shatter the vines that bound them and blocked the barrage of arrows aimed at their heads with their massive ws.
They opened their mandibles wide and charge at the iing Dohel as Anne boosted his physical abilities with an enhancement spell. Dohel did not use a skill as they would most likely damage the structural integrity of the narrowed tunnel.
He was already having trouble swinging hisrge Greatsword in such a narrow pathway. However, he was experienced enough to find ways around such limitations.
As he appeared before the four Ant Giants that had also charged at him. They swung theirrge ws at his head and he quickly moved to the side and thrust his weapon straight at the monster before him.
The greatsword tore through the Giant Ant''s tough exoskeleton like it was nothing. Dohel then raised his sword with the monster still lodged in it and mmed it into the second ant behind it with all his might.
Both monsters had been impaled by hisrge de and he quickly pulled his weapon out of their bodies while kicking them off. The time it took him to do that allowed the remaining two Giant Ants to appear by his side though as he turned to face one of them.
The monsters had attacked him from both sides so he could not face them both at the same time but there were no worries in his mind as he only focused on blocking the attack from one of them. The reason he could do this was simply because he knew his team would have his back.
"Fireball."
Anne cast the Tier 1 fire spell as it was one of the few attack spells she was able to cast but this time, it did what it was supposed to do perfectly. The ball of mes burst in the head of one of the Ant Giants and it staggered back having taken a lot of damage since it had very little magic resistance.
Dohel deflected the w attack from the monster in front of him and immediately thrust his greatsword straight at the Ant Giant''s chest. He quickly pulled it out as he spun around and in a smooth motion, he swung therge weapon at the staggered Ant''s waist, cleaving it in half in one fell swoop.
"Phew... That took more out of me than I expected."
Dohel said as he wiped the sweat off his forehead while gently panting. The othersughed dryly as they walked into the tunnel to take a better look at the situation in there.
"You should work on your stamina Mr. Dohel, you shouldn''t be tired after something like this."
? "..."
Dohel was shocked.
He stared at Tyler nkly and even his other party members seemed a bit surprised. Tyler wasn''t sure why they had all frozen in ce but he thought he might have offended them by making such ament.
Perhaps that was not something that should be said to a Hunter or something. He quickly tried to think of a way to rectify the situation when Dohel suddenlyughed.
"Haha Mr. Lix, I did not expect someone like you to also give me a hard time about this, that''s unfair."
"Yeah right, our boorish leader has lousy stamina and is always getting us in trouble because of that, you can tell him off harsher Mr. Lix."
"Please do, maybe he''ll try harder next time."
"Yes, please do."
"He probably also has no stamina in bed as well, definitely can''t provide me with any nutrients, what a waste of a man."
"Ohe on guys give me a break, I''m really trying I swear."
Tyler was stunned.
He waspletely taken aback by this sudden change in the situation as he had not expected it to turn out to be a running gag or something. He suddenly felt the energy drain from his body as he wondered why he had worried about that, to begin with.
''These guys are just... All over the ce.''
Chapter 128 C128. Underground Mine Part 3
The group finally got serious after a while of teasing Dohel as they began to search for anyrge concentrations of gold or other minerals in the tunnel. Something like a Gold vein which would be a step up from the gold ores they had scattered all over the ce.
Everyone aside from Larut, Tyler, and Nadine was busy working in the tunnel while Larut was tasked with the job of keeping watch in case of an approach of any other monsters from the cave.
To Tyler''s surprise, or .maybe he was only surprise because he had failed to think about something like this but, the group had brought along with them mining tools. They all currently wore headgear with magic lights attached to it that were not too bright but highlighted the rare minerals in the rocks, and they also now held pickaxes in their hands as they worked to further expand the tunnel.
Those were the typical miner''s gear that Tyler knew from earth, so he hadn''t expected to see this group wearing them, although theirs seem to have some magic effects. The only thing they were missing now were the overalls. Tyler thought the twins looked funny with therge oversized metallic hat on their head but wouldn''t say anything, the helmet wasn''t magic so it didn''t adjust to fit them but was firmly secured on their heads with a chin strap.
The pickaxe seemed to be a magic item albeit a low-grade magic although it seemed to be quite effective as the group rapidly dug further into the tunnel more easily than the ants had been able to. They found traces of gold the further they went and asionally came acrossrge chunks but nothing more beyond that.
While they were making decent progress, it was not enough. If they wanted to make enough money from this mine to cover their original expenses and more, they would need to find a gold vein soon or would have to head back out of this tunnel and head further down into the cave to the original gold mine.
They were able to find scattered bits of gold in the rock and after shattering the many ores they found, they had been able to extract some actual gold from them simply by using a variation of the panning method with the aid of magic which made it a lot easier and faster to extract pure gold from gold ores.
They did their best to minimize the amount of noise their digging generated as they dug further into the tunnel. For the next few hours, Tyler and Nadine watched the group dig around in the dirt for gold in utter boredom.
Although he had used the time wisely and kept practicing his Mana control by using passive spells that generally had no visible effects, the entire tunnel was still beginning to make him ustrophobic. Well, it may have just been a residue trait from having been asleep in such a ce for a long time and the cate spell had quickly gotten rid of it.
During the few hours the party had been busy in the tunnel, a few more Ant Giants had marched in their direction and the moment they had been informed by Larut, Nadine had immediately jumped at the opportunity to do something and went out to handle them herself. With the ''silence'' spell cast on her, her attacks would not make any noise or attract the attention of other creatures within the mine.
Although she had run headfirst into a horde of monsters, Tyler wasn''t even a little bit worried about her as she had proven capable of taking care of herself without any issues. With him having nothing to do, he simply had to stand there and watch. Fortunately for him, something finally changed the moment he heard a subdued bang and the cracking of rocks.
*Crack!
As Dohel''s pickaxe struck the hard Rocky wall before him, the wall gave in to the force and cracked. Seeing something on the other side of the wall, Dohel began to continuously strike the spot non stop, and slowly shattered it, revealing anotherrge tunnel on the other side.
The massive tunnel didn''t seem to have been made naturally but seems to have been dug byrge monsters perhaps more of the Ant Giants. However, that was not what caught the attention of the group at the moment as their eyes all simultaneously followed a line of glimmering yellowish metal as it moved along the walls of the tunnel in curves like some kind of vein.
Yes, this was indeed a Gold vein that seemed to lead further into the dark tunnel where a higher concentration of gold would most likely be found.
However, before anyone could even celebrate what they had found, something instantly pounced on Dohel who was standing at the front of the group and had been distracted by the line of literally pure gold.
Being an experienced veteran Hunter though, he could react instinctively and quickly raised his pickaxe in an attempt to block whatever was about to strike. The others were a tad slower but still responded to the events the was rapidly unfolding quickly. Dropping their mining gears and preparing to fight with Larut running from behind raising his crossbow as he aimed at whatever it was that had just assaulted Dohel.
Raising his Pickaxe in the air as a way to defend himself may have seemed like a good idea at the time but unfortunately, he was not dealing with a weak beast as the low-grade magic item in his hands that was not meant for a fight and did not have enough durability to withstand an attack from a monster was quickly sliced right through by some type of de that continued on its trajectory and stabbed into Dohel''s shoulders.
*Ack!
Dohel was about to scream in pain but bit his tongue to keep his focus as he desperately tried to struggle with the monster that had something lodged in his shoulder, throwing punches and trying to get it off him. However, looking at it now as the light of his headgear slightly illuminated parts of its body, the monster''s legs were numerous and before he knew it, thin white threats suddenly began to wrap around him taking his legs off the ground.
Apparently, this was some kind of spider monster with a pale white exoskeleton, a humanoid torso, and long thin arms that had sharp ws. Its legs were also long and thin with the end as sharp as a de, one of which was lodged to Dohel''s shoulder.
"Lesser Djieien."
The others frowned the moment they heard Larut''s words. Lesser Djieien were vicious spider monsters also known as Blood spiders as they had an inkling for blood and could also use skills of that nature. They were also high-tiered Intermediate ss monsters.
Seeing the monster about to string Dohel up with its threads, Larut quickly fired a few Arrows to gets the monster of their leader before he waspletely caught in the spider''s web. Lesser Djieien could drain energy from anyone trapped in their webs so it was a disaster if Dohel got caught.
Whoosh!
The arrows cut through the air at breakneck speed and although none of them were enchanted, Larut had used several skills simultaneously so they had several effects on them and now had more prating power that could even pierce through an armored tank.
Sensing the danger like some kind of discounted man spider, the monster leaped back into the tunnel and was about to escape even though it would be leaving an almost captured prey behind.
This shows the group the level of intelligence this monster possessed and how much of a bad idea it was to let it escape and hide in the darkness. There were a few Lesser Djieien that could use stealth skills and that would be a nightmare for them since they had heard that certain monsters could hold grudges against Hunters for decades.
They needed to stop and exterminate it immediately. However, the monster was too fast and they had all hesitated to follow it into the dark where it would hold the absolute advantage.
However¡ª
Bang! Boom!
It had happened in an instant...
While most would expect this from Lix, none of the five had expected to see the young beast girl known as Lilith react so quickly.
While it was unknown to the party what exactly she had done. Tyler had seen it clearly. The girl had simultaneously used the Haste spell and also activated a skill the moment the monster had attacked Dohel. She then chased it down before anyone could react and as a beastman with the racial trait of Darkvision, the monster had no advantage over her.
Attaching the two halves of her Bo staff back into one, she sent the massive spider flying and crashing back into the ground.
"Twin Magic, Lightning."
After sending the monster''s massive frame flying, Nadine didn''t waste time as the moment her feet touched the ground, she immediately cast a spell to follow up with her attack.
Two streaks of silvery-white lightning shot out from her outstretched fingertips and traveled through the air in breakneck speed striking at the monster who suddenly attached its web to the roof and dodged the attack.
For it to be able to recover so quickly from her first blow showed how strong this spider monster was. Its eyes suddenly glowed red and Nadine''s body instantly grew sluggish.
¡ªBlood Skill- Blood wound.
The group we''re still in a state of panic and alertness as they red at the monster perched up on the roof of the tunnel when it suddenly used a skill that had slowed down Nadine. The monster also seemed surprised, perhaps it had thought the skill should have killed its enemy but she had almost resisted it.
Without wasting any more time the Lesser Djieien dashed in the opposite direction into the tunnel. Anne quickly tried to stall it by casting a fireball spell but the beast was too fast and easily avoided the attack even without turning its head.
Kylyra¡ª although she could notpletely see in the dark even though she was a subus¡ª had decided to also chase after the fleeing monster in the stead of the sluggish Nadine while Larut and Aine tried to free Dohel from the sturdy and sticky threads that bound him while Anne healed his bleeding shoulder.
Tyler calmly watched the situation unfold thinking Dohel must have been a ma for attracting troubles seeing as he was always the center of any of their troubles. He sighed internally... This was the reason he had not been overly confident of being a bodyguard as he had failed to protect Dohel from the sudden attack of the Blood Spider.
He should have stopped Dohel the moment he had seen the crack on the wall as they could not predict what would be at the other side. His Magic Sense had also been in a wack since he entered the mine. It was of the lowest level and Tyler didn''t even know how to boost its effectiveness seeing as the shit was always on.
''I am stillcking even now... Well, No matter, still, I should probably make up for that blunder shouldn''t l?''
Chapter 129 C129. Underground Mine Part 4
''I am stillcking even now... Well, No matter, still, I should probably make up for that blunder shouldn''t I?''
Thinking that Tyler decided to head out into therge tunnel as well when suddenly, Nadine was able to fully resist the skill of the fleeing Lesser Djieien and dashed after it. Seeing as both girls were determined to kill the monster, Tyler decided to let them be and hold off on his agendas.
Larut and the others were still here trying to help the bound Dohel and he couldn''t just leave them by themselves when they were currently in such a vulnerable state. The likely hood that this ce contained more of those spider monsters was very high and it would be a shame if he made a second blunder in quick session.
Larut retrieve the short de that was strapped to his waist after failing repeatedly to free Dohel from the spider''s threads that felt like they were made of adamantine or something. They had tried pulling and dragging but anything they did only made the threads righter even though they had stopped the monster halfway from fully binding Dohel.
*ng!
"What is this!"
At this moment, even Tyler was surprised. Not only had the thread not been broken by Larut''s strike, his de had not only bounced off but had been chipped by the hardened threads.
''Impressive.''
Tyler thought as he watched Dohel squirming on the ground like a worm as he struggled to hold back his scream from the insanely tight binds that bound him.
Larut seemed to be in a conundrum as he contemted on whether or not to use a skill. Blood spiders were known for their vicious nature and steel-like threads. In fact. while it had not been from a Lesser Djieien, the group had used the threads of a simr spider in the construction of their camp perimeters so he knew how durable this thread was.
There were a few skills he could use that should be able to break the threads but they were already so tightly wrapped around Dohel that if he made any slight mistake, Dohel could lose an arm.
"Do you need help?"
The question came from his back and Larut turned around to see Lix suddenly standing there as he had not even sensed him move. For an unknown reason, cold sweat ran down his back as he gulped and hastily nodded his head so as not to be rude.
While he had been a bit anxious when Tyler had suddenly appeared behind him, Larut still retained the clear mind of a ranger so he could not help but wonder how Lix nned on releasing Dohel. They had seen him use magic so maybe he had a spell that was perfect for this or maybe he simply wanted to use brute force.
While Larut did not believe that this man could actually break the Blood Spider''s thread with brute force alone, he had still hoped he would try. Perhaps part of him selfishly wanted to see him fail at something to give him a sense of relief that the man before him was still within the realms of mortal men. And even if it was only by a little, he would have a sliver of hope to at least one day get a little closer to his insane strength.
However, none of Larut''s expectations were met today as the hooded man simply stretched his arm forth into space, and before Larut could even wonder what he was doing, he suddenly pulled out something from the void.
It was a sword.
Ignoring the unnecessary motion of reaching into the air even if it was kinda cool. The de Lix had suddenly pulled out of thin air looked nothing like the others he had seen before. It was a one-handed, single-edged sword that was longer than most one-handed swords by a bit.
Its de had a tint of red running along the sharp edge, making it look like it was prime and ready to cut through the flesh of his opponents as it glistened in the dark.
"A magic weapon."
Larut''s mouth went agape. He was surely shocked, but not by the fact that Lix had just pulled a weapon out of thin air. Not even by the fact that it was a magic weapon that seemed to be of a high tier, but simply by the fact that it was a sword.
He was wielding a sword. Having already seen a glimpse of his physical abilities, one could only imagine how terrifying he would be with a sword. Not to mention he could already use magic at an insanely high level.
''No no no no no... That''s not right, this should only be a means to an end. Just a weapon for him to free Dohel from the threads, just because he''s holding a sword doesn''t mean he''s also a swordsman right?''
That was indeed a logical thought and anyone that heard it would agree with him. Seeing as the sword was a magic weapon, odds are, the weapon had special effects that would make it easier to cut through the threads.
''Yes, that must be it, that''s the reason.''
Havinge to the right answers, he was just about to adjust his position to make it easier for Lix to have ess to the squirming Dohel when something suddenly registered in his senses, albeit toote.
They had been aware that a few spider monsters could use stealth yet he had let himself get distracted by Lix''s sword that he failed to notice it in time. However, just as he was about to open his mouth to warn hisrades even though it may have already been toote as the monster was already amongst them, it happened.
Aine and Aine didn''t know why Larut had been so shaken by Liv''s sword but they could sense the dense Mana within it so maybe he was shocked by that. While they didn''t know much about weapons, they had never felt mana like that in a Weapon before so they knew it was a special or maybe even a unique weapon.
Seeing as Liv had pulled a sword from the void, they decided to let go of Dohel''s body so he would be able to easily cut the threads. Lix then raised his de up and in a clean and smooth motion, he swung the de through the air as it drew a beautiful crimson arc in its wake without even making a sound.
However, contrary to their expectations, he had not cut the threads that bound Dohel. Instead, he had casually swung his de at the empty space to his right without even turning his head. And just as they were about to ask the reason for that, they heard what sounded like a dull thud from his side as something or rather, two halves of something fell lifelessly to the ground.
The body of a white spider-like creature that had been cleanly cut in half slowly revealed itself as the stealth skill it had most likely been using was forcibly deactivated. A wave of shock swept through the bodies of the twins and even Dohel was surprised.
For a monster to make it that close to them without being noticed, was something they hadn''t even fathom. What''s worse, they had not even been able to react in time and would have lost their lives if the mysterious Lix had not been here.
Larut on the other hand felt his mind went numb. The preconceived notion he had of Lix not being able to wield a sword had not only been shattered but in a way that felt like it was mocking him. That simple-looking casual swing had split an intermediate ss monster in half without it even knowing how it died much less put up any resistance.
That was an intermediate ss monster they were talking about. A monster that even Kylyra and the quiet Lilith were having trouble killing, had been so easily sliced in half. This was not like the case of the frost smanders where the monsters had such an absurd weakness and could easily be killed by any Tier 2 fire-based attacks.
These were vicious creatures that were even a notch above the frost smanders and he had just killed one like it was nothing.
Although other factors went into that as the monster had been stealth-based and hadn''t realized that its stealth had already been seen through.
However, the fact that he had been able to see through the stealth at all was an incredible feat on its own as even Larut who was an experienced ranger¡ª had not been able to react in time.
"Are you okay?"
Tyler asked the dumbfounded Larut as he took a step closer to Dohel and stretched the tip of his sword to the tight threads that bound him. Sliding the de in between the threads, he had only applied a bit of pressure when all the threads instantly snapped like they were nothing but ordinary threads.
"That''s incredible..."
Unaware of the person that said that Tyler was a little impressed as well. He really hadn''t used any strength in that but the de he held had still overwhelmed the threads and even when he cut that monster earlier, he had barely felt any sort of resistance.
Perhaps the magic crystal he had used in the forging of his weapon had given it more than the Rapid Burst skill. He could also sense the dense Mana within the weapon which seems to be a good thing.
''I guess using that magic crystal in forging this weapon was worth it after all.''
Tyler thought with a gentle smile on his face As he saw the surprised and amazed faces of the group, including the newly freed Dohel.
"I feel like I''m always thanking you for something. Well whatever, Thank you very much for freeing me, I think I was on the brink of passing out there."
"Don''t mind it, I should have been more aware myself, the fault lies with me."
Dohel paused for a second before he spoke again with a smile. "You really are an amazing man Mr. Lix."
Tyler tilted his head slightly in confusion at that statement that seemed to havee out of nowhere. "I am?"
"He''s right, you sure are Mr. Lix."
"I agree, that was amazing."
Hearing the twins wholeheartedlypliment him made Tyler feel a little light-headed. Perhaps he was now getting a big head because these five were always getting into trouble. He was very confident he could handle anything that came at them in this ce not because he was that arrogant, but because he had sent Zelda here ahead of time to investigate and knew the only monster that would be a problem would be the so-called King of the Pass.
Perhaps the confidence that information had brought him, made the twins think he was more amazing than he was.
"For someone to be as strong as you not only in magic but with the sword as well, and is still so humble and kind. There is nothing to describe such a person other than the word amazing."
"I see... Well, thank you. However, we are still in a monster''s nest so do be on your guard."
"Of course."
As the words left Dohel''s mouth, he saw Lix swing his de again, this time at the air above him, and the head of another Blood spider fell to the ground while its body was still attached to the ceiling by its web. That confident and casual tone of him as he killed another intermediate ss monster made the vast strength of the man known as Lix truly sink into all their hearts.
"Mr. Larut, would you mind retrieving the cores of these creatures for me. We should follow the vein deeper into the tunnel so I''ll take the lead from here and would not be able to do it myself."
"Huh... Yeah, of course, leave it to me." Being spoken to so abruptly, Larut felt startled for a moment before he managed to stumble through his words.
"What about Kylyra, shouldn''t we wait for them."
Tyler turned his head to face Aine and answered with a calming smile. "There''s no need, Lilith is with her so they''ll be fine even if they get surrounded. They should also be able to easily locate us once they''re done."
"Oh... okay."
Chapter 130 C130. Underground Mine Part 5
Tyler walked at the head of the group as they slowly proceeded down the path, deeper into the tunnel where the gold vein seems to be getting more highly concentrated. They would asionally stop to extract the gold from the walls whenever they encountered Lodge chunks of gold embedded in the veins.
They also extracted bits of silver which gave them hope that the mine would possess even rarer metals like Orichalcum or adamantine. While that may have been a pipe dream since this was only a Grade 3 mine, it was still not within the realms of impossibility.
As they walked in the dark tunnel in what was considered the remnant of their former formation, Tyler suddenly spoke to them:
"It doesn''t seem like theck of light is affecting the monster''s vision, neither is it preventing them from noticing us."
"Indeed. The spiders seem to be adept at locating or sensing other creatures in the tunnel so we are just putting ourselves at a disadvantage at this point."
"Well, they do have six eyes, it would be weird if they can''t see better than us, haha..." Dohel spoke in his usual joking tone and Larut simply red at him.
"You shouldn''t be ying around right now leader, you''re distracting Mr. Lix."
"Yes, Anne thinks so too."
"..."
Dohel had only tried to lighten the mood because everyone aside from Lix looked tensed as they traveled inplete darkness. They had decided to turn off theirntern as they headed deeper into the tunnel in order to avoid attracting anymore Lesser Djieien but that idea had not borne any fruits as they had still been attacked by several Lesser Djieien over the past few minutes they had been here.
While Tyler could see very well within the darkness, his vision was still not perfect so theck of light would only serve to give the monsters an advantage over him. Moreover, the other party members didn''t have Darkvision so it was a pain leading them forward which also affected their movement speed.
Dohel quickly took out the magtern and lit it. He walked closer to Lix so he could shine some light on the path ahead as they kept walking. They had been walking for around ten minutes now and he was starting to get worried about the missing Kylyra and Lilith but Lix had assured them that they were fine.
He had no idea how this man would have had that information but he had still chosen to believe him. The girl known as Lilith was surely strong and maybe even stronger than Kylyra but she surely wasn''t at Lix''s level. However, perhaps she possessed a tool or item that guaranteed her safety.
As they kept walking, the hooded man in front of him suddenly stopped and by this point, the group already knew what this meant. They immediately readied themselves for a fight even though they knew they would not be of any help to him but their instincts as experienced Hunters, would not allow them to take ackadaisical approach to something like this.
Dohel then raised thentern slightly to shine some light further ahead. He then saw something moving rapidly at them. Five spider-like creatures were charging straight at them with insane speeds. Some running on the ceiling, others on both sides of the wall and only one ran normally on the ground.
Each of their six eyes shing red the moment they got in range. it was obvious that they had used a blood skill on them so Anne quickly boosted everyone''s resistance with magic. However, they were still unable to fully resist the attack and their bodies immediately felt sluggish making it hard for them to move even though they hadn''t taken any damage as the skill was meant to inflict injuries within their blood.
Tyler also felt a bit sluggish as he had already realized from the previous Lesser Djieien that attacked them that he didn''t have any natural resistance to Blood type attacks which was understandable, given as he hadn''t been aware that something like this existed till now.
Reaching into the space before him, he pulled out his sword as he focused on resisting the skill with nothing but willpower alone. However, the moment his weapon left the void and into this ne, his body fully resisted the blood attack and his body felt like it was under the influence of the passive effects of the tranquility spell.
It was also the same feeling he had gotten in the presence of the peak Tier 6 magic crystal at the Darknar forest. Yet again another reason why using a magic crystal for this weapon was a good idea even though he hadn''t gotten any good skills as Rain had.
As Tyler was in the midst of admiring his weapon, the Lesser Djieien on the ground suddenly shrieked and swiped both ws at him.
Blood Skill- Blood Strike.
Ten blood-red waves of energy left its ws and tore through the earth at Tyler in the shape of an X. While the attack would normally be easily avoided, Tyler didn''t want to put the Hunters behind him in harm''s way so he had to face the strike head-on.
''I guess I''ll use a skill of my own then.''
¡ãUppercut sh¡ã
Tyler casually swung his sword and a huge gust of energy he hadn''t even expected almost exploded out in a straight line as itpletely shattered the blood Strike and even went further until it had split two of the Lesser Djieien in half.
One ran on the ground and the other on the ceiling. The other three monsters seemed enraged by the death of their kins but they had quicklye to a halt, no longer charging in recklessly as they once did.
Blood Skill- Blood Web Entanglement
Thin threads that looked like they had been dyed in blood sprung out from all around the group as they entangled and tried to bound them all. Dohel and Larut quickly realized what was happening and immediately tried to cut the threads with their weapons.
However, the threads had already wrapped around and bound their weapons in ce and they were unable to make it budge. Before they had even realized it, the threads had somehow attached themselves to them, and no matter how they tried to struggle the threads only got tighter.
Aine and Anne had the least physical resistance amongst the group and as the skill had been unexpected, they had been ill-prepared and were unable to cast any spells before the threads had strung them up even to the point of ripping parts of their clothing''s even though they were rtively high-quality items.
Tyler''s weapon had also been restricted and seeing this, the three monsters quickly charge at him. Tyler slightly tugged his left hand that was also bound and felt some resistance. It seems he would''ve really been in a bind if he didn''t possess his magic weapon.
Still, this wasn''t enough to stop him as he was right now. Using a bit more strength, he tugged his left arm again and parts of the wall that the threads has been attached to shattered.
Tyler sighed, seems the threads were a lot more durable with the blood effects as he had been unable to snap them with brute force alone, but the walls it had been attached to hade off. If he continues like this, there was a chance he would bring down the entire tunnel upon them.
"Well, no worries."
He then tightened the grip on the magic weapon on his right hand and the mana within it went rampant. As he tugged the weapon, all the blood-red strings that bound it instantly began to snap like twigs on a dead tree.
With his arm freed, he lightly swung his de at one of the charging monsters as he simultaneously used the skill: Uppercuts sh ones more. A line of whitish aura gusted out of the de and cleanly sliced through the monster with any resistance, it had died immediately.
Tyler then quickly used his sword topletely free himself and the Hunters behind him as another Lesser Djieien lunged at him and its de-like ws came down upon him.
The speed of the attack was immersed but Tyler was able to avoid the strike by simply moving to the side as the w mmed into the ground and dugged several meters into the hard rocky ground in the shape of a w strike.
Before the other monster could reach him, he swung his de diagonally and the Lesser Djieien that had attacked quickly lost its arms. As the creature shrieked in pain, the second monster finally reached him and used a simr blood skill as the first that sent a streak of bloody aura at Tyler in an X shape.
Tyler raise his sword to block the attack but the power within it had surprised him a little. However, he still withstood it and countered with a skill of his own, albeit another basic one.
¡ãBurning Strike¡ã
An absurdly intense and dense amount of fiery aura gusted out of his sword sh and cut the Lesser Djieien cleanly in half while setting both halves aze even though the monster had quickly activated a defensive skill that wrapped its blood-red strings around it.
The strike had still cut cleanly through severalyers of that and through the body within while setting it on fire. Thest armless Lesser Djieien¡ª seeing all his kind die¡ª immediately activated its stealth skill and dashed away.
However, while Tyler could not see through invisibility, the monster had been too close to him and clearly still registered on his magic sense. He didn''t even need to use a skill before a wave of pure energy had cleanly deprived the monster of its head.
"As expected of Mr. Lix, you took on so many intermediate ss monsters and won so easily, I''m in awe."
Tyler turned his head to look at Dohel who seemed to be on the verge of pping as he wondered why the group were now acting like his fan club but shook the thought off his head as Larut proceeded to retrieve the monsters cores and web nd while the twins changed their outfit which had been torn earlier.
Aside from the web ds, the monster corpses were also very valuable so Tyler stored them in the small Spatial storage box with him as he still didn''t like the idea of storing anything like that in his storage ring that had the description of living properties.
"Alright, let''s keep moving, I think we''re getting closer to our destination."
"Roger."
As Tyler was about to turn around and lead the group further into the tunnel. He suddenly sensed something and turn his head around to take a look. His actions were mimicked by Larut and soon the entire group.
For a second, they had thought there was nothing there, however, they suddenly soon saw two slender figures running at them in an insane amount of speed as their every step seems to make the tunnel tremble a bit.
"What is that?" Dohel asked with a perplexed expression on his face as Larut pushed his vision to the limit so he could identify what was headed their way.
"Looks like Kylyra, I think."
"You''re right Aine, and Ms. Lilith as well... Why are they running though."
"Wait, what. What the hell are those!?"
"Oh my Lord, are those all Night Terrors?"
"Impossible, how are there so many of them... Don''t mess with us Larut!"
"We, we, we need to run," Larut spoke in a panic as he instinctively took steps back which drove home his feeling to the group.
"What do we do Mr. Lix, we should really get out of here, the numbers are just too much even for you."
"You''re right Anne... With such numbers, there is a high possibility of casualties if we fight them here. Let''s move."
Chapter 131 C131. Night Terrors
Dashing through the tunnel, the group hastily ran away from the approaching Kylyra and Lilith who were being chased by countless massive humanoid yet bat-like flying creatures with greyish ck fur, and a man-like face with bat ears and bloody fangs.
The bat-like creatures shrieked loudly at a frequency that most wouldn''t normally be able to hear, however, for an unknown reason, Tyler was able to clearly pick up on the sound and hepletely hated it. It felt like his eardrums were going to burst even though the creatures weren''t using any skills or racial traits to amplify their voice.
''Damn it, of all the resistances not to have. This is really getting on my nerves.''
Perhaps the reason why he felt the effects of their shrill so badly was that he ran quite a distance behind the group so he could easily protect them if need be. However, if that was the case the girls behind him would have been in the worst state.
Due to the monster''s vast numbers, their cries seem to continuously ring in his ears. Thinking he would have to do something else risk his life, Tyler suddenly spotted a dim lighting from the distance. It would seem they were getting close to an exit or something simr.
The man bats pped their wings rapidly and flew chaotically as they shrieked and bumped into each other, some even mming into the walls and crashing into the ground.
Their chaotic movements made everyone assume they were blind creatures but Tyler could tell that they just had terrible eyesight, which would be the same as actual bats. Tyler was also fairly confident that they could use echolocation based on all the shrieking they were doing.
Tyler and the group finally reached the end of the massive tunnel and exited it into quite a massive expanse that seem to be slightly illuminated by blue crystals that were sparsely embedded in the walls and there were also several other entrances or exits to different tunnels in the ce.
As the group madly dashed into the expanse, they did not stop immediately upon exiting the tunnel, rather, they ran further in until they got to the center of the expanse before stopping so they would give themselves more space to operate and a better view of the situation around them.
It would be a disaster if they were to get blindsided by monsters that came from a different tunnel while facing off against the Night Terrors.
The group then promptly turned around and readied themselves while adopting their fighting stance in their usual formation with Tyler at the front, ying the role of a vanguard, a role that was generally taken by Kylyra.
With only a few seconds to spare, Tyler silently use the ''cate'' spell on the Hunter''s to calm their nerves as he focused his sight on the tunnel while expanding the range of his Magic sense. He then saw Nadine being pulled by the arm by Kylyra who seemed to be in a panic but Nadine had a nk expression on her face.
''What''s up with her.''
Tyler was wondering why she didn''t seem panicked by the situation as the monsters that chased after them all felt as strong or maybe even slightly stronger than she was. Although strength did not necessarily equate to skills, that didn''t mean that a horde of so many monsters at that level wasn''t a threat to her life.
Then again, perhaps she just had that much confidence in him. With no more time to ponder what had happened to them and why they were in such a situation, the girls finally burst through the tunnel as Kylyra immediately flew while still pulling on Nadine as they both crashed behind the Tyler''s group''s formation.
There was no time to question the girls as the Night Terrors had already burst into the tunnel. There were countless numbers of them as most of them flew in chaotically and others rapidly crawled on the walls and on the ceiling that was surprisingly quite high in this expanse.
With more than a hundred creatures swarming into the expanse, the group suddenly felt a wave of dread sweep over them. Their raised weapons were slowly lowered as the will to fight slowly faded away and their bodies shivering with fear.
While these were also Intermediate ss monsters just like the Lesser Djieien and were not particrly stronger than them. The problem lies in the fact that these were all flying vampiric creatures with insane stamina levels and higher grade resistances.
Also, unlikend-based creatures, flying creatures were a lot more terrifying. They had a lot more resistance to long-range-based attacks which were practically the only way to kill one in the first ce. To make matters worst, they also possessed a variety of ranged attacks as well.
Their abilities also allowed them to kite their preys from above and wear them down before swooping in to finish them off, making it almost impossible for a party of tinum-ranked Hunters like themselves to take even one of these creatures down.
And yet, there were more than a hundred of them hovering above them right now. Their minds had beenpletely overwhelmed, what exactly were they supposed to do against this many monsters.
The answer was simple, they could do nothing but stand there and await their deaths while hoping that somehow, the mysterious man known as Lix would have a trick of his sleeve that could save their lives.
*Aieh!!!
The monsters suddenly let out an audible blood curling shrill that everyone could hear, the bone-chilling shriek rendered everyone immobile and sent shockwaves down their spines.
The scream was so loud that it made their head go nk and their eardrums literally burst. A thrill of pain swept through their bodies and some of them had even copsed on the ground, screaming in pain, others still struggling. Aine and Anne were the first to go as they could no longer handle the pain and had already passed out.
There must have been almost two hundred Night Terrors using the skill: Sonic Scream at the same time after already using their Fear Inducement skill the moment they burst out of the tunnel.
Tyler had to admit, these creatures weren''t just mindless monsters like he had originally thought. Even if they did not share the same level of intelligence as the Lesser Djieien from earlier, their cunning was not far behind. They knew the best way to fight their opponents and the most effective time to use their skills and numbers to the utmost of their potential.
Even when they outnumbered them by more than ten to one, they still did not charge in recklessly and had immediately used the fear inducement skill on them so they would quickly lose the will to fight and lower their guard against the next wave of attacks.
Their sense of timing was also impressive as they had chosen the right time while the party had been filled with dread to use their sonic scream. Throwing their preys off bnce before they would then decide to jump down and finish them off, most likely with their fangs, drawing their blood, or probably just ripping them apart with their talons.
That was just brilliant. It was something that most hunters that were susceptible to their fear inducement would be unable to escape from.
However¡ª
"Hahahahah... I''m utterly impressed... However, filthy creatures like you have the audacity to damage me. ME! Hahahaha... Know that for your sins, even death will not save you this day. Know despair."
While only Aine and Anne had passed out from the original attacks of the Night Terrors, the sudden wave of pressure that had exploded from within Tyler. A wave that contained a wave of undying anger, rage, and the arrogance of a superior being, suffocated the entire mine in a weight that felt like a had been ced on their backs and sent everyone except Nadine mming their entire bodies to the ground, their minds overwhelmed with pain and a suffocating amount of power.
Even the massive horde of Night Terrors, could not escape this fate, and while the ones that had originally firmly perched themselves upon the ceiling did not fall. Their bodies felt so heavy that they could no longer move.
Unable to withstand the constant strain on their psyche, the rest of the Unrivaled party, all passed out without even knowing what had happened as they had lost both their ability to hear and their brain could not even register what their eyes saw.
Nadine, who also had a shattered eardrum but had an item that could protect her from this pressure for a while. Carefully brought out a scroll from the small spatial storage box that was in her possession and Opened the parchment.
It was a golden brown parchment that looked a bit ancient but had a slight glow about it. She struggled to raise her head to look at her master but could only catch the glims of the hundreds of monsters that had crashed on the ground all around him.
Without hesitation, she immediately activated the scroll. This was a scroll of the highest level that contained a spell that even she had never believed to exist. When she had received this item, her hands had felt like it was holding a mountain and she did not feel qualified to use such an item at her discretion.
this was a scroll that contained within it, a spell of the eight-tier, Divine Protection. As she finished activating the scroll, a brilliant hue enveloped all five members of the party including her and as though her strings were suddenly cut, she immediately copsed on the ground as well and passed out.
"Wave of Despair."
As though on cue, a greyish ck aura suddenly wrapped around Tyler''s body as it immediately exploded out of him in a wave of dense negative energy that seemed like there was no end to it. The wave swept through the expanse and even into the tunnels, although it did not seem as limitless as the first time he had used this spell due to him now having better control of his Mana.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud...
Countless bodies of the Night terrors fell lifelessly to the ground with some dying instantly and others convulsing for a few seconds before their bodies finally stopped moving.
However, Night Terrors were bat based creatures with both, Mammalian Physiology and Vampire Physiology. Thus, they were part undead and could resist the wave of negative energy to a certain degree seeing as most of them had survived and were now able to take flight as the weight on their bodies was lifted the moment Tyler used the spell.
However, while only the monsters that had been further away from the initial point of the wave of despair spell had managed to survive, most of the Night Terrors had managed to survived his spell. Still, this was not a spell that generally had an instant death effect.
No. That had only been as a result of Tyler''s uniqueness and the excessive amount of negative energy he released. So when the creatures he used the spell on had some level of resistance to negative type spells, the spell did not seem all that deadly.
However, the spell''s original purpose was to inflict immerse fear on his opponent just like the Night Terrors fear inducement skill and in that regard, the spell had served its purpose as all the remaining Night Terrors no longer tried to attack and some of them immediately tried to flee and others were too scared to even move.
Seeing these annoying vermin''s try to escape had only served to piss Tyler off even more as he had no intentions of letting even a single one of them leave this ce alive.
"Insolent pest. What makes you think you''re free to leave."
Spatial Lock
Chapter 132 C132. Aurs Request
Winged City - South Borough
Patric Pazuzu woke up earlier than usual on what was supposed to be an ordinary weekday and proceeded to clean himself up. His house was a rtively decent one whenpared to the others in his neighborhood but he still could not afford to have a decent plumbing system installed in it so he had to heat the water himself.
Truth be told there weren''t many households in the city that would be able to afford the luxury of magically heated water running directly through the taps so he considered himself to be doing quite well for a man of his status.
Normally it was his wife''s job to prepare him for work including drawing his bath, but today was different. He had gotten up far too early and did not have the patience or courage to wake her up so he had to fumble his way through the process.
He was also feeling quite anxious and could not stand the thought ofying in bed for even a second longer. The south borough patrol guards had been very busytely and as one of the first responders to that messed up scene two nights ago, he had been ced in the spotlight and had built up a lot of stress recently.
His umted fatigue hit him all at once the moment he woke up, yet his built-up anxiety for today did not let him stay in bed. After he was done cleaning up and eating the leftovers from his dinnerst night, even though he had no appetite, he cleaned up his equipment and shined his armor and weapon, a task he hadn''t done so seriously over the past few years now.
He finished his task pretty quickly and immediately got dressed. Everything was done even before the sun had begun its rise. Without even bothering to kiss his wife goodbye, a decision he was sure would haunt him for a while, he left his home in the upper parts of the south borough and headed north, the winter''s cold slightly negated by his armor.
While there would be no public carriages at this hour of the day, he was still able to find a private carriage fairly easily. Some drivers would usually fall asleep In their carriage at the corner of the major streets and he just had to wake them up.
In the twelve years he had been a patrol guard in Winged City, he had never taken a private carriage before as the only ces he needed to go were usually within walking distance and within the fixed route of the much cheaper public carriages.
"Oi old man, take me to Royal borough."
"fwaaaah... why you so earlyd... Fine, that''ll be 15 DC."
"What! Don''t make a fool of me old man. I know the price is not even half that."
"It''s too early, hard to navigate, if you''re not going then buzz off."
"You greedy old geezer."
Gritting his teeth, Patric reluctantly handed 10 DC over to the old man and boarded the carriage. The usual hour-long trip felt like it was more than four hours as he repeatedly tapped his feet rapidly on the ground.
"Hey, Oid! we''ve reached Royal borough, where exactly are you headed."
"Oh right, sorry... take me to the lord''s castle."
"Huh, important fellow eh... Yet you''re stillining about a measly 15 DC, I should charge you more."
"When you look at me head to toe, do I seem important to you?"
"Ehh... Who knows, anything goes these days you know. I heard something massacre a lot of people only a few days ago, haven''t heard of something like that happening in decades. Probably those Noblist factions again. Could even be the demon god worshippers or those shady underground organizations. Things seem to be changing a lot recently you know."
Sigh..." Tell me about it."
Patric was well aware of the fragile state of the demon society right now but he wasn''t in any position to make a difference so why would he bother himself about it. He had his problems to deal with after all.
The now quiet carriage ride went on for another 10 to 15 minutes before finallying to a stop in the front of the castle''s gate at the top of the hill. Upon alighting his carriage, Patric was overwhelmed by the sight of the massive and imposing building before him.
While this castle was on the smaller side inparison to the ones at the main city of the other regions. Patric had no way of knowing that. This was the first and only castle he had ever seen in his life as he had never left the confines of Winged City.
Plus, he had only ever seen the castle from a distance and had never been so close to it. As he basked in the majesty of the castle that was currently bathing in the first rays of the morning sun, a second carriage suddenly arrived and stopped next to his and a familiar figure alighted from it.
It was a man with short brown hair, an unusually clean and well-maintained beard, wearing a simr armor as his. The armor shined as though it was brand new as it appeared to also be well maintained along with the sword that was strapped to his waist.
"Gaap, you came earlier than the time we were asked to be here, this is the first time I''ve seen you this early for anything."
"Ah... Patric, you''re early as well, what''s wrong? Couldn''t sleep, haha."
"You don''t seem to have slept better yourself, look you have bags under your eyes."
"Uh! I do?"
"I''m joking my friend, don''t lose your wits so early in the morning."
"That was not funny man, damn, you''re really terrible when you''re sober."
"Fine I get it, let''s just wait in silence then."
While there were guards stations at the castle''s gates, the pair did not bother to approach them as it was not yet the time they were requested to be here. They both patiently waited in the corner for that time to arrive before approaching the gates and then stating their reason foring to the Pce guards and they were quickly allowed in, most likely because they had already received orders about that.
¡ªInside the Castle.
In the main hall inside the castle at the center of the city, Patric and Gaap waited patiently for the city''s lord to be ready for them. The ce was quiet as it was still a little too early for guest to visit the castle, although there was still a few of them.
The only other people they saw were the patrolling guards, the maids, and asionally other workers in the castle. The ce was so eerily quiet that they were sure that if they weren''t called in anytime soon, their hearts might give up on them.
Luckily, a maid soon walked over to them and invited them to see the lord in his office. They followed the pretty maid closely behind and soon arrived by the doors of the Lord''s office.
*Knock, knock, knock...
Standing at the front of his office, the maid ced a knock at the door which startled the both of them for a moment. Soon they heard a deep crispy and curt voice speak from within the room behind the door.
"Enter."
As the maid gently opened the door after receiving permission from the inside, Patric and Gaap felt their throats run dry as cold sweat ran down their backs. They struggled against their nerves and walked in behind the maid as she gently bowed at the only upant in the room.
Behind therge and exquisite desk at the end of the well-furnished office, was an elderly man that seemed to be in his forties if one was to judge his age by Human standards. He had a chiseled face and his back was as straight as the de of a sword, his hair waspletely grey and his face was cleanly shaved. He had deep blue eyes and wore an elegant ck suit with a simr coat draped over his shoulders.
Patric saw the man behind the desk go through a stack of papers with a deadpan expression on his face as he would asionally sign a few with the expensive-looking quill in his hand.
The moment the maid walked inside the room with the pair and bowed before Aur, he finally put his quill down and looked at them, his gaze was sharp and prating. It instilled a faint pressure upon those that were mentally weak and Patric and Gaap¡ª being only of the tier 1 standards¡ª could not withstand it as they instinctively lowered their heads before him.
This was not the effect of a skill nor the results of any spell. It was just the dominating effects that high-ranking demons had on lesser demons. Before the effects of politics and the adoption of the nobility system.
Demons were at the core, creatures that belonged to a natural hierarchy of life. They were ranked purely based on their life order and nothing else, ranging from lesser demons to Arch Demons, a system that was now broken down into various noble titles.
"Lord Aur, these are the guards from the South you requested for "
"I see, well then, give me the full report of what happened."
"..."
"Ah... Ye-Yes sir."
At Aur''smanding tone, Gaap couldn''t even find the words to speak properly. It was Patric who was somehow able to hold back his nerves and respond.
He then proceeded to narrate the entirety of what they had witnessed two nights ago in the junkyard district of South borough. While he had hoped to add in some details to make himself look better than he had been, the prating re of the noble demon before him allowed no such thing.
They told him everything that they had saw even though it had not been much but Patric knew that it must''ve been important if the Lord of the city had chosen to see people like them personally.
"Is that all.?
Patric nodded at Aur''s question nervously, wondering if today was the day he would die for being an ipetent guard after getting away with it for so long. They hadn''t seen anything else aside from the empty junkyard and the body parts that had been scattered on the ground all over the ce.
"Very well, that''s fine."
Aur nodded his head as he stroked his chin gently for a moment. He then stood up from his seat and walked silently to the open window behind his desk as he stared nkly at the view before speaking again.
"I have a job for you both."
"A, a job?"
"Yes, I want you to investigate what''s been going on in the south for the past few weeks now, I''m afraid I have very limited information due to the ipetence of those that had been assigned to that ce so I need someone that would be able to move around unnoticed and you both fit the bill."
"W-We do?"
"Yes... I''ll need you to periodically bring me information on what''s been going on there, including information on the gangs and organizations that operate freely within the South. Of course, you both will be rewarded handsomely for this."
As those words left his mouth, the maid quickly walk over to the pair and handed them each a small pouch. Upon opening the pouch their eyes widened, there were several pieces of gold coins in the pouch, each having a value of more than 3,000 DC. That was way more than what they could each earn in a year.
"We''ll do it."
The one that spoke first was Gaap as there was no way they could decline a request from the lord of their city in the first ce so why would they refuse such lucrative payments for their work. Knowing that, Patric could not refute him for speaking for him as he would''ve done the same given only a few more seconds.
"One more thing, I also need you to investigate a new merchant by the name of Lix, I was told he wasst seen leaving the city with a few hunters on a quest so start from there. It is my understanding that the guards of the south have a better rtionship with the Hunter guild am I correct?"
"Huh... Yes my Lord."
Chapter 133 C133. Unseen Activities
In the Fabelt''s Pass, somewhere deep in the unexplored underground Grade 3 Gold mine.
Ragdek Mighthold woke up from his makeshift bed in what appears to be an alcove in therge tunnel walls and changed into his work clothes.
They were a set of coarsely designed coveralls, stitched together from sturdy cloth made of off the various hides of monsters, some parts woven from the threads of spider monsters. While they stretched poorly and did not feelfortable when worn, they had certain resistances to various environmental effects.
They were a poor choice for everyday wear which was why he has to change out of them when he wanted to rest. However, they were exceptionally suited for working in the mine tunnels, where conditions were poor and the temperature changes rapidly depending on what section of the tunnel you were in. For dwarfs, there were certainly better options when ites to mining equipment but Ragdek and his crew could only afford so much at the moment.
After he was done putting on his clothing, he put on a metal helmet, of the sort that light infantry might wear. Although he did not have any light attached to it as this was one of the older gears for miners and it did not even contain any padding within it forfort so Ragdek and his crew would manually pad the inside of their helmet with thick towels.
As dwarfs had a variation of the skill Darkvision as their racial traits, a way to see almost perfectly in the dark. Ragdek and his crew did not need to spend the extra cash for an updated miner''s gear as they could use luminous rocks to make up for the difference.
Finally, he equipped himself with an oversized pickaxe that seem to be the most impressive thing amongst everything he had on him right now as it gleamed with a purple hue. This was a magic item made out of Tritanium, the second rarest metal in the world.
After his preparations wereplete, Ragdek emerged from his temporary room and headed straight down the tunnel to where he could hear the faint sounds of metal striking something hard.
As he approached the source of that sound, it steadily got louder and soon he saw the figures of three short but stout and broad individuals, crouched down by the corner of therge tunnel as they seem to be digging something from only a single spot.
There were ores of gold scattered all around them but they didn''t seem to care much about them, rather focusing on their work.
"Ohhh! Ragdek! You were gone a while, were you that tired, you''re losing your edge you know."
Sensing his approach, the dwarf closest to the direction he hade from turned his head and spoke to him in a friendly tone as he took off his helmet to wipe his sweat away. He had a simr build to the others but seem a lot taller and more muscr than them.
He had grey hair that was knotted in what appears to be cornrows, his long grey beards were bound at the middle with arge golden ring.
"Ho! Bernir! You can''t go aroundparing people to you man. You should know by now that you''re a freak of nature."
"Come on man. Don''t be mean the moment you get here, I''m a sensitive fellow you know." Bernir Galnik, a dwarf that seemed to be built more like a warrior than his friends grumbled at Ragdek remarks.
"I''m not mean, I''m just stating the truth."
"Ho, Ragdek! You''re back, Let''s do our best today!"
Turning his head around, Ragdek saw another dwarfing from the same tunnel as he had. The dwarf was around the same height as him, being around four feet tall. He had thick red beards that matched his brown pupils and a scar that ran across his right eye.
His name was Farren Drovam and he was also returning from the temporary rooms the group had created for themselves.
"Mm, mm. Today''s the seventh day! I have a good feeling about the number seven. We''re sure to find something today!"
"Ha~ I feel exhausted just hearing you say that, I wanna ck off so bad~"
One of the other dwarves that work alongside Bernir spoke out as he stretched his arms wide in an exaggerated manner.
"You say that every day Gerl, we ain''t working for anyone but ourselves this time so if you ck off we won''t get anything done."
"I was joking man."
"Somehow I don''t believe you."
"You''re quite grumpy this morning Ragdek, what''s wrong."
"Well, I don''t me you, I''m like that as well whenever I wake up from that thing we call a bed."
While mining was not a strange job for dwarfs, their civilization had advanced countless times over the years so they no longer needed to sleep in such ces while they explored mines and there were countless ways to provide the workers a morefortable environment during their resting periods.
However, this was a job that had been undertaken secretly and without the aid of anyone out of their little group so they could not afford any such luxuries.
They chattered on like this as they began. their usual work which had remained the same for days now. Searching for something with the vastbyrinth of this mine.
While they did nothing but work, they also needed to take breaks to refill their stomach and rx their minds so they could maintain their strength and more importantly, their spirits.
Despite their developed muscles and superior mining skills and techniques, the countless mechanical repetitions of their work meant that their bodies craved rest the moment theirbors ceased.
They all copsed on the hard ground without a care in the world as they rested for a while before bringing out and eating their packed rations in merry. They had liquids like juice, soups, and water with their foods, however, there was no sign of the dwarves'' beloved beverage, booze.
There was no way it would be there. While it was true that the dwarves were highly resistant to alcohol and would not be intoxicated by just a few drinks, no mining leader would ever allow his prized workers to touch the demon drink while working in such dangerous tunnels as dwarves weren''t known for their self-control if given the chance.
That said¡ª
One of his men, Hulnyl, took a swig from a sk at his waist. It was obvious what the contents of the sk would be and although Ragdek was the mining leader on this expenditure, he said nothing to reprimand the man.
"Puhaa~"
? The air he exhaled was redolent with the scent of alcohol.
"Damn, this ce is really messing with my mind. It''s a good thing we haven''t encountered any of these intelligent monsters you were talking about."
"I know right, even with the item we got from the Ruz Kingdom, we might still die if we''re faced with a lot of them."
"Hm hahaha, That''s right."
"I think you''re drinking too much Hulnyl, you need to slow down, we''ll be moving deeper in to dig another section of the mine today."
"Seriously man."
"Of course, we haven''t found what we want after digging here for three days now so it''s best to move on. Our food rations will onlyst three more days."
.
"I guess that''s true, what do we do about the Gold we''ve gathered so far."
"Hm, well... Gold does seem quite valuable in the Ruz Kingdom so we''ll take as much as we can with us, it should be enough to help fund our research."
"Alright, let''s get back to work. I mean let''s get moving."
As soon as they were done with their lunch, the five dwarfs all got up and promptly went back to work. They gathered the materials and ore they had dug so far in their medium storage box along with their tools and walked deeper into the tunnel with caution.
Their steps made no sound and they looked a little transparent. This was because the group was using a tool that produced the effects of the silence spell and camouge on them at the same time. Even the luminous Rock they held for light, would not catch the attention of the monsters in this cave.
Ragdek held a parchment in his hands that he read as the group walked carefully on a straight line to their destination. This was a map, and while maps did not exist for an underground unexplored mine, there was still maps for the Fabelt''s Pass and Ragdek had used this map with theption of a mapping tool to get the general locations on which parts of the earth would most likely contain the metal he was searching for.
They came across several groups of Ant Giants on their way to the next marked location but the monsters had failed to even notice or sense them as they went on their merry way. Although the group had to stop and remain still as a precaution.
After about an hour of walking and stopping to avoid monsters, they finally arrived in a cross-section of the mine that lead to different tunnels. This was the ce he had marked on the map so the dwarfs quickly got to work digging near the walls.
Some would gather the ores they found in a pile at the end of the room. Others would shovel the dirt away and the rest would keep on digging. They did this in rotation for a while and would asionally take breaks to catch their breaths as this part of the tunnel was extremely hot for some reason.
Rumble, Rumble, Rumble...
The vibration of the entire tunnel came suddenly and the dwarves panicked. This was not a man-made tunnel so the structure should be a lot sturdier than the ones that had been created by the dwarves in the Dwarven continent.
They hastily ran to the corner of the wall and aside from Ragdek''s Tritanium pickaxe, the group had left all their tools behind as they huddled together and activated the magic item that camouge them. Making it harder for anyone that was not actively looking for them to notice them.
Suddenly¡ª
Two figures suddenly burst through one of the tunnels and without even slowing down ones, they dashed through another tunnel with one pulling on the arms of the other.
Although they hadn''t gotten a good look at the figures, they were currently in the demon continent and judging by the bat-like wings on the first figure. Those were most likely demons or something simr.
"I thought this ce was unexplored."
Gerl Whispered, however, before the group could even make heads or tails on what had just happened, the vibration of the tunnel intensified and that was when the group realized, that the earlier two figures must''ve been running away from something.
Just as that thought crossed their minds, hundreds of giant man-bat-like creatures suddenly burst through the tunnel the earlier two had first exited from and they flew chaotically after them.
However, the moment the Night terrors had entered their Field of vision. Tears poured down their eyes as their bodies shivered uncontrobly. Their minds were filled with terrifying images of the nightmarish monsters.
This was the effects of the Terror that passively surrounded those frightening monsters. The reason for their names which did not describe their species.
¡ãFear Inducement¡ã
Lucky for the group, the monsters didn''t seem to be interested in them at all as they all pped their bat wings after the first two figures. One of the dwarves seem to have wet their pants but the others did not even notice it as they were all still crouched down shivering in terror even after the monsters had left for a while now.
"Ragdek, w-what w-was t..that... You didn''t say anything like that will be here."
"Y...Yeah, we can''t... handle this ce I''d those things are here... We need to leave."
Ragdek hesitated only for a moment as he knew the value of their lives for his selfish dreams. "Y-you''re right, let''s pack up and leave. We should just head back to the human continent and hire adventurers to find time metals we need."
The group nodded in agreement but they still stayed unmoving. It took them a while before they finally got the courage to move again.
However¡ª
The moment they stood back up, a sudden wave of pressure swept over them. It was a force the likes of which they had never experienced before and their minds could not even resist it for a single second and their vision went nk. Most of them even lost control of their bowel movements as they copsed to the ground in their camouged state.
Chapter 134 C134. Rapid Burst
Back in the Grade 3 underground mine in the Fabelt Pass.
Fear-stricken by the wave of negative energy that assaulted them, most of the Intermediate ss monsters that had managed to survive the spell, desperately tried to flee for their lives while the others whose survival instincts had been forcibly overwritten by despair, retreated closer to the walls as they tried to make themselves as small as possible while shivering in fear.
However, Tyler had no intentions of letting even a single one of them escape. It did not matter if they had already submitted to his Spell and could now be tamed. For some reason, he just could not tolerate the existence of these creatures who had dared to inflict damage on him even though he had already fixed his eardrums with the spell, Light Heal.
¡ãSpatial Distortion¡ã
Having a very limited range of skills and spells, he knew he needed to get creative with the ones he had. Spatial Distortion, while it was only a skill attached to a magic artifact¡ª it had proven itself to be the most valuable skill Tyler had. After all, it was a skill at the peak of the 7th tier so therefore, it could do more than just utter or distort the rules of the space around him. It could even Distort the rules of other skills or spell, just like what he had done with the spatial movements skill when he had identally created what he now called the spatial teleportation skill.
While there was a lot he could learn from further experimentations and testing. What he knew about the skill at the moment was more than enough for what he was about to do.
¡ªSpatial Lock.
What Tyler would do this time was equivalent to a barrier of sorts. A restriction forcefully ced on the space around him that nobody weaker than him would be able to break. Something like a spatial lock.
By distorting the concept of leaving this expanse and connecting the action of leaving to the that of entering, none of the Night Terrors could escape this space.
His skill spanned the entire cave but he was only focused on the space within this expanse. Still, almost like mindless creatures, the Night Terrors continuously tried to escape the expanse only to turn around each time as they found themselves back where they had started from.
They did this repeatedly, almost in a frenzy,pletely foregoing the thought of attacking, and hadn''t even used their skills.
Seeing the scared creatures acting like this¡ª their previous intelligence nowhere to be seen. Tyler suddenly felt the anger slowly fade away. While his emotions had once again spiraled out of control and his slight anger had been greatly intensified by something within his soul.
He still had no intentions of sparing these monster''s lives, after all, their cores would at least hold some value. The monsters also didn''t seem to have paid his earlier words any heed or perhaps they just didn''t understand it, or were too frightened to care, still...
"I guess there''s no point in speaking to savage beasts like you huh... Fine, I''ll end this in an instant."
As Tyler raised an arm to cast a spell, he suddenly felt the blood surge into his head as his body shuddered for a moment and he instantly felt a wave of piercing pain that came or originated from his left arm all the way to his chest.
Raising the sleeve of his coat to take a look at what happened, he noticed that his left arm looked deathly pale as the negative corruption that had only affect the area around his palm had now extended fully all the way to his shoulder and the left parts of his chest.
As Tyler stared at his arm with a perplexed expression on his face, he suddenly realized the problem and almost faced palmed himself.
''Damn it, how could I get so carried away with something so dangerous looming over me.''
He had just realized why this had happened, after all, he had used the wave of despair spell yet again. It was a spell that was overflowing with negative energy and in his rage, he hadpletely ignored the consequences of his actions. All he had wanted was to see the insolent monsters tremble in fear and yet now he had to deal with this.
Another wave of pain suddenly brought his mind back to the reality at hand and Tyler quickly used the spell Light healing to slow down the effects of the rapidly growing corruption. However, the spell didn''t seem to be as effective as it once was as the corruption was only temporarily halted and the pain was only slightly reduced.
In this brief moment of hesitation, a few of the Night Terrors constantly trying to escape his spatial lock suddenly broke free of their frightened state and took the opportunity to attack their oppressor. They were after all partly undead creatures and had high resistance to negative mental attacks so this should''ve been expected.
The monsters flew rapidly at him and wed at him with their bloodied talons. Tyler being slightly numbed from the corruption¡ª although he was able to sense these creatures approaching a mile away¡ª was still too slow to react in time and could only raise his arm in an attempt to block their attacks.
It was a good thing his current outfit was quite durable as it hadn''t been torn by the barrage of attacks. His unbnced stance made him stumble back and the monsters saw their chance tond a decisive and most likely finishing blow to their enemy.
However¡ª
"Don''t get cocky pests."
In a fit of annoyance, Tyler''s eyes shed red and the bodies of all ten Night Terrors that were attacking him mmed headfirst into the Rocky ground.
¡ãDemon''s Might¡ã
While the monsters had been easily influenced by his skill, Tyler suddenly felt his head pound for a moment due to the sudden use of his skill. With his mind going nk, he fought desperately to keep his awareness as he was the only one amongst his group that was still conscious and could not afford to be careless now.
He promptly pulled his magic weapon ''Narsil'' out of the void and opting to use the weapon''s only skill. While most items would use the mana of the wielder to utilize the weapon''s skills, Tyler''s magic weapon ''Narsil'' was a little different. It had not only been made with a magic crystal but had managed to retain about fifty percent of the energy that was contained within a Tier 5 magic crystal.
So naturally, the weapon had more than enough mana to perform the skill. However, Tyler knew that there was no such thing as a free meal in this world as Narsil only had a single skill and the skill would constantly drain the durability of the weapon the more he used it. If he was to abuse the ability, he would end up eventually destroying his weapon.
However¡ª
There was no time for him to hesitate as the only other option he had was to use his fist and that would end up just being inefficient and could even bring down the cave upon him. Besides, he wasn''t sure he could produce enough power in his current state to kill an intermediate-ss monster with his bare hands.
¡ãRapid Burst¡ã
With a single swing of his de, several streaks of rapid and explosive blueish white energy tore through the air in a wave that almost seemed like the space in this world could not contain such massive and pure energy and would copse at any given moment.
Without a doubt, the streaks of an explosive wave whose energy surpasses the limits of mortals devastated through everything in its wake aspletely annihted the monsters in its path, dispersing just before tgey hits the walls.
In less than ten seconds, more than half of the horde of Night Terrors had beenpletely destroyed leaving only the bodies of a few as the streaks of explosive energy hadpletely annihted the bodies of most of them.
Seeing the rest of the monsters either still trying to escape or hide. Tyler decided not to use the skill again as that disy had thoroughly impressed him and he now held the magic weapon in high regard and didn''t want to damage it without an extremely good reason.
He took a moment to cast the Light heal spell on himself once more and also the cate Spell. These spells didn''t seem to irritate the corruption so he was quite fortunate otherwise he would be in a bind without any help.
Although, the corruption that corrodes his arm still sent pain to his brain. With the constant use of the healing spell, he could now manage the pain and move freely. Done with his preparations, Tyler instantly disappeared from the sight of all the monsters that stared at him as their heads steadily began to drop at an unnerving speed.
His clean-up job only took him a few seconds as he had cleanly and easily killed off all the confused and frightened monsters in the expanse without any further incidents.
Returning his de to his storage space, Tyler sighed in relief. That had gone out of hand for a moment there. Luckily these Night Terrors didn''t have any more unexpected skills or abilities that would''ve posed a problem to his current limited self.
Casting the cate spell on himself once more, he silently reflected on his actions. The constant res in his emotions due to the so-called Demon''s pride or something much worse was a problem. He urgently needed to find a better way of dealing with his emotions as the use of the cate spell didn''t seem to be very useful in a bind.
After trying and failing to rid himself of the corruption in his left hand, Tyler gave up on it. With the use of several more light heals, the pain he felt had subsided quite a bit and he could even feel himself developing better resistance to pain.
Still, he would make a point to learn any pain resistance or nullification skills in the future. Tyler then adjusted his outfit after settling down as he stared at the hundreds of bodies scattered all over the expanse.
Truth be told, he really didn''t like the look and feel of these man-faced bat creatures and wouldn''t want to use their corpses for anything but he still needed a lot of manpower to defend the castle and so would not waste these valuable resources.
Tyler then brought out a small storage box from his storage ring however, as he tried to store one of the bodies in the box he discovered that the small storage space was almost full. Besides, he felt like it would be tedious to go around and store all the monsters one by one.
Taking a nce at his ring, Tyler sighed and give in to his current mental fatigue as he infused his Spatial Infinity ring with Mana, and with the help of the Spatial Distortion skill, he expanded the range and instantly stored all the bodies of the Night Terrors.
After withstanding the bacsh of using a skill from the negative corruption with the aide of cate and Light Heal, he walked over to where Nadine and the restid unconscious, and after casting the cate and Light Heal spells on them as well, they were able to recover after their ears had been Heald and after only a moment, they began to wake up.
"Devil! There''s a Green-eyed Devil."
Kylyra''s voice echoed throughout the now empty expanse as he desperately and manically shouted at the group who were slowly waking up in confusion.
"We need to get out of here now! There''s a... Green-eyed devil in this mine!"
Naturally, Tyler stared at this subus in confusion as well, as his eyes trailed off to Nadine in a questioning gaze.
"Wait what!?"
Chapter 135 C135. The Chase
"Wait what!? What are you talking about, please try to calm down."
Having finally realized what was going on, Dohel promptly tried to understand what Kylyra was talking about. Noticing her panicked expression he hastily tried to calm her down so she could exin better what she meant.
"Green... Green... Glowing green eyes... There''s a Green-eyed devil, we need to run..."
"A devil... Here? Howe? is it some kind of lingering spirit?"
Tyler stood in ce in utter confusion as he could not follow the current events that unfolded before his eyes. The baffling turn of events had made his struggle with negative corruption seem like it hadn''t even happened. Still, while he could not fullyprehend what was going on, there was one word in Kylyra''s broken sentences that stumped him.
''Devil? What the hell is that.''
While he could vaguely recall the word being spoken to him sometime in the past, he could not remember what it was no matter how hard he tried. To be honest, he had originally thought of devil''s to mean lesser demons, having fought against creatures that would perfectly fit the description in the past.
Based on his memories of that time, those red-skinned horned creatures were the minions of either one of the demon generals or the demon king himself. However, those purely evil creatures were incredibly weak creatures ranging from the Tier 1 standard to the Basic level of Tier 2 although at the time even the weakest of them could probably kill him if he were to be foolish enough to fight them by himself.
However, with Kylyra''s level of strength, Tyler could not understand why she would be so shaken from encountering a single devil.
"Kylyra calm down and exin what happened. Did you really see a green-eyed devil? Anne, please use Brave Heart on her for now."
"O-Okay."
While Tyler had already used the spell cate on her, it didn''t seem as effective in this aspect as the root of her emotional fluctuations hadn''t been addressed.
"Alright, now calmly tell us what happened, we should be fine here for now."
Having found her wits thanks to Anne''s spell, Kylyra took a deep breath and slowly surveyed her surroundings. They were currently in an empty expanse of the tunnel that connected to various other sections of thebyrinth that was the Grade 3 Gold mine with no signs of the monsters that had been chasing after them earlier on.
It took the group until this moment to also realize that they were still alive even aftering face to face against more than a hundred Intermediate ss flying monsters. Turning their heads around, they were unable to even locate a single body of the monster and the stale air in the mine made it impossible to pick up on any scent.
"Wait, what happened here."
"Mr. Lix, please what happened to the monsters, did you kill them?"
The one to address Tyler was Aine and the others also turned an expectant gaze towards the still hooded figure of Tyler knowing full well that he was the most likely person to have saved them from the hundreds of Night Terrors.
However, while Aine and Anne''s gazes only shone with expectation and awe, Tyler could see something else in the eyes of both Larut and Dohel. Hell, even the shaken Kylyra had something simr in her eyes.
''What was it? Ahh yes...'' It was something simr to apprehension, almost bordering on the verge of fear and even a hint of confusion. Tyler first didn''t understand why this was the case but as he thought about it a little, he soon realize their reasoning when he rted what he had done to themon knowledge of this world, or at least the ones he was aware of.
There had been almost two hundred Night Terrors at the time and although they were only Intermediate ss monsters, no one person could deal with them alone, including the so-called Quantium ranked Hunters that were supposedly amongst the strongest being in the world, making his feet something that they couldn''t understand.
Someone capable of that would not settle for just being a VIP merchant which would make him very suspicious. Tyler didn''t want any negative attention towards his new identity and felt like his anger had once again put him in trouble. However, he was sure none of these five had actually witnessed him fight the beasts so perhaps there was still a way out of this.
Tyler then cocked his head and answered Aine in as casual a tone as he could muster. "Right, I suppose you all can''t remember what happened after being influenced by the monster''s fear inducement ability."
All five of them nodded their heads at his question that sounded more like a statement at theirck of resistance to the abilities of monsters although theyforted themselves in the fact that there had been too many monsters using the skill at once and it was impossible for anyone at their level to out up any resistance at the time.
"Right, There had been too many monsters to fight off even with magic but It seems the monsters had a weakness to white noise. Basically, they were unable to tolerate multiple frequency sound-based attacks and fled."
"Really."
"Although I don''t fully understand what you mean. I''ve read about something like that in the information we bought, I just never thought there was a spell that could do that, much less affect so many of them at the same time. That''s impressive."
Tyler secretly breathes a sigh of relief at Larut''s words. With his acknowledgment, the group easily bought into his bullshit exnation. He wasn''t even sure there would be a spell that could create enough white noise to drive away so many Night Terrors. He wasn''t even sure something like that would work on those monsters and had only said that because they were bat-based creatures.
Without giving the group anytime to think further into it, he quickly brought their attention back to what Kylyra had been talking about.
", So, where did you see this green-eyed devil. Were you guys ambushed?"
His question brought their attention back to Kylyra who had finally settled down after realizing they had not been chased by the devil and it had only been the horde of Night Terrors who had also already been chased away by Lix.
She then took a breath and opened her mouth to exin what she had seen as Tyler gently lowered his voice as he spoke to Nadine¡ª who was currently standing beside him¡ª what she had seen as she didn''t seem to be shaken by the so-called green-eyed devil that Kylyra was going on about.
Even if she did not know what a devil was, she had magic sense and should be able to approximately tell the strength of her opponent.
"Did you also see this green-eyed devil?"
"Yes Sir."
Tyler''s eyes widened, her response had truly surprised him. Part of him had thought Kylyra frenzy had been influenced by the Night Terrors ability, which was why she saw something that wasn''t there but apparently she was right.
So why was Nadine so chill about seeing a devil? He found himself stumped once again.
As Tyler was about to ask more questions for a better understanding, Nadine suddenly opened her mouth and spoke first. However, what Tyler heard next made his mind go nk as he stared at her with a dumbfounded expression on his face.
"Ah... You''re kidding right?"
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A few hours earlier.
Two figures dashed madly after a rapidly fleeing eight-legged monster with six red eyes as it tried to hinder their movements by attaching webs to the walls as it ran.
Kylyra swung her ax a few times as pink mes engulf it and she easily snapped the webs before her as Nadine mirrored her movements and avoided the trapsid by the Lesser Djieien.
The creature was surprisingly tenacious and relentless as even after Nadine cast lightning again and the bolt had burnt off its right shoulder and arm alike. The monster did not give up and even increased its speed.
Kylyra did not fly in the tunnel not because flying took more stamina than running but so she would not fall into any other traps that had been ced above by these types of monsters.
They''ve been chasing this monster for about ten minutes now and this was getting ridiculous. For all, they knew the monster was taking them further into their nest and it would be a disaster if they were to be surrounded by countless monsters.
Kylyra thought about it for a second and decided to take the risk. Her wings pped slightly and her body left the ground even though she was only flying q few feet off the ground, her speed had more than. doubled temporarily.
This was the result of her skill, Super Flight. It was a skill that temporarily doubles her movement speed and even her attack power receives a little boost. However, the skill also came with a few downsides as the sudden and drastic change in speed made it harder for her to control her body and she normally wouldn''t be able to use this skill in a proper fight.
However, since the monster they were after was just running away in a straight albeit windy line, and asionally tossing its steel-like webs at them. She no longer held back and activated her skill as her feet kicked off the ground and like a rocket, she shot forth.
The Lesser Djieien in question reacted quickly and yanked itself out of her path with the aid of its webs but Kylyra wasn''t having it. Twisting her body in the air as she practically shoot at him, she threw herrge ax straight at the monster who quickly wrapped itself in its webs as a loud impact reverberated in the underground tunnel.
Boom!
While the monster had somehow managed to survive the impact of the ax even after mming into the tunnel walls, albeit barely. Kylyra was unable to stop herself in time and had still kept flying past the monster as the beast tried to move with several of its limbs broken.
However, she hadn''t been the only one chasing after the monster. The Lesser Djieien raised its head to move when suddenly the end of a metal staff mmed into the side of its face sending flying back into the wall for the second time.
Without a pause, Nadine cast a spell to finish the monster off. "Lightning." A streak of silvery-white lightning jumped off her outstretched fingertips and tore a hole through the monster''s core, killing it in an instant.
Kylyra came walking back after a couple of minutes as she saw Nadine already retrieving the core of the monster even though there was already a hole in it.
"Ahh... Sorry about that, I didn''t tell you what I wanted to do and ended up leaving the rest to you."
Nadine silently nodded as she ced the core in the small Spatial storage box with her and turned her head to Kylyra before speaking to her for the first time.
"You can keep the rest."
"Kylyra was a little annoyed by Nadine''s reaction. She didn''t care to speak here as well but felt it would be weird and awkward if she didn''t apologize now, and yet the girl that was clearly younger than her had barely any reaction.
"Are you sure about that? Shouldn''t you ask Lix first?"
"It''s fine, you did half the work, you get half... Lor¡ª I mean Mr. Lix said so himself."
"Uh... Okay."
Not wanting to spend time in any more arbitrary conversations with someone that clearly wasn''t interested, Kylyra epted her proposal and went to move the body from where it was stuck in the wall.
*Crack. *Shatter!!!
The moment she had raised and pulled one of the limbs of the monster from the wall, Several cracks that moved like spider webs rapidly spread out across the wall and before Kylyra could even move back. The wall copsed on itself, revealed a pitch-ck cave or an incrediblyrge opening with countless gleaming red lights on the walls.
"What in the world... wait are those Runites?"
Chapter 136 C136. Green Eyes
"What in the world... Wait are those, Runites?"
"Runites?"
Nadine asked the dumbfounded Kylyra In a soft tone as they both stared at the pitch-ck underground cavern that had spots of faintly glimmering red lights that were sparsely scattered all over the natural cavern walls.
Taken aback by something inside this cavern, Kylyra didn''t answer Nadine''s question as she unconsciously moved forward and took a step into the cavern.
"Are you sure you should you should be doing that?"
Struck by that question, Kylyra promptly stopped and turned her head around to nce at Nadine who remained standing in her original location.
"Is there something wrong?"
Tilting her head slightly to the left, Nadine spoke again in a puzzling tone. "It''s an unknown cavern. Are you sure you want to explore it alone?"
"What do you mean by that, this whole ce is unexplored and equally dangerous. Besides, I''m not alone am I."
She replied while pointing her left index finger at Nadine and continued.
"Besides, with just the two of us, if something goes wrong I can always just fly us out, you saw my speed didn''t ya. No monster will be able to catch us."
Nadine almost rolled her eyes at Kylyra''s smug smile but managed to keep the nk expression on her face as she decided to not bother with it anymore. She had already done her best at warning this broad so if she felt it was fine after seeing the interior of this cavern then there was nothing she could do about it but just go along with it.
After all, she had a tool to help her survive in a pinch and if that didn''t work, she could simply just contact her master and he''ll teleport over to save her. She was surely confident in keeping herself alive till then.
Thinking of the time her master had assured her that he woulde to save her no matter what, a gentle smile suddenly blossomed on her face. However, Seeing this young girl smile at her, Kylyra assumed she had gotten through to the quiet girl before her.
''See... she''s still just a kid, I just need to take charge... Damn, I''m getting hungry, who knew taking charge was so difficult. I shouldpliment Dohel a little when we get back.''
Kylyra then proceeded to walk inside the underground and massive cavern, and for some reason, the floor seemed a little wet but looking up she could see nothing but pitch-ck darkness. Her eyes weren''t perfect in the dark so her vision could only travel so far however, she was still able to see the things a few meters around her quiet.
Still, the cavern was too dark to explore it in its entirety so Kylyra had no such thoughts. Rather she was only interested in the red glimmering substance on the cavern''s walls.
She walk in slowly while being quietly trailed by Nadine as she finally saw the gleaming red ruby-like object that was embedded into the walls. It was around the same size as her palm and there were countless numbers of these sparsely scattered in the walls all over the cavern.
"Do you know what this is?"
"Not really, no."
"I see, no wonder you didn''t react when this ce was revealed earlier. Heree take a look."
"Why? I can see it fine from here."
"Just do it."
Nadine''s expression didn''t change as she then approached the red gem as Kylyra had instructed and took a closer look at them. For a moment she saw nothing different but then... Her eyes narrowed the moment she saw it and she couldn''t help but exim: "What is this!"
"So you finally understand huh, that was faster than I thought though, I guess beastmen visions are as impressive as they say."
While Nadine didn''t particrly like that statement. Her attention was currently stuck on the red rocks before her. One would not be able to see it at a nce but upon further inspection, they would be able to see incredibly tiny runes that had been engraved all over the body of the rocks, eachpletely unique and looked nothing like what she had ever seen before.
"These are Runites. Although they are ssified amongst magic metals due to them having simr properties as metals, they are a weird mix between crystals and metals. A sort of metallic crystal if you prefer."
"Those runes you see there are what we call, Natural essence. They are the results of the absorption of pure natural energy. Although, the type of energy varies greatly depending on the element of the natural essence. Still, if we harvested all the Runites in this ce it would be the equivalent of having hundreds of magic crystals."
Although the energy contained in a single chunk of Runite was abysmal, they were the purest form of magic energy in this world, unlike the wild and chaotic energy of a magic crystal. This simply meant the energy from a Runite ore or crystal, could be absorbed into the body although that wouldn''t do much to improve the man''s body and would be an unbelievable waste of resources.
The metal was also not hard or flexible enough to be used in making items or equipment, rather they could be mixed into materials for wonderous effects so, therefore, Runite was even more valuable than Tritanium as it was considered a magic metal and there was no know mining spot for it here in the Demon continent.
"It will be impossible to extract all these ores by ourselves so let''s just get this one and head back out to inform the others. This is way more valuable than gold and we no longer need to stay in this damned ce anymore."
While saying that, Kylyra walked over to the wall and gently pushed Nadine to the side as she brought out her ax to strike the sides of the Runite ore in order to extract the metallic crystal.
"I wouldn''t do that¡ª"
Realizing what Kylyra was about to do, Nadine tried to stop her but before she could even raise her arm. The girl''s ax had already lightly struck the wall.
Naturally, she had used the least amount of strength possible but the strike had still caused a slight vibration in the walls which would normally not be a problem giving as they had already copse part of the wall some distance back, however, for some reason, Kylyra instantly regretted her hasty actions.
The vibration gently traveling towards the ceiling and it trembled. What trembled? Why did a strike like that have such a reaction? She could not figure it out. She did not understand why Nadine had tried to stop her nor why she suddenly felt frightened.
In reluctance, she slowly raised her head once more. It was simply to see why the ceiling had trembled and she hope it was just because of some like weak structural integrity. However, unlike thest time, she did not see the absolute darkness there anymore. Rather, she saw something there.
There were countless shing red lights in the ceiling, all of them being paired together as it felt like they were all pointed at her.
"Please tell me those are all just more Runite."
"I doubt that, they look like giant bats."
"You''re kidding right, this is bad, this is really bad."
"I tried to warn you didn''t I."
"Wait, what do you mean? Were you able to see something from the beginning?"
"Of course."
Kylyra''s mind almost went nk at that casual and nonchnt statement even in such a precarious situation. She wanted to yell something at her but fought hard to control herself else they miss their chance to escape.
While the monsters stared at them from high in the ceiling, they hadn''t attacked the pair yet but Kylyra could feel the overwhelming pressure from hundreds of Night Terrors, her mind slowly being evaded by fear.
"We should run."
"I don''t think that''s a good idea."
"Fine, what should we do."
"Huh, I''m not sure either."
"Why you!"
Fighting to hold back her voice, Kylyra gritted her teeth and slowly started moving along the edge of the wall, trying to avoid the gaze of the monsters.
"You shouldn''t go too far away, I think they''re using some type of ability but my staff can block it so far and if you leave my range, you might get affected."
"What, say that sooner."
"You didn''t ask."
"Why are you so exhausting. Still, we need to get out of here so do what I''m doing."
"Alright."
Mimicking Kylyra''s movements, Nadine and her moved ever so closer to the exit which was the copsed cave wall. However, as they moved, the eyes of countless monsters moved with them and as they got closer and closer to the exit, the bodies of the monsters that had looked like nothing but dangling ck cocoons suddenly shifted as a few of them unwrapped their wings from their bodies and as the fell, they suddenly pped them and like a ne doing a nosedive, they plummet towards the girls.
"Damnit!"
Kylyra eximed as she raised her ax to block the charge of the Night Terrors. Her arms feeling the weight of the impact as she barely managed to push therge bat-like monster back. The creature seemed to be shrieking at them but they barely heard it as several more flew down from the ceiling to join in on the attack.
The Night Terror in front of Kylyra charged at her with its lower limbs as it tried to wrestle the ax away from her with its legs. However, Nadine quickly mmed her bo-staff into the monster''s face, sending it tumbling back.
The other Night Terrors did not like that as their eyes glowed further but neither Nadine nor Kylyra seem to be affected by their skill. That seems to unnerve the creatures as they slightly hesitated to attack but the moment the girls tried to move to the exit again, they immediately attacked.
"Shockwave."
While this would be considered a high tiered spell to many, to those that could use up to the tier 3 of magic, they knew that shockwave was amongst the easiest spells to learn and one did not need any elemental affinity so it could be learned by all types of magic users like mages, sorcerers, wizards, and even witches.
An invisible force mmed most of the Night terrors back and Kylyra swung her ax at the other two who were able to easily avoid her attacks. Although she could fly, she hated fighting flying monsters the most as they would always move around making it harder tond a precise attack unless one was several times faster than them.
Not to mention she could not use flight right now as she needed to stay near Nadine to avoid being influence by the Night Terrors'' fear inducement ability.
However, if they remained as they were now, they could not do much damage to the monsters and more of them would eventually join in. If this continues, they would be overwhelmed and almost literally be trampled to death.
Suddenly¡ª
As Kylyra was just about to swing herrge battle-ax wildly with skill, in an attempt tond a devastating blow that may be able to allow them to escape and could also just as easily backfire, leading to their death, a sharp sh of light suddenly went through the bodies of several of the Night Terrors in front of her and their bodies dropped lifelessly to the ground having been cleanly cut to pieces.
"What Jus¡ª"
With her mind and mouth agape, something that sent chills down her back happened. In the depts of the dark cavern was a pair of eyes that had surely not been there before.
They glowed in an eerily green light and a thick aura that felt like death itself had arrived oozed from them. A vaguely humanoid but shadowy figure suddenly moved and naturally, the eyes moved with them.
"D... D-devil... It''s a devil."
Suddenly fear-stricken, Kylyra did not hesitate and immediately grabbed Nadine''s hands and activated her skill, Super Flight. She then mmed her ax into the wall behind her as it copsed, creating arge tremor that vibrated throughout the massive cavern and more eyes shed in the ceiling as every single Night Terrors in the ce were awakened.
However, Kylyra could not care less and immediately flew away like aunched rocket, while also grabbing onto Nadine and pulling her by the arm.
Chapter 137 C137. Devils
In a world where myths were mixed with reality, a world where demons, angels, dwarves, elves, and even dragons exist in the physical ne. It was understandable that most would have a misconception of the true nature of these mythical beings.
The mostmon misconception by humanity was the misguided notion that demons and devils were the same. However, that could
not be further from the truth. After all, there was a reason why demons lived in the physical ne while angels only exist in the astral ne.
Devil''s on the other hand were creatures that were purely Spiritual Lifeforms simr to Spirits or obvious, Angels. And just as angels were creatures of light that were considered or aligned with good, devil''s were the exact opposite and could be considered pure evil with no in-betweens.
Devils normally do not have a physical body, as they existed only in the Spirit world or spiritual ne where they mostly wander aimlessly around trying to maintain their existence. By default, most of the devils do not have any sort of sense of self and were mindless monsters like the red devils that had been used as pawns in the great war.
However, there were exceptions to this as the stronger a devil was the higher the chances it would develop a sense of self and ego when they were exposed to the physical ne for too long, either by a summoning spell or their abilities.
Within the Spirit World, the devil''s gain strength and prestige based on their age. The older a devil the stronger it is. However, it takes a long time to get truly strong and the spirit world was not a kind ce for the weak.
Meaning, while new devils spawn every day, more dies the same way and only a few can survive the harsh conditions and against the beasts that roamed through the spiritual ne.
Devil''s would normally only exist in the physical world as spirit beings and could only gain a physical body when summoned with a summoning spell or by a ritual. Most summoning spells were temporary so they would only be able to remain in the physical ne for a limited time.
When summoned, one could enter a contract with a powerful devil although that never ends well given the devil''s devious nature, they would always try to kill their masters and cause devastation wherever they went.
Because of the few simrities between lesser demons and devil''s, they had been generally mistaken as part of the demon race and the entire premise of the great war had been mostly because of them although the demon king wasn''t exactly helping out.
So in general, the devils wouldn''t normally be in the physical world without being summoned except, they were high-level devils with the ability to cross through dimensions. Such a creature was certainly not to be trifled with even for Tyler.
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"I see, so that''s what happened."
As Kylyra exined herself to the others, Tyler got Nadine to tell him what had transpired with them instead. Nadine was a beastkin and had exceptional senses, along with Darkvision so what she had seen had beenpletely different from what Kylyra had seen.
,m In the depth of the dark cavern, Nadine''s vision could easily prate the darkness and everything looked like it had been illuminated by the sun to her. She could see the balled up Night Terrors dangling from the ceilings, there were a countless number of them so when Kylyra had chosen to go in, she had assumed the lesser demon had a way to handle that many monsters not realizing that the girl didn''t have Darkvision as they were currently moving inplete darkness.
So naturally, Nadine was shocked when she had seen Kylyra strike the rock with her battle ax even though there were monsters directly above them. They had quickly been overwhelmed and she was just about to use her escape tool even though it meant leaving Kylyra behind¡ª when something instantly killed off more than five Night Terrors, leaving them enough room to escape.
Thanks to her Darkvision, she had clearly seen what it was as it was no longer using her various stealth skills. It was a shadowy figure with eerily glowing green eyes, greenish-ck hair, deathly pale skin tone, and two short ck swords in her hands.
Her body was enveloped in an aura of pure darkness that gave the feeling of death. This was as a result of the skill Darkness aura and her eerily glowing eyes seemed to add anotheryer to the effects.
''So the so-called green-eyed devil was Zelda huh. Interesting... While I still don''t know what a devil is, this could work out well if I y my cards nicely.''
Even after she was done scouting the Coldfire Drake, who she had secretly ced a soul mark on, Tyler didn''t have Zelda return to him immediately. Instead, he asked her to search thisbyrinth for any hidden treasures or secrets, including any powerful monsters she may have missed before.
Her presence gave him the confidence to move without fear as the only thing he would have to worry about were creatures she was unable to handle. However, his caution had turned out to be the right decision because, from the sound of this magic metal called Runite, this ce was way more valuable than anyone would''ve guessed
It was a shame Kylyra had also discovered it but with them still thinking the Night Terrors were still alive. Not to mention the so-called green-eyed devil''s that haunts that ce. They wouldn''t hold any hope of exploring that cavern that would surely give him an opportunity to do so himself.
''My luck seems to be getting better after all.''
Tyler mused to himself as he thought about the issue silently as Kylyra finished telling the others her story. Having heard the reason for her frenzy, the group''s expression sank ad a bit of fear lingered in their eyes, and while they did not freak out as she had, they didn''t seem like they wanted anything to do with this mine anymore.
"Mr. Lix, what do you think we should do now?" Aine asked Tyler without a second thought to their leader who stood next to her in silence.
"It might be best for us to leave this ce immediately. Our n had been made with the idea that this ce was only a Grade 3 Gold mine with one monster''s nest at most. We were already pushing iting this far after learning there is more than one monster nest here."
Hearing Aine''s question and Larut''s concerns, Tyler couldn''t me them neither could be fault their mindset. If he was in their position, he might''ve already left the mine a long time ago. Well, if he had been as weak as he once was, he never would''ve gotten the courage to enter a mine in this world, to begin with.
However, he simply shook his head and pointed at something, drawing the attention of the group to the right end of the expanse.
"It''s fine if you want to leave but you should also be aware that you''ve already found what you''re looking for."
Turning their heads to face the ce Tyler was pointing at. The group saw countless gold veins that came out of almost all the tunnel entrances in the expanse gather at the edge of the wall.
"Wow!"
"We did it."
"We really did it... We found enough gold."
"Oh my!"
For a moment, the group hadpletely forgotten about their worries, and only the bliss of achieving the goal they had worked so hard for remained. The girls'' eyes watered and even Dohel was speechless, a sight that was even rarer than gold.
After a while of basking in their joy, the reality of their current situation began to sink in again. Their expression bing heavier as time went on.
"You don''t have to worry about those monsters. I can''t sense them anywhere near here so I don''t think they''ll be back and even if they return, I can always use my spell to drive them back."
"You may be right but what about the green-eyed devil. It would be bad if you get hurt because of us Mr. Lix."
"There''s also no need to worry about that. We''ve been here for a while now so if it had chased after the girls it would''ve caught up to them by now so I think it cannot or will not leave the ce Kylyra had spoken of."
"I see, you make a good point Mr. Lix."
"Indeed, as long as we don''t return that way, we should be fine."
Aftering to an agreement, the group decided to mine the gold of the concentrated gold veins before leaving the mine and returning to the city.
They took a break to prepare their mining tools and quickly went to work digging and storing their spoils in the small storage box in their possession. If everything had gone as nned they would''ve explored this mine thoroughly, searching for other possible rarer metals or hidden treasures but unfortunately, nothing had gone as nned at all.
In its simplest form, Murphy''s Law states: If anything can go wrong, it will, and boy, did that happen. Tyler sighed as he walked to one of the tunnel entrances tomunicate with Zelda. They were connected telepathically so theirmunication was not restricted by distance as themunication School he had been using with the red ogre settlement.
He ordered her to mine the Runite from the ce she had saved Nadine from the Night terrors although he wasn''t sure she would be able to actually mine the rocks properly. He thought it best to let her do it and thene backter to retrieve it before exploring the entirety of thisbyrinth before the noble would be informed of this ce and im it for themselves.
Since the nobles were monopolizing the resources from the Darknar region, he would have to teach them a lesson by stripping this ce dry. ''Yeah that''ll show em. Why do my thoughts suddenly should so childish.''
The group spent several hours mining the gold. There wererge chunks of gold so this was simr to hard rock gold mining and not like the fragments they had been finding in loose sediments.
After several hours of hard work with Tyler and Nadine serving as guards even though they just stood by and did nothing, the group was finally done with the extraction of as much gold as they could mine. Even ounting for Tyler''s.cut, they had more than enough.
After splitting the soils on the sport and Tyler storing his in his storage ring. The group was finally done with this expedition and be prepared to leave. They promptly equipped their gears and headed back the way they came, through the tunnel they themselves had dug after killing the Ant Giants that originally dug the tunnel.
Chapter 138 C138. False Royals
It took the group several more hours to finally leave the underground minepletely and arrive at the original cave in the snowy hill zone that expanded through the Fabelt''s Pass.
As they exited the cave, the extremely cold temperature hit them hard but the fresh air calmed their nerves from the tense atmosphere in the mine even though they were still in a dangerous region and could still encounter even more dangerous monsters like the Night Terrors or maybe even worse.
At this point, they had only been gone for a little more than eighteen hours so they had achieved their objective in record time. Their original n required them to spend more than forty-eight hours exploring and clearing out the monster nest in the mine.
As they left the cave, Larut was tasked with the job of scouting their surroundings before they would head out to locate the cave they had left the carriage and the six-eyed bull in. While ordinary bulls were Herbivores, six-eyed bulls were a little different, being Omnivorous creatures that could also go days without food.
Despite all that though, the group still felt like they needed to take care of the beast before they headed out, perhaps they felt bad for leaving it alone for so long or the gold they received made them feel extra generous today.
After taking a break to feed the six-eyed bull in the cave that had been warmed up by the beast''s fiery aura. The group leads the carriage towards the exit of the Fabelt Pass in their usual formation.
Their journey out was for some reason, a lot easier than their journey to the cave. While they had encountered some monsters on their way out, the group had been able to handle them easily without the help of Tyler or Nadine.
It only took a few more minutes for them to fully leave the Fabelt Pass as they boarded the carriage and drove it back to the city.
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¡ªckwing City
This was the capital city of the Sentro region, located at the heart of the region and protected by severalyers of tall, thick, and sturdy brick walls that made the city look and feel more like a fortress instead.
There were fiveyers of walls to be exact. The districts or boroughs enclosed by each concentric circle of the walls were distinctly different from each other as each section served a different purpose.
The first or outermost district was mostly used forrge military activities like training, reciting, and many more. The ce was fully furnished with barracks and other military facilities. It was also where the Hunter Guild''s branch was built as this was the capital and Hunters were generally treated as uwful mercenaries and did not have much influence over the city as the other branch and their HQ.
This was why one would be hard-pressed to find a weak or low ranking Hunter in any of the great five''s Capital City with the exception of Sun city.
The districts or boroughs after the first one were the residential districts, where the people of ckwing City made their homes. Of course the further up you went the more high ss the structure was and at the second tost district, one would be hard-pressed to find low-ss citizens walking on the streets.
The innermost district or simply, the Royal district was of course the administrative area of the city and the ce where nobles made their residents. In addition, the district also contained storehouses forbat rations. Thus, it was heavily guarded.
One would find guards geared in high-ss armors patrolling the streets and this was the only ce where the royal demon knights were in charge of the security protocols of the district.
This was because this district also housed one of the most important structures in the entire region, the Zorak Family''s Castle. The castle spanned over a vast area of more than one million square feet and was almost asrge as the demon king''s castle.
Deep inside this massive and imposing castle that was exquisitely decorated. Inside one of the rooms on the top floors of the east wing. A slender figureid on the queen-sized canopy bed covered in a white silk-like duvet.
The figure slowly squirmed underneath the duvet ufortably even though one would find it hard-pressed to be ufortable in such a high-quality bed.
However, the figure continued to twist and turn until it suddenly shot upright in a frenzy.
"Aweik!!!"
As though it had woken up from a nightmare, the slender figure shrieked in a high pitch shrill that surprised the only other person in therge room. This person was a petite Youngdy that was dressed In a traditional maids outfit. She had a pretty face with short ck hair and brown eyes but no other distinguishing features meaning she was a demon and from the way she carried herself, she was no doubt a nobledy.
"Lady Nina, are you alright? What''s Wrong?"
The maid responded quickly and tried to attend to the shriekingdy on the bed. As an experienced maid of the Zorak family, she reacted quickly and cast a spell as she noticed the panicked expression on thedy''s face.
"cate."
As the name suggested, the spell rapidly reduced her rising emotions and steadily stabilized her mental state. Her shriek slowly died down as heavy panting could be heard. Cold sweat poured from her even though the room''s temperature was magically controlled.
"Lady Nina, are you feeling better now?"
The female figure named Nina raised her head slightly to look at the maid. She had short blonde hair with green colored pupils and was quite the beauty although right now, her face and skin tone was extremely pale and her hair was like a bird''s nest.
"Where am I?"
"You''re back at the castle miss. This is the Zorak''s family''s castle."
"I''m home? Aaa... so I made it back, Who the hell was that man?"
Her words were a whisper that even the maid that stood next to the bed would normally not be able to hear her clearly but being a demon, she could although she had wisely chosen not to pry deeper into her words.
Nina tried to calm her nerves as she slowly surveyed her surroundings. This was indeed the ce in her memories, her old room. It didn''t look like it had changed at all since she left but had been well maintained.
She then turned to the maid before her and stared at her face. She could remember seeing this maid before but could not remember her name.
"Your name is?"
"Ah forgive me for not introducing myself mydy. I am called Ve Cora, please feel free to call me anything you want."
"Ve huh? what happened to Rees?"
"I''m afraid she was sent to the branch family in Silverwing city mydy."
"I see."
Nina then gently massaged her temples as her mind shed back to thest moments before her escape. Feeling a ting of pain, her left hand moved across her bare skin onto her right breast. Her well-rounded breast was let loose as she noticed she didn''t have on her usual clothing that would almostpletely tten her chest.
As she massaged her right breast, she could feel a constant stream of pain from five spots on them. Tracing the spots with her eyes she saw five grey marks the size of a fingertip on them. She could clearly imagine that man''s fingers as they grabbed onto her and her expression sank.
"We tried several healing spells when you arrived but we couldn''tpletely get rid of that. The healers all said you were infected with quite a bit of negative energy so there was no way topletely heal you unless we get a mage that can use holy or light magic. Since the family does not have any mages that can use such spell, your mother had sent for one from our branch family."
The maid exined the situation to Nina as she saw her struggle with the pain from her chest. Nina''s eyes seemed listless as she nodded, it didn''t seem like she waspletely there, like she was still trapped in her head.
"I see... And when did I get here, how long was I out?"
"Three days mydy."
"I see... Is my mother around?"
"Yes miss, she should be in her chambers at the moment."
"Okay."
Saying that Nina shifted her way off the bed. Allowing the duvet to slowly fall off her body to the ground as the maid hurriedly ced a robe over her.
"I''ll run you a bath miss."
Nina didn''t respond to the maid at all as she walked towards therge window in the room and just silently stared at the view. Preparing her bath didn''t take long thanks to the use of several magic items.
After her bath was done, she was dressed in a short and simple but exquisite ck dress which was what she preferred to the shy dresses the nobles usually wore. Nina then walked out of her room closely followed by the maid, Ve and they proceeded down the hall with wide strides.
Turning a corner, they suddenly saw a handsome Young Man walking towards them with someone also trailing closely behind him.
The young man had long blonde hair that was styled in azy ponytail and extremely handsome features. He was also quite tall with broad shoulders, sporting on a stylish ck suit. Five rings adorned his fingers one of which resembling that of a storage ring.
Although he currently had a gentle smile on his face, his eyes told a different story altogether. The young man behind him had short ck hair, a handsome face, and was dressed like a butler of some sort. Well, perhaps that was because he was a butler attending to the man in front of him.
Coming to a stop in front of Nina, the young man turned and nced at her for a moment before speaking in a distant tone that sounded like he was talking past her.
"You''re finally awake. I Heard you ran back here beaten and battered."
"I didn''t run."
"Pathetic. You abandoned your duties and ran off just to get beaten up like amoner. Have you no pride."
"My pride is non of your concern brother."
"Don''t ever call me that again. If it wasn''t for the Grand elder, I would''ve had you disposed of, such filth does not deserve to be royalty."
"You''re not even royalty yourself so¡ª"
Nina''s words quickly got stuck in her throat the moment the young man''s eyes narrowed at her and the atmosphere got heavier. However, unlike the previous times, this had happened to her, she did not cower in fear only lowering her head slightly."
"Hmph... I guess messing around with those pigs has given you a bit of courage. Is that why you left, just so you''ll feel special amongst pigs... Pathetic."
The young man promptly walked away and his butler gently bowed to Nina before moving on with his master. While it was true that in this continent, there was technically no longer a royal family as the great five were still only just demon lords.
None of them believed so, they usually carried themselves as royalties amongst all the nobles as they held control over the entire continent. After watching her brother turn the corner, Nina scoffed under her breath "Scum."
She then stormed off with her maid still trailing behind her as they both soon came upon arge door at the end of the hallway. Feeling the irritation inside her grow more and more. She decided to take a few deep breaths to calm down and her maid noticing her intentions, cast cate on her ones again.
*Knock knock knock...
A few seconds after she had ced her knock before the maid could do it for her, Nina heard a soft voice that came from the interior of the room invite her in and sheplied. Opening the door and walking into the room her expression instantly changed.
"Why are you always naked!"
Chapter 139 C139. Consequences
"Why are you always naked!"
Walking into the room, the first thing they saw was the matureddy that sat across from them in the nude as she read a piece of parchment in her hand while sipping on a ss of wine by the side.
The matured lookingdy had long blonde hair with streaks of grey running down it as her silky hair which went down to the lower parts of her back. Her eyes were the same colors as Nina''s, which was emerald green. Her face was almost wless as it would dazzle anyone but her cold and sharp gaze would make people lower their heads before her, unable to appreciate her beauty.
"I work better like this but never mind that. I see you''re finally up. I was beginning to think you were never going to wake up again. I''m d."
The matureddy replied bluntly in a semi monotonous tone, without even looking up at the pair that had entered the room. Her naked figure sat leisurely on the ck leather sofa as she crossed her legs. Herrge but firm bosons pointing straight at Nina who immediately felt self-conscious and her gaze strayed down to hers for just a moment.
The matureddy''s skin was almost as smooth as the ones of new bone babies, her long legs and curves thatplemented her features were obviously superior to Nina''s, making her feel inferior and ufortable.
Sensing her daughter''s nerves begin to rise, the matureddy finally looked up from her parchment and sighed. "So you''re still this childish huh. I left you with those monkeys because I thought it would help you grow out of your inferiorityplex but it seems I was wrong."
She then got up from her seat and walked over to the rack by the side of the room putting on a robe by herself, her personal maids nowhere to be seen.
"I-I I''ll help you with that ma''am."
Thedy nodded and Ve quickly ran over to her and helped her secure her robe''s and tied the belt around her slender waist.
"What happened to your maids, didn''t there use to be more than four of them. If I recall, you even had one of your boy toys dress up as one." Nina asked the question with little interest but as though she was hoping to avoid something.
"Hmm... I tasked them in returning something, they should be back soon."
Nina could think of several reasons why her mother would do something like that and judge from the fact that she was naked and a liquid had dripped down from in between her legs the moment she stood up. It was probably something she didn''t care to imagine much less talk about.
"How''s your chest? I just received a report that the healer for that will be here before the end of the day so do bear with the pain."
Nina''s expression sank even though this was supposed to be good news and seeing this, her mother chuckled. "On that note, is it''s about time you exin what happened to you and tell me who dared toy a hand on one of the direct defendants of the Zorak family?"
During their entire conversation, even when she had chuckled, her mother''s sharp and cold expression had not changed even a little. Nina didn''t know how to exin herself. However, she had known that she would have to do this when she had resigned herself to using the family''s escape tool.
Amongst her four siblings, she was not only the least talented but was the only girl. Although gender generally didn''t matter in the Demon continent as long as one had enough strength, it would be an issue for someone like her that had been deemed unfit.
While she had a Basic Tier 5 potential herself, her brothers all had a Peak Tier 5 potential at the very least and her eldest brother was even the current demon lord of the Zorak family, even though her mother still held most of the authority within her grasp.
However, this was not even the issue as the most important thing in a noble family was their inheritance, their innate ability. While it wasn''tpulsory for every member of a noble family to inherit the same innate ability, all high-ranking noble families pride themselves on this fact.
They would allow the other family members and other non-pure-bloods to develop their innate ability or leave without one. However, every direct descendant of the family must have inherited the family''s innate ability and be proficient in using it, or else they would lose their standing in the family and the worst case be quickly and quietly eliminated to save the family from humiliation.
Therefore, one would be able to live well in a noble family with only a peak Tier 3 or Tier 4 potential as long as they could use the innate ability proficiently. As for someone like her that even though she had the innate ability, she could not fully utilize it as she had almost zero talent or affinity for magic, she would be looked down upon in disdain by those that envied her position.
"Nina, you haven''t answered my question. You know I don''t appreciate repeating myself."
Nina''s thoughts froze as her mother''s cold and prating gaze settled on her for a moment. She gulped and forced herself to speak else face the consequences of her silence.
"I''m not sure who he is myself."
"Meaning?"
"I only met his ones. He was a man I was hired to kill but I wasn''t interested so I didn''t pay any attention to the details."
"If you weren''t interested how did you lose to him?"
"I got curiouster on when I was done with my original job so I went to see if something was interesting there and found the pair had already killed more than twenty of the men that tried to hire me so I thought it would interesting."
"And you proceeded to lose to a pair ofmoners?"
"They wore masks so I couldn''t tell if they weremoners."
"Masked demons huh... So you lost to them both?"
"Huh... Y-Yes, they had teamed up against me, that''s why I lost and had to retreat."
"I see."
Nina''s mother nodded gently as though pondering something before speaking again in a questioning tone.
"This organization you''re a part of, what was their name again?"
"..." Nina''s face went pale as she instinctively took a step back and her mother nodded again.
"Can''t speak huh? No matter, I remember it soon enough. Still, they''ve surely proven to be quite tenacious and it seems some nobles have secretly joined their ranks, getting rid of them might pose a problem. However, we''ll need to find out more information from the section that had wanted to hire you so perhaps it''s time we do something about them."
"What no! Don''t interfere, I can handle these people myself."
ncing at Nina for only a moment, her mother ignored her and spoke again. "That''s not up to you anymore. They damaged the pureblood of the Great Zorak family so they have decided to change the entire family and therefore will have to pay in blood. As for your precious organization, it will take a while to prepare for them so do have as much fun as you want till then. After that, you''ll need to return to the family and fulfill your duties. A family is more than just your happiness."
Saying that without giving Nina an opportunity to refute or challenge her, Marline Cialora Zorak, the current Grand elder of the Zorak family and the one with the most authority in the family got up and walked away as she proceeded to enter her indoor bathroom with Ve rushing in to assist her. Leaving the dumbfounded and angry Nina speechless.
??????????
Nina stormed back to her chambers inside the Zorak main family''s castle. Her strides were wild and forceful, her brows were furrowed, and her mouth was twisted. Her pretty features were distorted into something which could only have been described with the word "ugly."
That said, almost every male who saw her in this state would still find her beautiful. The reason for her current mood was thest words her mother had spoken to her about her so-called duty as a member of the Zorak family.
This was one of those cases where being a female was the most troublesome thing in the world and the main reason she had left home in the first ce. As though being considered a weak female wasn''t bad enough, she was considered one in a noble''s household and therefore would have to be subjected to being used as a political tool for the family''s sake.
As someone that could barely use any spells and could not maintain or even control her innate ability but was still a direct defendant of the Zorak''s, she was the perfect candidate to be married off in an attempt to either extend the family''s reach in the demon continent or strengthen the family.
In the worst case, she would have to be the concubine of one of her brothers or cousins to keep the innate ability of the Zorak family within the family, or be the wife of a much smaller noble family''s master be they young or old in order to create a new branch family and strengthen the family''s control over their section of the demon continent.
While incest was not a strange thing in noble society. Her problem with the first issue which was bing one of her brothers'' concubines besides being used by her family was simply because she hated every single one of them and they shared simr malice towards her so she would end up in a terrible situation if that were to happen.
Perhaps even being treated worst than their maids and what''s worst, they could simply magical seal her womb and sell her off to be someone''s sex ve. There was a lot of nobles out there that would love to get their hands on the high and mighty purebloods of the Great Five even though her mother would not generally allow that. They could simply just do it behind her back.
This was why she had decided to put on a mask when she was leaving the castle. It was simply because she no longer wanted to be constrained to the limitations of being a female demon or demoness. She wanted to live and survive by her skills and strength only, wanting to prove to herself that she did not need her innate ability to be great.
And yet¡ª
Everything had gone down the drain simply because of one man. One annoying pest that just wouldn''t die. If she had known things would unfold in this way at that time, she would''ve ignored him and went on her merry way.
That way she would''ve retained her freedom even if it was a freedom that would be considered something like a fool''s gold, but perhaps she would''ve been able to slowly gather the resources needed topletely severe herself from the binds of her family and attain true freedom.
She surely would''ve been able to live quite well on one of the regions that belonged to those seven behemoths in the far end of the Demon continent where the family''s wide tentacles couldn''t teach.
Now, however, it was toote. Her chance seems to have escaped her as she no longer had the time to pull off something like that with the family paying closer attention to her.
''Damn it! I''ll kill you! That damn ugly bastard, even if I have to suffer for the rest of my life after this, I''ll make sure you die a terrible death for this.''
Her warped face shed with determination as she stormed into her room and towards her closet. Forcing the door off its hinges with a hard pull even though it was unlocked.
Inside were several sets of long ck coats and magically reinforced tightly fitted jackets, with several white metallic masksid neatly by the side.
Chapter 140 C140. Back To The City
The group had spent a night outside on the way to the Fabelt Pass, and another night within the underground mine itself¡ª although they had spent most of the time in there working and hadn''t felt the time pass. After that, they left the Fabelt Pass for Winged City, a trip that had only taken them a single day this time around, as they now knew the best and fastest route to take through the snowy valley of hills.
Spending most of the trip riding on the carriage rather than in their usual arrayed formation. This had greatly reduced the travel time and allowed them to avoid most of the monsters they had encountered along the way. They hadn''t even met the most troublesome monsters they had gone out of their way to prepare for which was not necessarily a bad thing.
While they had not nned it, their departure from the Fabelt Pass had been quite early in the morning, just a bit after dawn, thus, their journey of three days and two nights came to an early end. Still, it was almost nightfall by the time they had returned to the City and the sky was already depleted of the sun''s rays, already covered in a thickyer of ashen clouds.
Arriving before the city''s gate, Tyler noticed that there was no longer a line of demons queuing up to enter the city as it had been in the earlier parts of the day. The group had not been stopped by the guards either and had gone through the gates without any physical security checks. This was not even due to Tyler''s VIP Merchant''s Licence but the group''s Hunter''s bracelets which were their identification.
Entering the city, they could see that the main roads were lit by magicmps made from the use of the technology that uses the ''Continual Light'' spells, which cast white-colored illumination, while the nature of the pedestrians had changed as well.
There were no young women and children to be seen, but instead working men returning home after they were done for the day. The city''s guard that moved in pairs and strictly patrolled the streets moved a lot more leisurely now. The two rows of shops on either side of the street they were in emitted cheerful and pleasant sounds with different alluring aromas.
Tyler looked around him.
The city had not changed much in three days. Although he only had limited experience in this city, he still received the same curious gazes from everyone thatid eyes on the exotic Six-eyed bull and the magic carriage.
Even though Nadine was no longer riding on the driver''s seat, it seems most of the men that had been captivated or drawn to her had still recognized the carriage as they stared daggers at him and Larut ¡ª as they both sat at the front of the carriage.
They turned off the main road, and then Tyler andpany came to a halt just before they had entered the za.
Obviously stopping in the middle of a busy boulevard would be a big hindrance, but nobody bothered toin. This was because nobody dared go near the carriage.
As it was quite cold this evening, the domesticate monster known as the Six-eyed bull passively emitted a fiery aura, albeit an incredibly weak one. It was still enough to make themon folk instinctively avoid it, not to mention the presence of the Gold-ranked Hunter riding on it.
Seeing this, Tyler shrugged tiredly and then peeked at the people around him before Larut spoke to him.
"Indeed, this brings us to the end of our request. Since we''ve already split the loot on the way here, there is no need for us to move any further with you as we still need to head over to the Hunter guild to report our finding and pioneering report of the Grade 3 Gold mine."
As Larut spoke to him and he nodded in affirmation, Tyler soon heard the others disembarking the carriage as Dohel promptly moved to the front of the carriage and slightly bowed to Tyler before speaking.
"On behalf of our party, I''d like to thank you for your help, Mr.Lix."
"Please, don''t mind it."
"We''ll have to submit the monster''s parts for points while we report on our encounters in the mine. Stumbling upon the Runites ores was truly a stroke of luck. We should get an even greater reward than we expected."
"Congrattions, I hope this solves the problematic situation you mentioned earlier. It''s best if you don''t have to do such dangerous missions anymore."
"Haha... Thank you for that, still, you and miss Lilith are entitled to a percentage of the reward so we will be sure to bring it back to you. Also, we would still like to make a request of you."
"What is it?"
"We would like you to help us trade our share of the gold to the Merchant guild and of course, you can have your percentage as this is an official job request even if we can''t sign any paperwork."
"I see... That shouldn''t be a problem, and as for the fee, as former partners in our request job, this will be free."
The reason the group could not ask the Hunter guild to trade the gold for them was that it was way too much gold for a pioneers group of low ranking Hunters to be able to mine in an unexplored and uncontrolled mine that housed multiple monster''s nests. If they brought that much gold to the guild after making their report, they would surely draw the wrong kind of attention to themselves. They could even be jailed for abusing their pioneer''s rights and illegally mining the mine.
"You''re way too kind Mr. Lix. Thank you."
"Yes, indeed you''re an amazingly kind demon, Mr. Lix."
"Yes, Aine thinks so too."
"Indeed... Also, along with the gold, I''ve already ced the magic item we agreed on for additional payment for your help in here, please feel free to verify it."
"That won''t be an issue. I trust there''s no way an honorable man like yourself would ever choose to deceive a recentpanion."
"Wow... I''m so d you think so highly of me, although that may be stretching it a lot."
"Hmm... You may be right."
"Huh! Don''t just back out of it so easily Mr. Lix."
"Hahaha... That''s what happens when you can''t just simply take apliment, nicely done Mr. Lix."
"Sigh... You guys are so mean. Anyway, Mr. Lix. We may not be done with everything today so let us meet at the same restaurant at noon tomorrow toplete our transaction."
"That is fine. Oh and by the way, what are in thoserge barrels you''re carrying around. You haven''t opened it once during the trip so forgive my curiosity if it''s a bother."
"Huh noo, no, no, no, it''s no bother at all. These are all just poisonous or poison-eating slimes. There''s a monster along the Fabelt Pass that even though they''re not that strong, they emit a very powerful poisonous mist from their bodies that affects the nerves even for those with some resistance to poison."
"Yes Indeed... High-tiered resistance items are also absurdly expensive so it is impossible for all of us to be geared in one. That''s why we chose to bring the slimes as they constantly absorb the poison in the air around them. Still, we had strangely not encountered them even though they weremonly found, and encountering one was supposed to be a guarantee. I guess that''s why you can''tpletely trust any information you buy from mid-ranking Hunters."
"I see..."
As soon as Larut was finished exining that to him, the group all bade them farewell and promptly left in the direction of the Hunter guild, rolling or carrying therge barrels with them as they strolled down a narrow street.
They seemed to be taking a long way around, most likely wanting to drop off therge barrels before heading to the guild building as the barrels were proof of their crime and it would surely be foolish to take that along with them for their report even if they coulde up with a reasonable exnation for it.
Still, it was better to avoid problems when one could no matter how easily solvable they were.
It wasn''t thatte so there was still a lot they could get done today without having to spend the bulk of the day filling their report. Besides, Tyler didn''t think the Guilds ever closes at all. They probably just rotate their staffs'' shifts so they could keep the doors open 24/7
Without further dys, Tyler and Nadine promptly headed for the merchant guild to trade in the massive amount of gold in their possession. He had other uses for the cores and corpses of the Night Terrors so he didn''t have any ns of trading it to the guild.
His share of the gold was more than enough to take care of his dept and allow him to purchase some more quality items for the castle. Although he would no longer be able to do that here. Since he had also promised the guild leader of the Merchant Guild that he would not trade with another branch of the Merchant Guild, he would have to entrust that task to someone else. The only problem was, who could he trust to move around the continent on their own as he could not supervise everyone under his care personally.
As he delegated on this issue, they soon arrive at the Merchant guild building bad parked their ride at the back, the employees now eager to assist them. Tyler got off the carriage with Nadine in tow and headed straight into the guild through the back entrance, bypassing the main lobby as he was lead to a VIP waiting room by another male receptionist.
Taking a seat after being ushered into the room and offered one by the male receptionist, they waited patiently for the guild leader and as usual, Nadine kept herself busy by munching on the sweets offered to her by the receptionist.
While Tyler didn''t mind waiting, it had now been a while since the male receptionist left the room to inform the guild leader of their arrival and he had still not to show himself. If he was busy, there was no need to keep them waiting, they could simply leave and return tomorrow.
As the thought of leaving crossed his mind. The only door to the room suddenly swung open and a figure walked in hurriedly. This was surely not the figure of the guild leader who Tyler was expecting as the figure was slender, wearing skin-tight ck and white striped suit with quite the short skirt of a simr design, which wasplemented by long ck stockings that covered the entirety of her long legs and thighs.
She had a fair and rich skin tone, her glistening ck pupilsplimenting her shoulder-length ck curly hair. Thedy in question had barrow eyes that were sharp but not piercing. They were the eyes of a professional and high-ss businessdy one that Tyler would sometimes see in certain magazines back on earth.
"My apologies for the dy. The guild leader would''ve loved to attend to you himself but something urgent suddenly came up and he had to leave. He sends his sincerest apologies and I am also apologizing in his ce."
"Is that so, then that''s fine."
After hearing Tyler''s casual response, thedy raised her slightly lowered head and then smiled. It was a professional smile that seem to set the atmosphere on her page.
She took a seat at the sofa directly opposite the pair before beckoning for the male receptionist to leave and shut the door behind him. As soon as that was done she turned back to Tyler with the same smile on her face before introducing herself to the pair.
"My name is Xelen Cornal, I am the vice guild leader of Winged city''s Merchant Guild, pleased to make your acquaintance."
Chapter 141 C141. Trades
Previous chapter has been updated, if you skip it please go back and read it before reading any further, or not.
______________________________________________________________________________
"My name is Xelen Cornal, I am the vice guild leader of Winged city''s Merchant Guild, pleased to make your acquaintance."
"Likewise, you can call me Lix, this here is Lilith."
Tyler responded to thedy''s introduction by doing the same while patting Nadine on her head as he introduced her.
"I am aware, the Guild Leader spoke fondly of your first meeting. I was also the one in charge of getting everything sorted out with thest shipment you provided us."
"I see."
"Before we get down to business though, is there anything else we can offer you, please feel free to ask. We''re aware you just returned from a long trip so please don''t hold back."
"No we''re fi¡ª Alright then, please do bring some more sweats for my partner oner here, and If you can get her some ice tea along with that, that would be swell."
Tyler was just about to decline her offer when he suddenly noticed that Nadine was done eating and was just staring coldly at the vice guild leader, which seems to be making her ufortable as her professional smile turned into an awkward one at some point in time.
"That can be done. I-Is there anything we can offer you?"
"Me, huh... Any cold beverage will be fine."
"I''ll have someone bring you our finest beverage then. And the sweets and drink for your partner of course."
As soon as his request was meet, Nadine went back to eating even though Tyler couldn''t understand how she could eat therge bowl of sweats herself. Perhaps the glutton knows as Kylyra had rubbed off on her the wrong way. Well, whatever, he decided to just ignore her and went down to business after taking a sip of his cold beverage as not to be rude, although it was surprisingly quite good
"Then let''s get down to business."
"Please do, it has only been a few days since we learned that you left the city with a group of Hunters but the guild leader was confident that you''ll bring us something interesting this week, he even made a bet on that. I wonder if he was right."
Ignoring the fact that bets were being ced on him, Tyler proceeded to answer her question.
"I don''t know about interesting but, I have around two tonnes of gold and gold ore to sell."
"You have gold?"
"Yes... Is that a problem?"
"Hmm, I''m sure this is a stupid question but did you illegally raid a mine? Please don''t be afraid to tell us if that''s the case. Although we can''t buy the gold ourselves, as a VIP Merchant, we''ll provide you with the various viable options you can take."
Seeing thedy he had imagined as a calm and collected officedy wave her hands in panic as she tried to assure him that the guild would do their best to protect him even if he hadmitted a crime. Tyler chuckled lightly and continued.
"Please calm down, I did not raid any upied mine."
While riding a mine already owned by the Zorak family or a particr noble was illegal and notmon. There had been a few incidents in the past of this happening and it had lead to strictws against such actions being created and set in ce. Along with the monitoring of the distributions of the various ores produced by the Zorak families mine.
While this meant it was almost impossible to trade the ore produced by the mines in a region. It also meant that one could trade such ores in a different region that did not contain the said ores or minerals.
"During our exploration trip, we stumbled on an unexplored mine and as I understand it, there is something called pioneers rights, I''m I correct?"
"Yes, that is true. As I recall, the guild leader was called for a reason that seems to involve talks on the survey and exploration of a new mine. Wait, could that be the same mine you''re talking about."
"I see... It seems my formerpanions have already reported the mine to the Hunter guild so please do out your mind at ease."
"I see, the guide leader was quite surprised when he got the news so suddenly but it appears it had something to do with you. Anyway, let''s get back on topic, how much gold are you able to trade with us this evening?"
"Around two tonnes."
"Alright, so two tonnes huh¡ª WAIT Did you just say two tonnes?"
"I did, yes."
"You only traveled with a group of five and was only gone less than a week. So how were you able to mine over a tonne of gold in just a few days in an unexplored mine where you''ll also give to face the monsters that reside there?"
"Well, we were lucky enough to stumble upon arge concentration of gold veins so there''s that."
"You stumbled upon the gold."
"Literally."
"Huh..."
The pretty officedy looked dishevel for some reason but Tyler only chuckled and did not speak further on that. He had only said what the party of five had settled on and would not furtherplicate matters by adding any new information or allow her to ask any further questions.
"So, is the guild unable to buy such amount of gold."
"Huh, no we can... However, we will be unable to pay you yourplete remuneration right away as we would have to use the services of the bank. Pardon me but do you have an ount in the ckwing bank, Mr. Lix?"
"No."
"I see... Would you be willing to open an ount? The guild would handle everything on your behalf, this would make our future transactions a lot easier."
"Sure, feel free to do just that. However, I would require half of the payment in cash as that belongs to the Hunting party I escorted."
"That should be manageable, we''ll prepare the coins before noon tomorrow."
"Alright."
"That should also be enough time to open the ount and get all the necessary documents as long as we go through the proper channels."
"I see... I''ll eagerly await that then."
"Thank you very much for doing your business with us."
"My pleasure."
"I''ll get the paperwork ready immediately, please hold on one moment."
"No problem."
Xelen quickly got up and bowed to him before hurriedly leaving the room and returning only a few minutester with parchment in hand as she wrote some minor details on it and gave it to Tyler to look over and sign.
Tyler confirmed the details of the agreement and nodded. He signed as Lix and then returned the parchment to Xelen. She then looked it over for only a brief moment before casting a spell and the parchment was split in two. No, it wasn''t cut in half but was magically copied. The copied parchment was then given to Tyler.
"Well then Mr. Lix, we''ll be expecting you tomorrow."
"Alright."
Saying that Tyler stood up and handed a small storage box over to Xelen as she had also stood up and after receiving the box, she bowed politely at him as he left.
After leaving the Merchant''s guild building, Tyler and Nadine drove their carriage to a different inn to spend the night as he hadn''t received his payment for the gold yet and could not yet visit the Runic''s Weapon Shop to im his order.
This inn was still close to the central za but was a way better structure and environment than the Merryside inn. It has been rmended by Xelen and would even provide a 20% discount to VIP Merchants, how could he pass on such a deal.
Having parked his carriage at the back where the inn''s stables were located and paid for his mount to be taken care of, Tyler paid for arge room for the both of them to spend the night.
Since he didn''t require much sleep, he spent most of the night practicing his mana control and getting used to his magic sense by constantly shifting its range and adjusting its intensity. He would only passively use around 25 percent of the power of the skill but when he increased it past 70 percent, he found it hard to control.
Mostly because he would then be able to see magically without his eyes. Almost like some kind of juiced-up chameleon. It was a different vision than his normal eyesight, a strange way to see as he could even see through the walls at the entire inn and could clearly see what all the guests were doing.
However, this didn''t seem like a good thing as he almost always lost track of himself while he tried to focus on something else. It was a scary feeling that would immediately terrify him enough that he would have to immediately cancel the skill.
Doing this time and. time again felt like some kind of self-imposed torture. However, the asional sight he saw in the other rooms made him giggle silently. It was just a way he chose to ovee the fear of being lost in himself but if one observed him now, they would assume he was some kind of pervert.
By the time the sun was at a rise, he had already gotten used to the skill and could now use it at 100 percent without losing himself but Tyler still kept it running passively at 25 percent. It was just the basic form of magic sense so even running it at 100 percent would not change much.
He only did this as a way to control his Mana properly and not damage his Mana body further while trying to manage the corruption of his right hand as no matter how many times he used his healing spell on it, his arms didn''t seem to get any better and it was now getting harder to use.
Aside from the asional surge of pain, the negative corruption had not affected his motor functions until now. Luckily it was only his left hand and he could still use it for now. Putting the thought aside, Tyler got back to what he was doing until he was done.
Having finished his morning preparations, Tyler decided to use a scroll for Anti-divination before then using another scroll to contact Albert who then report to him the situation in the castle and the information they had gotten from Carn the surviving member of the so-called Numbers organization.
Tyler also informed him of their current situation and the adjustment he had made to his ns as he may not be able to return to the castle at the time he had originally specified. When he was done, he quickly donned his hood before heading out of the Duval inn.
Just like thest time, Tyler chose to leave his carriage in the inn and after paying again for them to look after it. While the people in the city may have already gotten us to see it, it was still better not to announce to everyone where he was headed. That was probably the reason why the Merchant Guild had been aware of hisings and goings.
After leaving the Duval inn, they quickly boarded a private carriage and headed straight to the Royal borough. They had a few more hours till they would have to be at the merchant guild or the restaurant with Unrivaled so Tyler nned on making good use of the time.
He had gotten in a lot of trouble due to his shorings when it came to his knowledge and experience in magic and since he was still unavable to enter the library, he would have to make do with the magic research institute.
Since that was the only ce in the city that deals with magic, and magic items he would have to borrow their resources. But first, he would have to join the institute. Taking a look at the space within his storage ring, he saw the white unopened envelope that had been given to him by the Merchant Guild Leader.
The envelope had his seal clearly engraved on it. This was none other than the rmendation letter for entering the Zorak Magic research institute.
Chapter 142 C142. The Earliest Meeting
As it was still in the middle of winter, the air that blew in through the opened window was almost ice-cold as it rapidly reduced the temperature in the well designed and decorated office at one of the upper floors in the small cattle at the center of the city, before the room was immediately warned back up by the magic air conditioning in the office.
This was the Zorak Family''s branch castle located in Winged city. While there were several buildings in the Royal borough that had been deducted for administrative duties, most of the said administrative duties of the city were still conducted from this castle.
At this moment, there were two figures seated in the office even though it was still so early in the morning as it was currently the break of dawn and the sun had barely even covered the entire city in its rays. While it was cold outside, the weather in the city was strangely better than it had been for the past few days as the thick ashed grey clouds in the sky were a lot more sparse this morning, allowing for the refreshing light of the sun to shine on therge city.
However, the two figures that sat on the couch at the corner of the room did not seem particrly pleased with the weather as they had a solemn expression on their faces while whispering to themselves even though there was a third figure standing by the corner of the main entrance to the room in silence.
The third figure was a young man that was dressed in a typical but exquisite butler''s outfit. He had an air of nobility around him as he stayed motionless in the room not making a sound nor even changing or adjusting his posture. However, his body suddenly move from its still state as he proceeded to grab the handle of therge door next to him and opened it in a monotonous but dignified manner.
The moment his body had moved and even before he had reached for the door, the two figures in the room quickly shut their mouths as they hurriedly stood up to wee the person that was about to enter the room.
An aged man with a full head of grey walked silently into the office through the opened door with a youngdy dressed in a maids outfit trailing behind him as he went behind therge fancy desk at the end of the room and took his seat.
He was an elderly man that seemed to be in his forties if one was to judge his age by Human standards. He had a chiseled face and his back was as straight as the de of a sword. His face was cleanly shaved and he had deep blue colored pupils, wearing an elegant ck suit with a simr colored long ck coat draped over his shoulders.
Taking a seat, he raised his head to look at the two men standing by the side with their heads still slightly lowered in a respectful but not subservient bow that show theirck of loyalty to the nobles but respect for the ruling power of the city.
"You can have a seat."
Pointing at the two chairs in front of his desk, he offered the pair a seat and they epted with a nod as they quickly moved from the corner of the room and took a seat before Aur.
One of these said figures was an elderly man with a full head of whites. He wore an expensive-looking white mages robe with gold iid threading but had a simple design. His long white beard gave him the appearance of a typical wizard in various folklore and his eyes were narrowed by sharp.
The other person was a middle-aged man with blonde slick back hair and a prominent mustache. Although he didn''t appear too old, or rather was not, he still had an air of someone who has been through countless struggles and had a vast amount of experience in life.
They were both the guild leaders of Winged City''s Hunter and Merchant guilds respectively. The Hunter guild leader, Ivan Geriyl, and the Merchant guild leader Riokar Vird were now seated in the presence of the mayor of Winged City, Aur Zorak.
"So, what brings you both to my office so early in the morning? It is already an unusual thing for each of you to visit me of your own ord much less together. So why?"
Aur asked that question with his usual tone and expression but if one were observant, they would see the waves in his eyes. He surely felt a bit concerned about the sudden visit of the two leaders of thergest Independent powers in the city. Their independent organization had enough strength to almost rival the influence and power of the Great Five.
Meaning, their organization was each stronger than an ordinary demon lord.
The one to answer his question was Ivan who casually stroke his beard as he spoke. "The Hunter guild received a report yesterday on the discovery of an unexplored mine."
"An unexplored mine? Here in Sentro?"
"Yes indeed, ording to the ones who discovered it, the mine is located in the Father''s pass, the entrance had identally been revealed in one of the multitudes of caves in the area."
"The Fabelt Pass huh? That''s not ideal is it?"
"Yes indeed, the ce is a lot closer to Silverwing city than it is to us so if we don''t act quickly, we might lose the rights of the mine to Silverwing."
''That is true. Still, that doesn''t exin why this couldn''t wait tillter in the day, and why you couldn''t just send in a report rather than the both of youing in person."
"That is true. That information alone isn''t urgent enough to warrant our visit. I myself have several Merchant to attend to and had to push all my appointments. Including the one I was looking forward to."
"Yes indeed, we could''ve just easily prepared a report on the mine containing the results of the pioneers'' exploration and to make the request for their reward as well."
"The city would then be the ones to decide whether to risk it and send knights to clean out the nest of the monsters in the mine or hire the Merchant and Hunter Guilds'' to handle the clean up before sending in the miners."
"If you''re both aware of that, why in Neron did you disturb me so early in the morning."
"That is indeed the question."
Upon hearing those words from Ivan, Aur''s eyes narrowed and the air in the room got heavier although Ivan didn''t seem bothered by it. However, if things went on like this, Riokar knew it wouldn''t end well for Ivan. He quickly pretended to cough and then proceeded to answer Aur''s question.
"ording to what we heard from the Hunters that had discovered the mine and pioneer it. Their first conclusion was that the mine was a grade 3 Gold mine based on its depth and low concentration of ores within it. Although we still think that assumption was urate, it still turns out the mine was not any ordinary grade 3 mine."
"Is that so. Then they were able to find a more valuable metal inside of it I presume. That''s good, such a mine is rare, especially if it''s on the low-grade side. What metal did they find besides gold, tinum, Orichalcum?"
Aur seemed pleased with the information as he came to that conclusion. It was indeed a very good thing to find more valuable metals in low-grade mines especially one of a mine as insignificant as a gold mine. The reason for this was simple. Monsters were attracted to high-quality ores and generally build their nest in Mines so the higher grade a mine was the more monster nest was there.
This was also affected by the quality of the minerals in the mine so even a Grade 1 silver mine would not be as valuable as a Grade 3 tinum mine unless the silver mine was a double standard that held more valuable minerals hidden within it.
"No, no, no... None of those, they only found Runite."
"Huh?"
For the first time in a while, Aur''s expression visibly changed. It was a mixture of shock and confusion although it quickly returned to normal as he stroke his chin and thought deeply.
"Are you sure about this?"
"We''ve confirmed that the demon wasn''t lying to us as well. It seems she had stumbled upon a different cavern inside the mine that housed a vast amount of Runite in it."
"That''s amazing. If we can obtain those Runites, it would be a lot easier for our cksmiths to produce a lot more magic weapons and equipment than what we are currently able to make. Such a thing could even shift the bnce of power between the great five."
Aur stood up from his seat and walked over to the opened window behind him. He stared at the city before him and he thought deeply. ''If I''m the one to achieve such a thing, surely the family would greatly reward me for this. I should be able to easily increase my ranking within the family in an instant.''
"If a magic metal is avable for us in such a ce, then we should prepare for the clearing of the mine immediately."
Contrary to his expectations, the two guild leaders before him did not seem enthused by his order, rather they just stared at each other before sighing in slight dejection.
"Is there something else?"
"Yes. ording to the girl, the cavern with the Runite was also the nesting ce of a different type of monster."
"I see... Well, that''s to be expected. Such a material filled with magic essence would surely attract monsters to it. What type of monsters are we talking about?"
"Night Terrors."
"Oh..."
Aur''s expression froze the moment he heard the monsters'' name. It wasn''t that the Night Terrors were impossible to deal with but, they were just such a troublesome group of monsters. It wasn''t just because they could fly and their movements were sporadic, but their fear inducement ability and sound wave attacks were hard to prepare for.
The existence of these monsters alone made the cost of mining the Runite skyrocket as they would have to equip arge group of fighters with the right set of equipment to face the night creatures. Still, even with the extra cost, this would still be a very profitable venture.
"However, as he was just epting and digesting the information he had just received and was about to respond. Ivan suddenly spoke:
"That wasn''t all they encountered in there you know."
"There''s more?"
"Yes indeed, we also need the mention that this mine contains multiple monster nests as the group had encountered different types of monsters in there and almost died each time."
"Multiple monster nest? Are you positive this is a Grade 3 mine?"
"The Hunter''s are sure of it and so are we but we also have some reservations."
Meaning."
"We discussed and analyzed the information they provided us throughout the night and we''ve concluded that this is not a single mine."
"What?"
Yes. ording to them, the mine is abyrinth of tunnels but they had not proceeded through the regr tunnels but had dug through the walls into another tunnel. There they found more powerful monsters including the Night Terrors and Lesser Djieien."
"I see...That would surely make this tricky."
"That''s not even the worst part."
"Mr. Ivan. I consider myself a patient man but please, do not test me. Stop beating around the issue and spit it out, I don''t have all day."
"Hahaha... My bad my bad Young lord. I seem to have developed a ir for the dramatic in my old age. Indeed I have. Hahaha..."
¡ªSigh
"Forgive him lord Aur. The years must be finally catching up with up. The simple truth about this situation that makes it so troublesome for us is that the group had encountered something worse than the Night Terrors within the depths of the Runite cavern."
"And what is it."
"It was something capable of killing off several Night Terrors within the blink of an eye. Something that always lurks within the shadows. ording to the girl who had been so terrified that she could barely escape, it had been a devil."
"¡ªA what!"
"A green-eyed devil."
"..."
Chapter 143 C143. Joining The Magic Institute
p After a ride that took the pair more than an hour on a private carriage, Tyler and Nadine alighted from the carriage some distance away from their destination and continued the rest of their journey on foot.
It was just a few minutes walk after exiting the main road into a street that could be called a pedestrian zone and they soon came in front of a long stretch of brick walls that enclosed a massive structure.
Three towers ¡ª each at least thirty stories tall ¡ª rose from within those walls. Their height was made even more imposing by the fact that they were the tallest buildings around. Well, not including the distant ckwing Hotel.
These towers were surrounded by several long and narrow Five-story buildings that connected them in the shape of a triangle with the tower at the front housingrge imposing double doors that seem to have been made of heavy metals.
Anyone that saw such arge structure for the first time would surely not believe that it was only a branch of the Magic Institute. However, while this was technically a branch of the magic institute, it was also the main headquarters of the magic research division for the Zorak magic institute.
They needed ample space for the development of new spells, scrolls, and magic items, as well as the recruitment and testing of various young magic casters to send out the most promising ones among them to the magic academy in the capital city of the Zorak region, ckwing City.
Although this magic institute was originally implemented by the Great Five to keep the other organizations in check. They could not actually fund its operations as it would go against the purpose of the organization and would no doubt be an expensive venture. So the reason why they could afford all thisnd despite restricting any outside support was probably due to their manufacture and sales of magic items and scrolls.
Such items were the lifeblood of Hunters and even Merchant''s so technically, the Hunter guild and Merchant guild were paying to keep the Magic institute running.
Then again, the sales of low-grade magic items and scrolls could not actually support a massive operation like this so the main customers of the magic institute would still be the nobles themselves.
Life in the demon continent was basically like living in a jungle. It was the survival of your fittest and anyone that lived here would have to do anything to protect themselves and magic items were vital to that ideal. Such items were mostly purchased from the institute during their monthly and annually overpriced auctions which tend to affect the market prices of the items, thereby creating a vicious cycle.
After walking a little further, Tyler and Nadine soon saw a sturdy gate. Thetticed gate yawned open, and on either side of it were several armed guards, stationed by the sides of the gate that fenced off the massive institute.
The guards did not obstruct the pair ¡ª although they quickly looked them over¡ª and they were able to pass through the gate because his VIP merchant license was visible, otherwise they would require him to take off his hood.
There was a gently sloping wide staircase before him, and a set of gold iid heavy metal doors which opened into the bottom floor of therge middle tower. Naturally, these doors were open, to wee visitors.
Upon entering, they found themselves in a small entrance hall, which should be the building''s lobby before them. A number of magic chandeliers hung down from the high ceiling of thetter room.
On the right was a guest lounge that contained a sofa and several other pieces of furniture. There were magic casters conversing within. On the left was a ss board that disyed quests and missions, naturally, that was a magic item. Several people were studying it in earnest; some wore robes and looked like magic casters, while others seemed to be Hunters.
The atmosphere here was cool and calm and it gave off a sense of ease that the other two guilds they had visited hadcked.
There was a counter in the innermost reaches of the hall, and there were several young men and women of different races including dark elves seated behind it. All of them wore robes, and they had crystal badges on their chests which matched the symbol they had seen while entering the building.
On either side of the counter sat a pair of dark fur giant wolves, they were of a rtively normal sizepared to an actual giant wolf but stillrger than the normal size, slightly simr to the silver wolf. Their dark fur was almostpletely ck if it wasn''t for the asional grey stripes that resembled giant w strikes ¡ª Dire Wolves, as they were mostmonly know in this world.
Apparently, they were tamed beasts being used as sentries. Their nose and senses may be a lot better than most demons but the fact that they had not posted any demons or sub-race sentries inside must have been pride on the part of the Magic Institute, the outside sentries notwithstanding.
Tyler''s shoes pounded out a steady beat and were mirrored by Nadine as they approached the counter at the end of the hall.
The youngdy on the counter they were approaching noticed them and gave a slight bow as a greeting. Tyler nodded in response as they came to a stop at the front of the counter.
"Wee to the Zorak Magic Institute. How may I be of service to you?"
"We would like to join the magic research division."
"I''m sorry, but we are not epting recruits at this point in time. Please try again next year."
Tyler didn''t respond to her polite denial and just reached into his inner breast pocket for an envelope, before handing it over to the counter staff that was attending to him.
She nced at the envelope for only a split second before her eyes widened as she did a double-take Before immediately bowing again to Tyler in an even more polite manner. "My apologies, I was unaware you already had an invitation. Please follow me."
Naturally, Tyler and Nadine followed thedy through one of the doors at the side and they headed into one of the other five-story buildings. She soon lead them into an empty meeting room with simple but elegant furnishing, where she asked them to wait for a moment. After bringing them some refreshments, she quickly left the room.
They waited for about ten minutes when therge doors to the room suddenly swung open and two men geared in gleaming full te armors ushered in a beautiful demoness in an elegant and stylish red dress.
She had long light brown hair that was styled gorgeously, narrow brown eyes that glistened beautifully with the light, an enchanting smile that drew men in, and a figure that wouldn''t fail to drop the jaws of any one of the opposite sex thatid eyes on her.
She walked gracefully into the meeting room and sat down on the sofa in front of Tyler and Nadine. Her smile radiated an alluring aura that would''ve made him fall for her if his mind wasn''t already upied with various issues while also processing so many possible directions for their conversation.
Thedy''s smile suddenly seized when she realized there was no reaction from the hooded figure who she knew to be a man, so she proceeded to speak seriously. "I''m told you want to join our magic institute and even possess a rmendation letter from the merchant guild leader. That is quite the achievement."
"Why''s that?"
"Well, I''m sure you''re aware already, the merchant guild leader has never once used his rmendation letter no matter the amount ofpensation he was offered."
"We''re just lucky I guess."
"That''s quite the luck you have there."
"Thank you."
Thedy''s smile slowly returned to her face and became even more brilliant than before. She must''ve found something interesting in their brief conversation or maybe she was just intrigued.
"I am Syphilia V cast of the cast family, a direct vassal to the Zorak''s."
"I am called Lix, this one here is Lilith. Pleasure to meet you."
"Oh no, the pleasure is all mine. Well then, I''ll go straight to the point, even with the rmendation letter, we will still have to know what Tier of magic you both can use to register you as a members of the Magic institute but we will forgo the test unless you want to apply for the magic academy. However, right now, we would like a demonstration of the highest spells you can use. This will help us create your profile."
"That should be fine. We have to intensions in applying for the academy and as for our tiers. My partner here can use Tier 3 magic."
There was a sound of amazement and approval from the guards that stood by the door as Tier 3 magic casters were pretty high leveled. Although the demon continent was harsher to live in than the humans, it didn''t mean everyone here could use magic.
Most people generally couldn''t and the average amongmoners was Tier 1 with Tier 2 being above average and those that could use it were considered talented. Of course, this was a different story when talking about the nobles of this continent who average on Tier 2, and Tier 3 was considered impressive enough to be a high-ranking knight or serve under an elder or leader.
Most noble leaders or demon lords were generally around the Tier 5 standard and only a few were higher. Naturally, you couldn''t mention the great five in the same sentence as all the others as that would be almost sphemous.
"And of course, I can also use up to Tier 3 as well."
Unlike before, there wasn''t much surprise from the guards that stood by the side as they felt like it was only natural. Due to the fact that he was also hiding his appearance under that hood, they felt like he should''ve been able to use higher-tier magic than hispanion. Hence their shock when he said she was a Tier 3 magic caster.
Of course, Tyler still couldn''t use any Tier 3 spells, as he hadn''t learned any yet. But if ever he needed to, he could always fake it depending on the situation.
Syphilia nodded approvingly and smiled. "Alright that would be all for now, I''ll have someone take you through the registration process, and the demonstration will take ce immediately. However, you will still have to pay the registration fee before anything can be done."
Syphilia did not wait for a response as she quickly stood up and walked out of the room with the same charming smile on her face. The guards escorted her out and the female staff worker came back in to help Tyler and Nadine finalize their registration.
The fee for the registration was 2,000 DC each. That was a lot of money for just a registration fee but as Tyler thought about all the benefits and possible benefits he would gain from bing a member of the institute, he gritted his teeth and paid the price.
Nothing good really came easily even in another world. He sighed inwardly as the girl escorted Tyler to an empty room in one of the upper floors of the main tower and made them wait for another ten minutes before some spectators came in to witness their demonstration.
Tyler wasn''t sure why this needed spectators as they were just performing a single spell to show the level of spell they could use. It wasn''t like this was a test to decide their rankings or anything. They would still have to start at the lowest rank even if they could use Tier 5 magic so what was the point.
Chapter 144 C144. Demonstration
The moment Syphilia exited the meeting room, the smile on her face suddenly disappeared and a slight frown could be seen. She walked with wild strides and forceful steps. Her pace was abnormally fast in that dress that even the guards behind her had to break into a jog in order to keep up with her.
''What is with that guy, I thought it would be fun to tease him a bit but how could he just ignore me like that... And why, why did I feel so intimidated... Not to mention he was only a Tier 3 magic caster, so how?''
She continued to storm down the hallway and everyone that met her gaze instantly and instinctively stepped aside and bowed even though she was currently on a floor that only higher-ranking members were allowed in.
''Could it be that he lied to me?. But I didn''t sense anything, damn this isn''t fun at all.''
She proceeded down the hall and took a turn. There were two more simrly dressed guards standing by the sides of arge door by the end of the hallway. The moment they saw her approaching with that expression on her face, they quickly opened the doors for her and hurriedly stepped aside.
Storming into her office, Syphilia went over to the sofa at the side of the room and sat on it still feeling irritated as she crossed her slender legs while tapping her nails on the wooden end of the sofa''s armrest.
Her thoughts ran rampant for a while before a maid rushed over and offered her a cold ss of wine. Taking a gulp, she downed the entire ss and let out a long breath. Her troubled mind finally calming down.
"There''s nothing better to take the edge off than a nice ss of fine wine."
Saying that she then took several deep breaths and slowly rxed her nerves. There was no point in her getting even more agitated over something that had already passed and could not be changed.
She may have been a high-ranking demon but she was also a part subus, meaning she wasn''t a pureblood. However, being a noble made her racial traits or abilities even stronger than those of full-fledged subus.
Meaning, she had all the racial skills and abilities of a subus and could use them even better than any full-fledged subus out there. Back in the meeting room, she had passively used the racial skill sexual Inducement on the hooded man earlier but surprisingly hadn''t gotten any reaction out of him.
She had even tried to use her innate ability Perfect Seduction ¡ª which was a higher grade than the Charm person spell ¡ª to entice the man but to no avail. The only people that should be able to resist her abilities were supposed to be people stronger than her but the man had said he was only at the Tier 3 level which didn''t make much sense to her.
Why would someone willingly lie to the magic institute? Even if their starting ranks would not change, someone with high potential would immediately receive an invite to the magic academy which was a massive honor formoners.
Learning magic was not an easy task, in fact, most would call it a hobby for the rich as everything that had to do with magic was ridiculously expensive. Not to mention the fact that there were a lot of things that even money alone couldn''t buy.
Thinking of the possible reasons why he had done this, Syphilia could not figure him out. There was a chance he was actually telling the truth but just had an item that gave him enough resistance to resist her abilities. Perhaps he was only capable of using Tier 3 spells but was a higher-tiered magic swordsman or warrior.
Or perhaps he was simply lying and had an agenda. The possibilities were endless and it was hard for her to narrow it down without any information to go on. Things like this frustrated her as she never liked to be blindsided, always wanting to hold a better hand against her opponents.
Yes. she now regarded this man as her opponent even though she had no idea what he looked like under that hood. ''I was wondering why little Rio would give out his rmendation so easily but maybe there was something else to it that I''m not seeing. Damn, this is infuriating.''
She sat at the edge of the sofa, unknowingly biting her nails when suddenly an idea shed into her mind.
"Kal!"
"Yes,dy Syphilia."
"I need you to do me a favor."
??????????
??????????
"Lightning."
Casting her spell, a silvery-white bolt of lightning jumped off of Nadine''s outstretched fingertips and spurts out in a straight line as it pierced a hole through the head of the wooden puppet more than 30 meters away.
*p *p *p...
A gentle then sudden and rapid apuse came from the side where quite a few spectators from the guild stood as they marveled in awe at Nadine''s wless performance. Most of them were also Tier 3 mages and only a few were Tier 2 and tier 1 so they were aware of how hard it was to so urately aim a lightning spell.
While the spell travels in a straight line, its movements were sporadic in nature. The discharge of electricity follows in a zigzag path towards its target, slightly branching at various locations. This irregr motion was hard to predict so it was difficult to have pinpoint uracy when using the spell, only being able to get a general direction.
However, Nadine had fired three lightning spells and had hit the heads of all three wooden dolls without fail. While this was only a demonstration, they felt the need to score her and had all given her a perfect score.
Well, most of these were semi-biased as most of the men present simply found her attractive and could no longer give any fair judgments.
The guild did not prohibit anyone from watching the demonstration and had only sent a few of their top members to affirm the level of the spells used. However, most of the mages and hunters that had nothing better to do and saw the pair enter the practice hall quickly ran in hoping to see something good.
Tyler seeing this sighed inwardly. If he had known he would''ve done his demonstration first when the crowd wasn''t much, now, however, he felt like no matter what he did, the men spectating would surely give him a bad score as they didn''t speak anything good about him.
"Oi, oi, isn''t that young beast girl kinda amazing, she doesn''t even seem tired after rapidly casting three tiers 3 spells in less than five seconds."
"I know right, she''s pretty cute too. I just wanna rub those adorable ears of mine."
"Oi girl, ditch that gloomy bastard ande hang with us."
"Oh man she''s ring at us, that''s kinda turning me on."
Stuff like that was what they said and didn''t couldn''t hope to receive any decent score no matter what he did. Well, again, this was not a test so whatever score they gave him would end up being useless and he really couldn''t care less about what a bunch of middle age horny men thought of him.
Stepping forward to cast his spell, Tyler felt the gazes stare daggers at him but chose to ignore it as he prepared to cast his spell. After practicing every chance he got for a while now. He could pretty much control the output of his mana but since his Mana body was still damaged, there was always a chance of his mana going out of control which would probably kill him if he was careless. It was also why he didn''t like losing control of his emotions as he tends to use his spells recklessly in that state, forgoing any idea of a consequence.
As Tyler watched the magic institute staffs finish setting up the three wooden dolls for him after taking away the ones that Nadine had damaged. He chantlessly cast a spell by using the silence metamagic but still spoke out loud, just enough for all in the room to clearly hear him.
"Giant FireBall."
Choosing the right tier 2 spell to use had been a nightmare as there weren''t many that he could pass off as a Tier 3 spell. His original thoughts had been to use the magic arrows spell as that could be cast at Tier 3 and Tier 5 level as far as he knew. The only issue with that was, he had no idea how many arrows were normal for tier 3, hell he didn''t even know how many were normal for Tier 2 and that was the level he was at.
While this was just a demonstration to the guild, it would surely raise questions he couldn''t answer, if he ended up using the spell wrongly and someone very proficient in the spell was watching.
Not having anymore Tier 2 spells to lean on, he had to go back to his Tier 1 spell, and surprisingly enough, the simplest of all those spells had been his saving grace. The size of the Giant FireBall spell wasn''t definite and thus, allowed a lot of room for failure. As long as Tyler controlled his Mana rightly, he should be able to fake it.
Working hard to adjust the output of his mana, arge reddish-yellow ball of mes formed rapidly in front of his fingertip and after reaching a diameter of about four feet, it shot out at the wooden doll and ced at the middle, and exploded upon impact, consuming both dolls at the side.
''Damn, that was slightly too much Mana. Did they notice?''
Carefully turning his head around to look at the spectators, he saw a few of them staring at the fiery scene he caused in awe, a few of them had the same stern and sour expression on their faces and the rest of them nodded In approval of his performance.
''Phew... I guess they didn''t.''
After sighing in relief, Tyler nodded slightly at the staff members that rushed to put out the mes and clean up the hall. This ce was one of the training halls that was located in the towers inside the magic institute.
While it was a lot smaller than the hall in the demon king''s castle, It was still plenty impressive and unlike the one in the castle, this was fully furnished with tracing equipment and practice tools.
Impressive-looking weapons hung on the walls and could be borrowed by the guild members to be used only during practices although most would not practice with a weapon unfamiliar to them so they were only used when leading new skills or techniques.
Once the room was cleaned up the female staff member that had originally attended to him quickly ran over to escort him back to the main hall or lobby. Nodded at her request, they promptly turned around and walked away towards the door they hade in through. The spectators all seem to be headed back as well albeit reluctantly when someone suddenly wandered into the hall and with a smile on his face, he approached Tyler.
"Hahaha... That was an impressive demonstration. The two of you are already so refined, you definitely have some bright futures here in this guild."
Stopping before Tyler and Nadine who was only a few feet away from the door, he stretched an arm out, most likely wanting to shake hands with Tyler.
"And you are?"
"Ah forgive my rudeness, I''m used to people already recognizing me so my bad. I am known as Kal Vectil, the vice guild leader of this ce."
The man was quite tall. Towering over Tyler with a height of around 6''6 or 6''7 and had broad shoulders to go with it. He had short and well-trimmed bright red hair and scarlet pupils with a cleanly shaven face and a somewhat handsome facial features. He wore a fine set of brownish-gold leather armor with metal iid and had a single two-handed long sword strapped to his waist.
Unlike the spectators around, it seemed like this man was not a pure mage but something like a magic swordsman. However, it was strange for a magic swordsman to not only join the magic institute but be in a position as high as a vice guild leader.
? The fact that he was regarded so highly must''ve been thanks to his magic skills being superior to most mages. This was indeed the advantage of those gifted in magic and swordsmanship at the same time. With just a bit of hard work, he could be vastly superior to his peers matter what his potential was.
"I see... I am called Lix, this is Lilith."
epting the man''s handshake, Tyler introduces himself and his partner, not wanting to be rude to his vice guild leader before he even starts as a member here.
With everything done, the two of them had already be Rank 1 copper magicians and would only need to return with the guild staff to get their badges, guild guide book, and basic gears.
However, they did not get the chance to do so as the next words that came out of Kal''s mouth surprised everyone in the hall.
"Say, how bout we have a duel."
Chapter 145 C145. Unexpected Challenger
"Say, how bout we have a duel."
"Pardon?"
Tyler tilted his head in confusion as he stared at the tall fellow before him. The man knows as Kal only seemed more amused by hisck of an instant response as he proudly repeated himself once more with the same smile on his face.
"I said a duel, how bout we have a duel. Just me and you, what do you say?"
"Why would you want that? I''ve only just joined the guild, if you want a sparring partner then I think one of those would be sufficient."
Tyler said that pointing at the group of spectators in the hall who all immediately flinched as they finally noticed what was happening before their eyes, and immediatelying to a halt as they whispered between themselves.
"Oi, Oi, Oi, isn''t that the vice guild leader? What''s going on over there."
"Hey did he really just challenged a newbie to a duel? What the heck is happening right now?!"
Say, isn''t that hooded guy the same one with the magic mount? I hear he''s also a VIP of the merchant guild. Is he like some kind of big shot in another city or what?"
"That''s true, why are so many important figures treating well. He even has such a cute beast girl apanying him. Man, I''m so jealous."
"I know right? I just want to punch his non existent face because of this."
While they spoke in quite a low voice, Tyler could still hear them clearly and so could the man before him. He simply nces in the spectators'' direction and they quickly shut their mouths and tried their best to avoid his gaze even though they still remained in the hall obviously wanting to see what happens next.
Tyler felt annoyed by this so-called vice guild leader as his presence here seems to draw too much attention to him and they weren''t the best kinds. Well, it wasn''t that he usually receive much better attention due to him hiding his face and Nadine''s surprising effects on the men around her.
''Does this guy do this often or is it just me he after?''
Thinking about the reasons behind this challenge, Tyler stared nkly at Kal who was still smiling at him with the same confident look in his eyes. While the challenge was indeed interesting, it didn''t seem like he could gain anything from it and it might only serve to expose him or simply just piss him off even more than he already was.
"No thanks."
"Huh...?"
"I have no interest in this duel and I''m quite busy so if you''ll excuse us, we''ll be on our way."
Without waiting for a response, Tyler quickly walked around the massive vice guild leader and was quietly trailed by Nadine. The spectators didn''t seem to believe their eyes. Perhaps they felt he would be intimidated into an unfavorable duel or something. However, this didn''t seem like a regr urrence at all as all their faces told of their surprise and interest in the oue of this situation.
"Wait!"
Tyler stopped just a few feet away from the door and naturally turned his head around to look at Kal who didn''t have the same smile on his face but a rather strange and serious expression.
However, the smile suddenly returned to his face once again as he spoke again: "How bout I make it interesting for you as well."
Hearing that actually piqued his interest as Tyler finally turned around to face Kal who seemed pleased to have finally gotten the attention of Lix.
"And how would you do that?"
"Kukuku... It''s simple really, let''s have a bet."
"A bet?"
"Yes, just a friendly bet, nothing too serious and over the top."
"I''m listening."
"We''ll have a one on one match right here and if I win. You''ll take off your hood and don''t even think about using an illusion spell to hide your face."
"I see¡ You''re quite interested in my face huh. I have to say I don''t swing that way."
"Huh... Please get your mind out of the gutter, I''ll have you know I''m a happily married man." Kal proimed proudly while pounding his chest as he spoke.
"I don''t remember asking."
"Come on, don''t be like that, you have to take interest in your superiors'' lives or you''ll have a hard time rising through the rankings. That''s a pro tip."
"I think you''ve gone way beyond the topic."
"Indeed, so what do you say. Wanna duel now?"
"That''s still a one-sided bet. What will I get if I win?"
"Oh forgive me, that totally slipped my mind."
"Of course it did."
"Haha... Don''t be like that, I wouldn''t try to cheat on of my guild member, I''m the vice guild leader you know. My reputation would be tarnished if I did something like that to a newbie."
"¡"
"Hmm let''s see, it is quite impossible for you to win so I should offer something worth your while right?"
Hearing the man stop short of answering him yet again, Tyler shot him another questioning look even though the majority of his face was obstructed by his hood. However, his intense gaze did not fail to reach its target.
"Cough cough... How bout this, if you somehow manage to defeat me, I''ll use my status as the Vice Guild Leader and grant you a starting rank of 2. Meaning, you''ll both no longer have to start from a Rank 1 magicians. That should have you a lot of grunt work trying to raise your rank."
That was indeed true, in the Hunter guild, the Merchant Guild, and the Magic institute, the beginning rank were seen as training wheels for neers as they would have to spend at least the first week doing menial and mundane quests trying to build up enough points to rank up within the week.
This was why there were not many Rank 1 Hunters or Magicians as even if the person didn''t have the skills to be anything more than rank 1, they could still steady stock up on points, enough to reach the second rank where many would always peak at.
Kal nodded his head at Tyler''s silence, his hesitation meant he was seriously considering it and Kal felt absolutely confident that he had made the right offer. No one wanted to do the menial work of a rank 1, especially not someone that was already a VIP Merchant and had what was the closest thing to a Noble status.
However, contrary to his expectations the man sighed deeply and promptly declined his offer. An oue that he had never seening even in a thousand years.
"I refuse.".
"Huh!... Why, is my offer not enough."
"No, I was quite intrigued by that but, as I said earlier, I have no interest in a duel. So if you''ll excuse me, we''ll be taking out leave now."
Saying that Kal watched the hooded man turn back around and walk towards the exit in disbelief. The staff was supposed to lead them away looked absolutely confused as she didn''t know if she could really lead the pair away from their vice guild leader or not. However, she was only doing her job but that could lead to her getting in trouble,ter on, this was quite the Conundrum.
This was also not what Kal had expected and he was momentarily at a loss for words, too stunned to stop him. Still, there was something he needed to confirm so there was no way he would give up now.
"Hang on, what do you mean by no interest, you obviously do. How bout this. I''ll restrict myself to only using Tier 3 attacks and below, that way it would be a fair fight."
"Fair huh?"
Feeling like he had done it, Kal watched the man stop yet again and turn back to face him. There was no way he would be able to refuse his offer this time. He smiled proudly and waited for a positive response.
"Very well."
He did it. After all that talk of not being interested, it turns out he was just frightened of his power and didn''t want to be in a disadvantageous situation. However, if he thought he could win against him just because he was restricted to only using Tier 3 spells. He would be in for a rude awakening.
After all, he was not a mage but a basic ss Tier 4 magic swordsman and with his training, his physiques were already at the peak tier 4 standard. Compared to a Tier 3 mage whose physiques could not even bepared to Tier 3 magic swordsmen, he held an absolute advantage over this duo.
"However¡ª the one who''ll be facing you will not be me, but my partner here."
"Huh!"
What was happening? Kal could not figure out why this man had said that. Did he not value his identity as much as he thought, or perhaps the beast girl he had overlooked hid a secret he could not fathom.
"Are you serious?"
"Is there something wrong?"
"Oi Oi Oi is that guy serious, did he just send his partner in for him?"
"Well she was also pretty skilled, perhaps she''s just better than him, and he''s too scared to face the vice."
"True but don''t you think he''s kinda rude. That''s the vice he''s talking to and yet he''s acting like that."
"Yeah, kinda feel like he''s looking down on the vice. Imagine if the vice loses."
"Hey shut up the vice can''t lose to a Demi-human, even one as hot as her."
"Quiet before the vice overhears you. You''ll be mopping the floors all week"
The smile on Kal''s face steadily vanished as his expression became one of fury, his aura seemed to skyrocket, making the entire hall tense and immediately grew silent. The spectators all seemed to take a step back, clearly intimidated by his aura.
However, neither Tyler nor Nadine flinched, nor did they seemed bothered by his aura. Kal frowned slightly as he shifted his gaze to the girl beside Tyler and stared at Nadine. A ferocious wave of killing intent immediately washed over her which seemed to have finally piqued her interest as her previously dull eyes seemed to have been reinvigorated.
Seeing her smile at him without a shred of fear in her eyes, Kal chuckled. "I see, I see... Very well then I''ll ept your condition. I''ll defeat your partner and personally rip that hood off your face."
Seeing their Vice Guild Leader lose his cool because of a pair of neers, the spectators were shocked. They all knew Kal to be a little bit free-spirited but he also had an impressive amount of self-control, which was why they were freely discussing him earlier with little fear for the consequences.
Yet here he was challenging a pair of neers to a duel that had already been refused twice already. They had no idea why he was so interested in the pair or the reason he wanted the man to remove his hood so badly.
It was important to know that while status was important in this world. It didn''t hold up well in the three organizations who already had their own internal rankings so unless one wanted to be enrolled in the magic academy, one was free to keep their identities a secret. Moreover, there were even a few such people in this guild.
Although it would also affect one''s ability to form a party, it didn''t seem like this pair were in need of one. What was even more shocking was the fact that the vice guild leader had chosen to fight a demi-human on equal footing just for this bet. A bet that didn''t seem to have any benefit to the guild.
At this moment, a single consensus thought swept through the entire hall as the spectators and staff members that watched the event unfold felt the same lighting thought about the absurdity of this current situation.
''What in the world is going on here.''
Chapter 146 C146. More Than A Match
Inside one of therge training halls of the magic institute, two figures stood at the center of the hall while several more cheering figures were stationed at the side with a single person standing at the opposite end of the hall.
Nadine and Kal stood about 10 meters away from each other to begin the match in the center of the training hall. Since they were both mid-range fighters as well as short-ranged, this seemed to be the most appropriate distance and neither of them had voiced any objections.
While there had originally been about 10 or 11 spectators in the hall, to begin with. It seems as though the duel had attracted more as there were now more than twenty mages and Hunters spectating the fight that was just about to start.
The magic institute staff didn''t seem to know what to do with themselves as they just wet along with their vice guild leader''s whim and organized the hall for the duel.
"Begin."
Even after they had heard the sound from their chosen mediator of the match, the two had not taken a single step. For some reason, they had chosen to remain standing as they keenly stare at each other, weapon at hand.
This had gone on for a while now and murmurs began to arise amongst the spectators. It was understandable that they would be confused about what was going on. From their point of view, Kal had no reason to study his opponent''s actions unless he was just giving himself and handicap and allowing his opponent the first strike.
His opponent was only a child, and also the one who was clearly weaker than him. Even though most would consider her a genius for being able to use the third tier of magic at such a young age.
Even for nobles with high potentials, such a feat was rare and noteworthy. However, Tyler had a different view of the situation at hand. He had his eyes closed although, with the aid of his hood, no one would be able to tell otherwise.
The reason for this was because he had wanted to use 100% of his magic sense skill and could observe the hall in an all-epassing manner. Not only was he able to pick up on everything that was happening in the hall, but he was also even able to notice and distinguish every single slight and minute movements that the vice guild leader made.
Just by reading his slight fluctuations in his aura and his stance, he was able to tell that the one who was at a disadvantage was the vice guild leader and not Nadine. While Nadine may have been young, she had been a member of the red ogre settlement hunting party and had faced quite a lot of dangerous monsters since she was a child.
Combined with her high potential, her battle instinct was more than the average hunter. And while the vice guild leader was not an average hunter or magician, he had ended up cing himself at the disadvantage by setting those restrictions on his abilities.
Unable to use the full extent of his powers, he now found it hard tounch an attack on the girl that seemingly had no openings in her stance. It would have been one thing if he was so much more stronger than her, but he had never expected the young beast girl it already be so adept.
However, in this battle, he held the absolute advantage when it came to experience and if anyone could turn such a disadvantageous situation into a win, it would be the person with the most experience in battle.
So, why had Tyler chosen Nadine to take his ce in a duel against a superior opponent? The answer was a simple, experience. He simply had no more confidence in himself when faced with an experienced opponent of a sufficiently high rank.
Of course, this was not because he was afraid he would lose to the vice guild leader. No, he could not feel threatened by the towering figure of Kal, nor did he feel intimidated by his murderous intent earlier. This was because to someone like Tyler, the man''s aura would not and could notpare to the ones that had actually threatened him.
Since his awakening in his continent he had only felt fear twice and one of those times was from the cold and distant aura of Snow, Liz''s alternate personality, and of cause, from Rain''s phantom kill technique albeit barely.
Even the overwhelming presence of the five Lesser Basilisks and the horde of Night Terrors had not fazed him so naturally, the meager presence of a basic tier 4 magic swordsman would not be a problem. No, the reason he was afraid was that he had barely been able to control his fireball spell earlier and would probably end up destroying this entire building if Kal was to ever make the mistake of taunting him in battle which he could surely expect the man to do given the fact that he was probably sent here to expose him for some reason.
Boom!
Back to the battle,
Someone had finally made a move and it had been Madine who had obviously grown bored of waiting. She was the type that was eager for a fight and didn''t mind taunting her opponent. She also tends to look down on any opponent that happens to be weaker than her and naturally wouldn''t have the patience of a veteran fighter like Kal.
Her superiorityplex was mostly born out of her slight resentment for lesser demons and her small physical status. However, she seems to be able to keep herself under control in front of Tyler which was a good thing.
However, right now was a slightly different case as she dash at Kal, having already pulled out her bo staff. Closing the gap in an instant, she swung her weapon.
Kal who had a superior physique reacted quickly and raised his sword to meet the attack. His two-handed long sword met Nadine''s attack and naturally, the one with the greater strength won.
Nadine was pushed back and slightly stumbled. Not missing the opportunity, Kal stepped forward and swung his sword in a vertical sh. The speed of the attack was almost too fast for the spectators to see, but Nadine could still react to it.
Using the superhuman physical abilities of a beastkin, she hastily bnced herself and jumped back. Without any dys in her motion, she immediately cast a spell before Kal could return his de from that forceful swing.
"Ray of Enfeeblement."
Stretching a finger out to Kal, a beam of ck energy shot out of her finger towards him. Caught a little unaware, Kal quickly raised his sword in an attempt to block the spell as his weapon was a magic weapon that could negate most of the damage of the attack.
However, that was a mistake as he would soon learn. The beam of dark energy struck him and before he could even think about blocking the spell, the attack had already epassed his entire body rapidly draining his strength.
This was a weakening spell, and Tyler based his head in approval. It was obvious that their physical abilities could not bepared so using a weakening spell was the most logical step to take. However, one could not just use such an obvious move as the enemy would not just stand there and receive the attack.
She had aimed to lure Kal into an unbnced stance where he would be unable to dodge the attack. With her n being a sess and Kal''s abilities lowered for a while, she would now be able to match her opponent blow for blow, still.
"Lightning "
Not missing a beat, Nadine followed up her first spell with a second one as a silvery-white bolt of lightning streaked at Kal at amazing speed.
"Hahaha¡ Looks like I underestimated you. My bad, I''ll take this seriously from now on."
Saying that Kal''s body suddenly began to emit a golden glow that quickly canceled out the effects of the ray of enfeeblement spell. He then countered the lightning spell by swinging his sword several times and a golden streak of light rose up from the ground as they crashed into the lightning causing a Big Bang in the training hall.
"Oi Oi Oi Oi isn''t the vice going too far here, she''s just a kid man."
A loud uproar arose from the crowd of spectators as the impact of the attacks created a cloud of dust that obstructs their vision. Most of them already thinking the battle was over.
However, their mouths were forced closed when someone suddenly flew out of the dust. It was Kal who had been blindsided by Nadine who had only fired the spell as a distraction. Wielding a two-handed long sword didn''t give Kal any advantage In extreme close fights which Nadine had taken full advantage of.
Kal mmed into the ground but quickly somersaulted to his feet with great skills and precision. However, Nadine wouldn''t give him any chance to rest as she immediately closed the gap and cast a spell at point-nk range.
"Shockwave."
An invincible force mmed into the unbnced Kal as he was sent flying again while Nadine cast a second spell.
"Heavy."
A meager tier 1 spell had worked to perfection as Kal''s body suddenly weighed a tonne and dropped down to the floor like a meteor. Not wanting to give her opponent a break, she quickly dashed forward with her bow staff raised.
"What the heck!"
"Wow, I can''t believe my eyes right now. Is the vice actually losing?"
"Oi Oi Oi this isn''t funny, won''t this end badly."
"The vice is gonna be pissed."
Hearing the spectators from all the way across the room, Tyler had a bad feeling that something was about to happen. He had a better view of the fight so naturally, he could see in rising veins on the head of Kal as he constantly gets pummeled into the ground without a chance to retaliate.
Perhaps Nadine''s vicious nature woulde back to bite her.
"You little¡"
? As though on cue, Kal who was on one knee desperately trying to block the attacks from Nadine''s magic bo staff, suddenly yelled as his body began to blow.
"Oh man he did it, I knew this would happen."
Entering into a battle crazed mode after activating his berserk skill. Kalpletely ignored Nadine''s attacks and swung his two-handed sword with a single arm at her.
With her sharp instincts she reacted in time and blocked the attack, however, the power behind that was too great as her body was sent flying like a cannon.
An impact on that scale would have surely incapacitated her but luckily she had flown in Tyler''s direction and he easily caught her after using a wind spell to cut off her momentum.
"Oi Oi, isn''t that too much, this match should be over right, that''s clearly an attack beyond any tier 3 spells out there."
"Well that''s just a berserk skill, it''s not that rare amongst high-level warriors and is technically not a spell so I guess that''s not against the rules ."
"What the heck kinda logic is that, that''s clearly a vition."
As Nadine''s new fans continuouslyined to the guild staffs about the match. Tyler suddenly spoke:
"We don''t mind the use of skills, so feel free to let the battle continue."
Turning over to face Nadine who he had just gently set down, she nodded her head and walked forward.
"This is just getting interesting, let''s continue."
While she seemed confident and eager to fight, Tyler had no intentions of letting her lose. He didn''t ept this challenge just to lose and render all his hard work up till now pointless so he naturally had a n of his own.
This was his ultimate trump card, a skill he had gotten from the very moment he stepped into this world for the first time over a thousand years ago.
Yes, this was his very first skill, his innate ability. An ability that had the potential to literally change the oue of any battle. An ability that even at its weakest, still warranted the attention of many.
This was a secret he had yet to shared with anyone since he awakened, his innate ability, Potential Break.
Chapter 147 C147. Recruiter
Latest night¡ª
Deep in South borough of Winged City.
A silvery red arc trailed behind her swing as the exquisite-looking demonic des cleanly cut through a lesser demon''s head as the head lightly dropped to the ground in a dull thud.
The headless body shook violently and then copsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut. The metal armor nged loudly in the night. He prayed that someone would hear the sound, but nobody woulde to Winged City''s beggar''s district, which had practically been abandoned by the residents after the news of the massacre spread within the southern district. That was why the client had arranged to meet them here, after all.
The man red at the young woman before him. However, it was clear that he was just putting on a brave front. He had lost the will to fight after seeing the woman casually kill eight of his fellows. Those were men only a little bit weaker than himself and some had even been his equal.
The young demoness who had murdered his colleagues with a yful smile on her face flicked her bloodstained demonic des as she stabbed it into the head of thest remaining member of his team that had been frozen in ce by fear. The ichor scattered in all directions, and the des recovered their cold shine.
"Nfufufufu~ and then there was one, What to do, what to do, I''m having so much fun~"
The woman revealed her canines with a predatory grin.
"Why, why are you doing this? Don''t you know who we are? The organization won''t let you get away with this."
He knew he was only asking stupid questions and most likely putting on airs, but the man had no idea why this was happening to him. Why in the world was someone way beyond his league after a grunt like him.
These men were the dropouts amongst Hunters, they were quite literally the scum of the world. After failing to fit in with the Hunter guild rules and regtions, they joined the various underground organizations as the lowest ranking workers. They would usually take on borderline jobs, or sometimes outright illegal.
This might have been the result of some sort of grudge, but this was his first day I the city, and had only just joined the organization so he surely had never seen this girl before. He had only just moved here from the south searching for better-paying jobs with the rumored organization, Numbers so what in the world was going on.
"Ah, why I did this? Well now~ I just wanted you, Mr. I''m in desperate need of your services~"
The man could not understand what the girl was talking about. He blinked several times and then asked:
"What, what do you mean?"
"Oh it''s nothing really, I just need you to lead me back to your base so I can enlist your Lil group for a very easy job of mine~"
"Huh, a-a job? Then all you needed to do was ask! Weren''t you nning to do that in the first ce!?"
While the organization had its secret dealings with the high-ss nobles of this city. Their division was no longer a thing to talk about as their boss had up and disappeared a few days ago and all their previous missions and deals were transferred over to the north division.
Without a leader, they were nothing more thanmon criminals moving and parading themselves around like members of the organization. At this point, grunts like themselves would dly take any job, be it illegal or dangerous, so he had no idea why this girl was ughtering them.
"Nonono, this is a very special job that will surely cost you your lives so you might betray me~"
"We will never betray our employer once we''ve been paid the appointed fee even if the job is a little dangerous!" The man said those words in desperation, choosing to twist the demoness words to fit his logic. Or may he just could fathom the fact that she had basically just guaranteed his death.
"Hmmm~? But that would be too boring. I haven''t had any fun for months now isn''t that sad? I mean, I like killing people, I love it, but it wouldn''t be any fun if my preys don''t put up any resistance now would it?" the young demoness added with a giggle.
After hearing this nonsensical reply, the man''s face hardened and he said, "You''re insane! Why!?"
"Why¡?"
The young woman''s voice changed. The joking, teasing tone from just now was gone.
"Hmmm¡ why?"
Her head tilted adorably as she stared at the man with a slightly confused expression on her pretty face.
"Why what? Why did I kill your friends or why do I love to kill? Well, who cares. Perhaps it''s because my original job involves lots of killing, maybe I got addicted to it or perhaps I was just born this way¡ whose to say~"
The girl''s expression suddenly sank as though she had just remembered something unpleasant. At first, it seemed as though there was only a little girl before him. But in the blink of an eye, that effect disappeared and a smile bloomed on the woman''s face.
"You really don''t need to be concerned about me dear. We''re gonna have so much fun together from this point on so don''t be so scared."
She said that as thoughforting the scared lesser demon before her, however, her tone only served the terrify him even more.
The girl released her demonic daggers, which were pulled down by gravity and sank into the ground although the chains attached to her slender waist still remained, Judging by their abnormal sharpness, they must have been made of something other than simple steel.
The girl could see the demon''s eyes follow the path of the daggers as she dropped it and asked:
"Interested? This is Duranium~ More precisely, its Duranium is alloyed over Tritanium. Pretty cool weapon right? Although they''re not a magic weapon so they have no special effects, still, they do their job excellently and are easier to rece for someone like me."
The fact that she bore such exotic weaponry and brag about being able to rece them easily was a sign of the woman''s prowess, status, and backing. In other words, not only did he had no chance of victory, there was a good chance the organization wouldn''t even bother to save him.
"Then~ oh right¡ While I''d love it if you try to escape. You should know that even though you wouldn''t be of much use to me wounded, my Lil sis can use healing magic so no matter how much I hurt or torture you~ she''ll be able to fix you right up, isn''t that nice? Say, why don''t you try running huh~ I haven''t tortured anyone in years, I''m getting hot just thinking about the ways I''ll stop you¡ I might just break a leg, slice an arm out, crush your balls or slowly dice your thing while you watch~ muumuu¡. I''m getting excited."
As she uttered those bone-chilling words that would surely terrify any man, she drew a single short blue de from under her robe.
"This should be good¡ sorry if I miss~ well, throwing weapons are not really my specialty."
It was adorable, the way she stuck her tongue out at him. However, there was no trace of goodwill in those eyes of that and her filthy personality would make anyone''s skin crawl.
The man''s mind went nk with fear. Surely he had heard what she had said and he should have known that running would not save him but bring him more pain so why did he do it. If asked he would have to answer for it as he could not even think at this moment. The fear that gripped his heart could not allow him to remain still.
He quickly turned his back to her and ran. Although he heard an exaggerated gasp of surprise from the young woman, he still ran with every ounce of strength in him. He was proud of his agility and as a thief, he was geared for maximum quickly so naturally, he used everything at his disposal to the fullest.
However, there was a ttering noise from behind him, followed by the woman''s calm voice.
"¡ªToo slow~"
Searing pain filled his shoulder. His first thought was that he had been stabbed by a knife, and then his mind went hazy and a shadow fell over his thoughts.
His mind was being invaded by something and he could actually feel it rewriting his thoughts. It was mind control.
The man desperately tried to resist, but that only mired his consciousness further in darkness. He was about to be lost in the dark abyss when a shred of hope suddenly pulled him out of it.
The voice of "a beloved friend" came from behind him.
"Ah~ Are you all right? You seem to be bleeding, is the wound deep?"
"Mm, no, it''s fine," the man smiled as he turned to face his most precious friend. A friend he was even willing to die for.
"Is that so? That''s wonderful~"
Hearing that, a dreadful smile bloomed on the young woman''s face.
????????
????????
*Knock knock knock
A few minutes after the knock was ced on the thick metal door of therge two-story building by the side of an alley in the lower districts of the south borough. A pair of dull green eyes peaked out through the opening or peephole in the door and saw the familiar figure of a lesser demon with pale grey skin tone, two small horns by the side of his head, short messy ck hair, and an almost sparkling green eyes¡ª standing outside smiling ear to ear at him.
"Ah, you''re back, what''s with that look on your face? Did the job pay that high? Darn, I shoulda tagged along, what a shame."
As the man inside the building continuously rambled on and on, several heavy and enchanted locks on the door were immediately undone.
However, before the demon behind the door could even open the door, his head was mmed into the wall by the force of therge metal door being kicked out of its hinges and flying through therge room until the force of the wall on the other side of the room cut off its momentum with a loud bang.
"Yahaloo~ I''vee for recruitments, any volunteers?~"
More than 50 men were stationed in this building right now even. Their numbers were still so high even after losing more than 30 of their colleagues in the massacre only a few days ago. This showed the state of the south as it was the birth and breading ce of the lowest of lowlifes.
Half of these 50 men were seated scantily inside therge room ¡ª that served as a dining hall as well as a bar¡ª whose door had just been kicked in. Being startled by the sudden intruder, their eyes followed the path of the flying door andnded on the young demoness with a pretty face and a bone-chilling and menacing smile on her face, their instincts immediately screamed danger and they all hastily rushed to get their weapons.
However, Citrus wouldn''t let them. Her lips curled into a smile watching the bunch scurry around like cockroaches as she took out multiple blue des from within her cloak and in less than a few seconds, the de had pierced into various body parts of more than twenty men.
She giggled slightly to herself as she slowly skipped forward airily as she moved further into the building with a carefree expression on her face.
Screams of horror and despair followed butsted only a few moments and in less than ten minutes, every single remaining member of the south district''s Numbers branch of winged city had fallen under the influence of the mind control daggers in her possession and with a satisfied expression, she marched them away from the building and disappeared into the night.
Chapter 148 C148. Potential Break
The next morning¡ª
Bam! BANG!
The door to thergest room in one of the less luxurious hotels in west borough was suddenly swung open and a slender figure wearing a ck hooded cloak briskly walk right into the room in a flighty manner.
Completely disregarding the two men in suits that stood by either side of the door and were supposed to be keeping guard. Although they had been startled by her sudden presence and had almost tried to stop her, their hands quickly doze upon realizing who it was.
"I''m back~ did you miss me?"
"Oh sister, you''re back, wee back."
Lifting her head from the mountain of papers on the desk before her, the young girl in the room turned her head to the side and greeted the new visitor that had rudely barged in on her and n interrupted her work with an awkward and hesitant smile on her face.
If this had been anyone else, they would''ve received a blow to the face but she could not lose her temper at the woman in front of her. Especially not in their current location as they had illegally entered the city without informing the city''s lord of their arrival even though they would be treated as guests and a private vi was already set aside for members of their family.
However , doing that would be bad as they would immediately be assigned maids and guards to spy on them as well as secret operatives to investigate their reasons foring.
"How sad~ you don''t even look happy to see your older sister."
" That''s not the case, I''ve just been too busy is all. By the way, didn''t you say you had some friends that would be willing to work secretly for us? Where are they?"
"Oh didn''t worry about them, I just had to sneak them out of the city. It''s a little difficult sneaking that many people you know~ you can at least show some appreciation."
"Oh sorry, I didn''t mean to sound¡ª"
"Hehe¡ I''m kidding, I''m kidding, I can''t even be mad at my adorable Lil sis."
Saying that she jumped at Izabel, constantly rubbing her cheeks against hers as though she was a stuffed animal. Pushing her away after only a second of that, Izabel spoke again.
"Get off me!"
"Aww~ you''re so cute when you''re mad."
"Please stop saying such things, especially in front of my men."
ncing at the side, she could see her three bodyguards struggling to keep a straight expression. Her eyes narrowed into a re and they promptly straighten themselves and averted their eyes.
"Oh don''t be shy, let''s give them a show~"
"If youe to bear me again I''ll kill you."
"Aww, do you mean? Such a cranky boss." Puffing her cheeks, Citrus pouted adorably. A scene that would fool most into thinkings she was just a helpless girl.
"Just shut up. I only brought you along so you would help me, if you''re not gonna do that then leave."
"Fine fine~ no need to cry."
"I''m not¡ª *sigh, sure then, whatever you say. I don''t even know why I still engage you."
"How boring~"
"Whatever. So why exactly are we here again? Shouldn''t we be watching the castle with the rest of the team. ording to their report, there have been a lot of movements from the ones inside the castle but our main target hasn''t shown up yet. They also can''t move to follow them without getting noticed."
"Why huh? Beats me."
"Please don''t joke with me."
"Hehe¡ I mean~ we don''t exactly want the other families to use this as an excuse to attack us, do we? The non-aggression pact amongst the Great Five over thest few centuries is very fragile you know. That''s why we need to be very, very cautious in this operation dear Lil sister of mine~"
Izabel''s eyes twitched at that statement. While she was aware that despite how her sister looked and behaved, she was one of the most cautious and calcting people out there, it still irked her to hear the wordse out of her mouth.
"Using the people from this city as our scapegoats should allow us to move more easily. And as for the man you''re referring to. I know just how to draw him out~ fufufu¡ I haven''t had this much fun in years."
Looking at her older sister take a seat on the couch while giggling to herself with a disgusting smile on her face. Izabel couldn''t help but regret involving her in this. However, if it had been just her, she wasn''t sure she could do anything to redeem herself for her previous failure.
And if she were to fail again, the bastard knows as Marquis Aamon would get away with embarrassing her in the presence of the demon lord. Not only that, she might even be bundled up as a gift for amon behemoth.
''I can''t let that happen.''
??????????
??????????
At the same time¡ª
Standing by the side at one end of the training hall in the magic institute. Tyler fully focused his attention on the fight between the vice guild leader and Nadine.
Having not experimented with his innate ability at all due to theck of information on this world and theck of a test subject. This would be the first time Tyler would be using the ability with his new and improved albeit damaged mana body.
Back in the human continent, his ability had the effect of forcefully increasing the maximum potential of his target by one full tier for a duration of 60 seconds. While this might seem like a very short time and would be useless in most cases. His ability didn''t just increase the magic potential of the target.
In fact, the term ''Potential Break'' might have been a bit misleading as the ability barely did anything significant to the target''s magic potential. Well, the reason for that was because of the incredibly short duration of his ability and because the effects were only temporary so the magic potential increase was useless.
Instead, the ability would break the limits of the target''s current magic capacity and abilities. Forcefully increasing the strength of all the target''s spells and skills by one tier for a duration of 30 seconds.
Meaning, if the person the ability was used on was a tier 3 mage with a magic potential of Tier 4. The skill won''t just increase their potential to tier 5 but their current abilities as well. All their spells and skills that had been fully mastered or at 100% proficiency would also be temporarily forced into the next tier.
This would not affect the skills and spells that had not beenpletely mastered though. Thinking of this, Tyler couldn''t help but wonder why this all sounded familiar. It was like he was at the crux of figuring out something but could not quite put his finger on it.
Without the time to dwell on it, Tyler returned his attention to the duel. Due to the limit of 30 seconds, he would need to pay better attention to the fight in order to urately judge the perfect time to use his ability.
This was something he had gotten a lot better at over the years as he had always needed to do simr things when he had been an adventurer in the human continent.
Boom!
Nadine charged in at the berserk Kal with her bo-staff in hand. However, Kal, in his current state was several levels ahead of her physically and could easily match her pace with little effort. He avoided her heavy swing and kicked at her.
Although she had set up several defensive measures including a magic barrier, his strength was still beyond what she had expected as her body flew back several paves and mmed into the marble floor.
Kal didn''t seem to want his berserk skill to go to waste so he immediately lunged at her, his two-handed long sword now coated in his energy. Nadine''s defensive magic had negated the majority of the pain so she was able to easily recover and avoided his strike.
Still, Kal pressed on with giving her any room or time to create distance between themselvesunching a barrage of attacks at her that she was barely able to either deflect or avoid, intending to take full advantage of his overwhelming physical abilities.
"Shockwave"
A spell was used but to no effect as Kal just shattered it without even trying. He swung his de at her with great speeds and Nadine would asionally parry it with her bo staff and avoid the ones she could.
While he sped and strength was superior, hers. She was still a beastkin and her instincts were leaps and bounds beyond his especially in his berserk state so she would be able to somewhat keep up with him.
Sensing his berserk skill at an end, Kal''s aura intensified as he activated an attack skill.
?Rage Storm Barrage?
Swinging his de several times in quick session, a barrage of zing red aura gusted at her in a wave that could not be avoided. The energy tore through the magically reinforced marbled flooring as it approached her and Nadine knew that all her defenses would not work against this attack.
Left with no other options, she countered with a skill of her own.
?Misty Vortex?
Her foot twisted and she immediately began to spin while stretching out her staff, creating a whirling mass of misty air that resembled a whirlpool or whirlwind. The vortex drew in the gusting barrage of zing red auras and incorporated the energy to fuel itself.
Sensing that Nadine threw her staff at Kal and the vortex quickly moved with the weapon. With the addition of the red aura, the energy within it was massive and Kal was unable to block it normally.
"Hahaha¡ impressive." Saying that he used thest of his berserk energy and sh at the mass of air before him.
?Dominion sh?
With a wave of pure white energy, the massive vortex was split in half as it disperse into nothingness. However, the white streak of energy did not stop there and continued as it tore the ground towards Nadine at supersonic speeds.
"Tsk"
Clicking her tongue, she readied herself to parry the Attack but quickly realized that her weapon had been split in half with the vortex. With little time left she narrowly avoided the attack but was left unbnced.
Before she could even try to regain her stance, Kal had already appeared before her and was just about to swing his de at the defenseless girl. Although his berserk skill was over, his physical abilities still surpassed hers and she could no longer avoid or defend herself.
Seeing this, Tyler who had wanted to hold out for a while longer had no choice but to use his ability right now f he didn''t want her to lose, or worse, get injured. While he didn''t have to touch his target to use his ability on them, there was still a range limit and the further the target was from him, the less effective his ability was and the shorted the duration of the skill.
Right now, however, Nadine was within a 100-meter radius so it was fine. Opening his eyes, Tyler targeted Nadine and tried to activate his ability.
However¡ª
''what''s this?''
Trying to activate his ability again, Tyler''s heart almost sank at a second failure.
''Did I lose it? Oh no.'' His mind raced as he tried to focus his Consciousness inward. Sensing all the abilities and spells engraved on his mana body. It should be impossible to lose an innate ability as it was the ability born with the soul so unless one''s soul was destroyed, one should be able to lose the ability.
So why could he not activate his? Searching himself for some time he finally arrived at the answer. He could clearly still sense the presence of the ability in his very existence and now knew why his previous two attempts had failed.
The reason was quite simple. One could not active an ability that was already active.
Yes, his ability had been on since the moment he had awakened on this continent.
Chapter 149 C149. A Single Hit
''What is the meaning of this?''
Tyler''s mind almost went nk at this sudden realization that defiled everything he thought he knew about his ability.
How was it even possible? Well, to be honest, if he had actually thought about it seriously while considering every single possibility, he surely would''ve figured it out. It had always been weird how he could always use spells beyond their limits and any normal person would''ve made the simple connection especially when they had an ability that could do something simr.
However, ever since he woke up from that ridiculously long nap, he had immediately been thrown into the thick of things and always had something to worry about, never finding the time to actually sit down and think. Truth be told, it was a miracle he had gotten this far without getting himself killed or making a huge blunder that would bring down the wrath of the entire continent on him. He needed to be extra cautious no matter what.
Of course, he couldn''tpletely me himself though, as he never knew his ability could affect his body at all. As far as he knew he had always only been able to use the ability on others and not himself. Moreover, being asleep for more than 1000 years had more than damaged his mana body by infusing him with mana but had also affected his mind.
Not only was he not able to fully control his emotions, but his thinking abilities also seems to be a little affected. Still, it seems the undergroundke or whatever it was had done more to him than he thought and he needed to figure it out as soon as possible.
''I should make a note to visit that ce and investigate soon.''
While Tyler felt perplexed about the situation that surrounded his ability. He didn''t really have the time to think about that right now as Kal''s weapon was only an inch away from Nadine''s shoulder des.
[Potential Nreak]
Since his ability was already active, he found it a lot harder to control it, and as he literally had no time to think about anything else. While his ability had never required much mana, to begin with, Tyler had never felt the man leave him whenever he would use the ability so he assumed the ability did not use any mana.
However, with his usual method of using the ability just by activating it gone, he had to think logically so he quickly stirred the little mana he could within such a short amount of time and aimed it at Nadine, hoping she would be able to avoid the iing de with her improved physique which would put her on an equal ying field with Kal.
However¡ª
Nadine who was about to close her eyes out of fear from the iing de, suddenly paused as she felt a surge of warm yet chaotic energy invade and stir up her mana body for only a moment, and then¡ª it shattered.
*Boom!
"Huh!"
The entire group of spectators who stood at one end of the hall to watch the match and had all flinched when they saw Kal''s attack about to make contact due to them already being a part of Nadine''s rapidly growing fan club, all suddenly had cked jaws. What they had expected to see had failed to happen and what they saw shocked them to their cores as they all eximed in unison.
"Oh lord, what just happen."
"I have no clue."
"This is absurd isn''t it."
"Damn, just what is this!"
The sight before them was indeed very strange as their vice guild leader, a full-fledged demon who was a freaking Tier 4 magic swordsman and had held the advantage during the entire fight while already having his opponent pinned down was now suddenly lying face down ¡ª on a crater that had just appeared on the ground¡ªunconscious.
There was no way these men who had all sparred countless times with him and knew just how strong he was wouldn''t be surprised. Hell, even Tyler had a dumbfounded expression on his face. He was quite lucky no one was staring in his direction and his hood covered the majority of his face.
That was a tier 4 magic swordsman they were talking about. That man could face a thousand, not a hundred thousand ordinary fighters and stille out unscathed. There was no reason why Nadine who was only at the peak stage of Tier 3 would be able to knock him out in a single blow.
Even if his ability had been a sess, Nadine should only be at the peak of Tier 4 right now and while she would have the edge against someone still only at the basic level of Tier 4, there was no reason why she should be able to do that to Kal. Besides, like a magic swordsman, Kal''s physiques was already at the peak stage of Tier 4 so something like this definitely shouldn''t have happened.
while Tyler had not been using a 100% of his magic sense in order to use his ability, he has still seen what had happened with his enhanced vision.
?????
Kal''s two-handed long sword was just about to reach her skin when Nadine suddenly felt a huge burst of energy within her. The energy then had a ripple effect that instantly pushed her past her limit. The bottleneck she had always felt had suddenly been utterly destroyed and power she had never felt before flowed through her.
Everything instantly felt calm and the attack that was aimed at her now suddenly seemed incredibly slowpared to what it had been. Well, no, it wasn''t slow at all, in fact, it should be moving at an even greater speed than before but she had just suddenly be faster. Fast enough that the man before her now appeared to be moving in slow motion.
With minimal movements, she avoided the attack like it was nothing. Her body seem to be in a state where she had absolute control over every fiber of her muscles, it was as though her body control had suddenly reached its peak. If she tried a little she could sense foreign mana that surged inside her mana body giving her strength beyond her wildest dreams and a newfound connection to the one she had pledged her loyalty to.
''What is this feeling. Is this lord Ty''s ability? Such power. I can sense something else within this massive energy.,
Taking a look at the surprised face of the still attacking vice guild leader of the magic institute, who seems to have barely moved since she avoided his de as he was still in the middle of that attack and seems to be trying something. Probably aiming to use a skill to cut off his momentum and increase his speed to match hers.
However, it was already toote asher gaze met his and her eyes suddenly shed red in a dominating presence.
Immediately, Kal''s body frozepletely even though he was still mid-motion. Without a second thought, Nadine spun around and the back of her foot made a swift and impactful connection with the back of Kal''s head, his eyes rolling back as his face was sent mming into the hard marbled floor on an impact that created a mini crater in the ground and of course, he immediately passed out.
''Was that? Did she just use demon''s might?''
Tyler''s head was spinning as he could not fullyprehend what had just happened even though he had seen it with his own eyes. He quickly and silently cast the spell cate on himself as he tried to think about it logically.
''What the hell was that? Was she always able to use that skill? No, no, it didn''t mention that on her file so did she just learn it. How though? I created that skill myself so she shouldn''t be able to just learn it right. Wait, did she just steal my skill through our brief connection.''
Thinking this, Tyler hastily retreated inwards and check his skills to confirm if it was actually stolen by Nadine but soon sighed in relief as he could sense that he still had it.
''So what just happened? Is potential break somehow able copy my skills and spells to those I use it on. How though, this had never happened before. Well, I barely had any mana before so that''s probably why right? Damn, there''s still a lot to my own ability I don''t know about.''
"T-Th... The winner of the d-duel had been decided and by the agreed terms miss Lilith has been dered the winner!"
One of the guilds staff members awkwardly annoyed the winner of the match to the still dumbstruck spectators and the entire hall still remained silent for a while when suddenly, it was an uproar.
"Oy oy did that just happen."
"I can''t believe my eyes either, she actually won against the vice."
"Oh, my lord... This is amazing."
"what I match, I am in love."
"Oy hey what are talking about here, you already have a pretty wife at home. Leave miss Lilith for us singles."
"Shut up, I''ll leave my wife this instance if miss Lilith agrees to even make me her servant."
"Oy young miss,e over here."
"Yeah let''s go drinking and celebrate."
"Will you marry me. You can have my entire fortune."
"Miss Lilith don''t mind him, he''s broke. Please marry me instead, you can have all my savings."
Rants like that continued for quite a while and Tyler couldn''t help but sigh. Their distracting words were interfering with his thoughts so he decided to put his questions on hold until he could fully research his abilities and find out from Nadine what had truly happened to her.
She was obviously not at the peak tier 4 standard when she had knocked Kal out so it seems his ability could push one by several tiers with his current mana body. However, he wasn''t yet sure how long the effects wouldst. It would be a great thing if the time limit of 60 seconds had increased a bit but if it remained the same that was fine too. However, it would be sad that f it had grown shorter.
Tyler watch Nadine closely to observe the time as he counted in his mind. She kept breathing heavily as she ignored the uproar and walked towards her. Feeling something strange Tyler reach a hand to touch her head and was almost burnt.
Her skin felt like it had been lit on fire as her body looked a bit red. She was burning up. The sudden increase in power was a bit too much for her to handle and her physical body could not fully ept the change.
Because the Kal''s de had given her a few scratches earlier, Tyler used that as an excuse to cast several healing magic on her which reduced the effect a little bit if that went on for too long, something terrible might happen. However, just as he was about to use the spell again, the effects of his ability suddenly stopped and her body began to cool down at a rapid pace.
''Wow, that was more than two minutes. I really have to be careful from now on.''
With Nadine finally feeling better she smiled at Tyler who, while he didn''t know why, he still sighed in relief. Tyler saw the guild staff rush over to help Kal and one of them approached him.
"Mr. Lix, congrattions on joining the guild. As the vice had promised, you will be given the starting rank of 2 so please follow me for your guild badge and an exnation of our rules and Privileges for your rank and also how to rank up."
Nodding his head, they both followed the staff out of the room,pletely ignoring the screaming spectators and the vice guild leader who was about to wake up after healing magic had been used on him.
Chapter 150 C150. Way Too Busy For This
After receiving a very lengthy lecture on how the magic institute in this city operated, their ranking system, points-based rewards, and their research center as well as the requirements. Tyler and Nadine finally received their rank 2 magicians badge and start-up kit that contained all the necessities for a basic mission including, a single scroll for healing, sensing traps, and camouge with a basic map that had little to no details in it about the other regions but quite a bit about Sentro.
The map alone was worth more than all the tier 1 scrollsbined, but the basic kit itself was very valuable. It clearly demonstrated the difference between the three organizations.
With all that out of the way, Tyler and Nadine were now finally membersof the Zorak magic institute. The institute in cities like these operated mostly as a guild and research center where they could m recruit young and talented mages to be sent to the magic academy every year. However, most of the institute''s operations revolve around researching new spells, making magic items, and quests.
While Tyler was interested in the magic research tower in the institute, he no longer had the time for that as the lecture had taken way more time than he had expected and it was almost noon. He needed to visit the merchant guild for his payments, as well as the restaurant where he would be meeting up with the party of five he had gone Hunting with.
He also needed to visit the Runic''s weapon shop to pay and receive his order before he would be able to have some time to himself to figure somethings out. Even then, he still had to return to the Fabelt''s Pass to retrieve Zelda who was busy still mining the Runites from that underground cavern before the nobles can finish their preparations for subjugating the mine.
Although he had found out that there was a library in the magic institute that contained valuable Magical resources. Tyler was currently unable to ess that information as he was only allowed entrance to the first floor of the library.
ording to what he knew from the lecture, the library had seven levels or floors and the first level did not contain any magical books like spell books, skill books, and various others. Rather the first floor was a rtively normal library with books on literature,nguages, novels, and things that Tyler wasn''t interested in.
However, the books on thenguage on the demon continent had interested him a lot as he could not read them. With the aid of magic since he could speak and understand thenguage since they were automatically tranted to English but he was unable to read any of the books only recognizing some numbers.
While Nadine was better at reading than him, she also wasn''t that adept in it as well and could only help Tyler read the title of the books. With his new magician''s badge, Tyler was able to borrow five of thenguage books to study in his spare time.
while he was unable to use any other floors in the library, as a known Tier 3 mage, he was able to purchase a few scrolls and spellbooks from the guild shop. Their selection was not as extravagant as the magic library but it was still better than nothing.
He finally purchased the flight spell as well as various other Tier 3 spells he felt he needed although with how expensive a single spellbook was, he was unable to buy only a handful of them for now.
There spell books he bought were as follows:
Shockwave.
Flight.
Lava Arrows.
Lightning.
Thought Communication.
These were by far the most useful spells in their selection but for some reason the female staff was looking at Tyler strangely after he had made his selections which made him feel like he had done something wrong, making him a bit anxious. Perhaps she had found it strange that a new member of the guild was able to afford over 1000Dc worth of books but Tyler had no way to know this.
Receiving his items, he turned around to leave, however, it would seem like fate wanted to toy with him today as a group of magicians dressed in way too fancy of magicians'' robes and unting their crystal badges with the symbol for the number 5 engraved on it.
They were clearly Rank 5 magicians and judging by their extravagant equipment, they were either high members of a highly ranked noble family or part of an extremely wealthy merchant family but the former seemed to be the most likely possibility.
"Well hello there, I am the great Van Kuval Grimer III, the pleasure is all yours.
The one who spoke seems to be the leader of their group of three. He was a fairly handsome fellow with a typical smug and punchable face. He had sky blue eyes and long golden hair and had a luxurious red robe with golden threads adorning it draped over his shoulders.
He held a long white staff with arge blue gem on top of it and beautiful sparkling lights dancing inside of it. He seems to have light chain mail armor inside his robe for extra protection and a few golden rings that seem to be magical items adorned his left hands.
One of the other two behind him was a warrior with a red long shield strapped to his back and a hammer by his waist as he wore quite the expensive-looking silver armor that was either made of tinum or adamantine. He had jet ck hair that wasbed back, a tanned skin tone, and brown eyes but more ordinary facial features whenpared to Van.
Thest was an archer with a longbow hung around his shoulder and two short swords by his waist. He wore leather armor lined with adamantine and had an above-average face with short curly brown hair, ck eyes, and a slightly round face.
"The lord Van of the Grimer household just took his time to greatmoners like you, you should show some respect and bow."
"Bow?" Tyler asked slightly tilting his head in confusion.
"Oh don''t mind mypanion, they are always so serious. This is the magic institute, our original status doesn''t matter the only thingthat matters is our ranking."
While anyone who heard that would think that statement was humble. The smug look on Van''s face showed his true colors and Tyler could clearly see him trying to sh his badge at them.
"Can we help you with something? If not please move, Mr. Lix is very busy at the moment."
The one to speak was surprisingly Nadine who stood by Tyler''s side and stared at the trio with a glint of anger in her eyes. Tyler hadn''t expected that from her at all so he was caught off guard. He knew her personality around him was a lot more reserved than it actually was which could be considered a good and bad thing but right now she didn''t seem to have her usual cool.
The effects of his ability on her had expired a while back. It hadsted longer than it used to which was a good thing but the bad thing was the side effects. While he still wasn''tpletely sure about it, the abilitysted for more than 5 minutes but boosting a person by two full tiers seems to affect their mana body which could kill them if care was not taken.
There was a chance the only reason that had happened was because of the current state of his mana body but that was still a theory for now and he would have to test it out after he finds a way topletely fix himself.
"You little! How dare you, amon demi-human dares speak to lord Van like that."
"Please Geim calm down, it''s obvious they are outsiders and don''t know any better. Someone as gracious as I am cannot take offense at their ignorance but only educate them.
The twockeys behind him nodded in approval as they ttered him.
"Marvelous, not only is lord Van strong, but he is also kind and honorable to such lowlymoners... I mean rookies."
"Yes indeed. Lord Van is an example to all men." (Author''s Note: I tried using the word demon and demoness to rece men and women for a while but had to stop since it was a bother. I didn''t know how to apply it to demihumans so I''ll stick with the general terms we all know formon things like this.)
At this point, Tyler was totally confused. He had no idea what was going on or why this trio of idiots had blocked his path and had chosen to waste his time.
"Do pardon mypanion, Mr. Van, she indeed was a bit rude however, she spoke only the truth and we are already quitete for an appointment."
"Please show some respect to Lord Van and address him as Lord, he is the third son of the of the Grimer family, and inCase you don''t know, that is the family of a demon Earl."
The one who spoke was the archer that had been called Geim by Van earlier. However, Tylerpletely agree honored him, and stared at Van instead. Seeing this, Geim was about to retort when Van raised an arm to stop him.
"Calm down Geim, we''re not here for war, we''re here for peace, and to help our fellow magicians."
"Of course you''re right, please forgive me, lord Van."
"Nonsense, you did nothing wrong. So I heard that the two of you were somehow able to defeat Kal in a duel, which is impressive, even if it was two on one. What say you, why don''t you join my party."
"Be grateful for lord Van''s invite. Rank 1''s like yourselves have no chance in making it out there without our protection."
Saying that Tyler could see the confident looks on their faces and could not help but wonder if they were serious or not. The fact that they called them rank 1s showed they had not witnessed Nadine''s fight and had only heard a vague rumor yet they chose to rush out here to stop them.
With an exasperated sigh, Tyler promptly shook his head as he held back Nadine from doing something and politely declined. He had only just joined the guild so doing something to one of its high rankers might cause a problem for his nster on.
"We''ll have to decline your kind offer, we have no use for a party so If you''ll excuse us, we''ll be on our way."
"No use?"
Ignoring the group''s shocked expression, Tyler dragged Nadine along as they both walked around the trio towards the exit of the hall.
"Me? Of no use? Me useless?"
Walking ever closer to the door, Tyler could hear the group muttering to themselves and could not help but sigh. Looking around, there were only a few people paying attention to them but still.
"You ignorantpleasant! How dare you call me, Van Kuval Grimer, the third son of the Grimer family useless, you''ll pay for this!!"
Tyler and Nadine slightly turned around to see the three res that stared at them, and it didn''t seem like they would stop at just that even though this was the middle of the quiet lobby. The shout had also drawn in the attention of many and it seemed like the staffs were on their way here to mediate the situation.
However¡ª
"You''ll pay dearly for this... Die!!!
Summon Fire Elemental." (Tier 4)
Screaming at the pair, Val cast a spell and arge crimson magic circle appeared on the ground before him as the temperature in the hall rose rapidly at the arrival of the elemental that had dominion over fire.
Seeing the magic circle formed on the ground, Tyler had to admit that his interest was slightly peaked as he observed the construction of such a high-tiered magic circle from a rtively close range. However, upon the arrival of the monster, the attention of everyone in the hall was now on them and he was also runningte for his appointment so he needed to end this quickly and Nadine shared his thoughts.
"I am way too busy for this nonsense."
Saying that both Tyler''s and Nadine''s eyes shed red as Van and his goons all suddenly froze. Their minds went nk as they lost the grip of their consciousnesses and passed out. The summoned elemental that had only just appeared began to disperse as the tye connection between it and his master was broken.
Chapter 151 C151. The Ride Back
Back in the magic institute.
The Guild Leader''s Office¡ª
Syphilia sat on the leather sofa by the corner of her office with a strange expression on her face as she stared dumbly at the crystal mirror that floated before her. Her attention had been on the image desyed on that mirror which did not reflect her face nor the wall behind her, but the interiors of a massive hall that was also located in this building.
Yes, she was indeed watching the duel that was taking ce in the training hall the moment the demonstration of the two neers had ended. The entire purpose of the duel was to taunt and draw out the real strength and abilities of the one known as Lix.
Although she had no real issues against him, she hated the fact that he was able to resist her charms including her abilities and needed to know why. Call it a desperate bid of curiosity if you will but not knowing¡ª especially when the person was in your guild¡ª would be torture for her.
However ¡ª That damable idiot that was supposed to be her vice guild leader, had messed it up at the very first stage. Why would he let himself get provoked into epting the duel with the girl she had no interest in. Well, that had been her original thoughts.
And yet¡ª
The girl she had originally thought to be nothing more than a simple slightly talented beastkin had turned out to be the star of the show. It turns out the one hiding their true strength was her after all. Perhaps that was why he had refused to fight Kal.
While Kal''s use of his berserk skill had been uncalled for and unprofessional, she had to admit that it was worth it for the fact that he had been able to draw out her full strength at the veryst moment. The strength the girl had disyed with herst attack was no doubt at the peak of Tier 5. Such strength was already at the level of a behemoth and even some demon lords. Such a thought sent shivers down her back.
With that in mind, the chances that she had been the one protecting him from her abilities back then was very high. In the end, she was surely the more interesting of the bunch, a young beastgirl with the strength of a behemoth. So why in the world were they moving around like she was just his partner.
Thinking about it for only a moment, the answer was simple. She was a beastkin, a demihuman, a race that was considered to be even below that of lesser demons, so she would surely be looked down upon if she came alone. The fact that she had not hidden her appearance so the man could be the focus of others intrigue was brilliant.
She was surely quite the formidable opponent, a brilliant strategist indeed. Still, what was her aim ining here. Judging by her fight she didn''t seem to have any tier 4 spells and above so perhaps she came to learn. It was indeed very hard formoners, much less demihumans to learn magic.
Not only were the material and knowledge very expensive, money alone could not buy them. It would only be natural if she had done all this to get epted into the magic institute for that reason.
Syphilia sighed tiredly as she dispelled the crystal mirror the moment the group had left the hall with the staff. There was nothing she could do about this as they had brought her the rmendation letter from Rio and she was not permitted to refuse them.
"What a pain, the only thing I can do now is report this to Aur isn''t it."
She gulped down the ss of wine on the table before her as sheidzily on the couch. "Why me... I really hate that guy, why do I have to deal with him because of her. Hmmm... wait, I can just pick up a quest to make myself busy and send Kal to him instead right. Yeah, I''ll definitely do that. That should be his punishment for losing so badly."
Saying that, a satisfied smile graced upon her beautiful face as she closed her eyes and took a nap.
??????????
??????????
¡ªBack in the lobby of the magic institute.
Everyone present in the lobby watched in silence as they saw the proud and arrogant Van summon a Tier 4 fire elemental and then suddenly corpse on the ground with his twockeys. Most of them had no idea what had happened and could only stare in confusion and disbelief.
Although there were a few mages and Hunters with sharp senses that had clearly sense the dominating force that hadpletely suppress a Tier 4 summoner to the point that he had passed out. Questioning and curious gazes bathe the pair of neers, most of which were studying them inch by inch, something that hadn''t happened the first time they had entered this ce.
Tyler sighed, his original goal had not been to attract attention but it seem that trouble just won''t stop finding him. Still, this was within his expectations. He was the type that was never fully confident in his ns so he would alway make severalyers of back up ns for his Inevitable failure. Such a bad habit was not something a Supposed Demon Lord should have but whatever, he wasn''t a demon lord to begin with so he couldn''t care less as long as he achieved his goal.
With the way things are now, he would have to adjust his ns only a little which was a good thing. Ignoring the pairs of eyes on him and the staffs rushing to check up on the three idiots. Tyler turned back around and left the building with Nadine in tow.
Walking out of the institute after wasting way more time than expected, they boarded a private carriage back to west boroughs central za. The ride would take almost an hour so Tyler had some time to himself.
"How are you feeling?" He asked the only other person in the carriage with him and she excitedly responded.
"Great, I feel better than I have ever felt before."
"Really?"
"Yes sir, my body is lighter and faster than ever. It''s like I just achieved a breakthrough and my physique has improved, however, it''s not hard at all for me to control it like it normally would. My body control is even better than when I mastered my Tier 3 body."
"A breakthrough?"
Tyler''s expression went nk. What in the world was she talking about. He had only asked her how she felt because of the side effects she had experienced earlier and to find out how she got his skills and how many of his skills she was able to use but now she was saying words that he could notprehend.
Of course, Tyler had never experienced a breakthrough before so he wouldn''t understand what she meant. As one trained and grew stronger, they would Inevitably be met with a bottleneck that they would need to work several times harder to break no matter how high their magic potential was.
Tiers were generally split into levels namely, basic, intermediate, advance and peak level. These levels were generally harder to get through the higher you went however, when one got to the peak stage, they would hit a bottle neck and would not be able to advance easily without making a massive breakthrough.Of course this only applied to situation where one had not yet reached the limits of their potential as that was the final bottleneck that could never be broken.
Or so he thought¡ª
However, for Nadine who was a the peak of Toer 3 to say she had archived such a thing, it meant she had broken past her limit and was no longer at the tier 3 standards.
However, that should be impossible right? ording to her file her magic potential was also Tier 3 and reaching the peak stage should''ve meant she had achieved her potential which was an incredibly impressive feat no matter who it was, not to mention she was only 17. And yet, what was she implying? Amagic potential was not something that could be improved with any sorts of hard work or talent.
The potential you were born with would stay the same for the rest of your life and even potential break couldn''t change that. Right?
"Hey Nadine."
"Yes my lord,"
"Do you mind if I use appraisal on you?"
"Of course not."
"Thanks."
While the appraisal Magic he knew should be too low to be able to appraise a person, Tyler no longer thought such as thing mattered anymore and although he did his best to not damage his mana body, he still let his mana run wild while activating the spell.
¡ªAppraisal¡ª
____________________________________________________________________________
Name: Nadine Farhart
Race: Beastman (Dog)
ss: Magic Fighter
Tier: Basic Level - Fourth Tier
Magic Type: Lightning, Wind, Darkness
Innate Ability: None.
Racial Skills: DarkVision, Superior Agility, Keen Senses, Full Transformation, Temper, Cutesy.
Skills: Demon''s Might, Charge, Melee Combat (Intermediate), Versitle Strike, Battle Flow Analist.
Resistances: Lightning Resistance, Wind Resistance (Mid), Darkness Resistance (Low), Physical Resistance (Low), Magic Resistance (Mid).
____________________________________________________________________________
''Huh? It actually says Tier 4, she''s currently at the basic level of the fourth tier, right? I''m not being pranked right. Did she just increase her rank a level because of my ability? Not to mention the fact that she now has demons might even though she''s not a demon. What the hell did I do.''
Tyler''s eyes lost their luster as they just stared nkly at Nadine who seemed to be excitedly waiting for him with slightly flushed cheeks.
"Hmm, lord Ty, Am I right? Did I really get stronger?"
Her seemingly innocent words dragged Tyler out of his stupor as he tried to calm down and think properly. Naturally, this was more than a piece of world-shattering news, and anyone who heard it would be in the same state as he was, maybe even worse.
There had always been a single constant in this world and that was the fact that magic potential could not be changed or improved. They were considered the natural heritage of the world as those that were favored by the world were born with high potential and those that were not would draw the short straw.
This was something that the demon continent especially the noble hierarchy was built on and Tyler''s ability could easily destroy the fragile state of such a system. His ability literally utters the world development itself and would most definitely make him an even bigger target than he already was. It was something that was capable of plunging the world into another Great War. Of course, that was only assuming he was able to protect himself from the rest of the world.
Right now, the nobles could not move on the castle mostly due to theirck of informationand wariness against each other but if they were to find out about his ability. Not even the library would be able to save him. Tyler sighed inwardly, thinking about something he didn''t fully understand was a waste of time and he could not afford to waste time anymore.
"Yes indeed, congrattions, you''re now a Tier 4 magic fighter."
"Wow really... Yesssss!"
It was quite a shock for Tyler but Nadine, it was something else. Seeing her lose her cool in an adorable scream for joy would''ve normally made Tyler smile but now he could only sigh in resignation.
"By the way lord Ty,"
"Hmm."
"How did I make a breakthrough, my magic potential was Tier 3 and no matter how hard I tried I could never make it past that. I had felt your presence inside of me and I can now even use a skill I had never learned before. Also, my body control has greatly improved which is not something that should be possible right?"
"How uh... Don''t worry about that for now. Also, don''t mention this to anyone else, understand?"
"Understood."
Chapter 152 C152. Consumable Items
"Inderstood."
Hearing her swift and decisive answer, Tyler nodded his head in approval as his thoughts drifted away for a moment before he suddenly remembered something he had wanted to do as well.
They had only been riding for about ten minutes now so there was still sometime before they would reach their destination so he had to make good use of this free time. With a tired expression he reached into space and dragged something out of the void.
It was something that slightly resembled a stick of about thirty to thirty-five centimeters in length. It emitted a faint but wild aura that was barely visible to the naked eyes but one could easily notice it with magic vision or any type of enhanced sight skill.
This was a wand that looked to be made out of ivory. The handle was inscribed with quite the high-level runes that probably consisted of only first-level intermediate runes and as such, Tyler was unable to decipher its meaning.
There was a slightly glowing green gem attached to the front end of the wand and it gave it an indescribable feeling of unpredictable proportions. This was indeed the Epic ranked magic items the Hunter party had given him as payment for their mission to the Farbel''s Pass.
The item was still unappraised and as such, Tyler was still unaware of its use and effects. However, as an Epic ranked magic item, Tyler was fairly confident it would turn out to be something useful. And even if it was useless to him personally, he could always gift it as a reward to someone else whenever they aplished anything of significance.
Holding the item in his left hand, Tyler once again cast the Tier 2 all appraisal spell on it.
¡ªAppraisal¡ª
?????
?Wand of Chaos?
Magic item - Epic Rank
Type - Consumable (1 time use)
A wand forged from the horn of a Dark unicorn and enchanted by powerful magic. This wand contains an unstable core and a faint connection to the spiritual ne. Emmits chaotic pulse of weak corrupted energy that constantly destabilize the mana essence in the air around it.
Primary Effects: Mass Summons. (Random Tier)
Consume the entirety of this items essence to summon arge horde of monsters to do your bidding until they die. As the core is still damaged, the horde of monsters may vary in strength and species with the chance of summoning a Lord ss creature as 10% and the chance of summing only the lowest ranked monster at 40%
The level and number of the creatures summoned may increase and decrease based on the power and skills of the summoner but would not exeeed the limits of this item.
Note: Due to the corrupted energy, there is a 2% chance of summoning an uncontroble devil that would attempt to devour the user''s soul. (Strength of the creature is dependent on where the item is used.)
?????
Tyler slightly frowned as he read through the information in his mind. While the item itself was very valuable to him as theck of manpower had been a great source of worry for him, the fact that this was a consumable item disappointed him a lot.
Then there was theck of consistency with the item due to its chaotic nature. Summoning a horde of basic monster would surely be aplete an utter waste of an Epic Ranked item. Not to mention the chance of summoning a devil which he was still unclear on.
He still had no idea what devils truly were and thus could not urately judge their threat level. However, if he were to go by the reaction of Unrivaled, he should at least be worried about it. The stuff about the strength of the devil depending on where the item was used was also strange but Tyler just had to deal with it.
He only had one use for the item and thus would not gift it to someone that would get hurt if a devil were to suddenly show up.
Still, it was best he took some precautions before using the item. Tyler then ruturned the item back to his storage space as he simultaneously brought out another item. It was a brow book with a vague drawing of a magic circle on it.
This was the spell book for flight. Looking at the cover alone, one could easily tell that this book was a copy of a copy and thus could not bepared to the ones at the magic library. Tyler sighed inwardly as he opened to first page of the book to learn spell.
However ¡ª
He could not fully understand the book or more specifically, he could not fully read the magic runes that formed the words written on the pages of the book. Third tier spells were typically written in both the third-level intermediate rune and the second level. And since Tyler could not read passed the third level, he could not understand it so he decided it was best to turn to the only person in the carriage that had learnt third tier spells.
"Hey Nadine, can you read magic runes?"
"No sir I can''t."
"Is that so, then how did you learn third tier spells."
"Oh I was just taught to memorize the simbols that formed the magic circle until I was able to engrave it in my mana body."
"I see. Is there anyone in the settlement that can read magic runes?"
"Umm... I thinkdy Erin could read up to intermediate runes and the captain can read basic rune a bit thanks to her."
"Is that so."
Tyler silently nodded and thought for a moment. He knew spells could be learnt when taught by a teacher even with any knowledge of magic runes but he hadn''t thought there would be so few who could actually read it.
Although Liz seemed like the smart type and maybe able to read it as well but still, he didn''t know why Magee didn''t just learn how to read them as it would make it easier to learn new spells. However, what Tyler wasn''t aware of was that learning magic runes was a thousand times harder than learning a newnguage and his case had been an exception.
He knew that learning a spell by itself was veryplicated and could even take months to learn a single Tier 3 spell if one was not talented enough. He casually flipped through the books as he tried to nemeorize the magic runes he hadn''t learnt yet before attempting to construct the magic circle.
Time quickly flew by as they soon arrived at their destination.
??????????
??????????
The carriage ride onlysted an hour as the pair alighted from it the moment it came to a halt at the front of the merchant guild. At this point, it was already an hour past noon (13:00hours) so the guild should already be ready for them. And perhaps they had been the ones keeping the guild waiting which were bad for his reputation.
Walking inside the merchant guild, a male receptionist immediately noticed their arrival and rushed over to escort them upstairs to the VIP meeting room. Unlike thest two times in which they had visitedte in the evening, this ce was currently more lively with merchants and Hunters alike moving in and out of the building while a few of them chatted merrily as amongst themselves.
The merchant guild didn''t generally have any quest for merchants themselves as Hunters didn''t like working with merchants they don''t personally know, but the guild would post the request of the merchants for those Hunters who were willing to adventure with them or protect them on an exploration mission.
"Hey Garvo, did you hear?"
"Hear what?"
"The Hunter guild is recruiting Orichalcum rankedHunters for a secret mission. I heard the job had quite the lucrative pay but is surely bound to be dangerous given how many Hunters they are recruiting."
"Is that so, that''s probably why there haven''t been that many high rankers epting our quest today. I wonder what the job could be."
"Same here man. Damn, I only need a few more points to rank up to Orichalcum, if they could just wait one more week, I really need the cash."
"What happened to you, burn all your money on the girls at the pink rose again."
"Hehehe... Nah man I wish, it''s just hard toe by any worthwhile quest these days."
As they were escorted towards the VIP rooms, they overheard the conversation of a lesser demon¡ª with two white horns protruding from the sides of his head and wearing Hunter''s bracelet with a tinum ting¡ª and one of the other male receptionists in the counter.
Judging by their conversation, it would seem the Lord of this city had gone the route of hiring Hunters to clear the mine instead of using his personal guards. It was indeed a wise choice to send mercenaries that specialized in the extermination of monsters instead of the demon knights that would not be able to disy their full potential in an underground tunnel where the space was limited.
''Things are moving a little quicker than I had hoped. I''ll have to return there as soon as possible.''
After their brief stroll to the VIP room, the female vice guild leader who had attended to them thest time as well almost immediately entered the room. It would seem they had been waiting for their arrival so everything must''ve been prepared on time.
She had on a simr suit asst time and sat across from Tyler with the usual professional smile on her face.
"Goodday Mr. Lix, wee back to the guild, we have everything prepared for your arrival including your bank information. As requested we have also deposited half of the payments in that ount."
Saying that thedy pushed several items across the table towards them as she retained her calm smile.
Tyler inspected the items immediately, there was a small square box that was obviously the same small spatial storage box he had given to her thest time he was here, a parchment of sorts and a ck card simr to the one Z had shown him in the past.
"I see, everything does look intact."
"indeed. The price of the two tonnes of gold you provided us came to a total of 1,178,750 DC. And as said earlier, we have already deposited half of that sum to your ount and the other half we were somehow able to gather in time and is stored in that box. You can also check the amount on the ount by infusing the card with mana."
"I see... I''m impressed, I didn''t think the guild would be able to gather such arge amount of money in only a day.", ''I didn''t even think the gold would be worth so much in a world with magic metals and the likes. If just two tonnes of gold is worth over a million, how much would that entire cavern of Runite be worth.''
Tyler tried his best to maintain his poker face as he salivated over the sheer amount of money he had just earned and could earn very soon, his previous life''s love for money seems to be desperately trying to crawl out of him.
"We don''t usually have suchrge sums in the guild as theft may ur. Some can steal directly from a storage box so do be careful with your storage box."
"I''ll be sure to keep that in mind.", ''Like I''d let anyone steal from me hehe...''
"The parchment is the document for your ount. It had been enchanted and can''t be destroyed as long as the bank holds the original copy however if you lose it, the bank will charge quite a lot for a recement. You can use the card in any store and stalls in any city in the continent so there won''t be an issue with convenience."
After receiving the items and money from Xelen, Tyler chatted with her for a few more minutes over a cup of coffee before leaving the guild with Nadine. They now held more than enough money to pay off themission he had given Runic, but they first needed to give the Hunter party of five their share of coins which was more than 500 thousand DCs.
Chapter 153 C153. Leaving The City (Again)
After exiting the merchant guild, Tyler and Nadine then took a private carriage to the restaurant they had promised to meet up the Hunter party, Unrivaled at noon. Although the restaurant wasn''t that far off the merchant guild as it was just behind the Hunter guild which was just a shady walk away, it was already way past the appointed meeting time but Tyler hoped the group would still be there even now.
Their journey this time onlysted a few minutes as they alighted the carriage in front of the restaurant. Walking inside the simply designed dinner, they immediately spotted five people at the end of the room, one of them promptly stood up and waved them over.
It would seem they had been waiting for quite a while as their table was filled to the brim with food and Kyl has her head down as she kept stuffing her face, still trying too hard to ignore Tyler.
Tyler however, had a different thought running through his mind. He clearly remembered thest time he was here these idiots had pretty much dined and dash, leaving him stuck with the bill so he made a mental note not to let that happen again.
"Ah, Mr. Lix wee, we were beginning to think you wouldn''t be able to make it."
Dohel cheerfully weed them as he pointed at two seats that had been reserved for them around the table. The twins Aine and Anne were quite happy to see them as well as they greeted him. Tyler then ordered some sweets for Nadine and himself simply as a reward for sessfully joining the magic institute.
The group chatted idly with him for a while, going on and on about the stress they had to endure throughoutst night and this morning from both the Hunter guild leader and the Merchant guild leader''s barrage of questions. It was a good thing they didn''t try to extract their memories as Tyler wasn''t sure if anti-divination magic would''ve prevented that.
Once they were mostly done eating¡ª well, all except for Kylyra who had even ordered more ¡ª they went down to the business at hand. Tyler handed them the almost empty small spatial storage box and informed them of the amount the gold had gone for without hiding any information from them.
They didn''t even bother counting the coins that were mostly Orichalcum and tinum coins as they instantly began thanking him for his help as well as offer they pay him furtherpensation for doing the trade for them, an offer in which Tyler firmly refused as he felt the magic item they provided was more than enoughpensation.
As their conversation came to a natural end, Tyler was just about to get up and leave with Nadine when Dohel suddenly spoke again with a serious tone.
"One minute Mr. Lix. I know this might be asking too much but... Could you do us one more favor and apany us to a certain location, of course, we will endeavor topensate you for your time and any help you may provide."
Tyler paused for a while as he stared at the faces of all five members of Unrivaled who all had serious expressions on their faces with an expectant glint in their eyes. The twins especially had a tense posture and a pang of slight guilt was reflected in their eyes.
"I''m afraid not. We''re merchants nor Mercenaries so we don''t take requests like this besides, we are quite busy right now, do ept my apology."
A wave of disappointment shed across their faces, including Kylyra who tried once more to focus on her food as she was yet to fully recover her full strength and would surely need it in the future.
Tyler didn''t bother asking the group the reason for their request as he swiftly got up and excused himself from the group with Nadine trailing behind him. They then took another private carriage to south borough where the Runic''s Weapon shop¡ª the ce where he had ced an order for refined steel¡ª was located.
The trip there took around an hour but they finally arrived after Tyler spent the time trying to learn reading thenguage. The ce was still the same two-story building they had visited before and stood out inparison to the other buildings in this part of the city. They alighted the carriage and just like thest time they had been here or anywhere else, Nadine drew most of the men''s attention and Tyler drew hostile res.
''I asked herst time if she was using a skill for this but she detailed it so what are the effects of the oddly named skill I saw in her status.''
Tyler sighed tiredly as they both entered the shop. The cewas filled with exquisite-looking armors and weapons that were on disy behind a thickyer of enchanted ss and from the looks of it, they were not the same asst time which signified just how popr this shop item was even though those had only been armors and weapons that had been made for disy purposes only and weren''t really that impressive nor practical.
As soon as they walked in through the doors, a different male clerk than the one they had met previously greeted them as they walked in and he proceeded to ask if they required any assistance. Tyler nodded under his hood and the clerk came over to introduce the various types of weapons and items they had on stock.
However, unlike thest time, Tyler didn''t wait for the clerk to finish his speech and immediately cut him off while shing his VIP merchant license.
" My apologies but we''re only here to see Mr. Runic, he should be expecting us."
The clerk stared at the license for a while before nodding his head as he lead them through a door into the back room that doubled as a storehouse and a forge for the shop''s cksmiths.
Walking by several offices, they soon came upon the office that belonged to the owner of this shop, Ferl Runic. The clerk then asked them to wait outside for a moment before entering the office alone. He came back soon after and allowed them in.
Situated inside the office was a short middle-aged man in purple overalls that were only worn as pants revealing his ck tank top and bulging muscles. His body was a lot more tanned than it had been before and unlike thest time, he did not continue his work when the pair entered the room instead raising his head to wee them.
"You''rete."
"We never agreed on a particr time did we?"
"That doesn''t change the fact that you''rete. Well whatever, I''ll let it go this time. Your request has beenpleted and we were able to get a lot more Orichalcum and adamantine than we originally thought so your bnce has increased significantly."
"To?"
"234,700 DC."
"How much of them did you get?"
"We got over a thousand kilos of Orichalcum and a few kilos of adamantine."
''Just that amount cost so much."
"Well, you can choose to only take the refined steel and a few ounces of both metals for the original price if you want."
"No that would be fine."
"A wealthy fellow eh! I like that."
Chuckling to himself, Ferl called in a clerk that went back out and brought back two small spatial storage box with him. Once Tyler had confirmed its content, he handed his card over to Ferl who took it and ced it on top of a square device by the side of his desk before handing it back to him.
With just this transaction his wealth was once again reduced by half. Tyler sighed. He bid farewell to Ferl as he left the shop and took a carriage back to west borough, his aim now was to locate a ce where he would get some quality fabric and other items for the castle. Naturally, if they nned to survive without relying on the other regions, they would need to produce all their necessities themselves so he bought a lot of seeds.
The darknar region had been abandoned for a millennium so its soil was very fertile and perfect for cultivating. Tyler would have the nonbatants of the red ogre settlement and the kobolds be in charge of growing crops and tilling the soil.
When everything was said and done, he had spent more than a hundred thousand DCs bringing his bnce to less than 200k. Tyler couldn''t help but frown as he kept on losing money before he even had a chance to enjoy it. However, he had no choice in the matter and got over it.
With that said, the day was already at an end and although Tyler would like nothing more than to have a nice meal with fine wine to go with it as a reward for his great work so far, he knew he didn''t have any time left to idle around as the Hunters hired by the city would set out first thing in the morning and depending on their pace, they would reach the Farbel''s Pass in about two to three days.
Thinking that he then took another private carriage back to the Duval inn and retrieve their magic carriage, immediately leaving the city at sundown. The guards seemed to be a little concerned for their safety as he noticed there were only two of them this time but Tyler assured him they would only be taking the safest and main routes while tipping him with a gold coin worth 10 DC.
''Huh, I''m kinda a cheapskate ain''t I?''
Chuckling to himself, they rode the carriage through the paved road until they were more than twenty miles away from the city which had taken them a little over 45 minutes. After which, Tyler held Nadine''s shoulder and activated his skill. The space around him warped and fluctuated for only a moment before the entire carriage hadpletely disappeared from the wide and empty paved road.
After only a few minutes had gone by, a dark figure suddenly appeared by the side of the road like a ghost. The figure was d in a skin-tight ck ninja-type outfit, sporting purplish-ck metal greaves and vambraces as she stared at the space the carriage had been only a moment ago and sniffed the air around her.
''Spatial magic.''
Thinking that her eyes narrowed as she had no way to follow her targets as she had been unable to ce a soul tracker on them due to some type of anti-divination spell being constant active all around them.
Not to mention, they both seem to have enhanced senses and she hasn''t been able to stick too close to them to get a whiff of their destination. The female figure with a cloth mask that covered the lower parts of her face revealing her short back hair and purple eyes pinched her nose shut with her left hand.
''It really stinks here.''
Her body then slowly turned incorporeal before fading out of existence as she disappeared the same way she came, returning this ce to its original eerie silence.
Chapter 154 C154. The Right Way To Learn Spells
Tyler sighed deeply in disappointment as they arrived at the entrance to the Farbel''s Pass. He wasn''t able to get a clear picture in his mind of the cave that housed the entrance to the mine due to the vast quantities of simr-looking hills, cliffs and caverns so he had no choice but to teleport here instead.
Teleporting inside the cave directly was also very risky as they could end up jumping right into a very dangerous situation. Sensing something, or perhaps it was more urate to say not sensing something, he carefully turned his head around but he could no longer feel the strange presence that had been lurking in the shadows around him.
He was well aware that he was being followed ever since he returned to the cityst night by some kind of ghostly figure but had chosen to ignore it. Z had mentioned that the mayor of the city had a Ghost legion that specialized in the gathering of information for his personal use and as expected, it would seem like he had taken an interest in Tyler.
Tyler didn''t mind such a thing though as it was bound to happen sooner orter and it was best it had happened now while he was aware of it and could react ordingly. Still, there was no sense in thinking about that now so he quickly put the matter to the back of his mind as Nadine drove the carriage through the Farbelts pass. It didn''t take long for them to be attacked by monsters given that the sun had already set and the sky was almost ck in a moonless night.
The frost smanders they met along the way were by far the weakest of the monsters they encountered during their trip to the mine. The Farbelt pass was home to a variety of monsters including the intermediate ss monster, the one-horned bears, and the ice falcons which were the more troublesome monsters to deal with.
However, Tyler hadn''t needed to lift a finger during their ride as Nadine had taken the initiative to fought the monsters even before Tyler had the chance to make a move. Her reaction time seem to have improved greatly and she was eager to test her newfound strength to the limit.
Seeing how eager she was to fight, Tyler didn''t bother interfering with her fight as he focused on learning the |Flight| Spell which was proving quite difficult. He hadn''t spent so much time on a single page inside a spellbook before and he was starting to understand why learning higher-tiered spells were considered to be very difficult.
However, if only a tier 3 spell was giving him so much trouble then what would happen at the next tier, the difficulty was bound to increase the further up he went. Something was certainly off here and after studying for more than an hour, he could finally understand why.
Hisck of understanding of the most important runes in the book was throwing him off a lot.
He could not build a rhythm and thus was constantly having to start all over again. It was one thing if he didn''t understand anything in the book as he could just focus on memorizing the magic circle before the runes that form it while having a vague understanding of the spell which would allow him to cast it.
However¡ª
That was not how Tyler had been learning his spells. He had prioritized learning to read and understand magic runes before learning the spells which made it easier to construct as it would simply be writing words in a circle to form a sentence. Just as one would do in anynguage.
He could not fathom for the love of him, why everyone wouldn''t use this process as it made learning spells easier. Yet, they went with a method that took days or even months for one to understand and learn to cast the spell.
However, Tyler had learned from the conversation he had with Nadine that it was insanely more difficult for them to learn to read and understand basic magic runes which was a surprise for him as that had only taken him a single day. However, her description of how it was for her allowed him to understand something.
The magic library wasn''t just a magic library because it housed magical books and items of incredible value and power. His immerse concentrated state whenever he would focus in there was probably an effect of the library itself and the knowledge on magic runes in there was moreplete. The information on magic runes out here was almost non-existent and it was hard for anyone to be able to read up to the intermediate level which was why they had chosen this crude method of learning spells.
Even then, learning the spell this way had a significant downside as it would take a long time for one to max out their proficiency with the spells, hence they would need to construct the magic circle whenever they would cast the spell and could not use the spell to its full effects.
While casting his spells, Tyler had only ever constructed the magic circle ones, and that was the first time he would use the spell. However, some would need to constantly do that as evident by the summoning spell that was used by the third son of a certain family.
Although, when summoning something thatrge, the magic circle would usually appear in an appropriate space. The speed of its formation told the entire story as it had taken a while for the summoned elemental to appear allowing Tyler enough time to memorize the magic circle although he still did not understand it nor did he have any idea on how the spell would work so he could not use it just yet.
He would make a note to learn an analytical skill that would help him with such a thing in the future. Back at the matter at hand though, it would seem he needed to spend a long time before he would be able to learn the |Flight| spell which was a bummer.
"I did it, lord Ty, did you see that? How did I do?"
"Huh? Or Hmm, yeah great job."
Tyler lied in the flow of the moment as Nadine excitedly asked about her performance against severalrge one-horned bears whose corpsesid on the ground with their heads caved in as they had literally been beaten to death by her with the aid of her Bo-staff which was obviously still intact as it had been split in half in the exact spot it would normally be separated in two by Nadine.
This was not due to any form of luck or abnormal coincidence as it was a magic weapon and would not be destroyed until its durability had been reducedpletely.
Nadine seemed to be in a good mood as she happily retrieved the bodies of the intermediate ss monsters and returned to the carriage as they continued their trip that took more than three hours due to the constant attacks they faced.
Tyler sighed as he patted Nadine on the head and returned to learning his spell until they arrived at their destination. Parking their carriage at the previous location, they entered the mine without any forms of illumination to avoid as much unnecessary confrontation as possible.
However¡ª
That once again proved useless as an army of Ant Giants marched towards them. They came from a tunnel to the right and seemed to be headed in the same direction as the pair probably towards the opening the Hunters had dug to the adjacent tunnel.
Tyler remembered that there was a group of Ant Giants digging that tunnel thest time they were here as well. It would seem the ce held value to the monsters for some reason. However, Tyler couldn''t figure out why as the metals shouldn''t be of any actual value to them.
Thinking that way, he suddenly remembered the tunnel had arger concentration of gold than the ones on this side which meant that ce was probably a separate mine of its own. Most likely a higher grade one judging by the strength of the monsters they had encountered there and monsters were attracted to rare ores so that was probably the reason.
However¡ª
The monsters were truly an unlucky bunch as they had to run into them twice in a row. There were around twenty of these ants marching at them after sensing the pair.
The tunnel wasrge, but it still wasn''trge enough for the monsters'' numbers to pose a threat to them as the monsters approached in a line of twos.
"Twin Max-magic- Lightning."
Two bolts of silvery-white streaks of electricity jumped off her fingertips and decimated the approaching monsters, killing more than half of them in a single hit. She then charged in and with the use of her Bo-staff and her superior physical abilities, she tore through the monsters like they were nothing.
Retrieving the cores and bodies of the monsters, Tyler and Nadine continued down thebyrinth until they reached the tunnel that had been dug by Dohel''s group. Entering the new tunnel, they were immediately attacked once again by nearly invisible threads that would''ve surely caught them in a trap if both of them weren''t skilled in sensory magic and had amazing reflexes.
Tyler sighed as he recognized the monster that had attacked them.
Lesser Djieien
The spider-like creature was perched up in the ceiling as it weaves its webs to attack them. Tyler was just about to retrieve his weapon from the void when Nadine suddenly charged in with an intense aura.
"Hey, don''t be reckless."
His words fell to deaf ears as Nadine eagerly rushed in at the annoying monster that had given her so much trouble thest time they were here and again the monster took off running the moment it sensed a bit of danger from Nadine''s re.
"Hey wait!"
It was useless, her mind seemed to be in a sort of high from her newfound strength as Nadine chased after the monster deep into the tunnel just like thest time they were here. However, she was not the same person she had been thest time as her speed now far exceeded the intermediate ranked monster.
Dashing past the fleeing creature that didn''t seem to understand how she had appeared before it, she flooded her staff with mana, and a bow that promptly cave in the skull of the white spider-like creature, reverberated across the tunnels as Nadine smirked in victory.
However¡ª
Several strings of glimmering blood red and steel-like threads suddenly attached themselves to her limbs and yanked her in all directions. Her body was thus suspended above the ground and she was unable to keep hold of her weapon. Surprise shed across her eyes as she finally sensed several monsters that had been lurking in shadows move towards her.
There were more than ten Lesser Djieien all around her and they moved closer towards her as their threads constantly tightened around her skin, and were surprisingly able to break through her defense and cause her to bleed. Her blood seems to be getting absorbed by the webs which exins why the monsters were only approaching her slowly as she got weaker with each passing second.
They were quite intelligent creatures as she would''ve been able tounch a desperate counterattack if they had charged blindly at her.
"I can''t believe even the monsters are more reasonable than you. That is quite disappointing."
Her expression seemed to finally calm down as though someone had suddenly poured a bucket of cold water on her as she saw her master walk out of the void with his weapon at hand and all ten Lesser Djieien promptly dropped down to the ground as though they were puppets whose strings had been cut.
Walking towards the bound Nadine who seemed to have finally returned to normal, Tyler gently flicked her in the head. Of course, his strength was still too great to fully control and a red spot appeared on her forehead, causing tears to gather around her eyes.
Sigh, "I can''t believe there was someone foolish enough to get caught in an obvious trap like that."
Chapter 155 C155. Blue
"Hey wait!"
Tyler tried calling out to Nadine because he could sense a couple of monsters up ahead in the direction the Lesser Djieien was retreating to, which meant there would surely be a trap there. Considering the high intellect of the monster for being able to recognize the threat that Nadine posed to its life and had immediately chosen the best course of action to take.
While Tyler was confident that the monster would try to lead Nadine into a trap as that was its best option for survival. Still, both the monster and Nadine had underestimated each other as Nadine''s speed was surely superior to the creature and it wouldn''t be able to get too far away from her.
And as for Nadine, something was surely up with her and perhaps it was just overexcitement from her sudden growth which had made her a bit overconfident but Tyler was a bit worried about her skill |Temper|, whose effects were unknown to him but he didn''t like the name at all.
With a sigh, he extended his senses in the direction they ran to and as he thought, she had already been surrounded by ten Lesser Djieien and her blood was being absorbed for energy. Tyler quickly cast spatial movement and appeared amid all ten monsters.
Using his full speed, he cleanly cut off the heads of all the monsters before they had even noticed him as he spoke tiredly. "I can''t believe there was someone foolish enough to get caught in an obvious trap like that."
His words were like daggers to Nadine''s heart whose only goal had been to be of use to him but Tyler had no choice but to say that because he needed her to reflect on her actions and get back to her usual self. For demons, their strength was the greatest source of their pride and thus a demon''s pride was the demon race''s greatest strength and also, their greatest weakness.
Tyler then proceeded to flick Nadine across her forehead as he swung his weapon and she was set free. He then cast light heal on her to heal her open wounds and restore her blood.
"You should never get carried away in such a ce. There may be even stronger monsters lurking in the shadows."
Nadine rubbed the red spot on her forehead as she nodded dejectedly. Tyler seemed to be sighing a lottely as he once again sighed and patted her on the head. "It''s fine, don''t worry about it. What''s important is that you learn from this."
Nodding her head, they both proceeded down the tunnel, and as soon as they made a turn. The strength immediately drained out of Tyler simply from the sight he saw before him.
"Oh... oh wow."
He had quickly run out of words as he could not bring himself to acknowledge the fact that he had been proven wrong in only a span of about 5minites even though his earlier monologue had sounded so cool in his head.
"I guess I was wrong. There are people foolish enough to get caught in obvious traps like those."
Right before his eyes, were five short burly figures that werepletely wrapped in white sticky webs as theyid inpromising positions arguing amongst themselves as they struggled endlessly but failed to get themselves free from the monster webs.
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¡ªAt the same time.
In the south borough of Winged City,
Behind the thick metal doors of therge two-story building by the side of an alley in the lower districts of the south borough was the previous hideout of the South division of the Numbers organization. The ce was more of a two-story warehouse converted into a living quarter by the previous upants of the ce.
There were fiverge rooms on the first floor of the building, two of which were used as actual storehouses to store the goods that were being smuggled by the organization and the other three were used to entertain the members of the organization with various illegal and illicit activities.
The second and final floor in the building contained over ten private rooms that could be used by the higher-ranking members of the organization as non of the other bunch actually lived here. Although most would generally pass out on the first floor and end up spending several nights here.
However¡ª
At this point, the ce that would normally be crowded with the brutish members of the organization was almost empty. Yes, almost was the right word to use as currently the ce was upied by someone.
On the second floor of this building, a faint but steady and constant noise could be heard from behind the doors of one of the rooms.
? ? ?
It was a small room.
The only furniture in this almost empty room was a cab a chair and a bed.
The bed was a sort of canopy bed with a simple-looking mattress that held no covering or duvet. While the bed and mattress may looksimple, they were not as they were luxurious items that were well made. Of a sort that would be used in a noble home. However, they had only be designed for functionality and thus did not have any extravagant designs on them.
A naked man sat on the bed.
He was quite the skinny man that most would choose to avoid on the road as he looked sickly and even beggars would avoid him. He had pale grey skin and a long thin tail that protruded from his lower back.
His looks had originally been average at best, but whatever made him this way had stolen away anything that would make one attracted to him.
Incidentally, he was once the errand boy of the formal southern district of the Numbers Organization. He wasn''t paid for his work as he was actually a ve. Someone that had been smuggled into the city but could not be sold due to his unsightly statue. He was then reduced to running errands for the group and cleaning after them like a proper ve.
However, a miracle had happened that had set him free from his prison. The boss of the group had up and disappeared with around thirty of their men a few days ago and while that had thrown the entire group into chaos for a while, something even more shocking happened next.
Every single person from the south division suddenly disappeared from the city without a trace leaving him that had been out that night running his usual errands as thest member of the division.
While the North and western divisions had imed the more valuable goods of the south including the ves and everything that belonged to a particrly noble, there had been enough left in the warehouse and spare cash in the hidden safe in the boss''s room for him to turn his life around.
This was surely a sign. He had never believed in any gods but the demon continent had the demon god and he now felt that he had been blessed by him. Left alone with such wealth and the blessings of a god, he was finally at the peak and had decided to enjoy every single day of his life from this point on.
His name was Nevin Hollow.
? ? ?
Adjusting his position a bit he raised his arm and pped down across the mattress. He licked his lips and the sensation that flowed through his body from the reaction he got as thesound of flesh striking flesh rang forth.
A look of delight blossomed on Nevin''s face. The sensation of smashing flesh traveled up his arm, and his body shivered even as goosebumps of pleasure sprouted on him.
"Uhhh¡"
He slowly wrapped his hands around the spender figure of a nakeddy thatid motionlessly underneath him.
The female figure had a dark skin tone with long pointed ears and a pretty face. Her face was now reddened and swollen and her body was bruised and had small cuts that bleed slightly. However, despite her abused body, her bruised and unconscious face had an expression of pure ecstasy.
There was also a second figure thatid motionless on the carpet also naked and in the worst state than the dark elf on the bed with the silver carpet being dyed in her blood but an expression of pure ecstasy was also written across her face. Thisdy was not a dark elf like the first as she had pale reddish skin and a long thing red tail from her lower waist.
Still, the bruises were not the only thing these two women had inmon as they both had a bluish-white powder sneered across their facesand so did Navin. This was a new drug that had been given to the south to smuggled into the city and while the north had imed it, the boss had been sure to keep a few for his personal use and now they belonged to him.
The drug was called Blue powder and was essentially an aphrodisiac mixed with a bit of pixie dust and an unknown herb for an extra effect. It was highly addictive and could even kill if not taken with care but Navin no longer cared about all that. He was born without power and thus could not protect himself nor his properties so now that the demon god had blessed him he would not let a little side effect stop him.
These women were thest of the goods that were to be smuggled by the group. As luck would have it, they had been discarded by the north and with the west being unable to deal with jobs like these, they had been left behind and Navin truly thought that they were left for him. It was the world''s way of repaying him for all the suffering it had sent his way.
Nevin was practically tearing up in gratitude towards the great demon god, who had granted this ce to him. Naturally, he would use it to his heart''s content.
"Thank you ¡ª oh great lord."
A look of calm came over Nevin''s eyes. It was hard to imagine that he could be so grateful to a supposedly divine entity while strangling the dark elf below him. Dark elves were valuablemodities in the ve market as their trades had been strictly forbidden after the nobles had seen more value in their skills than their flesh. That being said, ve trades were generally ouwed in this region.
However, there were those that would always lust after the forbidden fruit and Nevin was not an exemption. The fact that he could treat a being that was worth so much and of such importance like she was his toy gave him immeasurable pleasure and served to console his inferiorityplex.
The dark elf''s body trembled slightly without much resistance as the drug had done its job. He was not physically gifted so it was the will of god that everything had fallen in ce for him. Ahh... what a blissful experience he had been having, even if it had only been a day since he began. With the blessing of the demon god now upon him, surely there was nothing that could ever stand in his way again, he had received Devine''s favor and was now the main character.
Lost in his own delusions, Nevin let lose his grip on the woman''s neck, her bare bosom moved slightly. He smiled lewdly as he reached down and grabbed the elf''s breast, deforming her soft flesh between his bony fingers.
His excitement rose rapidly and he could no longer hold himself back. He smiledlewdly and began to ke his lust. He seized one of the dark elf''s bare legs and spread it wide. Her emaciated, slender leg was thin enough that Nevin could encircle it with one hand.
He then pressed himself between the dark elf''s legs and grasped his tool that was now turgid from his burning desire and in one forceful thrust, he prated her. A wave of pleasure swept over him giving him goosebumps from pure ecstasy.
Even after doing this countless times with the lesser demon on the floor, he had never experienced this much pleasure just from a single thrust. However, just as he was about to go deeper¡ª
¡ªThe door behind him clicked and slowly opened.
"Ah!"
Nevin hurriedly turned back, and a vaguely familiar man appeared within his field of view. Then, he remembered who that man was and his body froze as fear the likes of which he had never felt before hadpletely paralyzed him.
The man d in a ck long coat and wearing a white metallic mask walked into the room slowly and walked up to Nevin and saw the dark elf thatid motionless beneath him overdosed on Blue.
"I was wondering why there wasn''t anyone here and thought I had wasted my time when I heard a noise up here and came to check it out. So, who permitted you to use the properties of the organization?"
Chapter 156 C156. Unfortunate
Was it shock? No, what Navin felt the moment the strange man in a mask walked into the room was nothing so flimsy as meer shock. He felt terror, the world he had built around himself over these past two days came crashing down like a pile of rubble. Was he not chosen by god? Was this ce not gifted to him so he could spend the rest of his life in bliss.
"I was wondering why there wasn''t anyone here and thought I had wasted my time when I heard a noise up here and came to check it out. So, who permitted you to use the properties of the organization?"
The maskedman walked casually towards him as he remained mounted on the dark elf below him. He stared at him with those cold yellow eyes that felt like a monster was eyeing trash they spotted at the side of the sidewalk.
The strange and tense mood in the air drove Nevin out of his fear-stricken paralysis as he immediately tried to rise and head for the door. He had heard the rumors about this person and knew if he stayed still and remained unmoving, even begging or groveling would not save his life and his will to survive that had kept him¡ª who was too weak even for a lesser demon¡ª alive for so long told him that he needed to get far away from this man immediately.
However, Mr. 99 moved faster than he could think.
A thwap resounded in Nevin''s ears, and then his vision shook wildly as he almost lost consciousness but managed to stay lucid.
A beatter, Nevin''s right cheek caught fire as burning, stinging heat radiated out from it and his entire body was lifted off the bed and the dark elf as he tumbled on the ground and mmed the wall.
He had been struck ¡ª no, in this case, it would be more appropriate to say he had been pped. Yet, the force of the p had been so evenly distributed that it sent his entire body flying without taking off his head.
"Awk! Wait! This ce was gifted to me by god¡ª"
A ringing thwap resounded off Nevin''s face. He had been pped again as the so-called Mr. 99 had suddenly appeared crouching before him and the p that was less powerful than thest rang out in his ears. It was soon followed by many more.
Left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right¡ª
"What¡ª!"
Why was this happening to him, he had done nothing wrong, only what god had blessed him with. Was this a punishment for abusing the little power he had or was this a cruel joke from someone? Sure, after realizing god''s blessing he had immediately taken out his pent-up frustration on the only remaining people that had been locked up in the underground cell.
He raised his hand to protect his face as he stumbled back in retreat it was pressed against the wall.
His cheeks throbbed with pain, as though they had been lit on fire.
"Prwes shup, o didh nothin Wong."
"Is that so."
"Thws waz tde wyll of gud."
Mr. 99 slowly stood up and watched him struggle to crawl away without a shred of emotions in his eyes. He ignored the figures of the naked youngdies on the ground and bed almost as though they held no value in his eyes.
Walking slowly towards the crawling Nevin, he asked: "So, why are you here and what happened to this division."
Nevin''s mind, however, could not focus and thus did not understand the question he had been asked which in turn was detrimental to his health as he suddenly felt a stinging pain in his back. A de had pierced his back before he had realized it and with a light tug, the Kusarigama-like weapon flew back to the hands of the masked man as he proceeded to then spin it around while staring at the agonizing Nevin.
Nevin stammered several times in pain but he still could not find the strength to form actual words and thus the same process repeated itself again and again until he was on the brink of passing out, and just when he was about to escape this hell the masked man spoke again.
"Oh no you don''t, I still need you to answer my questions pig."
Je then reached into his coat and pulled out a bottle. It was a transparent ss bottle that contained a slimy green liquid within it. Tossing the bottle at Navin it smashed into his face and although he had thought it to harm him further, the moment the contents contained within the ss bottle sshed on him, his skin absorbed the liquid and his wounds immediately began to heal.
In less than a minute, he waspletely restored and before he could evenprehend what had happened, Mr. 99 had already arrived before him and crouched down to face him.
"Now then, I won''t ask again, what happened here."
His menacing metallic genderless voice sent a thrill of fear down his back as he still felt the pain from every single time the de had pierced his skin. Not wanting to be hurt further, he hastily exined everything he knew including what he had done after the disappearance of the members of the organization.
"O see, so you were worthless after all Huh."
Those cold words that were said so casually to his face made him wet his pant and hastily tried to make himself useful. However, Mr. 99 hadn''t given him the time as thest thing he saw was the sh of a de followed by the ceiling as his head rolled on the floor with his eyes still wide open.
Mr. 99 clicked his tongue as he had failed to obtain any useful information that would help him find out more about who that hooded man was. He thought for a moment and decided on his next course of action. It was a long shot, but he would have to start his investigations from scratch.
He turned around to see the two motionless girls on the bed and floor and just casually tossed the same mid-grade healing potion he had used at them which quickly fixed their wounds.
Healing potions were rare in the demon continent so even the low-grade potion was very expensive and could not be so casually used. Yet for someone to so casually toss away three mid grad potions to the story of their financial backings.
Mr. 99 felt no attachment nor sympathy for the ve girls and had only done what he did because he felt obligated to at least provide them with their health back f they were going be survive on their own.
Since there was nothing in this ce, he was just about to leave when he suddenly heard a faint knocking sound at therge metal door downstairs. Walking by the dead unmoving body of the bony man before him, he exited the room and went downstairs.
Just as he walked into the room that contained therge door, he heard a creaking sound and the metal doors slowly swung open.
Five lesser demons carefully walked inside the room as they awkwardly open observed the room while calling out for someone to respond. They didn''t look like they bling in this part of town.
"Hello! Anyone here!"
"We''re here to fulfill the agreement we have with Corno!"
Ignoring their shouts, 99 silently watched the group for a while to observe them a bit more.Judging by their features, there was an ogre, a subus, a lesser demon, and two immature imps. The metal-ted bracelet they had on their sea told him they were from the Hunter guild but it didn''t seem like they were here on any type of quest against the organization.
In fact, it seemed more like they were here seeking to do business with this division. Perhaps the division had once housed something of theirs. Well whatever,Mr. 99 smirked under his mask as he thought of how unfortunate this bunch was to be here at this moment in time.
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¡ªBack at the Underground Mine.
Tyler stared at the five short burly men in utter shock. While they struggled to escape the webs of a Lesser Djieien while arguing amongst themselves. He felt dumbfounded how someone could get caught in such a trap much less five people.
He almost felt like a headache was about to storm him but fought hard to hold it back. He was just about to check out and ignore the five when a certain detail about them caught his attention and he took a step towards them instead.
Their short and burly bearded figures reminded him something, he had never seen dwarfs before but if the fantasies from earth were to be believed, these five had to be dwarves right. Their outfit was a set of coarsely designed coveralls with mining equipment scattered all around them.
Tyler''s mind finally calmed down as he wondered why there were dwarfs mining in the demon continent but he wouldn''t be able to find out if he let them be spider food.He could clearly see a Lesser Djieien slowly crawling towards them from the ceiling so it was best if he acted now.
The dwarves were all backing him so it was logical they saw the monstering which was why they struggled so desperately to get themselves free. One of them held tightly to arge pickax but his limbs were stuck and he could not swing the equipment. Not that Tyler expected the item to be of any use against an intermediate monster even if it was a magic item.
The Lesser Djieien finally lunged at them after finally being able topletely restrict their movements. It would seem it had been wary of that pickax which made Tyler think it was really a magic item but not one that was geared toward fighting apparently.
Still, just at it was about to tear the screaming dwarves apart, Tyler used spatial distortion to change the monster''s target and strolled forth. It was a good thing he didn''t normally exude any presence as the monsters would''ve run off immediately it sensed him.
He walked by the frightened bunch and easily avoided the Lesser Djieien desperate swing at him while countering with ?Uppercut sh? and splitting the monster in two shocking the dwarves speechless as they stared at him with an, even more, tightened expression than when they had faced death only a moment ago.
While Tyler wondered why they were so easily scared he was still interested in talking to these bunch so he decided to speak politely to them to calm their nerves while also freeing them from their bondage.
"Well hello there."
"Hello" Nadine echoed his greetings from behind the dwarves and that only served to scare them more as it looked as though they had boxed them in.
Being freed from the webs, the dwarves were a little disoriented as they scattered all around, trying to get themselves together as they hastily picked up some of their stuffs and before Tyler and Nadine could even say another word, they hurriedly banded together and disappeared from Tyler''s sight.
"Well this is interesting, a camouge spell is it. Combined with the silence spell no less."
Tyler said chuckling as he watched the hazy and translucent figures of the five slowly try to crawl away from him in amusement.
Chapter 157 C157. The Cowardly Dwarves
"Well this is interesting, a camouge spell is it. Combined with the silence spell no less."
Tyler said chuckling as he watched the hazy and translucent figures of the five dwarves slowly try to crawl away from him in amusement, and of course, his interest in this bunch had shot up a notch.
He didn''t have any skills that would allow him to see through invisibility but the dwarves had not used the |invisibility| spell and had only used abination of camouge, with the |silence| spell. Naturally, this spell would not be very effected against high level opponents especially if the person was originally staring at you.
That said, there was no way the dwarfs would fail to understand this. That simply meant their minds were also disoriented from the life threatening experience that had just gone through.
Taking a better look at the group, they didn''t have much with them but one of them clung desperately to a fancy looking pickax which Tyler had originally thought was a magic item and now thought it was responsible for the camouge spell.
Tyler didn''t want to scare the poor creatures any longer so he returned his weapon back to his storage and although he had contemted sending Nadine to talk to them so they would more easily lower their guard, he hurriedly changed his mind as he realized she may not have fully recovered yet.
He walked closer to the painfully slow retreating dwarves and called out to them.
"Hey, what you doin?"
Hiiieeee!!!!!"
The five dwarves dressed as minwrs wailed like they were about to die as they turned to face him like a bunch of scared kids.
However, their beards were long ¡ª there was no longer any doubts that tgey belonged to the infamous Dwarven race.
"Wow wow calm down, I won''t hurt you. The more you scream the more you hurt my feelings, I''m quite the sensitive guy you know."
The moment Tyler said the word hurt, Madine had immediately red at the five and shifted into a fighting Stance. However, Tyler didn''t have the time to worry about that for now and just had to deal with the issue before him. However, when she had heard hisplete sentence, she returned to normal and nodded her head with a smile as though she was agreeing with him.
The dwarves finally calmed down a bit and despite Nadine''s rude actions, Tyler''s calming tone must''ve had an effect on them as the bald one in the middle with the magic pockax hesitantly spoke for the group. It would seem like he was the leader of the group.
"Are, are you a Demon? What are you doing here?"
Tyler sighed inwardly in relief as he answered the dwarf''s question. "Well, I guess. We were just monster hunting in this ce when we identally discovered this mine and decided to explore it."
"Oh I see... That makes sense. We were told this ce was unexplored so it''s quite rming to find so many people here in such a short amount of time. How, how many people did you bring?"
"Huh, oh it''s just the two of us."
"WHAT! You came into an unexplored mine with just two people, are you out of your mind! You have no idea how dangerous this ce is, you can lose your lives suddenly of you''re not careful."
Tyler was speechless. What was this dwarf saying to his face. As he recalled, theywere the ones that had fallen into an obvious monsters trap not him. However, he needed to ask them a few questions so he tried to be nice.
"Is that so."
"Yes indeed. You remember that scary spider monster you somehow killed earlier?"
"Yeah."
"Well this ce is crawling with them and other even more terrifying monsters live here. It''s best if you turn around and leave this moment, we were just about to do the same."
"I see..."
Although Tyler didn''t feel ttered by the dwarfs words, he was still d he had made some progress inmunication with actual dwarfs. The dwarf then shifted his body wiggly and with the spell still active, their footsteps would not makeany sounds but Tyler still followed him with his eyes.
"Sure enough. It seems you really can see us, I don''t know why we had thought that would work but I guess not."
Saying that, the dwarf then lowered his pickax and the former translucent dwarves became fully visible again.
"Let''s start afresh, I am L-I I mean Ty, this here is Nadine. Don''t mind her eyes she''s just tense from being underground."
"Naturally we understand. It took us a while as well to get use to this ce. But don''t worry, you''ll get used to it soon. Oh, pardon us, I am Ragdek Mighthold of the Dwarven Vineyard Kingdom. Pleased to meet you. These here are my workers and friends, Bernir Galnik, Darren Droyam, Hulnyl Hardfall and Gerl Ralvol."
Ragdek introduced the other dwarves to Tyler while they all nodded at him with a bit of caution in their eyes.
Tyler extended a hand. Ragdek seemed to pick up on the meaning of the gesture and wiped off his own dirt-stained hand before shaking.
"So, where are you lots headed?"
"Back to the exit, as I said, this ce is extremely dangerous and is best if you leave too."
"I see. You all seem like miners but why are dwarves mining an unexplored mine in the demon continent?"
"Huh, oh that... well, never mind that, we should leave before more of that monsteres."
Tyler stared at the dwarf who had avoided his question and eyed him. He was sweaty but that was obviously from the heat and the fact that they hade close to dying but there was something else about them that he found peculiar. They seemed to be easily frightened so why were they in such a dangerous ce to begin with.
He could see the wet patches between their legs and a certain stench in the air he had chosen to ignore but there must''ve been something else that had motivated a bunch of cowards to take such a risk.
Tyler then scanned the surrounding and saw the scattered belongings of the dwarves all over the ground. There was a spatial storage box amongst their stuff and although Tyler couldn''t see what was inside, he could guess. He then turned back to face Ragdek and spoke confidently.
"You don''t have to worry about the monsters in here, we''re both plenty strong you know."
The dwarves looked at Tyler strangely for a moment before shrugging, they might''ve seen him kill a Lesser Djieien with one swing but it didn''t seem like they believed his wordspletely. Seeing as he couldn''t convince them, Tyler then asked a question instead.
"So, do you know your way out of the tunnel?"
p "Huh, yeah, we have a map. If y''all lost we would be more than happy to guide you."
While they didn''t seem to havepletely believed his words about being strong, they seem to still recognize the fact that they would be safer if escorted by the pair of demons that could boldly hunt in the Farbelt pass alone.
"There''s no need for that, we can always just find our way back using magic so it''s no problem."
"Magic eh... Well we can use some magic too but it''s nothing good enough to help protect use. Frankly, we''re pretty weak ourselves."
"Indeed, the only thing that had been saving our Ives since we got here, even before crossing the border was our ability to hide in ne sight."
The one who had suddenly spoke to him was Hulnyl, a chubby looking dwarf with short blonde hair and long yellow beards. He scraped his neared before bringing out a sk from his pouch and taking a swig from it before continuing.
"This ce had been more dangerous than we thought so we are forced to leave before the monsters get us."
"Imdeed, the Giant Ants alone are no problem but those spiders are very creepy. They are even able to sneak up on us, we are quite lucky to be alive."
"Yeah... With so many scary monsters here, I''m not sure we would be able to find anything of use to us even if we stay.
"I see." Tyler nodded asthe conversation went on, it would seem their nerves had slowly died down and the others now seemed engage in their conversation. While this was a good thing for Tyler, he still felt that the dwarves caution was not enough. They should have asked him more questions before telling him anything. These five in particr, looked like they would fall victim to scammers easily as they were too honest.
"Alright we need to return back to the Human continent now." Saying that, the other dwarves began to gather up their things alongside the spider webs which Tyler found out that it had been the reason why they had been caught earlier.
The webs could be used to nake very high quality material and thus would fetch a high price.
"Say, do you mind if we hire you to protect us to the exit. If you''re exploring mines, you should be something like adventurers right?"
"No not really. But before that, you mentioned going back to the human continent earlier. Did youe from there?"
"Oh um, yeah, I guess the rtionship between the two continent over the years had been basically non existent so please don''t mention this to anyone."
''You knew that and still casually mention it to me. What''s wrong with this bunch.''
"No problem, I am quite interested in the continent myself so tell me more."
Tyler noticed Nadine stare at him when he said that and as though she had realized something, she nodded knowingly with a proud expression on her face. He could only pray to God that she had not thought of something red troublesome and came to yet another misunderstanding.
"Oh...well, I wouldn''t know much about it, I only just arrived there recently myself in chase of my dreams. The hunan continent does have a better rtionship with us though which made it hard to enter this continent."
Tyler wanted to ask how they had entered the continent and how to leave it but he immediately sensed a few monsters headed in this direction so he held himself back. This was not the ce for such talks so he hoped he could keep these guys around a lot londer.
"I see. Unfortunately we have something to do here so we can''t leave just yet. How bout it, why don''t you stick with us until we''re done and we''ll lead you out."
The five dwarves were dumbstruck, they stared at Tyler with wide eyes as they looked at him as though he was crazy. Sure they hadn''t yet told him about the terrifying flying creatures that instilled so much fear in them they had defecated themselves.
Not to mention the terrifying aura that haddevoured those monsters and immediately knocked them out till only a few hours ago. If the camouge spell hadn''t been active and remained active all through out that time, they would surely be dead right now.
"Oi Oi Oi Oi Oi Oi!!! Did you not hear us. This ce is very dangerous even for you. The spider monster you killed earlier isn''t the only monster in this ce, there are flying nightmarish creatures here and even a more terrifying presence. We have not been able to achieve our goal because of that so going further in is utter foolishness."
"¡ªFoolishness?"
Tyler walked closer to Ragdek and crouched until his eye level was at the same level as him and stared silently into his eyes while he asked:
"Do you really think that i am foolish?"
His expression was the same and his eyes didn''t change but Ragdek felt something from him right now. Perhaps it was because he was standing so close to him but he couldn''t believe he had missed it before. There was a faint but familiar pressure oozing off of this demon that sent shivers down his spine.
This was not due to any sort of malice or killing intent, neither was the pressure something that was aimed at him. No, the pressure came from his presence alone and that was the same presence they had felt shortly before they lost consciousness. The same pressure that swallowed up hundreds of Night Terrors.
"Ah¡ª No... Surely not."
Chapter 158 C158. Dwarves
"Overtier Magic - Mist Cyclone."
Nadine cast a Tier 2 spell at the tier 3 level as she now had enough mana reserve to consistently cast over tier magic at this level for a while. The spell activated and a windy cyclone of wind restricted the movements of six cloakers that had tried to ambush them in the dark.
These were intermediate-ss monsters. They were intelligent creatures that resembledrge flying manta rays when flying. Although at rest, they looked like a ck cloak, hence their name.
They were currently being attacked by only two of them but for some reason, the two creatures had turned into six. They must''ve used a skill so Tyler wasn''t worried about them and left the job to Nadine while he kept an eye out for other monsters and protect the dwarves.
Nadine then followed her spell with a movement technique and pummeled therge monsters into the ground with her staff. Her strength had improved quite a bit so the creatures died after only a few hits and the groups proceeded on their way after retrieving the monster cores and corpse.
Tyler and the dwarves then continued to move deeper into the mine as they headed for the cave with the Runites that Nadine and Kylyra had stumbled upon. Naturally, Nadine took the lead and was the vanguard of their new team although Ragdek and the others provided no battle support whatsoever.
While Ragdek said he could move through solid objects at will, the others could not and thus he could not abandon them, hence their uselessness.
Well, maybe useless was not the word to use as they were still useful to the group in a way since they chatted with Tyler along the way. The tunnel to the cavern was long and it would still take them a while to get there so Tyler took the opportunity to find out more about the dwarven continent and the current state of the Human continent.
ording to Ragdek, the dwarven continent had a friendly rtionship with the Human continent and trades had been going on between them for the past thousand years now. However, just because they could trade with each other, doesn''t mean they would.
Just like the Humans, the dwarven continent had a lot of kingdoms and empires within it and thus, there was not much cooperation within them. However, the humans were no exception as they still fought about each other for rights to trade and manyws and restrictions had to be put in ce.
Besides, the two continent was separated by the sea, thus,munications between the two continent was still a little hard to aplish as the all the several Kindom sand empires from the dwarven continent, could not send ambassadors that agreed on anything due to their sub racial differences.
However, there had been cases of dwarves migrating to the human continent and vise versa. Although interspecies rtionship wasn''tmon yet as dwarves had a way longer lifespan than humans.While dwarves specialized in a lot of things, it was still important to note that they were still known for their craftsmanship and their weapons and armors were the best in the world.
They also produce the best wines in the world and several other things. The only reason the reincarnated and summoned heroes had not been able to fully develop the technology of this world faster than it was currently was because they weren''t born in the dwarven continent. This world did not contain any crude oil and thus, technology could not progress the same way as it did on earth.
Naturally, with the addition of magic, things were bound to be different. However, even with that, it was hard for anyone that did not have a long lifespan to make a very significant influence on the advancement of the world.
Heroes generally didn''t live long lives as they were usually summoned for a particr reason and thus could only remain in this world for a maximum of around 40-50 years while reincarnates that are smart enough to increase their magic potential at a very young age before their mana body had the chance to form, would live for around 200-300 years but those were still very rare and thus the advancement of this world was still slow in many ways.
And back to the dwarven continent, there were different types of dwarves that dwelled in the various kingdoms and empires in the continent namely, mountain dwarves, Duergar, artic dwarves, and dwarfintes. Naturally, not all of these subraces got along with each other. Ragdek and the four were all half Duergars and dwarfintes from the Vineyard Kindomand were considered low born.
They were not able to study in the best cksmithing academy mostly because they had no money as although their city was also a mining city, most of the material they mined could not be sold and would be used by the city. The human continent was also not able to freely trade for high-level weapons and armors with the dwarves and thus would often settle for importing things like wine, fine articles of clothing, and other materials.
"So, you still haven''t told me why you lot left the dwarven continent for the Human continent and why you decided to mine here."
While they told him a lot about their home and the general state of the human continent, they seem to be avoiding the topic of why they were here even though they knew it was dangerous, and while Tyler didn''t enjoy digging into people''s personal lives. He would if there was no other choice in the matter.
Ragdek sighed, he had tried his best to avoid speaking on his situation but it seems there was no longer any way he could do that.
"Seeing as you''ve agreed to help us leave this ce, I guess we can tell you."
Je was yet to speak when Darren interjected and answered Tyler from the side.
"We weren''t given much of a chance in the dwarven continent to live our lives. Since everyone can''t do the same thing, the dwarves have a system in ce to help only the talented have their choice of work and the others would be assigned to whatever field required morebor."
"Indeed that was the case." Hulnyl nodded in agreement and Ragdek shrugged his shoulders.
"Umm."
"However, people like us weren''t given the same opportunity."
"Why so?"
"Well, as I said before, all five of us are low born, andbined with our low status we are also mix blood of dwarfintes and Duergar also known as underground dwarves. Mix bloods, while not heavily discriminated against would always be consideredst whenever things like a selection ur."
This time it was Ragdek who answered him as it seemed he felt irritated to be interrupted before he had a chance to speak earlier.
"I see."
"Well, that alone is not why we left."
"Indeed."
"While being part dwarfinte made us looked down upon, it didn''t stop our individual talents from being recognized and we actually got the jobs we wanted even though we are mostly self-taught."
"Huh, is that so. I have to admit I did not see thating."
"Of course you didn''t, dwarves are the best storytellers in all of Neron, hahahaha..."
"Sure, why not."
"Anyway, we simply left the dwarven continent because we were dissatisfied with just making the normal items and regted magic items provided by the city. Our goal, well my goal is to research and create magic artifacts. The knowledge that had been lost to us for millenniums now."
The five dwarves nodded before Darren spoke up for the rest of them.
"Well, while that may have not been our goal for joining Ragdek, we all wanted to research more into our field and create new items as well and thus we went to the human continent in search of such opportunities."
"Actually, I only came cause I was drunk when we discussed it and couldn''t say no." Gerl suddenly added after being quiet the entire time.
"Youzy ass¡ª"
"I see, so why did you leave the human continent and head here. If I''m not mistaken, humans love the weapons and armors you dwarves create right? I''m sure you would''ve been able to establish yourself there and didn''t have to take such risks."
"True. We did save up a lot over the year we were there from just the basic designs we had alone and with our human apprentices, we''ve expanded our knowledge a bit, but the Human continentcks the valuable materials we need to conduct proper research on magic artifacts and thus, we came here."
"So that''s the case, did you think you''ll find the valuable resources here or where you just mining for gold to increase your funds?"
"Umu... Our readings show a vague spike in the frequency of the earth in this area and we were able to locate this mine based on that. We think there is a more valuable and highly energy concentrated metal in here but with how infested this ce is, we are unable to search it thoroughly and had to retreats."
Ragdek brought out an item from their box, it was an item that almost resembled the scanner used by miners on earth but this one was obviously different.
"A more valuable metal Huh.", ''I wonder if they''re talking about the Runite. If those could be used in the research and creation of magic artifacts, that might be something I''d like to invest in if they were like a start-uppany. Can I afford it?''
"You said you all specialize in different fields earlier, what is that?"
"Huh? What? Wanna hire us? We''re expensive you know."
Tyler couldn''t help but be impressed with this short man''s boldness. Just a moment ago he was cowering at his question and now he acts like he has no care in the world. ''Are all dwarves like these.'' Not able to get any answers from himself, he simply put the thought out of his mind and spoke.
"Sure, the money is no issue."
"Wow really. You know I don''t think you''re a mere adventurer."
"I nevereven said I was one."
"Huh really. Oh well. Anyway, I''m a cksmith so I do a little of everything myself. Although I prefer making magic items than weapons and armors even if I''m also great at those." Ragdek said with a profound and smug expression on his face as he peek out of his eyes to see Tyler staring at him without having noticed his intentions.
He faked a cough and continued before Darren had the chance to speak.
"Bernir here is a very Talented armorsmith who can read basic runes and a little of intermediate so his armors are second to none. Darrenand thezy Gerl here are craftsmen with slightly different specializations and just like the rest of us, they can also read basic runes while Hulnyl is a construction engineer. He asked us to call him that after hearing it in passing from a wandering human a long time ago."
"Hey!" Hulnyl was just about to bicker with Ragdek when Tyler suddenly spoke.
"Wow, color me impressed who knew I was standing amongst such masters."
"Hehehe... you tter us, Sir Ty, surely you jest.
"Indeed... Senior Ty is also an impressive demon if I do say so."
"Umu... Not many people can venture here so casually as you are Master Ty, our respects."
"Although you''re not wrong, haha hahaha...."
Tyler raised a brow at this scene. All it took was a simplepliment and these five were already acting like this. The way they addressed him seems to change with each sentence.
They were indeed all simpletons that could be easily fooled, but Tyler had no intentions of doing that. If he could hire them to do some research on the magic artifacts he had in order to make new ones then he should shower them with as manypliments as they wanted.
Chapter 159 C159. Retrieved
Tyler continued his talks with the five dwarves, Ragdek, Hulnyl, Darren, Bernir, and thezy Gerl that mostly just kept quiet orined about something. He skillfully slipped in apliment when needed which help the dwarves to feelpletely rxed around him as they walked.
He asked about the dwarves'' families and why they had left them behind but it turns out they the five had little to no family members still left alive. Despite their long beards they im to all be rtively young, only a 120-year-old Hulnyl said. Right, that makes sense Huh.
If he hadn''t spent some time here in the demon continent already he would''ve surely thought the bunch was joking but considering he was technically over 1,025 years old, he could only chuckle dryly.
With that, Tyler had nothing else he needed to ask the dwarves. Their conversation soon came to a halt for a while as they routinely got ambushed by monsters. Nadine handled most of them by herself with Tyler asionally having to help.
Their journey through the tunnel soon came to an end as they came to the opening that lead to the underground cavern. The cavern was dark enough that even with Tyler''s magic vision, he couldn''t seem that far into it but he could sense the entirety of the ce and knew there were no longer any monsters within it.
"What in the holy beard is this."
"The mana density here is quite high."
"You''re right, this ce doesn''t feel the same as the tunnels. There must''ve been some valuable metals here."
"And to think we''re only digging just a few meters away from here."
The dwarves eagerly entered the cavern as they had darkvision and thus, did not need any light to observe the entirety of the room. Or at least as far as the terrain would allow them. However, they had only moved into the carven a little when something immediately caught their eyes.
Deep inside the cavern, there was gleaming red gem-like substance sparsely embedded on the walls of the cave. Their footsteps seized and their bodies trembled. It was easy for Tyler to sense their chaoticemotions as they swelled up in excitement.
Without even waiting for him, all five of them dash madly into the cavern until they got to the end where the closest gem had been embedded.
"I can''t believe it, we found something like this."
"Oi, this is Runite right."
Their astonishment was short-lived though, as the moment they tried to touch the metal, their body felt stiff as they felt a stiffing amount of killing intent aimed at them. The pressure sent a thrill of fear down from their heads to the sole of their feet.
Like broken puppets, they all turned their heads stiffly in the same direction. In the deepest parts of their cavern where their vision had failed to reach earlier, was a pair of eyes that red coldly at them in a light devoid of life.
The eyes glowed in an eerily green hue and a thick aura that felt like death itself had arrived oozed from them. A vaguely humanoid but shadowy figure suddenly moved and naturally, the eyes moved with them as it walked slowly in their direction.
"D... D-Devil! It''s a devil!"
Gerl panicky said as he stumbled back and trip on his leg, falling right on his butt. The other four were also no different as they trembled in fear, clearly unable to move.
"That''s enough Zelda."
As though the creature had heard the voice of its creator, the devil surprisingly stopped at Ty''s words and just stared at them as the shadowy aura that surrounded the body slowly faded away, revealing the figure of a beautiful youngdy with pale wax-like skin tone, greenish-ck hair, and green eyes, d in a rouges outfit with a hood draped over her head.
The female ''devil'' then shifted her gaze from the five and walked away towards Tyler. Ragdek and the others, while still stricken by fear, felt confused at her actions and their gaze followed her until they saw her genuflect before Tyler.
Tylersighed, perhaps he should have warned the five ahead of time but they had rushed into the cavern before he could even say a word. As such, Zelda had treated them as hostiles as he had instructed her to protect this ce until his return.
"Wee back master. I apologize, I have yet toplete the task you assigned me as there are still a few Runites, I''m yet to mine."
Tyler could barely see far into the cavern but the gleaming lights of the Runites told him she had more than done enough. From the looks of the wall, more than 90% of the ce had already been mined.
"This is good enough, I was a little worried I didn''t tell you not to mine all the rocks as I don''t want those five to be considered liars by the guilds but it looks like I was able to make it here on time."
Zelda nodded with the same expression on her face as she brought out a small spatial storage box and handed it to Tyler. This was one of the boxes he had on him and had given to Zelda to store what she mined. He had a lot of these from the scouts in the darknar forest and the red ogre settlement.
He ordered her to rise as he walked into the room and both Nadine and Zelda trailed behind him.
"I supposed I should apologize to you five. As you heard, this is not the first time we came here and we did not find this ce by ident."
While still shaky, Ragdek found the courage to walk forward and speak to Tyler. "We already knew that much. It took us a while but we finally remembered seeing that miss running through the tunnel a few days ago."
"Hmm, I see..,"
"So I guess that means we can''t have any of the Runite here can we?"
"I''m afraid not. This continent''s Hunter and Merchant guilds would being here soon and they have to find something or some poor folks will get the me."
"That''s too bad."
Tyler could see the devastation hidden behind their faces as he said that. He was just about to make an offer to them when Ragdek spoke again:
"Say Mr. No master Ty, if I remover correctly, you said something earlier about hiring us right?"
"That is correct. The majority of the contents of this cave had already been extracted and are stored in this box. I don''t mind handing it to you if it will help you create magic artifacts."
"You''ll give something like that to us. What do you want in return."
"Nothing."
"That''s..." Ragdek narrowed his eyes and sent Tyler a suspicious gaze which invited a chuckle out of him.
"Indeed that''s a lie. But there is nothing you can give me right now. However, I will require your services in various projects, and when you do discover the secrets to artifacts in the future, and hope you won''t reject me. Also, you can only sell the magic artifacts you''re able to make to me. Of course, I''ll pay generously for all your wares and even sponsor your research."
The five dwarves all stared at Tyler in disbelief. Their eyes widened and their mouth agape. This was obviously quite a lucrative deal to make and they could not find any downside to it. Still¡ª
"Mr. Ty, you''re most definitely not an ordinary demon, are you? Please tell us who you are. Are you a Noble? Or perhaps the so-called behemoth we''ve heard rumors about."
"Noble? Behemoth? Does it matter?"
"Well, perhaps not but I had to ask since we will be in your care from now on."
"Uh, my care?"
As though on cue and as if they had practiced it beforehand, all five dwarves dropped to a knee before Tyler and Ragdek spoke first.
"There is no way anyone that can summon and control a devil of that magnitude would be beneath us or even our equal. We all have one goal and that is to do what we love no matter where we are and if you''re offering that ¡ª"
"That was not my¡ª besides she''s not a dev¡ª" Tyler tried to exin something but was immediately cut off by a resounding shout.
"We dwarves of the dwarven kingdom hereby proim by our heritage, that as long as you adhere by your words, and grant us the means to do what we love, we will serve you for the rest of our lives!"
They spoke simultaneously and in perfect unison as though they had practiced this beforehand and their eyes seemed to glow faintly in an orange hue.
''Oh shit.''
Tyler was speechless.
He did not have any intentions of making them serve him or anything like that. His original goal was for them to return to the human continent and show him the way there while asionally visiting them to see their progress and assigning them a task or two.
However, that didn''t seem possible again as he could tell that they had just used an oath skill simr to the demon''s pact. ''I guess most races have their own version Huh.'' He sighed internally as he massaged his temple and saw Nadine smiling and nodding her head with immerse satisfaction written all over her face as though she was very proud of the dwarves for some reason.
Zelda didn''t have any reaction to this which made Tyler give in to their will and just ept this. He sighed and spoke.
"I''ll ept your servitude. Since we''re done here, we should leave before it''s toote."
There was no way the group the city had tasked with the job would make it here in such a short a mouth of time but they had scouts that could probably get here much faster to do some light investigations and Tyler did not want to be caught unaware.
He turned around to leave when he suddenly had a nasty idea.
"Hmm..."
"Something wrong?"
"Well, the Huntersing here are expecting to see a devil and they had probably prepared for extensively so it''s not a good idea to let them waste all that effort is it."
"What do you mean?"
Tyler didn''t answer the inquisitive Ragdek and just reached into the void and pulled out a scroll. This was one of the summoning scrolls he had obtained in the library because he had originally thought he would need protection and in case of emergencies. However, he hadn''t gotten a chance to use it and this was a perfect time.
The scroll was a grayish ck parchment that oozed ethereal energy as though it wasn''t real and would fall apart if not handled properly. However, the energy that surrounded the scroll told everyone that this was a high-level summoning scroll, although monsters summoned with this would not be able to remain in this ne for long.
However, as long as he used some mana, the monsters summoned with a scroll would remain in this ne for at least a week and that was more than enough time to do what he wanted to.
"Summon monster - Dark Wraith" Tier 6
Arge magic circle the size of a bus appeared on the ground and from within it, eerie winds that chilled the bones blew in like a raging storm as a shadowy four-armed monster rose from the circle with glowing green eyes and an illusionary shadow body.
The monster reminded him of when Zelda was engulfed in her shadow cloak only wayrger but still, this was perfect. An evil grin appeared on Tyler''s face as he ordered the monster to go and wait at the end of the room and kill anyone that enters this cavern.
Hopefully, those five didn''te back with them. If they did it would mean their greed had gotten the best of them.
Thinking that Tyler turned back around and took out a few Runites from the small spatial storage box and handed the box to Ragdek as promised. He would run some experiments of his ownter. He then ced the Runites inside his spatial storage ring and was about to leave the cavern with the others who were all walking ahead of him when suddenly¡ª
He felt a sudden migraine kick in as he vaguely heard something.
[Notice: The conditions have been met, this one will now begin its evolution.]
[Notice: This one has now obtained all the materials required for evolution.]
[Essence of 300 intermediate beast - obtained]
[Energy from 200 intermediate cores - obtained]
[Energy from 3 Advance cores (Magic crystals) - obtained]
[Energy from 1 Lord ss core. (Magic crystal) - obtained]
[2000 ouch of any magic metals - obtained]
[Notice: Monarch authority required for evolution.]
Chapter 160 C160. Living Properties
[Notice: The conditions have been met, this one will now begin its evolution.]
[Notice: This one has now obtained all the materials required for evolution.]
[Essence of 300 intermediate beast - obtained]
[Energy from 200 intermediate cores - obtained]
[Energy from 3 Advance cores (Magic crystals) - obtained]
[Energy from 1 Lord ss core. (Magic crystal) - obtained]
[2000 ouch of any magic metals - obtained]
[Notice: Monarch authority required for evolution.]
[Notice: MonarchAuthority has been received.]
[Spatial Infinity evolution will now begin.]
???
"What¡ª is this?"
Tyler''s mind went numb, he had only stored a small amount of Runite when suddenly a genderless voice that sounded like nothing but an ethereal ripple, rang out within his mind. His expression went sour and the mood atmosphere around him stiffened, prompting Nadine and Zelda to notice something was wrong as theyboth hurriedly ran back to catch Tyler who had lost his bnce and was about to fall.
A surge of pain that originated from the finger he wore the storage ring on suddenly assaulted his mind in a wave that almost knocked him unconscious. He was sure he had some pain resistance by now but either he was wrong, or something had disabled it just so he would feel this absurd surge of pain.
His left index finger that was already dealing with the negative corruption felt like it was about to fall off and it took all the self-control Tyler had to prevent himself from screaming in pain. The dwarves and Nadine all gathered around him wondering what was happening but Tyler was unable to speak as he kept wing at the ring in his left index finger, wanting to pull it off even if it meant taking off his finger with it.
The more time passed, the more the pain kept getting worse, energy continuously left his body as the ring kept drawing out his mana and devouring it to no end.
Ragdek and the others were confused, they could see the pain in Tyler''s face as he no longer wore his hood but they had no idea what was actually happening. A curse, bacsh from the summoned monster, or something else. He truly had no idea. Left with no other options, he thought it best to use one of the healing scrolls they had on hand for now.
However, as he thought of this, a sudden force gusted out of Ty and enveloped the entire cavern. It was a feeling that was hard to describe and every single one of them could feel it. Ragdek was even sure that the force had already envelope the entire mine, maybe even the entire Farbel''s Pass.
The space inside the cavern felt distorted and heavy, it made everyone including Nadine feel like taking even a single step would have dangerous and disastrous repercussions. This went on for a while as the force kept getting stronger and stronger by each passing second that it started to feel like even standing there had be a chore.
The cavern soon began to vibrate and they could all feel the tremors in the air as though the cave woulde down on them. However, they could not do anything to save themselves as they all fell to their knees, breathing heavily as they found it harder and harder to remain conscious.
Well, all except Zelda, who was undead, and thus, immune to most status effects. Tyler struggle against the pain with redbloodshot eyes as he witnessed the effects his predicament was having on the people around him.
Knowing how dangerous it was for them to remain here, he had no choice but to do something, so he struggled to speak to the one person that remained standing next to him.
"Zelda, m-move everyone here."
Zelda responded immediately as she moved the unmoving bodies of the dwarves and Nadine closer to Tyler and understanding his intentions, she had them touching him and quickly entered his shadow.
Tyler wasn''t sure if this would work. His only option right now was to teleport everyone out of here with the skill spatial teleportation but he was sure he couldn''t use any skills in his current state. However, there was a teleportation scroll inside his storage space but at this moment, he didn''t know if he would have ess to it as the storage ring was apparently the cause of all this.
Still, he had to try and because it didn''t take any mana to store or retrieve items from there, he had high hopes for this as he made his attempt.
Sess.
After experiencing pain simr to this a few times already. Even if this time it felt like his very soul was being ripped apart. He was still able to remain conscious as he pulled out the scroll from the void with great difficulty and activate it.
Arge andplicated magic circle appeared on the ground underneath them and in an instant, the underground cavern returned to its previous calm with only a single phantom lurking in the dark.
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¡ªSome hours earlier.
¡ªDeep in the Northern parts of the darknar forest.
Two simr shadowy figures moved swiftly through the night as they navigated theplicated terrain with ease while remaining soundless and almost weightless.
The two figures soon came to a stop atop arge tree that was at the top of a hill overlooking the forest. There was an abnormallyrge clearing in the middle of the forest which was clearly not natural, and right now, that ce was filledpletely with an army of the undead, ranging from skeletons to zombies, ck knights to wrights.
There were more than 10,000 of them standing in a neet formation inside the clearing. A few undead liches stood at the front of the army as theymanded the mindless troops into formation.
To the left of the undead army was a small toon made up of well-equipped demihumans that had the body of men and women and the tail and scales of serpents. They were most likely Nagas and Lamias and they numbered only about a hundred.
However, even from a distance, these two shadow figures could tell that their strength was no joke. They could probably take on half of this army of undead ande out victorious if everything went their way.
The two female shadowy figures that were d in a rogue''s outfit, with one-handed red and white crossbows strapped to their backs respectively¡ª lightly jumped off the tree as they looked to have been sucked into their own shadows and disappeared from the top of the hill.
Underneath the hill was the unnaturally wide entrance to an undergroundbyrinth that was also connected to a mine. The cave entrance was guarded by two hulking creatures with grey skin, d in bone-type full body armor as the aura they exuded naturally drove the living away from them.
However, such a thing was no problem for the undead as re and Kali easily moved past the unsuspecting guards that stood at the entrance and made their way into the deepest parts of the cave.
The ce was massive and there were severalyers of magical trapsid all over. However, they were able to easily avoid or disable them as they proceeded down the dark tunnels, and after a while, they located their target.
At the end of a makeshift hallway, was arge double door, and using their skills, they were able to confirm that two of their targets were behind the door. While it was indeed risky to proceed any further as the one beyond that doorpletely surpassed them in any way possible and may be able to sense them.
The shadow rogue had received their master''s orders to investigate and without hesitation, they activated all their stealth-based skills while constantly surprising their aura as they mined through the shadows into the room without even opening the doors.
Unlike the hallway leading here, this ce was illuminated by touches that burnt with blue mes. The room was oval in shape and was almost masterfully crafted with various runes or glyphs on the walls.
There was arge stone throne at the end of the room that didn''t share the same craftsmanship as the rest of the room but stood elevated behind a few flights of stairs. Standing by the side of the stone throne were two Doom Knights d in blood-red armor and wielding a massive red shield and a long sword.
An undead creature sat atop the stone throne, it wore a slightly tattered luxurious robe with purple threads that designed its edges, holding a wooden staff with small red crystals embedded in it and arge one attached to its end. It wore a bone crown with the same red crystals adorning the tips of the spiked parts of the bone crown.
It had rotten skin attached to the white bones beneath its robe. Its face was a mixture of rotten flesh and a skull, however, beneath its rotting exterior lies a pair of evil eyes brimming with intelligence. The lights in its eyes flickered like dancing mes before ncing at the direction the two had entered from for a moment before retiring to the other side of the room.
On this side, arge and well-designed wooden throne was ced therepletely out of ce from the feel of the room. By either side of the chair stood two imposing barrel-chested humanoids creatures with heads resembling those of bulls and long curved horns adorned by adamantine rings.
They were Minotaurs and wielded twin one-handed battle ax that was strapped on their backs as they red coldly at the Doom knights by either side of the stone throne. Seated on the wooden throne was an enchanting youngdy that would normally seem out of ce here if it wasn''t for the lower parts of her body being like that of arge green serpent.
She wore no clothing or armors like themias outside with the only thing on her being the gorgeous ck tiara that adorned her long and lustrous green hair as she sat atop her throne bare-chested with a faint smile on her face. Her eyes were like that of a serpent, having only a vertical slit that gave her a slight predatory feel to her demeanor.
"I am d you epted my invite today Queen Daenerys, I wasn''t sure if you would be interested in this since you are yet to make any moves on the east."
The ghastly voice of Zerahut rang out in the quiet room and a mellow voice spoke up to answer it.
"I found your n intriguing and thought I''d tag along and watch something interesting for a change."
Her snake-like tongue licked her lips as she yedzily with her long nails after speaking. Seemingly uninterested in any further discussions.
"Very well then, shall we begin the attack."
"That''s child, you do as you wish."
Zerahut did not respond to the youngdy''s seemingly rude words. After all, while she may look like a teen, she was the second oldest among the four kings. Only younger than the 980-year-old Ancient Rykir by a single year.
??????????
??????????
Tyler suddenly woke up with a throbbing headache as he tried to regain his bearings in slight confusion. He slowly turned his head around to observe his current surroundings as he struggled to remember what had happened to them. They were all currentlyying on the snow in the middle of what appeared to be nowhere.
Remembering what had happened to him, he felt a sense of relief as their presence here meant the teleportation scroll had seeded and he hadn''t brought the entire cave down on them. Although both he, Nadine, and Zelda would easily survive that, he was more worried about the dwarves as he didn''t think they had any physical resistance.
He slowly got up from the snow as he wanted to get a better sense of his current location so he could think of a way back when¡ª
[Notice: The magic artifact, Spatial infinity has sessfully evolved. However, due to March Authorities, Imbued. The skills of the artifact have now been infused into your soul.]
"Wait what?"
[Notice: Skills obtained.]
[Skill: Spatial Maniption.
Sub skills: Spatial Movement, Spatial Barrier, Frozen Space, and Infinite Storage Space.]
[Notice: All items stored in the storage space of the artifact, ''Spatial Infinity,'' have been transferred to the monarch storage skill.]
[Notice: The living properties of the artifact ''Spatial infinity cannot be Imbued to the user. Thus skill is beingbined with others to create the unique skill: Wisdom of Uriel.]
[Skill is unable to be used at the moment and monarch is required to learn skills, irvoyance, Divine appraisal, and World Divination.] (Authors Note: The names of these skills may change if I think of something better. Do make some suggestions in thements.)
Before he even had a chance to do anything, Tyler heard the emotionless and genderless voice again in his head as he rapidly felt the ring on his index finger grow hot.
[Notice: Extraction of the Living property was sessful and thus the shell of the item, Spatial infinity will now be destroyed as the material is currently unstable.]
"Again, what!"
Reacting quickly Tyler yanked the ring off his finger and tossed it. Although he hadn''t put much strength into the throw, the ring had still traveled far and it exploded in a massive st before it had even touched the snow.
"What the hell, are you trying to kill me!"
There was no response.
The headache he felt was now gone and so was the pain. It would seem the ring that had been his most precious item up till now was the cause. Before Tyler could even process what was said and what it meant he suddenly heard a familiar voice in his head that interrupted his thoughts.
The fact that there had been no warning or bell-like ringing meant this wasn''t amunication request but it was a mind link with someone connected to him and there were only three beings that could do that.
''Forgive the interruption Master, there is a problem.''
''Huh, or Kali what''s wrong.''
''I''m afraid it took us longer to locate the Eldar Lich''s hideout than expected. The Lich had currently joined forces with the Queen Lamia of the North and is now moving towards the castle with an army of more than 20,000 undead and 100 Strong Nagas.''
"Wait, Seriously."
''Yes, Lord.''
''Very well, continue your investigations on the strength of their entire force.''
''As you wish.''
The thought link was discontinued and just as Tyler was about to think of what he would do next as Nadine and the dwarves were still unconscious on the snow. A suddenly soft ringing entered his mind.
''Lord Ty, I''m d I was able to connect with you.''
It was Albert. He must''ve noticed therge movements of the army already and that was impressive. He would need to issue an order to him to prepare the castle for a swipe even though they had the barrier to protect them from most of the attacks.
"Yes, I''m aware of the army¡ª
''I regret to inform you that I have failed you, my lord.''
''Huh?''
''The barrier has been breached, and we''re currently being attacked from the rear.''
"Wait what!"
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
¡ªEnd of Volume 3 - Mysterious Merchant.
Chapter 161 C161. Daily Process
Albert walked from the first floor through to the Third Floor of the north wing in the Demon''s king castle. The hard soles of his leather shoes cked loudly against the ground, and the echoes faded away into silence. He stopped by arge window in the hall he was in and nced at the view outside the castle.
Many of his men who are now his master''s vassals had been set out to maintain security, including creatures like the gray trolls and the undead. He also had a few of them in the castle but they did not impair the mythic atmosphere in this ce.
Suddenly, Albert looked around and smiled.
"¡Truly magnificent."
The object of his admiration was the entirety of the Castle, especially the fourth floor of the north wing which he had just entered. It was a ce thatplemented a supreme monarch, the entity for whom Albert had pledged his utmost loyalty and would abandon everything for. Therefore, Albert had grown to cherish everything here, striving to maintain and improve on them.
He had spent only a little over two weeks here but after patrolling the entire castle several times already. He could tell how much more valuable and precious this ce was than his own family''s castle. This ce was like a delicate treasure that belonged to his master and thus he would do everything in his power to take care of it.
There was nothing more important to a servant than to be of use to one''s master and thus, Joy filled Albert''s heart every time he walked through this ce, after making sure the new maids he had trained had properly cleaned and maintained it. The satisfaction he received from this further reinforced his devotion to his master who was currently away in business.
Including the trolls and undead, the current fighting force of the castle was still less than a hundred and they had more than four hundred people in the castle. While most of those could not offer any help on the battlefield, Albert had still put most of the women to work.
Based on his experiences as a Noble even before he became a Lord, he trained the young women to be maids capable of cleaning and taking care of the castle wlessly. He also had them make uniforms for them based on the design that the Lady Rain had suggested which Albert didn''t agree with as he did not understand why they had to be that short but she had insisted, saying that Lord Ty would like it and he had no choice but to yield to her wishes.
As these thoughts passed through Albert''s mind, he turned a corner. His destination was before his eyes, the dome-shaped room that lead to the throne room of his master. The room contained thestyer of defense (The passage of the Fallen) although those defensive measures were currently inactive.
As he approached the room''srge door, he saw several people open it and leave.
These people immediately noticed Albert and waited courteously for him to approach.
One of them was dressed like a butler, but he was dressed entirely in ck aside from his white gloves. It looked less like a set of butler''s clothes and more like abat uniform.
He was the new addition to Albert''s team, a former member or leader for the scout of the Zorak family. Zomatsu was his name but ever since his master had called him Z in passing, that had be his name to everyone else. The name didn''t seem to bother him but Albert still maintained use of his full name as a show of respect for recognizing his master''s strength and pledging his loyalty towards him.
He currently wore a silver-colored mask to hide his face as his normal hooded cloak was prohibited by Albert saying it wasn''t a proper outfit that could be worn around such a magnificent castle. Zomatsu was seemingly unable to stand his appearance for some strange reason even though he was quite the attractive fellow, so Albert gave him the mask and permitted only that within the premises.
In addition, another person was standing next to him, dressed in his usual coveralls and holding a parchment while fiddling with a strange device.
"Well hello. This is quite an unusual sight, why exactly are our famed cksmith and new trainering out of that room?"
Upon hearing Albert''s questioning greetings, Zomatsu and Berlin Bungo bowed slightly at him as they turned to answer.
"Indeed, you''re right lord Albert. Also good morning sir."
"Good morning."
"Yes, I was called to escort Mr. cksmith here to take a look at those stone golems if he could fix it or make a new one as he could not be reached via telepathy and had locked himself in his room."
"Ah, I see." Albert had immediately understood the entirety of the situation as he knew full well what a hand full this so-called famed cksmith was just because he imed to have been taught by dwarves.
However, the fact that Zomatsu had been able to drag him out of his room without issues was truly impressive. Even if he had gone himself he would have to spend hours there trying to convince him to leave his work.
Albert was very impressed with Zomatsu''s ability. Not only was he very prudent, but he was also very intelligent, enough to pick up on everyone''s tendencies so he could be more efficient around them and in the task, he was given.
Nodding his head he asked another question.
"Is Erin inside?"
"Yes, the Lady Erin and Lady Liz are both working within."
While Albert was put in charge of the castle while his master was away. The girls, Erin, Liz, and Rain were also given tasks of their own and Rain was currently busy preparing to leave the castle with Liz on business he wasn''t aware of.
However, he was aware of the fact that they had also been tasked with taking notes and if possible fixing all the magic mechanisms within the castle and currently, they seem to be working on the ones inside this room.
He nodded to Zomatsu and then asked:
"Say, how is the new training regimen you prepared for our fighting force going?"
"Quite well if I do say so myself. Everyone is incredibly eager to grow after getting ran over by Lord Ty''s minion the other day. They are now able to hold their own against the undead knight."
"And the Lich?"
"Not yet. There is still a lot to work on but a few of them have shown great promise and rapid progress."
"I take it Azar Is one of them."
"Hmm, oh you mean the ogre chieftain. Well, I sent him and the evolved trolls out on a mission on lord Ty''s orders. Their strength is already equal to mine so there was nothing much to teach them. I only gave them a little advice based on everything I''ve seen so far."
"I see."
"Yes, I have also currently been tasked with devising a feasible n in Lord Ty''s desire to regain control over the darkin mountain range as well as setting up and choosing the right personnel for our informationwork as we''re currently blind to the rest of the world."
Albert nodded his head to Zomatsu''s words and when he was done speaking, he asked another question:
"I know your job is very important for the growth and safety of Lord Ty''s vassals, but who will be in charge of the vassal''s training while you''re indisposed?"
"That would be Jarret. ording to what I gathered he seemed to be the most capable although he still has a lot to learn he has an incredible drive to improve and I''m sure lord Ty would agree, although I hate to be presumptuous."
"Oh no, I''m sure lord Ty would agree that Jarret was the best person for the job. Although it seems I may have been rude in my questioning."
After seeing Albert slightly lower his head in apology, Zomatsu signaled that he had not taken it to heart. "Then, I''ll be on my way. I have to escort Mr. Berlin back to his chambers as he seems to be unfamiliar with theyout of the castle due to him spending all his time in his room. He ims he''ll get lost otherwise."
"That indeed sounds like you Berlin."
Berlin chuckled dryly as he scratched the back of his head still staring at the device he had been tinkering with the entire time.
"Then, We shall take our leave, Lord Albert."
"Alright. Farewell."
After looking briefly at the famed cksmith being lead out of this floor by Zomatsu, Albert knocked gently on therge doors to the oval-shaped room:
"This is Albert. Pardon the intrusion."
He was exceedingly polite, despite the absence of the room''s owner. This was because to Albert, every room in the castle was deserving of respect especially the ones that had anything to do with his master''s authority.
Albert entered the room, which should have been empty and contained the remains of several broken statues on the floor.
The first thing he saw was Erin in her full glory. It had been a long time since Albert had seen her in this form as she floated in the air with her hair being almost translucent and her skin literally glowing.
Water tentacles sprout out from the ground as they moved around the room seemingly attempting to fix the magic circuits that were originally hidden in the room. Magic runes that Albert had not noticed before appeared in the walls all around the room. It was like the entire room was onerge andplicated magic circle.
Liz moved around with an expensive looking hardcover book and a quil, as she jotted down the magic runes that they did not understand forter trantion. It would seem she could read some level of magic runes which was something that eluded Albert as he could only read a portion of the basic runes.
Zomatsu had made mention of that to him as well. If he wanted to get stronger he had to work on his spells instead of only his skills and secret techniques.
Albert stared at the pair for a while as they worked in silence. It would seem they weremunicating using telepathy as no words had been spoken up to this point and yet they were working with such wless teamwork.
Seeing Albert suddenly inside the room, Liz stopped what she was doing as she bowed slightly to him in respect and Albert surprisingly did the same.
"Is there a problem?"
"No. I was doing my usual rounds and came to check up on you. How is it going."
"Most of the mechanisms here are constructed with advanced magic runes so we can''t fix it but we''re trying to locate all the ones done in intermediate runes so we have a semnce of the entire circuit and work from there. We should be done within the hour."
"I see. And what of thedy, miss Rain."
"Rain, umm¡ She''s umm¡ busy at the moment."
Albert felt the strangeness in her words as she spoke about her friend but he opted not to pursue the matter. Lord Ty had given them an equal authority as his so he didn''t have to worry about them.
He took a look at the floating Erin once more and nodded. "Very well, I shall take my leave now."
"Hm, okay."
With that, Albert left the room that lead to the throne room as he did not bother to check that room in order not to distract Erin from her concentrated state. It was rare to find her so serious about doing something as she was usually so reserved and shy.
She probably still felt indebted to Lord Ty for saving her life back then in the settlement and doing something for him was her way of paying him back. Albert sighed ruely.
It had been more than a century now since he first met Erin when he was still only a child. She originally lived by herself in a sacredke that was located deep inside his family''s region and he would usually sneak out there to hang out with her. She was a lot more livelier back then than she was now and he had always felt a shred of guilt for what had happened to her home.
Seeing her now slowlying out of the shell she had built around herself for decades, he couldn''t help but be grateful to Lord Ty even more.
Chapter 162 C162. To Each His Own
Two slender figures walked down the hallways of the north wing in the demon king''s castle. They were both greeted by the maids dressed in short and stylish maids outfits. Their outfit was designed by the wife of the former ogre chief Cial Igna and a few others from the alike they settlement had gotten out of killer moths, creatures native to the Darknar Region.
The maids that had been trained by Albert were all demihumans, mostly ogress, and beastkins but they were very pretty although most of them did not possess any fighting prowess.
Liz and Erinn walked gracefully by the bowing maids as Liz slightly yawned. She was quite exhausted but looking at her from afar, one would find it hard-pressed to notice. Her skin was an uninterrupted stretch of silky smoothness and her beauty was not diminished in any way.
In contrast, Erin moved with little effort as she did not seem tired in any way.
They walked back down to the first floor and after exchanging greetings with the ones there, they went all the way to the seventh floor of the west wing where their personal chambers were located. The maids stationed here were few in numbers but it seemed most of them had some fighting strength.
Liz didn''t think much about that though, as they arrive before her room and opened the door to enter. They had both been working hard on the oval room for days now without any results. It had been a lot easier for them to restore the defenses in the rest of the castle than it was with that room.
The magic runes engraved on the walls all over the castle were connected to a circuit that connected the entire castle. They had various effects including, regting the internal temperature as well as soundproofing and reinforcement.
They also controlled the lights and other mechanics in the castle like the taps and baths. There were also severalyers of anti-divination amongst the runes and various other effects they couldn''t understand.
Liz could only read up to the first level of intermediate magic runes and even that was because she had been locked up for most of her life so studying was all she did. Others, even demon lords struggle to get to the intermediate level.
Erin could read all three levels but could not read advanced levels so it made it harder for them toplete their tasks as the entire castle had a few advanced magic runes in the midst.
Still, the only problem with the system was the inactive defense mechanism and thus they had been able to handle the rest of the castle until they got to the Passage of the Fallen. The stone golems in the shape of knights and the magic artifact Lilith, needed a lot of energy to run but they could still reactivate the magic traps.
With that done, Liz needed to rest but upon entering the room she found it empty and eerily silent.
"Rain!"
There was no response. Her friend who was supposed to be here preparing to leave the castle was not. Liz felt a headache brewing as Erin entered the room as well and noticed the current situation.
"You don''t think she went back there do you?"
Liz sighed at Erin''s question as shezily walked back out and down the hall to thest room on this floor. Normally, if she came here she would have to ce a knock on the door but right now, she noticed the doors that were supposed to be locked were currently slightly opened.
"Not again."
Erin trailed after her and seeing Liz enter the opened room, she hesitantly went in as well.
They looked around and did not see Rain anywhere. Liz sighed softly, then proceeded deeper within.
There was only a single bed within, and it seems the maids were taking good care of the room as the sheets had been changed again even though there was no one sleeping on them.
Well, actually, there was probably a good reason for that as the sheets might''ve really been dirtied. There was currently someoneying on the been seemingly sound asleep in her underwear as though they were in their own room.
Liz''s brows twitched slightly and Erin sighed. Liz then walked up to the sleeping figure and pinched the tips of one of her long pointed ears. A soft moan left the figure''s mouth before she suddenly shrieked.
"Aiek!! What are you doing that hurts."
"I should be asking you that. Why are you here again?"
The world-ss dark-skinned beauty that had slept on the bed groggily sat up as she pouted her cheeks in protest. "I tried to call him but my spell can''t reach so I came here so I''ll feel connected to my love before we leave."
Liz was struck speechless. She could not find the words to say to the sudden love-struck friend of hers. It was hard enough to keep her in check when she was normal but now she found it harder to predict her moves.
"Aren''t you taking it too far, Lord Ty might get angry if he finds you here. He''s pretty scary when he''s mad you know."
Rain stared at Erin''s soft words in confusion as she tilted her head. "I don''t know what you mean by too far. I think it''s perfectly normal to sleep in your lover''s bed when he''s away.
''Since when did you two be lovers.''
Liz thought that but chose not to say it out loud as that might spiral into a whole nother conversation. They all still had a lot to do and wasting more time entertaining Rain would only hinder that.
Truth be told, she already knew Lord Ty''s stance on this as she had managed to connect with him when he had sent Nadine back to give them new clothing. Having witnessed his fury first hand as well, she rather not anger him.
She had barely been able to stand in front of him when he had been made at that troll but her desire to save Rain at the time gave her the courage to stop him. That was also the reason why she actively tried not to get close to him. Beingbeled the disgrace of the Alcar family, she had always been the target of others'' anger even when she tried her best to do whatever they wanted.
So having someone not be angry at her was something she instinctively strives for, and after meeting the one person stronger than her that hadn''t treated her like a disgrace, or an eyesore, she didn''t want him to be angry at her for any reason. It was why she had informed him of Rain''s antics after failing to stop her several times. However, all he did was ask:
''When you entered the room, did you notice anything strange?''
''Strange? No, everything seemed normal.''
''I see¡ Then it''s fine, do as you please.''
His casual disregard for the issue had surprised her but she figured there was something hidden here and as long as Rain doesn''t go snooping around, he wouldn''t care about this.
??????
"Hey, I read somewhere that human men usually get aroused when their lovers weed them back while wearing nothing but an apron. Do you think Lord Ty would like that?"
"Huh, where did you read that?" Liz was dragged out of her thoughts by Rain''s strange and sudden question as she proceeded to ask her a question of her own.
"Oh, a certain behemoth always used to read the book whenever he would visit my brother back at home."
Liz frown upon hearing the word ''home'' being associated with the prison she was locked up in all her life and noticing that, Rain who was wearing only her ckced underwear finally got off the bed and wrapped herself in the pure white sheets.
"Sorry, I guess I was still a little sleepy."
"It''s fine."
"So what do we do now?"
"We can leave anytime but I''m still tired so I''ll have to rest up a bit."
"And the castle?"
"Well, Albert is taking care of it so it''ll be fine."
"Wouldn''t it be better if Erin takes care of it instead?"
"Who me? No no no no, I couldn''t."
"Of course you can. If you actually tried."
It was true that Erin excelled in management duties, and in that respect, she was far superior to Albert. However, she was not as talented in terms of defense and military administration, which was what Albert was best at, and her current personality prevented others from getting too close to her which was a minus when it came to management. That was also why Albert had been put in charge.
All would be well as long as there were no known enemies, like now.
"By the way, didn''t you say you wanted to train with your new weapon so you get used to it? Are you done with that already?"
"Oh yeah, I was doing that wasn''t I."
"¡"
"Yeah, I was making progress when I heard the maids saying that lord Ty came back to drop off someone he captured for interrogation and got distracted but he was already gone before I could meet him."
"Oh."
"Yeah, I tried to contact him after that but couldn''t so I got lonely and came here."
''Like you need an excuse.''
With that, Liz calmed down a little as her tiredness kicked in. They needed to leave the castle soon but she would not be of any use out there if she didn''t get some rest. Erin was an immortal and thus her stamina was almost bottomless. Unless her life force was being drained from her, she could practically move without rest for all of eternity.
"You look exhausted. How hard was it to fix those runes."
"It was harder than we thought but for now we''ve done all we can."
"I see¡ Wannay down." Rain said that with a sly smile as she sat back on the bed tapping on the soft mattress for Liz to join her.
"No thanks, Even lord Ty doesn''t get angry at that, I still think it''s improper."
"It''s fine, I''m sure he''ll be even more upset if you''re tired and didn''t rest up just because you thought it was improper."
"I''m not sure that makes sense."
"Ohe on, it''s just a bed. Don''t be an Erin."
"Huh, wait when did my name be a verb."
Drawn in by Rain''s smile, Liz didn''t know when she had gotten into the bed as well. Erin sighed in resignation after being ignored, she went over and sat on the sofa before asking Rain a question.
"Hey hm¡ Why did Lord Ty ask you guys to leave the castle? I''ve been meaning to ask but.."
"You were too shy."
"Ur, no I was just."
"Hehe¡ I''m only messing with you rx. Lord Ty asked the Ogre chief and trolls to travel to the Darkin mountain range and locate a good and easy-to-defend spot where they would build a cabin to be used for our temporary base there. The journey there is very dangerous, that''s why he sent both the evoked trolls as well.
"I see¡ But why do we need a cabin built there."
"Efficiency of course."
"Huh."
"While the trip to the mountain range is dangerous, the mountain range itself is worst. He wants us to go there and map out the ce and locate all the resource mines in the area, and it would be both dangerous and inefficient to travel back and forth every day especially since he wants to establish a foothold there and I''m sure he doesn''t like the fact that the Great Five have moved into his territory when he was away."
"I see."
"We are also supposed to recruit any freemen settlement we meet along the way to bolster our forces but lord Ty didn''t want to allow just anyone into the castle so I heard the Kobolds were sent out to start the foundations of building a town on top of the former ruins of the Darknar city in the Grayad Field."
"Wow, I didn''t know Lord Ty had thought so far ahead."
"Of course, everything is in order to regain his throne. He will soon be moving against the nobles so we have to be prepared."
Rain''s eyes sparkled in the light as she said those words with a strange conviction while stroking the silky soft hair of the now sleeping Liz.
Chapter 163 C163. Expansion Plans
¡ªIn the south wing of the demon king''s castle.
Albert held his Miao Dao with both hands as he adopted a fighting stance in one of the massive training halls in this wing. He was the only one currently in this hall as everyone else would train in a different hall.
As an Advanced Level Tier 5 Magic swordsman, the only people in this castle that could challenge him besides his master were the girls. Even Z would not be able to push him too far and he wouldn''t get anything out of a sparring section with him.
Since the girls weren''t interested in training with him he had no choice but to go at it alone. Z had advised him to just spend his time learning new control spells that couldplement his fighting style but he could not learn many spells and he did not feel like just learning low-level spells would help him to the extent he was aiming for.
For Albert, reaching the peak of Tier 5 was the only chance he had to get any stronger as his swordsmanship was already perfect or near perfection and even improving his secret techniques would not make much of a difference. He would train here every morning to improve on his stamina and try to attain a breakthrough but such a thing would not be easy.
With his eyes closed, Albert envisioned his opponent and contemted on the ways he would be able to attain victory against them. His master was a no-go area as he would lose before the match had even started. Although if he was feeling generous like he normally was he would entertain Albert''s efforts and hold bad as long as he found the match a little entertaining.
However, even then didn''t mean his odds of winning had improved from zero. He envisioned the dark elf known as Rain. Her speed was far superior to his and as an assassin type she would be hard to deal with but he was fairly confident he could force a draw 6 out of 10 times.
The demon Liz was also not apatible opponent as she was a mage and although he felt like he could win if he got close enough to her. He was unsure of the full extent of her avabilities and there was sometimes within her that gave him the chills.
Erin was also a no-go area as that would be devastating in more ways than one. In the end, amongst all the top fifers in the castle, he was surely the weakest and most ordinary even though he was the only one that had once been a demon lord.
Even adding Z to the list didn''t make him look better as the man had the highest level of intellect after his master''s.
Albert frowned and opened his eyes, if he wanted to remain useful to Lord Ty, he would need to get way more stronger than he was now. He greeted his teeth but soon stopped and took a deep breath as he brought out five scrolls from his spatial storage ring. They were his personal items and since Lord Ty had shown no interest in them, he was free to use them as he saw fit.
Summoned monsters - Chained Spirits. (Tier 4)
While one would consider using five tiers 4 summoning scrolls as a waste, Albert thought it would be worth it if they could push him past his limit so he could achieve a breakthrough and reach the Peak of Tier 5.
Fiverge Humanoids monsters with pale white skin appeared from the magic circle that had formed on the marbled floor. The creatures were wrapped in chains attached to metal skulls that dragged on the ground. They only had physical bodies from their waist up and their legs were just smoke that originated from the skull that had appeared in the ground like some type of genie.
These were spirit beings that could not be harmed by physical attacks. They could only be killed with specific elements and magic or enchanted weapons. Albert Miao Dao was heavily enchanted but that was not why he had chosen these monsters as his challengers for the day.
The reason he did that was because these monsters mostly attack with physical attacks even those who were spiritual beings. They were very vicious and as such would attack any opponents even if they were stronger than them and would attack without care as their attacks would not affect other chained spirits.
Albert proceeded to dash forth at the summoned monster who immediately charged at him, swinging their chains around. The monsters all swung their chains at him and Albert immediately began the moves he had been practicing all mourning.
Secret Technique: Shadow Step.
In aplicated movement, A shadowy figure suddenly began to trail behind him while mirroring his movements.
He suddenly kicked off the ground and jumped above the 10-foot monsters and swung his de down.
Secret Technique - Gravity sh.
This was a technique he had created himself back when the lesser basilisks were attacking the settlement. He would normally use the force of gravity to power his sh as he used a bit of his mana to expand on the area of effects.
However, this time was different. He quickly silently cast the spell ''Heavy'' on himself, promptly dropping back down to the ground several times faster than the norm. He swung his de at the monsters as hended and arge boom resounded in the hall.
Arge sh of energy shattered the reinforced marble floor and three of the chained spirits had died. The other two continued their attacks and Albert easily avoided their attacks as he soon found an opportunity to counter and within the next five minutes, all five monsters were dead.
Although he was d he made some improvements. He still felt frustrated that he could not make a breakthrough again today. He left the training hall and after Albert was done checking mg upon the others that were being trained by Jarret using the ck Knight and Lich.
Albert then returned to the north wing, he would usually begin assigning new tasks to the maids and the guards he had stationed around the castle but right now, he had another thing on his mind. He went up a level in the north wing and located Erin in one of the offices on this floor.
She was currently alone at the moment so Albert walked in after cing a single knock on the door. This has been the office she and Liz had used while tranting the magic runes they could not read in their attempt to fix the defense mechanism in the castle.
It was a shame they didn''t have anyone that specialize in those types of work as theirbor force was verycking. "Hey Erin, How are you faring?"
Erin raised her head from the book she was reading and looked at Albert before speaking. "Fine, I guess. Liz and Rain already left so I''m just passing the time by studying the advanced runes we copied from the walls."
"They left so soon. Hmm, I see."
"Is something wrong?"
"No, not at all. I only came because I need your help with something."
"Really. You haven''t asked for my help since we came here." Her eyes seemed to sparkle for a moment but soon returned to her usualzy stare.
"Is that so. I suppose I haven''t been doing much to be honest. There aren''t that many people to manage so I didn''t need your help for those."
"Hmm okay. Why do you need my help now then?"
"Oh right. I need to set up a connection with the kobolds at the grayad ins." While the kobolds were excellent at making traps, construction was not their forte as they could not build any suitable structure for other races to live in due to their status andck of any advancements in their culture over the years.
"I need to be able tomunicate with them while keeping an eye on their work. I just want them to clear out an area to for the town and set up the tents before the Raven settlement arrived."
The Raven settlement was the only settlement of Hobgoblins in the Darknar region. Hobgoblin were goblins that had evolved to look simr to humans and demons over the years. Having a normal height of around 5-6 feet and pale green skin tone.
While they are more intelligent than other races of goblins and their usual training had given them proficiency with a multitude of weapons and armor. They were still amongst the weakest race of demi-humans in the demon continent.
Albert had previously traded with them several times back when he was the captain of the guards in the Red ogre settlement. The hobgoblins had high military standards that were based on their intellect and strategies more than their strength but their true worth shined in their farms and construction.
Their high intelligence had enabled them to experiment with the soil over the years and are now able to farm more easily farm in any area of the demon continent. Albert had traded weapons and armors they had gotten from Berlin for vegetables and other consumables the Hobgoblins had produced themselves.
The two settlements had a good rtionship with each other and when they had sent a representative here seeking to be Lord Ty''s vassals after investigations were conducted on what happened to the Red ogre settlement. He had a more favorable opinion of them.
ording to the representative, the current darknar region was even more dangerous than before as monsters stronger than the ones they usually encountered were sprouting everywhere. The was a level of chaos in the region right now as the monsters were more violent and no of the
Seems to be remaining in their natural habitat.
This was a major problem for the Raven settlement that had gued their chief for weeks now. Due to them not being too strong, they generally could not handle enemies they could not n for. And as such, the region had be too hostile for their survival and they had been contemting moving all the way to one of the seven behemoth''s regions as they would rather die than serve any Noble due to their undying loyalty to the demon king.
They had been unable to enter the castle without Lord Ty so although it was rude, he had tomunicate with the representative via telepathy. With that, the representative had no choice but to camp outside the barrier for a while. It was fortunate that Lord Ty had returned to drop off a prisoner so Albert had informed him of the issue.
However, Lord Ty wasn''t interested in allowing just anyone else into the castle so he ordered for a new settlement or town to be constructed by the north of the castle which was the grayad ins and incidentally where the fallen Darknar city had been located.
The representative was then sent back to migrate his settlement of around 1500 Hobgoblin and around a hundred Karma Oni who were essentially just lesser demons. Their migration would take around two weeks as they did not possess the magic carriage the Red ogre settlement had thanks to Albert being a former demon lord.
The kobold''s job was just to clear out arge area for the town and constrict sturdy tents that would be used as temporary housing for the settlement who would be responsible for building the town with Berlin already being tasked with making the construction ns even though that was not his specialty. They would see if the Hobgoblins had any capable craftsman to work together on the final product with Berlin.
Erin nodded at Albert''s words as she began setting up his request. Albert had sent only a few trolls with the kobolds so he wasn''t just worried about them messing up. He wanted to keep an eye on them so if something happens he would be able to move out in time.
He took a seat at the corner of the room as he watched Erin construct and solidify a water mirror while engraving magic runes on it. Creation magic was in the realms of the gods but as a demigod, Erin could do something slightly simr albeit temporarily.
She had just created a pseudo-magic mirror that could remotely view andmunicate with others within a certain range. While this item would onlyst a week at most, and she couldn''t use the spell without consuming her lifeforce, nor could she create items she didn''t understand. It was still an amazing ability and Albert couldn''t help but stare in awe.
Chapter 164 C164. To The Mountain Range
¡ªWhoosh...
*Boom!
The blurry sight of two female figures flying past the rocky ins was soon apanied by the resounding sound of a sonic boom indicating that the girls'' flight speed had broken through the sound barrier. Indeed, they were currently flying at a speed several times the speed of sound, and yet, their journey to the Darkin mountain range would still take them more than six hours.
Worst of all, flying wasn''t exactly the safest mode of transportation in the wild and dangerous demon continent as evident by the giant Thunderbird that was currently chasing after them. The bird resembled a giant bald eagle with ice blue feathers and cracks of electricity dancing on its massive body.
The bird measured about 30 meters in length and its talons were as sharp as des. pping its massive wings, it let out a thunderous high-pitched call as it chased the pair with supersonic speed.
Rain was giggling to herself which naturally made Liz roll her eyes. They could not easily defeat this monster even if they were individually stronger than it so her current amusement made no sense.
Rain flew close to Liz as she turned around mid-flight and cast a spell without any pause or break in her fluid motion. "Lightning Ricochet." A bolt of powerful lightning bounced of a magic circle that had appeared in the air after the bird had avoided the initial attack and struck the monster from behind.
However, the monster hadpletely shrugged off the attack like it was nothing and continued chasing after them with an even greater speed. Almost as though it had been propelled by her attack.
"Wow, Lightning immunity Huh? I totally want that."
Rain said chuckling as she turned back around and continued fleeing.
"This is not a joke you know. We wouldn''t even be in this mess if you hadn''t gone and attacked the monster that was already chasing after a different prey. Why do you always have to stir up trouble?"
Their voice was soft, not containing the panic and fear most would feel in this situation. Besides, they spoke calmly without raising the volume of their voice but their words were still geared clearly by each other and were not hindered by the pressure of the loud wind that blew at them.
They could easily speak to each other as though they were situated in a quiet room. This was not achieved utilizing any spell or skills. It was something that anyone that could use Flight magic could do. A mana link.
By extending a mana thread to anyone within range of you, one would be able to eliminate any interference from the outside world and speak to the other party as though they were next to you. Their bodies were also protected by ayer of mana and thus their hair and skin were untouched by the freezing wind.
"Hehe... I read once that Thunderbirds make very beautiful shoes that provide Lightning resistance so I was tempted. Just a little more Lightning resistance and I''ll get the immunity, cool right?"
"Where are you even finding these books."
While Liz wanted to facepalm herself after hearing that. She had to admit that the idea of an elemental immunity was indeed very tempting as they were hard to get normally. After all, one could not learn something like that. They would only build up their resistance by surviving attacks from an element or manually infusing the elemental runes into one''s mana body.
There was no need to say that thetter was even more dangerous than expanding the mana body a little. There was currently no living soul that could read all three levels of advanced magic runes and without that knowledge, the process would be suicidal.
Thus, getting an elemental immunity from a single advanced ss monster was a steal, and even more importantly, a new pair of shoes with the beautiful sky blue color of the Thunderbird would go lovely with the outfit Nadine had picked out for her. Currently, she wore a simple white dress that was mostly covered by the hooded dark blue coat she had on.
Rain wore ck trousers with a pair of high-heeled leather boots and a white long-sleeved crop top, and although her cold resistance was less than hers, she did not wear any winter coat over her outfit. A small square box was strapped behind her¡ª attached to the belt of her pants¡ª and reaching behind her, she pulled out two daggers from seemingly nowhere.
One of those was her new dagger, ''Verlion'' and the others were one part of a set called ''Epitome of Destruction ''. With the other part of the set missing or destroyed, she would be unable to use any of the skills the weapon possessed and the set boost it gave to her physique was now gone but her new dagger had enough firepower to make up for it, literally.
The dagger she wielded in her right hand suddenly caught aze in a dangerously green me. She turned around mid-fight once more and swung the zing de as the mes jumped off the dagger and in arge ball, flew at the iing bird.
?Poisonous mes?
Therge ball of poison mes flew at the Thunderbird and it could sense the danger even from afar. It let out a loud cry as it twisted its massive body and tried to dodge it. However, Rain smiled as she snapped her fingers as the ball of green mes exploded in a radius of 15 feet.
The monster was stunned and lost its momentum but the Attack had still not done much damage so it quickly shook it off and continued its chase. The Lightning that danced around its body moved to its wings and cracked loudly as though it would destroy the space itself as the Thunderbird immediately pped its wings at the girls and countless lightning bolts shot out towards them without giving them much room to dodge.
"Wow, that looks dangerous."
Rain said chuckling as she cast another lightning spell to cancel out the monster attacks. "Max magic - Chao Lightning." With a loud and resounding BOOM! Both attacks disappeared to nothingness as It would seem they were evenly matched as neither side Couldnd a decisiveblow on the other. However, they would soon get to the Darkin mountain range and those skies contained the asional Silver Wyvern that lived in the mountains with the mountain golems.
If even a single one of those monsters joins up with the Thunderbird, they would actually be in trouble. Liz sighed as she suddenly stopped mid-air, causing Rain to be surprised as she almost tripped on the air. The Thunderbird was no exception as it continued its flight and was about to m into Liz.
"Wall of Ice."
A higher tired spell than the usual Ice wall as this 4th Tier spell could be used in the air. A massive wall of ice formed by rapidly freezing the water in the air and the Thunderbird helplessly mmed into it. Liz then touched the ne around her neck as the grey clouds got thicker and darker within seconds and countless wild tornadoes began to erupt in a massive area all around her creating a raging storm.
?Lightning Storm?
Naturally, the storm of tornadoes was apanied by massive bolts of lightning that danced on the clouds and struck the ground randomly and without limit. If they were not currently in the sky above a rocky in but a first, the storm would''ve no doubt destroyed the entire terrain and caused a huge forest fire.
However, these seem enough overpowered Lightning would bepletely ineffective against this monster that had Lightning Immunity so Liz quickly cast another spell to go with the Lightning storm.
"Heavy Ice Hail."
They were the same size as daggers but hundreds of ice spikes came down from the ck clouds and rained down upon the helpless Thunderbird that was yet to recover from the concussion it had after mming headfirst into the hard ice wall.
In less than ten seconds the monster was torn to shreds by abination of violent tornadoes and the hail of ice. Rain whistled as she kicked her foot in the air and said.
"Brutal, what did that ever do to you. I even wanted to capture it."
"You''re not a tamer, how do you n on capturing it?"
"That''s easy, just beat it down until it surrenders."
"Sometimes I think you''re dumb on purpose just to mess with me."
"Hahaha... Don''t be so serious. I was just kidding. I''m aware we don''t have time to fool around. As long as I get my shoes I''m good. Besides, we need to head back as soon as possible so I''ll be able to wee Lord Ty in an apron as the book said."
"Right... That again."
Liz didn''t bother to argue or engage her friend anymore as she disappeared from her sight and a loud sound was heard a momentter. Rain chuckled and took off as well.They arrived at the Darkin mountain range an hourter after defeating one more Thunderbird and touched down at the west side where they had agreed to meet up with Azar.
It didn''t take them long to see the half-giant by the base of a mountain as he stood there bare-chested waving at them with a big smile on his face.
Rain cheerfully waved back at him as they walked over to the former chief of the Red ogre settlement. Rain then raised both arms and Azar did the same. Liz was wondering what was happening when they gave each other a high five and before she knew it, there was a series ofplicated handshakes between them as they smile and ended it in a fist bump and a knowing nod that seems to scream. ''Yeah!''
''When did this happen.''
Granted, Liz and Erin had spent a few days away from Rain as they were busy with their work in the castle but was a few days really enough for these two to be such close friends that they had even learned a secret handshake to go with it.
While she was a little jealous she was left out of the fun¡ª pursing her lips a little ¡ª she decided not to be bitter about it and decided to move on from the issue, not bothering to ask them anything about the secret handshake and get straight down to business.
"So, how''s your preparation going."
"Oh pardon my distraction. We have found a suitable spot to build our base. It''s just behind this ce and the path there is narrow, impossible for any of the monsters here to pass through."
"That was fast."
"It''s all thanks to Kazko and Rekaz amazing senses as evolved trolls."
"Oh, neet. Where are those trouble makers?"
"Back at the tent."
''Troublemakers? Talk about the pot and the kettle.'' Liz mused internally as she moved the conversation along.
"Can you take us there?"
"With pleasure."
Azar then turned around and lead the girls toward the side of the mountain. His massive Ham-Ax strapped on his back as he didn''t seem to mind the extreme cold at all.
After walking through an extremely narrow ridge beforeing to an opening that was surrounded by steep mountains. The ce currently contained tworge tents already set up at the end of the opening, a magic carriage parked at the other end, and one six-eyed bull tied to a tree in the middle.
There was an absurd amount of logs¡ª no not logs exactly, they were essentially just tree trunks that had been stripped of their branches and roots making them look likerge logs stacked by one side of the opening.
The only trees that grew on this mountain range wererge pine trees and it would seem the trolls were hard at work uprooting the ones around to be used as materials for the cabin they were tasked to build.
"We''ve set up a second tent just for the both of you. Hope it''s to your liking."
Azar said with a smile as he escorted the girls inside the opening while pointing towards one of the tents.
Chapter 165 C165. Darkin Mountain Range
The Darkin mountain range was a massive ce in the Darknar Region, spanning over 10,000 miles in length. The ce contained tens of thousands of mountains and hills even though most of those hills and even some mountains were actually mountain golems in their almost constant state of rest.
With how sparse the mines and caves in this ce were, the girls would find it difficult to map the entirety of the mountain range even with their maximum movement speed. Moreover, they would be unable to move freely in this ce as even attracting the attention of a single mountain golem would set them back by a full day.
The golems were indeed the most troublesome monster to face in the Darknar region as theirplete immunity to magic below the level of a demigod made them almost impossible to kill. They also had high physical resistance and various other insane resistances, making them the perfect tank monsters.
As both girls were mainly magic users, their only option was to flee when faced with a Mountain golem. However, that was also a very dangerous option as the loud movements of a single mountain golem would awaken several and even the Silver wyverns would be attracted by the noise and they would be surrounded before they could escape far.
Such limitations would''ve sure hampered their mission if it hadn''t turned out that the two trolls that had evolved from cave trolls, then Gray-War Trolls, to both Berserker Troll and a Battle Troll ¡ª Kazko and Rekaz¡ª could sense when a mountain golem was near and could tell the difference between a mountain golem and an actual mountain. This was why Tyler had sent them here with Azar, to begin with, and right now, Kazko would be responsible for guidingthe girls throughout the mountain range for the next few days.
While Azar and Rekaz would lead the rest of the trolls deeper into the mountains to farm wood for the cabin they were building. Liz and Rain prepared to leave at the break of dawn. While Rain had an interest in capturing some Silver wyverns as pets and for Tyler, she knew the mission came first and thus, remained focused.
After leaving the clearing, they moved with Kazko through the western parts of the mountains as they magically mapped out the ce. There were several spells that could help with making maps although most of them were Tier 4 spells and above so themon folks wouldn''t be able to use them. Hence why this method wasn''t yet widespread.
Liz held arge parchment in her hands, she could mentally map out the ce but without the spell ''Thoughtography'', which was a Tier 5 spell that neither of them could use¡ª she would be unable to transfer the image in her mind into any parchment so she had to use a spell that would help her create details in the map based on the information in her mind.
The spell was called ''cartographic'' and it was a 4th Tier spell but it wasn''t as hard to learn as other Tier 4 spells. Their group of three moved silently with the aid of the silence spell and were able to avoid several dangerous paths and encounters but still came across monsters like Iron Cobras, Infant Wyverns, and earthworms but since they usually appeared on their own, Rain would easily be able to take them out quickly without causing muchmotion.
"This is so boring. I''d kill for some excitement right now."
Rain said as she skated a Giant Scorpion and stored its corpse. They had spentmore than three hours repeating this process over and over again and she was already bored out of her mind. However, be it coincidence or fate, something suddenly happened the moment she had finished her sentence.
They had just fallen into a trap.
"Somehow, I me you for this Rain."
"Hehe..."
??????????
??????????
¡ªTwo Nights ago,
¡ªIn the Darknar Forest western region.
A man¡ª d in a silver fur coat, ck pants, and ck boots with silver stripes designing it¡ª moved through the forest. He had short brown hair, ck thin eyes, and a pale skin tone and looked quite young as though he was only in histe teens. He walked leisurely through the dangerous forest as though it was his backyard and yet none of the monsters walked by bothered to even spare him a thought.
As he strolled through the forest, he soon happened upon arge opening underneath a steep hill surrounded by dense vegetation.
Walking in his usual tone and strides as though he had no care in the world, he approached the two hulking figures that stood by either side of the cave''s entrance. Normally they would attack anyone that darede close to them without warning but this time they did not move an inch.
The man walked by them and their reaction did not change as though they had not even noticed him. He made his way into the cave and the same thing repeated itself over and over again as all the monsters that moved or worked in the cave paid him no heed as though he wasn''t there.
He whistled as he casually trolled about in thebyrinth and just like that, he made his way to the main chambers in the cave and casually swung the doors open. There was an undead creature that sat atop a stone throne with a single orb in his right bony hand as he carefully inspected it.
The moment the doors to the room were swung open, Zerahut''s eyes burned in their usual mes as he nced at the door in front of him but saw nothing there. The doors had merely swung of their own ord and closed themselves. However, unlike everyone else, Zerahut did not believe that the wind could move such a heavy pair of doors, and thus, he expanded his senses. He could sense something, it was a vague presence standing before him.
"I know you''re there. I can feel your presence."
"Kukukuku... how amusing. At the very least you''re not as useless as the rest of your army. I''m d you haven''t yet lost your intellect, Adelt Wilderbelt."
Zeruhut had a skull for a face so his expression did not change but one could tell that the mes in each of his eye sockets flicked a bit before stabilizing on the man that had just appeared before him. The appearance of a sudden intruder shocked the Doom knights that stood beside him and they immediately drew their weapons and was about to attack when Zerahut suddenly raised an arm for them to stop,
"How do you know that name?"
"Does it matter? All that matters is that I do and I can also help you achieve your goal."
"What do you know about my goals mortal."
? "Well, it''s not really a secret that you''re like this because you failed. What''s the point of being immortal and powerful if you''re just going to be trapped underground for the rest of your days."
"That will soon end as the Darknar forest will soon be mine."
"Interesting. But why stop at just the forest when the entire region is yet to be upied."
"Do you take me a fool?"
"Of course not. I''m sure you''re wary about the retaliation of the Great Five for such a move."
"I fear nothing."
"As should be the case. I''m aware you n to try your hands on the advancement ritual again but have lost the essence of thest? How bout we make a deal."
"And what kind of deal can a mortal offer."
"You help me take the Darknar region and I''ll let you keep the forest as well as retrieve your ritual essence for you. You also don''t have to worry about the Great Five, once I have the castle, there will be nothing they can do to stop us."
"And why should I trust you. How can I even be sure you''re as capable as you im."
"Wanna test me?"
The moment those words left his mouth, the Doom Knights moved.They lunged at the man with an insane speed that most would not be able to keep up with. However, he only smiled as he jumped backward. Both doom knights mmed their weapons into the ground he had been standing on and stood up to continue their attack.
An intense crimson aura soon enveloped their long swords as they swung it at the man and a burst of the crimson aura gusted at him in an almost all-epassing manner.
?Doom st?
The man''s eyes seemed to glow for a moment but in the next moment, he quickly got out of the way of their skill. The Doom knights turned their heads and were about to use another skill when the man suddenly spoke.
"Nah, that was enough."
An illusionary book that floated in the air had appeared in front of him at some point in time and the magic magically opened to a nk page as it rapidly wrote something without the use of a quil until and almost as suddenly as it began, it stopped. The man smiled and spoke again. "Recorded"
With a wave of his bare hands, a wave of crimson energy simr to the Doom knights Doom st but twice the size and strength of the attack sted them away. The force was so powerful that it almost ripped the undead knights apart in a single hit.
"Is that enough? or do you want to show me something interesting yourself."
Zerahut raised his arm to stop the Doom knights from moving and then addressed the man that was smiling at him.
"That''s fine. I have no intentions of letting you copy any of my skills. As for your proposal, I''m afraid it''s impossible."
"Why so?"
"I currently don''t have the forces to take over the entire region. Even the east of the forest would be a task. And there has been certain unexpected interference."
"Oh that... You don''t have to worry about it, I can provide you with enough corpses to get more than 20,000 in your forces, and as I recalled. You made an offer to the Lamia Queen and are yet to receive a reply right? I can guarantee her aid in this as well."
Zerahut eyes flickered. He gazed at the orb in his hand and then back to the young man who was still smiling at him and spoke.
"Alright I ept. However, I need you to answer me this first."
"And what is that."
"Why do you want to go against the great five? With your strength, you could join one of them as a behemoth and attain all the wealth and richest you could possibly want. Why risk this."
"Behemoth. Huh, I was once called that when I ruled over a small region at the far end of the continent for a while. That ce was disgusting. No. I wasn''t born into this world to be sidelined into the corner by mere demons. I was born to rule the world and my first step is bing the next demon king."
"Born to rule uh. I used to think that way as well. Look at what happened to me."
At Zerahut''s words, the man snorted. "Please don''tpare me to you. I''m not foolish enough to perform an untested ritual on myself. I wield the knowledge of two words. This is my reason for being reborn."
"Reborn?"
"Don''t worry about it." Saying that the man stretched out his right hand. He wore several rings on them but one stood out the most. It had the design of a spatial storage ring and as he pulled out two small boxes from thin air, Zerahut''s hunch was confirmed.
"Here, there are 10,000 corpses of Demihuman in each of them. I know you have over a thousand bodies already so this is more than enough for just this uninhabited region. We can slowly increase the numbers as we attack more cities and expand our forces,"
Zerahut waved an arm and the boxes flew towards him. He did not say another word as the man turned around to leave. However, as he got to the door, he slowly turned around and issued a warning.
"Oh and, don''t try to betray me. If you do. Not even a million undead will save you so don''t let my gift go to your head."
His eyes were sharp and cold as he said that and even the undead Doom knights felt intimidated by his aura as he closed therge doors behind him like they weighed nothing.
Chapter 166 C166. The Reincarnated
Hemei Sakaguchi was a 19-year-old Japanese college student studying in Germany when he was hit by a bus on his way from school and died a painful death after the operation that was carried on him 15 hourster had failed. He did not have a happy life by any stretch of the imagination as he was a victim of severe bullying.
This actually came as a shock to him as he was usually the one doing the bullying back in high school days, whilehe had still been in Japan only a year before his death. After moving to Germany, thenguage barrier had prevented him from moving with his usual clique and thus he slowly became isted and targeted.
At first, he fought back as he was far from a pushover and could generally handle himself in a fight even against multiple opponents, but he soon came to learn that he had made a grave mistake as this resistance only made him a bigger target to the bullies. Unable to make any of his usual type of friends, he felt the pain his usual targets back in high school had felt when he would torment them to escape from the shitty life he had at home with his whore of a mother.
Even as he was hit by the bus, he had felt nothing. There was no fear in his eyes and he even felt like death was a release for him. An escape from the messed-up world he had been born in. However, something strange and unexinable happened the moment he died.
He had not been released from life as he had hoped. No, instead, he had been reborn. It was what most would call a miracle. A second chance to set things right. Was he born in the past? If so, he would use the little knowledge he had from the future to make a fortune so he would not suffer the same fate as before. However, he was surprised yet again when he opened his eyes as a baby to see the maid that attended to him having red skin, a pair of curved horns, and a tail.
''Is this hell?''
''Did the devil give birth to me?''
''What is this ce.''
To his surprise, this was not the same world he knew. There were demons all around him and even his normal-looking parents were called demons as well. He could not speak but unlike in Germany, thenguage here did not create a barrier for him as he could somehow understand them as though they were speaking Japanese.
''A fantasy world?'' Hemei had not been the type that was into fantasy books, novels, manga,ics, and the likes, but he was still aware of what a fantasy world was. He had seized a few books from the nerds in high school that he sometimes read when he was bored so he knew a little about the troupe of reincarnation.
Usually, in those stories, only the main character was reincarnated with some kind of cheat ability or system to make his life easier. That would mean he had been chosen right? So where was his system? What cheat ability did he gain? He needed to figure it out as soon as possible.
With this thought in mind, he continuously tried to find or awaken his ability. However, even after spending a few months here living as a baby, he found nothing. Was I mistaken? I''m not the main character?
He felt devastated but just as he was about to curse the world, he overheard something interesting being taught to one of his brothers. Indeed, Magic does exist in this world and those that could form and stabilize their mana pool at a young age could shape their potential and how strong their mana body would eventually be.
What a miracle. It turns out his cheat was not something like a system but his awareness even as a baby. Even though the world was wrong in making him have to work for what he deserved, he could not worry about that while he was still so weak, thus, he wasted no time.
He spent the next few months listening in on his five-year-old younger brother''s lessons and absorbing all the required information he needed and the moment he turned 1, he began to shape his mana pool and expand it. It was difficult but his determination was immersed. He was the chosen one. Someone that had been given a second chance at life even though he was currently a demon. That did not matter to him as he would be the strongest demon in existence.
Never again would he let anyone look down on him. Never again would he be bullied. He would absorb all the knowledge and power in this world and stand at the top. He would be the god that ruled with an iron fist and no one would be able to go against him.
His hard work all throughout his early years had paid off. Even though he was just the 8th son of a low-ranking noble family, his magic potential was recorded to be at the 7th Tier. That was an unprecedented level of strength even ordinary demon lords did not possess.
He was now destined to be the next demon lord of his family even though he would not have even been considered if this was a human society. The demon continent valued strength over almost everything else and so, his eldest brother who also had an impressive potential of the 5th Tier was sidelined for him as it should be. However, this was not enough, he did not reincarnate here to just be the demon lord of a weak-ass Noble family whose region was not even half the size of Japan.
His thirst for power was met with an even greater surprise. The moment his mana body was formed he had been granted the innate ability. Archivist.
That innate ability was truly a sign that he was meant to rule over this world. It could record any skill he sees ones. The recorded skill is stored in his archive, an illusionary book that was formed from part of his soul and stored in his mana body. He would then be able to use that skill at its full proficiency without any drawbacks and even skills that required a weapon to use. He could use them without one.
He decided to keep his innate ability a secret for a while as he secretly watched all the members of his family train and record their skills. Spells were a different story. While he could not directly copy and use the spells he sees, his ability could still record the spell in detail and as long as he could understand or memorize the magic runes and magic circle, he would be able to use the spells although he would need practice to be able to use them effectively.
However, thanks to a few of the skills he had recorded along the way called ''Prudent student'' and ''elerate Thoughts'', he could easily memorize the spells without even learning to read magic runes. Hemei then decided he would spend the following years amassing more powerful skills and spells.
However, there was something he had failed to calcte. In this world, the Noble families valued their Heritage more than actual Strength. His failure to inherit the family''s innate ability had Disappointed his parents, making him no longer viable for the demon lord seats as his older brother regained his position.
Forced to suffer such humiliation ones again. Hemei killed his brother and left his family at a young age and soon became known as one of the seven great behemoths, The behemoth of Greed - Mammon. Thus was after defeating one of the original great behemoths in the tournament. ording to the rules of the tournament , he inherited the throne and used the futurepetitions as a way to gain more skills as he prepared for when he would im this continent for himself before moving on to the entire world.
This had been over a century ago and after amassing so much power, he had realized that he could not achieve his dreams by strength alone. Neither could he do it alone.
Hemei walked out of the cave the same way he came without the guards even being aware of his presence as he strolled through the Darknar forest without fear or worry. He had just left the forest as he headed toward the red river when someone suddenly spoke to him even though non should be aware of his presence.
"Hiya~"
Hemei turned his head around and smiled. He saw the figure of a youngdy suddenly appear before him as he replied to her flighty greetings.
"Oh Citrus, I guess My Null Existence can''t fool you Huh."
His skill "Null Experience." Didn''t actually make him invisible as he also had the stealth skill but found this to be a lot more effective and fun to use. The skill practically forces his existence into the blind spot of anyone looking in his direction, thus, forcing them to ''willingly'' ignore his presence. It was quite a powerful skill but still had its ws.
Citrus had a wild smile on her face as he walked out of the forest and towards Hemei who just stood in ce waiting for her. She approached the standing young man and gave him a kiss in which Hemei did not hesitate to respond in kind while his hand roamed around her body.
she soon broke off from him and spoke. "It''s been a while, wanna head somewhere?~"
"Sure, but before that, how''s the Brimstones doing these days?"
Citrus shrugged her shoulders but replied in azy but flighty manner. "I can''t exactly tell you that for free you know. But since we''re on the topic. Can you do me just a tiny little favor pwess~"
"Ohh, now that might be interesting."
"Tots would be~"
"Alright, what''s this favor?"
"I have a few trash from the Zorak region with me. Since you n on breaking into that castle already, can you take them with you?~"
"Why?"
"Well you know~ the usual. Just a precaution in case the other family found out about this, they can put the me on the Zoraks~"
"Ahh even someone like you are still worried about consequences. What, don''t believe I can achieve my goal anymore."
"You''re surely strong no doubt. Stronger than me even but still. The Great five demon lords are on a whole different level. I may be crazy, but even I have my limits."
This was the first time Hemei heard her speak in such a serious and straightforward manner which surprised him a little.
"What''s there to fear, it''s only a matter of time before I surpass eve them as well."
Citrus stared strangely at him for a while as she cocked her head and the silver moonlight reflected beautifully off her short silver hair. Her doll-like eyes seem to stare into his soul probably wondering if he was truly serious about his statement and of course he was.
He may have only recently broken into the basic level of the seventh tier but he was already in the realms of the divine and thus a demigod. Even if all the other great five were far more experienced in this level, his vast arrays of skills would no doubt give him the ultimate advantage.
Not to mention he only needed to be able to stand on equal footing as them so as not to be one short, and once a fight began. He could simply just record their skills. There was literally no way he would lose, but he had no intentions of telling Citrus that.
"Sure. Oh yeah, I should probably mention this as well, there are currently people who somehow manage to enter and are currently living in the castle."
For a moment Hemei thought he had heard wrong and then he thought she was messing with him. But after getting to know her for years now, he knew there was no way she would joke about something like this and the thought of what she said had almost blown him off his feet.
"What? When did this happen?"
Chapter 167 C167. First Encounter
In the outskirts of the Darknar forest - towards the Red River
Hemei Sakaguchi stared at Citrus for the first time with a different expression on his face. He had maintained his casual smile up into this point but the information she just told him hadpletely thrown him off bnce.
He had spent over a hundred years in this world slowly biding his time as he made ns on how he would conquer the demon continent. Sure most of that time was spent recording new skills and learning spells while he trained to reach his potential and attain godhood but to suddenly find out that the barrier he had spent so long searching for how to break was bow easily essed had no doubt threw him for a loop.
"Oh my~ m I''m surprised someone like you that can move around unhindered is yet to find out. What, have you been stuck in a cave somewhere."
Citrus words snapped him out of his daze as he immediatelyposed himself and answered her:
"You could say that I had some pressing matters to attend to so I originally had my subordinates keep an eye on the pawns in the forest for me but up until recently, that Ferlis bastard had also been moving around here making it hard for my subordinate to move."
"Ferlis? Oh the Vampire Lord. I thought he was dead, so he was just hiding here Huh. Must''ve been running away from Silver, that broad is way too stuck up~ Hehe."
"Whatever the case, his presence here for thest 10 years had set my ns back a lot so I had toe here in person. So who are these people that are able to live in my¡ª the castle?"
"Not too sure about them myself~ They say not knowing is half the fun right? Hehe."
"Perhaps. Still, what''s the brimstone¡ª no, what''s your n here?"
"Pwaaah~ I''m strictly running errands for my baby sis this time I swear. She was just sent to capture a man in the castle, dead or alive. Whatever happens to the castle is not my problem. Here, I''ll give you this."
Citrus suddenly reached inside her robes mid-sentence to fetch something. "With this and the item I know you have, you should be able to break through at least 3 to 4yers of the barrier easily right?~"
"That is? Huh, for you to provide me with your family''s secret for this. I suppose it''s normal that these people are very important to the Brimstones Huh."
"Seems that way, although there are a few people I''m interested in, I still don''t like to fight dangerous people you know, so I want you to handle the guy for me. You can kill him or capture him as long as his body is intact, it''s fine. The two girls I''m also interested in have already left the castle so you can do whatever you want in there without worry."
??
"And who is this guy? What does he look like?"
"Not sure should be one of the strongest people in there. Probably wants to be the demon king like you. I''m sure you have a skill that can help you with that right?"
"Wants to be the demon king Huh." Hemei''s eyes narrowed as he heard those words but he tried to control himself in front of Citrus, it wasn''t wise to show such an unpredictable person smile any weakness from you. "Do what do your family want with his body?"
"I don''t know. Does it matter? You get to enter the castle and achieve your goal as long as you kill one man. Isn''t that a steal?"
Hemei thought about the matter for a while as he stared at the item Citrus had presented him with, it was just a simple pair of ck gloves but his discerning eyes could tell they were valuable artifacts.
Each of the Great Five had one such artifact that served a single purpose. To break through the barrier that protected the castle from them. They had spent centuries trying to find a way in and after trying several ritualistic spells and curses they then choose to slowly find and gather artifacts that wouldpletely destroy the barrier.
Unfortunately, Magic Artifacts were insanely rare and the ones that could break barriers were even rarer and as the fiveyer barrier that protected the castle was the first of its kind, it was almost impossible to find one such artifact. However, the Great Five were relentless and thus were each able to find one item each that could break at least twoyers of the barrier.
Or at least those were the information the Great Five had allowed to secretly circte. Only God knew how many of such items they secretly had. However, these types of items had limited use and thus were still incredibly precious to the family.
Hemei stared at the gloves for a while before epting them and his previous smile finally returned to his face. It didn''t really matter what the Brimstones were nning. As long as he entered the castle, he now had the right skill to bypass the otheryers of the barrier from within and thus, he would im the secret treasures of the demon king as while as his throne, gaining the Monarch Authority.
Citrus may have helped him in the past out of simr interests, but he always knew she was still a Noble at heart and thus he never trusted her with hisplete ns. Without knowing it, she had just provided him with a lot more valuable information than she thought.
The fact that there was someone besides the Great Five that dared think they could be the next Demon King and were already a step ahead of him, was a grave sin in his sight. It was the sin he could not forgive and would have to punish as soon as possible.
He needed to eliminate said person before theyy ims to that which was rightfully his. With the orb of death in the possession of Zerahut, the monster should be able to create 20,000 undead within the next two days and with the help of the Lamia Queen, he should be able to seize control over the Darknar region pretty easily making the Great Five hesitate before making a move, thereby providing him enough time to grow his forces while increasing his own personal strength.
"How many are in the castle?"
"Not sure~ from what we gathered, he went in with the survivors of a settlement so maybe 200-300, I don''t know. But they are all trash and the only one you need to worry about is the man.
"Really."
"Yup, not sure if he''s still in there though. But I''m sure once you get in and kill a few trash he''lle running back. He did wast his time to save them after all."
"I see. Fine then, I''ll handle this."
"Awesome."
"However, I''ll need some more answers before I''ll hand over the corpse of this man to you."
"Hmm... sure why not."
Hemei smiled at her willing response. The reason he got along so well with this girl was her willingness to do anything she wanted without any considerations for her status. Sure, she wasn''t dumb and he considered her to be pretty smart for a mere pawn as her unpredictable nature made her harder to control but she was very useful in his quest to destroy the Great Five and conquer this world.
At least for now.
"Alright, I''ll be off now. My preparations should be done in a day so feel free to move by tomorrow."
"Sure but¡ª"
Before Citrus could voice put what she wanted to say, Hemei''s figure had already disappeared from her view as she could no longer feel his presence.
"Did he teleport away? And here I thought we were gonna go somewhere private. Oh well~"
She quickly put the matter at the back of her mind as she thought of more important things.
"I wonder if he''ll be ok. He might really die if he''s not careful, that would be a shame. Then again, it would be ideal if the both of them just killed themselves though. Mmm... A simpleton acting like a genius, how unfortunate."
Citrus then walked back the way she came as she began whistling to herself before suddenlying to a halt.
"Why do I feel like I''m forgetting something very important I''m supposed to be doing right now?"
Thinking about it for a while she shook her head and continued on her merry way only to stop short of entering the forest yet again.
"Shit, I''m supposed to meet up with Izzy ain''t I?"
??????????
??????????
¡ªBack in the Darkin mountain range a dayter.
Liz and Rain suddenly felt a presence¡ª well, they felt several presences around them having surrounded them, and before they could do anything about it. They felt their energy slowly began to drain from their bodies and a barrier was erected around them.
"Huh, oops, looks like we''ve fallen into a trap."
"You think."
"You know Liz, if I didn''t know any better, I''ll think you were jealous."
"Huh, now why would I be jealous?"
"I don''t know, you''re jealous I''m so in love."
"I think your head is in the cloud."
"Maybe you should fall in love as well, you feel so much lighter."
"Then both our heads will be in the clouds, and we''ll definitely get ourselves killed."
"Ahh don''t sweat the small stuff."
"I don''t think dying is considered small stuff."
Kazko seemed to be caught in the middle of the girls bickering and he could hardly find the chance to getaway. The sky seemed to have changed color but that was just an effect of them being in a barrier. The best thing for them right now was to figure out what this barrier was truly meant for.
Was it to strictly prevent their escape or was it meant for something else. With the girls still taking this too lightly, he needed to be the adult in the group. He quickly armed himself with his new weapon. It was a de that looked more like a machete than a sword.
He would test the barrier to see how resilient it actually was before whoever was setting it up would be done. However, as he was just about to lunge at the barrier, Rain suddenly called out to him.
"I wouldn''t do that."
Kazko''s momentum was cut short before it had even begun and he almost tripped and fell. He turned a questioning gaze at Rain wanting to know why she had stopped him.
"Look forward, our opponent is already here. There''s no need to worry about things we can''t control right now. You just have to focus on what''s in front of you because If you make any careless actions, you''ll die."
Kazko was stunned. He turned to face the direction Rain was staring at and, truly he saw someone there. He saw a slender figure walking slowly towards them. He had sensed more than six presences around them so the fact that only a single demoness was approaching them told him of how confident she must''ve been in her strength.
Taking a better look at the figure walking towards them, they could see that it was a young girl that seemed to be in herte teens or so. She had light brown hair styled in a twin tail, her oval face and soft facial features made her look like an adorable child, she wore skin-tight leather armor with gold-colored metal vambraces and greaves that glistened in the sun.
Her aura spread wildly across the barrier and they could tell that she wasn''t someone that could be easily handled. With no other weapons with her, one could not tell what she was specialized in. However, those were not what had gotten Rain''s attention.
The girl had an intricate silver amulet that hung by her neck running down to her childlike chest. It gave off a faint glow and had an ominous aura around it, making Rain feel anxious about its purpose.
"Hi there. I don''t suppose you guys would just surrender quietly would you?"
Chapter 168 C168. Battle
¡ªIn the Darkin Mountain Range.
Rain, Liz, and the Battle Troll Kazko stood in ce in the wide gap between two mountains as they stared at the young girl that stood confidently before them in silence. Kazko had already confirmed that they were no mountain golems within a 500-meter radius of them so it would seem that this girl and her group had chosen the right time to ambush them.
This implied they had been following them for a while now and had most likely even followed them here from the castle. The chance that they had also been watching them for a while was also quite high.
For such a thing to have escaped their notice either spoke highly of their opponent''s capabilities or they had gotten toocent and distracted after entering the castle. This was certainly detrimental to Lord Ty''s ns and Rain could not believe she had let it happen.
They were sure Lord Ty must''ve noticed them already but the fact that he did nothing about it told them that he had assumed they could handle it and left it to their discretion. The fact that he had ced so much trust in them and they had ended up failing him without even realizing it made a certain emotion swirl with Rain.
She stared at the young girl with a sharp gaze as the girl continued to approach them with utter confidence only stopping after reaching a few meters from them. She then tilted her head slightly as her twin tails swung gently to the sides as she spoke:
"Hi there. I don''t suppose you guys would just surrender quietly, would you? That would make things a lot easier. For you."
"Surrender? That is quite a confident statement you know. Are you sure a child like you can back it up?"
A vein visibly burned in the girl''s forehead but she struggled to calm herself down and did not respond to Rain''s obvious provocation but continued to stare at them with only a semnce of the previous calm andposed demeanor she came with.
She hadn''t made a move yet so it didn''t seem like she was in any hurry to attack which made Rain suspect that the barrier around them had something to do with her present confidence.
Seeing that, Rain decided to ask a question of her own given that they couldn''t escape from this barrier until they found out what type of barrier it was. "Why are you here? And what exactly do you want from us?"
"That''s simple. I just want her." The young girl spoke pointing at Liz with the same expression on her face as she clenched her fist and entered a fighting stance. "I don''t have any business with the rest of you, so if you leave now I''ll let you go."
Liz was confused, she did not recognize this girl as a member of the Alcar family and she surely could not sense the cold aura of ice that all the Alcars seem to possess when they went into battle so this girl was surely not from the Alcar family. Perhaps she was hired by the family to capture her but even that didn''t make sense as the family had the Dark Elf division for that and they should still think she was dead.
"You want me? Why?"
"You''re clearly a demon heiress from one of the Great Five and we would very much like to know why someone like you would be in a ce like this, most especially since you came out of that castle. Do surrender peacefully, I wouldn''t want to damage that pretty face of yours."
Liz was about to say something else when Rain suddenly stopped her and spoke instead.
"You want to capture Liz by yourself. Where''s your backup? Or do you really believe a simple suppression barrier will allow you to take us all yourself?"
"Sure, going against so many strong opponents might be a problem if this was a fair fight. And if you think this barrier is a simple as amon suppression barrier, you''re in for a rude awakening."
She said that smiling for the first time when she suddenly frowned and muttered something under her breath about someone not showing up or something like that as the two surprisingly weren''t able to clearly hear her despite their enhanced senses.
Liz then shifted closer to Rain and whispered. "Hey Rain, if they''ve been watching us all the way from the castle, do you think they''re also nning on attacking everyone there? There might even be more of them."
Rain frowned slightly as she heard that and replied."Not sure. I''ve been trying to call Albert and Erin but this sted barrier is jamming allmunication spells. Still, the castle is protected by the 5yer barrier and even if they are from one of the Great fives, there is no way they would give them any of those items that will allow them to break part of the barrier just to attack us. The only ones I can possibly see them attacking are the Kobolds working in the Grayad ins as well as Azar and his group so as to use them against Lord Ty."
"You might be right, but we should still get out of here as soon as possible to confirm. It would be bad if Lord Tyes back and is troubled by this."
"Agreed." Nodding her head in agreement, Rain then spoke to Kazko the Battle troll who stood in front of them with his sword in hand as he readied himself to face the maiden before him.
"Hey, step aside."
Kazko was stunned once again, he could not believe what had juste out of the Dark elf''s mouth. While his knowledge of the situation was vague at best. He was still smart enough to recognize the severity of their current situation.
The enemy came at them alone even though there were multiple people that had surrounded them. They all just stood out of sight most likely maintaining the barrier that entrapped them. This told him a few things, either the enemypletely outssed all three of them which was unlikely, or she had a tool that could easily one-shot them all which was a high possibility given the ominous aura of the amulet around her neck.
Thest possibility was obvious given that the young girl had spoken about the barrier herself. He could surely feel his strength draining from within him inside the barrier but something else was being sealed inside him the more time went on.
"Kazko, I won''t say it again, move!"
Kazko hesitated. He had been tasked with guiding and protecting the pair and could not just disobey an order from his master. However, just when he was struggling to make a decision, the beautiful and more reasonable demoness Liz suddenly came to his aid.
"Forgive Rain, she can''t really express herself well. We need you to retreat and find a way out of this barrier while we keep the opponent busy. It would be really bad for us if you get killed by ident."
''Me, die on ident?''
Kazko was speechless. While it appeared that the Lady Liz words were more calming andforting. That was not the case for Kazko, her words seemed more terrifying than Rain''s straightforwardness. He was an evolved troll at the Basic Tier 4 stage and yet he had just been told that in this battle, he could get killed by ident.
Seeing the seriousness in both their eyes, Kazko had no choice but to yield. He quickly stepped aside and ran towards the barrier. The young Lady''s eyes followed his movements for a while but it did not seem like she would try to stop him. Either she knew he could not break the barrier, or she realized that turning her back on Rain and Liz was a bad idea.
"So, before we begin our little dance. Care to introduce yourself. You seem to know a lot about us after all."
"You can call me Izabel, that''s all you need to know about me. Don''t bother telling me your names either, I''ll find outter anyway."
"Confident, I like that." Rain said licking her lips as she adopted a low stand after drawing out her daggers from her spatial box."
"Well, you''ll soon find out why I''m so confident."
Saying that the amulet around Isaiah''s neck suddenly began to glow as an ominous reddish-ck aura enveloped her entire body, gathering more around her greaves andvambraces. The atmosphere in the barrier hadpletely changed and Liz and Rain began to understand why she was so confident.
"A demigod? No, that item is it. So a magic artifact then."
"With the strength of the aura, it looks like it might actually be a Divine grade Artifact."
"Indeed. No choice then, I''ll draw her in, back me up."
"Alright," Liz said as she prepared to cast several spells simultaneously. However, something strange happened the moment the magic circle of the spells was about to bepleted.
¡ªIt shattered.
Not sure if she had made a mistake somehow, Liz tried to cast the same spells again but was met with the same results. She even tried other spells and even basic Tier 1 spell but each time the magic circle was about to beplete, be it inside her mana body or even when she manually constructed them in the air¡ª it would break and the spell would not be cast.
"I can''t use my spells."
"What!"
Hearing that, Izabel''s smile widened as her aura rose even further. "I guess there''s no need to hide it anymore, this barrier does more than weaken your mana and prevent your escape. It also disrupts the formation of magic circles so your skills and spells are currently sealed. It takes a while to work so I was a little worried. Lucky for me, you were both cautious and did not try to attack me immediately."
Saying that, the wild and chaotic aura exploded from her as the ground she stood on shattered and she shot at the girls with an almost unbelievable speed. Rain frowned slightly as she tried to move but noticed how sluggish her body was right now.It would seem the barrier had greatly affected her physique as well.
Izabel closed the distance between them in only a second as her speed didn''t seem to have been hindered by the barrier at all. Although she probably couldn''t use any spells or skills as well. However, the reddish-ck energy around her suddenly gathered in her right arms. She jumped lightly into the air and came down on them with a ferocious blow.
BOOM!
Even without the use of Thought eleration, Rain and Liz somehow managed to avoid the blow but the massive impact it caused destroyed the ground in a 15-meter radius and with their strength currently being suppressed. They could notpletely avoid the debris.
"Get behind me."
Rain charged ahead of Liz as she took the brunt of the attack while defending against most of them. Izabel on the other hand did not stop there as she immediately followed her attack by lunging at Rain before they had a chance to catch their breath.
Rain, noticing the charge of the young girl, took deep breaths as she received Izabel''s heavy blows. Her daggers trembled from receiving a punch from the child-like girl but Izabel did not give her any chance to retreat.
With the chaos aura that eve loped her, the barrier could not suppress her physique and thus, there was currently a great disparity between their current speeds so sheunched an onught of attacks at Rain from every conceivable angle.
However, to her surprise, Rain was constantly able to block or parry her attacks even though she could see thegs in her movements. Her insanely sharp instincts were somehow able to allow her to react to Izabel''s attacks even before they had reached her.
Izabel tsked. This was probably due to the skill, ?Foresight? and even though skills were supposed to be disrupted in the barrier, it would seem that already active skills within the body could not be hindered.
Rain on the other hand was very agitated at the moment. Even knowing where the girl was going to strike beforehand didn''t seem to be very helpful as she was constantly being pushed back. Her strength was also suppressed and thus the blows she received were constantly getting heavier by the second.
With her spells and skills sealed. Rain knew that Liz could not offer much help at this point until she was able to buy her enough time to figure out an alternative means of attacking or simply a way for them to break the barrier but that would require time.
Although Rain could not use most of her skills and spells, she was once a member of the Dark Elf assassin division of the Alcar family, and thus, she did not only rely on those things in a fight. Even her pure physical abilities were not the main source of her strength.
After observing the fighting style of the young girl for a while. Rain finally decided on a n of attack. She parried Izabel''s attack ones more and using the brief moment before the next onees, she used a technique.
[Secret Technique- Thunder God''s Descent.]
Chapter 169 C169. Chaos Vs Thunder
Izabel¡ª also feeling agitated by the constant parring of her attacks by the sluggish and slow opponent she was supposed to have the absolute advantage over¡ª continuedunching a ferocious barrage of attacks at the Dark elf before her, trying to overwhelm herpletely so even her Foresight would be useless in the presence of absolute power.
Her simple strategy seemed to be working as her heavy blows kept pushing her back constantly, which asionally made the Dark elf stumble but she was still somehow able to retain her bnce and suddenly partied another one of her strikes which interrupted Izabel''s barrage of attacks for only a brief moment.
However, that moment seemed to have been all Rain required as Izabel suddenly heard the resounding p of Thunder. Next, the girl in front of her had disappeared from her view at some point in time and something shed by her left ear.
Unable to react in time for the first time, a sudden impact rang through her body as her feet were swept off the ground and she was sent flying. Something Izabel could not predict had happened as it seemed like the dark elf had suddenly regained her full speed and in only the brief moment she had managed to interrupt her attack, the girl had moved behind her and kicked her by the side of her head.
The force from that single kick was enough to take her head off if it wasn''t for the chaos aura from the amulet that enveloped her body in severalyers of protection and enhancement. Still, the power from the kick had been too great that it stunned her for a moment.
She had ounted for surprises in her n as when facing opponents of this level, they always had a trick up their sleeves. However, this was insane.
Looking at the dark elf who stood before her, Izabel could feel her energy skyrocketing as cracks of lightning danced across her skin. Her normally silky short ck hair crackled with electricity as the base of her hair seemed to have turned white.
[Secret Technique - Thunder God''s Descent]
Indeed it did feel like a lightning god had descended but not entirely as it felt like her technique was iplete. ''Geez, this would be a lot easier if that damnable sister of mine had shown up as we agreed.''
Grumbling internally Izabel quickly stood up as Rain was the one to charge at her this time. The barrier should''ve surely weakened them by several tiers and without the use of their spells or skills, she should''ve had the ultimate advantage but it didn''t turn out that way as Rain swiftly began assaulting her with her twin daggers.
Trying to stay one step ahead of her enemy, Izabel used one of the skills the artifact around her neck possessed before the girl could figure out that the barrier did not affect the skills contained within magic items.
?Corrosive st?
The reddish-ck chaos aura around her gathered around her clenched fist and turned into a purplish-grey ball that shot at Rain with the wave of her hand. Seeing this, Rain immediately recognized what the attack meant and the de in one of her hands caught fire in a sickly green ze as she swung the weapon and a giant ball of poisonous green mes shot at the corrosive st.
Both parties immediately jumped back upon impact to avoid getting caught in the area of effect.
Standing only a few meters apart, the chaos aura around Izabel suddenly shifted and formed into aicallyrge mallet in her hand as she dashed at Rain while swinging the seemingly weightless weapon.
Rain raised her weapon to block the mallet that came down on her when she suddenly heard Liz''s voice in her mind yell at her. "Dodge that! Don''t let that weapon touch you." With the improvedagility the technique Thunder God''s Descent provided her, Rain quickly changed her mind halfway and jumped to the side as the Mallet mmed into the ground.
BOOM!
The impact was massive but Rain had managed to get away from the st unscathed. However, looking at the weapon''s point of impact on the ground, Rain frowned.
"Oh wow, you noticed. And I thought I swung that light enough for you to feel like you could simply just block it."
The ground the mallet had impacted with slowly lost its color as the soil began to dry out and turn to dust. The snow melted and all the vegetation around had disintegrated.
?Disintegration Pulse?
A passive effect of the Chaos Hammer that slowly and fundamentally destroys anything it touches, be it physical or spiritual. The pulse could also be gathered until it was immersed enough to be called a wave, which was what Izabel had done.
Rain''s expression sunk further. A secret technique could generally not be used for long especially a powerful one like hers and thus, she was rapidly running out of time as the moment her technique runs out, they would find it hard-pressed to survive. The fact that she had been unable to end this fight with her first kick was truly a disappointment.
Seeing the breathing of the so-called Thunder goddess get slightly heavier made Izabel smirk and lunged at her again only to stop short of reaching Rain this time as she used another skill from the Amulet of Despora.
?Soul Eater.?
The aura around her suddenly expanded outwards as it took shapes of soul-based monsters that extended towards Rain and tried to consume her soul. Naturally, Rain tried to move out of the way but this skill was a little bit special as one could not dodge it, only try to resist it.
And while Rain was confident she could easily resist an attack on her soul, even something as simple as being momentarily stunned could cancel her technique and thus, this was a very dangerous situation for her.
However, just as the soul eaters were about to reach her, a thickyer of back clouds had formed in the sky and several massive tornadoes immediately began to sprout out all around them. The heavy winds pushed her away from the soul eaters.
?Lightning Storm?
Liz had finally decided to intervene after realizing that she could use the skills of her magic artifact, Iris Tear. This realization had really elevated her mood as she no longer felt useless or a burden to her friend yet again.
In the end, it was this single gift from Lord Ty that had saved her friend and she could not help but feel even more indebted and grateful to him.
Not wanting to waste her surprised attack, Liz gathered the lightning in the sky and released a single massive bolt of lightning at the young girl named Izabel.
As expected, the lightning passed through the barrier without any obstructions just as the tornadoes had done. The barrier seems to not affect any natural phenomenon which was a good thing for her.
Izabel clicked her tongue as her golden greaves and vambraces glowed and her figure blinked out of the way for the massive bolt of lightning that had immediately struck the ground she had been standing on only moments ago. It would seem like those were magic items as well which was not a surprise given she seemed to be from one of the Great Five and owning multiple magic items that possessed skills was rtively normal.
Her blink destination was only about 5 meters away which was probably the limit of the skill but it was still enough to avoid the attack showing how useful the skill was in battle. Before Izabel could even prepare for her next move, Rain had suddenly appeared behind her and another kick was sent her way.
Without hesitation Izabel quickly ducked and spun around, swinging her chaos mallet at the Dark elf. However, a sudden gust of strong wind had conveniently blown Rain out of harm''s way and her mallet struck nothing but air.
"So annoying."
Izabel frowned slightly as she turned to re at Liz who only smiled at her. She knew if she tried to attack her recklessly, she would be leaving herself wide open for the dark elf to exploit. However, not doing anything would lead to more problems in the future as she would be able to constantly save herrade while Izabel steadily burned herself out.
Thinking of this, Izabel snorted and two balls of corrosive energy gathered in her fists once more as she shot them at Rain in quick session, and before the attack had even gotten to her, Izabel turned and dashed at Liz, a move that had startled both girls.
However¡ª
Rain quickly countered the corrosive st with two poisonous mes of her own as she dashed at Izabel and to Izabel''s surprise, she quickly caught up with her, and in one fluid motion that even she couldn''t keep track of, she executed another Secret Technique even though she was already in the midst of using one.
[Phantom Kill]
Both of her dark des shined in a deadly light as cracks of electricity danced on them. Her strikes were fluid and swift, without ws or pauses as every one of her strikes was aimed at all of Izabel''s vitals at the same time.
With a 100 fold boost to her attacks, this was surely a one-hit kill that would end this fight in an instant if it had connected. However, Izabel wasn''t foolish neither was she that hard-headed that she would let her anger control her in a fight.
Her golden grew greaves and vambraces glowed once more and her figure suddenly blink behind Rain at thest moment as the chaos mallet in her hand shattered in a burst of disintegration energy that spanned a radius of more than 100 meters.
?Disintegration st?
The burst of energy mmed into the unsuspecting Rain as her technique ended and she was suddenly too slow to react in time. Perhaps it was a stroke of bad luck that the attack hade at the same moment her technique had ended but one needed luck in a battle this close so Rain could notin.
Her body mmed straight into the ground several times as the disintegration st had almost ripped her appearance. Even with all her resistances, she had only been able to barely survive that attack. Some of her bones were broken, her supple skill was now covered in cuts and bruises as the disintegration energy slowly began to destroy her body from the inside.
"Rain!"
Liz yelled in dismay as she ran over to the motionless body of her friend on the ground who was slowly bleeding out. To think she was yet again watching her friend go through pain simply because she wasn''t strong enough even with Lord Ty''s help. Her emotions ran rampant as she tried to think of a way to help her but couldn''t.
"There''s no need. Once the disintegration energy of my skill enters the body, it''s only a matter of time before the target dies an extremely agonizing death. If I were you, I''ll end her life right now to save her from the suffering."
Izabel said that confidently as she strolled towards the girls with a somewhat relieved expression on her face. To be honest she hadn''t thought she would be able to handle both girls on her own without Citrus''s help. However, with her sister being a no-show and there being not many opportunities toy an effective trap. She had no choice but to suck it up and handle the matter herself.
However, everything had worked out somehow and now all she needed to do was capture the demoness before the time for the barrier ran out.
She walked closer to the girls and was about to use another skill when the air suddenly ran dry. No. It went cold. Something had literally frozen the air itself that she found it hard to breathe.
"Impossible."
Izabel''s eyes went wide as she finally traced the source of the issue. The aura that surrounded the blonde demoness had suddenly gone all the way down to absolute zero as goosebumps run across her skin.
"You. You''ll pay for this."
Chapter 170 C170. Skyfall
"You''ll pay for this."
Those soft-spoken yet icy words somehow made Izabel''s skill crawl as she unconsciously took a step back even though she should have the absolute advantage right now.
The temperature inside the barrier suddenly began to drop as Izabel continuously hesitated to attack withoutrealizing why. The icy pressure that had suddenly exploded out of the blonde demoness hadpletely surprised her and she could barely believe what was happening.
Skills and spells were supposed to be disrupted here and the girl was purely a mage, unlike the dark elf who was apparently a mage assassin. So there should be no reason why she would be able to instill this much pressure on someone at her level.
There weren''t many things that would be able to work in here and theonly thing Izabel could think of that could bypass the Spatial Suppression Barrier was a Demon Noble''s innate ability. However, something was royally wrong here. Why on Neron would a demoness on her level who was also capable of using the family''s innate ability be allowed to wander around in the Darknar region.
Izabel could not figure that out in so little time and just as she had thought to counter with her own Innate ability, even though that would go against their ns. Something that was almost equally surprising happened.
"Liz, no don''t. I haven''t lost yet."
"I can''t believe it," Izabel eximed in surprise as she saw the dark elf struggle to Stand even with the disintegration energy still slowly killing her from within. Her wounds seem to have stopped bleeding for some reason as she slowly got off the ground.
Liz on the other hand was ted when she saw her friend stand. The temperature in the Barrier rapidly returned to normal as she tried to support her friend up.
"Are you okay?"
"I -I''ll be fine. Just focus on getting us out of here."
"But your wounds."
"No worries, I promise I''ll be fine right. Don''t you trust me?" Rain said that as she waved her daggers at Liz before standing back up, seemingly ready to get back into the fight. Liz seemed to realize something as she nodded and stood up. The temperature in the barrier slowly returned to normal.
She then took several steps back and the artifact around her neck glowed dimly. Wild and cold winds circted the barrier and the clouds steadily grew thicker and darker by the seconds and it looked like she was nning something. Izabel looked up for a moment thinking she was going to use her Lightning Storm attack again but as that didn''te, she frowned.
"Oh You have, got to be kidding me."
Saying that in an extremely annoyed tone, she kicked off the ground and charged at the immobile Liz. Naturally, Rain moved to intercept her but Izabel had already figured her out. With the use of foresight, she would be able to predict her attacks so there was no point in attacking her directly even in her current state.
Stretching out her right hand, another chaos mallet formed in her hand and instead of attacking with it like before, she immediately threw it at Rain. Rain sensed her intentions and immediately sent a poisonous fireball at the iing mallet as they collided mid-flight and exploded in a 15-meter radius.
,m While Rain was sent tumbling back by the shockwave, Izabel used that opportunity to dash past her towards Liz who seemed to be busy preparing an attack.
However, Rain had already predicted that the moment Izabel had chosen to attack Liz instead of her. She twisted her body in the air and was somehow able tond on her feet as she quickly turned and sent another green fireball her way.
Sensing the attack from behind her, Izabel clicked her tongue. If this was a normal fireball, she would''ve just taken the attack without receiving any damage as she was a high-ranking member of the Brimstone family and thus had absurdly high resistance to fire-based attacks.
However, the green fireball wasyered with very powerful and toxic poisonous magic and poisoned attacks were a different story. Personally, her case was even worst off than her peers as her sister would''ve still been able to handle this much without it getting in her way but she was especially weak to any type of poisonous attacks. She knew the attack was dangerous. After all, she had also fought against several lesser basilisks herself and had almost gotten killed because she underestimated them.
Izabel swiftly swirled her body mid-motion as she managed to avoid the attack from behind and was able to maintain her momentum as she continues dashing towards Liz. Rain even with her heavy injury rapidly chased after her but with the effect of her Thunder God''s Descent gone, her body was even more sluggish and heavier than ever before, making her vastly slower than Izabel who was still covered in chaos aura.
However, Liz didn''t seem concerned about the rapidly approaching enemy that was Izabel, who was closing in on her with her mallet already raised as a sudden gust of wind blew in and threw both Iz and Rain back, further away from her while she continued to gather the clouds and lightning in arge area directly above them.
Rain, already expecting Liz''s reaction was able to regain her bnce a lot easier than Izabel as she dashed at her. Her mind seemingly focused on that one task as Izabel avoided the green me-coated de she was swinging at her quite easily.
Izabel was getting irritated by the fact that this fight had gone on longer than she wanted it to when she suddenly noticed something. The countless wounds on Rain''s body were rapidly beginning to heal and her slower and sluggish motions were steadily getting more fluid and faster, albeit still slower than hers.
''What is this, a healing spell? How?''
Seeing the perplexed expression on Izabel''s face, Rain smiled and took advantage of herpse in concentration as she immediately used another secret technique. It was important to note that secret techniques were not something that could be easily learned and most demons, even demon lords would go their entire lives without learning a single one of them.
This wasn''t just due to their insane rarity but the pure difficulty the learning process entails. The fact that Rain could use a powerful secret technique like the Thunder God''s Descent was already impressive enough to make Izabel who could not use a single one jealous but she had also used the Phantom Kill technique and now a different one.
This was something that even the crazy and madly talented Citrus couldn''t do. The mark of a truebat genius. The only other person that was as talented as she was in this aspect was Albert, who was a specialist Magic swordsman that could barely use magic.
[Phatom Steps.]
Wanting topensate for her current weakness in this barrier, Rain used a movement technique as she moved to attack Izabel in an easy-to-block way. Izabel was wondering what that was about before promptly sensing the threat of death looming over her. Reacting quickly she opted not to block Rain''s attack but to dodge it instead. And while that may have saved her life. She was sorely mistaken if she thought she had cleanly predicted Rain''s movements.
The de came at her from an unprecedented angle and she could not avoid it but thanks to her earlier actions, it had only caused a shallow wound on her abdomen.
"You little bitch!"
?Soul Eater?
Noticing Rain about to strike again after already causing her damage, Izabel''s wrath ran rampant as she immediately used a skill in an attempt to hold her in ce as she pressed down on the cut on her abdomen. Normally this was not enough to slow her down and even her natural resistance should have stopped the attack but the de that struck her had been coated in green poisonous mes that had managed to cut through her defenses.
''This is bad. Damn it! Where the hell is that bitch when you need her.''
Izabel was getting more annoyed the longer this went. If she wasn''t trying to keep her family''s identity from any prying eyes that may have been able to get through her anti-divination magic, she would''ve just used her innate ability and been done with this nonsense.
She fought desperately against her instincts not to lose her cool and just go wild as she tried to calmly observe and handle the situation. However, just as she was dealing with this problem, another one arose.
The cracking of lightning grew increasingly louder as Thunder ps could be heard from the distant clouds that loomed over them with an oppressive pressure that made her want to run.
Izabel raised her head to see what the noise was about and her eyes widened. The simplest way to describe this was that they could be pregnant, and something told Iz that it wouldn''t be giving birth to some adorable-looking baby.
Meanwhile, Rain was able to avoid Izabel''s Soul Eaters thanks to the strong wind that blew her away again. She was sweating a lot even though most of her wounds were already healed and the disintegration energy within her was now almost gone thanks to the primary ability of the weapon Lord Ty had Bungo make her.
She stood up with difficulty as it seemed the use of the iplete Thunder God''s Descentbined with two other secret techniques had taken a toll on her. At this point even if she wanted to, she could no longer put up a decent fight against an opponent like Izabel especially since the barrier they were in was still suppressing them.
Rain then traced Izabel''s gaze as she saw the thick pregnant cloud and went pale. She surely didn''t know what this skill was or what it would do but the sky felt like it was about to fall and that was most certainly not good.
"CloudBurst."
Before any of them had been able to brace themselves, Liz spoke a single phrase that told them everything they needed to know and both girls'' expressions went pale.
''Hey, isn''t this bad. Did she forget where we are? Don''t fucking cause a natural disaster like it''s nothing.''
With an oddly perfect synchronization, both Izabel and Rain thought the same thing, and as though on cue, the sky literally fell.
If one wanted a simple exnation of what had happened they could trace it back to the single-phrase Liz had said earlier, Cloudburst. A cloudburst in normal terms was an extreme amount of precipitation in a very short period of time, sometimes apanied by hail and thunder, which is capable of creating flood conditions.
However, that was a natural urring could burst and this, this was something else, something much, much worse.
Izabel could only look up in dismay as she wondered how this was possible. For a magic item to be capable of causing a natural disaster meant it was a magic artifact but that was not the issue. The problem lies in the fact that the effect of this natural disaster had been greatly intensified, spanning an iprehensiblyrge area making it almost impossible to avoid.
Not to mention, this was the Darkin mountain range and such a wide range did not only affect them but everything else inside the mountains.
"I''m beginning to hate my job."
Chapter 171 C171. So It Begins
¡ªAt the same time.
¡ªIn the Demon''s King castle...
Albert sat on one of the sofas in "Erin''s" office as he easily manipted the image disyed on the magic mirror that floated in front of him. He had spent a long time practicing with the crystal mirror spell after he had embarrassed himself in the presence of lord Ty the other time with the trolls.
A good butler must learn from his mistakes as they arrived for perfection, and thus, he was now adept in controlling these types of items so he could easily monitor andmunicate with the Kobolds that were camping and working in the Grayad ins, close to the castle''s main entrance.
Truth be told, he could''ve also easily achieved simr results by simply going to one of the four towers on the castle walls and using his skill, ?Keen eyes of a demon? to monitor the Kobolds. And while that would''vebeen strenuous on his mana and partially inefficient, that was not the reason he had chosen to request Erin''s help for this.
He had simplye here because he had wanted to check up on her. Being a Nymph that had lived the majority of her long life in istion. Erin generally wasn''t good in a crowd even back at the settlement everyone knew to give her space and let her operate at her own pace. Truly the only one that ignored that and brazenly tried to get close to her was the ogress called Callie, who had died at the ws of a Lesser Basilisk.
Albert knew Erin never wanted to get close to anyone mostly because she feared losing them. As an immortal, losing ones lined ones was to be expected but for one such being, she was a little too fragile emotionally and thus generally couldn''t handle loss.
The fact that she was okay after Callie died was most likely due to the influence of Lady Liz and Rain who also kinda reminds him of Callie as they had slightly simr personalities. Being saved by Lord Ty also seemed to have helped her a lot and thus she was slowly opening up to the people around her.
Albert only came here to see if the absence of the girls would have a negative effect on her but it seems she had transferred all her focus to her work for Lord Ty and thus seemed to be doing okay.
After confirming she was okay, Albert quickly busied himself with his work supervising the Kobolds while they set up temporary lodging for the Raven settlement, while Erin went back tostudying her book. It seemed she was trying to trante the advanced magic runes by herself as there was nothing else left for her to do.
Although Albert felt it would be better for her to just have Lord Ty help her with the trantion as he was most likely the only one in this world that could read all three levels of advanced magic runes, he decided not to voice his opinion as she seemed to be enjoying her work.
Leaving Jarret and Talen in charge of the castle for the day, Albert and Erin focused on their work for a while when Erin suddenly stopped and stared intently at a particr direction.
Sensing her uneasiness, Albert stopped what he was doing and asked:
"Something wrong?"
Without replying to his question immediately, she closed her eyes for a moment and then spoke to him in response:
"I''m not sure. I think someone broke into my perimeter but for some reason, I can''t see or sense them."
Being a master of spirit magic, Erin had set up a perimeter around the castle per Tyler''s request. The perimeter spanned further than the barrier and almost reached the forest. It was done as a precaution against enemies with stealth capabilities that would stupidly attempt to break the barrier or in the worst case, had a way to pass through the barrier unrestricted.
While Tyler was the only one able to move freely through the barrier for some reason. Although he had a theory about that, he still couldn''t be sure that there wasn''t someone else out there with the same ess as him, and thus, fully relying on an unfamiliar barrier was foolish.
This was why he had Erin set up a magic barrier and several anti-divination magic around the castle and also why she was the most important person in the castle in his absence.
"Are you sure someone broke through?"
"No. Perhaps it was just nothing."
"Huh, I''ll try observing to see what I find."
"Okay."
Erin tried enhancing her senses further in an attempt to locate whatever had breached her senses and seeing the worry in her eyes, Albert switched the targets of his remote viewing to the outside of the castle and tried to locate whatever it was that breached her magic perimeter.
He spent thest few minutes searching the outside for any signs of movements but to no avail as they soon gave up on that idea and concluded it was nothing as they went back to their work.
However¡ª
That was the wrong choice as the moment they turned their attention away. The entire space within the castle shook violently as though the highest magnitude earthquake was about to bring everything down on them.
Albert and Erin''s senses were immediately flooded with an extremely dangerous aura as Albert hastily contacted Jarret to immediately lead all the nonbatants into one of the training halls before he even bothered to ask Erin what was happening.
"What''s going on?"
"I''m not entirely sure. It feels like a spatial copse."
"What? Why?"
"I''m not too sure but I think someone might be trying to break the barrier."
"That''s impossible. We just scanned around the entire castle, how did we not spot them."
Albert hastily turned his attention back to the magic mirror before him and scanned the view of the outside of the castle, something he had only just gone through a moment ago and had found nothing. For a barrier of this size and magnitude, it would be impossible and t-out foolish for anyone to attempt breaking it from a distance so they had to get extremely close to it, and in some cases needed to touch it.
Even then, as far as Albert knew, such a process would require arge ritualistic Magic that needed more than a dozen mages to perform and they had set up measures that would prevent anyone from getting too close without their notice much less over 30 people.
However, contrary to his expectations,including the view he had seen earlier, there was currently a man standing only inches away from the barrier at the north side of their castle where the main gates were.
Albert frowned. The Man''s appearance wasn''t visible from the mirror and his aura could not be felt, or at least, not anymore. However, Albert had a very bad feeling about him.
Bypassing magic perimeters was not especially that difficult and it was also easy to fool a magic mirror with basic level anti-divination spells. However, that did not apply to spells cast by Erin, a literal demigod.
In the entire five years, they had stayed with the red ogre settlement, they had never been surprised by monsters due to her helping the guards reinforce their magic perimeter and for someone to be able topletely fool her magic, they would have to be at an equal level as her or even stronger.
Such a being would not be any ordinary demons or even demon Nobles but either a demon lord or simply a behemoth. Albert hastily contacted Zomatsu to gather their entire fighting force at the outer ward where they would try to fend off this behemoth if he somehow manages to break the barrier.
Any ordinary behemoth would be fine as they had Erin to back them up but if this man happened to be one of the seven great behemoths, Erin''s help would only serve to put her in a more dangerous situation which would be devastating for them.
He was already too close for them to test out the effectiveness of the new artilleries Lord Ty had made Bungo make for the towers although there were currently only one of them as he was yet to receive more materials.
While Albertmunicated with Zomatsu and the others to get them ready to defend this castle, he kept watch of the man outside. Of course, he has tried to contact his master but he was most likely out of range and thus the call could not reach him.
The man outside wearing a white fur coat suddenly looked up. He was staring in the direction the magic mirror''s viewpoint was, in essence, he was staring directly at Albert and Erin and he gently smiled at them as he waved his hand as though greeting a friend.
Albert shivered upon seeing the behemoth''s face. While he had never seen him in person, he had surely heard rumors about the savage Behemoth of Greed, Mammon.
''This is bad.''
It was true that Mammon was the youngest and only charge amongst the seven great behemoths in centuries. He was originally the weakest almost them but Albert wasn''t so sure that was the case. He had never seen the demon fight but Mammon was supposedly known for his seemingly limitless number of skills and spells and would stop at nothing to amass more.
He was indeed the epitome of Greed.
With a wave of his hand, Albert saw Mammon turn away and a ck void that looked like the gate to the abyss appeared to his side as five demons walked out of it. He then handed one of them what appeared to be an ordinary ck glove and reached into thin air and pulled out what looked to be a golden trident.
''Magic Artifacts? Don''t tell me.''
As Albert thought of that, Mammon waved his hand again and another spatial gate opened up as more than fifty men dressed roughly likemon thugs with only a few of them being well equipped walked out of the gate and stood behind him.
It appeared he was currently aware of their existence otherwise he would not have summoned backup before attempting to break the barrier.
With that done, Mammon suddenly stretched his arm out to touch the barrier and then used an unknown skill. The normally invisible barrier became visible for a moment as his skill sent massive ripples across the surface of the barrier that caused the entire castle to shake violently for the second time but the barrier appeared to have not been damaged.
Albert saw Mammon shrug after his second failed attempt as he turned to the demon he had given the glove to and nodded.
The demon nodded back in response and put on the gloves while Mammon raised the trident high up. The two items seem to synchronize and Albert had a bad premonition.
"I''ll go and assist Z in dying them if that''s possible. You stay here and keep an eye on things. You can also try and contact Lord Ty if possible. No matter what happens don''te out, I don''t think they would be able to break through the barrierpletely so most of the castle should be concealed from them. Don''te out no matter what happens to us, without a source, your life force can''t recover and you''ll only die in vain."
Saying that Albert hurriedly left the office before Erin could find the words to refute him as he used a skill to instantly equip himself with his ck leather armor and Miaodao.
At the same time, the magic mirror that was still floating at the same spot Albert had left it in reflected the view of Hemei Sakaguchi as the trident he held and the glove in his minion''s hands turned to dust and a wave of blue energy suddenly exploded from them and mmed into the massive barrier making it visible ones more.
This time, however, the barrier did not return to normal as a tiny crack could be seen at the point of impact. That one crack slowly turned to two, then three, and before he knew it. The cracks had spread all across the massive dome-shaped barrier.
*Shatter!
As though a massive ss ball had exploded, the barrier shattered into specks of light that slowly fell on the ground and Hemei and his crew of 59 were now able to walk past that spot and approach the massive metal gate.
"I suppose since they''ve been taking care of my castle for me, I should be polite and knock first."
*Boom!
Chapter 172 C172. Mountain Golems
¡ªBack at the Darkin Mountain Range.
As the sky that had swelled up like some sort of gigantic balloon that had been filled to the utmost with water gave way. A sudden and heavy downpour came upon the mountain range and unlike a natural downpour of rain that would be asionally apanied by hail and thunder, this had decided to swap out the water for spiked hailpletely as the rain had been frozen in the sky and they fell in an area that expanded more than 3,000 meters of their current location.
Everything happened in an instant. Without any time to react, Izabel watched the sky fall in a sudden wave of hail and lightning. The massive range of more than 3,000 meters meant there was no escape as she just stood there hoping to defend herself from this.
Lightning descended on the mountain range in a devastating storm that almost destroyed several mountains and hills. However, some of those mountains were not actually ordinary mountains and Izabel could almost sense the approaching danger. While her instinct told her to flee, she did not have the time to worry about that right now as the magic barrier was her priority if she wanted any chance of aplishing her goals.
However, while Izabel could easily resist the hail and lightning without issues, the ones that maintained the barrier were not so skilled. This was arge area Spatial suppression barrier that required more than ten mages to cast and the maintenance cost a massive amount of energy that the mages couldn''t supply on their own so several devices powered by magic crystals were set up around the barrier and mini barriers were erected there.
However, the continual barrage of hail and lightning did not give Izabel any hope that the mini barriers could withstand the attack even though they were meant to defeat the magic device. Without hesitation, the chaos aura around Izabel intensified as she dashed towards one of the exits of the barrier.
Seeing her opponent retreating, Rain did not bother chasing after her as she could barely stand so she ran back towards Liz with thest of her strength. While Liz tried to restrict the amount of hail and Lightning that came at her, there was really no way to stop a friendly fire and thus she had to defend herself from the rapid storm which was also tasking for her.
There were four locations that housed a device that powered the suppression barrier in each cardinal location and three of Izabel''s men were tasked with maintaining and it within the safety of the mini barrier. However, within the span of three seconds, two of them had been decimated by a barrage of lightning making the main barrier unstable.
Izabel was able to save one of the devices but before she could move to save thest, Kazko who was lurking at the edge of the barrier all this time managed to escape after a section of the barrier copsed for a moment and he immediately destroyed thest device with his skill, ?Lacerating sh?
While the mages that maintained the barriers were pretty strong, they were currently too distracted by the sudden storm and thus had failed to stop him.
With only one device left, the barrier could not maintain its bnce and thus copse. The moment that happened. The storm that came suddenly, disappeared just as fast as it appeared. Everything had onlysted for a little over ten seconds and with the suppression effects of the barrier gone, Liz could move more freely now.
"We need to leave!"
Rain yelled as she reached Liz who wholeheartedly agreed. She was sweating profusely even though it was currently winter and the temperature outside was in the negatives. Most of her wounds were already healed but it didn''t seem like she waspletely okay and that was not just because of a low stamina state from the overuse of secret techniques.
Before Liz could look further into this, her skill ended and the moment the storm stopped, the entire mountain range, or at least as far as they could see, trembled.
"Damn it."
Izabel cursed as she sensed them move. It didn''t seem like they had enough time to capture their target¡ª who was currently distracted¡ª before they came but Izabel didn''t think it would be wise to let them leave here alive.
*Rumble *Rumble *Rumble
As she contemted her next move, the rumbling of the ground intensified and soon.
*Goudou. Goudou!
They moved.
Several mountains or maybe it would be more urate to call them hills located some distance from them had rolled around and stood up, shaking off the rocks, dirt, snow, and vegetation that had covered them in their resting state over the years.
They were all at least 500 feet tall and while not necessarily taller or as tall as actual mountains, their size and presence were still very imposing.
Their bodies were made of rocks and dirt although some of them were still covered in snow. The lump of rock on the top of their bodies severed as their heads as it had two sockets that had glowing white orbs in them and severed as their eyes.
Their eyes moved around and looked at them as they had sensed the source of their disturbances and they all moved towards them with Clear malice.
*Goudou. Goudou...
Every one of their steps caused tremors to ur in the vicinity and since they were more than five of them, their foot stops stacked and each one caused a mini earthquake as it severed to awaken even more of them.
They were slow but their feet were long and they covered m a considerable distance in one step so they would arrive before them in less than a minute.
Izabel frown as she thought of what to do. This might''ve been part of the blonde demoness n when she used such a massive range skill and although it was very risky, she had to admit she would''ve done the same if she had been in her shoes.
It wasn''t impossible for her to kill a mountain golem but by the time she killed one another would take its ce and soon the silver wyverns would join the fray making that a miserable experience for her.
"Fuck. n B then."
Not caring anymore about the other devices and her other men, the chaos energy that surrounded her disappeared and the amulet glowed as arge magic circle appeared under her and the two mages in light armor that stood behind her as they all immediately teleported from the mountain range, device and all.
Kazko on the other hand was preparing to face the two magic users dressed strangely in ck leather armor with very few braces as they pointed their weapons at him.
However, everything changed at the arrival of the mountain golems as the two mages panicked and ran away, leaving behind their damaged device. That was indeed the wrong decision as Kazko did not miss his opportunity.
?Lacerating sh?
He dashed forward and swung his de. A red streak of sword aura shed through both mages as they were split in half and died instantly. Kazko then had to figure out a way to evade the mountain golems but first, he should return back to the girls to see if they were fine.
Liz on the other hand had just used a spell to create an ice board that she then cast the spell, "Gravity walk" on as she ced Rain on it. After an inspection, it would seem the Disintegration aura had only been pushback by her healing skill but herck of any resistance after using up her stamina and pushing herself too far had caused it to continue destroying her from within.
Even with the healing scrolls she had, she had only seeded in dying the inevitable and thus she needed to take her back to the castle for Erin to purify her as that was her only hope.
cing Rain on the ice board, Liz used the spell "Fight" and hurriedly flew out of the mountain range without holding back. As the spell Gravity walk was a transport spell, anything it was used on would automatically trail behind the spell caster by a few feet. (Something Tyler had been unaware of when he had first used the spell.)
She soon met up with Kazko on the way and although she was tempted to not stop for him as she was in haste, she still took the time to pick him up on the board as well as they flew towards the exit of the mountain range.
However, if one could so easily escape the gaze of mountain golems, they would not be such a fearsome creature even with theirplicated magic resistance and high physical Attack resistance.
|Maic Pull.|
As though the force of gravity had changed, an invisible force suddenly began to pull Liz and her Ice board back towards the horde of mountain golems. At first, the force was not that strong as she could still resist it and fly away even though her flight speed had been somewhat reduced.
However, as more and more of the mountain golems used that same skill on them, her flight speed had reduced to that of a crawl.
"Not now."
Liz said angrily as she tried to force her way out of the skill''s range but before she could even do anything else. One of the mountain golems picked up a rock that was at least the size of a small house and hurled it at them with immense strength and speed.
Its aim was true as the rock flew at them with great precision as though guided by aser. Liz frowned as she quickly cast the spell wall of ice but judged it would be insufficient and double cast it once more. Creating threerge and sturdy walls of ice in the sky.
Just as she had thought, the massive boulder hadpletely destroyed two of the ice walls and only barely stopped at the third. Kazko who had wanted to stop the boulder with his skill was suddenly relieved he hadn''t tried as he had greatly underestimated the strength of a single mountain golem.
"Annoying."
Liz grew anxious and impatient with each passing moment as she saw another mountain golem pick up another boulder and hurl it at them. Several more mountain golems also did the same and more than five boulders flew rapidly towards them.
"Ice fortress."
No longer holding back herself, Liz cast one of the highest defensive magic she could as sheets of pure crystal clear ice lined up in the air and rapidly formed a massive fortress of ice around them. The sturdy ice fortress was able to withstand the power behind the five boulders that mmed into it, the fortress disappeared almost as fast as it came when its work was done.
Still floating in the air like a goddess of sorts, Liz touched the artifact iris tear once more and the temperature in the mountains immediately cooled down to near absolute zero which in turn, slowed down the movements of the mountain golems. Even Kazko was shivering at this point.
Not stopping there and not wanting to give the golems any chance to retaliate, she immediately cast a spell to top off her grand icy performance.
"Max Overtier Magic - Blistering cier."
It hadn''t been snowing up to this point but the moment she cast her spell, it did, and like a mountain cier, an extended mass of ice formed from the snow falling andbined with the ones that had already umted on the mountains and moved.
Unlike an actual mountain cier though, it moved with a speed that made it look like an avnche on crack, most of which were descending from the high mountains.
The mass of ice soon mmed into the horde of mountain golems that were already close to them at this point and although they were practically immune to Magic attacks, there was still nothing they could do about the apanying effects of such elemental magic attacks as most of the trip and were swallowed up by the cier while the others were restricted in ce and thus could not move further.
After exhausting almost all her mana, Liz wiped the sweat off her face and immediately flew away with the ice board floating behind her.
However¡ª
Their numbers and resistances were not the only reason why the Darkin mountain range was such a dangerous ce. Another reason was also that mountain golems were one of the most persistent monsters in the world and once they were disturbed, they would stop at nothing to kill their opponents.
The moment Liz turned around to leave, all three mountain golems that were still above the ice turned their heads to face her.
Their eyes glowed brighter and a purplish-white beam of energy shot out from the eyes of the golems at her.
?Paralysis Beam?
Chapter 173 C173. My Castle
¡ªBack in the Demon King''s Castle,
Not giving Erin any time to refute him, Albert quickly rushed out of the castle as he dashed all the way to the outer ward to meet up with Zomatsu, Hart, Talen, and K who had set up a line of defense a few meters away from the main gate. Naturally, all the undead left in the castle had been brought out to be used as cannon folders as they were all pretty weak aside from the one Tier 3 Lich and two Tier 3 ck Knights.
Even with those and the remaining trolls, their current fighting force was only about 30 and that was including the female ogress and beast girls Zomatsu had trained over the past few days. Most of their strongest fighters were away at the moment, including Azar and the evolved trolls namely Kazko and Rekaz as well and Rain and Liz, making this lineup the best they could muster.
It would take the Raven Settlement another week or so to arrive here so hoping for backup was out of the question. Moreover, all of those he mentioned were currently out ofmunication range and thus there was no way to reach them.
Their opponents had chosen to enter through the main entrance and while there were traps set up in front of the gates, Albert didn''t have any expectations from them and could only hope they would be able to stall their opponents even if it was only for a moment so as to allow them tounch an attack.
With Hart and Talen leading the way alongside the Tier 3 ck Knights, Albert had the mages and rangers stationed behind them and on the towers. He then brought out several scrolls from his spatial storage. There were about 15 of them, two of which were given to him by his master. With no time to waste, he immediately activated them all at once.
"Summon - Lesser Frost Giants" x13
"Summon - Behir."x2
All fifteen scrolls suddenly burnt away in a purple haze as fifteenrge magic circles appear on the ground all around Albert. Two of which were especiallyrge. Thirteen 9 foot tall ice blue humanoid creatures geared in icy blue crystalline armor that made it seem like they were armor made entirely of ice appeared from the smaller magic circles.
They wielded arge battle-ax and had eyes that glow red without a hint of intelligence. Following the entrance of the thirteen Lesser Frost Giants, came two terrifying monsters that even Albert felt apprehensive about and if he were to meet them alone in the wild, he would surely have no choice but to run or die.
Although Behir''s weren''t actually based on the demon continent and one would not normally find them in the wild. In fact, Albert wasn''t even sure if they existed in this ne.
The two creatures that had been summoned had long narrow heads, crocodilian in shape, with curved, ck horns on the top of their heads, which were used for preening.
They had thick, armored scales, much like the typical example of a dragon or drake. Their scales were colored in variations of dark blue, being lighter on their undersides and their mouths were full of sharp teeth as they roared and slight crackles of electricity could be seen on them.
These creatures were called Behir and were considered Advanced ss monsters who were also magic beasts, unlike the Lesser Frost Giants who were ssified as Intermediate ss monsters.
These were the only two summoning scrolls that had been given to him by Lord Ty in case of emergency. He had chosen these monsters not because they were the strongest summons he had but because their abilities were highly suitable in defense and against a multitude of opponents.
Behir''s wererge serpentine monsters with twelve legs, hard scales, electrical breath, and a highly effective lightning barrier that was very useful at the moment.
These creatures could be easily mistaken for wingless blue dragons as they had long, snake-like bodies and could slither on the ground like a snake, but it also had six pairs of legs upon which it could walk or climb if it chose to do so.
The 13 Lesser Frost giant lined up with Hart and Talen at the front of the group as their front line of defense upon Albertmand while the two Behirs slithered around Albert and used the skill,
?Lightning Zone?
Upon activation, a faint pulse of electricity spanning about a 30-meter radius was constantly being emitted every 1.5 seconds and upon contact with what the Behirs consider enemies or an attack. A bolt of lightning would automatically be sent at them from multiple locations. The electrical field also creates a maic pull to the ground that slows down any enemies that are able to make it within range during the short time frame the pulse wasn''t being emitted.
Zomatsu stood next to Albert in his previous butler-likebat gear. Only this time he had swapped his white gloves for a pair of purple gauntlets.
Albert had already given him control over the rangers so all he needed to focus on was the battle ahead of him. Victory didn''t seem possible against one of the seven behemoths but as a former demon lord himself, he couldn''t just let someone trespass on his master''s territory.
With iron-d resolves, he tightened the grip on his enchanted Miaodao and waited for their opponents in the outer ward.
*Boom!
They didn''t have to wait long as the huge metal gates they had spent a long time fixing up were smashed in like it was nothing. The gates were heavily reinforced with magic and although the runes on it hadn''t beenpletely fixed yet didn''t take away from the impressive feat of breaking it in a single blow.
The gate went flying back a few meters as a young man with short neet brown hair, ck eyes and fair skin tone casually walked in with his hands in his pockets. His casual attitude was followed by an oppressive aura that told the vast difference between mere mortals and a literal demigod.
Three other demons and two demonesses walked in only a few feet''s behind him and more than fifty thugs like lesser demons with somewhat decent weapons walked further behind him. They didn''t seem like they were supposed to be there as their eyesck any will or energy, almost as though they were already dead.
"Well, This is a surprise, I didn''t expect anyone to already be in ''My Castle'' upon my return. What''s going on here?"
Albert narrowed his eyes.''He''s lying.'' The fact that he made such an obvious lie about not being aware of their presence even though he had sneaked past their defenses and practically destroyed a gate that he could''ve easily opened told Albert that he was aware of their presence before he had bothered approaching.
That confirms Albert''s original fears that the Great Five were now aware of their presence but at least for now, there wasn''t much they could do. However, a behemoth was a different story as they didn''t have to bother with Noble politics as long as they felt confident enough in their strength in withstanding their fury which this behemoth obviously had.
The behemoth of Greed, Mammon walked closer to their formation and even through their traps without any single one of the triggering. He stopped only a few feet before Hart, Talen, and the Frost Giants before speaking again.
"Well, this isn''t the way I wanted my first day in my new castle to be but I guess this will do. Still, with how weak you all are, I''m a little disappointed. To think you actually considered yourself worthy of taking my throne, what a joke."
"Indeed Lord Mammon, to think they would put amon summoned creature before you. This trash does not deserve to face you. Please permit me to dispose of them."
One of the five generals behind him¡ª a female demon d in slightly revealing leather armor with only a few high-quality metal tes on her alongside her fancy greaves and vambraces¡ª spoke to him in reverence and with her head lowered slightly.
She was quite beautiful with long ck hair and supple wax-like skin although she had a cold and emotionless expression on her face. She wielded arge oversized magic sword that she rested on her shoulders casually as though it weighed nothing.
Hemei (Mammon) smiled and shrugged. "Sure, there''s no point in prolonging this any longer as it doesn''t look like my target is even worth my time. I got excited over bothering."
His gaze shifted and locked on Abert who was positioned in the center of the formation and had the two strongest summoned creatures directly protecting him as well.
Nessi, who was one of the youngest amongst the demon generals of the behemoth of Greed, Mammon stepped forward with the same expression on her face as the other four generals next to her just stood in ce without moving.
"Damn it. I should have spoken first, now I might not even get to kill anyone."
One of the male demons amongst the four grumbled to himself as he folded his arms, trying to hold back his anticipation and eagerness. His name was Badgil Herm, he had short blonde hair, a wild appearance about him, and a muscr build. Standing about 6''3, he wielded a long heavy magic spear-like weapon with an intricate design on its handle.
He was also d in an expensive sliver and ck-colored armor. The male demon that stood next to him grunted but did not speak a single word as he tapped the de of his swords on the ground. He had dark skin and short ck hair, d in heavy full te armor and wielding two great swords on either arm. His name was Muzak Graml.
Next was the second female in their ranks who didn''t seem interested In Badgil''sints as she stared tiredly at the enemies before her. She was also quite the attractivedy with a dark skin tone and long white curly hair. She was dressed untingly with most of her amble bosom exposed, she had a long wooden staff by her side as she restedzily on it. Her name was Serene Vyle, the strongest amongst the five generals of Greed.
"wow... Everything here feels so mystic and ancient. I wanna explore it so badly."
Thest male in their ranks spoke into the air without a care in the world. He was an extremely young boy with a doll-like face and looked to be nothing more than 12 or 13. He had short and well-trimmed white hair with sky blue sparkling eyes and was dressed in golden-colored mage robes with a wooden wand in his hands as he stared curiously behind the enemy before them and into the castle excitedly.
As stated earlier, Nessi was indeed the youngest of the five and thus this boy¡ª Ovin ¡ª was older than her, being the oldest of the five and even older than his master, Mammon. None of them bothered to engage Badgil as they knew that would only lead to a distracting conversation that would ever up pissing them off. They all just barelyfocused on Nessi as she approached the front line of the energy that numbered only around twenty.
Of course, they were all aware of the rangers that were secretly stationed on the towers and had only chosen to ignore their existence as a way to make this more interesting.
Dragging her oversized de on the ground as she walked towards the ground and seemed to have taken a fighting stance and were now ready to handle her. Nessi couldn''t help but roll her eyes at their foolishness. Her grip on her magic weapon tightened and her feet dug into the ground as a frightening amount of aura suddenly exploded out of her making the air in the entire ward stale and everyone aside from her master and the other four generals suddenly became ponderous.
"I''ll end this quickly."
Chapter 174 C174. Z’s Analysis
Nessi¡ª one of the five generals of Greed¡ªwalked slowly towards the formation of Lesser Frost Giants and Ogres while dragging her oversized de on the ground as an ominous aura continuously oozed from it. Noticing her advance, the ogres and beastmen all adopted their fighting stands as they readied themselves to receive her attack with clear determination in their eyes.
Seeing that, Nessi couldn''t help but roll her eyes at their foolishness. Her grip on her magic weapon tightened and her feet dug into the ground as a frightening amount of aura suddenly exploded out of her making the air in the entire ward stale and everyone aside from her master and the other four generals suddenly became ponderous.
"I''ll end this quickly."
Saying that Nessi disappeared from their sight and like a steamroller, she shattered their formation as she went straight for Albert who was clearly the strongest in the group. Her raw speed and strength were nothing to scoff at as she hadpletely dissipated the formation they had set up to match their opponents. Ogres and Frost Giants flew aside as she dashed passed them.
However¡ª
There was something she had not ounted for, the lightning zone of the Behir that stood by Albert''s side. The moment she had crossed the 30-meter mark, a sudden bolt of lightning that originated from the Behirs body shot at her from several locations.
"Tsk, trash should be trash and just die, don''t stress me out for no reason."
Brandishing herrge de, an oppressive aura gusted out of her swing and easily shattered the lightning bolts that came at her, and with a speed too fast for the Frost Giants and the ogres to follow, she reached Albert''s location and swung her de at him. Even the Behirs by his side had been unable to keep up with her.
*Boom!
Reacting quickly, Albert also swung his sword to meet her de but failed to match her strength as his feet left the ground as the force of her strike had sent him flying back, further away from everyone else. However, this was what he had wanted as he only made an effort to block her attack so he wouldn''t get the ogres and beast-men around him caught up in their fight.
A battle between demon lord-level threats was not something to scoff at and there were a lot of his men that would not be able to withstand the sheer force of their de shing, much less the rapid fluctuations in their aura.
The outer ward of the castle was incrediblyrge and Albert had flown quite far from his men but as a butler, he didn''t want anyone damaging any part of the castle unless his master wanted it that way so he would have to do as this woman wanted and end this battle quickly so they could focus on theBehemoth of Greed, Mammon.
Until then, he would just have to trust Zomatsu to stall the rest of the Generals. However, it didn''t seem like today was his lucky day as Mammon didn''t seem interested in just watching his fight and sending in the 50 plus goons he had brought with him for some reason.
While Albert found it strange for the Behemoth of Greed to have those types of people with him, he did not have the luxury of time and space to think too much about it right now so he immediately transferred control of the two Behirs to Zomatsu and gave himmandof their entire forces.
He then twisted his body mid-air andnded firmly on his feet albeit sliding back a little as he gripped his Miaodao tightly and braced himself for the iing demoness.
???
Standing by the side of the two Behirs, Zomatsu suddenly felt a connection with them which allows him tomunicate and give orders to them, meaning Albert was asking him to take control of the Battle until he was done handling the female demon that was underestimating him way too much.
Mammon seemed to want to make this more interesting for his own amusement so he sent in his 51 goons which was a good thing for Zomatsu. As a former member of the Zorak family, he had seen such types of people before. People only believe and rely on their strength instead of their brains and simple logic.
He sighed under his mask and smiled.
These types of people reminded him of his father too much which tends to make his skin crawl. He had the Thought eleration skill as well¡ª which boosted his thoughts by like ten thousand times the norm¡ª so he calmly used it and on observed the situation.
There was no way the 51 goons charging at them were much of a match to their current forces which included the 13 Lesser Frost Giants and Behirs. However, he knew it would be more dangerous if they appeared too adequate and another one of the Behemoth''s general took action.
After analyzing the situation, Zomatsu knew that the only threat to them was the five generals and Mammon himself. The best option right now was to avoid facing them until Albert was done with that one. Until then, they would just have to take their time fighting the 51 goons.
''Wait 51? Weren''t there 53 of them? Did I count wrong? No, that''s impossible.''
He turned his head slightly and activated his innate ability, Superior Sense, and a perfect picture of the entire castle''s structure and every living thing in it appeared in his mind as he instantly understood what was going on.
''Why did they secretly send two goons to sneak into the castle when they have the advantage against us? Or is Mammon not aware of them? Huh, they are quite a bit stronger than those goons though. Is one of the Great Five secretly backing Mammon?''
Zomatsu calcted every possibility in his head within the short time frame of the 51 goons that were apparently still charging at them due to his Thought eleration and came up with the most likely possibility.
It would seem Lord Ty''s n of having the girls kill the scouts while allowing one of them to escape with inurate information had worked. With them all secretly spying on each other, they must''ve all received the same information making them suspect one of them has decided to move against them by using a behemoth.
The Great Five has been in a state of non-aggression for hundreds of years now while silently preparing and finding new methods topletely break the barrier that protects the castle as whoever ims the castle would im the throne. However, just because they had decided not to fight with each other in the open so each of them could have their turns in attempting to break the barrier.
That didn''t stop them from secretly trying to hinder the other Great Fives'' progress and get in their way. They were also aware that other Nobles and behemoth also hunger for the throne and thus the reason why they signed a non-aggression pack so they could use theirbined forces in destroying any fools that tried to go against them.
However, with the information that one of them may be working with a behemoth to im the throne for each other, they could no longer trust each other, and until they find out who, they would have to move on their own to aplish their goals. However, he hadn''t expected one of them to even be capable of using the Behemoth of Greed, Mammon as a pawn. But seeing his smug face as he confidently stood by and watched them like they were nothing but maggots to him, Zomatsu could understand how easy it was to manipte such a fool.
Looking around once more, Zomatsu could even recognize some of these thugs from the times he visited the south borough of Winged City. He had Perfect Memory so he even remembered seeing some of them in a report of sorts.
With the information he had on them in his head, they should be part of an underground organization and there was no way they would be here right now being pawns for a behemoth as such an organization would not so openly send their members to attack the freaking Demon King''s Castle.
Such a move didn''t make sense for either party and judging by the way Mammon looked at them without much interest, as though he was just using them as a favor to someone. It was painfully obvious that another one of the Great Five was trying to set up the Zorak family which should''ve bothered him a bit, but Zomatsu couldn''t care less at the moment.
He would even be ted if the other Great Five join and absolutely decimated the Zorak family but he could not let himself be distracted by such pleasant thoughts right now as he still needed to know which family was trying to set the Zoraks up as they were most likely the ones that had hidden two spies into the 51 goons and they were trying to infiltrate the castle for some reason,even though they should be aware that the concealmentyer of the barrier was still up and they would not be able to gain anything from the parts of the castle the spies would be able to ess.
Unless they had figured out a way to bypass the concealment. But then, why would they risk that information falling into the hands of Mammon. No, they should be after something else.
''Should I be worried?''
Zomatsu wondered as the 51 goons finally reached the front lines and the Ogres and Frost Giants mmed their massive shields into them and engaged them inbat.
''Lady Erin is still in the castle trying to contact Lord Ty so it should be fine right? Even if they were both as strong as the generals, she should still be able to drive them out here at least.''
After living in the castle for a few days now, Zomatsu was able to gather that aside from lord Ty, the second strongest person in the castle based on their auras and life rating alone was, Lady Erin. This was because his innate ability did more than sense everything around him.
He could urately judge the distance of everything he sensed, their shape, size, and even the amount of mana they had although it took more time to gain more information on a target. He could even tell their life rating if they were not actively trying to hide it. And while he had been unable to sense any aura from Lord Ty, he could clearly feel the vastness of his mana the felt as though they went forever which was something he had never felt before and why he felt safe in confident in swearing his fealty to Lord Ty.
He had also been able to sense the Lady Erin''s life rating and given that she was a demigod, he highly doubted that two spies that were not even at the Tier 5 standards would be able to handle her even though she did not specialize in battle.
''Unless their target had nothing to do with the castle itself and more to do with who was still in it. Oh, how did I miss this, this won''t do.''
Chapter 175 C175. Techniques
?Paralysis Beam?
The moment Liz had turned around to leave, all three mountain golems whose upper bodies were still above the ice turned their heads to face her.
The orbs In their eyes glowed brighter and a purplish-white beam of energy shot out from them. Liz was easily able to sense the attack even though it must''ve been moving more than 186,000 miles per second.
Her skill ?Thought eleration? Generally allowed her to think at about a thousand times her normal speed which made the attack seem slower to her. However, that didn''t seem to matter as the attack could not be stopped.
Against a single paralysis beam, she probably would''ve been able to resist it but against all three, she would most likely be affected by the attack. Not sure how long the effects of the paralysis wouldst, one thing was certain. If she let those attacks touch her, there would be no chance of saving Rain as they would both end up dead.
With her mana currently hovering at the brink of exhaustion, Liz had no idea how she would be able to get out of their current predicament. She pushed her elerated Thoughts to the limit even though the skill still used mana but was still unable to find a perfect solution.
Just as she was about to sacrifice herself so Kazko could take Rain back and try to survive on her own. Kazko spoke first.
"Please leave the rest to me and go on ahead, I''ll handle this."
Liz hadn''t even gotten a word out when he immediately used a skill and a red spiraling aura gathered around his feet as he immediatelyunched at the beams like some kind of rocket.
?Roaring Boost?
Without wasting any more time, he activated his berserk skill as his skin was gradually dyed in a blood-red color and the same colored steam like aura oozed off his pores. Facing the beams head-on, Kazko met the attack with onest skill.
?Twin Roaring Fist?
Spiraling energy gathered around both his fist as Kazko met all three paralysis beams with them. However, his strength could not push back all three of them and thus he was paralyzed midway and fell to the cier below.
Liz hesitated, she wanted to go back for him but hearing the heavy breathing of Rain and remembering what Kazko saidbined with the realization that her mana was almost gone made her keep flying. Not knowing what to do she took another risk and used amunication spell to contact Azar and his men, informing them of what happened.
They were equipped with a lot of stealth scrolls so perhaps they would be able to retrieve Kazko before the mountain golems would be able to escape her spell.With that out of the way, she increased her flight speed and headed back to the castle. Since they had been heading quite far for this mission, they had gotten some low-grade potions from Albert even though those things were very expensive.
However, she had already tried the healing potions on Rain and only had a few mana potions left so she needed to find a way to conserve her mana as she flew. Perhaps even running for a few miles on her way back would be necessary.
However¡ª
She had only just gotten a few meters away from the Darkin Mountain Range, and just when she thought she was home free. Several ming pirs erupted all around her, trappings her in even though she was flying pretty high off in the sky.
Taking a look around her, she saw the figure of three people standing in the air in front of her. It would seem they had been awaiting her for some time. Liz frowned as she saw Izabel and her twockeys standing in her way. The giant me pirs that surround her make her realize something.
The young girl that had introduced herself as Izabel was indeed a demon Noble from the Brimstone family. It would seem she no longer had any intentions of holding back and was currently prepared to use her innate ability which would be devastating for Liz who could not utilize hers as she wished.
Just when she was thinking of a way out of this without having to waste any more time-fighting. An already bad situation got even worse as she suddenly felt a creepy and unnerving presence behind her, followed by a slight stinging pain on her neck.
The cold feeling of a sharp metallic object that drew her blood from the slight cut that was done by the curved demonic des that were being pressed lightly against her neck told her someone had somehow broken through her defenses and appeared behind her.
Their lips moved closer to her ears as a feminine voice rang out at her in a flighty tone.
"Hiya... sorry I''mte, almost forgot about this hehe my bad~"
??????????
??????????
¡ªAt the same time.
¡ªDemon King''s Castle.
*ng! ng! ng! ng! ng!
The sounds of metal striking metal reverberated across the outer ward as both the Lesser Frost Giants and the 51 goons engaged in battle simultaneously as Albert and the demon general of greed Nessi.
Although Nessi''s de wasrge, she fought efficiently without any wild motions that leaves her open to Albert''s counter as they engaged in a high-speed battle. Their fight was intense and if they weren''t far away from the rest of the group, the massive shockwave from each of their sh alone would lead to certain casualties.
Nessi who was a little surprised to see this old demon being able topletely keep up with her decision to take this fight more seriously as she immediately began using her skills. While she had originally expected him to be somewhat able to match her speed based on his gear that seemed to be catered towards agility.
Her magic weapon gave her a substantial boost in strength and thus she had expected to fully have the advantage. She was also at the peak of Tier 5 and could sense that this demon was only at the advanced stage which should''ve given her a full level''s worth advantage.
Her master was currently watching this fight and she had proimed she would win easily and present the castle to him so that''s what she intended to do. As one of the generals of Greed, it would be a disgrace if she allowed this aged inferior demon to put up a decent fight.
As the youngest and most recent addition to the five generals, she needed to constantly prove her worth to the others and her master so she would earn the same status and respect the others received. With her goal clearly in mind, she avoided Abert''s swing and countered with a skill.
?Wirlwind Devastating Barrage?
She had only swung her de sideways at him but a barrage of purplish-ck wind des flew at him with immense strength that could easily cut through steel. There was literally no way for Albert to avoid the attacks while not leaving himself open, so he needed to face it head-on and it seems Nessi had also considered that as well as she was already preparing a follow-up attack for both scenarios.
However, Albert didn''t have any intentions of wasting time with a single general so he didn''t hesitate to step into therge wind des as he activated a skill. Something he rarely did in a close-range fight.
?Skill Breaker?
A wave of invisible energy burst forth from his swing and shattered all the purplish-ck wind des that shot at him while swallowing their effects andpletely bullying any feedback. While his skill could only nullify skills that were several levels weaker than him. It was incredibly useful for surprising opponents that we''re underestimating him and catching them off guard.
Dashing towards the surprised Nessi before she had the time to recover from her stupor, Albert used several techniques as he continued his counterattacks.
"Secret Techniques - Shadow step, 24 Twin shes."
As he moved rapidly towards her, a shadowy figure suddenly appeared beside him, perfectly mirroring his movements. It was almost as though it was his shadow. They suddenly spit up and appeared on the opposite side of Nessi as they swung their des and 24 ck and white sword shes of light cut through the air at the unsuspecting demoness.
However, Nessi didn''t seem to be startled by their sudden and furious attacks as she just took the attack head-on without bothering to dodge or block. Just as the 24 sword strikes were about to make contact with her skin, an invisible barrier suddenly appeared around her and bounced off all 24 strikes before it suddenly shattered into specks of lightning.
However, the knockback effect from the barrier had to knock Abert off bnce and his shadow body had disappeared. Nessi suddenly smirked at the unbnced old man and he immediately used a skill intending to end this fight.
?Dark Devourer?
The area underneath Albert''s feet suddenly turned pure ck as it even started bubbling like fresh hot liquid tar that suddenly gripped Albert''s legs and pulled him in. He tried to struggle and use his de but tentacles of tar immediately shot up from the puddle and bound him rightly as he slowly sunk into the ground, about to be devoured.
Nessi smirked and walked over slowly still dragging her weapon on the ground behind her as she boldly spoke while looking down on the aged demon that was now trapped in one of her strongest skills. It would be impossible for those stronger than her to escape the skill in only a few seconds while those weaker than her had no means o
f escape.
Such a skill would normally be hard to use in the course of an actual high-speed battle against an intelligent opponent as it took a few seconds to fully get a firm grip on her opponent and no one would normally just stand there and get caught but thanks to this demon''s baseless confidence in his strength and him believe he was a match for her.
She was able to fully utilize the skill. If he had been wise enough to consider her a superior opponent, he would''ve been more vignt even when attacking. However, now that he was bound, escape was impossible. This is the end for him.
"That was more trouble than you''re worth, just die in peace."
She raised the ridiculouslyrge de to the side with one hand and casually swung it sideways as she cleanly cleaved the head of the old man that was already knee-deep inside her skill. Her eyes carried no emotions as she took his life without even a second thought.
" Consider yourself lucky, your death would''ve been a slow and agonizing one if you had faced any other general. As I said, I''ll end it quickly."
"My thoughts exactly."
Nessi''s heart suddenly skipped a beat as she suddenly heard the voice of the man she had just killed behind her and soon after, sharp stinging pain in her chest. She wanted to speak but her blood suddenly ran up her throat and her head went white.
She struggled to maintain her consciousness as she lowered her head only to see a thin long de sticking out of her chest where her heart should be.
"H-how?"
She couldn''t believe it. She had multiple physical attack resistances and even an adequate sensory ability and thus, even if she was somehow sneaked upon. There shouldn''t be any way for her to get one shorted but not only was she unable to sense him survive her attack, but none of her defenses and resistances had also been able to stop his attack.
Her mind slowly went nk and her tight grip on her Consciousness faded away as she died and her body fell limply to the group after Albert pulled his sword in front of her heart.
Secret Technique- Mirage steps
Secret Technique - Nine Abyssal Plunge.
Chapter 176 C176. Loyalty In Despair
After receiving Zomatsu''s advice to learn some illusion magic that wouldplement his swordsmanship and fighting style. Albert considered doing just that but had failed to find any suitable mid-tier spells that could help him in a fight and had thought learning low-level illusion spells would be a waste of his limited spell count and would end up being useless to him. He had then decided to focus on improving his secret techniques as well as his stamina instead.
However, his mindset had changed when he suddenly remembered one of his first Secret Technique, the Mirage steps. It was a technique that allowed him to create an afterimage of himself and imbued his presence and aura into that image, temporarily giving it back to his own will for a few seconds while his real body is hidden by a mirage so it couldunch a surprise and critical attack.
Of course, the mirage wasparable to a low-grade skill effect and was easy to spot once one knew what they were looking for. Thus, this technique wasn''t effective on opponents of high standards and due to that, he had almost forgotten about it. However, he was inspired by what lord Ty had done in the practice fight against Rain in the practice hall where he had used a low Tier illusion spell and seeded in fooling all of them just by distorting the space around them a little.
While he could not use spatial distortion, he should be able to achieve the same results with a simple Tier 2 illusion spell. The mirage effect of his technique was the only weakness and made the technique almost useless to him at this point. However, if he could reinforce the mirage with an illusion even if that was only a low-level illusion spell, he would be able to fool almost anyone as the technique already erased his presence and created a distraction with his after image.
Up to this point, he had not yet tested his theory on an opponent so he was a little hesitant in using the technique in such a high-speed battle. However, he knew quite well that he would have to take the risk if he wanted to end this fight as quickly as possible before the others generals of Greed would decide to join in, or even worse, if Mammon moved himself.
Still, the technique carried a lot more risk than just failing to fool his opponent because if his first strike after using the technique was blocked or deflected, he would be leaving himself wide open for a counter.
He also couldn''t use the technique on an opponent twice and needed to time it right which was not an easy task. Lucky for him, he was able to use the technique the moment his first attack on Nessi had failed.
He then had to move quickly into her blindsport as well as find a way to one-shot an opponent of her level. That brings us to his next technique, theNine Abyssal plunge. Basically, a piercing attack that gathers abyssal every around his weapon and strikes at nine vitals of his opponent in a single strike while bypassing all their defenses.
Such a technique could not be blocked, only dodged and Albert had made sure she wouldn''t be able to do that. He pulled out his sword from the dead demoness and her body dropped limply to the ground.
Their battle had onlysted a few minutes and the only ones paying attention to him were the four generals of Greed and Mammon himself. A look of shock was stered across all their faces as they surely hadn''t expected Albert to win so easily.
Albert needed to take advantage of this momentum and take down another general as the 51 goons that attacked his group was steadily being taken care of by his men under Zomatsu''s lead. He had understood Albert''s intentions and didn''t try to overwhelm the lesser opponent, trying his best to dy their fight and put up a show for Mammon until Albert was done.
However ¡ª
While everything had gone to n, the worst was yet toe as the atmosphere around the castle suddenly changed. The air got thicker and stifling as the battlefield immediately grounded to a halt. None of the less than 40 goons could move and even most of Albert''s men had frozen in fear.
Albert hesitated as an absurdly powerful aura the like of which he had only felt ones exploded from the Behemoth of Greed, Mammon. A pressure that only those that were no longer in the mortal ne could withstand engulfed the area. He found himself unable to even move a muscle as Mammon took a step forward.
"I was hoping I wouldn''t have to destroy part of my new castle after making it this far. And yet, for a mere mortal to dare stand against me. For trash like you to get in the way of my birthright, YOU''RE ALL DEAD!"
Countless orbs of light suddenly appeared around him as his four generals quickly took steps back. The orbs suddenly expanded and shot out like cannons in all directions with great speed.
?Thousand Shooting Stars?
The orbs fired indiscriminately and would kill everything in front of Mammon, including the remaining goons. Albert panicked but was still paralyzed by Mammon''s aura that transcended the mortal ne. ''Damn it, I have to, no, I need to do something. I can''t just let it end here.''
He was desperately trying to resist the aura even though he knew that there wasn''t much he could do to stop such a wide-ranged attack. However, someone else had stepped up to the fray as Zomatsu bit his lips and took a risk he had never done before. He wasn''t the type to act rashly but for some reason, his legs had moved before he could even think of stopping it.
His gauntlet was a Celestial Grade Magic Artifact and had an effect that protected him against negative status effect even from opponents far stronger than him. He quickly activated a skill:
?Ten Fold Crystal Dome?
The range of the skill wasn''trge and at most, it had only protected half of his forces but this was all he could do with his limited strength. A few of the ogres and beastmen that hadn''t been protected by the barrier ran behind the Frost Giants as theirst hope and the Behirs Lightning Zone protected some more. However, about a third of their force was left unprecedented as the giant orbs of light mmed into the ground and exploded in a limited but powerful burst of energy that turned anything caught within it to dust.
Albert was also out of range from Zomatsu and the Behirs but had sessfully activated his defensive multyer barrier skill. It was only a twoyer barrier but had managed to keep him alive even though he had taken some damage.
Panicked by Mammon''s attack, the rangers on the towers hastily fired their arrows and spells at him. However, their attacks hadn''t even reached him as they all stopped a few inches around him¡ª arrows and spells alike ¡ª and immediately shot back at them with twice their original power.
That was the effect of Mammon''s skill, ?Reverser? as rangers attacks from opponents that were far weaker than him would be sent back at them with twice the Atta my original strength.
Those that were fast enough to react managed to duck and avoid the attacks while the others died instantly by their own attacks. Mammon saw the crystals dome that had managed to stop his attack and furrowed his brows. Reddish ck mes suddenly appeared in his hand as it shot out at the dome-like a bullet.
Upon impact, the me exploded in a massive dome that epassed the barrier as it burned with an insanely high temperature, burning at around 5,000¡ã C. The high temperature burned all the oxygen around and killed off most of the ogress and beastmen that managed to survive along with the 13 Lesser Frost Giants, although the Behirs had managed to survive.
As the mes disappeared, Mammon frowned. The dome had shattered but severalyers of them had been made underneath it to keep them safe. He was just about to use several more skills when the two Behirs by the side had opened their maws wide and a massive beam of lightning had shot out of them at him.
?Lightning Breath?
Mammon narrowed his eyes in annoyance as he was about to counter when someone from behind him suddenly yelled and dashed past him as he activated a skill.
"You insolent worms! Learn your ce!"
Badgil, one of the male demons amongst the four yelled in rage as he dashed past Mammon and spun his long heavy magic spear-like weapon around before swinging it several times and activating a skill alongside a secret Technique.
Forceful strike ?Wirlwind des?
Large spiraling des of winds shot forcefully at the two iing lightning beams and the attacks canceled each other out but Badgil did not stop there as he used the attack again and both Behirs were sent flying as they took arge amount of damage but they were still able to survive.
"Lord Mammon, please allow me to handle this, I''ll erase the mistakes of that failure."
Mammon stared at the eager demon for a while before giving an answer to his request.
"There''s no point in wasting any more time, the barrier won''t stay open for long so let''s wrap this up. Now then my generals of Greed, you''re free to kill them all."
While he had wanted to do it himself, he knew he tended to get carried away wherever something or someone irked him so he decided to take a step back this time as there was no need in ying with pawns. The only one that he had any interest in was the behemoth that had managed to kill Nessi who was now aplete waste of his time and resources.
From their fight, he could tell he was a level below her and had already lost interest in him however, he had somehow been able to kill Nessi without her putting up much resistance.
For her to die so easily didn''t warrant him even trying to revive or resurrect. His only goal here was to take control of the castle before the undead army gets here and with those forces, and the ones he had back in his region, he would be able to defend the castle while he slowly gains control of the Darknar region and with the power, the former demon king must''ve hidden in the castle, he would be able to achieve his goals.
For now, he was only asked to bring that demon back dead or alive so it didn''t matter if he was the one to kill him. Besides, he needed to maintain his mana to fully break the barrier with the God Tier skill he had acquired.
Upon hearing his orders, all four of his generals sprang into action as Badgil charged at the wounded Albert in the distance as he was very eager for a good fight.
Muzak charged in at the ones still hiding in a crystal barrier but Zomatsu sent the two Behirs who he had used some healing scrolls on to intercept him. They sent lightning breaths at him buthe easily defected them with both great swords on his arms. However, the Behirs scales were tough and had to break and he could not easily get past their Lightning Zone to face the crystal dome.
Serene didn''t move from her location but she whispered a curse at the remaining rangers that were about to fire attacks at her and Mammon. "Curse of Death." Most of them didn''t have any curse resistance so the moment she snapped her fingers and a wave of death aura gusted out of them, almost all the rangers in the towers died, including Gail.
Ovil walked slowly forward and with a wave of his wand, he cast a spell. "Starlight Bolts."
Immediately, several bolts of light suddenly shot down from the sky at the crystal dome. Their force was like a nuke thatpletely decimated the crystal dome and if Zomatsu didn''t react quickly enough to use the Mass short distance teleportation scroll Albert had given to him, they would all be dead by now.
The battlefield had been driven to chaos the moment all four remaining generals had made a movie showing the Great disparity between the air forces. Their hope of winning was null to begin with, and now that they could no longer stall for time to hope for help, their lives would surely end within the next few minutes.
Albert could only stare at the iing General with regret and disappointment. If he had only been stronger. Why does this always have to happen to him. Why does he have to lose his love ones over and over again.
So many emotions that had been bottled up inside of him suddenly burst forth as he could barely bring himself to even resist hus gate. Should he not give up. Would that not be better for Lord Ty and Erin not to have someone as weak as him around. At the very least, he could still find a semnce of confort in knowing Erin was and the girls was safe.
She had a Mass teleportation scroll as well and once she sensed his demise, she should be able to escape with the rest of the settlement and await Lord Ty''s return.
However¡ª
In that moment of despair, as he desperately tried to cling to a sliver of hope. Gate proved to be more than just as cruel mistress as something that nearly drove him mad happened next.
His connection, the connection he had with Erin from the link to their souls had suddenly been cut off. This could only mean one thing.
How was this possible, did she not listen to him and remain in the castle. Anger and hate boiled up within him as intense aura gusted out of him, startling Muzak¡ª who was already before him. With a sudden burst of speed, he avoided Muzak attack and swung his sword with a explosive power that send Muzak who had barely managed to block his attack flying back several meters and mming into the ground.
Albert''s mind was on the brink of breaking and he was keenly aware that there was a high chance he could lose control and go berserk trying to head back into the castle even though that might be a sign of insubordination to lord Ty, but he knew he would not be able to help it.
However, as a sign of loyalty and a show of gratitude to the master that had saved him and her lives ones before, he used everything he had to suppress his rage and would try onest time to contact his master and report the situation before the rage would Eventually swallow him.
It connected.
An unexpected oue as he was finally able to connect to him.
"Lord Ty, I''m d I was finally able to connect with you."
''Yes, I''m aware of the army¡ª'' The voice of his master reverberated in his mind and a renew sense of confidence filled his mind. However, while it was rude, Albert had no choice but to cut his master off and get to the point.
"I regret to inform you that I have failed you, my lord."
''Huh?''
"The barrier has been breached, and we''re currently being attacked from the rear."
''Wait what!''
Chapter 177 C177. Naiad
Erin sat nervously in her office with a worried expression on her face. She had been contemting on what to do since the moment Albert had left the room but even now, she couldn''te up with a viable solution to handing the Behemoth of Greed, Mammon. The addition of the generals of Greed was also a problem as there wasn''t anyone besides Albert that could go head to head with them.
Her eyes were currently shut but it was clear she was still able to keep track of the situation outside thanks to her spirit magic and her divination abilities. Her shoes repeatedly tapped on the carpet as she contemted on either listening to Albert''s instructions or joining the fight.
She had already tried contacting Lord Ty several times but it was of no use. She had even tried using divination to find out his location but he was constantly using anti-divination magic on himself so that was hard.
She also had the skill, FutureSight, that allowed her to see parts of a specific future and although the future wasn''t a straight line, thus wasn''t set in stone. So naturally, what she saw may note true. However, that didn''t matter to her, the fact that what she had seen wasn''tgood was still troubling for her.
She opened her eyes and suddenly stood up, wanting to head out but hesitated and sat back down.
She remembers what Abert had said before he left and knew he was right about her. Her fighting abilities were minimal and although the few attack skills she had were powerful enough for her to go toe to toe with a behemoth,they also drained her life force instead of just mana consumption and she currently wasn''t in the best condition to recover from that.
While she was indeed a demigod, and a Nymph should be considered as an immortal being. That was not actually the case. At best she could only be considered pseudo-immortal.
In general, a Nymph was a minor female natural divine spirits or deities but was different from actual goddesses and are generally regarded as personifications of nature. They were typically tied to a specific ce orndform, and usually take the appearance of beautiful maidens based on the element of nature''s essence that gave birth to their sentence.
While most of them were not necessarily immortal, and just lived much longer than humans and demons. This only applies to most types of nymphs like the Meliae and Dryads, who only lived as long as the trees they were born from and connected to, which was essentially their source. Of course, there were a few exceptions to this rule.
For instance, Dryads, like all nymphs, were supernaturally long-lived and tied to their homes, which was generally a limited area around their trees. They were an integral part of their trees, such that if the tree died, the dryad associated with it died as well.
They were also unable to stray too far from their source as they had to constantly protect it from dangerous enemies like beasts, humans, or demons. In essence, their lives were indeed long, but they could not be considered immortal.
However, Erin was neither a Dryad nor was she a Meliae that were born from nts or trees. She was a Naiad or what was called a freshwater nymph that was born from flowing water¡ªsprings, rivers, fountains,kes. She had been born and originally presided over ake that had been located in the Azarbed Region which was originally the Cronoff family''s region.
Naiads were an incredibly rare type of nymphs as they were actual divine spiritual beings that could obtain physical bodies at will and were technically immortal as they could actually live forever as long as a part of their source remained. They were born from the abundance of nature''s essence that was absorbed by a body of fresh water and as such, the water itself was their source and generally could not die out as long as the nymph was present to take care of it or at least, kept part of it safe.
Although their source could be destroyed, the nymph themselves would not die even if they did not keep a part of it. However, they would no longer bepletely immortal as their life fore would constantly be drained from them unless they were able to connect themselves to a living being in order to retain the life force they already had and lived the rest of their days as a semi-mortal spiritual being as they could not connect to another body of water without a small part of their source.
Naiads were powerful beings but most of their abilities were generally healing and divination. However, they still needed to protect their source and as such had a few powerful attack magic that required a lot of energy but that energy was gotten from their near-limitless life fore when they were connected to their source. Their magic also required them to be near a body of water to be fully effective.
However, Erin''ske, her source had been destroyed years ago, and as such she was no longer immortal and although her lifeforce was stable now thanks to Abert, she could not refill it and thus, using any powerful attack abilities that required her lifeforce would most likely kill her.
However, she wasn''t sure if that was a bad thing though. She had indeed lived an extremely long life by human standards and had mostly spent most of those years on her own justmunicating with animals and nts. While she could move away from her source, she had chosen not to as she found those times satisfying and peaceful.
Throughout the period of her life, she had met various beings like demons and demi-humans and her originally cheerful and lighthearted personality had changed after she had befriended quite a few of them and they had all ended up dying before she knew it.
Most would consider her immortality a gift and something amazing but in the end, it had only made her lonely. Her days spent with the animals and nts had never bothered her when they died so she hadn''t expected it to be so painful when her friends would die even when it was just as a result of their age.
Those painful emotions made her not want to open up to anyone ever again and thus she remained at herke for what she thought would be an eternity. However, her secluded life had suddenlye to an end when a certain young boy strayed over to herke after getting lost in the wild.
He was already quite the refined young man even then and couldpose himself even when lost. And even after she had shown him the way just to get him to leave, he still came back every day after that to see her. iming no one deserves to be left alone. A sentence she had considered rude at the time and probably still did.
However, if it wasn''t for that boy, she was sure the ones that had destroyed her source would''ve captured her as well and by now, she was sure to be dead.
So shouldn''t she sacrifice herself to save him, not to mention she would be helpingLord Ty who had also saved her life? She had also made new friends in Liz and Rain who also reminded her of her lost friend Callie.
Closing her eyes again, she confirmed the situation outside and immediately balled her hands into a fist. ''No, I have to do something. I can''t let anyone die for me.''
p She immediately stood back up and lowered her head to take a look at the bracelet on her arm. It was an exquisite bracelet with three aqua blue gems embedded on it. A nymph was strongest when fighting on their elements and while she could create water out of thin air, her attack power would be limited thus the reason why Albert had gotten her this magic item even though it was only a Rare magic item.
Confirming that it contained sufficient water in it, she stormed out of the office and down the stairs. Coming down to the main hall of the castle that leads to all four wings.
The main doors that lead to the outer ward were only a few meters ahead of her and although she hesitated a bit knowing she would surely die from this. She soon steeled herself and walked towards the doors while running her fifers on the bracelet on her left arm.
"Well I guess she was right, you really did leave the safety of the concealed space just to save your fake ass husband."
"Indeed. While I don''t like anyone that doesn''t show Lady Izabel the respect she deserves, I have to admit she is quite the brilliant tactician. I originally didn''t have much faith in this n but everything had happened as she had predicted. What a scary bitch."
Erin was suddenly stopped in her tracks as she saw someone suddenly walk out of the shadows in front of her and another behind her. They were d in in-looking armor but their weapons were certainly top tier as they stared sharply at her with a cold glint in their eyes.
The one that stood in front of her was a man with short white hair, and a handsome face, he wore light cheap-looking leather armor but carried two expensive golden daggers. He had bright golden cored eyes with vertical slits and had a weird smile on his face upon seeing her.
The second behind herhad long ck hair and green eyes. Was equipped simrly to the first and had a single green whip on his right hand with a greenish ck gauntlet on his left.
"Now then, are you going toe with us quietly, or do you rather we drag you back with us."
The one with short white hair spoke with absolute confidence as though what he had said was a matter of fact.
Erin stared at the pair that had boxed her in with vignce. They may have been dressed likemon goons but their weapons were clearly magic items and the fact that they were able to escape her senses even though she had constantly been using divination and irvoyance on this castle told her that they were well equipped, especially against her.
The fact that they did not attack her for being in the castle and wanted to capture her also reminded her of something Albert had told her sometime back.
The one responsible for destroying her source was one of the Great Five. They had also been responsible for inciting the nobles around Albert''s region to attack as they could not make their intentions public.
Their n must''ve been to capture her secretly during the attack or simply buy her if she had been taken as a ve by one of the families that attacked. However, they hadn''t expected Albert to immediately choose to retreat after his family''s castle was lost as he became a freeman soon after.
With that, it was safe to say that these two were from the same Great Five that was after her. However ¡ª
"Do the two of you really think you''re strong enough to capture me?"
Her voice was soft but the castle was silent and thus they could clearly hear her and even as the aura around her intensified and a domineering pressure suppressed them. A sneer still appeared in their faces and the white-haired demon quickly brought out a ss bottle that had a seal on it and immediately removed the seal.
Erin''s expression went pale as she stared nkly at the bottle that seemed to only contain a cup of freshwater. The moment the seal on the bottle had been broken, she had immediately felt her connection with Albert''s soul being severed and reconnecting her essence with its origin.
"That''s- is that?- water from my source?"
Chapter 178 C178. Spirit Binding
"That''s- is that? water from my source?"
"Hahahaha... So you really did feel it. I was a little worried such a little amount was insufficient but I guess the family knew what they were doing."
The white-haired demonughed and spoke tauntingly as he yed with the seemingly fragile bottle in his hands.
"Hahahaha... Now bitch, I''ll advise you toe with us quietly or else."
He tightened his grip, threatening to crush the bottle which seemed to have garnered a reaction from Erin. They had been keeping an eye on her since they became freemen and knew her current lifeforce was extremelylow.
Normally a water nymph wouldn''t die when its source was destroyed but its lifeforce would rapidly be drained from them until they were able to attach themselves to a new source or a temporary one. However, with her current lifeforce, now that her connection with Albert had been broken, once the bottle was destroyed and her source gone once again, she would not have enough time to save herself before the remaining of her life force would be gone.
Erin hesitated, she was stuck in a very difficult situation. She knew she could not leave with them but she also wouldn''t be able to put up much of a fight without damaging or destroying her own source.
"It seems she isn''t interested ining quietly Griff, we don''t have much time so let''s get on with this."
The ck-haired demon spoke next to the white-haired, no, spoke to Griff as he swiped his whip on the ground and a dark aura oozed out of his body.
"Alright, let''s do it. We can''t keep Lady Izabel waiting too long, she won''t step on me if we end up disappointing her."
He licked his lips with the same weird smile on his face as always which actually sent shivers down Erin''sspine for the wrong reason.
Hearing his response, the ck-haired demon, ne, immediately began his attack. He charged at the immobile nymph and swung his whip at her as his whip was suddenly engulfed in greenish-white mes.
?ming Blitz?
His whip moved like a snake as it rapidly cut through the air at Erin who quickly used a defensive spell, water barrier. A sphere of water formed a bubble around her but the whip instantly sliced through the barrier and a forceful strike sent her flying back.
Erin mmed into the wall but was able to remain standing. The only reason she was alive was because of the considerable difference between her life rating and theirs. If they had been a little bit stronger, that Attack would''ve dealt her a lot more damage.
However, Erin knew she wouldn''t win against these two if she spent the entire battle only defending herself and worrying about her source.Didn''t she already decide to put her life on the line to stop Mammon?
Right, at the thought of Mammon, she now knew why she was hesitating and holding back. Her original objective had been to save Albert and the others and now she wouldn''t be able to do that as the moment her source was destroyed, she would lose any hope she had in stopping Mammon.
Hell, she wasn''t even sure she had enough to take on these two and win. They seem to bepletely prepared for her and thus may have prepared various measures against her attacks. Still, nothing would be aplished if she wasted all her time hesitating.
All she needed to do was end this with her first attack and immediately move to save Albert before it was toote. The moment she thought this, one of the gems on her bracelet shattered, andrge amounts of water immediately began to gush out like a massive turrents.
?Water Serpents?
As the water filled the marbled floor, sevenrge water serpents immediately began to form. However, before her skill waspleted, Griffughed wickedly and immediately tossed something on thewater on the ground. It was a small metallic device, shaped like a three-dimensional octagon and seemed to have three magic crystals embedded in it.
The moment the device had touched the floor, and immerse force immediately suppressed every spiritual being in the room.
?Spirit Binding?
Erin''s skill was forcibly canceled and the immerse force from the device nearly knocked her unconscious: it would seem this was why they had shown her her source as in her previous mortal state, she possessed aplete physical body and this type of sealing would''ve been way less effective on her.
Since the remaining part of her source could not restore her lifeforce, her reconnection with it had turned her back into a pure spirit being. And although like this she was technically immortal, it was currently in the worst way possible.
? Seeing the nymph unable to move thanks to the Spirit Binding device the Brimstone family had spent years making. Griff and ne had a smile on their faces as they slowly approached her.
A normal spirit binding spell or skill would not be effective against a demigod but thanks to this device, they would be able to aplish their mission without fail. Now all they needed to do was teleport away with her before Mammon would notice their presence. Then again, perhaps he already did, but that no longer mattered.
The moment Griff and ne got close enough to the bow kneeling Erin, she used almost all her strength and instantly formed a single water serpent Thant stemmed into Griff and sent him all the way across the room.
His body mmed into the wall in a devastating impact as he gasp a mouthful of blood. He had received a lot of damage from that one strike and had almost broken an arm but the restoration effect of his dagger kept him alive and he would soon recover, a look of pain and ecstasy appearing on his face.
"You Lil bitch!"
ne red up and his greenish-ck gauntlet sparked as she sent a massive blow at the weakened nymph. An Electric shock traveled across our body upon impact which is a gauntlet and being weak to lightning, her body was sent flying back into the hall, the impact to follow would surely be enough to knock her out, making their job a whole lot easier.
However¡ª
Her figure hadn''t impacted with the hard ground as ne had expected. Rather, a figure that surely wasn''t there before had caught her before she could hit the floor.
Griff who had just recovered from his stupor and had managed to heal himself also stood up and stared at the figure that stood at the end of the hall staring coldly at them.
The hall was well lit with the colorful crystal chandeliers that shone white light but for some reason, they couldn''t clearly see the figure''s face. Hell, they were even struggling to keep their heads up as his presence alone made them want to kneel.
???????????
???????????
¡ªA few minutes Earlier
¡ªIn an unknown snowfield.
[Notice: The magic artifact, Spatial infinity has sessfully evolved. However, due to Monarch Authorities, Imbued. The skills of the artifact have now been infused into your soul.]
"Wait what?"
[Notice: Skills obtained.]
[Skill: Spatial Maniption.
Subsidiary skills: Spatial Movement, Spatial Barrier, Frozen Space, and Infinite Storage Space.]
[Notice: All items stored in the storage space of the artifact, ''Spatial Infinity,'' have been transferred to the monarch storage skill.]
[Notice: The living properties of the artifact ''Spatial infinity cannot be Imbued to the user. Thus skill is beingbined with others to create the unique skill: Wisdom of Uriel.]
[Skill is unable to be used at the moment and monarch is required to learn skills: irvoyance, Divine Appraisal, and World Divination.]
Before he even had a chance to do anything, Tyler heard the emotionless and genderless voice again in his head as he rapidly felt the ring on his index finger grow hot.
[Notice: Extraction of the Living property was sessful and thus the shell of the item, Spatial infinity will now be destroyed as the material is currently unstable.]
He quickly yanked the ring off his finger and tossed it a considerable distance as it exploded soon after in a massive explosion that would''ve most likely killed everyone next to him aside from Zelda who was currently still in his shadows.
He was just about to consider what had happened to him when he suddenly received a piece of information from re and Kali about the movements of the undead King Zerahut and the Lamia Queen Daenerys.
As though that was not already bad enough, in the next second he had received amunication request from Albert that said:
''I regret to inform you that I have failed you, my lord.The barrier has been breached, and we''re currently being attacked from the rear.''
A dumbfounded expression was currently stered on his face as he had no idea how he was supposed to react to such news. His sudden cry sounded like he hadn''t heard what Albert had said but there was no way that was true.
What in the world is going on today. Why were so many things happening at once? He was yet to mentally recover from the strain that so-called evolution had caused to his very soul and yet his mind was being attacked by so much bad news at once.
First, there was the army of 20,000 plus undead that were marching to the east and now some unknown assants had somehow broken into the castle despite all the precautions he took before he left. Tyler was about to endlesslyment within himself when something distinct about Albert''s voice struck him and he had to stay focused.
Not sure if he could still use magic, he tried to silently cast the ''cate'' spell on himself and seeded which was a relief at this point. After calming down for a second he was about to ask Albert about the perpetrators but Albert hurriedly spoke first.
''I''m afraid I cannot maintain this link for long my lord. I fear something may have happened to her. Please forgive me for my ipetence. I''m afraid I can no longer hold myself back.''
Tyler could hear the slight hesitation in Albert''s voice as he could tell he was struggling to hold back something and he could somehow also feel his pain. That pain had also driven away all his unease and worry as he now put the matter with the evolution in the back of his mind.
Themunication link was cut before he could ask any questions but Tyler no longer needed to do that. He didn''t particrly care about the castle itself but the magic library so it didn''t matter to him if it was destroyed but he had grown fond of his self-proimed butler and knew that the only one that could make Albert act like that was Erin.
He could clearly remember the first time he met the pair and how desperately Albert tried to save her but that wasn''t all. She had also been very useful to him and he did care for them no matter how much he wanted to be able to detach himself from everyone around him so he could one day leave in peace.
''Seems like a simple and peaceful life traveling the world is out of the question for me.''
Turning around he saw Nadine finally waking up after passing out due to his aura earlier. She held her head and turned it around adorably as though she had just woken up from a deep sleep. Seeing Tyler standing in the snow staring at her without the pained expression he had before.
A bright smile blossomed on her face as she ran towards him and before Tyler could even say a word she had hugged him tightly saying things along the lines of ''you''re okay, I was so scared.'' Her tight squeeze didn''t hurt but it seems to melt away his previous worries and hesitation. How could anyone think of abandoning people that so genuinely care and worry about them.
Moreover, his new found demon''s pride wouldn''t allow him to just ignore this blunder. Whoever it was that had attacked his castle had just clearly insulted him and were obviously underestimating him. Such a being could not be permitted to live.
He was just solidifying his resolves when Zelda suddenly appeared and mimicking Nadine for some reason, she also gave him a tight hug. Perhaps she had sensed that her hug had improved his mental state and wanted to also help her master.
However, Tyler was just thankful she wasn''t the type of undead that were made of bones and rotten flesh. That would''ve sucked.
Chapter 179 C179. Conjuration
After Zelda finally let go of him after exactly the same amount of time Nadine had. Tyler knew he didn''t have any time to waste ore up with a decent n so he decided to improvise. He made quick decisions based on the information he had on hand right now, he didn''t have to worry about the undead army for a while as it would take them at least a week to March all the way to the eastern parts of the darknar forest so all he needed to do now was deal with the ones attacking the castle.
There was no way it would be one of the Great Five as if that was the case, Tyler was sure Albert would''ve died without a chance to contact him. Moreover, they would''ve been cautious brought to set up an antimunication barrier around the castle just as a precaution so the other Great Five families wouldn''t be able to interfere.
Meaning the next possibility was a behemoth that was either secretly working for one of the Great Five, or was being manipted as there was no other reason he could think of for a behemoth to attack the demon king''s castle unless they were idiots that actually believe they could defend against the Great Five''s fury.
At least in his case, he hadn''t known the gravity of the situation he was getting involved in. The problem now was he didn''t have time at all and he didn''t know the strength of the behemoth''s forces. If they had a hundred strong demons then everyone in the castle would be dead before he even got there and if the behemoth was stronger than him, he would end up just going to his death.
However, if it wasn''t for his various limitations right now and hisck of proper attack methods, there would be no behemoth that he couldn''t at least force into a draw. Tyler didn''t have the skill, Thought eleration but he could think pretty fast based on his speed alone.
After noting up with a good enough n for the unknown entity that was attacking the castle, he decided to just do his best now and adjust depending on the situation he encounters. The bad part was he didn''t have time to see if he could still use the skills granted to him by this so called monarch authority, whatever that was.
"Nadine get ready, we''re heading back to the castle."
"Really?"
"Yeah, You and Zelda gather the sleeping dwarves."
The five dwarves he had brought with him were still lying on the snow sound asleep. Perhaps they had high cold resistance but it looked as though this was the best sleep they had gotten in weeks.
Thinking of the best ways to fully prepare himself, Tyler then stretched his arm out and reached into the void, pulling out a single scroll from his spatial storage. His sess in essing his storage space even without the ring gave him some confidence. At the very least he still had the skills from that artifact in his arsenal which would improve his chances against the said behemoth.
"Conjure Celestial - Dark Garuda"
Conjuration spells were very different from summoning spells as summoning would only call forth creatures, mostly unintelligent creatures that exist in this world and bound them to the summoners will for the duration of the spell, whileconjuration calls forth intelligent (mostly malicious) being from another ne, connecting the casters mind with the called creature in a binding contract that was moreplicated than summoning Magic.
This type of magic was both a control magic and spirit magic. Creatures conjured by this spells were unpredictable and generally aligned to evil and thus had high potential for treachery. Therefore using a conjuration spell instead of a summoning spell was very dangerous. However, as outworlders, most conjured creatures were more powerful and had much stronger special abilities.
A conjuration spell creates a connection with another dimension and thus, the energy it generates could also attract other more powerful creatures other than the one that was called forth. Such a thing could easily results in an otherworldly invasion.
However, as a newbie magic castle, Tyler was currently unaware of the massive dangers of conjuration.
The scroll in his hand burned in a ck haze and disappeared as unlike with summoning, no magic circle appeared anywhere. Rather, a ck void opened up in the air and rapidly expanded until it wasrge enough to fit a ten foot giant.
As the ck void openedpletely, an oppressive aura suddenly exploded from within the gate as a dark creature slowly walked through it and the gate slowly began to close. The creature was arge humanoid bird like monster with ws and talons. It hadrge ck wings protruding from its back and the head of a falcon.
A dark and ominous aura surrounded it and it''s birdlike eyes scanned the surroundings in distain and arrogance that belonged to a superior species. His eyes lingered on the man in front of him, whose mind he was now connected to and it spoke in an ethereal voice without moving back its mouth:
[You! Human? No, demon, you have summoned me.]
Tyler stared at therge birdlike creature in surprise as he hadn''t expected a sunmoned creature to speak. Perhaps summoned creatures by means of a ritual or items could do it but he had only used a scroll. It was surely the strongest summoning scroll he had and had thought now was the best time to use it.
The dark creature had a malicious glint in its eyes as it stared at Tyler with an hidden intent, scanning his entire being and even his soul.
Tyler could feel the malice in the creatures mind and didn''t like the feeling of that, since he didn''t know of any way out of this, he figured he''ll try out something new on this guy. He moved the mana from within him and gathered it on his fingertips, letting it float in the air andpressing as much as he could into a ball the size of a golf ball.
With only a thought, the ball shot forth like a bullet and mmed into the Garuda''s chest, sending the massive creature tumbling back as a gaping hole opened up there. He had learned how to do this thanks to his magic sword. One needed sufficient mana control to be able to move mana out of their bodies and manipte them and Tyler hadn''t learnt that yet but he figure if a weapon could do it just because It was made with a magic crystal, there was no way he wouldn''t be able to do the same.
The garuda shrieked and stood back up, the gaping hole in his chest had already begun to heal. It red at Tyler in clear malice and its aura red up. Tyler however, wasn''t sure why he had done that as well. He just hadn''t like the way his own summoned creature looked at him and shot it with his new skill, something he would call a magic bullet.
[How dare you, a mere mortal, How dare you Damnage me boy!]
"Boy? Just so you know, I''m technically more than a thousand years old so I''m quite the old man. And are you sure you want to address your summoner line that."
Tyler''s eyes narrowed as another magic bullet rose up and floated in the air in front of him, much denser than thest one. The dark Garuda that was originally trying to deceive what he believes to be an inexperienced summoner to release him befor killing him and then everyone else here, hesitated and reduced the intensity of its aura.
The reason he had known Tyler was inexperienced was because he had not immediately Issued an order to him that would activate the binding spell and set the terms of the contract. No experienced summoner would make such a mistake.
However, it would turn out this master of his was no ordinary demon. One would not attack a conjured celestial as they risked voiding the contract themselves and risking the celestial breaking free of the binding and killing them. Yet it would seem the man was unworried.
Perhaps, his confidence came from the fact that he did not believe he would lose to a celestial. So why was he summoned if not to aid a weakling as it had always been.
After seeing his summon calm down, Tyler motioned for the creature to move closer and it did albeit cautiously. Once it was close enough, and Nadine had also brought the five dwarves closer to him while Zeldawas hiding in his shadow.
Tyler confirmed that they were all touching him and he activated his spatial teleportation skill. His destination, the inner ward of the demon king''s castle.
He had chosen this ce because he wasn''t sure where in the castle was concealed and where was not so if they were attacked upon arrival, this ce was wide enough for a fight while having the least possibility of being ambushed.
And as predicted, upon thier appearance in the inner ward, no such attack hade their way. Tyler was a little relieved the invaders hadn''t made it this far as it meant he still had time to act so he quickly issued an order to Nadine.
"Take the dwarves to one of the training halls and protect them just incase. Don''t leave their side no matter what."
There was a look of hesitation in her face as Tyler knew she wanted to fight as well but he couldn''t let her. She was still not used to her increased strength so it would be bad if she made another slip up in such a dangerous situation.
As Nadine left with the five sleeping beauties, Tyler told the summoned Garuda to follow him as he walked towards the castle. He could sense only a few strong presence in the outer ward which was a good thing. But strangely enough, he could sense two rtively strong presence inside the castle with a faint but familiar one that he couldn''t recognize for some reason.
Not wanting anything bad to happen to whoever that was, he picked up his pace and entered the main hall of the castle from the side entrance. Upon entering, he saw a figure get mmed by some type of electrical attack and flew in his direction.
He didn''t hesitate to move, as he easily caught the figure. His movements smooth and graceful. To his surprise, this wasn''t just one of the weaker members of the settlement that had gotten out of in over ther head as he had thought but Erin.
Her presence was a lot weaker than he remembered and her lifeforce was quite low. She her presence also did not feel the same as her usual self which was why he hadn''t recognize her aura earlier. Her blue dress was torn as slight burnt marks cut across her back down to her chest and a bruise from where thatst attack had hit her was clearly visible on her abdomen.
Tyler''s expression didn''t change and neithe did his aura. His eyes left the now half conscious Erin who seemed relieved to see him as he coldly stared at the two maggots that hadmitted this crime. They seem to be saying something but Tyler didn''t care what worms had to say, neither was he interested in who they were.
"Rip them apart."
[Finally, something I can enjoy.]
Chapter 180 C180. Magic Bullets
*Boom!
Abert flew back several meters as Badgil charged at him after his recovery skill hadpletely healed him from all of Albert''s attacks. Being enraged, Albert was unable to calmly observe and react to his attacks and Badgil took advantage of that.
Being a battle maniac, his battle instincts were off the charts, and thus not even the aura of a stronger opponent could deter him from a fight. The only reason he had submitted to Mammon was that he had promised him fights with a stronger opponent.
Meeting Mammon for the first time, Badgil had seen him as an overly ambitious person but that didn''t really matter to him. He was someone that nned to go against the Great five, so Badgil did not doubt his words and thus, became one of his generals. So far, he had to admit that Mammon hadn''t lied to him and many challengers hade to face Jim for his post. Granting him the chance for many fun fights.
So when Mammon had dered his intentions to take over the Darknar Region. Badgil had be very excited by the prospect of facing members of the Great Five.
However, he was told they wouldn''t be facing the Great Five directly for a while so he had been a little disappointed when he came here. Especially when he had seen the pathetic forces of the ones that had made it into the castle first.
With that mindset, he hadn''t expected this aged demon to be much of a challenge which was the reason why he had allowed Nessi to go in first. Yet¡ª she had been killed off so easily by him which made his blood boil. The fact that he also managed to injure him excited him greatly.
He had learned a valuable lesson from this incident. One could not urately judge someone''s strength by their aura alone and this was one of those cases. Badgil smiled wildly as he continuouslyunched a barrage of attacks at the desperate demon that seemed to be distracted by something as he was constantly trying to retreat into the castle.
"Oi, you better pay attention if you wanna live old man!"
Badgil roared as his fighting spirit skyrocketed and he used a skill, sending torrents of wild winds at Albert while he moved to cut off his retreat. Albert''s aura ran rampant and his strikes got heavier but he could no longernd a hit on Badgil who had already figured him out after that first strike.
Their exchange was fast and intense with both parties deflecting each other''s weapons as their sh continuously changed thendscape around them. Although it slowly became clear that one side was winning.
WhileBadgil''s movements weren''t as smooth as Albert''s, his instincts were insane as he could instantly react to all attacks thrown at him. His unique skill, ?Savage Warrior? allowed him to get stronger the longer he fought so no matter how much Albert tried or the techniques he used, the moment he had failed to finish Badgil off with his first sessful hit, this fight was over.
Meanwhile¡ª
Zomatsu wasn''t having a great time either. Although the Behirs that Albert had summoned were still somehow keeping one of the generals busy, he knew that such mindless creatures that attack solely on instincts and his orders alone, wouldn''t be able to stop him for long.
There was also the young boy with the wand that had literally dropped a nuke on them earlier. He was currently smiling while bombarding them with light and fire-based attacks. Zomatsu had quite a bit of magic crystals on him so he could sustain the Crystal dome for a while even against such high-tiered spells but he could not use any of the gauntlet''s other skills while the crystal dome was up.
He also didn''t have any skills or spells that were strong enough to deal damage to opponents like these and thus focused his mana on his innate ability as he kept track of the battlefield. It was a shame almost all of the rangers were dead. The Frost giants had been destroyed and even Hart and Talen had fallen.
Jarret was out of his dome and was currently still under the protection of the two Behirs so it would be bad for him if those two monsters were destroyed. Right now they didn''t have a healer on the field which was detrimental for them as the Lady Erin was the only one around and she was currently being attacked by two unknown assants.
Zomatsu calcted that this was why Albert had lost his cool and thus if he wanted him back in the game so they could allst even just a minute longer. He would need to find a way to help her out.
Calcting their best options, he saw someone on the tower move even after the female general of greed, Serene had used some type of curse on them. It was a beast girl that appeared to be a magic caster with a pair of golden dog ears.
''Lora was it.''
Remembering who it was, Zomatsu judged that she had been able to barely resist the curse and as she struggled to try and attack even after losing most of herrades in what seemed like a hopeless situation. Zomatsu couldn''t help but smile. Frankly speaking, he didn''t understand why everyone was so desperately trying to win a fight they knew they had no hope of winning.
He had only gone this far because he had sworn loyalty to Lord Ty for his selfish reason and although he didn''t want to die. He hadn''t seen the point in such pointless resistance up till now. However, seeing everyone''s faces and the desperation in Albert''s eyes made him understand something that he had always beencking since the death of his mother.
Family and loyalty. Lord Ty had saved them when they were at their lowest and even looked at them with interest and respect. No one at his level would normally even bother with demihumans and even when they had only sworn loyalty to him for protection, he still treated them like they belonged.
Zomatsu sighed. There was no point in holding back then. If he died he dies but he would have to give these bastards hell first. Still, he calcted his the various possibilities, and frankly, he couldn''t find any single one where they actually seeded without a hand of god but if a hand of god was what they needed, he would just have to put them in ether best position for that hand of god to save them.
"Hey, it would be best if you all retreat now you know. This castle belongs to someone beyond yourprehension and by invading it, you may have angered someone you absolutely shouldn''t have. It would be best if you run now and leave this continent. Even then, you might want to keep going."
Both Ovil and Muzak looked at the masked demon with a somewhat amused expression on their faces as Ovil replied.
"Not sure if you hit your head or something big brother, but you seem very delusional right now. It''s okay, I''ll end your suffering with my next attack.
Saying that, a wicked smile appeared on Ovil''s face like his heughed maniacally as he activated a skill.
?Judgement of the Cosmos?
A massive beam of colorful energy like that of a rainbow, came crashing down at Zomatsu in such a wide range that it blew everything around it away including the two Behirs and everyone in their Lightning zone.
Zomatsu rapidly fed magic crystals into his gauntlet in order to reinforce the crystal dome that was already cracked under such a devastating attack. However, he knew he couldn''t stop the attack for even another second but what he was waiting for had presented itself to him. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Loraunch an attack on the female demon and Zomatsu immediately canceled the Crystal dome while simultaneously using another mass teleportation scroll and appearing a distance away from the light beam. He immediately activated another one of the gauntlet skills.
?Word of Chaos?
Zomatsu spoke a single word and everyone within his range that wasn''t allied to him was instantly afflicted with various negative effects for more than 3 seconds. Normally this skill wouldst for at least 30 seconds but as every one of their opponents left was of rtively high level, the effects had been greatly reduced.
However, before anyone could even take advantage of this golden opportunity. An illusionary book had appeared before Mammon at some point in time as he also ulterior the word of chaos while also using a skill that canceled Zomatsus.
With crippling effects, everyone including Zomatsu was afflicted with these negative effects like deafness, blindness, being stunned, confusion and a few of them had even died on the spot.
In only an instant, their entire force had been disabled although to the disappointment of Badgil who had wanted to continue fighting.
Mammon chuckled and walked forward as he stared at the piles of dead bodies and the screaming victims who were afflicted by chaos.
"I didn''t think I''ll obtain such an interesting skill today. And here I was thinking this fight had been a waste of time."
Naturally, the only reason he hadn''t immediately annihted everyone immediately he walked in here was for the rare chance one of them had a useful skill he could record. He had thought it was a burst but to his surprise, the masked man he hadn''t expected much from was the one that possessed the most interesting skill here.
"Aw man, why''d you have to go and do that, I was just starting to get excited."
Badgil grumbled as he walked over to the stunned Albert and kicked him out of his way with a disinterested expression on his face while he slowly walked to where Mammon was. With the summoner confused, Muzak also dealt with the two Behirs that had been blown away by Ovil''s attack easily and walked over nodding.
Mammon smiled, and spoke nonchntly:
"There''s no need to be too hasty. We don''t have much time now but once the castle is mine, I can always just force the survivors to fight you for their freedom. That should be a bit entertaining before the undead army gets here."
"Nah, that sounds boring. I prefer the thrill of a real fight, not a staged one."
Badgil said and Muzak nodded in agreement which was somehow what Mammon had expected their reply to be but he still had to try anyway. He smiled then moved forward towards them and was just about to nonchntly reply to them again when he suddenly had a bad premonition.
,m Somethingfelt off in the air and he was just about to say something to his generals, however,he hadn''t gotten the chance to. He had been too slow to react to what had happened next. He, a demigod with several speed-based skills and even Thought eleration x1 million had been too slow to react to an attack.
How?
It was like his movements and reaction had been distorted by something out of this world.
Not being able to react in time. He watched as a golf-sized dense mana ball that had seeminglye out of nowhere, burst Muzark''s head like a watermelon. Blood, goo, and brain matter sttered everywhere and even sshed on him.
Not just his, but every one of his generals still left standing had widened eyes at this sudden turn of events. Before they could evenprehend what had happened, another magic bullet flew at Badgil''s head but still in a battle-ready state, his instincts were high and he was somehow able to react to the sudden attack.
However, the attack was way too fast and he could not dodge its only attempt to block or deflect it. He raised his spear to meet the attack but Mammon knew if he tried to block such a high-density mana ball, only death awaited him. So he quickly uses a magic barrier skill on Badgil to defend against the attack.
Still¡ª
Like a bullet through simple ss, the mana ball shattered his hastily constructed magic barrier and sted off one of the arms of Badgilwho had been lucky the aim of the magic bullet had been off thanks to the barrier Mammon had created around him.
Chapter 181 C181. Only A Notch
"What the fuck is going on. Who did this!?"
Badgil roared in frustration as his arm was blown away by that one shrike. He had pain resistance and could handle such a minor issue as losing an arm but the fact that he hadn''t even been aware of the attack that took off his arm frustrated him to no end.
The others also got on high alert as they tried to scan the area for their opponents. Mammon also created another much stronger barrier around the group as he was enraged his barrier had been so easily broken through earlier.
However¡ª
Another magic bullet was shot and yet again, his Barrier was shattered and the dense ball of mana continued forth, towards the supposed childlike Ovil, who hastily cast a defensive spell of his own. He use a 10 fold light barrier that had managed to stop the magic bullet at the verystyer.
With that, their eyes were finally able to trace the trajectory back towards the source of their troubles.
Raising their heads a bit, their vision crossed the distance and they saw two figures standing on the front entrance of the main castle.
The one in front was a man wearing a long ck coat with ck pants and a pair of high-quality leather boots. He had slightly short ck hair with fade, hazel-colored eyes and stood motionlessly by the entrance of the castle as he stared coldly at them. His presence was non-existent and his aura was weak, yet he gave off a feeling that made them a little ufortable.
The second figure hovered in the air next to him with bloodied ws that dripped fresh blood constantly. One of the massive creature''s arms even held what they believed to be a still-beating heart. Aside from Mammon, none of the others could even sense this being''s aura but its presence was domineering, signifying the creature was a being of a higher life order than them.
"What is this? A conjured creature."
"Seems like it."
"That bastard. Did he hide in the castle preparing a ritual for this? This is why I hate weaklings."
"That creature is strong. And unlike the summons earlier, conjured creatures are very intelligent so it won''t be easy to deal with it."
"Isn''t it fine? Once we kill the summoner, we can just offer the creature a better deal. I doubt it wants to serve such a weakling, after all, conjured creatures at that level are very proud beings."
"I see. You may be right."
"What do you think Lord Mammon? Should we all take on that creature while you quickly finish off the summoner? If it''s you, I''m sure you''ll end it quickly." Serene asked Mammon in a calm and aloof tone as it seemed they had judged the previous attacks to have originated from the Dark Garuda.
However¡ª
Mammon frown deeply at this sight. He had thought the behemoth he had been warned about by Citrus was the aged man that seemed to be a former demon lord but clearly he was wrong. The fact that the aged man had been a former demon lord had made much sense as it slightly exins how he had been able to enter this castle that even the great five had been unable to.
Well, that was what he had wanted to believe as he didn''t think an independent behemoth like himself would be able to figure out a way into the castle before he did.
However, the appearance of this man had dispelled all that. He, just like his foolishpanions, could also not sense the presence of this man. Him, as the holder of an innate ability, is a possessor of several unique skills and original spells. As someone who had also crossed into the realms of the divine, could not fathom the vastness of this man''s power.
What a joke.
Was someone ying a prank on him. He had multiple perception skills like Magic sense. Spatial perception and Divine recognition. And under his gaze, even weaklings would register their weak presence on his radar.
Of course, he could still sense his aura, and unlike his generals. He could sense even the ones that were hidden inside him. For some reason, he didn''t seem to be actually hiding his aura nor was he actively releasing it. Rather, the aura was concentrated around his mana body as though he was trying to restrict most of his mana flow.
However, aside from that, he was unable to sense his presence. For someone was to be able to hide their presence from him when he was already looking at them was absurd. With his high perception abilities, he was generally able to tell someone''s actual strength at a nce and even judge their potential to some extent.
Yet¡ª he could not read anything from this demon and could only tell that his aura was concentrated mostly in him and not how strong it was. He was confused and rmed at the same time. It was either he really had no potential as his minions seem to think or there was actually no limit to his strength.
''Ridiculous.''
There was no way that was true. If one thing was constant in this world, it would be the limits of one''s magic potential and Mammon. No, Hemei refused to believe otherwise. It was obvious this behemoth was strong no doubt. So it shouldn''t have surprised him that he would have a magic artifact that could hide his presence from the world.
''Yes, that is the only possibility.''
For someone that cowardly sneaked into the demon king''s castle to im the treasures here for himself. It was only natural that he would want to hide from the world to prevent himself from being tracked by the Great Five.
Upon his realization, Hemei narrowed his eyes. The fact that this man was strong was of no issue to him. After all, with his ability. The strength of his opponents would eventually be his, but first, he needed to force out his skills without getting caught up in them.
"Don''t lower your guard. Both of them are quite as dangerous."
He stretched out an arm the moment the man started to move and activated his greatest transportation skill, Gate. As a ck void opened up next to him, several more of his men instantly walked out of the gate. There were around 100 of them all d in impressive armor and equipment. Most of which were made of Duranium and Adamantine.
Some of them even had magic weapons and items. This was the strongest legion he had personally recruited from his region. They were the force he had originally prepared to im the castle in case anyone had gotten on his way before Citrus had gifted him those 50 cannon fodders.
The moment his men lined up perfectly behind him, an illusionary book appeared in front of Hemei as he loudlymanded.
"Kill them!"
At hismand, Badgil roared and immediately charged ahead of the group even though his arm hadn''t regeneratedpletely yet. He lead the army of a hundred strong at the pair while Ovil and Serene stayed in the rear to protect Mammon while they also prepared their spells and curses to aid the group.
Although they actually thought this was overkill. They had no right to question Mammon''s orders and that course of action was a very dangerous one. However, they had no idea the levels of danger that awaited them.
Hemei stood at the rear with his innate ability active. He could record the skills of even summoned creatures so as long as the pair wanted to survive. They would have to use those skills and spells even if they were to use a weapon as well. And once he had copied their strongest skills, he would quickly dispose of them.
This was his usual method of handling strong opponents as this world was extremely dangerous and there were skills and spells, even items that possessed unfashionable abilities that could easily reap one life in an instant if they were careful. With scrolls and artifacts alike, one could even kill a higher-level fed opponent, although such and this was unlikely.
Still, Mammon always felt that it was a good idea to test the waters with disposable pawns instead of risking his life. A nasty smile crept into his face as he awaited the reap the plentiful skills that were about to be unleashed.
However¡ª
Nothing had gone as he had expected as the moment his army had crossed a certain distance and were about tounch a barrage of attacks at the approaching pair.
Every single one of them aside from Badgil had just suddenly dropped down to the ground lifelessly as though they were puppets whose strings had been cut.
"What!? What just happened? What the hell did they do."
A greatly perplexed expression was stered across Hemei''s face. His ability could not record skills that were being activated around him unless he witness the activation of the skills to itsplete execution with his eyes as one could not make a record without first witnessing what the record was about.
This also meant he could not record skills that were already activated, else his ability would''ve been the perfect cheat. This was why he had made it a point to gain so many perception skills. And why had had never taken his eyes off the pair the moment he gave his attack order.
Yet, he had still failed toprehend what had happened. As far as he could tell, the man did nothing but stop the moment his men had gotten close enough, neither did therge birdlike monster do anything.
Well, he had noticed the Dark Garuda nce at the man after his men had died but even with his enhanced hearing, he had been unable to hear what was said. But with that exchange, surely it meant they had done something right? So how the hell did he miss it.
"Impossible."
As Hemei contemted the usefulness of his own senses, he suddenly heard Badgil roar in anger as he dashed madly at the pair with his spear in hand as he rapidly spun it around. His spear suddenly shattered as it turned into pure energy that enveloped his body.
?War God Assault?
His trump card, a berserk skill that served as his ultimate skill. The skill triples his physical abilities and vastly increases his attacks by several folds. His attacks in this state also deal both Magic and physical damage. He was even capable of damaging the soul. However, this type of power could only be used for a very short time as if it was used beyond that, it woulde at a cost.
In this form, Badgil would be able to go toe to toe with any behemoth if only for a limited time. Hemei saw Ovil prepare a spell as he waited for Badgil to create an opportunity for them as it seemed they hadn''t been shaken by the death of so many of their men.
However ¡ª
For the first time, the floating celestial moved as it swooped down after crushing the heart it was holding and with speeds beyond what Badgil was capable of even in this state. The Dark Garuda appeared before him and swung its ws at the shocked war god.
?Dimension Spitter?
With just a single swing, everything before its eyes was cut in threes. If Hemei hadn''t reacted fast enough to cast his absolute defensive barrier while reinforcing it with a constant stream of mana. Even they would''ve been split into threes as the wall behind them and even the clouds had been spilled in threes to the point that it felt as though, space itself had but cut.
With such power, it was safe to say that Badgil who was the target of that attack, was stopped in his tracks as his body was cleanly cut in half and both sides fell lifelessly to the ground, gushing blood that stted on the exited Garuda.
Both Ovil and Serene instinctively took a step back as their eyes widened in shock. Such an attack was beyond theirprehension and thus, their minds went nk.
Seeing another one of his men fall, and his remaining generals shaken to the core. Hemei frowned deeply. He could no longer retain his anger as he changed his mind. There was no point in having so many skills if he wasn''t going to use them and now was the time. He would kill everyone that stood in the way of his goals and a conjured celestial was no exemption.
?Astra Smite?
Chapter 182 C182. Pointless
Watching the Dark Garuda viciously rip apart the defenseless pair that had injured Erin. Tyler felt nothing. This was not the first time he had killed someone, neither was it the first time he had seen people die in front of him, but, the way the Dark Garuda fought was both twisted and savage and one would normally not be able to retain their food seeing such gruesome scene.
The creature seemed to enjoy the process of killing them and took its time with it, clearly taking his order to rip them apart way too literally as it could have killed them in an instant but didn''t. Instead, it rips parts of their body off while giving them the illusion that they had a chance of escape.
The pair didn''t even have the time to react to Tyler''s words when the Dark creature had appeared before almost as though it had teleported. Their screams and desperate pleas fell on deaf ears as Tyler was not in the mood in engaging in any dialogue.
He calmly observed the scene for a moment before carrying Erin to the corner of the hall and cing her there. He then proceeded to use light healing on her a few times until he was sure she would survive. With no time to waste, he ordered Zelda to take her to where Nadine was as he got up and headed for the main entrance to the castle.
The Dark Garuda had finished toying with its prey as it rip through their flesh with its mandibles and actually ate their organs. Sensing Tyler leaving, it quickly snatched the heart of thest demon and took off after him, leaving the two minced cadavers to bleed out on the marble floor.
Tyler exited the castle through the main entrance and came onto the outer ward, he saw his opponents in the distance. The one he judged to be the strongest had an illusionary book in front of him and another kicked a stunned Albert away which should''ve angered him more but he felt nothing.
Well, that wasn''t exactly urate as he did feel something. However, it wasn''t the feeling he had expected. Moreover, his emotions right now were strangely suppressed. He had imagined he would''ve lost his cool the moment he saw this scene, but strangely, that didn''t happen.
He gathered his mana in the air as he continuously fed it with mana until it could no longer remain the same size as a golf ball. With that, he fired and prepared another.
Although his first shot was sessful, the second was partially blocked so Tyler deemed the skill no longer useful for the time being and moved forward. The group seemed surprised at his appearance and were muttering something about him or something, but Tyler couldn''t care less right now.
He moved closer to them and the Garuda followed, hovering in the air behind him without even pping its wings. As he got closer to his opponents, it seems the strongest in the group could no longer take it and summoned what should be back up but Tyler had no intentions in a prolonged fight as he immediately activated a skill the moment they were in range.
Well, he didn''t really activate the skill as he was already using spatial maniption the moment he left the castle. It was why the strongest among them had been unable to react to his first attack, and since the skill he used next was a subsidiary skill of spatial maniption, it didn''t really need an activation process.
?Frozen Space?
In an instant, everything around Tyler froze. It was as though time had stopped as the clouds had also stopped moving. However, Tyler knew that this was only happening in the area around the castle and time was still moving in the rest of the world.
He could sense several limitations in this skill and thus could not keep the Frozen space up too long else he risk someone shattering it or invading it. He then created two magic bullets with dense mana and immediately spilled the ball seamlessly into a hundred needles of mana as he fired it at them and released the frozen space the moment the needles were about to touch a hundred men that came at him as he could not harm anyone that had been frozen by his skill.
Distorting space around the mana needles point of impact, he was able to increase the potency of the attack, as such only one person had been able to resist and survive the strike. While the other hundred men that had been called here fell like lifeless dolls whose strings had been cut.
The moment the small army of a hundred that charged at him died suddenly before everyone''s eyes, Tyler heard the Dark Garudament something like: Don''t just kill everyone and take away my fun, leave some for me.
Tyler didn''t pay attention to the clearly devious conjured celestial but heplied and allowed him to kill the one demon that had survived and recovered from his attack almost immediately.
The Dark Garuda happilyplied as it disappeared and appeared before the demon and with a single attack, it split the sky and almost space itself.
Clearly enraged by the death of hispanions or something, the strongest of the group that was surely the Behemoth finally made his move and without a doubt, it was a devastating one. Using a high-tiered skill.
?Astra Smite?
At his words, the sky above Tyler split open as it revealed a world beyond one''s imagination. Unable to peer into the world above, a massive wave of Astra or celestial energy gushed down like a pressurized torrent at Tyler in a massive range that could not be avoided.
This was one of Mammon''s strongest skills, a Divine Tier skill that would obliterate everything it touches, be it physical or spiritual. The skill would even destroy the very soul, preventing any hope ofresurrection or reincarnation.
Unable to avoid the attack without letting everyone here die, Tyler used a skill of his own. As Spatial Maniption was still active, he instantly created arge spatial barrier around him and everyone else in the ward because if the attack touched the ground, there was a high chance it could even destroy the entire castle.
His Spatial Barrier creates a multiyered defense as well as distorts space in a way that creates anabsolute defense. However, even with such a powerful defensive skill that wasn''t limited by the constraints of a magic item, the astral smite poured out so much power that it threatenedto destroy Tyler''s barrier.
With more than his life at stake, Tyler could not allow such a thing to happen. If it was just him and the Dark Garuda, he was strangely confident he would be able to survive the skill but a lot of the peoplehe had gotten to know over the few weeks he had been here were lying motionlessly on the ground around him. Some were already dead and some were gravely wounded. Still, he could not let their bodies be reduced to dust.
He didn''t know how he would do it, but he would not allow this attack to fall. His determination bore forth results as his innate Ability had broken his Spatial barrier beyond its limit. His skill had once again evolved, upgrading to Universal Barrier, a supreme defense that draws in the power of the universe itself, creating aplex number of multiyered cosmic barrier that is almostpletely impervious to all types and forms of attack in the universe.
The barrier that protected him transformed and immediately shattered the attack, forcing the rift in space to close. Looking back at the only demon trio left standing, Tyler could see the shock in their faces. The most surprised one of them was the behemoth who had used the attack.
That may have been his most potent attack so perhaps it was hard for him to believe Tyler could defend against it.
His expression soon returned to normal as he moved forward a little and spoke to Tyler while chuckling. They were still a fair distance apart but the wind carried his voice clearly to Tyler''s ears.
"Fufufu... That was Impressive, truly, impressive. It has been a while since Ist met an opponent at your level. Even amongst them, not many could stop thatst attack with even breaking a sweat."
"..."
"I suppose we haven''t yet been introduced, although I''m sure you know who I am don''t you."
Tyler slightly tilted his head at the demon that seem to be moving his mouth for some reason and Mammon took it as a response.
"Of course you do. A behemoth of your level and intellect has sure gathered quite a bit of information about the Seven Primordial Behemoths. But I''ll introduce myself anyway. I am called Mammon, the Behemoth of Greed."
He made a slight bow that did not carry any hint of politeness but seem to demean his opponent as he awaited Tyler''s response.
"What''s wrong can''t speak? Oh right, I guess you must be angry about yourrades right? How amusing. Still, you''ve killed more of my men than I have tours so let''s call it even." Seeing neither Tyler nor the Dark Garuda makes any further movements, he judged he had garnered their attention as he signaled for his remaining generals tostep back while he took a step forward.
"Say, I have a proposal for you. Why don''t you join me? You''re plenty strong and I could use a few more generals after this. With your level, you could easily be my second inmand. What do you say."
He had a smile on his face as he proposed that to Tyler while casually approaching him.
"Oh before you reply, you should know that thest skill I use was not my strongest. I also have hundreds more at that level, not even your absolute defense can withstand that many attacks am I right?"
He spoke confidently as though he had grasped a secret. Perhaps he had been able to tell that Tyler had burned through a lot of mana by simply stopping his Astra smite and was confident he wouldn''t be able to keep using such a skill. After all, if it came down to a battle of mana reserves, he was confident he wouldn''t lose.
With his hands in his pocket, he stopped a few meters away from Tyler as he awaited his response. His illusionary book had already flipped to a certain page to contain a skill he deemed perfect for this situation as well as an empty or nk page in case this behemoth chose wrongly and tried something foolish.
He smiled warmly at Tyler but his aura was immediately unleashed and epassed the entire castle in a domineering wave that was apanied by a silent huddled killing intent that would be able to cripple most below a certain level.
"Pointless."
"Huh?" A sudden and unexpected reply from the behemoth that had kept silent the entire time as he just boldly stared at him. Although he had an inkling, he still wanted to rify what this demon meant before he took any drastic actions and was just about to ask what he meant when he suddenly spoke again.
"There''s no point in speaking with vermins. Besides, you''ll be dead soon anyway."
Without even waiting for his words to sink into Mammon''s head as though he had only been speaking to the wind. He stretched out an arm and pointed his index finger at him, instantly casting a spell.
"FireBall."
A massive ball of mes gathered in front of his index finger as it rapidly grewrger andrger in mere seconds, steadily changing color from a reddish yellow to a whitish blue as the temperature around the castle rapidly rose without limit.
With a thought, the bus-sized ball of mes wasunched at the stunned Mammon, crossing the distance in less than a second as the sheer heat it emitted, melted the ground it flew by.
Chapter 183 C183. Denied
Hearing the behemoth''s words that address him in an almost disinterested manner, Mammon frowned. He had vaguely sensed that something was wrong here and now he had confirmed it. He had activated his ability before this behemoth had even entered the fray yet for some reason, he hadn''t been able to copy any of the skills the behemoth before he had used so far.
He could ept it if the behemoth was already aware of his innate ability and had taken precautions by using only spells instead but he could clearly tell that most of what he used were skills. That meant he already had multiple skills active before he had even stepped foot out of the castle.
Such a thing was ludicrous as even if passive skill were skills that were always active if one was to keep an active skill constantly active, they would continuously burn through their mana reserves, and even for a behemoth¡ª demons who typically possessrge amounts of mana¡ª such a thing was insanely reckless and risky.
If he were ever to try that, he would not be able tost long in a fight against another behemoth and would end up losing his life due to mana exhaustion.
Yet, something even weirder had happened. Having moved closer to the behemoth in question with the pretext of making him an offer, there was no way he would miss the activation of a skill and he was right as his ability had finally seeded in recording something.
However, what he had recorded was not a skill, it was a spell and unless he had the time to study it, it would be useless in this fight. He was just about to open the illusionary book to another nk page when he suddenly caught a nce at the name and tier of the spell that was being used against him. It was a tier 1 fire spell, fireball.
''Is this a joke? Did my ability break?''
It didn''t matter how he looked at it, the fireball spell that had been used by the behemoth was clearly of a level beyond even his Tier 6 ze spell.
''What the hell is this?! Is he somehow able to interfere with my ability? Or I''m I under an illusion? Impossible! I have far too much resistance for that to happen.''
With very little time to react, Mammon pushed down his frustration and instantly used a skill while simultaneously instant casting a spell to counteract the massive fireball headed for him, skipping the chantpletely.
-Max Magic - Dark Lance-
As a giantnce made ofplete darkness formed above his head, he quickly stretched out his arm and it shot at the massive fireball in mere moments. Aware of the limits of his spell,Mammon quickly boosted his luck with his skill, ?Luck Enhancement?
However, even with his booster luck, the massive fireball had still overwhelmed his spell, swallowing the darkncepletely as it headed for him without losing any of its momenta. "Tsk." Clicking his tongue, Mammon then opened a gate in front of him and the ck void swallowed up the mes.
He had sent the attack somewhere else, and to him, it didn''t matter if there were people there. Still, a gate could not really be used in such a way and the only reason it had worked was due to the effect of his skill, ?Editor? It allowed him to slightly tweak or edit his skills to a certain extent. However, he was sure such a Strategy would only work once and thus, needed to put an end to this fight immediately.
Not wasting time he used another spell andplementedit with his skill, ?Probability Correction? Boosting the possibility that his spell would cause damage to the behemoth even if it was met with a defensive barrier.
"Sr Vortex"
A spiralingrge ball of mes appeared before him and shot towards Tyler with great speed. For some reason, he felt it would be difficult to counter this attack as though fate itself was against him. However, he could hardly feel threatened by just this much. With a nod, the Dark Garuda snorted and moved like lightning after only pping its wings ones.
Without even using a skill, it wrapped its ws in dark energy and caught therge ball of mes like it was nothing but a ball of fur. Infusing his own energy into the ball, it turned purplish-ck and grewrger, spinning with even greater intensity.
[Kwafufu... Here, boy, you dropped something, catch!]
In an exaggerated motion, he hurled the ball of spiraling dark energy back at Mammon as itughed almost Hysterically with a malicious glint in its eyes.
Although he was slightly surprised by this oue, Mammon knew he couldn''t take this lightly at all. The two remaining generals had retreated far behind him as they could not participate in this fight.
Their abilities werepletely outmatched by both parties and they just stayed far from the fight trying to hide their presence and not draw attention to themselves. Although they normally weren''t opposed to teaming up against a troublesome opponent, they knew now was not the time to interfere.
However, seeing his spell sent back at him with twice the strength, Mammon knew he would be unable to defend against this himself and needed the help of his generals.
Using thoughtmunication, he ordered the pair on what to do, and although they had been struck dumb by the battle so far. As top-tier demons themselves, they were able to force their bodies into action without a second thought.
"Greater Magic - Aurora st!"
Ovil cast his highest single target attack spell and arge ball of multiple colored lights shot at the ball of spiraling purple energy. However, the spell was not strong enough as it was consumed after only slowing down the attack by a bit.
Following Ovil''s attack, Serene cursed; "Curse of Dispel." Her lips parted as she blew a kiss at the ball of energy headed for them and a slight gust of wind that blew at the spiraling mass of energy destabilized the spell and managed to shatter it.
Like clockwork, Ovil attacked again the moment Serene was able to dispel the attack. "Widened Magic - Brilliant Radiance!"
An insanely wide pir of light shot down from the sky at Tyler in a range of more than 300 meters radius.
Tyler used Ultimate barrier on hispanions as he ordered the Dark Garuda to take care of the two pests that were currently being a bother. The Dark Garudaughed in anticipation as it was about to dash at them when suddenly the Mammon in front of them exploded in front of the Garuda as another appeared In the sky behind Tyler.
The Dark Garuda stumbled backward a bit due to the knockback effect of the explosion but the sudden attack was too weak to actually damage it even a little. It would seem thest light attack had not been to damage them but to fool their senses while Mammon instantly created a lifeless exploring doppelg?nger as he simultaneously activated his skill; ?Null Existence?
Effectively avoiding Tyler''s senses as he teleported behind him and flew up while activating one of his final trump cards, a God Tier skill.
"Fwahahahaha... Pay for your sins with your life. You should''ve epted my offer earlierbut your foolish confidence in your pitifulstrength will be your downfall."
He then brought out two bottles of potions and crushed them in his arms as he simultaneously activated a second skill.
"You should know, this skill cannot be blocked, not even by your absolute barrier. I''ll be sure to eradicate youpletely so that even the highest tier resurrection magic will not work on your corpse. Regret your poor choice in the infinite void of the afterlife."
?True Soul Annihtion?
He hadn''t just been ranting on because he was just being cliche but this skill required some time to activate which was why he had also used a skill Prior to this to restrict Tyler''s movements. His n was perfect. With his unique skill; Martial Authority, he could set up various restrictions within a certain range that could not be broken even by a far superior opponent.
Thus by using Martial Law: Restrict Movements. He could bind his opponents in ce for a least 10 seconds no matter how strong they were. Obviously, ten seconds was more than enough time for his soul annihtion skill to activate.
This was how he had been able to kill the original Behemoth of Greed, Mammon, and inherited his name even before he had be a true demigod. As such, he could not lose to another behemoth.
Although since then he had recorded countless numbers of skills from his foes and thus, he had hundreds of skills in his arsenal. Realistically, he could not use all of them in a single fight as he had limited mana and thus had to make adequate strategies on which skills to use on particr opponents so he tends to always go back to skills that had been proven to seed in the past.
Still, the fight up till now had cost him a bit of mana and these skills cost way more mana than the norm. That was also why he had used two high-grade mana poisons before he could use the soul annihtion skill.
At hismand, a dark aura gathered around his hand and as though looking down on Tyler, he shot the soul shredding aura at him with a mocking and satisfied smile on his face.
"Die!"
A barrier was constructed to meet the aura but it quickly passed through it as though it wasn''t there and continued on its trajectory until it consumed its target. Relishing in his victory, he slowly descended and prepared to either face the Dark Garuda head-on or convince it to leave by offering him the souls and body of everyone here including the corpse of his own generals.
However¡ª
"Magic Arrows"
Before Mammon''s mind could evenprehend what had happened. Countless magic arrows pierced through his defenses like a hot knife through butter as he hastily jumped back to avoid a fatal blow albeit, having already received several wounds by that attack.
Turning around in a rage, he saw the young behemoth standing silently behind him as though he hadn''t even moved a single step but Mammon was sure he had aimed correctly and his Martial Law should still be in effect as the ten seconds weren''t up yet.
"You! What did you do?! How the hell were you able to avoid that?!"
There was no response. It was impossible topletely nullify hisws so how could he have escaped. Even if he had somehow still resisted it, the soul annihtion spell should''ve still damaged him a little but Mammon couldn''t feel such a thing had happened.
"Fine then, No more holding back! Let''s see how you''ll resist this!"
With all of his remaining magical energy, he used the skill of his Martial Authority once again, aiming to settle this in a final brawl.
?Martial Law - All Skills are Prohibited in this Space?
While all skills were forcibly prohibited, he wouldn''t be able to use any of his active skills. And while his resistances and physique were below the average demigod due to the nature of his abilities, he had gathered a number of passive skills to make up for his weaknesses and thus, would have the advantage in closebat.
This was his chosen course of action after realizing that the behemoth before him somehow surpassed him in magic and with the aid of the Dark Garuda. There was no way he could with a contest of spells anymore.
However, his superiority in magic meant he would have an advantage in a melee fight. Or so it was supposed to be.
[Denied]
[Notice: Martial Authorities has been overruled by the Monarch Authority. Thus, the spatial restriction ced around the Monarch will be voided.]
[Notice: Condition to evolve Spatial Maniption had been acquired.
Kill and absorb part of the owner of Martial Authority to evolve Spatial Maniption to Spatial Domination.]
Chapter 184 C184. Self-Reflection
Although the genderless voice rang out in his mind, again and again, providing him with some kind of information. Tyler''s mind did not process it as he could hardly care what the fuck it was saying. His mind was calm yet raging and he was only focused on one thing. That was simply to kill every one of the impudent intruders without fail.
He had no intentions of letting them escape, neither did he n to even give them a chance to revive. For what they''ve done here today, only one thing kept repeating itself in his head over and over and over again. Such that it was beginning to shape his mindset.
''Make them suffer, make them wish they were dead. Then, grant their wish in the most pain-filled way possible.''
He didn''t know whose voice that was but it seemed like it might''ve been his own inner thoughts. Was his mind this warped and far gone that he had lost most of his humanity? Or was this something that had always been inside him all along and he had just been too afraid to let it out?
He wouldn''t know.
Now, however, all he could think of was ways to make these three suffer. Hecked the power to absolutely dominate them. To show them fear the likes of which they would never recover from. This was why he still needed to remain calm and calcting.
He couldn''t let his rage prevent him from killing these vermins, after all, one of them was quite strong and had a strong soul that indicated he possessed a countless number of skills. To achieve what he aimed to do, he needed more power. Not in the form of skills that he couldn''t understand fully, but raw and absolute power that would blow away any form of resistance. Power that would drive men insane.
''Yes, that''s it. More, just a little more.''
Tyler''s eyes suddenly widened as he just heard his own inner voice mumble something that didn''t sound like him: ''What was that.'' His heart suddenly skipped a beat as he was wondering why it felt like he had been constantly sinking into the abyss ever since he had seen Erin in that state.
Then again, did this really start there? It felt like it had been awakened a while back. He had a nagging sensation in the back of his mind but couldn''t quite ce his finger on the root of it.
Was this okay? Should he not focus on quickly eliminating his opponents without wasting time. While most of the people here were dead, many were still alive albeit injured and weak. Would it not be better to handle his fight quickly and attend to them first rather than dragging this out to inflict despair on the enemy as they steadily realize they couldn''t win and would die in this ce.
He could see it working, the twisted and dumb expression on Mammon''s face as he realize his trump cards had all failed to affect Tyler. It was a surprise even for him as he had no ideas how he was able to resist the Martialw and teleported away from Mammon''s soul attack.
Mammon seem to be angry and frustrated as he screamed profanities at Tyler. A pitiful sight that his generals hadn''t seen from him before and were staring at them in disbelief. They did not expect for anyone in this world to be capable of pushing him so far. Mammon seems to be asking how Tyler did it but Tyler would not engage him in a dialogue.
He may be calm, but he was furious. His soul yearned for absolute power but perhaps he was thinking about this all wrong. Perhaps this was his own fault. Perhaps everything had urred this way because of his own ineptitude.
Since he came to this world, he had constantly been underestimating himself. Still trapped in his past weakness, he kept restraining his pride and never once considered himself extremely powerful.
However, here he was now standing before an actual primordial behemoth and he waspletely unaffected by his attacks. And, yet, all he could think of was that he wanted more power. All he could do was wish to trample over them with absolute power. However, perhaps he was wrong and his mindset was the problem.
At this point, he was still unaware of the true source of his power so why did he think this was his limit. Thest time he tried to gauge his magic potential from the crystal ball, it exploded. With his restrained thoughts and slight inferiorityplex thanks to the three years, he had spent in the human continent being an absolute trash, he hadn''t understood what an exploding Crystal ball had meant.
So why did he think this was the limit of his strength, he did not know, but as he stared at the screaming Mammon who seems to still be talking to him. He wanted to find out. Was he only at this level? Or did he really have no limit?
"You bastard! How the fuck did you do that? Answer me dammit! How dare you ignore ME!!"
As his thoughts came to an end, Tyler finally heard what the fool was saying. It would seem he was trying to restrict his skills and magic as he was confident in meleebat or something ridiculous like that. But If that was what he wanted then, all he needed to do was ask as even though the mental torture was working, something like a in old physical beating was a weed change.
Tyler saw the Dark Garuda move to attack Mammon from behind but he stopped him with a thought as Tyler finally spoke directly to this fool while looking him directly in the eyes.
"It matters not."
''Huh... What do you mean?"
"As I said before, you''ll be dead soon. So what does it matter what I did. However, I''m yet to decide on what kind of death would cause you the maximum pain so I''ll humor you."
The veins on Mammon''s head seems to budge as hisplexion was getting redder but the second. However, Tyler didn''t pay that any thought as he continued on.
"Since you seem to think you can win as long as my skills are sealed thene. I won''t be using them anymore, feel free to attack me any way you can."
Was this arrogant. Yes, indeed it was but so what. He could no longer live solely based on the principles he had set for him when he had been a lowly adventurer in the human continent. He was currently no longer there and most of all, he was no longer human and thus, needed to push everything that held him back out of his head.
He was currently responsible for a lot of lives and because he clung to being absolutely cautious and afraid, he let them down. So this fight right now would be the birthce of his resolve. He would no longer hold himself back.
"YOU BASTARD!! How DARE YOU LOOK DOWN ON ME, I''LL KILL YOU!"
Madness shed in the eyes of Hemei Sakaguchi, a being that had always been looked down upon by others even though he was strong. He was disgraced by his family because he didn''t share their weak innate ability and even when he became a primordial, he was still looked down upon by the other primordial behemoths due to hisck of a strong physique even though his ability was the strongest of them all. Or so he was told.
Frankly speaking, he knew he had only been able to kill the former behemoth of greed due to a series of fortunate coincidences that allowed him to take advantage of the situation he had been presented with. After all, just gaining the skills of a behemoth was not enough to defeat a primordial and he was just about to learn why.
He red up in pure rage as he used his final trump card. 36 floating weapons of light appeared all around him and his body was immediately covered in pure white armor that glowed in a divine light and emitted a pressure the likes of an actual divine being while runes of light adorned his skin.
?Divine Armament?
His final God Tier skill that served as his ultimate skill. It tremendously increases his abilities as well aspletely negates magic attacks. The divine armor around him also protected his soul from direct attacks and his mind from metal attacks. It also gives him ess to divine-type skills that couldpletely wipe out a city with ease and the floating swords around him would attack on their own with power equal to his current self.
It was truly a trump card capable of turning the tides in battle. A power strong enough to actually destroy the entire continent if that was what he wanted. With this, he had won this fight.
However¡ª
As he lowered his head to nce at his opponent, expecting to relish in the look of terror and despair in the behemoth''s face as he realizes his ce was beneath him. A surprising thing urred as he was unable to find him. The man that stood before him just a second ago was gone.
''Cowardly Bastard!''
Not wanting to let the coward escape, he instantly elerated his thoughts in order to track down the fiend that was most definitely scared off by his immerse presence.
In this state, his skill Thought eleration was amplified a million times and as such he shouted to be able to locate the bastard quickly. However, as he turned his head slightly to the side, his vision was instantly filled with a fist that covered his entire field of view.
He had made a big mistake elerating his thoughts as his body was unable to keep up with his mind and thus, he couldn''t move out of the way and had to watch the fist slowly being nted on his face as a stream of pain assaulted his mind. This, however, was only the beginning of his suffering as he would then endure the next few seconds of hell for hours on end as one could not deactivate or activate a skill when they were in physical duress.
Tyler had moved in an instant and appeared before the so-called primordial behemoth as he clenched a tight fist, using the spell ''Touch of Despair'' to coat his fist, he threw the punch without holding back. If it wasn''t for the divine helmet he wore that protected his head, the power behind his fist was more than enough to blow off Mammon''s head.
Still, the negative energy that coated his fist drove immeasurable amounts of pain directly into Hemei''s brain and while his negative corruption worsened, Tyler didn''t pay any attention to it and didn''t even feel the pain.
He also had no intentions of just stopping after a single punch. He grasped the right hand of Mammon whose feet had left the floor and was about to shoot backward like a cannon and pulled him back towards him. Letting go almost immediately and with the same hand, another punch mmed into the exact same spot in Mammon''s face.
Not satisfied yet, he chased after his punching bag who was sent flying once more and as he easily kept up with the flying body, blows after blows in a furiousbo attack that made it seem like he was spamming buttons on the controller of an older fighting game. Tylerpletely disfigured the handsome face of Hemei and his punches rapidly shattered the so-called divine armament.
Mammon''s two remaining generals that stood at the side anxiously observing their master and hoping he would win, had been unable to follow Tyler''s movements and hadn''t even seen what had happened before they suddenly saw the body of their master being mmed into the ground in a devastating impact that created a massive crater. His appearance waspletely disfigured.
They had wanted to move in to help and Ovil had raised his wand to heal him when the Dark Garuda had suddenly appeared in front of them, his presence alonepletely immobilized them as their faces went pale in despair.
Chapter 185 C185. A Demon’s True Form
Tyler felt strangely satisfied after beating the living daylight out of his opponent,pletely destroying the so-called divine armament but this was still not enough.
He moved forward to the lump of meat on the ground that called himself a primordial behemoth. Arge magic bullet slowly gathered above his hand as he approached the center of the crater. He would finish him off quickly so he could focus on other more important issues.
The other two generals of greed were being watched by the malicious Dark Garuda who seemed to be enjoying watching their faces go pale in fear as they trembled before him. It could''ve killed them at any time but hadn''t, perhaps gaining pleasurefrom their despair or perhaps waiting for permission from his current summoner.
??????
Serene Vyle, one of the only two generals of Mammon stood fearfully in ce as she trembled before the overwhelming presence of the imposing figure of the Dark Garuda even though she could not sense its aura. She knew there was a massive difference between this monster''s strength and hers. It was a creature at a level even beyond that of her current master.
While she was the strongest member of the original five demon generals of greed. That was due to her deadly curses that could bypass most defenses and attack on a spiritual level. Her physique was not the best but she could still keep up with Nessi in a fight¡ª who was the second-fastest amongst them, next to Badgil.
Being one of the original generals of the first Behemoth of Greed just like Ovil, she had encountered celestials before, and while not all of them were strong. She knew a majority of them could easily kill her with a single move.
Although she was originally a behemoth herself, one that was known by the nickname ''Queen of Curses''. She had been defeated by the first/original Primordial Behemoth of Greed and thus, was forced to be his general. She felt no need to resist such a fate as her original goal in being a behemoth and seeking power was her own safety as she was quitezy and didn''t have the constant energy for any grand ambitions that most behemoths seem to possess.
And after finding out from that Mammon that bing a general for a Primordial meant she would be feared and respected by other behemoths while not having to constantly defend her title and life, she happily jumped at the offer. Although she wouldter find out that she had definitely been tricked and had to do more work as a general than when she was her own master.
Herck of interest and motivation in doing anything troublesome had led her to remain a general with Hemei even after her original master was killed by him. However, right now, as she stared in the eyes of the Dark creature that seems to relish in their fears, she really regretted her decision and resented herself for being sozy.
Unlike Ovil who was the oldest amongst them and was constantly intrigued by everything, wanting to go everywhere and do everything. She had only wanted to be able to sleep in peace. However, it would seem like that was too much of a lofty dream at the moment as death didn''t seem far from them.
She watched the behemoth they had so foolishly underestimated rapidly beat up her master in the blink of an eye without so much as an inkling of resistance from him even though he had used one of his strongest skills as almost all his bones had been crushed by the force of those blows. His current state barely resembled the Mammon she knew as he now looked like a shapeless bag of broken bones andbleeding flesh.
The nameless behemoth then slowly walked forth and a ball of mana appeared above his hand. He was clearly about to finish him off and surely once he was done, they would be next. It would be a miracle if their deaths were quick and painless.
However, something unexpected had happened before the behemoth could finish him off.
"Y-you... Yu... Basdahd!... How Der yol!... I''ll Kiey yuo... I''ll Ket, youf all!"
The bag of bones on the ground that was half buried at the center of the crater squirmed around weirdly as it morphed into something inhuman as cracking of bones was audible in the ward. What was formally Mammon stood up as each of its steps shattered the ground? Its muscles wrapping and a rapidly healing process started as it put itself back to gather in a vaguely humanoid form.
The fresh continuously squirmed as it returned to the form of Mammon but slowly became something else. His skin grew darker, his muscles budged and two pitch-ck curved horns grew out of the sides of his head as he grew in size by about a foot, looking like the earth''s depiction of a demon.
The moment his new form stabilized, an unrestrained and absurd amount of energy exploded out of its body, dominating the ward in a stifling amount of bloodlust as it seems his strength had increased several folds.
"I''ll KILL YOU... ILL KILL YOU!... I''ll KILL YOU ALL!"
He kept repeating those words in a maddening loop as it seemed he had been driven mad with rage. His transformation was not exactly unique as it was a demon''s true form. In this form, a demon''s strength, energy, and aura were greatly multiplied but such a thing constantly consumes their life energy and puts a strain on their soul.
It was why demons rarely ever resort to such a thing as doing it meant one had admitted defeat and their demons'' pride generally didn''t allow such a kamikaze attack. However, there were always exceptions to the norm.
Serene saw the behemoth take a step back as Mammon''s roar reverberated in the entire castle and his energy increased even more. If it could quickly kill his opponent then there was a chance he could null the transformation but if this went on for too long, he might end up going on a rampage, drunk on his own aura.
Her eyes were focused on the pair but suddenly, they disappeared. Both of them. She hastily tried to locate them and boosted her perception with a skill as she saw the huge form of Mammon lunging forward and before the behemoth could react, Mammon grabbed his head with his left palm and mmed him into the ground in an hour impact that shattered the ground under the behemoth''s head.
Exerting his revenge, a flurry of devastating punches came storming down at the helpless behemoth and the ground constantly shifted under the barrage. Mammonughed madly at his sudden superiority in this fight as he dragged the behemoth across the ground like trash and continued to pummel him.
This should''ve meant their inevitable victory but she couldn''t feel rxed for some reason as the Dark Garuda had not moved to save its conjurer which should''ve been a use in the contract. Of course, there was no way she could''ve guessed that Tyler had not discussed the contract with the Garuda and such a use was not in the standard one they were currently bound with.
"Mmm... so after all that he just ended up bing a savage beast huh. Disappointing."
Those casual words were spoken from the person next to her but the only person that should''ve been standing there was Ovil. So why would he say something so out of character? Her mind told her not to turn around and just pretend like she hadn''t heard it, perhaps things would go their way if she just didn''t look but her head had already turned to face the person before her mind had evenpleted that thought.
Her eyes went wide.
The behemoth that was being pummeled by Mammon stood next to her without even so much as a scratch on him as he coldly stared at the beast-like Mammon that was still in the midst of thoroughly giving him a beating. Or what should be him at the very least?
Her head turned hesitantly at the figure on the ground that Mammon was happily raining down his fist upon. Her eyes glowed as she used a spell, ''Eyes of the Arcane Witch.'' Her eyes then easily broke through the illusion as she now saw Ovil there, already dead after receiving countless punches from a full-powered Mammon whose strength way surpassed the limits of his defenses.
''When did he?''
She had no idea how or when the behemoth had switched ces with Ovil while also using an illusion to make him appear as himself. That was something someone like Mammon should''ve noticed but because he had been driven mad by rage, he had ended upquite literally beating his own general to death. She almost threw up in her mouth but struggled to remain calm.
The behemoth next to her just quietly watched the scene unfold for a while before reaching into space and pulling out a weapon. It was a ones sided de that radiated insanely dense mana that instantly calmed her mind which only served to terrify her even more.
His cold gaze was then directed at her and a thrill of terror assaulted her very being. Her mind instantly went nk and she could no longer control her dder.
"I''ll ask you to run but..."
His gaze then drifted to the Dark Garuda and then back to her as he finished his thoughts.
"...I doubt you''ll get very far."
With those words that seemed to pronounce her doom, he walked away and just by the excited ze of the Garuda. Her mind could no longer handle so much at once as she immediately passed out.
??????
Tyler headed back into the battle after using spatial Maniption to switch ces with the child general the moment Mammon had charged at him. He now moved to end this fight once and for all as his opponent had already lost most of his senses and thus was worse than trash.
"Gwahahaha... Die! Die! Die! I am the strongest! The rightful king! Don''t you dare look down on me!"
The demon known formerly as Mammon spouted such nonsense as he kept pummeling his own general¡ª who by the way was already dead. Tyler had already dispelled his illusion but Mammon had failed to notice it. He hadn''t even used spatial maniption to distort the perception of his illusion in order to make it stronger and yet Mammon had still fallen for it. This shows hisck of control and intellect in this form.
A demon''s true form was hard to control. It was easy to get drunk on the raw power and chaos of one''s own mana flow and thus was not suitable for actualbat unless one wanted to cause as much carnage as one could in their death. Although there were those that had mastered the form and may be able to use it in a fight for a few seconds before their lifeforce ran out.
However, it would seem like this demon had never had to use this form in its entire life. He must''ve had quite the overpowered ability that had fed its ego till this day.
Tyler stopped only a few feet from Mammon and called out to him.
"Hey, vermin. What''s wrong? Were you so weak that you lost yourself to your own power? Pathetic."
Mammon who was about topletely crush Ovil''s head under his fist suddenly halted. It turned around and its eyes widened in disbelief as it turned to look at what he had been beating all this time only to grit his teeth.
"How? Why? Why the FUCK won''t YOU JUST DIE! I''m the one with the power. I deserve to rule. I''m the strongest! He assured me I was. Why do you even exist? This is not fair. YOU BASTARD! WHY THE FUCK WON''T YOU JUST LET ME KILL YOU."
Like a volcano, his rage erupted from the depths of his heart as he cried in both frustrations and pain. He gathered all its remaining energy into his palm and in a desperate attempt at the victory that kept eluding him, he shot a massive beam of corrupted energy at Tyler.
Wielding his sword in his right, Tyler stretched forth his left hand to stop the beam. However, the beam was mixed with chaos energy and negative energy, and thus, since his left arm had been so badly corrupted. The massive beam had easily destroyed it.
Chapter 186 C186. Spatial Domination
With an annoyed sigh, Tyler quickly pulled back the remaining of his left arm and swung his sword with force while simultaneously activating a skill.
?Rapid Birst?
With a powerful swing, a burst of immerse magic energy that overwhelmed space itself shot forth and tore through Mammon''sst desperate attack like it was nothing. The burst of mana continued onwards as itpletely obliterated part of the right part of Mammon''s body.
While Tyler had lost part of his left hand, Mammon had lost his entire right arm and part of his chest. The only thing still keeping him alive was his demonification.
"No. No, no no no no... This can''t be. I''m the strongest, the strongest. To rule should be my birthright. He promised, he show me the future. How can this, how can this be? You''re not real, this is a bad dream, a nightmare. No, Die goddamit, DIE!"
As he rambled on and on with a strangely tear-filled eyes, he gathered more energy in his left hand and although he hadpletely run out of mana. He had subconsciously drawn power from his very soul. In essence, he was using his life force energy.
Tyler casually swung his de again using rapid burst and the energy was blown away along with the left side of Mammon.Tyler''s injury had also not bled due to the negative corruption affecting his blood. The pain was nullified but he knew the root of the problem was still there.
However, now was not the time to worry about that as he moved forward, toward the now armless demon before him.
"No, stay away! Stop! please. I give up, I surrender! I''ll be your ve anything, just spare me."
Tyler ignored the pleading demon as he stopped just a few feet away from him and his cold eyes shed red as a thrill of fear shot through Mammon''s mind and his expression went pale.
"Quite the disgraceful sight from a so-called primordial. You should ept your death with dignity. Don''t worry I won''t permit you to be reincarnated or revived."
Although his words sounded as though he was reassuring Mammon of something positive, that had not been the case at all. Upon that realization, the life visibly drained from Hemei''s eyes. He didn''t want to die because he didn''t want to feel any more pain but he had always had it in the back of his mind that even if he died here today, he would be reincarnated as he had the actual skill, ?Reincarnation?
What a disaster this had turned out to be. He was deceived by that fellow and even Citrus must''ve been lying to him as well. He had thought he was pretty intelligent but perhaps he was wrong and it was just that person feeding his ego as it seemed he had been manipted at every step of the way.
His life had been full of coincidences upon coincidences that he had thought he was favored by this world and destined to rule. But if everything led him here, doesn''t that mean it was all a lie. Just when he was about to say something to appease this demon, perhaps even exchange his life for information he had gathered on that fellow and the great five, the man had raised his sword high and before he could even formte a word, his vision was split in two as they fell in opposite direction and his thoughts had immediately stopped as the behemoth of Greed had died.
[Notice: Part of the soul of the reincarnated, Hemei Sakaguchi has been consumed.
Skill: Spatial Maniption has revolved to Spatial Domination.]
[Subsidiary Skills has also been revised and upgraded:
Spatial Teleportation - Monarch can teleport, or transfer matter (beings/objects, including themselves) or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them.
Frozen Space - Pause or freeze a section in space without stopping time. Everything living in that space will also be frozen and cannot be affected by any physical or magical force.
Infinite Storage Space - Grants Monarch ess to an infinite dimension where any number of things came to be stored and essed with rtive ease. Cannot store living matter unless a special carrier is constructed around them.
Spatial Vortex - Monarch can create a spatial distortion in the form of a vortex, crushing or slicing the opponent
? Spatial Perception - Monarch is able to perceive the spatial distances: the dimensions (length, width, and height), distances between objects, shapes, and sizes of things, etc. You can also discern how far away something is and the exact measurements of the proportions of an object.
Spatial Awareness - Monarch possesses an instinctual extrasensory ability that will prevent him from materializing all or part of hisbody within a solid object.
Spatial Flight - Control your location in space, and can use this to levitate or fly by preventing your location from altering as it would do if one sumbed to gravity and fell. You can also control the direction and speed of your flight by changing the location.
Warp Creation - Monarch can create warps in space-time, including ck holes, distortions, portals, wormholes, rifts, etc.]
Upon killing Mammon, Tyler''s mind was bombarded with an unnerving amount of information. One of which was a surprise and that was the fact that this so-called behemoth of Greed was actually a Japanese reincarnate.
Frankly speaking, he hadn''t even considered that someone could be reincarnated from his world as anything other than human. After all, he was first human himself. However, it was toote to cry about spilled milk as the man before he was dead and part of his soul had already been consumed, preventing any chance of reincarnation or resurrection.
Tyler sighed as he watched the pile of flesh on the ground bleeding out. At the very least it looks like he had obtained the power to fly and no longer had to bother learning that spell.
However, something still bugged him. What in the world was that voice that kept speaking to him. Was it a system? It didn''t seem likely as he had no system interface and had tried talking to the voice but it didn''t respond. If it was indeed a system then it was quite his luck that he obtained such an arrogant system that only speaks to him at its leisure.
Ignoring that though after only pondering about it for a moment, he used his new skills to teleport all the injured to him and cast mass heals on them. His arm was still half gone but he didn''t mind it. Among the more than 40 fighters here, in the end, he had only been able to save about a dozen.
He couldn''t help but feel a tad useless as someone got up and headed towards him. He was wearing a ckbat suit and a silver mask as he bowed before Tyler and spoke.
"Wee back Lord Ty. I apologize for letting things escte so far."
Tyler calmed himself down then proceeded to nce at the one speaking to him then asking.
"Who''re you?"
"..."
Zomatsu''s mind went nk as he didn''t know how he should respond to that. It was true that he may not have made much of an impression the first time they met but he felt a crushing weight of defeat just from those words.
"Oh sorry, bad joke, I do recall you. Z right?"
Zomatsu didn''t know if he should feel relieved or disappointed as he couldn''t tell if Lord Ty had really been joking or if he had really forgotten about him for a moment there. Luckily for him, someone else had interrupted them as the Dark Garuda dragged the unconscious female general of greed by the hair over to them. Her scalp was already bleeding but it didn''t seem to spare it even a second thought.
[So, what should I do with this one. Can I eat it?]
The dark creature''s ethereal voice reverberated in Zomatsu''s ears as well, as it asked that disturbing question in a casual tone.
"Sure, do whatever you want."
Tyler said tiredly as he began to cast light heal on the injured one by one, making sure they were out of danger before moving on to the next when Zomatsu had abruptly interrupted him.
"If I may lord, I think it might be better to at least leave one person alive so we could gain someinformation on several matters. This might not be thest time this will happen so the information we get might help us be better prepared. Mammon had also mentioned something about someone inciting him to do this and while that may be lies from a deste demon, it wouldn''t hurt us to look into this."
The dark Garuda was just about to rip thedy''s heart out when Tyler had stopped it with a thought, it grumbled bitterly but didn''t dare disobey.
[Damn, I should''ve acted faster.]
Tyler ignored the Garuda''s words and just focused on his healing as he nodded and asked Zomatsu the confirm the identities of the death. He didn''t know everyone from the settlement but could already see a few that he had met before like, Jarret, Talen, K, and even Hart the first amongst the red ogres to speak to him on their own and without being nervous.
He was d most of the women and children were safe as he could sense them in the castle along with Erin but it seems like Albert was in a critical state after exhausting his mana and staminapletely.
while he had understood what Z was trying to say and had gone along with it. He didn''t particrly care about that right now as he maintained his focus in just trying to keep as many people as he could alive.
Seeing his current expression, the Dark Garuda looked at him with interest, not understanding why someone like him cared about such weaklings but he didn''t hesitate to take advantage of the situation as he made Tyler an offer.
[Hey kid. Do you want me to resurrect them for you?]
Hearing that, Tyler''s interest was piqued as he stopped what he was doing and turned to face the Dark creature.
"You''re able to resurrect the dead?"
[I''m a celestial, don''t insult me. Such a thing is child''s ce before my mighty presence.]
"Huh, I guess you''re more useful than I thought."
[Speaking that way to a Celestial, such insolence. Still, I''ll overlook it this time as you''ll have to grant me a request as well.]
Tyler narrowed his eyes at the Dark creature and it chucked.
[You should know, such a thing is not in the contract and you cannot force me to do it. So what do you say?]
"Very well, what do you want."
[Simple, the remnant soul of that reincarnate, as well as the souls of everyone else that you don''t want to be resurrected. Don''t worry, this will also prevent their reincarnation. Of course, this will also be thest act of our contract.]
Tyler considered it for only a moment before nodding his head in agreement. He had no use for the souls of these people and although their bodies were useful, he still wouldn''t have hesitated for a moment if the Garuda had wanted those as well.
With his arms still corrupted, he wasn''t sure he should be creating any more undead, to begin with.
[Kukuku... We''ve agreed then. Know that one cannot go back on a deal with a celestial.]
With a wave of his ws and a p of his ck wings, it cast a super high-tiered spell without a chant.
"Garuda''s Favour: Soul Callback."
A species-based spell that instantly returned all the scattered souls of the dead to their bodies before healing them enough so they would not die again but not aplete heal either. However, this spell also had a limitation as it could not bring back the souls of the ones whose bodies had turned to ash.
Without a body, a source of their origin. There was no were for the soul to return to and the spell could not create a new body for them. Although there were ways to bind the souls to other things like a Homunculus or a lifeless Golem. However, since neither of those was present here, those that had been reduced to ash could not be revived but more than 20 persons had been resurrected in the next instance.
Chapter 187 C187. Connection
As the Garuda''s spell took effect, a dark wind gusted out of him and almost immediately, everyone that was once dead on the ward, that still had their bodies intact or at least in living conditions, came back to life. The spell also restored their vitality which enabled those that surveyed heavy injuries or where missing limbs to slowly heal themselves until they would no longer die on their own.
It was a shame not everyone could be revived which caused a frown to appear on Tyler''s face but Zomatsu assured Tyler that he had done the best he could and this could''ve been worse if it wasn''t for him.
Albert''s condition had also been improved as enough of his mana and stamina was restored by that spell. The effect also allowed Tyler to recover some more mana although he felt like that may have been a negative as thest time he exhausted his mana it expanded his reserves but now probably wasn''t the best time for that as it also left him exhausted.
Putting that thought out of his mind, Tyler then proceeded to cast Mass healing on everyone and even on himself but couldn''t regenerate his arm unless he got rid of the corruption.
The Dark Garuda finished his spell and after observing the results for a bit, it spoke to Tyler in an eerily satisfied tone:
[With this, our deal is done so I''ll take my leave now. Let''s hope the next time we meet I''m able to kill you and eat your soul as well. I''m sure that would satisfy me greatly.]
With an odd chuckle, it raised an arm, and streaks of light shot out of the still dead bodies or body parts and ashes as they slowly gathered in its ws in a tight ball of pure white and almost colorless energy. It then turned its gaze back to Tyler and its eyes drifted to his arms.
[Umm... I guess I did enjoy my time here more than I expected so as thanks, I give you a gift. I sense a powerful undead in this domain so if you n on ridding yourself of that corruption. One way is to gain the core of the powerful undead, at least an Eldar Lich. I''m sure you''ll figure out a way to use it then. Fufufufu... to think I''ll one day help a mortal of my own ord, how fascinating. Now I really want a taste of your soul.]
Saying thosest words with a malicious tone, it turned around with the ball of souls in hand, and with a casual swipe of its other ws, the creature tore open space itself, splitting open a rift to another dimension and walking through it. Disappearing from the castlepletely as the rift closed behind him in an instant.
Tyler didn''t mind the creature''sst rude remarks as long as it did what he had promised. Moreover, it had given him an unexpected bonus with the information about his arm. This corruption was one of the reasons he had joined the Zorak magic institute and even then he wasn''t sure if they had the answers to his question or even if they did. Would they really provide such information to outsiders?
At least now he knew there was a little merit in the undead army that was headed here. Then again perhaps he was being a bit too optimistic considering what had just happened here. Still, he quickly put the thought to the back of his mind as he needed to focus and saving as many people as he could.
He moved around and continuously used light heal even though the spell was not as effective as he wanted it to be no matter how much mana he poured into it. However, he was already low on mana at the moment but even with that, he was able to stabilize everyone''s condition in record time.
Thus, there wasn''t anything else he could do for them, and with everything done now. He could finally calm downpletely and focus on the army of more than 20,000 undead headed this way.
Just when Tyler was about to head back inside the castle to check on Erin and the others, a cold sensation suddenly swept through his body. This was a strangely familiar feeling and as he concentrated a bit, he instantly recalled where and when he had felt this strangely cold but familiar feeling from.
''Liz? No Snow? What the hell is going on.''
Turning his head to the south, he could see the vague outline of the Darkin mountain range in the distance. It was the same ce he had sent the girls to and now he could sense something was wrong although he wasn''t sure why and how.
"Hey Z, where are the girls."
Z turned around to face Tyler before he politely replied. "Theyshould still be in the mountain range with the pair of trolls and the ogre chieftain."
"Huh..."
"Is something wrong?"
Tyler did not respond to Z as he closed his eyes and focused on that feeling. There was certainly a vague connection between him and the girls. Well not just them but everyone that had used a Demon''s pact to swear loyalty to him. If he concentrated a little he could feel a connection with them.
It wasn''t a strong enough connection to allow him to track their locations but it was still something, and perhaps that was why he had a feeling that Liz was in trouble as he felt that Snow¡ª who was something like her alter ego¡ª had awakened somewhere to the south.
Thinking of what had happened here, it made sense that they had been watching them for a while and had decided to attack when most of their forces were away. He had taken a lot of precautions against being tracked when he had left the castle. Going as far as to use spatial teleportation, which was just thebination of the skills, spatial distortion, and spatial movements at the time.
However, with the Kobolds working in the Grayad fields, it was rtively easier to crack everyone else''s movements. Especially when none of them could use teleportation magic.
His anger that was already subsiding immediately surged forth. Knowing fully well that there was no time to waste, he immediately issued an order to Z.
"Z, I''ll leave you in charge until Abert recovers. Have Zelda and Nadine help you move everyone inside. If another enemyes when I''m away, don''t engage and hide in the concealed part of the castle, understand?"
"Understood Lord." Although Z was a little startled at Tyler''s sudden order. He was smart enough to read the mood and understand that something had gone wrong with the girls so he promptly replied in an assured tone that would make his master not worry about them for now.
Without a second thought, Tyler immediately activated his skill, Spatial Teleportation. His target, the Darkin mountain range. While he could still not teleport to ces he hadn''t been to or couldn''t see. The upgraded form of spatial movement which is spatial teleportation allowed him to travel anywhere he was even vaguely aware of.
Meaning, he did not need to have been there before, nor did he need to already have seen the ce as long as he was aware of the coordinates or receive a detailed description of the ce. However, that was not how he nned to teleport to the Darkin mountain range in which he hadn''t been to before.
His aim was the airspace above the mountains as that was the only ce he was sure wouldn''t have any obstructions that would hinder his transfer. This was because he hadn''t taken any time to examine his skills so he was currently unaware of the effects of Spatial Awareness that would prevent something like that.
He had only chosen the fastest way he was aware of at the time and since he could now fly, teleporting above the mountains would not lead to any problems and would give him a birds-eye view of the situation there.
He promptly extended his vision using the skill, ?Keen eyes of a Demon?, and appeared above the mountain range, leaving Z behind to handle the rest. It would''ve been good if he still had the Dark Garuda as the creature should be able to help him locate the girls but it was toote to wine about that now.
As his figure appeared several miles above the ground, gravity took hold of him and he began to plummet so he activated Spatial Flight and his rapid descent was promptly halted as he hovered in the sky. Taking a look down at the mountain range, he could see nothing but snow so he immediately close his eyes and used another one of his new skills.
?Spatial Perception?
This skill was a little different from magic sense as it could perceive space itself and everything around him without limit. Of course, if he attempted to expand the range it would consume more mana but Tyler didn''t need to do that now as he immediately confined he was in the right ce.
He flew for only a minute before he saw a few massive stone-like golems that seemed to be trapped in the snow struggle to move as they tried to chase after a tiny figure that had just crawled out of the snow and was trying to flee.
Well, the figure was not that tiny but inparison to the mountain golems and the height at which Tyler observed him, he did look tiny. Tyler''s eyes cross the distance once more as he finally recognizes who that tiny figure was.
His figure suddenly disappeared as he appeared next to the running troll and teleported them out of the mountain range. Kazko was surprised at Tyler''s sudden appearance but before he could even greet him, his field of view had changed in an instant.
"What happened here?"
He could hear the seriousness in his master''s voice that did not allow him to mess around as he quickly opened his mouth and exined the summarized version of what had transpired with the girls.
"They headed back to the castle?"
"Yes, the Lady Rain was in need of urgent medical attention so Lady Liz was taking her back to the castle thest time I saw them."
Tyler''s expression sank. If they had left a while back then why did he sense something was wrong. Indeed, they must''ve met something even more troublesome on their way back and since he teleported here, he could not meet them along the way.
"Okay, meet up with the others and decide for yourselves if building a base here is still feasible. If not, you may head back to the castle for now."
Saying that his figure shot forth through the skies in a sh, leaving behind a sonic boom that Kazko only heard a momentter as his eyes could not even follow his master''s flight speed that was sure already beyond hypersonic.
Tyler flew rapidly in the direction of the castle with his eyes closed as he expanded his senses using his new perception skill so as not to miss anything along the way.
It didn''t take long for him to pick up on something on the ground and immediately came to a halt and slowly descended as he scanned the area he was currently in. There was a figureying on the snow under the protection of an ice-type magic barrier and being surrounded by two furry creatures.
Tyler immediately descended in an instant and cut his momentum only an inch from the ground as his foot gently touched the snow near the barrier as he didn''t hesitate to approach it. It was a barrier in the shape of a prism made of only a thinyer of ice that was almost invisible and maybe it would be in the eyes of an ordinary person.
The prism looked as though it would crack at the slightest touch but naturally, Tyler knew better than to believe such a thing would be possible especially given that those two monsters that encircled the prism hadn''t been able to do so just yet.
The two creature quickly turned their heads around the moment Tyler was close enough for them to hear his footsteps as he hadn''t bothered to hide them. The monsters were visibly startled by the fact that they hadn''t even sensed another creature approach them but snarled at that person as they move towards him since apparently the one behind the prism was protected by something and this one was easy prey.
Well, those were probably thest thing that went through their thick skulls at it immediately exploded in quick session as Tyler casually walked by the dead monsters and approached the ice prism.
As expected or maybe feared, the one unconscious in there was Rain and only her as Liz or maybe Snow was nowhere to be found.
Chapter 188 C188. Caught Up
Tyler frowned as he stared at the unconscious figure of Rain inside the ice prism. She seemed to have been slightly wounded but was most like unconscious due to some other unknown effect that didn''t seem to be an effect from the barrier she was in. Ratherit seemed as though the ice prism was maintaining a steady temperature inside of it which was keeping her stable making shattering it aplicated process.
Tyler ced his hand on the seemingly fragile ice walls and knocked on the surface a few times. It sounded quite solid despit its appearance and although he didn''t think it would be too difficult for him to break, he knew that wasn''t the right thing to do.
He had never seen this type of barrier before but he was strangely aware that it was created by Liz. Or more urately her alter ego, Snow. From what she had told him, Snow would only appear when her life was in extreme danger and since she was able to use her innate ability, she was stronger than Liz herself.
However, no matter how far Tyler expanded his perception range¡ª which had current surpassed 50 kilometer radius¡ª he could not sense Snow anywhere but could still feel her connection. Which should mean she was still the one in control of Liz''s body.
Tyler frowned, he remembered Rain saying something like it was dangerous for Liz to remain as Snow as it might get harder and harder to switch back so the fact that it had already been a while since he originally felt her appear made him worry.
Tyler didn''t bother trying to break the prism, instead he picked up arge rock and swapped it with the unconscious Rain and then she wasidgently on the snow. There had been no resistance from the unconscious Rain so swapping positions was fairly easy.
As heid her down on the snow, he immediately casting a series of Light Heal on her until he felt her conditions were stable. Still, even after so many heals, he could still feel her connection slowly deteriorate from within.
His healing spell didn''t seem like it could fix the whatever it was that was affecting her condition so Tyler used magic visionbined with magic sense on her body and soon noticed an intruding aura that was slowly breaking down and destabilizing her body from the inside as it was trying to make its way to her mana body and eventually her very soul.
Perhaps this was also why Liz or rather Snow had ced her in the ice prism. It probably had the effect of slowing down that aura. There was apparently nothing Tyler could do about the aura himself as he had tried forcing his mana inside her to push or pull out the strange aura but it had taken root inside of her and could not be forced out without harming Rain.
With nothing else to do, Tyler then decided to use his skill, ?Universal Barrier? to iste that aura and then freeze the space inside the miniature Universal barrier. Of course, doing such a thing in the insides of someone was very difficult and dangerous but he had no choice if he wanted her to live.
The process had taken him a while or more precisely, more than 3 hours because it required near perfect mana control to pull off. Luckily for him, he had been practicing his mana control for a while now.
With the Universal Barrier isting the energy, he used ?Frozen space? on the interior of the barrier and thus was able to temporarily keep her stable as he used Light heal on her once more. At some point he was forced to create another Universal Barrier around them as stray monsters kept distracting him which was another reason why the process had taken this long.
Normally, since what he had done on her was like an operation, he should let her rest some more but he needed to find out what had happen to Liz as a lot could have gone wrong in 3 hours. He then gently tried to wake her up. After her condition was stabilized, it seemed she had drifted into a state of sleep as she groaned groggily and turned in the snow as though saying she wanted to sleep a while longer not minding the coldness of the snow.
That attitude, albeit a tad bothersome, seems to have elevated Tyler''s heart a little but still chose to pinch her cheeks until she could no longer take it and was forced to open her eyes.
Seeing Tyler crouched next to her in an endless world of snow and ice. She may have confused reality for the world of dreams as she spoke gently to him with a somewhat Lewd expression on her face.
"Darling? You''re in my dreams again. Please hold me longer this time."
She reached forth and grabbed Tyler''s one good arm, cing his hand on her chest as she tried to embrace him.
Seeing this, Tyler sighed ruefully as he pulled his hand away and immediately flicked her on the forehead in a resounding *PA sound. That seems to have woken her uppletely as she grumbled and rubbed her eyes, looking around in confusion.
"Huh, Lord Ty? When did you get here I wanted to be prepare¡ª Huh? Where am I? What happened."
"Rx, you got infected by a strange aura in a fight. But you''ll be fine for now."
"Infected? Fight? Aww my head it''s a bit fuzzy. What was I doing?"
"Apparently, you were being a vanguard for some reason. Aren''t you an assassin? You really should stop charging straight at you opponents you know." Tyler gently criticized Rain''s tactics as he smiled faintly.
"Hehe... I was just trying to protect Liz. Wait, where''s Liz? We were ambushed by a demon duke ranked demoness and... its a bit fuzzy." The mention of Liz''s name had jogged her memories to some extent.
However, Tyler didn''t rush her through the process and urged her to slow down and think carefully so as not to miss anything as he asionally cast the cate spell on her. She was in the midst of speaking when she suddenly noticed something and red up.
"Lord Ty your arm! What happened to your arm! Who dare hurt my beloved Lord! I''ll¡ª"
"Calm down calm down, it''s fine, besides they''re already dead so don''t worry about it. We need to focus on Liz right now."
While Tyler was a tad pleased someone was worried about him, they didn''t have the time to worry about such things right now. Rain seem to calm down after hearing Tyler''s words so she realized the gravity of the situation with Liz and force herself to focus on one thing at time.
She then narrated the entirety of their encounters and although the end was a bit unclear as she had been infected and on the verge of copse. Tyler had still pieced together the pieces to the puzzle quite easily.
The young girl that ambushed them with the aid of a barrier had left soon after the mountain golems had appeared but she probably hadn''t retreated and had set up anotherambush as she could predict Liz would recklessly head back to the castle because her friend was dieing.
However, how they were able to capture Liz who was currently Sbow was still a puzzling thought in his mind. He remembered the feeling he felt when he had first met her and the only reason he had been able to survive that encounter was because of herck of resistance to negative type spells at the time.
And even though he was currently stronger than her, he didn''t think it was by much judging by the sturdiness of the barrier that had be set up around Rain. He had a feeling it would be harder to break out of the prism than break in.
The only possible way he could think of for them to capture Snow was for the young girl to have ambushed the second time with the help of another individual with strength of simr or higher level than hers. Even then it would''ve been a brawl of it wasn''t for the unconscious Rain she had needed to protect.
He frown slightly as he was questioning why they would need to capture her. From what Rain said, it didn''t seem to be members of her family that came, so it was one of the other Great Five.
There was also a few reasons he could think off on why she was captured and tye first was they had judged her to be from another Great Five and wanted to use her as a tool against whatever family she was from or maybes, they were trying to get to him through her.
Thest and worst of all was they wanted to study and experiment on her to gain the innate ability of another Great, pushing them one step closer to taking over the continent as the new demon king.
Tyler hadn''t seen any of the other families innate abilities aside for when he had caught a glimpse of Liz or rather Snow, the time she had used it to easily defeat a near demigod monster with ease. He could only conclude that if they were all as broken as that, then a single family with two of such ability will not only be a threat to the world but himself as the one residing in the demons king castle.
He absolutely could not let that happen. Moreover, Liz had already been subjected to enough experiments as a child and thus, this could be very traumatizing for her. It could even break her, sending her into a vegetative state.
That single thought had sparked a volcano of rage inside of Tyler as he could no longer just stand here and do nothing.
He turned to Rain who was still sitted on the snow as it seemed she was having a hard time standing up.
"Rain, I''ll need you to head back to the castle on your own for now."
"Huh... no I''m fine, I need to go find Liz. Who knows what hell they''ll put her through." She said that as she tried her hardest to stand but failed repeatedly.
Tyler saw her genuine worry and anguish on her friend''s behalf and could only smile gently as he spoke: "Don''t worry about it. I''ll handle the rest so just leave it to me."
"That''s... I can''t trouble you when your arm is like that, besides, I want to help, I can still fight."
Even with his barrier protecting her, the strange aura had done a lot more damage than Tyler had thought as he could not simply take away that effect with a simple healing spell.
"Its fine don''t worry about it. You''re not in any state to fight at the moment so you''ll just get in my way. Or do you not truth me to handle this?"
Those words were like multiple daggers to the already demoralized Rain who had let her friend down yet again by getting herself hurt even though she was supposed to be her bodyguard. Moreover, she had also wanted to be useful to her beloved and yet, she had put her self in a state that would only serve to hinder him and she couldn''t even argue about that.
Not to mention he hadn''t even given her any opportunity to for her to speak out as he had asked a question she could not answer. He had already saved her life once and now he had done it again. If he said he would recue Liz there was no doubt in her mind that he couldn''t do it.
After all, this was the man that had defeated her with ease. The man she had fallen madly in love with and thus could not see herself refuting him. She whole heartedly trust him but hermitment to Liz made her hesitate on answering as she had wanted to be the one to personally save her friend.
"As I said, leave everything to me and return. I''ll get Liz back in an instant. After all, you''re both my precious subordinates. Whatever family had dared to hurt you has not only insulted me but have incurred my wrath and are now considered my enemies. Their fates have already been written."
Chapter 189 C189. Research Fort
At Tyler''s confident deration, Rain''s cheeks became flushed as she could no longer bring herself to offer any resistance and meekly nodded in agreement.
With that, Tyler smiled faintly at her as he patted her on the head and told her to rest up in the castle until his return. He did not even wait for a response as he immediately sent her back to the castle using Spatial Teleportation. The skill allowed him to not just teleport himself, but others as well, as long as he was touching them.
He could also swap objects that were within a 100-meter radius of him without having to touch them but that was irrelevant to the present situation.
With Rain gone, the snow-filled rocky ins returned to an eerily silence as Tyler just stared at the ice prism that was still in ce with a strange expression on his face.
He was surely angry but, he found it harder to maintain that anger as the massive disappointment in himself outweighed the bottomless rage that threatened to swallow his reasoning at the moment. He may not know it right now, but that disappointment had saved his soul.
"Why the fuck can''t I get a break today."
A wave of frustration swelled inside of him. For some reason he had thought his luck sinceing to Neron had changed for the better when he stumbled upon the magic library and attain power but it seemed he had been far too naive.
The castle being invaded had already caused him enough trouble yet there was still the matter of the 20,000 plus undead legion that was marching this way. And now, this happened. This was by far the worst of all as if they somehow gain Liz''s Ice Domain, it will not be funny.
Those factors made him angry and frustrated. However, most of those frustrating thoughts were aimed at him. Why didn''t he see such a thinging? He was the one that had ordered them out but failed to consider the possibility that there would be spies somewhere other than the safe zones in the Darknar forest.
After corrupting those safe zones, he may have unconsciously let his guard down and had fallen prey to a fast retaliation from one of the Great Five. He had expected them to take their time investigating but the fact that they had promptly chosen to target Liz was an anomaly in his previous calctions.
Perhaps if he had given Z more details about the girls he would''ve been able to predict this anomaly but it was toote now. Hisck of trust in his subordinates had led to him putting their lives in danger.
Tyler took several deep breaths to calm his nerves as well as use cate on himself. After taking a minute to get himself together, he stood up from his crouching position and got out of his head as he needed to focus on the task at hand.
Rubbing his missing left arm, he grumbled about what he was about to do internally. Such a thing was something the previous him would''ve called crazy if someone told him about it. Yet, here he was, about to do something as stupid as storming into the energy''s base head-on.
"Fine then, let''s be crazy for a day." Saying that his eyes shed with a cold glint as he used a skill.
?Spatial Perception?
While using this ability earlier, he had only been focused on the things below and not the space around him. However, as his focus was shifted, he soon noticed what he was looking for.
Rain had told him the enemy had teleported away the first time so it made sense that they would do the same while bringing back a prisoner, so all he needed to do was locate the spot the space around her had been disturbed. It had been over three hours since they left so by now the space would''ve been fully recovered.
However, Tyler had still found something, this meant, rather than normal teleportation magic, they had used a gate.
"There you are."
He raised his head, and in the sky, directly above the ice prism, was a normally invisible distortion in space but with Spatial Perception and Spatial awareness, he could now see it clearly.
His figure then slowly floated towards the distortion and stopped next to it. This was the point at which space was forced open, connecting this point to another. Making mass teleportation possible.
Without the use of simr skill as his Spatial Teleportation that controls space itself. A normal Teleportation Magic would only be able to force the connection between two points in space effectively tearing or damaging space itself in an insignificant way that would not have anysting effects. However, such methods would surely leave behind a distortion in space just like the one Tyler was currently looking at.
With this, he now had a link to the destination the enemy had taken Liz to. Although people that could use high-level magic like Teleportation or in this case Gate would usually set up measures against being followed by simr spells. Tyler didn''t have to worry about that as Spatial Domination took over and he overruled the rules that had been ced on the space around the distortion as he reached in through the distorted space and reconnected it to the previous space it had been connected to.
With that, his figurepletely disappeared from the skies above the rocky ins close to the Darkin Mountain Range. As the monsters that had surrounded him could only look up in confusion as they wondered where their supposed prey had disappeared to.
??????????
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¡ªTaine Ze Region.
¡ªLerantel Fortress.
Located at the extreme end of the south Taine Ze Region. It was a Desert Fortress that borders the Delling Region. One of the Brimstone family''s outter (vassals) families region. Thus, the fortress was hidden from the public and the only people stationed here were from the main family.
This was a small fortress that was used as one of the Brimstone family''s research centers. It was a ce where they would develop secret technologies that were not introduced to the public. It was possible that most if not all of the noble families that lord over their own regions would have a facility like this and naturally, the Brimstones had quite a few.
This fortress could contain more than a thousand men but right now, it had only a little over 250 persons inside with the majority of them being nonbatant researchers. Of course, that didn''t mean this fortress wasn''t well protected or defended as it also contained 500 Mechanical golems serving as its guards.
The mechanical golems were a nightmarishbination of magic and technology first woven together in the mind of a madman from an ancient family. Theye in many sizes but were generally man-like in shape with slender metal limbs. In previous iterations, they would have some manner of melee weapon built onto one of their arms and a cannon mounted on their chest as inspired by certain individuals.
However, such needless things had caused them to be too bulky and thus, they would move with a variety of whirs, clicks, and other mechanical sounds, asionally releasing a hissing sound and a cloud of steam. Giving the creature a jury-rigged and somewhat shoddy appearance as well as making their fighting style a bit too predictable for skilled opponents. However, that was all in the past.
Although most high-ranking noble families would have a semnce on the method to create the original Mechanical golems, the Brimstone had spent hundreds of years and sparing no expense in improving the ns for their golems in the battle of attrition against the other Greats. Thus, creating a now slender and nimble build that took away all extra and unneeded weight, opting to create the machines with a new type of power core created from fire attribute magic crystals.
Being a family that boasted of the highest firepower and speed, they had created a fluid,smooth functioning, and deadly machines that were capable of wielding any type of melee weapon and shields, while also able to shape the energy within their cores granting them a limited ability to use skills and defensive spells.
This also granted them high damage immunity to most forms of attack, condition immunity, and various senses like Darkvision, Motion perception, and Heat sensors. Their skills also include Fire-based attacks with melee weapons and immutable form.
However, such massive improvements had drastically increased the cost of production. Making every single Mech Golem very valuable, so the fact that they had stationed over 500 of them on a small base like this showed how much the Brimstone''s values the research being conducted on this facility.
??????
¡ªThree hours earlier.
Deep inside the main building of the fortress, or more precisely, one level below base level. A spatial gate suddenly opened in the interiors of arge and empty pure white room as five figures walked out of it. One of the said figures seemed to be unconscious as she was being carried by two other figures. However, rather than being simply unconscious, said figure was only in a state of forced zero kic energy and was unable to move even a single finger.
The other four figures were a pair of two males in ck suits of high-quality ck leather armors with very little metal iid in them. They carried or rather dragged the unconscious girl along and thest two were female demons that strolled forth without bothering to look back. One of these two female demons wore skin-tight leather armor with golden greaves and vambraces while the other had on a ck cloak as she walked with light footsteps and a bright and cheerful smile was stered across her pretty face. Her eyes carried a predatory glint.
"~Wow, that was the most fun I''ve had in years. I didn''t expect her to switch up personality on us and even get stronger, what''s up with that? I totally want that~"
"How would I know, I witnessed the same thing as you. If it wasn''t for the unconscious dark elf she was protecting, I don''t even think we would''ve been able to capture her alive even with both our innate abilities active at the same time. To think she could still freeze the domain, talk about a monster. How scary."
When it came to innate abilities, they were fundamentally different from other abilities and even unique skills. They could not be copied or learned and once a single individual had awakened one, that ability would never be awakened for anyone else.
However, high-level individuals such as demon nobles could pass the genes of their innate abilities down to their children, and as such, their power would not be lost. Still, innate abilities were random, and as such their strength varied from weak to strong and some could even be considered useless.
Still, they were a source of pride as not many people could awaken to an innate ability. This was also boosted by the fact that innate abilities could grow stronger with their owners, a fact that Tyler was yet to be aware of.Naturally, the innate ability of the Great Five was not something as simple as it appeared. Their abilities held hidden potentials and thus, we''re the strongest abilities amongst all the noble families in the demon continent.
The innate ability of the Brimstone was called ''World of Inferno.'' As with the other five, a domain type ability that grants the user absolute control over fire in their own domain. It was to the point that they could even affect thews of reality in itself. Gaining the ability to control vtile force and even entropy to a certain degree depending on the strength of their mana bodies.
Meaning, the stronger their mana bodies were or the higher magic potential they had, the more powerful their innate ability was and the more influence they would have over thews of the universe. So naturally, with both of them¡ª who were high-level demons¡ªusing this ability at the same time, they should''ve hadplete dominance in a fight against another member of the Great Five that was at the same level as them.
Yet, said person had been able to still freeze their active domainpletely just by using their own innate ability. It was something that defiled thews of this world and the reason they hadn''t taken her to the main family castle for interrogation and rather to this facility after informing demon lord Malik about the situation and the drastic change in the white-haired demoness.
Surely, if Citrus hadn''t found a way to steal her kic energy,pletely reducing it to zero. It would''ve been a near-impossible task to stop her.
For now, their new goal was to study the girl and figure out why her personality had changed, giving her a massive boost in strength. They would also use the time to extract her memories before conducting further experiments on how to transfer her innate ability to Demon Lord Malik.
Chapter 190 C190. Targets
"Scary huh? I guess you''re right. We might''ve died Huh. Hehe Wasn''t that exciting though?~"
"No, it wasn''t. I''ll rather not almost die every 5 seconds. You''re too much of an excitement junky."
"¡ªUmm me? Why would you say such a mean thing to your lovely elder sis~" Saying that Citrus lightly pounced on Izabel''s almost non-existent chest as she tried to snuggle up to her.
"Eww get off me you''re sweaty."
The two men behind the girls dragged the white-haired demon as they trailed steadily behind the two girls who were busy arguing or maybe amid a fight between siblings. Well, whatever it was they were doing, they knew it would go on until they got to the special holding chambers they were currently headed.
As they exited the white room they had appeared in, the room that had arge magic circle engraved on the floor that seemed like it was a room designated for teleportation purposes. They saw a unit of about 10 Mechanical golems wielding magic spears, shields, and swords patrolling the hallways march past them.
They also sparingly saw demons and demoness d in whiteb coats who would bow to them as they casually walked by until they arrived at their destination. The moment they entered the room, a seemingly middle-aged demon, d in the sameb coat to had seen the others in and guarded by a specialized mechanical golem with an oddly ominous aura came to greet them.
"Hello, wee to our humble facilitydy Citrus and Lady Izabel. I have already been informed of your arrival by Lord Malik and have made the necessary preparations. Please follow me."
The ordinary-looking middle age demon that wore a pair of spectacles, bowed slightly as he lead them deeper into therge room where several advanced pieces of equipment were kept alongside several other demons that worked in stations as they either read information of a holographic screen or worked on the empty pods in the room.
The middle-aged demon then proceeded to ask the men that dragged Snow along to ce her inside a metal pod where restraints were then ced on her as a colorless liquid thicker than water immediately began to flow inside the pod. With that, Citrus could now dispel the Kic ability she had used on the restrained Snow as it constantly drained her mana and she did.
The moment her ability was canceled, the eyes of the white-haireddy that hadpletely been submerged inside the ss pod moved, and her cold gaze rested on them.
Being aware of what had been happening so far, she immediately tried to freeze the pod but something must''ve been neutralizing her abilities as it didn''t work and as she was submerged in that strange liquid for a while, her eyes became heavier as it seemed the pod was forcing her into a state simr to sleep even though her senses were now boasted to the max as she was meant to feel everything so they could get urate results to their tests.
One of theb assistants then moved behind the pod and a metal tube was inserted into the back. Severalrge needles then pierced into her skin from almost all directions disabling most of her resistances which sent immerse pain directly to her brain in order to observe how her body would react while slowly gathering data on her until her mind became weak enough for easy memory extraction, among other things.
The middle-aged demon, Leriol Grover Brimstone, smiled weirdly as he adjusted his sses and walked over to the other side of the room as he tinkered with the series of machines there and a series of holographic images appeared in front of him. He did not require the sses for medical purposes but they seemed to be magic items.
He observed the information disyed there for more than 30 minutes before he finally spoke:
"Impressive, very impressive..."
He proceeded to go through the information once more and after being satisfied he spoke to the girls who had been moving around theb out of boredom as non of theb assistants had the guts to refute them.
"Her abilities are off the charts, also there appears to be a split in her Neuralwork for some reason. This must be what Lord Malik had mentioned to me earlier. Interesting... There seem to be two personalities within her. While that is not in itself unusual, the personalities seem to have certain ess to parts of her core, giving them or limiting the ess to certain abilities. How truly fascinating."
He continued talking as he walked over to the pod to observe.
"However, it''s truly strange."
"What is?"
"We''re currently bombarding her with intense pain and various other stimuli to get the other part of her brain to react but it would seem this one is doing its best to hang on tight. Almost as though it doesn''t want the other party toe out. Might be a protective mechanism."
"Wooow... so you''re saying this white-haired one doesn''t want to blonde one to feel pain. Now I really want one of those.~"
"What is wrong with you sis?"
"Hehe~"
"You''re correct though... Still, the will of this one is too strong. It seems to be the one with ess to the innate ability but we need the main one toe out else we might not get anywhere."
"Oh, can you force the other one out then?"
"Not sure... We might have to increase the pain receptors to the maximum in order to exhaust her hold but that may damage the specimen."
"Will that affect her memories?"
"That should not be the case. While it may make getting the innate ability harder, the memories or actually stored in the souls and not the brain so it should be fine and would even be easier to extract it after breaking her will."
"Well do that then. The possibility of actually getting the innate ability is quite low, to begin with, so it might be fun to take the risk as long as the memories wouldn''t be damaged. Although an Analysis of the ability would be nice, it would be dangerous if we let her use them. Hehe~"
"Hey, why do you have to take everything too far. Isn''t it better if we just induce the other personality by forcing her into an illusion?"
"Huh~ but where''s the fun in that?~"
"I''m not a devil, I don''t see any pleasure in tormenting someone that no longer has any means of defending themselves."
"Oh, my dear Lil sis is still so adorable."
Saying that Citrus tried to snuggle up to Izabel again but was immediately pushed away. That seem to go on for a while as Leriol focused on the white-haireddy as the pod did its job and gathered various biological analyses on her.
The suggestion from Izabel was a decent one but it wasn''t something he believed would be possible as it would be hard for them to ce a demoness of this caliber in an illusion. While her resistances were being suppressed at the moment, her will was truly something to admire as evident by the ice-cold gaze that had red at him.
Her expression had remained the same throughout the process that caused enough pain to drive other demons of her level insane and yet she did not scream. This tickled the curious bone within him and thus excited him to no end.
He wanted more than anything right now, to test the limits of this absolute Beaty that could be called the Queen of ice. He couldn''t say that he hadn''t been moved by her Beaty but his twisted personality would only allow him to gain satisfaction through his research on whatever partner he chooses.
Although there were other methods he could employ aside for illusions or pain, he had chosen to go with his original idea instead. He wanted to witness it. How long would it take before she breaks, before an expression of pain was stered across the perfect beauty''s face?
He was,in the simplest term, a genius. Born in one of the Great Five families as a demon noble, his future should''ve been secured. Yet, he was born with the lowest possible magic potential a demon noble could get, Tier 2. What an outrage. His life had been full of arrogant idiots with muscles for brains looking down on him.
Still, he had survived the odds and ascended through the ranks on his intellect along, and now he was running one of the most valuable research facilities of the Brimstone family. Attaining a status superior to his ownbat prowess, he had surpassed those that had originally mocked him.
To see such superior individuals break in front of him was something that gave him the greatest joy. He had been in charge of conducting experiments on those arrogant assholes and had delighted in watching them scream in agony as he tried to harvest their innate abilities even though every single one of those experiments had ended in failure, he had still falsely reported that he was close and thus required more subjects to experiment on.
Naturally, that meant the chances of actually acquiring an innate ability with technology was less than 2%. Still, that 2% had been a result of his hard work albeit perverse. That was probably the reason why the demon lord had allowed his recklessness so far as all other facilities had failed to achieve even a 1% sess rate.
However, most of his experimental targets had only been aged demons at the end of their lives and the asional demihumans as aside from demon nobility, innate abilities were insanely rare for the rest of the world and it was near impossible to find that many of them that were disposable.
Of course, there had been those failures he had set up so he could torture them till his satisfaction but aside from that, his choice of toys had been very limited. And now, a world-ss beauty that even surpassed the beauty of the Lady Izabel and Lady Citrus who had been the prettiest girls he had seen in his lifetime had appeared before him.
A beauty that resembled an unattainable ice gem that was at the highest peak of the tallest mountain was now within his reach. Why wouldn''t he get excited? He increased the pain receptors in Snow''s pod as he watched in excitement as she struggled to hold back her expression from twisting in pain.
He felt a sensation in his pants as the moment he absolutely loved the most was about toe.
However¡ª
Contrary to his expectations, her expression had twisted but not to one of pain. Not the usual agonizing expression he craved. Rather, one of absolute fury. The mood in theb changed in an instant as her eyes opened and red coldly at him in a blue glow.
"Impossible, you shouldn''t be able to use any abilities inside that pod. What the hell is this!?"
His hands trembled as his instincts screamed danger at him. He felt a pressure the likes of what he had never felt beforee upon him as hisb assistant stumbled back in terror. His face twisted in an ugly expression as he retreated behind Citrus and Izabel.
''For daring to hurt her. You three have be my targets. Know this, nothing in this world will stop me from killing you all. Ice will be your grave.''
Her mouth hadn''t moved yet the three had heard her cold icy voice deep in the depths of their mind which wipe away the smile from Citrus face for some reason. Still, she was just about to say something to calm everyone down when the entire fortress suddenly shook.
"This is? Oh my... We may have stepped on the dragon''s tail here. In more ways than one. I think it''s about time we take our leave. Our job here is done after all, hehe~"
Citrus said in her usual yful tone even though Izabel could see the seriousness in her eyes.
"This is bad."
Chapter 191 C191. Force Of Will
As the cold icy words of Snow reverberated in their minds. The temperature in the room rapidly began to drop as even the molecules in the air began to freeze, reducing everyone''s mobility by a lot.
"Impossible, you shouldn''t be able to use any abilities inside that pod. What the hell is this!?"
Leriol yelled in panic as his fear had unconsciouslymoved him behind the two pretty girls that had originally been behind him. They could clearly see the restraints that bound her in the pod slowly being frozen and if they allowed such a thing to continue any further, there was no telling what would happen next.
"Increase the Neutralizing agent immediately! And someone please activate the pod''s security measure for fuck sake! Don''t you dare let her escape you, idiots!!"
He screamed those words with thest of his wits at the frightened assistants that were cowering behind their stations. Still, one of them moved and increased the effect of the pod as well as activated all the security features the containment pod came equipped with.
Upon activation, the temperature in the room slowly returned to normal as the girl''s eyes were slowly closed indicating the machine''s sleep inducement had finally be effective. Even Leriol was about to sign in relief when suddenly.
*Rumble... Rumble... Rumble...
It happened suddenly and without warning as the entirety of the fortress shook violently. This did not feel like an earthquake of any magnitude. Rather, It was as though the space itself was being ripped apart. Causing ripples that destabilize the structure of their current location.
"This is? Oh my... We may have stepped on the dragon''s tail here. In more ways than one. I think it''s about time we take our leave. Our job here is done after all, hehe~"
Citrus said in her usual yful tone even though Izabel could see the seriousness in her eyes.
"This is bad."
Izabel suddenly added as that strange phenomenon had caused a ripple effect and the temperature that had been returning to normal immediately shot back down as the pod that held Snow instantly began to freeze from within.
Her already closed eyes were once again forced open as she had somehow resisted the effects of the machine and would soon escape from its clutches.
Seeing this, Citrus sighed disappointedly muttered something under her breath as she walked over to one of the machines and pulled out a small device, cing it in between her bosoms. She then moved back and grabbed onto Izabel, kicking away Leriol who was trying to cling to them either for safety or something perverse.
"Wait, you can''t just take the data and leave! You have to stop her! What if the facility is damaged, Lord Malik will not be pleased. I''ll report this back to him!"
"Umm... To think a rat like you would have the balls to threaten me. Wanna die?"
The predatory glint in her eyes sharpened as Leriol stumbled back and swallowed back the words he was about to say. His status may have been high but not in front of the two girls before him who were part of the main family and even direct descendants. Leading one of the family''s top divisions.
Seeing Leriol cower before her gaze, she smirked and spoke onest word of warning in her usual yful tone~"
"Besides, I think you have a lot more than her to worry about but with that thing behind you protecting you, you should be able to survive right? Though it might be better if you escape~"
As she said herst word, she grabbed onto the amulet around Izabel''s neck, and as its former master, she activated the teleportation spell. A magic circle appeared on the ground around them and began its activation. However¡ª
?Ice Domain?
Before theteleportation spell could take effect, the white-haireddy spoke a word without even moving her lips and instantly, their body temperature rapidly began to drop and their kic energy was being forced to zero. The entireb room had also turned into a den of ice as all the otherb assistants had been frozen in ce.
However, Leriol had been protected by the specialized Mech golem that had been standing by at the end of the room till now. Its movement speed was insane and it nullified her ice attacks. It also didn''t seem affected by the reduced Kic force in the air.
"What the, did she just steal my skill after just seeing it once."
Citrus slightly frowned upon realizing what was happening. While fire and ice were theplete opposite, they did have their simrities as both elements could naturally control temperature, and thus, they could sometimes be used to perform simr tasks.
Her skill, ?Kic infringement? could affect her opponent''s Kic energy, breaking it or simply reducing it to zero. This was how she had been able to stop Snow who had dominated their innate abilities with hers thanks to Izabel keeping her busy.
However, as the temperature in theb rapidly reduces, their bodies slowly lost all their kic energy and they could barely move. It seems like the white-haireddy had found a way to achieve the same results utilizing absolute zero.
Still, this was not enough to stop her. As someone that had absolute control over her body, Citrus could control her body''s temperature with only a thought and thus, broke out from the influence of her ability.
She had been the one to set up severalyers of spatial defenses against being followed when they had used a Gate after capturing snow so she was instinctively aware that someone right now had easily broken through her defenses like they were nothing.
This was not an easy feat and anyone that could do it would naturally be you d her capabilities to handle so she had immediately chosen the best option in this situation and that was to retreat.
She didn''t even try to waste any time in attempting to figure out who this person was as that didn''t really matter to her. They obviously came for the white-haired girl and if things with her didn''t seem dangerous as well, she would''ve just killed her before taking her leave.
However, she could not afford to be that carefree right now as that would be too dangerous and would even endanger Izabel''s life. That was something she couldn''t allow to happen especially after she had gone this far to also spend time with her even if it was only temporary. Not wasting time, she quicklyfinished the teleportation and they both disappeared from theb room.
Leriol watched the girls leave with wide eyes as he could not understand why. They were the strongest beings he had met face to face so why would they be afraid of a single demoness they had already captured once before. It didn''t make sense but he knew now was not the time to panic if he wanted to survive.
"Activate the energy suppression field!"
He yelled but no one moved to obey hismand as he cursed at his assistants only to turn around and realize that they had all died in the ice that encased them. A thrill of terror coldly washed over him as though a bucket of cold water was dumped on his head.
The white haireddy that seemed to be angry by the disappearance of the two girls red fiercely at him. Although she was still trapped in the pod, it didn''t seem to stop her as a barrage of spiked ice shot towards him but was intercepted by the red Mech Golem.
Realizing he still had Vizer, his new biologically modified Mech golem withplete ice and fire immunity to protect him even from a noble from the Brimstone family, his senses finally came back to him as he rushed over to a station and activated the suppression field himself.
That should be enough for now until he figures out how to knock her out again right?
Just as he was thinking he should be able to handle this fairly easily without the help of the two girls, the Magic security rms for the fortress suddenly went off as it seems someone had infiltrated the facility.
"How!?"
He rushed over to a holographic screen to see who it was that was foolish enough to infiltrate a facility belonging to one of the Great Five and send some golems to dispose of him immediately.
Upon getting there, he clearly saw space distort and warp in the the teleportation transit room. The same white room Izabel and Citrus had appeared in earlier.
Soon, a single man with one arm walked out of thin air and suddenly appeared in the room. He waited to see how many intruders hade but it seemed like it was only one. It was mostly a fool who couldn''t evenprehend what he had gotten himself into. Sending a handful of golems should be enough if that was the case.
However, as he thought that, the man suddenly turned his head slightly and stare up at the direction the holographic disy view was. His eyes stared coldly through the screen and it immediately gripped his soul.
Leriol almost had a heart attack from just that as sweat profusely ran down his back even in such a cold environment.
''What the hell was that!''
He didn''t understand neither could he, a nonbatant everprehend what had happened in that instance but he immediately and instinctively knew that man was extremely dangerous and could not be taken lightly.
He immediately sent more than half of the entire fortress Mechanical golems to kill him as well as activate all the traps along the way. His heart still beating like a drum even after dining all that. Not able to rx, he was just about to send every single golem but his action was immediately halted by a loud shattering sound as though a massive ss bottle had been smashed on the ground.
As though the situation with the man wasn''t bad enough, it seems the pod that held the white-haireddy had been shattered into a million pieces.
She hadpletely frozen the pod and shattered it like it was nothing. Although she fell on the floor clearly exhausted after using her innate ability so many times in a day. Leriol still hesitated in ordering Vizer in to finish her with off as her aura gave him chills.
He didn''t know why so many things had gone wrong today when he had finally just been given a Beaty he could experiment on but he couldn''t just stand here and do nothing. Gritting his teeth in frustration he mmed a bottom on the station he was currently on and more than ten Mechanical golems fell from the ceiling as he ordered them with forced determination.
"Damn it! Kill her!"
His order was given to both the specialized Mechanical Golem and the other ten and as they all moved in to attack. The Mech golems he had called all wielded long spears and moved in perfect sync as they closed in on the panting Snow.
The specialized golem also moved but it didn''t char in like the others as its main directive was to first and foremost protect Leriol and thus could not stray too far away from him. It also didn''t look simr to the other white Mech Golems. It was a 7ft tall machine that looked more like a deadly beast instead of just a golem made of metal.
It was a mixture of ck and red and like the others had a slender humanoid shape. It seems to have more of a humanoid build that made it seem more like an android than a type of metal golem. It held no weapons and moved with great movement techniques as though it was a martial arts master.
Snow who was still kneeling on the ground after finally escaping her golfing pod panted heavily. For someone to be able to endure the amount of pain she had been subjected to and remain conscious even after using her innate ability several times now was amazing.
They needed to have ab unbreakable will that even those at a higher level than her did not have. She struggled to stand on her feet with a determined gaze as the Mech golems surrounded her. Holding onto her consciousness with all she had, she cast a spell.
"Vtile Ice Wave."
Chapter 192 C192. Intruder
Tyler appeared in arge white room after forcing his way through the distorted space that was yet to recover from the force teleportation spell the ones that kidnapped Liz had used. There had been a bit of a timeg in his transfer here because he needed to destroy severalyers of defenses along the way. Due to that, the person that hadid those defenses should already be aware of their destruction and thus, he expects to face a well-prepared enemy.
Although if that was all, there would be nothing for him to worry about as long as they don''t grow cold feet and try to run away with Liz. It would be bad if they also tried to use her against him but he had a n for that.He also couldn''t approach this recklessly and needed to do his best in controlling his anger until he has confirmed Liz''s safety.
Taking a look at his surroundings, he noticed he was in apletely white room with no windows and little to no venttion. There was arge intermediate Magic circle carved on the ground that seems to be a teleportation circle. This must''ve been a teleportation transit that connects to various other key locations in the Brimstone family''s region.
The room also seems to have its defenses against forced teleportation. Which was why he had found it a bit difficult to breakthrough. Of course, he already had a connection due to the spatial distortion so it was a lot easier than trying to forcefully teleport here on his own even if he was aware of the coordinates.
Upon his arrival, he had immediately sensed he was being watched but since he hadn''t felt any presence near him, he judged it was some kind of remote viewing. His eyes traced the point at which that feeling came from and he just red at it for a moment before deciding against doing anything to make whoever it was nervous so they don''t take it out on Liz before he locates them.
He ignored the feeling and walked forward when suddenly the only door to the room was flung open and more than 20-30 metal or were they mechanical golems flooded in and surrounded him. Their design made them look like high-tech robots.
Their appearance hadpletely shocked Tyler as he didn''t even try to stop them from encircling him. He had also failed to sense their presence as even with Spatial perception, he had only been searching for life forms and must''ve unintentionally ignored their existence.
The Mech golems all wielded high-quality weapons like swords and shields with a few of them wielding spears. Their movement was also fluid as though they were living creatures and Tyler could not help but be impressed as his anger was slowly calmed down by the thoughts he had next.
''I want one.''
??????
|FireBolt|
Without a chant, the horde of mechanical golems all cast the same spell as countless condensed balls of mes was hurled at Tyler from every direction. There was no means of avoiding the attacks and Tyler was surprised yet again. It was an amazing thing, the fact that robots could cast spells was not something he had even considered.
It seemed he had truly underestimated the resources of the Great Five and the moment he had stepped into one of their facilities, it felt like he had entered another world. Sure, this was kind of a blow to Tyler who had assumed the technological advancement brought by the heroes and reincarnates had not fully reached the demon continent.
Apparently, it would seem like the Great Five were hiding most of these advancements for their selfish purposes.
However, just because Tyler was impressed by the golem''s ability to use Magic and surprised by the advancement of the Great Five didn''t mean he was vulnerable to such attacks as Universal Barrier was already activated and non of their Tier 3 spells had any hope of prating.
As the Mech golems saw their ranged attacks fail, they immediately and without hesitation, switched tactics as they lunged at him in a tight formation that gave him no room to escape.
"What a shame."
If possible, he would''ve liked to keep these robots for himself but he didn''t have any time to mess around and didn''t n on holding back. He would just have to settle for taking back their junks for Ragdek to analyze and reverse engineer. Perhaps with the help of Bungo.
?Spatial Vortex?
At hismand and with Tyler at the epicenter. A tornado of spatial force was created around him as it dragged and rip apart most of the Mech Golems that attacked him first. The others seem to have realized the situation and had stopped their advance as they reassessed their strategy.
The Mech golems seemed to be quite calcting as they quickly abandoned any attack methods that didn''t show results instead of just blindly charging into their doom. They then cast another fire spell at the spiraling vortex perhaps trying to destroy it although those attacks were just swallowed up by the gap in space created by the spiraling vortex.
Tyler sighed and canceled the skill as it didn''t have the range he needed to take out the remaining 10 plus Mech golems. He used his magic bullets on them and only the ones wielding shields managed to survive. They charged at him once more and he quickly ended the fight with a few more Magic bullets that aimed for their cores instead of their heads.
With that, his weing party had grinder to a halt as he stored the bodies of a few of the mostly intact Mech golems for future purposes and walked out of the room. Using Magic sense and Spatial perception, he made a mental map of the facility and Tyler was amazed at what he found.
Not wasting time, he headed for where he had sensed Snow. Red lights were shing in the halls as a voice continuously announced his presence and he prepared himself to face a well-prepared opponent but so far, only the Mech golems came at him. He cast a fireball spell but it seemed like they had high fire resistance and thus they survived his attack and used the same fireball spell on him as well.
This only served to piss him off more as he cast the same spell yet again and this time, the power behind it was too great and itpletely obliterated the Mech Golems that were supposed to have high fire resistance although he had disregarded the damage to his mana body when using too much mana.
He had also met a few demons along the way and while they didn''t seem like actualbatants, he killed them all the same as this entire facility would be destroyed either way so there was no point in keeping them alive just for them to escape and report this to anyone else.
Although that may have been toote already it matters not at this point.
Heading further down to the lowest level of the fortress, he faced many more Mech golems but had opted to use his sword this time as he seemed to be wasting too much mana on his fireball spells and that was starting to affect him a little. He coughed a mouthful of blood but didn''t let his limitations hold him back as he forged ahead and continuously shatter one Mech golem after another even though he only had a single arm.
With the use of his de''s skill that could easily shatter the Mech golems to scrap mental. It didn''t take long for him to arrive at his destination. Although along the way he had made a quick pit stop to retrieve something he had sensed earlier that only taken a minute as he was nowhere.
It was the ce his Magic sense and Spatial Perception has confirmed Snow was in. Her energy level was also extremely low but he was just d she was still alive.
The heavy metal doors that protected the room she was in had been locked and seemed to be tightly shut but when Tyler tried to open it again with a little bit of force, the entire door just came off its hinges. It must''ve been faulty or something but Tyler wouldn''tin about that.
Entering the room that reminded him of an advancedboratory back on earth, he saw something unexpected. There was ice everywhere as most of the demons here that woreb coats had been encased in Ice, clearly already dead. Looking further into the room, he confirmed that there were only three people still left alive.
Several Mech Golems had been torn apart by ice spikes and some had been crushed in the ceiling by ice pirs but only a single one remained, it didn''t look like all the others as it was a mix of ck and red and fought like a trained martial artist instead of a robot although his fighting style was wild and untamed.
It was currently engaged in a fiercer fight with Snow whodidn''t seem to be in the best of state as her outfit was torn and she had scratches all over her body while the Mech golem didn''t seem to have been damaged as it bounced on its feet like a nimble boxer. It evaded or just frankly disregarded her attacks and countered with precise strikes that were easily prating her defenses as one could tell that she literally had no energy to even stand on her feet much less fight.
There was also a demon with sses hiding in the corner of the room as he watched the fight unfold with a rigid expression but one of anticipation of the golem''s victory over snow who was panting but had an expression oh pure fury as she coldly red at the demon that hid in the corner with disdain. Annoyed at the fact that she couldn''t get to him even after expending all her remaining mana.
With the current state of theb, it was fairly easy for one to guess what had happened here especially since she was supposed to be their captive. Being able to resist their hold and almost nearly destroy her captors was an impressive feat. But judging by her current state. It was unknown what the hell these demons had done to her.
Her energy was almostpletely gone but she still stood firmly as he desperately tried to evade the Red Mech Golem''s attack. At some point in time, she had even stopped using her spells as it seemed she could no longer even cast the most basic spell yet she did not give up.
Her normally emotionless face was currently stered with anger as she red daggers at the demon with sses at the corner of the room. However, the golem in front of her would not let her get close to him as it continued to attack her in a roundabout manner in a twisted attempt at torturing her.
One could only imagine what they had done to her to make someone like her that rarely felt any emotions so angry. It didn''t matter how much she was attacked, she refused to fall as that would put Liz in danger. She desperately clung tightly to her consciousness because her failure will only result in the death of the one she was born to protect. Her only duty in this life was to keep the original persona of this body safe, killing those that hurt her was her life''s goal and she had already allowed two of such individuals to getaway.
The fact that she also couldn''t kill thest one remaining had stirred an emotion of anger within her. Something she had never felt before. However, feeling alone could not save her as the moment her stance wavered a little,the Red and ck Mech Golem moved in with nimble steps and lighting speed that she was unable toprehend in her current state.
It closed the distance in an instant and energy from its core wrapped around its ws for the first time as itughed a devastating attack at the vulnerable Snow. An ice wall that was as thin as ss was erected with the little amount of mana Snow had left but even she knew that this was not enough. She had continuously pushed herself even in captivity and had managed to escape but it looked as though her life would end here.
She panted heavily as the ice wall was shattered, and a fiery w pierced through the air at her neck. If she could split into two in order to save Liz she would do that in a heartbeat but unfortunately, this was as far as she could go.
However¡ª
The w that pierced through the air faster than the speed of sound was stopped only a few inches from her neck by an invisible force. For a moment, she had been unable toprehend what had happened but her eyes soon traced the source of this barrier as she saw a man standing there.
This was the very same man that she had met once in the forest and ording to Liz''s memories, he was currently her master. Did he reallye here to save her? That was something that had never even crossed her mind as this was the enemy''s fortress and one would not just charge into a fortress for a single subordinate.
However, there were no other reasons why he would be here as he walked straight towards her,pletely disregarding the Mech golems and the Demon noble hiding in the corner. His eyes looked at her in a gentle light but the oppressive aura that had surged out of him the moment he had blocked that attack had rendered everyone speechless.
Chapter 193 C193. Singularity
Waking in front of her, the man who could still be considered her master spoke in a soft tone, something thatpletely contradicts the amount of aura he was currently emitting which was, by all means, way scarier than when he had once lost his cool because of a troll.
Arriving before her, his calm voice echoed in theb as he spoke to her in a gentle tone. "I see... They''ve truly put you through a lot, haven''t they? Still, you were able to keep her safe till the very end, even when there was no longer any chance of winning. Your resolve has truly surprised me. So please rest now, you no longer have to worry anymore, I''ll take careof everything."
Although his aura contradicted his current demeanor, for some reason Snow could feel the sincerity in his words as he stared gently at her with a faint smile on his face that didn''t seem forced. He seemed he was actually pleased with her. This was something no one else had ever done since she came into existence as one would tend to only look at her with fear, hate, disgust, and apprehension.
Even Rain would only show her an expression of worry as her existence could also be considered dangerous for Liz if she were to ever stay too long.
She could also tell that the raging aura he emitted was not aimed at her but was actively restrictingthe other two in the room with her.
Was he truly angry on her behalf? She wouldn''t know as it was hard for her to understand such things. Her only job up till now was to protect Liz and that was all. She didn''t interact with anyone at all and thus, could not understand the emotion she felt right now or why her hatred and anger had been suddenly alleviated just by the words he spoke.
With that, a strange sense of relief washed over her from the depths of her soul, she could no longer hold on to the tight grip she had on her consciousness as her vision slowly became hazy and she passed out on the spot. Her body wobbled slightly as she fell gently into Tyler''s arm while her hair slowly changed colors from white to blonde.
Her closed eyes then gently opened as the voice of Liz softly reverberated in his ears in an extremely weak tone.
"Lord Ty... You... you came... for me... is Rain okay."
"She''ll be fine don''t worry about it and just get some rest."
"Is that... so... I''m d... You know... I didn''t want you... to have to go... through... all this... trouble for my sake... but... I was secretly... hoping... you would still...e... I really... I''m a selfish... person... ain''t I?."
"Don''t be silly. Why have an ego if one can''t be selfish at times like this? You just rx. I''ll end this quickly and we''ll be on our way."
With only a faint smile on her face as shecked the energy to even keep her eyes open for a second longer. She had gently fallen unconscious and Tyler immediately tried his best to heal her. He didn''t want any such instance where she would die before he was done here and desperately tried to stabilize her condition.
However, there was only so much he could do as he had no choice but to stop and just hope her will alone was enough to keep her alive. He then gentlyid her on the floor as the ice that encased the room was rapidly melting but the ones that had frozen bodies in them had not.
cing her body gently on the ground, the smile on his face disappeared in an instant as he stood up. His eyes were no longer as gentle as it once was as he stared coldly at the demon hiding in the corner,pletely disregarding the specialized Mech golem that had defeated Snow.
"Hey you, pig! You will tell me who were the ones responsible for all this without a shred of a lie. I don''t have the patience for torture so I''ll just make sure you know the meaning of the word despair in the shortest time possible. Try not to die too quickly."
??????
Leriol on the other hand waspletely dumbfounded. He was sure he had sent more than enough Mech golems after this man. Yet here he was standing in front of them in the same state he had exited the teleportation room with. That in itself was impossible, even for someone likeLady Izabel and Lady Citrus.
They may be able to defeat over 250 Mech Golems by themselves but it was impossible for them to do it in so little time and without taking any damage especially since the Mech golems had high elemental Magic resistance and high processing power with arge amount of power from the Magic crystals.
Those factors alone made them very deadly for most and thus, to be able to face 250 of such opponents ande out unscathed was ludicrous. And yet, someone had appeared before him that could do just that.
''Was this the reason why those two left in a hurry?''
Thinking about that, he instinctively denied his thoughts as there was no way that would be the case. He didn''t know how this man had made it this far into the fortress alone but it didn''t matter. He would just have to kill him with the aid of Vizer.
Just as he was about to order his execution, a demonic aura the likes of which he had never felt before suddenly gusted out of his body and dominated the entire room as it forced even Vizer to hesitate. A pressure that could even force an artificial life form to pause, Leriol''s brain could notpute what the fuck this was.
He didn''t have any skills like Magic sense or even offensive skills and spells, thus, he was unable toprehend the gravity of the situation he was currently in right now as he desperately tried to resist this pressure that had mmed his head on the ground.
His mind worked at hyper speed as he tried his hardest to think of a way out of this when the man had just suddenly put the white-haired specimen down and faced them. He ignored Vizer and addressed him all the way from the other side of the room as though Vizer''s existence was not worth his time.
What the hell was he saying? It would seem like he wanted some information out of him. However, that was truly naive if he thought a demon noble like himself would ever dare to leak information to an unknown individual like himself.
Besides, Vizer was not at the same level as all the other Mech golems and could even go toe to toe with a demon lord. This was his greatest defense against even the Brimstone family itself as his own safety was always the number one priority. He swallowed his fear as he made up his mind and ordered Vizer to kill that arrogant one-armed man.
? However¡ª
Before Vizer could even get close to the man, space itself was split open as his specialized mechanical golem was swallowed up by the void and immediately disappeared from his sight. Everything had happened in an instant as Tyler did not even consider the Mech golem as an opponent.
A non-living being like that could not stand against the current him as even a weakling would''ve never charged at an unknown opponent like that without any sort of defenses active and just rying on their built-in resistances.
He walked towards the stunned demon and spoke again, without any changes in his expression.
"I''ll ask you for thest time. Who are the ones responsible for this?"
His eyes red in an oppressive red glow as both pressure and despair beyond one imagination promptly assaulted his mind, body, and soul. His thoughts became jumbled and he couldn''t even keep his body upright as he stumbled backward like a frightened cat.
As if that was not enough, a sword that wasn''t there before had suddenly materialized in Tyler''s hand as Leriol promptly lost an arm and blood gushed out like an open tap as even more pain threatened to drive him mad. He screamed in an agonizing wail that was also a mix of crying and confused shrieks, as he hadn''t even fullyprehended what in the world was going on.
What has happened to his Vizer and why were his pants wet. His thoughts seems to only proceed so far as he couldn''t even formte aplete sentence as he tried to plead with the demon before him that looked at him with no light in his eyes as though he wasn''t even being considered as a living being.
Before he could even say another word the sword was plunged into his knee as the man''s eyes shed red again and severalyers of pain asplicated as the theory of the world itself assaulted him once more.
"Stwop... No more, please... I can''t, I''ll talk I swea I''ll talk."
Although no one would consider him a man of strong will, he was still surprised at how fast this mind had broken him. For someone that delighted in torturing people for fun. He knew how hard it was to actually break a person''s willpletely and yet his will had been thoroughly destroyed by just the light in his eyes and two sword swings.
The man thatid on the ground crying in his own pool of blood, fesses and urine could no longer speak properly after abination of the skill ?Demon''s Might? negative influence that instills fear and despair on his opponent as well as the string of pain from his missing limb and knee cap.
Yet he struggled to answer Tyler''s question with all he had as he pointed at a device that was attached to the work station he was currently in. It was a spherical device that seemed to be a magic item. ording to him, it contained the data on everything the researchb had achieved over thest few years and also the logs on who came and went so thest people that had entered the research facility before he would be the ones he was looking for.
Tyler simply retrieved the device and stored it in his storage space alongside his sword and any other devices he thought would prove useful. Leriol seems to feel slightly relieved but that was no longer his concern as he walked over to Liz and although he only had one arm left.
He was able to easily pick her up using spatial maniption as the instant he did that, they disappeared from the researchb.
Leriol sighed in relief as he managed to stand up. His mental fortitude had surprised even him as he slowly headed to one of the stations to rte this matter to Lord Malik. He needed to y this off in his favor so as to escape any further punishment.
However, he hadn''t even been able to move halfway to his destination when his feet suddenly left the ground as though the point of gravity in the room had suddenly been uttered and he was pulled back along with aid frozenb assistants as their entire bodies were immediately contorted and ripped apart by a force beyond his understanding.
?ckHole?
Tyler stood thousands of meters in the air above the fortress as he used warp generation and created a ck hole. A gravitational singrity was created in the center of the fortress and in less than ten seconds, the entire fortress and everything within a 5-mile radius were swallowed into the ck hole that spawned around the singrity, leaving behind only a vast empty crater in the wastnd.
On this day, one of the Brimstone family''s most valuable research centers, the Lerantel fortress, disappeared from the surface of this world without a trace.
Chapter 194 C194. Learning The Truth
Tyler only watched the fortress and everything around it vanish for a moment as he immediately teleported back to the castle in an instant. He had let his anger get the best of him and had consumed all his mana with thest few skills he used.
Warp creation was the highest level skillin his Spatial skill series and as such, consumed an absurd amount of mana. In the end, he had forced himself to use it twice despite his current state, and thus he was beginning to feel the side effects as his vision went white the moment he and Liz appeared in the main hall of the castle with thest of his strength.
He felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him and immediately lost consciousness but his fall was caught by Zelda who had instinctively sensed their arrival and moved to greet him. Her shadowy figure rushing towards him was thest thing he saw before he passed out.
''Yes... That''s it. Just a little more. It won''t be long now.''
Like a fading thought in the distance, Tyler awoke from his slumber with a staggering headache and a growling stomach as he felt like he had heard something in his dreams but could not remember what it was for the life of him. His eyelids felt heavy but he still forced them open as he saw a word-ss Beauty above him saying something but his ears were ringing and thus could not hear her.
His eyes darted around the room he was in and notice it was just his office. It seems he was currently lying on Rain''sp as she spoke to him but he still couldn''t hear her. As his eyes moved, he soon noticed someone entering the room and Tyler turned his head to take a proper look.
Two figures had walked in one after their other as they approached him with a relieved look on one of their faces as the other was wearing a mask. One of these figures was Albert who seemed to have almost fully recovered from his previous injuries although he hadn''t sustained many injuries and had just exhausted himselfpletely so it wasn''t something a low-grade potion couldn''t fix.
The other figure to enter the room was Zomatsu who was dressed in his usual outfit with his mask on. They seemed to have been waiting outside for Tyler to wake up and had entered when they heard Rain''s voice.
Noticing Tyler couldn''t hear their greetings, Albert quickly brought out a potion from his storage ring and offered it for Tyler to drink. As they both knelt before him and waited.
This was a rare mana recovery potion as they knew Tyler was suffering from mana deprivation after using so many skills and spells in rapid sessions. Even someone with an absurd amount of mana reserves like him would surely suffer from this if they were that reckless with their abilities.
Tyler could understand Albert''s intentions even with the headache that currently gued him so he promptly drank the potion and rxed for a moment. As he felt his mana being restored, his hearing slowly returning back to him and he could finally hear Rain''s worried tone as she asked how he was feeling. He replied in the affirmative but Tyler thought he may have gone too far this time.
However, as he felt his mana recovering slowly from the effects of the mid-grade mana potion, he also felt something familiar happening within him as he could feel that his already massive mana reserves had increased yet again just like thest time in the forest.
He hadn''t understood what had happened back then but from what he knew now, he guessed that his innate ability, Potential Break, maybe the cause of this as it was probably still passively affecting his body without permission. However, this didn''t feel like a good thing because his mana body was currently still damaged.
He could feel the mana struggling to fit in his mana body and thesheer amount of energy in there was threatening to choke him. For now, he would need to constantly use a spell every so often so as to avoid an overload.
However, his physical body wasn''t in the best shape to handle this with the whole negative corruption and all. Still, it was best not to worry anyone about that especially since he had found out a way to fix it thanks to the Dark Garuda. In the end, giving that guys soul to that monster had turned out to be a great thing.
"How long was I out?"
He spoke to Albert who was kneeling before him next to Zomatsu and Albert answered frankly.
"Twenty-four hours my Lord."
"Is that so? You both don''t have to keep kneeling there you know. Just have a seat. Anyway, how''s everyone else doing?"
"We were able to avoid the worst-case scenario thanks to you, Lord. Our casualties are fewer than what I had witnessed but we had still lost a third of our current fighting force in the castle not including the trolls in Darkin."
"I see... And how''s Liz and Erin. They seem to have taken the most damage, I couldn''t fix anything even with my healing spell."
At his words, Rain who was clinging tightly to him had immediately lost her enthusiasm and her mood dropped drastically which told Tyler all he needed to know.
"I''m afraid both the Lady Liz and Erin are not in the best of shape butdy Liz and Lady Rain''s conditions are something that could be easily fixed by Erin. However, she currently hasn''t woken up since the battle as her life force is extremely low."
"I see... From what I sensed earlier her source seemed increasingly weak and so different that I almost didn''t recognize her with Magic sense alone. I didn''t ask earlier because it didn''t seem like it would affect me but right now it has so I''ll ask once, what happened to her?"
Albert didn''t hesitate for even a second as he seemed to have made up his mind for a while now and immediately opened his mouth and spoke without holding anything back. The truth of the matter was simple and he narrated the story to both Tyler, Z, and Rain who listened attentively.
Tyler was aware of the fact that Erin was a Nymph, but to be more specific, she was a Naiad or in simpler terms, a water Nymph that dwelled in the Azabed region, or at least that was how it used to be. To be frank, even Albert wasn''t aware of her actual age but based on theke she had been born in, it was safe to say she had been born at least more than 800 years ago.
Perhaps she had existed even during the time of the demon king. He met her as a boy and befriended her not just because he felt she was lonely all by herself but it was also a way for him to get away from the life path that had been scripted by his family.
However, Naiads were rare and the few that existed were hard to find. They were powerful beings that could live forever as long as they were connected to any life source which meant they did not necessarily need their original source to survive.
Because of this, it seems one of the Great Five families had wanted her for something and had destroyed herke in an attempt to capture her. It would seem that those two that had sneaked into the castles must''ve been from that original family. This meant the Brimstone family were the ones responsible for this as Tyler had confirmed their involvement in this attack which meant Mammon did not movepletely on his own.
Still, their attack hadn''t seeded in Erin''s capture as she was rescued by Albert who then performed a soul-binding ritual that connected their souls and made him her temporary source because, without any part of her original source, she would be unable to make a new natural connection.
In essence, they became somewhat of a married couple since he was a kid because they needed to regrly be near one another every so often. While Tyler found that weird. It was still mighty impressive for a kid like that to be so willing to make such a sacrifice in order to save someone''s life.
Converting his age in human terms he would be around 12 or 13 and Tyler couldn''t remember what he was doing around that age but he surely wasn''t m going around sacrificing his future for people.
Indeed, what he had done was a sacrifice as it rapidly drained his own life force and hinders his growth. He was a Tier 5 Magic swordsman but his strength even after all this time was stillcking. This was because he could not reach his potential when supplying energy for two living beings.
Due to the soul-binding effect on his mana, he had been unable to learn any high-tiered spells and even high ranking skills as his mana would instantly run dry if he did that. In order to be as strong as he was now he had solely relied on just Secret Techniques.
His determination had allowed him to master more than 10 when even more powerful demon lords couldn''t master one. However, for some reason unknown to him, their souls that were bound to each other had been severed and since then, Erin''s life force had been too weak for her to regain consciousness.
"Why do you think the connection was broken?"
"I''m not exactly sure sire. At first, I thought those two had attacked her soul directly and she broke the connection to protect me but that is impossible as it requires the permission of both parties to break such a bind."
"I see." Tyler contemted the issue. It would be incredibly bad if he allowed Erin to die as not only was she a valuable member of his little faction but she was also their only healer. He needed to figure out a way to get her to regain her life force but it didn''t seem like a soul-binding ritual would be possible in her current state.
Plus, he couldn''t use Potential Break on something like her lifeforce so the only way to save her right now was to find her a new source. However, without any amount of water from her previouske, she could not make a new natural connection.
"If I may sire."
Tyler raised his head and saw Z standing there almost as though he had the solution.
"What''s up. Do you have an answer to this?"
"Well not exactly. From what Sir Albert just exined I can infer that the connection between them broke because the two that attacked her most likely had a sealed portion of water from herke and in the presence of that, her lifeforce would have no choice but to be retired to its original source."
"I see... that makes sense."
"However, I''ve had the entirety of the main hall searched but it seems like it may have been destroyed during their death."
Tyler frowned, if that was the case, didn''t that mean he had been the one who destroyed it. Realizing this, Z tried to exin himself properly as Rain red at him but Tyler just waved him off. There was no need to sugar coat it, his anger hadn''t let him give those two the chance to speak as the Dark Garuda had promptly dispatched of them.
''Wait.''
A thought suddenly shed in his head as he thought of that monster. At some point during the battle, it had handed something over to him before it charged in to kill one of Mammon''s generals.
Tyler then reached into the air and pulled out a small bottle that contain extremely clear liquid. "Is this it?"
There was no mistaking it, this bottle contained dense amounts of nature''s essence so Tyler had originally thought it was some kind of potion although he hadn''t put much thought into why the Dark Garuda had given it to him at the time.
However, looking at Albert''s reaction, there was no doubt this was part of Erin''s source and if the Dark Garuda was just another mindless summon, it would''ve surely destroyed it alongside those two. That monster must''ve realized what it was after a single nce at Erin while Tyler had failed to make such an observation.
What a frightening creature. This just meant he had much to learn.
"So... What do we do with this?"
Chapter 195 195. Underground Lake
The army of 20,000 plus undead were slowly marching towards the castle as news of Mammon''s demise had yet to reach them. It was fairly easy to surmise that Mammon had something to do with this army as well because the timing of their movements were too perfect.
Tyler had regrly received reports from re and Kali of the undead king''s movements at a Fixed schedule he had set for himself. So naturally, he was aware Zerahut was gathering corpses to fill his forces. Last he heard, there were only around 3,000 weak undead but in the span of a few days, that had suddenly grown to 20,000 so it was obvious someone else had helped him.
While their March was slow, they were still undead creatures that didn''t require food or sleep and could move all day and without rest.
Because of that, a trip from the western parts of the forest that would normally take at least two to three weeks on foot would only take them a single week. However, even that short time frame would still allow Tyler some breathing room and a chance to get himself together as well as improve his forces as it turned out reinforcements were heading towards him.
From what he had been told, a freeman settlement called the ''Raven Settlement'' has decided toe under his protection although with what had happened in the past day, he wasn''t sure if that was a good idea but still, he decided to ept them as he required more manpower.
He was d he had somehow managed to maintain his cool throughout the entire situation with Mammon and the Brimstone family''s researchb as if it had been a situation he could not handle with brute force alone he would''ve lost everything.
Such a situation had really been a waking call for him as he could no longer just go with the flow and do the bare minimum to protect himself and his apparent followers. None of them seem to be doubting his capacity as they seem to be assuming he had everything under control and the Great Five were the ones that cowardly used a behemoth to surprise them.
They were constantly overestimating his capabilities but up till now, Tyler had never felt so much pressure to live up to their absurd expectations. Due to his poor judgment that got his own people killed, he now felt like he had no choice but to take this very seriously and not just focused on himself and the library.
This was why the people from the Raven settlement had now be important to him. However, their trip here would still take more than a week so he had no choice but to have Albert send Jarret who had fully recovered, along with Nadine and some others so they would use all their Magic carriages and head out to retrieve the settlement in order to elerate their arrival here. Till then, he would have to handle the situation here.
However, with most of his fighters still suffering from severe injuries and curses, their priority was to help Erin recover as she was the only one that could save Rain and Liz as well as the rest of his subordinates.
For them to do that, they needed to find ake overflowing with natural energy or essence and using a ritual, connect Erin to it with the aid of the bottle of water from her original source. The process itself would''ve been rtively simple if she was able to do it herself but as she was currently unable to move, they needed to force it using a ritual and that only serve toplicate things and the requirements became extremely high.
Which was why they needed to find the perfect location for her soul linking. However, the problem now was, there were nokes anywhere close to the castle that met their extreme conditions.
While there were springs in the Darkin Mountain Range and swamps in the Northside of the Darknar forest, those were not only too far, but weren''t rich in natural essence.
With that, they were left with only one option and that was the Red River. However, although Erin was a fresh or flowing water Nymph and a river should be fine, it didn''t seem like it would be a stable source for her as they needed to perform a ritual they had never done before and her source may be swallowed up in a rapidly running water if they failed the first attempt.
The Red River was thergest River in the Darknar region and contained all sorts of water creatures dwelling in it. It had also be quite a filthy ce over the past few centuries due to theck of regtion of the aquatic creatures'' growth within it.
It was water filled with blood, dirt, weed, bones, and rotting corpses of monsters for years on end but as such should be overflowing with pure natural energy. Moreover, the water itself could be purified with the scrolls in Albert''s possession as that was a necessity for any freeman settlement.
They had considered building a dam across the river but that would take too long and may disrupt the natural energy around the waters. Ideally, it was best if they found ake but since there was no one nearby, making one themselves seems to be the next best thing. However, they would need to make it in a location overflowing with dense mana and natural essence.
ces like the Darkin Mountain Range and the Darknar forest were prime but Tyler didn''t think that was a good idea leaving her source in such dangerous locations especially since they don''t have the manpower to protect it. He considered all his options and thought of the least worst Choice he could make as no one coulde up with the perfect solution when he suddenly remembered something.
''A ce overflowing with dense mana and is close to the castle. Somewhere we can build ake to be Erin''s new source.''
His eyes casually drifted downwards and he smiled faintly. Such a ce did exist and yet he had failed to realize it sooner.
"Looks like I''ve found the perfect spot."
p The ones in the room with him were still Zomatsu, Albert, and Rain. Zelda was still hiding in his shadows but she didn''t care about any of this unless she was ordered to so Tyler didn''t count her.
The former two had been made to sit down by Tyler as they were actually nning to remain standing their the entire time. They all turned their heads to look at Tyler as their eyes seem to say, ''Naturally if anyone could figure this out it would be Lord Ty.''
Tyler forced himself to ignore those adoring gazes that ced enormous pressure on him and without waiting for anyone to ask, he immediately stood up and Rain who was still holding on to him stood up as well. Before anyone knew what he wanted, their field of view changed as they appeared to be located in a dark underground cavern.
The ce was dark and a little gloomy as only grayish-brown rocks could be seen all around them. Still, they could all see quite well in the dark and some of them even had darkvision so their sight wasn''t limited to the space around them as they observed the entirety of the cavern.
The walls around the cavern were simr to the ones on the ground but there were incredibly green moss and thick vines growing on them.
There was also a deep crater at the center of this cavern with a human-shaped hole at the middle but that was not the focus of everyone''s attention as there was a massive concentration of mana and nature''s essence flowing around it as though it had contained something beyond the understanding of this world.
This ce was very familiar to Tyler, after all, this was the ce he had first awakened on in this continent. The dried-up undergroundke that was directly underneath the demon king''s castle for some reason.
There was something about this ce that he had failed to realize before until he had actually thought of it. This ce was incredibly rich with mana and natural energy. The vines and mold that were growing on the walls even though they did not touch the ground were incredibly rich in nutrients as they were being nourished by the ambient mana in the air.
"Where are we?" Rain asked surprised. Tyler hadn''t touched the others so it had surprised them a little when they had suddenly arrived here without warning.
"We''re currently underneath the castle. This right here is a secret cavern that once''s contained a certainke but that''s dried up now. This ce will be Erin''s new source."
"As expected of Lord Ty, this is the most optimum ce to establish her source. Even if we just fill theke with ordinary water, there would be a high chance of sess." Zomatsuplimented as Albert couldn''t help but sigh in relief.
However, this wasn''t enough for Tyler as he didn''t just want a high possibility for sess. He wanted there to be no chance of failure.
"No, we''ll be filling thiske with preserved and purified water from the Red River instead. We can also focus on the protection of this ce at ater date so for now let''s get started."
"As you wish. Please leave the procuring of the water to me." Z spoke as he took a knee. He had a few teleportation scrolls with him but had exhausted his mass teleportation scrolls. Still, Tyler was unsure of how he nned to transfer so much water as it was unknown if a storage box could contain the formless form of water without it being ced in a container.
However, Tyler couldn''t just leave it to him as he wanted to preserve the nature''s essence around the River as much as he possibly could so there would be very little chance for failure.
"Do you have a way to transport that much water?"
"Yes."
"Alright, here we go."
Before Z understood what he meant his field of view changed once more and they were currently in front of the Red River. This was the spot the group had crossed back when the Red ogre settlement was making their way to the castle.
"I''ll freeze the space around the water so you can store it without losing any natural energy."
Upon hearing his words, Z''s eyes shed with understanding as he realized why Tyler hade with him. To think he had even thought this far ahead and had a way to perfectly execute his n. Such a thing was truly only possible for this extreme individual. This was the first time he had seen someone at his level go so far for his subordinates and Z could not help but resolve himself to faithfully serve this master.
Tyler finished freezing the space around the river alone without affecting Z and after giving him a knowing nod, he teleported back to the underground cavern. Not bothering to watch how Z would store the water.
Upon his appearance back in the underground cavern, he then tasked Albert with preparing the ritual as he would need to manually draw the magic circle Erin had taught him around theke before Tyler teleported back to the castle to bring Erin.
Albert was already a third of the wayplete with his magic formation when Z finally returned with a teleportation scroll as he was now wearing his gauntlet instead of the white glove he had worn before his departure.
He then waited for Albert''s magic circle to beplete before walking to the dried-upke that already had signs of erosion, he stretched forth his hand, and water gushed out of his gauntlet as it slowly filled up theke.
The rich and purified water visibly had an effect on this ce as the signs of erosion slowly disappeared. In less than 10 minutes, a newke was formed underneath the demon king''s castle as Tyler arrived back with Erin in his arm.
Theke that would soon be her source would one day be known by all as Nymphime''s Breath.
Chapter 196 C196. Nymphime’s Breath
Jarret stood by the side of the massive stable as he watched several six-eyed bulls being prepared for his departure. They were currently short on one of these rare and exotic beasts as well as one magic carriage as Lord Ty hadn''t returned with the one he had used due to the severity of their situation at the time.
Jarret was in awe at his master''spassion for them as he had even abandoned such a valuable item just to save their lives. He wasn''t entirely sure but apparently, he had died in that battle but was brought back to life by the Dark Creature Lord Ty had conjured.
To even go as far as resurrecting such weak creatures like himself. That only shows the benevolence of his master. He swore to be stronger and wholeheartedly worship the God that was his beloved master. Naturally, he wasn''t the only one that felt this way as everyone that had died and been revived, for some reason shared a simr thought process.
This may have been due to the dark nature of the Garuda''s spell but then again, it could also be their honest feelings after escaping from the jaws of death. As they had to just wallow in despair as theyslowly realize they had died without even being of use to the generosity of the master that had saved them in more ways than one.
"Hey, twat! What you doing just standing there like a statue?"
His profound thoughts were suddenly interrupted by an annoying voice that he recognized all too well. A deep and tired sigh left his mouth as he turned to face the only person that would speak so rudely at him.
"Nadine, I forgot you''re back as well. Everything was so peaceful here while you were gone."
"What the hell is that suppose to mean!"
"Nothing much, just that even the actual children in the castle are still more mature than you."
"Why you. Just because I came to check up on a weakling that got himself killed by nobodies, you now have the mouth to insult the great me. How ungrateful."
"The Great you? You''re weaker than me so stop trying to act superior. It''s not cute at all."
Jarret was an orphan after his parents died when he was young in a rare monster siege back in the Azabed region. He had then been taken in by Nadine''s parents so she was something like his troublesome little sister.
While she was indeed a fighting prodigy, Jarret was the same in a simr sense and had a more refined fighting style than her which sparked her intensepetitive spirit that she now probably considers him her rival so she tends to always work hard towards surpassing him even though they both had the same magic potential.
Still, Magic potential was just a
limit on the tier of magic one could use and not the limit of their strength, so there were many ways to be stronger than your potential as strengthening the mana body did not solely rely on one magic potential even though it helped greatly.
Due to Jarret''s unexpected retort, Nadine who had originallye here with a smug expression on her face had lost her cool but quickly recovered and m regained herposure as the same smug look appeared on her face yet again after hearing him mention her strength.
"Fufufu... what do you mean weaker than you. I''m way stronger now you know! You should really be addressing me as Senior from now on... fufufu..."
"Huh... Now you''re just¡ª"
Jarret was wondering if she was just putting up airs when he suddenly notice something from the obnoxious girl that was proudly puffing out her usually non-existent chest at him.
"Wait did you get taller? And when did those washboards you call a chest grow something."
"You asshole!... But of course, I got taller, I''m also way stronger too. I''m at least two times stronger than you. Kukuku..."
"is that so... What happened? Which evil god did you sell your soul to? Don''t tell me you were tricked by amon devil. Well, I wouldn''t be surprised."
"Fufufu... I won''t fall for that this time, you''re just jealous ain''t you? I''ve finally sup passed you.... kukuku... besides, It''s a secret."
She winked at him after striking some kind of pose but Jarret could only roll his eyes at that. If Lord Ty could see her current behavior he would surely be shocked but since Jarret had known her since she was a baby, he knew just how exhausting she could be so he decided to just ignore her taunts as he had a job to do.
Walking away from her while ignoring her angry rants as the carriages and beasts were prepared, he boarded his and assigned Nadine and two others with the rest as they drove out of the castle. The barrier had already fixed itself so they could only leave and would need Lord Ty''s permission to enter.
Their job this time was to transport the Raven Settlement back here in time to increase their fighting force against the thousands of undead that were headed for them. With that in mind, fourrge six-bulls pulled eight magic carriages as they left through the destroyed main gate of the castle.
??????????
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¡ªBack in the underground cavern.
In less than ten minutes, a massive pool of crystal clear and slightly glowing pool of water was formed underneath the castle. The high concentration of ambient mana and nature''s essence around the crater that was now an actualke had enriched the pool of water to the point that it was actively affecting the area around it. Providing nourishment to the destend.
Although the walls of this cavern held green life, the ground itself waspletely barren. Almost as though someone hadpletely drained every ounce of energy from the soil itself. However, the water surprisingly did more than expected as it rapidly absorbed the mana in the air and enriched the ground around them.
The dull greyish brown soil seems to return to a rich dirt brown color as grasses and flowers sparsely grew around them, creating an enchanting atmosphere around the newke.
"Lord Ty. My preparations areplete."
"Alright."
Nodding in affirmation at Albert''s words, Tyler moved over to theke and after walking in knee-deep, he ced the sleeping Erin on the surface of the water and she just gently sank into theke. After Tyler moved out of the way, he handed the bottle of water he had just retrieved from his storage to Albert and he simply ced it at the center of the magic formation.
Reciting an incantation, the bottle gently floated above theke and it disintegrated as the water in it fell and merged with theke. The moment that happened, Erin''s body became illusionary and she disappearedpletely.
A look of shock was stered on all their faces although Z''s face was hidden behind his mask. However, Tyler could still sense her presence and right now. The weak presence she had been giving off was gone as her presence filled the entire cavern, increasing the vitality of everything within it.
The water in theke soon started spiraling as a figure suddenly arose from the center of the gentle whirlpool. It was non-other than Erin who no longer looked like she was in a half-dead state as her figure was actually glowing in a divine aqua blue light.
As she floated above theke, her eyes gently opened and scanned her surroundings in slight confusion. Her tranquil voice then rang out to the four of them in a questioning tone.
"Hmm... where am I? Why''s everyone staring at me like that?"
For some reason, she didn''t seem to realize she was glowing until Albert pointed that out with a relieved smile, and she shyly panicked as she tried to turn it off. Her aura was already strong, to begin with, but now that her life force had beenpletely restored, it dominated the entire space like a true demigod. Her powers must''ve increased several folds as well. But Tyler didn''t ask about that right now.
Floating down to stand in front of the four, Albert couldn''t restrain himself but hug her as he felt happy she had survived. It wasn''t until now that she realized that her connection with Albert''s soul was gone.
"What happened. We''ve been disconnected. Are you okay? How I''m I even still alive."
Tyler allowed Albert to exin what had happened to her even though he felt they should''ve waited until they were back in his office to do that. Rain also rushed in to tease the shy nymph while Tyler observed theke as he thought of something.
He needed to find a way to keep this ce safe as the several tunnels on the wall lead to the forest and who knows where else they led to.
If anyone were to find out about this, they may be able to bring down the castle from here. It was imperative for him to task someone in finding out where all those tunnels lead to and whether it was necessary for them to immediately block the entrances or may convert it into some kind ofbyrinth.
As Tyler thought of all this, Albert had finished exining what had happened to Erin whose memories had been jogged by his exnation and she shyly rushed over to thank him and apologize for not mentioning the soul-binding stuff with Albert. She was still awkward around him so Tyler tried to dismiss her worries.
"It''s fine don''t worry about it¡ª" Tyler was in the midst of his sentence while dismissively waving his arm when Erin suddenly noticed something and could not help but exim, interrupting the rest of his thoughts.
"Oh my! Lord Ty what happen to your arm! This is all my fault, isn''t it... I''m so sorry, please allow me to heal you."
Being startled by Tyler''sck of a second arm, Erin hurriedly rushed closer to him and quickly cast a spell to fix it. "Aqua Regen." Water molecules gathered around Tyler''s missing arm and it quickly began its regeneration. Even the negative corruption was pushed back even though she still could notpletely erase it as it had taken a deep root in him.
She hadpletely regenerated his arm all the while apologizing to him for being useless in the fight against Mammon which was starting to make Tyler ufortable.
"There''s no need for all that, my mistake led to the situation escting as far as it did so it''s only natural I take responsibility. Your issue yed no factor in my missing arm or Mammon''s attack."
Tyler had said that trying to emphasize the point that he had made a mistake so there was no need for them to always expect so much from him but his n had beenpletely squashed by Albert.
"No, there''s no way for Lord Ty to make a mistake. You had left this ce while trusting us to defend it and we failed you. Our surprising weakness was the cause of this plunder and while we may not deserve it, please forgive us. If you will it, I shall atone for this with my life."
Tyler was rendered speechless by Albert''s promation as he took a knee and was mirrored by everyone there. Even Rain who had been sticking close to him after she was done teasing Erin still knelt with a bitter expression as she felt the same way.
To them, everything had gone wrong simply because theycked the strength to stand beside their master and thus had fallen short of his expectations which almost lead to the loss of the Castle. A blunder they would never be able to make up for even if they sacrificed their lives thousand times.
For their master who had ced his trust on them and had presented them with the perfect opportunity to improve themselves by permitting Mammon''s attack. They had done nothing but fail him. Therefore, they had resolved themselves to ept any punishment he deemed necessary even if it was their lives.
Chapter 197 C197. Resolves
Tyler moved his new arm around while trying to gauge the level ofhis new arms motor movements inparison to hisst as though he had expected to feel limited after not having his arm for only a day, but that didn''t happen as his arm movements felt quite natural, as though it had never been missing.
He then sincerely thanked Erin for her help which made her fluster a bit but he didn''t notice that. Making a mental note of learning a regeneration spell or skill,he casually used several skills in an instant. Using Universal Barrier to protect theke, he simply waved an arm and their view changed yet again. This was something they found difficult to get used to as they never knew when to expect it and the sudden change in environment was unnerving but they all steeled themselves to endure it.
Arriving back in his office, Tyler asked the three of them to stand up as they were still prostrating before him after ming themselves for everything that happen. Even when Tyler told them not to worry about it, it seems he was only making things worse as they kept feeling bound to their mistakes during Mammon''s attack.
Rain also seemed to be ming herself for Liz''s current situation and although she was not in any danger of dying, nor would she even suffer any mental trauma thanks to Snow, she still held herself responsible for her capture especially since she hadn''t been the one to save Liz herself.
Perhaps it was wrong for Tyler to go alone but he hadn''t considered that at the time and didn''t think the ones that captured her would run away without a fight. It was obvious that scientist wasn''t the one Rain had told him about and he hadn''t sensed any high power signatures in the research center or around it.
Since she held a grudge against the girls that captured Liz, it was a good motivation for her growth. She was someone that had received extensive training since birth from the Alcars but had little real-world fighting experience.
The loss she had against him hadn''t bothered her much since she felt it was only natural. But a loss against another girl at the same level as her was infuriating. The use of the suppression barrier aside. It had been a two-on-one fight in their favor so she had underestimated her opponent and had got infected with the disintegration aura.
Thanks to that, she now understood her own strengths and limitations and would strive to improve so she would defeat those girls even in a disadvantageous situation. Perhaps those girls'' escape was a good thing for Rain as she would''ve lost her targets if Tyler had encountered them.
Either way was fine for Tyler but he wouldn''t say that. She should be able to get her chance pretty soon as he nned to focus on the Brimstone family as soon as he was done with the undead and sessfully get rid of the negative corruption that gued him. If the attack that took his arm had beenced with light or holy magic, it would''vepletely destroyed him and he wasn''t sure if he would be able to reincarnate again.
Truly that was a terrifying thought, but as luck would have it, Mammon had been enraged at the time and hadn''t capitalized on his opportunity. It made Tyler wonder how someone like him was able to survive in this world, to begin with.
Well, there was still one of his generals left alive so perhaps he would ask her that. The dude was a reincarnate so it was a shame he had been such an idiot otherwise they might''ve gotten along quite well.
Shaking such a naive thought out of his head, he decided to face his troubles one at a time so for now, he would address the stubbornness of the people before him.
"As I said, everyone makes mistakes. There''s nothing wrong with that, but one should always learn from their mistakes and grow. Those who do not admit to making mistakes will always make the same mistakes and that is just the epitome of foolishness."
From his pirated quote, it seemed as though he had spoken a divine gospel as everyone''s eyes sparkled with admiration that would stifle any ordinary man but Tyler just steeled himself and push forward with his thoughts.
"With that said, now that you have acknowledged your mistakes, you must work harder to learn from them and grow. None of you are weak. But if you truly desire it, all you need do is trust me and you shall attain strength beyond your wildest dreams."
Saying those words, there was no longer any hesitation in their gaze as they all deeply bowed to him and solemnly pledged something that Tyler was too tired to hear. He just asked them to stand up and issued orders as his stomach was growling at him even though more than 10% of his mana was recovered by that mid-grade potion.
"Z!"
"Yes my lord."
"I''ll need you to investigate the cavern we were just in and map it out for me. Report whatever it is you find there."
"As you wish."
"Do you need anytime to prepare? You can also take anyone you want along."
"That will not be necessary, I''ll be done in an instant."
"Impressive... Alright then, off you go."
Saying that Tyler waved his hand again and Z disappeared from his office in the amazement of everyone here. His waving motion waspletely unnecessary for the skill but he still did it as he felt it was cool.
After that, he asked Erin to go check up on Liz and see if she could help her as well as describe the condition of Rain to her. It would be hard for her to examine Rain while his barrier was still active inside of her so Tyler had to disable it which had caused her some pain and difort.
After Albert was done helping Rain to the north wing, he returned to Tyler''s office. Apparently, Jarret had left to retrieve the Raven settlement and the other ogres and beastmen that were left in the castle were preparing a feast for his return which had been nned beforehand but Mammon''s attack had put a damper on that.
However, they had only survived the attack thanks to Tyler and a lot of their loved ones were resurrected so this was also a celebration of that. If Tyler had known about this, he wouldn''t have sent Jarret and Nadine out so soon and would''ve allowed them to enjoy the feast as well.
He didn''t want to be seen as an overworking boss even though that would never even cross anyone''s mind. He didn''t have a choice in the matter and just had to send someone down to call back Z so he could participate in the feast.
Without physically seeing someone, he could not teleport them as he pleased. However, Z had declined toe, saying he would be done before the appointed time for the feast.
Apparently, when the barrier was still down, Albert had led some men towards the forest to hunt for what they would be feasting on today. They still had some food stored in the castle but for today, they wanted everything to be fresh.
Tyler was starving right now so he agreed to whatever they wanted. As they weren''t used to the way of nobles, they were hoping for a sort of outdoor feast like a Barbecue of sorts even though it was the middle of winter.
However, all that was music to Tyler''s ears as he didn''t really have the energy topose himself in any sort of fancy dinner so a BBQ was perfect. It seems anytime his mana reserve expands he would need to eat or maybe there were other ways to gain vitality that he wasn''t aware of. Although this time was more manageable than thest so maybe it was just a temporary thing.
There was still some time before everything would be ready so Tyler thought he would go and introduce the dwarves to everyone especially Bungo the cksmith so order for them to work together in fixing the castle up with the materials he bought. Well, at least do what they could until they were able to mine more valuable metals from Darkin.
He also needed to take a bath before Erin was done with Rain as she didn''t seem like she was willing to let go of him the entire time. Although that was cute and all, he still wouldn''t feelfortable going to the bathroom with such a world-ss beauty as he would be unable to rx.
Walking out of his office, Albert trailed behind him. He seemed to have delegated all the work to the maid that came in before but Tyler didn''t tell him that he wished the cute maid had stayed instead of an old man.
''Sigh... I''m really exhausted.''
He walked semizily but still maintained a straight posture as he felt anything less would be considered a disappointment for his adoring followers so he had to somehow act like their ruler all the time.
This was a kind of pressure he hadn''t felt when he had only considered them as nothing but hindrances that were keeping him from his precious Magic library and freedom. However, that all seemed to have changed over time and somehow he had found himself in such a position.
Just like that, the two of them made it to the room that had been assigned to the five dwarves. It was located on the east wing''s fourth floor. This wing unlike the west had a room that was only designated for guests so naturally, they had ced them here as they weren''t sure what Tyler''s rtionship with them was and even Nadine had been of little help as she just shrugged and called them weaklings that Tyler picked because of his benevolent heart.
Of course, they were treated well and regrly given food and drinks. Even going as far as to provide them with more than enough booze which was what they really needed so the dwarves had noints. As a matter of fact, they would probably agree to live there forever if they were promised a constant supply of booze.
Seeing the fivezing about in therge fancy room doing nothing, Tyler sighed deeply. He felt tired just looking at them and they hadn''t even noticed hime in until he called out to them.
Frightened for an unknown reason, they all jumped up and stared at Tyler before sighing in relief as they greeted him with smiles. Even Ragdek who was usually the voice of reason in the group had joined the fray.
"Well, you lot are having a good time."
"Fwahahahaha... Ahh... what''s there to do but drink in this ce. We were dying of boredom here. Didn''t think things would progress this way when we agreed toe ya know." Hulnyl spoke as he bounced off the bed to greet Tyler.
"Boredom? From the looks on your faces, one would think you were all having fun."
"A minor break in our busy lives. One must seize the opportunity whenever it arises. Words of wisdom from the king of dwarves."
"Is that so, how inspirational forzy dwarves."
"Nay, dwarves are neverzy. Besides. We didn''t even know where we were when we woke up so this is only fair."
"I guess you''re right. Well, this is my castle, you''re all wee. This one here is Albert, I''ll be introducing you to everyer on."
"Fufu... Honored to meet ya. Thanks for treating us well so far." They all bowed to Albert who they had probably met before so that introduction was probably a waste but whatever. Tyler just smiled and moved on to the next topic.
"Since you say you''re all bored. It''s time to work all that boredom out of you then. Let''s head out, there''s someone I''d like you all to meet."
Chapter 198 C198. Late Exploration
With that said, Tyler led the dwarves to Bungo who was currently in the outer ward trying to mend the main gate as Mammon had smashed it cleanly off its hinges. Still, they were quite lucky as although there were now several dents in the gate, it hadn''tpletely been destroyed.
Although with the way it was now Tyler couldn''t trust it to provide any sort of defense, they didn''t have the materials to make another one for now so it was best he had this one fixed temporarily.
However, Bungo was a cksmith that specializes in both armor and weapons and not metal structures like gates so there wasn''t much he could do except help mend the broken gate back in ce without actually fixing anything about the damages it had sustained. Causing the gate to be in a more fragile state than before.
Besides, the gate was lined with magic runes and he could only read a semnce of basic magic runes so it was harder to fix than a normal gate. However, Gerl and Darren were Craftsmen that could fluidly read basic magic runes and even transcribe intermediate runes so this was a job for them.
Tyler wanted them to meet the ogre cksmith that imed to have been taught by dwarves so he could see his reaction. Dwarves weren''tmon in the demon continent you know. Currently, aside from the territory/regions ruled by the seven primordial behemoths that were out of control. There shouldn''t be any dwarves in the demon continent.
Arriving at the gate with spatial teleportation, he could see Bungo ordering some ogres as they tried to lift the heavy metal gate themselves. It seems all of his undead aside from the Lich and ck knight that was locked in a cell and used for training were destroyed in the fight against Mammon.
However, the only important undead to him were the three shadow rogues Zelda, Kali, and re. He could always make more of the other undead although that may be riskier as the negative corruption had taken a deeper root in his body and he didn''t want to lose an arm again. A well-ced holy attack could also take his life so that realization made him very hesitant.
The moment they arrived, Albert moved forward to inform Bungo of his arrival and he came running over. Upon getting there, his gaze met the five dwarves who were smiling at him in glee but Bungo was shocked to see them.
His mouth went agape and his eyes widened. Being someone that didn''t leave his chambers no matter what even when Mammon was attacking, he was still unaware of the dwarves'' presence in the castle.
Tyler smiled in satisfaction at his reaction. This was what he had wanted to see after all.
"Oyd, you must be the cksmith we''ve heard so much about. A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I hear your skills are famed across these parts."
Ragdek greeted with a friendly expression before Tyler could even introduce them. He had told them about his so-called famed cksmith that imed to have been taught by the dwarves and they had taken an interest in him.
This would also help Tyler find out if Bungo had just been making shit up the entire time or was he really trained by dwarves. Either way didn''t really matter though. As his skill were enough that not even dwarves would underestimate him.
Bungo looked amazed by them as they all introduced themselves and he finally snapped out of his stupor and did the same. In the end, Tyler couldn''t find out if he had met dwarves before but it looked as though he did master some dwarven techniques that made his words hold more weight in his eyes.
He probably shouldn''t doubt him in the future. Such a thing was unbing of a Lord.
They bonded quite fast over simr techniques and their love and interest in smithing. The matter with the gate would now be left to Darren and Gerl who would be able to easily fix it without a problem. They seem to think they could even further reinforce its defenses.
Making it more durable and able to absorb magic power with the Runite Tyler had given them. Such a thing would allow the gate to get more durable as time passed and more magic power is poured into it.
Tyler had no idea Runites had such an effect but he was d he had cleaned out that cavern although he had left a few behind because of those five Hunter idiots.
While Tyler wanted to leave Bungo in charge because he was here first, the dude was just too irresponsible and only focused on his work so the more reliable Ragdek was put in charge while Bungo would assist him as the mes of learning more dwarven techniques was burning deep inside of him.
They were also to be apanied by Lora as they familiarized themselves with the castle. Making notes of everything they needed to fix.
She was one of the sentries, a beastgirl with golden dog ears and well-maintained blonde hair. Being one of the people that had died and had been resurrected, Tyler thought it would be best if he got them to do something else other than just standing in the towers and keeping watch as that was unnecessary for now.
Those that had participated in the fight seem to be feeling down due to their loss. So he expected the ones who died to be in a worse state so he had made sure Albert had Hart and the others help out with the barbecue preparations so they could hang out with the women and children and get their minds of the fight for a bit.
However, his worries for the sentries may have been for naught as the girl ran over happily when Albert had called her and was apanied by a listless Gail.
She seemed to be of high spirits when reporting to Albert''s call so maybe she had no such thoughts as he had imagined so he decided to put the matter aside for now.
The dwarves all seemed to be freaking out over Lora''s cuteness and were showering her with praises which were making her embarrassed as her face turned bright red but Tyler didn''t see that as he tasked her with apanying the dwarves to keep their spirits high.
The ogress that remained behind was Gail, she was also a sentry who had died and revived. Tyler was able to tell even without being told as he could sense their strengthened soul.
This did not mean they had be stronger though as their potential remained the same but he presumed they would be able to more easily master their skills and maybe even develop new ones naturally without having to learn from a skill book.
Gail was a pretty girl with a tanned skin tone and dirt blonde hair that was so messily cut it emphasized herziness. Her eyes were usuallyckluster as she hated using any energy for whatever it was she was doing.
However, she was currently staring at Tyler with unusual energized eyes. Tyler hadn''t spoken to her before so he wasn''t sure what was happening but it didn''t seem to be a problem so he ignored it.
Since she wasn''t doing anything he allowed her to apany him alongside Albert which seemed to have put a smile on her face. With that, he had three people with him including Zelda who was just lurking in his shadow.
For now, he would have to table the issue of making new weapons and armor until the castle waspletely restored so there wasn''t much he could do but felt strangely pressured by the two beside him so he thought it was best to do something.
Although it had been amusing at first, it was now a bit boring just watching five grown men fool themselves in front of an adorable petite beastgirl as they moved away.
With no n in mind, Tyler decided to explore the castle till it was time for the barbecue.
It was currentlyte in the afternoon so the barbecue was most likely to start at night whenthey could make a bonfire for those who didn''t have much cold resistance as it was still winter and the scrolls they had been using to control the Temperature inside the barrier had been exhausted.
As they walked back towards the castle, Albert silently apanied him in his exploration and didn''t ask why the master of the castle was only just now exploring it. Well, the ce was massive, so forgetting theyout was possible even for someone with perfect memories like Z.
Telling himself such an obvious lie, Tyler forged ahead without looking back at them.
Originally, he had only ever explored the North and West wing of the castle and had only been to the training halls in the south wing. So naturally, he would start his exploration from the east. Apparently, the east and south wings both have ten floors each which told Tyler they contained more than the other two wings.
Although the north wing had an underground floor, so did the south and east. The west wing was just a residential area where almost all the private chambers were located.
There were more than two thousand bedrooms and hundreds ofrge baths with other facilities including a small kitchen, several lounges, and even a bar although those were all stripped of their pieces of furniture and were stillpletely empty. Still, those things could be made easily by the dwarves so Tyler just had to get them the raw materials.
''Great Five my ass. More like great thieving bastards.''
Tyler cursed the ones responsible in his mind as he walked down the halls of the east wing. There was what seemed to be a chapel here for some reason even though he couldn''t imagine the demon king to be the religious type. Arger kitchen was also in this wing alongside what should be a canteen, severalrge pantries& butteries.
There were a lot of empty halls and rooms he wasn''t sure what they had been used for but could make an educative guess. A courthouse was located in this wing as well, it was obvious what it was for but Tyler still found it funny they even made one at all. There was also arge library here that still constrained books that had been dusted by the maids but none of these books had much value to him.
There wasn''t even a map of the Darknar region much less the demon continent. The library was also quiterge, befitting of what a royal library should look like but it also paled inparison to the seemingly endless magic library.
Although that unreasonable size was a problem of its own and make it insanely taxing and time-consuming trying to find anything there. The ce badly needed a librarian.
Continuing his exploration, he left the east wing to the south. The south wing contained the massive training halls and an underground cell as well as the armory and treasury. Of course, those have also been emptied out.
Tyler''s little exploration had taken more than two hours toplete as he chose to walk the entire way. He thought it would''ve been boring for Albert and Gail who were already familiar with the ce but as he turned around they didn''t seem to mind.
Even the listless Gail seem to have a hop to her step today as she walked beside him.By the time they were done, it was already dark outside so the bonfire had been started.
Severalrge grills that were constructed by Bungo had been set out in the outer ward with wooden seats and arge wooden table.
It reminded Tyler of when he was at the red ogre settlement and they had thrown a feast to celebrate him as well. It was a shame this seem to only happen after a terrible situation had urred so maybe he should try to change that.
As they exited the castle, he saw someone standing by the side almost as though she had been waiting for him.
Contrary to his expectations, it hadn''t been Rain but Liz who had fully recovered after Erin had taken a look at her. Thanks to Snow, she hadn''t suffered any mental damage just expended all her mana like Tyler. There were also slight scratches on her but Tyler hadn''t already taken care of that back at the facility so everything else was way too easy for the current Erin to fix.
Chapter 199 C199. Demigod
Seeing Tyler exit the building, Liz hurriedly came to greet him. Perhaps it was the cold or something but her face was kind of red and she was fidgeting slightly. Seeing this, Albert excused himself expertly without disrupting the mood for whatever reason as he dragged Gail away.
"Lord Ty, um... I just wanted to thank you for saving me and Rain as well.
"Huh, it''s fine, don''t w¡ª"
"No, it''s not! It''s wrong for me to keep relying on people to save me all the time. It has been this way my entire life. First, it was Snow, then Rain, and now I''m even troubling you with my weakness. I''m truly ashamed of myself."
Under her serious gaze, Tyler couldn''t bring himself to say something as demeaning as don''t worry about it. He didn''t have a way with words so there was nothing he could do but just stand there and listen to her determined words.
This incident had really left a scar in the hearts of many as they all now possess a deep desire to get stronger so they could be useful to him. It wasn''t something he could just dismiss so Tyler decided he would at least try to grant them that desire.
There were several reasons why he hadn''t attempted to use his innate ability on them yet. First, it had been a while since he broke Nadine''s potential and increased it to tier 4 but up till now, it hadn''t changed. He had thought perhaps his ability had grown to the point that the time limit on it had increased but this was too long to simply be a temporary thing as she seemed capable of learning actual Tier 4 spells.
That was something that hadn''t been possible before. This should mean he could permanently increase Everyone''s potential by one, maybe even more who knows. However, he needed to be careful with this as he didn''t know the consequences of going too far.
Besides, there were side effects to forcing someone''s potential to break for a moment as evident by what had happened to Nadine in the Farbelt pass.
However, that had probably been because she hadn''t been prepared for it. So he hope the intense resolve in the hearts of everyone here would aid in that.
The second reason was simple, he just needed to learn more about his own abilities as it would seem the ability had somehow granted Nadine one of his skills. Since he didn''t know how that worked and which skills were given, he was a little hesitant.
However, he hadn''t lost the skill that was given to Nadine and it seemed like it was only copied so perhaps he needed to learn more skills for it to have the maximum effect and truly strengthen his followers.
Returning his attention to Liz, Tyler just faintly smiled at her words andforted her.
"There is no need to be ashamed of yourself. Even under those conditions you still managed to not only protect Rain but almost defeat two enemies of equal strength and managed to escape on your own. All I did was destroy theb and teleported us back here."
"Oh... well that wasn''t really me."
"Be it, Snow or Liz, they are both one inside you and her strength is yours don''t deny that. I did make a promise to give you strength but true strength lies within. I mean that literally."
Liz gently chucked at Tyler''sst words that emphasizes the corniness of his words even though she didn''t see it like that.
? She always felt reassured whenever he talked to her and his gentle presence didn''t feel anything like when he was angry. Her charming smile seemed to affect Tyler as he patted her in the head.
"You really need to stop worrying about such pointless things and focus on the present. A feast has been prepared for us so cheer up and have some fun for today."
She shyly nodded at his words as she brushed her silk-like hair behind her ears in embarrassment.Her gentle smile was something most would kill for and it had attracted those around. Imitating Rain, she steeled herself and before he could expect it, she kissed him on the cheeks before running away in Embarrassment.
It was cute she could feel so shy, unlike her very bold friend who apparently was knocked out due to the seriousness of her issues.
The disintegration aura had really taken root in her and when Tyler had dispelled his Barrier in her body, it had spread faster than before and Erin had to take her down to herke in order to fully get rid of it. Apparently, Erin had a skill called ?Recall? that allows her to teleport back to her source no matter how far away she was.
This skill could not be blocked by anti-magic barriers and she could even use it from an isted dimension, making it an absurdly powerful escape skill. Of course, she hadn''t been able to use it while connected to Albert as that would drain a lot of energy from him and he could die.
She also now had ess to other powerful skills that truly disyed why she was considered a demigod. Unlike before, she was now able to fly using water flight or Hydrokic Flight. Her other skills include:
Water Attacks: Naturally, she can generate projections of water from the atmosphere and use them in offensivebat.
Sub Skills of this were as follows;
Tidal Wave,Water Meteor, Water Serpents, and Water-Dragon.
Next on the line was something even more interesting.
Pure Water Control: She can create, shape, and manipte water of beneficial nature; that which strengthens, enhances, and causes anything/everything ites across to flourish, representing the sustaining and preserving side of water, which in turn ignores most of themon limitations and weaknesses of its normal elemental variety. In essence, this is about solely controlling the pure positive powers of water as opposed to Abyssal water.
Sub skills: Blessed Rain,Fertility Inducement,Healing Augmentation,Perfect Healing,Life-Force Augmentation,Physical Augmentation,Purification.
This ability showed why nymphs were so powerful as she was now able to control her life force and could even increase the life force of others. Truly the powers of a demigod.
However, Tyler was in for a shock as he had never expected what was next.
Abyssal Water Control: She can create, shape, and manipte the water of a darker, detrimental nature; that which damages, destroys, and consumes anything/everything theye across, representing the hazardous destructive side of water, which in turn ignores most of the limitations and weaknesses of the normal water. In essence, this is about solely controlling the negative powers of water.
Cannot be used at the same time as Pure water Control.
Sub Skill: Corruption, Damage Amplification, Deadly Rain, Pain Inducement, Omni-Burning (via boiling water)
''Yet they still think I''m strong. Isn''t that a little too much powerup just because she got a new source.''
Ignoring the other skills of the Abyssal water series, the Omni-Burning skill alone was op. The skill could burn any and everything including things that normally couldn''t be burnt. It didn''t matter if it was physical or spiritual, even conceptual entities such as time could actually be burnt.
Of course, there were limits to this ability and naturally, those stronger than her could technically resist it but there were ways for her to get around their defenses.
Tyler waspletely at a loss for words, her abilities had surely surpassed his. Not to mention, her potential seemed to have increased and she even had an almost unlimited source of energy that wasparable or even superior to his.
He had received this information from Erin while he was still amid his exploration. She had appraised herself and sent him a mental file of her abilities. Perhaps this was her way of saying she no longer wanted to hide anything from him although receiving a mental email was something Tyler hadn''t expected.
It didn''t seem like what just anyone could do and only high-level individuals would be able to receive that much information without damaging their brain waves. Anyway, back to her skills. Those weren''t even all of her abilities as she still had several high-level spells up her sleeves.
She was a genius with divination-type magic, she also possessed a vast amount of resistance andplete immunity to physical attacks because she was a spirit being. She also had skills like thought eleration, sea gods eyes, and greater appraisal.
Most of those skills she had been able to use before her time with Albert but a few new ones had appeared thanks to her new source. For instance, it was strange for one person to be able to use both pure water and abyssal water so the abyssal water control skills she got were a surprise.
That may have been due to her current source being in the center of the demon continent. However, it was still ridiculous to think of it. What exactly was in theke he had fallen into 1,000 years ago that it could still make people stronger centuries after it hadpletely dried up.
No matter how he thought about it, he could not gain the answers just by standing there so he went over to where everyone was as they began their feast. It was too bad Rain was missing this and Tyler could only imagine how dejected she would be tomorrow.
Erin had also managed to join them and Tyler had even teleported the Kobolds back to the castle so they could partake of this. The only ones missing this now were Rain, Jarret, and Nadine''s group as well as Azar and the trolls as Tyler did not know where they had chosen to construct the cabin.
Z was also done with mapping out the tunnels around the undergroundke and had joined them without taking his mask off. His investigation had been too fast but Tyler assumed that should be because of his innate ability.
Anyway, he would just ask him tomorrow.
Their Barbecue this night was filled with red hawks and white hoppers meat with roasted corn and a few other vegetables. The darknar forest also hadrge berries that had been used in the making of quite the luxurious wine. It only needed a bit more refinement to be perfect but that woulde as they gain more experience in making these.
The meat was grilled to perfection and everyone ate and drank happily with one another. There weren''t that many small kids in the castle to begin with so the ce wasn''t too rowdy.
A young beast boy seemed to be excitedly telling Albert a story as he prepared Tyler''s te. He was narrating something about Zelda who had been tasked to protect them while they were kept in the training hall during Mammon''s attack.
Tyler could only wonder what Zelda had done to impress the kid so much as he munched on his food and drank. He could not get drunk most likely because he was immune to poison but it was still fun to drink. Liz sat next to him with Erin who seemed to be in a good mood afterpletely healing Rain and learning of her new abilities.
She sat close to Tyler and ate in silence even though she would normally avoid him. Or at least that''s what he thought.
For some reason, their presence didn''t allow anyone else toe near him which was a bummer but he couldn''tin. He was hoping nothing else would happen to spoil the mood when Liz suddenly offered to feed him something from her te which sparked the maids to offer instead, saying it was their duty or something.
Tyler had no idea what Albert had been teaching them. Or perhaps they were being influenced by Rain.
Even Erin seemed to be pressured into offering to feed him as well. It was a situation where he could no longer refuse and choosing one person was surely a bad idea. In the end, he had allowed all of them to feed him something from their tes and ended up overeating which would''ve made him sick if he wasn''t so durable.
This was supposed to be a celebration after all. So disappointing someone wasn''t something he wanted to do today. However, Tyler felt like he had left someone out of this and had a feeling he was going to pay for that in the future.
Even Zelda who didn''t need to eat had decided to do so in order to feed him as well. Perhaps it was because she was an intelligent undead but without an ego. But it would seem she was easily influenced by the people around her and tended to want to join in but always ended up just hiding back in his shadows even though he hadn''t ordered her to.
Chapter 200 C200. Boundless Void
"Pwaaah... This beer isn''t half bad."
Hylnyl spoke as he finished gulping downarge jug of beer and mmed the cup on the wooden table. It didn''t even seem like they were eating much as the drink was their primary concern. Since the wine hadn''t aged for long, it wasn''t as good as what the dwarves were used to but the beer was okay. They were originally from Albert''s former region so the quality was great.
There was a greenhouse by the west side of the castle that was almostpletely destroyed so Tyler hadn''t paid any attention to it. But after moving around the castle for a bit under the guidance of Lora. Ragdek had inspected the ce and it seem to be designed in a way that the space inside of the greenhouse was wayrger than the outside.
The ce must''ve been built using space type magic runes which should be of the advanced level and other special materials, Ragdek was interested in replicating the effects in creating a vineyard next to the greenhouse so they could brew their own wine from scratch. They were truly alcohol enthusiasts.
Tyler had seen something like a winery in the eastern part of the castle so it wasn''t a far-fetched idea but he still needed them to focus on the more important aspects of the castle before prioritizing on their hobbies.
Their winter barbecue continued on with everyone having frivolous conversations with each other while asionally mixing in something fairly important into their talks.
The dwarves may have been cowards when it came to monsters, but it seems the booze they drank gave them high spirits and they were trying to talk with Liz and Erin who had been smothering Tyler with food. He would hope they weren''t drunk enough to say something inappropriate else they would be very short ice sculptures.
However, he had to thank their efforts in distracting them as it allowed him to escape the clutches of the girls around him. Tyler called Ragdek over and they moved to the side as he wanted to ask him something as the party went on without him.
The other dwarves were also getting along well with everyone else as they tried to impress Erin and Liz by telling them outrageous stories about their experiences that were definitely made up.
However, Tyler didn''t burst their bubble and allowed them to enjoy themselves tor today as they had unintentionally done him a favor. Since Erin and Liz were quite polite, they wouldn''t coldly dismiss the troublesome bunch so they were lucky Rain wasn''t here.
Z who had made it in time for the barbecue was the only odd man out. He stood by the side as he held a te of meat and vegetables while still wearing his mask and somehow ate without taking it off.
There was someone next to him that was trying to spark a conversation but their efforts did not bear many fruits. Still, Tyler knew they weren''t the type to get discouraged as the idiot couldn''t take a hint.
Those people were Hart and his group beside Jarret. The ogress K seemed to only be going along with them halfheartedly but Hart was talking to Z enthusiastically even though he was being ignored. Talen just ate quietly but still attempted to talk to Z ones in a while.
This had been his experience with the guy as well on their trip to the castle but he still appreciated his simple mind and straightforwardness.
Tyler then moved over to the side with Ragdek and pulled out something from his storage. It was a Mech Golem that had only its core ripped out but was still rtively intact. Surprise shed on Ragdek''s face as he saw this and the haziness in his eyes immediately disappeared as the look of pure joy washed over him.
"Oy Oy Oy Oy.... is this what I think it is. Crap! I didn''t think this continent would have one so advanced! Even the dwarven continent only recently developed one simr to this. Although our product is still superior, I hadn''t been given the blueprint so I never thought I''ll get to examine one."
His loud words had attracted the attention of the people around him even though Tyler had brought him to the side to avoid this. Even some of the kids that saw the Mech excitedly ran over. Tyler sighed, he hadn''t wanted to make a big deal over this and had just wanted to show it to Ragdek if he could replicate or improve this but it had ended up this way.
A little beast boy and a young ogress ran over to him and relentlessly poked his legs as they jumped rapidly as though they were high on sugar.
"Hey, Lord Ty, Lord Ty, is that yours? Can we y with it, can we? Can we?
Their assault was surprisingly relentless as they excitedly requested to y with the lifeless Mech.
"Sure, but, you''ll have to wait and see it Mr. Ragdek here can fix it."
Saying that Tyler shifted the responsibility to Ragdek as the kids ran over to him now and started bombarding him with questions.
However, Ragdek seems to be an expert in handling children for some reason as he skillfully answered their questions without making any promises and sent them back. Perhaps this was due to his experience with the other dwarves but that thought was probably rude.
"So Ragdek, can you make something like this."
"Of course. However, I''ll need more valuable materiel and tons of magic crystals for the cores. They don''t even have to be attributed."
Magic Crystals generally didn''t have any attributes and were neutral energy sources even when they were gotten from an elemental creature. However, just like what Tyler had done with the magic crystals he used in corrupting the safe zones, one could grant an attribute to a magic crystal, giving it an elemental effect.
This would progress the use of the magic crystal in a specific direction, making the energy easier to use without wasting most of its power as Bungo had done with his sword. However, such a thing was not as easy to do as Tyler had made it look and one could either destroy themselves or the magic crystal. It was truly a dangerous venture even though he had done it without a clue.
"I see. Alright then, you can just draw up your designs until we have the materials necessary. Also, can you fix this for the kids, it doesn''t have to be strong."
"Well I''m sure with Hulnyl''s help I can but it would be hard to overwrite its programming without damaging it but I''ll try. There are also specificponents that are needed and we won''t be able to make it on our own."
"Is that so. How would we get them then?"
"Not sure, they are not the type of things that are allowed to be regted in the open markets."
"Is that so? I guess the Merchant guild would be useless then. I may have to try going through the underground organizations. That''s fine then, I''ll ask Z about itter."
Not dwelling on the issue anymore, Tyler transferred all the parts of the other Mech golems he had on him over to Ragdek who stored it in his storage box and went back to drinking. He would go through it at ater date to see if he could scavenge some parts to make aplete golem for the kids while creating a design of his own.
The barbecue party continued like this for a while but soon ended when most of the kids began to get sleepy and the mothers had to take them back. Everyone else also called it a night as most of them were also tired.
Erin didn''t need to sleep at all but Liz was getting sleepy as her energy was only recently restored sothey all retired back to their rooms to rest as the next few days would be one of the most busiest days they''ve experienced sinceing to this castle.
After escorting the girls back to their rooms, Tyler was escorted back to his chambers as well. Although he had been out cold for more than 24 hours, his body didn''t feel rested at all and he could use some sleep. Perhaps his resistances weren''tpletely restored as it had been a long time since he felt this way.
A young girl dressed in a maid''s outfit escorted him back to his chambers as Albert had insisted on it and imed it was only natural. She was a pretty bunny girl with a pair of adorable white rabbits ears on top of her short pink hair. She also had a fair skin tone that made her look incredibly delicate.
Tyler didn''t remember seeing her before but since her level was quite weak that was understandable. He asked her her name which had startled her but she answered him in an incredibly respectful manner.
Her name was Cora Peri, her potential was actually not too bad it was tier 2 but she hadn''t been able to learn any spells that had been avable to her. Tyler thought perhaps she wasn''tpatible with those spells so maybe she could learn a proper healing spells.
Erin couldn''t teach anyone that wasn''t a Nymph her healing abilities so it was hard for a small settlement to gather the resources to cater for too many people.
This made Tyler think that there might be others with high magic potential that hadn''t been able to develop it thus far. He should take to them to find those people.
They soon arrived at his room and Cora opened it for him. Without waiting for his instruction, she entered the bathroom and ran him a bath while also preparing a change of clothes for him. Tyler just epted the treatment as he decided to treat it as a reward for such a hard day. He had even lost an arm in the fight so why not.
Unfortunately, he didn''t have the time for this so he only took a quick bath and changed into the night clothes that had been prepared for him. Going over to his bed, he sank into the soft mattressas a certain alluring scent caught his attention.
Still, he ignored it as he ordered Cora to standby outside or rather go to bed herself but she just went out and her presence remain. Still, as the doors to the room closed behind her, another door that wasn''t visible before had appeared next to the bathroom door and Tyler couldn''t help but smile.
He walked over to the magic door and grabbed hold of the handle. Taking a deep breath, he squeezed it tightly and turned.
The knob gently and before he could even push with any ounce of pressure, the door opened with a familiar creaking sound.
The bright light from within almost blinded him as the view from within settled in his eyes. Tall wooden bookshelves as far as the eyes could see, filled with books of different colors and sizes in different sections of the seemingly infinite hall.
He saw the walls that were lined and designed with a metal simr to gold but more valuable, the strange symbols and drawings carved on the tall walls, and even though there were no colored crystals to light up the room, the ce was as bright as though it was under the light of day.
"Finally."
A feeling of relief washed over him as the library that had been inessible for a lot longer than he had expected was finally open. Without wasting any more time to admire the view. He walked in and the door shut behind him.
Since this ce didn''t have any proper catalog or librarian, it would be hard for him to properly organize his time as locating the proper books would take most of his allocated time and he would be kicked out of here again so he needed to be more efficient this time around.
However¡ª
[Notice: Monarch Authority recognized.]
[Activation Processplete.]
[Wee to the Boundless Void Library Lord Tyler Fall Darknar. I am Uriel, how may I serve you?]
Chapter 201 C201. The Marquis
¡ªTaine Ze Region.
Somewhere in the south end of the Taine Ze region, a luxurious mansion that could be called a castle stood at the center of a small but prosperous town that had been built atop a hill in this desert region to provide a natural defense against most of the lesser beast in this area.
The supposed little town was surrounded by thick walls and defense towers as this was a border town to the various other regions in the demon continent.
However, as this was part of the region governed by the Brimstone family, there wouldn''t be anyone foolish enough to invade from this direction. Of course, this was barren the involvement of unknown parties.
This ce did not border any of the other Great Fives regions, so there was very little threat from them, and even if they tried to attack using the smaller regions as a distraction. The lord of this region had various contingencies in ce.
This ce was a border town that was close to the dangerous Valcrilm Desert, home to dangerous wilder beasts. It held trade routes to other regions and thus many Merchants and Hunters also frequent the town to hunt and trade such beasts on their way back to the cities.
This allowed the town to be prosperous without the aid of the family and as such, it held formidable defenses closer to that of a border city.
The guards that patrolled the town and defended the walls were all well trained by the lord of thisnd himself and thus their level was higher than most cities aside from the capital cities. Their equipment was also good and they could even defeat the top-ranking Hunters in the town with ease although theycked the expertise to hunt in the wild and thus the Hunters were still valuable to the town.
??????
By the edge of the balcony on the highest floor of the lord''s Mansion. A middle-aged man d in nothing but a luxurious white robe stood alone with a solemn expression on his face. His hands held a file made of a stack of pure white papers. A luxury item even for nobles in this world but his trembling hands suddenly squeezed the documents as he furrowed his brows.
,m Severalplex emotions arose within him but he quickly suppressed them as now was not the time for such things. He sighed in slight agitation as he raised his head and looked up, a light drizzle began falling from the dark clouds which had covered the sky since this morning, as though they could no longer contain themselves anymore.
This was a rarity for a desert region like this even though this was happening during the dead of winter but that didn''t seem to bother him as his mind was solely focused on the information he had just reviewed from his subordinate that had remained in the capital city with the main family.
ording to the report, something strange had happened in the research fortress close to his town and even inside the limits of his personalnd. He hadn''t even been aware that there was one such center located in his ownnd.That hadn''t even been the most surprising thing as it turned out the same said research fortress had suddenly disappeared after all forms ofmunication with the fortress were cut off.
That phrasing alone didn''t make sense as the research facilities of the Brimstone family were all fortresses in the truest sense as they were all heavily protected so even if they were attacked by the other greats themselves or the primordial behemoths, it would be impossible for it to have beenpletely destroyed.
However, destroyed wasn''t even the word that was used in the report as it said the entire building and everything within a 5-mile radius had disappeared without a trace.
He couldn''t understand what the hell that meant. The specialized division headed by thedy Izabel had supposedly taken a target there for research when something had happened and she had been forced to withdraw with only the research data of the fortress. However, that was even more ludicrous as he was aware that Lady Citrus was with her.
She had even gone as far as to manipte the events so she would be included in that mission for an unknown reason and he had been a pawn in her ns. So why would she retreat without even confirming the identity of whoever it was that had managed to invade the castle.
''Had she already achieved her objective and deemed sticking around no longer worth it or did she really do all that because she was bored and wanted to spend more time with her little sister?'' That idea couldn''tpute in his mind.
Thatdy was a monster that had secretly surpassed even the elders and not even the demon lord was aware of her true power so it didn''t make sense for the fortress to be destroyed in her presence.
However, he could not be aware that she had chosen to retreat simply because she was that strong and couldprehend the divine.
He scratched his currently unkempt hair as he pondered the report with a perplexed expression. There was a chance she had also chosen to retreat simply because she didn''t want her actual abilities to reveal but that still spoke highly of the enemy that she considered powerful enough to expose her.
"Damn it! What the hell happened there."
The report he had received was vague and inconsistent so it was hard for him to Visualize the entire picture without the missing pieces. It was currently winter so all the Elders and Nobles withnd of their own would be in Their respectfulnds unless something urgent were to arise so going back to the capital now to investigate the matter himself would attract unwanted attention.
However, that may be his only option at this point. Still, to manage the issue as discreetlyas possible, It would seem he would have to go through the proper channels. As a demon marquis. He would usually spend most of the year in the capital city, Sun city¡ª managing the matters with the various divisions of the family, and as such he was always ahead of the situation as the head of the information division but after the incident withdy Citrus.
He had chosen to retire back to hisnd to alleviate his mental fatigue and had delegated his duties to his assistants, but it would seem like that was a mistake. Thisck of information was new to him and he felt irritated being left to stumble in the dark.
He would have to return back to the city immediately as he had a bad feeling about this and his intuition was never wrong. Whatever it was that was capable of leveling a highly fortified fortress without anyone being aware of it could not be underestimated and he needed to be wary of them.
He had an inkling this had something to do with that strange behemoth he had warned the family about as that was who the Lady Izabel was investigating but even this was beyond his expectations.
The possibility someone capable of this could join forces with another family because of their mishaps was terrifying. He needed to stop such a thing from happening no matter what.
"Hey Dear, what are you doing out there? it''s raining. Pleasee in and dry off."
The soft voice of ady suddenly called out to him as he was dragged out of his thoughts and turned around. l even though he was aware of the person that had spoken to him.
Standing by the entrance of his bedroom door was a beautiful middle-aged woman d in only a luxurious sky blue robe with dripping wet ck hair that flowed all the way to her lower back.
Marquis Aamon sighed tiredly as he gave up on his worries for now and walked back into the room to embrace his wife. She kissed him lightly as she gently patted his back.
"What''s wrong, you''ve been distracted since that messenger came and now your back is doing that thing again."
"That thing? What''s that?"
"It''s always as stiff as a rock whenever you''re obsessing over something, didn''t you know?"
"How would I, but that''s why I have you to notice such things right."
"Sigh... You even delegated your responsibility to me. Well whatever, you should get in the bath. Even if you don''t get cold it''s still not good to be in the rain so long. Such rains are unusual, to begin with."
"Indeed. Why don''t you join me."
"Very funny. I was just in so no. It''s alreadyte so hurry up and join me in bed when you''re done."
Aamon chuckled dryly at that response as he kissed his wife in the forehead as she walked over to the mirror and dried her hair with a magic item.
"Oh by the way. You got another message just now. Apparently, Elder Throx will be paying us a visit soon."
"Umm... is that so, how troublesome."
"Something wrong?"
"No it''s nothing significant."
His wife only stared at him for a second before she return her attention to what she was doing.
Aamon thought the Elder must''ve beening to investigate the fortress but that would only dy his return to the city which would keep him in the dark for much longer than he would like.
His thoughts soon drifted back to the strange behemoth as he thought of what he should do from here. If he really was the one to destroy that researchb then odds are he would be angry at the family and that would be even more troublesome in the future.
At this point, there was probably no chance of making peace with him in the name of the family so what could be done. Does he advise the demon lord to break the Great Five treaty andunch an all-out assault on the Darknar region in an attempt to eliminate him?
Or does he take matters into his own hand to redirect his attention somewhere else? Either option didn''t seem easy but without all the information he could onlye up with this.
In any case, he should do as much as he could in protecting hisnd and people, especially his children.
He entered therge bathroom and disrobed. The maid had already prepared his bath so all he needed to do was rx for now and let his future self worry about this issue.
____________________________________________________________________
End of Vol 4: Empowerment
____________________________________________________________________________
So we''vee to the end of the fourth volume. How truly surprised I am to havee this far. I didn''t think I''d have the time and energy to write so many chapters for this book but thanks to all your support I did and I''m still eager to write more.
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Chapter 202 C202. Strongest Mage.
The Capital city of the sentro region was the crystallization of the Zorak family''s authority, and it contained many sights which would make a person gasp in awe. One of them made just about every visitor to the Capital exim in wonder. That was ¡ª the fact that most of the carriages seen on the paved streets were not horse-drawn carriages but Mechanically enhanced magic carriages that did not require a mount to pull it.
That was a sight which one could not see in the surrounding cities ¡ª other than the various other capital cities of the other Great Fives. Some of which were even more advanced than ckwing. Of course, not every capital city in the Demon continent was this way. Even then, thiswas only a subtle yet potent testament to the Great Five''s strength and power, one which continuously impressed and intimidate the Lord of the other 65 regions in the continent.
However, even in the Great Five regions, there was always a few exceptional cities that almost rival the capital thus making more of a statement to the other Lords.
In the case of the Sentro region, such an example was the border city¡ª Winged City. While there were little to no Mech carriages to be seen in the streets of this city. The ce was a major trade hub in the region and thus held spectacr locations and amenities that rival the capital.
Of particr note was the Central za where the Merchant Guild and Hunter Guild were located. Leading to this za was Central Avenue, a major thoroughfare of the City, and much like other public streets, the center was for horses and carriages, while the sides were for pedestrian traffic.
The difference was that there were safety fences set up along the dividing lines between the parts for people and the parts for horses, mounts and carriages, in order to ensure the safety of pedestrians. Street lights sprouted on either side of the road, and they glowed with magical light after nightfall. Speaking of which, many knights that serve as the city''s guards were on patrol, mindful of the safety of their surroundings.
For some unknown reason, it would seem the level of security in the city had increased drastically over thest few days and even the level of traffic the city faced had reduced a bit.
However, that wasn''t something an ordinary individual should worry about as asmiling man strolled casually along this road, the safest in the City, humming as he went.
The young man''s height was roughly 5''9 feet, and then if he was human, he would appear to be around the age of 17.
His hair was dark green with two curved white horns protruding from with side of his head and his eyes were shining silvery white that made him appear strange. His skin had a healthy tan and he had a fairly handsome face. Apart from his eyes, his looks were hardly umon in this part of the region.
Although one could not say he was overly handsome, his smooth skin and baby face gave him a childish feel his demeanor and one could consider him adorable. However, he radiated a subtle charisma that did not match his looks. The source of that charisma seemed toe from the faint, yet lively smile on his face, as well as his confident and open gestures.
With every step he took, the sound of chain links clinking rang forth from beneath his spotless, high-grade clothing. He also had a ck luxurious cloak draped over his shoulders but a sharp individual would still be able to tell that he wore a high-quality chain shirt underneath his magic clothing that should have more defensive capabilities than even an adamantine chain mail.
He also had a de on either hip. Each was around the length of a short sword, well maybe shorter. They had round, fully enclosed knuckle guards, and while their sheaths were hardly exquisite in make, they were clearly not cheap stuff. However, any skilled swordsman or warrior would be able to easily tell that those weapons had not been used for a while and were merely meant as a distraction for his opponent.
An individual carrying several weapons on them was not an umon sight in the demon continent but even so, this young man attracted a fair amount of attention as he''s walked in a carefree manner.
The reason why he was attracting so much attention was not because of the abnormally high level of his equipment. Nor was it because of his looks. It was simply because of the bracelet he wore on his left wrist.
That bracelet had a metallic white te on it that had the number 8 engraved on it. Indeed, it was a Tritanium Hunter bracelet that was given to the second highest ranking Hunters in the world. A rank 8 Hunter.
Moreover, this was not any ordinary Tritanium ranking Hunter even though such a thing could not be said to exist as there were only a few of them in the world. He was a lesser demon that was the most famous Hunter in Winged city as a member of a Hunting Party called Dominion.
Known as the strongest mage in the Sentro region. This man ¡ª Berot Dimzo ¡ª was a Tritanium ranked Hunter, and he was smiling.
"What to buy? What to buy?"
There were countless magic items that he wanted, but in the end, his top priority was a new defensive gear. It was hard to find high level magic items in the open market but even one of the highest ranking hunters, he had other ways of getting what he wanted and was only here for to restock on his supplies.
There was also one more thing. It was an unrted matter, but there was something else that he wanted.
"I''ll set aside the money for that¡ the rest can go to magic supplies for our next mission. Hm? Isn''t that the wrong way around? I ought to buy the magic items first and save whatever''s leftover for that. At least that''s what a proper Hunter would do."
Berot scratched his head.
In that case¡ª
"Since I made quite a bit on this mission, I should still have enough for those right? It would be a shame if I show up without them. I didn''t think I''d be so busy that I''d forget to get them in the capital. Still, aren''t things a lot costly these days? I still need to change my backup weapon. They''ve gotten so rusty I can''t even pull them out of their sheaths, it would be bad if I were forced into a cover and can''t rely on them. Umm... A low level magic sword might be best as they''re not affected by rust even if I don''t use them for years."
However, Magical equipment and weapons were very expensive and hard to find. High level items could be so expensive that Berot could not afford them even though he made a lot more than the lowest ranking nobles as a high ranking Hunter.
In any case, the defensive gear and weapon he needed were not that expensive for someone like him, but they still cost as much as years of an average person''s wages. Although he could afford it, his different upbringing than most allowed him to carefully consider everything when making such a costly purchase.
As he looked forward to his shopping, his eyes met those of the City''s guards standing by the roadside for an instant, and his smile suddenly froze. While most city''s discriminated against Hunters, Winged city was not like that but as a well traveled Hunter, Berot still felt nervous whenever he locks eyes with a guard.
Moreover, the guards'' current demeanor didn''t seem friendly at all and he felt like he might''ve done something wrong.
A tag team of a heavily-armored knight and a lightly-armored knight stood at the street corner, surveying the surrounding conditions as though keeping their eyes out for something or someone.
Everyone knew that the Hunter guild was in the vicinity, and so security was especially strict here due to the unruly nature of most Hunters. While he doubted that they would arrest people off the streets especially some as renowned as him, Berot could sense their gazes resting on the weapons at his waist.
As their eyes moved along andnded on the bracelet on his left wrist, he had thought that would be all and they would move on but it continued to scan him until their gaze rested on his face and Berot''s heart skipped a beat as though he was a criminal.
The gods seemed to have smiled on him because the guards justpared his face to a certain list he assumed was a wanted list, and continued on with their work as they did not stop him neither did they look at him the same way the citizens did.
. This was because even though he was stronger than them, he was still a lesser demon and thus was looked down upon by the guards who were pure demons.
Still, his reaction had been strange for a popr mage and that was because he held a guilty Conscience at the moment.
''Pheww... That was close. Why did I let those girls talk me into hiding that job from the guild? I may be a demon now but I''m not that shrewd you know.''
He grumbled internally as he continued on his way. After walking down the street full of shops for a while, he had achieved most of his goals and restored on supplies. There was a well renowned shop that sold magic items but their prices were overblown and he didn''t get anything there aside for scrolls and low grade potions.
He would get his items from his usual sources and he had a fairly urate idea of how much they would cost. The only unpredictable items were the supplies and scrolls that changed prizes almost daily.
With a little mental calction, he would have enough left to buy hisrades some very convincing souvenirs. He had spent a way longer time with his friends than he had anticipated so he had no choice if he wanted to appease them.
Today seems to be a good day for him as he found suitable items that had just arrived from the Far East so it was perfect. He quickly wrapped them up as he proceeded to the inn his party members should be staying.
Hunters always stayed closed to the guild for the sake of convenience and establishing connections with other Hunters. While there were a few inns around the Hunter guild, the best was the Duval inn so that''s were high ranking Hunters like himself would usually stay.
Walking at a steady pace, he arrived at the massive inn pretty quickly and entered. The doors easily swung open as he rushed in hoping to surprise his friends who he had sensed were at the dinner.
However, as he hid his presence while rushing in through the doors before his friends could sense him. His legs suddenly tripped on a loose board as he stumbled into the hall and crashed into a young waitress who held a tray of drinks as she was busy with a order. His body pushed her down and the items she was holding crashed into him and spilled all over.
The heavy wooden and ss cups didn''t hurt but the liquid had gotten into his eyes taking away his sight so he had to feel his way around. He attempted to get up without his vision when his hands suddenly grabbed something and he felt a certain soft and sinking sensation under his palms and instinctively squeezed what felt like a pair ofrge marshmallows.
His fingertips sank into the giant marshmallows and a light moan was heard. In an attempt to understand what was happening he continued his assault and the moan was followed by a high pitched shriek which told him that he may have just made a grave mistake and his face went pale.
"Kyaaaaah¡ª!!!!! Pervert!"
"You dumb jerk!"
*BAMM!!!
Chapter 203 C203. Mission
*BAMM!!
In a loud bang that reverberated in the inn''srge dinner, a fist connected with Berot''s face as he was sent flying off the flustered waitress and mmed into the wall of the inn. If that punch had been any stronger, his body might''ve shattered the wall and that would be another problem of its own.
This showed the restraint on the power behind the fist even though one would find it difficult to notice it.
"Ow ow ow ow ow... That hurts you know."
Berotined to the girl that was now standing in front of the waitress as he rubbed his cheeks and slowly got off the ground. She was a slender girl with short orange hair and the same color tiger ears atop her head with a long orange striped tiger''s tail that was iling wildly behind her as she red at him.
A wild and imposing aura was being emanated from her body.
She had golden-colored eyes with a vertical slit that gave her gaze a predatory glint to them. Her pretty face held a few stripes like that of a tiger and one could clearly see fangs hidden in the midst of her gritted teeth.
"What the fuck do you think you''re doing to poor Freylyn the moment you return you big perv!"
The waitress¡ª Freylyn¡ª sat up with the assistance of another waitress in embarrassment as she tried but failed miserably in hiding her more than amble bosom from the perverted gazes of the Hunters in the inn.
She was a bunny girl in a cute waitress outfit with a girly apron draped on her that held her chest high up so naturally she had built up a number of fans and they all red daggers at him even though no one was foolish enough to attack him but their hostile gazes gave Berot the chills.
"Uh sorry, that was a mistake I swear!"
"Of course, it''s always a mistake with you, you damn leech!"
"Ohe on Eliss I''m serious, don''t let everyone get the wrong idea about me. It was a mistake, truly!."
The beastgirl who berated him was one of hispanions called, Eliss Deriollo. She was of the predatory beastmen species and was also a Tritanium ranked Hunter just like him.
"It''s okay, I''m sure Mr. Dimzo didn''t mean anything by that so let''s let it go okay. We''re disturbing the other customers."
The gentle voice of Freylyn echoed in the room and calmed almost everyone down as she was helped up by her colleague and smiled faintly at them.
"Uh, are you sure Freylyn? If you keep letting perverts like this get away with it they''ll never learn."
"It''s fine, Mr. Dimzo had apologized and imed it was an ident so I can''t be mad at that. Can ''I''."
Berot should''ve been happy he had been let off the hook by Freylyn but something told him that was far from the truth. While she didn''t look to be angry at him on the surface. Berot could tell that was not the case. She had only ever called him by hisst name the first day they met and ever since then they''ve been on a first-name basis but she had just used hisst name twice in an overly polite tone that even added a title in front of it.
He could only smile wryly as he scratched his head awkwardly. He would attempt to smooth things over with her in private so as not to attract any more attention even though the inn''s dinner was not as packed as it usually was.
"Ahahahaha!... Oh, Berot Berot Berot, you''ve only just returned and you''re already up to your usual antics. Fufufufu..."
A hand suddenly pped his back hard as arge man who wasn''t there before had suddenly appeared behind him. However, his presence had been familiar so Berot hadn''t immediately attacked.
The man wore a suit of Raven ck full te armor ¡ª albeit without a full-faced helm ¡ª on it was a bold crest of a noble family albeit a low rank one but he didn''t seem to be ashamed of it. He had a two one-handed spiked mace strapped to his back and a chain whip hung by the side of his waist.
His facial features were rough, and his hair was styled nicely. His tiny mustache was neatly trimmed and he gave others the impression of being free-spirited. Aspared to a human, he would look to be in his mid 30''s.
Although he could not be called handsome, his looks were surely above average and he oozed a powerful aura. Naturally, this man was also another one of hispanions. A demon noble from the baron family of Sachat, and he went by the name of Abel Sachat, a magic warrior that was also of the same rank as Berot.
Standing next to him was another female who looked at him with scorn but did not say a word.
She was a skinny woman that could be called a girl if she was human. She looked to be in herte teens. Her lustrous scarlet hair was neatly trimmed at her shoulder, while her eyes and nose were perfectly positioned. She could either be called beautiful or cute. However, she had an inorganic, doll-like quality about her.
She wore a loose, long brown robe. Underneath that was a high-quality leather armor that wasced with Duranium and enchanted with magic. She held a metal staff that twisted at the top as it wrapped a perfectly round red crystal.
Although she was also a lesser demon. The only protruding feature she had was a thing red tail that asionally peeked out of her robe.Her name was Lyka Ranulf and just like the others, she was also a Tritanium ranked Hunter.
"Come on guys give me a break. You know that was an ident."
"Just shut up and go sit down. Who the hell is going to pay for what you broke anyway you bone head."
? After causing amon in an attempt to surprise his friends. Berot and his party members finally settled down at a private corner of the hall before ordering food and drinks for their table.
Unfortunately for Berot, it seems Freylyn was really pissed at him as she hadn''t brought his order and was pretending he didn''t exist. This was after all not the first time this was happening so she could not excuse him so easily. It was indeed embarrassing to get dropped in public repeatedly.
Berot sighed in embarrassment at his own luck that could be considered a misfortune. It was truly not his fault that stuff like this kept happening to him asionally.
That was a side effect of his truly unique innate ability, Lucky Pervert.
While the skill was not as weak as it seems. It has drawbacks that tend to get him in situations like the one earlier. His ability was actually a very powerful one as it affect and bend the fabric of reality itself to favor him. Containing both elements of Law maniption and Reality maniption and Space-Time maniption.
Although with that said, he didn''t have any real control over those elements themselves as he could not even control his ability and it only activates on its own.Whenever he happens to find himself in any type of dangerous situation, the ability would alter reality in a way that the situation ends up favoring him, albeit in the lewdest ways possible.
Even if he were facing a monster, as long as his aesthetic sense considered the monster cute or attractive in any way either because it had a human form or humanoid transformation. He would almost always end up tripping into them either resulting in him groping them or them sitting on his face.
Of course, that was also very dangerous because most monsters won''t feel embarrassed in such a situation and he would be in a very dangerous position but ut also serve to distract the monster for his teammates to finish it off.
The truly troublesome part was whenever he uses the ability for a long time, it would start affecting his everyday life for a while.
This was why he would asionally go Hunting alone but it seems that hadn''t helped him this time gave the cold treatment he was receiving from Freylyn.
If she was that angry then it wouldn''t be as easy as he thought to make it up to her but luckily he had the souvenirs he had just bought for hispanions.
In the end, he would need Abel to sacrifice his souvenir to Freylyn even though he had no say in the matter. His ability had truly put him in the spot this time.
It was unknown what drives the creating of an innate ability that was truly unique to an individual but perhaps it had to do with the mind. As a kid that loved clich¨¦ harem anime where the MC is a lucky pervert. Perhaps that had influenced his mind while he was being reincarnated to this world.
Indeed, Berot Dimzo was a reincarnate from earth. Although he didn''t have many memories from his past lives aside from the shows and books he had read and watched. Perhaps he had led an uneventful life that wasn''t worth remembering.
"Oh by the way, what''s with the extra security in the city all of a sudden?" Berot spoke suddenly as he remembered his trip here.
"Uh? Oh right, you must not have heard. Apparently, an entire party of tinum ranked Hunters went missing a few days ago."
"What really? How did that happen?"
"Who knows, apparently it happened inside the city so there''s an uproar within the guild and they''re pressuring the city to do something."
"Since when does the city care about Hunters that much?" Berot asked Eliss in surprise but the one to respond to his question this time was Abel.
"Ohe on, Winged city is not that bad. But I''m sure the real reason they care is because the city needs the Hunter guild and merchant Guild for a something."
"Oh really. That sounds intriguing. What do they need us for?"
"Not sure it''s a secret so far so I''ve only heard rumors. They''ve been recruiting high-ranking Hunters for a while now and are paying a lot upfront."
"Seriously."
"I kid you not. We''ve also gone for the briefing but unfortunately, we couldn''t ept it yet because you were gone."
"Yeah, they even made us sign a contract so unless we ept the mission before tomorrow, we can''t speak of the details to anyone even you. So what should we do oh mighty leader?" Eliss asked sarcastically with a big grin on her flushed face from the alcohol.
"You''re asking me? How would I know, I don''t have any information about this at all. If anything, you guys are in a better position to make a decision on this so I''ll trust your judgment."
"See, I told you he''ll say that. He''s like a child." The one who spoke this time was Lyka who had remained silent the entire time as she sipped on her juice as she didn''t like alcohol.
"Hey! I''m still your leader you know."
"¡Really now. How adorable you are. If you weren''t such a massive pervert I''ll hug you right now¡ hehehe." Eliss jumped in and head-locked Berot.
"That''s so mean guys. You''re damaging my reputation with each day you know."
"I think you''re doing that yourself."
"All kidding aside, we''ll ept this mission so let''s begin our usual party meeting before a mission this big."
Everyone''s original expressions were gone now. They leaned slightly in, bringing their faces close to their colleagues. They could not help it even though there were not that many people in the inn and nobody was remotely close to their table; one could say it was a professional habit.
"Let''s verify the details of the request and get Berot up to date with the information we received from the guild."
"Alright, what''s this mission about?"
"It''s simple really, we''ve been tasked to clear out the monsters nesting in an unexplored Gold mine in the Farbelt pass."
Chapter 204 C204. Mission Preparations
The Farbelt pass was located at the extreme end of the Sentro region and was at the border of the Mounta region and the forbidden Darknar region. The ce was a dangerous location that didn''t directlye under the jurisdiction of Winged city or any of the surrounding City''s as it would be easy prey for invasion from outside forces.
Indeed, something simr had happened in the past and arge city had fallen into ruins because of it. The fact that thend hadn''t been imed by the attacking family was a miracle but the Pass hadn''t been developed since then and was now a monster den ruled by the King of the Pass, a ColdFire Drake.
Even so, outside forces aside. The Farbelt Pass had be a fairly high resource area that had been fought over by the surrounding cities for centuries although non of their battles were actually serious. In the end, iming the pass had not been a priority for them and thus it remained the same.
However, everything changed when an unexplored mine was discovered there. The fairly high resource area that was left to the wild for everyone to im had suddenly be a very valuable piece ofnd and thus, Hunters and Merchants were being recruited for the clearing out of the monster nest and protection of the miners.
"¡ªhere, look at this."
Lyka opened up a map and circled a certain location.
"The exact location is unclear, but it ought to be around this area so it''s quite deep inside the Farbelt Pass. If care is not taken, we might end up trespassing in the ColdFire Drake territory and that would be bad."
Her delicate finger slid over the map''s surface and then tapped twice.
"Silverwing city is also closer to the pass than us so the constraints on the time given to our preparations. It would seem the ce is valuable enough to warrant the attention of the Lords of both cities and the city is in a rush to im it."
"Umm.... doesn''t something feels off about that though."
"What do you mean?"
"I get that it''s an unexplored mine and all, but it''s only a gold mine. Is it really valuable enough to warrant hiring so many Hunters? Even going as far as to pay up a whopping 1000DC upfront and even promising a bnce of 2000 DC. Something doesn''t add up."
Berot scratch his head as he spoke. Unable to figure out why the reward for this mission was so high.
"Indeed you''re right. We thought the same as well when we first receive the briefing. The monsters that are attracted to a weak metal like gold are usually weak as well so hiring so many Hunters didn''t make any sense."
Abel nodded his head as he agreed with Berot while Lyka continued his words.
"Yeah, that''s why I decided to look more into it to find out more about the mine. It was well hidden but I was able to find out that the ones who first discover the mine was the same group of Hunters that had recently gone missing."
"Wait what! You don''t mean..."
"Probably... Although I''ve heard that thest time they were seen entering the city was with a new VIP merchant."
"A VIP merchant. Whose that?"
"No idea. Excerpt the merchant guild leader, I''m not sure anyone had seen his face even with spells and skills. Perhaps Ruby has better Info on them though."
"No had seen his face? Why, was he wearing some kind of concealing mask?"
"Who knows. I never saw him myself but I hear he always had a hood on and was apanied by a beastgirl. That''s not even the interesting part."
"..."
,m "Get this. Not only were they able to easily join the Magic institute. But I hear they had a sparring section with the vice guild leader there and the girl won."
"You''re kidding! Where are they now?"
"That''s as much of a mystery as their real identities. Last they were seen leaving the city to who knows where."
"So they didn''t go missing as well. If they waited for someone as troublesome as the merchant fellow to leave before they strike. Do you think¡ª?"
"It''s not confirmed yet, but there''s a chance the nobles are responsible for their disappearance but the increase in security seems to disprove that idea."
"You''re right. If the nobles were responsible they would not make a big deal over the disappearance of some mid-level Hunters."
Agreeing with her, Berot reached out an arm to grab Eliss drink as he hadn''t been served any but his hand was swiftly swatted away like a bug.
"That''s right but there''s still a chance they''re only doing this to throw the Hunter guild off while still gaining our help. Also, there''s talk that the mine is a double mine with a hidden treasure."
"I see... if that''s the case then it makes a lot of sense why they''re hiring so many Hunters. If the attached mine contains more valuable metals then the strength of the monsters would be too unpredictable and there might even be a boss-level monster in there."
"Yes... we thought so too. That''s why we decided to ept the mission. So what do you think O perverted leader of ours?"
"That question again even though I no longer have a choice in the matter. I''ll rather hear why you guys epted this job in the first ce, besides the money of course."
"Seems interesting. Even if it just turns out to be a weak gold mine. The journey there is dangerous on its own, and I hear undead creatures have been straying out of the Darknar forest each day. Powerful monsters have also left the forest and there''s a high chance of encountering them along the way."
"Indeed... I epted for the same reason. Encountering a powerful monster from the forbidden region is really interesting. My blood is boiling for a proper challenge."
Abel agreed with Eliss reasoning as they both radiated with eagerness but Lyka didn''t seem to share their enthusiasm.
"I only epted it for the money. My little brother just got epted into the Zorak Magic Academy so I''ll have to take care of his tuition for the year soon."
"Really! Wow... he must be crazy talented, they only ept like one or two students a year from themon folks. Even I didn''t get epted when I was his age."
Berot praised in surprise as he heard Lyka''s reason for epting the job.
"I know. He has a higher potential than me and is very gifted even though he has no innate ability. I just want him to get all the help he requires for his future just like what my elder brother would''ve wanted."
"You really are a dotting little sister ain''t you."
"What! No, I''m not."
"Oh how cute! you''re embarrassed."
"Please stop this Eliss, we''re in public."
Lyka was an orphan who had lived with only her two brothers almost her entire life. Her older brother had been the one taking care of them since she was little. He had been a member of the magic guild and a high-level magic researcher even though his magic potential was mid-level at best.
However, his hard work and intelligence had granted him the ability to move up in the rankings and the means to take care of his siblings as well as affording expensive magic books and items for them to improve. Unfortunately, he had died a few years back in a joint mission with the Merchant Guild, leaving her to take care of her little brother by herself.
The fact that all three siblings could use magic to this extent was impressive on its own but now her brother was apparently talented enough to be epted in the magic academy. Berot couldn''t help but be impressed.
He was a reincarnate but had failed to enter the magic institute because of his supposedck of talent and a proper innate ability. His magic potential was pretty high but it was nowhere near the peak of this world.
Part of the reason why this was the case was hisck of an opportunity as a kid. He hadn''t figured out that he could increase his magic potential by training his mana pool as a kid until it was toote and thus only needed up with a Tier 5 potential.
Still, that was enough to grant him the means to escape his fate as a lesser demon and he soon became known as the strongest mage in the Sentro region. Perhaps him not joining the magic academy was a good thing after all but he couldn''t help but have a tinge of regret at a lost opportunity.
"Alright, enough fooling around. Since we''ve decided to partake in this mission. We''ll have to make sure we''re well prepared for whatever may be tossed our way."
"Indeed, the disappearance of those five Hunters means this mission may not be as straightforward as we want it to be. It''s best we approach it with extreme caution."
Lyka said seriously as she stared at the group. She then turned to Eliss before continuing.
"More importantly Eliss. You can''t go around picking fights with whoever pisses you off when we meet up with the other Hunters partaking in this. There''s a chance one of them might be working for a third party so let''s all be careful around them.
"Hey! Why''d you single me out like that!"
"No reason."
"Why¡ª"
"¡ªAnyway, we only have a few hours left to prepare so let''s end our meeting here. I''ll try to get some information on the Hunters that has epted the job so far and Eliss will apany me. You two should get our Hunting gear for the mission.
Hunting gears included things like ropes, oil, potions, and magic items. They were required to be stocked up on daily and for a long-term mission like this, they needed more than they would normally use.
"Now then, let''s move. Although¡ Lyka."
Lyka tilted her head, as though to ask "Hm?" Berot spoke the question that was on his mind.
"Say, will the payment from this job be enough for your brother''s fees?"
"¡ªIt''ll be fine. If I add this to the ones I''ve been saving, I should have more than enough for the first year."
"I see... well that''s okay then. If you need help with anything don''t hesitate to ask."
"Why would I need help from a pervert like you."
"ohe on not this again. Anyway, before you guys leave, here. I got this from the capital as souvenirs for you guys."
He handed the girls a pair of silver pendants. They had a gem the size of a small coin in them that seemed to be showing within. This was a miniature globe made with magic and then shrunked to that size.
While they were not that expensive, they were not cheap either. He was lucky they had only started sales on them today as they were originally native to the capital so the girls hadn''t seen it yet.
Eliss epted the gift excitedly while Lyka looked at it with indifference.
"Did you seriously waste your money on such trinkets."
"Hahaha... I figured you''re react like that but don''t worry they were on sale and quite cheap. I got for the four of us so just ept it and think of it as our good luck charm."
His prepared exnation had totally worked as Lyka looked convinced by his bullshit and smiled as she epted the gift.
Chuckling softly, she then dragged Eliss with her as they left the inn. They had only been gone for a few minutes when Abel suddenly asked.
"So where''s mine."
"Sorry man I''m giving it to Freylny, she''s still mad."
"I''m telling Lyka about this."
"You wouldn''t dare."
"You sure."
"Damn it... Alright fine. I''ll treat you to drinks for week how bout that."
"Two weeks."
"You''re worse than the devil."
"Fufufu... You pretty boys have it tough don''t you... hahahahaha.."
After several more minutes of Abel drinking on Berot. They both finally got up to left the inn.
They headed for their usual customer to restock on supplies for their mission as well as gather some more information about the new VIP merchant whose name was apparently just Lix to see if he could help track down the missing Hunters.
By the time they were done with all their task, the night was already upon them and thus their preparations for tomorrow werepleted.
Chapter 205 C205. Meeting Of The Elites
The Chapters order have been fix so please, if you missed chapter 202. Strongest Mage, do go back and revisit it. Or don''t. Up to you. Enjoy the chap.
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The sun had not yet risen, but there were already quite a number of Hunters gathered in the Lord Aur castle''s courtyard. Thest people to arrive were Berot and the members of Dominion, for a total of 21 people. All of the people gathered for this quest were high-ranking Hunters within Winged city and even the entirety of the Sentro region.
Most teams kept a fixed distance from the others, but there were a few that were acquainted with others and thus were sticking together. Although they had all been hired to do the same job and would have to work together at some point in time. Their pride as high rankers made them unable to make the first move.
As Dominion entered the courtyard, every single eye inside turned to face them. Their scrutinizing gazes contained quite a lot of pressure and weaker Hunters would''ve run away by now.
"Ah, there''s a few familiar faces. I guess that''s expected when you hire almost all the highest-ranking Hunters around Huh. Although I don''t see the Dark Wizard though."
"Indeed... it would seem that Mr. Kline''s party had chosen not to ept this quest. Still, there are a lot of rarely seen Hunters around today. Goes to show the pressure the city had ced on the Guild."
"Or perhaps the Guild also had its own agenda in this. I personally didn''t expect to see the famous Spirit Mage Lady Bell and her Knell haze group here today."
"Let''s leave that aside for now; sincedy Bell is there, the ones over there should be the other team leaders, right?"
Almost everyone present was divided into their teams, and among them, a group of four people was discussing in the center of the courtyard.
"Alright, it seems like those are only the party leaders so I''ll go over to say hi. You guys try and get along with the others okay."
"¡Ah! Ugh, is thatdy from¡ª? Don''t tell me those crafty pigs from Red Ruby are here too...? Why the heck would they even hire them. They''re supposed to be information specialist but all their information are always wrong or iplete. Ipetent idiots."
"I''m not sure that''s the case Eliss. They might be doing it on purpose you know."
"Why the fuck will they do that. Isn''t selling wrong information damaging to their reputation."
"Yes, selling wrong information would be. But none of the information they''ve sold so far is wrong though. They are just iplete and missing certain details. They would thenter sell the moreplete information for an even greater price than it''s worth."
"Geez, those vicious bastards."
"¡ªI don''t like them either."
"Ah, it doesn''t matter if you like themor not, just remember we''re supposed to work together as a team for this mission so try and tolerate them. Besides, I don''t see anyone else from the group so maybe she''s alone this time. Don''t say anything stupid though."
"Are you actually calling me stupid right now?" An annoyed look was stered on Eliss face as she red daggers at Abel.
"Come on guys, you''re going to ruin our impable reputation."Saying that Berot walked in between the pair and smiled mischievously.
"¡Hey, I''m going over to say hi to Bell. Don''t give them a reason to mock me. We''re one of the strongest parties in here if not the strongest. So let''s not give them a reason to look down on us."
"Fine fine, just go."
"Work hard, leader."
After hearing Lyka cheer him on, Berot deliberately scrunched up his face and grumbled, "for me to be the voice of reason. Those two must be really confident today." He then walked to the group of four standing in a circle in the center of the courtyard.
The first to greet Berot as he walked over was a female Tritanium ranked Hunter he was acquainted with.
She was an attractive middle-ageddy with long single-braided brown hair and beautiful brown eyes that seems to be able to see through everything. She was about the same height as Berot and wore a raven ck cloak with blue threads designing it and held and long wooden staff that was about half an inch shorter than her.
She was his acquaintance who was also well known as a very powerful spirit mage, named Bell. As she greeted him, the other three turned to observe him. While he had never met them before, he was fairly aware of who they were.
Standing next to Bell was a Duranium ranked Hunter in a suit of Dark Blue-colored full te armor. Due to the strange structure of the tes and the wide shape of his pauldrons, he did not look like a typical humanoid creature but that off a monster standing on two legs.
Tworge tusks stuck straight out of his helmet, and from his exposed green skin, one could surmise what race he was. Looking oddly simr to the evolved troll Kazko, one would be mistaken if they considered him a troll as there was arge disparity in their heights. Instead, it was Kazko who looked simr to his race after his evolution.
His build was that of a warrior and he wields arge war hammer and a shied was strapped on his back.
"Oh Berot, I heard you returned yesterday. I guess you epted this request as well." Bell said in an oddly amused tone.
"Well honestly I didn''t really have much of a choice in the matter but the terms of the job seem favorable this time."
"¡ªAnd if it isn''t the strongest mage in Sentro. I would this types of jobs would be beneath you."
"Now why would you think that Vrutha the brute. Why are you here?"
Interrupting his conversation with Bell was the Orc, Vrutha the Brute. Leader of a Duranium ranked Hunter team called, Battle Lords.
"What do you mean why am I here. For the battle of course. That what we orcs live for."
Ignoring the brute for a moment. Berot waved to the other two people. His attitude was neither polite nor dignified but they didn''t mind. This was because they did not care much about one''s status, not their attitude only their strength and Berot was definitely not weak.
Taking a look at the groups behind Bell and Vrutha. Berot counted their numbers to be a total of 17. Bell''s group was a party of only women, most of which were either lesser demons or Demi humans. The number nine and including her would make them an even Ten.
Vrutha group were four strong-looking orcs like himself and if you included him, that would make them five. The only remaining two seem to have epted the quest on as solo Hunters but as they were both Tritanium rank as him, they must be really confident of their strength.
However, Berot had never seen these two fight before so he couldn''t be sure but he trusted the Hunter guild ranking system as it wasn''t wed enough to rank Hunters based on their magic potential alone.
"So Bell, you''re friends with Kline right?"
Hearing his sudden question, bell turned to face Berot with an expression that said. "So?" Before tilting her head slightly.
"I was just wondering why he didn''t show up today. You''d think going to a dangerous ce like the Farbelt pass would be something he would really be into."
"Oh, that... he said he wasn''t interested."
"Huh, why?"
"He''s looking for someone."
"Really? Who could that be?"
"A few days back he heard that someone who had only just joined the magic institute defeated their vice guild leader in a one on one duel."
"Oh right, he is part of the magic guild as well isn''t he."
"Correct."
"So what does he want to do with that person."
"Fight him of course. He was aiming to one day defeat the vice guild leader after all so now he wants to defeat the person who defeated his prey or something dumb like that. You know how men are."
"Oh, I see. Isn''t that person the VIP merchant I''ve heard about?"
"I think so."
Bell smiled thinly, Berot saw that she was no longer interested in the topic and so he shrugged and turned to the other man.
"This is the first time I''ve spoken face to face with you."
He extended a hand to the other man as a show of respect, and that man took it. His was a sturdy and strong hand. The man narrowed his eyes for a moment before speaking.
"Ah yes, The strongest mage Berot from Dominion isn''t it."
"I''ve also heard of you. Godspeed yer, Kazim Izazel. They say you''re the fastest swordsman in the surrounding regions. Compared to me whose only ranked in Sentro. I''ll say you''re more impressive."
"How ttering for a man of your caliber to know of me."
The man had short grey hair that was styled upwards and dazzling grey eyes with extremely handsome features that matched Zomatsu. Showing his high noble standings even though he was currently a Hunter.
He wore light metal armor and wielded a one-sided curved de that was longer than the average sword.
Although he spoke in a polite manner and had a gentle smile. No one could mistake the arrogance in his eyes and posture that seem to consider everyone around him a lesser being.
''I should be careful of this one.''
After exchanging brief pleasantries with Kazim, Berot moved on to greet thest one of the group.
She was a youngdy with short ck hair and a pair of mismatched eyes that seems to contain a vast amount of secrets. One is blue and the other golden. Wearing a pair of spectacles thatplementedher eyes, she was an intellectual beauty that gave off the air of a wise and cunning witch.
She wore light armor that was hidden under a light brown cloak. Although she was a representative from Red Ruby. It would seem that she had chosen toe along on this mission for whatever reason.
"Hey there, you must be the famous Ms. Aegar re aren''t you?"
"Indeed I am, and you''re Berot, the so-called strongest mage in Sentro."
"So-called. isn''t that a little¡ª"
"¡ªNope! We at Red Ruby pride ourselves in our information gathering abilities so being up to date is only natural for us. ording to our current data report. The two recent members of the magic institute may have already surpassed you even though we are fairly confident that they haven''t even shown us the full extent of their abilities."
"Huh? Wait what are you¡ª"
"Moreover, we''ve never even seen Master Lix inbat and only hispanion who we''ve judged to be weaker than him, meaning his level even surpasses that of the vice guild leader and even the guild leader of the magic institute. There''s a high chance he''s even a legendary behemoth that surpasses even current-day demon lords."
"Wait... Master?"
Hearing his question, her face suddenly flushed red as she started fidgeting wildly with a lewd expression on her face as she couldn''t help but continue ranting.
"Yes, Master Lix is a man most deserving of our respect and everyone at Red Ruby greatly admires him. For a man to sopletely block all our surveince of him makes our hearts skip several beats that we just might die if it skips a few more. He''s just so cool and mysterious and is able to perfectly hide his presence. He''s like a god taking a mortal form. I just want him to embrace me in his big strong arms."
"Errr... Rig...ht..." Berot couldn''t help but think he had made a mistakeing here but he could not just leave just like that so he had to endure it for just a bit. "Umm, so where''s the rest of your team?"
"Oh silly you. Of course, they are all out there trying desperately to find Master Lix by all means necessary. I''m so jealous that they have a chance to encounter him before me but I have to earn some more funds to increase our efficient information range past the surrounding cities. I''m sort of hoping we''ll run into him on our way to the mine since he escorted those five there and back safely. I''m sure they just made him do all the work. Those idiots. Anyway back to¡ª"
"¡ªOh look, the guild leader ising so it must be time to go¡ª" ''Thank You Lord'' "¡ªI better get back to my team, let catch up on thister."
Saying that Berot literally ran away as the Hunter guild leader came out of the Lord''s castle apanied by a maid.
Chapter 206 C206. Aim Of The Quest
The other Hunters in the castle''s courtyard were in the midst of their own discussions when they suddenly quelled their facial expressions and turned to look at the aged man who was walking towards them with a beautiful maid by his side. The maid in question was one of the Lord of this city''s personal maids and thus was a demon noble that held a higher status than most of them.
The Hunter Guild Leader walked proudly through the courtyard that was well lit by magicmps and the brightening sky, with a pose that befitted a man of his status even though he was a bit more rxed than what actual Noble etiquette demanded.
He arrived before the Hunters and grinned while stroking his long white beard. Some of the Hunters seemed affected by that but most of them had no response as the old man chuckled and said:
"Well at the very least you lot made it on time for once. It''s almost time to leave so I hope you''re all prepared. We shall dispatch four merchants with you for transportation and sixteen royal knights as an escort. There will also be a batch of miners apanying you. Their job begins the moment yours ends but don''t worry, it''s not your job to keep them safe."
Ivan nced at every single Hunter in front of him and nodded his head upon seeing their serious expression before he continued his speech.
"The objective of this quest is an unexplored grade 3 gold mine within the Farbelt Pass ¡ª very likely to be a doubleyer mine, from the information we''ve reviewed. The duration of the expedition will be three days, and the bonus will be awarded based on how fast the nest of the monsters is exterminated."
The guild leader¡ª Ivan Geriyl¡ª had said the same thing as the quest briefing, the only difference was probably the presence of the Knights serving as theirs and the miners'' bodyguards.
They wanted to know why the lord was so desperate for amon grade 3 mine aside from the possibility of another connecting mine, but the Hunters knew which questions could be answered and which questions could not. If the City''s Lord was willing to tell them, then he would have said so when briefing them.
However¡ª
"Ah... yes. There is also another reason why we hired you bunch. You''re all the best the Hunter guild has to offer and we won''t send you out just based on the possibility of an unknown variable. No. We specifically asked for Hunters at the Adamantine level or higher for a reason."
Scanning their faces one more time, he sighed tiredly and spoke:
"Although it seems you lot have scared all the Adamantine level away. I only requested for you to gather here for a briefing not turn it into a danger zone. *sigh... well this is good too. Let''s get back on topic. We''ve confirmed the existence of a certain creature in the adjacent mine."
"Oh, how intriguing. What kind of creature was able to cause the guild to hire so many of us?"The one who spoke was Godspeed yer Kazim, who had been keeping his eyes closed all this while seemingly uninterested until now.
His eyes sparkled with interest as he stared at the guild leader, urging him to continue.
"A Green-Eyed Devil."
"A Devil?"
The enthusiasm visibly died from Kazim''s face as he almost immediately lost interest.
"I''m sure not many of you have seen a true Devil before so you''re probably assuming it''s the same as those read things you''ve read in your children''s books. But you''re wrong."
"Meaning what exactly," Berot asked as he suddenly felt ufortable with the situation.
"Meaning this. Just as we demons used to have a hierarchy amongst ourselves that we''ve evolved into nobility titles. Devils are the same. Those red things you''ve seen in books are merely lesser devils with no mind or ego of their own. They''re incredibly weak. However, you''ve heard of the stories of summoned devils who devour their summoners and eat their souls right?."
"Yes."
"Yes. Those are the type of devils I''m talking about. Summoned devils are not some type of monster with intelligence as most seem to believe. They are creatures that exist in the underworld or the abyss as spirits that eternally wanders the darkness. They gain power and intelligence in various ways and their society is governed by the rule of strength. They are ranked as, Lesser Devils, Devils, Greater Devils, and Arch Devils."
"Okay, so what does all that mean?"
"In simple terms, a normal devil is at the very least the level of a demon earl, a greater devil is at least the same rank as a demon duke and if you meet an archdevil I suggest you run."
A wave of gasp swept across the courtyard as looks of astonishment was stered across all the hunters'' faces. They hadn''t expected even the least strong devil to be at a level beyond theirs but they still didn''t think it would be too much of a hassle to kill one. After all, Hunters were specialized in killing monsters that were stronger than them.
The biggest problem was the archdevil who surpassed their expectations by leaps and bounds.
"So, what''s the level of the devil you''re sending us after."
"We ain''t sure. But from the information we received, it shouldn''t be stronger than a Greater Devil so all of you should be enough to take it down and im the territory it''s guarding. That is your main objective in this mission. We''ve also prepared a map of the underground mine and where the devil has located thanks to the help of the pioneers. That''s all the information that has been retained from you till now. Any questions?"
The courtyard was rendered speechless for several minutes and no one could speak even a single word after hearing the true objective of their mission. They all just stare at Ivan with different emotions flowing through their minds.
"Huh, what''s wrong? Do none of you have any questions."
Not receiving any response, Ivan repeated his question, dragging the dumbstruck Hunters out of their daze as most of them began to shake their heads.
Since non of the Hunters were asking any questions, Berot thought everything would just move on like this when suddenly Ms. Aegar raised a hand and spoke.
"You just mentioned pioneers right? They were the ones who discovered the mine we''re headed to are they not? I don''t see any of them around. Shouldn''t they be guiding us there themselves?"
Ivan turned his head to look at the woman who was in the midst of adjusting her sses and chuckled.
"There''s no need for that. They are too weak for this mission so the drivers have been given the exact location of the mine and as I said to the earlier youngdy, a detailed map has been provided by the city. There''s no need for those guys to partake in the mission this time."
"Is that so."
"indeed. Is that all your questions?"
"Oh no, far from it. I''ve noticed the Merchant Guild and the Hunter Guild are working together on this with the help of Lord Aur but I fail to notice the Magic institute role in all this. Did the city not inform them of this, or are they being sidelined for a specific reason?"
After hearing her direct question, Ivan sighed deeply as he stroked his beard.
"You''re asking quite the troublesome questMs. Aegar. The Red Ruby is really quite the handful full, aren''t they? I''m afraid I can''t answer any of those questions so please bear with me."
Although that question didn''t have anything to do with the information he had just provided them and he was within his right to ignore it. Ivan still apologized so as not to provoke her inquisitive side. His attitude was the right one as any other approach would''ve increased the Red Ruby''s attention on this mission which wasn''t a good thing.
"Alright then."
"Is there anyone else with a question? ¡In that case, I shall take you all to your awaiting carriages."
Since nobody objected or raised a question, everyone followed behind Ivan as he turned and left with the maid trailing behind him. No one coyote understand why he had brought her along even though there was no need.
Berot and the rest of Dominion were at the end of the group. They walked slowly behind the guild leader as they got to their destination. They had only just left the courtyard for the front of the castle when their eyes suddenly went wide.
Threerge covered carriages were waiting at the ce where the guild leader had taken them, which would be heading for the Farbelt pass. There was also a group of people helping to load their luggage onto the carriages. Those ought to be the miners that they would be clearing out the mine for. Knights with full te armor stood by the side of the carriages while the merchants organized the luggage.
However, what surprised them was not the Knights, but the horses pulling the carriages.
"¡ªDemonic horses, " someone eximed in surprise.
The demonic horse was a tier 2 creature that evolved from a normal horse after being trained by a magic beast tamer. They wererger than an average horse and possessed excellent physical strength, stamina, and mobility, they could even go days without food or water. Some people considered them to be the ideal creature fornd travel as most Mech carriages could not travel far or on unpaved roads.
Naturally, theymanded an absurd price as well. Most nobles could not afford the amount that cost five times as much as a warhorse or actual beast mounts.
Yet, there were three two-horse carriages before them, for a total of 6 demonic horses. Of course, they knew the one truly organizing this expedition was the lord of the city, Aur Zorak so such creatures wouldn''t be a big deal for him but there was a high possibility of losing the carriages and horses during a monster attack so the fact that he had still provided them with demonic horses showed his wealth and the importance he ced on this mission.
Or perhaps he was in a hurry to obtain what lies in the second mine that he felt only demonic horses would be able to get there fast enough.
Everyone was probably thinking the same thing. The sound of swallowing came from somewhere.
"Lord Aur has provided you with all you''ll need for this mission and we''ve taken the liberty of loading them in for you. Feel free to use these carriages. Your rations and other supplies are inside the vehiclepartment. The knights'' job is to protect the carriages, miners, and your campsite. Due to the differences in skill set, they will not be able to disy their full strength in a cane or the tunnels so they cannot enter the mine, so please keep that in mind."
Saying that Ivan turned around and left towards the castle. The pretty maid then gracefully vowed at them and left with him. It would seem he had been staying in the castle for the past few days and was granted his personal maid for the time being.
Seeing as he brought her along only to unt her in front of them. The old man seems to be having fun just messing with them. Although stuff like that didn''t affect Berot or Kazim.
Berot sighed as he signed for his team to board the carriage as it prepared to leave only to bump into the massive frame of Vrutha. The force destabilized his center of gravity as he stumbled back and crashed into Eliss who had been walking close behind.
Their figures twisted in the air and somehow Before face ended up facing Eliss even though that should be impossible. Their lip was then locked together as they crashed into the ground and Berot also ended up grabbing a hold of something soft albeit small.
However, the moment he squeezed it, he instantly regretted it as the face of the one he was identally kissing and turned red in both embarrassment and rage. He wanted to immediately pull away from her and escape, but it was already happening toote.
"YOU BASTARD!"
"BOOM!"
Chapter 207 C207. New Encounter
Several carriages galloped through the unpaved and uneven roads of the Darknar region like it was nothing as the carriages maintained an abnormal bnce. Pulled by several exotic six-eyed bulls, the carriages moved faster than the wind as they ran on their way.
Although the carriages were single-drawn, it was still odd to see only a single driver in the driver''s seat. There were 4 carriages and thus four drivers as they moved in a hurry towards their destination through the rocky ins.
Nadine''s carriage was at the front of the group followed closely by Jarret and then Raz and Jin who had both died and revived the same as him. They were both known for their high survivability but against Mammon, their tricks had been rendered useless. It was a miracle their bodies hadn''t been reduced to ash.
On the other hand, Nadine had currently puffed out her cheeks as she was grumbling under her breath about something. She was currently pouting because Jarret and the other two had not reacted properly after finding out about her power boost. Even after she had gone through the trouble of fighting the magic beast that attacked them earlier by herself.
They hadn''t seemed impressed and weren''t even surprised by her feats. That was disappointing as she had a lot nned out to make themrealize how awesome she had be thanks to Lord Ty but theirck of a reaction was annoying and borderline disrespectful to Lord Ty. Or at least she felt that way.
She continued their journey no longer talking to the guys which were actually now freaking them out but they did their best not to say anything as that might inte her ego even more.
They aimed to meet up with the Hobgoblins from the Raven settlement and lead them back to the castle in time for them to prove themselves useful to Lord Ty. If they couldn''t even do that much then there was no point in their existence. At least, that was what she believed.
Their journey took them all the way to the Red River and then they followed the flowing water eastwards to meet up with the Raven settlement that was located in this direction.
Traveling inrge quantities required one to choose their routes carefully and the best routes were the ones that provided them ess to freshwater. This was why they knew the Raven settlement would be traveling by the river banks as well.
They''ve been traveling for more than a full day now and were expected to meet up with the settlement in only a few hours. After not talking to the guys for more than four hours, Nadine had finally noticed how awkward their aura was and that had made her day as she decided to let her anger at them go. After all, she figured they were probably still mentally unstable after only just being revived from deatha day ago.
That was the only exnation on why they weren''t in awe of her awesomeness. Yes, that was definitely the reason otherwise it wouldn''t make sense.
Havinge to such conclusions, she was finally able to smile brightly as she puffed out her little chest adorably even though non of the others had a view of her since she was driving her carriage at the front of the group, and thus no one could appreciate it.
Slowing down her carriage, she wanted to address the ignorant Jarret as she nned to be the bigger person but her luck must''ve been high as a giant ball of mes had crashed in the ground ahead of her, charring the ground and causing dirt and rocks to be sent flying.
Her six-eyed bull did not get startled by the sudden attack as it diverted the carriage away from the st and came to a stop. If Nadine hadn''t altered her speed unexpectedly, that st would''ve surely taken her by surprise and she would''ve taken quite a bit of damage.
The other three carriages also came to a halt next to Nadine''s as they hurriedly disembarked from the driver''s seat and rushed to where she was. Nadine was a little shocked by what the hell had just happened. Although she had been distracted by her thoughts, her reflexes were now at the tier 4 level and she had inherited Lord Ty''s godlike body control.
Therefore, there was no reason for her to have not to notice that attack. Her eyes narrowed as she red at the space in front of the impact.
There was a single horse-drawn carriage parked by the side of the river and three individuals were standing there. One of them was feeding their horse in the river, another stood by the side of the carriage, and thest was staring back at her with a smile on his face as he yed with a tennis-sized ball of blue mes in his hand.
Jarret hastily rushed in front of Nadine who was about to charge in as he stared carefully at the trio. His innate ability, Spirit Vision allowed him to see what had happened clearly.
The one ying with the ball of mes had noticed their approach from a distance and hurled a condensed ball of mes at them. That wasn''t all, the ball had disappeared mid-flight and appeared right above Nadine at an angle that was difficult to notice. However, she had suddenly slowed down and avoided the attack with ease.
Jarret hadn''t been able to warn her of the attack given as she had been riding ahead of him but it looked like his worry had been for naught and she had been able to sense it. He had simply ignored her increased strength earlier on because he didn''t want it to get to her head but perhaps that was a bit too harsh.
"I was about to warn you ahead of the attack but couldn''t catch up in time. I didn''t expect you to notice it as well and slow down. I guess we were wrong, you weren''t just outing up airs when you said you were stronger."
Although that statement had a lot of holes if one thought about it even a little. The rage in Nadine''s eyes had been immediately calmed by it as she smiled and puffed out her chest.
"Hehehe... so you''ve finally recognized my greatness... I knew you were only pretending. Hehehe. Indeed I did notice their attack... yea ... that''s why I slowed down, no other reason."
Jarret could only sigh in relief at her eagerness to be praised as that had been able to return her back to her senses. He then returned his attention back to the trio. Two of which were already walking in their direction.
The three figures were all predatory beastmen with various predatory animal features on them. The guy with the fireball had features resembling that of a leopard. Thedy beside him who was wielding a rapier was some kind of Jaguar, and thedy that was still by the side of the river feeding their horses didn''t look like any animals they recognized but she had a tail that was simr to the ones of dragon-like creatures like the Kobolds or Wyverns.
"Huh, I was a little worried when I sensed severalrge carriages approaching but it turns out there are only four of you. What are you underestimating us!? Big mistake."
The guy that spoke seemed to want to charge in but was stopped by the girl beside him. Her gaze had been fixed on Nadine the entire time and she wasn''t even breaking eye contact with her.
"Where were you guys headed with those massive carriages. Have you finally decided to destroy our settlement for good? After all, these years have finally decided to capture us all instead? You''re underestimating us if you think we''ll hand her over without a fight."
The girl spoke in a stern tone as she kept her eyes still focused on Nadine who she could sense crazy energy from. The auras of the rest were also weird but it was within manageable levels.
Jarret on the other hand, narrowed his eyes as he contemted their current predicament. They weren''t prepared for a fight with opponents of this level and their only objective was to make it to the Raven settlement. However, it seems as though there was a misunderstanding going on here so as long as he was able to defuse the situation, they might be able to get out of this unscathed.
As he was about to craft a n in handling this situation without having to resort to a fight. Nadine retorted to the girl''s words.
"Underestimating who? You''re the ones that attacked us out of the blue and you have the galls to get angry. Get over yourselves. If it''s a fight you want, then I''ll give you one."
At this point in time, Jarret who was at the peak of Tier 3, was far slower than the gifted Nadine that had broken through to the next realm. The difference between peak Tier 3 and basic Tier 4 was far too great and Nadine had already moved past him before he could stop her.
The guy that looked like a leopard moved in with a simr speed to hers and prepared to hurl another firebolt at her after boosting it with his ability but Nadine wouldn''t fall for the same tricks twice. Her eyes shed red and the guy froze for only a second but that was all she needed as he connected her bo staff and swung it with full force.
*Boom!
Unsurprising to Nadine, the girl had moved to intercept her weapon in order to save herpanion but Nadine was a fighting prodigy and could urately read the battlefield. Using a skill to behave the power of her swing, the figure of the hangar girl mmed into the leopard guy and she followed up quickly with a spell.
"Max Magic- Electrosphere!"
In less than a second, she hadpletely dominated the fight between two opponents of equal ranks but that was because she had taken them by surprise. As her massive ball of electricity disappeared. A thingyer of magic barrier shattered as it seemed the girl had prepared for the unexpected.
Dashing at the surprised Nadine, she continuously swung her rapier at her with a speed too fast for the naked eyes to follow. Even Nadine was giving a hard time keeping up with her swing and even a harder time parrying than with her Bo-Staff.
As their fight continued to intensify, the leopard guy stood up stunned after barely resisting Nadine''s Demon''s Might. He was about to stand and help out his sister when an arrow let loose and slice his cheeks. If he hadn''t tested in time that arrow would''ve taken his head.
Turning his head to the source he saw one of the figures crouched in one knew with aposite bow on his hand and the other two were charging at him with drawn swords. Slightly panicked by their intensity, he hastily got up and hurled a firebolt at them without the use of his ability.
?Razor Wind?
Chapter 208 C208. Battle At The Riverside
?Razor Wind?
With several swings from his de, razor-sharp winds sliced through the air rapidly at the leopardkin. The attack was vicious and made it difficult to be avoided for a normal person. However, as a predatory beastman, he was very elusive and agile.
Able to move wlessly from an unbnced posture, he avoided the attack and prepared another firebolt, augmenting it with his ability. However, Jin wouldn''t let him as a barrage of arrows wasunched at him at varying speed and strength, cutting off his counterattack and giving Jarret the time to recover his stance as he charged at him once more.
Raz also charged at him with his de but he was able to swiftly avoid his attack. Forgoing his firebolt spell, he used earth wall to block Jin''s arrows for a moment after augmenting the spell.
As a Tier 4 Magic fighter, he was able to easily avoid the attacks of Jarret and Raz and was about to counter with another spell when Raz suddenly cast his sword away and activated the dyed magic he had set up a while back by snapping his fingers.
Raz was a mage and not a swordsman so his skills with the sword were average at best, but it was enough to fool his opponents as he had immediately cast the spell, Acid Arrows to blindside the elusive opponent.
Several arrows made from corrosive liquids shot at him and due to the immense pressure from Jarret, avoiding the attackpletely was impossible.
"You Bastards! Don''t you dare underestimate me!"
?Savage Dance?
Feeling frustrated with himself for being trapped by weaker opponents, his ws grew sharper and longer as he used his ability to augment their strength. With the aid of his superhuman reflexes, his aura wrap around his body as he moved with superhuman speed and was able to block the corrosive attacks without taking any damage.
The shockwave from his strikes were even powerful enough to send Jarret flying back.
Not giving them another chance to recover, he lunged at Jin who had caused him the most trouble until now as the same aura expanded from his ws.
Jarret¡ª who managed to parry the strokes and remain standing, immediately tried to intercept but the speed of the leopardkin was far greater than his and he could not catch up to him.
Even Raz who had used another spell was unable tond a hit as the leopardkin closed in on Jin and swung both ws with all his might with an underhanded motion.
"Die! Damn pest."
?Seismic sh?
??????????
On the other side, the battle between Nadine and the Jaguarkin had intensified greatly. As they were both predatory beastmen and were at the same level. Their physical abilities were equal and canceled each other out so there was no chance of overwhelming her opponent with brute strength.
In the end, it would all boil down to their techniques and battle instincts. Nadine was a battle prodigy that got better the more she fought. She had only just attained this power so she was yet to unlock her full potential. However, she was able to keep up with the Jaguar girl''s refined techniques by her instincts alone as she had never been properly trained to use her Bo-staff.
Both parties would asionally use skills in between their attacks but they would just cancel each other out. However, their deadlock was about to change as Nadine realized that the girl was unable to use spells like she was and that would be the deciding factor of this match.
However¡ª
Nadine felt like this girl had something else up her sleeve which made her hesitant. Besides, there were three of these opponents and thest one was still focused on feeding their horses and hadn''t even paid attention to them.
Although she didn''t feel like the woman was that much stronger than the one she was fighting, there was a chance she was only hiding her abilities and that would be extremely dangerous. While she may have acted recklessly at first. It was simply because she wanted to catch them by surprise and draw out all their trump cards.
That n of attack didn''t seem to have worked though, as the strange beastkin by the river didn''t seem particrly interested in their bout. She also couldn''t sense any anxiety or malice from her. It was as though she wasn''t worried about herpanions at all, even when they were being forced into an unfavorable situation.
It didn''t feel like they were being underestimated but it was as though she didn''t expect this battle to end seriously. Being distracted by this thought that did not belong amid battle. The Jaguarkin wrapped her sword in an intense soul-binding aura that suppressed Nadine''s movements for a moment and one of her barrage of attacks finally connected, sending Nadine tumbling back.
?Astra Binding Barrage?
''Damn it!''
Nadineined internationally as she managed to remain standing after that attack. Her physical body hadn''t taken any damage but it felt like almost all her stamina had been drained. It would seem like that aura didn''t cause damage to the physical body but the soul.
And for her to resist such an attack, most of her stamina had been consumed in the process. If she was hit by another one of those attacks, it would be her loss as she would be rendered immobile and the third attack would destroy her soul.
However, seeing the breathing of the Jaguarkin be unstable and erratic. It was safe to assume that the skill took a lot out of her as well and she wouldn''t be able to use it again easily.
¡ªIt was a stalemate.
Returning to a fighting stance, Nadine contemted her next move when she suddenly felt the ground vibrate. Turning her head at the same time as the Jaguarkin, she saw the Leopard guy send an underhanded w strikes at Jin and severalrge streaks of yellow aura tore a path through the ground at the defenseless Jin who attempted to cancel the attack by firing multiple enchanted arrows at it but failed miserably.
''Damn it! Damn it, Damn it!''
It hadn''t even been up to 48 hours since the guys had died in the battle with Mammon and was revived by Lord Ty yet this had happened. To let them die again would be outrageous and an insult to her master who had gone through the trouble of reviving them.
Not to mention how much it had hurt him to see them die. Being responsible for making her master sad was not something she was willing to be part of. She needed to find a way to save him.
The Leopardkin seems to have the ability to augment his attacks somehow and that had boosted that strike to the strength of peak Tier 4 attacks and there was no way for Jin to survive that.
Ignoring the Jaguarkin, Nadine rushed towards Jin as she attempted to cast a spell even though she was saving her spells for her own battle. However, it was already toote as tye streaking aura crashed into Jin in a loud Boom.
Both she and Jarret who had failed to catch up to the charging Leopardkin frowned. Their expression changed along with their auras as anger rose within them.
"You should pay attention to the opponent in front of you."
Nadine immediately turned around and raised her Bo-staff. The moment she did, her weapons absorbed a massive impact that sent her sliding back by at least 5 meters. Her arm felt numb from the force.
The Jaguarkin had kicked towards her head and she had managed to block it at thest second. While she was frustrated she hadn''t been able to protect Jin even though that was the reason Lord Ty had sent her along with them, she still couldn''t ignore thedy in front of her.
Seeing his attack connect, the Leopardkin smirked arrogantly at the angry Jarret that had finally caught up with him and was currently bombarding him with a barrage of attacks of his own. The beast-man mage seemed to be most affected by hisrade''s death as he stood rooted in ce with a look of horror stered on his face.
"Haha... One down, this would be easier than o thought."
Was it a g?
Perhaps. As the atmosphere in the river bank instantly changed the moment the dust began to settle. A deathly aura loomed over the area that drove chills down their spines. All battles in this space had seized at the appearance of a single person.
A shadowy figure with glowing red eyes was now standing in front of the frightened Jin who had his eyes tightly shut from the threat of death.
"W-what the hell!"
The Leopardkin eximed and even Jarret was on the verge of agreeing with him as the figure exuded an aura that was like the manifestation of death itself. It was like a Grim Reaper had taken the shape of a beautiful female figure and now stood before them with cold and emotionless eyes that pierced through their souls.
Thedy that had been taking care of the two horses in a river that should be frozen in winter, finally stopped at the appearance of this figure and slowly started walking towards them.
The only one who had quickly recovered from her daze was Nadine who soon recognize who that was as the shadowy aura slowly disperse from the space revealing her appearance. Naturally, Jarret and Raz would slowly recognize her as well.
She had long curly red hair, the same colored eyes, and a deathly pale skin tone with cracks of negative corruption running along her skin quite stylishly. Although she had an extremely pretty face, her cold eyes and the rest of her appearance had a wild side to it that made it seem like she was looking down on life itself.
She held a red one-handed crossbow that gave off a bone-chilling aura and was d in a raven ck rogues outfit. Pointing the tip of the weapon at the Leopardkin, she let loose a ck arrow with enough force to level a mountain as it destroyed the terrain in its wake.
?Concentrated Shadow Assault?
"Crap!"
Aimed at him, the Leopardkin''s face went paled in the face of such a powerful attack as he was frozen in ce. There was nothing he had in his Arsenal that could save him from this and he knew that. Even with his augmentation ability, he would die the moment this death arrow hits him.
"WRYNN YOU IDIOT, DODGE!!!"
Startled by the voice of his sister, Wrynn suddenly felt his body being yanked back as she moved in front of him. She had moved the moment the attack began. She swung her rapier forcefully in a sh attack that contained the remnants of her almost exhausted energy.
?Tri-Rainbow Incision?
Three rainbow shes of light shot out of her rapier to meet the dark arrows in a wave that could almost match the attack. However, her attack was blown away by the continuous assault of the dark energy and the arrow maintained its trajectory.
"You kids these days are so energetic. I''m quite envious."
The one who spoke was the only beastman with a dragon-like tail that hadn''t participated in this battle yet. She appeared in front of the Jaguarkin and at herst word, arge bow manifested in the air from emotional energy and she fired.
The arrows impacted with each other with perfectly equal strength and the opposing forces cors in a gust of wind that cleared the cloudy sky.
"I hope we''re all now aquatinted with each other. There''s no need for any more fighting so let''s all calmly talk about this okay."
Seeing the dragonkin smile at them, Jarret couldn''t help but sigh in relief as her strength was no joke and they were bound to lose even with the aid of Kali.
Thedy then turned to the pair of predatory beastmen on the ground and spoke with a serious expression.
"I understand you wanting to protect me and we''re currently in a precarious position but attacking others who have nothing to do with our enemies is not what I expect from you. Especially you Yeva, I can understand Wrynn but I expected more from you."
The pair looked at her in confusion as they stared at the others who hadn''t taken the chance to attack and finally understood what she meant. They hadn''t sensed any strong killing intent from the beginning and should''ve known they were not rted to the ones that were after them.
"It seems you both finally got it so you should apologize¡ª *cough *cough *cough..."
In the midst of her scolding, she had broken into a fit of cough as she copsed on the ground while breathing heavily. It seems she had overexerted herself with thatst attack.
Chapter 209 C209. The Old One
"Lady Levi!"
"Lady Levi are you okay?!"
Seeing their Lady break down in front of them. Yeva and Wrynn snapped out of their stupor as they panickly ran up to help her off the ground. She was coughing severely and would asionally cough out blood that made Nadine and the other feel ufortable just standing there and staring at them.
Kali also hadn''t made any follow-up attack as her orders had only been to protect them in cases of emergency and not attack. She had only attacked simply because she hadn''t liked the look on Wrynn''s face.
After the beastmen siblings finally got themselves together and administer a potion to the dragonkin named Lady Levi. Her coughing fit finally subsided as her breathing slowly returned to normal and she just needed to rest for a bit.
Seeing as the woman who saved them from any more unnecessary fight would be fine. Jarret quickly signaled for them to leave as he didn''t want to be caught in any drama that would most likely keep them from their mission which would end up keeping their master waiting.
As they approached the carriages, Kali returned to their shadow and they didn''t bother to ask her any questions. Jarret could guess the reason why Lord Ty had sent her after them. He hadn''t noticed her their entire trip and she probably wouldn''t have revealed herself to them if a situation like this hadn''t urred.
Her only purpose was to get them out of any situation they were unable to handle themselves and that was only to be expected from someone as great as him, as he had even predicted such an unlikely eventuality.
The only thing that had surprised them was her strength. She felt far stronger than when they had seen her face the ogre chieftain and the evolved trolls in the training hall a while back.
It was unknown if undead creatures could gain more strength with time or if absorbing more negative energy would help but they were sure she was not the same asst time. Nadine was the only one aware of what Kali and re had been up to since they left their master''s side.
From what she knew, they were supposed to still be in the North part of the Darknar forest investigating the undead army there so she was surprised to see her here. Anyway, perhaps being around such dense negative auras would improve their strength.
Well, it was fine. They all decided to ignore it for now as they helped Jin off the ground and returned to their carriages, prepared to leave.
"Wait!"
''Crap.''
Jarret unwillingly turned his head as he saw the male predatory beastman stand up hurriedly with an embarrassed expression as he bowed his head before them, surprising all of them.
"I apologize for my actions today. I was the one who attacked you first and then tried to kill your friend without even realizing that you''re not the one I thought you were. Please forgive this one foolishness."
"Indeed, you''re very foolish."
"Awk!"
His entire figure was shaking and he seemed like he was nervous. He clearly didn''t want to do this but was only doing it because thedy Levi had to ask them to. Even after Jarret''s purposeful remark, he just forced himself to bear it.
Although the Jaguarkin didn''t stand up as she was holding Levi, she also bowed her head and apologized for her part in all this.
"It''s fine. We''re in a hurry so we''ll forgive you this time. Have a nice day."
Jarret said that in a way he judged would allow them to leave quickly and it worked as the pair were now too embarrassed to stop him. But of course, there was still someone else there that still could.
"Please wait a moment."
The dragonkin struggled to stand despite the protest from herpanions as he moved to where Jarret was and smiled charmingly.
"I''m sorry about my students. Please forgive them and myself as well as I didn''t stop them on time for my own selfish reasons."
"Like I said. It''s fine."
"I see, alright then. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Leviathan or you can simply just call me Levi for short. These are my students, Yeva and Wrynn Earuak. If you can believe it."
"Huh. When you said Leviathan you don''t mean¡ª"
"Fufu... We would appreciate it greatly if you could help us with something."
"And what would that be?"
"Well, I recently sensed the disappearance of the Primordial Behemoth of Greed, Mammon, and would like to locate the person that was responsible for ending his life."
"What makes you think it was a person? Perhaps he got mauled by a monster. That could happen."
"Ahahaha.... *cough *cough, you''re quite funny, but I doubt something like that could happen. Call it an educative guess."
In her charmingugh, she broke into a mini coughing fit and had to be calmed down by Yeva until she was able to speak again.
"There aren''t that many things that can kill a behemoth of that level, the great five won''t do something like that at this point in time and a fight like that would shake the continent even the strongest suppression barrier would not withstand it. The only barrier that could do that is in this region but I''m finding it hard to believe it myself."
"Hmm... well we wouldn''t know. We''re just freemen after all so if you''ll excuse¡ª"
"I doubt that. I''m yet to meet any freemen capable of owning any luxurious carriages much less magic ones. Please don''t be frightened, I have no ill intent. There isn''t even anything I can do against such an opponent in my current state. I just need to talk."
"Is that so."
"Yes of course. I just *cough *cough, *cough *cough. I-I just require a favor from him. It''s not something overly demanding and I''m willing to pay whatever price he or she requires."
Jarret contemted on the issue for a while as Nadine stared at him quietly without saying a word and Raz and Jin just stood by the side looking a little lost. He was a little unsure of what to do as he didn''t feel like he had the right to make decisions for his master but couldn''t just ignore this anymore.
In his moment of need, a savior came in the form of a shadowy undead that suddenly stood beside him and whispered something to his ears before fading back into the shadows.
"I''m sorry I can''t help you." His reply was firm and a look of determination shed across his eyes.
"Huh, why not. I''m sure you''re aware of who I''m looking for. What did that girl say? I would also like to speak to her. To have an undead that can speak is quite impressive."
"I''ll just get to the point, you''re right, I am aware of who you speak of. He''s my master and I can never deny that. However, I can''t as a loyal servant lead a possible primordial to his doorstep when one had already caused so much pain for him."
His eyes shed with rage as blood dripped from his balled-up fist. His anger didn''t seem toe from his own pain and death but it was as though he was angry on behalf of someone else.
"Oh, I see... I suppose there is no hiding it then. *cough *cough."
"Lady Levi."
"You don''t have to do this."
"It''s fine. It''s my decision." After calming down from a minor fit of cough, she raised her head to look at the determined Jarret in the eyes and spoke with conviction.
"You''re half right. I was formerly the one known as the Primordial Behemoth of envy, Leviathan. And yes, I am not an ordinary beastman but a dragonkin, an actual Leviathan if you can guess. Up until about five or six hundred years ago. I was proudly standing at the peak of this world as one of the seven greats. However, that was a long time ago. A man had challenged me for my position and I lost. He had simr powers as mine and was somehow able to steal most of my abilities after damaging my very soul."
*Cough *cough *cough... "Lady Levi, please take it easy."
"Don''t worry I''m fine. As I was saying, Idon''t know how he did it but I''ve been unable to recover ever since then. Well, he was supposed to kill me during the fight but he hadn''t so I suppose that was why. I became his prisoner for some reason. It seems he wanted all of my abilities but could not attain it at that time so he was keeping me alive until he could find a way."
*cough *cough... "Well, after 300 years of his failed attempts, I managed to recover a little and escape. I was then taken in by a freeman settlement after wandering the continent on my own for a while. Of course, the current Behemoth of Greed who had inherited my name as a title would not let me get away that easily. He continuously tracks me down and tries to capture me while annihting everything in his path."
"I''ve tried to stay away from the settlement several times so they wouldn''t get involved but in my current state, even surviving in this harsh world is a tall task. I know I probably shouldn''t be telling you this but I must if I require your assistance. The reason I want to meet the individual that defeated Mammon is simply because I require the soul of Mammon to repair mine and regain some strength to defend myself. While I still have no intentions of going after my lost status, I would be eternally grateful to him and offer my assistance in whatever venture in needs me for."
*Cough *cough... "Of course if he only wants to trade me the soul for money, I''ve saved up quite a bit over the years. Fufufu..."
As she said thosest words, she seemed quite proud of herself as the two beastmen behind her turned their gazes away awkwardly. Perhaps she didn''t quite have enough yet?
Jarret''s gaze had gradually returned to normal as it was easy for him to tell that she wasn''t lying thanks to Kali''s help. Even if she was, he was sure his master would easily see through it. it seems there was no demerit in leading her to Lord Ty as gaining the favor of a primordial would surely help their forces.
"Alright. I understand your situation now. I''ll leave the rest for lord Ty to decide. Would you rather we point you in the right direction or lead you there ourselves. Keep in mind that we''re currently on a mission and won''t stop until we''re done."
"Oh... so his name is Lord Ty, that''s great. We don''t mind just trailing behind you. Perhaps we can even be useful in your task and boost our chances in convincing him."
The pair behind her nodded in affirmation and Jarret just shrugged. He wasn''t sure if their carriages would contain the entirety of the Raven settlement but at the very least they now had a backup. Even though it wasn''t a magic carriage and could only contain at a maximum of a dozen people.
The predatory beastmen had a two-horse-drawn carriage unlike theirs that was pulled by a single magic beast. However, the horses that pulled their carriages were at the very least demonic horses so, at the very least, their movement speed would not begging behind them.
With Kali''s presence nowpletely gone, the group proceeded to board their carriages in their original formation and the predatory beastmen did the same with Wrynn driving and Lady Levi and Yeva riding inside the carriage as they trailed behind the fourrge carriages that galloped across the riverside until they meet the hobgoblins and Onis from the Raven settlement.
Chapter 210 C210. King Of The Pass
*Roar!!
The Hunter teams had chosen Bell as their overall leader duringbat. She was a more experienced leader than Berot as he was more of a solo act. Her ability tomandrge groups was also top-notch, and the group didn''t have any problems taking orders from her during a fight which was currently the case.
? Their journey to the Farbelt Pass was supposed to take more than two days on a regr horse. But with the Demonic horses, their trip had been cut down to less than that. However, that did not ount for the several monster attacks they had experienced along the way.
Over the past day, they had faced several undead monsters that strayed out of the Darknar region and even other monsters that were migrating from the Northern part of the darknar forest for some reason.
Recently, they had been assaulted by a multitude of Frost Smanders who had ambushed them the moment they had stepped foot into the Farbelt Pass. Of course, as experienced Hunters, such monsters were not that difficult to deal with and even fifty of them were no problem for their group to handle.
Thanks to the information provided to them by Ms. Aegar from Red Ruby, they knew everything about the Frost Smanders and their habits of burrowing themselves in holes tounch a sneak attack and they had been fully prepared for it and were somehow able to ughter more than fifty Frost Smanders in one go.
However, it would seem like their luck was currently at an all-time low as their bout with the lizards must''ve disturbed the King of the Pass and were currently being attacked by none other than the ColdFire Drake.
A massive creature the size of a small mountain flew around them as its roar alone shook the entire pass and scared off all other monsters in the vicinity. The group of 21 strong took a battle formation as the knights stayed closely by the carriages and protected them alongside the miners with the aid of a barrier from a magic scroll.
The majestic bluish-ck drake flew past them one more time as it roared once more and turned around in the sky, about to make another sweep that may im their lives.
"Attack!"
Bell yelled as the group began their second bombardment of the monster with a multitude of colorful attacks. Vrutha and his men quickly ran ahead of the group and were spamming skills to keep the monsters aggro on them as they used defensive skills and spells to boost their defenses.
As though all their attacks had been nothing more than child''s y, the King of the Pass ignored their attacks like they were nothing. Magic arrows and spells of different shapes and sizes bounced off its glimmering scales without even leaving so much as a scratch. It then opened its maw wide as it descended on the group.
?ColdFire Breath?
A massive white ball of silverish white mes gathered inside its maw as it immediately shot it out at them in a radius that would wipe them all out in an instant.
"Anti-Elemental Cocoon."
A 5th tier spell that defended against most elemental attacks was used by Aegar as a massive dome appeared around the group in an attempt to stop the breath attack of the drake. However, the white mes that seem to carry a chill that shouldn''t belong with the element of fire, burned through the barrier without losing any energy and would consume them in the next moment.
"Overtier Magic - Starbeam!"
Using several skills to boost the effectiveness of his spell, a brilliant beam of light ster out of Berot''s outstretched hand and shed with the ColdFire breath in a devastating impact that shook the entire pass for a moment.
Being able to match the strength of a lesser dragon-type magic beast at the peak of the 6th tier in might was impressive even for a Hunter at his level and everyone knew that. However, he had ovepped multiple skills with each other in order to achieve this result and would not be able to do it again.
The ColdFire drake outmatched them in every considerable way possible and he alone could not change the tide of the battlefield. However, he was not alone and his teammates this time were all at the pinnacle of the Hunter world.
Skill: ?Probability Enhancement?
Skill: ?Martial Law: Flying is Prohibited in this space?
The one to act next was Vrutha. Using his two most frightening skills, the massive body of the drake suddenly froze in the air as the magic beast lost its ability to fly and fell down to earth like arge rock.
Both the probability enhancement and Martialw skills were advanced and Divine tier skills respectively, on their own, they were powerful enough but their effect became frightening when used toplement each other. Even a higher-tiered magic beast like the ColdFire Drake had failed to resist their effects.
The gaunt monster mmed into the ground in a loud thud and the Hunters immediately moved into action. Not wanting to give it any time to recover.
Godspeed yer Kazim, and the four other members of Vrutha''s party, Battle Lords moved closer to the ColdFire Drake as it tried to shake off the impact.
"Secret Technique: Spacial Rend."
Living up to his nickname as Godspeed, Kazim moved faster than the Hunters behind could see, and in a sh, he appeared behind the ColdFire Drake who had reacted quickly and tried to counter with a w swipe.
However, it was toote as it missed its target and one of its legs fell off as a slight fissure in space that had been caused by his swing began to repair itself.
Before the drake could even react, the four orc warriors that charged at it verging Kazim bombarded it with attacks as well.
ROAR!!!
Angered by the sudden injury inflicted on it by a lesser creature. The ColdFire Drake roared and pped its massive wings. A bust of cold mes erupted from it and almost froze the five warriors that were in front of it if Aegar hadn''t used another defensive barrier.
The others also began their attacks to keep the monster busy as Bell began the process for arge-scale destructive spell and Lyka did the same as they began to construct a massive magic circle in the air with only their mana. Such a process would take more than 30 minutes toplete without any interruptions.
Their attacks would be wasted if the ColdFire Drake managed to defend itself so Eliss and Abel joined in on the attacks while Berot¡ª whose face still had the red imprint of someone''s hand on it¡ª provided cover. He specialized in single target spells but also knew a fewrge-scale spells as well.
However, none of those spells were suitable for an ice and fire-type monster and thus he was forced to only y a supporting role in this battle.
The ColdFire drake¡ª who could no longer fly because of the martialw being enforced in the area¡ª moved around on only three limbs and it used its tail as a weapon and its massive body as a shield while asionally sting outrge balls of white mes that either froze or burnt whatever they touched.
Eliss moved nimbly and circled therge monster as it pushed back everyone else. Bending her legs a little, the ground under her feet gave way as she appeared above the drake and her right ws were engulfed in a transparent white aura.
?Cascading White-Tiger Drive?
As though splitting the sky itself, her seemingly ming ws came storming down on the massive back of the ColdFire Drake in a resounding boom that shattered the insanely hard scales on its back and damaged its skin even though it was still a shallow attack.
White mes burst out of the drake''s body again and Eliss jumped back immediately. Thanks to Vrutha''s provoking skill, the ColdFire drake could not attack anyone else and both Aegar and some of Bell''s teammates were constantly healing him so they could attack wildly without reserves.
"Giant Fireball!"
"Lightning!"
"Stone Bullets!"
"Wind Cutter!"
"Blight!"
"Water Lance!"
A variety of Spells were thrown at the monster in quick session but its defenses were too high and all they could manage was to pin it down. Winged City had no Quantium Ranked Hunter so Tritanium ranks were the highest the city had to offer and this group was made up of the best of the best.
Yet, all they could manage after more than anhour of fighting was to pin the monster in ce and restrict his movement after taking away its ability to fly. However, this was their aim the entire time as the top-tier mages in the group had been preparing a ritualistic spell for more than 30 minutes now.
None of them had reached the 5th tier but the power of what they were about to unleash surpassed even the 6th. This was a power beyond the mortal realm. A glim at the power wielded by gods.
"By the will of the gods. Let the light that shines bring forth the power that consumes. Let the brilliance of the stars be thest sight of those that stand against us. Let the heavens be drawn and answer the call.StarFall."
In order to use a more powerful spell that one''s potential didn''t allow. A ritual is needed and a full chant must be recited. Combining the powers of both mages and amplifying them by an insane number, a brilliant pir of light descended from the sky and consumed the ColdFire Drake as everyone had already retreated from the monster the moment Berot gave the signal and fired onest attack.
The pir of light covered more than a hundred-meter radius and everything under its light was reduced to dust. Berot had used a multiyer defensive barrier on everyone as a precaution but he doubts the strength of his own barrier as the Tier 7 spell that was just unleashed and stolen his breath away doesn''t feel like it could be defended against.
However, Aegar who specialized in defense had also done the same and it made him a bit more confident in their survival. Even though he felt like they would still die if they were to take that attack head-on.
This was the power of ritualistic magic. The ability to use power beyond one''s limit. Of course, the drawbacks are also very severe and it was something that couldn''t be relied upon in a battle as its requirements were too high and normally, it take more than two mages to work.
Moreover, if they hadn''t distracted the monster from the duo, it would''ve surely done everything in its power to stop them and their spell would''ve surely failed or even backfire.
Luckily that didn''t happen and they had sessfully in the legendary king of the pass without suffering a single casualty. This was a Lord ss monster they were talking about here. This achievement alone made the entire trip worth it.
However¡ª
¡ªROAR!!
"Impossible!"
Indeed... None of them could believe their eyes. The ColdFire drake had just taken a Tier 7rge-scale destructive spell to the face and survived. Although it was in terrible shape as its body was in shambles as it was bleeding non-stop and had multiple missing limbs.
The monster stood in such a shape with a domineering look in its eyes as he red at the insects before him and they could not help but take steps back as some even trip themselves and fell.
None of them had the energy to continue. Both, Kazim and Vrutha who was their most important member couldn''t fight anymore as they had exhausted all their energy just to keep the monster in ce for that spell.
''This is bad. We''ll be wiped out if something isn''t done soon. Damn, do I? Duck it! I have to do something.''
Steeling himself, Berot stepped forward as the only one with any mana left. He nned to unleash a single target attack with everything he had. Taking the monster out with him if he had to.
However¡ª
ROARRR!!!
With an intensity like never before, the ColdFire Drake roared with all its might as it exuded a pressure that paralyzed even Berot for a moment. It immediately engulf itself in white mes that made its sura skyrocket beyond mortal limits as it forced its broken wings to move andunched into the sky as the martialw was no longer in effect. With a flight speed 10x faster than a fighter jet, the creature escaped deeper into the pass.
"Huh!? Did it just? I-It retreated..."
Chapter 211 C211. Dread
"What the hell! Our loot is gone!"
Frankly speaking, drakes were the closest creatures to true dragons this world had seen in ages and their scales, bones, ws, cores and even their meat were insanely rare and valuablemodities.
So even though they had been facing one as powerful as an ancient ColdFire Drake so early on in their trip.
The group hadn''t despaired as they had ced their hope on the fact that they would all gain immensely as long as they manage to defeat the monster.
However, there was no way the elusive and shrewd creature that was one of the oldest Magic c beast alive would fall so easily. The fact that they thought otherwise just showed how naive they were.
To think it had used a berserk skill as a way to escape instead of ast desperate attempt in defeating its enemies just like any other monster would do, magic beast or not. This showed the unrivaled intellect of the creature.
"Damn it! I can''t believe it ran away. What kind of monster runs away with a berserk skill."
Copsing on the ground, Berot let out his frustration at the sudden turn of events. The monster had been severely damaged by the ritualistic magic and there was no way it should''ve been able to fly again with those heavily damaged wings.
And yet it did.
It had used its berserk skill to force its body to move and retreated until it would be able to recover. It would take a while for it to recover the spent life force though, so it shouldn''t be able to heal itself until then.
Meaning they wouldn''t be able to find it again in the next few months. Because they hadn''t expected it to retreat, they had failed to ce a soul tracker on it.
"How frustrating."
"I know right. But I''m still d we all survive though. Up until now, no one had ever seen that monster and lived to tell the tale. Isn''t that something?"
"Indeed, if any one of our parties hade here alone, we would be dead for sure."
"No doubt."
"You''re all absolutely right. We''ve never been able to collect any data on that monster until now due to those very reasons. And finally, I''ve gotten all the data I need. This trip is proving to be very productive indeed. I''m so excited."
Seeing Aegar giggle wildly as she jumped in excitement over something they didn''t understand drained the frustration out of them as Berot sighed and finally got over their loss.
"Well, I''m d somebody''s happy."
"Alright, that''s enoughzing about. Let''s rest up here for a while as the monsters around have been chased away by our battle. We''ll proceed to where the mine is said to be located in 2 hours. Is that fine by every?"
"Alright."
"That''s fine by me."
"Ms. Bell is really impressive as always."
Finally able to calm everyone down, Bell directed the Hunters on setting up a temporary camp as they slowly recovered their mana and stamina. While they could use potions for both, they still needed some time to mentally rx after an intense battle like that.
After exactly two hours of rest, the group proceeded deeper into the pass by following the detailed map that had been provided for them. They encountered monsters like Giant scorpions and one-horned bears as well as the usual frost smanders but Bell''s leadership shined brilliantly as they were able to defeat the monsters with ease.
The knights were also quite strong and more than a match for all the Hunters there but all they did was protect the carriages in a perfect formation that allowed no mistakes.
That was their only job so the Hunters did not bother them. Their trip took another five hours as the map they had wasn''t exactly the best but they soon located the cave by the hill. They didn''t have time to go searching all the other caves one by one so they located the steep hill first before searching the caves nearby and sure enough, they found the cave with arge crack in the wall as described.
The cave itself wasrge enough to fit all their carriages so the knights decided to set up a camp in there where the miners could finally leave the carriages and take a break before the Hunters job would end.
The knights began setting up a perimeter inside the cave and stationed guards to keep watch outside to make sure there would be no approaching monsters in a 50-meter radius.
After unloading all their stuff from the carriages, the Hunters took some time to prepare for battle inside the dark maze-likebyrinth. There was a reason why Knights would not fare well inside the ce as the endless darkness and sudden monster attacks with the constant shift in terrain and temperature has a way of messing with the mind and battles in there were very different from battles in an open in.
Most of the Hunters had even swapped out their equipment and gear for more suitable ones. After taking the time to prepare, Bell skillfully led the team inside the tunnel in small groups.
They aimed to clear out the monster nest in the mine and locate and destroy the Green-eyed devil.
However, with such arge group. It would be dangerous for them to move in the tunnel together as they would be easy pickings for stealth-based monsters.
Everyone here was a pro at the highest level possible and thus, they weren''t weak enough that they needed to be baby sitted on.
The only opponent they needed to be wary about was the Green-Eyed Devil. So for now, they would move in their individual parties in different directions and eliminate all the monsters in the mine until they locate the cavern where the Devil was.
They would then gather together once more and face the devil with their full force.
No one here was foolish or egotistic enough to challenge an unknown monster by themselves just for superficial glory. There was no bonus for who defeated the devil personally and so everyone would receive equal pay.
No one here would put their life on the line just to make the others money. They split into four groups. Battle Lords was a party of five so they stayed together. Aegar from Red Ruby joined Bells group and four of Bells party members joined Kazim as Dominion stayed together as well.
They proceeded down the tunnel and split up when the tunnel divided into different paths. So far, the only monsters they had encountered were Ant Giants and they were no threat to any party as they were easily destroyed without mercy and their cores retrieved.
The party that had ended up meeting the Ant Queen was Bell and Aegar. The queen was a humanoid monster with high mobility and a horde of ant giants protecting her. She looked quite human and had bodacious curves.
There was no doubt in Bell''s mind that this creature would''ve been a troublesome opponent for Dominion as you never know anything with Berot''s weird luck.
However, the monster''s charms were no problem for this pair as Aegar''s defensive magic and Bell''s offense were the perfectbinations. With the protection from Aegar, Bell and her teammates bombarded the Ant Queen and her entourage with spells as theypletely decimated them in less than an hour.
Kazim''s group was unlucky as all they encounter were normal Ant Giant workers and they made quick work of them. Battle Lords and Dominion had somehow made it to the second adjoining mine so they faced more of a challenging foe in the Lesser Djieien.
The spider monsters were stealthy creatures so they had taken both parties by surprise but the Battle Lords were too strong for the monsters to bind with their webs. Unable to flee, every Lesser Djieien they met on their way was reduced to mincemeat.
While the monsters had proven a lot difficult for Domination to handle due to the difference in tactics, they still figured it out as Lyka would just seal their movements with a spell and the others would finish them off.
Soon both Bell and Aegar''s party as well as Kazim joined them in the adjoining mine as they continuously and strategically eliminate all the monsters in the mine while slowly mapping it out.
Of course, this ce was like abyrinth and it was massive. Taking care of the Ant Queen alone had taken more than a full day of exploring so finding the Queen or King of the Lesser Djieien had taken more than two days of effort.
Altogether, they had now spent a total of three days in this mine and had almostpleted their task. They had even located the ce where the Green-eyed devil was likely to be as even though it was hiding its presence. Its creepy aura could be felt even from a mile away.
They had marked that area a no-go area for now as they wanted to take care of all the other monsters in the mine to prevent being Blindsided by monsters while fighting the green-eyed devil.
They were currently all gathered in arge expanse in the mine and were about to take down the Queen of the Lesser Djieien. Unlike the somewhat pretty ant Queen. This was a hideous monstrosity that looked more like a giant spider than anything.
Its webs were blood red and almost impossible to break. Its nimble movement was hard to follow but right now, it could no longer jump up and down thanks to Vrutha''s Martial Law.
"Overtier Magic - Hellbound mes."
Casting one of his most powerful spells at the monster, Berot had seeded in immobilizing the monster enough for everyone tond the finishing blow.
Skill: Probability Enhancement!
Skill: Cascading White-Tigers Drive!
In a perfectbination of skills between two people that weren''t even teammates, Vrutha and Elissunch a devastating attack that sent the monster deep inside the ground after caving in its back. However, it refused to die as it struggled to stand back up and even redder threads began to wrap around its body.
"It''s going to use a berserk skill! Everyone step back!"
Shouting that, Bell ran forward as everyone else trusted her and retreated as far as possible. As the monster was at itsst leg and was now burning through its life force. She used an instant death skill that would not have worked if she had used it even a second earlier.
Skill: ?Wail of the Banshee?
A high-tiered necromancy skill that she had only just learned after more than five years of effort. A soul-chilling shriek was heard by all as the Queen Lesser Djieien immediately froze in its tracks as its massive body fell lifeless to the ground. It had died in an instant.
??????
After taking a short break when the Queen Lesser Djieien was defeated. The group was now gathered in front of the underground cavern with a few glimmering red lights in its interior after dividing the loot of the Queen amongst themselves.
They decided on the best formation to take on the Green-Eyed Devil with and with Bell taking the lead yet again. They entered the massive underground cavern that felt like it was the gateway to hell.
"What! What the hell is this!"
The moment they had stepped foot inside the dark cavern with their magic lights. A pressure the likes of what they had never felt before suddenly washed over them as though gravity had been multiplied by a hundredfold.
"Hey hey hey hey hey HEY! Isn''t this bad, isn''t this way beyond mortal limits. What the hell is going on here!"
Their bodies suddenly felt like a ton of bricks and some couldn''t even remain standing as a sense of dread slowly registered in their minds.
[Ahhh... Finally... I was beginning to think I wouldn''t be able to fulfill my master''s wishes before I disappear.]
Just as panic was beginning to set in the minds of the Hunters, they suddenly heard an ethereal and ghastly voice as a shadowy four-armed monster rose from the depts of the darkness with glowing green eyes and an illusionary shadow body. Its overwhelming presence drove home the meaning of despair to every single one of them.
[Now then, I''ll have you all die for me. Feel free to scream.]
"RUN! Everyone get the fuck out of this ce immediately!"
Chapter 212 C212. Magic Library (III)
[Notice: Monarch Authority recognized.]
[Activation Processplete.]
[Wee to the Boundless Void Library Lord Tyler Fall Darknar. I am Uriel, your magic assistant, how may I serve you?]
"Huh?"
For a second there, Tyler couldn''tprehend what he had heard. Unlike the genderless and ethereal voice he had been hearing thus far, this one was clear and concise. A melodious female voice that sounded almost heavenly, originating from the library itself as it spoke in a reverent tone.
''What the hell is this?''
His mind raced to figure out what was going on and what the hell he had heard. The voice had been too clear for him to say he had imagined it so what''s going on here. He hadn''t even been able to think for long when the situation suddenly changed for the worse.
[Notice: Unidentified presence detected. Activating security measures.]
"Wait what?"
Before Tyler couldprehend what was said, the library suddenly went dark as a beam of light was directed at him. He frowned deeply and prepared to take defensive action even though Universal barrier was always passively active around him.
However, the beam of white light wasn''t directly aimed at him and it caused him no damage but before he could wonder what was going on. He heard a loud shriek of immerse pain from below him.
Indeed, the streak of light had been aimed at his shadow, and due to the excitement of returning to the magic library after so long, Tyler hadpletely forgotten there was someone that was constantly hiding in his shadow.
He panicked for a bit as Zelda''s shadow hide skill was forcibly disabled and her figure was revealed as she rolled on the ground screaming in absolute agony.
This was an undead creature. A being whose entire existence rejected even death itself and thus was immune to all negative status effects such as pain. Yet such a being that was by no means weak, was being forced to feel pain by the Library.
"Wait Stop! What the hell are you doing!"
[An hidden unidentified undead creature was detected and thus, adequate and immediate actions were deemed necessary. Should I proceed in eliminating this creature?]
"No! Just cut it out. She''s just my bodyguard!"
At his order, the beam of light that directly forced the sensation of pain into Zelda''s core disappeared without a trace and the library returned to its previous well-lit state.
[Connection with Lord Tyler has been recognized. As a non-living creature, permission to remain with master has been granted. Core damage will now be repaired. Do you want this creatures core to be enhanced in the process?]
"First you almost kill her and now you want to enhance her core. Well fine, as long as she is fine afterward."
[Understood, the process will take 24 hours. Master is free to proceed further without worry.]
Tyler rushed over to Zelda''s side to check up on her and she was out cold. His face that had been twisted in clear agony was now relieved as she slept. An undead could not sleep so this was just a state simr to that as her core was slowly being fixed and enhanced. It didn''t seem like she would feel any more pain from the process.
With her like this, there was no way for him to put her in his shadow so he picked her up and took her to the side where heid her on the floor before considering what the library (Uriel) had said. It seems no one else was allowed inside this library except him, but after this, Zelda would be allowed in due to her state as undead but he doubted if any more non-living creatures would be given the same leeway.
''Still, what the hell is going on here.''
Tyler then stood back up and turned to face the library. Observing his surroundings there didn''t seem to be anything different in it so where the hell was that voiceing from.
"Hey, Libray! What exactly are you?"
[Incorrect assessment. I am not the essence of the Boundless Void Library.]
"You''re not?"
[Correct.]
"So what are you?"
[I am Uriel, an artificial soul created from thousands of soul fragments and the essence of the fallen angel Uriel. I am now part of the Void Library''s core and my entire existence is to serve you. You can also think of me as the library''s manager or your assistant.]
"An artificial soul? Such a thing was possible?"
Tyler''s question was rhetorical and as such, it was met which silence as Uriel judged he did not require an answer. Her intelligence was very impressive.
"Tell me, who was it that created you?"
[I was originally created by the Monarch and imnted into the Void library''s core. However, I had only been activated for the first time recently due to the evolution of the magic artifact¡ª Spatial Infinity. Therefore, this is my first time speaking with master.]
"The evolution? So you really are the ethereal voice I heard back in the cave. How the hell did you manage that and how did you affect my soul if you''re bound to this ce?"
"I was created to be of service to master and such, my soul had been linked to the artifact of the king, Monarch Ring and I should''ve been activated upon that item''s activation but master hadn''t activated it and as such, I was only awakened by request of the living properties of the artifact, Spacial Infinity.]
"Monarch Ring? So the item I took simply to gain ess to the throne room and considered useless had such a hidden effect? I see. So why didn''t you respond when I tried talking to you then."
[That was only a limited activation andmunication is not possible with the artifact. I was only able to speak by essing the living properties of the artifact, Spatial Infinity. Without that, no forms ofmunication would''ve been shared.]
''So I would''ve suffered that gruesome pain without any idea what was going on. Why does it feel like this thing only knows how to dish out pain.''
[Notice: Due to the uniqueness of the Monarch and the Acquisition of the living properties, further Analysis has been made and propermunication would be possible with the activation of the skill; Wisdom of Uriel, granting master the ability to ess information from the Void Library at any given time. Includes a plethora of other skills and abilities to aid master.]
"And what makes you think I''m your master?"
[Lord Tyler Fall Darknar, caries the demon king''s seed and had therefore been permanently registered as my master. My existence had been bound to you.]
"A seed?"
That word didn''t seem to register long in Tyler''s mind as he immediately shifted his focus from that to the so-called Void Librarian.
An artificial soul created from the remnants of thousands of souls most likely from the demon king''s victims as well as a fallen angel''s essence just to manage the library as its manager. Tyler could only stand in silence as he slowly processed the information.
ording to Uriel, the Monarch ring he had ignored because it felt like it would be more trouble than it''s worth was the reason he had gotten Spatial Dominance and could''ve activated Uriel sooner if he had activated it as it was a bound item that could not be used by anyone it wasn''t bound to.
Apparently, thete demon king had created her to counter the massive drawback of the magic library that was apparently named the Boundless Void Library or simply the Void Library.
"So Uriel?"
[Yes, master.]
"Where exactly is this library located?"
[The Boundless Void Library is not located in a specific coordinate and randomly drifts through the void between all dimensions as well as traveling between dimensions asionally to protect itself from powerful foreign entities that seek its power.]
''So it really wasn''t bound to this dimension as I suspected, but this is even crazier than I thought. For a library of this absurd size to be able to move constantly across dimensions, a massive power source is required. So what is powering this ce? Isn''t this the same as the castle? I still haven''t located the power source for that.''
"Is the constant shift in location why I can''t stay here for too long?"
[Negative, connection with master''s castle is unstable. Advice: Learn Advance magic runes to fix the connection. May also learn God Tier skill: Monarch of Concealment, to strengthen the connection.]
"So it all still boils down to magic runes eh... whatever then. I should probably get started before my time here runs out shouldn''t I?"
Saying that Tyler turned his head around left and right, trying to figure out the direction the books on magic runes were located in the vast and seemingly endless bookshelves. Just looking at the massive library was now starting to annoy him until he realized there was now a supposed librarian so he asked for directions instead.
"Hey Uriel, where are the books on magic runes located?"
[Understood, sending master there immediately.]
Before Tyler could even consider what she had said, his field of view changed and he appeared in between a familiar section of the library where several books on basic, intermediate, and advanced runes were located.
"This is?"
[The Void Library''s abilities. Does master require assistance choosing the most optimum book to start with?]
Tyler was silent for a while as the shock ran through him. Ignoring the fact that he now understands how his subordinates felt when he teleported them around without warning. He had nned to use spatial teleportation to move quicker through the library as well but had changed his mind as he wasn''t sure if it would affect the library''s stability and lock him out.
However, it turns out the library could do that all along and all he had needed to do was put on a stupid ring. Such wasted opportunities. While he would like to know what other abilities the library had, he decided not to think about that right now so he could focus on his current priorities.
"No thanks, I know what I''m looking for."
Declining her offer, he walked over to one of the shelves and picked the first book from the shelves that contained intermediate runes, level 2.
His current progress was level 1 and he needed all three levels to learn advanced runes. Picking the book he wanted, Tyler was just about to move over to the Conner of the room to sit on the floor as usual so he could focus, when he suddenly stopped as a white exquisite desk and chair had suddenly appeared there.
Tyler froze, his mind still processing the possibilities of what had just happened as he slowly opened his mouth to ask the dreadful question.
"Did-did you just create matter?"
[Negative, I simply moved the items from a section of the Library for master''s convenience. ]
"Oh, how considerate."
He sighed in relief at that response. It would be quite terrifying if a Library this powerful also had the creation ability. It was best he did not think of the ramifications of such a thing as he decided to just focus on his studies. He had a lot he wanted to do in the library after all.
Tyler then collected several more books from the shelves and stacked them on the desk so he wouldn''t need to move around needlessly and proceeded to the chair and took a seat as he began his studies.
As he flipped through the pages of the first book. His mind steadily went nk and only the details of the information he was reading was left as the speed at which he was reading through book after book increased dramatically to the point that he would be considered a blur to any onlookers as he asionally got up and rece the stack of books on his desk almost every 10 minutes.
[Focused State Activated Sessfully.]
Chapter 213 C213. Void Library
A focused state was an ability of the Void Library that grants the recipient the ability to remain in a magically induced hyper productivity state for a prolonged period of time, without tasking the brain or exhausting the soul or mana body.
In this state, the user would be able to easily absorb the all magical and non magical knowledge they were studying with rtive ease. It was a state that provided the perfect means for magic casters to escape the time consuming process of learning and researching old and new magic.
This ability was the reason Tyler had been able to easily learn the extensive and difficult foundationnguage that is magic runes. Something that was impossible even for super geniuses. It wasn''t a ability that existed in the outside world as the only skill that came close to it was Mammon''s skill, Prudent Student.
That skill allows the user to easily memorize whatever they were learning and did not grant understanding. Magic runes were magical in nature and even if there was a skill that granted understanding out there, it would not be able to affect them as they were one of the foundation of the universe itself.
Tyler''s current reading speed was several time faster than tbe first and second time he had been in to the library and thus, he was able to learn the entirety of Level 2 and 3 intermediate magic runes. Thanks to that, he had even spent less time than he had expected on this.
Although even with his reading speed that was no doubt being mortal limitations, he had still been studying non stop for more than 10 hours now so it was probably day time outside by now. This showed how broad and extensive just the intermediate aspect of magic runes were.
He had read all the book on more than two shelves before he was done. By now, his personal maid Cora would''ve attempted to wake him up and might have panicked after not finding him in his bed but Albert should be able to handle the situation wlessly this time. After all, he had instructed him and Z on what to do. The only wild card was Rain but he''ll just have to leave her to Liz.
Tyler chuckled at those amusing thoughts as he stood up, he returned all the books to their shelves and proceeded forward to check out the advance runes. Normally, he would opt to stop right here and focus on learning more useful spells right now.
With the magic runes he now understood, he could learn up to the 5th Tier of magic so that should helpimproved his arsenal a bit. However, with the ability to freely moved through the library at his disposal, he only needed to take the spell books he whanted and store them in his storage at thest minute.
He had chosen not to do that now so as not to waste too much time trying to find the right spells in a library that probably had millions of spells.
He could also just expand his mana body outside of there was no time so he figured now was the best time to learn the first level of advance runes, as that was the key to everything and apparently, Erin seems to think he already knew it and was asking his help in tranting them which would only embarrass him if he failed to do it.
However, upon picking up the first book in Level 1 advance runes. Tyler''s brow twitched. He could hardly believe what he was looking at.
There was more than a thousand books just on the first level of advance runes but that was not even the biggest problem.
As he flipped through the book he was confident was the absolutely begging chapter in Level 1 advance rune, he could barely understand what the hell he was looking at.
Even after spending an hour on that single book, he had barely learned past the first chapter.
"What the hell is going on?"
[Answer: The effects of the Void Library''s ability ''Focus'' has ended. Due to the library''s current unstable state, the library can only maintain this ability for ten hours.]
"Focus ability? Huh, so that''s it. And here I thought I''ve just gotten smarter since my time as a human."
Tyler sighed but chose not to give up yet, he had gotten a strong foundations thanks to learning magic runes in tbe right order without any short cuts so there was no reason why he couldn''t do this. He just had to try harder with more determination.
"Hey Uriel, is there any paper or parchments with pen or quil I could use?"
[Yes, retrieving required items.]
At her words, a stack of pure white paper and the most exquisite quil Tyler had ever seen, appeared by the right end of the desk. Tyler hadn''t even been aware that such pure white paper exited in this world.
He suppressed his surprise and took the quil and paper as he began studying again in his usual method when he was back on earth. Even going as far as taking notes and reviewing them thoroughly. This processed took him hours and he tried to give up several times over but persevered.
After about 8 hours of this, he finally gained some understanding in the first level of advance runes but hadn''t mastered it yet. He would need more than 40 hours to do so at his current pace and he simply didn''t have the time for that as he had a castle to manage.
Standing up, Tylerzily left the table with a mess as he walked out of that section. But unbeknown to him, the books scattered on the desk slowly began to float as they rearranged themselves in the shelves and the paper tetunred to a clean stack that remained on the desk as the desk disappeared.
"Hey Uriel, I don''t suppose this ce has somewhere for me to meditate more efficiently does it?"
[Affirmative. Do you require me to transport you to that location?]
"Yes."
Saying that without hesitation, Tyler appeared in an empty section of the room where a magic circle was constructed on the ground with golden advance runes.
He felt the calming effect of the runes and decided to sit in the center of it in the lotus pose as he closed his eyes and meditated.
Imdeed, he nned to take the risk ones again and try to manually expand his mana body further to contain his mana without slowly destroying him and he figured his chances would increase inside the library than out.
As he satfortably in the ground, his Consciousness slowly sunk deep within his soul. Unlike thest time he had done this, he did not spend hours trying to move his consciousness ad the magic circle helped with that.
He also didn''t need to wander around aimlessly as he knew what to do and where to find it. With that confidence driving him, he soon came upon the endless darkness where a cracked body made up of only mana was floating in the middle.
His mana had beenpletely restored after so long and thus, he saw a simr scene y out before him again. The vast energy that was so tightly packed in his mana body and continuously leaves more cracks on it seems to have grown a bit.
Tyler frown as he saw this and quickly went into action. He knew some Level 1 advance runes even though it was just a little so he attempted to fix his mana body but had only managed to mend some of the cracks on it.
''Good enough I guess.''
Satisfied at the results, he moved his consciousness inside his mana body and the tightness of the energy within almost forced him out. However, he was determined and moved towards the middle.
Unable to make it there after several attempts, he had still made it further than the first time he had tried this so he decided to settle for this. He then concentrated and moved the energy around as he stirred it around creating a whirlpool as he used intermediate runes as a conduit in expanding his mana body.
Withplete understanding of intermediate magic runes, he was no longer required to use the energy of magic crystals in protecting his mana body from cracking further as he could directly use the runes themselves and even expel some mana out if his mana body to give him some breathing room.
As long as he did that in the minimum amount, there was no consequences. The process took longer than thest but Tyler was patient and after a few more hours his mana body expanded a lot more than before which had given him some more time in figuring out how to permanently fix it before something truly bad happens.
This had also improved his mana control so it should make using spells easier without endangering his mana body.
Returning his consciousness back to his body, Tyler stood up as he wondered what to do next. He could feel his time in the librarying to an end so before he moves around collecting scrolls and artifacts with his storage, he wanted to learn something.
"I did n to learn some healing spells didn''t I?"
Tyler was just about to ask Uriel to take him to the Tier 3 spells section when he suddenly realized something. He needed to learn more skills for the sake of fully utilizing his innate ability so whoever he used it on would gain a copy of some of his skills allowing them to gain more strength.
He also had the desire of learning a regeneration skill for the sake of his limbs as losing an arm was a bit of a pain to deal with.
There was also the skill he had obtained from the living properties of the artifact, Spatial infinity, Wisdom of Uriel that required him to learn some certain skills to be activated.
"Hey Uriel, take me to where I can find the skills required for the activation of the skill, Wisdom of Uriel."
[Understood]
With that, he appeared in another section of the library where there were countless skill books and tomes that were neatly separated by their tiers ranging from Basic Tier to God Rank.
Skills were ranked as follows, Basic Tier, Normal Tier, Advance Tier, Divine Tier and God Tier. With each tier, the disparity in the strength of the skills grows wider drastically and bes increasingly harder to learn depending the the user''spatibility with the skill.
Even with Basic tier skills, one would not be able to learn it if their body and soul was not Compactible with the skill.
Originally, Tyler had only learnt a few skills and they were all basic skills but recently he had learned or obtained higher ranking skills.
As far as he knew, his current skills were as follows:
Basic Skill: Burning sh, Uppercut sh.
Normal Tier: Magic Sense, Keen eyes of a Demon.
Advance Tier: Demon''s Might
Those were all the skills he had learned himself but there was still Spatial Domination which had be his main abilities and Universal Barrier that was his main defense.
However, he didn''t know what tier they could be considered as they felt like Divine Tier skills but slightly stronger without reaching God Tier.
Their was a chance he could still make them stronger so they be proper God Tier skills so that was something to look out for.
As he contemted on which skill to learn, he decided to focus on what was easiest.
There were several skills for regeneration and Tyler was sure the Regenerate spell was at the very least a tier 6 or Tier 7 spell which was something he couldn''t learn yet but there were four such skills with vast disparities between their abilities.
?Rgeneratipn? (Basic Tier)
?Rapid Regeneration? (Normal Tier)
?Hyper Speed Regeneration? (Advance Tier)
?Instant Recovery? (Divine Tier)
As long as he learned the normal one, it would make it earsiser to learn the others in due time without wasting his precious remaing minutes in the library.
Chapter 214 C214. Wisdom Of Uriel
The reason Tyler had decidedto learn a Regeneration skill before the three skills necessary for the activation of Wisdom of Uriel was that two of those three skills were Divine Tier, making them harder toprehend much less learn even with a highpatibility rate.
The required skills were irvoyance, World Divination, and Divine Appraisal. Amongst those three skills, only irvoyance was a Normal Tier skill and the rest were Divine Tier, making their effects quite impressive as Tyler picked up therge tomes and read their descriptions.
There was a higher-tiered irvoyance skill called Absolute irvoyance that was also at the divine ss but it didn''t seem like the requirement of Wisdom of Uriel needed the high-level version of the skill and Tyler didn''t n to overachieve.
There were a lot of skills he wanted to learn and being thrown in the middle of so many skill books had only increased that desire. However, without the library''s focus effect and with his current learning speed, he didn''t think he had enough time to even learn a single Advance Tier skill, much less two Divine Tiers.
However, this calction did not factor in thepatibility rate of those three skills as there was no way to quantify such an abstract aspect.
[Solution: Master can attempt to learn the skills: Magic Prodigy, Prudent Student, or Apprentice. To aid in the process of acquiring more skills and techniques as well as other magical knowledge.]
"Wait really. That''s dope. Err hold on a sec... you knew that the entire time I was struggling to learn Level 1 advance runes. What gives?"
[Answer: These methods are ineffective in the process of learning magic runes as they are the foundation of any and everything. As such, none of those skills would be effective in learning them and can not be considered an adequate solution for the master.]
"Oh, I see now, my bad."
Once again, Uriel had proved herself useful as Tyler immediately put back the books he was holding and located the three skills she had mentioned. With her help of course.
Reading their general description to get an overview of their effects and differences, he was able to quickly decide on the one he felt would be better for him.
They were all Advanced Tier skills but as support-type skills, they were not as difficult to learn as attack-type skills. The skill ''Apprentice'' was a skill that allowed the users to gain improved memories and are able to process information faster. However, the skill was restricted when the user did not have a master to devout his knowledge to as such, they are unable to maintain their passion for learning and acquiring more knowledge.
''Prudent Student'' was somewhat simr but it only provided the ability to easily memorize a huge amount of information without the need to process the information and without the need for a master. With this, he would be able to easily learn not just skills but spells as well.
However, without an ability like Mammon''s ''Archivist'', he would be unable to master those spells and skills and would only be able to use them at their weakest. Of course, potential break could bypass this as well, but why go through the trouble when you don''t have to.
Thest was what Tyler was most interested in. ''Magic Prodigy'', the skill granted him a massive boost to his cognitive functions and even a passive effect of Thought eleration. Not that he needed that but with it, he would now be able to process certain magical knowledge faster.
Keep in mind, while this had a minute effect on his everyday life. The skill was primarily for magic knowledge and if he tried to study things that weren''t rted to magic, the effects would not be activated. Still, this was perfect for his current situation and held no drawbacks.
After finalizing his choice. Tyler took a seat in the desk chair that had appeared at the edge of this corner of the library mysteriously and began to study the skills forms before attempting to activate them. Just as with the time he learned Magic sense, he realize how different the process of learning skills was from spells.
With spells, the very essence of this world had been converted into a writtennguage for him and as long as he understood thenguage. He could form any sentence he wanted to achieve his goal and easily engrave the runes in his mana body.
However, skills were vastly different. The books only described the process and technique in learning them and he had to go through a lot of trial and error in engraving his body and soul with the essence of the skill granting him a more finer control over the ability than one had with spells.
Learning certain skills would even improve one''s resistances and immunities.
Even when learning skills of equal tiers, the learning difficulty may increase and decrease depending on thepatibility with the user. It had taken Tyler hours to learn magic sense and only minutes to learn Keen eyes of a demon so there were no urate measurements on how long it took to learn different tiers of skills. Only the higher the skill was, the moreplicated the form was and the harder it was to learn.
As for Magic Prodigy, it took him more than two hours before he was finally able to activate it, and another hour to fully get ustomed to it and boost his proficiency with the skill to an eptable degree.
Not wasting time, he went through another learning sprew as he started with Regeneration, a process that took him less than 10 minutes. Perhaps because hispatibility with the skill was good.
With that in mind, he quickly upgraded the skill to Hyperspeed Regeneration in another hour. He then moved on to the three skills that activated Wisdom of Uriel, starting with irvoyance, followed by both divine skills, World Divination and Divine Appraisal.
All three skills had only taken him a grand total of five hours which was half the time he had predicted originally. Still, this had till taken more time than he had wanted so he had to be pickier with the other skills he learns.
The moment he mastered Divine Appraisals, he heard Uriel''s angelic voice speak directly in his mind this time. It was unlike the previous genderless and ethereal voice he heard outside the library.
[Notice: The requirements have been met. Skills, irvoyance, World Divination, and Divine Appraisal will now be assimted in order to activate the God Tier Skill, Wisdom of Uriel.]
"God Tier?"
[Notice: Skill Wisdom of Uriel has been activated. A general description will now be provided.]
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Wisdom of Uriel.
A God Tier skill that was born from the living properties that was imbued from the Spatial Infinity after activating the artificial soul of Uriel who possesses the essence of a fallen angel. The artificial intelligence known as Uriel has now been fused with the living property that granted her a parallel existence that has now bonded with the soul of her master due to her strong desire to serve.
Granting him an innate connection to the Boundless Void Library and its infinite knowledge in a limited way. As a wisdom skill, Uriel also possesses various other subsidiary abilities.
Divine Appraisals: The ability to view theplete status of anyone or anything, allowing you to see any/all powers/skills, secret techniques, magic potential, overall health, and ws the target possesses. You may also transfer that information to another medium so that anyone else, including the target, can view the information for themselves.
World Divination: The ability toprehend any non concealed information in the world as long an idea of the information is known. Can also receive certain hidden information from the Astral ne although the concealer will be aware of the breach and may counter or provide false information. Also contains the ability of FutureSight and can receive certain information from the immediate future that concerns you.
irvoyance: The ability to acquire information using sight outside the normal range of detection about an object, person, location, or physical event. Able to see through invisibility, illusions, and through weak concealment abilities. At a higher level, you will be able to directly see the soul as well as one''s mana body or straight through dimensions.
Void Librarian: Any new magical knowledge or ability that you encounter will be automatically recorded and stored in the void Library iplete details.
Imbued & Assimtion: The ability to imbuepatible skills from items and artifacts into your soul with maximum proficiency. Also the ability to assimte the essence from strong souls to evolvepatible skills. When used on others, the ability can imbue them with a copy ofpatible skills from the user. Sess rate if 30% (Can be boosted by a higher authority.)
Uriel''s Oversight: Manages and maintains all her master''s abilities and resistances as well as the soul and physical body while stabilizing the connection with the Boundless Void Library to prevent any information overlord while maintaining perfect health.
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Tyler was speechless.
A thorough description of the skill Wisdom of Uriel was listed in his head as it seems the skill was considered a God Tier skill and from the looks of the various abilities, it didn''t seem to be an exaggeration.
He had already experienced the effects of the Imbue and assimtion skills and it had been the sole reason he had gained the skill Spatial Domination and was indeed a very powerful ability. However, the pain he felt thest time was no joke and it made him not want to use that skill again in his life.
Still, most of the other skills were insanely powerful and as though she wanted to stay true to her name. The skill seems to be geared towards the ability to gain information more easily.
The fact that his appraisal could now tell him so much information about an individual was incredible. Although there would be those that would be able to block the ability. However, that would only reveal to him who he needed to take note of.
World Divination was impressive as well, it not only help him gainmon information of the items and phenomenons in this world, it also granted him future sight. A skill that would definitely be very useful in battles as may help him avoid another Mammon situation again.
Then there was Uriel Oversight. Although he didn''t like the idea of being watched over, the skill mainly seems to be precarious against the drawbacks of being connected to a near-infinite source of magic knowledge like the Void Library.
Tyler just stood in ce stunned as he processed the information he had just reviewed in amazement. He may have remained standing there for hours if Uriel''s voice hadn''t snapped him out of his daze.
[Notice: A thorough analysis of master''s body will now be carried out to aid in future management and prevent any information overload. The time frame set for analysis is 10 hours 37 minutes and 14 seconds.]
Chapter 215 C215. Demonic Eyes
After marveling at the might of his new wisdom skill while thinking of various methods to employ them. Tyler finally snapped out of his daze as Uriel''s voice suddenly reverberated in his mind. He wasn''t sure what kind of analysis she was talking about but as long as it didn''t affect him negatively, he wouldn''tin.
p He still hadn''t gotten used to the sensation when hearing someone''s voice directly inside his mind, especially without any warning. Receiving amunication request was easier because it gave his mind time to adapt.
However, the sudden voice he heard from Uriel¡ª that felt like a part of him but different¡ª was a little harder to get used to. With an inward sigh of resignation, he put that issue away for now and was about to contemte on the matter at hand when another female voice suddenly reverberated in his mind again, startlingly him yet again.
''Geez why am I so jumpy today.''
''Pardon the intrusion Master, there''s currently an unexpected situation. How would you like me to handle it?''
''...''
Tyler was momentarily at a loss for words before he finally realized who was speaking to him. It was Kali. After he had sent Jarret''s group out of the castle to retrieve the Raven settlement, he soon realized that he had fucked up and let his guard down yet again.
Subconsciously, because the situation with Mammon was over and the ones who kidnapped Liz had fled, he expected all the spies from the Brimstone family to be gone as well.
However, that thought process had been incredibly naive and would surely cause him problems he didn''t want to handle.
Struck by this realization, he found himself pondering for hours on what he should do about the problem. He needed to regain a level of control over every situation in the Darknar region so he needed an insurance policy with Jarret''s group.
As they had already left a considerable while back, there weren''t that many people he could send after them, and narrowing his choices down to 3, he quickly settled on Kali and re who should be investigating the undead army. Although the word ''settled'' may be selling them short.
As there was no longer any need for both of them to be doing the same job, he decided to call back Kali and she appeared before him almost immediately using her skill, ?Shadow Movement?
After giving her a detailed description of Jarret and the carriages, he used Spatial Teleportation to send her to the Red river per Z''s calctions on the route the Raven settlement was most likely to follow.
ording to him, the possibility was 98%. Such boundless confidence on his own deduction scared Tyler a little. Or maybe he was just worried on his behalf. Still, Z was an abundantly Cautious type so there was probably no reason for concerns.
Although he seemed to be under the false assumption that Tyler had nned this from the start and was using Jarret as bait to draw out any more enemies as he judged Tyler would be able to instantly teleport to the side of any of his creations.
That was an ability Tyler hadn''t even been aware of but Z was naturally right as always. Due to his soul connection with his undead creations, especially with his three shadow rouges. He could technically sense their location in space and appear next to them with a bit of spatial distortion and teleportation.
Tyler sighed yet again at his own thoughts, as he asked Kali what she was talking about and she gave him an oddly detailed report of what had transpired after she caught up with the group.
Apparently, a group of predatory beastmen and a dragonkin with a very weak divine aura had attacked the carriages unprovoked as they attempted to kill Jin, forcing her to intervene. While Tyler was surprised she could sense divine auras, he didn''t dwell on that for long.
Being attacked was something he didn''t want to tolerate but this was the demon continent. It would be unnatural for anyone to just pass by any groups in an uncontrolled region as this without any type of altercations happening.
Moreover, it didn''t seem like Jarret''s group was strong enough to take them out even with Kali''s help so he needed to find another way out of this. Coming to a quick decision as time was of the essence, he told her to inform Jarret of something.
From what the group said, their aim in this region was to see him, as he wasn''t sure what their reasoning was, he asked Jarret to dismiss them if they didn''t give him any suitable exnation. How he went about it was left to him and if things went out of hand, hisst resort would be to sacrifice his remaining time in the library in order to teach some idiots a lesson. Still, that was something he rather not do.
It didn''t take long for Kali to report back with the entire story which seemed a little interesting. To gain an insight into all the abilities of the seven great behemoths would surelye in handy in the future. Someone like that would also know a lot more information than even Z had provided him.
However, the problem was he didn''t have what she wanted. He had gifted Mammon''s soul to the Dark Garuda after assimting enough to evolve his skill.
Anyway, he would see if she would ept apromise, otherwise, there would be nothing for him to offer them, but that didn''t matter much as he nned to get some information out of them for the time they''ve cost him today.
With that, he instructed Kali to just monitor them closely and ended their talks. The moment the conversation with her ended, Tyler immediately heard Uriel''s voice.
[Several soul connections detected, would you like Uriel to manage all soul connections in the future while notifying master whenever there is amunication request?]
"Umm? Sure, that would help."
''Is it just me, or does she sound a little jealous for some reason.''
[It is impossible for an artificial intelligence like Uriel to get jealous.]
"Oh, you read my thoughts again. And why are you suddenly speaking in the third person."
[The castle''s connection with the Void library is reaching an end, the estimated time left is 7 hours 11 minutes, and 59 seconds. Please be prepared to exit the Library.]
"That''s a random topic change but seriously?!"
Hearing how long he could spend in the library till he would beforced out, Tyler panicked a little.
With her new connection to his soul, it seems she could urately read his surface thoughts and respond ordingly without him needing to ask but that may be more trouble than it''s worth seeing as she had ignored his questions.
With no time to waste, Tyler quickly push the issue with the Wisdom skill and Kali to the back of his mind as he moved around in an attempt to learn more skills.
ording to Uriel, the Void Library contained more than 200 million items but only 2,770,021 spell books which most of which were low-level spells that were practically useless but were all collected by the demon king and his minions just for the sake of collecting.
There were even original spells that were created by him and his minions, as well as the ones extracted from the souls of the prisoners he captured.
There were 617,490 skill books and tomes but only 701 Magic artifacts. The rest were magic scrolls, potions, and pills. As well as research books on almost every known and unknown aspect of magic and magic fundamentals.
Tyler vividly remembered the first time he was in this library, he had studied the basics from those materials before he even learned his first spell.
Thinking back, he had seen several books on Necromancy and Negative energy so there was a high chance the method to rid himself of the negative corruption that affected him would be found there so Tyler made a mental note that he would do more research on it if he had the time.
Moving around through the vast section for skills, Tyler picked out the skills that interested him, and after he started to feel like he was just wasting more time walking around. He decided to just learn the ones in had on hand for now.
During the process of selecting his preferred skills, Tyler was shocked to see a certain skill that he had thought to be his original skill as he had created the skill himself and hadn''t expected to find it here. The ?Demon''s Might? skill was something he had learned while messing around with the form for magic sense while adding elements of other skills and spells so he had thought it was a unique skill until Nadine had gained it from him.
However, it would seem the skill was far from unique as it was part of a series called, Demonic Eyes. Its actual name was Might Demonic eyes but obviously, the name he had given it sounds way better and cooler.
There were also several more skills in this series and Tyler took interest in them. They all had different levels of strength and usefulness but all of them seems powerful.
Wanting to take a look at the list to see which ones he would like to learn, Uriel projected a holographic screen in front of him which had startled him a bit but he soonposed himself and pretended nothing happened.
??????
Demonic Eyes Skill Series.
Curse Demonic eyes - Normal Tier.
True Death Demonic eyes - Divine Tier.
Decaying Demonic Eyes - Advanced Tier.
Paralyzing Demonic Eyes - Advanced Tier.
Petrifying Demonic Eyes - Advanced Tier.
Affliction Demonic eyes - Normal Tier.
Phantom Pain Demonic eyes - Advance Tier.
Maddening Demonic eyes- Normal Tier.
Cham demonic eyes - Advance Tier.
Hypnotic Demonic Eyes - Normal Tier.
Destruction Demonic eyes - Divine Tier.
Might Demonic Eyes - Advanced Tier.
Domination Demonic Eyes - Advance Tier
??????
Among the list, the skills that stood out the most were True Death Demonic eyes and Destruction Demonic eyes. They were absurdly powerful skills that could cause massive damages and True death was an instant death skill that prevents resurrection and reincarnation.
It could even kill spiritual entities and non-immortal celestials. Destruction was simr as it could destroy any and everything including conceptual entities. At a higher level, it could even destroy conceptual immortality and entities with Spatial Awareness to prevent their death as long as they were aware of their identity. However, the eyes could Destroy the very idea of their identity itself.
However, Tyler didn''t have the time to learn either one of these skills as he needed to be more versatile at the moment. At most, he could learn a few Normal Tier skills of the series and one Advance Tier, depending on howplex the form was to him.
With that in mind, he began memorizing the Domination demonic eyes form for his one Advance skill for this series, and the Hypnotic and curse demonic eyes. He didn''t try too hard to activate them as a way to save more time. As long as he could urately remember the forms in their right order, he should be able to do thatter on.
This would not have been possible without learning the Magic Prodigy skill first. He had to thank Urielter for her suggestion.
Keeping up his current pace, he memorized ten other skills and even managed to activate one he was verypatible with. That skill was Gravity Maniption, an Advanced Tier skill that had simr properties to Spatial Maniption. It was quite a useful skill to have.
Other skills he learned include, Thoughtmunication which was a basic tier skill and had higher forms namely, Mindmunication and Soul Link that had vast differences between their strength and range.
He had spent more than Six hours memorizing or learning all 13 skills and was almost out of time. Not wanting to wait till thest minute, Tyler asked Uriel to move him to where he could find some Tier five spells so he could store them in his storage space before moving on to where the magic artifacts were.
However¡ª
[Warning! Warning! Master cannot remove magic books out of the Library as they are made from the Library''s essence itself and are also its source of power. Please return the missing book.]
"Oh, wow... You''ve got to be kidding me right?"
Chapter 216 C216. The Last Few Minutes
The only two skills Tyler was able to immediately activate besides the three demonic eyes skill series, were Thought eleration and Gravity Maniption which was an interesting skill that Tyler liked a lot as it gave him the ability to move things with his mind just lole in the movies. Even though those were not the skills strongest aspects.
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Gravity Maniption.
The ability to create, shape, move, control, interact and manipte gravity, a natural phenomenon which all things with mass or energy ¡ª includings, stars, gxies, and light ¡ª gravitate toward one another.
Sub Skills:
Gyro-Telekinesis - The ability Interact or Move matter using gravity.
Gravity Pulse - Creates a fist sized ball of gravitational energy that is shot like a projectile and explodes on impact.
Force Implosion - Creates andunch a fist sized ball of condense gravitational energy that causes a target or an area in space (within a 3 meter radius) to copse in on itself, resulting in a highly dense form.
Gravity Infringement - Break thews of gravity.
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Frankly speaking, the skill wasn''t as strong as spatial Maniption had been but it could be improved if Tyler wanted. However, it had too many simrities to Spatial maniption so Tyler didn''t bother. He also learned Thoughtmunication for easiermunication although he knew message sent using the skill or spell could be easily intercepted but it was fine for now.
He had also memorized 8 other skills form and would activate them at ater date. Aware that he now had less than an hour to spend in the library, he quickly teleported to where Tier 5 spells were located and quickly stored a book in his storage space as he attempted to move on to the next.
However¡ª
What he heard from Uriel next shocked him. The lighting in the library suddenly turned red and the atmosphere got heavier. It was as though the library was calling him a criminal.
Tyler hastily brought out the spell book from his storage space and returned it back to its ce before the oppressive feeling he had felt was lifted from him and the library had returned to its previous calm.
"What the hell was that?"
[Answer: The Boundless Void Library is apletely magical library that was willed into existence by the Supreme Monarch. It is made from pure energy and thus, every magic book in here is made up of a part of that energy.]
"Seriously. If that was the case how was I able to take out several artifacts previously?"
[There are 701 magic artifacts stored in this Library. Except for one, the rest were brought in here over a span of centuries by the Monarch.]
"Huh... so not all of them was made by the library. Well... since I n to take some more out of here, which artifact was made by the Library."
[Correction, the said artifact was not made from the Library''s core energy but was created using the Library several abilities and authorities. The item is already in your possession.]
"Uh... wait what? You don''t mean that ring do you?"
Treating his question as a rhetorical question, Uriel didn''t respond and Tyler could only sigh slightly and move on.
"What about the scrolls and potions?"
[Expendable items such as magic scrolls and potions are also created with the Magic Library''s ability as long as all necessary materials are provided.]
"I see, so it even had a function like that. That means I don''t have to worry about finding an alchemist and researcher to make decent potions. I might even be able to earn some funds with this."
''Huh, that may be the case but I still don''t have regr ess to the library to make ns around it. Perhaps Uriel can inform me whenever the connection is stabilized but I shouldn''t ce my hope on that for now. Besides, aside from the scrolls, potions and pills, I have a feeling creating a magic artifact would cost more than I can pay.Oh shit I''m wasting more time.''
Realizing his mistake, Tyler snapped out of his thoughts as he made up his mind on what to do. With his current mastery of all 3 levels of intermediate magic runes, memorizing the magic circle of up to Tier 5 spells wasn''t as difficult as learning Advance skills and he could immediately cast the spell after !
constructing the magic circle.
Using the Library''s movement ability, Tyler moved between Tier 3 spells and Tier 5, memorizingmore than 30 spells in less than 40 mins. A small number inparison to the total number of spells in the library but it was enough for now.
He didn''t forget to memorize the magic circle for the Tier 3 spell, Create Undead and Giant Fire Ball. He also learnt Tier 5 spells like Chaos Lightning and Explosion. As someone that appreciated privacy, he focused a lot on concealment spells and anti divination spells this time. If he were tobine several Tier 5 anti divination spells with his daily use of the Tier 7 scrolls, not even a demigod level ritualistic magic would be able to peer into his secrets.
He even learnt some more Tier 2 and Tier 1 spells just because they practically took less than a second to memorize thanks to Magic Prodigy and Potential Break would make them quite useful.
Taking some time out of memorizing spells, he used his insane speeds in reading more in the fundamentals of magic so he doesn''t fall into the trap that most mages fall into and fail to make a breakthrough. Magic wasn''t all about spells and skills.
Without the proper knowledge on how to weird such power, one could stunt their own growth just by engraving too much magic runes in thier mana bodies. Tyler didn''t miss the opportunity to read the one book he had fret to read the first time he came here and that was the Book of Death.
Made from what Tyler believed to be night itself, the book had a very sickening aura around it that made him want to stay away. Tyler forced himself to flip through the first chapter and he immediately put it down.
Frankly speaking, it looked like the raving of a mad man and did not provide any useful information for him. It seems to be focused on a forbidden magic that defied death but at a cost. Gaining immortality by bing a Grand Lich.
This item might''ve even been written by the Undeaf Kimg that was currently marching an army at him when he was still mortal. Ignoring the book he could not take out, he focused more on the research on mana control as he memorized more spells until the time he allocated to himself for this came to an end.
With that, Tyler teleported to the Magic scrolls section and stored all the items in the shelves ad far as his eyes could see without magic. Storing items he wasing touching took mana and due to the absurd number of scrolls the Library contained, just storing 3 million scrolls took a lot of mana from him. At some point, he didn''t even know what scrolls he was storing.
He then moved on to the artifact section where there were 701 magic artifacts apparently. The first time he was here, Tyler had only noticed the first few shelves and had assumed the Magic Library only had about 150 artifacts but clearly he had been wrong.
There should be more shelves behind this one that held the rest of the items. Rings, Wands, Staves, Masks, Nes, Bracelets, Vambraces, Orbs, and what now reminded him of magic crystals of the highest purity.
Tyler then moved over to where the Magic Crystal was located and before he even thought about how to use his Divine appraisal, the information on the item appeared in his mind.
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Magic Crystal
Purity - Divine.
The core of the God ss Magic beast, Undying Phoenix. This ancient Crystal contains immense but wild and chaotic primodial energy. Radiating a divine aura that soothes the soul, it is one of the greatest sources of energy.
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To be honest, Tyler hadn''t expected to get so much information from a Magic Crystal. To the point that he could even tell what beast or monster the Crystal came from. The report said it was an undying Phoenix yet it had been killed.
Well, perhaps the creature wasn''t immortal but just didn''t age. Whatever the case. This showed the previous demon king could kill monsters of that level easily. That was only judging by the abundance of the same quality crystals in the shelves.
Although Tyler couldn''t feel any aura from the crystals so perhaps the library was suppressing the aura. Still, the fact that there was more than 30 of this was very impressive.
Not wanting to waste more time. Tyler used a bit of mana and moved all the items in the shelve around him to his storage space as he moved on to the ones behind. He was repeating this process until his eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of something and he paused.
It was a orb the size of a volleyball. It waspletely pitch ck and the air around it felt like they were being devoid of light. There was a cluster of dim light in the center of the orb as it sits on the shelf.
This item was non other than a Potential Reader. It was the same orb Tyler had attempted to use in checking his potential the first time he came here.
Thest one has exploded and Tyler had thought that was the only one the Library contained. Yet now, he could see at least five of them. Chuckling to himself for an unknown reason. Tyler stored four of them in his storage space and moved to pick up the orb.
He wasted no time in pouring as little mana inside of it as possible but the item was made to greedily suck out as much mana as it could from whoever was holding it so his genius n had obviously failed before it had even started.
Having experienced this process twice in his life now, everything proceeded as he remembered. The light in the center of the orb began to get excited and bounced around in the orb as they began to shine brightly and just as it was about to reveal his potential.
*Boom!
¡ªIt exploded again.
''I suppose that settles it then. I thought I used too much mana the first time but apparently that''s not the case. Either I have no Magic potential or this orb can''t quantify Magic potential at the level of a demigod. I''ll have to test that outter on with Erin''s help.''
Tyler sighed disappointedly as he moved around listlessly until he had stored more than 500 magic artifacts in his storage before deciding to stop. This ce wasn''t going anywhere so there was no need to be too greedy.
The items he had now would be more than enough to handle the undead army a thousand times over even if he personally did nothing.
With Uriel constantly reminding him of how much time was left, Tyler knew he only had about 10 minutes left so he decided to call it a day. He had spent more than 40 hours here already so there was no point in worrying anyone anymore.
He then Instructed Uriel to take him to were Zelda was and to his surprise, she was already awake and just stood by the door silently with a lost expression on her face. It was an expression Tyler had never seen on her before as she showed a sense of vulnerability and confusion.
''What the what!''
Tyler thought as he stared at her, he was even more surprised by the fact that she had already awakened. He hadn''t felt anything different from the Soul Link he had with her so he had failed to notice when she had awakened.
Besides, he had been positive she would''ve contacted him the moment she woke up or simply just used shadow movement to appear before him and hide in his shadow. It was already a routine he was used to and seeing her look like she wasn''t sure on what to do didn''t reflect the emotionless demeanor of an Undead rogue.
[Answer: The undead known as Zelda has undergoed a core enhancement and in the process, soul Link with master was blocked to increase the chances for sess by eliminating any outside interference. As such, the undead known as Zelda is currently without a directive or a way to sense and locate master as the library is currently suppressing her abilities. Would you like to reestablish soul Link?]
Chapter 217 C217. Reset Time
[Would you like to reestablish soul Link?]
As though hearing Uriel''s exnation, Zelda finally noticed Tyler who had appeared a short distance from the entrance, and her expression changed. Tyler could see a wave of relief wash over her as she ran over to him.
As an Undead who could only live for her master. It was easy for Tyler to imagine how it must''ve felt for her when she lost her only purpose for existing. The restoration of the Soul Link had also confirmed this theory.
Tyler could sense the huge amount of negative emotions and hatred that was beginning to swirl around inside her. The undead were creatures that deeply hated the living but as an intelligent Undead. Zelda was sort of an exception, mostly because her master was also one of the living.
Naturally, if she were to suddenly lose that connection. A feeling of abandonment andck of a purpose would most likely cause her deep hatred for the living to be reignited. Causing her to mentally regress, probably losing her intelligence and bing a raging and uncontroble undead.
Either way, it wasn''t something he wanted to happen. Zelda ran towards him and knelt before him with a smile on her usual expressionless face. Perhaps the surge of emotion had made her more sensitive but it was still okay.
Someone like the Undead King was able to maintain his intellect and reasoning because he had a strong will and had given himself a purpose for his existence. However, at Tier 4, Tyler didn''t think Selda was strong enough to forcefully develop her own will.
She had been making such attempts by mimicking the actions of Nadine and the girls around him but that wouldn''t be enough.
As she got closer to him, Tyler was about to say something to her when Divine Appraisal suddenly kicked in and he saw the new information on her status. His eyes went wide in disbelief.
????????
Name: Zelda.
Race: Undead.
ss: Shadow Rogue - Peak Tier 6
A powerful immortal undead rogue that was created in the depths of negative energy, grasping the secrets of the shadows and Darkness. Now hold an enhanced Darkness core.
Magic Type: Darkness, Shadow, Lightning, Abyss.
Racial Skills: Shadow Dweller; Invisibility; Shadow Movement; Assassinate; Darkvision; Greater Stealth; Magic Sense; Mark Soul; Darkness Aura; Shadow Assault.
Skills: Dark Lightning(A); Abyssal Bind(A); Shadow Clones(N); Shadow swap(N); Shadow Armor(A); Death w. (D)
Resistances: Darkness Damage Resistance High; Negative Energy Immunity; Immortal; Magic Resistance Mid; Physical Damage Resistance Low.
????????
"You''ve got to be kidding me! She jumped up by two FULL tiers just because her core was enhanced. How the hell did you do that?"
A dumbfounded expression was stered on Tyler''s face as he stared at the now happy Zelda that was kneeling before him. He hadn''t expected the core enhancement to be so effective. At most he expected her to jump up by a level, reaching Basic Tier 5 or something.
[Answer: The individual known as Zelda had absorbed a fair amount of energy from residing in Master''s shadow for a prolonged period of time and that energy was also used in enhancing her core.]
"Is that so. Is there a way to easily do that with re and Kali then? I mean, I can''t exactly bring them inside the Library right?"
[Yes. Master can achieve the same results on your own by assimting the energy from a high-grade Magic Crystal into their cores. Master could then force an enhancement of their cores using your innate ability as a substitute for the Library. You''re truly impressive master.]
"Uh... Thanks, I guess."
[Also: Using attributed magic crystals may provide a vast difference in their growth.]
"Oh is that right? If I''m not mistaken, I can create attributed magic crystals by infusing a Magic Crystal with magic runes of the desired attributes right."
[That is correct. As expected of Master, such a thinges easily to you.]
Tyler didn''t think Uriel was patronizing him so he didn''t reply as he decided to speak to Zelda who was eagerly waiting for an order from her beloved monster.
She looked like a puppy that had finally found its owner which was cute but frightening at the same time. Having a human-shaped puppy was not something that was ever on his bucket list.
"Hey Zelda, how do you feel right now? Any differences?"
"Not at all, Master. I feel ted that I''m finally reunited with you."
Her voice hadn''t changed at all. It was still a beautiful voice with an undertone of ghastliness to it. However, the tone of her speech seems to have changed a bit as it was no longer as emotionless as before.
Tyler didn''t think much of it though, he just nodded gently and moved forward while casually patting her on the head as he walked past her.
"Alright then, let''s go. I''m sure everyone will be waiting for us."
"Yes."
Walking past her, Tyler moved towards the entrance for the first time since he had been to the Library. He would leave this ce before it had a chance of sending him flying.
Moving towards the door, it slowly opened without him doing anything as Tyler exited the Library with Zelda trailing behind him and the door was shut the moment they left it.
[The connection with the Darknar Castle has further deteriorated. Time left to reset the reconnection with the Void Library, 90 Days, 4 Hours, and 47 Seconds.]
Tyler''s steps froze as he heard that. His mind had failed topute the time Uriel had spoken for a moment.
"What the hell. Why is it so long!"
Not receiving a response, he silently used cate on himself as he sat on the sofa and Zelda stood by his side like a proper bodyguard. It was true that the time for the Library to reset had been extended every time he used it but this time was absurd.
The first timested only two days and the second, over a week. Going by that trend this time should''ve just beena month but no... it just had to be a full three months. if this was left as is, the next time would be a year or two.
"Looks like I''ll have to increase my rank in the magic institute after all."
Tyler sighed in disappointment as he thought about that. It was a good thing he hadn''t wasted his time trying to activate all those skills and had just memorized them instead. If he hadn''t done that, this bit of information would''ve been disastrous.
''Well, what''s done is done I suppose.''
There wasn''t anything he could do except master all levels of advanced magic runes or Learn the Divine Tier skill named Monarch of Concealment.
"Phew..."
Letting out another sigh which was rapidly bing a habit of his, Tyler sank into the softness of his sofa as he decided to take a moment to rx his mind and soul even though his body was no longer as exhausted as it had been in its low energy state.
However, he had only closed his eyes for a second when something suddenly happened.
A single knock was ced on his door and before Tyler could even say anything, the person came running in as they practically tackled Tyler off the chair.
"What the hell!"
Snapping himself in an upright posture, Tyler opened his eyes and stared at the empty room that contained only Zelda who stood beside him as he wondered what the hell just happened. His magic sense and Spatial Perception also couldn''t locate any hidden entities in his room.
[Answer: The ability FurtureSight was triggered. It is advisable for Master to move from the chair.]
"Wait what!"
Just as Tyler was about to question Uriel on what she meant by that. He suddenly sensed something rapidly approaching his room and in an instant, a single knock came from the door as the person dashed in before he could even reply.
Noticing that things were progressing just as before, Tyler quickly moved off the sofa as the incredibly fast individual was unable to stop mid-motion and tripped over the chair. Taking a look at who it was, Tyler couldn''t help but sigh yet again.
Even at Zelda''s current level matching hers, she had been unable to react in time to keep up with the person even though she was a rogue. Thinking logically, there was only one person that could move that fast in the castle, and that person was none other than Rain.
"Sigh... what are you doing?"
"Ahh... no fair. Why did you dodge me? Even after I rushed here so I''ll be the first person to greet you."
"What do you mean why. If you go charging at someone without any warning anyone in their right mind would move out of the way."
"Oh right, my bad... The..." She made an adorable pose as she stuck her tongue out while still sitting on the floor and acting like a clutz.
"Never mind that Lord Ty, it''s not fair... How could you leave without kissing me goodbye? You guys even went ahead to have a party without me, you''re not being fair at all."
"Errr..."
Ignoring the first part of herint, Tyler could barely make a proper response to her after that. He knew the Barbecue feast woulde around to bite himter on but he hadn''t expected it to be this soon. It''s not like he had nned to leave her out of it in the first ce. Her health was just a bigger priority.
''Wait Health. That''s it!''
At this point, Cora who was Tyler''s personal maid finally entered the room. It seems she had tried to stop Rain from entering but her eyes could not even keep up with her which had stunned her for a while until she heard the loud sound of the sofa tipping over.
"Ah Lord Ty, I''m sorry I tried to¡ª"
"It''s fine don''t worry about it."
Tyler said that waving his arm at the panicking beastgirl who was now kneeling before him. Her entrance had allowed him to regain hisposure so he should be thanking her.
Zelda who had failed to react fast enough had also stopped mid-motion and she moved over to where Tyler was with a strange expression as she sunk into his showdown without saying a word.
Tyler didn''t know how to react to that so he simply shrugged and went over to where Rain was and crouch beside the pouting dark elf. He then spoke with a gentle smile on his face as he tried to change the subject.
"Looks like you''vepletely recovered from the disintegration aura, I''m d. I wanted you to be part of the feast as well but your health is very important to me. Once the issue with the undead army is resolved, we''ll have another one so cheer up."
Seeing the pouting Rain blush, Tyler rejoiced in his heart he had seeded in quelling her but he needed to go a bit further if he wanted her topletely forget about the past.
"I- I still want¡ª"
"Besides, I needed some time to prepare for something very important. That''s why I made sure I prepared a gift just for you."
"Oh really!"
"Of course. Would I lie to you?"
Standing back to his feet, Tyler stretched a hand toward Rain who happily held on to him and he pulled her up. As she fell into his embrace, a pair of golden and emerald bracelets respectively appeared in his hand.
They were gorgeous works of art that were masterfully designed. They seemed to be made from very precious metals but they did not glisten in the light, rather they absorbed the light around them as they blended into the environment. Highly dense mana could also be felt around them.
These were magic artifacts Uriel had rmended to Tyler for Rain base on his earlier request. Although he had only wanted to give out half of his artifacts as rewards for future aplishments by his subordinates, Rain had surely earned one and this was the perfect time to give it to her. It surely wasn''t because he was swayed by her pouting face. No that was definitely not the case.
Chapter 218 C218. God Tier Artifacts
Magic Artifacts were the highest-ranking magic items in this world. Made by a method that had been long forgotten even by the gods, they were exuberant items that were impossibly rare, with a value to match.
As the method to forge such items no longer exited. It stands to reason that they would be lucrative items that were eagerly sorted out for. However, even among such rare items, there were a very limited number of them that defied the logic of this word itself.
These were none other than God Tier artifacts. The highest rank amongst magic artifacts, with powers that far outstrips the other artifacts.
Although these items were insanely rare and hard to find, the Void Library contained 701 of such Magic Artifacts as the demon king had spent the better part of a millennium locating and retrieving these items for an unknown reason.
Having raided said library of more than half of these items, Tyler had ended up with exactly 501 of them. However, amongst the original 701, only 17 of them were ssified as God Tier artifacts.
Even after spending centuries upon centuries in his search, the demon king had only ended up with 17 of them. This only showed the massive difference between God Tier artifacts and other magic artifacts as only a very limited number of them existed.
Besides those 17 world-bending artifacts, there were still 684 magic artifacts left in the Library. 400 of those, were Special grade artifacts. They were the lowest ranking artifacts but still had powers that surpass those of Legendary ranked magic items.
Naturally, 200 of the remaining artifacts were Celestial grade. The remaining 84 were obviously Divine grade and only 17 were God Tier. When it came to differentiating between different artifacts, the line was very thin for special grades up to divine grades.
However, God Tier artifacts were in a world of their own. Artifacts were usually judged based on the number of effects they had but God Tiers were different. They normally had only one ability or effect but their strength could destroy an entire world.
Amongst the 17 God Tier artifacts in the Library, Tyler had taken out exactly 10 of them which was a bit much if he had known about it. One of them was the Monarch Ring that had been in his possession since the beginning and another was the golden bracelet he was gifting Rain.
Unlike the Celestial grade artifact he had given to Liz, this was leagues apart and even he felt like it may be too much for a simple reward.
The emerald bracelet was a level below that as it was only a Divine grade artifact but itspatibility with the God Tier one was instantly high. Combining their effects and in the right condition, it could perform almost at the same level as a God Tier artifact.
Tyler didn''t know how many God Tier artifacts were in this world but ording to Uriel, they should be less than a hundred of them. Her exact estimate was 55 but she wasn''t 100% sure about it, as World divination could not locate the ones that were being concealed or hidden.
However, the fact that there were a hundred or even just 50 of such terrifying items out there scared him.
Naturally, he didn''t think any entity or organization had more than the Void Library but even one or two of those items was enough to level the entire Darknar region before he even had time to blink.
Although there was still a silver lining as a few of these items were apparently one-use items or would degenerate with each use. So using them casually would be the epitome of foolishness.
During the Great War a thousand years ago, the five heroes that slew the demon king each had a God Tier artifact of their own, they probably even had God ss magic weapons.
ording to the rumors he heard during his time in the human continent, the Holy sword that the hero wielded was a weapon capable of splitting the heavens and earth itself. A weapon that was even powerful enough to cut time and fate.
He had originally thought that was just a bogus rumor spread by the church to increase their followers but perhaps he had been mistaken.
From what he now knew about artifacts, even the three churches in the Ruz kingdom each had a holy weapon of their own which was scary now that Tyler thought about it. If even a small Kingdom like the Ruz kingdom had that many God Tier artifacts, then what about therger kingdoms and empires.
There was also the mysterious elven continent to worry about. They were creatures with an advanced civilization that far surpasses that of the dwarves even if they were inferior when it came to craftsmanship and cksmithing.
If every single superpower in this world had one such item, it made sense why they are all currently in a stalemate and why half of the world had joined forces to take down the demon king, the only person that had attempted to break the status quo by actively seeking more power. They had even enticed his generals to betray him.
Well, at the very least there weren''t that many of these items around as every single one of them were incredibly dangerous especially for him.
Of course, this was only going by the exnation Uriel had provided him with as he didn''t have the time to go through the details of every single item he had in his storage space. After all, he didn''t even know the name of the bracelets he had gifted Rain even though he had told her that he had specially picked them out for her.
Although Tyler had been ignorant about God Tier artifacts when offering it to Rain and had felt a moment of hesitation. That thought onlysted a moment as he didn''t think he needed it.
He also wanted to reward her for taking care of the scouts in the safe zones while also using the items'' power in motivating the others under him in the uing battle. He thought it was important for a master to properly reward the hard work of their subordinates.
Besides, Uriel had assured him that aside from the Monarch Ring and two other God Tier artifacts in his storage. He had no use for the other God Tier artifacts with him.
They were items that wouldn''t increase his strength by any noticeable margin and thus, would be wasted on himpletely. He also didn''t have anypatibility with those items skills and thus, could not assimte the skills directly into his soul.
?????????
Rain, who had received the bracelets from Tyler thinking her beloved master was only giving her a simple essory based on their earlier conversation suddenly felt the immerse powers emanating from within the item that had just touched her hand and her body froze.
Her somewhat cheeky smile had disappeared as her body trembled slightly. Her heart pounded rapidly as her eyes suddenly lost their shine. It was as though her mind had vacated her body as a certain memory was reyed in her head countless times over and she was reliving her past.
A conflict of emotion swirled around in her as she just stood there silently staring at the bracelets with a nk and empty look in her eyes.
Sensing something was wrong after not getting a reaction from Rain for a while, Tyler called out to her but his words had failed to reach her. He ced a hand on her shoulder but didn''t get any response.
"Hey, Rain. What''s wrong? Snap out of it."
Tyler tried several more times but got nothing so he asked Uriel instead.
"Hey, Uriel! What the hell did that item do to her?"
[The artifacts rmended for the individual known as ''Rain'' should not possess such an effect. However, signs of brainwave synchronization were detected. While the artifact''s abilities did not cause this, the item itself may have triggered an instilledmand that had been drilled into her system by various means including torture.]
"What that hell are you taking about?"
Tyler was at a loss for words. While he could grasp the details of Uriel''s words, he didn''t want to believe it until he suddenly hear somethinge out of Rain''s mouths.
"¡I''m sorry¡ I failed my mission. Please forgive me¡ I''ll try harder next time¡"
It was an endless loop of an apology with the same dead look in her eyes that told Tyler she was not referring to him but someone from a distant memory.
Although Tyler was a little flustered by the whole situation, he remained calm as he thought about the various possibilities. For the first time in a while, he was looking at a serious Rain but her expression told him everything he needed to know.
The situation of Dark elves in the Demon continent was not exactly a well-hidden secret and of course, Tyler was aware of it. However, Tyler had never bothered to ask Rain about the specifics on her situation with the Alcars as he had assumed she wasn''t bothered by it.
Yet it would seem like that was not the case and she had just been putting up a front.
Even to this day, Dark elves were still beings that were not seen as equals and were only used as tools or pawns for the nobles.
They didn''t have a ounce of freedom and were literally bred to be expendable but deadly tools. Living the entirety of their lives inplete istion from the rest of the world. They were literally treated like livestock as they were rewarded when they seeded in their assigned mission and punished when they failed.
Based on that and what Rain was muttering. Tyler got a general idea of what had happened. Although this was no longer the case, Rain still considered herself to be Liz''s bodyguard and her failure to protect her in the Darkin mountain range must''ve been eating down on her even though she had done her best with the information given to her.
Seeing Tyler hand her the bracelets must''ve triggered a memory from her past of being punished based on her strong emotions about it. Perhaps she had even felt in the back of her mind that Tyler would eventually punish her for her mistake.
However, that situation had just been far beyond her control. Tyler constantly had Erin scan a massive area around the castle, and yet, even though she was a demigod, she had been unable to the presence of sense anyone, most likely due to the effects of an high grade artifact.
He had failed toprehend the powers of artifacts and thus had made a mistake from the very beginning. If even Erin who specializes in divination couldn''t sense them then Rain and Liz had stood no chance, to begin with, and that was his fault.
Moreover, she had lost one of her daggers which were probably Divine Tier artifacts and in a suppression barrier. Only Liz who had Iris Tear had been equipped to take on the enemy.
This was the importance of information. Hisck of all the right information had led to several mishaps in his ns so he could not let her shoulder such me. Of course, he also had no intentions of shouldering the me himself. It''s not like he asked for this.
He would just have to make sure he thoroughly makes the Brimstone family pay for this.
"Uriel. You said her brainwave synchronized with the artifact which triggered a memory within her right?"
[Correct.]
"Can I disrupt it?"
[Yes. With energy maniption, Master can disrupt the synchronization, pulling back her consciousness from within.]
Although Tyler didn''t know what Energy maniption was, it was apparently a skill he had learned after improving his mana control and when he had made those mana bullets.
He just moved closer to the immobile Rain and held her head as he focused. What Uriel did not tell him was that what he was doing was essentially a neurological procedure and any minor mishaps would lead to killing Rain.
This was not because she had disregarded Rain''s life but simply because she hadn''t considered the possibility of failure from her Master who was now a Magic Prodigy.
Without that information to distract him, Tyler was able to focus as he located the part of her brain that was actively syncing with her visual nerves as she stared at the bracelets while trapping her in her own mind. He then disrupted the connection in an instant. Gaining a far better mana control than he could''ve imagined. It''s was now almost as perfect as his body control.
The moment he was done, eyes slowly regained their luster but her muttering continued. Whether or not she was trapped in her head. The emotions remained the same.
Smiling at his sess and unintentional improvement, Tyler took the bracelet from her open palm which had garnered a reaction. However, he did not take back the items as that would mean ming her.
Whatever hardship the Alcar family had put her through did not matter to him. It didn''t matter if she seeded or failed, as long as she held no malicious intent towards him. He wouldn''t enforce any torturous punishment or sadistic rewards.
After all, to him. She would always be dark elf that was an adorably obnoxious girl that was strangely in love with him for some reason.
Tyler took her slender arm and ced the item on her. God Tier artifacts were generally bond items unless they had limited use so the item bonded to her immediately.
"No, I can''t, I failed. Please don''t punish me."
This was the first time Tyler had seen Rain genuinely frightened as she tried to pull her arm away from his grip but he wouldn''t let go. He pulled her into his arms as he caressed her head whispering softly into her ears.
"It''s okay. You did nothing wrong and you did not failed. So trust me. After all. My word isw don''t you think?"
Chapter 219 C219. Analysis And Reports
''My word isw.''
Frankly, Tyler had only said those words in a joking fashion. However, he was now fully aware of how the residents in the castle saw him. After all, the Boundless Void Library said he had the demon''s king seed inside him sounded a lot dirtier than it needed to be.
To be honest, the only reason he barely had any reaction to that information when he heard it was partly because he had predicted it in the back of his mind and he was just filled with excitement on returning to the wondrous Magic Library.
There was also the fact that the demon king''sst name was being attached to his. Even if he was dense, there''s no way he wouldn''t put the pieces together after all that. He had already figured out the fact that he had been summoned to this word by the effects of a failed summing spell.
The person most likely to have summoned him was indeed the demon king himself and Tyler couldn''t even fathom how he did it but he had managed to control the situation until Tyler had eventually ended up being imprisoned in his castle.
However, it would seem like the betrayal of his generals hade as a surprise for him as he had been unable to exercise whatever ns he had for Tyler''s body which should''ve been summoned as a vessel for him. Still, Tyler couldn''t figure out why.
The demon king was strong. At the very least that is what he was lead to believe. He was strong enough that even gods would hesitate to challenge him. So why summon a weak human body with a simr wavelength as his vessel.
''Hmm¡ perhaps his summoning spell hadn''t failed at all.''
It made sense. Tyler''s empty mana body was perfect for absorbing the energy that had been underground so perhaps the demon king had summoned him that way on purpose. If that''s the case then it stands to reason that he was either dying or had reached his limit for growth and decided the only way to save himself was to prepare a vessel.
Tyler shivered internally as he caressed Rain''s head. Whatever the case may be. It would seem like he had the betrayer of the great five to thank for his life.
So, except for the brimstone family, maybe he should try getting along with them.''I doubt that''ll happen though.''As his thoughts trailed further and further away.
His mind was suddenly dragged back by the sound of several knocks ced on his door. Turning his head to look at Cora who was still kneeling by the entrance.
He gave her permission to stand and attend to the door. He then moved Rain to the bed as he sat beside her. His energy maniption in her brain had needed up inducing fatigue in her so she had now fallen asleep.
Soon Cora returned and informed him of his new visitors, granting her permission to let them in. Both Liz and Erin, who seemed to have originally chased after Rain but due to the differences in their movement speed, had given up halfway and decided to just walk her instead like properdies.
"Wee back Lord Ty."
"Wee back."
Tyler turned his head to face the Boeing girls and with an arm, he motioned for them to rx. He had expected Albert to be the one at the door but to his surprise, he hadn''te yet.
"Hmm... I didn''t really go¡ª well whatever.How have things in the castle been the past two days?"
Tyler asked as he stood up from his bed and walked to his desk. The girls seemed to be surprised to find Rain lying there but didn''t say anything. They seem to have understood something so Tyler didn''t think there was a need to exin himself.
"Just as you ordered. The dwarven leader Ragdek and his friend, along with the cksmith Bungo has seeded in fixing all the walls with the materials you provided. ording to their report, they ended up using more than 90% of the Runites in reforging the main gate so they are unable to start their research on magic artifacts."
"They''ve also created pieces of furniture for almost all the rooms in the castle as well as new and improved weapons and armors for our forces, but those have exhausted all the resources we have in the castle and until we get a supply from Azar''s group, there isn''t anything else for them to do so I let them focus on the vineyard they were interested in."
The one who spoke was Erin which would normally be a surprise for Tyler but this was expected.
While she had a slightly flushed face all through her report to Tyler, she had surprisingly been able to speak clearly without being shy.
Perhaps her increased strength gave her more confidence in herself or she hadn''t wanted to disappoint Tyler after he left her in charge to manage the castle in Albert''s stead. The change was because of Albert''s request.
For some reason, he had felt inadequate and unworthy after his loss to Mammon''s generals even though he had been the only one to kill one of the generals.
''Wait that reminds me. The body of Mammon and his generals is being preserved. I wonder if they would make stronger undead now that my mana control is quite high.''
As Tyler mused about the prospect of creating more undead. His thoughts slowly returned to Albert who was now in charge of training his fighters with the use of Z''s regimen. He was trying various methods to improve his strength.
That was properly why he had tasked Cora with his self-assigned responsibility of looking after him for the time being while he worked hard to improve himself.
"Still, it''s only been two days. How were they able to aplish so much. I guess the dwarven race really is on another level."
"Umm yes, they tend to work faster than we anticipated as long as we send them enough alcohol."
"Oh, that does sound like dwarves."
"Also, Mr. Z wanted me to give you this lord Ty."
Erin seemed to have materialized a parchment from thin air as she handed it over to Tyler who was still seated behind his desk as though he was doing something important.
He then spread open the parchment on the desk and to his surprise, it was a detailed map of the undergroundbyrinth he had tasked him in making.
ording to this, there were three exits from thebyrinth. One led to the Darknar forest. It was the same one Tyler had exited from on that faithful night. The second exit led to the Red River and thest led to the Greyad ins where his new settlement/town/city was being built by the Kobolds who were led by Tarka.
While this all seems like it might be a great underground escape route in case of emergencies. There was actually no way for anyone to use it as there was no passage to that ce unless Tyler decided to construct one or create a teleportation point in there which would be of no use of for some reason teleportation bes unusable.
There were still a lot of mysteries surrounding that ce and until hepletely understood what they were, he didn''t want that ce to be known to many and thus needed to protect or defend it.
Theyered barrier around the castle extended down but it did not reach theke so that ce could be essed by anyone. The options he considered werepletely sealing two of the entrances so he could adequately focus on defending thest. Or assigning golems, undead, or monsters to patrol the tunnels while using illusion magic to prevent anyone from locating theke.
However, he didn''t have that many undead, and even if Ragdek could recreate the Mech golems, using them for that would be was full. The only viable option was taming monsters for the task.
However, he needed a skilled beast tamer to help him with that but he had no such individual current within the castle.
Tyler leaned back into his chair as he considered this issue and thought of a solution. With his new Domination demonic eyes, he could technically dominate a powerful creature and get them to obey him without the need of a beast tamer.
Although, doing the same for magic beasts may prove more difficult than ordinary monsters as magic beasts had more Magic Resistance and some even had mind attack immunity.
''Still, this method is still very useful. Frankly, I don''t even need a magic beast to achieve my goal.''
Tyler nodded his head with satisfaction as Uriel confined his theory. He then turned to face the girls as he stored the map inside his infinite pocket dimension.
"So how''s the castle defense looking?"
"Everything seems fine. Most of the defensive runes have been restored with the exception of the advance runes in the North wing. The traps have also been fixed and a second defensive torrent was made for the tower based on your design. I was told Ragdek had also improved the design he theck of materials had stalled production."
"Oh, is that so. They still continue to impress. By the way, have there been any words from Tarka and the other Kobolds?"
"Yes, sire. We receive a report from her just this morning. It says all the temporary housing has beenpleted and they are now clearing out the area where the city will be."
Tyler nodded once again and was about to say something when Liz who had moved closer to the sleeping Rain suddenly spoke:
"Oh umm, I recently received a message from Nadine and the others. It says they''ve made contact with the Raven settlement and will be returning with exactly 1580 hobgoblins, 111 Karma Onis. They should be arriving in two days. ording to her, the fighting force of the settlement is 1,212."
"That''s higher than I expected, our current fighting force even when including the Kobolds and trolls is still less than a hundred. Still, even with the addition of that many, against an army of 20,000 powerful undead. It doesn''t seem like much."
Hearing Erin''s conclusion after Liz report, Tyler couldn''t help but chuckle as he spoke:
"That''s fine. In a battle like this, numbers won''t mean much."
He was about to say something else when he suddenly paused for a second as though he was listening to someone but the girls could not hear anything.
"Alright, I''ve heard enough. You guys return for now. In five hours, gather all every able body including the children in the inner ward and await further instructions."
"Umm, oh okay."
"Understood. But what about Rain."
"Hmm¡ I guess I''ll just send y''all to her room then. You can handle the rest from there."
Seeing them nod, Tyler waved an arm and teleported them to the room he had assigned to Rain. He then ordered Cora to leave as well and return to her post outside.
The moment she left, Tyler signed in relief as he reyed the information he had revived from Uriel in his head over and over again.
The reason he had given them five hours to report to the inner ward was that he had nned on using that time to increase his undead forces that had been absolutely decimated by Mammon and his generals like they were nothing.
He had a small stockpile of corpses and wanted to carry out a few more experiments on the type of undead he could create now that he had the proper spell. Besides, he now had some negative resistance after looking at the data Uriel had shown him.
[Notice: The Analysis on Master''s being has beenpleted. Physical and Magic abilities have beenpleted. Would you like to view your status.]
[Notice: Master mana''s body has been severely damaged. Repairs will begin shortly. Chances of sess have been deemed to be too low, temporarily disabling all resistances to improve the sess rate. This may hurt a bit.]
"You know, I''m beginning to dislike you, Uriel."
Chapter 220 C220. Personal Stats
¡ªStill in the Demon King''s Castle.
The moment Cora left his room and closed the door behind her, Tyler copsed to the ground as an intense sensation of burning washed over him. Unlike the time in the cave, his current situation may not be as bad since he could still move and think. However, it was still not a pleasurable situation for him.
He felt no physical pain but his mana body felt like it was on fire. He could feel his mana being forcibly stirred as the cracks were slowly being fixed and forcefully expanding to contain his mana. It was a painful process due to his currentck of pain resistance thanks to Uriel but after experiencing immersed pain serval times now. He was able to endure this situation a lot better.
[Notice: Due to the constant influx of mana to Master''s mana body for a prolonged period, aplete fix is impossible. However, several precautions will be taken to prevent further damage.]
After what felt like days to Tyler, the pain he felt from his mana body as though it was on fire slowly subsided as Uriel''s voice echoed in his ears, informing him that his mana body could not be fixed.
''Wait what!? What the hell was the point of all that of you couldn''t even fix it then.''
[My apologies Master. Aplete recovery was impossible due to the continuous growth of your mana reserves and instability caused by your ability. However, Master''s mana body has been fixed by more than 80% with a 5.21% chance of degeneration. A permanent solution would be for Master to evolve his mana body into a Void Body.]
''So you were able to fix it by that much Huh. At the Gerry least that''s¡ª wait, doesn''t that mean I just wasted my time trying to expand it in the library? I could''ve done so much more if I had known.''
Grumbling to himself about his wasted efforts, Tyler stood up from the ground as he massaged his temples. The pain this time had not been too bad but it was something he didn''t enjoy or wanted to happen. Although she was just helping him out, he would make sure this did not happen again.
"By the way, what the hell is a Void Body?"
[Unknown. My current knowledge only covers it as a unique evolution path from a mana body that can only be taken by the demon king but the chances of sess are abysmally low.]
"That''s not really helpful at all is it. Well, whatever, as long as it''s effective I guess."
Tyler didn''t have the energy for more inquiry as he could still feel the heat around his mana body. Although it had felt like he had been on the ground for days, it had only been a little over an hour since the pain started.
''Geez, at least I didn''t pass out this time.''
Tylerined as he got off the ground and sat on his bed as he massaged his temples. After the analysis that Uriel had done on him, a certainpiled list of information began floating around in his head but his mind was too hazy to focus so after using cate on himself once more, he stood up and walked back to his desk.
One of the skills he had learned but hadn''t activated was called ?Nensha,? it was just a normal tier skill so it shouldn''t take too much time to activate it as it was also a mind based skill. He also seems to have a goodpatibility with the skill which should make things easier.
Focusing on the form and manipting his mana essence with incredible precision the likes of which he had never done before. He was able to master the skill instantly.
????????
?Nensha - Normal Tier?
The ability to imprint marks/writing onto surfaces directly from the mind and without the use of tools, this includes text, pictures, paintings, etc.
????????
Essentially Projected Thermography or thoughtograhy. Tyler was now able to transfer what he was thinking to any surface he wanted. At a higher level, it could even project images into someone''s mind. He would then be able to teach others spells in the shortest time possible.
Moving to his desk, he took out a parchment he had kept in the drawer and activated the skill, apiled list of information with his name on it soon appeared perfectly duplicated on the parchment as though it had been printed from his mind.
p ????????
Self analysis and appraisal.
Name: Tyler Falls Darknar.
Title: Demon King Incarnate;Prideful King;The Monarch Supreme (Sealed.)
ss: Mage/Magic Swordsman.
Race: Demon King (???)
Tier: Tier 7 (Peak Stage.)
Potential: Unreadable.
Innate Ability: Potential Break.
Magic Types: Universal Magic (All Types)
Skills: Spatial Domination, Universal Barrier, Energy Maniption, Magic Prodigy, Magic Sense, Demons Might,Domination Demonic Eyes,Hypnotic Demonic eyes,Curse Demonic Eyes, Gravity Maniption, Nensha.
Resistances: Physical Damage Immunity; Negative Damage Resistance Low; Elemental Magic Resistance Mid; Magic Resistance High; Pain Nullification; Degeneration Magic Resistance High; Holy and Darkness Magic Resistance Mid; Immortal Soul; Conceptual Attack Nullification; Mind Influence Nullification; Astral/Spiritual Attack Resistance Low.
????????
''Again with the name Darknar being attached to mine. Do I share that guy''s blood or something? Not to mention, most of my original attack skills are missing. Or were theypiled into energy maniption?''
Tyler mused at the information in his hand as he sat on his chair and thought about it. The skills he had learned as a human were all energy attack-based skills so the fact that they had fused into energy maniption as he unlocked it was interesting. That would also exin why Magic Bullet wasn''t shown as a skill as well.
There was a skill called, Skill Combination that allowed you tobinepatible skills to get more stronger and high tiered ones. However, it was insanely difficult tobine skills and the higher ranked the skill you wanted tobine were, the harder it would be tobine them.
''Umm... there are also those weird titles. I didn''t even know this world had those. Do they have any hidden effects are are they just for show. There''s also the question mark in my race and the fact that I''m still only Tier 7.''
As he thought that, Tyler suddenly broke out into augh.
''What the hell, to think there would be a day I would consider Tier 7 only. Wait, wasn''t Mammon also Tier 7? Hmm... he must''ve been at the basic stage to appear so weak. For demigods, the difference between each level was like the difference between Tier 1 and 6 and it only gets wider the more you go up. Wait! Doesn''t that mean Erin is far stronger than me? Shit, I should be careful how I operate from now on.''
''Since my potential is still unreadable I can probably still grow can''t I. So I should be fine as long as I''m careful. I''ve been too focused on skills these days, I have to work on my magic if I want to advance further.''
As Tyler made his decision, the parchment suddenly ignited and caught fire in his hands. It was a simple Tier 4 spell ''Ignite.'' And even though Tyler held the parchment until it was nothing but ash, he didn''t feel any heat.
''At the very least I really do have negative resistance. If I mess around more carefully with Negative energy, perhaps I''ll gain more resistance.
Tyler then stood up as he called in Cora to prepare him a bath and change of clothes. He then teleported with her to the south wing where he had already contacted Z to prepare him the bodies of Mammon and his generals as well as a few others.
One of Mammon''s generals was killed by the Dark Garuda Dimensional cutting sh and its body had slowly broken down to dust no matter what they tried. Another was stabbed by Albert and the other was pummelled by Mammon himself.
The fourth lost his head to Tyler and thest who was apparently a witch was locked away in a cell next to the Undead Tyler had no control over. It seems Z had a mind invasion ability in his gauntlet and as long as the will of the target was broken he could gain any information he wanted.
He had seeded in gaining information from the guy Tyler had brought back from winged city and from that big breasteddy who was now nothing more than a vegetable.
''What a waste of massive boobs.''
[Noted: Master desiresrge breasts.]
''Don''t take weird notes what''s wrong with you.''
[I''ve scanned the castle. There are a few females that meet master''s requirements. The individual known as Erin seems to be in the lead. The individuals Cora, Rain, and Liz are close behind.]
'' It feels like you''re making fun of me. Why are you ranking the girls you''ve met. Well, whatever.''
Tyler decided to ignore Uriel''s taunts as he entered the room that had been prepared by Z with the corpses he required.
It wasn''t a pretty sight as most of these corpses were incredibly deformed from their method of death and Cora who was with him was almost as squirmish as Erin so he had her wait outside but the masked Z stayed with him.
Although he hadn''t gained much knowledge from the book of death, it had still given him more information on the creation of undead creatures. While the base material which is the corpses is very vital to the strength of the undead. The structure of the magic runes and the strength of the spell ultimately shape what type of undead creature is created.
Walking to one of the tables in the room, Tyler decided to start with thepletely deformed and unrecognizable corpse of Mammon.
"Create Undead."
What he used was the tier 5 version of the spell create undead but he still boasted his effects with his innate ability and without wasting time. A ck fog as dark as the darkest night began to envelop the disturbing body and Tyler could see it squirm and sounds of cracking bones were heard.
The processsted for only 30 seconds as the fog soon began to disappear and arge body madepletely out of pure ck bones was seen.
The 7ft skeleton soon began to move as it floated off the table and stood in the air, overlooking both of them. A blue me now burnt in its eye sockets as an ash and gold color luxurious robe was slowly being formed around it with its own aura.
[Congrattions, Master has sessfully created a King ss monster, an ArchLich.]
__________________________________________________________________________
Please join the Duscord and support in Patroen as well if you can, it will be very appreciated. Thanks and happy holidays.
Chapter 221 C221. Personal Guards
A 7ft tall skeletal body rose from the long metal table and floated in the air as though it was standing on an invisible board that was suspendedthere.
Although it was still just a skeleton, the undead creature carried a certain dignity that belonged to high-ranking nobility as it overlooked both Tyler and Z like they were beneath him. A blue me burnt in its eye sockets as an ash and gold color luxurious robe was slowly being formed around it with its own aura and an illusionary book appeared in front of it.
[Congrattions, Master has sessfully created a King ss monster, an ArchLich.]
[Warning: ArchLiches are proud creatures that will not hesitate in killing their creators if they deem them weaker than themselves. Appraisal has confirmed a uniqueness in this undead as it possesses an innate ability. Hostile intentions confirmed. A servant cannot look down on their Master, permission to suppress this creature is required.]
''Haha... I mistook you for just an artificial intelligence, I guess this means you really do have a soul doesn''t it. To get angry for something like that. Well, I can''t exactly allow the reputation that has been forced on me to be sullied after all this time now can I.''
Although Tyler was currently observing the ArchLich, he had been using his magic sense to get a better sense of the creature and hadn''t raised his head to look up on it like Z waspelled to do so it could be said that he had refused to meet the creature''s gaze.
The ArchLich stood still for a while as he observed the two being beneath him. He could sense the strength from one of them and it was incredibly weak. A creature that wasn''t even worth a second thought to a mighty existence like him.
He turned the mes in its eyes and gazed at the second who had resisted the negative divine aura he was emitting and hadn''t stared at him in awe. however, although its aura seemed strong, its presence was weak and he was disqualified to be his master but, there was still a connection.
[Source... You''re my source? What a weak presence. Do you think you have the strength tomand¡ª]
"Be quiet."
He had spoken with a ghastly voice that did not belong to thend of the living and would even drive weak men to the depths of madness.
Yet¡ª
Without even looking up, the demon Noble he hadn''t sensed any presence from cut him off and immediately.
"I can''t speak properly to a creature looking down on me so let''s fix that.
*Boom!
Without any gap, the massive undead creature that was standing in the air suddenly and rapidly mmed into the hard marble floor like a ton of concrete. Creating weblike patterns in the reinforced and magically enhanced marble floor.
He had failed to defend himself and currently couldn''t even lift a finger as his figure was stuck to the cracked floor.
Staring up at the demon in disbelief, he realized his first impression of him had been the furthest thing to the truth.
[What... what is this. Why did I suddenly feel so heavy... Im- impossible.]
Tyler could understand the creature''s disbelief. After all, the power of flight was the power to defy gravity so normally, gravity Inducement shouldn''t work so effectively.
However, the normal flight spell did not affect the space around it and thus, Tyler had simply dominated the space in this room and nulled the creature''s flight spell while using Gravity maniption to induce a weight that was more than 1000 times Neron''s gravity.
In context, the gravity on Neron was twice that of the earth as the was at least 1.5 timesrger than earth. Moving towards the ArchLich, Tyler crouched before him with a smile on his face.
"We''re now in the right position to talk. Now then, I have a question for you and I''ll appreciate it if you don''t waste my time. Do you think you can do that?"
While he spoke in a polite tone. His eyes exuded a certain dominance that broke through even an Undead Negative status immunity and exerted immense pressure on the King ss Monster.
[Ye- Yes, I can.]
The ArchLich spoke hesitantly as he continued to stare at Tyler in disbelief. After all, his multiple attempts to free himself failed, even when he had tried to escape using teleportation.
"That''s good. Let''s start with something easy. Do you remember your name?"
Having finally realized the depths to its master''s strength, it yielded and answered Tyler''s question. At the same time, information about it and its skills entered Tyler''s mind.
[I am undead. The name ofmy life is null. I have no name.]
"I guess that''s normal. Do you remember your life before death?"
[I have a vague sense of two lives but I don''t have any clear memories.]
"I see.", ''I wonder if this is because his soul was consumed. Perhaps only those undead that turned while they were alive has ess to their memories. If that''s the case that undead king should have some interesting answers for me.''
Tyler nodded his head as he hade to an understanding. He returned his attention to the ArchLich and spoke:
"I''ll give you a name for convenience sake is that fine with you?"
[Your will is mymand.]
"Well, you''ve sure changed your tune haven''t you."
[Naturally, a lowly creature as an undead cannot measure up to Master''s might.]
''Why are you suddenly acting smug for. I''d love to know where all that confidence ising from. Well, whatever. What''s a good name for an immortal undead anyway.''
Racking his brain for a good idea, Tyler finally settled on something as he smiled and confidently proimed.
"From now on. Your name shall be Emrys, the Immortal."
He had said that in such a theatrical manner that he was sure would get augh but neither Z nor the undead seems to have gotten it. In fact, they may have thought his movement and speech pattern was natural or even cool.
[I am honored to bear such a mighty name for eternity.]
"Umm, sure I guess. Let''s just look at your stats and get on with this."
Saying that after giving up on his jokes, Tyler then focused on the information floating in his head and examined it.
????????
Name: Emrys
Race: Undead King
ss: ArchLich (Tear 7 - Basic)
An incredibly powerful and intelligent undead that had transcended life and attain immortality. A powerful spell caster that had attained dominion over death.
Innate Ability: Archivist.
Magic Type: Darkness, Negative, Fire, Lightning, Chaos, Wind, earth, and Abyss.
Racial Skills: DarkVision; Drain Touch; Negative Aura; True Death; Summon Undead; Animate Dead; Spirit Summoning.
Skills: Death Grip; Necrotic Bolt; Despair Aura; Darkness Maniption; Soul Absorption; Negative Shield; Flight; Undead Legion.
Resistances: Darkness Damage Resistance High; Negative Energy Immunity; Immortal; Magic Resistance Mid; Physical Damage Resistance High; Negative Status Immunity; Corrosive Damage Resistance Mid.
????????
''Hmm, I can''t exactly tell what spells it can use but with his skills alone it''s already plenty strong isn''t he. Not to mention it has quite the OP innate ability doesn''t it?Not bad. I wonder if that''s a result of the body or the spell. I should test it.''
Thinking that Tyler then ignored the ArchLich prostrating on the ground and went to another corpse. He used the same spell and boosted it simrly as thest but since this was Tier 2 magic caster. He was only able to get a Tier 3 Lich.
''Well the spell power is a factor but the course''s quality is also important else I''ll just be wasting energy.''
Aftering to that conclusion, Tyler moved to the male general of greed whose face had been smashed in by Mammon himself and replicated his spell with near perfection.
The results were as expected and an Eldar Lich was created. Unlike the ArchLichthat was made of pure glistening ck bones, the elder Lich still had some rotting skin attached to its normal-looking white bones.
"A tier 6 Eldar Lich Huh. Nice. Let''s call you Bones from now on."
Watching the Lich with a luxurious but tattered ck robe¡ª who hadn''t tried to challenge him¡ª kneel before him. Tyler nodded in satisfaction. With just this two his forces had grown tremendously.
Both of them also had the ability to create more undead and Tyler could think of no other ce than thebyrinth to keep them until he had use for them. He would have them make theirirs in different sections of thebyrinth and summoned undead to patrol the tunnels.
Although summoned undead was temporary, they could do it on a daily basis until he got corpses for them to use.
After thinking of what to do with these two powerhouses, Tyler then moved on to thefemale general of greed Albert had killed. Her body was still perfectly intact so Tyler thought he would get something new out of her.
However, after using the create undead spell, she had instead awakened as a Tier 6 Shadow rogue with simr abilities to Zelda but with minute differences as she wielded a ck de instead of daggers.
Her appearance remains the same with her skin bing paler and cracks of negative corruption appearing on her skin as she oozed a faintyer ofdark fog like aura and glowing eyes.
''Umm... the appraisal did say her name was Nessi right? Like the lockness monster? Well whatever. Since her appearance didn''t change much I guess I''ll keep the name.''
As Tyler decided on a name for his new rogue, he thought about how strong she could be if he were to enhance her core as she was already a Tier 6 monster.
Nessi who received the order to stand by then sank into his shadow and Tyler could almost swear that he had felt a disturbance in the force. Thinking of his personal guards who were the rogues. He decided to copy Mammon''s generals of greed and gain one more shadow rogue to make his guards five.
He remembered the corpse of one of those scouts Rain and Liz had killed. There was still one of them left so Tyler thought she ould be perfect to join Zelda.
Although he would rather have the big breasted General of Greed in his entourage. He had noticed that he could only create shadow rogues from the bodies of actual rogues and assassins and not only was that girl still alive (albeit in a vegetative state) but, she was not a rogue.but a witch.
He would have to think about what to do with her soon.
Moving on from his day dreaming he located the body of that said scout and cast the same spell on her. Surprisingly, she had turned into what was called a Shadow Mage.
"Huh! I guess the ss difference didn''t mean much. Is it the gender? I suppose there''s a lot to necromancy I can''t learn in a day. As for you... I guess I''ll call you Maeve."
?Divine Appraisal?
????????
Name: Maeve.
Race: Undead.
ss: Shadow Mage - Tier 5 (Peak)
A powerful, intelligent and immortal undead mage that was created in the depths of negative energy, grasping the secrets of the shadows and Darkness.
Magic Type: Darkness, Shadow, Lightning, Abyss, Chaos, Wind.
Racial Skills: Shadow Dwelling; Invisibility; Shadow Movement; Silent Magic; Darkvision; Magic Sense; Mark Soul; Darkness Aura; Summon Shadow Familiars.
Skills: Dark Lightning(A); Abyssal Bind(A); Dark Wisdom(D); Shadow Flught(N); Shadow Cloak(A); Death w.(D).
Resistances: Darkness Damage Resistance High; Negative Energy Immunity; Immortal; Magic Resistance Mid; Negatuve Status Immunity.
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''Interesting."
Tyler smirked at the information he had just received. A shadow Mage was not that different from a shadow rogue with slight different skills and a lot more magic types.
It could also use and abundance of dark spells and seems to be on par with a normal Lich. However, shadow mages were limited to their elements and unlike Liches that loved to amass more knowledge. Shadow rogues lived to serve their masters and could not develop on their own.
Just like what had happened to Zelda, shadow mages could not be born on their own and if they ever found themselves without the guidance of their masters, they would end up bing useless until their consciousness fades away and they disappear.
Well, that''s fine I guess.
Moving on from Maeve who had sunk into his shadow as well. Tyler then proceeded to create more undead with the rest of the corpses he had on hand while experimenting with various methods of creation.
In the end, he finished with a total of more than 200 hindered new undead creatures.
Of course, not all these were humanoid creatures as most were made from the corpses of monsters. He had only wanted to perform a few experiments while increasing his forces but had ended up getting carried away and going through the motions.
Chapter 222 C222. The Gathering
After spending most of his time experimenting with his prowess of necromancy. Tyler had managed to create around 47 Tier 1 and 2 skeletons and Zombies, 10 Tier 3 ck Knights, 10 Tier 3 Liches, 16 Tier 3 Zombie Trolls, 1 Eldar Lich, 1 ArchLich, 47 Nightmare Wolves, and about 187 Undead Night Terrors. In total, he had created around 314 undead creatures.
This number did not include the two shadow creatures he had assigned to be his personal guards. He hadn''t expected to have amassed so many dead bodies and the idea disturbed him for a while but using cate, he was able to quickly get over it.
After using the spell ''cate'' anytime his emotions spiked to a certain threshold for a while now. It appeared Uriel had taken note of his habit and will now automatically use the spell to maintain his mental state.
Tyler didn''t think this information was anything special so he simply ignored it and continued his assessment of his creations.
Although there were still a few more corpses stored in the castle, Tyler thought it was best to stop here as he didn''t have any more time to spare and had reached his endurance limit on the corruption.
He had already spent more than 3 hours on this project and the time he gave to the girls to gather the residents of the castle in the inner ward had already passed.
Changing his mind in order to buy more time, he ordered Cora to inform the girls to move everyone into arge hall in the North wing and prepare for his arrival.
Z who still wore his mask stood beside Tyler without any signs of getting tired or bored. He seems to have a great understanding of necromancy himself and Tyler had asked his opinions during the course of his experiments and he had gotten to know a lot more about the man known as Zomatsu.
Tyler''s favorite undead creations besides Maeve, Nessi, Bones, and Emrys were the Nightmare wolves made from the corpses of Silver wolves and Dire Wolves. Their appearance was impressive as they were more than 6 feet tall standing on all fours and had furs as dark as the night.
They had fiery red glowing eyes and razor-sharp ws with the ability to merge with the darkness while gaining superior strength at night. They also had the passive skill of trapping their prey in a never-ending loop of their worst nightmares while instilling fear in them.
Although they were only Tier 3 creatures, their strength at night could match an Advance ss monster. Tyler thought they would be of great help to the kobolds who were very weak inbat so he informed Z and teleported him along with the 47 monsters to the Grayad ins.
Z returned with a teleportation scroll soon after informing the Kobolds of their new partners and continued helping Tyler decide what to do with so many undead creatures.
"I believe only the ck Knights are suitable for the castle defense. We can also assign the Liches to the towers for their long-range spell and near-infinite mana."
Z spoke from beside Tyler as he suggested the creatures'' best assignment which Uriel agreed with, his analysis were clearly on par with hears which seems to make her a bit touchy so Tyler tried to move the topic forward.
"I see... indeed the Night terrors are more suitable for caverns and won''t perform well in open spaces. The Zombies and Skeletons are a little too weak for the castle but in the narrow tunnels they could hold an Advantage."
Tyler nodded in agreement at those analyses. He had already nned on assigning the ArchLich and Eldar Lich to the Labyrinth where they can popte the tunnels with their summons but helping them out with the weak skeletons and Zombies was not a bad idea.
With that decided, Tyler left the rest to Z and teleported them to the undergroundbyrinth. Although the barrier did not extend there, its influence still reached theke, and thus, Z was able to teleport back into the Castle without a problem.
Of course, this did not mean if he left the influence of the barrier he would be able to enter without Tyler''s permission.
After tasking Z in locating the best ces for Emrys and Bones to set up theirir, Tyler left the ck Knights and Liches in the room for Z to take care of when hees back and exited the room.
He had been feeling a sting of pain in his left hand for a while now so he took a look and as expected. The negative corruption had affected his entire arm once again.
After creating so many undead and messing around with Negative energy for such a long time, he had expected it to have spread throughout his entire body but it seems the low resistance to negative energy he now had prevented that.
"Max Magic - Heal."
"Clear Impurities."
Using the Tier 5 and 4 spells respectively, Tyler was able to reduce the corruption by a bit but it seems he could no longer move his left arm properly.
"I guess I can''t handle this myself can I? It would be bad if I turn into an undead just because I wanted some more negative resistance."
Shaking his head, he reached into space with his right and pulled out a pair of ck dragon-scaled gloves. These were one of the two God Tier Items Uriel had rmended for him and they were called. ''Depths of the Abyss.''
They had the single ability to infinitely devour any and all types of Magic attacks sent their way. If aimed at an empty space, they could even consume the space itself and anything within it but that would cost mana and a lot of it. While feeding on those magic attacks did not.
They were essentially broken items that made Tyler invincible to all projectile-based attacks. However, he was referring to the glove as ''they'' simply because¡ª just like the artifact, Spatial Infinity, this artifact also had a Living property and was alive.
Its entire existence was to consume everything, especially magic and mana so it would not hesitate to suck its host dry at every opportunity it gets. Although when used to devour magic attacks it would only feed on the magic from that attack, it would greedily feed on the host mana when used on space or any non-magical attacks though.
Tyler then put on the gloves to hide his corrected hand. The dragon scaled design was simple but fashionable and it was a perfect fit for his hands. It immediately started draining his mana as it bonded to him but it became pretty docile after Tyler used Demon''s might on it.
Feeling satisfied after wearing the item, he proceeded down the hall until he noticed Cora running towards him and after prostrating to him. She informed him that everyone had gathered in the Large Hall in the North wing.
Although what he wanted to do was something that would be perfect for the throne room. Tyler wasn''t ready for that type of responsibility yet.
Anyway, the hall he had chosen was also used for such things. Tyler chose not to use telmunications this time as he used the walk to the hall to activate most of the skills he had memorized their forms and had managed to seed before arriving at his destination.
He arrived in front of the entrance to the hall and saw two figures standing by the side of therg arc double doors. They were guards assigned by Albert to await his arrival and usher him into the hall.Although he had walked there, they seemed to have not noticed him until he had gotten extremely close and were startled by his presencefor some reason but Tyler ignored that and moved forward with Cora walking a step behind him.
The guards quickly got over their stupid and hurriedly opened the doors for him and entered the room as well. Aside from the elderly who were too old to fight and hadn''t been invited. Everyone in the castle including children with promising potentials was in this room as they stood by each side of the room, creating a path in the middle as they awaited Tyler''s arrival with their heads lowered.
There were only around 250 of them from a settlement that was originally around 1000.
Arge chair was ced at the end of the room even though Tyler remember this hall as being empty but the chair was of exquisite make and made from quality wood from the Darknar forest by the dwarves as a temporary throne for him.
The castle had severalrge halls that were used for different asions and needed their own thrones so the dwarves made some. The original must''ve been stolen by the great five and if they had been able to move the Main throne they probably would''ve done so.
Sighing internally, Tyler tried not to seem listless as he walked through the crowd and headed for the throne. Erin, Rain, Liz, and Albert stood ahead of the crowd and bowed towards him.
He had only organized this gathering to meet everyone yet they seem to have prepared everything like it was a ceremony. Well, perhaps this asion would be a ceremonious one someday.
In resignation, Tyler walked towards the throne and took a seat in a manner he thought befitted a ruler. Cora who was the only one not bowing due to her job in escorting him seems to be in awe of his slightly exaggerated movements which had increased his confidence a lot.
As her master moved to sit on the throne, Cora then moved to the side of the hall and stood with all the other maids.
The moment he had taken a seat, everyone turned to face him in perfect unison as they genuflected before him. It was as though they''d practiced this countless times over and were only waiting for the time to show off their precise movements and coordination.
Tyler sat on the throne with his arms on the armrest as he cleared his throat and spoke:
"You may be at ease. I should probably apologize for calling you all out here on such short notice."
The four kneeling in front of him immediately shook their heads the moment he finished his sentence but only one of them reply to his greeting.
"Surely you jest your majesty. No one here would dare consider an order from you as anything other than joyous."
''Your Majesty?''
Albert spoke with determination as he stood up along with the girls, abiding by Tyler''s earlier request to be at ease.
Everyone else nodded in agreement at Albert''s answer as they did not dare speak without being spoken to. The only one they deemed could speak for them was Albert and even Erin, Liz and Rain did not speak.
Tyler turned his gaze towards Rain and saw that she was still wearing the gold and emerald bracelets he had gifted her earlier. However, she still didn''t seem like herself and something may still be weighing on her.
Returning his gaze back to everyone else, Tyler then addressed them.
"Alright then, you have my thanks. Before we get to today''s agenda. There''s something I''d like to brief everyone on, but I''ll let Z here exin further in my stead."
The moment he said that, everyone''s attention suddenly shifted to the man who had just entered the room. And although histeness would be considered an insult to his master. No oneined as they all knew this man was one of the most hardworking people they had ever met.
He was a man whose intellect surpassed their imagination. A man who could urately analyze and predict any situation he was in after a only a nce.
Z politely bowed to the figure sitted on the temporary throne after finishing the task he had been assigned with in record time and walked inside the hall as he approached Tyler before kneeling.
"Please rise. I''d like you to exin in details, the information you shared with me earlier."
"Understood."
Standing up swiftly and elegantly like the Noble he was. He turned around and adjusted his mask as he spoke to the crowd.
Chapter 223 C223. Priorities
On the fourth floor of the Demon King''s castle, inside arge luxurious hall that was exquisitely designed with magic runes, the air of the room ¡ª which now held a temporary thrown as filled with a quiet ardor as only Tyler''s voice echoed in the massive hall.
At his request, Z stood up from his knees and turned around to address everyone in the hall in a clear tone that reverberated in the quiet hall.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, pardon my directness but I''ll just get to the point so as not to waste any more of Lord Ty''s time. I''m sure you are all aware of the fact that there is an army of more than 20,000 undead marching in our direction with malicious intent. Based on the extensive information Lord Ty''s shadows has collected so far, their estimated time of arrival is less than 72 hours. In order words, they would be upon us in less than 3 days from now."
No one in all had reacted to that short time frame contrary to Tyler''s expectations. It appears Albert and Erin were doing a much better job managing the castle than he had expected.
"After analyzing all the information collected so far, we''ve concluded that the Behemoth of Greed, Mammon, had a hand in this. From the information we''ve gained from one of the generals of greed, Mammon had been lurking around in the Western parts of the Darknar forest for a while before he assaulted the castle and it''s safe to say he was responsible for supplying the Undead king the materials needed for his current army."
Interrogating the female general of greed had been a very fruitful endeavor and the only Tyler hadn''t allowed the Dark Garuda to eat her was because Z had foreseen this development. An impressive feat that had provided them with a great advantage.
"Judging by his personality regarding the same information. His ultimate goal was to be the new demon king giving as he was unaware of Lord Ty''s existence. My analysis shows he aimed to use the undead army in taking over the untamed Darknar region and he would use the Darknar Region as a springboard for taking over the entire continent. There''s even a chance he had also aimed for world domination."
''World Domination Huh, what a bold move.''
Tyler echoed Z''s words in his mind as he mused about the idea. He had never thought there would be someone other than the Great Five that would even consider this idea given what happened in the past.
? Turning his head to look at everyone present. They seem to be mulling the phrase as well and Tyler could understand that but for some reason, he could sense their emotions raising as though they were getting angry for some reason but remained quiet, not daring to interrupt Z''s briefing.
''I suddenly have a bad feeling about this.''
Tyler''s stomach immediately began to turn as he suddenly had a bad premonition even though FutureSight hadn''t activated.
"However, it was clear to me that although Mammon was aware of our presence in the castle. He had been unaware of Lord Ty''s absence and strength. This shows he did not gain that informed by his own means but was led astray by a third party as a way to gauge the limits of our Master."
The faces of everyone in the hall changed as they heard that. It was abundantly clear that whoever this third party was. They werergely to me for the death of theirrades and loved ones. More importantly, they were clearly treating their master like a pawn in their ns and that was uneptable.
Tyler who could feel the pressure from their rage on his behalf, felt his seat getting hotter as he could swear he was actually sweating from the sudden change in the temperature of the room. But that didn''t seem possible, after all, he had really high resistances.
He was getting ufortable with their intense emotions and was even beginning to regret why he had allowed Z to brief them on this.
As though ignoring his troubled feeling, Z continued his exnation without a care in the world.
"The proof of this is provided by the fact that Ms. Liz and Ms. Rain were both ambushed in the Darkin mountain range by members of the Brimstone Family even when their movements were supposed to be secret. This confirms their involvement and after Lord Ty destroyed their base, they should be more cautious in the future but I highly doubt they would simply give up and retreat."
Indeed, this was the one thing Tyler had miscalcted. He expected them to retreat for a while and reorganize their forces but they most definitely possess an artifact that has the ability to hide them even from the likes of Erin''s divination so why would they retreat so easily when gaining more information was the most important thing in the reorganization of their forces.
The reason why he had failed to consider this was because he had underestimated the strength of Magic Artifacts based on the few he has seen up to that point. It was only until he realized how broken God Tier artifacts were, did he understand this point.
"The possibility that the other families are also involved is high. As a former scout for the Zorak family, my main goal was not to monitor to castle but to secure a share of the Darknar forest resources while keeping an eye on the other families'' scouts. When it came to pure observation and gathering information. The family has various ways that even surpasses my innate ability so I have no doubt the other families are the same."
"That is correct. As far as I know, the Alcar family had always operated simrly."
Rain added to Z''s point as she was the only one that had any functioning experience on how the Alcar family works. Of course, Tyler still thought there was something off about her giving her ack of enthusiasm but he chose to ignore it for now.
"Indeed. With the confirmation from Ms. Rain, it is now certain that the other Greats are simply keeping their distance because they suspect one of them is supporting Lord Ty and are trying to identify that family. They have most likely hidden dangerous cards amongst therge undead army."
At that revtion, the silence in the hall was broken by gasps of surprise and disgust as Tyler''s vassals'' hatred for the Great Five had grown by a notch.
"There is no need to be surprised, this situation had already been predicted by Lord Ty as he was the one who spurred their decisions in this manner. These so-called Greats are only ying in the palm of our Master."
''Huh, what the hell is he talking about now.''
Perplexed by the bombs Z was suddenly dropping on him. Tyler was about to say something but hesitated and Z continued his briefing.
"However, this addition also makes the uing battle quite troublesome as even aiming for the head of the leader may not be enough to quickly end the battle. But that''s why this method holds the greatest rewards for us."
Z paused for a moment then continued.
"With that said, we are currently in a predicament. Even if this was his n, what kind of vassals would be if we let our Master''s status be insted by these Greats. That is why we have to handle the bulk of this battle ourselves without revealing any opening that can be exploited."
"That said, we also can''t just rush into our deaths either as that will sully our Master''s image. We have to disy Lord Ty''s absolute superiority in this battle, sending a message to the Great Five that the Demon King has awakened."
"Huh?", ''The what has what?''
Tyler''s mind was suddenly jolted by Z''s words as he silently voiced his confusion on the matter. He was trying to stay low-key and not gain any more attention than he already has but before Tyler could even voice his apprehension to thatst part he was just hearing for the first time by the shrewd Z.
He suddenly felt a weight crash on him as he forcibly closed his mouth as Z looked back, staring at him from behind his mask that perfectly hides his expression from Tyler who was now finding said mask annoying. While giving thanks that his body hadn''t made an unnecessary motion and he could still maintain a poker face, he asked:
"What''s wrong, Z? Is something the matter?"
"No, I simply thought I heard you say something, Lord Ty."
"Oh, my apologies. I was simply indicating my agreement. It would seem you misunderstood me. Alright, carry on, then. Tell everyone the significance of demonstrating my strength to the Great Five."
"Yes. Then,dies and gentlemen. Using this event as a showcase for Lord Ty''s prowess allows us to formally dere the Darknar region as Lord Ty''s domain and even if the rest of the continent doesn''t ept Lord Ty as the Demon king. They would still hesitate in attacking or provoking us recklessly and would try to form an alliance against us. However, that would take some time as they still have no idea which Great Five is pulling out supposed strings thanks to Lord Ty''s genius n of letting one of the scouts go with altered memories."
"Truly, our master''s wisdom is beyond our understanding. To be able to think this far ahead with limited information and still grasp the entire situation is truly divine. "
Everyone nodded in agreement at Z''s honest praise to Tyler. The reason he was so passionate about serving him was simply this. After analyzing all the information that he had and connecting everything Tyler had done so far. His mind had connected the dots and he was left in awe.
For the first time in his life, he had met a man whose intellect far exceeds his. That was something he had never thought possible. This was truly the only Master he could ever hope for as he could spend an entire lifetime absorbing his knowledge and still wouldn''t gain 10% of it.
"Our Master is truly amazing."
Tyler who was seated on the throne felt like a death reaper was gripping his heart as cold sweat paired down his back and it seems something must''ve lit his seat on fire.
''What the hell is he suddenly talking about.''
Tyler nced at everyone''s face. They all looked like they understood, without exception. Their faces were brimming with awe and adoration that made him want to retreat.
"Im-Impressive Z, you''ve certainly surpassed my expectations."
"I am deeply honored for the high praise and opportunity my lord. But truly, I am still far from your level."
''My level?''
Tyler remained silent. He didn''t want to say anything that would end up contradicting his actions so far as it seems they were all misled into thinking he had nned this whole thing. His only aim had been to buy time while gaining strength yet it had led to this.
''What do you think Uriel?''
[Answer: Based on the information I''ve divined, the proposed n for Master to take his rightful ce upon the global stage, as part of your overall direction for the future is the right choice. Since the ones that betrayed the demon king are acting ndestinely, it would be difficult to remain hidden and will only serve to give Master''s enemies an Advantage to act as they pleased.]
''You too Huh... I guess you''re both right though.''
"Umm... err... pardon my interruption Lord Ty, I um..."
Raising his head, Tyler turned his gaze on Erin who spoke as it seems she wanted to share something but therge crowd was making her squirmish. Understanding what she had wanted to say, Liz then spoke up for her.
"We concur with the proposal, Lord Ty. If we make ourselves dominantly known to the world as the demon king''s subordinates. Not only would we be able to handle problems from the Great Five more easily, but our faction would steadily grow from the demon king''s true following that is spread out across the continent.
"Won''t that increase the chances of gaining spies in our midst?"
"It will, but we can always use that to our advantage. As long as we keep the spies out of the castle their presence would only serve to our advantage."
"I see."
"So Z, seeing as you''ve managed to deduce my intentions so wlessly, what is your rmended n of action?"
"I''m honored you asked Sire."
Chapter 224 C224. King’s Blessings
''What the hell is going on here.''
A panicked Tyler sat on the exquisite wooden throne that oddly now felt ufortable, as though he was seating on a throne of thorns that had also been lit on fire. What had been the aim of meeting everyone here? He almost couldn''t remember as Z went on and on about how amazing he was.
Soon he had gotten everyone else to believe that nonsense as well and he didn''t even have the chance to refute them as he felt embarrassed to say something like, they were mistaken. However, that may have been a mistake as the next thing that came out of Z''s mouth was exposing themselves to the world in a dominant way.
He didn''t understand what had led him to that conclusion. Tyler''s goal this entire time was to remain hidden while gaining more benefits from the Magic Library and improving his strength. He hadn''t mind taking care of a few subordinates along the way and had worked towards that goal.
It was why he destroyed the scouts in the forest, taking Liz in altering the memories of the sole survival to by himself more time, and why he disguised himself to head to Winged city yet Z seems to think they were part of his non-existent master n. He wanted to ask what master n but had held back his urges, using every fiber of his body control, he maintained a poker face.
However, Uriel''s exnation and Rain''s confirmation had managed to convince him of this course of action. His current forces were weak, incredibly weak. However, the Great Five didn''t know that. They knew he had limited forces and now with the death of Mammon, they also knew he was strong enough to at least match their Demon Lords but that was it.
They feared he still had cards hidden in the castle and did not attack as foolishly as Mammon had. This battle of disposable undead was the perfect chance to learn what he was capable of. If they were to find out that he was the only one they had to worry about, there was a high chance they had methods to either kill him without fighting or render the castle uninhabitable for him.
There was probably a plethora of methods to handle a single overpowered behemoth that they had developed due to the appearance of the Seven Great Behemoths. With the powers of God Tier Artifacts, the possibility was endless.
He needed to show them he had a force that could match or surpass them in order to stop their current exasperating and enigmatic movements in the darknar region towards him.
Left with no other options as he could not actually challenge Z''s intellect, he epted his proposal.
"So Z, seeing as you''ve managed to deduce my intentions so wlessly, what is your rmended n of action?"
"I''m honored you asked Sire. Our best course of action would be to engage the army in the Darknar forest where the terrain would take away most of their numerical advantage. Splitting them into key smaller groups and then striking with our strongest force at that location would make it easier to attain a dominant victory. We also don''t have to care about the weaker mobs until the end."
Hearing his n, Liz couldn''t help but make an unconsciousment. "That sounds a little..."
"Your thinking is right Ma. Liz. With our current strength, it is impossible to achieve such a feat. Still, it should be possible with the help of the Raven settlement but without gaining data on their individual strength and other specialties, it would be hard to make a proper n. However, the general idea will stay the same."
Z''s n seems to rely heavily on his familiarity with the eastern part of the Darknar forest as well as urate and detailed information on the structure of the undead army.
His was a n that would need to be executed perfectly with his strongest fighters, namely Erin, Rain, Liz, Albert, Emrys, and Bones. Well, if strength was all that was considered, Zelda and Nessi were a match for the others. All the aforementioned fighters would be used as a mobile artillery unity. They would have several smaller teams that are meant to split the forces of the undead army and lead them towards that unit.
Consisting of two demigods in Erin and Emrys, Z had absolute confidence that they would not lose even if they encountered traps set by the Great Five. However, this n ced a great burden on their stamina and the wless execution of the other units which could lead to problems. Of course, this has yet to involve the strength of the Raven settlement which was still an unknown variable.
In order to increase their chances of sess, Tyler thought he would just get to the main reason why he had gathered everyone here. It may be possible to gain better odds with the use of his abilities.
Regaining hisposure as he thought of his main purpose for initiating this meeting, Tyler was about to cast cate on himself when he suddenly felt his emotions calm down before he even had the opportunity to use the spell.
''Ummm... is this what she meant by automatically?''
With his calm returned to him, Tyler now had the luxury to think properly. Frankly speaking, he didn''t just gather everyone here just to grant them their wishes for strength but wanted to use this opportunity in testing the limits of his ability.
His innate ability had been with him since the very beginning and yet, he was struck with the reality that he had no idea what his ability was truly capable of. At first, it had been simple. He could temporarily break the potential of anyone in his line of sight and within a certain range by 1 full tier for a maximum of 60 seconds.
However, that was no longer the case as evidenced by Nadine who had permanently jumped up by a level. It may not have been a full Tier but that was still fine even if he could only increase someone from Basic to Intermediate instead of from Tier 2 to 3.
He had also learned that the ability also affected him and not just the ones around him. Unfortunately, he didn''t know how to test that as he could not control its effect on his body and can only assume it was constantly increasing his mana reserves the more mana he uses. As for his potential, he was yet to find his limits.
What he wanted to know was simple. How many times could he use it on someone in a day? By how much could he break someone''s potential if he tried harder. How many people could he use it on in a day? How many people could he use it on at the same time? Does using it on multiple people at once reduce its effect? And finally, how many times could he break someone''s potential.
These were all the questions he needed answers to which was why he had originally gathered this group together. From his experience with Nadine, he knew there were side effects to breaking someone''s potential but he couldn''t help but wonder what would happen to him if he broke one person''s potential over and over again if possible.
"Indeed you''re right. Our current forces are indeed weak. A little too weak. It would be hard to win this battle in any sort of dominant fashion."
At his bluntness, the faces of his vassals all got paler, especially the faces of Rain and Albert who were feeling the most pressure from losing a few times already.
However, Tyler had spoken this way on purpose, and thanks to their predictable reaction, he was able to present his testing as a solution.
Of course, he wasn''t some kind of mad scientist that only cared about results and not the lives of his subjects. He did care about them but for the sake of the future, he needed to master this ability in one go so he had to be a bit pragmatic.
Turning his head to face Liz, Tyler spoke again, easing the tension in the air.
"There''s no need to feel so sad about it. Your weakness is a result of the hand fate had dealt you, none of your wished thus upon yourself so I am not ming you for this. If fate had chosen you to be weak, then today we will deny that reality so put your trust in me and you shall gain strength."
His decree was with the utmost confidence and he could see its effects immediately as the faces of everyone brightened up as they did not even consider doubting his words.
Liz, Rain, and Albert all looked at Tyler in awe but with a certain level of curiosity. They were also eager to know what their master-nned on doing.
The reason Tyler was being so dramatic was simple as well. He had seen people gain power from sheer will and most of the movies he remembered from earth were the same. With the power of a positive vibe or friendship and determination, men could draw out incredible powers. Or so those books said.
He wasn''t sure if it would work but it could be considered as part of the test. If motivated enough, would they gain more from his ability? That was something he was interested in knowing but it didn''t really matter and the only reason he was doing it was to increase the chances of Z''s n seeding.
Leaning back into his seat, Tyler smiled as he spoke to his vassals once again.
"I have heard your strong desires to be stronger for my sake. Therefore, I''ve decided to grant you this wish. However, I have yet to gauge the limits of this ability of mine and require your help to do that. This wille with great risk."
As someone that was being looked up to, Tyler didn''t have any reason to lie to his vassals as this was something he wanted them to decide for themselves. He had no idea what will happen if things went wrong but he hoped their resolves would aid them in withstanding an unforeseen bacsh.
"With that said, there''s is no need to be scared or feel obligated to do this. Feel free to¡ª"
"Please grant us your blessings!"
''My what!''
Before Tyler could evenplete his sentence, everyone had dropped to the ground on one knee with expressions that showed their unwavering determination and fate in him. He was about to say something when Albert suddenly spoke up.
"We appreciate your kindness Lord Ty, but everyone here is your loyal servant and our only purpose is to be of use to you. We are all willing to die for your sake so it doesn''t matter how dangerous your blessing is, we would ept it with open arms as long as we can be of use to you."
''This old man.'' Musing at Albert''s words Tyler sighed inwardly and his emotions were returned to normal. There was no longer any need to hesitate to it was time he learned what ''Potential Break'' was truly capable of.
"Oh, I''m d. Very well, let us begin."
Chapter 225 C225. Limitations And Results
"Hmm... Fascinating."
After what felt like hours of nerve-racking discussions, Tyler finally got to what he had wanted to do all along. And that was simply to use Potential Break on more than 200 people in a single day.
While this was meant to strengthen his forces significantly, it was also meant to push him to his limits. He wanted to know the full capabilities of his innate Ability that had to undergo a massive change over the course of a millennium.
The first person to volunteer for his test was unsurprisingly Albert and Rain. Given their resolves and determination to never fail him again, Tyler theorized his ability might have a greater effect on them so he decided to honor their request to start with them.
Since both of them are one of his strongest subordinates, he decided it was best he fully focused his attention on increasing their strength while not bothering with the other test. He would also do the same for Liz and Z before conducting his various experiments with the others.
"Very well. I''ll start with Albert. Step forward."
Albert swiftly moved towards the throne at his request and before Tyler could even say anything, he had elegantly knelt before the throne as though awaiting a knighthood or something.
His movements had been so elegant and fluid that Tyler hadpletely forgotten to stop him. His demeanor and disposition were those befitting the title of a Demon Lord but there was no arrogance in his eyes.
Regaining his senses after everyone''s eyes rested on him once again. Tyler then Cooley stretched out an arm towards Albert. He then closed his eyes and focused on the energy that stirred within him. Making full use of his now incredible amount of mana control, he poured in as much mana as he could and forced it into Albert''s body until he felt a snap.
His mana was then absorbed into Albert''s mana body, reconstructing his new Magic potential while strengthening his physical boy and soul.
Unlike with Nadine, energy suddenly gusted out of Abert and his aura and presence rapidly began to increase and Albert was Igor to control his own mana for a moment. However, he was not at the same level as Nadine had been and his experiences and training far surpassed hers. It didn''t take him long to regain control of his own energy again.
His aura then began to subside but his presence still loomed heavily over the massive hall.
Tyler was just about to ask Albert how he felt when Uriel gave him the result of her analysis.
[Master has sessfully used Potential Break on the individual known as Albert. Energy absorption was high (55%). Albert''s new Magic potential is estimated to be at the peak of the sixth tier.]
''Oh wow, that worked better than I imagined. To think he jumped up by more than a full tier. Nadine had only gone up by a level so I was a bit worried he would only end up moving from Advance Tier 5 to Peak Tier 5. Still, what does energy absorption 70% mean?''
[Answer: This refers to the rates at which the targeted mana body absorbs master''s energy to strengthen the physical body without breaking down or being damaged.]
''I see. It''s a shame 45 percent was lost but this means it would be dangerous if I try to force a better result.''
With Uriel''s exnation, Tyler confirmed something, the amount at which he could increase someone''s potential was not fixed and it both depended on him and how much of his mana his target could effectively absorb.
Of course, having one''s potential destroyed and reconstructed even if it''s only for a second takes a toll on someone and Tyler could see visible sweat form on Albert''s head. It may have taken more out of him than it had done with Nadine who had only gone up by one level.
Sensing the gazes of everyone suddenly on him, Tyler''s mind returned to his body as he looked at them. Most of them didn''t seem to have fully understood what had happened but they could all sense the sudden boost to Albert''s strength.
*Cough *cough... "Congrattions Albert, your immerse desire to improve yourself and your hard work in training your body, soul, and mind have allowed you to effectively absorb enough of my power to reach the peak of the sixth tier. That pleases me."
Getting back into character, Tyler made an emphasis on Albert''s hard work as he didn''t want his ability to be seen as a shortcut to strength. Of course, he was right, to gain so much from his ability relied on a strong mind and soul otherwise his ability could cause damage to one''s mana body.
This told him that he may not be able to use his ability on the same person more than once but that was yet to be confirmed. Perhaps he would be able to do it in the future, as long as their bodies had fully recovered from the first time.
Scanning Albert with his eyes, Tyler decided to appraise him and see what skills he gained from him out of curiosity but Uriel had passedplied the information and showed it to him before he could even ask.
????????
Name: Albert T. Cronoff.
Title: Demon King''s Butler, Demon Lord, Demon King''s General.
Race: Demon Noble.
ss: Magic Swordsman.
Tier: Tier 6 (Peak Stage)
Potential: 7th Tier.
Innate Ability: Supreme Martial Artist.
Magic Type: Wind; Lightning.
Racial Skills: True Demon Form; Diamond Skin; Demon Aura.
Skills: Battle Lord; Skill Breaker; Magic Sense; Multyer Barrier; Spatial Movements; Keen Eyes of a Demon; Spatial Perception; Energy Maniption; Thought eleration; Foresight; Thought Communication; Spatial sh; Probability Correction.
Resistances: Physical Damage Resistance High; Fire Magic Resistance Mid; Magic Resistance Mid; Pain Nullification; Degeneration Magic Resistance Low; Darkness Magic Resistance Mid; Conceptual Attack Resistance Low; Mind Influence Resistance Mid; Astral/Spiritual Attack Resistance Low.
????????
''Wow... That''s impressive. Ummm... but this is unexpected. I thought you said his potential was only at the peak of Tier 6 but he has a potential of tier 7. Hold on, what''s going on there.''
[Answe: It is as Master has deduced. Albert had a high physical and mental constitution, to begin with, and thus, he was able to handle more of master''s energy without breaking down. However, he could only absorb half of that energy and reach Tier 6 but his potential was reformed at the Tier 7 stage. He should be able to attain godhood by himself.]
''Seriously. Not to mention he got a ton of skills from me instead of just one. Well, his magic didn''t seem to have received any boost though. I guess even my ability can''t change his ss.''
[Answer: It is impossible to affect ones magic affinity with external means.]
''You didn''t have to spell it out for me you know. Well, thanks anyway. Given that his original magic potential was 5, that means it went up by two full tiers. I also never thought of the differences between the actual potential and the current Tier.''
As it turns out, his ability didn''t just increase the maximum potential of his target but by infusing his mana into them, their current strength would grow to match the increase in potential as much as their body could handle. However, the gap between Tier 6 and 7 was toorge and even after putting a lot of mana into it, he couldn''t force Albert into Tier 7 with an absorption rate of 55 percent.
Still, this was way better than he had expected. Going through his stats once more, Tyler noticed something strange.
''I guess appraisal can''t quantify secret techniques Huh.''
Secret Techniques were methods for someone to achieve certain powerful effects by manipting the ambient mana in the environment. This was why one did not lose mana when using a powerful technique but stamina as it takes a lot to move ambient mana much less use them in a precise andplicated pattern.
Albert was considered a battle genius that had mastered tens of secret techniques over the years which were a big part of his strength but it didn''t seem like appraisal could read those as they were missing from thepiled data he was looking at.
[Answer: An analysis of Albert''s secret techniques has already been made. The information was retracted as it wasn''t deemed relevant. Would you like to see it?]
''Oh, I guess I was wrong then, never mind.''
Next was Albert''s innate ability which Tyler hadn''t been aware of. Supreme Martial Artist, was a Powerful ability that boosted his physical abilities and allows him to learn martial moves and secret techniques faster than most. It was why he was able to master so many secret techniques, to begin with.
Battle Lord was a berserk skill that increases his resistance and gave him a temporary boost to all attributes. He had gained energy maniption from Tyler who should allow him better utilize his secret techniques without consuming as much stamina as before.
Probability Correction was a sub-skill from the advanced skill Tyler had learned called Fate Maniption. It wouldn''t work on arge scale at such a low level but in a one-on-one fight, it would give someone like Albert a higher advantage against those that couldn''t resist or counter the influence of fate.
Having congratted Albert, Tyler saw him evaluate himself in astonishment. His eyes seem to water as he was rendered speechless. For more than a hundred years he had been confined to the lowest tier of demon lords and yet, in only a matter of seconds, everything changed as he could now feel near-limitless energy surging within him.
His connection with his master had grown significantly as he now felt like their souls had been linked. With far greater reverence than one would even give a god, Albert raised his head and reswore his existence to Tyler which almost made him break character.
Tyler''s emotions were forcibly calmed before he knew it so he took a deep breath and turned to the next person on his list. Rain.
Rain who felt a bit hesitant after witnessing Albert''s improvements moved forward. Tyler could tell she was feeling somewhat unworthy or something simr. He thought about leaving her like that to test the difference her mental state would make for his ability but changed his mind.
She was one of his strongest subordinates so such a thing would be a waste. He was about to say something when she suddenly balled a tight fist and the look on her face changed. He could tell she had made a firm decision about something and had resolved herself to prove her usefulness. Or so Uriel said.
Of course, Tyler didn''t know if that was true or not. While he had the ability of Mind Control, he couldn''t read someone''s mind from a distance because he thought that ability would be annoying so he didn''t actually know what she was thinking.
"Are you ready Rain?"
"I am my Lord."
Without wasting time, Tyler repeated what he had done with Albert and obtained simr results. Using Divine Appraisal, he obtain detailed information about Rain. However, the information was something he couldn''t have had predicted.
????????
Name: No Name.
,m Title: Demon King''s General, Thunder Goddess, Demigod, Rain.
Race: Dark Elf.
ss: Mage Assassin.
Tier: Tier 7 (Basic Stage.)
Potential: 7th Tier
Innate Ability: Rain Domain. (Iplete.)
Magic Type: Lightning; Chaos; Fire; Water; Wind; Darkness.
Racial Skill: DarkVision; Weapon Mastery; Dark Magic.
Skills: Wisdom; Eviscerate, Misty steps; Shadow Walker; Absolute Rend; Gravity Maniption; ForeSight; Fate Maniption; Perfect Invisibility; Ultraspeed; Thought eleration; Keen Insight; Silent Magic; Hyperspeed Regeneration; Thought Communication.
Resistances: Physical Damage Resistance Mid; Fire Magic Resistance Mid; Magic Resistance High; Pain Nullification; Degeneration Magic Resistance Low; Darkness Magic Resistance Mid; Conceptual Attack Resistance Low; Mind Influence Resistance High; Astral/Spiritual Attack Resistance Low.
????????
''What the meaning of this Uriel. Why on earth will she be considered unarmed!?"
[Answer: There are no records that the individual known as "Rain" has ever been named. She seems to only answer to her decimated Title. This is mostly due to the code assigned to her after meeting certain criteria.]
''I''m sorry, What!''
Chapter 226 C226. Immerse Growth
Although there were a lot of questions spiraling through his head at the moment. Tyler knew he couldn''t get the correct answers from Uriel. After all, there was a limit to the type and amount of information she could get. With her divination and connection to the void Library, she could gain some hidden knowledge from the astral ne but this information was beyond her means.
''How presumptuous of me, I had assumed Rain was a nickname that was probably short for Raine or perhaps something else, but it seems I was wrong. I didn''t expect it to be listed as a title though. It seems she had earned that title as a codename of sorts. If my guess is correct all the Dark Elves from the Alcar family should be in a simr state.''
Tyler had never presumed to understand the working of noble society, especially the operations of the Great Five. This was why their actions with Dark elvespletely baffled him even after they''d abolished the use of Dark elves as ves.
Theirck of names aside, something else about Rain''s data bothered him a lot. That was the fact that she had an innate ability of a simr nature to the Alcar family. This was not something Tyler could consider as a coincidence. It was now tantly obvious to him that Liz was not the only one being experimented on.
Innate abilities were stillrgely a mystery to many in this world. They could only be awakened by a few and only those strong enough could attempt to pass them down to their offsprings. However, even then, not many were sessful.
These abilities vary in strength and werepletely unique and one could only possess one. However, it would seem like the Great Five has been researching ways to alter and transfer one''s innate ability to themselves.
Due to their unpredictable nature. It was indeed possible formoners or even Demi humans to gain a powerful innate ability that could shake the bnce of this world. This was a fear that had been etched into the minds of the Great Fives due to the appearance of the Seven Primordial Behemoths.
This was the reason why the Brimstone family had kidnapped Liz and attempted to transfer her innate ability to someone else, possibly the demon lord. However, from what Tyler could tell, and what Uriel had analyzed from her divination. All five families have begun to make progress in their experiments with innate abilities over thest few decades.
Naturally, in order to achieve such a near-impossible feat, sacrifices needed to be made and disposable subjects needed to be selected for their various testing and experiment to perfect such a procedure.
Looking at Rain''s Innate ability that seems to mirror those of the Alcar family. An ufortable feeling steadily washed over him. For some reason, he did not believe she had obtained that ability naturally.
He had always found it strange the family would task a child with the responsibility of protecting another child but now he knew why. When it came to sensitive experiments such as the ones they were conducting. Finding the perfect test subjects to satisfy the process was a must. In the end, it didn''t seem like Liz was the only one that was experienced.
Tyler''s gaze slowly drifted towards Liz and he could immediately tell she was unaware of this. Perhaps Rain felt she would me herself and didn''t want that. It would exin why she hadn''t used her innate ability even in the worst of situations.
''Sigh... What a drag... These Great Fives are seriously going to give me a migraine.''
Tyler''s irritation kept escting but before his emotions could spike further, Uriel had used cate on him yet again and Tyler finally calmed down. He held back the urge to massage his temples as he was still maintaining a ruler''s persona.
He decided to put the matter aside for now as there wasn''t much he could do about it. He then went through the details of Rain''s skills one by one as they were revealed to him by Uriel. She seems to now possess a skill called Wisdom, which was essentially the same as Wisdom of Uriel without the connection to the Void Library or Uriel''s parallel existence helping her.
Fate Maniption was a Divine tier skill Tyler had only learned recently due to its highpatibility with him. It had sub-skills like Probability maniption and Luck enhancement as well as the power to reject Fate. It was a skill Tyler had a feeling he would need in the future so he took the time to learn it.
She had also gotten several more skills from him like Gravity Maniption and Hyperspeed Regeneration. Her skill Ultraspeed was a Divine Tier skill that boosted her speed past her normal physique. As a true demigod now, she could even move faster than light. Even he was unaware of how fast she was but naturally, there was a limit to how much she could use it.
Tyler then quickly went through the rest of her skills and made a mental note of them before retiring his attention back to Rain herself. His analysis of her information and various hypotheses had only taken him a moment in real-time so he hadn''t kept anyone waiting.
"Well done. You were also able to absorb my power efficiently. This pleases me greatly."
"Oh... Thank you, Lord Ty."
After congratting Rain and watching her observe herself in amazement, Tyler called for Zomatsu next. He would focus on the four of them first before beginning his true experiments with the others. He decided not to do the same for Erin because she had just recovered her source and was only just getting ustomed to her new self and not because he didn''t want her to get even much more powerful than him. Of course not.
Repeating the same thing for the kneeling Z, a surge of fierce energy left Z''s body which surprise Tyler a little because the dude had only been at the Tier 4 standards and Tyler hadn''t expected much but as it turns out, the lower one''s level was, the greater the effect of his ability even when the absorption rate is low.
????????
Name: Zomatsu Zorak.
Title: Z; Demon king''s General; Genius.
Race: Demon Noble.
ss: Ranger/Rogue.
Tier: Tier 6 (Basic Stage.)
Potential: 6th Tier
Innate Ability: Superior Sense.
Magic Type: Wind; Gravity; Crystal; Lightning.
Racial Skills: True Demon Form; Demon Aura; Curse Demonic Eyes.
Skills: Force Implosion; Perfect Memory; Thought eleration; Calctor; Stealth; Invisibility; Detect & Disable Traps; SuperSpeed; Mind Maniption; Probability Correction; Spatial Teleportation; Dark mes Maniption.
Resistances: Physical Damage Resistance Mid; Wind Magic Resistance Mid; Magic Resistance Mid; Pain Nullification; Darkness Magic Resistance Low; Holy Magic Resistance Mid; Conceptual Attack Resistance Low; Mind Influence Resistance Mid; Projectile Attack Resistance Low.
????????
''Huh, everyone just keeps surprising me today. From what I can tell the mana I use is important but I still can''t force them to surpass two full-tier increases.''
With his new Mana control thanks to the skill Energy Maniption, he could now urately judge how much mana he was expending and he had used the exact amount for all three of them so far. However, only Z and Albert had jumped by more than a Tier.
They had both increased by one full tier and one level. Albert went up from Tier 5 intermediate to Tier 6 peak and Z went from Tier 4 peak to Tier 6 basic.Both of their magic potentials had gone up by two full tiers which was a boom for them.
Still, the fact that Rain had only gone up by a level bothered him a little although he could guess that the every required to be a demigod was far greater than he had expected.
Since she was the first to be a demigod from his ability. He would have to confirm his theory with Liz. Increasing the mana used by the right percentage should help him confirm what he wanted to know.
Before that though, he decided to go through Z''s stats before calling on Liz. It wasn''t surprising that he had the title of Genius but the fact that the nickname he gave him was considered a title was interesting. It made Tyler consider how these titles were assigned.
Mind Maniption was also one of the skills Tyler had learned a few minutes before this gathering and so was Dark mes Maniption. He had chosen to learn a dark element because he was jealous¡ª I mean interested in Erin''s dark Water Control.
Dark mes and Lightning Maniption were Advance skills but they could be upgraded to the divine skill Dark Elemental Control if he learns the other three dark elements.
After going through his skills and making a mental note of them in a single moment, Tyler congratted Z which was the usual line while altering his wordings a little. Z who was normally cool-headed and analytical seemed to be overjoyed as he stood up and moved to the side in awe reverence and admiration.
Thest of the Vince was Liz. She quickly moved forward after Tyler had called for her and knelt before him. Having already tasked Uriel to calcte the right percentage to increase his mana output without damaging Liz''s mana body. Tyler used his ability again while keeping track of his body conditions in order to gauge his limits and judge Liz''s absorption rate.
Luckily, nothing had gone wrong but he had learned what he had done was risky as it had almost destroyed Liz''s mana body so his mana output when using his ability from this point on should not exceed that level.
????????
Name: Lizabeth Belloria Alcar
Title: Ice Queen; Snow; Demon King''s General.
Race: Demon Noble.
ss: Mage.
Tier: Tier 7 (Intermediate Stage.)
Potential: 7th Tier.
Innate Ability: Ice Domain. (Sealed)
Magic Type: Ice; Water; Wind; Spirit.
Racial Skill: Demon Aura; True Demon Form; Domination Demonic Eyes.
Skills: Ice Domination; Ice Erasure; Absolute Freezing; wisdom; Thought eleration; Spatial Perception; Magic Sense; Gravity Maniption; Luck Inducement; Mind Communication; Spatial Vortex; Nensha.
Resistances: Physical Damage Resistance Mid; Holy Magic Resistance Low; Magic Resistance High; Ice & Wind Magic Immunity; Pain Nullification; Degeneration Magic Resistance Low; Darkness Magic Resistance Mid; Conceptual Attack Resistance Low; Mind Influence Resistance High; Astral/Spiritual Attack Resistance Low.
????????
''Indeed. Both Rain and Liz would''ve only gone up by a level if my mana output stayed the same but Liz had gone up to two-level after increasing my mana output by a lot. The mana required to go further is insane.''
After observing her improvement and mulling over the disparity in the mana he used on her versus the others, Tyler decided to go through the details of her skills and ability. Seeing her innate ability was sealed meant only Snow had ess to it for some reason but that was a problem for another day.
She was truly an Ice specialist as even her skills were geared towards that. Absolute Freezing was simr to Erin''s Absolute Burning and could freeze anything in unmeltable ice that couldst for eternity.It could also freeze spiritual and conceptual beings like gods.
She should also be able to learn a lot more powerful spells thanRain seeing as she was a pure mage and was one level higher now.
After going through all her skills and mulling over the various possibilities she could take, he made his usual mental note and then congratted Liz on bing a demigod.
With her returning to the side, Tyler then returned his attention to the task at hand. With just this, he had a grand total of 3 demigods by his side and two Demon Lord Level fighters in Albert and Z. This force alone should be able to match the strength of most Demon Lords in the demon continent so thisshould be more than enough to make Z''s n a reality but he still had some more experiments to run.
Chapter 227 C227. Limits?
After focusing his attention on just increasing the strength of his five, well four of his five strongest vassals for a while. It was finally time he returned his focus to learning more about his innate ability, ''Potential Break.''
While seated on the high-quality wooden throne, his gaze gently shifted to the others in the room and he began calling them out in various order and groups in order to test his ability''s limitations and range.
Of course, he didn''t do anything drastic to the children as they would be unable to handle the bacsh of having their potential utterly destroyed even if it was for only a second. He simply used the minimal mana on them and managed to boost their potential by 1 level each withoutpletely destroying it first.
As for the others, he didn''t care to take a look at their skills or what they received from him as Uriel could always retrieve that information for him at ater date but he kept a list of their current Tiers so he would know how effective his ability was on them.
Talen, Hart, K, Lora, and Gail who were all at varying levels of the Tier 3 standard all increased by 1 full tier and were now captains of their squads. Though the squads were yet to be determined.
The only exception to this was Hart who Tyler still felt was an idiot so he assigned him to assist Lora because she was a magic caster with the weakest defenses amongst them. The maids also got their potential increased and Tier 1 was now Tier 2, Tier 2 had also been increased to Tier 3.
Cora who was his personal maid was now Tier 3 and since she was a healer, he would just have to teach her his healing spells and some other spells to help her defend herself in case of emergencies.
With Uriel''s help, he could now recreate any spellbook he had mastered but needed parchments that could handle the energy else the book would disintegrate the moment he engraved magic runes on them.
...
After what felt like hours of just sitting in a chair and taking mental notes as though he was back in school. Tyler finally ended his experiments and had managed to learn a lot about his innate ability.
For instance, he still wasn''t sure how many times in a day he could use his ability but for now, he guessed he should be able to use it as long as he had enough mana to spare. Currently, his mana was low and he could no longer use it but fortunately, he had just finished hisst test before that happened.
As for the question of howmany times he could use it on the same person in a day. He was confident he could only do it once in the span of a few months. He had tried to do it twice on a beastman and the guy almost died due to his body breaking down from the power.
He figured the body needed even more time to adjust than the mana body. As one grew and increases their tier, their physical abilities improve as well. This was why even a pure mage like Liz was tens of times faster and stronger than a regr person.
However, if the body is suddenly flooded with too much power in a single instance, it would break down and degenerate until it dies. Tyler had to devour the energy directly from that guy''s body with his new magic artifact, Depth of the Abyss. He also needed to distort space because the item normally wouldn''t work on none projectile energy.
However, that wasn''t something he could rely on so he didn''t try it again. That was because the Depth of the Abyss had a more stubborn personality than Spatial Infinity. It would greedily devour mana even after Tyler had suppressed it. That was its entire purpose and it couldn''t help itself.
The item normally wouldn''t consume his mana when devouring energy because Tyler had forced it to invade the target body. It needed his energy to fuel itself.
This was why Tyler was currently out of mana and if he hadn''t gained the skill Energy Maniption, he probably would''ve died from mana deficiency. Of course, he would find a way to deal with such a dangerous side effectter but for now, he just scolded the item with domination as negative energy would be devoured by it.
The next question was how much could he break someone''s potential if he didn''t hold himself back or care about absorption rate.
The answer was subjective. It depended on the strength of that person''s soul and body, and the amount of mana he uses. However, for now, he concluded the limit was by a full tier and one level. Two-tier when referring to just the Magic potential.
Next was, how many people could he use it on at the same time? The answer, ten. If he tried to expand his influence it would increase the chances of causing permanent damage to someone''s mana body. However, as long as he uses the right amount of mana, the effects stay the same for those ten.
The final question was how many times could he break someone''s potential. Frankly, he had partly answered this question with the first question. He also wouldn''t know for at least a few months or years but he felt he could break someone''s potential more than once as long as it wasn''t in the span of a few days. Although he could tell there would be a limit, the number of times he could use his ability on someone depended on their will and soul.
With that came the end of his little test and experiments which could be considered a sess as he only had one casualty and thanks to Erin the guy was fine but his potential had remained the same because Tyler took back his mana.
"Alright. I''m d everyone is okay. Your wills and resolves were enough for you to withstand the strain my power ced on your mana body. You have all gained newfound strength but while your potential and tiers have increased, your abilities remain the same. However, most of you have gained new skills and abilities from me. I hope you can master them within the next few days."
Tyler knew they would be able to instantly use the skills they gained from him but he wasn''t sure they would haveplete mastery of them as even he did not. He had only just activated them after all.
The hall soon broke out into an uproar as the vassals expressed their gratitude and devotion or something. He was no longer listening to them. He dismissed them soon after and tasked Z with training everyone there and preparing them for his n until Jarret returns.
Liz, Rain, and Albert would spend that time sparring against themselves to master their new abilities as well but Erin didn''t have anything she needed to do so she stayed behind with Tyler who remained seated on the throne not because he liked it. He just felt a little dizzy after losing so much mana within such a short period.
At this point, his mana reserves were beyond the level of a demigod but his ability took a lot of mana when used on others and he could understand why he had been unable to use it as a human. He doubted even a hero would be able to draw out the full power of Potential Break.
"Are you okay Lord Ty?"
A soft and lovely voice rang out to him in a worried tone so Tyler raised his head while massaging his temples only to see Erin''s beautiful face draw closer to his as she studied him worriedly.
For a moment Tyler''s mind went nk and he could only stare dumbly at Erin, who was standing in front of him.
"Are you alright?"
A faint fragrance entered his nostrils. The scent seemed to restore his ability to think, and his mind, which had been hitherto out ofmission, slowly returned to normal.
He soon calmed down and replied to her worried tone with a calming one.
"I''m fine, I just used a little more mana than I expected."
"Oh, dear! Is there something I can do to help Lord Ty? I''ll try my best if I can."
Suddenly panicked by his words, Erin had drawn even closer to him. She was so close he could feel her gentle breaths. Her lovely face dimpled adorably as she asked her question.
Tyler, who had already calmed down was now getting worked up by the sudden turn of events again.
"No, it''s fine... I should be fully recovered in a few hours."
"oh... okay."
She moved away from him but it seemed like she was a little disappointed. Perhaps not involving her in his earlier test had made her a little anxious or feeling left out but there was nothing he could do about that now.
Not only would it take way too much mana to boost her past her current Tier, but Tyler truly didn''t think her source had stabilized enough for something like that.
"Umm... err... Lord Ty?"
"Yes."
"I''m not sure if it will work but I can try using my ability to increase your life force. That may restore your mana."
"There''s really no need for you too¡ª You know what, please do."
Seeing Erin look defected about not being able to help, Tyler changed his mind and allowed her to do her thing which seems to make her happy. She rushed closer to him and held the sides of his head closer to her chest which would''ve made him distracted but the light was suddenly emitted from her hands, hindering the alluring view.
It was then followed by a warm feeling that seems to wipe away his fatigue. After only a couple of seconds, the light suddenly stopped and she moved back a little as she shyly asked if it worked and how he now felt.
"Indeed. I feel much better now. Thank you."
"Um... oh it was nothing." She was fidgeting with her fingers as she answered him which made Tyler chuckle inwardly as he examined himself.
Sensing more movements in his left hand that were struck by negative corruption, Tyler nodded his head in satisfaction and stood up from the throne. Turning his head to face the suddenly flustered Erin, he spoke.
"Do you have something to do while the others are busy?"
"Um... err... No, not really. I''m done with all the tasks you assigned me with and I''m able to maintain my surveince spell around the castle indefinitely."
Tyler tilted his head in amazement as he smiled and continued speaking to Erin.
"I see... That is impressive, good work."
"Oh... um... Thank you, sire."
''How adorable.'' Tyler thought of her reserved expression as he thought of what he wanted to do next.
"Since that''s the case there''s no point in assigning you a simr task so why don''t you apany me for a while then. I need to check up on the dwarves and then the Kobolds to see their current progress so I''m aware of whatever they require to make the work easier and faster. There''s only so much I can get from reading the report."
"Oh... right. As expected of Lord Ty. I did not even think of that."
Tyler could see that she was genuinely in awe of his wisdom but she was operating under a misunderstanding as Tyler could not understand norprehend the extremely detailed report she had ogives him.
He was only operating under the summarized version he had heard from her mouth. He needed to visit these ces because he needed to get a better feel on what was going on around him so he could easily understand the report better.
Uriel''s exnation had also not been helpful as she was just as sophisticated as Erin was. Tyler was sure the nymph''s intellect could match or even surpass that of Z if she was so reserved about everything including her abilities.
After all, she also had the title of Genius in her data. Moving on from that train of thought. Tyler shifted his gaze to the corner of the room where only one person remained.
Everyone else had left including the maids but Cora stayed behind and as Tyler stood up from the throne, she moved behind him and aplished Tyler and Erin out of the hall.
Chapter 228 C228. A Starter Town.
Walking out of therge hall with Erin by his side, Cora trailed after them and they descended the north wing and located Ragdek and his crew who had established their workspace in the East wing. Their workspace was arger smithy than the one Bungo was using previously.
They each had their own stations in therge hall where they could all work separately if they wanted. However, they were currently gathered in the center of the hall as they studied certain designs on the table.
A mechanical figure stood by the side of the table. It was the same Mech golems Tyler had fought in theb Liz had been taken to. He had given Ragdek a lot of them but none had been intact. However, it seems this one had been fixed but unfortunately it hadn''t been turned on, or maybe it couldn''t.
Scattered on the ground by the side of the hall were parts of other Mech golems and also pieces of armors and weapons they had made. Their work super amazed Tyler even more now as it had only been a little over two days since they got here and they had already aplished so much.
They had already burned through the steel he had spent so much money purchasing but Tyler had little to noint about that. He walked into the hall with Erin and approached the busy bunch.
Sensing Tyler''s arrival, Ragdek who was taking the lead in analyzing ns for new equipment and weapons stopped what he was doing and rushed over to greet him while the others trailed after him.
"Mr. I mean Lord Ty, wee, what brings you all the way down here? Do you need us for something?"
Ragdek spoke as he knelt before Tyler who waved an arm for him and the others to stand back up.
"Nice to see you too Ragdek. Anyway, I came to see how things were going with your other projects. You guys don''t have to stop your work on ceremony."
Tyler said while ncing at the idle Mech in the corner as he dismissed the others whozily went back to the table along with Bungo who was now in charge until Ragdek gets back.
"Hmm... well if you mean the mechs, we''ve finished analyzing them and have savaged a fewplete bodies from the pile you left usbut we can''tmerce any test or attempt to make them without the necessary material which we have none of. We also don''t have any decent power source to activate the ones we''ve assembled."
Ragdek paused for a moment before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small red gem-like rock and showing it to Tyler.
"We''ve also exhausted most of our Runite in fixing the main gate and can''t continue our research on Magic Artifacts, I apologize."
"There''s no need for an apology when you''ve only done what I''ve asked. We can''t get more materials anytime soon so please focus on what you can do for now with the materials found in the forest. Also, how''s the design for the city?"
"Umm... Oh yeah, I based the rough design on your description. The Main Street will only be a 15-20 minutes walk from the castle but we also need a survey of the area to get our scaling right."
"I understand, I was just about to head there myself so I don''t mind bringing one of you along. It would be better if the camp the Kobolds are building did not ovep with your ns so I wanted to ask one of you to supervise them for a while."
"Oh, I see... As expected of Lord Ty, I didn''t even think of that."
"No need to be so dramatic, you probably just had too much on your mind."
"Hahaha.... thanks for yourpliment."
''Compliment?''
"Anyway, I''ll send Darren and Gerl with you then. Darren will stay and supervise them and Gerl will return with theyout of the Greyad in for us to base the city around."
"Alright then. We''ll leave as soon as they are ready.
???????
After agreeing with Ragdek, Tyler turned to Cora and asked her to stay behind to assist the dwarves until he returned. She didn''t seem pleased by not going with him but she didn''t voice anyints which may not have been a good thing.
He then waited until Darren and Gerl were ready and immediately teleported all of them directly to the Greyad ins. Frankly, he had no idea where the Kobolds were making the temporary camp in the massive ins so he only teleported them to the ce he remembered. Which was basically just the outside of the castle.
They would have to fly towards the location as only Erin knew where they were but she could not teleport herself with others so they had to fly there. Tyler''s mass teleportation ability was unique to himself as the skill spatial maniption did not allow the teleportation of others as well.
He had evolved the skill with the soul of another demigod which was why the scaling and power of Spatial Domination were vastly different from Spatial Maniption.
As Tyler and Erin''s feet left the snow-filled ground, they finally noticed that the two dwarves could not fly. He could always give them a flight scroll as he was sure he had a tonne but Tyler thought that would be a waste as he just used his Gyro-Telekinesis to lift them to his side and they soon began to fly with Erin in the lead.
Their journey took less than five minutes even though the ce was rtively far. He was trying to avoid the gazes of the Great Five when he chose that location but it was still close enough that expanding the camp into a city would draw it closer to the castle.
His n had also worked adequately as the temporary site hadn''t reported any strange sighting or attacks to date.
Of course, there was still a chance the enemy was simply just observing them and wouldn''t do anything drastic for now. It would be foolish of him to ignore that possibility after what happened to Liz.
Erin soon descended amid the busy lizard-like creatures as though she was a goddess of sorts. Well actually, that idea wasn''t exactly far-fetched given the current level.
Her descent had halted the Kobolds'' movements as they all stopped to stare at her before they evenprehended her presence.
Tyler descended with the dwarves soon after which had shocked the Kobolds even more and they started scurrying around. Some ran in their direction and the others ran into arge tent, most likely going to report the sudden development to their leader.
Soon after that, a winged Kobold that looked quite different from the other Kobolds giving her a more human-like appearance and being slightly taller than everyone else came out of therge tent and flew towards him with a panicked expression on her face.
"Ha.... *pants *pants... Lord Ty, Lady Erin. I''m sorry for the mess, I was unaware you were visiting today. We''ve also been dealing with a little situation, my apologies."
Breathing heavily as she knelt before Tyler, she spoke her words hurriedly as she apologized for the rushed greetings and the mess the scurrying Kobolds had created. All the other Kobolds also knelt behind her as they echoed their greetings as well.
"Umm... Your name is... Tarka right?"
"Yes, Sire."
"I see... so how''s everything here going and what''s this situation you mentioned?"
As he spoke, Tyler''s gaze swept across the temporary settlement as he absorbed the information he saw. There were more than a hundredrge tents set up under the protection of a very fragile fence but of course, the fence was not the onlyyer of protection this campsite had.
A Magic scroll was used in setting up a barrier around the settlement and Tyler wasn''t even sure how Erin disabled it the moment she touched it. There were also rm spells that warn them when any outside creatures came with the proximity of the site and the Kobolds had set up traps all around the settlement.
However, for some reason, he couldn''t locate where the Nightmare wolves he had sent here to help the Kobolds were. Of course, he could still sense them around him as he was their creator and still had a vague connection with them.
However, he couldn''t see them anywhere even after expanding his vision miles around the campsite. He had received a mental note on the skills the creatures possess but he hadn''t paid much attention to it at the time.
Although he was aware that the creatures were mostly nighttime beings though. That didn''t mean they can''t fight during the day but they were far stronger at night. Perhaps they also had the same abilities as shadow creatures and were hiding in the shadows somewhere.
[Answer: master is correct. The Nightmare wolves possess the ability ''Shadow Hide.'' And are currently hiding within the shadows of certain Kobolds and across the settlement perimeter.]
''Oh neat.''
As Tyler''s thoughts wander about at superspeeds, Tarka''s words finally reached his ears as she answered his question.
"Everything has been moving along pretty smoothly Master. We were able to set up enough tents for 2,000 people and are currently in the process of clearing out a fertile area for the tige of the Raven settlement."
"I see... then things are going as nned?"
"Well, Umm, we''ve experienced a lot more monster attacks than expected. Thanks to the scrolls you generously provided us. Most of the monsters avoid our location but with the numbers that are fleeing the forest and roaming the ins, a few of them have strayed into range recently."
"Oh, I''m sure I instructed Albert to give you somemunication scrolls so you can request help in cases of emergencies. Did he not?"
"Oh no he did. The monsters weren''t that numerous and our traps and scrolls could take care of them so we didn''t need help with that. It''s just, we''ve run out of materials in building our traps and temporary fences to protect ourselves. It''s also difficult to transportrge quantities of materials from the Darknar forest given our small status. Even the Nightmare wolves can only carry so much while we defend them."
"Oh right. It seems raw materials are my main antagonist at the moment uh. Well, that''s fine. For this, you just require a medium for transporting the materials from the forest right?"
"Yes, sire."
"Indeed. A Magic carriage should work right?"
"Umm, I believe so. We should be able to open a partrge enough for one."
"Then it''s settled. I''ll send you a¡ª"
"Forgive my intrusion, Lord Ty."
"Hmm, Erin. What''s wrong?"
"I Umm... I think Jarret and Nadine took all the carriages with them to retrieve the Raven settlement so Umm..."
"Oh right, I forgot about that."
After being reminded by Erin, Tyler finally remembered that he had sent Jarret out with all the magic carriages to retrieve the Raven settlement to save time. Feeling stomp on what to do, he suddenly remembered that there was still one more magic carriage unounted for.
''Oh shit, Ipletely forgot about Mike!''
Who was mike you ask? It was the six-eyed bull that had been pulling Tyler around during his time as a merchant. He had just now remembered he had left his magic carriage in one of the caves in the Farbel''s Pass during the incident with the magic artifact Spatial Infinity.
The idea that the poor animal had been stuck in a cold cave for several days now was painful to him but he still took heed in the fact that it was a Tier 2 beast and could go weeks without food or water. Lucky for him, he had kept Mike in a secluded cave that was far away from any monster den so as long as it stayed out, he should be fine until Tyler gets there.
Chapter 229 C229. Azure Dragonflies
To bepletely honest, Tyler had never Once called that bull by the name Mike until this instance. For some reason, he felt like it would make the situation more dramatic. However, Tyler was actually worried about that bull. It had been more than 5 days since he abandoned that poor beast to starve in that cave by itself but starvation alone was not enough to worry about.
The main issue was the extremely cold weather that was not exactly favorable to mobsters of that nature. Although the six-eyed bull had the passive skill Fiery aura, it only allowed the beast the ability to move unobstructed in the snow and not enough cold resistance.
The cave was also located in a very dangerous region like the Farbelt pass. Although he had confirmed there were no monsters around it at the time it was impossible to know when dangerous predators would stray by.
Realizing he needed to return to the Farbelt pass to retrieve Mike as soon as possible. Tyler decided to move his business here along as fast as possible.
He was yet to introduce the dwarves to the Kobolds and as such, hadn''t gotten to his main purpose for being here.
"There''s still one more carriage unounted for, but for now let me introduce you to these two. These are Darren and Gerl. I''ve tasked them with the construction of a city so they will be working with you for now. Well, I think only Darren will. Treat him well."
As Tyler said that, he shifted to the side and pointed at the two dwarves behind him. They both just smiled and waved at the nervous Kobolds while trying to hide a metal sk behind their backs.
"Understood Lord Ty."
Tarka nodded at Tyler''s request and so did everyone else. Tyler then smiled in satisfaction as he watched the dwarves interact naturally with them very naturally he was willing to ignore their addiction to alcohol.
However, his smile immediately froze when heard them speak. The first thing they had asked was if the Kobolds kept booze around but of course, they didn''t.
Tyler almost faced palmed himself at that but held himself back and moved only his index finger slightly, the two alcohol addicts were immediately mmed into the ground that had been cleared of snow by a sudden shift in gravity.
He then pretended as nothing happened and handed Gerl a teleportation scroll and amunication scroll so he would let Tyler know when he wanted to return to the castle for Tyler to grant him ess.
Thanks to Uriel''s connection with the castle and his soul. She could also grant ess to whoever Tyler wanted her to with the aid of space maniption. It no longer mattered where he was. As long as he willed it, she would grant ess to anyone he asked her to be now or in the future so he didn''t have to be reminded.
This save him the stress of teleporting back and forth just so people could carry out his orders.
Having concluded his business here, he turned back to face Erin and told her they were leaving. He was just about to teleport away when he suddenly sensed something as the air vibrates softly.
At the same time, several Nightmare wolves suddenly rose from the shadows and howled. They all red and growled in the same direction. It was currently the middle of the day so these creatures wouldn''t be out in the light for no reason.
They were all growling towards the north, it was the direction of the Sentro region and Tyler understood why. Something was headed this way. Well, this was more than just something. From his estimation, there must be thousands of them.
''What the hell! Is the undead army already here? That''s impossible, re hasn''t mentioned anything like this.''
[Answer: Spatial Perception has confirmed the shape and sizes of the approaching creatures do not match the army of the undead. Their current movement speed also surpasses those of the recorded undead. Spatial awareness had also confirmed that these creatures are estimated to be moving approximately 35 feet above ground level.]
"Flying monsters?"
The moment those words left his mouth everyone raised their head and immediately noticed tiny figures on the horizon flying at them with an impressive speed.
"Iing! Activate the barrier, begin preparing our airborne defense! Move it!"
Tarka was quick to action and even Tyler was surprised they had any airborne defenses. He had instructed Albert to give them a lot of scrolls for defenses but he didn''t think they would have any formidable defenses.
That was why his main focus for them was not getting noticed or simply being ignored. It was why he had sent only the Kobolds who were a weak race in the demon continent to build the town even though they had very little skills in that aspect.
In fact, the only thing he thought they could rely on for their air defenses was the ''Monster Repent'' scroll he had given them but even that had its limit and a massive drawback that made it a rarely used item.
Certain monsters would ignore the effect if they had enough resistance and the attempt would drive them into a crazed state that made them a lot more troublesome. More importantly, the spell did not affect intelligent monsters whatsoever.
He was interested in seeing their airborne defense in action but Tyler soon shook that idea out of his head. This was a perfect opportunity to test his new skills and spells.
High-speed monsters that had the ability to fly such as these would be the perfect targets for his practice. However, he also couldn''t waste too much time here so he can''t hold back by much.
"There''s no need for that, I''ll handle this personally so just rx."
"But¡ª"
Tyler didn''t wait for any reply to his statement as his feet had already left the ground the moment he said hisst word to Tarka. However, Erin still silently flew up behind him without giving him the opportunity to reject her help.
Tyler flew up to about 40 feet in the air and silently stood above the temporary settlement as Erin stood silently beside him. The Kobolds and dwarves stood speechless on the ground as they stared at the army of flying creatures that were now close enough for all to see.
The weather was still cold due to the snow that covered the ins but that was not what made them shiver. The cloudy sky had beenpletely swamped by giant insect monsters.
These monsters had a pair ofrge, multifacetedpound eyes, two pairs of strong, transparent wings, some of which had colored patches on their wings, six w-like legs, and an elongated body.
In essence, they looked simr to dragonflies from earth, only massive. One of them was at least five times the size of an adult male and a sturdy exoskeleton oozed an oppressive aura. Judging by the sheer numbers in the sky, there were more than 2,000 of them flying rapidly towards the town without slowing down.
''What the hell are those?''
[Answer: ording to my archive, these creatures are Azure Dragonflies. They generally reside in hilly areas and are normally only active during spring and summer. ]
''If that''s the case, what are they doing here?''
[Their current wavelength is unstable and for perfect flyers their movements are chaotic. There is a high possibility that they were disturbed by the undead army and are migrating. The chances of encountering a troublesome Opponent on their way and being forced to retreat are also high.]
''I see... How unfortunate.''
As Tyler was conversing with Uriel, the swarm of Giant Dragonflies closed the distance between them. It didn''t seem like they were nning to slow down anytime soon and although he had no idea what their n for the town was.
He had no intentions of taking any chances even if they were only passing by. He considered these bunch to be unfortunate because their strength of back luck had led them right to him. This is going to be a massacre.
Without wasting time, he constructed the magic circle of several new spells and cast them one at a time.
"Widened Magic - Chain Chaos Lightning."
Stretching an arm towards the flying swarm of monsters, three massive bolts of purple lightning shot of his fighter tips and streaked in the air jumping from one Azure Dragonfly to another until it had reduced more than 20 of to ash.
"Max Magic - Giant Fireball."
At hismand, a massive whitish red bus size ball of mes shot at the monsters with intense heat that could be felt even from afar. Seeing this, Tyler realized that he had wasted a spell slot on this spell as he had achieved a simr result by using Potential Break on the Tier 1 version of the spell.
He had assumed there would be a difference just as it had been with the Create Undead spell. However, it would seem the spell was just arger version so it was practically the same spell with more power. He would have to take that into considerations when learning new spells.
However, contrary to everyone''s expectations, the mes didn''t cause the havoc one expected. Rather, they saw more than a hundred Azure Dragonflies charge headfirst at the insanely hot ball of fire like they were driving at a Buffay.
"What in the world."
In the blink of an eye, the monsters had devoured the entire ball of mes, and immediately, their auras began to skyrocket.
"What the hell just happened."
Erin seemed to be clueless about these particr monsters as she had never seen them before but she could infer from the situation and had immediately understood what had happened.
Naturally, Uriel also had the answers he wanted.
[Answer: Azure Dragonflies feed on heat. While this is not their main source of nutrition as they are creatures that strive in warm weather and are also able to feed on other flying insects. They are able to absorb natural heat and also the magic in Master''s spell, converting them to energy.]
''Seriously! You knew that this entire time and just watched me construct my spell. How devious.''
[I believed Master just wanted to empower these pitiful creatures so they can serve as better entertainment.]
''What the! Why the hell will I do that? I think your programming is malfunctioning. Well, whatever.''
Tyler was just about to say something when the 100 or so Azure Dragonflies with increased aura charged at him. The moment they got a little closer to him, he heard an intense buzzing sound that seems to prate his psychic all the way to his soul.
Looking down, he could see the Kobold and dwarves holding their ears as they panted heavily. That buzzing sound seems to be empowered with something but even though it was prating his defenses, he could still resist the effect just by the sheer gap in their levels.
Erin was even less bothered by it but since it would affect his workers, he thought he needed to end this quickly.
"So they eat heat huh? How amusing, allow me to test that theory. Eat this if you can."
Chapter 230 C230. Bug Girl
After consuming a massive amount of heat and energy from Tyler''s Giant fireball spell. A little over a hundred Asure dragonflies charged at him, their auras had skyrocketed by more than two-fold and they all simultaneously used a skill.
The psychic buzz attack had almost rendered the Kobolds and Dwarves on the ground unconscious but it had little effect on Tyler and Erin. However, the buzz attack was only the beginning.
All one hundred Azure Dragonflies with increased auras gathered the excess energy on their wings and as though they were a sort of helicopter, their wings immediately halted their assault as it pulled them back and higher after getting closer to Tyler. The energy that had been transferred into their wings was once more transferred into their six w-like legs which were then swiped at him.
?Fiery Wind Cutter?
Over six hundred razor-sharp wind des that looked as though the air had been lit on fire shot at them with the same furious intensity as his fireball spell. The insanely wide-range attack had literally changed the temperature in the area as it descended upon the entire settlement like meteorites.
With the addition of Tyler''s energy, this was an attack capable of damaging even a demigod. It would seem these bugs did more than just eat his mes. The fact that they were able to convert most of his energy into their power and send it back at him could not be underestimated.
This meant trying to overload them with even the greatest energy would be a waste as they could just release the excess energy before any damage came to them.
While this was indeed a troublesome ability for most to deal with and may have proven to be a challenge for him to handle in the past. That was no longer the case as any projectile attacks were still useless against him.
''Pity.''
Raising one of his gloved hands before him, a crack suddenly appeared on the palm of the glove and a creepy mouth could be seen drooling on it. The mouth immediately began to suck in everything around him and all the ming wind des were drawn to his location and devoured in less than a minute. Fortunately, he hadn''t even used his mana this time.
"Hmm, y''all seem to be quite proud of your ability to consume mes. Do you really think you can consume any me? How amusing, allow me to test that theory. Eat this if you can."
At his words, the air around him suddenly got darker as an oppressive ck mes engulf his hand. The mes had an ominous aura and seemed to be absorbing the light around them. The dark mes would consume any and everything ites in contact with, even light.
Gathering a massive ball of ck mes in his right hand, Tylerunched it at the hundred or so empowered Azure Dragonflies and they once again tried to feed on it.
However, although the mes contain heat that could be devoured. The mes were the fire of absolute destruction and had no rejuvenating qualities. Unless one could consume destruction itself, consuming it was a very bad idea.
Therefore, the moment the massive Dragonflies came in contact with it, they have reduced to smithereens as the massive ball of mes continued in its wake and devoured everything in front of it.
However, while he had thought they were mostly unintelligent creatures, Tyler was surprised to see them learn from their mistake and avoid his attack after it had consumed the original hundred Azure Dragonflies.
The massive swarm of over a thousand monster flies had all simultaneously avoided his attack with perfect coordination and his mes had only imed the lives of a hundred of them.
Tyler''s eyes narrowed as he stared at the bunch. They no longer charged at him and it seemed they wanted to retreat but also didn''t want to recklessly turn their backs on him.
''Are the Dragonflies in this world of a hive mind? Why are they acting in such unison?''
[Andwer: A psychic wavelength has been confirmed in the area. The Azure Dragonflies seem to be connected mentally and are receiving constant mental cues andmands.]
''Wait what? They''re having a chat in the midst of battle? Side note, didn''t dragonflies onlymunicate visually?''
[The signal sensed doesn''t seem to simply be formunication Master. There is a 98.5610% chance this swarm is under something''s control.]
''Is that so. Makes sense then. A bunch of insects should not be this cautious.''
Tyler''s conversation with Uriel usually took less than a second in real-time so he wasn''t just standing around having a chat. However, the swarm of Azure Dragonflies didn''t wait for very long either.
From what Tyler could tell, they wanted to create a chance for a retreat so they sent a few Dragonflies at him from both sides as a form of distraction. Tyler sighed and was about to use a skill when several dark water bullets suddenly bombarded the iing Dragonflies to oblivion.
"There was no needed for that you know."
Tyler turned his head around to look at Erin who had arge ck serpentine dragon floating in the air around her.
"I''m sorry Lord Ty, it just seems rude to use such tactics against you. I couldn''t help myself."
"Well, it''s fine. Let''s just locate whoever is controlling the swarm and Ed this."
Expanding his perception range, Tyler searched through the massive number of dragonflies in the air and noticed a cluster of them that seem to be surrounding something.
"Found it."
?Gravity Pulse?
The moment he noticed the cluster, a dense ck ball of gravity gathered in his palm and heunched it at the cluster of monsters in the air having appeared in the midst of the swarm with teleportation.
Upon impact, the fist-sized ball of dense gravity expanded then exploded in a repulsive force that shattered the cluster of Azure Dragonflies and revealed an individual within the cluster.
This was a semi-humanoid and insectoid being. The best way to describe it was a young blonde girl with short hair. Two pairs of transparent wings, a pair of insect-like legs, and a dragonfly-like tail protruding from her back.
She had four arms but the rest of her body looked human-like. However, two of her arms were broken and she seemed to be gravely wounded.
"Hm, you must be the one controlling these creatures then."
The girl didn''t answer him. Her face looked pale and she was panting heavily. Indeed she must''ve been retreating from the Darknar forest but must''ve encountered a strong enemy along the way.
Judging by the direction they came from, they must''ve originally migrated towards the Sentro region. It''s possible they were then attacked by Hunters and had to escape after being badly wounded.
Although these monsters were only intermediate ss monsters, their numbers shouldpensate for their individual strength and they should be able to overwhelm almost any opponent.
However, Hunters weren''t stupid, they were professionals when it came to ying stronger monsters and just as he had gone straight for the leader of the swarm, they would''ve eventually figured it out and from the looks of it, they had done just that.
The Dragonfly girl seemed apprehensive in facing Tyler but she knew she needed to do something if she wanted to survive. The Azure Dragonflies around Tyler all seemed to panic at his arrival and had already charged at him in an attempt to save their leader.
"Dy magic- Floating Mine."
With a snap of his finger, Tyler activated his dyed spell and several mines exploded amid the swarm of Giant Dragonflies had had to blow a few to pieces. However, that didn''t even slow them down as they all Desperately flew at him.
"It seems I was wrong."
What he had realized by their actions was that the swarm of monster''s only priority had been to retreat to save their heavily injured Master and were only passing by the settlement. It was a shame they had to run into him otherwise the Kobolds defense would''ve only made them take a detour and they would''ve been fine.
However, today was certainly not their lucky they as seeing their leader had decided their fate. He could not let any of them escape. Not that they were trying to but still.
?Energy Burst?
Tyler decided to stop texting his skills on these pitiful creatures and just end the fight with a single attack. His entire body was then warped in mana and in an instant, a massive burst of a sphere of pure energy gusted out of him in a wide radius and knocked every single monster out of the sky.
Of course, the energy he used wasn''t powerful enough to kill these creatures even though a few of them had died from the impact with the ground.
However, the insect girl in front of him and blocked his attack. A barrier of sorts had shattered around her but it had still saved her from his skill.
"Impressive. For someone in such a state to withstand that attack. Hmm, I guess it''s not really that impressive if you think about it."
It didn''t look like she could do anything much as Tyler could see him slowly moving away from him. She must''ve had a strong desire to survive cause it looked like she was already out of energy but was still fighting to remain conscious.
"Hmm, this might be a good time to test that skill. You see, I currently have a problem with transportingrge quantities of raw materials through dangerous terrain and I''m beginning to think these massive insects of yours might just be perfect for the job. What do you say?"
Although Tyler was just muttering to himself, it seems the insect girl had keen senses unlike actual dragonflies as she panicked and instantly took off running. (Well, she flew away. The same thing.)
She had reacted preciously when it was just speaking about her but the moment he had mentioned the bugs. She had thrown causation to the wind and fled.
''How fascinating.''
However, it was far toote for that now. Tyler chuckled inwardly as he disappeared from his location had appeared in front of the fleeing bug girl whose retreat was forced to halt as she mmed into an invisible barrier in front of Tyler.
Her beady eyes hesitantly looked up at him and his hazel-colored eyes changed colors in an oppressive and dominating red glow that froze the girl in the ce. Her face went deathly pale as an invading force tightened its grip aground her mind.
Her already fragile mind was incapable of resisting the mental pressure that instantly destroyed all her mental defenses as her will to resist was utterly shattered.
?Dominating Demonic Eyes?
.
Chapter 231 C231. Loriel
"Hey, what''s your name?"
[...]
"Do you not have a name?"
[...I... I am... I''m¡ª I''m called... Loriel.]
Her intentions were never to answer, but for some reason, her mouth had moved on its own. It was as though she could no longer givemands to her body. She had tried to retreat but couldn''t feel her arms or legs.
Her head felt like it had been submerged underwater and her vision was hazy. She felt she might''ve lost a lot of blood in her encounter with those demon Hunters but that shouldn''t be enough to put her in this state.
During her time living in the Western parts of the Darknar forest, she had never encountered intelligent creatures like those before. Although she was aware of their existence, she had no reason to engage them and had only kept to herself.
Unaware of their strength and cunning, she tried to overwhelm them with sheer numbers while she stayed behind and used her spells in supporting her troops. However, the Demons had ignored most of her servants'' Dragonflies andunched a powerful strike at her.
They seemed to be well informed about the habits of Azure Dragonflies and instantly realized that someone was controlling them.
Since Azure Dragonflies we''re not aggressive creatures by nature that only attack when they felt threatened, they decided it was best to take her out first and once she died, the swarm of the Azure Dragonflies would surely ignore them and scatter in a general direction.
well, she had to admit they have had the right idea but they had miscalcted her ability. She could establish a hive mind with an entire swarm of Dragonflies but she could not mentally control them with her ability.
All she did was instill a seed of extreme loyalty in all insect-type monsters and not just Dragonflies. However, she would have to nurture that seed until it blooms else the chance of betrayer increases.
Choosing to control only Azure Dragonflies was her attempt at being with her own kind. However, her ability was still more powerful than she thought as there were no limits on how many insects she could control as long as she took the time to nurture the loyalty seed in all of them.
This ability had caught the eyes of the undead king who had been ruling the Borth Part of the Darknar forest king before she was born. She had then been invited to serve under him but she refused.
However, up until recently, the undead king had never tried to force her into serving him and had just ordered her to stay out of his way while keeping tabs on her to make Shute she did not join forces with any of the other Four Kings.
From what she gathered he had amassed a surprising amount of strength and had begun to suppress the entire forestpletely. Forcing all the powerful monsters in the western parts of the darknar forest like herself to submit to him.
Feeling the threat of losing her freedom to the lord of death. Loriel panicked and ran away in haste. She would rather find a new home than be a ve to a skeleton.
However, her luck outside the forest had been horrendous so far. First, it was the Hunters who were skilled and cunning. Now, however, was even worse. It was only a single individual but she had felt like they were doomed. However, a retreat was not an option.
It was clear that he intended to fight them and wouldn''t let them just leave. He killed several of her precious Dragonflies in seconds but then made the mistake of using fire against them.
''A chance.''
Or so she thought. In the end, their attempt at intimidating him had only served to piss him off and she had to halt their progress. It was painful but she needed to sacrifice a few of her flies in distracting him while she and the others ran away.
But again, it had failed. An even stronger presence had interfered and she knew she was doomed. However, when she finally came face to face with the man in question, her mind had been suppressed and she now found herself on the ground answering his questions without hesitation.
''why... why I''m I remembering this right now? I''m I about to die?''
"Oh, that''s my bad. I wanted to see if I would be able to read and guide the mind of a monster if it had a sufficient level of intelligence. Don''t worry, I don''t n on dominating your mind further."
Hearing the words that came out of the demon''s mouth as though she wasn''t even worthy of being considered a threat to him. Her heart tightened at the thought of losing her free will. She didn''t know what else to do but stared dumbly at him as he stood above her lying body.
"That''s weird, your thoughts seem to be getting more chaotic even though I could''ve sworn I told you I have no intentions of dominating your mind any longer."
He mumbled to himself with little interest in his voice as he moved closer to her and continued.
"From my analysis, It seems you can control the swarm of Azure Dragonflies with your innate ability. Sopromising your mind would hamper the effectiveness of that ability which is very useful to me right now."
Innate Abilities were very rare and even moreplex. If it was as easy as mind-controlling someone to gain ess to their innate ability. The Great Five would not need to spend an absurd amount of money in their research in gaining other useful innate abilities.
"Anywho, it seems I was mistaken and you guys had no intentions of attacking this ce, to begin with. For that, have decided to let the rest of you live."
"No please Lord Ty, there''s no way you would be mistaken. They were the ones flying suspiciously. I''m sure they would''ve attacked us if you weren''t here."
[Flying suspiciously? How the hell were we flying suspiciously you insect!]
"Look who''s calling someone an insect. I''m a Dragonwrought Kobold, a true descendant from the legendary dragon race. You''re nothing but a bug that was named after us, INSECT!"
The one who had spoken up for Tyler and engaged in an argument with the one¡ª I mean Dragonfly girl was Tarka. For some reason, she didn''t seem to like the entire species of dragonflies even though they wereboth considered descendants of actual dragons.
[Don''t you dare call me an insect you disgusting Lizard! I am the Lord of¡ª ow ow...]
Being agitated by Tarka''s taunts, Loriel tried to move havingpletely forgotten about her injuries, and aggregated it. Seeing this unfold before his eyes, Tyler couldn''t help butugh.
He had hoped to appear moremanding and authoritative when talking with this girl so he could recruit her and her useful workers but her bickering with Tarka hadpletely spoiled the mood.
"Ha ahahahaha... well I guess there''s no point in that anymore. You said your name was Loriel right?"
[...Uh No, sorry I mean yeah...]
Seeing her stumble through her words at his gaze, Tyler chuckled lightly and crouched next to the injured monster girl.
"No need to be flustered, I have a proposal for you. It''s pretty simple really."
[...]
"There''s no need to be so apprehensive. If I wanted to take away your freedom, it is an easy feat. However, that would only render you useless to me. Ummm... wait, I guess that may not be asforting as I thought."
[...]
"Well whatever, I just get straight to the point. I currently require the means to transportrge quantities of raw materials from across the region and I think you can help me with that."
Having made that statement, Tyler crouched beside Loriel and snapped his fingers. Immediately, the thousands of Asure Dragonflies on the ground were lifted in the air as though thews of gravity did not apply to them.
Returning his hands to his sides the swarm of Dragonflies then regained their mobility. Of cause, those that were dead still dropped down to the ground lifelessly but Tyler chose to ignore that.
He was aware that the Giant Dragonflies species could use optical illusion skills that help them fly freely in dangerous air space without attracting unwanted attention from monsters which were perfect for this.
Loriel who was now barely able to sit upright had finally regained control of the swarm and questions began to flood her head. She didn''t understand what the demon beside her had done.
Frankly speaking, she had been trying to call her minions for help ever since she awoke but none of them could move even an inch. To singlehandedly stop, the movements of more than a thousand Giant monsters was no easy feat and it just showed that she had no hope of winning even at her peak.
The man was even more terrifying than the Undead King who nowmanded an army of 20,000 strong. Not to mention the other races in the West forest that he had forced to serve him.
[What do you want from me?]
"Hmm... was I not being clear?"
[Uh no, I''m sorry, I just mean... My Dragonflies aren''t fighters. I don''t like seeing them die but I can''t fight myself either so I have to use them to protect me. Please, I don''t want any of them to die in battle.]
Tyler didn''t understand what this creature had meant for a moment there. He soon realized why she had hesitated in sending arge number of Dragonflies at him when she was trying to escape.
She was an evolved version of an Azure Damselfly which was why she saw the dragonflies as a family instead of just pawns to be used for her protection. That was probably the reason why she had refused an invitation from the Undead king, to begin with.
Also, her innate ability was called Insect Queen. It did more than sow seeds of loyalty into insect-type monsters, it also gave her and her subordinates a hive mind that allowed her to know and see everything her minions did.
In a war, her ability was truly invaluably for surveince purposes and Tyler was d he hadn''t killed her outright.
"Very well. You have my word I will not use your troops for battle. Your only job would be to transport and defend materials gotten from across the continent until I''m able to find a better alternative. You will also fall under my protection and thus, you won''t have to live in hiding anymore. As a bonus, I don''t mind healing you."
Tyler didn''t even wait for her response as he gave a signal to Erin who just casually tossed a ball of pure water on the girl as those disinterested in her existence.
The moment the ball of pure water touched her skin, the previously grievous wounds she had sustained instantly disappeared. This was something that even a high-tier healing spell would take time healing yet it now meant little to Erin.
A look of amazement was written across Loriel''s face and she finally stood up and moved around a bit. She instantly agreed to Tyler''s request even though Tyler didn''t n to give her any other options.
He then used the demon''s pact on her. Her job would be the transportation of raw materials for the foreseeable future. And of course, she would asionally run surveince for him.
Among the 2,213 Azure Dragonflies that flew this way today, Tyler had killed only 361 of them which had strangely disappointed him even though he needed every single one of them now. He just felt like he needed a spell of skill that could eliminate thousands of opponents in a single attack.
''Hmm, now that I think about it. I still have warp control don''t I. Using a ck or white hole is more than enough to destroy this gxy so what am I worried about. Hmm, frankly I just want a technique that can do the same without the use of magic or skills. I guess I should learn so Secret Techniques.''
Chapter 232 C232. Hunter Surveillance
Although it didn''t seem like Loriel and Tarka could get along. Tyler still needed them to work together so he had Gerl mediate their affair on his behalf.
He would have Z take Loriel to the Darkin mountain range in the future so she could also transport the materials from the mine there before he would be able to establish a teleportation Gate on all the key locations in the continent.
He had also thought of constructing roads and maybe creating a sort of transport train but thetter was a stupid idea. Flying was a lot faster even though it was a little more dangerous. However, there were ways to avoid those powerful flying creatures.
''Hmm, I should probably handle those creatures before sending the Azure Dragonflies to the Darkin Mountain Range. Besides, taming more flying creatures would also increase his transport efficiency.''
After what felt like hours of sorting out certain details with Gerl, Tarka, and Loriel. He had Zelda mark Loriel''s soul so he could keep track of her in case of emergencies. With the soul''s marker, he could teleport himself and anyone directly to her side.
This was something he had thought of when he had wanted to send Kali to Jarret''s side.
With that done, Tyler finally concluded his task here and teleported himself and Erin to the Farbelt pass to retrieve Mike.
Although he had been to the Farbelt pass a couple of times now. Tyler couldn''t clearly picture the cave he had left Mike and the magic carriage in so he had teleported to the hill next to the Grade 3 Gold Mine.
He remembered there might still be Hunters there so he had teleported a little further away. He probably would''ve been able to get Uriel to teleport him directly to his desired cave but he had failed to consider that possibility at the time.
In an instant, two figures appeared atop the snowy hill above the undergroundbyrinth that doubles as a gold mine. Tyler and Erin had both sensed several presences in the mine below them and had immediately hidden their presence.
Using Erin''s divination, they were able to view the situation in the cave below them and Tylerprehended the situation immediately. From what he could see, the ones in the cave were not Hunters but some of them looked simr to the Knight guards he had spotted in winged city.
The only differences were their far better equipment and stronger auras. These knights were surely a notch above the ones in the city, and he could tell that they were all at the Tier 3 standards or above.
''Hmm... are they royal knights?''
[Confirmed, these are essentially royal knights directly under the lord of Winged city.]
"I see..."
"Is something wrong lord Ty?"
Having audibly let out his response to Uriel unconsciously, Erin had assumed he was talking to her which had almost thrown him off but he quickly recovered andposed himself.
"These Knights seems to be stronger than the ones I encountered in the city. This means they are royal Knight directly under the city lord. Judging by the outfit and equipment of the others in the cave. I''ll reckon they are all professional miners."
"So that''s it. These must be the ones sent by the city to mine the Underground Mine you had gotten the Runite from."
"Indeed they are. From the looks of it, they have been camping in the cave for a few days now. This means they had also hired Hunters who are currently clearing out the monster nest in the mines."
"It is just as you predicted Lord Ty. But..."
"What''s wrong?"
"With the average strength of these knights, I don''t think the Hunters will be able to handle the creature you left behind."
"Oh." Tyler chuckled as he heard that which made Erin flustered and she retreated behind him. "I''m sorry I didn''t mean tough. Are you worried about the Hunters'' lives?"
"Uh? N-no that''s not it. I-I just mean, if they all died, won''t the Knights go in after them and meet the same fate. If that happens, your ns would be hampered as I don''t think the miners can survive a day on their own."
"Oh, so you were just worried about my ns huh? How nice of you."
Erin''s face was flushed at this point and she seems to shrink back into herself.
"¡ªWell, you don''t have to worry about my ns. I indeed ordered that summon to kill everyone that steps into that cavern. However, Hunters aren''t as fragile as you may think. If I remember correctly you were part of the Hunting team in your time in the Red Ogre settlement right?"
"Y-yes."
"And what do your team usually do when you encounter a monster you can''t handle?"
"We usually retreat. If we can''t afford aplete retreat we lead the monster into a trap."
"Indeed... Still. There is a fundamental difference between these Hunters and your hunting party."
"What''s that?"
"While your party''s main aim was to track monsters for food. A Hunter''s entire purpose is the extermination of monsters. This means they would venture into very dangerous regions to eliminate a single monster. This allows them to be fully prepared for anything, includinging face to face with a monster thatpletely outsses them."
"Oh, I see... due to the information about the Green-eyed devil the city received, they will, in turn, send their most capable Hunters. Hunters of that level would be able to instantly recognize the danger and initiate an immediate retreat. They should also be able to afford various escape tools that should allow their survival."
"Exactly. Well, I doubt there would be that many survivors, the chances a few of them would make it back to report this is 100%"
"Wow, that''s amazing Lord Ty."
''Frankly speaking, the fact that Mammon was a reincarnate made me believe there are more reincarnations from the earth here in the demon continent so the chances that one of the top-tier Hunters would be one is very high. Knowing the nature of reincarnates, surviving even a more powerful monster that is bound to a limited space should be easy.''
Although Erin seems to be impressed by his n, Tyler wasn''t really confident in it himself. He had just wanted to seem sure and not look pathetic. He needed to find a suitable method in asking Z for his opinion on this matter.
Having gotten all they could from watching the ones below, they concluded their observation and Tyler teleported them to the entrance of the cave where he had kept Mike.
However, something strange had happened as thanks to Spatial Awareness, his teleportation destination was adjusted and they had appeared a few feet outside the cave.
Upon arriving a few feet from the entrance of the cave. He noticed there was no longer an entrance to a cave in that location which was why his destination had been altered.
Of course, he wasn''t in the wrong location and that thought didn''t even cross his mind even once. There were just rocks and snow covering the former entrance to the cave.
"What the hell, was there a cave in there, or was this done by a rock slide?"
There were countless amounts of caves in the Farbelt pass and every single one of them was underneath a hill or a small mountain and after visiting this ce twice already, Tyler was sure a natural cave in or rock slide do not ur.
Using Magic sense, he was unable to prate inside the cave. It was as though the rocks were blocking his senses but this was his first time experiencing this so he turned to Erin and asked her if she could sense the interior of the cave.
"I''m sorry I Can''t, there appears to be strong interferenceing from those rocks or maybe something had put up a barrier around the entire hill."
"I see... Well, no point in wasting any more time making assumptions out here. Let''s just head in."
Tyler immediately started walking towards the blocked entrance to the cave and Erin follows behind him without hesitation. As he got closer to the cave entrance, the hills began vibrating for a moment when all the rocks suddenly flew out of the entrance and hung in the air around them.
Walking to the entrance of the cave, Tyler noticed a barrier had been ced around it. He touched the almost invisible barrier and felt his energy being drained. This was most likely a magic absorbing barrier that would absorb most magic attacks and use it to power itself.
The skill was probably a mid-tier one that could get infinitely stronger the more it absorbs but there was also a chance it would have a limit. However, taking the risk wasn''t worth it.
While there were countless ways to dispel such barriers. Tyler didn''t bother with any of them and went with the simplest method. Brute strength.
As his hand was still ced on the barrier, it felt like he was touching an invisible ss so Tyler applied pressure from his fingertips into the barrier that felt as though it could withstand an atomic bomb. However, it had shattered under in the next moment as though it was just made of ss.
Walking inside the cave, the stench of blood suddenly assaulted his nose and Tyler frowned. His steps hade to a halt as stared furiously at the sight before him.
Deep within this cave, was a massive lizard-like creature curled up by the walls as it red at the pair that had just intruded on itsir. There was a half-destroyed carriage by the side of the cave but that was not what had pissed Tyler off.
Next to the recovering Dragon-like creature was the half-eaten body of a certain six-eyed bull that had only recently received the name, Mike.
"This cave doesn''t seemrge enough to be their of such a massive creature so why is it living here. Its lifeforce also seems to be weak."
Erin asked an obvious question but even Tyler could tell she was right to wonder such. He had left Mike here after confirming that there were no monsters within a 1000 meter radius. There was only one reason why this would have happened and Tyler was aware of it.
"I miscalcted."
[Master''s conjecture is urate. There is a connection between this incident and the group of Hunters. The only possibility involves the ColdFire Drake encountering the Hunters and being severely wounded. It then retreated randomly into this cave to hide and ate the Six eyed bull to recover its energy and heal itself. However, its lifeforce is yet to be recovered and it is still in a weakened state.]
''I''m aware.''
Without Tyler having to spell it out for Erin, she was able to connect the dots and understood the connections between what Tyler had said and the Drake. She wanted to say something but decided against it.
The ColdFire Drake who was just ring at them from the end of the cave suddenly sensed a dangerous aura from the male that had disturbed its rest and opened its Maw. A massive ball of white mes gathered there and it condensed it with all its remaining energy as the temperature of the Cold mes rapidly approached Absolute Zero.
?ZeroBolt?
Launching the attack that froze the air it flew by and even froze space itself, it crossed the short distance in an instant and swallowed up its enemies. The strength of that attack could even wipe out an entire region so the drake believe no demon could stop that.
He was about to shut his eyes when the ball of absolute power suddenly began to shrink as though it was being absorbed.
In only a matter of seconds, his most powerful skill using all of its remaining energy and a bit of his already weak lifeforce hadpletely disappeared into the creepy mouth that appeared on the gloved palm of the male demon that stared coldly at it.
A drake could not sweat yet that was the only way to describe what was happening to him as the demon''s eyes glowed red and everything went dark.
?Dark Lightning?
Chapter 233 C233. Improvisation
As one of the oldest monsters in existence, having surpassed thete Ancient Rykir, the ColdFire Drake had experienced a vast number of events and phenomenons in its life and had acquired knowledge beyond mortal limits orprehension.
He had survived for centuries through the rise and fall of cities and wars and had reined over the Farbelt pass with his unrivaled might. However, even with the centuries of knowledge and experiences he possesses, he could not fathomthe power that was contained within the ravaging streaks of ck lightning that danced chaotically around the demon before him.
?Dark Lightning?
The easiest way to describe what was happening was that time had stopped and his eyes could no longer perceive the light around him. However, that was not the case.
A ferocious crackling of thunder reverberated as far as he could hear and the light around him was being devoured by the ckish white lightning that moved around the demon as though it was sentient.
The mere presence of the Lightning destabilized the space around them and it began to copse. A huge tremor shook the entire pass as the Lightning emitted a destructive and chaotic pressure.
Before the Drake could evenprehend what was happening. A massive bolt of serpentine Lightning jumped off the demon''s outstretched arm at him in the blink of an eye.
However, it could not afford to die here.
While he had used all its mana on thatst st, that didn''t mean he waspletely defenseless. He was, after all, a ColdFire Drake and thest of its kind. He was the king of the past and one of the most ancient magic beasts on the entire continent. He could not die here.
Disregarding caution, its scaly body began to glow as he rapidly burned through his remaining life force in exchange for power beyond its limits. This was his absolutest resort and it was now all or nothing.
?Absolute Zero Domain?
In an instant, its massive frame was engulfed in white mes that immediately gusted out in a massive burst of a sphere of ColdFire mes that would epass a radius of more than 1,000 meters.
The cold fire instantly reduces the thermodynamic temperature of anything it touches to absolute zero (-459.67¡ãF or -273.15¡ãC), a physically impossible-to-reach state by normal means or even by freezing.
While lowering the temperature by slowing molecr and atomic motion is the basics of freezing, topletely stop it is topletely bypass the Laws of Thermodynamics and that was the essence of Absolute Zero Domain.
The ColdFire mes the domain produces would stop anything it touches in its track to a subatomic level. Atomic integrity crumbles and all living matter turns to ash.
However, the Dark Lightning possess no living mater and was fueled by pure energy without drawing on mana from the atmosphere. It mostly ignored the absolute zero domain that gusted at them.
However, upon contact with the domain, the single bolt of lightning was split into several that ran rampant in the very limited space inside the cave as most of them shot upwards, shattering the hill they were in.
Another massive bolt of lightning also tore a hole through the heart of the ColdFire drake and continued on its wake as they continued to destroy everything it touched with unwavering destructive force.
The Dark Lightning shattered the entire hill the cave was located under while also going out of control as it continued to destroy the mountains and hills around.
A barrier had manifested in front of Tyler and Erin, protecting them from the ColdFire mes of absolute zero but Tyler did not stop there as the miniature mountain wasing down on them. He raised an arm and caught the falling rocks and boulders from the copsed hill as they were suspended in the air.
"What an annoyance."
He also created a barrier around the dead drake as he had used for its corpse. Seeing as he had lost control of the dark lightning that was now causing amotion in the Pass. He took to the skies as he saw the bolts of lightning shattering one hill after another.
Feeling irritated from losing Mike and now this, he teleported next to the rampaging lightning and opened several tears in space, sending them all to a different dimension ad he didn''t have the patience to devour them one at a time with Depths of the Abyss.
The only reason he cared about stopping the lightning was that he didn''t want the attack to end up killing the knights and miners, affecting his ns.
However, it seems it was toote for that as the Knights had panicked after hearing the sounds of massive hills and miniature mountains being shattered and reduced to dust. For some reason, those sounds had made them gather together in front of the cave entrance and assure a defensive formation.
Sigh... "Why go outside at the first signs of danger."
Tyler''s irritation was growing rapidly as he noticed one of the Knights had spotted him with a magic item. He had anti-divination skills now so what he was using was most likely just a simple telescope and not an item for remote viewing else it would''ve been blocked by him.
"I''ve been making way too many mistakestely, haven''t I. How do I fix this now? Should I alter their memories?"
[Answer: The possibility of altered memories being noticed is high and thus, action is not rmended.]
"Fine, I''ll have to think up a new n for this then."
[Negative. As long as master doesn''t destroy the underground mine. The n would still have a high probability of sess. Master can also increase the probability of sess with the skill, Fate maniption''s probability correction.]
"Oh, forgot I had that. How convenient."
Although he had just found a solution to his current predicament. Killing the innocent miners that hadn''t seen him didn''t sit well with him. They had only just arrived here to do a job and had stayed inside the cave when the foolish knights ran out to look for the cause of the ruckus.
He wouldn''t feel right to just kill them off without a reason but he also couldn''t just leave them alive without the protection of the scouts as that would be worse than just killing them off.
He soon thought of an idea and teleported before the Knights who almost shit themselves the moment he suddenly appeared before them, perhaps in surprise or fright, could tell. The Knights were well trained so they quickly recovered from their stupor. However, it was still toote as they tried to move but couldn''t.
Their bodies failed to respond to their brains''mands asTyler walked right past them without even sparing them a second nce, a bearter, they all dropped to the ground like puppets whose strings had been cut.
He had already killed them off with needle-like magic bullets that pierced through their skulls without resistance the moment he appeared before them but their brains could not process their deaths until they tried to move.
Walking into the cave, he saw the group of miners huddled up together per the Knights instructions. The moment their gaze met his, his eyes shed red in a dominating pressure that made the weak-minded miners whose mental resistance was almost non-existent immediately submissive to him.
He did not attempt to control their minds but made them unable to refuse his orders. He then contacted Gerl and sent them to live in the temporary settlement for now until the log house in the Darkin Mountain Range was ready.
He Would then send them there to help mine the resources of the mountains. If they had families, he could help them move them there as well but that was as far as he was willing to go for the sake of his human conscience.
With that done, Tyler decided to burn the bodies of the knights a little to pass them off as though they were killed by the Drake. He immediately teleported back to where Erin was patiently waiting for him.
With Mike dead and the magic carriage destroyed. The only thing of interest here was the body of the dead ColdFire Drake.
Drakes were known to horde treasures and rare metals so Tyler had Zelda, Nessi, and Maeve scower what was left of the Farbelt pass for the monster''s originalir but unfortunately they found nothing.
Either the lore he learned on earth was wrong or his Dark Lightning had destroyed their and everything within it.
He then thought of harvesting the corpse of the drake as he had heard they were very rare creatures and their scales and bones made excellent weapons and equipment.
Their flesh was also considered a delicacy so perhaps that would''ve been the more logical choice. However, he had decided to turn the drake into an undead instead. The first thing he did was retrieve the core as a new core would form from negative energy so there was no point in letting the original one gets corrupted.
"Create Undead."
Hearing the spell Tyler just cast, Erin retreated further back feeling disturbed by the process which was still funny to Tyler but he wouldn''t show it.
He had used a lot of mana to boost this spell past the Tier 5 standard and the negative corruption in his left hand had spread further towards his heart.
Even using healing magic several times had proved useless this time around. It seems the corruption had taken a deep root within his soul and he could no longer use negative type spells. This also meant he would no longer be able to create any more undead else his heart would stop and he would turn into an undead.
He also wasn''t sure he would retain his memories after turning which was the biggest problem. He also needed to be careful when facing off with the undead king as he had suddenly be Tyler''s natural enemy and would be able to kill him with a well-ced spell. Or even worse, turn him into one of his minions.
Although there was a high possibility for him to die when fighting the undead king, Tyler didn''t dwell on the issue for too long as he put the thought at the back of his mind and focused on the massive creature that had just emerged from the cloud of ck smoke like an aura.
The massive dragon-like creature stood up and looked over Tyler with glowing eyes. The previous bluish-grey ColdFire Drake was now apletely ck sinister-looking undead monster.
This was a Dark Shadow Drake with the ability to manipte dark mes instead of ColdFire. However, with an undying body that didn''t feel pain and a more destructive me than in its life. The monster was even more powerful as an undead drake even though its tier had remained at the peak of the 6th Tier.
Chapter 234 C234. Clean Up
The boundless sky split apart as a massive figure flew at supersonic speeds through the thick ashen clouds, producingsonic booms as it speeds by. Flying monsters actively avoided this massive figure as it flew through the skies unhindered.
?Divine Appraisal?
????????
Species: Dark Shadow Drake.
Name: Drago
Race: Lesser Dragon.
Titles: King of the Pass; Lord of the Pass.
A named undead Dark Shadow Drake created in depths of negative energy and grasping absolute control over the destructive nature of fire. Attaining master of the Dark mes of its creator.
Magic Type: Darkness; Fire.
Racial Skills: Dragon Physiology; Dark DragonBreath.
Skills: Dark mes Control; Flight; Absorption Magic Barrier; Regeneration.
Resistances: Darkness Damage Resistance High; Negative Energy Immunity; Immortal; Magic Resistance Mid; Physical Damage Resistance High.
????????
"I guess it doesn''t need that many skills as a type of lesser dragon Huh."
Tyler muttered to himself atop the Dark Shadow drake with vague interest as Erin clung tightly onto him with her eyes closed, actively trying not to think about what she was currently standing on.
He had decided to ride on the massive dragon-like creature''s back to the castle due of a variety of reasons even though he know all too well how Erin felt about being close to the undead.
To be fair, he had offered to send Erin back via teleportation but she had refused. She could''ve also left by herself with her source return skill.
She had insisted on apanying him to the very end as his chosen escort even against her fears towards the undead. She had bravely climbed atop this one but her resolves had failed her as she couldn''t even keep her eyes open and was clinging tightly to him.
His reason for choosing this method of travel over the others was to experience the max speed of the Drake. Besides, just the idea of riding a dragon even if it was only a lesser one was trilling enough that he couldn''t resist.
Before leaving the Farbelt Pass, he had manipted the fate of the event to unfold there. If he did it correctly, at least one Hunter was now destined to survive and report back to the city Lord as well as the Merchant and Hunter Guild Leaders.
Perhaps his unnned involvement wouldplicate the issue even more but the basis of his n should still be viable. The trip back to the Darknar region''s Greyad ins took less than 6 hours on Drago and they met the Azure Dragonflies busily being overworked by Tarka who didn''t seem to like them to begin with.
The miners he had sent here earlier had been given a tent to camp in and they were being well taken care of. In only a few hours, Darren and Gerl had gotten the Kobolds to perform way faster than they had been up to this point.
Theyoutfor the future city was being constructed. It seems they wanted to set up the roads before designing any actual buildings. They had even designated a ce where the red River could be diverted and made to flow through the city.
The red River was a filthy ce but with Erin''s new abilities, purifying the entire River shouldn''t be a problem. Although he may have to clear out all the monsters living in there first.
As he thought of what to do next, Tyler noticed Loriel and Tarka had broken into a fierce argument about something trivial. There was no real animosity between them but they just can''t seem to get out of each other''s way.
Tyler sighed inwardly and decided not to interfere with those two. They should be able to figure it out soon as neither of them would willingly cause him trouble. He then left Drago with the settlement as he tasked his newly named Drake with the Town''s area defenses.
He would also be able to protect the weak Dragonflies from flying beasts and his presence alone should deter many potential threats just as it had done on their flight here. This was the king of the pass after all.
Havingpleted his task here, Tyler decided to take his leave. He had nned on returning to the castle so he could practice some martial arts moves and learn some secret techniques.
However, he quickly changed his mind as he decided he would clean up the Red River immediately. Allowing the dwarves to get everything over with.
Seeing as he was fixing things today even though nothing had gone as nned, he decided he would do this simple job so as to cap the day off with a clean win.
Teleporting with Erin to the Red River, Tyler asked Uriel about the length of the River and was surprised. The Red River crossed the entire Darknar region which wasrger than multiplerge countries from earth.
Choosing not to give up, Tyler decided he would attempt on clearing out the monsters in the River in one go and if that didn''t work, he could then try doing it section by section.
This was the middle of winter and the temperature was in the negative even though Tyler''s body was naturally regted by his mana and now Uriel. Still, it was almost as cold ad the attic, and yet the Red River had never been frozen even once.
Although the water right now was incredibly cold, it was still in its liquid state without any signs of ice. The reason for this was the thousands of monsters living in the River.
There were now aquatic monsters living in the River after their rapid evolution over the years. Theirbined body temperature was enough to keep the water liquid and some of them even had skills that heat the water around them at the perfect temperature for their survival.
However, Tyler didn''t need any of them and they were now nothing more than fit to be despised. Using Gyro telekinesis, he grabbed hold of everything solid in the River and slowly lift them.
To his amazement, his reach had spanned the entire region even though it was consuming a tonne of mana. However, thanks to hisst mana reserves increase and Erin''s life force inducements, he could currently handle this with no problem.
Half of what he had otter out of the entire river was alive and a half was just mud, dirt, vines, and waste. The monsters he had pulled out varied in strength but on average they weren''t that strong.
They ranged from Basic to Advanced ss, with only a few of them being worth Tyler''s attention. Tyler bundled the dirt into arge ball and did the same with the living monsters.
Although he had hesitated after pondering the thought of what would happen to the ecosystem if he got rid of all the aquatic life in the River.
However, Uriel had assured him that there would be no permanent damage to the ecosystem as the Red River was connected to other rivers in various other regions and the monsters had only mutated in the darknar region.
Two massive balls of dirt and monsters floated in the air in various parts of the region far from Tyler''s actual location but he could still see them quite well.
The more powerful ones put up a fight in an attempt to break free of his grin but their efforts were in vain as Tyler squeezed them tightly together to make for the perfect target.
"Grand Fireball."
A tier five version of the fireball spells as Tyler was hoping there would be a difference but that was not the case. He had indeed wasted three spell slots on these spells.
The massive fireball crashed into the ball of monsters on a powerful impact as it proceeded to roast more than 10,000 monsters but it had only killed half of them. The other half ferociouslyshed out sending attacks upon attacks at their unseen enemy but Tyler was too far from them to be concerned.
Still, their trashing was loosening his grip on them but Tyler didn''t think about that right now. The fact that he had been unable to kill 10,000 enemies in one go had annoyed him a bit but perhaps he had chosen the wrong spell for the job.
He hadn''t wanted to use any of the dark elements as he didn''t want them to go out of control again. Perhaps he needed to learn a new spell or maybe could just improvise with the abilities he currently had.
The most flexible abilities he had that could be applied here were his energy maniption skill and the tier 5 spell Heat-seeking arrows.
The reason why he rarely used magic arrows spells was that they didn''t have enough pration power against beings that didn''t have a ring weakness like the Frost Smanders.
However, the fundamentals of the spell could be very useful to him if he couldbine the homing abilities of the Heat-seeking arrows with his incredibly prating magic bullets, he may get something truly spectacr.
He tried altering both forms which was a tasking and tedious process as he needed to find the right runes to integrate into the skill. However, he currently wasn''t in the best position to think of this even though he had the skill Magic Prodigy to help him.
However, there was no need for him to do it himself as Uriel was an artificial intelligence that could make such calctions in an instant. Tyler then exined what he wanted her to do and the next moment he received a positive report.
[Analysis and reconstructionpleted. A new sub-skill for Energy maniption has been acquired.]
????????
?Gyrating Soul Bullets?
Creates an infinite number of spiraling magic bullets that lock in on the target''s soul/core. When fired, they would locate and destroy their targets with a continuously elerating speed until impact.
????????
''Perfect.''
Upon receiving the skill, Tyler immediately activated it. The number of bullets he could create depended on how much mana he used in the process of activation and he could also decrease or increase their sizes based on what he needed them to do.
Over 5,000 arrowhead-like bullets appeared in the air around him and upon locking on their targets, they shot in that direction at supersonic speeds and only kept getting faster. They could eventually reach and surpass light speed if the target was able to keep evading them for long.
However, these targets were unmoving thanks to Tyler and were instantly riddled with holes. The strength of the skill was stronger than he had expected as even the tier 5 magic beasts amid the tight ball had died the instant the bullets prated their skulls.
Tyler couldn''t help but smile at his sess, he quickly extracted the magic cores and crystals from more than 10,000 monsters using Gyro telekinesis even though more than half of them would be useless to him as they were only Tier 1 core.
Having stored the cores and magic crystals in his storage space, he tossed the tworge balls into the sky with a flick of his fingers yet it seemed he had used too much force as the balls had left the atmosphere.
Still, Tyler could still reach them so he pulled them back and created a ck hole to cleanly clean up the mess. For some reason, he had a bad feeling about tossing monsters into space.
However, something else happened. Having been pouring a shit load of mana into his Gyro Telekinesis, he miscalcted on the amount of energy he needed to create the ck hole and in an instant.
Winter ended.
Well, that wasn''t exactly urate, however, the ck hole he created had pulled in everything in the sky and copsed almost as fast as it had appeared. The thick grey clouds that spanned the entire sky as far as the eyes could see were nowpletely cleared.
For the first time in a while, Tyler saw the beautiful evening sky and could even make out the stars even though the sun was still up.
"Huh, isn''t this bad."
Chapter 235 C235. A Wave
Winged City, Royal Borough.
Luxurious carriages pulled by all sorts of exotic tamed beasts could be regrly seen on the main streets of the borough. This situation was a lot different than it had been only a few weeks ago.
Back then, even the fanciest of carriages were pulled by horses and only the highest-ranking nobles in the city possess Tier 2 demonic horses.
However, everything changed the moment a certain merchant arrived in this city. He was a hoodedmoner, yet he was strong enough to own an exotic beast and a magic carriage that could put the nobles to shame even with the simplistic design of the magic carriage.
Noble pride could not allow this insult to stand and even the lowest ranking nobles had spent an exuberant amount of money to purchase exotic mounts that now parade the city non-stop. They were mostmon in the Royal Borough but some could be seen in the other boroughs.
The rich merchants and Hunters also seem to be doing the same. It seems that VIP merchants had started a very expensive trend that no longer solely relied on the design of the carriages.
Casually staring at this scene from behind his office window, Aur took a sip of red wine from his ss and chuckled.
''Such simpletons.''
Aur mused silently as he yed with the wine in the ss. He had his usual stoic expression on his face but seemed to be in a rather good mood. He was about to take another sip from his ss when he felt a faint presence suddenly appear behind him.
However, he didn''t seem concerned by the sudden presence and resumed the motion of taking a sip of wine before speaking curtly to nothing in particr. As though he was talking to a ghost.
"Report."
"Yes, sir. The investigation on the mysterious merchant known only by the name Lix which we believe is an alias has met a dead end. ording to the guard, not many merchants and hunters has heard of him before his arrival, and afterward, he had only worked with a single Hunter group. Aside from the Merchant, guild, he has also made contact with the Magic Institute."
The figure had appeared behind himandgenuflected respectfully. She was slim and slender with ck watery hair that reached the lower parts of her back. She wore a tightly fitted ck outfit.
Spotting a simr ck mask that covered the lower parts of her face and dark purple metal greaves that matched the same colored gloves with metal knuckles.
"I see... so nothing new then. How disappointing."
"My apologies."
"That''s fine Aika. Have you tracked down the missing Hunter party yet?"
"I''m afraid not my lord. Our intel points to them wandering into a Numbers base located in the south borough but our intel has not gotten any confirmation of their death or capture. This does not fit their mode of operation."
"And our inside source?"
"Nothing."
"Such nuisance."
Aur furrowed his brows as he thought of the elusive VIP merchant that he knew next to nothing about. It was a new feeling for him to be so ignorant of anything.
The main reason why he had established the Ghost Legion was for situations like this. In order for him to move up in the family as he was unable to increase his strength. So naturally, information was vital for him. He wanted and needed to stay three steps ahead of everyone.
However, things had begun to go wrong since that merchant stepped foot into his city. ''Or was it before that?'' There was also that annoying scout but he was dead now.
"Any word from the Guilds on the current expenditure?"
"No sire. It seems the Hunters are yet to make contact with either guild. They may still be in the midst of clearing out the mine."
"And what of Sypilia?"
"Thedy Syphilia has denied our request to investigate the event with Lixpanion and her Vice."
"Why must that woman choose to be such a pain at every turn. She''s even more infuriating than that bastard Zomatsu. Speaking of which. How are things with the Undead army going?"
"As we expected. The family had sent a few representatives to infiltrate the undead army. We''re not exactly sure of their main objective."
"So we''re going to participate in such a meager war after all. If Mammon was truly killed by the behemoth who had unknowingly seeded in seizing the castle from underneath the great five, there''s no telling what such as deviant is capable of. Such an borate y of war just to show his cards for us to devour."
"I see... forgive my ignorance master. But if our only objective in this war is to show the behemoth''s hand. Isn''t an army of only 20,000 plus undead too small."
"Indeed it is. It''s safe to say this behemoth is stronger than Mammon who was strong enough to take down a primordial. He was at a level I can only dream of. Still, if he is truly stronger than him and hadn''t used an item to im victory, an army of just 20,000 plus undead is far too small to shake him."
"So¡ª"
"So that''s what we want him to think."
"..."
"Who do you think the family has sent to represent us?"
"From our intel, they are a trio of behemoths that came under us centuries ago. Their exact strength is still unknown even to the elders."
"Indeed."
"But, we''re also aware this unknown behemoth also had followers as strong or even stronger than Mammon''s generals of greed. Isn''t that a bit too much for only three behemoths to handle?"
"Such reasoning is exactly why this n will be a sess."
"..."
"Even I didn''t know the true strength of the trio the family had sent but I was privileged to watch one of them spar with an elder a while back. While they may not be as powerful as Mammon, all three of them are true demigods."
"That''s impossible!"
"Believe it. There is only a fraction of the family''s might. As true demigods, their presence alone would turn the tides of any battle. However, that is not all. If I''m not mistaken, the family will be sending them along with the assistance of a God Tier artifact. Even I think this may be overkill."
"Wouldn''t doing this expose us to the other family?"
"There''s no need to worry about that. After all, our family is not the only ones infiltrating the undead army."
"So it''s true."
"Indeed, this behemoth had garnered the wrath of all Five Great Families. He would soon learn what it means to step off the dragon''s tail. I pity the fool. The undead army will be the least of his worries."
A rare smile appeared on Aur''s face as he continued to stare out his window while taking in the evening air. Both this mysterious behemoth and the mysterious Lix were truly a thorn in his sight and he couldn''t wait for at least one of them to kick the bucket.
"By the way, did yo¡ª"
Aur was still in the middle of his sentence when he suddenly froze as an unbelievable sight gasped outside before his eyes. If he wasn''t seeing this with his own eyes and someone had told him about this scene, he would have that person locked up or frankly killed.
Yet, here he was just staring at the vast sky dumbfounded. After all, the sky had just disappeared in a sudden wave of energy that spanned more than his senses couldprehend.
"Wha-What is this?"
??????????
??????????
Taine Ze Region, Sun City.
The massive Metropolitan city in the middle of the desert was as busy and bustling as usual. There weren''t many things different about the city aside from the increasing number of guards that patrolled the city.
The city has also seen a sudden increase in its poption recently. The activity of the Hunter HQ had also multiplied in recent times due to the fact that the Monster activities in the Taine Ze Region had also increased in the past week or so.
The reason for these increases was unknown to most but the demon nobles seems to be getting restless. Although it was the middle of winter and most of them would''ve retired back to theirnds, they seemed to have returned in a haste.
Standing tall in the center of the City, was a massive stone castle that intimidated every building in the city. This was the capital city in the Taine Ze Region so naturally, this was the Brimstone''s family''s main castle where an urgent briefing among a selected few had been called.
At the end of one of thergest halls in this castle stood a massive stone throne where a dominating figure sat. His presence overwhelmed the entire hall in an oppressive force that would make even demigods quiver before him.
He had short white hair with slight streaks of red and had a stoic expression on his face. An eye patch ran across his left eye. He had a neatly trimmed beard of white and wore an extremely luxurious red and white robe.
His fingers were adorned with several rings that gave off various glowing effects that matched the glint in his scarlet-colored pupils that gaze coldly at his subjects, exuding the aura of a king.
Multiple figures dressed in luxuriously inexpensive outfits stood before the throne as they listened to a detailed report from a youngdy with brown hair styled in a twin tail. An intricate ne adorned her neck.
After concluding her report, murmurs arose between the group of elders and demon nobles standing before the throne.
"Is this a sick joke? How does a fortpletely disappears without us gaining any intel about this so-called behemoth?"
Their murmurs and discussions seemed to be about the disappearance of a certain research Fort that had suddenly disappeared a couple of days ago.
"I''m told the fort was located in Marquis Aamon''snd, how does something like this happen without the lord of thend''s knowledge. If anything, shouldn''t you have better surveince in your across your ownnd. You suppose to be the leader of the information division."
One of the elders suddenly spoke up loudly as he addressed the elephant in the room while smiling smugly to Aamon who stood quietly to the side.
"I believe most of the me for this blunder should go to Aamon. I need a head for the intelligent division should be chosen. Don''t you think so, Marquis Aamon?"
With a wide smile on his face, he moved forward as he made a sudden suggestion that seems toe out of nowhere but contained a certain weight.
"Ridiculous."
Chapter 236 C236. Elders
"Ridiculous."
"What did you say!?"
"Please pardon my rudeness Elder Tezrian. I just meant it''s a ridiculous notion to have such expectations of me on a fort I was not informed of. Besides, the intelligence division''s main objective is gathering intel on the other regions. Using the family''s resources for my personal gain would be considered a form of treason."
The smile on Tezrian''s face seized as he stared coldly at Aamon who only looked at him indifferently. Anger rose within him but he could no longer respond to Aamon''s well-constructed retort else he is looked down on.
He was an oddly short man with curly brown hair and bright brown eyes with a prominent and wavy mustache on his face. Having aplex about his usual height for a demon noble, he hated being looked down on especially by lower-ranking nobles.
Every Elder in a noble family was at the highest ranks of the noble hierarchy, being demon dukes and thus were the most influential powers in a noble family besides the demon lord.
Noticing the changes in Elder Tezrian''s expression, Aamon adopted a more respectful gaze, after all, this situation had been expected.
He was keenly aware that not many Elders were fond of him ever since his role in the family had increased soon after bing a Marquis and gaining lordship over his ownnd event though thatnd was at the extreme end of the region where no one wanted to be until he had extrashed a very prosperous town there.
He was currently unaffiliated to any of them and thus, was a wild card they could not control. Many of them feared his betrayal but most of them feared what he represented.
,m As the head of the intelligence division and andowner. He held a considerable amount of power in the family and if was ever to choose to side with any of them, he could drastically shift the power bnce in the family.
The Great Five families were structured differently than the other noble families. Just like in the human continent were factions existed within the kingdoms that fought to overrule rights. Those also existed in families asrge as the Great Five.
However, things were a little different here. In the demon continent, strength makes right, and thus, the family''s hierarchy was structured around this concept. The head of the family was the demon lord and next in line was the Grand Elder followed by the elders then the demon nobles based on their noble rankings.
As long as one was of a noble bloodline, anyone could climb up this ranking with their strength and achievements. This meant it was possible to overthrow any demon lord if one was able to surpass them.
However, this was not the barbaric seven primordial behemoths region where one could openly challenge the demon lord and not get eliminated by his generals. This was where factions became necessary and allies and information became essential to further one''s own agendas.
Currently, a revolt or coup d''¨¦tat had not happened since the reign of the demon king and that was not just because of the demon lords having the most loyal faction around them. No, in over a thousand years, none had dared challenge any of the Great Five Demon lords because much like the demon king, their powers were unfathomable.
However, for the Brimstone family, the position of Great Elder had been empty for years and all the elders were desperately struggling for that position. As Aamon was thest piece for any elder to im that spot, Elder Tezrian had decided to do everything in his power to eliminate Aamon as a power piece because he knew he had no hope in getting Aamon on his side.
Since Aamon didn''t typically get along with many, there were other elders that intended to do the same. Eliminating him was out of the question due to him being the head of the intelligence division. However, all they really needed to do was force him out of that position to attain victory.
They would then get the chance to push one of their underlings as the new head of the intelligence division.
While the Lady Citrus who stood by the side of the throne room slyly watching them whiledy Izabel gave her report could be considered a power piece. With clear consensus, none of the elders had even considered luring her into their camps.
They were well aware of her deviously mischievous mind that was almost too self-destructive. Besides, she was also a granddaughter to Demon Lord Malik and could not be trusted just like Izabel.
The fact that she had remained silent during this meeting with dosing anything out of the ordinary was also something to worry about. It was clear she was devilishly scheming something and they would rather not be involved in whatever it was.
"May I remind Marquis Aamon that you are speaking to an Elder of the Brimstone family. Lower your head when you talk. Besides, an intelligence head being well informed is not treason. Yourck of awareness in a time like this is unfitting for that position. I demand you step down immediately."
One of the demon Marquis beside Tezrian spoke up with a smug smile on his face as he looked at Aamon with disgust. He was a young demon that looked like he was in histe twenties and had long brown hair with grey eyes.
"Isn''t that a little uncalled for? The family hadn''t informed him of the fort and snooping into the family''s affairs that are above his rank is a taboo. If anything, he did what was expected from him. Don''t bring personal vendettas into such important matters Tezrian."
"Instead. We do not have the time to bicker amongst ourselves when there is more to discuss."
Two other Elders suddenly spoke up for Aamon most likely wanting to get on his good sides but they had made a good point which Tezrian could not refute. He clicked his tongue but didn''t say a word as he raised an arm to stop his Marquises before theymitted a taboo in talking back at Elders.
"Very well. Let''s return to the matter at hand here. Lady Izabel, from your report you said you both had retrieved the research data from the Fort before it was destroyed by the intruder right? Where is it?"
While Izabel did not appreciate the tone in which this elder was talking with her. She was still in the presence of her grandfather the demon lord and had to control herself.
"We''ve handed over the data to the scientists of the intelligence division for dither analysis."
After hearing what she had said, everyone''s attention had immediately returned to Aamon who simply walked forward to where Izabel was and reced her as she moved over to the side of the room.
"ording to the report provided by our analysis team. We''ve determined that the data received was mostly the research data of theb since it was established. A few details of various side projects and the improved specs of the Mech golems were lost but our otherbs already have a base on those. This means our loss from losing the fort is minimal and we should be able to easily establish another researchb."
"And what of the intruder, any data on him? We were told one of hispanions had been captured. Did we get any data on them?"
The first Elder to speak up for Aamon asked in interest. He was a tall man with short crimson hair and matching eyes. He looked to be in his thirties but that was obviously not the case.
"Unfortunately Elder Del,we didn''t get my data on the intruder but there is some data on hispanion. Although no testing was done, initial scan of the subject shows an anomaly in the brainwave function of the girl."
"What does that mean?"
"I''m afraid I cannot exin it in any more details but ording to the report. This data is a groundbreaking discovery that could unlock the full potential when using Innate abilities."
"What."
"Are you serious?"
"That''s amazing."
"Well, that''s one good news at the very least."
"What about this behemoth? We haven''te across anyone like him before and don''t even know what he''s truly capable of. Dismissing him as just an ordinary demon lord-level behemoth was clearly a mistake. He seems to be more than an equal to the seven primordial."
An Elder with a full head of grey suddenly added amid the bantering and everyone immediately stopped and listened to him.
"An equal to the seven primordial?"
"That''s not ideal. With the castle under his belt, what happened with the seven could be repeated again?"
"Does the intelligence division really not have anything on him yet?"
While the discussions had taken a turn, it didn''t seem like that would stop Tezrian from throwing shades at him at every opportunity he had. It was a good thing Aamon had left his home immediately after he had received that message and had managed to prepare himself for this.
"The team we assigned to the Darknar region to track him separately from Lady Citrus and Izabel is yet to be discovered but we are unable to get much any information with magic as it seems they have improved their anti-surveince Magic since Mammon''s attack."
Taking out a familiar device from his suit pocket, he created a holographic projector on the Darknar forest where a premade marker was visible for all to see.
"With the safe zones also corrupted and the possibility of one of the Great Five working with him, there isn''t much we can learn from a distance. However, it seems a town is being built in the Greyad ins close to the castle. nting a spy in there may bear fruit."
"Is that so. Thatplicates things a little but seems promising."
"What about the undead army that was reported to be heading for the castle. What have we done about that."
"They''ve made considerable progress and should be arriving in about a day or two. The existence of the undead army is sure to be considered a nuisance by this behemoth so we expect he will engage them."
"Why will he do that? Couldn''t he just remain hidden in the castle?"
"That''s unlikely, if he allows the undead army to take over the Darknar region, he would be gifting one of the great five a perfect opportunity to move against him. That''s why he will most likely want to use this battle to make a statement."
"A statement? To whom?"
"Us."
"Such arrogance."
"Indeed. He surely has the attitude befitting of a primordial. However, Lord Malik had approved the n to send representatives to infiltrate the undead army. The other Great Five will also be doing the same. It is a way to draw out the behemoth and expose the Family he is working for. Without that information, no it will be impossible to form an alliance with the other family to take back the castle."
"Then we shouldn''t have anything to worry about right?"
"That''s correct."
"And who will be our representative?"
"We''ll be sending the twins."
"What! Why the hell would we do that!"
"Those pair are insane. This will be a disaster. Shouldn''t we send someone more discrete?"
"You''ve lost your mind Aamon. I demand we call them back!"
*BOOM!
"Silence!"
With the sound of a resounding Boom, Malik who sat quietly on the throne with his eye closed finally spoke and the entire hall suddenly became eerily calm. His aura raised the temperature in the hall several folds as he opened his glowing crimson eyes.
"This meeting was only to inform you of my decision. There is no room for debate. Aamon with informing each of you on what to do next while he leads a surveince unit to observe the battles. Citrus you''re free to do as you wish. You''re all dismissed."
His words left no room for arguments as he promptly stood up from his throne and everyone in the hall quickly knelt before him as he walked out of the hall with the two guards that had been standing by therge double doors.
As the doors closed behind him, murmurs arose between the nobles and elders. However, the room soon fell silent as chills ran down their backs. They all simultaneously turned around to look at the corner.
An eerily creepy smile was stered across the face of Citrus as she seductively licked her lips.
"This should be fun."
Chapter 237 C237. Unseen
The evening sky below the Red River was insanely beautiful that it almost took their breath away. Erin who had stood next to Tylerthe entire time was momentarily stunned by the amazing scene.
However,rm bells suddenly began to go off in Tyler''s head.
The moment his ck hole had disappeared and the stars became vibrantly visible in the evening sky, everything went silent and the skies rapidly lost their glow. It was only a matter of time before even the vibrant stars would be invisible to the naked eyes.
The temperature had also begun rising rapidly as the sun''s rays prated the without resistance.
Tyler immediately knew this was bad the moment he sensed it. With his current physique, his reaction time with thought eleration was faster than a zeptosecond so everything he had perceived is yet to be realized as Uriel was ying the imminent future in his mind with FutureSight.
While he was not that fast normally, he knew he still had time to respond so Tyler immediately teleported into the outer atmosphere of Neron. His ck hole had frankly sucked in the entire outer atmosphere of more than half of the.
Disabling all of his other barriers including the one protecting Erin''s source. He used the skill, Universal Barrier around the entire while augmenting it with spatial distortion. He was a science graduate and although he never really paid much attention to things like this, he knew what it meant the moment the skies got darker in the middle of the day.
The reason why it had gotten silent all of a sudden was due to the disappearance of most of its medium. It was a good thing he had the FutureSight else he would''ve reacted far toote based on the speed of sound.
''How back is this?''
[Answer: Half of Neron''s outer atmosphere is now gone. The longer this persists the more damage it will cause. Possible solutions avable, would you like to hear them?]
''That''s a stupid question.''
Although Tyler didn''t care for her overly polite nature right now, Uriel still provided him with various options in her usual tone and he immediately chose the least troublesome one amongst them.
Currently, his Universal barrier was protecting the from most of the dangerous rays of the sun but as that was not the purpose of the skill, it wouldn''tst long.
He remembered back when Nadine had defeated the Vice guild leader of the Magic institute in a winged city, he had been challenged by three noble idiots. One of them had used a summoning spell they were not proficient with so he was able to memorize the magic circle for that summon.
However, a fire elemental was not what Tyler needed right now. He quickly began construction of the magic circle while making minute alterations as rmended by Uriel.
The original spell was only at the Tier 4 standard and a Tier 4 creature was far too weak to do what needed to be done so he needed to boost the spell as he activated it.
After making all the adjustments needed to change the element of the creature he wanted to summon. Tyler immediately boosted the spell as much as he could while maintaining his barrier.
"Summon Monster - Air Elemental." (Tier 6)
Getting a Tier 6 Air elemental was perfect as it was nigh impossible to boost such a low-level spell to be able to summon a demigod-level creature.
The element of Air naturally contained all the gasses that made up the outer atmosphere and an Elemental at this level would be able to urately control and create air at the atomic level to a certain degree.
At his spell, a giant ball of air formed in front of him, and soon, a massive creature made of air appeared before him. Tyler quickly gave amand and the creature went to work. It didn''t take it long to restore the atmosphere as though nothing had happened.
He was relieved he hadn''t identally destroyed the just because he was cleaning up a River. He was just about to disable his barrier around the when something unexpected happened.
*BOOM!!!
*Crack... Crack... Crack.
Tyler''s expression changed the moment he saw cracks appear on his Nigh indestructible barrier. An emotion he hadn''t felt for a long time suddenly gripped his heart but it was quickly suppressed by Uriel.
''What just happened?''
[Unable to Divine. Spatial Perception and Magic Sense confirms no presence close by.]
Tyler''s eyes narrowed as his vision expands while using all his sensory-based skills simultaneously but just as Uriel had said, he was unable to find whatever it was that had mmed into his barrier.
''Is something out there.''
This was the first time Tyler had seen the stars from so close. The constetion was slightly different from the ones on earth but he didn''t know what to make of it. He thought about leaving the atmosphere to investigate but hesitated.
Surviving in the void of space was no problem for him as a Demigod but whatever was capable of cracking his barrier was still out there. If he were to move carelessly without any information, he may die without even knowing why.
''Damn it!''
Tyler steeled himself then disabled the barrier around the and immediately created one around him instead, immediately himself for impact. However, nothing happened.
He waited for a while but he hadn''t been attacked again and he was beginning to think he was imagining things. As there wasn''t much he could do now, he decided to let this go for now and investigate the cosmos at ater date.
He then turned around and began to descend but as soon as he had turned his back to the void of space, he felt an ominous presence staring at him. However, after turning back around, said presence was gone.
''Wha... Hmm... how annoying.''
With increasing irritation, he dispelled his summoning spell and teleported back to the Red River where Erin was. She had already purified the River while he was gone so there was nothing left to do.
The Red River looked crystal clear and Tyler could see some ice forming on the surface already as normal water should be.
Looking up, he could see light amounts of clouds forming on their own. It wouldn''t take long for the sky to be ashamed again for the duration of winter but that was a good thing.
"Did something happen Lord Ty?"
"Hmm, why do ask?"
"Oh Umm, you left in a hurry and I also felt something staring at me from the sky for a moment."
"Oh that. Don''t worry about it for now. Let''s return. We''re done for the day."
Seeing Erin nod her head in affirmation, Tyler teleported them back to the castle without a second thought. He wasn''t sure what that was but he knew it couldn''t be good. It seems there were even more terrifying dangers in the cosmos than on the ground but wasn''t his problem for now. He decided not to worry about it until he had to, else he runs mad.
After arriving in the castle, he retired to his chambers to rest for a moment. A few hours went by before Darren contacted him that he was ready to return and Tyler permitted that.
His return relieved Cora from assisting the dwarves so she returned to his side. Since everyone else was busy with something aside from Erin who was simply observing Liz and Rain''s practicing with their new abilities probably a little bored.
He wanted to spend the rest of the time he had improving his swordsmanship and learning martial arts but that was proving difficult. The only problem was, he didn''t have a teacher since Albert was also busy with his trading he had to hold off on that idea.
Teleportation to an empty Training hall with Cora, he spent the next few hours practicing with all his new skills and learning how to properly use them so he doesn''t have another situation like thest or have to rely on Uriel.
Time flew by fast and the more Tyler tried to take his mind off what had happened earlier, the more he got anxious. He had to stop his training and do something more engaging so he doesn''t passively think of shit like that.
Since the training hall was massive, Tyler decided to sort through most of what he had in his storage space. He brought them out and was surprised by the sheer quantity of all the shit he had stored on him. Most of which were magic scrolls and magic crystals.
Tyler then called back Erin who water teleported over. He still didn''t know how that works. He had a high-grade storage m ring with him so he kept most of the scrolls in it after sorting through them at superspeeds.
He also kept most of what he didn''t need in there and gave it to her to keep in the castle''s treasury whose locks had been fixed by the dwarves.
Every castle needed one, didn''t they? Storage boxes were ssified by their storage space which was namelyrge, mid, and small. However, storage rings were different.
As magic items and even Artifacts, they were graded. Basic, intermediate, and Advanced. This was also based on size but even a basic grade storage ring had arger storage space than a mid storage box as well as a sun skill.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the infinite storage ring he had didn''t seemmon. There was a lot of advanced-grade storage ring amongst the artifacts in the library but no other spatial infinity.
After Erin was gone he organized what was left so he didn''t have to search through his storage space every time he needed something. After all, that took mana.
After he was done, there was only one item left on the ground. The glimmering horn-like item gave off an indescribable feeling which was very familiar.
This was undoubtedly a wand that looked to be made out of ivory. The handle was inscribed with quite the high-level runes that consisted of only first-level intermediate runes and as such, Tyler was finally able to understand it but it was only an enchantment that destroyed the item once its use waspleted.
There was a slightly glowing green gem attached to the front end of the wand that gave it a chaotic presence.
This wasn''t any of the incredibly powerful artifacts he had on him but rather just an Epic ranked magic item that had been given to him by a group of five Hunters he had once worked with.
It was something he had considered useful at the time but hadpletely forgotten about it after the incident in the cave.
?Divine Appraisal?
????????
?Wand of Chaos?
Magic item - Epic Rank
Type - Consumable (1-time use)
A wand forged from the horn of a Dark unicorn and enchanted by powerful magic. This wand contains an unstable core and a faint connection to the spiritual ne. Emmit''s chaotic pulse of weak corrupted energy constantly destabilizes the mana essence in the air around it.
Primary Effects: Mass Summons. (Random Tier)
Lowest Tier: 1st
Highest Tier: 6th
Consume the entirety of the essence of this item to summon arge horde of monsters to do your bidding until they die. As the core is still damaged, the horde of monsters may vary in strength and species with the chance of summoning a Lord ss creature at 10% and the chance of summing only the lowest-ranked monster at 40%
The level and number of the creatures summoned may increase and decrease based on the power and skills of the summoner but would not exceed the limits of this item.
Least Amount of Summons possible: 1
Maximum Amount of Summons Possible: 100
Note: Due to the corrupted energy, there is a 2% chance of summoning an uncontroble Devil that would attempt to devour the user''s soul. (Strength of the creature is dependent on where the item is used.)
????????
[Notice: Perfect conditions have been met. This item is currently in the most optimal state to be used.]
Chapter 238 C238. Wand Of Chaos
"This item is just as interesting as I remembered."
[Notice: Perfect conditions have been met. This item is currently in the most optimal state to be used.]
Tyler''s interest was piqued further upon hearing Uriel''s notification. The item had a condition for strongersummons if used in certain locations so he had always wondered how he was supposed to determine said location but lucky for him, he now had Uriel to inform him of that.
He stretched forth his arm and the wand of chaos flew from the ground into his palm as Tyler observed the magic item closer.
The wand''s core was pulsating while realizing a faintyer of corrupted energy that would normally destabilize the mana essence in the air but currently, it was having little to no effect on the surrounding mana that was denser here than anywhere else.
This was most likely due to the effect of the training hall that stabilizes the mana in the air to prevent anyone from going out of control in here. This was probably the reason why this ce was the ideal location to use the item.
The wand''s connection with the spiritual ne meant most of the creatures the item could summon were most likely spiritual lifeforms which were quite strong amongst summon creatures.
Even a weaker spiritual life form like a wraith or phantom would prove difficult to handle as they couldn''t be killed by normal means and low-tier casters would have a hard time dealing with them.
Although the chances of summoning stronger monsters were higher now. That didn''t mean it was 100% guaranteed. The item was still chaotic and random and he could still get a bunch of weaklings but this was the best ce to make that gamble.
The level of the monsters also increases with the user skills and the only one more skilled than him in the castle was Erin. He should be able to get something good.
Making his decision, he told Cora to step back even further as he activated the wand while using Probability Correction to improve his chances of sess.
The moment the item was activated, the gem embedded in the wand instantly began to glow fiercely as a massive three-fold magic circle appeared on the ground before him.
"Wait! This is wrong. Why is there a tear in space."
Just as he had said¡ª above the magic circle that glowed an ominous red while slowly rotating on the ground¡ª was a tiny tear in the space above it.
The tear rapidly gotrger andrger as it connected to another ne of existence, forming a portal as extreme amounts of malice gusted out of the still miniature portal in an oppressive force.
Pressure the likes of which Tyler had never felt before shot out and epassed the entire castle with a devilish aura that would make one w their eyes out.
"You''ve got to be kidding me. How the hell did I get a Devil from only a 2% chance."
Tyler wasn''t fully aware of the implications of summoning a Devil but he knew if he let it happen, he would have wasted the wand one use as no other monsters would be summoned.
Having an uncontroble Devil causing trouble for him wasn''t something he wanted either. He quickly tried canceling the summoning and was seeding when two pairs of ckish-red w-like hands the size of boulders shot out of the shrinking portal and grabbed a hold of it. Forcing it open with brute force.
Tyler tried to focus more on canceling the summoning but there wasn''t much he could do as this was a magic item and he couldn''t influence the strength of the spell with Potential Break.
The four ckish-red hands continuously pulled the spatial tear apart and Tyler knew he could no longer save the wand so he had to let it go.
He quickly tossed the wand aside as he used spatial domination to forcefully copse that tear in space. As his power overwhelmed the strength of the creature within, four beams of red light shot out of the portal at the concentrating Tyler.
He had Universal barrier active around him so Tyler thought he would be fine. However, his senses warned him of danger regardless.
It seems the creature was trying to force him to make a mistake so it could escape and it almost seeded as Tyler was about to counter theser beams with a skill when two shadowy figures rose from within his shadows and swung their des at the attack.
Their des were immediately flung aside as their bodies shot back and Tyler had to stop what he was doing to catch them even though he knew they would not die.
He was able to easily catch both Zelda and Nessi and upon observation, he had been right to worry. The beams of light hadn''t actually damaged them. Rather, it continuously dances across their bodies effectively keeping them in a state of temporary stasis. This was an unblockable attack.
Whatever that creature was, it was clearly quite an intelligent fiend as he urately predicted the best way to escape against a force it couldn''t overpower with just brute strength.
,m Even Tyler would need a second to resist such an attack and that was all the time it needed to escape.
The portal had now fully opened and a 27 foot ckish-red Devil with two pitch-ck curved horns and four arms and four eyes walked out of hell itself with a grin the size of a continent.
[Ghahahahahah... Gahahahahha... Finally, Moloc is free! This world shall know chaos!]
??????????
??????????
¡ªOn a small ind located somewhere on Neron.
A dark cloud constantly floated only a few meters above the ground. Casting a constant shadow over the entire ind, effectively preventing any sunlight from reaching the surface.
Located in the center of this small ind was a small city with a poption of less than 5,000. Despite the state of perpetual darkness looming over the city, the city seemed to be a very prosperous ce that was quite advanced for its time, housing technology that could not be found anywhere else.
On the hill at the extreme end of the city was a castle smaller than most but seemed to be madepletely out of some sort of ck metal with high-tech weaponry mounted on several towers around the castle.
The halls of the castle were well illuminated with colorful crystals that shone white lightwithout producing any form of heat. On one of these halls, a slime figure could be seen stealthily moving towards one of the open windows as he tried to jump out of the castle when a cold voice suddenly called out to him.
"And what do you think you''re doing Lord Ferlis."
Ferlis''s figure suddenly tensed up as he froze and slowly turned his head around with an awkward smile on his face.
He was an extremely handsome young man with scarlet eyes and vertical slits. His skin was extremely pale and he had long white hair that fell gently to his back.He worea simple ck robe made of silk with ck pants and golden-colored boots.
"Oh Umm, I was just going on a little stroll to get some air. Yeah, that''s it. Just getting some fresh air."
He spoke semi awkwardly to the female figure that was staring daggers at him. She had silver hair that only went down to her neck and a pair of red pupils. Her skin was as pale as Ferlis and she had an entrancing figure to go with her pretty face.
Walking towards the escaping Ferlis, she grabbed him by the cor and dragged him back with her.
"Please don''t try to run away every time I turn around. You still have a lot of work to get through. Now let''s head back to your office."
Her incredibly respectful tone and polite words were only contradicted by having a tight grip on Ferlis cors as she dragged him away against his will.
They soon arrive inside arge office that was well illuminated by the colorful crystals. There were stacks of paper almost everywhere that made the incrediblyrge room appear small and stuffy.
"Please get back to work Lord Ferlis, you''ve already wasted a lot of time trying to escape."
Ferlis who was dragged back into this ce seems to have lost all his energy as he listlessly walked behind his desk and sat down tiredly.
*Sigh... "This is boring. Why don''t we just skip today''s work and do something fun? What do you say Silver?"
"I''d rather not. You''ve missed several years of work already so please focus else the Elders won''t be pleased."
Ferlis grumbled as he reluctantly began going through the paperwork''s on his desk while sighing repeatedly. Silver stood by his side and strictly monitored him while passing him new stacks of paperwork to go over.
They had only been working for a few more hours when she suddenly received a telepathic message.
"Lord Ferlis. It seems one of the Void Dwellers captured on our moon base managed a temporary escape just now."
"Ohhhh... Did it get far?"
"No, apparently, its descent was stopped by a barrier that suddenly appeared around the."
"A barrier capable of stopping one of those creatures. Do we know who''s responsible for it?"
"I''m afraid not. Observation spells were countered by his anti-divination magic. Before we could observe him manually, he had already disappeared."
"Him? Such a barrier was created by a single individual."
"It appears so."
"Interesting. Must be a high Tiered Demigod. What became of the Void Dweller? Was it seen?"
"Uncertain. We were able to reel it in with the device almost immediately and given their nature it should be hard for it to have been spotted even by a Celestial."
"That''s good I guess. I wonder..."
"That reminds me. It appears the Great Five are moving together once again."
"Hmm... oh really, well that''s interesting."
"ording to the report, they''ve all sent demigod representatives to infiltrate the undead army in an attempt to flesh out the traitor working for the behemoth inside the castle."
"Uh, they really believe one of them is working with him? How interesting."
"Do you not think that''s the case."
"Doesn''t seem likely but I could be wrong."
If there was one thing Silver knew about herzy master, it was simply the fact that he was never wrong. His fascinating mind worked differently than most which were why the elders still respected him despite his constant long absences."
"With the Great Five so preupied, wouldn''t this be the best time for the Vampire king to make his return. No matter what family gains control of the castle and bes the demon king, it wouldn''t end well for us you know. After all, you were the only one that did not betray him."
"There''s no need for that. Being something as troublesome as the Demon King is not something I''m cut out for. Besides, I have a feeling something interesting is about to happen."
"Please do not say something like that. If your subjects were to hear such weak words from their king they would be heartbroken."
"Hmmm... how troublesome."
"Should we at least send some representatives to capture the behemoth? As long as we''re able to prevent any of the Great Five from iming the castle, that would be enough."
"Umm... you may do whatever you want. Just don''t get on his bad side, you might regret it. I''m quite interested in him. I wonder how those two girls are doing? This has turned out to be even more interesting than I had hoped."
Ferlis muttered to himself subconsciously but the moment the words left his mouth. The temperature in the room dropped rapidly which startled him.
"Oh Silver, I didn''t mean anything naughty I''m just interested in how things turn out you know."
Silver just red at him with her usual cold expression as she turned her head away and made a thought link with her subordinates to issue orders.
"Oh, dear..."
Chapter 239 C239. Moloc
[Ghahahahahah... Gahahahahha... Finally, Moloc is free! This world shall know chaos!]
The moment the Devil climbed out of the portal, it unleashed a burst of devilish energy that couldn''tbe contained within the training hall. Exuding massive amounts of pressure over a wide range that could even suppress Tyler.
Cora, who stood at the end of the room was unable to withstand the sheer force of such an oppressive aura and passed out. It didn''t seem like Zelda and Nessi woulde out of the forced stasis anytime soon and Tyler didn''t have the time to figure out how to get rid of the skill''s effects.
p Maeve had also risen from his shadow and now stood in front of him in an attempt to act as his shield but Tyler knew she wasn''t strong enough to withstand any of the Devil''s attacks.
Standing at a height of roughly 27 feet tall, Maloc''s frame was way more than imposing as his aura could even drive men mad. He continued tough maniacally while Rampling on about his purpose and chaos, his arms were lit with mes of hell as the mes morphed into two pitch-ck curved des that glistened against the light.
[Everything will fall before Moloc, Lord of Chaos!]
*BOOM!
The moment it hadpletely materialized its weapons, Moloc''s feet dug into the ground and the magically reinforced marbled floors shattered as the massive figure of the Devil shot forward like a cannonball.
Tyler didn''t have enough time to put Zelda and Nessi to the side but Maeve had moved to protect him by using her skills before casting several spells simultaneously without any incarnations. If he remembers correctly, she did have the skill, Silent Magic that bypasses any cast time, dys and incantations.
?Abyssal Bind?
Pitch ck demonic chains that seem to have arisen from the depths of the abyss shot out towards Moloc who had already closed in on Tyler and Maeve even though the training hall was massive. She bombarded him with all sorts of darkness and Abyss-based spells.
However, everything seems to only bounce off Moloc''s skin without leaving so much as a scratch, it was as though her attacks had meant nothing to him. Maeve was undead, and thus, she could not feel fear else such a scene would''ve crushed her fighting spirits.
Her only goal right now was to serve as a shield to her master even if it cost her life.
Using her skill, Dark Wisdom. She quickly processed the best way to protect her master as killing the Devil was deemed to be impossible for just herself.
?Shadow Flight?
?Summon Shadow Familiars?
?Dark Lightning?
Activating multiple skills at once, she quickly went into action as Moloc was breaking through her Abyssal chains like they were nothing. The shadows beneath her feet immediately rose as a portion of it wrapped itself around her figure in the shape of a bird and lifted her into the air and the other portion of the tangible shadows formed the shapes of various monsters bothnd and air-based.
Her shadow familiars immediately lunged at Moloc who had finally broken free of her abyssal chains but they were only met by swift deaths as Moloc''s massive des cleanly sliced through them while igniting the sliced half in hell fire.
However, as shadow creatures, they would not die until Maeve runs out of mana and they quickly regenerated even from a single strand of shadow.
While they kept Moloc semi-upied, Maeve flew behind the distracted Moloc as ckish white lightning danced across her hands as though it was sentient and eagerlyshot towards Moloc at lightning-fast speeds.
However, contrary to expectations, Moloc did not suffer any damages as he had nimbly turned around in an instant,pletely ignoring the shadow familiars attacking him, and caught the bolt of dark lightning from the air then proceeded to literally tear lightning of absolute destruction in half.
Tyler who was watching this scene from the side to gauge the capabilities of this Devil was dumbfounded. Logic didn''t seem to apply to this creature as it was just doing whatever the hell he wants.
"So this is why those guys fear Devils so much."
Now holding two bolts of Dark lighting with two of its four arms, Moloc used one of the halves of the lightning in obligating all the shadow familiars around him and flung the other half back at Maeve who could not react in time.
Tyler quickly teleported in front of Maeve and devoured the dark lightning using his God Tier Artifact. Such a highly destructive skill would''ve certainly destroyed Maeve.
With nothing left for her to do, Tyler immediately ordered Maeve to retreat as he nned to handle this himself. However, the moment Maeve had retreated into his shadow, Moloc had leaped into the air and arrived before him in an instant.
His speed was certainly not something to scoff at.
Following his appearance before Tyler, a fist the size of a mountain had suddenly covered his view and before Tyler could react, his body was shot backward as he mmed into the wall, almost shattering it despite its energy absorption capabilities.
"Damn, how strong is this guy. Didn''t the wand limit the summons to only Tier 6? How is this Tier 6?"
Tyler hadn''t felt any pain despite being mmed into a wall. This was because he always had Universal barrier active around him despite its high mana consumption. If the barrier hadn''t taken the brunt of that blow, he wasn''t sure his resistances were enough to withstand that such a magically infused blow.
Tyler''s body dropped from the wall to the ground and before he could even stand up, Moloc had already appeared before him,ughing the entire time as he swung his fist at him again.
Tyler didn''t want to get blown away by the fist yet again so he moved to meet the attack and caught the punch with his right hand. However, Moloc wasn''t done yet as another fist caught fire as it descended on him from his left.
Tyler raised his left arm to catch the fist again but that was a mistake as his corrupted arm could not withstand the pulsion force and almost immediately shattered upon impact.
The fiery fist did not give Tyler the chance to process the idea of losing his arm yet again and mmed into his body. But Tyler had willed himself to withstand the heavy blow and hadn''t even been moved an inch.
However, Moloc had more than two arms and two of them wielded a sword. With a ferocious swing from the left yet again. The massive ck de impacted the barrier around Tyler''s abdomen and his legs could not get a firm grip on the ground.
The mighty blow swept his feet off the ground, sending him crashing into the wall yet again as Moloc continuedughing while taunting. He moved to where Tyler was and raised both des on his lower arms, crashing them down at Tyler with immense speeds and strength that almost cut through space itself.
?Gravity Pluse?
Before the ck des could connect, a tiny ck ball of gravity exploded in Moloc''s face but could only send him staggering back a few steps.
Tyler pulled himself out him the partially copsed wall. His corrupted arm was already rapidly regenerating but that apparently, was not a good thing as the healing factor was expanding the corruption deeper into his body and it was already visible in his face which was messing with his mind.
[Warning: Negative corruption has expanded past 60%, drastic measures are needed to prevent further corruption. Rmended action avable.]
"Of all the times for this. Not now."
Tyler''s senses were being hampered by this corruption and he could barely use his skills much less cast spells. His predicament was not lost on Moloc who had just recovered from the gravity bomb that exploded in his face without so much as a scratch on him.
[Hahaha.... you actually hurt me a little... but it''s over now. Moloc will reign supreme.]
His pitch-ck des were now engulfed in hell mes as he lunged towards Tyler and swung both des at him all the while stillughing maniacally.
"You asshole!"
Before Moloc''s des could reach Tyler, his head was met with a lightning-infused kick that sent his entire body flying all the way across the room as though he weighed nothing.
Standing in ce of Moloc was the figure of a dark elf with glowing short white hair apanied by her glowing pupils as well. Silvery white lightning danced across her body like a type of deity of thunder.
It would seem her secret technique had undergone some changes since thest time she used it. Turning back to face the surprised Tyler, Rain rushed over to him and asked worriedly.
"Lord Ty, are you ok? What did that Devil do to you?"
It would seem the negative corruption was now visible from Tyler''s neck to a part of his face which was making her worried. Tyler could only smile faintly as he answered her.
"I''m fine. I''ll just need some time to deal with this."
"That''s great. I''ll take care of that Devil in the meantime. Please take your time. I promise I won''t fail this time."
"Don''t you mean we''ll?"
The one to cut in was Liz, she had just arrived with Albert, Z, and Erin. It seems Rain''s speed was still superior which was why she arrived first.
Teleportation was also being hindered by the presence of Moloc who had finally gotten off the ground with almost no injuries after receiving such a powerful kick from a full-powered demigod. This Devil''sstrength was ridiculous.
Erin then rushed over to Tyler after sensing the corruption. She was the only one that could help him this time as none of his healing spells would have an effect.
[Ghahahahaha..... this is. Great, this is perfect. More worthy Sacrifices for Moloc to devour. Chaos shall reign. Bow before Moloc you lowly hybrid gods.]
"What nonsense is this creature spewing?"
Albert asked as he took out a different weapon from his storage ring. Unlike his favored miaodao, this was a magic weapon that wasrger than what he was used to but was required for this situation.
"Seems it''s underestimating Lord Ty. Such insolence is Unforgivable!"
''I think it was underestimating all of us and not just me dude.''
While Tyler thought that, he didn''t have the luxury to voice his thoughts at Z''sment and just focused on restraining the corruption from spreading as Erin assured him.
"Annoying bastard. I won''t forgive you for this!"
"Please calm down Rain. We''re all just as angry but this is a Devil Lord. Let''s proceed with caution and make lord Ty proud."
Liz seems to be the only voice of reason as everyone else including the gentle Albert were now enraged from seeming Tyler in this state. However, if one paid attention to her, they could see the absolute anger in her eyes.
It was obvious they were mistaken in thinking the Devil was responsible for his current state by using some kind of underhanded curse. Unfortunately, Tyler had missed the chance to correct their line of thoughts so for now, he would just have to go with this.
Tyler almost felt bad for Moloc who would soon receive the wrath of two demigods and two demon lords for something he didn''t do. But that was just a fleeting thought as he returned his focus back to getting the negative corruption under control again.
Chapter 240 C240. Devil Lord
[Sacrifice your souls to me. Moloc will grant you a quick death.]
After pulling c himself off the copsed wall he had crashed into. Moloc continued tough madly as he dered his dominance even after he was kicked in the face. A dense and ominous aura immediately gusted out of his massive frame.Suppressing the auras of everyone else.
"A Devil has no ce to make such a demand in the presence of our Master. I''ll cut you down to size."
Moving ahead of the group, Albert angrily swung his slightlyrger de, and a streak of energy cut through the dense aura and continued forth until it struck Moloc''s shoulder.
However, the Devil lord simply disregarded the attack as he charge forward to meet Albert.
[I am Moloc the Chaos Lord, tremble before my might! Gahahhahaha..."
The streak of energy had shattered upon impact with Moloc''s skin without even leaving a scratch on him. However, Albert did not waver in his words and instead stepped forward.
The two quickly closed the distance between them as Moloc swung his weapons down at Albert who raised his sword to block the attack. His magic weapon elerated multiple times, negating most of the power difference between them. However¡ª
*Boom!
There was only so much he could do to negate the immerse defenses between a mortal and a Devil Lord as the massive impact caved in the marble floors as Abert was forced down on one knee, his arms trembling from the force.
However, just as Moloc seems to be having fun pressuring Albert into the ground, several absolutely massive icences flew at him with incredible speed as they froze the air they flew by leaving a trail of ice specks floating behind.
Moloc reacted quickly and raised one of his free arms to block the ice Lance but unfortunately, they did not prate his skin and upon impact, the icences shattered and froze his arm solid, in ice that could not melt.
Before Moloc could even react to his frozen arm, Z had stealthily appeared beside him,unching a fist-sized ball of gravity that straight at Moloc''s other arm while simultaneously using probability correction to boost the attack chance of sess.
The ball of gravity imploded immediately upon contact with Moloc''s arm, taking off part of his shoulder for good measures.
Left with only his two remaining arms, Moloc tried to finish off Albert so he could properly handle the rest when the air around Albert suddenly changed as his aura immediately skyrocketed while wrapping his entire body in a dense golden aura.
He had activated the skill; Battle Lord and promptly pushed Moloc''s weapons to the side, destabilizing his bnce.
?Spatial sh?
Gripping his de with both arms, Albert''s body disappeared as he reappeared 20 feet in the air next to the massive Moloc. Twisting his body sideways, he swung his magic weapon diagonally and space itself gave way as the forceful impact broke through Moloc''s near-imprable skin and sent him tumbling back.
*BOOM!
[IMPOSSIBLE! Moloc cannot be defeated. Gahahahahahaha, chaos will reign.]
Finally driven to anger from being injured by Albert''s attack after losing two of his arms, Moloc was about to regain his stance when someone suddenly appeared behind him.
?Absolute Rend?
Using perfect invisibility, Rain had circled the Devil Lord without being noticed and immediately used her most lethal one-hit kill attack. Swinging both daggers at Moloc while twisting her body sideways, it was as though reality had been shredded.
No one in the hall couldprehend what had happened as she appeared in front of Moloc and the next moment, his entire torso was ripped apart by thecerating force of multiple dimensions being spilled.
Absolute Rend was a skill that could literally cut everything. A skill powerful enough to even damage demigods at its weakest so naturally, it would not be weaker when used by an actual demigod.
As the pieces of Moloc''s body dropped wirelessly to the ground in loud thuds, the others returned their attention to Tyler who had been focused on something else and hadn''t been paying attention to the fight. However, even Tyler while distracted could tell, the battle wasn''t over and so could Z.
*Boom!
Arge disembodied fist mmed into the ground where Albert had been standing but fortunately, Z had already teleported Albert away from that location as the others instantly put up their guards.
[Ghaahahahahahha... Moloc cannot be killed by mere demons. Sacrifice yourself to me and die a quick death. Else, know the torment of hell!]
All the pieces of Moloc''s body turned into balls of energy and immediately began to gather into onerge mass of energy until Moloc''s body was reformed and he continuouslyugh madly in a mocking tone.
"What a troublesome pest."
No one here was ignorant about devils as Tyler had been. They were all aware that devils were spiritual life forms that werepletely made of spiritual energy.
While spiritual energy was the weakest form of energy that could be easily influenced by other forms of energy which constituted a spirit being''s main weakness.
A Devil Lord was one of the most evolved forms of devils the dwelled in the spirit world or the underworld. After surviving the harsh nature of the spiritual ne for millions of years, an arch Devil would evolve into a Devil Lord.
Their bodies¡ª which arenormally only a mass of spiritual energy, would be reconstructed into a mass of, forck of a better word, Demonic energy.
This was a more aggressive and chaotic form of darkness energy that could even overwhelm other forms of energy aside from holy or light energy. Thus, normal energy-infused attacks could not even scratch the skin of a Devil Lord.
Hence why Moloc had been able to survive all their attacks that would no doubt decimate an Arch Devil were already at the same rank as a demigod.
There was no doubt in their minds that this Devil was beyond their capabilities. However, none of them showed any signs of fear nor did they n on losing. The fact of the matter was, thus Devil lord had disrespected their master and had to pay.
*Boom!
Encasing its four arms in hell mes, Moloc pounded his fist into the ground, and pirs ofva erupted from underneath each of their feet as though they had been standing on an active volcano.
However, while such an attack was easy to avoid, Moloc hadn''t aimed to kill them with such a simple ability. He easily predicted the direction Albert would dodge to and appeared before him.
Brandishing his des with Unfathomable strength that even with Battle Lord still active, Albert couldn''t make up for the vast differences between a mortal and a demigod by discing the energy from the attack.
However, with thebination of the skills Foresight and Spatial Perception, Albert didn''t need to see nor block the attacks head-on. He quickly used an Advanced footwork technique and was able to narrowly evade every strike even though his speed pales inparison to Moloc''s attack speed.
Just as Moloc sensed what was happening and nned to change his attack pattern while interfering with Albert''s psyche, another resounding kicknded on his face and he immediately lost his bnce and stumbled back.
Severalrge ice swords then pierced him in various locations while freezing his body from the inside. He immediately countered that attack with hell mes that burnt through his entire body. Turning his body into pure hellfire that consumed the unmeltable ice.
Returning to his solid state, four hell fire-inducedser beams shot out of his eyes at Liz who stood at a distance. However, a ball of Dark mes that had been hurled at him by Z suddenly crashed into his back.
The ck fireball exploded upon impact, throwing off the aim of hissers by a lot even after he had managed to absorb most of the power behind the destructive mes.
Their fight continued like this for several minutes without anyone further gaining the advantage. The impact of Moloc''s strength transcends just the physical ne and thus was being disced across dimensions which were why the entire castle hadn''t crumbled just from the shockwave.
To be able to go toe to toe with two Demigods and two Demon Lord level fighters was impressive. It shows just how powerful a Devil lord was.
However, a Devil could not properly manifest their full power without a medium and Moloc was yet to obtain a physical body, making his powers unstable. It was why he couldn''t use anyplicated skill and why he could not overwhelm these creatures he was clearly far superior to.
?Omni-Burning - Water Cannon?
Ovepping multiple skills together, Erin''s body suddenly turned incorporeal as a massive serpentine water dragon appeared beside her and opened its maw, gathering massives amounts of equal energy into a tight hall that shot out a massive ball of boiling water.
It didn''t take a genius to sense the Immeasurable power behind this water cannon and everyone immediately knew to get out of the way.
This was an attack that could burn even gods, fate, and time. Naturally, not even a Devil lord could survive the full brunt of this attack. Unable to avoid the ball of boiling water after he had ended up being forced into a corner by the relentless attacks of the four, Molocughed madly once again and two of his arms were immediately consumed by Dark mes.
Having sessfully integrated the absorbed destructive mes that had been used to attack him into his very chaotic essence. He had made the mes his own and could now use them alongside his hell mes.
?Chaos Fall?
Stretching his arms forward, a spiral wall of dark mes mixed with hell fire mes appeared before him and stopped the water cannon in its tracks. The ball of boiling hot water of absolute destruction, burnt even the mes of hell but failed to burn the destructive dark mes.
However, Moloc could not produce enough dark mes topletely stop the attack and was forced to sacrifice two of his arms to survive.
Even turning back into a ball of energy could not fix his arms and the smile finally disappearedpletely from his face. Another attack such as this would surely be his downfall and that could not be allowed.
[Impudent mortals. Pay for your foolishness with your soul. Moloc shall devour everything!]
[trone Ingra.]
Spoken in the devil''s tongue that even magic sense couldn''t trante for Tyler. Moloc cast the ultimate spell of decay and disintegration.It was a spell of the 9th tier.
The highest known rank of magic there was. A spell that consumes everything it touches,pletely decaying or disintegrating them to their very atoms. It didn''t matter if they were physical, magical, or conceptual, everything would be turned to dust.
Ash grey mes gusted out of Moloc''s massive frame in a sphere that disintegrated everything it touched including the marbled floors which were all turning to dust.
Unable to ept defeat, this was Moloc''s answer. He would consume everything in the mes of time and reduce this continent to dust. Nothing thates in contact with the mes of time could resist its effect.
[Gahahahahaha... Be turned to dust and let chaos reign supreme.]
Seeing this, no one hesitated as everyone besides Tyler and Erin tossed as many attacks as they could at the sphere of grey mes but their attacks were quickly consumed. Albert tried to stop the spell''s advancements with a secret technique but his sword immediately turned to dust.
It was painfully obvious that there was nothing they could do to stop this spell and Moloc knee it as he continuouslyughed maniacally with a smug look on his ugly mug.
However¡ª
"Huh, I can finally move my arms again, that''s a relief. Well, still a little stiff tho. Now then, how bout we put an end to this game of charade, shall we? I''m afraid the concept of holding back just went out the window."
?White Nova?
Chapter 241 C241. Vague Disappointment
Tyler had found himself unable to move his entire left arm and leg. His neck also felt stiff and he could no longer raise his head to see what was happening with the fight against the Devil who was apparently called himself Moloc having heard it speak its name over and over again.
Although using magic sense at 100% would allow him to see everything even more clearly, he didn''t have the luxury to be distracted right now. His arm had already beenpletely regenerated but that had also spread the negative corruption further across his body.
He waspletely focused on limiting the spread of the corruption and Erin was helping him. Most of her purification spells had failed to even slow down the advancement of the corruption but Tyler didn''t give up.
He attempted various things and finally found a way to restrict the spread of the corruption by expanding his mana and infusing them with magic runes that prevent the spread of negative energy.
He felt better instantly which was a shame as things might not have gotten this bad if he had figured this method out a while back.
This also allowed Erin to be able to lessen the burden the corruption ced on him by using the rejuvenating and purification abilities of Pure water. Restoring most of his mobility even though she had failed to get rid of the root cause.
Finally able to move again, he stood up to face the Devil only to see ash grey mes turning the enchanted training hall to dust in a matter of seconds.
The magic item he had used to summon Moloc, the wand of chaos had long been destroyed meaning he had wasted his one use on this troublesome Devil.
Part of him had hoped to tame Moloc, or at least get him to sign a contract with him temporarily, which was why he had hesitated in attacking the monster the first time, but after almost turning undead, he had changed had decided to change his tactics. There was no talking this out.
?White Nova?
As a Devil lord, Tyler knew Moloc was a spiritual life form that couldn''t be killed by normal means. To some extent, devils were immortal beings that could practically live forever I''d been left alone.
However, all spiritual life forms had a source, something like a core or soul that was the nexus of their entire existence. Destroying their spiritual body alone would not kill them, one mustpletely annihte their source.
This realization was why Tyler could now go all out. While destroying a devil''s spiritual body wouldn''t kill it, that didn''t mean it wouldn''t have any effects on them.
The skill ''White Nova was only a sub-skill of Spatial Domination he had literally just acquired bybining the skills, Universal Barrier and Warp controls white hole. Essentially creating a controlled explosion of matter, rivaling that of an exploding star.
The moment his skill was activated, an almost transparent barrier immediately appeared in a dome of around 500 feet in diameter and 100 feet in height. The barrier hadpletely sealed off the ashen mes but Tyler knew the devil''s spell was too powerful to be contained inside his barrier for long.
The next step of his skill was creating a white hole at the epicenter of the dome. Thisbination had been given the name White Nova by Uriel and Tyler would soon understand why.
After all, a white hole was in essence theplete opposite of a ck hole.
p Boosting the strength of the barrier with his ability, a singrity was created in front of the confused Moloc and in the next moment, everything went white. It was a sudden burst of brightness that would burn the eyes of anyone who stared at it.
Just as urately named, the white nova was immensely bright and matter exploded out of it with a force billions of times greater than a hydrogen bomb and almost shattered Tyler''s barrier.
However, his barrier was surprisingly able to withstand the force of a white hole that was greater than a supernova. The light soon disappeared as everyone stared warily at the settling dust.
Tyler simply moved forward without a hint of hesitation in his steps. After all, he was sure that Moloc could certainly survive that as he hadn''t infused much energy within the explosion of matter.
He was right. With a body full of holes and nearly ripped apart, Moloc desperately tried to reform his body before Tyler could get to him but he had used almost all his immerse amounts of energy he had just to survive that.
[This, Impossible... Moloc is Chaos Lord, how... ack!]
Before Moloc could continue rambling on, a spiraling magic bullet shattered one of his arms and for the first time in over a million years. He felt pain.
"You really did a number on this ce, didn''t you? Do you know how hard it would be to fix it? Well, I guess you''ll find out soon enough."
[SILENCE! I will not return there!]
"Why''d you stop taking in the third person."
As a Devil without a physical body, the only way Moloc had felt he would survive this was to return to the spiritual ne to recover. However, he wasn''t sure how long he would have to remain there again before he gets a chance to return.
As a Devil lord, his power was too immersed, making it very hard for him to be summoned as most Devil summonings targeted weaker devils that could be easily controlled. In all his years of existing, he had only been summoned three times in total and those were all before bing a Devil Lord.
Unless he figures out a way to open the portal to the physical ne himself, he may never be summoned again and would be dammed to forever roam through the endless void of the underworld.
[I shall not allow this! - Gerbis Ri Txo]
In a desperate attempt to save himself, Moloc used another spell in the devil''s tongue with almost all the energy he had left and instantly. The air in the hall started to vibrate as a red bubble of hellfire wrapped around him and Moloc''s body began to condense and reform repeatedly until he had shrunk in size to about 7 feet tall.
He had used a spell to condense his remaining energy into a smaller package that now possessed a more explosive burst. While he could no longer use most of his hellfire powers as he had before. He was now several times faster and stronger than before. Four pitch-ck curved des had materialized in each of his arms.
"That''s a neat trick. Still, this¡ª"
Before Tyler could finish speaking, Moloc disappeared from his view and reappeared behind him, already swinging his des at his head. Tyler quickly moved out of the way but Moloc wouldn''t let him escape so easily.
Unlike his previous self that was alwaysughing manically just to taunt them, that was no longer the case. His eyes were filled with a wave of fiery anger and determination not to lose.
Still, even with his immense speed that surpasses even those of the 8th tier, he was always just a step slower than Tyler as he narrowly dodged and avoided every attack by only the slimmest of inches.
Each sword stroke cut through space itself as Spatial tears were literally all around them while time seems to be moving far slower than it should.
While Tyler had some breathing room despite how it appeared, Moloc still didn''t give him the chance to use a spell. He was already firing magic bullets at the unsuspecting Moloc but as he had four arms, he was able to deflect them all without slowing down his attacks.
"I guess meleebat it is then. I''ll have to beat you into submission. Not something I''m a fan of you know."
Saying that the magic weapon, Narsil suddenly appeared in Tyler''s arm and he swung it to meet Moloc''s swords.
*Boom!
Their simple sh had caused the earth to tremble as the impact alone almost ripped the reinforced castle apart. Tyler also couldn''t afford to take the monster outside as he was trying to stay away from prying eyes.
He created a barrier around the training hall as their next sh would''ve copsed the hall on top of them. He would use frozen space but he had a feeling Moloc would be able to resist it and move freely within it.
?Rapid Bursts?
With reckless abandonment, Tyler swung his de with full force and a countless burst of energy bombarded the stunned Moloc who could barely defend himself against one.
Even after his body waspletely messed up by the energy attacks, he still remained standing and ready to continue the fight. However, he had lost track of Tyler in the chaos and before a single thought could even register in his head, he felt a sharp pain in his back as another burst of energy sent his entire being flying.
He was just about to crash into a wall when Tyler had suddenly appeared in front of him again and a fist was nted on his face. Cutting off his momentum abruptly and sending him flying back in the direction he came.
The same thing happened with a kick as his body was used in ying a solo game of ping pong until his head finally popped cleanly off and mmedinto the barrier.
Moloc was at a loss for words. This situation waspletely unexpected as he had never thought that as a Devil Lord, he would lose to mere demigods to the point where his pain resistance was even nullified and he felt it.
"You''re not dead right. I''m told devils can''t die unless I erase their source. Yours seems to be located in this manifestation of your head. What do you think I should do about that?"
[How...]
"How? Oh, I can totally see it. That was fun right?"
Tyler moved over to Moloc''s head and crouched next to him. His eyes gently glowed red even though he hadn''t activated any skills and as a summon, Moloc could no longer rebel. However, he no longer even had the will to.
The underworld was a brutal ne of existence where only the strong survived and the weak is destroyed. His strong ego and desire to survive had taken him to the top but he had finally met a roadblock he couldn''t destroy.
This was the first for him and he couldn''t help but be curious. It was only natural he offered up his very existence to this person but for some reason, he felt like that was a good thing.
A demon capable of subduing a Devil lord, how intriguing is that. Devils had no problems in serving a master. the only issue was, their egos would not allow them how their heads to anyone weaker than them.
And as a Devil lord, Moloc had felt there would be no one in the physic ne strong them him. However, he was clearly mistaken and it was his duty to recognize this man as his one true master. Any futile resistance would be an insult to his title and he would be better off dead tarnishing his very existence.
[I-i yelled... Moloc will offer you his absolute fealty. Inzagrat. With this, the lord of chaos shall forever be your servant.]
What he had done was a pact between a Devil and his master. A pact governed by the spiritual ne. Even a god would not be able to break it.
"Huh? That was oddly fast. I haven''t even done what I had nned. I had an entire speech and everything."
Having thought of various ways to make this stubborn Devil sign the summoning contract with him, Tyler was vaguely disappointed he didn''t get to carry any of them out as he just stared nkly at therge head of an ugly ass Devil.
Chapter 242 C242. Moloc’s Vessel.
Having somehow gotten the troublesome Devil to swear loyalty to him. Tyler was at a loss for words as he didn''t know what else to do. He had thought of the various ways this could''ve gone and just to be safe, he had even considered countless ways to destroy the Devil if he failed. Yet, everything had fallen into ce without him needing to do anything extra.
He quietly stared at therge head of the two horned Devil with a vaguely disappointed expression on his face as a tired sigh unknowingly left his mouth.
[Is there something wrong Master? Do you not ept Moloc''s pledge? A Devil''s pact is timeless and cannot be broken even by gods."
"Hmm... no that''s not it."
Tyler was a little surprised by how fast the Devil''s tone had changed but he just decided to ept the fact and move on. He still had to punish him for destroying the training hall even though he also had something to do with that. He would simply push the me to Moloc.
''What a drag.''
Tyler thoughtzily as he stood back up. He then heard rapid footsteps approaching him and turned around to confirm his suspicion. Rain had jump at him seemingly pleased with she believe to be the expected oue of the battle.
"Lord Ty, you did it! As expected of my beloved. You put that ugly thing in its ce."
"I suppose I did, and you seem to be in a rather good mood."
Tyler was half surprised and half relieved to see her acting like herself again even if only a little. Still, she was just as clingy as ever.
"How could I not be in a good mood after watching your magnificent figure easily defeating a Devil Lord in such a cool way. You were totally amazing just now."
''That''s a lot of praise for just fighting a weakened Devil.''
"Well thanks, I couldn''t have done it without all your helps."
"Your honor us by your words Lord Ty, but there''s no way such a lowly Devil would. Be able to stand up to your might without using a lowly trick like that. I''m sure everything had gone as Lord Ty had nned it to."
''What the hell does this guy take me for a robot?''
Tyler''s brows twitched repeatedly after hearing Z''s words but he reignedin any Involuntary reaction before anyone could votive it. Things seems to be escting ever since Z joined him. He seems to have only good intentions but kept overestimating his abilities.
"Hmm, as Master nned. What do you mean by that?"
Puzzled by Z''s words of choice, Albert asked what he meant curiously and Tyler felt thing were only going to get worse with an exnation.
"Hmm, isn''t obvious. Summoning a Devil Lord is almost impossible. It is a ritual that takes days even weeks to perform. Even when using an item or tool to shorten the process, one mus make necessary preparations to prevent the Devil Lord from attacking its summoner."
"No one capable of summoning such a divine ss beast is unaware of this fact so for Lord Ty to purposely ignore those preparations, what do you think that means?"
"Oh, so that''s it."
"Hmm, what''s it?"
"Rain asked with her curiosity piqued and Z exined.
"It means Lord Ty had done this for us. In order to provide us with the adequate opportunity to master our new abilities before the word. This was a first hand experience with a superior beast that has surely boosted control over our new found powers."
"Oh wow!"
''Oh wow what? I did no such thing, I just made a rookie mistake what tye hell are you talking about.''
Although Tyler was screaming at the top of his lungs inside his head making Uriel practically rolling her eyes at him. He somehow managed to control him self and nodded gently when everyone turned to face him.
"You''re truly amazing Lord Ty. To think of us to such an extent. We will surely make you proud."
[Hey, If that''s the case then Moloc helped too, Moloc deserve some praises as well.]
"Please be quite."
Liz ice cold words almost didn''t seem like herself as even the fiery Moloc could feel the chill andughed dryly as he rolled his head a few paces back.
Although Tyler hadn''t nned this as Z had said, he was still very impressed with performance earlier. Even though only Liz and Rain were the demigods amongst them, the four of them had been able to fight on par with a God ss creatire that was capable of using 9th tier spells.
There was a possibility they would''ve even been able to defeat him if Erin had been helping from the start.
"Such a thing is only natural for my beloved Lord Ty. There''s no need to be surprised."
Rain who had been clinging to Tyler from the start tighten her grip further as she rested her head on his chest. Tyler was about to say something when he was suddenly interested by the distant Moloc.
[Umm, Master... Moloc regrets ruining your love time but in Moloc''s current state, Moloc cannot remain in the Physical ne for very long unless Molocgets a vessel or devour a soul. Please forgive this foolish one.]
''Oh right. Uriel did mention something like that.''
"Very well, Z!"
"Yes my lord."
Tyler struggled to pull himself away from Rain as Z moved forward and knelt before him.
"The female general in the cell, is she still alive?"
"I believe so sire."
"Alright. You know what to do."
"Understood."
Z nodded and immediately teleported to the cell to retrieve the female General of greed that was currently on m a vegetative state andwas now nothing more than a living doll as even Tyler didn''t know what was done to her neither did he think he should ask.
Z appeared back at the hall a beatter, he seems to havepletely master spatial teleportation which was something that did not surprise him. He then moved the body forward and tossed it in front of Moloc''s head like a rag doll.
While this was a distasteful scene to Tyler, he choose not to speak of it as she had been responsible for a lot of deaths that couldn''t be revived.
"You may use that body as your vessel. Do with the soul as you wish. Think of it as gift."
[As youmand master. Moloc shall not let your generositybe wasted on me.]
Immediately after saying that, Moloc''s head melted and turned into a thick read gas along with the remaining pieces of his body that were scattered all over the ce.
The red gas then hovered above the bodaciousdy and began to absorb a white ethereal aura from within her body which seems to increase his aura and the mass of the red gas.
The moment all of her soul was consumed, Tyler sensed thedy die and immediately, the red gas that was Moloc, entered through the pores of thedy until her fair skin began a change into a pale red color, sightly simr to the red ogres.
Horns protruded out the side of her head but the rest of her body did not change. The next moment, Ab oppressive amounts of aura exploded out of her pores and her body slowly began to moved and she stood up struggling a bit before finally getting used to her new limbs.
"This is quite the fragile vessel Master, I feel most of my power being restricted for some reason. I suppose I''ll have to slowly awakened the rest of my strength so this vessel doesn''t break down."
Moloc spoke in a voice that wasn''t his, a femine voice that sounded lovely but strangely gave Tyler the chills.
"Be quiet Devil. Just be grateful our master had graciously allowed you to live and even gone as far as providing you a vessel."
"My apologies if Moloc sounded rude Master. I''ll surely hasten up this process so Moloc can be of use to Master."
"That''s fine, ju¡ª"
"But Master surely has a type doesn''t he, does Master prefer females with suchrge breasts."
Moloc cupped his or rather her breasts while lifting them up at Tyler with a knowing smile on her face when a fist was suddenly nted on her face, sending her figure flying ross the hall and mming into the wall behind,pletely shattering it this time.
"You bastard. Don''t you dare tempt Lord Ty in front of me."
Rain had suddenly punched Moloc off his feet before anyone could react. Frankly they all supported her actions as they felt Moloc was being a bit rude. Tyler just sighed and waited for Moloc to get back up.
"Everyone here is quite busy so I''d like you to fix up this ce as soon as possible."
"Moloc is a destroyer, not really a fixer."
"Well you better learn. I want this ce fixed in less than 24 hours. Failure is not permitted."
Scraping her cheeks, Moloc gently hooded her head with aplicated expression.
Tyler then went to the side to retrieve Nessi and Zelda who had been freed from Moloc''s stasis beam a while back. Everyone then left the hall along side Tyler as they returned to their training.
Even Rain and left without making a fuss after testing her strength against a superior monster. She probably felt she had a long way to go an was eager to improve. If this fight had been nned by him, then it would be considered a sess.
Tyler also retrieved Cora who was passed out on the ground and had luckily been protected by Erin from the shockwave of his fight. They then went over to another training hall to begin his training.
Time went by quickly this time due to Moloc''s appearance and before he knew it. It was the middle of the night. Tyler then walked back to check up on Moloc who he nned on changing his name due to the weirdness of the situation.
Although he wasn''t sure if devils had genders to begin with. Entering the hall with Cora trailing behind him. He was surprised to see that everything had been fixed almost as though the earlier fight hadn''t happened.
He then saw Moloc floating in the air with her eyes closed as she subconsciously yed around with her boobs.
''Is this guy a pervert or just curious?''
[I believe the former.]
Tyler chuckled as he moved forward. It was clear Moloc hadn''t sensed him even though his perception should''ve been better than his own.
Making a better observation of the situation, it seems Moloc was concentrating on absorbing energy from the atmosphere to improve the body of the witch so the vessel to handle his immsersw powers.
Currently he would be limited to the strength of Tier 6 but at the rate he was going, he would attain the strength of a demigod in a week and regain his full power in only a month. That should give Tyler a little time to rx after the war.
Tyler decided to ignore the pervert and head back to his chambers. There was a lot of things he had to consider and take note of before thing got out of control.
He had managed to inprove his swordsmanship but couldn''t be confident in it until he sparred with Albert at an equal level.
There was a way he could achieve that and that was to create an Avatar of himself. An artificial body he could project his consciousness onto and use as a substitute or as a means of fighting at various levels.
However, he had no idea how to do this and had to wait three months to research it in the Void Library.
During the fight with Moloc, most of the castle had been affected by his aura and a few of them had lost consciousness just as Cora had. But everything was now under control so there was nothing for Tyler to do other than a sign Nessi to assist them if needed.
Upon getting to his chambers, Tyler made some notes on his various ns and everything that had gone array wanting to stay ahead of the curve. After spending some time on this, he decided to go to bed.
Having almost turned undead earlier, it felt a bit of fatigue and wanted to rest. He quickly fell asleep but was suddenly woken up by Uriel who informed him that Jarret was requestingmunications with him.
Apparently, he had arrived with the Raven settlement and after taking them to the starter town in the Greyad ins, he wanted to bring the leaders of the settlement over to see him.
Chapter 243 C243. Arrival Of The Ravens
Galloping through the snowfield, therge group of Demi-humans migrating through the Darknar region arrived in front of the starter town located in the Greyad ins at the break of dawn.
Although they were aware of the dangers of the night, they had still chosen to leave before dawn because they were already so close to their destination and the nonbatants amongst them were fatigued from the rushed trip.
Jarret led the group as he drove his carriage towards a surprisingly sturdy fence that surrounds the town, this was something he hadn''t expected since he was aware that this ce has only been under construction for a little over a week now.
He had expected the construction of the town to have made decent progress by now but what they saw was beyond the capabilities of a few Kobolds.
Behind the high wooden walls that were well spaced out to create a sort of fence, were countlessrge tents the sizes of mansions alongside some wooden structures that were currently still under construction. The road leading to the town had been cleared of snowmaking their ride there quite smooth.
A wooden gate had also been constructed, making their entouragee to an abrupt halt a few meters away from it as they sensed multiple presences lurking in the shadows, keeping a close eye on them.
The town didn''t have any defensive structure aside from the single wooden watch tower by the gate where a single Kobold kept watch of the surrounding with a magic item.
Riding behind Jarret were more than a hundred Horse-drawn carriages, most of which belonged to the Raven settlement. And as the name suggests, they were pulled by normal horses as only a bare minimum of the carriage were being pulled by Tier 2 Demonic horses.
Their trip would''ve taken more than two weeks without the aid of the Six eyed Bull''s fiery aura that was able to clear their way and constantly restore the stamina of the other horses.
Although they had sensed several presences watching them from a while back, Jarret had insisted they don''t stop before getting to the gate to investigate. He trusted the fact that the town was still under his master''smand and didn''t pose any danger to them.
Upon arriving at the gate, two Kobolds riding onrge ck wolves seemingly appeared out of nowhere to inspect them. They were able to recognize Jarret immediately and having already been aware of why they were building the town in the first ce, they allowed him in without any issues.
While this was just a town made up of tents, even the Raven settlement was surprised by how organized it was. Large areas around the town had been cleared out and ttened to make for smooth roads even though no stone bs had beenid.
Magterns had been hung all around the town to provide proper illumination at night even though there weren''t that many Kobolds around. The ce seemed to be well maintained.
The carriages slowly drove through the wide and empty streets and soon came to a halt in the center of the town where A flying Kobold named Tarka moved to greet them along with a certain flying insectoid girl Jarret didn''t recognize.
Taking a look around with his innate ability, he could also see Giant insect monsters hovering at the edge of the town as theymute with massive logs that had been cut from the darknar forest. Several more kobold atop Nightmare wolves were guiding and instructing the insects around.
Jarret wasn''t sure what had transpired here but he decided to ignore it, believing his master had something to do with this and there was no need to be concerned.
After everyone had disembarked from their carriages, Jarret introduced them to Tarka and the Bug girl who had introduced herself as Loriel. The two of them seem to have been left in charge of the town and were tasked to help the Raven settlement settle into the town. Although it seems they didn''t quite get along as they were talking over each other.
As the settlement of mostly hobgoblins and Karma oni''s got limated with their current living situation. Jarret took the time to quickly contact Tyler who then permitted him to bring only the representative of the Raven settlement to see him.
Walking over to a man who stood by a luxurious carriage as he observed the situation in the town, Jarret politely bowed as he spoke to him.
"Captain Orias, sorry to spring this up the moment we arrived but Lord Ty had permitted me to bring the representative of the settlement to see him, I hope that would be fine."
"Oh Mr. Jarret, surely you jest. We''ve traveled all this way to serve under your Master. It brings us great honor that he had decided to see us so soon. Please wait a moment, I''ll inform the chief."
The man returned Jarret''s bow with a slight nod of his own as he turned around towards the end of the carriage the chief of the settlement had traveled in.
He was a middle-aged man that didn''t look much different from a demon or human as his only distinguishing feature was the tail he had hidden in his several articles of casual clothing with a robe like cloak draped over his shoulders.
He had short ck hair styledzily to the back and a neatly shaven face. With light brown eyes, he looked like an easy-going guy with almost no aura around him.
However, he was the captain of the most elite forcepromising mostly Karma Onis for the Raven settlement and the strongest person in the settlement. ording to what Jarret was told, there were only around 50 members of that squad.
The moment Captain Orias turn the corner and entered the carriage, two people stormed over in Jarret''s direction and he couldn''t help but sigh.
Jarret was keenly aware that therewere still three people who had tagged along with them because they wanted an audience with Lord Ty. They were the group of predatory beastmen who they had met on their way to meet up with the Raven settlement a few days back.
After overhearing his conversation with the captain, he could urately guess what they were about to say.
"Hey, why can''tdy Levi see your Master immediately. We''ve traveled a long way just for this."
The one to address Jarret so abruptly was the Leopardkin Wrynn. He seems to be agitated by the fact that his teacher Lady Levi was being ignored.
Jarret turned to meet his fierce gaze without changing his expression and spoke bluntly.
"Lord Ty is extremely busy. Please wait in the confines of the town and he''ll summon you whenever he''s ready. He may also send someone out here to speak with you."
"What the hell does that mean! Lady Levi doesn''t have that much time to waste! We need¡ª"
"Wrynn!"
With a sudden shout, Levi called out to Wrynn who was going off on Jarret as she was being helped out of the carriage by Yeva.
"Please don''t be rude, we''ve been graciously ac¡ª" *cough cough cough!
"Lady Levi, please calm down."
Yeva tried to soothe the angry Levi who had broken into a coughing fit again and Wrynn came rushing back to help her up.
"It''s okay, I''m fine now. Wrynn listen, we came here abruptly seeking to ask for a favor. Please do not go around being rude because of me. That''s not you.Besides, we still have time even if I don''t get what I need. We can just rest here for a bit okay."
Wrynn nodded his head in agreement as his expression became somber. He then walked back to Jarret who was still waiting on Orias and the chief of the Raven settlement.
"I apologize for raising my voice earlier. I''m just a little on edge about Lady Levi. Isn''t there a way we could¡ª"
*ROARRRR!*
Before Wrynn could continue his thoughts, a resounding roar that reverberated over the entire ins shook the very foundations of the town as a gigantic ck beast came flying down from the direction of the Darknar forest.
"What the hell."
Everyone that had only just arrived in the town including Jarret was surprised and amazed by what they were seeing. The absolute massive lizard-like creature came at them with absurd speeds.
It arrived above the town in less than five seconds and honed above an open clearing on the edge of the town.
"That''s impossible! Is that a drake!"
"We''re being attacked by a drake! Defensive formation."
Orias who had just exited the chief''s carriage snapped the panicking Hobgoblins and Onis out of their stupor, including Jarret and Wrynn who had also been dumbfounded by the lesser dragon''s dominating presence.
"Man your weapons, everyone fires on mymand!"
Captain Orias immediately, took charge of his men as they ready their various weapons to attack. However, Tarka hurriedly took flight and got in their line of fire as she yelled at them.
"What the hell do you think you''re doing! Do you have a death wish or something? Besides, that''s lord Ty''s servant as well."
Struck by the gravity of her words, everyone including Levi was stunned. This was not a simple monster they were talking about. This was a Lesser Dragon, a Dark Drake.
This was a Lord ss monster they were talking about. A lesser dragon at the crux of bing divine. Levi who was the only one able to fullyprehend what it meant to tame a drake was at a loss for words.
Due to the monster being quite a distance from them. It didn''t seem like anyone could tell that it was an undead creature. Besides, aside from the negative aura, it emitted and its ck scales, the Dark Drake looked no different than it had when it was still alive.
The monster pped its wing andnded in the open clearing. Soon, a short figure hesitantly climbed down from its back. It seems the someone had ridden the drake back here.
Jarret was the only one who could clearly see the situation and even the realization that the Drake was undead meant his master had to have killed one within the span of the few days they had been gone.
After Tarka''s warning, Loriel had one of her Azure Dragonflies fly the person who had ridden on the drake over to them. It didn''t take long for that to happen and they were all surprised yet again to find out that it was indeed a dwarf. A race that wasn''tmonly seen in the demon continent.
"This is Mr. Gerl, Lord Ty had ced him in charge of managing the construction of the town. Please treat him well."
As the dragonfly ced Gerl gently on the ground, he breathe a heavy sigh of relief as he hurriedly took a swig from the sk he had in his pouch.
"Pwaaaaah... That''s the stuff. I just can''t get used to flying on such a scary thing. My job is almost torture."
Gerlined uponnding and he walked over to the others and greeted them. The shock of the Dark drake seems to have calmed Wrynn down as well as they willingly followed Tarka to an assigned tent.
"What''s with all themotion."
With a yawn, Nadine came out of a carriage next to Jarret and asked that question.
"Seriously, were you asleep the whole time?"
"What! You woke me up way too early. I can''t get up by that time."
"The who the hell was driving your carriage."
"A volunteer."
"You little¡ª"
"Mr. Jarret. The chief''s ready to see the Master. I''ll stay behind to organize everyone and integrate our troops with the security. Please take care of the chief in my stead."
After things had calmed down a bit, Orias came up to Jarret and Nadine as he made his plead. He then stretched out an arm and Jarret shook it in agreement as three figures came out of the chief''s carriage and headed his way.
Alright, I go check the town out,ter."
Before Jarret could even scold her, Nadine had bumped over the carriage and ran away. He wanted to say something but someone else suddenly got in his way.
"Hey, do you require any help in getting to the castle, we can spare Drago for a little while."
Jarret raised his head and saw the blonde bug girl hovering in front of him as she made a suggestion. He was unsure of who Drago was but he figured it out pretty quickly.
"A ride on that, Sounds terrifying. I''ll take it."
Chapter 244 C244. Receiving Guests
Waking up after only a few hours of sleep, Tyler received the request from Jarret and granted him permission to bring the Raven settlement''s leader to him. He also didn''t need to do anything to grant them ess to the castle as Uriel could aplish the task for him with ease.
,m He had only been asleep for about two hours but it seems his body had recovered somewhat. Walking out into the balcony, he could see Ragdek and a few red ogres doing something along the greenhouse but Tyler wasn''t interested so he walked back into his room.
He then had Cora run him a bath and prepare a new outfit for him. Wearing the same outfit all the time¡ª even when he could clean it with magic¡ª wasn''t his style. While he like simple and casual outfits, he didn''t mind if they were a bit stylish.
He donned a grey shirt, ck trousers with ck boots. Wearing a reddish ck long coat over his shirt he took a look at himself over the full length mirror in his closet and felt satisfied.
Aside from the negative corruption still guing him, his body seems to be in top shape and he had a perfect physique.
While Tyler had been an adventurer back in the human continent, he had spent most of his free time training his body to keep up with his teammates. However, even though he had not done a proper physical training since he awoken in this continent, he physique was more perfectly refined than ever before.
''If I was on earth I''d properly be able to work as a model right?''
After spending sometime admiring himself for no reason, Tyler left his chambers with Cora as they walked downstairs to have a meal. He surprisingly didn''t have as much free time as he would like so he wanted to envoy a casual lifestyle whenever he could.
He had spent majority of his time on earth working multiple jobs to pay his family''s bills and his sister''s fee so he never really enjoyed the finer things in life. This was why he had wanted to leave this castle as soon as possible the first time he was here.
However, that idea seems to have gone out the windows so he would have to build a ce he could enjoy in peace himself.
They soon arrived at the dinning hall and Tyler had breakfast with a few of the ogres and beastmen that were not busy training. He wasn''t hungry but as a former human, good food was one of the luxuries he could never let go of.
The only problem was, there were currently several limitations to the meals that could be prepared by his vassals. They didn''t have the right skills or ingredients to make the delicacies he was after. Still, the meals they prepared were still quite tasty.
After engaging in some small talks with the curious kids around him and his adoring subordinates. Tyler bid them fare ware as he teleported together with Cora back to his office and took a seat behind his majestic desk.
He hadn''t noticed it immediately, but it seems the dwarves had changed the desk in his office to something extremely grand and exquisite.
After receiving confirmation that Jarret and the leaders had arrived and were on their way here, Cora went over to prepare some tea for his guest which was apparently something they had now.It seems they had ridden here on Dego which was why they arrived so fast.
With almost everyone in the castle busy at the moment, Tyler had instead sent over Zelda to greet his guest at the gate and lead them here.
Apparently, the group had been surprised to see Zelda but that didn''t scare them. With Zelda leading the way, it didn''t take them long to arrive at his door and Jarret politely knocked.
*Knock, knock, knock.
Although Tyler already knew who it was, Cora still insisted on sticking by what she had been taught by Albert as she answered the door then proceeded to inform Tyler of his guest before receiving permission to allow them in.
Entering the room first was Jarret and Zelda,followed by Two male figures and a female.
The males were obviously hobgoblins based on their skin tone but the female seems to be a type of lesser demon, he wasn''t too sure but he could vaguely remember being told about a certain demon race living with the hobgoblins.
Hearing Tyler''s random thought, Uriel reminded him that the girl''s species were called Karna Oni which, while simr, were very different from regr lesser demons.
For one, they generally had normal skin tones based on the region they resided in but still had the characteristics of lesser demons like horns or tails, sometimes both.
The Karma Oni that had entered the room in the middle of the two hobgoblins was obviously their leader as Tyler highly doubted the possibility of them sending a representative to speak with him at this point in time.
She looked to be a young girl in her early 20''s with silky ck hair tied in a bun and two pitch-ck horns protruding from the top of her head. A cktail that had a bushy end protruded from her lower waist.
She had crimson eyes and wore a short red dress that resembled what Tyler imagined a traditional Chinese dress would look like. It was unknown where she had gotten the outfit from but Tyler assumed either she was a reincarnate or she was influenced or rted to one.
Strapped to her thighs were oddly shaped short des that were most likely magic items made to mimic guns.
The two hobgoblins that came in before and after her were of different age groups. One of them looked very much like an elder with short white hair and beards, the other had short ck hair with a cleanly shaven face.
The younger one wore a full set of te armor that seems to be made of high-quality materials and the elder wore a mage''s robe of rtively high quality. It was obvious that financially, the Raven settlement was doing far better than the Red ogre settlement had been.
"Greetings Lord Ty. We''ve returned with the Raven settlement''s Leader as per your orders."
Jarret moved forward and knelt before Tyler''s desk while he gave a very obvious report.
Zelda had instead moved to the corner and stared coldly at the three who stood behind Jarret in awe. Her cold gaze made the three incredibly nervous representatives panic as they hurriedly knelt down as well.
Meeting a new ruler was surely nerve-racking on its own, however, the pressure they had felt the moment they entered the office had almost knocked them out.
While the Raven settlement had been quite the flourishing ce due to the intellect and creativity of the hobgoblins, it wasn''t something that could bepared to a small castle, much less the demon''s king castle.
The ride on Drago had been terrifying enough but they had been in awe since entering through the nigh-indestructible barrier that had protected the castle for a millennial.
They had then met a beautiful undead creature whose power seems to match the dark drake. Her presence was overwhelming and they had almost passed out.
Entering the castle they hadn''t met any more surprises but the beauty of the ce was outstanding. However, nothing could prepare them for what they had experienced next.
The moment the door to their new master''s office was opened, a gust of dark aura beyond theirprehension almost made them lose their mind as they were only able to walk in due to their determination to save their people.
The In fathomable aura they felt from the room only meant their master had the capabilities to grant their wish.
However, Tyler''s aura was something that couldn''t beprehended by mere mortals else they die on the spot. Even amongst demigods, most would fail to sense it as he was subconsciously restraining his power to protect his damaged mana body.
So, there was no way the present trio was sensing originating from him. he also hadn''t attempted to intimidate people who had already decided to work for him.
Rather, the three shadows lurking around him were the ones causing those three''s breathing problems.
Well actually, there were now four of them in the room as Kali had stealthily returned to his shadow the moment the door to his office had been opened by Jarret.
Unaware his shadows were psychologically torturing the three, Tyler casually waved an arm for Jarret and the three to get up and carry on with the introductions. However, his casual gesture had caused even more panic in the minds of the three and they hurriedly stood up like soldiers.
''What''s up with them.''
[These three are on edge because Master''s shadows guards are putting pressure on them.]
''Huh?''
After processing what Uriel had said for a moment, Tyler immediately order the three to stop and the color visibly returned to the faces of the Raven chief and the others.
"There''s no need to just stand around. Please take a seat."
While the trio thought about remaining standing as a show of respect, Jarret advised them to take a seat on the couch by the side of the office. Cora then poured them some green tea with a nice fragrant aroma.
Tyler also stood up and moved to a sofa next to the one they were sitted on. Receiving a cup of tea as well. Drinking tea wasn''t something he normally enjoyed, but he liked the aroma of this one so he tried it. It was surprisingly good and refreshing.
After taking a second sip from his cup, he then addressed the trio who seemed to have rxed a little thanks to the tea. He now knew why serving tea seems to be customary in noble households.
"You may speak freely now."
"Umm... Thank you, my lord. I am Hecate Redoy, the new chief of the Raven settlement."
"New chief?"
"Yes Lord, my father was the chief until he died in the recent surge in monsters attacks. That''s one of the reasons why we sort out my Lord''s protection. As I am the only child of my father, I took the vet as chief after his death. Please forgive me if I''m a little green."
''I kinda know what you mean.''
While he felt the significance of what she was saying and why she had been so nervous, Tyler couldn''t voice his thoughts out loud as he needed to maintain his character.
Taking another sip from his tea, he used appraisal on the trio and got quite a bit of information. She was currently at the Advance stages of Tier 4, meaning she was clearly strong enough to be the chief but she hadn''t mastered that many skills.
Well, perhaps she was more stunned towards spell casting as she seems to bepatible with quite a few types of magic.
Switching his attention to the two hobgoblins beside her, Hecate noticed and hurriedly introduced them to him.
"I''m sorry for theirte introduction my Lord, this is CaptainCresil, he was the head of security in our town and the captain of the guards. And this old man is my personal advisorKraz Hlot. He''s also our grand mage and head of our intelligence department along with various other posts."
"Interesting. For a settlement, you guys were quite organized. Impressive."
Tyler had also appraised both hobgoblins and could tell that they were just as strong as Hecate, maybe even stronger based on experience. She was a little green to have been chief but no doubt she had talents.
"Thank you for your high praise, your majesty."
"You can just call me Lord Ty just like everyone else. I take it you were informed about the Undead army that would be attacking us sometime tomorrow?"
"Ah Yess, as your vassals we promise to do everything in our power to help. Please feel free to order us as you wish. We pledge our loyalty to you, Lord Ty."
They all simultaneously got up as they swiftly got on their knees and made their solemn vow while activating a pact. While this was expected, it was something Tyler couldn''t get used to but yed it off as though it was natural.
He acknowledged their pact and then motioned for them to stand back up and take their seats.
"I see, very well then. I''ll be sure to put you all to work immediately. Let''s hope you can handle it."
"We''ll do our best master."
"I see...! Very well then. You may return to the town and settle in. I''ll send someer to prep your forces to execute Z''s n. Feel free to think of the town like yours."
Although they had no idea who this Z person was, they all just assumed he was their new master''s adviser as they gently nodded their heads in agreement before politely finishing up their tea and exiting his office.
Chapter 245 C245. Final Preparations
Shortly after concluding his talks with Hecate and her underlings, they exited his office with Jarret escorting them back to the town.
He could easily teleport them back but it could sense the presence of his Dark Drake Diogo, so he figured they had ridden on his back to see him. He had no choice but to let them ride him back as well.
The moment they left and his doors were shut behind them, Kali rose from his shadow and knelt beside him. Tyler casually took another sip of his tea before asking.
"What did you observe?"
"The Devine aura belonging to the Dragonkin has slowly been getting weaker. It seems a part of her life essence had been ripped directly from her soul. I estimate she''ll be dead in less than a month."
Kali spoke in her lovely voice that had an undertone of ghastliness about it. She was able to observe the three predatory beastmen from within Jarret''s shadow and had gotten quite a bit of information on them.
It made sense why they were in such a desperate need to see him. It seems they had even almost caused amotion in the town when he hadn''t requested for them.
Still, Tyler didn''t make them a priority as he had a lot to worry about at the moment. To hold a considerable amount of worth and leverage over the Great Five, he needed to put up a dominating show of strength against this army and luckily for him, his forces had increased nicely with the addition of the Ravens.
With four demigods by his side, he felt everything would go ording to n but he wasn''t satisfied with just that. To prevent any unexpected oues, he would have to prepare various contingencies.
He never did trust his nspletely after all. That was why he decided to go along with Z''s ns as he was a lot more adept at this than him.
It was a shame Moloc wouldn''t be able to participate in this war but that was probably a good thing. As long as he recovers his former strength, Moloc was an excellent trump card against the Great Five.
'' Wait, what''s that idiot doing now anyway?''
Tyler closed his eyes then using irvoyance, Uriel showed him a scene of what was currently going on in the training hall he had let Moloc in and almost faced palmed himself.
Just as he had left her, Moloc was floating in the air with her eyes closed as she yed with her massive rack, giggling softly from time to time in amusement of sorts.
While it was impressive the dude nned on staying in that state for a full week, his constant amusement from her new body was unexpected.
''I''ll just pretend I didn''t see that.''
Wiping the image out of his mind, Tyler returned his focus to the former primordial behemoth called Levi. He would have to speak with them after the war. He had thought of sending Z but he soon changed his mind as there was something he wanted to ask.
"Alright then. There''s no need for you to observe them any longer. Please return to re''s side and take notes of the stronger forces of the undead army and send me that information periodically. I''d also like to know where the undead king is at all times."
"As youmand master."
Saying that her figure seems to melt into the ground as her presence disappeared through the shadows.
"Umm... Zelda."
"Yes, Master."
Zelda who stood by the side moved to where Kali had been and knelt.
"From what Z said, there might be some representatives from the Great Five amongst these armies. If that''s the case then they would be more prepared against being spied upon than the undead. I''d like you to go with Kali and keep an eye on those types."
"As you will it."
"Oh right. There''s a slim chance one or two of these individuals would be at the level of a demigod so if you sense a divine aura amongst them, don''t let re and Kali go anywhere near them."
"Yes, master."
"Here, use this item in investigating such individuals. You may go."
Tyler reached into thin air and pulled out a ring that seems to be made of ss. This was a magical artifact called Ring of Unknowability. It grants the were the skill called Universal Unknowable.
The ability to hide one''s presence from the universe itself. Even gods with the power of omniscient will fail toprehend the presence of the user.
Zelda received the magic item without any hesitation as she immediately put it on her ring finger. The item turned invisible after that as only the wielder could see it. Her figure promptly disappeared without a trace after that.
His office returned to a state of calm after that and Tyler silently drank the rest of his now lukewarm green tea as he took in the tranquility of this moment.
There wasn''t much else he needed to do to prepare for the war so he wanted to have some time to himself. Moreover, with the n Z hade up with, he didn''t need to do anything much except finish off the undead king.
Tyler wiped away all the worries from his mind as he rested his back on the incredibly soft sofa and almost sank into it.
"Say, Uriel, do you think you can pay me back a part of my memories I wasn''t paying attention to at the time.''
[Of course.]
''Nice.''
With that, Tyler basically asked Uriel to y him back a movie that had been ying in the background at one of his workces back on earth.
He then spent the next few hours watching movies in his office as he ate fruits and drank wine, finally enjoying the luxuries he thought a noble should have. Although this was just him beingzy.
''Still, having arge theatre and some popcorn would be nice right now.''
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¡ªckwing City, Sentro Region.
The capital city of the Sentro region is located at the heart of the region and protected by severalyers of tall, thick, and sturdy brick walls that made the city look and feel like a fortress.
In the innermost district or simply, the Royal district, was the Zorak Family''s Castle. Arge castle that spanned over a vast area of more than one million square feet and was almost asrge as the demon king''s castle.
As the single most important ce in the Sentro Region, it was safe to say that the castle was highly secured as it was protected by the Powerful Magic and the Royal knights. A group of elite knights thatpromise solely of high-tiered magic fighters who systematically patrolled the castle ground and an airtight formation.
However¡ª
These knights currently seem to be on extremely high alert for some reason as they seriously patrolled the entirety of the castle as though searching for something while preventing any means of escape.
They had also sealed the entrance to the castle as well as cast an anti-magic barrier around the castle that prevented the use of teleportation.
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Deep inside the castle, a woman wearing only a long white t-shirt with ck high heels shoes sat on a chair ¡ª a throne¡ª in a small but luxurious hall.
She was a maturedy with unrivaled beauty that would leave most males and females speechless if it were not for her cold and sharp gaze that made all who came before her lower their heads in her presence.
Her smooth long legs and curves that were barely hidden by her simple shirt made the men in the room risk their lives to take a peek.
"So?"
"I''m afraid we''ve failed in stopping the spy mydy. However, we did prevent them from returning with the information they gained but they were able to take a source necrosis pill that destroyed their soul, preventing any form of resurrection or spirit channeling."
A knight d in silver full te armor spoke respectfully from his kneeling position at the front of the throne.
"In the end, you got nothing."
The matureddy spoke in a cold and semi monotonous tone as she stared at the kneeling knight with little interest.
"My apologies Lady Marline. Please forgive our ipetence."
Marline continued to stare at the knight as everyone in the room gulped their dry saliva in anxious anticipation. She then tapped her right index finger on the armrest of her throne and the right arm of the knight dropped as though it had only been attached by weak glue.
The knight''s face contorted in pain but he did not scream out loud as he bit his tongue to prevent any sounds froming out. The wound from his missing arm did not bleed as it seems the blood was held in ce by something.
"Leave."
Bowing his head deeply, the knight picked up his arm from the ground and walked gently out of the room without seeming hurried or in a hast.
"What''s next?"
The moment the one-armed knight left the room, Marline spoke to the Minister standing beside her and he brought out a report and summarized it.
"Since the death of Zomatsu and the scouts, we''ve been unable to identify over a dozen spies in the family''s various branches as well as three here. However, none of them have been sessfully apprehended and even the one caught in Silverwing city was killed mysteriously overnight."
"That''s to be expected isn''t it?"
Marline asked the minister in her usual tone but her eyes seems to have caught a noble staring at her chest. The young noble panicked and lowered his head, expecting to at the very least, lose an arm but her interest seems to have waned by his cowardice.
"You''re right mydy, this is the standard operation of the Greats. A few of our spies in the other families have been eliminated in thest few days."
"So even the family responsible for this is putting up a farce. How troublesome."
"Indeed. With the situation in the Darknar Region about to be escted. The great five are all gearing to make a move at the end of this."
The Great Five each had scouts positioned in the eastern parts of the Darknar forest but all of them had been killed a few weeks ago. Leaving only one witness who had confirmed the assants were demon nobles from one of the Greats.
They had even killed off their own scouts just to throw off the scent from the other families as one of them helped Mammon''s assault on the castle while another one aided this unknown behemoth.
"We''ve fallen behind."
This was clearly the work of two of the Great Five families but it had taken the Zoraks by surprise. Even with the nonaggression pact they had amongst themselves, that didn''t stop them from moving against the others in secret and the Zoraks were doing the same.
Yet. They hadpletely been blindsided by this turn of events and could only go along with the flow by sending representatives to hinder the other families'' n and im the castle for themselves if possible.
"ording to a report we got from Aura a while back. There was a request for assistance concerning a behemoth in the darknar region from a member of the brimstone family but he didn''t hear from them after making his demands."
"And why I''m I just hearing of this?"
Marline''s eyes narrowed at the monster who almost took a step back but restrained himself as he spoke in his normal tone as though nothing happened.
"My apologies, I had only seen the report a few days ago myself. It seems my division didn''t consider the matter relevant at the time."
"That foolish kid. He must''ve made an unreasonable demand. But this is good, it confirms the brimstones should be invoiced with either Mammon or this behemoth. Have someone especially keep an on the brimstone''s movements during the war."
"Understood. Our representatives have also sessfully infiltrated the undead army using that artifact to temporarily turn themselves undead."
"That trio Huh... very well. Send that unit to monitor the situation with the war. I want to see everything as it happens in real-time."
"Understood."
"You''re all dismissed, I''ll update the young master of the situation."
"As youmand Grand Elder."
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End of Volume 5. Part 1.
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Hi there. Have been thinking of writing another book but haven''t had the time to do much research on what I''m interested in writing but I''ve posted an early draft of I wrote a few days back. Please check it out an leave your thoughts on it. Will only write it if y''all are into the concept.
Drafts can be found in the book, Second Try.
Have a nice day and leave ament here as well.
Chapter 246 [Bonus Chapter] Syphilia’s Day
Intermission
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Standing at the center of her office at the top of one of the towers in the Zorak magic institute was Syphilia, the guild leader of winged city''s magic institute.
A frown was stered across her face as she paced slowly back and forth. Therge wooden door to her office gently squeaked open as a tall man walked casually into the office.
He was a somewhat handsome man standing approximately 6''6 with short red hair and scarlet eyes. He walked casually inside the office then shut the door behind him as he noticed Syphilia pacing back and forth with a worried expression on her face.
"Hey Leader, what''s wrong with you?"
Suddenly hearing a deep voice from beside her had startled Syphilia a bit as she immediately sent a wind spell mming into Kal, sending him ceasing into the wall. It seems she had been too engrossed in her thoughts and had failed to sense his entrance. Mistaking his sudden appearance as a threat.
"Oh, it''s just you Kal. What do you need?"
"What the hell is wrong with you. Don''t you act casually after using your spells again me?"
Kalined as he struggled to stand back up after that attack.
"Fine I''m sorry, I had a lot on my mind that''s all."
"What''s going on with you?"
Syphilia saw the look Kal''s was giving her and sighed. She then took a seat on the sofa by the side and poured herself a drink. Ivan didn''t wait for an invitation as he dusted himself off and took a seat in one of the sofas facing Syphilia.
After downing the contents of her ss in one gulp, she sighed once more and spoke bluntly with a usually serious expression on her face.
,m "I don''t know why but Aur has been gathering information on our recent member Lix and his beastmanpanion. He''s been pacing a lot of pressure on me and with so many missing high ranking Hunters and Merchants recently, it''s been hard to reject granting him ess to Winged city''s magic institute."
"What''s his interest with that Lix fellow? If I remember correctly, he had only recently visited us and only joined the merchant guild before joining us."
"Who knows, still, letting Aur in here even for something as little as that is dangerous. I''ve been spying on the inner workings of the entire family and I can''t let any of his ghosts figure anything out. Aur''s an extremely opportunistic fellow and he''ll do whatever it takes to get to the top. Including throwing me to the wolves even for the chance of a favorable opinion from the elders."
Upon hearing Syphilia''s reasoning. Realization dawned on Kal as he understood why she had been so panicked when he entered the room.
"So that''s how it is. Still, we''ve already denied him ess ones before. Can''t we just do it again? The institute was designed to operate independently from the family and the only one that can overrule your authority is the headmaster of the magic academy."
The magic academy held more value than every one of the magic institutes located in various cities under the Great Five. As such, the headmaster of the academy held more influence than any of the Guild Leaders of the various branches.
"That may be true. But there is one more person that has the same authority."
"Huh, who?"
"The young master of course. The demon lord of the Zorak family."
"Oh right. He''s never shown his face in public since he took power so Ipletely disregarded that possibility."
"Indeed. That is very bizarre. The family host a lot of borate events throughout the year that even the demon lords are expected to show themselves a few times. Yet, no one had ever seen him since the day he ascended to take over from his father."
"True. There was a rumor going around at one time that he was dead but that story was quickly abolished. Now people just think he has an incurable illness."
"Yes, so far the Grand Elder Lady Marline has been the one standing in for him."
"Isn''t that a good thing? With the young master out ofmission, Aur won''t be able to force his way in here."
"No that''s wrong. It''s the opposite."
"How so?"
"The headmaster is a good friend of mine and won''t ept any requesting from Aur against me but that''s not the case with the Grand Elder."
"Oh..."
"Yes. The Grand Elder has the authorities of the young master and can grant Aur''s request as long as he provides a good reason for it."
"So that''s where Mr. Lizes in?"
"That''s right. I don''t understand the importance of the mission so many merchants and Hunters undertook a week ago but it''s important enough to warrant Aur''s full attention. This mission was also taken a few days after Lix left the city and he had before that, left with some hunters on a mission."
"Oh, I get it now. Whatever the mission Lix and those Hunters had done has something to do with the mission so many high ranking hunters were sent on."
"Yes, and with those five missing and presumed dead. Lix is the only one who can shine a light on what had happened to those Hunters. If the reason for this mission is as important as I think, the Grand Elder will surely grant Aur the right to investigate the magic institute and it''s impossible to erase all the evidence of my investigations into the family. I''m doomed."
"Now I get it. This surely isn''t good."
"Please stop stating the obvious, it pisses me off."
"Oh, sorry my bad. Wait I got it. Why don''t we locate Mr. Lix and bring him back? With him, in the city, there would be no reason to investigate the guild."
"Say, Kal, that''s a great idea. Are you by any chance friends with Lix and know where he is?"
"Umm... No..?"
"Then please shut the fuck up. Do you think I''ve just been pacing around in agony here because I''m bored? If I knew where he was or even where he went I wouldn''t be in this state. I even sent a spy after him but he teleported away a few meters from the city so the hell is I supposed to do."
After hearing Syphilia go into a rut of frustrating rage. Kal just lowered his head and apologized.
"My apologies. I was only trying to help."
Hearing that, Syphilia sighed deeply and tried to calm down.
"It''s fine. I''m sorry too. I''m just a little on edge. I was so close to figuring out something important and this happen. Moreover, it seems the family has been eliminating spies recently, creating another headache for me."
"Eliminating spies, why? Didn''t they usually try to feed them wrong information? What changed."
"Apparently something is going on in the darknar region and one of the Great Five is making a secret move who cares. I don''t have any interest in their pointless struggles to get to the castle. Not anymore."
Seeing as he couldn''t think of a solution to help his guild leader, Kal decided not to suggest anything that would offend her and get to why he hade in here to begin with.
"Oh. Well, whatever. I came in here to inform you, the Guild Leaders of the Merchant and Hunter guild are here to see you."
"Wait what! Why?"
"Don''t know. They were told you were busy but they insisted on waiting. Seems like this may be rted to what you were talking about."
"Shit. Why''s troublesome stuff just stockpiling on and on for me."
"I afraid I can''t help with thay either. Still, what should I say to them. They''ve already been waiting for long."
"Fuck it then. Just let them in, give me about 5 minutes to freshen up."
"Alright. 5 minutes it is."
Kal said nodding as he stood up from the sofa and walked out the door. Shutting it behind him.
Syphilia sighed again and poured herself another ss of wine. She downed it all in one gulp and stood up. Walking over to the restroom inside her office, she then washed her face and freshen her makeup. Walking out of the bathroom with a charming smile as she say behind her desk.
In the next second, a knock came from her door and she spoke sweetly. "Enter." It has been exactly 5 minutes since Kal left and the two gentlemen enter her office alone.
One of them was a middle-aged man with a prominent mustache and the other, an aged man with a long white beard and a full head of white.
Syphilia stood up to greet them in her usual smile and ushered them to a set. She rang a bell and the men were offered beverages as well as snacks but they refused.
"Please allow us to go straight to the point Lady Syphilia. We have a request to make it you."
The one who spoke was an acquaintance of hers Rio. The Mervhant Guild Leader.
"A request?"
Syphilia''s mind instantly calmed down as she realized they hadn''te here to put pressure on her but ask for help. She adopted a serious expression to hide her relief as she asked the question.
"Indeed. A lot of our members have been on a mission with any constant for more than a week now. I''m afraid we fear the worse and with the anxiety of our guilds increasing. We would like the Magic guild to host a search and retrieve quest for them."
Ivan Geriyl, the Hunter guild leader added with a serious expression on his face. Something terrible must''ve happened to the Hunters it both of this figures came here to ask her for a favor.
With Aur''a ghost looming over her, literally. This may be the golden opportunity she had to make a move. Having such prominent figure own her a favor was something she couldn''t turn down.
"So that''s it. That shouldn''t be a problem."
With a gracious smile on her face, Syphilia immediately epted their request.
Chapter 247 C246. The Initial Advance
Volume 5 Part 2. Undead War.
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The cold wind blew through the massive leaves of the giant trees in the darknar forest. It was not the beginning of twilight and the sun was peaking out of the horizon but the thick ashen clouds loomed over the massive region as though making up for the lost time.
Therge trees in the forest also prevented the rays of twilight from reaching the ground, giving the deepest parts of the forest a glooming, dark and eerie atmosphere that was perfect for the dead.
In the vast stillness of the enchanting forest, the ground beneath the vines and snow suddenly began to vibrated gently before rapidly getting violent as the monsters of various nature,rge and small, humanoid or beast¡ª suddenly came bursting out of the deep as they took off running through the various paths of the forest in a desperate need to get away from something.
Soon, severalrge masses of negative energy slowly began to move towards the east as the undead army marched steadily through the eastern parts of the Darknar forest. Scaring away everything weak living thing from their path.
Due to the narrow terrains of the eastern forest, therge army had split its forces into regiments or unitsof three thousand undead of varying types in rather strategic formations that were led by powerful and intellectual undead creatures.
Each unit of 3,000 undead would travel a different path through the forest and subjugate any demi-human vige or monster nest they came across. Sending their corpses back to the undead king who would then reanimate the dead to join his legion, steadily increasing the strength of his forces.
After sessfully conquering most of the western parts of the darknar forest, the original force of 20,000 undead had increased to an estimate of 30,000 with 3,000 plus demi-humans and monsters forming a single regiment after being forced to participate by the undead king else they be the undead themselves.
It would seem the undead king could make a limitless supply of undead in a day without any limits. This was something that should be impossible, even for an Arch Lich much less an Eldar Lich.
With that ability on his side, his immortal army would only grow stronger with each enemy they defeat. The army also had the aide of the queen of the south, Daenerys. An ancient Lamia, apanied by her Battle Legion.
In exchange for retaining the rights to rule her region without interference from Zerahut, as well as a part of the Northern forest. She had personally led a force to aid with his subjugation of the Darknar region.
Her forces only numbered in the hundreds but they were all individually insanely strong and worked better as a team than a horde of undead. However, as they were not immortal, they were stationed with her by Zerahut''s side. Forming a special unit with Zerahut''s personal guards.
In essence, their unit was the 11th and numbered only a thousand strong. Ast line of defense in case of emergencies.
Zerahut''s forces of 30,000 undead were divided into regiments,posed of 3,000 different undead of different smaller toons that specialized in varying tasks.
In total, 10 different regiments or units were marching separately through the narrow paths of the forest with Zerahut''s unit station at the back.
Each unit wasmanded by one of Zerahut''s generals who were all undead creatures as strong or even stronger than himself.
In total, he had created nine Undead Generals. They were brilliant warriors with the ability tomandrge hordes of the undead. They were also directly linked to hisnd via soul Link and as such, they could execute his strategies wlessly.
The General of the first Unit, or simply unit 1 was the Bonew, Raziril. A monster that had been with Zerahut from the very beginning. Born to eviscerate every living creature ites across, it was a deadly intellectual monster that was then called the hand of death.
Unit 2 General was the Eldar Lich, Feverant. He was a creature born as a Lich to serve Zerahut and had evolved with help from the Orb of death.
The General of Unit 3 was the Soul Dominator. A true demigod wraith names Lezor. The creature had the power of the essence of the soul itself. This was a creature Zerahut had bound only thanks to the help of Mammon.
Next was the Angel of decay Azatta and the DeathLock Deni. They were both given to him by Mammon himself so Zerahut didn''t have much control over them.
The generals of Unit 6, 7, and 8 were all summoned by Zerahut temporarily for a duration of a month thanks to the Orb of Death. They were a Wight, a Mummy Lord, and a Doom Lord respectively.
Last was the chained Giant. A true Giant from the near-extinct Giant race. This was physically his strongest creation. While there was also notable undead amongst his army, the majority of them were weaklings like skeletons and zombies.
However, as long as his generals execute his strategy when facing stronger forces, they could not lose. The 10th unit waspromised of only semi-humans and was led by one of the Queen of the south''s Lieutenant named Zero, the Minotaur Lord.
The army''s current destination was the demon king''s castle as they aimed to meet up with the behemoth of Greed, Mammon.
ording to their agreement, he should''ve disabled the barrier around the castle by now. Allowing Zerahut to extend his influence throughout the Darknar region, using the castle as his base.
As Zerahut''s special unit was located at the back of the army, they were thest to enter the boundaries of the eastern forest. They nned on moving straight ahead slowly until the other units conquers the entire eastern part of the darknar forest.
His choice was based solely so the other units could more easily have ess to him to more efficiently receive corpses and send back newly created undead to constantly increase his forces.
Zerahut sat leisurely on a throne made entirely of bones and was being carried around by ck Knights of his creation as they move steadily towards the demon king''s castle. He stared at the rough orb in his hands as the mes in his eyes flickered like candle lights in the wind.
The orb emitted a faint glow that gently pulsates like a heartbeat, making Zerahut¡ª who could not breathe and had no heartbeat because he was undead¡ª take deep breaths as he felt his core pounding louder in anticipation.
"Soon, very soon."
*Hiss "You seem to be getting impatient young Zerahut."
A soft voice gently echoed from beside Zerahut as he turned his bony head around to see Daenerys looking at him with a fascinated expression as she sat on her throne that was also being carried through the forest by her guards.
An army of undead, as well as her own legion, marched silently behind them in a tight formation that prevented any direct ess to them. Their thrones were also surrounded by magic barriers that prevented any projectile attacks.
Her personal guardspromised of handsome male Lamias who¡ª unlike the females, possess demon-like horns protruding from the side of their heads.
Just like Daenerys, these malemias were bare-chested, wearing only metal vambraces with different melee weapons strapped to their backs of the waist.
These Lamias as well as minotaurs were the main members of her Battle legion.
"There''s no need to be worried about me Queen Daenerys. I''ve waited centuries for this, I can wait even for a few more years."
"Worried? Why would I be worried?"
Zerahut nced at Daenerys for a second, the mes in his eye socket intensifying for a brief moment before he returned his gaze forward.
Daenerys chuckled to herself gently, an entrancing smile was stered on her beautiful face as her snake-like tongue licked her supple lips.
She didn''t care much for Zerahut, her only intentions here were to stay alive. Unlike the other four kings who couldn''t see past their noses, she could urately grasp the bigger picture of every situation.
She also kept tabs on the entire darknar forest and was well aware of the strength Zerahut wielded and his visit from a certain behemoth.
On his own, Zerahut''s army of undead could not threaten her but after that visit, he gained newfound strength that she could no longer ignore and had decided to aide him on her own terms instead of waiting to be conquered by the mad king.
After all, he was undead and she could not tempt him with lust nor could she control his mind with her spells. The only path left to her was to ally herself with him or bow. Her presence here alone would keep the remaining member of the four kings at bay until they met up with this behemoth.
"We''ve crossed into the Eastern territories. This was the domain of the Beast King, the Ancient Rykir. There are also demon scouts out here so what will you do?"
Daenerys spoke as though the issue did not concern her and she was only a spectator in the war. Zerahut could understand the undertone hidden in her voice but chose not to address it. His ghastly voice that did not belong in thend of the living then reverberated in the surroundings.
"There''s no need to worry about that. The demons have already been evicted from the forest. All that''s left is engross this region in the aura of death and my ritual will be a sess."
"I see."
She nodded her head in understanding as she grasped the full extent of Zerahut''s n which she felt was a little too dependent on his newfound partner. If something were to happen to that behemoth, everything he''s done thus far would be for naught.
The worst part of that unfortunate oue was that she, as well as her forces, would be caught in the crossfires. This possibility was the reason she had brought only a single legion.
"Do you still underestimate me, Queen Daenerys? How troublesome. Let me show you a little of my night then."
Sensing the unrest in Daenerys''s heart, Zerahut snorted. He then raised the orb of death in his hand up a little and the shadows all around them morphed slightly as a massive pitch-ck hand rose from the ground.
Halting the advancement of their special unit.
"Wha¡ª what is this?"
A look of shock and absolute despair could be seen on Daenerys''s face as she raised her head just to see the ck forehand that even broke past the top of the giant trees.
A bloodthirsty aura beyond herprehension gusted out of the shadow hand almost driving her forces insane when Zerahut immediately lowered his hand and the shadows were forced back into the ground without a trace.
After his brief demonstration that had only taken a little over 2 seconds. Zerahut turned back to faced the stunned Queen and the mes in his eyes flickered as he spoke.
"Know this, I am Zerahut, the immortal Undead King of the West. I rely on no one. I serve no one and will bow to no one. It doesn''t matter if it is man or god. Whoever stands in my way will fall."
With an army of over 30,000 undead generating so much negative energy, there was an abundance of energy absorbed by the Orb of Death for him to use various Ritualistic spells that require countless mages and time in less than a second.
Spells that could even kill this so-called primordial behemoth. There was no way he was foolish enough to trust his fate, much less his ns on the whims of an arrogant demon child.
Whether or not that behemoth was still alive was not his problem. He had obtained the resources he needed to im this region, and by the time he was done. He had enough negative energy to be a true god.
This was the true reason he had epted to work with Mammon. He would never trust a demon again in his life and the moment he ascended beyond the mortal ne, he would kill that arrogant kid himself.
No one was allowed to look down on the Undead king. He would be the personification of death itself.
This war was the birth of the God of Death, Zerahut the immortal.
Chapter 248 C248. Unit 8
The progress of the undead army through the eastern parts of the darknar forest was surprisingly fast. They had failed toe across any Demi-human viges, nor did they run into any monster nests. Only encountering the asional stray monsters that were too dumb to foresee their doom.
p This situation would be considered a little unusual at any other time but no one currently found it strange. After all, the king of beast, the Ancient Rykir has been dead for a while now, leaving the eastern parts of the forest in chaos.
Normally, the death of one of the four kings would cause an uproar in the forest as every single monster would attempt to expand their territories. Contending amongst themselves on who could ascend as the n¨¦w beast king.
This would normally turn that part of the forest into a literal war zone until someone evolves or bes strong enough to im the title of king. However, this oue had probably been derailed by the activities of Zerahut in the west.
The monsters that fled from the west would most likely cause power struggle to be over-saturated. Causing most of the monsters and Demi-humans here to migrate in fear of what''s toe.
The mass of negative energy their army emitted was enough to drive even a Lord ss monster scurrying away in fright so this situation was partially expected.
Due to this, their progress thus far had been faster than they had expected. In less than 24 hours, the army had made it to the other end of the Eastern parts of the Darknar forest and in less than two hours, the undead army would exit the forest.
As soon as that was done, their path to the demon king''s castle would be wide open and without obstructions. As the army had been split into regiments or 3,000 undead, it was only natural they all had varying levels of progress out of the forest and the fastest unit would exit the forest in less than then minutes.
This was Unit 8. A unit led by a Doom Lord, a Lord ss monster that was only a fraction weaker than the current undead king. He was a summoned monster that draws power from his rapidly depleting lifeforce and as such, can only exist in this ne for a short time.
The Doom Lord marched in front of its unit like a tanking vanguard of nightmares. It was an undead monster standing more than 7ft tall, d in full te blood-red armor.
He wore a demonic horned blood-red helmet over its entire head with only a vertical slit that showed the mes burning in its eyes. Ablood-stained cape hung off his back. Adorning his red full-te armor with multiple scythe-like curved des.
Although the Doom Lord who had been gifted the name, Oval marched at the front of his unit with his death scythe in hand. He did not seem particrly on guard nor worried about surprise frontal assaults.
He had a passive skill that reflect projectile attacks and reduced magic damage by 50% while boosting his attack power as his health rapidly decreased.
His regiment consisted of 1,000 skeletal infantry, 200 heavy infantry, 500 undead Mage Artillery corp, 400 Undead Magic support unit, 800 undead beast Riders, and 100 Wild cards called the Assault Team.
This was the standard formation of all 10 units with rather small differences in the specific numbers. The strength of these units were the Generals and the 100 wild cards. (Assault Team)
These wild cards were simply just powerful undead of varying types whose strength could not be properly utilized inrge groups and as such werebined into the strongest attacking force of the entire Unit.
The undead magic support unit was in charge of healing the troops with negative type spells as well as providing support to the rangers by enchanting their bows and arrows were maintaining a defensive barrier around each individual unit.
With each force split into separate toons, the undead magic support unit was also split into smaller units and assigned to each toon except for the beast riders who also served as advance scouts for the entire Unit.
A few of these beast-riders had been sent by Oval to investigate the path ahead. This was why he was moving so leisurely through the dangerous forest as he would be informed the moment any dangers appear before them.
After walking through the forest for a little, several beast riders rode their beast back to the group. An armored Wraith riding on a phantom beast rode next to him then spoke a disturbing yet ethereal voice.
"Lord Oval, we''ll be clearing this forest in a few minutes into an open snowfield."
[What is the situation there?]
"There is nothing worth your notice outside the forest. Our destination can be seen in the distance."
[I see... what of the other Units?]
"The closest unit to the exit is about 40 minutes away. They are the first regiment."
[Oh, Raziril''s unit Huh? How annoying.]
Oval scuff as he heard the word firstes out of the wraith''s non-existent mouth. He was a Doom Lord, a level above the so-called Bonew but as his life was limited, he could not hope to be his Master''s number one servant.
However, the fact that such a title had fallen to a monster weaker than him irked him greatly. He wished to prove himself to his summoner by outshining every other Unit in this war but it seems his most directpetitor would be his hated opponent who was too weak to be called a rival.
[Hmm... How perfect. I get to spend my remaining time, besting that fool.]
Although his face was covered behind the demon-like helmet, it would seem Oval was now in a good mood as the oppressive air around him had lightened slightly.
His group then continued down the forest path in their assigned formation and just as the scouts had said, they soon exited the forest. They were the first Unit to do so as they had taken the shortest possible route by chance. Or perhaps it was fate deeming him worthy of being number 1.
Their job now would be to set up and defend a camp in the outskirts of the forest where they would await their creator. While the dead did not feel fatigued, they could not advance to the castle without permission.
However¡ª
Contrary to the scouting report, the moment thest toon hadpletely gotten a good distance clear of the forest where retreating was no longer a viable option. The sky was instantly lit with ming arrows that exploded upon impact with their defensive barriers.
The sheer number of these exploding arrows was insane. It was as though thousands of enemies had suddenly appeared in the space ahead of them.
The barriers could not withstand the force of so many explosions and shattered in the first wave as more arrows descended on the army''s various toons.
The undead was naturally weak to fire and as such, this surprise attack had done devastating damage to their forces. Rapidly reducing their numbers.
Having traveled through the forest for the entire day, they had only managed to exit the forest at night so granted, the snowfield beyond the forest was enshrouded inplete darkness and one would be forgiven for not noticing an ambush even one of such magnitude.
However, every undead creature had the racial trait to see in the dark yet they had been met with a surprise attack. Oval could not understand why as the exploding arrows were deflected by his personal barriers.
The mes in his eyes intensified as he red at the snowfield and finally saw there were users.
Shadowy creatures had morphed out of the ground before their very eyes. These creatures were wolf-type beasts that were being ridden by humanoid creatures with pale green skin tone.
They donned pitch-ck armors and wielded exquisite crossbows that seems to fire multiple rounds of arrowheads consecutively and without the need to reload. It was like a barrage of exploding arrows raining down endlessly at them.
?Doom Dome?
Seeing his entire unit get decimated by the exploding arrows, Oval immediately used a defensive skill that created a massive red dome around his forces as he immediately ordered his magic artery Corp to counter fire.
The toon of Liches, Demi Lich, and Zombie Mages immediately began firing their spells at the hobgoblins in the distance. About 50 or so hobgoblins were riding on the backs of nightmare wolves as they annoyingly merge with the shadows and escaped their attacks.
With the barrage of arrows halted, Oval could finally move freely before the night riders could regroup and begin another round of that devastating attacks.
He promptlymanded the Heavy infantry to protect the Magic Artillery corp who were to cover their backs as he moved forward with the wide cards who immediately ran widely at the bunch.
Noticing their charge, the shadow riders quickly retreated towards the greyad ins, and Oval couldn''t help but snort.
Where were these the advance forces of an enemy troop or were they just a vige of demi-humans trying desperately to resist the reign of the undead king.
Either scenario did not matter to him. He was a Doom Lord summoned by the undead king to kill everything in his path and make them submit. The reason they resisted him was irrelevant.
?Crescent Severance?
Dismissing the reasoning of his enemies from his mind, Oval swirled the death scythe in his hand as the light that shone from the slit in his helmet glowed blood red as he swung his scythe at the escaping shadow riders with murderers intent.
Five blood-red auras shaped like a crescent moon gusted out of his scythe as though they were a savage beast that had broken free from their cage and was staving for blood.
They changed the structure of the very group as they chased after the shadow riders. The other members of the Assault Team alsounched dangerous attacks at the fleeing hobgoblins who desperately tried to dodge the attacks.
However, even hiding in the shadows wouldn''t save them this time as they werepletely outnumbered and equally outmatched. This appeared to be the end for them as the colorful attacks were about to quickly devour them.
However¡ª
The moment the bombardment of attacks was to make contact, every hobgoblin riding on nightmare wolves in front of them disappeared before their eyes.
Oval almost questioned his undead senses as he had failed to sense the magic or skill that was triggered to pull something like this off. It was virtually impossible for anyone to escape his Doom domain without him sensing it in time to stop their escape.
The only possible way for this to happen was a switch. That means for them to be teleported away, something of equal value had to take their ce yet he failed to see anyone or anything rece the disappeared riders.
His entire pursuit hade to a sudden halt as more than a hundred high-tiered undead had failed to stop 50 or so hobgoblins.
Well, in the next second, he was forced into a realization that an equivalent exchange had indeed happened and he had only tailed to sense what had taken the ce of 50 Nightriders because he was far too weak to sense the aura of the being that had just descended upon them.
[Master?...]
While he was wearing a demon-shaped helmet, one could easily sense his confusion and meekness from the tone of his voice as he raised his head to gaze at the magnificent figure of the divine being of absolute darkness that stood in the sky.
A 7ft tall skeleton whose bones were a glistening ck, stood in the air above Oval and his troops, overlooking them as though he was staring at inferior creatures that did not even warrant his full attention.
A blue me gently burnt in his eye sockets as an ash and gold color luxurious robe adorned his body as they gently fluttered in the night breeze.
Chapter 249 C249. Emrys
[Master?...]
At Oval''s unnaturally meek voice that had utteredsuch a shocking word, the High-tiered undead around him all simultaneously raised their heads to match his gaze. The undead do not know fear and werepletely immune to negative status effects or mental influence.
Yet¡ª
Every single one of them without exception had taken a step back in hesitation. Their aggressive pursuit from earlier hade to aplete halt as they marveled at the figure who was clearly the personification of death itself.
There was no need for any exnation as they had all sensed it the moment theyid eyes on the ck skeleton. Their very existence was being suppressed by this being''s gaze alone and they could even feel their mental state being affected.
Without the shadow of a doubt, this figure was a divine being of the undead race, an ArchLich.
Up until this point, there had only been one person they had considered to be the personification of death itself and that was their master and creator, the undead king. Yet this being of absolute ckness and despair had an aura of death around him that far surpasses that of their creator.
If their master is to be considered the undead king, then it stands to reason that this being was none other than the god of the undead. This was the level at which their master seeks to attain.
[No!]
For a brief moment, the abrupt battle in the outskirts of the darknar forest was paused but that was not tost as Oval finally snapped out of his daze. It didn''t matter if this creature was an undead of a greater ne than his master.
He had simply been summoned to serve one master and that was the undead king, Zerahut. As the one who should rightfully be considered his master''s number one General, he could not let himself bow to another.
?Reign of Doom?
In a spark of rage, an oppressive aura in the form of blood-red smog spewed out of him at a rapid rate that quickly epassed a radius of more than a half-mile.
The red smog Increased all hisbat-rted stats in exchange for a faster life force depletion rate. However, he could now ignore any suppression that came from high-level existences of the same race.
This basically allowed him to fight stronger opponents without being suppressed by their divinity.
Moreover, any undead creatures within his smog would take less damage from light or holy elemental magic attacks.
While this was a great ability for a general of an undead army to have, it also meant if his enemy was an undead, they would also receive this buff.
However, that was irrelevant as he did not possess any such skills or spells.
With the sudden boost to their resistances, his entire unit instantly recovered from the effects of the ArchLich''s aura of death and regained their vigor.
[ Attack!! Kill that imposter!]
Hearing the deafening roar of a Doom Lord, the undead forces quickly went into action as the mage Artillery Corp began casting spells upon spells in rapid suggestion. Using theirrge mana reserves to the fullest.
The rangers also fired countless arrows while the beast riders were to nk the enemy and the infantry units charged forward with the heavy infantry at the front.
They were mostly to serve as cannon fodders, creating a chance for Oval and the Assault Team to exploit.
However¡ª
Everything had all been in vain.
One would expect their opponents to dodge or rather attempt to block such numerous attacks with all their spells and skills but neither of those had happened as the moment the cloud of dust produced by the spells faded away, it revealed the figure of the ArchLich still standing in the air without even moving back an inch.
Not even his clothing had been damaged by those barrage of attacks even though those arrows and spells had made constant.
An illusionary book that wasn''t there before now floated beside him as its pages flipped from one after the other as though it was devoured fine something of its own ord.
[You wish to fight me, Maggots?]
It was a genuine and serious question given the tone at which it was delivered by the ArchLich''s oppressive figure but none could tell if he was joking. Why would he evene here if not to fight?
[Is that a Joke. Ridiculous!]
Feed up with being looked down upon by this undead, Oval roared in anger as his aura exploded and he lunged into the sky at the floating ArchLich, his death scythe was engulfed in red mes as a second scythe appeared in his arm and he began to swirl rapidly in the air like a furious tornado.
?Death Vortex?
The raging whirlwind of death that seems to garrote the wind towards it, sucking everything around it into the magically sharp des that shredded anything in an instant¡ª shot towards the ArchLich.
However, a massive wall of seemingly dense mes as hot as the sun suddenly materialized in the air, stopping his death''s vortex in its tracks as Oval''s figure plummeted back down to the ground like a falling meteor.
[Hellfire Wall.]
The eerie wall of mes that had suddenly appeared in the sky slowly dissipates the moment Oval''s body had mmed into the ground.
As the ArchLich was still in the air, none of the beast riders or infantry units could do anything against him. Effectively limiting the entire regiment''s method of attacks.
Even as Oval picked himself up from the ground, the mage artillery corps and the rangers with assistance from the magic support units, continuously fired attacks at the ArchLich.
However, every single attack continued to bounce off his bones and clothing like they were nothing, his resistances must really be off the charts. Then again, as a Demigod of the undead race, his presence alone reduces the strength of weaker members of his race, thereby, increasing the vast distance between them.
Watching this tragic scene, Oval could not feel any strong emotions due to his state as undead which was why he was not currently angry at being plugged into the soil as though he were a nobody. However, he could not allow himself to lose here as that would surely bring shame to his master.
Bending his armored knees again, he lunged back up at the ArchLich with full force. This time, aiming to go head to head. He raised both scythes behind his head as the red mes intensified and the moment he got close enough, he swung his de with everything he had.
?Twin Doom sh?
Both des swung down with devastating speed as the attack seems to be converging at the center of ArchLich''s core. If both attacks could hit the same spot at exactly the same time, it could cause a catastrophic explosion that would take half the continent with it but as they were in the air, it should limit the damage to only the ArchLich.
However, his hopes were literally swatched away as his attack was halted mid-flight. Before he could even keep up with what was happening, the ArchLich had moved forward and caught his scythes by their des with its bare hands.
[You seem to want to fight me by all means. However, my orders were simply to destroy and not toy around with Maggots but perhaps I shall give you a fighting chance.]
*Crack... *crack... *Crack!
*Shatter!
With only a light squeeze of his bony hands, Emrys shattered the des of Oval''s scythe and he promptly plummeted back to the ground given as he can''t fly and the held weapons were the only things keeping him in the air.
Emrys''s figure then slowly descended to the ground despite the persistent attacks of the undead mages and archers. As he watched Oval stand back up despite losing his weapons, the mes in his eyes flickered as he spoke again.
[You are called a Doom Lord correct?]
Naturally, there was no response from Oval but Emrys did not require one.
[Here''s your chance. If you survive, I''ll consider this your victory and withdraw to ept the punishment for my failure.]
[Summon Undead Legion.]
[Doom Lords]
As though heeding to hismands, countless magic circles appeared on the ground beneath him as over a hundred hulking red armored warrior wielding death scythes rose.
They were all Doom Lords almost as strong as Oval and the moment they appeared, they lunged forth at the army that still have over 2,000 undead left of their entire unit.
If this had been a battle between the living then one would be able to describe this as nothing short of a blood bath. Although Oval had reformed new weapons with his aura and was holding his own against three Doom Lords.
His assault team was also able to stall the hoed of Doom Lords a little in hopes that the mages and rangers would finish them off but that did notst quite long as the Doom Lords quickly gained the advantage. Still, there were a few notable individual undead that was able to take on a Doom Lord and win.
The same could not be said for the entire regiment. The beast riders who had tried to nk Emrys were met by the Doom Lords as they brutally ripped them apart with countless Death Vortex.
The ability to sacrifice their life force for strength gave them an absolute advantage over the Assault team and thus, their numbers were steadily being reduced.
This could no longer be called a battle as even the mages were unable topletely destroy a single Doom Lord with concentrated attacks. In less than five minutes, even Oval could no longer withstand the onught of so many Doom Lords as he was destroyed by thebined force of 4 Doom Lords.
Even as a few of his Doom Lords fell, they continued to run wild against the army as theyshattered through the ranks of the heavy infantry while chanting ging at the mages and rangers in the far end.
[Seems even this much was more than enough. In the end, you were all Maggots till every end.]
Although his Doom Legion had decimated the entire army of 3,000 undead, the remnants of the army did not retreat as they continued to attack without fear. This was one of the strengths and weaknesses of an undead army without any leadership.
[As per my orders. There is still a lot I have left to do so I''ll grant the rest of you the mercy of quick deaths.]
Judging that the battle is over with the fall of the enemy''smander, Emrys then called back his Legion as he cast a spell while augmenting its effects with his skill, Darkness maniption.
[Dark Pir.]
A massive pir of absolute darkness suddenly came crashing down from the sky as it disintegrated the remnants of the undead army in mere seconds before it faded into the night.
In less than 20 minutes, an entire regiment of 3,000 undead of varying types had beenpletely wiped out by a single being as though he had simply been trampling on ants.
Emrys then studied the massive crater his spell had created in the former battleground and judged that he had aplished his mission. Complete annihtion of the enemy''s first unit in a dominating fashion.
This was a statement for all that was watching. A disy of strength so grand, it would make one shiver at the mere thought of engaging such a force.
However, this was only the beginning for both sides. After all, both sides were yet to disy their true strength.
With that done, Emrys then descended before his remaining Doom Lords that now number around 80, and a massive ck tear opened up behind the legion. This was one of his transportation spells of the highest caliber.
[Gate]
His horde of Doom Lords then marched into the gate as it promptly closed behind them as Emrys''s body disappeared from the snowfield in the next instance.
The first battle of the night had ended up in aplete victory for his master. He could only wait in anticipation at what happens next.
Chapter 250 C250. Unit 1
¡ªAround 30 Minutes ago.
A unit of approximately 3,000 undead of various types¡ª marched through the darknar forest in a tight formation. A tall bony figure could be seen at the center of their formation, with the most powerful undead in the regiment marching behind him.
This figure was none other than the right hand of the undead king, the Bonew¡ª Raziril.
He was a tall slightly skeletal figure who resembled humanoids who were half skeletal and a half without skin, with his sinew and muscle exposed.
The most prominent feature of his was its ws; its three, bony fingernails seem to grow and shrink randomly between two to ten feet long, and were seemingly razor-sharp.
Raziril''s origin was a mystery to even himself as he had first appeared before Zerahut the moment he became an Eldar Lich. It was unknown if he had been born from the remnants of energy that had turned Zerahut undead or perhaps he behalf been summoned from another ne by a passive ability of his master.
Raziril''s bony figure moved at the center of his regiment as he positioned his Assault team behind the heavy infantry. His unit possesses a toon of phantom walkers that were used as advance scouts along with the best riders.
These spirits weren''t particrly strong but were specialized in stealth-based assessments. As such, Raziril had assigned them to keep track of the entire undead army while also scouting ahead of the group.
ording to the scouting reports he just recaps, they were currently the second-fastest unit to approach the exit of eastern parts of the forest.
However, their exit speed did not really matter to him. As the right hand of his master, his first priority was to see his master''s deepest desirese to pass.
And right now, that entails filling the entire demon continent with the aura of death and destruction. Creating massive amounts of negative energy that would grant his master more strength.
[Lord Raziril.]
[What is it?]
An incorporeal floating being had suddenly materialized beside him and spoke in an ethereal yet ghastly voice that was here but seems far away.
[It appears the 5th regiment has just engaged in a battle against a new enemy. They seem to have been ambushed. Do we redirect some of our forces to serve as reinforcements?]
Hearing that, Raziril thought about the content of those words seriously as he shook his head then replied.
[Unit 5? Right, the unit is led by that Doom Lord. It''s fine, there''s no point in splitting our forces. If the enemy was aware of our positioning to ambush us one unit at a time, then we best be prepared.]
[Understood. We''ll scout further ahead for an ambush immediately.]
Saying that after understanding his intentions, the phantom walker disappeared from their sight.
[Do we send a message to his majesty about this, Lord Raziril?]
[No need. As I am now aware of it. Lord Zerahut is as well.]
One of the members of his assault team behind him asked and Raziril answered swiftly. He was not the right hand of the undead king because of his strength, nor was it because he was with him the longest.
He was considered the undead king''s number 1 aide because of his mental connection that transcended the typical soul link of the undead and its creator.
He could share his knowledge with his master without the need for conversation. As long as he willed it, his master would be able to share in his senses no matter the distance between them.
This was why he had been assigned as a general instead of remaining hidden inside of his master as his protector.
With that, they continued their march towards the outskirts of the forest while killing any foolish monsters that came their way and sending their corpses back to their master''s unit.
They had only moved for about 10 minutes when the phantom scout from earlier appeared besides Raziril ones more and spoke respectfully.
[We''ve located a small force lying in wait outside the forest. They seem to have predicted our exit point and are prepared to ambush us.]
[So they''ve been spying on us. Even with so many phantoms and spirits in our forces. Their spies must be really skilled. Howrge is the ambush?]
[Approximately around 300. They seem to bepromised of Mostly Hobgoblins and are led by some kind of lesser demon.]
[A band of goblins. Ridiculous. I''ll rip the flesh clean off their bones.]
His cows extended at the thought of blood but he soon regained his calm. While it seems these gushers were underestimating them, he could not do the same as their numbers may be a trick. Even their races might just be a disguise.
[What should we do about the ambush General?]
The one to address him now was his second inmand, an undead being known as a Visage. It appeared as a shapeless body with a grinning mask-like face and long deadly ws.
In this form, it only appeared incorporeal, in reality, it was not dense but still weighed around 75 pounds. Its kind was often were confused with wraiths.
[Maintain our current formation and have your team ready. We''ll rid these goblins of their lives quickly and send their bodies back to Lord Zerahut.]
[As youmand.]
[It''s best we handled this quickly. If there is an enemy out there with Intel on us. They may be targeting our units individually. We''ll have to reinforce our weaker units.]
[Understood.]
The visage nodded as he moved to order the assault team. It was the leader of that team and they prepared to nk the ambushers before they could understand what was going on.
With that, they continued their advancement, and in the next 20 minutes, they finally exited the forest,ing out into semi rocky ins that had been covered in snow.
Raziril''s unit looked straight ahead at the force of an armored hobgoblin led by a female karma oni still dressed in a short traditional Chinese dress even in such cold weather.
The moment the entire unit was clear from the forest, the girl yelled and drew out two short oddly shaped de-like weapons strapped to her slender thighs and charged at them with her men following closely behind.
An aged hobgoblin with short white hair and beard, wearing a mage''s robe had taken flight with around 30 mages as they provided area support.
[Fire at will.]
Giving his orders, Raziril mages Artillery unit and longbowmen with the aide of their magic support unit aimed and fired countless shots that almost covered the entire sky. Their aim seems to be focused on bringing down the hobgoblin''s flying mages.
"Rapid shots!"
Running at the head of the group, Hecate fired tiny magic pelletsfrom her weapons and boosted their range and strength with a skill.
Her shots canceled our most of the magic attacks and Kraz and his mage unit took care of the rest with counterspells.
A few female hobgoblins the size of Azar and with muscles to match charged past her while wildly swinging the massive weapons in their hands.
They deflected what was left of the iing enchanted arrows aimed at them and the group closed the distance in a short time.
Raziril was not surprised either was he worried that this bunch had easily nullified the first wave of his attacks. After all, this was only the beginning.
[Advance.]
He ordered and his heavy infantry charged to stop the hobgoblins'' advance and seeded even though they had lost one-third of their ranks in the sh. The mage artillery unit also pinned down the Mages unit of the mushers as they could now just barely keep themselves alive much less provide support.
He then had his beast Riders move to attack the ground unit from the side as his assault team had already used a mass invisibility spell and moved behind the group.
In their foolishness to ambush them, they had just ended up falling prey to such a simple tactic. They were now nothing more than caged rats as theassault team would rip them apart from behind in no time.
[You lose.]
As his assault team appeared behind the group of hobgoblins while his riders charge at them from the sides, boxing them in.
Raziril shorted as he prepared to calcte the exit point of the next regiment so he could adequately provide support against the other possible ambushers.
However¡ª
"Ice Garden."
A soft voice rang out across the in like the sounds of a gentle bell as a magic circle suddenly appeared underneath the charging undead assault team.
Thorny vines of ice suddenly sprout out of the ground and they grasped the legs and bodies of the entire assault team. Even incorporeal beings like spirits, ghosts, and wraiths were no exceptions to these magic ice vines.
,m After all, this spell had been augmented with the skill of Absolute freezing and nothing could escape the cold grip of the frozen garden.
Flowers made of ice began to bloom on the bodies of the entire assault team and the moment they did, they became nothing more than ice sculptures in a garden of ice that would never melt.
[What! Who did that?]
Surprised at the sudden development, Raziril bellowed for answers as he extended his ws while expanding his senses in an attempt to find whoever was interfering with his ns.
"Hiya... you''re all skin and bones ain''t ya? You look like you need to eat more."
*Swoosh *Boom!
Suddenly hearing a cheery voice from beside him, Raziril did not panic but hastily swung his ws in the direction but failed to cut anything but air and the ground. Shuttering the rocky surface. The shock wave of his attack even sent a bunch of his troops flying away after being cut to pieces.
"Wow, those things are really sharp, you should really put them away, hehe."
Frankly, if he had eyeballs eight now they would surely have fallen out of their sockets as he could not believe what was happening.
There was a girl. An extremely beautiful female dark elf d In purplish-ck assassin gears with exquisite purple vambraces and greaves. Two contrasting bracelets were glistening on her arms as she tossed aside something of his as though it was garbage.
Lowering his gaze towards his right lower side, he confirmed the legitimacy of this reality as his entire right arm was gone.
[An assassin. So you aimed to take me out first after using those goblins as bait.]
Rain looked at this creature with a slightly perplexed expression on her face as she smirked.
"You''re grossly overestimating your importance. After all¡ª"
Raziril was undead, so naturally, he could not blink. Yet he had lost track of the world-ss Beauty, and in the next moment. Even in the midst of battle, he felt the energy draining from him and his entire body was shattered into pieces by a single lightning-infused punch.
He felt his core shattered and his connection with his master cut off before soon, his consciousness faded into the darkness.
"¡ªWe didn''te all this way for the likes of you. Isn''t that right, big sis?"
"Oh, I''m pretty sure my sister''s dead. Who might you be?"
Chapter 251 C251. The Alcars Representative
While Rain stood amid an active battlefield cheekily taunting the Undead General who was only a Tier 5 Bonew. Hecate¡ª the recent chief of the Raven settlement ¡ª led a team of around 250 high-tiered warriors of the Raven settlement to defend against the undead beast riders boxing them in on both sides while they attempt to break free from the hold of the undead heavy infantry before them.
The undead mage artillery Corp and magic support units were being kept busy by only 50 of her mages who were using flight magic and the protection scrolls they got from Z to maneuver around the undead army in a constant stream of area bombardment.
As the undead army was yet to conquer the southern and northern parts of the Darknar forest, their teamck sufficient amounts of flying forces but that didn''t mean they werepletely vulnerable from the skies.
The magic support units had set up a powerful magic barrier around the army that protected them from ranged attacks, be it physical or magical in nature.
Still, with assail unit beingpletely frozen in a Garden of ice, the average tier of the undead army hovered around Tier 2, with the majority of the infant rows being Tier 1 skeletons and zombies.
The average Tier of Hecate forces was a tier above that being at the Tier 3 standard. Aside from the special unit led by Orias, thus was the strongest force the Raven settlement had in hand.
With the difference in quality and quantity ovepping, this meant neither team held an advantage over the other and would remain in a stalemate until one of them lost their protection or made a mistake.
However, that didn''t matter to Kraz and his mages as they had only been assigned to keep the mages busy until their General was dead and soon after¡ª
"Widened Magic- IceScape."
??????????
??????????
As the assigned General of Unit 1, Raziril prided himself on not being reckless, he was his master''s eyes and ears in the frontlines so he could not give in to the temptations of reaping off the flesh of his enemies from their fragile bones.
He had to watch and observe the entire battle to get a better feel of the limits of the enemies'' strengths whilemanding his forces with soul links.
However ¡ª
Everything had suddenly gone wrong when all of a sudden, every single member of his assault unit was frozen in a disgusting gardenof ice that seems to have been pulled out of the deepest parts of hell.
He hadn''t even seen who had cast such a devastating spell when a dark elf with a beauty that surpasses that of mortals suddenly appeared beside him without him even sensing her presence.
He had instinctively felt the threat of death and struck first but had lost his arm in the process. The enemy had gone through so much trouble just to kill him, he thought.
They must''ve sensed he was mentally connected to his master and had sent their strongest fighters to kill.
He was about to prepare for a final stand before he would be surrounded but the elf''s next words had confused him.
What does she mean he wasn''t important.
He was the right hand of the Undead King.
How could there be anyone else here of more importance than him?
He would never find out the answers to those questions as his core was shattered without resistance and his consciousness faded away with only thest words of the elf echoing in his entire being.
"¡ªWe didn''te all this way for the likes of you. Isn''t that right, big sis?"
??????????
??????????
At Rain''s words, a female undead with the pale skin of ck and white, resembling the appearance of a banshee that had stood in the midst of the fighting Mages Artillery unit without doing anything, tilted her head as she moved forward with a cold expression on her face.
"Oh, I''m pretty sure my sister''s death. Who might you be?"
Rain chucked at her response and smiled cheekily as her eyes narrowed.
"Don''t go killing me off just from a little jump over a cliff. Well, I guess you were never much of a sister, to begin with."
Her voice steadily got serious as two daggers appeared in her hands and she adopted a fighting stance.
The woman who looked and felt like a banshee also narrowed her eyes as she studied Rain''s stance. A furious agitation appeared on her face.
"So you really did survive that jump. To think my deserter of a little sister was alive the whole time. How much trouble can one child be to her older sister."
"So I was trouble to deal with Huh? I suppose letting your sister be experimented on can be quite the border. My apologies, I''ll try to be tortured more peacefully from now on."
"You''re as obnoxious as ever I see. From that ice attack earlier, I guess you''re still running around with that thing you call a frien¡ª"
Before the banshee could evenplete her sentence, a de had already been pressed against her slender throat as Rain who she had ced all her attention on after seeing how she was able to easily destroy the Bonew, had still instantly appeared in front of her before she knew what had happened.
''So¡ª so fast!''
"I''ll watch my mouth about my friend if he were you. Cause the next time you talk about her like that again, you being my sister won''t save your head from being separated from your body."
"Oi Oi, let''s not get carried away brat!"
*Whoooosh... *BOOM!
Interrupting her was arge man d in ck full te armor as though he was a ck Knight without a weapon. He had suddenly appeared beside Rain and threw a punch thousands of timesfaster than the speed of sound.
Still, it wasn''t fast enough as Rain could easily dodge it by lightly leaping back. The shockwave from his fist alone had caused a sonic boom and changed thendscape of the ins for more than a hundred miles.
"You''ve gotten a lot faster since thest time I saw you brat. How so? Did you betray the family?"
Wondering how the Rain he knew before was now able topletely dodge a punch of his even when he had been holding back quite a bit, the ck Knight red at her as he asked. Standingnext to the banshee who was still in shock and was holding her slightly bleeding neck.
She seems to be dealing with the realization that the little sister she once looked down upon had held her life in the palm of her hands so easily only a moment ago.
Both of them didn''t act like normal undead and it was now clear to Rain that they were the only ones in this unit that were different from the rest.
ording to Lord Ty''s shadows, these were the two abnormally high presence hidden in this Unit of the undead army.
"Not sure who you are but let''s end this farce."
"Bold words from a runt like y¡ª"
"Widened Magic - IceScape."
Hearing that cold but familiar voice again, both the banshee and the ck Knight had instinctively turned around as they had a seriously bad feeling about that spell.
As always, their fears were urate as that voice always seems to be followed by a natural disaster.
The slender figure of a blonde world-ss beauty they were familiar with had suddenly appeared amid the unsuspecting undead mages Corp who were still focused on the flying hobgoblins.
She wore a luxurious tightly fitted white dress and draped over it a milky yellow mages robe that doubles as a winter cloak for some reason.
Everyone knew she was an ice demon that did not feel the cold so the irony of wearing the robe was not lost on them.
They instinctively moved to save themselves but were a bit too slow as in the next instant. A cold aura gusted out of her and instantly, the entire snowfield within a 2,000-meter radius was encased in ice.
It didn''t matter if you were friend or foe, all those who were in range would be frozen by the endless world of ice. Ghost, phantoms, wraiths. Nothing could escape being frozen by the coldest form of ice in existence.
Even with the entire area around her being encased in ice, Liz didn''t seem to be worried about her friend and the group of hobgoblins who had distracted the undead army long enough for them to locate the undead imposters without issues.
*Crack *Crack *crack *shatter!
Although this ice could not be destroyed using normal means, a dome-shaped hole had shattered around Rain and the 300 hobgoblins who had moved closer together at thest second.
The emerald bracelet in Rain''s arm glowing gently as the barrier around them disappeared. This was the ability of the Divine Tiered artifact Tyler had gifted her with.
Indomitable Shied. A barrier of almost absolute defense with the ability to absorb and reflect the energy of any attack shot at it. While the barrier it creates held its weaknesses, it was an absolute defense if used correctly.
"Wow, she really took out the entire army with a single spell."
"That''s just wrong."
"How strong is Lady Liz anyways."
The hobgoblins were in awe of Liz''s spell as the entire regiment was reduced to nothing more than icicles aster that attack.
However¡ª
Both girls were not that arrogant, they knew full well that a single spell was not enough to kill those two peculiar undead. It was as Z had said, the Great Five had indeed sent their forces to infiltrate the undead army just for the chance of taking advantage of any opportunity that came their way.
*BOOM!
The ice around them had suddenly shattered and Rain had to use her artifact''s skill to protect the hobgoblins once again.
"Hahaha... so that''s what you meant by farce. Magnificent. I won''t even take the fact that you''ve forgotten me personally anymore."
"Indeed. With the undead army gone, there''s no need for these silly disguises."
As they step out of the cloud of shattered ice. The aura around them changed as it skyrocketed and their figures morphed in a mirage as they dispelled the magic that allows them to infiltrate the undead army and returned to their original forms.
One was a dark elf with some resemnce to Rain and she had short white hair and green eyes. Wearing a seductive assassin''s garb and wielding a single short sword with a whip on her waist.
The other was arge male still on his ck full te armor with a helmet over his head that hide his face but his aura was a lot different now than it had been.
He wielded a single one-handed battle-ax in had hand as they both took out a yellow pill from thin air and swallowed it in front of the girls.
"Let''s end this quickly, shall we? We''re quite busy after all. Since both of you have betrayed the family and arewith the enemy, I''ll have to force the both of you to tell me what you know about that behemoth. I''m really going to enjoy this."
The seemingly eager Knight chucked in excitement as both of their auras skyrocketed again beyond their limits. Their strength seems to be increasing at a rapid pace.
Chapter 252 C252. High Speeds
"Betrayed Huh. That''s funny, o didn''t think any of y''all knew how to tell jokes."
As Rain watched the two Alcar family representatives take some sort of yellow pill. She sensed their energy multiply as their auras intensified.
She didn''t know how that was possible but it seems the family had developed a pill to boost their power. Such a thing was not natural and would''ve surely taken the lives of many in their creation.
So far she could sense any side effects but that may change soon. However, with the boost from those pills. These two had now be quite a bit more dangerous than expected.
Still, the possibility of a trump card like this had been predicted by Lord Ty and Z and she knew what to do. First, she had to get the hobgoblins out of here before they would be able to truly focus on the fight.
''Hey Emrys, I need a ''Gate'' opened directly behind me.''
[Understood.]
As per the ns of her master, Rain contacted Emrys with thoughtmunication and made her request.
Emrys held many spells stored in his archive and the high-level transportation spell, ''Gate'' was one of them. As such, he had been given the responsibility of being a Gatekeeper by his master and was responsible for transporting everyone between certain premarked locations.
Soon after she contacted him to make her request, a massive gate opened up behind her and Hecate immediately understood what that meant as she immediately ordered her men to retreat.
They would be reorganizing their forces to challenge another unit of the undead army ording to the ns told to them by Z.
"A Gate? To think such low-level trash like you have ess to such a transcended spell. How insulting."
The armored knight said as he coated his battle-ax with his intensified aura.
"Well, whatever, once we''ve dealt with you, the family will have the information we need to im the castle and everything thates with it. We''ll be sure to kill that annoying behemoth that thinks he can im the rights of nobles."
The ck Knight spoke as he walked toward Rain while swirling his ax around casually.
Rain and Liz''s brows twitched at the knight''sst sentence but they did their best to restrain themselves as Rain retired:
"Such confidence from idiots who needs to take a pill just to stand up to us. Yet you still think you hold an advantage. Idiots."
"Shut up! Just because you''ve somehow managed to increase your strength a little with artifacts doesn''t mean you get to look down on me now. The family has their way of doing things and this is just one of them!"
Seemingly annoyed by Rain''s taunts, her sistershed out at her as she pulled out a sealing crystal and shattered it.
A beam of light shot up into the night sky and came cascading down around them, forming a magicsealing barrier centered around her.
The illusionary barrier suppressed the elemental magic essence in the air. Preventing the use of elemental magic within its rang.
"Don''t think I''ve forgotten about your monster, I''ll never forgive you for what you did!"
She had turned around to face Liz who had only just been spectating the entire time as though their conflicts had nothing to do with her. She was quite aware of the monster that dwelled inside Liz and if they let her out, not even the pills boosts would save them from her.
As ice elemental magic was her only specialty, sealing the elemental magic in the air meant they had effectively eliminated the majority of her abilities. Practically sealing more than 80% of her strength.
"I warned you about that mouth of yours didn''t I?"
Hearing her younger sister''s voice suddenlying from beside her once again, she hastily activated her skills, and as soon as Rain''s de came in contact with her. Her figure suddenly burst into a puff of grey smoke.
Rain''s entire body had gone right through her before she finally came to a stop a few meters away. Swiftly turning around to face her opponents.
"That ability of yours is as annoying as always, Misty."
"Like I''ll fall for your tricks twice!"
"I have no idea what you mean by tricks!"
*Boom!
As Rain converses with her sister, Misty. The ck Knight seems to lose interest in their sibling quarrel as he moved behind Rain and flung his ax at her vertically. Creating slight spatial tears along his ax path. Shattering the ground below without his weapon even making contact.
However, Rain had instantly avoided the attack by quickly moving to the side using ultraspeed. Her movements were quick but the ck Knight didn''t give her a chance to catch her breath.
"Enough talk, I''ll make this as painful as possible. Do scream loudly for me bitch!"
*Boom!
His metal boots shattered the ground he stepped on as he lunged himself towards Rain who was nimbly moving side to side narrowly avoiding his attacks.
?ck Fangs?
For someone of his size, he seems to possess quite the light feet as he kept up with the assassin-based fighter who was moving hi hundreds of times the speed of light.
He found an opportunity to close in on her and swung his ax diagonally. Their streaks of ck energy in the shape of ws crashed into Rain who had been forced to defend with her daggers.
For some reason, she was unable to use the defensive shield of her artifact against that attack but her skills had been improved several folds by Albert''s training as she easily parried the attacks to the side.
However, the ck Knight did not seem bothered by that as he closed in on her yet again with superspeeds and continuously and furiously bombarded her with attacks after attacks that kept altering the surface of the earth while leaving slightly spatial tears in their wake.
"For a big guy, you sure are quick on your feet ain''t ya! Who are you again?"
As the two fought while moving at insane speeds, Rain, seemingly impressed asked the question curious which seems to anger the ck Knight greatly as his attacks gained more strength.
"Ridiculous! A mere dark elf can''t forget my imposing figure. Especially after I took pity on a worthless brat to train them. I suppose trash will be trash."
"Oh I see, just from that self-important tone of yours, I remember now. You''re that idiotic behemoth that''s into torturing little girls ain''t you? To think you will be the one the family sent¡ª"
"Hahaha, so you finally remember. Even for a worthless dark elf, you''ve grown quite beautiful since thest time I saw you. But don''t let that get to your head. You Dark elves are nothing but trash whose only worth lies in being of use to a superior being like myself! Hahahaha... just give up and beg for mercy, I might just consider it."
"Hmm... there''s no mistaking it. You really are that piece of shit they called a behemoth. Even looking at you is making me sick."
Her cheery mood had suddenly dropped and her eyes lost some luster as just weakly deflected the majority of the Knights attacks while narrowly avoiding the rest.
"Hahahaha... Yes, that''s it, that''s the look of despair and hate I want to see. Such a delicate face being tainted by anguish is what I live for. Once I torture the information out of you, don''t worry, I''ve decided not to kill you. Even as amon dark elf, you can still warm up my bed for me. I''d be sure to add you to my collection."
"How unfortunate."
The look on her face was no longer smiles and as she didn''t re at the Knight, one could easily mistake her current state as one of apprehension and hesitation due to the slight trembles in her hands and body.
"Hahahaha... So you''ve finallye to understand your Fate. Now surrender peacefully and I may let you feel some pleasure even as a toy. We''ve developed quite an impressive drug for things like this, the other dark elves can''t seem to get enough of it. Hahahaha.. not that I gave them a choice to begin with. Don''t worry, you''ll soon join them in my bed."
The ck Knight continuouslyughed madly as he went into a rant while striking wildly at Rain who could barely defend herself against his raw physical strength and was being pushed back.
"Truly unfortunate. I could forgive your insolence against me. Even your sadistic and perverse behavior towards my kinds can be forgiven..."
As though she was speaking to the air, Rain''s figure continuously trembled as she selected the world-shattering attacks of the ck knight even when he had coated his aura with his skills effects to surprise her.
"Huh, what the hell are you talking about. Me being forgiven by you? Your brain must not have developed along with your breasts."
His eyes roamed around Rain''s alluring figure lustfully as he moved his free hand and tried to grab a hold of her chest even in the midst of battle as he had thought he held the absolute advantage when suddenly.
*Boom! *whoosh...
His ears suddenly rang with a force equal to that of an atomic bomb as his figure was shot through the barrier and across the snowfield by more than 1,000 miles.
Hisrge body probably would''ve kept flying if gravity hadn''t mmed him into the ground. In a regenerating impact that caused an earthquake after creating a deep crater in the earth.
Crossing the massive distance in less than a second, Rain soon appeared before him as silver lightning danced across her body. Her eyes glowed gently as her short ck hair became spiky as it had turned white and began to glow.
-Secret Technique - Thunder God Descent-
"Wha¡ª What! What the hell just happened!?"
The armored behemothy in the center of the crater in agony and disbelief. His Titanium coated helmet was permanently dented on the side, crushing a part of his skull as blood flowed from his helmet''s eye slits.
His was an armor made from coating a suit of Adamantine with the second hardest metal in the world, Tritanium.
There were also several enchantments cast on it and yet this same armor that even he couldn''t destroy was dented by a measly dark elf.
"What nonsense is this! I will not stand for this, I will never¡ª"
His body was heavy but by sheer will alone, he forced himself to get up and was almost there when¡ª
*Boom! *Crack!
Amid his rage, his head was suddenly mmed back into the ground as Rain''s foot had mmed it deeper into the ground. Allowing no room for resistance.
"I can forgive everything you did to me in the past and even your insult earlier can be forgiven. However, what can never be forgiven is the audacity you have, to im to defy what now belongs to my beloved. An insect doesn''t even deserve to lick Lord Ty''s dust, yet..."
"What, what the hell are you talking about Brat!"
"You... You... YOU BASTARD! YOU CAN''T EVEN COMPREHEND THE WEIGHT OF YOUR SINS. I''LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU! I''LL REDUCE EVEN YOUR SOUL TO NOTHING!"
*Bang! Crack! crush! Squish!
In her rage, her foot had received more weight as the behemoth''s head was forced further into the ground with the sounds of a reverberating bang followed by audible bone-cracking sounds, and finally a crushing and squishing sound.
It was rare for her to lose her temper to this extent and if Liz was here, even she would have been surprised but the pair had run a considerable distance throughout their fight in less than a minute.
"You¡ª you Bitch! How dare you do this to me! Me!I''ll kill you! I''ll reap you apart "
Still standing on the body of the armored behemoth, Rain''s figure was sted into the sky by an ominous aura that had to explode out of him. She twisted her figure mid-air with inhuman control as her figure hung in the sky having used fight magic.
She looked at the behemoth below and saw his figure morphing into a blub that soon took a shape simr to that of a devil. His eyes were red with rage as he roared, enough to shake the world.
"Tsk! So he managed to save his life by using his true demon form. Well whatever, I wasn''t satisfied with that ending anyway."
Chapter 253 C253. Icyla’s Armaments
As the ck Knight lunged towards Rain with supersonic speed. They both practically disappeared, as their movements could not be followed by the naked eyes. Only beings beyond the level of a demigod could keep track of their moves.
Knowing this, Misty clicked her tongue in annoyance as she had to admit defeat to her troublesome little sister. She had been forced to recognize her strength just by the fact that she was able to keep up with the behemoth from the Alcar Family, Voke.
He was a sadistic and perverse warrior that had sworn loyalty to the Alcar Family some centuries ago. The reason for that was unknown but the family had always favored him, turning a blind eye to any sick and perverse things he did as long as he respected the nobles.
As the Dark elves were not valued highly as a species in the demon continent. He could do whatever he pleased to them without suffering any consequences and as long as he phased it as training, he could torture, kill or even rape them without facing any consequences.
Frankly, Misty did not like him at all but her orders were absolute and she had no choice but to work with him on this mission. She could only imagine what he nned to do with her sister if he caught her but quickly shook the thought out of her head as she couldn''t afford to think about such things.
Her target now was the ice monster that caused her sister to be a subject for experiments in the first ce. Up until she was born, no Dark elf had been used for experiments so everything that had happened to Rain till now was all her fault.
She believed whatever they had done to Rain was because of her and she had even gone as far as to brainwash her sister''s mind, forcing her to be friends with the monster and turning her back on her only family.
This was something she could not forgive and would be sure to make her pay for it.
She wasn''t a demon and thus, she held no arrogance in her own strength. The pill she took had boosted her physical ability past that of any mortal but it was impossible to approach the realms of a true demigod.
That was exactly why her first move had been to activate the sealing barrier after realizing that Liz had also received a massive boost since thest time she saw them.
The fact that she was no longer able to sense her aura showed that she had broken through the mortal realms and had be a demigod just like Rain.
How they did it was beyond herprehension as she was fairly certain that while Liz might have the potential to be a demigod, Rain did not. So this was beyond everything she understood about how the world works.
The immense power difference was something she could not ovee with pills alone. However, as she was aware of Liz''s strengths and weaknesses, she had chosen her target the moment she used the seal.
She could no longer contend with Rain who was a specialized mage assassin but she would stand a chance against an elemental mage when the majority of their spells had been sealed.
ring at the still calm and silent Liz who just quietly stared at her. Misty tightened her grip on her short sword as she adopted a lowunching stance from a considerable distance be away.
*Boom!
Her slender figure shot forth like a cannon as she moved swiftly, crossing the distance between them is only a matter of seconds.
Her speed was only a step below what Rain had disyed earlier and there was no way a specialist mage would be able to keep up with her movements.
She appeared before Liz and was in the midst of swinging her de when she suddenly exploded into a cloud of mist and her presence vanished, leaving Liz who was attempting to cast a spell speechless.
For only an Instance, her presence suddenly reappeared behind Liz. Her de was seemingly coated with a poisonous liquid as she augmented her strike with a skill and swung.
?Flowing Serpent Strikes?
Her de seemed to follow unnatural paths and curved through the air like a snake as it seems to aim at several vital points in her body.
With the speed at which the attack came towards her, even with thought eleration, one would find it difficult to predict the true path of the sword, and defending all possible vitals in such a limited window was almost impossible.
However, Liz did not panic in the slightest as her eyes had seen through the illusions of the mist. The spell she had cast allowed her to see through illusions and thus, she had kept track of Misty the entire time.
She could even urately follow the movements of Misty''sweapon but unfortunately, she wasn''t a melee fighter who had trained her body to move reflectively, and thus, she was unable to react in time.
As a matter of fact, she had never been trained in her entire life as the family didn''t deem it necessary for any resources to be wasted on the ck sheep of the family.
The short training with Rain and Albert thest few days had been thefirst for her as she had always been self-thought by reading magic books and the research materials found in thebs she was in.
The fact that they had even given her a nobles'' education at all was a miracle. They had just seen it a disgrace for any noble even half-bloods to be illiterate. Everything else she had learned on her own and due to her high intellect, she could pick the new thing up almost immediately.
As such, she was no longer at a disadvantage when faced with faster opponents or even when her abilities were sealed. However, she could no longer dodge Misty''s attack and as she was not wielding a weapon, she could not conventionally defend herself either.
Her eyes moved to meet Misty''s and it immediately glowed in a dominating pressure that made Misty hesitate for a moment as she struggled to resist the mind dominating effect, giving Liz the chance to use spatial teleportation to avoid the attack.
She then followed both the Domination demonic eyes skill and spatial teleportation skill with another as Misty had be unbnced after missing her target.
"Shockwave"
A wave of invisible force sted towards the unbnced Misty who received the impact but it was because she had an item that nullified most of the damages low tiered spells.
"Hehe... That was weak, I guess without your ice magic you''re nothing but a mediocre magic user. It''s only a matter of time before one of my attacks hits and game over."
"Is that so?"
Liz looked disinterested in whatever Misty had to say and just stared at her nkly as though she was trying to remember something.
"You little! Just shut up!"
Perhaps it was the fact that she had met Rain again. A person she had believed to be dead for weeks. But it would seem like everyone was getting under her skin today.
"Secret Technique - 17 Whirlwind Strikes."
She had strangely returned her de to its sheath and pulled out her whip. It was a long brown whip that contained sharp thorns along its length. Made of unknown materials, it had an ominous feel to it.
She twisted the long whip rapidly in the air and it seems to create a tornado for a brief second as she flung it towards Liz who tried to dodge and seemingly seeded but the wind that apanied the whip had struck her with the force of a mountain.
The whip contain far more power than she had thought as the force of that attack along could shatter tens of mountains in a single hit.
The cloak she wore was a rtively high-ranking magic item but it had been ripped to shreds by that attack. It had originated as a single strike but the wind had created more whips thatshed at her.
Even using her other spells to defend herself, most of the attacks had stillnded on her and her white dress had almost beenpletely torn. If her resistance hadn''t increased recently, she probably would''ve suffered grievous injuries from taking those hits.
The barrier Misty had used was a disruptive barrier that didn''t have any other purposes and as such could not be destroyed only dispelled.
The barrier also did not prevent anyone or anything from entering or leaving it which was why Rain and Voke had been able to leave.
What it did specifically disrupted the essence of the various natural energy in the air causing the use of any and all elemental spells or skills to be prohibited.
She could try leaving the barrier and firing long-range spells but the spell would break down the moment it entered the barrier. While the were other ways around this, Liz didn''t have the time right now to execute them.
?Spatial Vortex?
A vortex of spacial energy formed in front of her and shot at Misty as it attempted to pull her in but she immediately disappeared from her sight in a cloud of mist.
"Magic shield"
Liz had urately predicted the next move of Misty as she created a magic barrier around herself but justlike thest time, Misty''s whip tore through her defensive spells like they were nothing which seems to be amon theme for this item.
The whip then continued on its way as it struck Liz in the abdomen, sending her flying several meters back but she was able to remain standing using Gravity Maniption.
"I told you I would not forgive you for what you did. Even if I can no longer save Rain, I''ll have to end your life for her sake."
She proimed loudly as she lunged forwarded using various enhancements to boost her abilities further as she skillfully used her whip in attacking Liz even from a distance.
Liz no longer attempt to block the attacks from the whip as she simply moved skillfully as well and dodged the attacks while keeping up with Misty''s speed.
"You know until now. I never knew Rain had a sister. After all, she never spoke of you. I''ve been trying to remember all the faces of those who have met with her back in the castle but can''t remember yours. You never even came to see her during those early years so why are you acting as though you care about her now?"
"What the hell are you talking about! You are the one to me for all this. It was because of you that they took her away from me! Do you think I wouldn''t see her if I could!?"
"Well, maybe you''re right. But neither of us had a voice in the matter so all you did was hurt your sister by not finding a way, even that cold brother of yours came to visit once in a while. Do not me me for your foolishness."
"You bitch.... Just shut up, Shut up! SHUT UP!"
As her attacks became more vicious and random with each passing second. Liz lost interest in conversing with this girl anymore for Rain''s sake. Clearly, she was hurt but rather than face the truth, she was projecting her hatred on her which would be fine as long as it didn''t cause Rain any more pain but, she didn''t have the time for that now.
"I''m afraid I''ll have to end this farce. I promised Lord Ty I''ll win in a dominating fashion and he ced his trust in me. I''ll end this in a sing strike."
"Huh? Ahahaha... are you trying to intimidate me? What do you think you can do without your¡ª"
? Gravity Inducement?
As Misty almost fell to her knees by the sudden increase in Gravity, Liz took a few steps back and rubbed the crystal ring on her left ring finger with a gentle smile on her face.
This was a God Tier artifact that had been personally gifted to her by Lord Ty. She didn''t know why she had worn it on that particr finger but thinking of it made her heart race and her face flushed.
She immediately tried to quell her silly thoughts as she activated one of the many abilities of the Ring of Ic.
?Equip: Ice Goddess Armaments?
Chapter 254 C254. Eviscerate
"You¡ª you Bitch! How dare you do this to me! Me! I''ll kill you! I''ll rip you apart "
¡ªStuck in the human shaped trench deep inside the massive crater hundreds of miles away from the Darknar forest.
Voke roared in anger as an ominous oppressive and powerful aura exploded from his body, sending Rain¡ª whose feet was still nted on the back of his head¡ª flying in the air as she had to use a flight spell to stop herself.
"Tsk! So he managed to save his life by releasing his true demon form. Well whatever, I wasn''t satisfied with that ending anyway."
A demon''s true form could be considered as something like a life-saving skill due to its crazy regenerative and healing effects by consuming one''s own life force.
Technically speaking, a demon could recover or save his life from any type or kind of grievous wounds or injuries just by unleashing its true form for only a moment.
However, this was not something that was easy to do as even being able to control one''s true form was beyond the capabilities of most demons as it was near impossible to control much less activate for only a second.
Watching Voke¡ª whose head had been crushed by her only a moment ago¡ª squirm around as his both morphed into something unsightly. Rain could sense his reasoning and consciousness fading away rapidly as he lost himself to his rage and kept roaring on the ground like a beast.
The oppressive aura that surrounded him began to wrap around him tightly as it transformed his body into something else. His ck armor seems to mix in with his flesh, giving his skin a dark shade asrge curved horns grew from atop his head.
His eyes glowed in a wicked and savage light as he continuously roared a thundering roar that caused the earth around them to shake violently. It was clear he was rapidly losing his mind and could no longer formte a rational thought.
"Uneptable."
Rain proimed as her figure disappeared in a cloud of mist, by using the skill she had learned from her sister, she appeared behind the Voke¡ª whose figure had grown considerably during his transformation.
Standing more than 15 feet tall with muscles practically bursting from every inch of his person. In and instant she reached his wide back and plunged her des into the rhomboid muscles on his back.
A jolt of lightning ran from her body through her des and almost electrocuted the mad behemoth. Paralyzing him for moment as Rain used that opportunity to alter the Fate of this creature.
She was unable to change Fate but could alter the possibility of fated results using Fate Maniption. She also couldn''t alter the fates of people stronger or equal to her and even though Voke had lost his reasoning and was an easier target to manipte. She still had to weaken him for a moment to attain any significant results.
*Gwaaa! "¡ªYou Bitch! What have you done to me! I''ll kill you."
While the possibility of Voke losing his mind to his true form was lowered. The oue was inevitable and the only reason she had done that was to get back the chance of killing the arrogant bastard that had insulted her beloved.
Letting him die on his own while she was forced to deal with his dead flesh only meant he would get away with insulting her beloved.
As she said, there was no forgiveness even in his death. What she seemed was the an indescribable pain, followed by absolute destruction.
Regaining his senses and noticing Rain still perched on his back with her de plunged in him, he quickly tried to throw her off but she instantly vanished.
Sensing her jump off him backwards, he quickly gathered a ball of dense energy on his hands and tossed it at her projected destination with immense speed.
As Rain''s feet were about to touch the ground, they sank into her own shadows like a shadow rogue, and in the next instance, the ball of dense energy impacted with the ground, creating an explosive impact that decimateda radius of more than a 100 meters.
"Where are you! Come out you brat. Weren''t you confident in yourself just a moment ago. Get OUT HERE!"
Noticing she hadn''t been hit by his attack, Voke roared furiously trying to draw Rain out as he condensed more energy in his hands.
"Trying to provoke an assassin, how foolish."
He hadpletely failed to sense her approach as she shot out of his very own shadow, nting her knees on his jaws in an impact that had almost shattered his very skull.
Her physical strength alone was insane as his true form was almost harder than even the hardest metal in this world and she had shattered his jaws with just her knees, lifting his massive body into the air.
As someone that could not feel pain due to pain immunity, the agonizing feeling he felt now could only be described as a torturous blight being inflicted directly to his soul.
"Y-you, you bitch... s-stop¡ª"
To inflict direct damage on the soul was not something anyone could just do especially to a demigod of the same level yet that was what happened. His mind was overwhelmed with a screaming pain and almost drove him mad as Rain figure caught up to him and a lightning-infused ax kick came crashing down on his head.
Sending him crashingback down as he mmed headfirst into the ground.
*BOOM!
"Max magic - Chaos Dragon Lightning."
Even with the agonizing pain from his very soul, Voke tried to stand back up as he knew staying down would only grant him despair but his legs had practically betrayed him as he could only turn himself around to see the floating figure of the dark elf as Lightning danced across her body.
With a cold glint in her eyes, Rain stretched forth an arm towards Voke as purple lighting jumped off her fingertips in the shape of a roaring dragon and smote the immobile behemoth, who could not stop himself from screaming in the utmost pain and terror.
One of the effects of the God tier artifact in her possession was to infuse all her other attacks, be it magic or skills, even physical attacks with soul destruction attributes that slowly chip away at the target''s soul.
Frankly, she couldpletely disintegrate the souls of a weak being with a single attack but needed more time the stronger her opponent became.
What Voke felt now was the agonizing feeling of his soul being ripped to shreds by the chaotic dragon lightning.
"Impossible! NOOOOOOO... This can''t be!"
Finally driven to his limit, Voke practically broke as he unleashed all the force of his soul. Avoiding instant death for the chance of destroying his opponent.
He would quickly burn through his life energy and die soon after but he no longer cared as long as he could kill this dammable elf.
Shattering the dragon lightning around him, he shot up and immediately lunged at Rain with a speed three times faster than light.
"DIE!"
*Boom!
He had missed.
Even though he put all his energy into thatst blow and had moved faster than ever before, he had still failed to even touch her as she swiftly avoided his punch and disappeared.
?Perfect Invisibility?
His senses were also unable to locate her as he tried to find her but even in his true form, he could not even sense her presence anymore.
"Y-you BITCH! Where the fuck are you!?Stop hiding and face me! I''ll kill you!"
Panicked by the fact that he was going to die without getting the satisfaction of killing this broad first, hescreamed at the top of his lungs trying to provoke her yet again.
This was not his first time facing an assassin as he has a hobby of tormenting the dark elves so he was very adept at seeing through invisibility and sensing hidden presences.
As a Demigod himself, there wasn''t anyone that should be able topletely hide from him so he didn''t understand how she was able to do this.
"Fine then, if you won''t show yourself. I''ll destroy you and everything around."
His figure began floating out of the deep crater as his body began to glow and his aura rapidly increased. It seems he nned onreleasing all of his remaining energy in an explosion that would wipe out everything in more than a 100-mile radius.
Such a massiverange would surely affect the Undead army and most likely injure other representatives from the other Great Five which would cause problems for the Alcar family but it seems he wasn''t thinking straight at the moment and had failed to consider the consequences of his actions.
Then again, this attack was a practically a divide bomb and he didn''t care whatever consequences came with it. With his soul already damaged and his life force burned out, resurrection and reincarnation was out of the question.
"Ahahahah... I changed my mind. You can die along with everyone else! Everything be damned!"
"What a bad joke. Dark Magic - Chains of Darkness."
ck chains that emitted an evil and depressing aura, quickly spout out from the ground as they shot up towards the suprised Voke who could not tell where that voice had originated from.
He gathered his energy in his arms and sted them at the iing chains and they were disintegrated almost immediately.
"What is this! Where are you! Don''t you dare mock me you trash!"
However, before he could continue his rants more ck chains quickly sprout out of the ground, moving faster than thest as they aimed to bound his limbs one at a time.
"Damn you! Damn You..."
As Voke continued to st the chains over and over again, they steadily gotrger, thicker, and faster as they could no longer be destroyed by his attacks. Their depressing aura quick drained him of his will to resist as they pierced through his limbs binding them one at a time.
"What! What is this!?"
As one of therge chains finally got a hold of him, he willed himself against his depression and tried to yank it off with brute strength but thatpse in his attacks caused more chains to pierce into his limbs and wrap around him as they pulled him back down to the ground.
His will as a Demigod was strong and even against the chains of darkness, he struggled to resist as he roared in anger but Rain ignored his resistance as she had suddenly appeared above him, her des cut through the air leaving behind beautiful silver and ck trails as she descended towards her target.
"Those are chains of darkness, they''re weak during the day but at night, they absorb the energy from the target to constantly grow stronger until they''ve pulled you into the depths of the abyss, slowly draining your will to resist. But don''t worry, you won''t be going there in one piece."
?Eviscerate?
In a sh, Rain''s figure had moved past Voke and coolynded on the ground as in the next second. Voke''s body was practically shredded.
Blood gushed out of everywhere as his organs hung out of his body. His arms and legs had been finely diced but the chains caught every piece of him as they pulled him down into the darkness.
Even after such a gruesome attack, Voke was still alive as he screamed in terror and anguish while being pulled into the depths of the abyss.
Rain did not turn around to look at the screaming Voke whose soul was being consumed by the abyss as she simply waited for her dark spell to end and confirm his soul had been consumed before fading away into the shadows.
Her mission had beenpleted and all that was left was to meet up with Liz before heading back to the castle and watching the rest of the battle y out with Lord Ty, which was currently the only thing she cared about.
Chapter 255 C255. Ring Of Icyla
"Equip: Ice Goddess Armaments"
The crystal ring Liz wore on her left ring finger glowed brightly at hermand as the air around them grew colder despite the restrictions ced on the space around her by the sealing barrier.
Ic was the goddess of winter, cold and ice, a being withplete authority over ice and cold. Thus, the God Tier magic artifact urately named the Ring of Ic, was an embodiment of that authority and possess most of the powers under that domain.
However, ice-based abilities were not the only thing the God Tier artifact had in its arsenal. As a previous member of the Alcar family, Liz held a lot of control over ice and cold herself and did not require the aid of an item.
This was why the most valuable aspect of the artifact gifted to her was not its dominion over ice but its other abilities.
The item possessed a variety of secondary effects and all of them were quite special. For Instance, the artifact grants its user eternal life as it prevents further aging, which would allow the user to cheat death as long as they don''t get destroyed.
The artifact also protects the user from scrying effects which makes them impossible to be tracked by magic.
Frankly, this effect alone was the reason she had been gifted this item as it seem a lot of powers in this world were interested in her and after this war, there would be a lot more of them. Especially now that the Alcars knew she was still alive.
Although Liz had not nned to ept any more gifts from Lord Ty as she still felt indebted to him. She had no choice but to ept the artifact so as not cause him any further trouble.
The fact that he was also worried about her to this extent made her heart flutter and gave her the determination to move forward even against her ''previous'' family.
Thest secondary effect of the God Tier magic artifact was; it grants the user the God ss magic Armament of the goddess Ic.
As a magic armor made from condensed ice-type energy that can be equipped in an instant. The magic artifact was essentially both a magic essory and a magic armor mix in one.
As Liz activated the skill, an icy blue aura wrapped around her body before forming a silverish white light metal armor with blue magic runes stylishly designing its surface.
Her headgear was designed to resemble a falcons wings making her look and feel somewhat like a Valkyrie.
For some reason, the design of the armor was also quite skimpy but it was still better than her torn dress.
A long exquisite silver spear had also materialized in her hand as she stood before the stunned Misty, a powerful aura exploding from her as the air around her slowly froze gently before breaking apart due to the sealing barrier still active around her.
"..."
Misty waspletely dumbfounded as she stared at the armored Liz in disbelief. The hand holding the whip trembled as her mind raced in a desperate attempt toprehend the essence of the godly figure before her.
Her brain told her body to move but it wouldn''t as the aura from that divine armorpletely suppressed her will to fight.
''What should I do? This is bad right? How the hell did she get such overpowered equipment. I''m going to die here ain''t I?''
As her mind roamed about in a mess trying to think of a way out of this even though her body no longer responded to hermands, Liz took a single step towards her and her mind went nk as her heart almost stopped.
She was only at the 6th Tier and even though the pill she took boosted her physical abilities to match that of a basic demigod.
Not only did such a method put a lot of strain on her mind and body, but it also couldn''t get her through a certain threshold to equal true demigods.
With such powers also came ring weakness as the pill allowed her toprehend a demigod''s powers. However, being able to sense their aura was not a good thing as, without enough resistance, she could run mad or even die on the spot.
In the end, that pill had been meant for thest resort to mount a retreat but they had foolishly chosen to fight with it and now, it hade back to bite her.
"I told you I''ll end this with a single strike so I hope you''llforgive me for not holding back. If you want to see Rain again, try not to die okay."
''Huh?...''
Misty''s body instinctively took a step back as she saw the dim blow emanating from Liz''s eyes while she spun her spear which somehow seems to be changing the weather around them.
It was painfully clear that she wasn''t joking and truly intended to kill her with whatever attack she was about to unleash.
Her mind raced madly as she thought of every conceivable way to save her life but nothing seems to be a promising solution as anything she attempted may just push her closer to the grave.
She quickly jolted back as she saw Liz take her final step.
It was a shame she hadn''t gotten to see Rain onest time but perhaps ming Liz for taking her sister away had caused her more harm than good. In the end, she would never be as close as they once were.
"World Splitting - Ice Cataclysm."
Her soft-spoken words were a direct contrast to the power and chaos she was about to unleash with a single swing of her spear. The world was frozen over.
Well, that was only an illusion brought about by despair as the only ce froze was the direction in which she was as a cold wave gusted out of her spear like a sword sh and froze everything in its path in dark ice.
No one knew where the attack stopped but they wouldter find out that the single strike hadpletely eliminated the entirety of Unit 7 of the undead army led by the mummy lord, Inal.
"Whew... That''s insane girl, did you kill her?"
"Geez would you please stop doing that!"
Hearing Rain''s voice suddenly close to her neck, Liz was a little startled but soon recovered as she was a little used to this at this point.
Ever since Rain gained the skill of perfect invisibility, she had been addicted to appearing behind people for no reason at all which could get annoying sometimes.
Still, Liz knew she would soon get bored of that so she just had to bear with it a while longer.
"Not sure, I didn''t hold back too much so if she just stood there and took the attack then she''s dead."
"Oh, let''s see then."
Rain said nonchntly as she moved from beside Liz toward the wave of ice.
"Hey, if she''s really dead won''t you be sad. She''s your only sister after all."
"Um? What are you saying? She''s my sister by blood sure but I never see her at all and even when we went on those asional missions, we never spoke. If anything, you''re more of a sister to me than she ever was."
"Really? I''m ttered but she seems to really care about you. It seems you guys may have been close to each other when you were a little kid."
Rain stopped in her tracks as she turned back around to fact Liz while slightly tilting her head in contemtion.
"Well you may be right I do have some memories like that but it''s been so long since then, I''m so supposed to remember that. If she wasn''t holding such a grudge against you then maybe things would''ve been different."
"Hmm, so you knew about her grudge."
"Of course I did, what do you take me for?"
"If you did why didn''t you say anything then."
"Why would I? She''s the one ming others for being victims while obeying the family as though her life depended on it."
"Well, it kinda did."
"Not the point."
Shrugging her shoulders, Rain turned back around towards the location of Misty, moving forward a little, they saw her partially frozen in the ice wave as her eyes were rolled back and she had passed out.
It was a miracle she hadn''t soiled herself as it seems she had passed out from the shock of the attack before it had even reached her.
"Ahhh... she''s so embarrassing."
Liz chuckled sightly as she heard Rainin about her sister''s condition.The act was actually what saved her life as whatever was frozen in Liz''s ice while donning the armaments of Ic could not be healed or regenerated.
Fortunately for Misty, only her arms and legs were frozen so as long as they cut them off they could have Erin heal her using Pure water.
"So what do we do with her. Do you want her dead?"
"Not really no."
"Well, she might be useful to Lord Ty given her years in the family without being monitored like us. But she''ll be tortured for information though? Is that okay with you?"
"I don''t really care if she lives or dies but... I didn''t know. Perhaps killing her is a better option. Lord Ty said we could decide on what to do with the representative ourselves but, I just don''t want to make the wrong choice."
"Well, the family takes great care in training the dark elves to resist Mind maniption so I don''t think even lord Ty can use mind control on her without torture."
"I know right."
"Well, there is domination."
"Domination?"
"It''s one of the skills I got from Lord Ty. With it, he could make anyone weaker than he submitspletely to him."
Gasp... "Completely! Even sexually."
"Why''s that your first thought but eventually yes. It''s a forceful method but with the current state of Misty''s mind, I don''t think any torture is needed. So that should be a fairly easy method."
Rain had a perplexed expression on her face as she thought about what Liz was saying seemingly begrudged or something.
"What''s wrong, worried she''ll¡ª"
"Oh fine then. But if she dares make a move on Lord Tyter I''ll kill her myself."
"Huh? The whole point of mind domination is so the target bes extremely loyal. There''s no way she would make a move against¡ª"
"Not what I meant!"
Saying that Rain quickly sank back into her shadow as she hastily left the snowfield and headed back to the castle.
Liz was a little confused about what she meant before suddenly realizing it and her face went a little red. She then shook her head as she cast a dispel magic to cancel out the sealing barrier that was still active around them.
Once that was done, she turned back around to face Misty''s body still hanging out of the ice and sighed.
"That girl. I can''t believe she left me alone to deal with this. She''s definitely sleeping in ice this night."
Chapter 256 C256. Neron
As per usual, the skies above the darknar region were covered in a thickyer of ashen grey clouds that seems to be pregnant with a storm. The cold winds gently blew west as darkness ruled thends in the supposedly moonlessnight that did not feel any different from most nights.
However, above these clouds was a magnificent sky that was filled with stars as far as the eyes could see, stretching the limits of one''s imagination.
The silver moon gently reflected the sun''s rays as the blue-white light of the moon and stars chased away the darkness above the skies.
Whoever said the sky is the limit was sorely mistaken.
Thends beyond the darknar region, uncovered by the looming dark clouds, seemed to be glowing as they reflected the''s radiance.
The countless stars and the moon gave off their own radiance as well, shining brilliantly against the lighting from Neron.
Admiring this view, was a figure as it gently floated above the clouds, overlooking the magnificent sight with a somewhat somber, yet lonely expression.
His eyes glowed a bright yellow hue, and as though he was some kind of feline, he had a vertical slit in ce of his pupils.
"I''ve been on this for more than 3 years now and the idea of being in another world has never hit me this hard."
Tyler could not help but sigh.
He had been summoned into this world more than a thousand years ago and most of the 3 years he spent in the human continent was focused on training for his survival.
He had lived as a human adventurer to earn his living and due to his almost absurd weakness, he hadn''t found the time toprehend the beauty of this world. Well, living in one of the poorest towns in the kingdom hadn''t helped in any way.
Even after he woke up here a few weeks ago, he had been too preupied with the various other things that just kept popping up to appreciate the wonders of Neron.
Magic suddenly became natural to him and he had yet to appreciate that much less enjoy it. He was curious about how it worked and would like to research deeper into it but he had a greater need for increasing his strength rather than having fun.
He was currently floating thousands of meters above the demon king''s castle as his vision stretched far and wide across the, scanning and observing everything with his reach.
This was the first time he had gotten to observe this world from such a view. His vision could easily cross the distance and observe the situation going on on the ground thanks to the skill, Keen eyes of a Demon.
This was a mid-tier skill he had learned from Albert and while it normally had a range limit of about a hundred meters, he could boost the effects of the skill with his innate ability and could now see far across the world.
He hadn''t been able to use his innate ability on skills before due to the difference between spells and skills but after a little practice, he could now effectively boost the effects of his skills even though it was quite difficult and he could only use it in less tasking skills like this.
However, this difficulty wasn''t a bad thing as it prevented his skills from going out of control if he made a mistake. Moreover, his skills were powerful enough as it is.
Gazing upon the entire world from such high above could give some superiorityplex but Tyler wasn''t just gazing down at the world. He was also gazing up.
Thest time he was here, he had been attacked by an invisible force strong enough to crack his barrier. The fact that he did not know what was out there bothered him a lot to the point of being afraid.
That was why he hadn''t gone that high this time as he scanned through the entire gxy with his skill.
From what he had observed so far, thisary system looked almost identical to the sr system from his world, and although he was never an astronomer or really interested in the stars and such.He could judge that this gxy seems to be a copy of theMilky Way Gxy.
His eyes traveled far across the sr systems as he observed the moon, the sun, the otherary bodies as far as he could but something was warning him to be careful so he had to stop.
This sr system held 8s and a dwarf like Pluto. It was clear to Tyler that this was indeed earth as it was the third from the sun. Only, it had probably been named Neron due to the nature of its progress.
Part of him had always thought he was still in his universe only in a different gxy and the different is given how the structure of this world was so vastly different from earth.
However, it would seem he was wrong and this was indeed a parallel world that had strayed from earth history at a very early time period, perhaps due to some celestial interference. Caused many other races to be born here as the magical essence in the air was high.
Tyler shook his head as he rubbed his eyes in difort. To think one could see so far just from a simple skill alone. The vastness and differences he spotted in the world made him long for his family.
He hadn''t felt so homesick since the first year he came here. From what he could remember, his sister did have a thing for astrology.
She never wanted to study it professionally but was always curious about the vastness of space and the possibilities it held. She had gotten such a curious mind from histe father who was indeed an astronomer.
How excited would they be if they could see this world? They probably would''ve settled in far better than he did.
For someone like him who was always just focused on working odd jobs, it had been especially difficult to get used to this world.
Tyler closed his eyes as he reigned in his emotions. He didn''t have time for that right now as he had flown up here to get a broader view of the entire battlefield so Uriel could help him run some calctions.
He could see the individual battles between his vassals and the various units of undead as though he was close to them as his vision was currently better than any ordinary remote viewing spells.
There were a few of his forces facing difficulties but Tyler had no intentions of helping them as they were all determined to prove themselves to him.
Z was especially being brutal to the members of the Zorak family, dude must really hate their guts.
He was only at the Tier 6 level yet with the God Tier artifact he gave him and those Special gauntlets of his, along with some help, he seems to be doing quite well against two demigods. How terrifying.
Tyler also spotted the so-called undead king sittingfortably on a throne along with a certain half-naked femalemia that seems to be a queen of sorts, he really didn''t care.
He thought about snipping themfrom this distance as that seemed fun but it would destroy the entire point of this battle.
Tyler sighed yet again.
"Is everything alright Lord Ty?"
Tyler was almost startled by the sudden voice that spoke to him from behind. He turned his head around to see who it was and saw the armored figure of Liz still wielding a spear, staring at him with a worried expression on her face.
Normally his spatial awareness skill would''ve triggered when the space around him was being disrupted but Uriel had intentionally canceled the feedback from the skill because she had sensed it wasn''t a threat.
"Oh, it''s you, Liz... Everything''s fine. How did your battle go? I was a little distracted."
"It umm..."
Liz moved closer to him, seemingly bothered by his current demeanor and expression as she leaned forward, moving her face closer to his and asked:
"Is there something you''re worried about Lord Ty? If there''s a problem, please tell me, I''ll do my best to assist you."
Her beauty seems to have been emphasized by her skimpy armor which drew Tyler''s attention as he hadn''t been aware of what the armor would look like when he gave her the ring of Ic.
"Un, Lord Ty."
Having been distracted by her outfit Tyler noticed he was staring when Liz called out to him with an even more curious gaze.
Unable to avoid the question, Tyler ran his fingers across her flushed cheeks which seems to increase her temperature a lot.
"There''s no need for you to worry that much. I was only pondering things concerning the vastness of the universe."
"The universe?"
"Indeed."
Raising her head, Liz stared at the numerous stars and the vast empty void that was ever-expanding. A terrifying thought then ran across her mind.
"Do you which to leave this, my Lord. Would you one day leave us behind?"
Tyler was surprised about her question as that thought had never crossed his mind. He wasn''t even sure what he would do in space even if there were other lives in this universe.
"I haven''t given many thoughts to such a thing. The world is quite a vast ce after all."
"That means you might still leave doesn''t it?"
Tyler wasn''t sure why she was so worried about something like this but he didn''t want her to get the wrong idea so he tried to exin himself when she suddenly moved forward and kissed him.
This was a surprise as he hadn''t expected such a thing from her but he could not bring himself to pull away.
Her soft lips trembled nervously as she forged ahead seemingly determined to make her feelings known.
The two who were entangled under the light of a full moon remained still for a while before Liz finally pulled away, her facepletely red but she tried her best not to avert her gaze from him.
"I''m¡ª I''m sorry I¡ª I don''t want you to leave me behind. I know I''m being selfish as I''ve caused you nothing but trouble so far but I don''t know where I would been without you. Please¡ª"
while he stay silent listening to Liz, Tyler could see the tears forming in her eyes as she fidgeted shyly while her hand yed with the crystal ring on her left ring finger which had only just caught Tyler''s notice.
"Please Lord Ty, allow me to stay by your side forever. I- I love you."
¡ªTyler was struck speechless.
Chapter 257 C257. Above The Clouds
Staring nkly at the nervous Liz who just told him she loved him, Tyler was rendered speechless for a while. It wasn''t as though he could not handle the fact that a girl confessed to him. It was simply because this turn of events had been too unexpected for him to cope.
He would''ve expected this from Rain and could probably just shrugged it off as a joke but in this situation, there was no way he could do that.
The tears in her flushed face told him all he needed to know, and the ring she wore on that particr finger made him worry.
He also could not find the words to respond because she was right. While he had never considered leaving the. A part of him still wanted to leave the troubles of the demon continent and head to the dwarven continent where he could live a quiet and peaceful life.
That had been his main goal in obtaining power to begin with, but somewhere along with the lines, things changed and he was now building a city where he could feelfortable.
However, the pressures of being looked upon as some kind of God was a bit too much for a regr guy like him, and perhaps that feeling had revealeditself in this lonely night.
Feeling that he wanted to go somewhere far from her must''ve scared Liz who had grown ustomed to being with him. At this point, it probably didn''t matter if she was truly in love with him or not but she didn''t want to be abandoned by him.
Tyler finally recovered from the shock as he could see Liz getting more nervous the more he kept his mouth shut.
His brain began to spin again as he thought of various responses that would prevent him from facing any of the consequences from this but soon sighed and gave up on that idea, focusing more of calming her down that his own anxiety.
Tyler stretched out an arm into space and pulled out a white handkerchief and gently wiped the tears from Liz face as he pulled her closer to him.
"Do forgive me Liz, it was not my intentions to make you cry."
Tyler could understand the feelings that were going through Liz''s mind to a certain extent. He still felt the loneliness from being separated from his friends and family and even if Liz didn''t grow up normally, she was certainly feeling those feelings and and even worse feeling had crept in when she thought of Tyler leaving.
"Uh? N-no... it''s my fault don''t apologize Lord Ty."
Liz voice was choked as she spoke in a fluster trying to wipe her tears away before Tyler could.
"No, you did nothing wrong. I made you feel like I would abandon you even though that is not my intentions. I can never abandon anyone who''s sworn loyalty to me much less you. You''re all precious to me and I can never leave you behind no matter where I''m going."
"Precious? I''m precious to you? Lord Ty said in previous to him."
Although it seem Liz hadtched on to only a single word in his entire words, Tyler decided to let it be.
He was just about to say something when¡ª
"LORRRRD... TYYYYYY!!!"
Tyler''s thoughts were broken as he looked down and saw a female dark elf shooting out of the clouds with incredible speed as she lunged at him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Liz who had been in a loop was snapped out of it as she was also surprised to see this. Her face got redder as she was d Rain¡ª who had taken her sweet time in getting here¡ª hadn''t witness that.
While spatial teleportation was instantaneous, shadow movement was not and it could not move someone anywhere without the means of a shadow. It was the reason why it had taken Rain some time to get here and why she hade flying out of the shadow the two projected on the thick clouds below them.
"You have way too much energy even after a fight."
"Of course I do. I promised I won''t lose again so I had to train extra hard this time. It was really tough."
''That was only like a three-day training wasn''t it?''
Tyler thought that but didn''t voice it as he tried to pull away from Rain but she wouldn''t let go and Liz came to help him.
"Hey Rain, let go of him, you''re being too rude."
"Oh right... teehee!"
As Liz condemned her friend she suddenly got quite embarrassed as she remembered what she had done herself.
"That''s fine, that''s fine. How were your battles. Productive I presume."
"Everything went just as nned. There were two representatives from the Alcar Family as reported by re, one of which was killed by Rain the other I captured and have ced in the cells. I hop Lord Ty would be willing to dominate her."
Liz spoke clearly but could no longer look Tyler in the eyes while Rain was staring at her suspiciously.
"Wait... did something happen before I got here? What did I miss? Crap, I knew I should''ve just ran, that would''ve been way faster."
"Nothing happened you''re imagining things."
Tying to escape Rain''s scrutinizing gaze, Liz slowly moved behind Tyler as she tried to hide her embarrassment.
"What? Something def happened, you''re blushing. What did you do with Lord Ty?"
"I''m not sure what you''re talking about, I''m not blushing. And if I am it''s only because I feel a little cold from this outfit."
"What are you talking about? You don''t feel cold!"
"Huh? D-did I say cold, I meant embarrassed. Yeah, that''s it. I''m just a little embarrassed about this that''s all."
"Right... Well, whatever. I''m just d I get to be with Lord Ty for the rest of this."
Hearing Rain say that as she moved closer to him with a cheerful smile on her face, Tyler couldn''t help but chuckle as he responded.
"Well, It seems your encounter with the Alcars had helped you in more ways than one."
While Rain looked a little confused for a moment, Tyler just chucked and changed the topic.
Uriel was the one who suggested they located the unit the Alcars representatives would be in and send Rain and Liz to handle them so they could in a way, stand up to the family they ran away from.
She had noticed Tyler''s worries about Rain''s dejected state and deemed facing a semnce of the source of her trauma would burn some of that anxiety and stress from her and as usual, she was right.
They had then spotted Rain''s sister using Erin''s divination apanied by Crystal viewing.Tyler had also sent Nessi out to help out as well after some experiments, leaving only Maeve hidden in his shadow to protect him.
This n was why he had told them they were free to deal with the enemies as they saw fit even though he had wanted to capture at least one representative from each family to gain more information on each of them but it seems they had kept one alive which was a good thing.
There was a 91.92195900500001 percent chance that any memories of value about the Great five in the heads of the representatives would be highly protected and impossible to ess ording to Uriel but he still had to try. Where there was a will there was way.
After all, there was still an 8.07804099499999 percent chance he would strike gold so why waste it.
[Warning: Master''s logic is unreliable.]
''You be quiet.''
Ignoring Uriel''s criticism of him which made her sigh in his mind, Tylerughed dryly and spoke.
"It seems the battle down there is getting to its climax already. What do you say we head back and prepare for the final stage of this performance."
"I agree!"
"Yesss sir!"
Rain had immediately moved even closer to Tyler and locked arms with him, pushing his arm in between her chest while acting cute. Although she could not use spatial teleportation herself, he could still teleport her back without touching her but that didn''t stop her from using that as an excuse when Liz asked her what she was doing.
"That''s not... Fine then."
Having steeled her nerves after not being able to persuade Rain otherwise, Liz moved to Tyler''s other side and locked arms with him as well, pushing his arms in between her soft blossoms, awaiting teleportation with a flushed face.
While Tyler knew she could also teleport without his help, he just chuckled softly as the three of them disappeared from the beautiful night skies above the clouds.
???????????
????????????
¡ªSomewhere in the eastern parts of the Darknar Forest.
¡ªAn army of over 3,000 undead marched in smaller units towards the exit of the forest as ghostly creatures patrolled the part forward, alerting the army on any encounters.
Leading the 2nd regiment of the undead army was a bony creature with rotten skin stuck on his bones as he was d in an old and decaying mages robe that was lined with golden threads.
Ferverant moved slowly at the head of his mage artillery Corp with his infantry and heavy infantry units marching in front of him and his beast riders on either side keeping watch for ambushes from Demihumans.
He had a ghost legion he was using as scouts and as an Eldar Lich as well, his unit wasrger than most as he had also added his summons to his troops and had personally reanimated the dead his regiment killed to bolster his forces.
During their trip through the eastern parts of the darknar forest alone, his force had risen above 4,000.
He did that simply because he was, along with the bonew, the weakest generals in the entire undead army.
This was why he hadn''t sent any corpses back to his master and rather chosen to increase his chances for sess. Still, even as an undead with near-limitless mana, he could not create that many undead in a day, and only Lord Zerahut had found the way to safely do that.
Creating more than a thousand undead in a week had been pushing it and he had ended up using most of his cores energy but he considered that worth it.
He now has two extra units of Tier 4 mages, bolstering his arsenal by several folds. He could proudly consider his regiment to be the strongest regiment in the entire undead army.
With his ghost legion scouting ahead for the team, they were able to make it out of the forest without any issues. Apparently, some of the other Units had encountered enemies upon their exit from the forest and were engaged in heated battles so he expected the same thing which was why he had the mages create an extrayered barrier to protect him.
Amongst all his forces, his mages artery units were the strongest there was. Their barrage of spells was rapid and thebined forces of their attacks was insanely powerful, almost as though he had some demigod undead under him but that was not possible.
After exiting the forest, Ferverant had his forces move into formation as his ghosts had confirmed to him that a few hidden presences were watching them.
As even his ghost legion couldn''t pinpoint them, they must be high level rogues. He assumed they were a force of assassins aiming for his head as the e met General, hence the extrayered barrier around him.
"Fire!"
The moments he was able to sense a disturbance in a particr direction. He ordered his mages to fire everything they had at that location. Choosing to destroy the cowardly enemies in one fell swoop.
However¡ª
He had made a grave mistake as countless spells of varying strength flew at the said location but suddenly stopped in the air as though suspended by an invisible hand.
Before anyone could even formte the reason why this hade to be¡ª
The spells came storming back with increased speeds that made it almost impossible to defend much less avoid.
The magic barriers around the arm were torn apart by their own spells as in an instant, half his mages had been absolutely decimated in the mes of their own attacks. Scattering to bits and pieces of their bones.
[What! What is happening here!]
Chapter 258 C258. Darkness Wave
[What! What is happening here!]
A wave of confusion washed over Ferverant as he watched half of his unit be absolutely decimated by their own spells before they could evenprehend what happened.
If he wasn''t undead and immune to negative mental effects, such a sight would''ve instilled despair in his very core but that was not the case as he calmed observed the situation while searching for the cause of this mess.
[Locate Person, Sense Movements, irvoyance.]
He cast several observation spells simultaneously and sent his ghost legionto investigate the cause of this in secret.
However, even though his ghost legion werepletely invisible at the moment, the moment they got a certain distance away from him, a ck ball of condensed gravity suddenly came out of nowhere and expanded rapidly before imploding.
Pulling in everything in its range into nothingness, even spiritual beings like the ghost legion could not escape the pull and disappeared without a trace.
The mes in Feverant''s eyes flickered as he found what he was looking for. It had taken a while but the mass illusion spell they had used could not fool him for very long.
The remant of his army which now numbered a little over 2,000 with the majority of them being melee fighters ot beast riders, quickly moved into a new formation based on the orders from their unit leaders without giving a second thought to the destruction of almost half their forces.
They all moved to face the new enemies that had appeared before them.
Standing there was a group of around 400 hobgoblins alongside about 20 kobolds d in fine steel armor and wielding excellent equipment. However, those forces were not enough to threaten Ferverant.
Or rather, they shouldn''t be able to threaten him yet the memory of their previous attacks being reflected at them instilled the seed it hesitation in his mind, which was why he was yet to give the order to attack.
There was also something else that had caught his attention amongst the band of hobgoblins and Kobolds. Standing in front of them as amander was a male figure who was dressed as a butler, but he had dressed entirely in ck aside from his white gloves.
It looked less like a set of butler''s clothes and more like abat uniform made of high-quality materials and enchanted with magic.
He wore a dark golden mask that did not even have and eye slit and seemed in from a distance but had a strange air around it.
Feverant felt annoyed that such foolish being was getting in his way to please his master yet he was hesitating. He was just about to order his army to attack out of annoyance when he suddenly changed his mind and stepped forward.
He then spoke with a ghastly voice as he addressed the strange man who had remaind silent as they stared each other down:
[Who dares stand before the Great Feverant, one of the nine generals of the Undead King?]
The masked man tilted his head gently at that deration as he acooly took steps forward with his hands in his pocket, disregarding the possibility of being sniped by the enemy.
A soft chuckle came from behind the mask before Feverant heard a male voice as it casually responded to his question.
"How amusing, it speaks."
The mes in Feverant''s eyes burned brighter by that statement as he was about to unleash his full power when the man continued speaking.
"You called yourself a general of an undead king but that statement is both wrong and offensive it''s ridiculous."
[What?]
"There is only one true king in this world and you''ve angered him. It matters not if you''re dead or alive. Everyone must bow before the demon king, and that, is the truth."
[Another arrogant demon I see. You must be deluded, the demon king has been dead for a millennium. The only king that rules thisnd will be the Undead King.]
"Such sphemous words from the mouths of lesser beings will not be forgiven. As undead do not feel pain or fear, I''ll just end your lives in an instant."
[Arrogant fool! I am Feverant, the Poisonous Lord, suffer for your foolishness! Chaos Magic - Hundred Poisonous Lance!]
Feverant wasn''t foolish enough to engage in pointless dialogues with an enemy without a reason. He had used the time to prepare the energy required to cast such arge-scale spell.
As the Lord of poison and also undead, he and his army were immune to all forms of poisonous attacks. So with this spell, he would be able to figure out the secrets behind the failure of his mage''s attacks.
If it was a barrier he had ways to bypass it and if it was something else, he would have to but time until he found a way to safely attack as his army''s strength relied on their mages.
He had already prepared his infantries and heavy infantries along with the beast Riders and archers to engage the enemy the moment they saw an opening. Buying him enough time to n his next move.
Frankly he didn''t think whatever skills, items, or barriers they used would work against his chaos magic but had taken measures against it anyway.
In an instant, a hundred liquidnces made from different poisons appeared in the air around him and shot at the masked man. Thences stayed true to their aims as they slowly converged on their target.
However, just as before, it was as though an invisible force had stopped their advance mid-flight as they hung in the air a few inches away from him. His golden mask glowing slightly as in the next moment, the hundred poisonousnces shot back at him.
[Such a powerful item should rightfully belong to my master! I shall im it in the name of Lord Zerahut!]
"Please, do try your best."
[Attack! That item only reflects magic attacks, mages remain back and all units, reim that magic item.]
In only an instant, Feverant had seen through the power that reflected his attack at him. His deferring eyes could not be fooled as he urately judged that the golden mask the man was wearing was a magic artifact of the highest level.
However, he had also seen through the mask''s limitations and weaknesses and came up with his n of attack.
Of course there was bound to be a limit as even an item that reflects all magic was not a power that mere mortals should have and he could not tolerate it.
As the only one who could reflect their spells was the masked man, all he needed to do was iste him and bombard the hobgoblins with spells, eliminating them before do focusing on the masked man with everything they had.
With his heavy infantry taking the lead, his army charged at the 400 or so before them yet they did not move to defend themselves.
Just as Ferverant was starting to think something was wrong, it happened.
*Boom!
Something suddenly crashed into his forces like a train, stopping them in their tracks as it shattered their formation with a single bow that sent them flying all over the ce, most of them crashing in to sudden pitfalls that appeared out of nowhere.
This being moved swiftly through their forces like a storm, sending bones and armors flying every which way as the charging advance of more than a thousand warriors was stopped by a single being.
Whatever it was, it moved like a shadow with immersed speed as it could not be stopped during its approache towards Feverant''s special unit containing his strongest undead mages.
The figure then stopped in front of his special unit and if Feverant had eyelids, they would''ve widened. It was an undead, or rather, she was an undead, an intelligent-looking female undead, and Feverant couldn''t help but stare in awe and shock.
Standing before him was a female undead d in a rogue''s outfit. She was quite beautiful with long ck hair and supple pale wax-like skin with cracks of negative corruption stylishly running across her deathly pale skin.
She had a cold and emotionless expression on her face with slightly glowing green eyes that could prate the soul.
She wielded arge ck oversized magic sword that she rested on her shoulders casually as though it weighed nothing all the while ring beyond the special unit straight at Feverant who instinctively took a step back.
The special forces¡ª who were supposed to attack the moment an enemy manage to get this close¡ª were all confused, not because she was undead. Rather, they could not lift a finger against a divine being of the same species unless forced to by their master.
Naturally, as only a Tier 5 being himself who is not connected to his master like the bonew, Feverant could not lift a finger against the domineering presence of an undead demigod himself, unless ordered to.
However, he didn''t get the time to receive that order.
"You existences is unneeded. Disappear."
Her voice was cold yet gentle with a ghastly undertone to it. Feverant could not even react as she swung her massive ck de and in a wave of darkness, everything in Infront of her disappeared including Feverant and the trees behind them. Everything within of a mile of his swing was reduced to molecules.
Like the lock ness monster she was named after even though they were spelt sightly differently, Nessi was something to be feared.
Naturally, Tyler had used his remaining time to enhance Nessi and Maeve''s core to increase their strength after that fiasco with Moloc.
As he could no longer increase Zelda''s core, for now, he had boosted Nessi to Tier 7 and Maeve to Tier 6 which was why he has sent Nessi out to help out.
She may have been ssified as a shadow rogue but her skill set and weapon weren''t exactly the best for spying son Tyler sent her out here to help where ever she could and Z had requested her aid in getting rid of the distractions from his targets.
As the dust settle down where Feverant and the Mage Artillery corp, the magic support and special unit had been vaporized, it was revealed that three figures had managed to survive her Darkness wave and sensing their power, she immediately decided to retreat to Z''s side as per ordered.
"There you are, you guys sure did your best to hide in the crowd didn''t you."
Z spoke as he stepped forward even more, the scattered forces of the undead infantries and beast riders were still recovering from Nassi''s assault and the Kobolds trap so he had some time before they blindly tried to attack him with a proper chain ofmand.
"Hahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahah... How exciting, you sure put up quite the show whoever you are. To think you were aware of our presence despite our excellent disguises and yet, you still chose to challenge us... How foolish."
One of the three figures spoke standing in-between the other two as the illusion spell that hid their appearance had been shattered by Nessi. He was a tall man with dark skin and a shaven head.
Wearing light brown leather armor of insane quality as he wielded an actual katana. The man beside him had long blonde hair and was a ssically handsome man dressed as a mage.
"This is fine isn''t it, Noual? I was going nuts being around such a stinky bunch to begin with, let''s just go crazy eh."
His face had twisted into a sadistic smile that didn''t match his appearance and show the depravity of his mind.
"I don''t know, I don''t think we''re supposed to do that for some reason, but I can''t seem to remember why? Huh! Well whatever, that guy seems like he might be handsome, I wanna cut that mask off his face so bad so let''s go crazy! Kufafufufu..."
The third was ady with a somewhat pretty face that could not be called beautiful. She had a hair that had been dyed in an abundance of colors and almost had every color in the world.
She spotted a crazy hairstyle and had orange skin. She was clearly a mage but held a long staff in the shape of a spear as her high pitchedugh reverberated in the field.
"You''re both right. So let''s teach this masked brat a lesson. Kiahahahaha..."
Chapter 259 C259. Crash
As Z stared at the Zorak Trio who were running their mouths whileughing at him maniacally, a hobgoblin d in full te armor while wielding arge battle-ax came up behind him and knelt.
He had short ck hair and a cleanly shaven face and was apanied by a winged Kobolds floating a few meters behind him and d in silver light armor while holding a short metal staff.
"Lord Z, should we move to dispatch the remnants of the undead army? They seem to be about ready to attack again."
There was only around a thousand undead left after Nessi''s assault but that was still arge numberpared to about 400 hobgoblins and Kobolds led by Cresil and Tarka.
"That''s the n. We''ll handle this three so make sure you don''t let a single undead escape. Don''t worry about collector their cores, we''ll harvest them when this war is over."
"As you wish"
Understanding their assignment, Cresil, the Captain of the Raven settlement guards,manded the hobgoblins and Koboldsalongside Tarka, as they swiftly moved out to handle the scattered undead army away from the three demigods.
The nimble beast riders were the hardest to deal with as they could move faster than the hobgoblins so Tarka led some mages to draw them away using a mass flight scroll.
"Oi oi oi oi, just because we''re not actually undead doesn''t mean we can allow you to just run smock and destroy our recent buds like that! I made some good friends with them you know."
The bald dark-skinned swordsman stepped forward and spoke nonchntly as he smirked at the masked man and the shadow girl who still stood in ce.
"Yeah...! You can''t begin to imagine what Gary felt when his wife cheated on him with that ghoul. He was heartbroken. Not that he had a heart though. Kwafufufu..."
Brethal, the female demigod added to Noual''s absurd deration as they both giggled with childlike excitement.
"Hahaha... I don''t think I made any friends like that. The Lich next to me was just depressing. Besides, none of the undead was my type but that shadow girl''s kinda hot, I like them cold too."
The ssically handsome fellow spoke in a weird tone as he eyed Nessi''s body while licking kid lips and ying with the ring on his index finger.
"Oh... Levant''s got another crush. How bout you just go ahead and crush those goblin trash love, and we can make his lovee true."
Noual spoke as he nced at the multicolor-haired girl beside him with a grin on his face.
"Oh goodie, I love matchmaking. Although I don''t like girls that are prettier than me, and her face makes me want to peel it off."
"Ah... don''t get jealous love, you know I''ll only have eyes for you."
"How sweet. Well if you were to cheat I''ll cut it off so no worries."
"Ah, your crazy love turns me on so much,e here."
The two quickly began to aggressively suck each other''s tongues while their hands roam ravishingly across their bodies.
"You guys are unforgivable. Don''t make me jealous at every opportunity. At least let me get that undead first. I think I have the right artifact to take control of her too, how lucky I''m I."
Levant spoke to the two making out widely beside him as he continuously rubbed the ring on jog finger.
As Z watched the three psychos get lost in their own world, he didn''t get annoyed but surprisingly just let them be as this gave the hobgoblins and Kobolds more time to lure the undead army further away so they don''t get killed by any stray attacks.
He also took the opportunity to set up various aspects of his n as he already knew how these three would react so he knew the proper method of dealing with them.
He was someone who always liked to be informed no matter where he was so he naturally had gathered a great deal of information on this trio when he was still investigating the Zorak family.
And that was unfortunate for them.
"Aww cutie pie, we can''t go all out right now. We still have some cockroaches to deal with remember?"
"Oh right, they''re so insignificant I almost forgot they were here. Lemme just go ahead and take care of the goblins first then."
? As Noual and Brethal were almost at the point of ripping each other''s clothes off and banging right there. Noual suddenly remembered they were on a mission and hesitantly stopped himself from going further.
Brethal then sloppily straighten her outfit and stepped forward even though one of her breasts was almost falling off her blouse as her mage''s robe was disheveled.
"Widened Magic - Falling¡ª"
"Looks like you''re done fooling around onest time. That''s good, then let''s not waste any more time and proceed with your execution."
"Huh???"
*Ghahahahahaha...
A round of heavyughter resounded in the air around them after hearing Z''s deration as even Brethal had forgotten to cast her spell halfway and paused tough. A mistake they would soon realize.
Z however, did not take their mockingughter to heart as he simply just tilted his head slightly and whispered something to Nessi.
"Is this some kind of bad joke¡ª"
*Boom! *Whoooooosh!
Before Noual could evenplete his mocking statement, Nessi shot at him with a speed no man couldprehend as though she had broken past the speed of light as he was only barely able to save his life by blocking her attack with his katana as his body was shot back before the two beside him could even react.
Her feet only touched the ground once as she disappeared after him in a sh and no one could believe it.
"What the! What the hell was that! How did Noual not react?"
A look of pure shock and surprise was stered all across Brethal and Levant''s face as they had only barely seen what happened and it defied any logic they could think of.
They were not fools, they had used appraisal and divination on the army that had suddenly shown up before the undead army and also on the shadow girl.
They knew exactly how strong they were and this should not be possible. The masked man was able to hide his name from them but he couldn''t hide his power.
He was only a 6th tier Rogue which was a joke to them. His only saving grace was the method he had used to reflect those attacks to the army as they could not identify it themselves. Still, it was unlikely to be able to reflect spell beyond his capabilities so there was nothing to worry about.
The shadow girl was a 7th Tier Shadow rogue, a true demigod, and the only one they had to be mindful of so they had kept their guard up even though they knew they could win quite easily.
Or at least, they were supposed to. Not only did they outnumber and outmatch them but they had a lot of items on them as well. Things were never supposed to happen this way.
With that in mind, there was no way Noual¡ª who was at the intermediate stage of the 7th tier would lose in speed to a Basic Tier 7 undead. So what the hell did she do to him?
"Hmm... why do you both look so confused. Are you curious about how Nessi was able to cross-tie distance before your friend could react? I can tell you if you want. You''re both going to die soon anyway."
Z remained standing in the same spot as he casually spoke to the confused duo as though trying to exin something to children.
"You Bastard! What the hell did that tramp do to my husband!? Tell me before I kill you!"
Clearly, Brethal was enraged by his condescending attitude towards his superiors in every way but she could not just attack him without knowing what happen to her husband.
"How scary. Well, I''ll tell you anyway. Far from me to miss a chance to honor the glory of my master. You should both be in awe, cause livestock''s like you do not even deserve to hear his name!"
At the mention of his master, the masked man''s presence seems to get even bolder as it almost made them take a step back. Their mental state was almost aplete mess at the moment.
"What the shit are you talking about brat! Answer her, where did she take Noual!"
Levant couldn''t take this bullshit any longer and almostpletely snap at Z, prepared to use an item in a panic which Z could not allow to he slightly changed his tone to mellow him down a notch.
"Huh, for psychos like you, I''m surprised you care so much about each other. Well even in a family like that, I do admire some genuine loyalty so I''ll get to the point."
"You!"
His words were still harsh but as he said he''ll get to the point now, Levant gave up on the idea of using that item and Z just smirked under his mask.
"As I said, I''ll tell you. When our master engaged Nessi''s core earlier, he attempted to imbue her with his power and seeded. Not everyone can handle it you see."
"what the fuck does that have to do with this. She was just a Basic, how the fuck did she take Noual by surprise!"
Uninterested in his stories, Brethal yelled at him in frustration as she was almost at her limit herself.
"I was getting to that. Please stop interrupting me you uncultured worms. Like I said. My master imbued her with a single skill. I''ll tell you what it is of course. It''s called Spatial Distortion. With it, she can practically eliminate the distance between her and anywhere she can see."
"What the¡ª you mean?"
Realizing finally donned on both of them as they realized what had happened and stumped for words.
"Yes exactly. See, even pee brains like you lot can do it if you think a little. Now then. They''ve moved far enough so let''s begin things here. Who wants to die first."
Seeing that the hobgoblins and Kobolds had managed to draw the undead away from them to a considerable distance, Z no longer attempted to engage in talks as he had already achieved his various objectives.
"Hahahahaha... so that''s it. Here I thought she used some weird method to kill Noual or something but she just went to fight him on her own. What a fool."
Levantughed in relief as he had overestimated the situation too much and almost gotten burned for it. There was nothing he needed to worry about if Noual was still able to fight.
"I know right, that bitch is dead in 5 minutes tops. Let''s just handle this bastard and be done with it. I''m already sick of this ce."
"I feel you."
"Well, are you gonna talk about it all day or what? You''re wasting my time."
Seeing the two mental states rxing as they thought their friend was safe with Nessi, Z could not allow that to continue as he struck their nerves once more.
"If you want to die that badly then DIE BASTARD! Max Magic - Tempest Garrote!"
Raising her staff in the air as she cast her spell, the clouds rotated around Z, and a forceful tornado came down around him as it suck the air from within and began to copse around Z, almost as though it intended to strangle him.
"We''re not done yet. Take this! Greater Magic - Vermilion Dragon Crash!"
As Levant cast this 7th Tier spell to overwhelm whatever the masked man had up his sleeve, a massive vermilion aura windless dragon came soaring out of the clouds as it crashed on the masked man''s location with a force beyond one''s wildest dreams.
This spell had enough power to tear a hole straight through the, all the way to the other side but would not cause an explosion. It was truly his most powerful single-target spell that would ignore all barriers and defenses.
There was no way he could block this.
"Huh, I was curious to see how mages would attack me after witnessing what happened earlier but, is this a joke? Pointless. You lot are even lower than worms."
?Mask of Reflection?
Chapter 260 C260. All According To Plan
?Mask of Reflection?
The moment Z was done speaking, the golden mask on his face glowed slightly as it showed a reflection of the spells around him on its surface before swiftly returning to normal.
Immediately, the tornado surrounding him in a suffocating manner disappeared, as the clouds around Brethal''s location began rotating and another tornado descended upon her. The next moment, the vermilion dragon that descended from the sky also turned around to face the stunned Levant.
"Damn it! Those were 7th tier spells. What the hell is he using. How can he counterspells of a higher tier than him!"
Even when using a magic item, General it''s impossible to block much less reflect attacks that surpass what the user''s body was capable of and the only positive for this was a God Tier artifact.
Such an item was world-breaking and none of them had even seen one such item in their entire lives that it was even believed by some that they were just myths.
Magic artifacts, in general, were absurdly rare, and even amongst demigods like them they only possess a limited number of them so they had failed to consider the possibility that someone that wasn''t even on their level could possess one.
Thinking of it now, it had been the only possibility, to begin with. They were dealing with someone from the castle the Great Five had been warring over for centuries after all.
Their entire thought process of this battle had been a mistake and now they werepletely at a disadvantage not knowing how many of such items this guy had in his sleeves.
"Hey, Brethal seems we may not be able to win without Noual help. Let''s retreat for now!"
"Fine!"
"Mass Teleportation."
Seeing as they didn''t have a way to ovee Z''s reflection ability after trying one of their strongest spells on him. Brethal and Levant immediately decided to escape as without Noual here, they could not win against Z without their magic.
Unlike Feverant who was aware of the limitations of Z''s mask just by seeing it in action once, the two weren''t even sure the mask was the source of that ability.
Even if they knew it was a magic artifact based on its aura alone, such an obvious target was probably baited to draw them closer. Without knowing how many dangerous artifacts he had to do confidently stand before two demigods, they would be risking death just by being here.
After all, Z was a rogue and would not be able to attack them from a distance as long as he could not attack them from the shadows. He would need to get closer to them to finish them off.
While the two of them had skills and items that would prove useful in battle, they were unsure of the reflection limitations. If their skills got turned against them, they would lose any chance of escaping.
Right now, they nned on locating Noual to assist him in quickly eliminating the shadow rogue before returning to finish off the masked man.
Either that or one of them would take Noual''s ce in facing her while Noual takes on the masked man with the other backing him up. It was doubtful he had any items against melee fighters, which would exin why the shadow rogue had moved her fight far away, choosing to separate them.
With that in mind, Levant cast a teleportation spell on both of them as he located Noual with his skill, Aura Locate.
¡ªHowever.
Although his teleportation spell had seeded and they had escaped being damaged by their spells, the destination of the teleportation had been voided as they only appeared to have moved a few meters away from their previous location.
"What the, what happened Levant! Why are we still here?"
"I''m not sure myself."
Confused by their failed teleportation, Levant tried to cast the spell again but the same thing repeated itself as they appeared only a few meters away from their previous locations yet again.
"Allow me to enlighten you."
cing a hand on Levant''s shoulders was the masked man who should''ve been quite a distance away from them. He had suddenly appeared behind them before they knew it and ced an arm on his shoulder as though they were old friends.
"I''ve ced an anti teleportation barrier around this ce so I''m afraid you can''t leave. However, you can still teleport within the confines of the barrier though. Hence why I''m here you see. Crystallize."
Although he spoke casually while touching Levant, there was no way Levant would allow him to keep yapping his mouth for so long without doing anything. He had attempted to move but his body wouldn''t budge and Brethal was too shocked to react in time.
Everything was happening so fast for them to coop and it was beginning to look as though they were the weaker ones here.
His body was slowly being encased in crystals and there was nothing he could do about it. Even speaking right now had be a problem, but he still had to try if he didn''t want to die.
"B-Brethal h-help."
"You! You bastard! Get away from him."
?Vortex st?
Having been snapped out of her stupor by Levant''s cry for help, Brethal immediately used a skill and a ball of spiraling red wind formed around her staff and shot at Z with incredible speed.
Expecting to receive her attack back at her, she almost closed her eyes but to her surprise, the masked man gave up his attack and disappeared. The moment he let go of Levant the crystallization immediately stopped and the crystals already around his body crumbled to dust.
Breathing heavily having almost died, Levant fell on one knee as he spoke.
"I guess he can''t repel skills back at us Huh. We can probably still win this but be careful, he can teleport without a spell."
"Oh right. Let''s take care of this bastard quickly. I''m starting to worry about Noual. What if that bitch has something like this too."
Right."
Z appeared a few meters away as he did not immediately try another attack while the two were distracted. After all, he was only at the Tier 6 standard, and despite their fragile mental state, the two were still demigods and he didn''t have that many abilities that could even wound them much less kill them so he had to strictly stick to his ns.
He wasn''t worried about Nessi as he believed she could handle Noual but it would still take some time and it wouldn''t be a dominating win if he waited for her toe to help him.
However, there wasn''t a shred of doubt in his eyes, neither was he worried or scared of facing two demigods at once. Everything so far had gone ording to n after all.
He had been part of the Zorak family and had spent all his time there gathering as much intel as he could get to stand against their inevitable betrayal. After all, he knew exactly what they wanted from him and he wasn''t willing to part ways with it.
With the information he had stored in his memories, he had perfectly predicted who the family would send to this event and had prepared for them. Setting up an anti teleportation barrier and having Nessi take out the only close-range fighter amongst them was all part of his n.
With the Mask of Reflection. He could reflect any magic sent his way with greater speed but not with greater power as that requires him to use a lot of his energy and he didn''t see a point in wasting mana.
However, he could not reflect skills and secret techniques which were the mask''s only weakness. Well, being able to reflect any magic attack to the user was able absurdly powerful ability so perhaps saying it had weaknesses was being rude to his master who had graciously gifted this to him.
However, he needed these two to not figure that out immediately and believe he had multiple God Tier artifacts in his possession. They hesitated at first before figuring out the limitations to his mask had worked out as he nned and now it was time to reveal his trump card.
A magic weapon that was even on par with God Tier Artifacts. This was the item passed down to him by histe mother and the thing the family had wanted to get their hands on at all cost as it contained the greatest secret of the Zorak family.
"Say, are you watching, Marline? Aur? Here''s the thing you didn''t want anyone not devoted to you to possess."
In the next moment, as he muttered to himself, a ck gauntlet materialized in his hands. It had a slick and stylish design and a faint glow that pulled the mana in the air closer.
Z then brought out arge glowing crystal from his storage and ced it next to the Gauntlet as it absorbed the energy in an instant.
That had been one of the highest grade magic crystals given to him by his master which had enough energy to power a small city for an entire month or even more.
With that, he had met the magic energy required to activate the strongest ability of the gauntlet. Not wasting any more time, he immediately activated one of the five skills engraved in this Gauntlet of Haze.
?Tempest Realm?
"Let''s begin then, your execution."
*Boom!
That sound had not originated from their location. Rather, it seems to havee from the forest where they could faintly hear the sounds of metal striking metal. It was the rapid sounds of two swords shing at incredible speeds with one person gaining the advantage.
This signified that Nessi was still engaged inbat with Noual and normally that would have garnered the attention of Brethal and Levant but they were both too shocked to think right now.
"Wait. Isn''t that? Impossible!"
"That''s the Zorak family''s innate ability right? What the hell is this. Who hell are you!? How the fuck can you use that, you bastard!"
At that moment, the air around the masked man hadpletely changed as his aura began to skyrocket to a new heights that the two could not even fathom. The wind spun ferociously around him as though it was about to devour everything in his vicinity no matter how powerful they were.
"Wait wait wait wait wait wait...Hold on! What the hell is going on here. We were never told to fight someone from the family is this a test? What is this!"
It was well known that the innate ability of the Great Five was their most prized and well-protected secret and they guarded it with all intensity. For centuries, no one who had inherited the innate ability of the Five had betrayed them.
This was not because there were no weak links that could be traitors but rather who violent the Five were with them. Noble were incredibly proud of their heritage and thus would not generally defect but in the limited case when they do. The family would know immediately and sniff them out in an instant.
This was because all demon nobles who had inherited the family''s innate ability would enter a demon''s pact with the demon lord of that family that let him know the moment there is a traitor.
This was why they were in utter shock and confused by what they were currently witnessing. Why would a demon noble from the family be standing right in front of them, fighting on the enemy''s side.
"You both seem confused. Don''t worry, I''m no longer a member of the Zorak family and I do not possess their innate ability hence why I''m here."
"That''s impossible! If that''s the case, how the hell are you doing this!"
"Hmm... this is only a projection from one of the souls trapped inside the Gauntlet of Haze, even with such a powerful crystal I can only use a fraction of its power but don''t worry. This is more than enough to finish this. Hope you''re both prepared to die."
Chapter 261 C261. Mind Guidance.
"You both seem confused. Don''t worry, I''m no longer a member of the Zorak family and I do not possess their innate ability, hence why I''m here."
"That''s impossible! If that''s the case, how the hell are you doing this!? That ability belongs to the Zorak family alone, no one should possess it outside of the family."
Hearing the Zorak duo angrily state the obvious in a panic, Z deemed it necessary to enlighten them. He hated the thought of being associated with that family anymore and needed to correct their misconceptions.
"Hmm... this is only a projection from one of the souls trapped inside the Gauntlet of Haze, and even with such a powerful magic crystal powering it, I can only use a fraction of its power, but don''t worry. This is more than enough to finish this. Hope you''re both prepared to die."
Confusion filled the eyes of the pair as the violent winds that spun around Z suddenly gusted out with a force that sent them flying back a few meters but that was not the end.
The rapidly rotating winds continued to spin around them with increasing intensity as they created a dome in a radius of about a hundred and fifty meters, trapping them within a secluded world of wind inside the dangerously spinning walls of air. It was as though they had been trapped in the eye of a storm.
The gravity increased rapidly, the air became thinner, the mana essence was lesser and not even light could not prate through the spiraling wind walls of the dome.
Basically, everything they were used to was rapidly being stripped from them. Effectively lowering theirbat abilities unless they could counter the domain ability with another domain of equal strength.
The Tempest Realm was the innate ability of the Zorak family that created an isted world of wind within the dome and anyone caught within it would be unable to escape, including spiritual or conceptual entities as the user had absolute dominion over that realm.
Within this dome was a world where thews of reality were only a subjection and could be stripped down as per the user''s capabilities. Of course, such a powerful skill required a lot of life and soul energy and depending on the amount of energy used determined how powerful the Tempest realm was.
This was the trump card of the Great Five for a reason after all. It was amongst the five strongest abilities ever recorded in the demon continent. This was not something they¡ª who were already at a disadvantage as their main attack method had been sealed¡ª could handle on their own.
''This is bad! This is bad! We''re dead.''
Although the situation was dire, anyone that had crossed the threshold of mortality should''ve been able to tell that the pressure enforced by this Tempest world was unstable but that was not the case for Levant as he had gone pale in despair.
His was not a thought process an actual demigods should behave even when he was unable to sense the unstable nature of the powerful innate ability that was being used.
However, the fact that it was being used by a weaker opponent should calm him down as demigods were insanely hard to kill even by stronger opponents due to multiple lifesaving skills and items they had awaited.
Yet, his mind was flooded with negative thoughts that could drive lesser men to the brink of madness and he didn''t know what to do.
This was because, everything so far had gone as Zomatsu had willed it and as a perfectionist, he allowed no room for error.
The moment he had touched Levant earlier had decided his victory. The crystallization skill he used had only been a bluff as that skill could not even hold a weaker opponent much less a Demigod.
He had only yed it off as a dangerous skill while he stealthily used mind maniption in guiding the thought process of Levant even though that ability also didn''t have a high probability of sess on a stronger opponent.
This was why he had continuously talked down to them from the start, effectively breaking down their confidence until the possibility was high enough and then, he used probability correction to perfect his chances.
He was not one to rely on luck so everything had to go ording to n and he went out of his way to make sure of it. Slowly putting Levant in the right state of mind to execute the final step to his n.
?Sub skill - Pressure Press?
In an instant, both parties couldn''t move as the air pressure in the dome of wind was suddenly multiplied several folds. It was currently even strong enough to crush a man but it could only restrict them because they had been distracted.
?Sub skill - Corrosive Wind?
?Dark mes - Dark Meteoric Fall?
The moment he used another sub-skill of the tempest realm domain, the air around Levant and Brethal began to corrode their skin, causing them to be paralyzed for a moment as the tempest realm began to copse.
This was only a copy of the real ability and thus it could not be used for long and was incredibly unreliable.
However, this was expected as Z immediately used another skill as the dome of spiraling winds disappeared. An absurdly massive ball of ck mes suddenly burst through the clouds as it came crashing down on Levant in a devastating explosion that annihted everything in its wake.
*Boom!
Naturally, Brethal was caught in the st as well and it swallowed both of them. Even demigods could not defend against the mes of absolute destruction when their defenses had been carefully broken down and also paralyzed by corrosion.
In the end, Z had fought and single-handedly defeated two demigods without taking single damage.
The massive explosion covered a radius of more than a hundred meters and he had to teleport to the edge of his anti teleportation barrier to escape it. Any secondter he would''ve been caught in the st as well.
Taking a look to the side, he could see Captain Cresil and Tarka wrapping up their scuffle with the remainder of the undead army with Tarka using support magic on the hobgoblins who fought skillfully and as a well-coordinated group.
The Kobolds moved swiftly around the battle setting traps for the beast riders who were the hardest for the hobgoblins to deal with. Cresil was also impressive as he fought on the front line shattering an undead with every swing of his ax.
At the rate they were going they should be done with the battle in a few minutes so Z thought he would bide his time until then. He needed to teleport them back after all.
Teleporting back to the massive crater to confirm his victory, he noticed Brethal, the female demigod¡ª had barely survived his attack. She waspletely burned ck and the mes were still burning but she was still alive.
Demigods were really hard to kill especially when they were not the direct target of your attack. There were also very few attacks that could even damage them and if it hadn''t been for lord Ty''s genius, he would not be capable of this.
The n was to kill both of them while Nessi would attempt to capture Noual but this oue wasn''t bad either. He was confident Nessi wouldn''t be defeated by Noual no matter what item he had on him but the same was not the case for defeating him.
He had instructed her that if she could not capture him without killing him, she should at least leave his body intact so resurrection could be used on him as anyone killed by dark mes could not be revived or reincarnated.
This was why he was surprised to see her still alive.It seems she had a regeneration skill that was keeping her alive even against the mes of destruction but that was fine as Nessi no longer needed to hold back.
"Thought Communication."
He quickly activated amunication scroll and contacted her to end her fight with Noual immediately or lure him back here so they could finish him off together but she insisted she was fine.
Z didn''t bother with that line of thinking anymore as he returned his attention to the two demigodsying on the ground lifelessly with one of them dead.
He then moved to where Levant''s charred corpse was and retrieved the glimmering item stuck on one of his fingers.
Most of his pieces of equipment had been burnt to ash and that was the only item that had survived the dark mes. They were not ordinary items and may prove useful to Lord Ty.
The moment he pried the ring off the corpse, the entire corpse turned to dust as though the ring had been the only thing keeping his body intact.
"How unsightly."
While he had been a scout and would normally investigate things like this, he didn''t particrly enjoy it but this time he had no choice but to retrieve the item himself as tasking someone else with this task would be an insult to his pride.
Observing the unremarkable ring in his hand, Z sighed with disappointment as he appraised the item. It was indeed a magic artifact but only a special grade one and did not have any useful effect that could benefit his master.
If anything this was only an item that was specifically made for degenerates like the idiot who previously owned it.
Still, Z decided to show the item to his master just in case. Even if he could not see any value in it, there was a chance his vastly superior master would be able to use it in his numerous ns.
"Y-yo-you... who- who are you. How- can this be..."
Turning his head to the side, Z was surprised to see Brethal''s body being restored after the dark mes had been extinguished. Her healing skill was certainly better than he had originally thought. That miscalction was most likely due to hisck of interest in this situation after defeating them.
"I was formerly known as Zomatsu Zorak, but that was in the past, I am now Z, a vassal of the demon king."
"Demon K-king? Y-you''re crazy... Noual... Noual will make you pay for doing this to me, he''lle for me soon, you''ll see..."
"I highly doubt that."
*Boom!
As though on cue, two figures crashed into the greater they were in and only one of them stood up as the othery lifelessly in the ground.
Brethal struggled to turn her head to face the crash as a glimmer of hope shined in her eyes. However, that hope was quickly crushed as the figure that emerged from the dust revealed itself to be the beautiful rogue with an oversized swords and glowing eyes.
"Y-you bitch, what- what did you do my Noual."
Nessi ignored the struggling Brethal as he dragged the male corpse of Noual towards Z.
"Seems everything went well. Were you hurt by any means?"
Z asked bluntly as Nessi tossed the body of Noual towards the screaming Brethal and shook her head at Z''s question.
"No, I''m fine. But he did break my bra strap and I can''t fix it, I think master will be angry with me."
At this point, even the screaming Brethal had paused as they were both at a loss for words. They just stared nkly at the serious Nessi, notprehending what she was talking about.
Taking a closer look at her outfit, it seems there was a cut by her left shoulder which had snapped her bra causing her to snap at Noual as she considered her garments a gift from her master as it was created by his energy at her birth and thus damaging it had offended her.
Normally, such an item could not be destroyed as long as she was still alive but the skill Noual had used had prevented her from even restoring it meaning it would be permanently damaged.
Apparently, that had been the loud explosion they had heard earlier and she had just gone berserk and killed Noual before he even knew what was happening.
Hearing that absurd story had been even more of a blow to Brethal who could colon get retain her consciousness as all her mana was finally exhausted.
In the end, Z had ended up relying on luck as she had killed Noah long before his battle ended so it Brethal had not survived, he would''ve failed his mission.
''I didn''t calcte how dangerous damaging a bra could be.''
Chapter 262 C262.Countermeasures
In the vast stillness of the enchanting eastern region of the Darknar forest, the ground beneath the vines and snow vibrated as arge number of powerful undead creatures apanied by half humanoid half serpentine beings came marching through an open path of the forest without facing any resistance along the way.
This was because the path ahead had already been cleared of any obstacles by an undead regiment consisting of around 3,500 undead of varying types. Who had marched ahead of the special unit along with nine other regiments that took different paths towards the same location?
As the night went on, the various regiments had made considerable progress through the eastern parts of darknar forest and more and more of them began to exit the forest at the same time.
However, it didn''t matter when they exited or from which direction or location, as long as they left the protection of the forest, they were instantly ambushed by different teams of demihumans led by incredibly strong individuals.
So far, none of the units that had been ambushed had survived to tell the tale and it was being to be a cause for concern.
''Who are they?''
Zerahut thought as he sat leisure on his throne made entirely out of bones and was being carried slowly across the forest by ck Knights of hos creation and protected by Doom Knights.
Naturally seated on arge wooden throne next to him were the Queen of the south, Daenerys, and her entourage of Lamias and Minotaurs that carried her throne across the forest as well.
Although Zerahut''s special unit was stationed at the back of the army, they were currently only a few hours away from exiting the forest themselves. Meaning, quite a number of his Undead Units had reached the exit and should be regrouping while awaiting his arrival.
Yet, that was not the case as he could sense his army being destroyed one after the other and was beginning to get annoyed.
At first, he hadn''t cared about one or two units being ambushed as the battle and death would generate more negative energy for the orb of death while the corpses from the battle would only serve to be his strength.
However, that was not the case as there hadn''t been a single casualty from any of the ambushers'' forces. From what he had gotten from his connection with Raziril before he was destroyed, the enemy possessed powerful beings that had surpassed mortal limits, in essence, demigods.
Zerahut was a bit concerned by this as he had never heard of such powerhouses residing in the darknar region before this.
These were demigods they were talking about. They were not being that grew on trees and thus were incredibly rare and highly sort after.
The fact that his forces had encountered two of such beings that were not summoned or created with Magic was concerning and the only conclusion he coulde to was the Seven Primordial Behemoths.
As one who had once been the demon noble, Adelt Wilderbelt, he was well aware of the seven primordials which was why he had agreed to work with Mammon, a rtively new primordial behemoth.
However, it would seem that decision had its ws as he could no longer take the world by surprise as the primordials must''ve been keeping an eye on Mammon and had learned of their ns and were now standing against them.
The chances that the Great Five were now aware of him was incredibly high but they should still be underestimating him so he should have some Leeway to fix this.
''How troublesome.''
Thinking that Zerahut took out the orb of death from within his robe as he raised it, the air surrounding the orb shifted and got heavier as it emoted a faint evil glow of death aura that even gave the undead chills.
He then took out a pure ck and tattered scroll from his robe and activated it. The scroll bu in a purple haze that was absorbed by the orb of death until its glow shimmer brighter in the moonless night.
"Conjure Celestial - Grim Reaper!"
The moment the words left his mouth, the orb''s glow disappeared as the night got even darker as even the undead who could see clearly in the dark had lost their vision for a moment, bringing his entire unit to a halt.
This onlysted a moment as their sight was restored and before them, was a massive illusionary figure of death itself. It was the personification of death in the form of a cloaked skeleton wielding arge blood-red scythe that glimmered even in the moonless night.
"Grim Reaper, locate and destroy every living demigod up ahead!"
At hismand, the massive illusionary figure of the reaper disappeared as the looming presence of death moved rapidly away from them.
He had only ordered the Grim reaper to attack living demigods for various reasons. He also had demigods in his army thanks to Mammon so he didn''t want the Grim reaper to mistake his minions for targets.
This was because he had little to no control over the embodiment of death itself and could only give it one order. What he had done was conjure a physical manifestation of the conceptual being known as death.
Basically, he had conjured a portion of the powers of a true god. Such a being was capable of easily dispatching a few measly demigods no matter how or where they chose to hide.
He had hoped on saving this ability as a trump card against Mammon if he chose to betray him but he couldn''t let his army fall before he ascended and bes an ArchLich himself.
"Is something the matter?"
p "What on Neron could you mean?"
At Daenerys question, Zerahut presented not to understand what she was talking about as he answered her with a question of his own which brought a slight frown on her beautiful features.
*Hiss... "Are you by chance trying to hide something? Why did you just summon such a terrifying being all of a sudden."
Although her expression had returned to normal, her eyes told a different story that made Zerahut concede a little as he tried to dismiss her worries.
"Oh meant that. No need to worry about it. Just needed to deal with some pest attempting to stand in my way."
"Pest? Did someone by a chance attack?"
His attempt to dismiss the topic casually had instead garnered her curiosity as a mischievous smile crept across her face. It seems he had been yed by her which immediately began to irritate him.
"Do drop the act, Queen Daenerys. I''m aware you have spies monitoring every regiment, and while I cannot intercept yourmunicationswork, I can still sense it. So do not insult my intelligence."
At his confident deration, the smile on her supple lips grew slightly as spoke in a yful tone that left many rooms for interpretations.
*Hiss... "is that right. You''ve be more impressive than you look, boy. Still, you''re still too short-sighted to grasp the bigger picture even after all these years. If you''re not careful, even the ground you walk on may swallow you."
"You Dare! What do you mean by that!"
Angered by her suggestive sentence, Zerahut snapped at her but that only serve to amuse her more which irritated him to his very core.
"There''s no point in just telling you. It would do you no good at this point."
Zerahut red at Daenerys for a while but ultimately chose to remain quiet as he could not kill her just yet. There were many reasons why he needed her alive and not as an undead.
He had already reached the maximum number of intelligent undead he could create as that took a massive amount of negative energy and summoning the grim reaper and using his trump card also required a ridiculous amount of negative energy so he couldn''t afford to waste it.
His alliance with her was keeping the King of the North at bay for now but as soon as he had achieved his goal, he would no longer have a need for her as he intended to turn the world undead anyway.
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As the Darknar region was no longer a region governed by any recognizedw as it was currently a deserted region. The concept of war ethics would be disregarded in the sh of any two powers at odds here.
With that in mind, there would be nows to govern the rights or wrongs in a war, and, anything goes. It was also safe to say the war had officially begun the moment one of the ten regiments of the undead army was destroyed.
In the next hour, three other units had also beenpletely destroyed by the much smaller force of demons and Demi-humans without themsuffering a single casualty.
The first unit to be destroyed was Unit 8, led by the Doom Lord, Oval who had been summoned for the specific purpose of leading his regiment in battle. His unit fell at the hands of the ArchLich Emrys.
Next was Unit 1, led by the Bonew, Raziril, and destroyed by the demoness noble Liz and the Dark elf Rain. Soon after that, the ArchLich Emrys appeared before another regiment designated as Unit 7 andpletely annihted them in an instant.
Thirty minutes after that, the Demon noble Z and the undead rogue Nessi, appeared before Feverant, the General of the second unit and with the help of a little over 300 hobgoblins and Kobolds, they attain the fourth wless victory of the night.
As the undead army traveled through different routes of varying lengths,plexity, and difficulty, it took the rest of the army a considerable while to exit the forest, and the next regiment toe out through the Greyad ins, was Unit 6.
Led by a Wight named Lo, the army of 3,000 plus undead marched out of the woods and were met by an army of around 400 hobgoblins alongside about 30 red ogres and beastmen. Standing ahead of them was exactly 20 Undead ck Knights and Liches created personally by Tyler.
There were more than 180 undead night terrors and 40 plus low-level undead that had been left behind as they were not suitable forbat against other undead and thus, remained in the undergroundbyrinth.
Leading this odd group was Jarret who was currently d in Adamantine iid leather armor and wielding a Duranium coated long sword. Assisting him were Nadine and K who was also d in high-quality equipment and weapons.
As he had no experience in managing such arge group himself, he had assigned Hart and Talen tomand the undead ck Knights and Hobgoblins warriors as their Vanguards and heavy infantry with Loramanding the mages, a unit that included the undead Liches and hobgoblins Magic casters.
Gail tookmand of the rangers with Jin and Raz aiding her while Jarretmanded the rest of the forces with Nadine being their wild card that was free to roam across the battlefield as she deemed fit. It wasn''t that Jarret didn''t think she could work in a team but rather the opposite.
Roaming freely across the battle didn''t mean she could just attack wildly not minding her allies but rather, she had to observe the flow of the battle and choose when to interfere and who to aid.
ording to the scouting report from one of their master''s shadow rogues, the unit they were about to face had no demigods hidden within them which is why they were chosen for this.
Lo, the 5th Tier Wight was an undead creature given a semnce of life after experiencing a life of violence and hatred. It could drain the life energy out of his victims by touch, turning them into new wights upon death.
As Wights generally appeared as weird and twisted reflections of the forms they had in life, Lo was a male dark elf who was d in decaying light metal armor and wielded a curved de. His mummified flesh covered his twisted skeleton, his teeth were sharp and jagged like needles and his eyes glowed like white-hot embers.
"Attack!"
The moment Lo''s unit left the forest, Jarret promptlymanded his forces to attack and Hart and Talenplied as they roared, activating various skills as they led the ck knights and Hobgoblins straight ahead until they shed with the undead army with staggering intensity.
Chapter 263 C263. Angel Of Decay
"Attack!"
As Jarret gave the signal for the start of the battle, Lo also did the same as he ordered his undead infantry unit to attack. His forcepromised of over 1,000 low-level skeletons and zombies and more than 500 heavily armored mid-tier warriors leading the charge. It
He alsomanded the undead beast riders to charge un from the sides and take out the enemy archers while the mage artillery Corp prepared the fire. However, Jarret''s unit was a tad faster.
Before Hart and Talen''s team could even sh with the horde of undead heavy infantry, Lora had already ordered the Liches in her unit to continuously cast Giant fireballs at the nk of Lo''s regiment. Aiming for the undead mages artillery Corp their Magic support unit.
Of course, those units had set up severalyered barriers to protect themselves but due to the Liches being able to infinitely cast the fireball spell, that was not a problem. For now, it slowed down the undead mages while the rest of her mages aimed at the undead infantry effectively reducing their numbers as much as they could.
Without adequate support from the undead Magic support, their spells decimated the low-level undead infantries but she did not attack the heavy infantry ahead of the army to avoided harming Hart and Talen.
With that, Gail''s unit could target the undead beast riders who were harder to be targeted by the mages. The hobgoblin''s archers were incrediblyskilled and they all used high-quality crossbows that fired multiple rounds rapidly like machine guns, making escape impossible.
The only problem was the undead archers scattered all over the undead army. As the mages were preupied with the continuous streams of Giant fireballs, they could not make any decent attacks but the archers could move around more freely and Lo hadmanded them to take out Lora who was being the biggest nuisance right now.
However, it was at that moment that Hart and Talen collided with the Heavy infantry and things escted quickly.
They were both 4th tier warriors who had received powerful skills from their master and these so-called Heavy infantries were only at the Basic stages of Tier 3 and Peak stages of Tier 2 and they could not hope to stand in front of the pair.
Naturally, they moved like a pair of hurricanes, shattering the formation of the heavy infantry witha single swing of their weapons.
The ck knights that apanied them were stronger than the ones from Lo''s unit but with their limited number, they normally wouldn''t make much difference.
However, with Hart and Talen moving like hurricanes, their ck knights could take advantage of the opening they provided, pushing the enemy undead back as the hobgoblin warriors skillfully disposed of them.
They shattered through the army defensive line and opened a path for Jarret''s unit to attack the enemy''s General. Jarret and K moved quickly through the gaps in the army and using one skill after another, they imed the lives of any undead that met their des.
Naturally, even with their current advantage, they were still vastly outnumbered and the Liches could notpletely stop the undead mage Corp as spellsand arrows came flying their way.
However, Nadine wouldn''t let them have their way as she moved nimbly across the battlefield, intercepting any attack that could not be blocked by its targets or simply countering them with spells of her own.
They had been ordered not to suffer any casualties and they would not be the ones to disappoint their master.
Although she could notpletely defend everyone from unexpected attacks by herself, they had a few healers amongst the hobgoblins and they quickly moved the wounded to the back to attend to them.
Their battle was the most intense and evenly match battle yet the next thirty minutes were spent slowly chipping away at the undead numbers which were still over 2,000 while their forces of less than 500 were getting smaller with the increasing amount of wounded.
Currently, Jarret and Hart were engaged in battle with Lo who was a nimbler fighter than one would expect, and even with their newfound strength, they could only just keep him upied while K and Talen prevented any of his special units from helping him.
The tension was high all around and any wrong moves and they could lose their lives in an instant. Especially if Lo was given a chance to touch them directly.
?Razor Wind?
Using one of his most proficient skills, Jarret swung his sword at Lo severally in quick session and thin shing des of razor-sharp winds cut through Lo''s armor but didn''t do much damage given the tier difference between them.
Besides, most undead creatures were immune to cutting attacks and only took bludgeoning damage. This exined why they hadn''t even scratched his body until now. If they wanted to have a chance of winning against a stronger opponent like him, they needed to y to his weaknesses.
As neither he nor Hart wielded any blunt weapons or knew skills that caused blunt damage or could simply overwhelm the Wight, Jarret scanned around the battlefield with his Spirit Vision and quickly decided on his next course of action,
"Hey switch!"
As he yelled that, K didn''t even think twice about it as she immediately ignored the Zombie warrior she was fighting and turned around to charge at Lo.
Of course, the Zombie warrior wouldn''t stop its attack simply because its enemy was trying to run away so it swung its de at her opened back but was met with a sword that pushed it back and another razor wind was used and before it could understand what had happened, it''s body wad already in pieces.
?Necrosis shing Sword?
Understanding why Jarret had switched ces with her without even needing to ask, K, an ogress who had been a member of Jarret and Erin''s hunting party for years, activated the skill she had only recently attained from her master.
Her long sword was immediately wrapped in a golden aura as she skillfully avoided the de of Lo who had been distracted by Hart and swung her sword at the Wight General.
[Foolish Girl, Die?]
Unfortunately, her de did not prate the bones of Lo and her weapon bounced off him but she had anticipated this results and used the momentum from the bounced weapon to twist her body around as she yet again avoided Lo''s attack before striking at his neck then swiftly moving to strike his shoulder and then his knees, each time her weapon bouncing off his bones.
[Do not make a mockery of yourself mortal and ept your fate.]
Lo snorted as he shoved Hart aside and moved to decapitate the head of the annoying pest that had been bothering him. However, as he raised his arm to strike, he suddenly froze.
He has lost control over his arms, legs, and neck, all the ces that had been struck by her de. As undead were magical creatures that were dead, they moved only with the aid of the mana emanating from their cores.
After all, they had no motor functions and muscles to move with any physical force again so the moment their joints could hit be supplied mana, they would be unable to move.
This was because the skill she used, disrupted mana flow to the cellr level by destroying the mana circuits in the body that transport mana, not even a stronger undead could recover from this effect in a short time.
"Now!"
Seeing as her skill had taken effect, K yelled at the top of her lungs to nobody in particr, however, both Hart and she had immediately jumped back in anticipation of something.
"Secret Technique - Nine Copsing Star."
In the next moment, a figure came crashing down from the skies as she gathered all her remaining energy in her Bo staff and forcefully swung it at the head of the immobile Lo with all her might.
*Bang! *Bang! *Bang! *Bang! *Bang! *Bang! *Bang! *Bang! *BOOM!
In an instant, nine consecutive strikes could be heard with thest resounding across the battlefield like a devastating explosion that shattered the ground beneath Lo''s feet.
As her only secret technique, the nine copsing stars was her strongest form of attack but it required a long prep time and used up a massive amount of stamina and mana.
Leaving the user incapacitated for a while after use but thanks to her reaching the 4th tier because of her master, she no longer had to fear passing out during battle but would no longer be able to participate in the fights.
However, it seems to be worth it as the 5th tier Wight had been crushed under the weight of her nine instantaneous strikes.
Hart then quickly rushed into the small crater she had created and helped her out of the battle into the hands of a medic as the battle was about to get a lot more chaotic.
,m With the undead army''s main chain ofmand broken, the others were rtively easier to deal with as it was now only a matter of time before they won.Their fights would go on for another 30 minutes before they finally slew thest undead.
Most of the hobgoblins had copsed on the ground out of exhaustion and they had only won by the skin of their teeth. However, they had suffered no casualties even though they had arge number of wounded that were practically on the verge of death.
"Wow... we won."
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¡ªAt the same time as Jarret''s teams battle, another regiment of undead led by the Angel of Decay, Azratta came out of the forest further away from the castle then anyone else.
This was the 4th unit of the undead army led by one of the conjured creatures gifted to Zerahut by the Behemoth of Greed, Mammon.
An Angel of decay, also known as Rot harbinger. It was an undead monstrosity powered by decay, a mockery of true angels but with the strength of a demigod with dominion over Rot and Decay.
Azratta had a vaguely humanoid form and wings. He stood about 9?ft (2.7?m) tall and weighed approximately 230?320?kg. His body was constantly rotting and streaming off liquid corruption that rapidly destroyed the ground he stepped on.
When he spoke tomander his unit, he did so with a slurred, muddy voice that could barely be understood so he generally leftmanding his unit to his assistant, the Lich that walked behind him.
As thest of their force had moved a consider distance away from the forest, he suddenly sensed a divine presence that threatened to swallow him whole and he froze.
As an Angel of Decay, he was stronger than ordinary demigods and could not be easily destroyed. Yet, what he felt now was the presence of a being thatpletely outssed him to the point that it would even be considered an insult topare the two.
Every fiber of his body told him he could not win against this new opponent but as a summoned being, he could not run neither could he retreat. He hesitantly raised his head up and spotted their ambushers.
However, unlike the other units up to this point, Azratta''s unit was not faced by numerous opponents with no one assigned to either lure them out or kill the weaker undead.
Instead, they were met with a single glowing divine figure that floated in the air above them with a graceful appearance and an all epas presence that had brought the entire unit to an abrupt halt.
He knew it was a bad idea to look directly at such a being but was unable to stop him and the moment their eyes met, his entire being felt as though it was being ripped apart from within just by the force her aura alone had infused in him.
Her figure then suddenly wave an arm as the clouds suddenly parted ways and rained destruction upon them.
?Pure Water Infusion - Water Meteors?
Chapter 264 C264. Water Goddess
Marching out of the darknar forest was an undead army of more than 3,500 strong, led by the 4th regiment''s undead General, the Angel of Decay Azratta. A demigod level General that had been conjured by Mammon and contracted to serve Zerahut in dominating the demon continent.
While he was not quite as intellectual as the other generals. He was most likely the strongest of them all as he was a conceptual being that could not be destroyed by normal means.
He led the 4th unit from the frontlines as part of its vanguards and leftmand of the rest of his forces to his assistant, a Tier 4 Great Lich that led the mage artillery Corp and Magic support unit. The rest of his forces would follow after him as he led the charge to attack any enemies that came before them.
As a conceptual entity that could not be destroyed, he acted as his unit''s tank and took on his enemies head-on without any tricks orplicated strategies, opting to crush his opponents with brute and decaying force.
However, he possess no skills or spells that could be used for attack and had no talent for magic, but that didn''t mean he was defenseless. His only means of damaging his enemies was by the corrosive and decaying liquid his body was made of and constantly produced. It was capable of decaying everything in existence and could not be stopped.
He could also hurlpierces of himself as long-range attacks but was still limited in a variety of attack methods. There were other abilities he had but those were only useful against vastly weaker opponents so he needed other means of attack.
Hence, his unit waspromised of mostly undead mages and archers, giving him all the firepower he needed topletely annihte whatever stood in his way.
However, the moment thest of his forces had left the forest, they were met with their doom.
?Pure Water Infusion - Water Meteors?
Their advance was met by a single individual floating in the air above them. Her figure was gently glowing as she looked ethereal as though her body was made of the purest form of flowing water.
Her aqua blue hair flowed down like gentle waterfalls, her enchanting figure was onlyplimented by her alluring beauty. Her eyes glowed in blue light as her gaze met Azratta for only a moment when suddenly¡ª
The heavy clouds gave way for countless massive balls of faintly glowing water that descended upon the undead army like an endless bombardment, destroying everything in its wake for more them a 10-mile radius in a purifying glow.
Her skill had been infused with the purification properties of pure water which was one of an undead''s creatures'' weakness; thus, an entire army of 3,500 strong had beenpletely annihted by a single attack as they couldn''t even hope to defend themselves with their Magic barriers.
Erin sighed in relief that everything had gone smoothly as she had been incredibly nervous the entire time. Even if she was stronger now than ever before as she now had actual offensive capabilities that would not drain her life force, she still wasn''t cut out for being in the frontlines much less going in alone.
Her heart had been pounding the entire time and all she wanted to do now was to hide her face in embarrassment as she knew Lord Ty was watching.
While it was still ufortable for her to interact with the outside world after shutting herself off for so long, she knew she had to do this to help Lord Ty and her new friends Liz and Rain.
However, it was still incredibly embarrassing knowing she was being watched by not only Lord Ty but so many others as well.
Naturally, as a spiritual being that was practically a literal goddess, she could easily sense those concealed gazes of the Great Five and two others.
Of course, she could easily counter these remote viewers and even kill the spell casters or simply just prevent them from monitoring her, that would defeat the purpose of this war.
Even her friend Liz who had been gifted an item that prevented scrying had been asked to disable the effects before heading out.
Thinking of that event, Erin''s thoughts suddenly drifted off to another detail as her expression became somewhat mncholic.
''Why wasn''t I given a gift as well. Have I perhaps been a burden?...''
Her mind suddenly shed back to the time Lord Ty had gifted Albert, Z, and the girls items to aid them in the battle. Perhaps he just didn''t think she needed it but she couldn''t help but feel a little sad and left out.
''I''m being stupid, what do I do now?''
As her mind wandered off in an unexpected direction, her attention was suddenly jolted back as her body automatically reacted to something aimed at her.
[Rot st!]
Seeing the water nymph stare into space no longer paying any attention to him, Azratta quickly reformed his scattered liquid form after easily surviving her attack even though he had taken a lot more damage than he had ever before in his entire existence.
He disregarded that thought as he was the Angel of Decay, a being that would not be destroyed so easily.
After reforming his body, his wings pped rapidly as his body slowly left the ground. He then gathered a tight ball of brown muddy liquid that was originally part of his body in his hands as he threw it at her with a force that even broke the sound barrier and shot at her like aser.
These attacks induce rot and decay even in the purest of things and could even corrode those with rot resistance. It didn''t matter if they were demigods or higher.
[Beguhn with theh Decayh ouf Time!]
Seeing as her holy attributed attacks had failed to destroy the Angel of Decay, Erin¡ª who had activated thought eleration automatically, and had a reaction speed to match¡ª easily moved out the way of the rot attack.
She then switched her nature of attacks as her form lost its purity and became darker, giving her a more devilish feel and aggressive appearance that would bring out certain urges in the opposite sex.
"Devour everything, Abyssal Water Dragon."
At hermand, a liquid ck serpentine dragon materialized from the air behind her and shot at the Angel of Decay who rapidly tossed balls of decay at it but the dragon devoured them all until even the monster was consumed in a ssh of destructive water.
Not even a conceptual entity like Azratta could survive the absolute destructive power of the Abyssal water from a being that surpassed him by leaps and bounds.
"Is it finally dead? That kinda scared me a little."
Mumbling to herself, Erin scanned the surface belowtrying to find any signs of the Angel of Decay but failed to notice anything as it seems she hadpletely destroyed it using her Abyssal water skill.
She had been warned the Angel of Decay would be troublesome to deal with but everything had ended too quickly for that to be the case so she has taken measures against any surprises that may ur during the battle.
With that, she was able to fully destroy him without any chance of survival.
''At least that''s over. I still have one more unit to destroy so I should probably get to it now right? Wait, wasn''t there something else here¡ª''
Just as she was about to dismiss her worries and focus on her next assignment, she suddenly remembered something as in the next moment, another attack suddenly came flying at her without warning.
?Waving Inferno sh?
With an unnatural speed. A wave of fire hotter than one couldprehend came gusting at her in a vertical line that threatened to cut her in half before proceeding to burn the halves into smithereens.
?Water Serpents?
Reacting quickly, seven massive water serpents materialized around her as they spiraled their bodies and wrap themselves around her in all directions, forming a tight ball around her.
However, as the sh of inferno came into contact with the water serpents, it quickly vaporized every single one of them before gusting past her and splitting the clouds behind her as far as the eyes could see.
''Wow, that was a surprise. My nerve is making me too careless, for me topletely forget about them, how embarrassing. I really should calm down.''
Although she had neither augmented the water serpent with either Pure water or Abyssal water, those were the skills created by an 8th tier being and that single attack had vaporized them. Even if they had used an item to achieve that, whoever made that Attack was seriously impressive.
*Tsk! "She managed to block that, don''t hold back, let''s hit her with everything we''ve got."
Taking a look down. Erin could see two slender figures that had emerged from the piles of ash from the ground and one of them had swung her de at her.
She had known they were here yet for some reason it had slipped her mind. Probably because she had been too distracted by the spike in her emotions. Ever since she had seen everyone receive an item from Lord Ty except her she had been a little too distracted and had almost gotten herself injured by these two weaklings.
These were obviously the representatives from the brimstone family and the reason Tyler had sent her here by herself was because of them.
p They appeared to be twins, two tanned female demon demigods with short brown hair and brown eyes. They both had simr facial features that made it hard to tell them apart. Both of which were extremely pretty.
One of them appeared to be a mage and the other a swordsman wielding a curved de engulfed in mes.
They were both d in expensive looking equipment and looked formidable. Judging by thest attack they probably had a Magic artifact on hand but that no longer mattered to Erin as she couldn''t afford to disappoint Lord Ty.
"Greater Magic - Sword Storm!"
The mage yelled her spell and over a hundred swords of light appeared floating in the air around her and shot at Erin with insane speed, cutting through space itself as they moved.
?Vtile de sh?
Complimenting her sister''s spell, the swordsman swung her de once more and a bright sword sh came storming behind the flying swords as the sh''s temperature rapidly increases indefinitely.
Such attacks could split the moon in half and would surely be able to kill a demigod no matter how they tried to defend themselves, However, with Erin, it was useless.
?Abysal Water - Thousand Water Lance?
In an instant, a thousand ck waternce appeared behind her and shot at the flying swords and sword sh that came at her, shattering everything easily and the restnces proceeded down at the twin.
However, as they decimated the ground below, none of them had even made contact with any of the girls.
"What the¡ª"
"Did she mISS? Or are you fucking with us!"
Shocked by the strange turn of events after their attacks had failed, the mage red up at the tant attempt to spare their life as she began to gather all her mana for a special spell.
"Please do not be offended I missed my attack. I was only told not to allow you to die that quickly. Do your best to struggle as much as you can."
?Omni-Burning - Deadly Rain?
Hearing the water nymph''s gentle voice as she stared at them with opting but pity, a cold thrill ran across their bodies as they instinctively took a step back. It was so bad that the mage had even forgotten to cast her fO Biden spell.
After all, what was to happen next, was nothing less than torture. One that would make one beg for the sweet release of death.
Chapter 265 C265. Blazing Strike
?Omni-Burning - Deadly Rain?
The moment Erinbined two of her skills into one, the pregnant clouds birth something unheard of in the demon continent. Burning Rain of absolute destruction.
The rain came falling in a radius that epass a wide area around them and as it touched their skins, it burned through everything, even the soul.
"Aw, shit what the hell is this!"
"This is bad Ceal, we''re dead if we stay here any longer, we need to run¡ª Huh?"
The sudden rain had been far too out of the blue and unexpected, and even as they sensed the looming danger ahead of time, it was already toote for escape.
Arge cylindrical barrier of water had appeared around them and could not be breached as even teleportation had been sealed.
"Fuck, she''s trying to trap us here Ceaz. What is this, acid rain? Fuck!"
"That''s, We can''t let another drop touch us, unleash everything you have!"
"Wall of mes!"
"Volkan''s Wrath?
"Dome of protection!"
?me Burst?
"Sunsjine!"
?Aurora Indot?
With everything they had, they desperately tried to defend themselves with all sorts of barriers, spells and even attack skills and they even aimed at Erin but the rain burnt through everything in its path as cries of agony and despairing began to echo across the ins.
Their screams slowly became muffled as the light ck drizzle slowly burnt off their skins, their armor melted and fused with their bones as even their tongues were slowky burnt off.
No matter were they crawled to, they could not escape the sky as every part of their bodies was slowly melted away.
This war had been intended to demonstrate the strength of Tyler''s forces to the Great five in order to intimidate them into yielding the Darknar region to him and recognizing him as its sovereign from this point on.
However, the same could not be said for the Brimstone family, as they had incurred his wrath. Their destiny was destruction and Erin had been sent to pass along that message with the unnecessarily torturous deaths of their representatives.
Their deaths was slow as each drop of rain had caused an unreasonable amount of pain that their minds couldn''t fathom due to the timely use of Pain inducement. A skill which projected pure agony directly into the target''s soul.
They had originally tried to attack her directly by burning through their life force but failed miserably as even their life force was being burnt by the rain of death.
With the Water Paragon Seal she used, all their attempt to escape even with Magic items had fallen short. Everything they did was pointless as the Deadly rain ate at them until it consumed their very souls in the slowest and most gruesome death one had ever witnessed. Most would not be able to retain their lunch after witnessing a sight like this.
Even Erin could not bear to look at them and had her eyes closed and her fingers plugging her ears the entire time but she had to make sure they had died so it was inevitable that she needed to see the end result.
''I feel like I''m gonna be sick.''
While she did understood why Lord Ty wanted this as she had also agreed with him after hearing of what they did to Liz, seeing this in person was a different story.
"I''m so squirmish, I need to get a hold of my self. One more unit to go."
Cheering herself on with a little fist pump, a ck gate opened behind her as her figure soon disappeared from the snow ins.
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¡ªSomewhere on the outskirts of the Darknar forest.
*g! *g! *Whooosh... *Boom!
A chaotic battle had broken out between the 9th unit of the undead army and an aged swordsman with brown hair with streaks of grey running across it. He wielded a thinly long sword that emitted an oppressive aura and wore an exquisite ck suit that was made of Lesser Djieien threads and enchanted with Advanced defensive Magic runes.
Making the item at the very least a Legendary ss magic gear. He moved swiftly as he brandished his sword skillfully and countless undead was sent flying.
His main opponent was a massive grey creature the size of a building. Standing at least 30 ft tall, he was a hulking mass of muscles that had ck chains wrapped around his limbs but had been broken apart and no longer restricted his movements.
The chained giant threw a punch that shattered the sound barrier and tore the ground in half in a devastating impact, destroying his own men without a second thought as he attempted to squash Albert.
However, Albert moved nimbly and swiftly as he avoided the blow and a massive fireball crashed into the chained giant, pushing him back, causing him to crash into his own team, crushing a few of them.
The undead mages artillery Corp at the backline used the opportunity to fire countless spells at Albert but a Magic barrier suddenly appeared in a dome around him as most of the spells were blocked and Albert was able to avoid the rest.
"Max Magic - Chain Dragon Lightning."
A skeletal mage d in tattered ck robes of luxurious quality, stretched out his bony fingers and a massive bolt of silvery-blue lightning jumped off his fingertips in the shape of a roaring dragon and it devoured the undead mages while jumping from one to the other.
Bones finished casting his spell as the Chained Giant finally stood back up and charged at him, leaping up into the sky as his massive fist was enveloped in a dark oppressive aura.
However, Albert would not be ignored as he suddenly appeared in the air directly in front of the giant''s massive head and his weapon began to glow with a blinding light.
?Stersh?
In a literal sh of blinding light, Albert swung his glowing de and a blinding aura of sr energy tore through space as the Chained Giant immediately raised his arms to block the attack but was sent crashing back down in a massive impact that shattered everything within a few meter radius of his crash.
At the same time, the rest of the undead army was being distracted by around 50 hobgoblins archers atop Nightmare wolves and 50 hobgoblin mages atop trained war horses.
In total, Albert''s group had a force of around a hundred strong, going up against an undead army of around 3,000. Albert was currently at the peak stage of Tier 6 and was only a step away from ascending beyond the mortal ne.
However, he was still only at the tier 6 standard, and normally, even with the God ss item in his possession, it would be impossible for him to take on an army of 3,000 undead with only Bones and a hundred hobgoblins to back him up.
However, this had been his master''s n, or rather, Uriel''s. Not that he was aware of her existence.
His master had confidently proimed that as long as they followed his n, a hundred fighters were all they needed to bring down this entire regiment and hepletely had faith in him.
At the start of the battle, a few of the hobgoblins on horses had been a little frightened but that all faded away as the battlemerced.
In less than 30 minutes, they had annihted more than half of the undead regiment with their help of theirs. Wry own General. The Chained Giant was a mindless undead whose very nature was chaotic and thus, was purely driven by rage.
It would attack its enemy without giving a second thought to its surroundings much less its allies. All they had to do was lead the brute around the battle while the mages kept most of the undead upied and the chained Giant would do their job for them.
Their current strategy involves having the hobgoblins on horses continuously encircle the battle while keeping the mages distracted and focused on them.
The original n was to have the other hobgoblins fight from afar as well but that had a certain risk for Albert and Bones who were the main force of this n soZ had suggested to send over the hobgoblins who had helped Emrys on his assignment earlier.
They could move across the battlefield with ease as they possessed shadow movement and could also escape any attack with shadow dwelling, thus, allowing them to function in such a chaotic battlefield.
"Widened Magic - Earth Eater!"
Casting a wide range spell, Bones watched as the ground opened up and swallowed an entire unit of undead before promptly closing up as though nothing had happened.
?Summon Undead Legion?
He then used his summoning skill that summed around a Hyde end random grade of undead to do his bidding for a while. Unlike Emrys, he could not summon a specific type of undead.
A horde of skeletons, zombies, Doom Knights, and Liches soon rose from the ground and joined the fight as the Nightmare wolves moved through the shadows, taking down one undead after another.
Having lost an arm to Albert''s attack, the Chained Giant finally got back up as it red at Albert who had hurt him but that didn''t matter to Albert.
The Golden gloves on his arm glowed gently as his sword was then wrapped in a golden aura and illuminated his surroundings. The God Tier artifact he had received was named Sun God''s Hold and possessed several powerful sun-based skills that were incredibly damaging to the undead race.
[ROARRRRRR!]
With eyes full of rage, the Chained Giant roared madly as a negative aura gusted out of his body in every direction in an attempt to corrupt every living thing around him.
"Not happening."
?Sr re?
Burning with furious intensity, a blinding golden aura gusted out of Albert as well and quick suppressed the negative aura and stunned the Chained Giant while turning all the undead around him to ash.
"Chains of the Abyss!"
Not missing the opportunity, Bones cast a binding spell as chains shot out of the ground and wrapped around the Chained Giant, binding him in ce temporarily.
? Understanding his intentions, Albert moved swiftly and arrived before the now literally chained Giant and jump, using the most powerful skill of the Sun God''s Hold.
?zing Torrent of Annihtion?
His de was engulfed in a zing inferno as it came shing down on the chained Giant in a pir of mes that burnt even the molecules in the air as it consumed the Giant and everything around it. Reducing everything to ash.
In one swiftbination attack, they hadpletely obliterated the chained Giant and more than 80 percent of the undead army. All that''s left was the clean-up as Albert coollynded behind the zing inferno, his depletely shattered by thatst attack but he didn''t seem to care as he casually pulled out another weapon from thin air.
"It is important to properly clean up after one''s self, so let''s get to it."
Chapter 266 C266. Black Ravens
¡ªSomewhere on the outskirts of the Darknar forest.
At the same time as Albert''s battle with the undead regiment led by the chained Giant, another regiment of the undead army had exited the darknar forest and were immediately ambushed by Orias special unit, the ck Ravens.
They were an elite force of only about 50 Karma Oni''s and were individually the strongest military force of the Raven settlement.
Led by Orias, their captain, the elite group was alsoapanied by 200 plus hobgoblins archers, and mages to provide magical and long-range support even though the legion had a few archers and mages more powerful than any of the hobgoblins mages.
With the addition of their secret weapon, they were also apanied by the two predatory beastmen who had begrudgingly joined their ranks to prevent the dragonkindy they were apanying from participating in the war as a show of good faith. Or perhaps to earn their master''s favor.
However, as Orias had no intentions of disrupting his team''s chemistry for the two even if they were plenty strong, he had originally wanted to task them with a free roam mission that allowed them to use their beastmen agility to the fullest and moved around the battlefield, taking out unsuspecting targets.
However, he had quickly changed his mind after receiving the intel that Lord Ty''s shadows provided and assigning them to hand behind with their secret weapon for the right opportunity to strike while they focused on the strongest undead.
Even with only a force of around 250 strong, they were rapidly dismantling the 5th regiment of the undead army as though they were nothing but faulty toys.
Everyone watching the battle remotely was inplete awe including Tyler who had the greatest doubts about sending a force of only 250 to face an army of 3,000 undead with limitless stamina.
Every single member of the ck Raven Legion was not only insanely strong, but they also had a perfect synchronization rate with their teammates and moved as though they were one with each other with everyoneplimenting each other and covering for their weaknesses.
The weakest member of the team was at the intermediate stages of the 4th Tier and there were even actual demon lords level fighters in the unit as Orias and two others had broken past the 5th Tier with Orias already reaching the Advance stages while the two were only at the Basic stage.
Thebat prowess of the Raven settlement was truly a surprise to Tyler as he couldn''t understand why they had joined him. With the strength of the ck Ravens alone, they could defend or repel any monster raid from their settlement.
He was beginning to suspect them when Uriel had stepped in to give him an exnation. ording to her, the settlement had severelycked the resources to manage themselves.
They could produce quality perishable foods with their advanced farming techniques but their fighting force relied on their numbers and strategies advantage. Their strength sile relies on their superior intellect advanced weaponry.
The only force they had that was suitable for hunting was the ck Raven which was not a good thing sending their strongest unit out to hunt.
This was why they had relied on the Red ogre settlement for hunting and equipment, so when the settlement moved with Tyler, their entire system had been broken and their town almost copsed.
With the increase in monster activities in the region and the movements of high-ranking demons and various noble families, they had to make a decision and had chosen to follow the lead of the Red ogres.
*Boom!
Casting an explosion spell was the 5th unit''s undead General, the Deathlock, Demi. Deathlocks were undead spellcasters bound to serve a master.
They were usually the remains of warlocks, reanimated by their patrons after failing to fulfill their part of a pact, but could also be created by necromancers.
However, this deathlock had been summoned by Mammon by using a special scroll but was bound to Zerahut with a pact.
Demi was a powerful undead that could infinitely cast multiple spells and could even double-cast spells at once. He was a powerhouse that was considered a Lord ss monster. Or in simpler terms, a Tier 6 mage.
However, he was currently being pushed back by two Tier 5 fighters. It was important to note that as one went up the Magic tiers, the disparity between each level much less each tier be wider and wider.
Hence why a 7th Tier Demigod stood no chance when facing someone at the 8th Tier. Hell, even a basic Tier 6 would soundly lose in a straight fight with someone at the intermediate rank 100 times out of 100 times if no outside Magic tools were used.
This was why it was strange that only two-tier 5 fighters were pushing a Lord ss undead spell caster back in a one-sided beat down that was only be slowed down by the severalyers of Magic defenses being used by Demi.
[Greater Magic - Hold Person]
Having been forced into a corner by Orias and his vice Captian Mia, Demi cast another spell to stop Mia''s attack when Orias suddenly moved in front of her and swung his de at nothing.
The spell ''Hold person'' was a 3rd Tier spell that could paralyze anyone visible within a 60 ft range of the caster for a period of 60 seconds. It was an enchantment spell that could only be resisted and not blocked as it had no line of effect and was instantaneous.
However, Orias had actually deflected the effect of the spell back at Demi as though it had been a projected attack. This was due to his innate ability, ''Deflection.''
He could deflect any spells aimed at him whether projected or enchanted as long as he was holding a weapon of any kind.
However, this ability was limited to his own strength as he could only deflect spells one level above his tier and all spells below his tier. He could also not deflect spells that had a wide area of effect nor ones that did not influence a person.
Sending the paralyzing effect back to Demi, he received the effect of his own spell however, he was undead and thus immune to negative status effect so the spell effect was nullified by his resistance but that had not changed his current predicament.
After deflecting his spell, Mia, who was a Karma Oni with short red hair and two ck horns protruding from her forehead¡ª moved swiftly and appeared beside Demi, bypassing most of his defenses for the first Tim and swinging her Greatsword.
Her figure was petite and she looked a bit frail, but that didn''t stop her from swinging the massive de as though it weighted nothing to her.
?Demonic Cleaver?
*Boom! *Crack!
Demi was sent flying as his bones were nearly destroyed by that blow. However, Orias and Mia didn''t give him any time to recover as they chased after him and overwhelmed his spells with attacks.
They could easily avoid hisrge-scale spells and Orias would deflect the ones he could back at him, allowing Mia tond a solid hit, and sometimes Orias would be able toplement that with a sword skill.
Their teamwork was extraordinary, it was almost as though they could read each other''s minds which in a way, they could.
The entire ck Ravens unit were connected with soul link and couldmunicate with each other instantaneously in the heat of battle. Most of what they said was just them joking around as they made stupid bets on who would destroy the most undead as Tyler had promised to reward the most outstanding fighters.
They all fought the countless swarm of undead wildly without getting in each other''s way and could not be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers around them.
The hobgoblins they brought along with them did the exact same thing as with Albert''s group. The mages encircled the battle and distracted the undead mages while the warriors and swordsmen fought on the perimeter as they drew the attention of the undead archers away from the ck Ravens fighting deep in the heart of the battle.
That was also not the end of it though, as the moment the battle began, a massive giant walked out of the Darknar region. This was not a giant simr to that of the chained Giant as he was a bit smaller but seemed more agile and lively and capable of thought.
As it wasn''t a shell of itself like the chained Giant had been, it was clearly far stronger and more dangerous and it emitted a very dangerous and suppressing aura.
He also didn''t seem to be hiding his state as a living being as it hadn''t used any method to blend with the undead army. He was d in silver te armor andrge wielded a golden ax.
The moment he stepped out of the forest, he was also attacked by the undead army butpletely disregarded them as he moved towards the ck Ravens.
It seems he had been monitoring and following the 5th regiment for a while now as it could not infiltrate the army without getting noticed. This was one of the representatives sent by one of the Great Five.
It was unknown which family had sent an actual freaking Giant that was unable to blend in even though it was probably just a half Giant. Still, giving the ones they had already taken care of thus far, it was either the Mereotti family or the Morningstars.
With Orias and Mia busy with Demi, and the other demon lord-level fighter coordinating the others, no one could stop the Giant from attacking as it waspletely disregarding the attacks from the mages.
+ROARRRRRR!
After patrolling the skies for a while, Drago came roaring down in a nosedive at a speed too fast for the eyes to see as he rammed the 20 ft Giant off the ground as though he weighed nothing.
Well, given as Drago was more than twice the size of the Giant, this was something that was expected.
Without holding back, his tail moved like a two ton whip as itshed at the body of the defenseless half Giant and sent it ying back into the forest, it''s body shattering the massive tress in its wake.
The two predatory beastmen, Yeva and Wrynn then came bumping off one of the trees in a timely manner as their auras wrapped their weapons as they crashed into the body of the flying giant with devastating attacks that immediately halted its momentum and sent it crashing down.
?Tri-Rainbow incision?
?Seismic sh?
*Boom!
While their attacks themselves have done little damage to the massive frame of the undead, there was only a set up for what''s toe as they immediately moved out of the way with rapid speed as Dragon came flying back with dark me gathering in its open maw.
?Dark Dragon Breath?
Chapter 267 C267. Soul Dominator?
A dense ball of dark mes gathered in Drago''s open maw as he flew towards the body of the half Giant who had crashed into the ground after receiving the full brunt of Wrynn and Yeva''s attacks.
?Dark Dragon Breath?
An all consuming me came bursting out of the massive drake''s mouth as it burnt everything it touched to ash in a wide area that nearly consumed the forest if Drago wasn''t restricting the range.
However, even faced with the zing heat of the dark mes, the half Giant did not die as he stood up in rage, its body grewrger and its skin got redder. Part of its skin had been burnt ck by the mes but they seem to be slowly regenerating.
In the next moment, a savage aura exploded from him as heforcefully disperse the mes around him and charged at Dragon with staggering speed thatpletely blindsided the two predatory beastmen perched on the trees awaiting a opportunity to attack.
Arriving above the massive dark drake, the Giant brandish his battle ax with all his might, the wave from the swing alone cleaved a deep rift in the earth that was deeper than the eyes could see.
Such a disy of strength even with a berserk skill was beyond the level of an ordinary demon lord level fighter and was approaching the realms of the divine.
A giant''s strength was not something tough at and given that the half Giant had recently be a demigod, he must''ve been holding back a lot ot maybe the dark mes had done more damage than he thought. Still, such a strike was not something mortals could easily handle.
However, Drago was a lesser Dragon. One of the ultimate species in the world and thus, such minute difference in tiers didn''t matter to him.
His physical abilities alone had already surpassed the average demigod due to its dragon physiology. It also had racial abilies that disregarded any tier suppression and mind influences including physical attack negation.
Thus, a wounded demigo was no match for him as the battle ax bouncer of its ck scales that seem to be harder than Adamantine. Dispersing the force of the strike which was what had caused therge rift in the ground.
Enraged by the fact that his attack had been neutralized by tbe dark drake, the half Giant roared and it was about to use a skill. If pure physical attack wouldn''t work, then he would just infused his weapon with mana enough to cut through even God ss armaments.
However, it''s rage hadpletely blinded him to the fact that Drago had not attached him alone and had theaid of the two predatory beastmen patiently waiting on the massive trees around them.
Fully aware that their attacks would not do any damage to a demigod. Yeva and Wrynn only goal was to distract the raging Giant for a moment as they appeared in front of his massive head and shed at his eyes. Sending streaks of sword shes flying at him.
However, the half Giant reacted with quickly as he instantly stopped his attack andmob r his battle ax to blocked their attacks but that was their goal to begin with.
?Dark ming ws?
Moving beside the half Giant like a nimble lizard, Drago swung his ming ws at the Giant and left a gaping wound on his back, sending the giant tumbling o back in agony.
?Dark re?
Not giving the Giant any time to respond, Drago immediately gathered another ball of ck mes in his maw and spat out the basketball sized ball of mes as it shot at the half Giant with immerse speed.
Exploding in a perfect sphere with a radius of 100 meters and an internal temperature several times that of the sun.
Even the highly me resilient Giant could not take such staggering heat and melted away with ear piercing shrieks of pain.
At the same time, the ck Raven Legion were rounding up their battle in the ins as they had sessfully reduced the number of ilundead to less than 500 with suffering any casualties even amongst the many injuries.
As Orias reflected a curse back at Demi, Mia took the opportunity and encircle the Deathlock simultaneously as Orias as they both used their most powerful skills after steadily bring the undead General to the end of the line.
In the next moment, theypletely shattered the undead spell caster in a wave of colorful attacks that changed thendscape a bit.
It only took them 2 minutes after that to take care of the remaining undead as all they did was retreat and Drago¡ª who had just retured¡ª promptly burnt them all with a single dark dragon''s breath, ending the battle in an instant.
????????????
????????????
¡ªAt the same time.
The 3rd Regiment of the undead army marched proudly out of the darknar forest and was met with arge spatial gate after moving a considerable distance away from the forest.
Coming to a halt a few meters away from the eerily ck Circr portal that had just opened up fully, they then saw two figures casually walk out of the portal as it slowly closed behind them.
One of these figures had utterly stunned them as they all felt the intimidation from the racial suppression that came only from a divine being of the undead race, an ArchLich.
The other figure that walked beside the ArchLich was a youngdy withlustrous and silky blue hair that fell gracefully down to her waist. Her deep blue eyes were like the boundless sea,bined with her soft facial features, she was a beauty that wouldn''t fail to turn the heads of all men, it was almost supernatural.
They both walked casually towards the undead army that numbers more than 4000 without a hint of hesitation in their steps as it seemed as though they werepletely disregarding the army as a threat with only serve to annoy the undead General.
[So this is the strength of Lord Zerahut''s enemies. How infuriating they are. It seems most of the other units have all fallen. I must correct such disgrace and rece our fallen with the dead bodies of these two.]
The General of the 3rd regiment of the undead army was the Soul Dominator. A true demigod wraith named Lezor.
Wraiths were undead creatures born of evil and darkness, despising light and all living things. They could drain the life from living creatures, turning them into new wraiths upon death that would faithfully serve under them.
However, Lezor was not an ordinary Wraith but a soul dominator that had dominion over souls. He could summon countless souls from the underworld that can damage, destroy or even steal the souls of their targets to endlessly increase his strength.
While he was weak physically and not as capable with Magic as some of the other generals, this ability alone made him the most troublesome General of the undead army.
After all, as a purely spiritual being, Lezor was immune to most attacks and Magic as his only weakness was natural sunlight and could not be killed by any normal means.
He appeared as a sinister, spectral figure robed in darkness. A sinister purple aura surrounds him as he floated over his army of undead with amanding aura.
[Soul Summoning - Call of Ten thousand.]
Sensing the strength of these two opponents, Lezor did not hesitate to use his skill as he fudge the number of souls required to take on these two was in the tens of thousands and used almost all his energy in summoning them.
Without warning, the souls of countless beings of all races began to materialize in the air all around him as they screamed in absolute despair and agony. Their ethereal figures appear distorted and in pain.
Most of these ten thousand souls were weak but few of them wielded distorted weapons and had powerful soul energies that rivaled the strength of demon lords. It was obvious he didn''t have control of the souls he was summoning but they would all obey him.
[Eliminate them both!]
Granting his team permission to attack with the horde of disembodied souls, Lezor began to chant a ritualistic spell with his remaining energy as his forces moved ording to his will.
Seeing the tortured souls charge at them faster than the undead army. Emrys''s robes fluttered in the wind as his foot gently left the ground and floated to meet the souls in the air.
?Soul Absorption?
Activating his skill, Emrys spread open his arms like a mother waiting for the embrace of her children, and immediately, all the distorted souls lost their agony and turned to pure energy as they shot towards him and were absorbed by his core.
An illusionary book floated in the air next to him as it rapidly began to flip through its countless pages, recording skills upon skills without an end in sight.
At the time, the undead mages had also finished casting their spells as countless colorful lights flew at them.
?Soul Energy Burst?
Gathering the excess soul energy around his body, Emrys promptly released it in a forceful burst of a sphere of pure soul energy that expanded rapidly faster than anyone could see. Shattering the spells aimed at him as the burst of energy instantly disintegrated everything around him for more than a mile.
In one attack, he hadpletely wiped out the entire 3rd unit of the undead army as everything in sight was reduced to dust be it living or dead. Even the skies had been cleared as the silver moon''s light finally reached the ground.
If he hadn''t retrained the amount of soul energy he had used, he would''ve easily reduced the entire continent to ash. As absorbing over 10,000 souls was more than enough to level the continent so he had only made use of the impurities contained in the souls and had still attained satisfactory results.
However,even though his attack had contained tremendous power, there were still a few people that had survived the st without so much as a scratch.
Naturally, Erin had easily taken the hit by purifying the soul energy that powered the attack even though such an attack wouldn''t damage her if she had simply done nothing, she had simply felt bad for the souls who had decided to help their suffering a little.
Besides her, there were two others who hade out of it unscathed as well.
The first was obviously, Lazor who wasn''t in the best of shape had he had almost exhausted his energy only to feed Emrys who had turned out to be his natural enemy as his greatest ability had been rendered useless.
Behind him was a tall and extremely handsome man with a red skin tone and two ck curved horns protruding from his head as his eyes glowed in a scarlet hue.
He wore a striped red suit with leather shoes and had his hands on his pocket as he skied smugly at Erin and Emrys whiled slowly taking steps forward.
"A Devil?"
Chapter 268 C268. Azalea’s Surprise
"A Devil?"
Erin uttered those words, slightly surprised as she could sense the chaotic mana that oozed off the handsome man in a red suit as he casually strolled towards them with his hands in his pockets.
He had white slick back hair and glowing scarlet eyes that seems as though it couldprehend everything within his line of sight.
Hisck of caution in their presence show his abundance of confidence as he moved past the stunned General of the 3rd regiment of the undead army, the soul dominator himself. Hepletely disregarded the Presence of the Wraith as he steadily approached them.
Lezor, who hadn''t sensed the presence of an intruder in his regiment was at a loss for words as he hadn''t expected any of the men to survive thatst attack but was surprised to sense someone behind him.
As a Soul Dominator, his strength came in the form of the limitless supply of souls he could summon to fight for him. However, he had unfortunately faced an opponent that was his natural enemy.
As the ArchLich could absorb and use the power of the souls he could summon, he would only end up feeding him more power no matter how many souls he decides to summon.
Seeing as the one hiding in his unit was a Devil and not a demon, he was relieved as he assumed he must''ve been summoned here by his master, Lord Zerahut.
As a General, he had scouts that had kept track of the undead army in a whole and this was naturally aware that most, if not all of the other regiments of their army had been absolutely devastated.
Giving that his master also had ess to the same information or more, he was sure he should also be aware of this and would''ve already made a counter move against their enemies.
The sudden appearance of this Devil was most likely because of that move. This was probably one of his master''s trump cards and as luck would have it, he had made it here just in time to help him get rid of the dangerous opponents that had rendered his most powerful skill useless.
What a wonderful move his master had made. Although his soul summoning was the ability that made himparable to a true demigod, he was still a high-level Wraith.
A King ss monster that was virtually unkible and had various other abilities that would prove useful against that damanle ArchLich.
Havinge to a convenient conclusion on what he believed was the present situation, he decided to address the Devil so they could settle on a n of action against this unlikely pair and was about to say something when his mind suddenly froze as he could not process any further thoughts as his body was suddenly splitin two.
[Ah... Wha... the... hell ...just... happened..]
Unable to understand how a spiritual entity like himself had been split in half for a moment, he was unable to voice anymore doubts as his body had suddenly been split into countless tiny pieces and shattered in a spectacr disy before turning into specs of dark energy that was then absorbed by the Devil who had moved quite a distance away from Lezor.
Most would havepletely failed to notice but Erin had seen the Devil''s movements as he casual slice Lezor into countless pieces with only a single swipe of his ws before returning his hand to his pocket with a speed that space had struggled to keep up with.
It seems this Devil had dominion over souls as well and could also absorb or consume them. Its ws had sliced through a spiritual entity and reduced it to pure energy that could be absorbed.
With such an ability, he would be able to damage Erin as long as he got close enough but it was still unknown how powerful he was or what he was specialized in.
With the destruction of Lezor and his army, the three of them were now the only ones left in what should''ve been a battlefield with more than 3,000 fighters.
[Well, hello. It''s a pleasure to make your acquaintance this lovely evening, I am known as Azalea. An Arch Devil summoned by a certain individual to attack that castle given the chance. And who might the two of you be?]
His polite words and gentlemanly demeanor were only contrasted by the fiendish smile stered across his face as he made a slight bow aftering to a halt a few meters away from Erin.
There was no reason for him to be so honest with them even if he was just that confident in his strength but perhaps there was an agenda hidden in between his senility casual words.
Devils were evil and fiendish creatures of pure energy, they were master maniptors and smooth talkers when they choose to be. Their words, even when true could not be taken a face value as there was always a hidden meaning that could lead to one''s downfall when dealing with one.
Seeing the Devil restraining his aura as he politely awaited her response, Erinposed her self and decided to do the same. She elegantly bowed and adopted an enchanting smile even though she found these sorts of things troublesome and would rather not engage in suchplex conversations.
"My name is Erin Cron¡ª Hmm I mean I''m Erin and this is Emrys. Do you mind telling me which family summoned you?"
Seeing as she didn''t have enough information toe up with any urate predictions she decided not to humor the smiling Devil and get straight to the point.
[Oh... such a straightforward question. I must admit, I hadn''t expected that. Still, I''m afraid it will go against my contract if I were to disclose such an information to a third party.]
Surprised by her simple question andck of a response to his approach and restrained aura, the smile on Azalea''s face got even wider as he grew more excited by the prospect of these two to entertain him.
"Is that so. Then I suppose you can''t tell me why they wish to attack the demon''s king castle can you?"
Receiving a response she had urately predicted, Erin sighed inwardly and she rephrased and restrictured her question making a second push.
[You guessed it. Once a Devil signs a contract with their summoner, we are bound to that contract and can''t divulge anything about the contract or the summoners to outsiders.]
Smiling brightly as he spoke, Azalea casually nced at the floating Emrys when his smile suddenly froze after hearing Erin''s next words.
"Is that so. You devils sure do like messing around with others by only speaking in half-truths, don''t you? I am well aware that there are several uses built into a devil''s contract that allows them to break their own rules given the right circumstances. From your actions so far, I''m sure you already have a way out of your contract, isn''t that right?"
[Huh, I didn''t expect someone so knowledgeable to be part of the current enemy''s ranks. If I''m correct, you should be the one the five are after right? The one who had to usurp the castle from under their noses. I didn''t think you would be much but I''m actually impressed.]
Azalea''s eyes had widened after hearing Erin reveal something that should''ve been a tightly guarded secret. It was a fact that Devils were dangerous to deal with and would constantly try to trick their summoners into freeing them before killing the foolish mortal but the true details were hidden under the ring truth.
Behind the bed of lies mixed with truth spewed out to their summoners, all a Devil actually needed you to do was sign a standard contract with them while ignoring most of the minute details that seemed unimportant.
Naturally, most summoners would only focus on the important details of the contract that prevented the Devil from betraying them while bound by the contract and returning to the underworld after the contract had beenpleted.
However, there were sometimes uses such that nullifies the contract the moment the Devil dies or loses. But if those uses weren''t looked over and rewritten, it could simply mean a Devil could nullify a contract the moment he admits defeat to an enemy even though devils had massive egos that generally would not allow that.
There were countless such uses in a contract that made the idea of summoning devils such a dangerous thought. However, it was incredibly hard to summon a Devil in the first ce so such information should not be widely known.
Yet, this girl was not only aware of it but had read him to the extent that she knew he had seeded in manipting his summers to ignore one of such use and he could easily free himself from the contract whenever he saw fit but was only going along with it in hopes of some excitement.
Such impressive observations and deduction skills from only a brief exchange was something only an elite few could do and he had judged based on this and the strength he felt from her that this was the behemoth the family wanted him to kill.
"Hmm? I''m not sure I understand what you mean by that. Lord Ty did not usurp anything as everything that exists in this continent naturally belongs to him."
[Huh? Lord Ty? Do you mean to tell me you''re not the strongest being in this region? The behemoth in charge?]
Confused by her response, the expression on Azalea''s face hadpletely changed as he narrowed his eyes and unleashed his terrifying aura.
The air in the space around them and instantly changed as his aura suppressed every living thing around him even though it didn''t seem to be doing much to Erin and Emrys.
While he was a master maniption, he didn''t appreciate others trying to fool him with pointless lies. He had scanned this entire region the moment he came here and blended in with the undead army.
He was even aware that the entire army had been spied on by a couple of capable undead but had predicted leaving them alone would provide the best entertainment for him.
Due to this, he knew amongst all the living being he could sense in the entire region, only this girl could stand above them as she surpassed them by leaps and bounds.
If there was a supposed Lord Ty that was capable of lording over such a powerful nymph, he would''ve already been aware of it.
His wisdom skill could not be tricked either so the only truth in this world was the one he had concluded. This nymph was the enemy''s leader and she was trying to deceive him for reasons he could notprehend.
This annoyed him to no end.
[I see you have no intentions of admitting the truth then. That''s okay. I am the Devil of lies and deceit, thus, the truth can never escape my grasp as long as I draw out the lies from your very being, what''s left would be nothing but the truth.]
With a serous expression for the first time since facing them, Azalea took this seriously as he activated his unique skill and the world seemed to stop, everything in existence had suddenly disappeared.
?Dimension Shift - ne of Lies?
Chapter 269 C269. World Of Lies
Dimension Shiff was a Divine grade skill that simply transported the user and anyone within his range into another ne of existence. It was a skill that high-level devils would tend to develop naturally in order to escape their fates in the underworld.
They would normally develop this skill after being summoned to the physical ne several times and could thoroughlyprehend and recognize the dimensional frequency within their very own existence.
However, just as with everything in this world, there were a few exceptions.A select few that had somehow managed to gain this power without being summoned to the physical ne but are unable to locate the right dimensional frequency.
In such cases, they would still have to be summoned or risk their very state of being for a chance at escape. Making ablind attempt that may take them to very dangerous dimensions or even the astral ne which was a more dangerous location for them than even the abyss.
Azalea was amongst thetter and had been unable to escape the underworld for centuries even after gaining such a skill. His life in the underworld was uneventful and booting. Forced to serve those stronger than him, he waited patiently until the day he would answer a summon.
All he needed was the was the right dimensional frequency of the physical ne and he would no longer be trapped in the underworld.
This was his n in nullifying the summoning contract as he had included a use that would do just that the moment he return to the underworld.
He had already etched this dimension''s frequency in his core and could return to the underworld and back at will, meaning he could vilify the contract whenever he wanted but had only chosen not to.
Anyway, that was not the point as he had gained his most valuable ability long before he had been summoned by the Morningstars.
During the centuries he had spent in the underworld just waiting to be summoned after obtaining the skill, he had decided to experiment with the ability with the aid of Magic.
He wanted the ability to see through dimensions so he could see where he was going before the shift. However, his tinkering had failed in the best way possible as he had ended up creating a new ne of existence.
A fictional worldpletely under the authority of the Devil of Lies and Deceit. A ce where everyone sent waspelled to tell lies no matter the question they were asked. Even more powerful entities would be unable to resist his absolute authority if they got sent there even for a second.
?Dimension Shift - ne of Lies?
Having been provoked by the false ignorance of the nymph and ArchLich, Azalea activated the unique skill of his own creation and immediately, the world stopped as everything that exists, became a lie.
The sky was white, the moon was ck, the snow was ck, the trees magenta, and the air itself became visible and toxic. Everything that was true had now be a lie ording to the will of Azalea.
However, giving as Erin and Emrys were demigods and virtually immortal. They did not suffer from any of the other side effects of a world of lies as they did not breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen, nor did they see only through their eyes.
Their bodily functions also didn''t stop working due to the state of life bing a lie. This world did more than make everyone tell the truth as none demigods would have died the moment they were sent here due to the absolute rules of lies enforced here.
However, this did not mean everything in this world was a lie as even shapes and forms would not be affected. The world''s structure andws were created and enforced by the subconscious of the creator, allowing the world to exist within reason.
[Now then, let''s try this again, shall we? Tell me, are you the behemoth responsible for usurping the castle?]
Standing before the pair was Azalea who still looked the same despite the world of lies as he was an exertion to thews of his world.
"Yes I am, and I told you before, I did usurp the castl¡ª wait what am I saying... wait wait wait... that''s the truth! Huh?"
Frankly speaking, Erin hadn''t nned on answering any more of the Devil''s questions as she was unaware of the full extent of his skill and wanted to observe the situation a little before deciding on a course of action to take.
However, that had not happened as she had been strangelypelled to speak and everything she said was a lie. It was ufortable that she didn''t like it and had be flustered because of it.
While she was stunned this dimension had such a strange ability that could even affect her, the one in the most shock right now was none other than Azalea who had received the answer he was not expecting.
The fact that she had answered his question in the affirmative proved that she had not lied to him earlier or tried to deceive him. There really was a Lord Ty he was not aware of that may possess powers surpassing that of the water nymph before him.
Then again, there was a chance that was not the case and that person was only using some type of artifact he had obtained after usurping the castle to deceive or control the nymph.
Such a thing was possible even against such a powerful nymph as long as he got a piece of her source. There was also a change the nymph had only entered a pact with him and was still the strongest being in the continent as he had predicted.
Havinge to this realization and considering that the castle may also be hiding this person''s presence from him, Azalea decided to ask one final question before making his move and then copsing this space, killing both of them with the energy from the copsing world.
However ¡ª
Erin wasn''t foolish enough to let him have his way as she didn''t n on answering another question after realizing that she had no control over what she said in this space.
?Pure Water Infused - Tidal Wave?
In this world, the force of gravity was a lie so aside from the three of them who were exceptions, everything was floating about as though they were in space.
Yet, a wave of fresh water had appeared behind them as though it had formed from nothing and crashed towards Azalea who quickly used his authority to deny the truth in that attack and the wave floated away.
Immediately, Emrys¡ª who had stayed quiet the entire time¡ª cast a spell and augmented it with the skill, Necrosis Bolt.
"Max magic - DarkBolt!"
A burst of dark energy shot out of his outstretched arm at Azalea in a wave that moved faster than the eyes could see. However, Azalea just raised an arm to block the attack and everything was nullified as though it was a lie.
However, Azalea was unaware of the necrosis effect of the dark bolt and bying in contact with it, the Magic circuits in his arms were destroyed, albeit temporarily.
Still, that was not enough to kill him as he had still managed to neutralize both attackspletely by denying the thrush of his fanged Magic circuits and had instantly recovered.
However, none of those attacks were meant to even wound him as Erin and even Emrys were aware that he would be practically invincible in the world of his creation. Thus, those attacks were meant only as a way to buy Erin the time she needed to create a new spell on the spot.
Bybining her skills effects with the Magic runes of an already existing spell and then instantly transcribing everything back into runes then constructing it, she hadpletely created a brand new spell from attack in less than a second.
Such a task was impossible for even the grandest of mages and the only one even remotely capable of this was Uriel who could in less than a zeptosecond as long as she was given the right parameters. The time gets longer depending on how vague her instructions were.
"Pure Water creation - High Hydriads."
Erin was a water nymph, a Naiad to be precise. They were in essence, water deities that were worshiped in ancient times and still were in some parts of the world.
However, while Hydriads were also water nymphs, were not of the divine. They were water spiritssimr to dryads that were usually born from the embodiment of nature''s essence concentrated in a certain ce.
They were in fact, sentient spirits that had a will of their own yet, Erin had just created 10 of them with pure water. With only a spell, she had just created life as though it was nothing.
As they were made from the purification essence of water, their existence was in fact a constant that could not be changed into a lie, and thus, they contradicted the rules of this world that constantly tried to correct them and became unstable.
[That is? So that''s your game. You continue to impress me.]
While the idea behind her creation was impressive, the fact that she had just created life was not something anyone could ignore.
This was something that had shocked not only Azalea but would''ve shocked everyone watching them if their surveince Magic hadn''t suddenly be a lie.
As 10 beautiful female spirits with green skin and glowing green hair appeared around her in their natural bathing suits, they immediately took off flying in all directions.
Their job was not to attack but to simply exist in a world that could not ept them and struggled in a futile attempt.
One could easily consider Erin a genius in her own rights. One by no means inferior to Z in any way if it wasn''t for herck of assertiveness and ascension to making contact with others.
She had figured out the rules to this new ne of existence the moment she was forced to lie.
That was the first time she had lied in her entire centuries of existence. If this world constantly changes everything to a lie except things of the divine that would be considered exceptions.
What would happen if things that were not divine and could not be converted were to suddenly exist. The world rules would turn on themselves and the dimension would soon copse.
Noticing this, Azalea decided to just finish them off before that happened as a massive ball of hellfire gathered and began to be condensed on his palm.
?Hellre?
Chapter 270 C270. Grim Reaper
?Hellre?
At some point in time, the smile on Azalea''s face hadpletely disappeared as his eyes glowed in an oppressive hue. Reddish ck mes rose front of the ground and gathered a few inches from his outstretched palm.
The intensity of the mes could even be felt from a mile away as one could see the space copse around it. These were mes from the depths of the underworld. Conceptual or imaginary mes that could consume all, inflicting torturous pains beyond mortalprehension.
With a slight flick of his wrist, the tennis-sized ball of condensed hell mes shot at them with a force that seems it could destroy the world itself, but that didn''t really matter as this world was copsing anyway.
However, the illusionary book floating in front of Emrys suddenly flipped to a certain page and he infused the skill recorded there with a massive amount of the soul energy from the ones he had absorbed.
?Soul Colliding Implosion?
A ball of ethereal energy whose size and intensity matched the ball of hell mes and shot out of Emrys''s outstretched arm. It stayed true to its aim and quickly collided with the me attack halfway.
*Boom!
Immediately, a devastating explosion of power that certainly would''ve destroyed the entire world erupted but was quickly sucked into the vortex created by the soul energy as it abruptly copsed on itself like a ck hole and disappeared.
[Annoying pest. I suppose I had disregarded the massive soul energy you had absorbed earlier. I assumed you used it all on that burst attack but it seems I was wrong. Since you had a bit of intelligence I hoped you''ll learn your ce but I suppose you are still only an undead.]
Seeing his attack canceled out by the ck skeleton, Azalea got irritated but then smiled as he addressed the misguided nuisance with a fiendish smile.
"Amon Devil should not address me so casually. Do not fret, you''ll soon know the meaning of despair."
Hearing a lowly undead confidently belittle him, Azalea narrowed his eyes further as he red at Emrys who he had originally been ignoring becausehe felt he was too weak to face him.
[Is that right? And you''re going to show me despair. Hahahahah... perhaps I''ve been too carried away with my fun this entire time. hahaha! Fine then! Show me what it means to despair! I''m dying to know!]
Enraged by those arrogant words, Azalea was done ying around and he fully intended to show this pair what it means to be an Arch Devil.
His skin got even redder as his horns gotrger, ancient runes appeared on the visible parts of his skin as his aura shot through the roof to the point that the entire world began to shake violently.
His hand suddenly turned ck as his ws extended like some type of wed de wrapped in the dense aura.
[Hahahahaa... Cone on! What are you waiting for!]
Driven into a frenzy by Emrys''s words, Azalea bent his knees in preparation tounch as the ground shattered under his weight. However, before he could even lunged forward, something happened¡ª
*Crack!
A section of the space in the dimension of lies suddenly cracked and ruptured as a shadowy yet illusionary entity invaded the dimension and attacked with a wild swing of its massive weapon.
The intruding being had not just attacked one side, but all three of them at the same time. However, the three were not beings that could easily be killed by a surprised attack and all three of them had defended themselves with defensive magic.
[Who dares to intrude on my world.]
Turning their heads to gaze at the massive being that had suddenly appeared floating in front of them, what they saw was something that could only be described as death itself.
It was the very personification of death in the form of an illusionary but massive cloaked skeleton wielding arge blood-stained scythe that glistened even without light.
The Grim Reaper.
???????????
The sudden appearance of the massive illusionary figure of death had taken them all by surprise but that was not the problem here as none of them could be killed just because the enemy took them by surprise.
Its first attack had been aimed at all three of them which made it difficult to predict who had sent the embodiment of death after them as it could either be the undead king, Zerahut, or any one of the Great Five after they had lost visual of them.
*Crack! Crack! Crack... Crash!
The appearance of death and the existence of the 10 Hydriads who were still moving about in the world of lies seems to have been too much for the already unstable dimension to handle as everything around them began to crack before suddenly shattering and then crashing down on them.
However, none of them had been affected by the world''s copse as they were exceptions and Azalea was too distracted to use the copsing energy against them. Erin had also protected her creations who were now returning to her side.
Their individual level seems to be around the 4th tier, which¡ª while impressive on their own¡ª could notpete with a Devil and death itself. Thus rendering them useless and a liability in the current situation.
With that in mind, she quickly used her emergency return skill on them, sending them directly to her source. As they were being born from her spell, she had be their source hence why she could allow them to reside temporarily near her source until she finds a better ce for them.
As they were made of pure water, and could use powerful healing Magic and various other spells, she was confident they would prove useful to Lord Ty and hadn''t hesitated in sending them to the undergroundbyrinth.
With the glowing and very eye-catching Hydriads were gone, only the four of them were left in the snow ins whose terrains had been altered by Emrys earlier.
The moment they had returned to the physical world, they immediately felt those familiar monitoring gazes locked on them again and Azalea finally calmed down as he observed the situation.
However, the Grim Reaper had no intentions in idle chatter as it had been given a single directive and that was to kill every single demigod in this region and these two were the only ones it could sense.
Emrys was undead and thus was not considered a living demigod as Zerahut had been unaware of his existence. The only reason the Grim Reaper''s first attack had touched him was because he was close to Erin and the Grim reaper had no problems in coteral damage.
-Death Wave-
With a slight swing of its scythe, a wave of instant death gusted at them but they each reached quickly and produced an effectiveyered barrier as this death wave was from the embodiment of death itself and even if it could not kill them, it would surely drain them of most of their energy.
Taking advantage of the time they used in casting and maintaining their barriers against his attack, the Grim reaper moved and suddenly appeared behind Azalea who was closer, swinging its massive scythe in a smooth arc that cut through even the fabric of reality as it was trailed by blood-red aura.
[You insolent little!]
Sensing the threat on his life, Azalea snapped once more as he nimbly avoided the weapon''s arc and countered with his hell me-infused ws that actually made contact with the illusionary figure of death and pushed it back.
[Don''t you dare underestimate me!]
*Bang Bang Bang! *ng ng!...
Not relenting on his furious attacks, he pounced on the figure of death and continuously struck it with its ws as he kept pushing it back until it finally made an adjustment and began to defend itself with its scythe.
As the sounds of metal striking metal sparsely reverberated across the ins, their figures became blurry as the battle became intense but their strikes had no physical effect on the surroundings as their attacks were all conceptual and thus did not affect or interact with the physical ne.
Erin and Emrys did not join in the attack as they decided it was best to observe from the side and gauge the abilities of both parties in order to more efficiently deal with the winner or if an opportunity presented itself, deal with both of them.
*Boom!
As it turns out, that idea was not meant to be as the Grim Reaper finally retaliated and Azalea was sent flying further than they could even see without a skill. They had no idea how far he flew or if he was even still on their continent after that blow.
The Grim Reaper naturally turned its head to the pair and moved to carry out its mission but Erin already had seven abyssal water dragons surrounding her and Emrys had summoned a superior fire spirit to defend him as he cast his spells.
An epic battle thus began as the fire spirit no moved to intercept the Grim Reaper and water dragons began their attacks. Launching one water cannon after another while the fire spirits used various fire-based abilities against the Grim Reaper.
However, everything was in vain as their attacks were all almostpletely useless as the Grim Reaper barely received any damages and each swing of its scythe,pletely disintegrated anything around it.
Their spells and skills also didn''t seem to be having much effect as this was the embodiment of death and didn''t seem like it could be killed even by conceptual attacks.
[You Bastard!]
Appearing suddenly behind the Grim Reaper was Azalea whose suit had to been torn and tattered as he looked a bit wretched but was wielding a demonic-looking two-handed sword he hadn''t possessed before.
The de gave off an ominous aura as it looked as though it was consuming a lot of mana from him as well as the surroundings.
*Boom!
He roared in anger as he swung therge de at the Grim Reaper from above and sent it crashing to the groundpletely split in half.
Even Erin had been surprised by that disy of strength as none of her attacks had worked against it. Whatever that sword was, it was surely a terrifying weapon that seems to possess a lot of drawbacks and could not be used often.
[Now then, you two will be next.]
Panting heavily as he pointed his ominous de at Emrys, Azalea was about to finish this before his weapon drained him dry when suddenly.
Both halves of the Grim Reaper moved and had floated up behind him before slowly putting itself back together.
[That''s impossible! I have the sword of destruction, how is this possible.]
Azalea was at aplete loss of words as he just dumbly watched the Grim Reaper raise its scythe high and was about to strike. The sword of destruction was a de forged from the lowest parts of the underworld with the mes of destruction.
Even an embodiment of death should not survive an attack from such a weapon yet that was not the case.
[What''s the point!]
With no other means of defeating the reaper left to him, Azalea lost interest in this and gave up.
He was a Devil and could not be killed even by conceptual attacks but it would take him at least a couple of centuries to gather himself back together again and regain his ego.
With his awareness of the dimensional frequency of the physical ne, he waspletely fine with getting sent back to the underworld. At least, he wouldn''t have to deal with this bullshit any longer.
Once he regains his consciousness and ego again, he wouldn''t need to spend Andy time in the underworld waiting to be summoned, he could return here at his leisure. But, was that really okay.
He was an Arch Devil, one of the strongest beings in the underworld. Was it okay to allow himself lose so pathetically here.
That''s impossible.
[You absolute Bastards! Even if I can''t win this time, I''m taking everyone with me!]
Suddenly determined not to lose to death itself, he began to release all the energy left within him. Due to the sword draining most of his powers, he had very little energy left but could still muster enough force to annihtes everything within this massive region.
However¡ª
His mind was suddenly clouded as a terrifying and eerily familiar presence invaded deep within his core and a fear he had only felt once in his lifepletely paralyzed him.
"Well then, I suppose this as good a time as any to make my grand entrance. Sup, Ty has entered the battle."
"All hail the master."
*p p p p!...
"Stop that, you''re ruining my cool entrance."
Chapter 271 C271. Observer
A few hours earlier.
¡ªIn the demon king''s castle.
Seated on an extremely exquisite sofa in thergest office that seemed to be getting more and more luxurious each day¡ª was three figures surrounded by floating holographic screens that projected vastly different live images of different areas in the darknar region.
With the help of Loriel and her Azure Dragonflies, the dwarves had been able to get their hands on more valuable materials from the Darknar forest and Ragdek and the others had somehow found time to improve the types of furniture and design of Tyler''s new office.
He had chosen hisst office semi-randomly as he had simply wanted a ce to have a discussion with Liz and Rain at the time but ording to his vassals, that office was no longer buffeting his status or something.
This was thergest office in the castle and Tyler had to admit, it was way fancier than he had expected. He also didn''t know how Ragdek had found the free time to make so much luxurious furniture in only a few days as he had tasked him with various other tasks including making new weapons for the red ogres and beast-men.
Luckily, the hobgoblins owned rtively high-quality armors and weapons and Albert had gifted a select few of them high-quality weapons from his massive collections.
As for his office, it was at least twice the size of hisst and had various sections, there was the workspace where a massive ck desk¡ª made of the highest quality wood and lined with Tritanium¡ª was ced, and positioned behind it was a grayish-white leather chair.
There was a study space where a mini library was located and a study desk and chair were ced to the side. A resting space which was basically a lounge as four exquisite sofas were stylishly arranged around a small ss coffee table.
Tyler didn''t even think they could make ss yet but apparently, they had an easy method of making the most study ss one has ever seen by using Magic.
An array of fruits and wine were ced on the coffee table as a youngdy with short pink hair, white rabbits ears, and wearing a cute maid outfit refilled an empty ss before walking back to stand beside the sofa where Tyler was seated on.
"Hmm..."
Tyler silently stared at the holographic screens in front of him as he seemed to have been trapped by the two girls beside him.
For some reason, Rain and Liz seems to be at odds over something quite stupid. They''ve both refused to let go of him first as they waited for the other or something along those lines.
As he didn''t want to be involved, he tried his best to ignore their asional bickering as he stared at the screens seriously. These seemingly holographic projections were a result of a God Tier Magic artifact he had on him, called the Paragon Observer.
This was a wonderful item that Tyler thought would be the crux of his future informationwork as not only could it be used on a grander scale, it had God Tier skills like Ultimate irvoyance and Remote viewing.
It also had skills like Magic projection which was essentially a holographic projection of what it sees and given that the item had a worldwide range, it could see everything.
It also had an amazing skill called parallel construct that allowed it to be duplicated and used in multiple locations within a limited range by creating projected linked constructs of itself.
This meant every single room in the castle could be equipped with a copy if need be and the mana consumption wasn''t even significant as it could also be powered with Magic crystals for months or even years without fail.
As it was designed to be a slick circr device the size of a fist, it could be easily hidden in in sight or even carried on hand.
This was incredibly valuable as they could now easily share visual information with anyone within the castle. Tyler was even nning to allow Ragdek to do some research on it if duplicates could be made.
It didn''t matter even if they were not artifacts or as powerful as long as they could connect with each other. Creating a futuristic method ofmunication. Such a thought floated wonderfully in his head as he returned his attention to the screens.
There were currently nine protections in front of him each showing the situation with all of the undead regiments. The only reason he still had re, Kali, and Zelda out there investigating was to determine which regiments held the hidden demigods as one could not sense auras from the magic projections.
Although sounds were not a problem and were even transferred at light speed so there was nog with the information received. This was the essence of a true God Tier artifact.
Tyler kept an eye on the situations developing on each screen. He had seen the first encounter with Emrys and the situation with Rain and Liz from the sky so in reality, he only needed to pay attention to 7 screens.
The battle with Z, Nessi, and two demigods went ording to Uriel''s predictions which were a little scary to behold. Although the most entertaining fights had been the ones with Drago and the hobgoblins.
Everything seem to have gone ording to n and even the reserved Erin had done well. Her task was a little different as she was meant to torture the representatives from the Brimstone family for all to see.
Tyler knew such cruelty wasn''t in her nature which may have been a mean thing to do to her but she still tried her best anyway. He would try to reward herter on In apology.
With that, everything seems to be rounding up so it was about time for the grand finale.
Erin and Emrys had finally made it over to thest remaining undead regiment and engaged in battle, wiping the entire army out in a single move.
However, something strange had happened as it turned out one of the Great fives had not sent just any demigod here, but a freaking Devil. Such an opponent was troublesome for a multitude of reasons and might prove too strong for even the likes of Erin and Emrys to handle alone.
Just as he was about to do something about this, they all suddenly disappeared which was a surprise, to say the least. Tyler was just about to panic when Uriel informed him that they had simply been transported to another dimension of the Devil''s creation.
''How does thatpute as simple. That''s another freaking dimension.''
Still worried, Tyler decided to trust Uriel anyway and wait a while longer to see how things y out. And what do you know, it turns out she was right as always. In less than a minute, everyone had appeared back in the ins but something was different as a massive illusionary figure of death loomed over them.
"I think it''s about time I go out."
Not wasting time, Tyler slipped his arms from in between the two girls'' chests and got up while patting them in the head to get them to stay. Why he thought that would work was a mystery.
"Hmm really, can Ie too?"
Seeing him stand, Liz hurriedly asked to tag along which made his earlier action pointless and Tyler could not immediately muster a response.
"Huh.."
"Wait why do you get to go?"
Seeing her friend get the jump on her, Rain snapped out of her fantasy and asked.
"Because I asked first, duh.."
Seeing Rain get riled up over nothing, Liz answered as though rolling her eyes which had only increased Rain''s interest in the matter.
"That''s not a rule, I want to go too..."
"That''s too many people, you should wait here."
"That''s a total lie. I wannae. Lord Ty, who do you want to apany you? Pick me, pick me."
Rain said excitedly as she raised an arm like a kid and jumped lightly as her chest kept bouncing in an oddbination of being adorable and erotic.
"Yeah, please decide who gets to apany you, Master."
Seeing her friend make an unintentional pass at Tyler, Liz who was still donning her skimpy armor tilted leaned forward as she asked Tyler sincerely even though her chest was now sticking out contrasting her cute expression.
Tyler had beenpletely distracted by the sheer amount of cuteness and the erotic scent in the air from two world-ss beauties. Feared he may not be able to concentrate as his mind was almost when nk but a name suddenly popped in his head and he just blurted it out.
"Huh... Moloc."
"Moloc!! Why...?"
Rain and Liz had not expected that response as they both reacted the same way in surprise.
''Why indeed.''
Even Tyler wasn''t sure why Moloc as Uriel was the one who put the thought in his mind yet she had gone silent and wasn''t being of any help in this situation. However, as his eyes wandered about and caught a glimpse off the screen, he was struck by an inspiration.
''That''s it.''
"I''m only taking Moloc with me because there''s a Devil there and he might be able to speak logically with them."
"Speak with them? Oh... I get it now."
''Get what!''
"Get what!"
Hearing Liz''s response to his answer and seeing her nodding with a knowing expression, Tyler''s mind immediately raced as he internally screamed and Rain had fortunately echoed his inner voice.
"As expected of lord Ty. You''ve even considered this far ahead."
"Huh? Oh right, it seems you grasp my intentions splendidly Liz. Good job. I''ll be off now."
Not sure what she was talking about, Tyler decided it was best to leave now as he also had to retrieve Moloc who hadn''t fully regained her strength yet so he wasn''t sure why he needed to bring her along but was left with no other options.
"Wait what are we getting, someone, tell meeeeee..."
As he teleported away, Rain seemed to be the only one left in the dark which was unpleasant for her so he crawled over to Liz to cry for an exnation.
However, Liz just looked at her and a smug smile appeared on her face which felt like a massive bolt of lightning had suddenly struck her.
"Why Liz... why..."
"Hehe..."
Mimicking Rain, Liz chuckled cheekily as another bolt of metal lightning smote Rain as she fell to the ground.
"Liz what happened to my loving friend. I don''t think I like this side of you."
Rain cried in defeat as Liz sighed. Her friend was being way too dramatic over a simple smug smile and augh. It wasn''t as if she wasn''t found to exin it to her. She had only wanted to have a little fun for once.
"Therethere, it''s okay don''t cry. You should know that love changes a girl so don''t expect me to be nice every time. I n on being Lord Ty''s first wife."
Liz spoke as she crouched down next to the crying Rain while gently petting her head.
"That''s not happening. I''m going to be first."
Rain replied with conviction as she sat back up and smiled at Liz.
"Well, you have to try harder than this, I think I''m making more progress in a day than you have in weeks."
"Ah... no fair why is there suddenlypetition, and there''s still Erin to worry about."
Rain felt a little dejected. Perhaps her approach to love wasn''t the right way but she wasn''t someone experienced with it and thus, had only done what she felt like but maybe she would have to change her approach soon.
Perhaps getting advice from someone experienced would help her be Lord Ty''s first wife.
"Hehe..."
As Liz watched a childlike friend struggle to think of something, she could help but checklist softly as she finally felt things in the castle were bing more and more exciting.
And so, the two girls came to an understanding while Tyler begrudgingly retrieved the perverted Devil that had just been ying with itself for days now.
Chapter 272 C272. Considerate
¡ªBack in the Greyad ins on the outskirts of the Darknar forest.
??
Azalea stood in the air frozen in ce. Hisst attack had contained almost all of his immensely vast energy and yet, he could not keep the embodiment of death down for the count as it had got back up as though nothing had happened.
Seeing his most powerful attack being shrugged off as though it meant nothing, his mind broke as he could no longer resist his fate. However, perhaps it was because of his pride as a Devil Lord or maybe his ego, but he suddenly felt a burst of rage boiling from deep m within him, how could he¡ª the great Arch Devil Azalea¡ª how could he just ept this fate like a weakling.
Impossible! There was no way he could allow such disgrace.
[You absolute Bastards! Even if I can''t win this time, I refuse to lose here! If I die, I''m taking everyone with me!]
?Annihtion Exploding Wave?
With a renewed determination to take everyone here with him, Azalea began releasing all the energy left within him while also burning through his very own soul energy.
Due to the Sword of Destruction draining most of his powers, he had very little energy left but could still gather enough force by burning his soul to annihte everything within this region.
However, his body would no longer listen to hismands as he heard someone speak in front of him¡ª
"Well then, I suppose this as good a time as any to make my grand entrance. Sup, Ty has entered the battle."
"All hail the master."
*p p p p!...
"Stop that, you''re ruining my cool entrance."
Suddenly hearing those strange voices that did not sound like they were on a battlefield, Azalea hesitantly raised his head out of curiosity and saw two strange figures floating in the air next to the massive figure of the Grim Reaper.
His mind was suddenly clouded as a terrifying and eerily familiar presence invaded deep within his core and a fear he had only felt once in his lifepletely paralyzed him.
Unable to move even a finger from fear, he hesitantly tried to locate the source of this feeling as he took a better look at the pair that had just arrived on the battlefield.
One of them was a male with short ck hair cut in a fade and wearinga reddish grey long coat, white shirt, and grey pants with ck boats.
Each article of clothing gave off a faint aura that told him they were all magic items even if not all of them were of a high rank.
The second figure was a female with pale red skin and two curved horns protruding from her head as she donned a mischievous smile on her beautiful face all the while staring straight at him, the light in her eyes sparkling as though she had just found a long lost friend (or servant, who knows.)
*Badum!
For some reason, he could not sense any aura or even the presence of the male as it felt as though he was just an ordinary human yet he knew in his heart that the very idea was ludicrous.
However, the female exuded a wild and chaotic aura that paralyzed him to the core and was eerily familiar and trying to remember why that was made his skin crawl.
For a moment, he had even failed toprehend what was happening as even the Grim Reaper had paused in its attack.
Naturally, its orders were to destroy all demigods in the area and it didn''t matter who they were as long as they had a pulse. It would attack any living demigod closest to it and now, those closest to it were the two strangers that had just arrived.
"Lord Ty please be careful!"
Sensing the Grim Reaper switch targets, Erin mustered up her courage to warn him as he simply shifted his gaze to nce at her and smiled faintly.
''Lord Ty? Is that the one?''
Hearing that name again, Azalea made an educated guess as he focused his gaze on the unremarkable young man who was the target of the Grim Reaper''s attack.
-Death Slicer-
Casually tearing through the fabric of reality once more, the Grim Reaper''s de drew a fine arc across the sky as it swung at them.
However, the main target of his attack had suddenly vanished as the female with him raised her index finger and extended her nails, and to everyone''s surprise, the Grim Reaper''s reality slicing attack waspleted stopped by her fingernail.
''She stopped it! Don''t tell me that''s? No way, no way!''
Seeing the familiar features on the smilingdy who was definitely eyeing him, Azalea desperatelydenied reality as he just wanted everything to be a lie.
"Hahahahahaha... you''ve grown since thest time I saw you kid. Now you''re even acting like a big shot. Moloc is disappointed. I suppose I have to re-educate you don''t I? Hehe."
As Azalea heard those words, there was no longer any doubt in his mind as only one person in existence could and would address him in that way. Countless images began to flood his mind as the dominating image of a Devilughing at him resurfaced and his mind went numb.
''Why... why is he here!? I''m doomed!''
??????????
As Azalea''s thoughts ran wild, Tyler had already appeared in front of Erin and Emrys as he smiled gently and spoke to them.
"Hey, seems like you''re both doing alright. I''m d."
"Lord Ty, you came. I apologize for making you worry about us."
As Erin apologized to him for some reason, Emrys had already gotten on one knee in the presence of his master and awaited orders without a word.
"Why are you apologizing, you did nothing wrong. We just had no idea the undead king could summon such a creature. It''s a good thing we got to see it this early thanks to all your efforts."
Moving closer to Erin who had lowered her head, Tyler patted her head gently as he gave his instructions.
"You both have alreadypleted your mission splendidly and I''ll be sure to reward you at ater date, but for now, you may head back to the castle to rest."
"No, you don''t have to do that."
"Nonsense. I insist. Also, I noticed you created a new spell, that''s interesting, you should go check up on your creations soon. I''ll hear about the detailster."
Hearing Erin tries to reject her reward timidly, Tyler quickly shut her down as he insisted on it. He also remembered the creation of the ten water spirits and mentioned it.
From what Uriel had exined to him at the time, it seems she had created a spell on the spot which was apparently something he could easily do if he had asked but of course that didn''t cross his mind.
The creation of n¨¦e spells was very difficult and relied on one understanding of the foundations of Magic and understanding of Magic runes followed by theprehensive knowledge of thew of the universe as Magic fundamentally alters thosews.
However, Uriel was an artificial intelligence with World divination and a processing speed faster than time itself. She had ess to all know knowledge in this world and could analyze and calcte anything before even the smallest unit of time had passed.
As long as he gave her parameters within the level of his own understanding of Magic runes, she could construct and create new spells for him using those parameters.
The reason her knowledge one Magic runes did not surpass him was that Magic runes were the essence of the universe and that hidden knowledge. It was why the only ce in this world that had theplete collection of them was the Void Library.
"My creations? Right. I apologize for sending them to thebyrinth without seeking your permission."
"What do you mean, you had my permission else you would not be able to do that."
Realizing that entrance to the castle and even thebyrinth was impossible for anyone that wasn''t her or directly connected to her source besides Tyler, Erin understood that she had only been able to send her Hydriads back there because Tyler had allowed it.
"Oh right. I''m sorry I seem to be distractedtely."
"That''s okay, doing something against your nature to the brimstones must''ve been hard on you. Do forgive me for that."
"Oh, no way! I didn''t mean that."
"Please don''t worry about it. As for Emrys."
Tyler noticed that his conversation with Erin was dragging on too long and quickly ended it by turning his head to face Emrys who replied to his name with reverence.
,m "Yes, master."
"Please transport everyone back to their assigned locations. I''ll handle the rest from here onwards."
"As youmand."
After giving them his instructions, Tyler took a step back as Erin''s body turned watery then transparent before shepletely disappeared.
A portal gate then opened behind Emrys as he moved to retrieve the hobgoblins and ogres from scattered across the various battlefields.
Z should''ve led the recovery of any useful items as well as the capturing of those demigods left alive. As he had spatial teleportation as well, he could move freely between the castle and the battlefield thanks to Uriel handing the barrier.
He then imprison those left alive albeit barely and also the corpses of the dead after cing a spiritual barrier on them to prevent the escape of their souls.
With that, even their bodies would prove useful in gaining more information on the Great Five by directly asking the soul.
The moment the portal gate closed behind Emrys, Tyler sighed as he then turned his head to face the massive figure of what could only be described as death itself.
The massive illusionary figure that oozed an eerily creepy aura that would normally give even Tyler the chill, was currently engaged in a fierce battle against Moloc.
Well, perhaps fierce was not the right word to use I. This instance as all he saw was the Grim Reaper aggressively attacking Moloc with its death scythe only for Moloc to just stand there casually deflected the creature''s reality slicing attacks with only the tip of her index fingernail.
She shouldn''t have recovered her strengthpletely yet and should barely be at the level of a 7th Tier demigod, yet she almost outmatched a creature that had given that full-powered Devil a run for his money.
How scary would she be if she was at full power now that she had a physical body?
''I really need to get stronger don''t I?''
Tyler thought as he smiled faintly at the battle, his eyes caught the male Devil whose mouth was current agape as he stared simply at Moloc''s enticing figure.
''If I didn''t know any better, which I don''t actually I didn''t know why I started my thoughts with that. Anyway, I''ll say Moloc was trying to show off. Is that Devil her friend? I guess I shouldn''t kill him by mistake then.''
Tyler concluded that Azalea was Moloc''s friend from the underworld as he waspletely oblivious to the terror residing in his eyes as tears began to form and his entire body ran cold.
[Sigh... such a beautiful friendship, kukuku.]
''So you think so too Uriel. I should help them reunite them.''
[Master is very considerate.]
''I know right? A good ruler should be considerate.''
Chapter 273 C273. The Flow Of Fate
Although Tyler was being ttered by Uriel''s as she seems to be his number one fan, he still felt a litle uneasy in seeing how Moloc was able to handle herself against the Grim Reaper even though she hadn''t recovered her full strength.
Lucky for him, his innate ability allowed him to passively get stronger each day just by existing. This meant he would always be stronger today than he was yesterday.
Of course, this only applied to his physical body and while it affected his mana body. It did not provide any boost to his current tier and just constantly increases his mana reserves.
In order for that to happen, he needed to find the proper training method that suited him and by simply practicing Magic thest few days, his current Tier had broken past the peak stages of the 7th tier and had to reach Basic Tier 8.
However, with the vast defenses in tiers the more you went up, he had noticed that it would take him a thousand years to have another breakthrough at his current pace and with this method of training.
The reason he had progressed this far in such an absurdly short amount of time was due to his presence of mind in learning basic Magic runes before he had even attempted to learn a spell. Then again, perhaps he had just been lucky or maybe there was a powerful external force that wanted it that way.
Magic runes were the very foundations of all Magic in the universe and the fact that he had just so happened to have learned the most important aspect of Magic before even attempting anything else meant that he had gained the greatest knowledge from the starting point.
To exin this with a simple gaming analogy, this meant he had gotten all the experience points from a quest meant for a party of max level, it lets say level 100 gamers as a single level 1 character. Naturally, this had catapulted his levels towards the top in an Instant.
Back then, he had probably woken up underground still as a Tier 1 mage with an absurd amount of mana practically overflowing from his damaged mana body that surely would''ve killed him in only a few days if he hadn''t found the Magic library.
This meant the moment he learned Basic Magic runes, it had used most of the mana forced inside him to reinforce and boost his Magic ability all the way to about Tier 5 or 6, and the more he learned, the stronger his Magic potential became.
This was only possible because his empty vessel had been forcefully fed with mana and because of his innate ability, his mana body was able to break through its limits and by him more time, not allowing such deadly amounts of energy to consume him.
However, this was only temporary as his innate ability worked gradually and was unlikely to keep up with the wild energy forever.
That was probably why he had woken up after a thousand years of his body trying to adjust to the energy but couldn''tplete the task without a catalyst, then as though led bydy fate at the perfect time, he woke up and immediately wandered into the demon king''s castle, finding the hidden Magic library as though it was the most natural thing in the world.
Now that he thought about it, everything had been way too connected. Not to mention some of the decisions he made furring that time had been questionable, to say the least, and if even one of those steps had been off even by an inch, then it was likely he wouldn''tbe alive right now.
The connections were too precise. There was no way all that had been a coincidence.
He knew the original demon king had something to do with summoning him here with a failed hero summoning ritual which may have been failed on purpose but the demon king should''ve been dead a long time ago.
Even if he had set up some contingency ns and he had been a part of it, such finesse control over the lives of people should not be possible for a dead man.
''Does that mean he''s still alive?''
Tyler''s heart suddenly skipped a beat as he thought of this fact. What would a demon king who could perform such acts even in the grave do to him who was practically impersonating him?
A cold shiver ran through Tyler''s spine as he carefully observe his surroundings but sensed nothing.
''Uriel.''
[Yes, master?]
''Is there any possibility that my actions are being influenced by something or someone?''
[Multiple analysis has been made on master''s physic over the past week since I was awakened and none such external influences has been permitted.]
''Permitted? Does that mean there were attempts?''
*No response.
*Sigh... Tyler wanted to query Uriel about what she meant but stopped. He was sure she could not lie or deceive him as he was connected to her soul and would easily sense such things.
If she wasn''t answering it simply meant she was not 100% sure and her conclusions may be incorrect so she would rather not provide her master with wrong information no matter how unlikely it was.
''No need being so paranoid Tyler. If that guy could easily kill or even afford to kill me then he would''ve done so by now. His aim is likely to resurrect himself with my body right? Else why go through all the trouble of keeping me alive.''
Tyler had originally thought he survived because he fell into that strangke underground and had identally taken away the demon king''s only chance of surviving at the time m but perhaps that train of thought had been nted in his head as well.
A way for him to be oblivious to the truth and thus fall straight into his trap. Although this sudden realization was mind-boggling for him. Tyler did his best to stay calm as his emotions were constantly being stabilized by Uriel who would automatically use the cate spell anytime she sensed an unnatural spike.
He knew without all the facts there was nothing he could do about this especially not in this situation so he decided to return his attention to the matter at hand and think about the best way to handle this at ater date. Well, he was actually delegating the task to Uriel who could run parallel calctions at the same time so he felt more confident in handling this.
Perhaps increasing his strength was something the demon king wanted him to do, still, that didn''t matter as there was nothing else he could do as remaining at his current level wouldn''t help him either.
However, as he had already gained a basic understanding of advanced Magic runes, learning the other levels of it won''t be enough to grant him any significant increase in tiers. He needed to actually learn more about the theories of Magic and have a moreprehensive knowledge of all aspects of Magic and learning and creating new spells would be a focal point for him.
Usually, most mages start with learning and understanding the basics of their preferred aspect of Magic before attempting to learn Magic runes as they had seemed it impossible to learn Magic runes without gaining some understanding of Magic first.
However, this had only resulted in problems that limited their growth as most of their magic knowledge had been transcribed in this world''s writtennguage causing them to not gain any ''experience'' just by researching Magic.
As far as he knew, the Void Library was the only ce in this world that had held Magic research books still written in Magic runes.
Perhaps this world''s current system was set on purpose to control the growth of talentedmoners due to the pride of the so-called nobles but even then, it didn''t seem like time had shone favorably on the nobles as well as even they had fallen victim to their own schemes.
Even though they still had a slight advantage as they were able to teach Magic runes to their heirs while making it almost impossible formoners to gain even the knowledge of basic magic runes.
"Now then, how do I handle this creature."
After delegating his problems to Uriel, Tyler finally returned his gaze to the massive illusionary of the Grim Reaper after spending a long time in thought while using a form of thought eleration that allowed him to do all that in an instant.
[Answer: An extensive analysis has beenpleted on the conjured celestial: Grim Reaper, several adequate solutions had been decided. Would you like to hear them all?]
"Not really. Let''s just go with the simplest method."
[As you wish.]
Hearing Uriel''s idea in dealing with a reality-warping monster such as this, Tyler smiled faintly as he teleported back to where Moloc was facing the creature for a while now without their battle progressing at all.
Even though Moloc seemed to have the absolute advantage from afar, the reality was different as she hadn''t recovered her strength fully yet and had basically been dragged out by him.
It seems all she could do in her current state was deflect the attacks by focusing all of her energy to a single point in her fingernail and reacting faster than the reaper as she currentlycked the power to even attempt a counter much less bring it down.
"That''s enough Moloc, I''ll take it from here, why don''t you go reunite with your friend there."
"My friend? Oh my, I''ll happily oblige by your will, Master."
"Please don''t speak seductively in front of me, it gives me the chills."
Although Tyler was d Moloc seemed to be excited to reunite with her friend, he couldn''t stand hearing her speak in a certain tone as he just ended up picturing her original form of a massive muscle head with limitless power contrasting her current beautiful appearance.
"Oh Master, Whatever could you mean by that, fufufu."
Saying that in a mischievous tone while shing Tyler a seductive smile, Moloc''s body was then consumed by hellfire as she disappeared and reappeared behind Azalea who had been staring at her battlepletely speechless. He didn''t seem to have realized anything like the shock of seeing her was enough to alter his logical mind.
"Oh Azalea darling, did you miss me."
[Aewk! Moloc! I mean, Lord Moloc, is that really you! Why! Why are you in such a form? in the physical realm no less.]
Suddenly hearing Moloc''s lovely voice from beside him, Azalea''s soul almost jumped off his body as his skin immediately became pale and he started stumbling through his words.
"Oh my darling boy, do you like this form? I got some huge knockers to y with don''t you think?"
Moloc happily responded to Azalea''s question as she cupped her breasts and raised them higher for him to get a better view which had surprisingly made his checks flushed.
However, this only served to frighten Azalea more as he almost jumped back but resisted the urge. He wanted to run but knew it was useless as Moloc cheerfully smiled at him with sparkling eyes.
"Now then Azalea, I notice you were having some fun with my master''s vassals earlier. You''ve really grown a lot, haven''t you? Why don''t we have some fun too."
The life visibly drained from Azalea''s face as he could only visualize the despair that awaited him if things were to profess as he feared.
His mind shed back to his life in the underworld, serving under the tyrant Chaos Lord, Moloc who made an Arch Devil like himself do demean and torturous errands for him just to so he would gain some amusement.
Nothing could''ve prepared him for meeting such a person even after he had finally escaped that ce by being summoned.
[Wait, did your master''s vassals?]
"I did, what of it?"
Hearing Moloc''s casual response, Azalea''s mind that had already been a mess instantly melted after hearing that. It had even taken him a while to notice the details in Moloc''s words, to begin with.
He couldn''t believe it, the tyrant Devil Lord just said he had a master. A being the nearly all-powerful Chaos Lord had deemed superior. Someone that most likely had equal or superior strength to Moloc, and by the twisted threads of fate, he had foolishly attacked that master''s vassals.
What the hell is up with this world.
Chapter 274 C274. Even Devils Have Problems
What the hell is up with this world.
? Azalea¡ª who was already at his life''s end due to his current low energy state¡ª was at a loss for words as he could not believe what he had just heard. Who would''ve thought that the great Devil Lord Moloc, would so happily call someone his or rather, her master?
The idea in itself was ludicrous and Azalea did not want to believe it. Because if he did, then, he had just made the worse mistake imaginable by attacking the vassals of the said master.
''No no no no no... There''s still I chance.''
Although his world seemed grim at the moment, there was still a sliver of hope hidden on the horizon for him as he clung tightly to that possibility.
A Devil was just a bundle of energy that gained sentient after developing an ego over a period of centuries which in turn, develops into a personality that is deeply rooted in their strong desires.
A Devil''s desire was the driving force of their entire existence and the thing that gives their long life meaning besides just spreading chaos and destruction.
Thus, there was a chance, even if it was abysmal but still a chance, that Moloc hadn''t chosen a master based on his strength but rather her desire.
If she had, for some reason, chosen a master based on love, fascination, curiosity, or simply intrigue, then that means this master might not be very strong and as long as he could somehow use that to his advantage and escape Moloc, he might just be able to survive this.
Of course, escaping Moloc was not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination. The only reason he had considered it was because of his ne shifting ability. If he tried escaping to his world of lies then Moloc would simply rip through it and drag him out before he even had a chance to set his rules.
The only chance he had was if Moloc moves to protect her master when the Grim Reaper pushes him to a corner.
He could then muster up his courage to return to the spiritual ne and seek protection from another Devil Lord.
However¡ª
That dream of his wasn''t meant tost as it was immediately crushed the moment he turned his head to watch the strange demon fight against the nigh-indestructible Grim Reaper.
The reason was simple, as the moment his gaze settled on them, he saw the Grim Reaper swing hisrge scythe faster than it had done before, yet instead of moving away from the attack to avoid it as he wielded no weapons that could stop such an attack.
This Lord Ty had moved in closer before the attack could even get to him and pulled out a red octagon like gem¡ª the size of a tennis ball¡ª from thin air and then, his feet moved faster than Azalea''s eyes that could perceive beyond light speed could follow as it connected with the cloaked head of the reaper with a force that could not be understood.
*BOOOOOM! *RUMBLE...
Azalea could barely understand what had happened as the massive figure of the Grim reaper had been shot down and crashed into the ground in a massive reverberating boom that felt as though the entire had shifted.
[Wha...]
First of all, there were so many things wrong with what had just happened as the Grim reaper was a conceptual and spiritual entity that had minimal interactions with the physical ne, and thus, the mere fact that itsbody had made such a massive impact was technically impossible.
The creature could only be harmed bu spiritual and conceptual energy infused attacks so kicking it was surely possible but it should only be able to make limited contact with the ground as it did not generate any actually force to change the terrain.
This meant all that energy had been transferred from the man''s single kick without Azalea ever sensing it.
Before he could even keep up with the current development, the man shot down in an instant andnded on the Grim reaper''s chest with another reverberating impact that dug the reaper deeper into the ground.
His eyes glowed brightly in a crimson hue that even scared him yet he still could not sense his aura nor could he feel his presence.
It was as though there was no one standing where he was and that was beginning to frighten him more than Moloc''s smile. There was no longer any hope left for him to cling to as he now had to ept the reality of his situation.
"This should do."
As the man''s eyes slowly dimmed after he was done using whatever skill he had just used, he stretched forth the red gem in the shape of an octagon and it began to glow, and then, almost instantly, the illusionary body of the Grim Reaper was sucked into the gem as it changed colors from red to a purplish ck.
[Ack... Wha... did he just, Huh?]
Azalea stared at the scene in surprise as his mind almost went nk. Not only had the Grim reaper disappeared after that, he could not even sense the looming presence of death anymore.
"Wow you''repletely speechless aren''t you kid. Impressed, Moloc''s master is impressive isn''t he, kekekeke."
Seeing Azalea stare at Tyler''s figure in awe, Moloc happily moved closer to him as she spoke in a giddy mood with a wide grin stered on her face.
Azalea waspletely at a loss for words as he stared dumbly at Tyler who had just sealed the personification of death itself, unable to respond to Moloc''s taunts.
The resolve and will he had fought so desperately to gain had instantly faded away and the light in his eyes died off as Moloc moved closer to him and spoke.
"Well, That takes care of that pest, and now that that''s done, I can''t really keep my master waiting now can I? So I''ll make this brief, I promise, it''ll be fun."
Although his very cells were screaming in terror and despair, he did not even try to resist or escape as he knew such fruitless efforts would only serve to increase his suffering and he didn''t have the energy for that anyway.
"Not fleeing, well, you''ve gotten bolder. I guess this won''t take as long as it used to Huh? How boring."
????????????
????????????
Tyler sighed in relief as he stared at the purplish-ck gem on his palm that had a slight glow to it and currently oozed a faint deathly aura.
This was a straightforward Magic item he had found amongst all the Magic crystals in the void library. He had mistakenly assumed every Crystal there was the same and stored everything but soon found some different ones amongst the pile.
For instance, this was a Sealing Crystal that was used in sealing nearly anything.
They could seal spells, a skill''s effect, natural lightning, light itself, and several other things depending on the capabilities of the user.
Still, sealing an entity such as the Grim Reaper, a personification of death itself was not an easy task. Not only was it powerful, but it also wasn''t a real existence and was just the power of death given aform so technically, Tyler had just sealed the power of dearth.
Of course, this did not mean that death no longer existed and no one could die. If anything, this could not even be considered a tenth of the powers of death but it shoulde in useful to him as long as he found a way to use it without releasing the reaper.
''I guess I''ll have to conduct some experiments by myself. I can''t exactly leave this to anyone can I, it''s far too dangerous.''
The nature of the sealing Crystal could be adjusted with Magic runes and enchantment and Tyler wanted to find a method to easily harness the powers of death itself even if it was only a fraction.
Of course, he didn''t actually need it as he could gain any ability he wanted from the Boundless Void Library and this was just something he thought he would enjoy and may make a good gift or reward for someone else in the future.
With that in mind, Tyler returned the Crystal to his pocket dimension and flew out of the crater he had just created. His physical strength had been greater than he had expected and thus, he had failed to control it perfectly.
As his figure left the crater, he immediately noticed Moloc waving at him with the other Devil kneeling beside her. Tyler was wondering why that was but it seems Moloc must''ve scolded her friend about attacking his vassals or something.
Still, the look on that guy''s face was deathly pale, his handsome face seemed to have beenpletely drained of life so Tyler couldn''t help but wonder what had happened to him.
"That was an amazing disy of strength Lord Ty, as expected of Moloc''s master."
Moloc said with a charming smile as she gently pped her hands in satisfaction.
''Why does that feel like she''s praising herself instead.'' Tyler thought that but didn''t voice it as he shifted his gaze back to the make Devil and asked.
"And who''s your friend?"
"Oh right, do introduce yourself to your new master maggot."
While the smile on Moloc''s face did not fade, her eyes told a different story as she turned to Azalea then gave him a gentlemand that made him shiver.
''Maggot?''
"Forgive mete introductions master, I am the Arch Devil, Azalea. Please use me as you see fit. From this day forward, I swear my undying loyalty to you for eternity."
''What the hell happened to this guy. Isn''t this the same person I saw on the screen? And whose he calling master? What are you swearing? Well, whatever.''
Tyler was a little taken aback by the drastic change of the devil''s character but decided to move on as he didn''t exactly have all the time in the world. Besides, he was being watched right now, and having a Devil swear loyalty to him was very effective.
There''s no need to worry about the minor detail, he''ll just have to leave Uriel in charge of monitoring him for the time being even if a Devil was bound to their oath.
"An Arch Devil Huh? Since Moloc is a Devil Lord, I take it you were one of his underlinings back in the underworld Huh?"
[Th-thats correct master.]
Tyler''s question seem to have shaken the Devil up a bit but he soon returned to normal as he answered reverently.
"Well then, I guess I''ll put you under him now as well. So Moloc, take care of him and return to the castle. I''ll end this here myself."
The moment Tyler had ulterior those words, he could see the color rapidly drain from Azalea as the due was on the verge of bing a ghost, and all that ran through his mind was.
''What the fuck did Moloc do to this guy?''
[It is advised that master doesn''t inquire about this any further. For master''s own mental health and appetite.]
"..."
Chapter 275 C275. Introductions.
¡ªStill in the Greyad ins. In the outskirts of the Darknar forest.
Tyler flew out of the deep crater he had dug the Grim reaper into earlier. Landing a distance away, he then walked towards Moloc who was waving at him next to a kneeling Arch Devil with a pale expression.
Originally, he had thought this devil was an acquaintance of Moloc or perhaps one of his underlings, giving as she had genuinely seemed happy to see him, that was why he had assigned him under Moloc so as not to deal with it personally.
Not that Moloc was one for responsibilities, to begin with. She also didn''t hold any authority within his forces as had spent all her time floating in the training hall trying to regain her strength.
He had only done this because he thought the Arch Devil would be a lot easier to control if it was with its formerrade or master and given the current situation, one could factually argue that his n had seeded.
However, it seems their rtionship was vastly different from what he had imagined as Devil''s seem to be a lot scarier than demon''s si Tyler wisely decided not to inquire further into their rtionship as he used all the skills he acquired thus far and moved the conversation along.
"As I said, you may return to the castle with him, I''ll handle the rest."
"Hmmm, Master, is it necessary for us to leave? This maggot would be honored to handle everything for you. In fact, he''s even willing to sacrifice his life to satisfy your every whim."
Moloc suddenly added after hearing Tyler''s order for the two of them to return. She seemed quite hesitant as she hadn''t had this much fun in a good while and it had only taken a week in the physical ne for that to happen.
She also seemed to have something up her sleeves as she seemed abnormally excited about something, it wasn''t as though Tyler knew what normal excitement would look like for her but he was able to tell that something was up because as her smile widen and became more charming, Azalea''s face got paler as he became even timider and looked as though he has shrunk a good inch.
''He doesn''t even look like the same guy at all, what kind of mental torment did he go through to have such a drastic effect in such a short amount of time.''
Seeing such an unnerving sight, Tyler almost took a step back as he thought of how scary devils could be but forced himself to stay calm. His body seems to have gotten used to not reacting drastically to everything and his emotions were always stable thanks to Uriel.
"There''s no need to worry about that, this is also part of my ns. Besides, whoever said I was alone."
As Tyler spoke with a casual tone a cocky smirk crept across his face as the shadows around him moved weirdly and five shadowy figures with glowing green eyes slowly arose from within them before kneeling behind him, awaiting their orders.
Theirbined presence was enough to put the current Azalea on his guard but Moloc just smiled in amusement.
"Oh... As expected of my Master, I shall abide by your will. And please leave it to me. Moloc is notzy, I''ll be sure to drill the grace you have shown this maggot into his heart I''m the shortest time possible."
Saying that Moloc ced her slender arm on Azalea''s shoulder as his body ran cold instantly and she bowed to Tyler.
"You don''t have to¡ª"
Tyler wasn''t even done with his statement when Moloc suddenly disappeared in a burst of hellfire the moment after her graceful bow with Azalea in tow. It seems Uriel had permitted them to return to the castle without even asking him, forgetting he was the one that gave her such an order.
"This doesn''t seem like it will end well for that guy, what do you think?"
[The probability of that is abysmal, but Master does not need to worry about that.]
"Well I guess you''re right, I''ll just pretend I didn''t see anything. Now then, let''s go see this so-called undead king, shall we? I''m told he:s the cure for my negative corruption."
"As you will it."
As he spoke casually, the five shadows kneeling silently behind him all roared their response simultaneously in a sort of monotonous tone that had an underlying ghastliness to it.
Anyone not of a sufficient level would most likely be driven into a frenzy of despair by their lovely voices.
Thinking of this, Tyler chuckled softly as he took slow steps towards the darknar forest and his five shadow guards moved with him.
The moment he had made his appearance in this battle, he had immediately called back all his shadows from across the battle as there was no longer any need to keep track of the enemy''s forces. Aside from him, only one other living being remained in the battle.
That person was none other than Z who had initiated the final phase of his ns and was moving on his own to get things in motion.
"So, where''s this undead king I''ve heard so much about?"
"Their unit should be marching out north of the darknar forest. Approximately 920 meters from our current location."
The one who replied to him was re, donning a simr rogues outfit as everyone besides Maeve, she had short ck hair with a pretty face that somewhat resembled Kali but had a more calmer appearance than her.
However, her demeanor could not be said to be gentle as her eyes carried a cold and calcting gaze that enforced a condescending pressure that defied death itself.
Being the only one who had spent most of her existence engrossed in investigating the undead army, Tyler could tell that she seemed to have gotten stronger somehow. Her level was still the same but she had developed several more skills that would even make her stealth mode impossible to detect even by higher beings.
"I see... well then, let''s all go say hi, Come, Drago."
Hearing re''s response, Tyler decided it was best they don''t waste any more time as he immediately called for their ride.
*Roarrrr!
The moment Tyler opened his mouth and called for him, a massive roar echoed across the Greyad ins as a gigantic figure soon cast its shadow over the devastated ins.
The massive figure of the dragon-like creature covered the empty skies as itnded gracefully in front of Tyler and lowered its head as though waiting to be petted.
Tyler obliged and petted the terrifying drake''s head before everyone got on his back and they took off flying in the direction specified by re. There was really no point in flying on the back of the drake as Tyler could just as easily cast mass flight on everyone or simply carried them along with gravity maniption.
However, he had simply decided not to do any of that simply because none of those methods would make a dramatic entrance so he went for this instead. It didn''t take them long to locate thest unit of undead creatures marching gantly out of the forest while carrying multiple thrones with hundreds of powerful guards protecting them.
Seated leisurely atop one of those thrones was an undead skeleton d in a tattered but luxurious robe and donning a bone crown atop his head. It held a long staff in one hand and an oddly shaped orb in another.
? Next to him was a female half serpent half-human figure that Uriel identified as a Lamia and was confirmed to be the Queen of the southern parts of the Darknar forest. One of the four kings.
She was practically naked as her only form of coverage was her long hair that fell gracefully down her back with a little falling down her chest, as well as the ornaments on her tail and arms.
The undead army came to an abrupt halt at the appearance of the dark drake as they immediately entered a defensive formation.b
The Magic casters created a massivebination barrier that wasyered with several other types of barriers and reinforced with magic.
*ROARRRR!!!
Seeing the undead army move instinctively to defend their master in multyer barriers, Tyler was somewhat surprised for a moment as the ring he wore should prevent anyone from sensing his aura and could even hide his presence from gods, making him virtually indistinguishable from an ordinary human so there was no way they should be wary of him.
However, he soon remembered that not only was he riding on a massive lizard that breathes dark mes, but five high leveled shadow warriors behind him also did little to hide their overwhelming aura, any human that could ride amid such a force was surely far ordinary, making him even more suspicious.
''I didn''t think about it.''
As he finally realized this, Tyler sighed and called himself down as he focused on his mission. Drago roared once more as he flew a circle around the army ones before descending down and then hovering a few meters above the ground in front of them.
The main force of the undead special unit readied their weapons as they pointed them towards the flying drake. However, Tyler just ignored them and stepped forward as he loudly addressed the one seated on the throne.
"Pleased to meet you, undead gentlemen of the so-called undead king. I am Ty Falls Darknar. But please, call me Ty."
He was a distance away and the pping of the dark drake''s wings echoed loudly in the ins but the wind still carried his voice over to them clearly.
Zerahut did not respond and thus, Tyler settled his gaze on him and continued.
"The ones behind me are my shadow guards, Zelda, re, Kali, Nessi, and Maeve, don''t let their cold res fool you but they are also pleased to meet you."
Tyler noticed the undead king trying to attach meanings to his words but did not waste his time as he focused his attention on the Eldar Lich and continued.
"You must be that so-called undead king, named Ummm... wait I think I was told your name, wasn''t I? Oh yeah, it''s Zaracutt right?"
Tyler spoke hisst sentence seriously as he had genuinely forgotten the name of this undead giving as he had always referred to him as the ''so called'' undead king as long as he could remember. He was sure Uriel would remind him but she didn''t.
It seems she didn''t deem it necessary for him to remember the name of a lowly undead that parades himself as a king simply because it had managed to create a few thousand low-level undead.
Even Tyler as he was now would be able to do the same before his negative corruption killed him. It was a shame no matter how strong he got, he could not rid himself of said corruption as it only got stronger with him.
''I guess this is a bacsh from having no limit, even my corruption has no limit.''
Tylermpooned within himself as he smiled bitterly at the rotting face of the undead king that seems to be extra cautious of him even though the Queen of the south seemed to be in awe.
Tyler smiled at her which had taken her by surprise but he simply ignored that as he spoke.
"And you must be the Queen of the south, a pleasure to finally meet you."
Chapter 276 C276. Necromancer
Having been so casually addressed by the strange man who felt as though he was nothing but an ordinary human. One would expect Daenerys to re up in anger or annoyance even if the man''s confident demeanor unnerving and the drake''s presence was overwhelming.
However, that did not happen as she only seemed surprised and had suddenly grown quiet, not uttering a word in refuter. Her guards had gotten defensive but even they did not retaliate, having heard the stranger''s name.
Zerahut on the other hand felt unpleasant by the stranger''s tone and frowned intensely as he stared a the undead drake that looked over his army, oozing an aura that matched his own.
p He had barely any skin on his face and thus, could not physically frown but his lingering instincts as a formerly living being took him through the motions reflexively.
''How unpleasant this is.''
Zerahut thought as he yed with the lightly glowing orb in his right hand. He had heard Daenerys giggling softly beside him the moment the strange man had mispronounced his name but had suddenly grown quiet after being addressed by him directly.
Her actions were always strange, to say the least, but her reactions this time were even unexpected, and the fact that he could not tell what she was thinking was more annoying than he had expected.
However, he decided to ignore those thoughts for now and focus on what was important.
His first impression of this man was inconclusive as non of his appraising skills or spells showed any conclusive results and he could not even confirm his name.
However, as a former demon noble that had spent the majority of his life on Magic research and devoted his wealth and resources to attaining artifacts, he knew how to tell the difference between an ordinaryman and someone he should be absolutely cautious against.
He could easily tell that everything the man had on was not only a Magic item but ones of excellent quality. Several colorful rings also adorned his fingers as they gave off a faint glow that told him they were nothing less than magic artifacts.
It was obvious that one of those rings was responsible for blocking all his attempts at appraising the man and as any scrying Magic aimed at him was being deflected. Most likely preventing anyone from sensing his Magic and even his presence.
Zerahut was aware of several Magic items in his life that had simr effects but to achieve so much in such a thorough way was beyond him. Surely this was no ordinary man to possess such an item amongst others.
There was no way this person was someone that could be taken lightly. He had already lost most of the army he had spent centuries trying to amass but that no longer mattered to him as he had collected a sufficient amount of negative energy in return.
He could simply create and summon more undead after defeating this man as it seemed his patron, Mammon must''ve already been killed for all this to happen in such close proximity to the castle and for the man to already be aware of iOS arrival.
What struck him as strange was that the seven great behemoths didn''t seem to be the reason for his army''s destruction yet he had sensed the presence of so many demigods earlier, well unless they had all suddenly decided to swear loyalty to this man who called himself a Darknar.
Of course, Zerahut was aware of the implications of that name. No matter how strong one was, one could not just casually adopt the name of thete demon king as they would bring down the wrath of the entire continent upon themselves.
Yet, it seems this man was not afraid of such consequences even if they were currently the only ones to had heard him.
''Ty Falls Darknar uh... That is indeed an effective threat. Well yed.''
However, Zerahut could not be fooled or intimidated by such tactics. What had actually surprised him was the fact that there were actually undead being apanying this man and obeying hismand.
He could also sense a vague sense of negative energy attached to him, indicating that he was indeed responsible for creating that powerful undead apanying him.
The drake the man rode on was a high-ranking undead monster and the five figures behind him seemed to be of the same race with simr ranks.
They all had flesh and their eyes shone with an intelligent gleam. There was no doubt in his mind, those five, and even the drake were all intelligent undead beings with wills of their own just like his generals.
[Hmm... To think there would be a day I met a necromancer with more skills than I, how troublesome.]
For a necromancer that hadn''t lost his mortal flesh to be able to manipte enough negative energy to create so many intelligent undead being was unheard of.
Such a feat could''ve killed the former him and was even one of the reasons why he had abandoned his mortal flesh for the immortal body of the undead.
Even for demigods, there was no escaping negative corruption, the body of the divine only increases their resistance to it. However, as long as one was not undead or a spiritual being, one would surely suffer from the negative corruption when manipting so much negative energy.
"A necromancer you say, I''m not exactly one of those you know."
Tyler answered while maintaining the same smile on his face. Frankly, he had tried bing a pure necromancer but now had a deeply rooted corruption to show for it. He had to be careful on how he proceeded in the future.
[Is that right? Do you wish to mock my judgment.]
"No no no... I''m just saying I''m more of a Magic Sorcerer than a simple necromancer. I do I little of everything you see."
[Simple?]
Zerahut seems to have taken offense to that word as the aura around him red up and intensified, the Doom Knights around him moved forward. The undead knights'' that carried his throne also dropped it as he stood up and stepped forward.
[Do you mean to tell me that you consider the practice of necromancy simply?]
The tip of his staff glowed brightly as several ck Magic circles appeared in the air andrge bone monsters came dropping out of them as their ghastly shrieks would normally make one cover their ears.
They then pped their wings as they surrounded the massive dark drake with their bony figures.
These were all undead Wyverns with strength above advanced ss monsters, and while they were notparable to a Lord ss monster like Drago, there were about 30 of them.
"Well, this escted quickly. You''re still full of surprises ain''t ya."
Tyler said in a sigh as he watched the undead wyverns charge at him but did nothing. However, the same could not be said for the five shadows around him as they had already moved before the summoning waspleted.
*Booom *Bang *Booom!...
Several sts reverberated in the night skies as they moved rapidly in the air and grounded everything aside from Drago.
Everything had happened in an instant that even Zerahut had failed toprehend the shadow''s movements and had only seen shes of Maeve using her spells. As a shadow mage, she was the only one that did not need to move around at super speeds.
"Well, it seems we''re past the point of any sort of negotiation so I''ll only ask this once. Surrender your core peacefully to me and offer me your life and I''ll grant your soul a new body. Resist and surfer the vconsequences, think carefully."
Tyler''s smile seized as he spoke hisst words, his eyes seemed to glow in a red hue that caused all of Daenerys men the instinctively take a step back. However, as undead, none of Zerahut''s unit had moved an inch.
[Offer my core? How amusing, I don''t know how you manage to defeat the Grim Reaper but you will regret the moment you underestimated me. Kill them!]
Although he had been cautious due to the disappearance of the Grim Reaper from his soul link which was immediately followed by the appearance of this man. He knew there was no longer any point in talking this out and ordered his undead to attack.
He was not delusional, he knew full well that not even his special unit could take on those shadow guards by themselves. All he needed was time to construct the Magic that would summon his trump card.
[Daenerys! Call back your men to assist us. I''m well aware that they haven''t been attacked yet.]
Zerahut snapped at the silentmia Queen whose men were still stunned by the man.
Although having a youngling like Zerahut talk to her in such a rude tone was annoying, Daenerys oddly didn''t have any grievances with the order as she simplyplied and the male Lamia next to her contacted her assigned regiment to advance to their location while her personal guards moved slowly to assist Zerahut.
Zerahut had originally wondered why her unit was the only one spared but it came to his mind that the enemy was also a necromancer and probably thought his army waspromised of only the undead and the 100 Lamia Legion that apanied Daenerys.
If that''s the case, then he needed to take advantage of the situation. He didn''t know how many men this strange man that called himself Ty had hidden around them and needed to be prepared for an ambush while he attempt to summon the King of Shadows.
Abiding by his wishes, Zerahut''s special unit moved out in perfect unison, his doom knights led the fray as his heavy infantry which was closely matched by the hundreds of ck Knight.
His horde of mages maintained the defensive barrier while his Magicsupport Liches and wraith moved in to, well, support his archers¡ª who were a league above the ones on the other regiments as these were all Tier 3 and Tier 4 archers with enchanted arrows and Magic bows.
His entire force was leagues above the rest as his knights wielded Magic weapons and a few of them had Magic items. Having spent centuries with a single n in mind, naturally, he had slowly prepared Magic weapons and equipment from his fallen energies, stockpiling them in preparation for this day.
*Boom!
Like bullets, the massive frames of hundreds of Doom Knights shot towards the hovering drake with their des already drawn and engulfed in mes. The beast riders and archers moved to the sides as they unloaded a fury of attacks at the flying monster.
There were even a few mages that had managed to cast powerful spells that came down from the skies in a cascading rain that descended upon the dark drake.
However¡ª
None of their attacks had hit their mark as they had all been deflected by an invisible force a few meters from the massive frame of the undead drake.
Not even the spells of tremendous power had prated that barrier, causing even Zerahut''s to be stunned speechless.He couldn''t understand how such a powerful barrier could be constructed in such a minuscule amount of time and by only a single mage.
An uneasy feeling washed over him as he felt that something was terribly wrong somewhere but could not ce his finger on what it was.
"Hmm, since you''ve decided to resist my generous offer, I guess it''s my turn now."
The wind carried the soft voice of the young man clearly to them as he stepped forward and a tiny white singrity was formed in front of his outstretched index finger and dropped slowly towards the ground.
?White Nova?
Chapter 277 C277. Resolves And Realization
Havinge up with the concept for the skill in a spark of inspiration during his confrontation with Moloc, Tyler''s next move was to have Uriel perfect the the idea, creating a brand new skill that was a finished product and no longer required as much effort in using as when he had first used it.
The entire process of theption was incrediblyplicated and wasn''t something a mortal mind could handle as the information contained in the skills'' forms would overload the person''s brain whether or not they had mastered all levels and tiers of Magic runes.
Even for someone like Z and Erin whose calcting abilities were beyond that of geniuses, such a task would still take them around a hundred years to aplish.
This was because every skill held a universal form to it that allows the skill to be passed down or taught, even if said skill was a unique skill. However, the stronger and rarer a skill was, the moreplex the skill''s form became.
This simply meant that creating a skill of this level was almost impossible, even when the basic elements of said skill could easily be found and extracted from another existing skill.
After all, if it was as easy as getting a spark of inspiration to create a new skill, everyone would do it and there would be no need for the Divine Rank - Skillbination, skill.
However, while this was a problem for others, it was a simple task for Uriel to aplish and had only taken her a few days which was still a lot considering she could calcte and process thing at a speed millions of times faster than light, practically in the smallest unit of time in existence.
This was due to Tyler''s own innate ability affecting the skill, Wisdom of Uriel to the point that she also didn''t have a limit.
However, this task had still taken her a few days to process.This just goes to show theplexity and sheer quantity of high-tiered skills forms. Exining why it was so hard to learn them much less master them.
????????????
?White Nova?
Tyler activated his skill and immediately, the air shuddered as a singrity suddenly formed in front of his outstretched index finger as it shook the space around them.
With a slight flex of his finger, the white dot dropped to the ground and a faintly visible barrier suddenly expanded from it, encasing everything within a 200-meter radius of the singrity.
In the next moment, a wave of white radiance consisting of highly dense matter exploded from the singrity in a blinding white light that immediately drove the darkness away and illuminated the night for a moment.
It onlysted for an instant, but it had an immediate and obvious effect that rendered Zerahut and all of Daenerys men speechless.
"Im- impossible!"
Someone from Daenerys''s battle legion had muttered those words, and it was carried by the wind. Their mouths were agape as no one could believe what was happening before their eyes.
The instant the light disappeared and their eyes readjusted to the night, everything that had been trapped within the barrier¡ª including the hundreds of Doom Knights and ck knights that were apanied by beast riders¡ª everything, was reduced to dust and molecules.
In an instant, them members of Zerahut''s special unit which hadcharged in at the dark drake in numbers of around 600 strong waspletely annihted without even buying him a once of time. He hadn''t even had the chance to construct a single Magic circle.
[Ridiculous!]
Zerahut bellowed in anger at this absurd situation that had just befallen him despite his centuries long ns and countermeasures.
His mind was at a loss as he could not understand how this had happened. He was well aware that all of his under had been defeated as he had lost his connection to them and there were even demigod level undead amongst them so he had not once underestimated his enemy.
He was fairly certain that none of his guards could defeat this current foe, not because he had expected him to be this strong, but simply because he had assumed he was already surrounded by those demigods that had defeated his generals.
However, that no longer seemed necessary, not when a single individual was capable of destroying a force of more than 500 extremely strong undead.
This was not something he could''ve evet expected as the Doom Knights that protected were incredibly strong as their cores had been enhanced by the orb of death and thus, they had all evolved to match the strength of an actual Doom Lord.
With the majority of his special unit consisting of said Doom Knights, he had just sent more than 400 of these monsters at a single target.
Such a force was even more dangerous than a hundred Doom Lords. And yet, they had all been eliminated before his eyes, not even offering any resistance.
There was no way ordinary demigods would be capable of this. Even a team of demigods would need to match their numbers by summoning monsters of their own. That would''ve surely bought him the time he needed to make his move.
''For this to be possible? Does that mean he was telling the truth earlier?... irrelevant!''
Zerahut thought as he resolved himself to do what must be done. With the annihtion of his forces, there was no longer any means for him to handle this situation without making the greatest sacrifice.
He had wanted to avoid this at all cost, it was also one of the reasons why he had agreed to team up with Mammon to begin with. Using such a method would further extend his ns by another century but time was not a problem for the undead.
Thinking of this, Zerahut gripped the orb in his left hand tighter as he contemted his options, the mes in his eyes dimmed for a moment before shifting about and staring at the scene around him.
There were still a few of his undead minions remaining as the mages who had created a barrier around him hadn''t moved to attack and the archers were still left alive.
None of the members of the battle Legion belonging to Daenerys seemed to have lost their lives yet again, which made Zerahut a little curious.
First, the demi-human regiment he assigned to her that was being led by one of hermanders had not been attacked at all despite their close proximity to the undead army and now, none of her guards had even tried attacking during this entire encounter.
Even if they were not immune to negative status unlike the undead, they were warriors on par with his Doom Knights and should be able to resist most mental influence in a short amount of time.
At the very least, a few of them would''ve broken free and charged ahead, yet it seemed as though they had even moved further back.
Even the actions and demeanor of Daenerys had been strange the moment this strange man had mentioned his name earlier.
''What is this feeling?''
Zerahut could not contain his uneasiness as he observe his surroundings, most of his spies around had been killed off at the same time as the disappearance of the Grim Reaper and he had assumed that had been a result of the enemy''s interference,
However, was that the truly the case?
The mes that danced around in his eyes socket disappeared as he expanded his senses across the ins and took in the information around him.
[How infuriating.]
Zerahut spoke gently as he took a step forward, a dense ck aura oozed from his person as his figure seems to have expanded massively even though it had not. His opposing figure intimidated all that stared at him, including the battle legion behind.
[How infuriating, to think even you. The Self-dependent Queen of the south would dare betray me! UNFORGIVABLE!]
Hearing the enraged shouts that sounded like it hade roaring straight out of the gates of hell, Daenerys who had seemedpletely dazed just a moment ago instantly returned to normal as a faint smile adorned her beautiful face.
"It seems you''ve finally noticed it Huh. You''re quite quick on the uptake though. I had hoped you''d just die, never realizing what happened after I kill you myself but it seems that really isn''t possible. Everything had really gone just as he had said, what a frightening guy."
Daenerys spoke casually as she snapped her fingers and the men returned to normal. Up until this point, they seemed just as clueless as Zerahut but even while not understanding what was happening, they could immediately control their emotions and ce theirplete trust in their Queen. No longer wavering in their loyalty andpletely unaffected my mental influence.
Simultaneously, thousands of demi-humans began to March out of the forest and began to encircle Zerahut while keeping clear of the flying dark drake.
This was the 10th unit of the undead army led by Zero, an 8 foot tall Minotaur with golden rings adorning his curved horns.
Just as Zerahut had just deduced, it seems Daenerys had betrayed him since the very beginning as she had recalled her unit the moment of the first attack and had her men annihte the ghost he had sent to monitor her forces so he would be unaware of her betrayer till the very end.
He had no idea when she had decided to betray him but that was no longer relevant as he had just been surrounded by his enemies and waspletely outnumbered and outmatched.
Even after his undead mages adjusted the range of their barrier to exclud Daenerys and her men, he was still in a precarious situation but that didn''t seem to matter to him any longer as he had already found his resolve in the midst of her betrayal.
Daenerys did not give the order for her force to advance as she stood up from her throne and with a casual swipe of her tail, it was reduced to rubble. She had originally been prepared to take on Zerahut by herself if ever the opportunity came.
She did not fancy the idea of living in a world of the dead and Ashe wasn''t foolish enough topletely believe his words so she only need to remain close to him until then.
However, a strange man in a mask had visited her a few days ago, he had linked his mind with hers in the presence of Zerahut and her men but everyone including her had failed to notice him until he revealed himself to her via the connected mental link that had been bypassed all her mental defenses and created a mental space for them to Talen face to face.
With that alone, she was quite sure that if this man had wanted to, he could''ve easily taken her head at any moment but had chosen to spare her life and had made her an offer she was unable to refuse.
However, thanks to his words, Daenerys now knew the full extent of Zerahut''s power as she understood that she could not defeat him even with a force of more than 3,000 and help from her elite force.
At first, she had doubted the convenient and extensive knowledge the man possessed on an Eldar Lich that had never once left his cave until recently, but having seen all of his predictionse true without fail, she now had absolute trust in him and was only moving as hemanded.
"All mages and archers, aim for the undead king and let loose! No one is to approach! Fire!"
As the demi-humans followed themia''s Queen''s instructions, one person was at a loss on the current situation as they just stared dumbly at the rapid turn of events.
Of course, that person was none other than Tyler who could not understand what had just happened to make the enemy suddenly begin to fight themselves.
''What the hell is going on here!''
Chapter 278 C278. Notion
?White Nova?
Tyler watched his new skillpletely annihte every undead within its range in an instant sh of blinding light. The strength of the current skill''s output was only about one-tenth of the disyed output he had gotten when he hastily used it against Moloc for the forts time.
As the idea had been spontaneous and he hadn''t been 100% sure his barrier would restrain the st while being unwilling to ept any coteral damage, he had held back the output of the white hole quite a bit, and thus, even back then he hadn''t released the full power of this skill.
Any one of his white holes couldpletely erase a sr system so obviously, he wasn''t dumb enough to unleash such a powerful skill in an enclosed space.
The spell''s effect had onlysted an instant as it immediately ended, leaving everyone stunned at what had happened. Tyler naturally didn''t care much about how they felt as the majority of them were undead and could not be intimidated.
He obviously didn''t think the undead king would surrender just because he asked but he felt he needed to be the civilized one here and at the very least attempt to negotiate.
Using Demon''s Might, he intimidated the members of the Lamia unit and then proceeded to address the so-called undead king before noticing the strange looks the supposed Lamia Queen was giving him and decided to at the very least, say hi.
However, perhaps that had been a bad idea as things had immediately taken a weird turn after that. The Eldar Lich that called himself the undead king had gotten off his throne and stepped forward.
He seems to have realized something from Tyler''s brief interactions with Daenerys and it had driven him into a rage.
p While Tyler was wondering what was wrong with him all of a sudden, the one he was just addressing as the so-called Queen of the south had suddenly moved to betray the Lich as an army of demi-humans suddenly came storming out of the forest and surrounded them while staying clear of the still overnight Drago.
Of course, Tyler was aware that this was the 10th Unit of the undead army whichprises of only demi-humans. Creatures like Goblins, Orcs, Lizardmen, and even forest nymphs¡ª were among their forces.
There were races Tyler wasn''t even aware of amongst them which just showed how rich the darknar forest was to cater to the needs of so many races. And this was all solely based on the western parts.
Tyler hadn''t assigned any team to take care of this unit because Z had made a solid point that they could be easily subdued with his Demon''s Might and Demonic Eyes of Domination.
They also needed workers to farm and mine the resources of the darknar forest as well as the Darkin mountain range. This is why they were supposed to have left them alone until the undead king was defeated. Making intimidating them a lot easier.
So why the hell were they here right now? Firing spells and arrows at the supposed king of the dead and his horde of mages.
Tyler was puzzled but his questions were soon answered by the one person that literally had all the answers.
[Answer: The individual designated as Z had been given the directive to infiltrate the undead king''s unit and make an irrefutable offer to the Queen of the south. Everything is proceeding as nned, Master only needs to quickly take care of the Eldar Lich.]
''Then what is what now?''
Tyler waspletely at a loss for words as he failed to understand what Uriel had said for a hot second before a wave of confusion suddenly washed over him as he fumbled through his thoughts.
''Umm Uriel, what the hell are you talking about. Whose ns? I don''t remember any of this?''
There was no response from her for a good while and Tyler was almost getting annoyed when Uriel''s voice suddenly echoed in his head sounding even more annoyed than he was.
[Master must''ve forgotten the details of the n ryed to you after analyzing all possible oues of the initial nid out by Z.]
Suddenly having a vague idea of what she was talking about given that his mind had been so packed with improving his Magic resentful, Tylerzily agreed with her as he tried to y it off as a minor slip up.
''Oh right, you did mention something about betrayal. My bad''
Tyler could practically picture Uriel rolling her eyes at him but that must''ve been his imagination as she wasn''t the type to get an attitude over something so insignificant.
With her help, he was able topletely recall theplete details of the aforementioned n and now understood what had just transpired amongst his enemies.
He also made a mental note to learn a memory skill to improve his obviously bad memory even if something like that won''t make him a genius by any stretch of the imagination.
????????????
¡ªBack to the battle.
Daenerys had received specific instructions about this battle and she now understood what her role was and it was not to defeat the annoying Zerahut. If she could even drive him into a corner then that would be great.
However, that was not necessary.
Having lost his army, his guards and now being betrayed by his ally, so many things going wrong at the same time were bound to drive anyone to the edge.
As though she had received a self fulfilling prophecy, everything had yed out exactly as he had for told and Zerahut was already at the edge.
However, Zerahut did not make any sudden movements as even the pit of rage, as an undead, he still retained his calm and was self-aware of his own limits.
Thousands of spells and enchanted arrows rained down upon him but were deflected by the barrier his mages had constructed which had be stronger after the range of its effect had been narrowed.
Still, there were a few attacks that made cracks in the barrier, and a single crack was all she needed.
"Zero, go!"
At hermand, therge Minotaur known as Zeromanded a small force of Minotaurs as their bodies were engulfed in dense aura and they charged at Zerahut with immense speed and strength.
Sensing the pressure theirbined aura emitted, the undead mages concentrated their efforts in the direction the Minotaurs were charging from abs focused on strengthening the barrier there.
However, their charge had only been a distraction as Daenerys moved in from the opposing side of the barrier while wielding an emerald trident that she had pulled out of nothing.
?Emrald Serpentine Syphoning Vortex?
Being a unique skill, Daenerys had absolute mastery over the effect of the skill, and in a pinpoint strike at a cracked portion of the barrier, her attack quickly siphoned enough energy from the barrier itself to form a wind vortex that shattered the barrier as her attack continued onward to Zerahut.
However, before the attack could even reach Zerahut, a massive ck arm made entirely of solidified shadows rose from the ground and absorbed the attack without a trace.
[Unforgivable!]
Still enraged, Zerahut let go of his Magic staff and raised the orb on his left hand up, the orb seems to pulsate as the red gem embedded into the tip of his staff turned to a smoke-like substance and was absorbed by the orb of death.
Following that, an oppressive aura erupted from around Zerahut as it dominated the space. This was a pressure that even the undead could not resist as everyone paused in their tracks and instinctively took a step back. Causing a sudden chill in the cold air.
Startled by the sudden pressure, Drago roared loudly as dense ck mes gathered rapidly in his open maw, and in the next second, the entire area surrounding the supposed undead king was engulfed in mes of destruction. Burning everything within it.
Seeing this, Daenerys had immediately ordered her forces to retreat to the forest she had never expected to harm Zerahut and only to destroy his protecting barrier.
It wasn''t as though she thought the man known as Ty couldn''t do it, she had only wanted to make herself useful in order not to be cast out at ater date. Everything she did was based on her survival and the survival of her followers.
The ck mes spread rapidly as it seems Drago had been driven into a slight frenzy by that ominous aura. However¡ª
"That''s quite enough."
At Tyler''smand, the frenzied dark drake was returned to normal in an instant and retrained his mes of destruction. As it was the only one with the least intellect amongst Tyler''s present force, it had been the only one affected by the still looming aura.
The mes that burned around the undead king soon began to die out as everything within it had been reduced to ash. Well, all except for one.
Zerahut stood unaffected by the mes as the dense shadows wrapped around him while it seemed to be gettingrger.
[Did you really think you could win by destroying all of my minions. Ridiculous! I am Zerahut, the undead king, even against such odds, I shall prevail. Now face the power of the King of Shadows!]
The mes In Zerahut''s eyes burnt brighter as he made his deration. His eerily ghastly voice made his words even more ominous as another massive arm made entirely out of solidified shadows shot out of the ground and literally tried to swath Drago out of the sky like a bug.
"Now this is interesting. Seems Uriel was right after all but where the hell are you getting so much power from?"
*Boom!
The massive palm of solidified shadow waspletely stopped in its tracks by an invisible barrieraround the dark drake and the ones that stood atop it.
Uriel had predicted that the undead king held a Magic item that allowed him to control so many undead beings even without being at the same rank as Emrys.
That in itself was not exactly a problem for them but judging by the way the army was moving proudly through the darknar forest even with the possibility of the scouts of the Great Five still being around, it meant there was more to this artifact than its control over the undead.
Tyler narrowed his eyes as the figure of the Eldar Lich as he lowered that strange orb closer to his core and forced it in. It seems that orb had a vast array of abilities that were actually the most troublesome thing around.
He would have topletely destroy it if he wanted everything to end smoothly.
"A pain in the ass, this guy has be."
Chapter 279 C279. King Of Shadows
As the night went on, the light of the moon lit up the massive field of snow in a beautiful silver glow as the earlier thick ashen grey clouds had beenpletely cleared from the night skies. Leaving only the dazzling vast skies covered in glistening stars that spanned ros the sky as far as the eyes could see.
The cold winds blew across the snowfield in a gentle breeze when suddenly, the air shuddered.
An oppressive yet ominous presence erupted from the body of the undead king, dominating the entire space ros the Greyad ins that even beings all ross the Darknar continent shuddered from the stifling aura.
A dense smoke like aura rapidly oozed of the body of the Eldar Lich as the shadows around him warped the weirdly before solidifying and shoting out of the ground in the shape of an absurdlyrge pir that seemed as though it was toching the skies.
The massive shadow pir then wobbled gently as the body of the Eldar Lich left the ground. Moving in the center of the shadow pir, it rose up until it was quite a distance from the ground before the pir suddenly changed shape.
The shadow shook violently as it morphed and wrapped itself around Zerahut in a tight ball of solidified shadows the size of a mountain.
At this point, Daenerys had already ordered her force to retreat into the forest but giving as they all had varying movement speed, there were still a few of them who had yet to make it in time.
While they were already close to the entrance of the forest, it was already toote as the ball of Shadows suddenly shifted shot forthrge shadow tentacles that flew in all directions, piercing or simply crushing the hundreds of demi-humans that was yet to escape.
The moment they were touched by the shadows, their bodies immediately began to age as their life forever was rapidly drained away and even their dried-up flesh was absorbed into the King of Shadows.
Of course, these shadow tentacles could not be stopped just because the others had made it into the forest as they possess enough strength to easily tear through the massive trees as though they were nothing but paper.
Witnessing this scene, even Daenerys and her battle legion were bing panicked as there wasn''t anything they could do against these shadow tentacles.
After all, all the attacks of the ones it had drained and absorbed outside the forest had also been absorbed as though they their Magic was food and none of them could think of a way out of this without using Magic.
However, just as the shadow tentacles were shattering the trees towards them, a figure d in an all ck butlers outfit that felt more like abat uniform with a pair of ck gauntlet on his arms while wearing a golden mast, suddenly appeared in front of them through the sudden rupture in space that had created a massive ck portal bending him.
The massive portal immediately moved and swallowed them before any of them could even think of resisting and in the next moment, their view of the forest had immediately changed as they had all been transported to a ce that resembled a sort of temporary town.
Z then turned his head to face the confused Daenerys as he spoke bluntly:
"You shall all remain within the confines of this town until Lord Ty decides on what to do with you. I advise you to not make a scene as it will not be forgiven."
As he sternly gave them a warning, they saw the army of well-geared hobgoblins and karma Onis as well as several Nightmare wolves and giant dragonflies around them, and their nerves rose a little before Daenerys decided it was fine as long as they remain calm until everything ended.
Their loyalty towards her was enough to calm their nerves as they decided to obey Z''s orders and remain here. Z nodded his head in satisfaction as he watched the changed in their emotions while reading their surface thoughts before teleportation away.
He appeared back in the castle as he politely ced a knock on therge door in front of him even though he knew the owner of the room was not in.
Soon, a maid with short pink hair and white bunny ears upend the doors to his masters office he she now slightly and he nodded.
He then walked inside the room and saw some farmiliar figures sitting at one corner of the extravagantly luxurious office, around a coffee table as they stared at the holographic screens floating around the table.
"Wee back Z, do take a seat, the main event is about to begin."
???????????
????????????
¡ªAt the same time.
Zerahut frowned as he sensed the thousands of demi-humans disappear before he could consume them to stabilize himself as he was rapidly beginning to lose his grip on his consciousness.
To achieve what he had just done, he had no choice but to plunge the orb of death deep within his core as the orb began to supply his core with an absurd amount of negative energy which could be quite overwhelming even for undead of his level.
He could simply summon the king of shadows without going through this but that had a higher chance of the entity going on a rampage and killing him as well. At most, he could only call forth an arm or two without losing control to the strong will of the Shadow King.
While the method he was currently using had a lot of the same issues, there was a higher chance of his survival as long as he could consume enough life force to sustain his core until the very end. The other advantage was the ability to end the call without the will of the Shadow king resisting him simply by pulling out the orb by force.
After absorbing his hundreds of demi-humans, he had squired enough life energy to counter the excess negative energy in his core for an at the very least a few minutes so he had to end this fight quickly, else the king of shadows will consume him the moment his core is overwhelmed and he loses grip on his consciousness.
As he struggled to maintain that fragile bnce, the massive shadow tentacles surrounding him lunged at the hovering dark drake with an insane speed that defied thews of physics but Drago moved faster as itunched himself at the massive ball of shadow and immediately used his dark Dragon''s breath once more.
However, not only had his attack not done any damage, the shadow ball seems to have swallowed or absorbed it as it gotrger while continuously swiping its tentacles at Drago with ridiculously speed and strength that rapidly changed the terrain.
Tyler silently observed the massive round mountain of solidified shadows as it grewrger andrger before suddenly jumping off the back of the massive drake as his five shadow guards mirrored his movements.
He then ordered the drake to return to the town as he had deemed Drago''s presence no longer necessary. The drake seemed to be disappointed in its performance and perhaps a little sad its master had left him but Tyler didn''t have a choice as all Drago was doing was making it stronger even though it was his fault.
"Anti Divination."
"Spirit concealment."
"Counter Remote Viewing."
Tyler used multiple spells to conceal this area from the distance eyes of the Great Five as he no longer required their presence. This night may have been a show of strength to them but it was already almost dawn and there was no need for him to reveal any more of his abilities to them.
It was better to leave some things to their imagination as he didn''t want them topletely figure him out. Not wanting to give them any ideas that they would be able to handle him with a good n or something.
Which would defeat the entire purpose of this war, to begin with.
Landing gently on the ground as though they were all weightless with defied gravity, Tyler promptly expanded his universal barrier around them as dozens of truly massive shadow tentacles came crashing down on them and continuously pounded them as though they were drums.
*BOOM!
The reverberating sounds of several explosions could be heard far and wide as all the shadows were pushed back. However, they all immediately came crash back down at them with even greater force than before.
However, unlike thest time, Tyler did not confidently receive the attack with his nigh-indestructible Universal Barrier as Uriel had made a prediction that worried him.
[Probability alteration detected. Master should avoid receiving the next attack.]
With world divination and FutureSight, Uriel could urately predict the nature of any attack used against him and advice him with thought eleration. And with his high reaction time and supreme physique, he was more than fast enough to react in time.
Tyler could also elerate his body to match the speed of his elerated thoughts so naturally, he was able to use his skills and spells even in that state, making it possible for him to react literally, in an instant.
He quickly used Spatial teleportation to move away from the attack as it easily tore through his barrier-like hot knife through butter.
"To think it''s even able to use skills in such an unstable state. How troublesome."
Tyler thought as he watched the dozen or so tentacles shatter the ground he had just been standing on.
"Go!"
Giving themand, Tyler permitted his personal guards to attack as they moved quickly and swiftly, appearing around the massive ball of solidified shadows floating in the air.
?Summon Shadow Familiars?
?Death w?
?Dark Lightning?
?Abysal Bind?
?Shadow Armor?
?Shadow Clone?
The girls moved like the shadows themselves, appearing and disappearing at will ad they moved in the air, easily avoiding every shadow tentacle that came at them while simultaneously using their various skills in well-coordinated attacks that reflected their perfect teamwork that was unexpected of ordinary undead.
Zelda summed a horde of shadow creatures that pounced on the ball of shadows but were easily destroyed by the shadow tentacles, Maeve flew above the monster while avoiding the swinging tentacles as she used dark lightning followed by countless spells as though her mana had no limits.
While Kali and re attacked with their strongest attacks, Messi who was the only demigod amongst them, created more than a hundred clones of herself that shared more than 40 percent of her abilities.
However, even with theirbined skills and were coordinated attacks, none of them had even remotely damaged the shadoe ball nor one hidden in the shadows as the ball of shadows either ate their attacks and got bigger, or simply recovered after taking a little damage.
[Futile, all your efforts will be rendered futile in the presence of the Shadow King. Did you really think you''ve outnumbered me? Know your true master minions!]
Having finally gained some semnce of control over the overwhelming power of the King of Shadows by inserting the orb of death directly onto his core, Zerahut regained his a form grip on his consciousness and activated one of the skills of the Conceptual being.
?Shadow Lordship?
While wielding the powers of the King of Shadows, Zerahut now had the absolute authority over darkness itself and even those born from the shadows could no longer stand against him.
With that, the bombardment of attacks from Tyler''s shadow rogues suddenly stopped as they all fell lifelessly to the ground as their cores were being suppressed by the will of the shadow king.
Normally this process would''ve taken only a moment as the shadow king had absolute authority over all shadows and all beings born in darkness must serve him but Zelda and the others were highly intellectual and instinctively resisted the urge to serve a different master.
This, however, allowed Tyler to react in time as he sensed his link with his shadows being corrupted and it irritated him.
"Oh, now you''ve gone too far. I''ve already been corrupted one too many times to permit such a blunder."
Finally taking this seriously, Tyler pulled out his Magic weapon from the void as he devoured the Magic it passively emitted with his glove and swung it without the use of any Magic. Just a purely physical strike.
Or so it was supposed to be.
Chapter 280 C280. Too Late.
With a single sh, Tyler''s de tore the world apart.
Or so it would''ve been if his target hadn''t been hovering several meters above him, preventing the force from his de from being affected or effectively splitting the he was on.
Narsil was only an Epic rank Magic weapon made out of Duranium and a 6th tier Magic crystal. On its own, itcked the power to even cut through the solidified ball of shadows much less the world itself.
This was a sword that, while naturally overflowing with Magic energy, was still weaker than the divine. Its only skill was called Rapid Burst, an ability that sends out continuous streams of energy shes at its target while draining the weapon''s durability in the process.
This simply meant this was a weapon that relied solely on its Magic energy to function else it would just be a slightly harder and sharper metal de.
However, using the Magic artifact, Depths of the Abyss¡ª which Tyler actually still had on but had used an invisibility spell on it to make it transparent, as he no longer fancied the design and creepiness of the glove, while also tasking Uriel with maintaining the spell as it did not take much mana.
Not that the amount of mana matter much to him at this point. Anyway, Tyler used the invisible item to drain the Magic power that was constantly being emitted by the weapon as he had noticed that the only attack the shadow body could absorb was magical in nature.
This meant he had attacked with practically an ordinary weapon while applying no other special effects to the strike, only putting all his might into that swing and the wind pressure alone had split the skies as well as space itself.
The pure force from his abnormally sharp de had even cut through the fabric of reality as the strike traveled faster than light, cutting straight through the''s atmosphere and barely missing the moon as it traveled far and wide, splitting everything in came across in the vast universe for what seemed like it would be going for at least a few hundred lightyears.
Naturally, the round floating mountain of shadows had been split in half as well, cutting even Zerahut in half while his core had been barely spared from that attack.
However, as the current vessel for the King of Shadows, even such a powerful attack would not kill Zerahut even if he were to be cut to pieces. As long as his core remains intact, he would always be fine.
However, killing Zerahut was never Tyler''s intention as he simply used the brief moment of distraction to teleport his shadow guards back to his side and they immediately sunk back into his shadows.
[Notice: Monarch Authority has overruled the Shadow Authority of the Shadow king within 100 meters of the Monarch.]
''Huh.''
Tyler wasn''t too sure on what that meant but at the very least it seems the shadow king would be unable to influence his shadows as long as they were close to him.
Tyler mused to himself as he nodded, the sword in his arm seems to have lost most of its durability from hisst swing even though he hadn''t used the skill that came with it.
The weapon was simply not strong enough to withstand a swing that defied even thews of reality as several cracks had appeared all across the de but Tyler felt there was no point in trying to save the weapon. It was best it went out swinging.
As the spatial tear that had been cut across the skies repaired itself, it didn''t take long for Zerahut to do the same as the two halves of his Bobby figure rapidly merged back into one but it didn''t stop there as the rounded mountain of solidified shadows continuously morphed into somethingpletely different after recovery its size with more of the shadows on the ground.
Within a matter of seconds, the massive ball of shadows had morphedpletely into a humanoid form that resembled a Devil withrge curved horns, glowing white eyes, and a faceless head.
The moment its transformation wasplete, the entire felt its presence and everyone from each continent capable of sensing the divine was frozen in terror for a brief moment.
Zerahut stay suspended in the chest of the massive creature as the beast towered over Tyler like a mountain.
"I probably should''ve seen thising wouldn''t I?"
Tyler still fouling the time to muse to himself as he wondered why exactly did he choose not to just kill this skeleton the moment he hadid eyes on him.
*Boom!
He was not that deep into his thoughts when the embodiment of the shadow king suddenly moved like lightning with its more than half a kilometer tall frame and appeared before Tyler, mming its fist down and shattering the ground around them in a resounding quake that sounded like the would be split in half.
However, Tyler had reacted quickly as he instantly teleported away when he suddenly lost sight of the monster. Having had a bad premonition before the shadow had even moved, he didn''t stop there as he quickly teleported again.
His bad premonition was a result of his skill FutureSight as it worked in different ways depending on the situation.
The massive shadow lord had used shadow teleportation and instantly appeared behind Tyler, swiping its massive ws as its force cleaved the tops of all the trees in a massive range around them.
Noticing that the valuable forest would not survive this fight, Tyler teleported higher, more than 30,000 meters into the sky and the Shadow King followed.
[Is there a reason why you flee from me now? There''s nowhere to hide! Just stand still and die!]
Zerahut knew he didn''t have any time to waste in a pointless chase as there were no longer any souls around to bnce the massive amounts of the negative energy he was receiving from the orb of death.
Using shadow teleportation, he appeared behind Tyler once more and swiped its ws at him, however, this time, Tyler did not move to avoid it as he simply swung his de to meet it.
*ng!
Surprisingly, it was as though his sword had hit something hard as Zerahut had further hardened his ws and reduced the possibility of Tyler''s sword cutting throw it.
More cracks appeared on the Magic weapon but Tyler did not mix it as his mind was focused on one thing.
"Interesting. So you want a battle of wills, let''s put that to the test shall will."
Tyler happily epted a challenge that had not been issued as he swung his weapon at the shadow king''s massive ws and like a hot knife through butter, he cleanly sliced through the ws as they dropped to the ground before disappearing in mid-air.
He had simply fated that oue by imposing his will on the situation using Fate maniption. As Zerahut was only trying to make his ws harder which was a defensive mechanism, it was natural that Tyler would cut through such weak resolve.
[Arrogant Fool!]
The shadow king''s missing ws regenerated instantly as it grew another set of arms and lunged at Tyler.
"Don''t get a cocky brat, you''re not the only one that can solidify energy you know. Hope you can keep up."
Saying that as Tyler readied his stance, he stopped devouring the energy Narsil emitted as he forced his energy into it, creating a longer de with solidified energy.
No longer holding back, his energy or presence did not change thanks to the ring of Nullity but the air around him hadpletely changed.
Even Zerahut who was currently an embodiment of the shadow King, a pure deity that had transcended time and space¡ª could notprehend his movements as Tyler appeared before the charging ck figure and rapidly swung his sword tens of times faster than light.
For a moment, Zerahut had thought the world had gone ck as the shadow king''s body had been split into a million pieces and if the shadows did not have the survival instincts of the shadow king attached to it, causing it to move Zerahut''s real body in between the shes, he probably would''ve been dead by now.
[You!..]
Zerahut was now panicked as he didn''t expect this man tost this long against the avatar of the king of shadows and he was rapidly running out of time.
He knew he had to finish this with his next few attacks but he was finding it difficult to lock down the man in ce as his movement speed and instant teleportation abilities were proving hard to handle.
[Fine then!]
Zerahut bellowed as all the solidified shadows of his bodies turned semi-liquid as they shot back towards him and reformed the massive frame of the Shadow king.
"I guess It''ll be impossible to kill you without using Magic Huh."
Tyler was still speaking when the Shadow king suddenly shot out a beam of pure darkness at Tyler who tried to cut through it with rapid burst but the beam just passed through him as though it was nothing but inverse light.
"Fuck!"
While it seemed like the attack had done no damage, Tyler suddenly frowned as he realized the darkness beam was infused with the overflowing negative energy surging in Zerahut''s core.
Unfortunately for him, it seems Zerahut had sensed the corrupted energy within him and decided to take advantage of it by infusing him with more negative energy.
While the oue of the attack was bad, the attack itself wasn''t dangerous which was why Tyler hadn''t opted to get out of the way.
A surge of pain suddenly shot into his brain as Tyler''s movement suddenly halted for only a brief moment but that was all Zerahut needed to take advantage of.
The massive frame of the Shadow king instantly appeared behind Tyler as its mountain-like first came storming at Tyler within that brief moment of pain.
Unable to resist the pain in time, Tyler felt the massive fist that was literallyrger than his body and harder than diamond m into him with a force that would pop a mountain like a ballon.
His figure shot out of sight like a rocket as he was sent out of the darknar region and thousands of miles halfway around Neron, and mming into the scarlet sea.
*BOOM!!!
Tyler''s body crashed into the oddly colored waters like a meteor in a massive impact that literally created a tsunami for miles around him.
"Damn, that actually kinda hurt, my pride."
Perhaps it was as a result of his entire body being seriouslycorrupted to the point of no return as he could no longer feel anything below his neck but Tyler actually felt pain deep in his heart as he wondered how he had made such a glider, to begin with.
"I think I might be getting a little carried away with this whole overpowered thing. Note yourself Tyler, don''t underestimate a desperate skeleton. Now then, good thing I always have a n B, C, and D."
Chapter 281 C281. Call Of Thunder
As Cora politely ushered him in, Z walked steadily into therge luxurious office, his shoes sinking gently into the thick exquisite carpet as he approached the lounge section of the office where four figures were currently seated.
"Wee back Z, do take a seat, the main event is about to begin."
The one who had spoken to him was Albert who still had on his butler''s suit as he sat in the sofa by the edge of the coffee table, after voicing his greeting to the new arrival, he then returned his attention back to therge holographic screen that hovered above the coffee table.
Z politely nodded his head as a reply to Albert''s greeting and promptly took a seat at the opposing side of him.
"So how did it go?"
The girls, Erin, Rain and Liz sat on the long couch besides the pair as Rain asked Z a question the moment he sat down.
"Naturally, it''s just as Lord Ty had expected. There are a few of them that had sneak in small scouting units amid themotion caused by the war. From what I observe, they are all stealthily approaching the castle from various location."
Z answered frankly and simply as though his words had no connections with them but it was obvious that the news he had just brought was of the highest priority.
"Wow, how low can they get. Even sending so many demigods wasn''t enough for them Huh."
Rain replied as she thought about the reason for this extra force. Apparently it wasn''t to engage in battle but they obviously thought they could achieve something by sending along an extra unit with their original force of mainly demigods.
"I suppose one of their objective will be to observe the castle from a close distance in order to learn the method we had used to gain ess to it, and how tgey tgey achieve the same."
"So that''s why they mostly sent a scouting unit with such high scrying protection that I can''t even locate them remotely."
Erin spoke reflectively in response to Z as she had for the first second time in her life, failed to locate a threat which was quite irritating for a spirit mage like herself.
"Indeed, they''re groups are most likely equipped with dangerous artifacts that protects them but they are unable topletely erase their presence and that''s enough for me."
"Oh... impressive."
Rain said semi exitedly as she began to p with a cheeky smile.
"Please don''t patronize me. I wasn''t trying to brag. I''m aware you can do the same, I was only staying a fact."
"Well, as long as you admit it."
Z sighed tiredly as he decided to avoid anymore reference to his skills from now on to avoid such childishness. He then adjusted his mast as he continued.
"There''s a high chance their next move would be an attempt to capture one of us to interrogate us for that information using whatever method they deem faster. It''s obvious not all of them would be willing to just wait and see which family might be aiding us so this oue had been predicted."
"I see, so this oue had already been predicted. As expected of Lord Ty, he foresaw everything exactly as it happened."
Albert bodded his head in understanding and satisfaction as he stared in awe at the figure standing on the dark drake that was being dested on the holographic screen.
"By the way, which direction are they approaching from and how many are they?"
Liz suddenly as she seems to have thought of something and was making a connection.
"There are three units of around 50 highly trained rogues in total so it''s safe to assume that only three family bothered to attempt this extra mission or even thought of it. One of them is approaching from the northwest, another from the west and thest from the south."
Z concluded his report as he brought out a map from his suit and set it on the table with red spots marking the locations of the three units.
Liz then studied the map for a moment as she seems to havee to an understanding but her expression did not change much.
"From those directions, it''s easy to think they are from the Zorak, Brimstone and Morningstar families but that may just be a bluff, the Alcars may be able to move their unit secretly through the Demnirantre Region to fool us."
"True, but I have confirmed that at least the Zorak family and the Brimstone''s are involved in this. Thest may be from any of the other three, including the Alcars."
Z replied to Liz as she understood what he meant and nodded.
"I see..."
"Well, for now, their presence here doesn''t matter as they wouldn''t gain any information just by watching us. The question is, do we await Lord Ty''s return or move out to handle thes pest ourselves. I''m certain Lord Ty has a lot of uses for their corpses."
See added his opinion at the end as the air around him shifted a bit, making Cora, who was only at the Tier 3 standard, take a step back.
"You may be right but it seems as like our Master''s battle is beginning. As his highest ranking vassals, let us all take in his glorious victory with awe and respect. It will not be toote to take care of the pest afterwards."
While Tyler would certainly cringe at Albert''s corny words, none of the ones present here today had any issues with it as they had all gotten quiet as they observe Tyler''s battle with the Undead king who had evoke the powers of the Shadow King, an ancient god that had fallen in the time of the gods.
Although it seems as though one of them was getting far too exited and had even gotten enraged the moment the Shadow king had punched Tyler out of their spells range, preventing her form further observing his fight.
"I''ll try and locate them. Give me a moment."
Erin said as she began to search for Tyler''s unique signature and soon located him in the middle of the scarlet sea. She then cast the spell ''Crystal Monitor'' to allow the others view the battle ones more.
No doubt the other observers were desperately trying to do the same after finally breaking through Tyler''s anti divination spell as he was no longer there to maintain it.
However, none of them had anyone that could even be remotelyparable to Erin''s prowess of Divination.
?????????????
??????????????
*BOOM!
As though a massive meteor had just crashed from the sky, a figure flew faster than the eyes could even glimpse as it crashed into the scarlet seas in a massive exploding force that sent all the water around him away from him.
The scarlet sea was urately named for its scarlet glow during the day due to the special minerals that could be found at the bottom of the ocean.
These minerals were a form of metal but held an erratic nature that made it unstable when dry but insanely durable and hard when drenched in salt water.
However, the force of the crash had dug a massive crater at the bottom of the sea, driving the waters away temporarily as they would soone crashing back at the figure thatid in the center of this crater with a faint smile on his face.
"I think I might be getting a little carried away with this whole overpowered thing. Note yourself Tyler, don''t underestimate a desperate skeleton. Now then, it''s a good thing I always have a n B, C, and D. However, which should I go with in my current state."
Tyler spoke as he faintly moaned in pain as he tried to get up from the currently dry ocean floor. The pain he felt did note from the blow he had just received nor from the crash with the water surface and then the hard soil. Rather, it originated from the rapid spread of the negative corruption all across his body.
His regeneration ability couldn''t do anything against the corruption but Tyler knew he could not fight in this state. Luckily he was still able to use his skills and thanks to that, he had some time to think before the shadow king arrived.
Tyler then cast heal and purification on himself several times before he was able to barely stand but his body was no longer as free as it had been. Sending him bolts of pain every time he moved an inch.
''It''s a good think my pain tolerance had gone up due to those time Uriel had practically torture me in the name of imbuing skill''s.''
Tyler thought as he finally stood up despite the pain. His Magic weapon had been shattered by that blow from the Shadow King but he couldn''t raise his arms properly right now so the weapon was pointless anyway.
Flying out of the ocean, Tyler saw Zerahut appear a good distance away and immediately charged at him with intense speed. It seems like he didn''t want to give Tyler any chance to recover as one of his arms narrowed into a de and he swung it.
?Shdow sh?
A hinge wave of shadow energy gusted out of his swing and the raging waters that were yet to cover up the massive crater in the ground were further splitin half as Tyler managed to avoid the attack using spatial teleportation.
''That was too close forfort.''
Tyler thought as he rapid flew back after the Shadow king had followed that strike with another and was currently chasing after him.
Speed wise, Tyler had been considerably slowed down by the negative corruption hence he was finding it incredibly difficult to avoid that attacks.
Turning his other three arms to swords as well, the Shadow King increased the ferocity of his attacks as even the space around them was beginning to breakdown. The waters crashed back into the crater but the sea could not recover as the space around it was on the verge of copse.
Unable to avoid these absurd swings anymore, Tyler thought of the best ways to handle these situations as Uriel came up for a series of attacks and spells that would be most effective agaist a creature of shadow.
"Max Magic - Sunlight!"
In an instant, the night all across the scarlet sea had been chased away as the sun rose, shining its blinding light that cast away the shadows.
Of course, this could not kill the King of Shadows as it simply paused and a shadow tentacles shot out of his body and wrap around the miniature sun, absorbing the enemy within. However, the momentary pause was all Tyler needed.
"Now be reduce to ash and wallow in despair."
,m *p!
''Max Magic - Call Dark Thunder Storm!''
Chapter 282 C282. Shadow Kings
After learning of the possibility tothe create brand new spell as long as he was able to provided the right parameters for Uriel to work with, naturally, Tyler didn''t hesitate in finding various parameters from his already acquired skills and spells for Uriel to work with.
? Using various elements from his Dark Lightning skill and the Tier 5 ThunderStorm spell, Uriel was able to create Tyler''s only 8th Tier spell. A spell that had enough potential to achieved a devastating result without even factoring the use of his innate ability.
In essence, She had ended up creating one of the most destructive spells in his arsenal.
Normally, Tyler hadn''t nned on using this spell as it would surely eradicate everything in its vicinity but as they were currently hovering in the middle of the ocean, he didn''t have to be worried about any coteral damages.
*CLAP!
''Max Magic - Call Dark Thunder Storm!''
With a resounding p of his hands, ck clouds quickly formed across the empty skies above the scarlet seas as purplish ck lightning crackled and danced across the clouds, merging with each other as the majority of them gathered around the shadow king before raining down on him in a storm of devastation.
[Why you!]
Being as massive as he was, the shadow king wouldn''t be able topletely avoid or absorb the storm of dark lightning even with his speed being nearly on par with Tyler''s.
He also couldn''t turn his back on Tyler and teleporting out of the scarlet seas would only waste more of Zerahut''s precious time, increasing his chances of losing his body to power of the shadow king.
Before Zerahut could fully organize his thoughts, all the smaller strands of dark lightning had fused with one another, creating several massive lightning bolts that targeted him in the storm, piercing through the massive shadowy frame of the Shadow king.
[DAMN YOU!!!]
Although it seemed as though he had tried to absorb all the Magic energy inside the lightning bolts, this was not just ordinary lightning but the dark lighting of absolute destruction. An attack that could ignore most magical defenses and mercilessly tear apart the body and soul of its intended target.
Without fail, the dark lightning clung to the Shadow king as more continuously located him in an overwhelming surge of power that could no longer be contained even for him, shattering the massive shadow king into countless pieces in an instant.
"I see, so even that wasn''t enough Huh?"
Tyler frowned as the oppressive presence of the shadow king had not disappeared even after that but had only spread itself out. It seems it had found a way to protect Zerahut''s body form the sts.
After all, as long as the orb of death remains intact in his core, he could not be destroyed.
?Spatial Lock?
Tyler immediately sealed the space around the scarlet sea as it seemed as though the shadow king might be looking to escape so it could fully recover but that was not an option for Zerahut.
Zerahut was already running out of time as without any life energy tobat the excess negative energy being poured into his core, he would soon be swallowed up by the shadow king''s will.
Not wasting time, Zerahut reigned in his thoughts and quickly reconstructed the shadow body around him.
However, he had not regained his previous size and the millions of pierces of solidified shadows scattered around began to morph as they soon formed miniature figures of the shadow king. Each having four de like arms.
[Fine, I''ll admit you''re quite strong. Stronger than I ever dreamed possible. You see when I first found this power, i never would''ve even imagine that there would be someone alive who could challenge it. To think the only ones I worried about were to Five, yet here you are, standing in may way.]
As countless shadow kings formed around him, Zerahut suddenly opened his mouth as he spoke to Tyler in a ghastly tone that almost sounded exhausted.
[However, do not delude yourself into thinking you can win. I can smell the corruption within you. Kekekekeke... just like me, you also don''t have much time do you? Fufufufu... If you were finding only one shadow king that difficult, say, what would you do about a million? Attack.]
In less than five seconds, there were already more than a million normal-sized shadow kings hovering in the air havingpletely surrounded Tyler.
If he could not win with his overwhelming strength alone, then he only need to overwhelm him in numbers that even his slight speed advantage over them would not make a difference.
In only an instant, the state of the battle happening above the scarlet sea had shifted from a 1v1 to one versus a million and at Serahut orders, every single one of them charge it him with staggering speeds.
"Huh, well that backfired quickly."
Tyler spoke softly as he smiled bitterly not minding Zerahut''s words, he had hoped his spell would''ve destroyed most of the shadow king''s energy in order to give him the advantage even though it could notpletely destroy him.
However, his n seems to have backfired as the shadow king had noticed it and immediately given up on absorbing the destructive energy and shattered himself before he could be destroyed.
Tyler stared at the horde of shadow figures charging at him as he thought of his next move,while the shadows did not give him any time to prepare, he could still gain some leeway to think with thought eleration even though in this state their movements were still rtively faster than normal.
''Attacking with magic seems a little pointless. With so many targets I could probably destroy a few if I tried but I doubt that''ll do any actual damage. The real problem is the undead king isn''t it.''
Tyler thought as he avoided the attacks of countless shadows while trying to locate where Zerahut was as he had blended in with the horde after giving his littel speech earlier.
With the spread-out presence of the shadow king, it was difficult to locate the one Zerahut was in as his aura was being masked by the shadows oppressive presence.
The worst part about this fight was that the shdow kings could phase through one another and attack him in numbers that wasn''t even physically possible, they could even extend or transform their limbs to make fit very versatile attacks.
In such a situation, Tyler decide to teleport around the battlefield while avoiding attacks without ever striking back, it would be a waste of time if he tried to pointlessly waste his mana in his current state.
Moving around trying to locate the source of this mess, he soon spotted the faint distinctive red glow of Zerahut''s core and Tyler headed straight at it.
"Found you."
Without giving him time to speak, Tyler appeared before the shadow king that had Zerahut inside him and stretched forth his arm, grabbing the head of the shadow wrapped around him.
"Devour everything into the bottomless pits of the Abyss."
As though on cue, the solidified shadow around Zerahut began to be sucked into Tyler''s palm. Well, they were being consumed by the hungry glove that remained invisible on his hand.
As the shadow king was made entirely of shadows, it was in essence made of Magic and thus, could be consumed by the Magic artifact Tyler had on.
However, the moment the entire shadow figure was consumed, Zerahut was nowhere to be found. It seems he had used some kind of shadow swap ability to escape at thest moment.
Meaning, unless Tyler took care of all one million shadow kings around him, he would never be able to find much lessy a finger on Zerahut.
"How unpleasant this turned out to be."
Tyler frowned as the shadow kings around him continued their assault, he then cast a fireball spell but they quickly absorbed the attack and multiplied even more. He used gravity maniption to bundle a bunch of them in a ball and then spatial vortex to shred them to pieces but they only reformed themselves in a matter of seconds.
As the shadow king did not possess a soul and was just pure power, even conceptual and spiritual attacks did not seem to work unless he deals with the source.
While a ck hole infused with his soul energy would solve all his problems, it would also destroy Zerahut''s core, which was the only thing Tyler needed if he was to save himself.
At this point, the negative corruption was rapidly spreading around his body the more he used his skills and he could no longer move his arms or legs. If it was to get to his mana body then he would lose his ability to use his skills and Magic and would surely die, or perhaps he would ne reincarnated in a while giving as he had an immortal soul.
''Now then, how do I destroy a million shadow king¡ª who are only a little weaker than ordinary demigods¡ª while making sure at least one of them survives. Doesn''t even matter which one.''
Tyler was pondering this situation as he instinctively avoid every single attack from the horde of enemies. To avoid attacks from over a million monsters almost as fast as you, was not an easy feat at all.
The only reason he was able to do this was because of his skill, FutureSightbined with Spatial Awareness, Spatial Perception, and Magic Sense. If he were tobine them with skillbination he would get a truly overpowered skill called Absolute perception but right now, he was simply using all of them individually at the same time with the help of Uriel.
Although Tyler tried to avoid having Uriel help him with everything in order to gain more real world and battle experience and not getzy in his mindset, there was no person alive that would be able to individuallybine so many skills without actuallybining them and reacting in the fastest unit of time possible.
In fact, Uriel already had a n to easily handle Zerahut from the get-go but Tyler wanted the battle experience which was why he normally didn''t seek her help during battles unless there was no longer anything he could gain from the fight. Or he was in trouble like he was now.
Tyler weaved his way through a million shadow kings as he attempted a few skills to gauge what worked and didn''t work even if it meant their numbers increased a bit. With spatial teleportation, he could always escape their encirclement, and lucky for him, Zerahut could not seal his teleportation abilities.
Even if he had an artifact or ability that could, as long as he was not stronger than him, Uriel assured him that his authority would overrule such restrictions.
''This should work.''
Having finallye up with a n, Tyler quickly gave Uriel anotherbination task as he teleported above the horde of shadows and a massive yet highly dense ball of energy appeared above him.
This was the majority of his remaining energy as he was putting his all into this attack else he would have to escape. Even for him, using so many skills and his constant use of teleportation in such quick sessions took a lot out of him.
The dense ball of energy then split into smaller balls of energy the size of golf balls and there were over a million of them spread out as far as the shadow kings.
?Force Imploding Magic bullets?
Having Uriel infuse the force implosion skill into a million Magic bullets, Tyler came up with a new attack even if it wasn''t yet a new skill.
The horde of shadow kings had not wasted any time in chasing after him but they were a tad too slow as his technique was alreadypleted, and in the next moment, over a million spirally Magic bullets shot down on the million shadow kings with an uracy that was only possible by Uriel herself.
Upon impact, the entire body of the shadows copsed on themselves and disappeared without a trace, leaving only one behind as he couldn''t believe his eyes.
"Pardon me, but I''ll taking your core now."
Chapter 283 C283. Cursed Items
?Force Imploding to Magic Bullets?
Creating a massive ball of highly dense energy with most of his remaining mana, Tyler had Uriel split them into the exact numbers to match the number of shadow kings below him with the exclusion of just one. She then infused the Magic bullets with the implosion element of his gravity maniption skill.
With an absurd speed that somehow still maintained perfect uracy, all the Magic bullets were fired at their intended targets without missing a single one as each bullet was precisely guided by Uriel. Like heat-seeking missiles, every single one of them located the target they were meant for.
Upon impact, the Magic bullets caused the bodies of these miniature shadow kings to implode as their figures copsed into a single point beforepletely disappearing from sight.
In the next moment, only a single shadow king remained and Tyler no longer had the luxury of messing around. In the next moment, he appeared behind Zerahut before he could even make his next move.
In one fluid motion¡ª while using his gyro-telekinesis to temporarily restored perfect control over his corrupted arms motor functions¡ªhis right arm moved like lightning, tearing through any resistance provided by the solidified shadows around the undead king as it pierced straight into his chest from behind.
In the next moment, both his core and the orb of death had been snatched out of his chest before Zerahut had even realized what had happened.
"Pardon me, but I''ll be taking this now."
Tyler said coldly as he watch the shadows that had wrapped themselves around the undead king fade away as though they had never been there. The skies returned to normal and even the seas finally regained their calm.
[I-Im-Impossible! How can you, how, how can you have so much mana even against him.]
Tyler silently watched the undead Lich struggle to speak as the mes dancing in his eyes slowly flickered away. Its bony body rapidly began to age as the skin on his bones decayed rapidly before even his bones began to turn to ash and were gently blown away by the wind.
Swept away by the gentle breeze, only a single figure was left hovering above the scarlet seas at the break of dawn.
''That took way more effort than I had expected. Goes to show, you can never underestimate anyone. I won''t be doing that again.''
Tyler thought as his consciousness slowly began to wane but the stinging pain from the rapidly expanding negative corruption all across his body kept him awake.
He had barely any energy left as he had only remained the minimum amount left for one finally teleportation in case his n had failed. He had a way to recover his mana but he didn''t think Zerahut would''ve allowed him to do so at the time.
"At least I can finally get rid of this negative corruption bullshit now can''t I?"
Tyler spoke softly as though whispering to the wind but his thoughts had gotten to their intended target without even needing to voice them out.
[Correct. Master had sessfully acquired the core of an Eldar Lich that has been fused with a cursed item. Master will now be able to transfer the negative energy rooted within you into the core. Due to the remnant effect of the orb of death, all necromancy spells and abilities will receive a 20 percent boost.]
"I see... Wait did you just say cursed item? What the heck is that."
Having almost glossed over what had been said to him, Tyler quickly returned his attention to it as he finally observe the item in his hands.
It was a red orb that seemed as though it was made of ss but was oddly soft with red energy swirling around it. However, inthe center was a roughly rounded faintly glowing purple orb the size of an adult fist.
That was the item Tyler had seen Zerahut shove in his core to attain the powers of the shadow king but Tyler had assumed that it was a God Tier Magic artifact and had no idea it was a cursed item. He wasn''t even sure if Zerahut knew that himself.
The only problem was, he had no idea what the hell a cursed item was but it sounded dangerous, and thest thing he wanted to gain was arger problem just because he wanted to get rid of one.
[A cursed item is a Magic artifact created by an Ancient evil god or celestial as a method of spreading their influence or chaos as well as bestowing their powers upon their servants to create a possible vessel for the descent. They are powerful items at the same level as God Tier artifacts but had various drawbacks.]
''Evil gods Huh? Wait doesn''t that mean this was all a waste. With the cursed orb fused with the core, how the hell am I supposed to use the item on myself?''
[There''s no issues with that. Master had already eradicated the will and power of the shadow king residing in the orb. This had also weakened the abilities of the orb but that is of no use to master.]
''Oh, I see... well, as long as you''re sure. So, how do I use it then?''
[Unless used as the main ingredient of a new Magic item, the core of the Eldar Lich can only work passively and the master is only required to keep it on you at all times until it haspletely absorbed all the negative energy from you.]
''Oh, so it can be turned into an item Huh. That''s a relief, at the very least I don''t have to carry around this thing forever.''
Tyler was relieved as the core was really eye-catching and just holding it was a bit embarrassing. It also didn''t have any effect on him if stored in his storage space so he had to physically keep it close to him until it was fixed.
While holding the orb, he hadn''t felt anything different or special happening to him but if he focused a bit, he could clearly feel the pain slowly alleviating him but it seems like a really slow process.
Well, whatever, as long as the item was working as it was meant to, it was surely worth the wait. At the very least if he turned it into an item, he would no longer be corrupted when creating undead as it would be a lot faster for the item to absorb the negative energy rather than a deeply rooted corruption.
As the pain subsided, Tyler finally felt the full side effects of rapidly burning through almost all his mana in one go as a wave of drowsiness suddenly hit him and his stomach began to growl.
''I guess I shouldn''t pass out in the middle of the sea now should I?''
Making a not so funny joke to himself, Tyler used his remaining energy and teleported back to his chambers. Z was already aware of what to do after his battle and Albert and him should be able to handle things while he''s out ofmission.
With perfect uracy, Tyler appeared right above his bed and dropped like a log into the incredibly soft mattress as he sank into his consciousness in a deep sleep while slowly regaining his mana with his mana reserves skyrocketing yet again.
Of course, his body was also going through the same process as his innate ability constantly broke his cells down and rebuilt them even stronger.
??????????????
???????????????
¡ªSomewhere in the Darknar Region.
Hidden amongst the rocks in the rocky ins a distance south of the demon king''s castle was a group of around 50 rogue-type scouts as they began the set up of their temporary campamid the snow.
They had already sent out a few advance scouts to confirm the situation around the castle as they prepare the set up their surveince system on the demon king''s castle.
Their job was to monitor the ins and out of the castle''s residence while keeping an eye out for any opportunity to gain any information on how to ess the castle, including the capture and interrogation of anyone deemed to possess useful information concerning the barrier.
However, as they had only arrived at a suitable distance away from the castle to perform their mission without being noticed, they had yet to set up any surveince which was why they had to send in the advance scout to get a feel on the progress of the war.
The information they received from their family show that the castle''s residents only possessed a very limited force which would greatly limits their battle potential. Meaning this war was most likely to be a long-drawn-out series of battles that couldst from days maybe even weeks.
It was their job to find an opportunity during that time to take advantage of the enemy''s vulnerabilities and strike after figuring out the method they had used in by passing the Magic barrier around the castle.
Their current temporary site did not contain any light source as they were currently in enemy territory and couldn''t afford to be spotted.
Although they had a Magic artifact that prevented their location from being divined and had various camouge and stealth scrolls, as professionals, it was their policy to always be extra cautious during a mission.
Besides, every single one of their members had Darkvision and could see clearly in the dark. They also had a temperature augmentation scroll to keep themselves warm in ce of a fire and each of them could easily go weeks operating wlessly without food.
p However, they were still required to rest their mortal bodies and had to create a temporary campsite for this purpose.
The leader of this group was a fairdy d in all ck with grey eyes and long grey hair tied in a high ponytail. She had two curbed daggers strapped to her waist and a two handed crossbow strapped to her back:
She stood at the center of the camp as she gave orders in preparation to start their mission. Unknowing to them that it was already far toote as the war was already over.
"Who goes there!."
Sensing two presence casually approaching their camp, Velon the leader of the group turned her head as her first guess was that the two advance scouts she had sent out had finally returned but that mistaken thought was rudely corrected as those figures casually tossed something towards her feet as though they were tossing garage.
Her eyes instinctively traced the arc of the items that was tossed her way as the moment her eyes focused on them, her light breakfast almost ran out the wrong way and her stomach turned.
"What the fuck is this!"
Although she asked that question, she didn''t expect an answer to that question as she jnew quite well what they were.
They were the heads of her two scouts with their skins having been peeled off and worn back on their heads, inside out. It was the mostunnecessarily twisted thing that even the Great Five merciless torturers wouldn''t think of.
"Well hello, fancy meeting you here. I''ve been given the task of showing my lovely underline here the ropes, would you lot mind helping him out. I would hate to have to punish his ignorance again."
Cold sweat seems to run across the body of the handsome man that walked behind a beautifuldy with pale red skin and a pair of twisted curved horns that protruded from her head.
"D-devils!"
Chapter 284 C284. The Post War Clean Up
As she watched the two heads rolling on the ground, Velon was unable to speak as her mind had suddenly gone nk at the appearance of what were clearly two insanely high-leveled devils the likes of which she could notprehend.
As the most skilled scout in her group, her perception skills were quite a bit higher than her Conrads hence why it had taken her men a moment longer before they could even sense the presence of these two terrifying beings which just goes to emphasize how fucked they were.
Even if they had a hundred times the number of men they do now, they would still not get close to defeating even one of those devils much less the both of them at the same time.
This situation was way off the course of their expectations as not even their team which was known for their wide array of expertise when it came to dealing with an unexpected situation in dangerous missions like these could ever hope to handle this.
As she was only at the advanced stages of the 4th tier, neither she nor her men could even sense the auras of the devils much less hope to follow their movements.
However, they were all specially trained scouts for one of the Five Great Families that held dominion over this continent, and thus, each of them had been around actual demigods and had even been brutally trained by them on asions.
So even when faced with the constraints of their mortal flesh that prevented them fromprehending the auras of the divine, with the training they''ve endured from those demigods, every single one of them could acutely sense the threat of death looming over them and could clearly feel how dangerous these devils were just by their overwhelming presence.
"Well hello, fancy meeting you here. I''ve been given the task of showing my lovely underling here the ropes, would you lot mind helping him out. I would hate to have to punish his ignorance again."
The female Devil that walked casually ahead of the pair spoke slyly as her soft-spoken words seems to cause cold sweat to run through the backs of everyone there, including the pale-looking yet handsome male Devil beside her.
He seemed to hesitate a bit before sensing the gaze of the female Devilnd on him before he hurriedly stepped forward. Even in his current state that made him appear pathetic to all onlookers, their levels were just too far apart as even with a casual step from him, his figure suddenly appeared imposing as he seems to have grown massively with his shadow looming over them.
"Retreat!"
Naturally, Velon wasn''t foolish enough to believe they could somehow fight against such monsters as even getting away from them normally was impossible.
They could all clearly sense the danger thaty ahead if they were to foolishly forge ahead simply because they practically outnumbered the devils 24 to 1.
"Escape formation Bata!"
Following her loud order for her men to retreat, Velon hurriedly issued a follow-up order that could increase her chances of escape before the devils would realize what she was aiming for.
At this point, even the least bright amongst her men were keenly aware that the only option left to them right now was to sacrifice a few of their men in hopes of buying enough time for the orders to use their escape tools which only require a few seconds to activate.
However, a few seconds was like hours in the presence of demigods.
At the very least, she needed to ensure her survival as everyone here besides her could be easily reced no matter how much of a setback that course of action was to the family.
As highly trained rogues, her team all snapped out of their stupor and broke free from their fear-stricken state in the presence of these devils as they all moved like clockwork, with not a single one of them missing a beat.
They had immediately begun their escape as a few of them began the chants of their spells while the rest of them took off running in all directions, trying to spread out the attention of the devils.
Their strange tactics seem to have worked as the male Devil seemed a little confused by their logic as the powerful spells of various types shot towards him like a raging storm.
Seeing her chance, Velon began her escape as she brought out a scroll from a spatial storage box and quickly activated it.
?Dimensional Move?
This was not an ordinary teleportation scroll but rather a spiritual teleportation scroll that allows movements between vast locations in space by shifting the spiritual ne at the right coordinates while using the spiritual reality as a conduit.
Unlike regr teleportation, this ability could not be sealed by any sort of spatial lock or Magic seal/barrier be it spell or skill.
This was the reason why they had chosen this scroll as their escape tool and with the quick reaction of her men who were all prepared to die, the chances of her escape should''ve increased significantly.
However¡ª
None of their tactics had even concerned Azalea as he had no interest in them personally and even the master Lord Moloc served didn''t need any of them alive and only required their corpses intact so there was no need for him to hold back.
He had only been amused by the fact that these ants had chosen to escape in the same method as actual insects which was why he hadn''t made his move instantly.
This had been his only semnce offort over the past few hours that felt like centuries to him so the thought of going easy on these scouts had been fleeting as the memories of what had been done to him by the person currently watching his every move from behind had quickly changed his mind and he just decided not to hold anything backand went all out with the slight hope of destroying all his problems along with these pests.
?ne of Lies?
Using one of his most powerfulskills from the get-go, Azalea did not stop there as he immediately made an absolute decree.
[Divine Law: As of this moment, the state of life in this ne is false! Whatever exists shall seize to exist and whatever did not shall be true. Resistance is futile.]
It was a fact that Azalea had absolute dominion over his realm so naturally, he could create and enforce anyw as long as they aligned with the fundamental element of this realm which was centered around enforcing lies.
The only ones who could resist thisw were obviously only those stronger or equal to him and not even God Tier artifacts would be able to save or protect anyone weaker than him.
Frankly speaking, a part of him had hoped he would''ve grown strong enough to surpass Moloc over the past decades since hest saw her so he may have been secretly hoping this ability would also kill her but reality seems to really hate him as she had easily resisted the effects of hisws and as a higher ranking being of the same race, there was a chance she could even overwhelm his ims over this realm which made using it against herpletely pointless.
The moment Azaleahad voiced out his decree, an invisible force swept over the entire realm as it enforced hisw, and immediately, the state of alive and dead was swapped, and all who could not resist dropped to the ground like puppets whose strings had been cut.
"Oh... impressive, you manage to take care of all of them in an instant, as expected of Moloc''s darling pupil. You''ve surely grown a lot, haven''t you? That pleases me greatly. However, was it just me or did it feel like you were also trying to kill me with that attack weren''t you?"
Azalea''s expression darken as a cold thrill ran down his spine and his mind began to race as he began to panic. He had tried desperately to hide his true intentions but apparently, it had beenpletely read by Moloc.
[Err... no that''s... that''s not the case, I swear! I didn''t...]
"There''s no need to fret, killing each other is a devil''s natural instinct so it''s only natural. If anything, it would be weird if you didn''t have even a hint of such thoughts towards Moloc even though I''m currently so adorably cute that anyone thatys their eyes on Moloc should naturally be in love with Moloc, I mean look at these."
Moloc shrugged off Azalea''s worries as sheter puffed her cheeks and leaned in to emphasize the cleavage of herrge breasts in a seductive yet adorable pose that would most likely drive any man whoid eyes on her insane.
However, Azalea did not have such a reaction as it felt as though his soul had just escaped from his body as it seems Moloc''s current appearance was even more unnerving to him whenever his brain instinctivelypare her current image to his original image of the four-armed Devil Lord he knew back in the underworld.
"Tsk... What a boorish reaction. I''ll have to punish you for that."
Moloc clicked her tongue after not getting the reaction she wanted from him and decided to take it out on himter on.
[Wait that''s not what I¡ª]
Hearing the words that came out of Moloc''s mouth, Azalea almost passed out as he tried to exin himself but was interrupted by the disinterested Chaos Lord.
"Forget it, why don''t you just gather up the bodiesand send them back. We still have two more of these tasks toplete after all. It would be bad if they sense what''s going on and scurry away. Well, bad for you anyway fufufufu..."
Moloc spoke as she casually waved her hand and the world of lies immediately copsed before Azalea''s stunned gaze. While thew of death and life had shattered along with that realm, it did not change the fate of the forty-plus bodies on the ground.
Moloc had offered to use these hidden scouts as a method to train Azalea in following orders so he could quickly get used to serving under lord Ty which was a good enough reason for Z to grant her permission as it was his duty, to begin with, but he felt the issue would be resolved faster if Moloc was in charge of it.
Although he had felt that the Devil barging into his meeting¡ª with the others who could he considered Lord Ty''s Generals¡ª was rude. He had decided to excuse the issue giving as she had only interrupted to volunteer herself to handle their issue.
His n was for them to take out all three camp sides of the scouts at once so there are no information leaks but this was also fine as they get to properly observe the scouts in secret which may provide them valuable information they had yet to even consider.
Although, the fact that only a single devil would be doing the fighting was a bit concerning given as the Devil hadn''t yet sworn himself to Lord Ty and could not be considered a trustworthyrade.
However,with Moloc supervising Azalea and his secret supervision, there was only no chance of any of these scouts escaping but also no chance of Azalea''s betrayal without immediately losing his life.
Returning to the current situation, Moloc patiently waited for Azalea to retrieve the bodies of the scout and send them back via Emrys''s portal gate before they leisurely made their way to their next destination.
In a simr manner, two other temporary camps of around 50 rogue-type scouts werepletely decimated in an instant as the long night finally came to an end.
The undead war that was expected tost several days or even weeks due to the interference of the Great Five had ended abruptly in a single night with theplete annihtion of the army along with every single demigod that had made an appearance with the exception of those that had been taken alive as war prisoners.
Chapter 285 C285. Company
¡ªIn the demon king''s castle.
The Demon King''s Chambers.
The temperature in the castle was constantly being regted by the Magic runes that could be found engraved on the walls of every room in the castle.
This was the same even for the demon king''s private chambers so even when the windows were opened, the incredibly cold wind of winter would instantly be regted to a gentle breeze that, constantly maintaining the temperature at the optimum level forfort.
However, even faced with such, the figure on therge bed in the room didn''t seem toofortable as his closed eyes twitched in difort as he seemed to be struggling to wake up.
As his consciousness slowly returned to him, a wave of difort steady washed over his vast as Tyler felt his stomach rumble gently as a string of sensations jolted his brain from his entire body.
His heart beat steadily as the severe and constant pain he had always felt from his body due to negative corruption seems to have lessened tremendously.
His closed eyelids reflected a dark red glow that converged the brightness of the room he was in, signifying that he had most likely overslept and it was already past mid day.
Although it seems the negative corruption that gued him had already lessened by a lot, he still felt a faint ache in his body that would normally not be possible due to his high pain resistance. Meaning the corruption had yet to bepletely rooted out of his body.
''Hmm... why do I also feel so heavy?''
Feeling the natural urge to observe his current physical state, Tyler tried to open his eyes to observe his situation but his initial attempt had failed as his eyelids felt strangely heavy and now that he thought about it, so did his arms and body as he could not easily move them.
''How strange...''
Wondering if this was a side effect from his exhausted state or an effect from the strange core of the Eldar Lich, Tyler took a deep breath as he calmly recovered his strength and managed to open his eyes.
Although it took him a second for his eyes to adjust to the light, his pupils soon reflected the gorgeous ceiling of his personal chambers that appeared to have been adorned by gold and even advanced ss Magic runes.
''Huh, to think I''ve never noticed this before, how unobservant of me. Quite a far-cry from when I first awoke in that cave isn''t it.''
Tyler lightly criticized himself before his mind shed back to the first time he arrived in this world as his eyes admired the beautiful decor of the demon king''s chambers.
He seems to havee a long way from those times as he was beginning to make a habit of waking up in dark caves. Then again, it had only happened twice so perhaps he was just making a big deal out of nothing.
Tyler found it odd that he was suddenly reminiscing about his odd past as his eyes took in the exquisite view of his ceiling.
''Wait! Why exactly wasn''t I able to see earlier until I opened my eyes. That''s strange.''
Now that he thought about it, he actually didn''t need his sight to see but it seems most of his passive skills including Magic Sense was currently inactive or maybe they had just been turned off. But why?
[Answer: Master''s active and passive skills including most resistances were deactivated to aid Master''s recovery from the effects of the Negative corruption rooted almost at the crux of your immortal soul.]
As usual, Tyler didn''t have to wonder about the issue for long as he quickly received an eptable answer from the soothing voice of Uriel that no longer sounded as monotone as the first time he head it.
She was an artificial intelligence but as part of his soul, her existence would naturally share in his innate ability, as she was now like him and would constantly grow without limits.
''Is that so?''
Tyler asked rhetorically as he didn''t dwell on the idea for long since he had naturally deemed it unnecessary. He was already used to her doing extra stuff like that but for the most part she was always just looking out for him.
Although sometimes he thinks she may be developing some sadistic tendencies as he felt she was always too quick to resort to painful solutions just to be thorough.
*Pheeeew...
With a deep sigh, he subconsciously tried to avoid that train of thought as he attempted to get out of bed because he was feeling a bit hungry and had a weird craving for sweets even though his body no longer required food to survive and he no longer even need to breathe.
However, Tyler''s subconscious movements had failed as the earlier feeling of heaviness on his arms had weighed him down again, drawing his attention back to his body.
With his slight movements, he could clearly feel two masses of something soft weighing both of his arms down as a steady and gentle beat perfectly synchronized with his heartbeat.
Lowering his gaze to see what was weighing him down, Tyler''s eyes widened slightly as his gaze fell on an incredible scene that was sure to stop the hearts of many, be it male or female.
The slender figures of two god-tier beautiesid beside him in their natural bathing suit as they gently rested their sleeping heads on his chest.
Although half their bodies were tucked underneath the covers of his bed, from his angle and with his currently almost perfect vision, he could more than enough to make his heart race a bit.
They had also gotten his arms around them and with the slightest movements, his fingers sank deeper into their amble bosoms and a faint moan would asionally escape their defective lips.
''Huh, so why I''m I also naked.''
Tyler thought as he silently stared at the two beauties sharing a bed with him even though his fingers seem to now have a mind of their own.
Of course, he knew he was focusing on the wrong thing but Tyler just couldn''t help but let his mind wander further from the situation as the thought of why he was practically naked gued him even though he was currently only wearing some briefs.
Still, he remembered, he had been wearing aplete outfit when he copse on his bedst night so how the hell did this happen to him, especially without him sensing anything.
''Was I really that exhausted? More importantly, did we do something and I missed it? That''s more tragic than almost be an undead. How the fuck did I not sense anything?''
p [Again, Master''s passive skills and resistances had been restricted in order to aid Master''s recovery. Sigh... Master''s consciousness was also detached for the same reason.]
''Oh right.''
Tyler felt as though he had heard Uriel sigh in annoyance or something but that couldn''t be true right?
He wasn''t exactly in the perfect state of mind right now to remember everything that was told to him even if it was only a few minutes ago.
''Wait Uriel, you weren''t by chance using my body when I was out to do something with the girls were you? Caused that''s messed up.''
[Sigh... I do not possess the ability to take control of Master''s body without your consent. However, Master is yet to live up to the reputation of demon king. ording to past records, all demon king possess at least a hundred wives and a few thousands concubines. By that standards, masters is firmly inst ce amongst a demon kings but don''t worry, I will be with master for all eternity even if you''rest.]
''A few thousand what? What tge hell is wrong with these people. Wait... dud you just diss me? And thenfort me?''
There was no response from Uriel but Tyler did not pursue the matter any longer as whatever the previous demon king did with women was of no concern to him as he was still a lot human at heart and considered himself a gentle man.
While he had gone out with a few girls back on earth and even gotten one to be his girlfriend, he was always workingte and practically alway too busy to spend much time with them so he was technically still a virgin which was quite a sad thing for aomeone of his current statue as stated by Uriel.
Of course he had attempted to relief his stress and frustrations when he had reincarnated in the human continent by going to brothels but with his almost none existent strength at the time, he could barely afford to stay alive much less buy a single drink there or afford the girls.
He was also strongly agaist being in dept so taking loans or borrowing money for stuff like that was out of the question.
His life on the human continent was truly hellish as he didn''t remember having any fun living there as he spent most of his time training or going in dangerous missions with his party who only valued him for his innate ability and not himself. Although they were all still quiet friendly to him.
Waking up in the demon continent also didn''t help much as the thought of being the only human amongst demons had almostpletely gotten rid of his libido.
However, he was no longer human and had gotten quiet close to everyone here so being this close to two insane gorgeous naked girls was not something he could easily resist nor did he need to.
The girls had an alluring fragrance that seems to captivate him as he stared at their beautiful sleeping faces.
Part of him still wondered how they had gotten into his room as he clearly remembered that his doors had been locked when he left yet it seems to have mysteriously opened up again. It was as though the room had a mind of his own as the library''s doors were hidden yet again.
'' Perhaps this was also Uriel''s n to begin with. Still quiet I see...''
Tyler thought as he failed to receive a response from Uriel who may or may not be deriving pleasure form making him ufortable. His mind was slowly drifting into various thoughts when it was suddenly dragged back by something.
"Urg... Ummm... what''s going on..."
Hearing a familiar soft and groggy voice from beside him and feeling the movements in his arms, Tyler instinctively shifted his gaze and his eyes met with hers.
"DARLING!!!... You''re finally awake!"
Her eyes had grown wide as she locked gaze with him and a burst of excitement washed over her face as her seemingly groggy demeanor disappearedpletely and a delighted smile blossomed on her absurdly beautiful face.
Without holding herself back even in his current state, Rain excitedly jump forward and embraced Tyler as rightly as she possibly could. Her loud voice naturally woke Liz up aswell as who was alsoying beside Tyler
Her eyes seems to water as a softer expression than thaf of Rain''s blossomed in her lovely face even though she was just as excited to see him awake as Rain was.
"Lord Ty, you''ve finally woken up. How are you feeling today? Is there any inconvenience in your body? Please let us know so we may help in any way we can."
Liz seemed to be more concerned about his health than happy as she moved her face closer to his and and bombarded him with questions in an anxious tone.
"Huh? Right... I feel fine."
Chapter 286 C286. Negative Conduit
Suddenly faced with the luscious figures of two world-ss beautiesying beside him, Tyler found himself a little short on words as he was still processing the amazing scene before him. It was like something straight out of a male''s fantasy which made him feel as though he was still sleeping and was having a wet dream.
Living in the same castle as so many beauties, this was something that was bound to happen and might even be considered healthy. However, his theory waspletely shattered by Liz''s soft yet worried voice as he supple fingers ran ross his body.
Tyler suddenly snapped awake from his dazed state as he instinctively mumbled a reply to her question without putting any thought into it.
"Huh? Right... I feel fine. There''s no need to worry."
His words seems to have an immediate effect as her expression softened and a gentle smile blossomed on her perfect face as she slowly rested her head back on his chest with a relieved expression.
With Rain still holding him tightly not willing to pull away from him, Tyler struggled to maintain a straight face but the slight numbness he still felt in his body helped him control his natural reactions.
His insane body control also allowed him to maintain a steady heartbeat as he silently observe the situation. However¡ª
Before Tyler''s mind could wander further, he suddenly felt something move underneath the covers of his bed as his gaze sharpened and tohis surprise, the two girls were not the only ones on his bed as the duvet that covered the lower parts of their bodies slowly warped as it budged up and a slender figure arose from underneath it.
''What... the hell was she doing there!?''
The person Tyler was looking at was the third world-ss beauty to have grazed his eyes in this world, she had long lustrous, and silky blue hair that ran all the way down to the lower parts of her waist.
Her deep blue eyes were like the boundless sea,bined with her soft facial features and luscious curves, she was a beauty that wouldn''t fail to turn the heads of all men with her matured allure that was quite different from both Liz and Rain.
Although she was currently dressed in onlyced nightwear that failed miserably to hide much, she at the very least wasn''t naked and the faint pure glow her body emitted showed that she was in the midst of using her abilities.
Tyler was yet again at a loss for words, not just because of what Erin was wearing or why she was there but also why he had failed to sense or feel her presence earlier, even without his Magic sense.
He hadn''t even felt her body rubbed up against his which was a bit puzzling as thest he looked there was no one there so where the hell did shee from.
"I no longer sense any corruption within you, Lord Ty. I''m d, it seems you''ve finally returned to normal. I''m also sorry I wasn''t much help in treating you."
Although Erin looked a bit annoyed to be woken up so abruptly as she didn''t seem as shy as she normally was around him, she also seemed quite relieved for some reason as her eyes also began to water as she spoke in a soft and reserved tone.
Her conflicting expression and wordspletely snapped Tyler out of his embarrassing thoughtsas he realized something was a bit off about how these girls were behaving just from him passing out for a few hours.
''Hey Uriel, exactly how long have I been asleep?''
Sensing that something was off. Tyler turned to the only one capable of answering his questions without judgement or at least she was.
[The original estimated time for Master''splete recovery from the previous dangerous levels of negative corruption was 37 days, 7 hours, 39 minutes, and 26 seconds.]
The moment he heard those monotonous words in his mind, Tyler''s headpletely went nk as he struggled to process the information he had just received.
''I''m sorry WHAT! I''ve been out for more than a month!? Are you kidding me!?''
At this point, perhaps passing out for months at a time shouldn''t be so shocking and unnerving to him but still, he had already lost over a thousand years of his life which he was hoping to view as a good thing but that doesn''t mean he wanted to experience it again so soon.
[Negative. That was only the original calctions without factoring in any outside interference as that would lead to an infinite possibility even from the most likely future predictions. However, due to the assistance of Erin, Liz, and Rain, the original estimate had been shortened significantly and Master''s recovery had only taken, 6 days, 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 7 seconds.]
''Huh? So just 7 days?''
[Approximately, yes.]
''Then why the hell didn''t you start with that!? What, are you trying to give me a heart attack.''
[...Sigh... That''s impossible. Master''s heart has no factor towards your health. As long as your soul is intact your body can always be recreated or regenerated. So all organs are unnecessary and only serves as afort to Master''s human psyche.]
Sounding as though she had rolled her non existent eyes at him, Uriel casually exined the state of Tyler''s body to him in the same way an adult would to a child.
''That is not a natural thing to say to your master.''
[...]
''Never mind. I was still out for almost a week when I thought it would only be a few hours. What hell happened?''
Sensing as though Uriel had given up on him, Tyler decided not to dwell on the situation else his feelings get hurt as he proceeded to find out more about his situation.
Apparently, his case of negative corruption was enough to kill even a celestial and even corrupt the soul. The only reason why he was still alive was that his soul was immortal and could not be destroyed which was why he would eventually be turned undead instead.
The fight with the undead king and the shadow king had taken a lot out of him as well but he still hadn''t expected to be out for days much less a full month if Erin hadn''t helped out with her skill.
The truth of the matter was the fused core of the undead king and the orb of death could not drain the negative energy out of him fast enough as it was deeply rooted which made the girls¡ª who hade over to check up on him¡ª fear for his life and panic after seeing him in such a vulnerable state.
As it turns out, Uriel was the one who had unlocked his doors for them as she had foresaw the future and takenthe best course of action to quickly save his life.
Frankly speaking, in such a state where most of his defenses were down, he could''ve been easily assassinated by even a mortal being and although that would not actually kill him, it would cause his soul to take another thousand years or even longer to recover.
Knowing this, the girls couldn''t afford to leave his side even though they were practically in the safest ce in the world and protected by a practically imprable 5yer barrier.
That waswhy they had decided to help his recovery by taking in some of the corruption into their very own bodies while having Erin purify them constantly before the corruption could take root within them and be impossible to purify just as it was with Tyler.
This was incredibly risky as they could end up in the same state as him if care wasn''t taken. It also exined why he hadn''t felt Erin''s body on him because she had been in a semi-liquid or spiritual state to maintain constant purification on the two girls as well as him for practically a full week.
That meant, they most likely hadn''t left his side since the first day he passed out. It also exined why they were naked and he was only wearing briefs but he truly hadn''t expected them to go this far for him.
"Huh... Umm... L-Lord Ty, you must be numb from lying in the same spot for so long, I''ll prepare a purifying bath for you. It should help your muscles rx."
Of course, it didn''t take too long for Erin to fully awaken and seeing herself sitting on top of a half-naked Tyler, her face instantly turned bright red as she immediately found a reason to run away.
Before Tyler could even answer her, she had already jumped off the bed and Tyler could almost swear that he had heard a boing sound as she ran into his bath in embarrassment.
''Finally someone with a decent reaction. At least I''m not the only one slightly embarrassed.''
Tyler sighed tiredly as raised his upper body to sit upright on his bed which caused Rain and Liz to finally let go of him as he observed his body which was already returning to normal.
"Umm, darling what''s wrong?"
Although Rain had released her tight grip on him, she had somehow still ended up sitting on hisp while Liz knelt on the bed behind him as they both currently stared at him with interest.
"It''s nothing, I was just looking for¡ª"
Taking a look around, he finally spotted the item of his intrigue, the core of the undead king that had been fused with a curse Magic item and ced next to his head as a cloud of impurities swirled around the orb within the core of the Eldar Lich.
"How fascinating."
Tyler muttered as he studied the item, his eyes noticing the continuous absorption of negative energy from him even now.
"Oh right, you were looking for that. Erin appraisal results show that it was an abnormal core. As its not a beast core or Magic Crystal but had elements of a cursed item. I''ve read about cursed item before but this is the first time I''m seeing one myself."
Noticing his line of sight, Liz understood what he had been looking for and spoke first as she wrapped her arms around him from behind, not wanting to let him escape.
"Yeah, I hadn''t seen one either. We did think it was the reason you weren''t waking up but Erin said it was actually helping so we kept it close to you."
"I see... She must''ve pushed herself for me, at the very least I should thank her properly then."
Hearing Rain''s words, Tyler could tell that Erin was going the extra mile to help him out whenever she could. Perhaps it was her way of repaying him back for reviving her source even when the things she had needed to do was something that took her out of herfort zone.
"I''m sure there''s no need for that. Just like us she is just happy to be of use to you my Lord. Still, hearing those words from you might just be what she need to stabilize her emotions, it''s been quite difficult for her since she lost her connection with Albert and she has retreated into herself even more, probably unsure on how to proceed."
Liz spoke softly into Tyler''s ears as she leaned forward into him with a somewhat somber expression, firmly pressing her chest agaist his back. Causing rain to puff a cheeks a little but chose to stay quiet given the current situation.
"So that''s it."
Chapter 287 C287. Introverted Nymph
Erin was a spiritual entity whose only human-like quality was her human-like strong emotions which was why she had grown attached to Albert even though their marriage had only been a formality to keep them close to each other as he was serving as a recement for her source.
However, she always felt in the back of her mind that their rtionship was not meant tost as she could never fully aplish a wife''s duties topletely take care of and satisfy her husband due to her nature as a water nymph.
After all, even though she seemed to have a seductive physical body that could be touched, she couldn''t engage in any sorts of explicit activities with her supposed husband as her race could not mate with mortals as they did not reproduce in the same way or at all.
Nymphs such as her were born from the abundance of nature''s essence in a special location and general wouldn''t stray too far from their source so they tend to live alone until they slowly disappear with the change of nature.
Of course, they could feel all sorts of emotions the same as mortal beings and could even fall in love but that love was almost always destined to end in tragedy as unlike lesser nymphs like dryads and the rest who could attain a physical body by sacrificing their spiritual energy, her kind could not unless they received a God''s blessing.
Albert at the time, had been a demon lord and hence, was entitled to have multiple wives and countless concubines to bear him an heir but that had never been one of his priorities as he was very duty oriented and was solely focused on his duties towards his people.
Naturally, he had been mortal during those days and as a young and handsome demon noble with a beautiful wife he couldn''t touch, not because he wasn''t tempted by her physical appearance but sinply because he had sworn to protect her and it wasn''t in his nature to break a vow.
Still, he was a male demon, a race known for their strong sexual urges so naturally, he would asionally reach his limit thus he asionally had to relieve some stress with thedies his family''s elders had prepared for him but Erin didn''t really have a problem with that.
Of course, Erin cared for Albert deeply but she also understood that she was unable to fully take care of him as a partner and didn''t mind him taking on a real wife and multiple concubines as he was already risking a lot just by sharing his life force with her.
Her presence there was also a problem as the ones that had originally destroyed her source would eventual find her, putting everyone around her in danger. However, Albert had refused to let her be and insisted on protecting her.
He was the only one that had ever reached out to her and the only one that she could stand to be around without being shy or anxious.
Which was why the only thing she truly cherished by being his wife and bound to him was their emotional connection that allowed him to fully understand her without her needing to have nerve racking conversations with the people around her as Albert was always there for her.
She was the reserved type that could be considered an introvert with slight social anxiety, so she had a lot of trouble expressing herself and even understanding her own emotions which Albert had always helped her with and she hade to solely rely on him even while that may not have been truly healthy.
However, after been saved by Tyler, she had regained her true source which had made her more powerful but in the end, she had lost something incredibly valuable in return. It was her connection with Albert.
With her emotional connection with him gone, she once again found it difficult to express herself even to him who understood her the most.
With her rtionship with the girls and the people in the castle blossoming rapidly, she had developed a whole spiral of emotions she could not handle and was finding it difficult to understand without Albert''s help.
However, after seeing everyone here getting along fine and even attempting more and more tomunicate and understand her, she had found it difficult to ask for help and had tried harder to handle it herself which may have made things worse even though she was trying her best to fit in.
Albert on the other hand had yet again thrown himself into his duties, this time pouring his heart into serving Tyler as his butler in order to aplish what they believed to be his ultimate goal.
Even so, Abert was still the type of person to go to any lengths to help those he cared for and would do the same even now but giving as he had already sacrificed so much for her, she tried her best not to always rely on him and part of her was even d he no longer had to constantly worry about her.
However, losing her connection with the first mortal to ever risk everything to save her made her a little lonely and she was unable to handle the newfound feelings she had for everyone else especially the feeling she felt for the one who had save them both.
??????????
''An introvert huh... who does that remind me off anyway?''
Tyler could vaguely understand the conflicted feelings swirling around inside of Erin as she struggled to handle her overflowing emotions after being suddenly surrounded by people who cared deeply about her after being isted for so long.
With the surge of jumbled up emotions swelling inside her, she was probably unable to tell the difference between love and affection.
As someone who tends to maintain a distance even from the closest people around her, she must''ve had a fear of attachment or even falling in love with people as they would ended up growing old and dying before her eyes.
With herck of a physical body, she was also unable to be intimate with them even for a short while. Naturally, this did not help with her anxiety or improve her social skills.
''Would having a physical body help at all?''
Tyler contemted the idea for a while before giving up on it. Even if he could help her gain a real physical body, it will not stop her from being introverted and that was notpletely a bad thing.
All she needed was to organize and understand her own emotions, allowing her grow mentally. In the end, all she needed was time and the help of those closest to her, and as an immortal goddess with a stable source, time was the one thing she had in abundance.
"Umm... did you figure something out Darling? Wait! Never mind that, we didn''t do anything for six daysying together, why don''t we go back to bed and..."
"Heyyyy!"
Tyler smiled at Rain''s tempting voice and Liz surprise as he picked her up as he stood up from the bed, holding her in a princess carry and gentlyid her on the bed. At first, she had been a bit flustered as she was expecting something but Tyler simply chuckled and walked away.
"Erin''s right, my body is still a little numb so I''ll go have that purifying bath now. You both have done enough so why don''t you rest for a bit."
Tyler casually waved the beauties away as he walked into therge bathroom in his chambers while his mind wandered about.
''It''s good I''m finally rid of that pestering curse like corruption but even after so long I''m still not 100%. Besides, I''ll still need to make an item out of the fused core and cursed item so I never experience a repeat of this again. Who knows if I''ll survive it the next time around. Although I must''ve developed a ridiculously high resistance to negative energy by now, it''s still better to be safe than sorry.''
??????????
?Knock *knock *knock!
"Hmm... You may enter!"
As Tyler approached the door to his indoor bath, a knock came in from the door to his room as he sensed who it was and ordered them in.
Entering his room was a pink haired bunny girl in a short maid''s outfit while wearing a pair of greyish red greaves and vambraces that made her seem suitable forbat even though she still looked adorably cute.
"Greeting Master, I''m d you''ve awakened."
Tyler tilted his head slightly as he stared at his maid''s updated outfit while she genuflected before him as her face instantly flushed red upon seeing him but she was able to remain calm without appearing nervous.
''Should I have worn something before letting her in? Well it''s typically her job to dress me isn''t it?''
Tyler thought for a moment before replying her.
"Thanks for your hard work. I see you''ve gotten some new equipment."
"Yes Master, with the return of chief Azar and the trolls, Mr. Ragdek was able to create various items and equipment for us with the materials they brought back."
Along with her, there were about a dozen maids that had reached the Tier 3 standards thanks to his innate ability. They had all be highly equipped and trained by Albert to sole serve him as well as the only ones allowed in certain areas of the castle including the throne room and his chambers.
"Ragdek Huh... so even Azar is back."
As Uriel was able to maintain control over the barrier surrounding the castle even when he''s unconscious, the operations of everyone in the castle had been able to continue smoothly.
"Let''s see, here, please deliver this item to Ragdek and tell him it''s of tge outmost importance. He should turn it into a item as quickly as he''s able to."
"Yes Master."
Thinking of Ragdek had spurred Tyler''s mind as he raised his arm and the core of the Eldar Lich flew to him before handing it to Cora for Ragdek. After receiving the item she quickly bowed to him as well as to the girls who were still naked on his bed before hurriedly leaving his room.
While creating Magic artifacts was still an impossibility at this point in time, it shouldn''t be too difficult to achieve the same standards just by melting and reforging the core without adding any extra materials.
What Ragdek needed to do was not creation but transmutation.
As he watched Cora exit his room, Tyler examined his body for any residual effects from the negative corruption once more now that the core was out of range but it seemed as though he had made a full recovery only feeling the slight numbness in the previously affected ces.
''Alright then.''
Tyler nodded as he entered the bathroom, therge bath by the end had been filled with slightly glowing water and Tyler wasn''t suprise to see that Erin was no where to be found as he had sensed her teleport away using her return skill.
She must''ve been quite embarrassed to have been seen in her night ware by him so she had practically ran away.
''How cute.''
Tyler chuckled softly as he proceeded to wash himself before taking a deep in the soothing bath and immediately felt the difference as he felt as though a weight was wash away from him and he was beginning to feel refreshed. However¡ª
"So umm, why are you guys here as well?"
Sitting on the edge of hisrge private bath, Tyler sighed as the water alleviated the numbness in his muscles before opening his eyes to see the two girls who had entered the bath with him just staring at him with bright yet mischievous smiles on their faces.
"Teehee... well our bodies have also be numb afterying in bed for 6 days so we wanted to feel better with you."
"..."
Chapter 288 C288. Closest Companions
After only a few minutes spent soaking in the purifier bath prepared for him by Erin, Tyler no longer felt the strange numbness he had felt before as his entire body nor felt perfectly refreshed to the point that he was getting a little too rxed.
It was a strange feeling so he decided it was best to exit the bath immediately but was pulled back by Rain who locked her arm around his with a blissful smile on her face.
"Hey, It''s about time we get out don''t you think?"
"Don''t wanna... I want to stay like this as long as possible."
...Sigh...
Tyler let out a tired sigh as Rain pouted cutely still holding on to his arm as they sat at the edge of the bath. Shifting his gaze from her alluring figure, he nced at the quiet Liz next to him.
She had a slightly mncholic look in her eyes as she hugged her legs while staring nkly into the water. It was clear she had something troubling on her mind which made Tyler a little curious.
"Hey, what''s on your mind?"
Tyler asked gently and his words seems to snap Liz out of her trans. She then turned to him and smiled faintly in reply.
"It''s nothing really... I just... never mind."
Seeing her hesitant as her cheeks got red before slowly sinking her face into the water, Tyler instinctivelypared her to something he''d seen before but quickly snapped his mind back to reality as he got even more interested.
"There''s no need to hold back. You can just say what you''re thinking at times like this, or would you rather I read your mind."
"No... please don''t."
Although Tyler had been joking, he was a little surprised to see her embarrassed reaction to his statement as his face hadpletely turned red before she quickly sank into the bath with bubbles bubblings from that location.
*Ssh!
She soon emerged back from the water by his side, shifting closer so she would be shoulder to shoulder with him before leaning over and resting her head on him as she spoke in a soft tone.
"It''s just... I knew you''d be fine no matter what happened that day. Even when you were surrounded by over a million shadow kings I never lost faith in you. That you''ll win and return no matter what, but still..."
Silence reigned over the indoor bath for a brief moment as even Rain''s expression had turned somber before Liz''s words continued again.
"Erin said you had been corrupted for a long time, and even though you tried to hide your pain from us, deep down, I''ve always felt that something was wrong but I could never get close enough to you to ask and you never wanted us to worry about you did you?"
Her voice seems to get softer the more she spoke as her eyes watered. Unable to reply, Tyler found himself only able to remain quiet as he allowed her to run through her bottled-up emotions.
"Ever since we met you''ve always been the one worrying about us. You not only helped us when we were in need but epted us for who we are and even our feelings for you. Yet, you''ve never let us share your burdens."
With her wet hair falling over her face to hide her expression, Liz gathered more of her courage as she continued to express her feelings.
"I''m well aware of my weakness and I know there isn''t much I can do to stand by your side but at the very least I really want you to rely on me when you''re in pain. Because, because, I can''t, I just can''t handle it..."
Tears could be seen rolling down her cheeks as Rain''s grip tightened around Tyler''s arm.
"Seeing the one I love in such a state is not something I can ever bear to watch again. I was really scared that you''ll leave me, even if it was only temporary. I just can''t stand the thought of you being in pain."
"..."
Tyler was silent for quite a while as Liz bore her heart to him while Rain remained silent with an expression he had never expected to see on her face. Even without reading their minds, he could clearly sense their thoughts and understood why they had risked their lives even though he had no longer been in any mortal danger.
It was true he hadn''t expected to be out ofmission for so long so he truly hadn''tconsidered the consequences of his actionsespecially the effect his severe corrupted state would have had on the psyche of those closest to him but that was not an excuse.
"I see... I apologize for allowing you guys to see me in such a state. It must''ve been quite difficult to¡ª"
"No that''s not it!!"
Surprised to have been cut short by both girls who moved in front of him with a determined expression, he realized that he might''ve said something wrong but was unsure of what that could be.
"Please do not apologize to us, my Lord. There''s no way you can ever do something wrong."
"Yes, it doesn''t matter what you say, for as long as it had been said by you then it will be the truth."
"Our only wish is for the man we love to let us walk alongside him. To share even in your pain no matter how trivial or petty it is, we only wish to forever be close to you."
Tyler silently stared at them with a serious expression which immediately caused their faces to flush red. At first, he hadn''t been sure of what they had meant by all that but he could clearly sense it now.
Although he still tried his best to maintain the demeanor of a leader even when alone with these girls, somehow he still felt a lot more rxed andfortable around them than with the others as he constantly had to adopt the perfect persona of an almighty superior which was getting more nerve-racking by the day as his followers grow.
Even though he had grown fond of everyone here and perhaps he might''ve even grown to love them, which was not something he was willing to admit to himself yet. After all, he still felt a strong connection to his humanity.
A side of him that had subconsciously prevented him from getting too close to even these two who clearly loved him more than he could''ve ever imagined.
''Sigh... what am I going to do with you two.''
Tyler sighed inwardly as he stared silently at those sincere and caring looks from these two demonesses. His body may have taken a long time to change into a demon but his mind had not, he had simply fallen to his death one minute and after a brief dream of shing lights, he woke up here.
No matter how he tried to hide it or get used to this, his mind was still human and that was not something he could easily change. He was an ordinary human at heart and had only spent a little over a month as a demon so it was natural he wouldn''t be able to open up to the demons around him regardless of trust. This was something even the demon''s pact couldn''t help with.
However, even though there were still a few things about himself he was still ufortable sharing just yet, perhaps it wasn''t such a bad idea to not be so guarded around them. If nothing, at the very least, it would be of great benefit for his mental state if he had people he could actually be himself or at least a version of his true self around.
After taking a moment to think about this, Tyler finally decided as he could not let these girls worry so much about him while he slowly tries to ept his current reality even though he had no intentions of forgetting his humanity.
"Why so serious? It makes me truly sad to see such an expression on your faces and I had never imagined that I would be the one responsible for causing you both such unease."
"No! That''s not¡ª"
Tyler smiled gently as he ced both his index fingers on the girl''s lips and cut them off before speaking again.
"While I cannot make you any promises, I''ll tell you this. When I awoke from my thousand-year slumber my intention was never to reim the castle or the throne but rather to leave this continent for good."
At his words, both girls'' eyes widened to no end as a shiver ran down their spines after hearing those world-shattering wordse from what should be the tyrannous demon king of destruction.
"It seems history has been altered after being controlled by the Great Five for so long but what you may not know is that thest demon king had only fallen to the hero only due to the betrayal of his closest subordinates, ones he had trusted the most."
While Tyler was painfully aware of everyone''s perception of him was that he was at the very least the reincarnation of the demon king, he still made a point to refer to thest demon king as a separate entity.
"You should already be aware that the Great Five Demon Lords were ones the Generals of the demon king but you might not know the full truth, that they were the ones that sold him out to humans simply to obatain his throne."
"No... we wouldn''t¡ª we''ve... we entered a pact¡ª"
Rain muttered those words with a pale face as she slightly lowered her head. It was obvious they were misinterpreting the reason why Tyler was telling them this which was going ording to his ns.
While he was willing to share his true nature with the girls he didn''t want them to lose all respect for him and in turn see him as a coward. Most of this information he had heard from his human party members as one of them had been the 11th son of a high-ranking noble.
As the 11th child, there was nothing for him to inherit so he had left his family to fend for himself as an adventurer but still retained most of his connections amongst the nobilities.
"That is true, we did enter a pact. Still, a pact doesn''t necessarily inspire trust and that was why I had originally nned on starting again on another continent, slowly regaining my strength before making my return but everything had changed after I met the two of you."
As he said that, Tyler moved closer to the girls as he raised their chins a bit to stare into his eyes which seemed to sparkle at the perfect time and causing their faces topletely turn pink.
"If i were to go into details then i think we would be in here for far too long so at the very least I want you guys to know this. Everyone residing in this castle hase to mean a lot to me, some more than others but the two of you, alongside Albert and Erin, have be special to me."
Just saying this had taken a lot out of Tyler than he had thought but Tyler was happy with the results as the expressions on their faces slowly changed. While their eyes got watery, a charming and excited smile appeared across their faces as well.
"I think we''ve stayed in the water too long, it''s about time we head down. I''m starving."
"Right!!"
Taking a breath to refresh his mind Tyler gently patted the girls on the head as he boldly got out of the very without feeling shy, and after donning a luxurious robe, he exited the bathroom without waiting for the girls.
His bath had gone on longer than he had expected but Tyler couldn''t afford to remain here any longer as he had a lot of things on his agenda after being out for a week.
"Ohhh... you returned a lot faster than I expected. Good job Cora."
Chapter 289 C289. Birth Of The Sixth
Upon exiting the bathroom, Tyler was surprised to see that Cora had returned from Ragdek''s workstation as she knelt before him with a newly forged ring-shaped Magic artifact in her outstretched hand for his approval.
"Ohhh... you returned a lot faster than I expected. Good job Cora."
"I am not worthy of your praise, Lord Ragdek was responsible forpletely Master''s orders wlessly."
"Please don''t be so stiff when we''re alone, even if that''s Albert''s training I''ll appreciate it if you''d act normal at times like this."
"Um? But..."
"No buts."
Cora seemed troubled by Tyler''s request as she tried to mutter out a response but Tyler immediately shut her down. Although she was just trying to serve him well as per Albert''s instructions, it was still ufortable for Tyler if she acted so former all the time.
It would be fine if she did that in front of others but not when they were in a private setting like his chambers where he was trying to unwind.
Having finished addressing that issue, Tyler retired his attention back to the ring on her hand as he examined it.
He hadn''t expected the dwarf, Ragdek to already be donewith the cursed orb''s transmutation to an item as it had only been less than 2 hours since Cora had left. Surely not enough time to make a design for the transmutated orb, or so he thought.
''I suppose I need to stop underestimating the abilities or the dwarven race. I should really make good on my promise to them soon.''
The item Cora had returned with was a pitch-ck ring with a red skull adorning the front. The item seems to be faintly absorbing the light from its surroundings but that was misleading as it was actually absorbing faint traces of the Magic essence in the air.
Tyler then proceeded to take the item from the still kneeling confused maid as he quickly inspected the item using divine Appraisal:
????????
Item Name: Death''s Shadow Ring. (Magic Artifact - Divine Tier)
A high-grade magic artifact reforged from the liquified essence of the fused core of an Eldar Lich and the cursed item, the orb of Death by a master cksmith. Contains no additional element as the essence had been isted during the reforging process.
Primary Effect: Negative Energy Siphon. (Passive)
The ring continuously absorbs the negative energy around its user, including negative energy stored within the user''s body, mana body, or even the soul.
Secondary Effect: Grand Necromancer. (Passive)
The stored negative energy will be used during the use of negative energy-rted spells and skills to improve and boost all necromancy rted abilities by more than 20%
Secondary Effect 2: Summon Undead (7th Tier - Daily)
The ability to summon two random 7th tier undead each day without consuming any mana or affecting and restricting the user''s own summoning skills or spells. Each undead summoned with this ability can only exist within the physical ne for a period of 24 hours.
????????
''Huh, besides the third effect, the abilities don''t seem as powerful as my other Divine grade artifacts but they''re currently very indispensable to me. I suppose usefulness trumps power.''
Tyler thought as he stared at the ominous skull ring in his palm. Still, given as there wasn''t much downside to the ring''s effects, he decided it was best to immediately equip the artifact as he quickly wore it on his left pinky finger.
He immediately felt the effects of the ring as he could tell it was actively trying to suck out the negative energy out of him. The item didn''t have any living properties so there was no chance of it going out of control as that would''ve been a badbination with his gloves, Depths of the Abyss.
It was also a bad fit with the gloves so Tyler needed to think of a way topromise as he was fairly certain that using both items at the same time was a terrible idea.
''Well whatever. I only need the ring when creating undead anyway so there''s really no point in constantly having it on as long as I''m careful with using negative energy-induced spells.''
Although Tyler had wanted to test his new summoning skill, he decided to hold off on that as he had responsibilities to attend to for the time being. Besides, he was currently still starving and had a weird craving for sweets and fish. He didn''t even like fish.
"Say, how does look."
Tyler asked Cora as he wore the ring and disyed it to her with a smile he thought the design was insanely cool and the child in him was actually excited.
"Anything would look magnificent on you Master but the ring does have an intimidating aura to it that is befitting of a Divine being like you."
"That so... that''s good then."
Cora''s response had immediately killed off Tyler''s excitement as she didn''t seem as enthused as he was which made him feel a bit embarrassed for asking that question.
"Moving on. Please have the kitchen prepare me something to eat, I''m starving."
"In that case why don''t I make you something darling, I''ve always wanted to cook for you."
"No way, I want to do that."
Liz and Rain who had magically gotten dressed after exiting the bathroom interrupted Cora''s response as they hurried over to him.
"Please forgive my insolence Lady Liz, and Lady Rain but I already had my lord''s food be prepared and it is already being set at the 6th-floor dining hall."
"Huh, really? Impressive."
Tyler was happy with Cora''s response but he seemed to be the only one.
"Crap, why do you have to be so good at your job, I was really looking forward to my Darling eating something I made."
"My apologies."
"Oh well, it''s fine. I can still make this work."
Tyler waspletely at a loss for words as he could not understand why Cora had to apologize for doing her duty perfectly but couldn''t bring himself to say anything either as Rain had a mischievous smile on her face that made him want to move on.
He had a bad feeling about their enthusiasm to feed him something they made themselves.
''This will not turn out to be one of those troops right?''
Tyler panicked inwardly but didn''t let it show that despite what he had said to the girls earlier, he still instinctively hide his emotions. He then moved towards his closest and Cora escorted him to select an outfit.
However, Tyler immediately regretted that decision as the boisterous Rain cheerfully followed along and everything turned into a mess as they argued about what he should wear which hadn''t really mattered to him as long as it met his simplistic style.
This had taken an extra hour before they had settled on an outfit of a white shirt, white pants, grey boots, a grey jacket, and a dark grey coat which made him feel like a grim-looking snowman or something.
During that time he had also been contacted by Albert who was highly relieved to hear he was fine and had given him a brief report on the severity of the situation at hand.
This information had forced Tyler to resign himself to his fate as he ordered Albert to assemble every one of importance in the temporary throne hall in an hour and await his arrival.
As things were now, he truly needed to provide a proper structure for his subordinates as they appear to be growing at a rapid pace.
"Well then, let''s head out."
With a casual wave of his arm, Tyler used Spatial Teleportation as the four of them instantly disappeared from the room and appeared in front of therge private dining table on the 6th floor of the west wing.
Cora then pped her hand and the doors to the hall swung open as several pretty maids,promising of hobgoblins and beast girls walked in carrying various trays of food that soon filled the tablepletely.
Tyler stood with an expressionless face but his mind waspletely numb as he had no idea why they were being out all these foods as though he was organizing a party.
He had wanted to enjoy a private meal before having to face the nerve-racking pressure of being a leader who had foolishly dered war on the five great families and utterly destroyed the possibility of living a quiet life.
He knew the moment he epted the n to go public things were going to be different but he didn''t know by how much and surely hadn''t expected the crippling anxiety that came with such expectations.
''I''m starting to understand how Erin feels all the time.''
From what Albert had exined to him if he didn''t take the time to enjoy his food now, he might not get another chance to do so in the near future.
"Alright! Let''s eat, Darling, say ahhhhh..."
Tyler''s thought process was suddenly interrupted as he was surprised to see that he was already seated at the head chair in front of the dining table and Rain and Liz had, in an udylike move, shifted their chairs closer to his as they attempted to feed him as though it was the most natural thing in the world.
"Say ahhhh...."
Tyler tilted his head slightly in puzzlement as he wanted to voice his opposition to this, saying he was not a child and could feed himself but they both looked swept up in their own worlds that it seems his worlds would end up in deft ears, forcing him into resignation.
*Sigh... "Ahhh..."
??????????
''That went on longer than I expected.''
Tyler thought as he wiped his mouth while being stared at by not only Liz and Rain but now even Cora. His interest in food and desire not to waste anything had gotten the better of him as he had ended up devouring everything on the table.
Frankly, he was d he could still enjoy a good meal as he didn''t seem like his body needed to eat anymore as even after such a feast he didn''t feel full but simply satisfied.
ording to Uriel, this was normal as he now survives on mana and his body could covert food to mana which was why he could still eat.
However, the amount of energy gotten was minuscule and thus he could not be filled by mere food. Still, that simply meant he could eat whatever he wanted without getting sick which was a plus, and thus, his curiosity had gotten the better of him.
"It''s already been more than an hour since Albert contacted me so let''s go."
"Sure."
Ignoring the awed gazes of everyone here, Tyler stood up gracefully as he walked out of the hall before Rain caught up with him and wouldn''t let go until they arrived at their destination.
Of course, he could''ve easily teleported them inside but he wanted a stroll after such a feast and had already requested the presence of several individuals to be gathered in the hall and could no longer act improperly in front of them.
The simple fact was, with the end of the undead war, he was now officially the sovereign of the Darknar region and at the very least would be considered an equal to the five great families even with his unbelievably limited forces.
Even though those closest to him had always seen him as the rightful ruler of this world up till now, that had only been true in their minds simply because he was strong and had ess to the demon king''s castle. However, that was no longer the case.
While the battle with the undead king may have just been a disy of power to the Great Five, it also served as his ascension to power. His very public im to the Darknar region for all those that witness his might.
Of course, this didn''t mean the Great Five would roll over and just let him do what whatever he wanted from now on as that would be too good to be true. The only difference now was that they could not deny him the title of a Great Demon Lord and would be unable to move openly against him without dering war.
Naturally, none of them would ever willingly consider him to be the demon king simply because he had imed the castle for himself as they had not risked everything when they betrayed him just to let a nobody like Tyler take the throne.
What he had just started was a race, a desperate race by the Five Greats to decide who would be the next demon king even without iming the hidden treasure in the castle.
While they could kit simply let it go, they would all have to focus on creating their own treasures powerful enough to grant them im to the title of, Demon king.
However, what was surely certain to all who had witnessed his might and that of his vassals was that this was either the birth of a brand new family or the resurgent of an ancient one that clearly rivals the Great Five in might.
Simply put, this was the birth of the Sith Great Family.
Chapter 290 C290. Infamous?
Walking at a rtively normal pace with Rain clinging to him while Liz walked quietly beside him as well, they arrived at their destination in less than 15 minutes which made Tyler truly understand just how massive the demon''s king castle was.
Cora also trailed a few feet behind Tyler while matching his pace which was something Tyler considered to be quite impressive as her constitution was far weaker than that of demigods but she wouldn''t let that stop her from her assigned duties.
Tyler had an intrigued expression as he walked closer to therge double doors that were being guarded by tworge demons d in grey full te armor.
These were actual demons and not lesser or karma Oni''s and he had never met them before but having granted Albert permission to increase the forces in the castle with those he found worthy from the ones that woulde under him after the war, he was not surprised to see new faces in the castle but still felt a little ufortable with the idea.
Still, he was truly interested to see how things had changed in only a week due to that order and his walk here had not disappointed. Not only had they encountered a few new maids patrolling the halls on their way here but even well-equipped guards as well.
To his surprise or rather something that piqued his interest was that the maids they saw were all dressed a little different from Cora as none of them were equipped with armor but were fundamentally dressed simrly.
Their tiers were low but they were all quite beautiful,promising of red ogress, beastkins, hobgoblins, and even a few lesser demons and demons. It was like an assortment of what every man dreamed in a fantasy world.
Of course, their appearance was not the only thing Tyler had noticed as every one of them seemed to be excellently trained and carried themselves with a type of dignity that befitted nobles.
Each time they encountered them the maids would move to the side of the hall and bow politely in a perfected fluid and elegant motion that was surely practiced over and over again.
Some of them looked flushed when they saw the way Rain clung to him which showed a little of their inexperience but the others were able to maintain their cool demeanor.
Naturally, having so many beauties waiting on him was very ttering and might be getting to his head but his poker face game had never been better.
''That was a different kind of feast Huh.''
Tyler thought pleasantly as they arrived before the temporary throne hall''sentrance and the tall imposing demon guards immediately lowered their heads as they bowed deeply without uttering a single word at the presence of their lord.
Following their submission, the doors behind them immediately began to open.
Obviously, they hadmunicated his arrival with the ones inside so this was expected and not surprising at all. Tyler gently nodded as he casually raised his hand in acknowledgment of the new guards.
Therge doors soon openedpletely and revealed the interior of the hall but unsurprisingly, it first revealed a man standing before the opened doors to wee in the new arrivals.
This was an aged man with light brown hair with streaks of grey running across his head as he donned a slick ck butler''s suit. Wearing a pair of golden gloves topliment the outfit.
This was none other than Albert dressed in his usual butler''s outfit as he reverently bowed to Tyler who then nodded and walked into the room with the girls in tow. Even Rain had finally let go of him as she now donned a serious expression.
As Tyler walked into the hall, everyone in there immediately dropped to their knees as they simultaneously greeted him in a thunderous voice.
"Wee back Lord Ty!"
''I didn''t go anywhere.''
Faced with their reverent greeting, Tyler subconsciously denied their words but was unable to bring himself to say that out loud as this was to be expected.
Standing in front of a crowd suddenly washed away the confidence he had built up in his mind up until now while giving him a feeling of anxiety.
''Why is this never easy.''
Tyler thought as he held himself back from swallowing a mount full of saliva and simply nodded in a fleeting satisfaction as he casually walked passed them.
The ones present in this room currently were going to be the center stones of his new family, although he would rather just refer to them as subordinates rather than using the word family but such was the ways of the demon continent.
This was also something he needed to do as he assumes control over the entirety of the Darknar region.
Having tasked Albert with the job of selecting the candidates for what he was about to do, every one of interest was now gathered here. Even the former chief of the red ogre settlement, Azar Igna, had returned to the castle for this purpose.
If he was to rule an entire region, he would need more than his 5 generals so he needed to assign more specific roles and duties to a select few that had met the requirements determined by Albert.
This gathering was in all honesty, the creation of the Sixth Great Family. Or rather, the resurgence of the long-forgotten Darknar Family.
A name that had only been remembered by the passage of time due to the forbidden Darknar region with most of its meaning and power already been stolen by the so-called Great Five.
''How on earth was I deceived into doing something so reckless.''
Frankly speaking, Tyler had been unable to keep up with the conversation when the effects of winning the war were being exined to him so he just nodded foolishly because he was bored of the topic and Uriel had assured him that there were no problems.
However, he was now beginning to regret that decision as clearly Uriel''sprehension was far beyond his, and what she considered to not be a problem was obviously too troublesome for him.
The name Darknar was one that belonged to the former demon king so even if the masses had forgotten his name, there was no way the Great Five demon Lords wouldn''t know it.
So boldly unting that name as his new family''s name was asking for trouble but that was already a name attached to his so there was no way he could run from it and name his family something else.
''What a massive drag.''
Tylerined internally as he contemted what he needed to do next.
Still faced with the well choreograph greeting from his kneeling vassals, he continued his slow walk towards the wooden throne as he maintained a poker face and adopted the persona he had deemed fit for a ruler.
While the Ring of Nullity did not allow his aura or even his presence to be felt even by gods, his mere demeanor exuded a dominating pressure that made those seeing him for the first time at such a close distance lower their heads and avoided his gaze.
While the hall wasrge, there were currently around 200 people kneeling before him which made him presume the ce would be cramp but that was not the case.
Tyler walked through the center of the group as they had created a path for him with a red carpet, something that wasn''t there before.
Since things were getting so extravagant perhaps he''ll need to revisit the real throne room again. He already had the Monarch Ring so he could ess the hidden path behind the throne.
Plus, with his strength, he should be able to handle any problems that came with wearing the ring that contained the insignia of the demon king so maybe now was the best time for that.
Well, after this of course.
Standing next to the wooden throne were Erin and Albert who only bowed sightly as they awaited him before dropping to one knee with their right arm ced on their chest in one fluid motion.
''Everyone has been practicing except me, what a failure of a leader I am.''
Taking a seat in the surprisinglyfortable chair, Tylermpooned as he swept his gaze across the room as he memorize the faces of everyone here before speaking in as dignified a voice as he could.
"Raise your heads."
His soft-spoken words reverberated across the hall with a strange authority that sprang everyone to immediately respond, and with a sha, everyone raised their heads simultaneously.
Their coordination was so immacte that Tyler couldn''t help but mentally apud the hard work they had put into practicing this with so many people.
He also felt exhausted just from seeing their serious and reverent faces as they gazed upon him with insanely high expectations that could literally crush the confidence of most men but Tyler did his best to restrain his nerves even though he doesn''t seem to be getting better at this.
Following Tyler''s crisp words, Albert stood up and moved in front of all his vassals before genuflecting on one knee in a graceful descent, as though expressing his heart through his actions before promptly speaking up on the behalf of everyone present.
"Your humble servants wee our esteem master, His majesty, Ty Fall Darknar, and we present ourselves before you. As our supreme ruler who has finally been recognized by the world as a Great Demon Lord, we your vassals eagerly offer up our utmost loyalty to the Master."
"..."
Tyler could not speak as he looked at the hundreds or so lowered heads before him. A strange pressure filled the entire hall, and perhaps he was the only one that could bear this painful, crushing air.
¡ªYet, he did not know how to proceed.
Part of him had hoped he would be used to this treatment by now as he had been forced to endure it for so long now but this time was different. There was something more official and ceremonious about it that made it a thousand times worse.
Perhaps adopting a ruler''s demeanor was a bad idea but it was already toote for him to do anything about that. His only hope now was to slowly and strategically lower their expectations of him to the point where he would no longer have to do so much.
With that in mind, he needed scapegoats¡ª I mean, exceptional and talented individuals to delegate everyone''s expectations to while he deals with only the overall decisions.
'' Yeah, that''s it... I''m sure they all want to do it as well.''
Nodding his head in satisfaction aftering up with a long-term n, Tyler focused his gaze on his vassals as he decided to address them seriously.
"Then¡ first, I thank all of you for being here to wee me."
"There is no need for thanks. We are all Lord Ty''s loyal subordinates. To us, Lord Ty is already our Supreme Monarch and there is nothing we wouldn''t do for you."
''Don''t be so dramatic man, you''re making this harder for me you know.''
With his train of thought interrupted by Z''s honest words, Tyler couldn''t help but get agitated as his brows twitched slightly before he managed to get it under control as he maintained his faint smile while still seated on his throne.
Both Rain and Liz who had entered the hall alongside Tyler had naturally moved to the side of the wooden throne and knelt in a way that mirrored Erin''s and Z''s actions.
And while it seemed as though Z had spoken without permission, none of the other vassals had anyints as they all agreed with his words even the ones who had only just joined their ranks.
Of course, the only oneining was Tyler but seeing their reverent and excited faces, he couldn''t bring himself to refute him as unknown to him, this reaction was only due to his rapidly increasing fame across the entirety of the Darknar region and even the demon continent as a whole.
After all, they did say that bad news spreads like wildfire, didn''t they?
Chapter 291 C291. Bestowment Ritual
Tyler stared silently at Z as he found it difficult to proceed. He had heard from Albert a little about the state of the Darknar continent but his thought process had been far too naive toprehend just how far and wide his visage had spread during his epic battle with the undead king.
There was the fact that the Great Five had been watching that battle closely in order to take advantage of any golden opportunity that happens to present itself to them.
However, most demon households were keenly aware of the fact that thoserge families were riddled with spies not only from other Greats but even spies from the lesser noble families as well as several powerful individuals like the seven Great Behemoths.
This simply meant that there was a very high chance that the other noble family and primordials had already been aware of the undead war and chose to monitor the information flowing out of the Great Fives.
Of course, such arge-scale operation was not something even those Great Demon Lords could hidepletely from the public much less the other powers operating in the demon continent.
With all those factors in y, it was expected (by Uriel and Z,) that information on the new Demon king''s faction that had mange to steal the demon king''s castle from underneath the Great Five noses had spread across the vast continent and beyond.
Of course, there were still those that refuse to believe that any of the Great Five didn''t have a hand in this. In fact, most of the Great Five probably still suspected each other as they remained hesitant while trying to identify the traitorous family.
Even Tyler had been vaguely aware that there had been a lot more parties monitoring that war from afar as he had sensed a couple of well-encrypted spells casting their gaze on him. There was even a chance more parties with specialized Magic artifacts had also been watching.
He expected a few of the so-called Primordial behemoths to at the very least vast their gaze on themotion taking ce at the center of the continent even if theyck any interest in the matter.
Even though the presence of that former behemoth of Envy had probably garnered the attention of the current behemoth of Envy.
Basically, there was no way the oue of the war had remained a secret within the Great noble families. Even Tyler was sure there was bound to be a leak somewhere and if it hadn''t happened yet, then in the next few weeks, words of the new faction or family that imed the demon king''s castle would soon spread publicly across the continent if not the world.
Tyler looked on to his prostrating vassals with a solemn expression as he felt a choking sensation in his dried throat. This strange feeling was the weight of suddenly being a publicly acknowledged leader bearing down on him.
In addition, as he had been shot onto the limelight of the entire continent, any orders he gave now would affect the rise or fall of his new family and the rtionship he had with them.
He could not help but hesitate as he contemted the possibilities and the various course of action he could take.
Should he make a mistake, he could easily lead everyone that looked up to him to destruction because of his decisions ¡ª the unease generated by that thought flooded his heart and mind which were beginning to take root within his soul.
"...Lord Ty, it is only natural that you should have doubts about our abilities giving as we have recently exposed ourselves to the world''s eyes. After all, our abilities are stillpletely minuscule in your reckoning."
As though she had read the hidden thoughts in his heart, Liz opened her mouth suddenly to address the reason for Tyler''s hesitation as she then removed the charming smile from her face, and continue in a respectful tone that wasced with a stern strength, the embodiment of her determination.
Perhaps it was her strong desire to understand him that had broken through his well-designed poker face but her words seems tofort Tyler a little.
"However, if our beloved Master gives the order, we ¡ª all of your vassals will aplish every task given to us, no matter how arduous, with every fiber of our beings. We hereby swear that we will never allow the name of our beloved master, the demon king, Lord Ty Falls Darknar, to be disgraced by our actions. Neither will we allow that name to be ever lost in the pages of history."
"This we swear!"
As she spoke passionately from the bottom of her heart, her words clearly resonated with the other vassals as they simultaneously chimed in right after Liz.
Their voices were filled with power, and that adamant loyalty and determination would not be diminished by any number of foes be it Great Demon lords or primordial behemoths. It was as though they were mocking Tyler''s previous worries that had almost paralyzed him just a moment ago.
[...Sigh...]
Hearing the soft sigh in his mind, the thick fog that loomed in his heart vanished like shadows in the morning sun and Tyler was moved by the reactions of everyone here including those he was yet to be acquainted with.
The presence of so many new faces was the main reason for his anxiety as he had felt he needed to impress them fully imbued upon them the presence of a king else he''d end up disgracing himself as well as those that followed him up till now.
However, it would seem that the idea was ridiculous from the start as there wasn''t a single person here whose eyes were not filled with passion and undying loyalty.
Thinking of it now, there was no way Albert would let anyone he didn''t deem worthy and loyal into this meeting as he had been aware of its main purpose. Not to mention, he also had Uriel to guide him against making any major mistakes.
Besides, Tyler wasn''t stupid, even without grasping the full implications of his actions he could understand that things we''re most likely going to get harder from here onwards as weighed of his responsibilities weighed heavily on him.
However, after witnessing the determinationof his vassals and the girls standing behind him, he would no longer allow his mindset to influence by pressure.
His only goal was to create a region where he would be able to leavefortably with everyone he cared about. Of course, he know that would not be possible with the entire continenting down on him so he needed to begin his preparations for the future as he was already a week behind the movements of his enemies.
The only problem now was the fact that everyone here seems to think he was some kind of genius that could predict events as it unfolds and was somehow manipting various developments that had urred so far.
Frankly, ifhe could do such a thing then he wouldn''t be in such a predicament but unfortunately, they had all bought deeply into that fantasy.
Even Z who was supposed the be the smartest man here, was apparently the one leading the charge on this idea and as no one doubted his judgment, it would be impossible to convince them otherwise.
Tyler could only sigh inwardly in resignation as he decided to respond appropriately to his subordinates'' sudden pledge. As he could not easily sway the opinion of the masses without embarrassing himself, he only needed to transfer some of the responsibilities to more capable hands.
"Very well. I have observed your determined vow and believe you all have what it takes to aplish any task assigned to you. While this ising a weekte and I''m sure some of you may already be aware of it already, allow me formally wee you to my family."
In response to his vassal''s determined pledge, Tyler went all-in on the dramatics as he spoke with a ruler''s disposition before coolly standing up upon hisst words as though to drive home the point.
"Wee, to the revival of an ancient and once-forgotten noble family, today marks the resurgence of a name once known far and wide. On this day marks the rebirth of the Great Darknar Family."
The air shuddered in gasps of awe and shock as this was the first time most of these people had ever heard that name is spoken in this context and the grand visage of their supreme master served only to leave them in awe.
"This is only the beginning, I trust you will all do your part to uphold the dignity of the glorious name of the Great Darknar Noble household."
"With our lives!"
Their response to Tyler''s suppose grand performers was as expected, an earth-shattering roar, giving off strong determination as they swore their lives to his name.
Naturally, Tyler now had to match their enthusiasm as he proceeded grandly.
"Excellent! Your eyes leave me no doubts. Now let''s move on to today''s agenda. Everyone here has been selected for a reason, and as the highest-ranking member of this family, you will all receive thest name of Darknar."
Naturally, not everyone in a noble family could bear the name of the said family as only direct descendants from the family''s founder could receive the family''sst name.
While those defendants were considered purebloods, there had been a recent rise in half-bloods and lesser being who bears a noble family''sst name.
This had not always been the case as things had evolved in this way over thest thousand years after the death of the demon king.
This was because a lot of families had been destroyed during the great civil war that epassed the entire continent after the death of the demon continent one unifying factor.
The rapid creation and expansion of the Great Five Families had caused hundreds of noble families to disappear, either swallowed up by otherrger families orpletely annihted, leaving only around 77 demon noble families to reign over the demon continent with the Great Five in charge.
This drove a lot of the surviving noble families to the brink of extinction that they could no longer protect their noble purity and had to expand their strength by means of mating with ordinary demons, lesser demons, and even demi-humans.
Causing the rise of the half-bloods who bears a noble family''sst name.
However, what Tyler had just done by naming everyone gathered here today waspletely different from the concept of half-bloods or purebloods. Rather, they were all individuals that had received the blessing of a demon lord utilizing a name.
In essence, he had unknowingly conducted an ancient ritual that made use of elements of the demon''s pact as he bestowed a portion of his power to all those who epts and believe in his words.
A Name Bestowment Ritual.
Chapter 292 C292. Demon Generals
The Name Bestowment ritual was an ancient technique that was originally employed or rather created by the first Demon king in existence in order to create a circle of his most loyal and devoted followers that shared an unbreakable bond that couldst for several lifetimes.
Able to share his powers with those that pledged fealty to him as he expanded his influence over the massive, yet chaotic continent that was then ruled by war and madness.
In essence, this was the technique used during the time of chaos that spanned the entire world as all sentient races fought to ept dominance over the others. The time before the world was split in four by gods.
Those were the times when gods walked amongst men, leading their follower''s races in war against other gods. However, to the one known now as the Demon King of Destruction, even gods were beneath his gaze as he had chosen to shatter his fate.
Breaking free of from schemes of the gods after ying the God of the Darkness, Irhiha.
He then used the name Bestowment ritual in creating the first-ever demon family after defeating and dominating the strongest demons he could find and establishing the demon hierarchy now today as demon nobility.
Of course, an ancient ritual like the name Bestowment ritual did more than just increased the bonds between all the parties involved. After all, it was not a technique that could be used by mere mortals or even ordinary demigods.
By using an element from the demon''s pact skill form, the seamlessly fluid ritual grants the receivers a divine blessing from the divine entity that bestowed them with theirst name.
While there was a lot that went into using this technique, Tyler had beenpletely unaware of it as he had purely met the conditions by a stroke of luck on how everything until now had proceeded, and even then, he still had no idea he was currently using the technique as Uriel had activated it on his behalf.
As the ritual came to its conclusion, a gentle glow embraced the bodies of everyone whoid eyes on him as they received the passive skill, "Divine Grace."
Following that, they all suddenly felt a deeper connection with everyone there including Tyler as it seemed as though they all had always shared a lifelong bond that rivals or even surpasses those between actual demons who shared the same bloodlines.
While this was true bonds between family members, it did not mean they were all now magically friends as they would still need to work on their rtionship but will always share a faint connection with each other.
Not only that, but the skill, Divine Grace also grants protection against mental influence, resistance to fear and hypnosis, soul protection, and the obvious family bond that would allow all those with the skill to freely enter and exit through the castle''s barrier as they were now considered members of Tyler family.
Of course, Tyler still didn''t realize what he had just done as he suddenly felt a wave of mana leave his body as his eyes glowed in a yellow hue before promptly returning to normal.
The entire process had been carried out by Uriel per his subconscious wishes to create an inner circle that would have the authority to supervise his rapidly growing followers as over the past week, several freemen settlements along with the demi-human settlements that fled out of the Darknar forest due to the undead army had decided to swear loyalty to him in exchange for his protection.
With the number of people gathered in his new city already surpassing 10,000, he needed people that were not only strong but reliable to manage both the city''s affairs and his castle.
Normally, in the current era, no noble family would bestow their prestigious name to lesser demons and demi-humans but Tyler was once human, the enemy of demons so he wasn''t one to judge any races as long as they could be trusted.
He still didn''t know how to use the demon''s pact himself as everyone he had met so far had initiated the pact in his stead so he had been a little worried about those he allowed into his inner circle.
However, Tyler was keenly aware that the most suitable person to make those judgments was Albert which was why he had trusted him to make the selections without being biased. Besides, Uriel had assured him that bestowing them with hisst name was more than enough to guarantee their undying loyalty and as part of his soul, she was the one thing he could trust the most.
Of course, she wasn''t lying as being a part of a demon nobility was considered the highest honor in the demon continent and he was from the ancient Darknar family. A name to help solely to the demon king.
There was no way any living demon in this would not consider refueling that name as the grandest and most lucrative reward in the world. In fact, the possibility of tempting an elder from a Demon Earl''s family to his side with that name was amazingly high but there was a secret measure set up by those families that didn''t make this an option for Tyler.
In short, he had to take things one step at a time.
He was already aware that there were spies and potential traitors amongst the settlements that came to be his subordinates but ording to Z, Erin and Liz, this was all going ording to n.
''At the very least, this is all very intriguing.''
Tyler thought as his eyes returned to normal while he stared at the sparkling and excited eyes of everyone he had just gifted thest name of the Demon King of Destruction.
"You may all rise."
At hismand, everyone in the hall swiftly stood back up in a smooth motion with their right arm across their chest but Tyler chose to ignore their perfect synchronization this time and just move on with his train of thought.
"Giving as you''ve all officially be inner members of the Darknar family, I''ll have to assign everyone their specific roles in order for this family to function as a proper demon nobility. However, there will be a lot of differences from the other demon nobles."
Taking a step toward his vassals, Tyler spoke with a stern gaze as his eyes carried the severity of his words.
"let it be known that before my eyes all races are equal, and no lesser beings are serving under me. Gathered in this hall are this era''s so-called demons, lesser demons, and demi-humans but in front of me, you are all my loyal and precious subordinates and your merits shall be earned by your hands."
His words reverberated across therge hall as everyone stared firmly at him with an awed expression. The one thing Tyler didn''t want was to end up like the other demon nobles who discriminated against lesser demons and demi-humans as a way to maintain their status quo.
However, those things did not matter to Tyler and as far as he knew, thete demon king valued strength above all else and did not discriminate against other races with the exception of humans who he seemed to hate for some reason.
This was why there were so many demi-human settlements who had fled to the dangerous darknar region to escape the influence of the Great Five. There were also a lot of actual demons and demon nobles who had remained loyal to the demon king to this day as they all had a sense of what had happened a thousand years ago.
While most of those demons had remained hidden in various parts of the continent, a considerable number of them had also migrated to various parts of the darknar region as they had survived in thisnd for generations as freemen.
Naturally, these freemen who had longed for the return of the demon king had jumped at the prospect of Tyler. The first demon to ever bypass the demon king''s castle after even the Great Five had failed for a millennium.
That said, the majority of those gathered in the hall consisted of actual demons and demon nobles of varying ranks. There were also a few of those who Albert had aided their escape from his former region before he had left with Erin.
Of course, it was just as Tyler had said and the race of those who had been chosen tonight did not factor into the equation as there were also a lot of demi-humans in the midst whose strength rivaled or surpassed the said demon nobles.
While their strength had indeed been a factor in Albert''s selection, due to Tyler''s innate ability, it did not take full priority as their personalities, ideals, ego, and mindset had been judged by Albert using various means.
Z had also scanned the memories of everyone here for abnormalities to eliminate the possibility of spies before they were chosen but all of them had in one way or the other, witnessed Tyler''s might and were convinced he was the reawaken demon king which might''ve been a lot more troublesome than traitors in Tyler''s eyes.
Still, even though their strength was not the sole priority, in the end, it was still important as the weakest beings here were at the advanced stages of Tier 4 and the majority of them had already reached the peak of Tier 5. They had all had prominent positions in their settlements after all.
To survive in the dangerousnds of Darknar, there was no way any of them would be weak and they could all still be stronger if Tyler finds another reason to use his ability on them as he made it a rule not to help them carelessly so they don''t getx in their training while relying on him for everything.
Seeing as there were no objections to his decree of racial equality, Tyler nodded his head in satisfaction as he continued. He would need to spend some time designing and enforcingws that would aid in his idea of a peaceful life even though there were bound to be a few mishaps along the way.
Still, as long as everyone here understood and strived to uphold his will properly, there shouldn''t be anything to worry about. Now it was time he advances his next n to delegate his most taxing troublesome responsibilities.
"I am pleased to see that everyone here understands my wishes. Now then, let us begin!"
Saying that Tyler returned to his seat position on his wooden throne as his gaze shifted to the five still kneeling beside the throne on both sides for all to see.
"You may rise."
This time his words were soft-spoken as he nced at the five and they understood his intentions, gracefully returning to their feet, their every action carried an elegance that could not be replicated no matter how much one practiced.
Such was the demeanor of true nobility that stood above the masses even after Tyler had just proimed everyone to be equal.
"I''m sure you''ve all figured it out by now but allow me to formally introduce you to my Six Great Demon Generals."
Chapter 293 C293. General Titles
"I''m sure you''ve all figured it out by now but allow me to formally introduce you to my Six Great Demon Generals."
Naturally, Tyler''s words immediately captured everyone''s attention as they all focused their gazes on the demons standing beside''s their master withknowing expressions that seems to show that they had fully expected this turn of events.
"From this moment onwards, they will possess authority only second to mine over the entire Darknar Family, and by extension, the entire region under my control."
In essence, they held the same authority possessed by the Elders in the other demon nobilities. However, Tyler was unaware that only the demon king was allowed to have Demob generals as all other families was required to only possess Elders as a show of respect.
Of course, there was no reason why the king''s family couldn''t have elders as well as they were titles granted only to Demon Dukes of a family so as long as one reached that rank and umte sufficient contributions to the family, they would be awarded the title.
In the end, Tyler was led to do something he wouldn''t have simply because his subordinates already deemed it as a matter of fact that he was the demon king.
"As the newly founded Six Demon Generals of Darknar, these Six will be responsible for various aspect of running and maintaining the affairs of the both the Darknar Family and the Darknar Region."
''Six?''
Although a number of them had not yet met all of the Demon Generals as the three girls had been absent alongside Tyler for the better part of a week now, from the descriptions they had received from the residents of the castle and those that witnessed or spied on the war, they knew not to underestimate any of them.
Plus, seeing as they were standing next to Tyler and had even entered the hall with him, it was obvious how high their rank in the family would be. Not to mention none of them could even fathom their actual strength as they could not sense the auras of the divine which could cause the less existences to misinterpret their capabilities.
However, none of that was an issue for them as the only thing that puzzled them was the fact that Tyler had mentioned six generals while there were only five demons standing beside him.
Was there someone else they didn''t know about? Or perhaps their master intended to choose a sixth general from amongst the crowd.
Those who had been with Tyler from the start knew those five would naturally be selected as their master''s Generals but were on the fence on the sixth as there were a surprising number of candidates they could think of.
While there were already a few amongst them who had reached the peak of the 5th tier, none of them believed for a second that any of them could be selected as a general as they knew of three beings that far exceeds their expectations.
Of course, they were all thinking of all the demigods that had partake in the undead war which included the ArchLich, Emrys. Frankly, if Tyler had just to gone with the idea of choosing his strongest vassals then Z and Albert would not be qualified as they were both still only in the peak of Tier 6.
Although with the artifacts in their possession, they would both be able to go toe to toe with ordinary demigods. Provided they had a n, they had a high chance of even winning just as they had done during the war. However, he could just as well hand over those artifacts to someone else.
Those under him that had crossed the threshold of mortality were Erin, Rain, Liz, Emrys, Nessi, and of course Moloc and his underling Azalea whose levels were a little hard to read but at their best, Tyler was sure Moloc was far stronger than Erin.
With that, he had seven qualified candidates for his demon generals but if he was foolish enough to do that, Tyler was sure he would run his new region into the ground within a week, and his ns of shifting a lot of his responsibilities to his generals so he could have an easy life would end up being flushed down the drain.
That was why he needed allies with more than just brute strength in those positions, but that leaves the question. Who amongst those qualified candidates would be the sixth Great Demon General.
The answer was surprisingly simple as he didn''t need to think about it too much. His Six Generals were meant to hold significant authority amongst his forces but they were also a symbol of power to the other families and everyone capable of opposing his im to the Darknar region.
He already had his most trustedpanions in five of the six positions, they were the ones he felt he could rely on the run his region do the conditions for closing thest soot were simple. He just needed the strongest of his vassals as a showcase of the might of his Six Genitals and that was no other than Moloc.
Although things may not end to as he had expected as he was still clueless about the consequences of his actions today.
To be honest, Tyler had been a little hesitant in choosing Moloc as one of his generals as she was quite the weird character and frankly, a little scary but her loyalty to him seemed genuine as she had spent thest week or so torturing¡ª I mean educating Azalea on how to serve him properly.
Not that he knew what that meant. Still, the only reason why she hadn''t been invited here was that Tyler was worried she would do or say something inappropriate.
Yes, that was indeed the only reason. It surely wasn''t because he had identally teleprompted into the chambers Albert had assigned Moloc during their walk to this hall and saw Azalea strapped half naked to a certain horse while Molocughed sadistically from the side in a tightly fitted leather outfit.
Surely him nearly throwing up after seeing that wasn''t the reason he had forced her to stay in her room even after she practically begged to apany him after not seeing him for a week.
Yeah, that can''t be right.
Tyler nodded his head as he struggled to keep his food in and cleared his throat. He tried desperately to maintain his kingly demeanor as he addressed his subordinates ones more.
"Now then, would the five of you please step forward."
Hearing his request, Albert and the others took a step forward as they moved to line up before his throne and immediately genuflected with incredible grace and ss.
Their sudden action caused the muttering in the crowd to immediately grind to a halt as everyone''s attention was piqued yet again.
Stylishly standing up from his throne, Tyler moved before his kneeling Great Demon Generals as they simultaneously raised their heads to gaze at him.
He then moved to the left before addressing the first person kneeling in the row.
"First of the Six Great Generals of Darknar is General Albert T. Darknar, the Golden General. As my personal butler, he will be assigned as this castle''s overseer, in charge of both the maids and managing all aspects of the castle."
Halfway through his speech, Tyler had suddenly felt like he should assign Wlbert with a title and had came up with one on the spot due to Albert still donning the Golden gloves he had gifted him. The Sun God''s Hold.
"I am honored to be bestowed such a glorious title and responsibilities. I shall endeavor to serve my master with my life for eternity."
''Yeah yeah yeah, you''re too dramatic.''
Tyler thought as he felt Albert was too excited over a silly title while he moved on to the next person on the line after Albert deeply bowed to him and stood up. Tyler then continued his grand performance.
"Next is General Zomatsu Darknar, The Dark General. In consideration of your skillset and tactical mind thaf surpassed even mine. I shall appoint you as my Tactical and Intelligencemander."
This time Tyler wasn''t even being creative anymore as he had simply based the title on Z''s all ck outfit as he had chosen to wear a ck mask today yet he still received an over exaggerated response.
"Surely you jest master, there is no way my intellect isparable to yours. However, your high praise fills my heart with joy and besides, my lord''s wish is my sole duty, I shall honor the Grace you have shown me by living up to your expectations even if it''s by little."
''Dude,e on... what are you basing that on.''
Nodding his head as though he understood what Z was talking about, Tyler moved on to the next person and continued before he develope and headache.
"Next is General Erin Darknar, the Water Goddess. Although your healing capabilities are greatly valued, your prowess of divination is also second to none and so, I appoint you Head of the Communications and Medical divisions, I''d also appreciate it if you lend your assistance to the Intelligence decision from time to time."
"I-I''ll do- my best."
With a reddened face, Erin answered in a meek tone that almost no one could hear but Tyler and her nervous expression caused him to chuckled inwardly.
Perhaps, giving her so many duties was a bit much for someone like her but there was no one more qualified than her and he hoped the others would help her get over her anxiety bit by bit.
Moving on to the next person on the line, Tyler felt weird about assigning any actual duties to this one as their excited smile did little to feel him with confidence.
"Next is General Rain Darknar, The Lightning General. Commander of a specialized legion of assassins yet to be formed. You may also lend a hand to the intelligence decision on asions."
Although Rain seemed a little disappointed not to have been given a supposed duty she quickly became excited again because Tyler had given her not only a title, but also hisst name and her imagination began to ran wild.
Tyler didn''t care much for her concern with her role as there was no way he could trust her with doing anything tooplicated even though she was supposedly smarter than him without the help of Uriel.
However, seeing her expression change from that of disappointments to glee, he immediately began regretting his decision.
The important part was obviously her name as thest time he did an appraisal on her it said she had no name and "Rain" was just her title as she was part of a special unit of Dark elves in the Alcar family but thanks to the name Bestowment ritual, Tyler had now named her.
Not only did he grant her hisst name, but a first name as well. Of course, she was too focused on her newst name to notice that as she was never one that paid too much attention to what she was called by people she didn''t like to begin with.
Moving on to thest on the line, Tyler continued with an almost exhausted expression.
"And finally, General Lizabeth Belloria Darknar, the Ice Queen. In consideration of your skills and determination, I appoint you as the General Overseer of the Six Great Demon Generals and the Darknar region. While I''m aware youck the experience to do this, I''m very confident in your skills."
Chapter 294 C294. Paragon City
After expending almost all of his energy from just dealing with Rain''s enthusiasm, Tyler moved on to thest person on the line besides Moloc, who was absent for reasons he could not speak of.
When he had decided to announce his Genrals to his vassals today, he ended up spending quite a long time thinking about their roles in his family but more importantly, he found it difficult to decide who amongst his Genrals was most qualified to lead the group.
Finding the right candidate that would be adept at managing the activities of the Six Generals skillfully and without him needing to provide any assistance else it defeats the main purpose of this idea.
As all six of his Genrals with exception to Rain, would be operating individually whilemanding specialized divisions of their own, so even vwith Erin establishing a wlessmunication method between them, without someone to oversee their operations, it would be difficult for them to synchronize their operations without shing with one another.
Of course they could always just report back to him as the overall leader, but avoiding that was the sole purpose of creating this system to begin with.
His first choice for this position was obviously Albert. Although he was at the weaker end of the spectrum, he had been an actual demon lord who had ruled over his own region a while back. Plus, everyone from the Red ogre settled had nothing but high praise for his skills as a ruler so he not only did he possess the skills, he also possess the experience needed for such a responsibility.
However, Albert didn''t have any desire to relive his life as a demon lord even though he would dly ept the role if Tyler ordered it, but there was no way Tyler could do that.
From what Tyler knew, being a demon lord was not something Albert had cared for or even wanted. He had been born into the role and had no choice but to inherit it despite his personal goals and wishes.
His unhappiness and dissatisfaction with his life was the reason he had started wandering the woods to get away from everything even if it was only temporary. It was also where he met Erin, to begin with.
The next most qualified candidate was obviously Erin whose intellect rival that of Z, and after watching how Albert mages his region for years, she had learned fast and now even surpassed his managerial skills.
However, there was no way she would be able to do the job properly considering her personality. The best she could do for now was work along side the few people she had now gotten closer with thanks to Rain''s persistence.
That obviously left Liz as the only capable candidate for the job even though she didn''t really have any experience in that field as she had grown up trapped in a cage of sorts.
However, the experience wasn''t really important as a lot of them didn''t have any experience with their new jobs either but Tyler believed they were more capable than he was so here we are.
Liz also had the charisma to get along well with everyone she met, earning their respect and adoration without even trying which was one of the qualities of a leader. Even though she was still a bit shy, she tend to open up to those close to her, and with Rain by her side, socializing with others had to be easier.
With that in mind, Tyler settled on his decision and approached Liz before speaking,pletely brimming with confidence.
"And finally, General Lizabeth Belloria Darknar, the Ice Queen. In consideration of your skills and determination, I appoint you as the General Overseer of the Six Great Demon Generals and the Darknar region. While I''m aware youck the experience to do this, I''m very confident in your skills."
"It feels me with great pleasure that my lord has ced so much trust in me. I vow to fully devote myself to meeting your expectations."
To Tyler surprise, Liz no longer seemed as reserved as she usually was as a beautiful smile adorned her face. Perhaps she was more happy with receiving hisst name than she was letting on as she appeared to be in a great mood, perhaps even more than Rain.
''Hmmm... why do I feel like I''m going to regret thister.''
Tyler thought as he casually stared into her eyes, hidden in the midst of her joy was a fierce determination that burned brighter than the sun. As he thought, he could now tell beside her joy in receiving his name, she was also viewing her new job as a chance to get closer to him as her duties would requure her topile all the information given by the other generals and brief him on it daily.
Her charming smile showed how happy she was that she hadpletely disregarded the existence of everyone gazing at her in awe.
''Wow, women are quite scary ain''t they.''
Tyler thought as he sighed inwardly.
None of the other generals had any issues with Liz appointment as she was highly rmended by both Z and Albert. And while Tyler had thought of assigning another General to assist her, he chose not to as it was best if they all made an effort to help her out for his sake.
That should also improve their bonds with one another as Tyler didn''t think they were all that close despite their loyalty to him and he really wanted all of them to get along well with each other.
Of course, the girls were already really close and Albert was close with Erin so the only odd man out was Z who didn''t make any effort in socializing as he solely focus on his job, fully devoting himself to serving his master.
Part of that was probably from being betrayed by the Zorak family so even though he could trust everyone here as they were all loyal to his master, he could not bring himself to get closer to anyone as he never learnt how.
''Hmmm, maybe I should get him a girlfriend. Huh, K seems to like him, I think he''s been training her to be a scout for a while now hadn''t he.''
For some reason, Tyler let himself get distracted by the personal lives of his vassals as he considered ying matchmaker with Z and the ogress K before he was snapped back to reality by Liz as she stood before him and smiled at him.
"Right, let''s move on then, thest member of my Demon Generals is currently busy on my behalf. As for the name of thest of the Six Great Demon Generals, she will be Known as Moloc Darknar, the Chaos Lord of War. She will be themander of the Chaos Legion, the strongest force in all of Darknarpromising of the strongest devils and demons."
Although everyone looked a little disappointed by Moloc''s absence, they quickly moved passed it as a lot had happened already and more were still toe.
"Now then. Along with the appointment of the Six Great Generales the establishment of various divisions to help run the activities of the Darknar region and some of you will be appointed to work in these division and the others will be given duties of your own."
Tyler addressed the rest of his subordinates who had all been staring in awe until now before returning to his seat and his generals returning to his side in a glorious fashion that left the others further in awe.
Although there were still demigods like Emrys and Nessi left unounted for, he had chosen not to mention them as he had already decided on special tasks for them.
Emrys was in charge of the undergroundbyrinth where Erin''s source was located and perhaps maybe even something more valuable. He was constantly summoning and creating undead to patrol and adjust the tunnels, creating traps for any intruders that may appear.
As his im over the castle was now public, a lot of the superpowers after it could no longer move publicly as they were all in the dark on whoever it was that was backing up Tyler and his forces.
With those constraintshindering the methods theg could use what him, there was an high possibility that they would decide to strike secretly. With that in mind, thebyrinth that was directly underneath the castle was a good ce to start and Tyler wouldn''t be caught unguarded.
Tyler also had another task for Nessi as he nned to have her join Z and Rain whenever they embarked on a secret scouting, intelligence gathering, or assassination mission. This wasn''t just because she was strong enough to provide backup but because of her direct soul link to Tyler would make for a faster and more secure method ofmunication in enemy territory.
Her stealth skills as a demigod were also leaps and bounds above that of Zelda and the others which made her perfect for the task.
Of course, he nned on creating more Shadow rogues and strengthening their cores so that all divisions would get one in case of emergencies. With his new ring, he should be able to create even stronger undead with even trying.
Moving on from his idle thoughts, Tyler returned to matter at hand and proceeded with the next item on his list of thing to get done.
,m "Firstly, it seems the poption of the town had surpassed 10,000 already. That more than qualifies it as a city already so I''ll assign it a name before deciding on its governing staff. Huh? What name should I give it?"
Tyler was about to run things along when he got stuck on naming his city as he could not think of doming decent for the love of him.
"If I may my lord, why not just call it Darknar city as it was before."
The one who spoke was obviously Albert as he was the only one that would be aware of the name of the ruined city that ones expanded across the Greyad ins.
"I don''t like the idea of Lord Ty''s name being used casually. It''s already bad enough that the forest and region share the same name, a third is just too much."
"I agree."
To Tyler''s suprise, Rain seemed to have a problem with naming the city after him and even his new General overseer agreed with her.
"Then it would need a new name that signifies the glory of our master."
"Indeed."
"There''s no need for all that¡ª"
Tyler didn''t think it wasthat much of a big deal. The only reason he hadn''t immediately called it Darknar city was because he had no idea thest city there was actually called Darknar city as he had thought the humans had just called it that because it was the capital city of the region.
"How about, King''s city, has a certain ring to doesn''t it?"
''Hell Nah!''
Hearing Rain''s excited suggestions, Tyler immediately denied it inwardly as he prayed to God that somebody would save him from such a terrible name.
"Those names would only make Lord Ty look desperate to the masses, we need something that would emphasize his might without being too obvious."
For some reason, Liz seem to be taking this very seriously perhaps assuming this was part of her duties as a leader or something as she lead the charge.
"I know, I know, how bout, Supreme city or World-ss city."
"Come on Rain, those aren''t even proper names. We should consider things from a broader perspective. This isn''t going to be lord Ty''s only city so emphasizing our master''s might is not necessary. That should be obvious. We should think of a name to signify the perfection of our master himself."
"Indeed. If we''re build a city in our lord''s name, it has to be the very best of the best and its name should signify that.A name that says absolute perfection, the best of the very best."
Stroking his grey beards, Albert repeated himself as he casually made a remark consigning the city''s name.
"That''s correct, any ideas?"
"W-what... what do you think of Paragon City."
"Brilliant, as expected of my Erin you''re always so smart."
Rain immediatelyunched at Erin with a massive grin after hearing her perfect suggestion as it seems they hadpletely forgotten this was supposed to be a former asion.
"So master, what do you think?"
After watching Rain tease Erin for a bit, Liz then turned back to Tyler and asked with a gorgeous smile that left no room for rejection.
''You''re asking like you''ve given me a choice, how fearsome. I may have just doomed myself.''
Smiling as though this was all to his expectations, Tyler nodded his head as he made ''his'' decision.
"As expected from my Six Generals, you''ve all done well in understanding my intentions. From this day forth, the first city of the Darknar family built in the ruins of former Darknar city shall forever be known as Paragon City, the capital city of Darknar Region."
Chapter 295 C295. Savaging The Situation
The Sentro Region.
Located in the epicenter of the capital city of the Sentro region, ckwing City lies the Zorak family''s main castle at the center of the Royal district.
Deep inside the massive castle, on the top floor of the central wing, a pair ofrge and majestic arched doors that was stylishly engraved with Magic runes was slowly swung open as two figures barged into the hall unannounced.
The guards'' station outside seemed panicked because of the intruders but did not attempt to stop them as they tried their hardest to present not to have noticed them.
The male figure that had pushed therge heavy doors open with ease elegantly bowed at the residents in the hall before promptly moving to the side as he lowered his head gracefully at the young man that had followed in after him.
That young man had long blonde hair that was styled in azy ponytail and extremely handsome features that made most of thedies in the room blush at simply meeting his gaze.
He was also quite tall with broad shoulders, sporting a stylish ck suit with an even more luxurious grey coat draped over his shoulders as he walked gracefully into the massive hall beyond therge doors.
Five rings adorned his fingers one of which resembled that of a storage ring while the other emitted faint yet powerful auras that indicated that they were all Magic artifacts.
The young man bowing to the side after opening therge heavy doors for him had short ck hair, a handsome face, and was dressed in an exquisite butler''s garb.
His demeanor was that of a noble demon but it was obvious to everyone in the hall that he was the personal butler of the handsome demon in the grey coat.
"Lord Nox! While you are indeed a demon Marquess and the younger brother of the Great Demon Lord, it is both disrespectful and disgraceful to barge in on a meeting like that. Please reframe from such vulgar behaviors in the future, you''re a pureblood of the Zorak family after all!"
The one who spoke to Nox was a bald man at the end of the hall, holding a brownish parchment in his hands as he addressed the demons seated in the hall on behalf of the one seated on the throne slightly elevated by the short flight of stairs behind him.
He was an aged man with big brown eyes and golden beards. His looks may have once been handsome but the toll of time had done a number on him as he was garb in a simple yet elegant golden striped suit.
Without even shifting his gaze from the throne to pay attention to the bald Elder, Nox nodded his head gently and calmly made a passing reply, his butler already moving back out of the room to wait in silence with the other nobles'' attendants they had passed by along the way.
"My apologies Elder Campil, I only just received the news and was in a rush."
Although Nox, didn''t really care for the opinion of the old geezer in front of him, he knew he needed to be a bit respectful in public to maintain his image, especially to a member of the Elders of the Zorak family, a demon Duke who technically surpasses him in ranks.
Gathered in this hall right now were the highest-ranking members of the Zorak family from all across the Sentro region and beyond, not just the nobles living in ckwing City as it seemed everyone in the family''s inner circle was summoned here today.
Even an insignificant nobody like Aur who was given a small city to run to feel relevant was summoned here today for some reason.
Nox could not allow himself to be looked down on by any of these buffoons who only cared about attaining more power to satisfy their pitiful existence.
None of them seem to care much about the true pride of the Great Noble bloodline they possess. None of them cared about maintaining the purity of their Great Ancestor.
Every single one of them, including the so-called Elders, all of them. They were all worthless pawns that can only see past their own noses.
The most worthless one of all was the idiot Aur, who had once approached him in his pointless desire to attain more power within the family even though he was weak. In his selfish desires, he aims to saturate the family''s inner circle with useless weaklings like himself. What a joke.
The only ones he respected here were his three brothers and of course, the one seated on the throne in ce of his sick eldest brother, his mother, Marline Cialora Zorak.
Moving past the demon nobles that stared at him from their seats with various expressions, Nox arrived in front of the short flight of stairs that elevated the Great Demon Lord''s throne and knelt gracefully on one knee.
"Greeting Mother, please forgive my tardiness, I make no excuses for my actions."
"It''s fine, you were busy in the family''s name so all is forgiven. Let us continue."
"You have my gratitude."
Hearing his mother''s cold and distant words that almost disregarded his very existence filled his heart with a strange sense of satisfaction as Nox smiled charmingly and stood up.
The female nobles in the hall, be they married or unmarried could not stop their hearts from racing faster after seeing such a rare sight from the ever so serious third son of the Zorak family, Nox Kiasak Zorak.
Standing up from his knees, Nox moved to the right where his younger and elder brothers were seated,pletely disregarding the reaction from the demonesses in the hall as he took a seat next to them.
He was the third son of thete Great Demon lord and so, a direct descendant. His oldest brother, Nevin Krox Zorak was the current Great Demon Lord as he inherited the throne after the mysterious death of their father, but soon after, he began suffering from negative corruption after attempting a forbidden ritual of unknown origin.
That was why their mother was currently acting as the head of the family until aplete cure for their brother is discovered or he dies and one of them earns the right to the throne, giving as none of them was currently strong enough to inherit such a glorious title as they were all still mortal.
The closest amongst them to attaining godhood at the moment would most likely be his second elder brother, Nedi Lexer Zorak who was seated to Nox''s right with a frightening cold expression.
He has blond hair just like the rest of them but the base of his short hair was a little red, matching his scarlet eyes which were a little strange for their bloodline but as he had inherited the family''s innate ability, no one could doubt his linage.
He had a long face with handsome features and was quite tall at almost seven feet with a muscr build. One would not expect such a Moutan of a demon to be as adept with magic as he was.
In an ordinary noble family, he would easily be considered a demon lord but his strength was stillcking in the presence of both their eldest brother and especially their mother.
The one seated to Nox''s left was his younger brother, Nullen Marx Zorak. He was rather on the shorter end of the spectrum as he had a petite build that made him not only look like a child. But if one was not aware beforehand, they would also mistake him for a young girl.
With his long blonde hair that almost reached the ground and his adorable-looking face, even his brothers found it hard to tell his gender most of the time.
However, despite his adorably cute appearance, hidden being his childlike innocent smile was a cruel and deviously sadist, whose only goal was to take the throne from their elder brother by any means necessary.
It wouldn''t surprise Nox if he was the one who had corrupted their elder brother before he had been epted as a demigod.
There was onest seat to the left of Nullen that was currently empty. As it did not belong to their elder brother, it was meant for the useless oaf they call a sister. Nina Velovina Zorak.
''Why is that still here? Wasn''t she meant to be married off to Nullen or something?''
Seeing that seat had soured the pleasant taste in Nox''s mouth as he recalled the face of his useless little sister that had run away from home to y bandits with pigs instead of making herself useful to the family by either bearing a child for Nullen and starting a new branch family to expand their family''s influence.
He had nned to dispose of her pretty soon or perhaps sell her to one of those worthless nobles who long to defile purebloods but that would only serve to sully the purity of his family even more than her miserable existence.
''How vexing.''
As Nox bit on his fingernail after recalling something unpleasant. The bald noble that had addressed him earlier finally got himself together and spoke again.
Arge and exquisite wooden table was ced in the center of the hall and more than 30 demons and demonesses of high ranks within the inner circle of the family sat in exquisite high chairs around the wooden table.
"Now then, as I was saying before Lord Nox''s arrival. Shortly after that unknown behemoth disappeared with the undead king who turned out to be in possession of a cursed item that holds the powers of the Shadow king, we were able to find out the conclusion of that battle by using various means of divination and rare tools."
"And?"
Seeing Campil pause to stare at his parchment caused one of the nobles to grow impatient as they urged him to continue.
"Luckily for us, that behemoth hadn''t bothered to use any anti divination Magic on anything other than himself so even though we do not know how he did it. We have learned that he was able topletely eradicate both the undead king and shadow king, iming the cursed item for himself."
"So you mean not only are we dealing with a Pompous and obnoxious behemoth that''s mostly being backed by one of the great Five, but he now has the powers of the shadow king? Wouldn''t that make him on par with a Great Demon Lord by himself?"
Hearing Campil''s report, a demoness Duchess or elder with dark brown hair and a stylish appearance voiced her opinion on the matter, causing the entire hall to erupt as the other nobles could not contain their anxiousness.
"What!"
"That''s sphemy, what nonsense are you spewing you hag!"
"No one can rival a Great Demon Lord, can they?"
"Well, there is the Seven Primordials. I remember them causing a simrmotion but not to this extent."
"Of course not! This slimy bastard is toying with us."
"And what family is behind this nonsense. Shouldn''t we be doing something already? They''ve already gained ess to that castle who knows what else they have up their sleeves."
"Don''t you think it''s best if we just attempt to negotiate with him? We might get a better deal than whoever is backing him."
"What are you insane!"
"Have you no pride!"
"What good is pride if they end up taking the throne! How would that help us retain our ranks!"
"Is retaining your stupid rank the only thing you care about you monkey!"
"Who the hell do you think you''re talking to old hag! Want to die!"
"I''d love to see you try."
"You guys are getting out of control in the presence of the Grand elder, show some respect."
"Well, she started it!"
"What are you a child."
"This is absurd."
As Nox watched the so-called high-ranking nobles of the Zorak family panic over a single behemoth. He could not help but scoff internally at the fallen state of his great family.
''If mother refuses to pudge the filth out of our family then perhaps it''s time I do it myself.''
Chapter 296 C296. Taking Action
*Tap tap tap!
"That''s enough."
After watching themotion going on in front of her for a while, Marline grew bored of the situation and decided to speak. She was already struggling to stay focused on such pointless ordeals but still put up with it as it was her supposed duty.
Although she would rather be naked in her bed right now working while in thepany of some young boys, that was probably just herziness creeping in after so many years of doing the same thing over and over again.
Then again. This situation with the unknown behemoth was a new development that was different from thest couple of centuries at least. It was also turning out to be quite entertaining as for the first time in her life, things were not going ording to ns.
This was the reason why she was even still entertaining the foolishness of these nobles who seem to have gotten way toofortable in the little kingdom they had built for themselves in these peaceful times.
Having grown tired of waiting, she tapped her fingernail on the armrest of her throne and spoke coldly with her usual expression, her eyes rapidly reducing the temperature in the hall.
Her voice was not loud but it carried the air of absolute authority that rendered the entire room speechless in an instant. Even her sons who were of rtively high levels had straightened up and could not utter a word as Nox could not help but let lose a faint smile as he felt the pressure from his mother''s icy gaze.
''Hmmm, I wonder where Nina is right now. That child, why must you always be so difficult.''
Having lost interest in the cowering Elders and nobles, Marline''s eyes trailed to the side as she took a nce at thest seat to her son''s side.
Her thoughts trailed towards her stubborn child who seem to have an inferiorityplex towards her siblings. Not that it mattered to her though.
The thrush of the matter was that she was simply too weak, and thus, would be a stain to their bloodline, and her stubborn personality, had caused her brother to loath her very existence.
However¡ª
Marline had to admit that she was rather fond of her failure of a daughter though.
After all, shewas always the only one to have an interesting reaction whenever she saw her mother naked or with a rather young boy in her bed. Her other children didn''t seem to care and did whatever they were told which, while nice was a bit boring.
Perhaps seeing her own daughter as a form of entertainment was a bit bad for a mother but she couldn''t help it. She hadn''t felt much of anything for more than a hundred years now and even her children did not stir up many emotions within her.
Her only saving grace was that she could still feel a bit of pleasure from sex but even that was nearing its limit as it now took her to experiment with her extreme kinks and fetishes in order to get a semnce of anything from it.
She couldn''t even remember thest time she climax but at the very least, the situation in the stale demon continent was beginning to get more exciting and she had great hope for this unknown behemoth.
Now then, returning a fraction of her attention to the odd bunch in front of her, Marline calmly spoke again.
"Please continue your report Elder Campil."
"As you wish, Grand Elder."
Acknowledging the Grand Elder''s instruction, the bald Elder, Campil proceeded with the rest of the report he had on the situation that had arisen in the Darknar Region as well as the activities of the unknown faction behind the still mysterious behemoth.
"As I''m sure you''re all aware, each of the Great Five had unanimously decided to send a few demigod level fighters to infiltrate the undead army both as an attempt to take advantage of a prolonged war while also identifying which of the Great Five is backing this behemoth based on the quality of the representative they had decided to send."
"So get to the point. Where are we able to learn something? Do we know who the traitor is? Or are you simply wasting our time?"
An elder with a full head of white and a clean-shaven face interrupted Campil with an irritated expression as his eyes red at him.
"I''m afraid not. During our surveince, we were able to locate all the representatives sent by each family and for the most part, they were all demigod level fighters and were all either killed or captured in battle."
Shrugging off the annoying gazes pointed at him, Elder Campil continued his report politely only as a show of respect to the Grand Elder, else he would not have taken such insults lightly.
"What!"
"What nonsense is this. Then how are we supposed to figure this out!"
Hearing Campil''s answer to their question, a few of the lower-ranking nobles began to freak out when the Demoness Duchess that had voice spoken earlier, decided to intervene once more.
"That doesn''t add up. Is there any family whose representatives were not killed but were all captured alive?"
"ording to the report Lady Freya, that was not the case. It seems either all representatives were killed or one of them was captured alive, barely. It also seems that all of their bodies were recovered as there might be a necromancer amongst their forces giving as they had used the undead in their attack."
"Now this is vexing. It appears whoever the traitors are, they are even willing to sacrifice their most valuable assets such as demigods to hide their identity."
Hearing Freya''s calm and analytic words caused most of the room to calm down and think for a moment as another Elder responded.
"Well if their aim is the throne or the hidden treasure we are all after, then even the lives of rare demigods are worth it."
"So what do we do now? If they already have ess to the castle is there anything we can do to stop them?"
"Indeed. Despite how they achieved it. They have still managed to do the impossible. For over a millennial now, the Great Five have been attempting to break into that castle to no avail that it became an unwritten rule that whoever manages to achieve that goal, whether or not they acquire the treasure or not, they would be the new demon king, so why have they been silent for so long?"
"Huh? What the hell are you yapping about you old hag. Have you gone senile? Or do you just not remember what the actual rule is?"
Hearing Freya''s iplete conclusions had seemed to drive the white-haired man over the edge as he quickly lost his cool again when Campil suddenly decided to speak again.
"That is correct Lady Freya. Although it was never formalized, everyone knew the rule was that each of the Great Five was to work secretly in devising ways to break or bypass that barrier. However, in order to eliminate any bad blood between us, we were free to secretly interferewith each other''s progress but when a family makes a breakthrough and decides to attempt the castle, we would inform the other families and make it a grand event with all five families present in orderto acknowledge whoever was able to achieve our goal without regrets."
"Indeed. Making secret attempts waspletely frowned upon because it would surely lead to us needlessly crashing with each other and would eventually be the cause of another civil war like thest time."
Hearing Campil calmly exining why this situation was so Deplorable, the white-haired Elder, Grey Folov Zorak finally smiled as he added to Campil''s exnation before continuing.
"I''m sure everyone has heard the stories of the brutal losses each family endured shortly after the civil war which lead to the establishment of that unwitting rule and the other families are aware of it. It doesn''t matter the treasure they found in the castle, no single Great would be able to survive the wrath of all Five families at the same time if they have really broken the rules, where is their pride!" *BAM!
In a fit of rage, Grey''s fist came crashing down on the sturdy wooden table that had been reinforced by Magic, leaving spiderweb-like cracks that kept speeding and the table hadpletely copsed on itself.
"Ohe on!"
"What is wrong with you Grey, not again!"
As though on cue, the moment the table had crashed, therge doors to the hall swung open as a few guards carried in a brand new wooden table and the others rushed in to clear out the old table''s debris with Magic while the new one was set in a matter of seconds.
Everything had happened so smoothly and without dy that you''d think they had practiced this motion countless times already.
"Alright then, let''s get back on topic. With what has been said so far, how are we going to salvage this situation? Didn''t we send some more scouts after our representatives?"
With the table reced, Freya immediately brought the group back to the crux of the situation as she asked a question and Campil didn''t hesitate to answer.
"We did. However, we lostmunication with them only a few hours after the events of the war. It''s safe to assume that all our scouts have been discovered and eliminated already. Luckily, there is little chance for any information leak."
"What! Seriously?"
"Well, given as they have a Great Family backing them, it''s only natural that they would be able to predict our moves but topletely eliminate so many of our scouts without exception is unheard of."
Those scouts had been the best their family had to offer and were given strict information not to get anywhere close to the castle in Ofer to eliminate the chance of being spotted or sensed by Magic, and yet.
Although it seems the family was treating it as no big deal. They were all aware that this was a massive blow to their ranks. Of course, the chances that other Great had also suffered the same fate was high so that reduces their chances of getting burned by this.
Still, to dispatch so many top-tier scouts without even a single one of them escaping despite the tools they were given was insane.
Just what kind of terrifying weapon are these people packing. Perhaps it was even one of those valuable treasures from the castle.
"What does this mean? Do we not have any more information on them?"
"We do. For the past week now, we''ve tried various methods of divination and while the area around the king''s castle is heavily protected, we''ve been able to monitor its surroundings."
"And?"
"And it seems they have been building a city on the ruins of the fallen Darknar city."
"I''m sorry what!"
"This is madness."
"Are you being serious!"
"I''m afraid so. The foundations for a massive city have already beenid and it appears dwarves are aiding in the constructions as roads are beingid to various parts of the Darknar region."
"Dwarves? In the demon continent? That''s rare?"
"More importantly why are they building a fucking city. Is this a deration of war? Why on Neron would one of the greats go this far? What''s to gain from this."
"At this point, we can no longer stay silent. We have to make a move even if it''s against one of the Great Five! This had gone too far!"
"Are you serious, we can''t act that openly anymore, it will cause a panic?"
"I don''t care!"
"I''ve heard enough!"
Hearing the madness going on in front of his mother, Nox could no longer maintain his cool as his eyes narrowed and an oppressive exploded out of him. Silencing the entire hall.
"Oh Lord Nox, is there a problem?"
"To see so many noble bloods tarnishing the Greats'' legacy irritates me. Has it never urred to any of you that perhaps the ones backing this mysterious behemoth is not one of the Greats but rather, one of his, a primordial behemoth?"
At his stern gaze and a sudden question, almost everyone in the hall was rendered speechless beside his uninterested mother and distracted brothers who seems to have tuned out this meeting from the start.
''I can''t believe it. It seems none of them had actually thought of it. Just how stupid are these morons.''
An uncontroble rage began to swirl with him as he realized that these were the so-called pure-blooded demon nobles of the Great Zorak family he was so proud of.
Oh, how far has the Great Zorak family fallen.
Chapter 297 C297. Nullen’s Schemes
Nox stared angrily at what he considered to be a bunch of buffoons that called themselves high-ranking nobles of the Great Zorak family as they looked dumbfounded at him after hearing his question on the involvement of the seven Primordial behemoths.
It felt as though he had been speaking a differentnguage as none of them could even mutter up a response.
Just seeing his great noble heritage being dragged into the mud by these self serving idiots caused a wave of intense anger to surge through his veins as it took a great deal of willpower to restrain himself from going on a rampage in front of his mother, the Grand Elder.
"Please calm yourself brother. For families asrge as the Great Five, I''m sure it''s easy for us to continuously underestimate the strength of the Seven Primordials. After all, they are known mainly as a bunch of unruly barbarians."
"Yes, yes that''s true. It''s not as though we hadn''t considered the involvement of the seven primordials but there''s simply no way those unruly and ununited bunch would have been able to pull this off under the noses of the Great Five. Besides,moners like them has no right to the throne. Even barbariahs like them should know that such an action would only bring down the wrath of the entire demon nobility upon them."
Seated next to Nox was his childlike younger brother Nullen, who spoke for the first time since this meeting had started as it seems he was trying to look out for his brother who was on the verge of losing control over pointless thing like his noble pride as a direct descendant of the Zorak family.
However, none of that really mattered to Nullen as he wasn''t delusional enough to consider himself as some sort of royalty. He had found the perfect chance to appeal to the family''s elders and all the high ranking nobles gather here today in preparation to rope them into his corner for his future ns.
His adorable smile was enough toplete erase the worries of everyone in the room but the aggressive aura still gushing out of Nox retained the Renton in the hall.
Immediately picking up from where Nullen left off was Elder Grey who tried to exin his own negligence always even though he truly believed there was no way any of those primordials would be able to pull off such and borate n.
After all, those were behemoths they were talking about. They were nothing more than bloodthirsty beasts that lived for war.
The entire idea of behemoths had begun around 800 years ago, more than a century after the death of the demon king and during the great civil war that saw the expansion and rapid growth of the Great Five as they destroyed and absorbed one demon family after another.
As newly established family at the time, they needed to resort to all manner of unspeakable thing in order to force in entire continent into submission. However, in their wake to power, countless demons, lesser demons and demi-humans were caught in the crossfires.
It was at that point when 7 extremely powerful demigods had suddenly arose from themon folks as they took the battle back to the nobles in dazzling fashion.
These beings were unlike anything the Great Five had ever had to deal with till then as they could not be contained in their revolt against everything the Great Five had stood for.
Each of them was a match for a Great Demon Lord in raw strength but unfortunately, they were all stillmoners from lesser species like demi-humans and lesser demons so they did not possess the resources that couldenable them to stand on equal footing with the Greats.
However, even by themselves, they were all still walking disasters that almost destroyed the world countless times in their battle agaist the Great Five, and if it was not for the Grace of the gods dwelling in the astral ne that saturated this with excess amounts Vp of divine mana, allowing for the''s rapid growth and recovery from any damages not made directly to the''s core.
Their unstoppable rampage continued for decades as the Great Five found it difficult to corner individuals with nothing to lose or defend and finally gave in.
Since they were finding it difficult to kill strong individuals that could move freely around the continent, making their movements unpredictable, the Great Five then collectively decided to ept those seven''s demands and grant them the titles of primordial behemoths, as well as providing them with right to govern over thends at the far end of the demon continent, independent of the Great Five influence.
This also served as a way to restrict the movements of those monsters in the guise of their independence.
While thends offered to them was considered wastnds at them time and even seeing through the intentions of the Greats, the primordial behemoths still epted the deal as they created their own Independent refion witgon the demon continent where strong ruled regardless of where race or gender.
Feeling as though they had sessfullyoutwitted the seven, the Great Five chose to no longer bother themselves with the seven''s activities as long as they remained in theirnds and did not interfere with the matters of nobility.
Given as they had kept to their vow for centuries despite the few changes amongst them, it was only natural that the nobles would not consider their involvement in what they believed to be an borate scheme by a member of the Great Five for the title of the demon king.
"Is that so?"
Having finally calmed down from his brother''s words, Nox retracted his aura and the entire room finally returned to normal as he slowly returned to his seat.
Silence seemed to reign over the hall for a moment as everyone staredat themselves unable to continue when they finally heard the cold voice of their Grand Elder reverberate over the massive hall.
"Is there something else you''d like to share with us, Nox?"
Her gaze remained fixed on the same spot as she could not even be bothered to look at him but her words seems to elevate Nox''s fallen moral as he quickly replied.
"I apologize for my rude outburst earlier Grad Elder. However, while I do consider the seven behemoths to be rather barbaric in nature, I do not believe they are incapable of analytic thinking. I believe they''re the most likely ones backing up this mysterious behemoth that seemed toe out of nowhere and suddenly controlling such frightening military might."
"Do you have any proof of that?"
"I''m afraid I cannot call it proof, but ever since we noticed the movements of the undead army, I''ve had my people investigating the actions of the primordials and ording to the information I received, the recently added behemoth of Greed Mammon had been making strange moved over the years, including the gathering of the corpses of those that fell within his territory."
"Oh, bravo brother. It seems you''ve hit the nail on the head."
pping his adorably tiny hands, Nullen seemed genuinely happy for his brother at making his point but their lord Oder brother, Nedi had little to no reaction as he maintained his silence.
"I take it you believe this Mammon is behind the existence of this behemoth in the castle, is that it?"
"I''m afraid it''s not that simple Grand Elder."
"And why is that?"
"Well that''s because the Primordial behemoth of Greed, Mammon, had recently been dered dead and a tournament of power is already being prepared to decide on his sessor. However, there had also been a lot of chaos going on in the Behemoth of Envy''s camp recently, this could simply mean that one if not all of them had taken care of Mammon to maintain their secrets."
Hearing Nox''s exnation, everyone took a breath as they tried toprehend what he was trying to say when he suddenly continued.
"In order words, there has been a rapid change in the movements of the Primordial behemoths over thest few months and that cannot just be a coincidence, especially with the death of Mammon. It is far more likely that we''re being tricked into suspecting each other so we would be hampered in making any decisive actions as any reckless move on our part will result in a civil war."
"So you''re saying that this is all the plot of either one or more of those Primordials to slowly take control of the demon continent from us? That''s a bold idea brother."
Hearing Nullens passivement that didn''t seem like it meant much, Nox narrowed his eyes at him and received a rather warm yet chilling smile in return.
With an agitated expression, he proceeded to further Break down his thoughts on the situation, leaving no room for his scheming brother to take advantage of.
"Has no one ever wondered how the hell did that fool who called himself an undead king gathered so many corpses without our knowledge? From the scouting report only a month or so ago, he only had an estimated army of about 2,000 and yet, he expanded them to more than 30,000 in only a month, ridiculous."
"Ohe on brother. I''m sure you know that one of the Greats could''ve easily supplied so many corpses, don''t you think so. Thousands of people die across our region every day and most of them would not be missed, snuggling a few hundred bodies a day would not be that difficult you know."
"I''m aware of that Nullen. However, we all have spies stationed on every region and territory owned by a Great so there is absolutely no way such a massive resource could be moved without our knowledge or even leaving a trace behind, especially in such a short amount of time. Even if they''ve been nning this for a while, the odds of getting g away with it even with the use of a separate organization is slim."
"And what about the scouts who were killed by two high-ranking demonesses ording to the intel we had gotten from the escaped scout of the Mereotti Family."
"Memory alteration. There is no way a scout of that level coulde face to face with an actual demoness of a noble family and live to tell the tale in such details. The only exnation is that she was allowed to escape to feed us with force information, dying our response time, and frankly, I think they''ve already seeded in that aspect. After all, we have all been action under that information for a month now and where has that gotten us? Nowhere!"
Seeing his brother grow more agitated by each question caused the smile on Nullen''s face to brighten even more but even though he hade this far. He was brilliant enough to understand what his brother was trying to say and opposing it for much longer would not serve to advance his ns in any way.
However¡ª
"That''s all good in theory brother, but if you''re wrong, are you willing to handle the consequences of leading your family down such a path if a civil war were to erupt because of this?"
"Consequences?"
"Of course, everyone has to be held ountable for their actions don''t you agree?"
"Is that so brother. Then what consequence are you proposing if I may ask?"
Hearing those beautiful wordsing out of his brothers mouth could not have been any more perfect as Nullen struggled to contain his excitement while pretending to contemte on an answer for Nox.
"Well, it has to be something worth the riskof ced on the family so a simply punishmentwould not be ideal don''t you agree?"
"Just get to the point Nullen."
"Very well, why don''t you just renounce your rights to the throne if things turn out not to align with what you have said. After all, I would absolutely hate it if you were to furfit your life for this so we''ll have to make do with this."
"What the hell do you think your saying Lord Nullen. That''s not something for you to decide by yourse¡ª"
"Fine."
Chapter 298 C298. The Viscount
"Just get to the point Nullen."
"Very well, why don''t you just renounce your rights to the throne if things turn out not to align with what you have said. After all, I would absolutely hate it if you were to forfeit your life for this so we''ll have to make do with this."
Hearing those wordse out of the fourth prince''s mouth, the air in the hall shuddered as gasps of shock and surprise reverberated across the hall.
"What the hell do you think you''re saying Lord Nullen! That''s not something for you to decide by yourse¡ª"
"Fine."
"...Huh"
"I Nox Kaisax Zorak, the third prince of the Zorak family will endeavor to ept the consequences of my actions. If by some miracle I am Erin, then I shall renounce my rights to the throne as well as my title as a Demon Marquis."
Although the members of the Great Five treated their direct descendants as royalty, that title was only for show as it could only be applied to the descendants of the demon king who was the only true royalty in the demon continent.
As for the Great Five, while their direct descendants could be called princes and princesses, their actual ranks is depent on their current strength and achievement to the family.
"What!!!"
Nox''s response to Nullen''s absurd request was almost instantaneous as Campil''s words were stuck in his throat, unable toplete the sentence for a moment. Processing the sudden development, he immediately tried to dissuade Nox from agreeing to such a ridiculous notion.
Although Nox was only Considered the third prince and therefore only third in line for the title of Great Demon Lord. His was a birthright that could not be taken lightly as the only one that had authority over the heritage of the throne was the current acting Great Demon Lord, Marline.
"Lord Nox, please don''t be hasty. Tour birthright is not a matter that should be handled so carelessly."
Nox had made his deration with his pride on the line. His pride as a direct descendant of the Zorak family was perhaps his greatest strength and probably also his greatest weakness.
This was something everyone here waspletely aware of including Nullen. And it looked as though his ns had gone exactly as he had hoped.
"That''s enough. I am a demon noble of the Great Zorak family, I do not go back on my words."
"As expected of my elder brother. How admirable you are. I''mpletely in awe."
With a gracious smile, Nullen swung his feet back and forth from his seat, unable to contain his excitement as Nedi sighed disappointedly but made on remarks.
"Grand Elder, please stop this before it gets out of hand. We cannot allow such a situation to continue."
Seeing as he was getting nowhere with the boys, Campil turned to Marline who hadn''t shown any interest in the situation so far as it looked as though she wasn''t even paying attention to their bickering.
However, she did not ignore him as her gaze shifted and she calmly reacted to Campil''s words as she, for the first time today, turned her gaze towards her sons while speaking in her usual tone:
"So Nox, what actions do you advise the family should take next?"
Disregarding the issuepletely, Marline quickly returned the conversation to their main points as Campil and the elders, could not help but sigh in resignation.
If the Grand Elder didn''t see any problems with her son''s schemes then there was nothing any of them could do about it. The best course of action right now was to finally decide on how to proceed with the mysterious behemoth before his faction in the Darknar region grows any further.
"Ah yes. Due to the misunderstandings of the other four Great families. And the fact that the public is slowly bing aware of this behemoth''s achievements despite our Interference, we cannot simply act recklessly. First, I propose we make use of thosemoners that call themselves Hunters in investigating this new city as well as its surroundings as sending any more scouts any time soon would surely lead to problems along the way."
"Lord Nox, have you forgotten that entrance to the Darknar region is forbidden. If we were to publicly sendmoners in there what will the masses say about us."
"I am very aware of that Elder Campil. However, it hase to my attention that a lot of the freemen hidden in the surrounding regions have been crossing the borders to seek asylum in this new city being built. I''m afraid our ban on that region has already been rendered useless by that behemoth''s recent disy of strength as he might as well have imed that region for himself. We can no longer simply just exert our influence to deal with him. Unless of course, the Great Five are able to unify and suppress this behemoth which is the ultimate goal of my ns."
"Is that correct. Is a mere behemoth not even one of the Primodials capable of rivaling us."
"Did you not receive the shortened report Elder Grey. That is indeed the case. As we''vee to find out, that behemoth not only has enough power to rival a Great Demon lord just like the other primordials but he also possesses enough military might to go to war with any of the Great Five."
"Indeed. And while he might not win with his limited forces. He has enough might to severely cripple us. That in itself is more dangerous that the Primodials."
"If it truly is as Elder Campil had said. That''s even more of a reason why we must find the traitor amongst the five quickly else our hands we be tied."
*sigh "Elder Grey, I''m afraid you''re missing the point yet again."
"What!?"
"Do you really believe that such a powerful behemoth would be willing to be a pawn even if it''s for one of the Great Five?"
"Well, Umm..."
"Demons of that caliber are prideful creatures. Even if a family was able to convince him to work with them, don''t you think it''s more likely he''s working with other behemoths instead. They do tend to hold a grudge against nobilities you know."
"You do have a point. However, sendingmoners into the Darknar region will only serve to undermine the Great Five''s authority. We may even be branded the traitors for this."
"That is of no consequence. Hunters are not under our authority and as long as we ced the request discreetly, we cannot be held ountable for their actions. Plus, with the current state of the Darknar region, I''m sure the other families are considering the same n."
? "Is that so."
With Nox''s exnation, not even Grey or Campil could refute his proposal as they all remained silent and left the rest to the Grand Elder.
"Very well. If no one here opposes Nox''s n then let us proceed.."
As she spoke in a decisive tone, her eyes swept across the seats of the highest-ranking nobles of the Zorak family, and in response, they all cpolitely lowered their heads in a show of submission.
With no one voicing any opposition, her gaze then slowly settled on the seat at the far end of the table where an elderly man that seemed to be in his forties, sat quietly with his head lowered the entire time.
"Aur, if I recall correctly, Winged City is the closest to Darknar region, am I correct?"
"Ah yes, that is correct your Grace."
Startled by being addressed directly so suddenly, Aur answerednervously. To think someone like him would be acting so disgracefully in the presence of so many nobles.
However, it could not be helped. This had been his dream since the very beginning. Being in the same room as all these powerful people not to mention even seating at the same table as them. That had been his goal this entire time yet this waspletely different from what he had imagined.
Frankly, he was the weakest and lowest-ranked noble amongst everyone here, and thus, theirbined presence alone was cing and enormous pressure on him. Not to mention a few of them hadn''t even bothered suppressing their auras which were sending shivers down his spine.
His only saving grace was that he could not sense the aura of the Grand elder as that might''ve killed him instantly. He never expected to fill so out of ce amongst the inner circle of the Zorak family, the peak aplishments of his ambitions.
Worst of all, he had no idea why he had been summoned here today. Normally, these types of briefings were beyond his level and if he had something to report, he was expected to use the hidden chambers in his office in contacting the elders.
The greatest fear in the world was the fear of the unknown and Aur could not help but have a bad feeling about the reason he was invited here but as far as he could recall, he hadn''t made a mistake yet. Or at least, not one that warrants this level of attention from the Grand elder herself.
Even though he had lost one of his Ghosts in the process, he had managed to eliminate the greatest thorn in his sight, that pesty Zomatsu which would''ve been his greatest blunder so he could not figure out the teasing for his summon even after tasking Aika with investigating the reason.
As Aur''s mind wandered about trying to figure out his purpose here, Marline''s cold words immediately snapped him back awake as she continued speaking to him.
"In that case. Gather your highest-ranking Hunters and do as my son had suggested immediately. Understood?"
"O-of course your Grace, but Umm... I''m afraid that may not be possible at the moment."
"Viscount Aur, are you by chance talking back to the Grand Elder? Know your ce!"
Sensing the hesitation in Aur''s voice, Elder Grey rapidly grew impatient and berated the lowest ranking noble in their midst. As every Elder was a Demon Duke and Duchess, the rest of the inner circle of the Zorak familypromises of only Demon Marquises and Marchioness.
Not even Earls were allowed into their circle so Grey could not understand why a mere Viscount was summoned here today.
"Huh, no of course not Lord Grey. It''s just, I''m afraid most of my city''s highest-ranking Hunters have gone missing only a few weeks ago and we are still in the process of sending out a rescue team for them but as the Magic institute has refused to cooperate in assigning their strongest magicians to the quest, the progress has been rather slow."
"Gone missing?"
Marline''s interest grew suddenly as her eyes settled firmly on Aur''s face. Causing him to stand up rather abruptly.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Hmm, right. I sent a report about itst week but basically, we received a report about an unexplored Grade 3 Gold mine about 3 weeks ago in the Farbelt''s pass and organized an exploration party of our strongest Hunters, some merchants, and miners.However, we haven''t received any words from them after they had entered the mine to clear out the monsters. This had also caused a bit ofmotion in the city as the ones to report the mine has suddenly gone missing."
At Aur''s words, silent murmurs arose amongst the nobles as they wondered about the specifics of the situation.
"Is that so. Well if your strongest Hunters were killed from just a Grade 3 mine then perhaps they aren''t the best for the job. Grand Elder, I think it''s best to task another city with this. Perhaps Silverwing."
Although Grey was suggesting his city''s Hunters for the job. Marline didn''t pay any attention to him as she replied to Aur calmly.
"What makes you think the Magic institute is capable of rescuing a themepromising of the strongest Hunters in your city."
"Well, ording to reports, the magic institute just acquired two very capable mages. One of which defeated the vice guild leader in a duel and the other became a V.I.P merchant is only a his first transaction."
"Hmmm... interesting. And who might these two be?"
Chapter 299 C299. Aur’s Epic Fall
Epilogue.
??????????
*ng ng ng...
Like a steady heartbeat, the sounds of his footsteps gently rang across the empty halls of the Zorak Family''s main castle as an elderly figure walked silently in a dignified posture. The air around him seems stale as he casually stare into space with a deadpan expression.
Ignoring the asional guards that patrolled the halls and the maids that bowed respectively to him after moving to side of the hallway, the former Lord of Winged city, Aur Zorak walked quietly as he was lost in thoughts.
Currently stripped of his undying will after battling for his sanity in the presence of so many powerful being, his mind continuously shed back to the event that had unfolded in the meeting room only a few minutes ago.
Having ryed the reason why he was unable to follow through with the instructions given to him. The Grand Elder seemed to have unusually taken an interest in the situation currently going on in Winged City.
She had shown a lot of interest in the mysterious VIP merchant that had joined the Magic institute which was the first time he had ever seen her shown any emotions.
He had been forced to ry every information he had gathered on the unknown pair as well as the information on the unexplored Grade 3 Gold mine.
Of course, in front of the Grand Elder, Aur could not lie nor withhold any information from her. Frankly, it was a good thing such an unfortunate event had happened in his city as what Aur had found out,ter on, had shaken him to his very core.
He had been worried about the reason for his summoning as he held a faint hope that his loyalty to the family was being rewarded and he would be promoted to Earl but that was not the case.
Hell, he should even consider himself lucky, after all, he had somehow mange to walk out of the room with his head intact.
??????????
¡ªA few minutes earlier.
Back in the Meeting hall of the Zorak family.
Seated at the far end of the long wooden table ced at the center of the hall. Aur''s heart pounded rapidly as he was being stared at by the Grand Elder cold and emotionless gaze.
The pressure her eyes alone exerted was enough to kill a demon of his level but Aur knew that death would not be the end for him if he were to embarrass the Zorak family''s name in such a manner.
He stood firmly in ce with his back as straight as the de on a sword, maintaining some of his dignity as a noble. However, his head could not look up at the throne seated atop a short flight of stairs at the other end of the long table.
The Grand Elder sat leisurely on it with her legs crossed and a cold expression on her wless face. Donning a luxurious ck dress with jewels of various priceless metals adorning her person, her visage was clearly that of absolute authority that could not be challenged even by the Elders.
"What makes you think the Magic institute is capable of rescuing a partypromising of the strongest Hunters in your city?"
"Well, ording to reports, the magic institute just acquired two very capable mages. One of which defeated the vice guild leader in a duel and the other became a V.I.P merchant after only his first transaction."
"Hmmm... interesting. And who might these two be?"
As she said that, a faint smile seemed to adorn her face, rendering the entire hall speechless as this was the first time any of them had ever seen the Grand Elder smile.
Even her own sons looked astonished, which only goes to show her level of interest in these pair.
Left with no other choice, Aur revealed everything he knew about the demon known as Lix and his partner, Lilith. Causing the smile on Marline''s face to suddenly disappear.
"A hooded demon in Winged City? Sounds familiar. Ahhh... so he must the same."
While no one seem to understand what she was talking about. Nox frowned profusely as he could clearly remember the servants speaking about the hooded man that had defeated his sister, Nina, causing her to flee with her tails behind her legs.
''So he''s the one that dare insult our name. That peasant.''
Naturally, Nox couldn''t care less about what happened to his sister but what he could not tolerate was for amoner to sully the prestigious name and status of nobility.
Especially when such a being was dealing with royalties like them. Even if she had been the one who had attacked him, a sin against the Zorak family was still a sin and could not be forgiven.
He would have to locate this Lix fellow and make sure he pays for the crimes he hadmitted. Before Nox had realized it, his hands had already been ball into a fist when he suddenly heard his mother addressed Aur once more.
"Very well. Aur."
"Yes your Grace."
"You are positive this merchant, Lix has truly registered with the Magic institute?"
"Completely your Grace. I conducted the investigations myself."
Tying his best not to lose hisposure, Aur answered the Grnad Elder''s question confidently.
"I see... very well then. Elder Campil, do issue a decree for the Magic institute of Winged City to aid in the rescue of the missing Hunters. Make sure they include this Lix and hispanions in the quest. Also, do extend an invitation to him from the Magic Academy."
Although the Magic institute was supposed to be an independent organization, the same as the Hunter''s Guild and Merchant Guild, it was still under the Magic Academy which was not so secretly controlled by the Zorak Family and in turn, the Grand Elder.
After all, the Head Master of the Magic academy was none other than Elder Campil Lorain Zorak.
"Pardon my bluntness mother, but you cannot invite amoner to the Magic Academy, such filths cannot be allowed into our prestigious¡ª"
"Be Quiet."
With as calm a tone as ever, Marline silenced her son without even looking his way as she waited for Campil''s response.
Nox could not utter another word as he was forced to hold his feelings on the matter backpletely. To think his mother would develop an interest in the man who had dragged their family''s name into the mud, this situation could not be more absurd.
? However, he knew full well that there was nothing he could do about this when she had gotten this excited. His only chance of restoring his family''s pride was to get to this merchant before anyone else.
Campil on the other hand was forced to swallow back his objections after seeing the Grand Elder shut down her own son. He simply maintained his dignified look and nodded.
"As youmand. Still, I do not believe we have the time to wait for the Hunters from Winged city to be rescued before we proceed with our main objectives. That is, if they even still alive. What should we do about that?"
"I''ll leave everything to Elder Grey. Do handle the rest as we have discussed."
With a single nce at the old man, Grey smiled broadly as he graciously epted the honor with enthusiasm.
"Of course your Grace."
"Now then, Aur, let us get to the reason you''re here."
Aur''s heart nearly jumped out of his chest when he heard that as the atmosphere in the hall immediately got tense. Everyone''s gaze was now fixed on him and the pressure was more than enough to crush an ordinary man.
Stepping forward was Elder Campil who took out a magic device from his storage ring and ced it on the wooden table before a holographic screen suddenly popped up as it disyed a still image of a masked figure wearing a single ck gauntlet on his right arm.
He stood amid battle, faced with two of the three demigod level representatives from the Zorak family as the winds of tempest created an isted realm around him.
"This is."
As the figure was wearing a golden mask, it was natural for Aur not to recognize him but something about the person on the screen sent a thrill of fear down his spine.
"As you may have guessed. This person has been judged to be amongst to highest-ranked members of that mysterious behemoth''s forces. With that said, can you guess what that gauntlet on his arm is?"
"I... I... that can''t be. I took care of him."
Aur waspletely at a loss for words. Of course, he knew what that gauntlet was, an image of it had been burned into his brain by the family so there was no way he could forget about it.
However, thest he knew, the Gauntlet of Haze had gone missing and while the family had suspected Zomatsu, without anyproof, they could not just interrogate a direct descendant of the family, even if he was only half-blood. Such a thing, would''ve made them aughing stock amongst the noble families.
Aur had sent one of his Ghost after Zomatsu and saw he had clearly seen his heart being pierced through the memories of the broken Ghost after a certain intruder had interfered.
Now that he thought about it, that might''ve been the same behemoth they were not talking about but even so. That attack should''ve prevented any type of resurrection spells or skills to be used on Zomatsu''s body while slowly destroying his soul.
So, there was no way. Absolutely no way he could''ve¡ª
"Impossible!!! There''s no way that''s him. He was only a tier 4 scout. How can he kill two demigods? Even with God-tier artifacts that''s asking too much. Someone had to have stolen his storage box and broken past the encryption, there''s no other exnation!"
Nearly driven to madness just by imagining everything he had worked so hard for all his life crumbling because of that man. Aur desperately tried to deny the possibility. And frankly, all the Elders here agreed with him.
After all they all knew that Zomatsu''s potential was only Tier 4 and it was impossible to change ones potential. Such a thing was not something they were willing to ept themselves.
"Viscount Aur, I''ll advise you to not raise your voice in the presence of the Grand Elder again. You''re already walking on thin ice."
"...My-my deepest apologies."
"Back to the topic. It doesn''t matter who that masked demon is. What''s important is that our family''s most precious and sacred innate ability is now in the hands of an outsider."
"I..."
"You also failed to report sending your personal legion into the Darknar region. All of these are crimes punishable by death. However¡ª"
"..."
At this point, Aur was already at his breaking point. Even though he had tried to deny it, he knew full well what would happen to him. Even if he was somehow spared from death, his life, everything he valued the most, what he had spent so many years building.
Everything would be taken away. And all because of that man. That bastard son of the Zorak family. Zomatsu Zorak. Even in death, he had still won agaist him in the end. What a joke his life turned out to be.
"The family had decided to give you another chance. Congrattions, you shall retain your head and title. However, your position as the Lord of Winged city is stripped. In exchange for this leniency, you will be expected to surrender your ghost legion to Lord Nullen who will be taking over control of Winged city within a week."
"Understood."
____________________________________________________________________________
?? End of Volume 5 Part 2 - Undead War.
Chapter 300 C300. Liz’s Workload
Volume 6. Prologue.
???????????????????????????????????????
Tyler''s office was situated on the third floor of the north wing in the Demon''s king castle, it was thest office at the end of the Corridor with armed guards geared in full ted Adamantine armor and were stationed at the door at all times.
Inside, its owner was nowhere to be found yet the faint sound of paper being shuffled could be heard. Next to therge exquisite wooden desk that was meant to be used by Tyler, sat a smaller yet equally exceptional and luxurious table and chair.
Seated upon such a chair was Liz, the recently appointed General Overseer of the Six Great Demon Generals, and by extension, the entire Darknar Family and the territory they controlled.
The expression on her perfect face was currently solemn and she wore a pair of Magic sses as she sat upright to process the mountain of documentsid on the desk.
Of course, Tyler had already assigned a separate office specifically for her, one that was at the very least, equal in status to his own as his vassals were insistent on making him use thergest office even though he couldn''t care less and frankly, arger office made him ufortable.
At first, or at least for the first day, she had indeed been using that office as hers for obviously, clerical purposes. Yet, after only a single day doing that, she had unexpectedly changed her mind saying she could no longer work away from her beloved as she was unable to get any work done that way.
Although her request was met with hesitation at first, her sincere pleas on the practical advantages of her request, inbination with a rare relentless barrage ofints, she was able to receive approval from Tyler after wearing him down.
Frankly, Tyler med Rain for this. If she hadn''t spent the entire day yesterdayzing about in his office with him, then Liz probably wouldn''t have gotten lonely all by herself and probably a little jealous.
However, this was not a good thing for Tyler at all. He had created so many titles and handed out all his responsibilities to more capable individuals because he wasn''t confident in his abilities even with Uriel helping him.
Part of that was also because he had worked insanely hard all his life trying to keep his family afloat and wanted to try beingzy for once.
However, that seems to have backfired as he now had no choice but to work hard now that Liz would be working in his office.
Staring at the vacant seat, Liz lowered her head and pouted slightly. The maid assigned to Tyler''s office for the day (not the one permanently assigned to apany him, Cora.) was standing silently behind her.
Due to that, Liz''s rare expression wentpletely unseen. Her beloved master and husband, (giving as he had given her a ring,) was currently out tending to his duties and so was absent from the Demon King''s Castle, now named, the Darknar Castle.
He was taking care of his business in their new city named, Paragon City. Which had be a lot busier now that it had been a week ago, giving as its poption had now surpassed 11,000. After he had assigned titles to the Six Great Generals, he had naturally assigned jobs to everyone in the temporary throne room two days ago.
He had named the former chief of the Raven settlement, Hecate Redoy Darknar as the Mayor of Paragon City and the Dragonwrought kobold, Tarka as her Deputy Mayor.
Jarrett Zeni Darknar was then named the Captain of the City''s guards and was ced in charge of the city''s security while the former captain of Raven''s settlement guards was named the Vice-Captain.
Talen was named the Captain of the Royal Guards which was an elite unit that was permanently stationed to maintain the defense of the castle along with Tyler''s undead.
Hart was named Vice-captain of the Royal Guards. Berlin and Ragdek were officially named Head cksmiths with other cksmiths working under them to mass produce their tools and equipments. The same goes for the other dwarves as they each headed their own division and trained those interested in learning their crafts.
Of course, those that could learn from them were all regted strictly. After all, their knowledge was incredibly valuable and could not be allowed to be leaked out as Tyler had them working on quite the futuristic projects.
K was assigned to work with Z as his prot¨¦g¨¦ as it seems she was now a lot more interested in bing a scout than a swordsman. Apparently she hadn''t been the same since the events in the red ogre settlement and had only smiled when she is around Z.
Z''s intelligence debision also now had members like Kraz Hlot Darknar, the former intelligence officer for the Raven settlement, alongside everyone that was once part of his unit. They were now all working for Z who had set up amand center in the South wing highest floor.
Gail and Lora had both joined the Royal Guards as head of the sentries and the mages'' units.
Azar, the former chief of the red ogre settlement was named Cheif of the Darkin Settlement. That was the settlement of the Evolved Trolls and Grey trolls that remained in the Darkin mountain range.
They had already built a small settlement in an enclosed space far from the mountain Golems and could now secretly mine those mines still being protected by the Great Five Magic as Tyler was yet to demand their retreat from his region.
A lot of the others in the hall at that time were assigned positions in the divisions headed by the Six Great Demon Generals except for Orias and Mia.
They were the Captain and Vice-Captain of the Raven settlement''s strongest force, the ck Raven, so Tyler thought it best they remained together as a new legion called the ck mes.
This meant he now had three battle legions under his control with the first being the Chaos Lord, Moloc''s Legion, the Chaos Legion that currently onlypromises of two members.
The second was the Lightning General''s Legion, Rain''s assassin''s Legion that was not even formed yet. And now, third, the ck mes who already have over a hundred members and could instantly start recruiting more from the new settlements that had movedto Paragon city.
As for the city itself, construction work had been progressing smoothly ever since the manpower had increased so dramatically. With Loriel and her Azure dragonflies rapidly transporting materials from both the Darknar Forest and the Darkin mountain range, there was no shortage of the raw materials needed to set up the foundations of the city.
However, the roads that were being constructed across the region were not progressing as fast as they should as the workers needed a lot more supplies than they could obtain at the moment. It would help tremendously if they could trade some of the Darknar region''s valuable resources for things they could use but currently, they had no allies.
If this situation is not ratified soon, even Tyler''s persona as a merchant would be unable to sustain them for long.
Currently, Tyler was preparing to return to Winged city as Lix and Nadine as his partner Lilith to conduct a massive trade with the Merchant Guild while also doing so more Magic research at the institute even though he had already taken care of his negative corruption.
Besides that, construction of his very own Merchant organization different from the merchant Guilds was underway and he already had hundreds of merchants in his city. However, as most of them were either lesser demons or demi-humans, they would be unable to makerge trades in most regions.
Frankly, they were currently in the most crucial and fragile state of their growth as a noble family, and with so many things happening at once that needed her input or Approval, it had created a shit ton of work for her.
The main problem lies in the sudden influx of people into the iplete Paragon city, causing arge stock of paperwork to be sent her way as Hecate was busy organizing the construction of the city based on the purposed ns.
Lucky for her, with Albert managing the castle and Erin helping him, the two of them were incredibly efficient as she didn''t have to worry about the castle''s matters for now.
The problem was finding a use for each of Paragon''s city''s new residents as they could not afford any ipetence unless they were either too old or children. Sickness or disability was something that could be easily fixed thanks to Erin''s High Hydriads who were currently the city''s medical units as they trained more healers for the creation of a hospital.
As the Red River had been branched out manually to pass through strategic areas of the city, the High Hydriad had made the River their source so they no longer needed to be supported by Erin and could live on their own as their level of intelligence was quite high.
Liz quietly read through a stack of paperwork in an instant and she slightly frowned as there were still lots of problems in the infrastructure of the city as even with a Mayor, it still needs a lot more ruling types like ministers and ranking officers that could tackle specific tasks and introduced thews to the city''s residents.
However, from the long list of candidates she had been given, none of them seems to be adequately qualified for the positions. This naturally was prolonging her work which was preventing her from spending any time with her master while her friend wad having all the fun with him.
Naturally, this caused her to feel a little irritated and she tried to suppress her emotions but her efforts were in vain. The dissatisfaction in her heart grew and managed to boil over to manifest asints.
"How annoying¡ why are there so may ipetent¡"
Labored breath filled with terror could be heard from behind her, yet it was intentionally ignored by Liz. Bing a leader seems to have affected her a lot as bits of her negative emotions seem to explode out of her in a terrifying pressure anytime she thought of Rain getting closer to Tyler before her.
Still, she needed to be calmer as it seems thinking too much about things always led back to Tyler. To regte her emotions, Liz sighed heavily. She gently twisted her shoulders a couple of times before turning to look at the remaining documents.
Following Paragon city''s¡ª no the Darknar family''s elerating expansion, her workload will continue to increased proportionally unless she finds the right candidates to delegate some of her minor tasks to.
Next was regarding diplomacy:
She was already preparing to have talks with a few selected regions thatcked strong loyalty to the Great Five. Z alongside Nessi had already set out yesterday to further investigate the current situation with these noble families and the best way to approach them as Tyler had no interest in randomly starting wars with the entire continent.
Chapter 301 C301. Management
Still situated on her chair behind her desk in her master''s office. Liz scanned through several hundreds of paperwork that had been neatly ced on her desk.
Frankly, they had only just discovered how to create such high quality pure white paper like these without the use of Magic thanks to Tyler''s input but they had only managed to seed in mass production only two days ago so she was confused about how there were already so manyints since then.
The people she had sent to monitor the state of Paragon City and report back to her seems to work extremely fast and really paid attention to the details on their reports.
The problem now was that she could not go through all her work fast enough due to the fragile state of the paper. If she was to use her full speed in writing on them they would immediately be reduced to ash.
This had caused her great difort as she now had to work at what she considered a snail''s pace. Even though any onlookers that could watch her right now would most likely be stunned speechless as her handsand eyes would be a blur as she went though one stack of paper after another.
After clearing out a section of the files on her desk, Liz moved on to a binder containing detailed reports from two of her master''s shadow rogues. With his permission, she had tasked them with investigating the rather unseen parts of their city.
After all, every city had its dark side and even if they could notpletely eliminate such aspects of Paragon city with Tyler''s presence alone, as long as she monitored it thoroughly, she would be able to quickly eliminate anything that had the potential of bing a problem.
With a quick nce, she finished analyzing the report and a faint sigh escaped her lips.
Although Tyler''s shadows had confirmed the presence of spies from The Great Five families as well as other nobilities, perhaps even ones not loyal to the Greats, none of them seems to behave with any intentions of causing trouble, only opting to observe for now.
With them taking that approach, one which was well within their initial predictions, there was no need for them to act against any of the spies for now and it was best to simply observe their activities for now. As Z was in charge of these affairs, all Liz had to do was memorize the reports in front of her.
Regarding the Internal Affairs of Paragon City, which was a growing metropolitan city with a multitude of different cultures, styles, and personalities due to itsrge diversity in the races of its residents as there was no hierarchy set up for them. The chances of shes between residents with different views was extremely high which could lead to a multitude of conflicts and incidents.
Even so, Paragon City hasn''t experienced many incidents caused by racial tensions, or differences in political views. It wasn''t as though there were none to speak of as Demons and Demon nobles were present in the city, however,pared to other regions, their numbers were shockingly low.
The citizens weren''t technically being threatened into this state either. While they did have a clear understanding of exactly how terrifying their current Demon Lord and his demigod subordinates could be, they''ve also witnessed their Lord''s benevolent and after experiencing how the Kobolds, ogres, hobgoblins, and lesser demons worked happily together with actual dwarves, a race that up till this point had refused to side with demons.
Even the demon nobles who could not fully understand orprehend their master''s ideal had decided to put their faith in him and had all choosen the live by it.
The crime rate in the city was also almost none existent as food and shelter were currently being provided by the city until a solid infrastructure for the city has been established.
Although misdemeanors had urred, none dared tomit a felony. Currently, Paragon City had be as its name intended, a haven where the weak could walk the streets at night without worrying about their safety.
Of Course, this was the demon continent and much like humans, some demons just can''t have nice things so they had to stir up trouble trying to expose the fake demon king, as they proimed.
As far as Kali and re had been able to investigate, none of these people were instigated by the spies so they were all just fools trying to create chaos where there was none in an effort to provoke the Great Demon Lord as they didn''t seem to believe in the rumors circting about his might.
Some thought he was just a lucky demon noble that had somehow lucked into the demon king''s castle by ident and was relying solely on the treasure he had found within.
Other''s thought he was just a puppet of the Great Five and wasn''t deserving of their respect or loyalty. Either way, they were the minority that wanted to stand out by any means necessary so they chose chaos.
Well, that was exactly the best idea, after all, the lord of chaos was bing bored with ying with her only subordinate so those people are sent to her and never heard of again.
While this might be considered a bit harsh, the city was just getting started and there weren''t manyws already enforce yet so there was no established punishment for criminals and it would be a waste of their dwindling resources to keep them alive.
Some of them were even being experimented on by Emrys in order to create stronger undead with less, but frankly, there weren''t that many of them which was slowing down his progress. Although for the city, theck of insane criminals was a good thing as it wasying the foundations for the peaceful city that Tyler desired.
A crime that urs in such a peaceful city is then a matter of utmost importance to Liz and Jarret, the newly appointed Captain of the city''s Guards and in charge of security.
He was currently in the midst of training and recruiting strong intelligent candidates to assist in the management of the city''s security as well as stop any thoughts of crimes.
Of course, not all crimes would be that straightforward soplicated and premeditated crimes would soon be a thing. However, this was not earth, and unless the criminal was stronger than Erin, there was nothing they could hide from her.
Besides, once they had even identified the suspect, it would be impossible to lie to even Jarret who possesses the innate ability of Spirit Vision and after receiving a boost to his potential by Tyler, he could now see straight into the soul and gain a lot of information from anyone he simply took a nce at.
This was why Tyler had made him the Captain of the city''s guard as he could easily monitor the entire city from thefort of his office which was made to have an absolutely massive ss window.
Of course, the construction of the city was still in its infancy stages so no offices have been built yet but that was Tyler''s reasoning.
As Liz went through the mountain of paperwork on her desk, the pen in her hands moved at a staggering speed but was still nowhere close to what she was capable of.
She did more than sign off on the reports and jotted down a summary of her work as well as on the things she didn''t feelfortable approving of without her master''s input.
After all, it was her job to prepare a summarized report for her master on a daily basis. With that in mind, she continued to go through the stacks of paperwork on her desk at a staggering pace while simultaneously taking notes on the white sheet of paper she had prepared beforehand.
After about a few more hours of this, her pen finally stopped moving as soon as she finished reading the report and the process to transcribe the keywords she had noted down began.
After spending more time transcribing the most important details, proposals, and other such documents than she had spent reading, it was finally ready.
Skimming over thepleted document from top to bottom, Liz''s lips formed the tiniest sliver of a smile. This wasn''t for the fact that she had justpleted another task, but was simply borne from the gratification of knowing she had been able to live up to Tyler''s expectations when he had given her this responsibility.
She ced the documents back into the binder and raised it gently into the air where it was received by the maid on standby, who subsequently ced it on Tyler''s desk.
This was actually the fourth binder she has had to go through today. A slightly concerned expression could be seen on her face, her current situation isn''t great, to say the least.
The Darknar Family has steadily been expanding its influence over all areas of the Darknar region recently, causing them no end of troubles and hups along the way.
Thanks to that, even when she did her best topile only the most important details of her work in apressed report, the number of documents that must be brought to her master''s attention was farrger than she would like.
It was supposed to be her job to make her master''s work easier yet there was nothing she could do about that. The main reason for this was theck of truly capable subordinates.
Even with the help of everyone Tyler had bestowed with his name, it wasn''t enough as most of the people working in the city and even the castle were not used to paperwork and tend to write reports with minimal information, forcing her to halt her work and investigate.
She had already met with countless examples of such cases yesterday, causing her to spend the whole day in her former office working.
Aside from the Demons and former Demon nobles in the city, most of the demi-humans and lesser demons around were not capable literates as living as freemen in a dangerous region like this required more brawns than brains.
The only exception was the Raven settlement whose strength was based on their intelligence and strategies. They were the only ones keeping the city afloat at the moment as most of them held a managerial position.
However, freemen settlement''s poption tend to be few in numbers, leaving no actual need for a stabilized Infrastructure to be set up as they also needed to be able to relocate at a moment''s notice.
Tyler was also against hiring strictly those demon nobles as he wanted to give everyone a fair chance.
That was why and educational system was being designed by Erin so she had to hang one for a while longer.
With thatst binder, Liz was finally relieved as she was now done with her work for the day and could now rejoin her beloved master in the city, leaving Albert in charge of the castle until her return.
"I''ll be heading out for a while, If anyonees looking for me, tell them that I''m absent for the moment and they should report to Albert if it''s important."
Before the maid could even find the chance to reply, Liz''s figure had already disappeared from the room as she had used Spatial Teleportation to transport herself instantly to Paragon City.
Chapter 302 C302. Izabel’s Heritage
In the Taine Ze Region and its capital, Sun City. There lies the Brimstone Family''s main Castle, which contains the Sun King''s Pce, within which is a luxurious office filled with all sorts of exquisite items of furniture.
In the office where generations of Great Demon Lords performed their duties, its rightful owner, Malik Vyle Brimstone, was nowhere to be found. Instead, the room was currently being upied by the second princess of the family, Izabel H. Brimstone.
Izabel sat behind the Demon Lord''s desk as she went through a stack of paperwork. As the demon lord was currently in a meeting with all of the highest-ranking members of the family, she was the one left in charge.
While her father, the Great Demon Lord, had many offsprings, she and her sisters were the only purebloods amongst his children and thus, the only legitimate heirs. Normally, her sister would be the first in line for such a task but her father was well aware of her twisted personality and could not trust her with it so the duty naturally feel to her as the second in line.
Frankly, this wasn''t even a job to be proud of as any of the ministers could do it. As she was still the head of the family''s specialized division, she should''ve been invited to that meeting yet she wasn''t. This only goes to show how much her family''s faith in her abilities was dwindling, especially whenpared to her insanely talented sister.
Hell, if she hadn''t retired from her post herself, Izabel was sure she would most likely have already been married off and her younger sister who was still in the Magic Academy would take her ce.
''How vexing.''
Izabel thought as she shook her head to get rid of the negative thoughts before returning to her work.
Her face then immediately grew dark as she stared at the documents that were submitted, a heavy sigh escaped her mouth. Surely no one could keep a cheerful expression after reading through said documents, especially not in her current state.
The document''s contents detailed the current state of the Darknar region, in corrtion with the Taine Ze Region.
During the War of the Undead Army, though it would be more urate to call it a massacre, all of the Brimstone family''s representatives lost their lives in a less than dignified fashion. This also included the few extra scouts they had sent in secret.
Even so, it wasn''t as though the damage inflicted on their family was significant. While demigods were incredibly valuable resources and even she¡ª a direct descendant of the Great Demon Lord and the second princess of the Brimstone Family¡ª wasn''t close to bing one. Still, they were not something that any of the great five would cry about.
Not only did the Great Five all have the resources of nurturing talented individuals into demigods, but they also had tools and artifacts capable of bolstering the strengths of Demon lord level fighters to demigod level.
This was something no other noble family could muster as they would be lucky to have a Demon lord level fighter beside their actual demon lord, much less, demigods level.
Still, they had lost more than 20% of their most capable scouts with the most useful of innate abilities that were crucial to the family''s information gathering abilities.
Not only that but their representatives had also been used in sending a message to them as they had beenpletely massacred in a more than humiliating fashion. Such disgrace hadpletely damaged their reputation as one of the Great Five.
The negative impact of this loss was gradually bing apparent and this was all clearly outlined in the document. Not only did this affect their standing with the other Greats, but even the lower ranking nobilities were beginning to look down on them as the weakest link amongst the Five.
Izabel let out a groan as she ced the document on the table, her vision shifted focus to the other person in the room and with great hesitation, she asked.
"Hey, sister. How would you deal with this if you were still in charge?"
Upon hearing the question, her sister, Citrus H. Brimstone, who sat on a chaise longue far away from her, smiled mischievously as she raised her head. Citrus, who had been forced by Izabel to look through a different set of documents had finally found an opportunity to escape for a while.
Although one could consider her a genius, she was never a fan of doing paperwork which was a huge part of her responsibilities as the former leader of the specialized division and was part of the reason why she had decided to retire early and hand over the reins to her little sister.
"Hey... that''s mean... but, even if you asked me what I would do... my dear Lil sis, how can I give an answer when you haven''t even given me enough details in your question? I don''t read minds you know. Then again I could if I wanted to~"
"Please be serious and pay attention, otherwise there''s no point in you being around me. It''s about this."
Izabel ignored her sister''s distracting tactics and stayed focused on the point. She did not bother with an exnation, she just picked up the documentsshe hadid down and fanned them around.
Citrus, hearing her Lil sister lightly threatened her pouted cutely with an ecstatic expression on her face and stood up, walked towards Izabel, and took the documents from her.
"...Huh."
After scanning the document from top to bottom, Citrus''s expression returned to normal as she replied in a casual tone.
"That...there''s nothing we can do about it at this point. It''s the Elders'' fault for not taking it seriously, they should''ve begged me to go, hehe~"
"Damn¡"
Izabel raised his head towards the ceiling with a defeated expression on her face. Her hand instinctively yed with her amulet as sighed.
If her sister, who was much more brilliant than her, said this, then there really wasn''t anything they could do about it. However, as they were currently ced in charge of handling the situation in Darknar, they could not just give up on something like this so easily.
It was clear the behemoth was holding a grudge against them for kidnapping the ice girl and frankly, she could understand why.
With the force he had disyed on the battlefield that day, if they were a normal noble family, he probably would''ve already attacked.
"Is this matter really that troublesome? Even though our family''s strength has waned temporarily, that''s all it is, it''s all temporary. I don''t believe that it''s serious enough to warrant that defeated expression on my darling little sister''s face. Besides, this only makes things interesting don''t you think~"
Moving behind Izabel, Citrus took the chance to hug her from behind as she spoke with a somewhat predatory grin on her face and a glint in her eyes, which garnered a reaction from Izabel.
"Stop that!"
"Hehe... you''re so cute when you''re mad, I love it~"
"You annoy me, can you please just focus for once. If it was only our family''s strength that''s weakened temporarily that would be fine. But not only has this traitor situation hamper our trades with the other family, but we''ve also lost ess to our mines in the Darknar region."
"And so~"
"Sigh... why can you only think of yourself every time. I''m sure you remember that our Taine Ze region is a desert region don''t you."
"Yup, yup... lots of sand everywhere~ I don''t like it."
With a sudden pr change in expressions, Citrus replied before walking away from Izabel.
"My point is, our region doesn''t have the resources to produce most of our own foods, hence why we rely on importation from our branch family''s regions. Even so, the poption of those regions is also high so they can only spare a minimal amount of food supplies for us. That''s why we buy the rest doing regr trades with the other families."
"This is not interesting stoppp..."
"Be quiet. As I was saying, in order to make trades with the other families we need finances and besides the taxes enforced on the Hunter HQ and the Merchant Guild, as well as our yearly tax collection, 30% of all our financeses from our Mines in the Darknar region. Without that, trading for food with the other regions will be impossible and our people will slowly starve."
"You don''t say. How fascinating."
Citrus replied sarcastically as she returned to her seat andy there with a bored expression on her face.
"Please be serious. I''m the one who''s gonna get in trouble if I don''t handle this. I''m not exactly... just forget it."
Thinking about how she had struggled to catch up to her sister all her life, Izabel suddenly felt the energy drain out of her she sank back into her seat.
"First of all, this is not your job, you''re doing too much again. Secondly, this is boring so I''m gonna take a nap right here. Thirdly, if you need information you should probably meet that boring guy. Besides, we''re the Brimstones, we could always just take what we need from the other regions, what''s the point in demons being so political these days. Ridiculous."
Saying that Citruszily closed her eyes as she pretended to fall asleep while pouring a bit. Izabel was a little annoyed but at this point, there was nothing she could do about this.
She was the one who asked for her help so she had to deal with this. Besides, this was the first she had ever heard Citrus speak seriously without making inappropriate jokes or slyments.
Although she hated to admit it, her sister was probably right. Her original mission in going to the Darknar region the first time was to capture the water nymph, Erin, and kill Albert, who was the one responsible for her escape in the first ce.
However, with both parties constantly within the safety of the barrier, they had decided to switch their target to the unknown demoness noble that was clearly the direct descendant of the Alcar family in order to steal her innate ability.
Although the mission seems to have also ended in failure, the truth of the matter is, they had actually seeded in their part as they had aplished their mission the moment they delivered the girl to theb so it wasn''t their fault if the entireb was destroyed by that behemoth.
However, Izabel could not help but feel unsatisfied with that oue. Ever since she had inherited her post from her more talented older sister, she couldn''t help but continuously walk in her shadow.
For someone like her that was considered average inparison to both her elder and even her younger sister, she couldn''t help but have the drive to constantly prove herself to everyone around her, including herself.
The job with the nymph had been her first real mission since she was promoted so she had wanted to impress the Great Demon Lord yet, once again, she had returned in shame.
She was already well aware that some believe if it were to be her sisters, they would have never returned in failure.
With that, the faction of the elders that believes she should be removed as the current heir to the family in ce of her younger sister seems to be growing rapidly.
As she could not afford another failure, she had asked the one person she could not escape beingpared to for help, and still, she had only seeded by utilizing a technicality.
''This is so unfair.''
Chapter 303 C303. Butterfly Effects
After the events of the undead war hade to an end, words of the missing behemoth of greed, Mammon. Slowly spread across the demon continent, leading the demon masses to specte on the activities of the infamous seven primordial behemoths.
Although the Primordials had been around for more than half a millennium now, it was only natural that the general public would doubt their existence as none of them had made any moves in the main continent since their great revolution against the Great Five, opting to remain within the confines of their own region in the outskirts of the demon continent.
Theirck of a presence in the main continent had led themon masses to lose fate in their existence entirely. B their stories was nothing more than a fairytale fabricated by the minorities to give hope to their future Generations.
As only the truly strong could venture safely towards the Primordials'' regions, it was almost impossible to confirm the existence of these behemoths for themoners.
However, with the news of the disappearance of the behemoth of Greed, Mammon, spreading like wildfire, the seven great behemoths had been a little activetely and Mammon''s region had been thrown into a frenzy in the search for his sessor yet again.
Naturally, they had decided to hold a tournament of power within the next few months and as per the rules, everyone, including demons and demon nobles were qualified to participate.
This hadn''t happened in over a hundred years, causing an uproar in the lives of the regr civilians of all-regions. Spections on how the behemoth of Greed had died had begun to spread simr to his demise, as the news of the event the unfolds during the undead war also followed suit.
Some said Mammon had joined forces with the mysterious behemoth to challenge the Great Five who were responsible for orchestrating the undead war and had been fallen in battle. Others said he had been betrayed by the mysterious behemoth and died at his hands.
Some said that his death waspletely unrted to the war. However, no matter what was said, one thing was constant and that was the Great Five''s involvement in the war that had taken the demon continent by storm.
Many spected on what this war had meant and why the Great Five couldn''t just bring down their full force on this mysterious behemoth instead of going through such a roundabout method of challenging him like they were afraid of something.
The answer to this question was simple, and that was because, for some reason, they just couldn''t or rather, they wouldn''t. For a single behemoth to bring the mighty Great Demon Lords to hesitate even as he took over the Darknar region and settled inside the demon king''s castle, such a thing waspletely in fathomable.
That was something even the Seven primordials couldn''t achieve in more than 500 years. There was no way this behemoth was ordinary, he couldn''t even bepared to the seven primordials.
As these events became gossip in the ears of the masses, the stories got more escted the further it spreads to the point that almost no body could believe or rather ept the idea as a possibility. However, for those who could locate the truth amongst the sea of lies, these chain of events had left the entire continent and beyond scratching their heads as they asked the question:
What did this mean?
For a single behemoth to im the demon king''s region, forcing the Great Five to not make a move by sheer force. There was only one person everyone could think of that had the power and authority to make the Greats shiver. That person was none other than, the demon king of Destruction.
Whispers of this mysterious behemoth being the reincarnation of the demon king slowly began to spread with many dismissing the idea as ludicrous. However, for those who had remained loyal to the demon king even after all this time, they had all taken this far fetch rumors to heart as they secretly sent out their scouts to investigate in hopes that there was some truth to the rumors.
However, even if the rumors were false, one thing remained the absolute truth.
The demon continent was a ce that was ruled by absolute power even though most of its chaos had been watered down by the nobles over the centuries.
Still, it was clear that this mysterious behemoth had the strength that matched each of the great fives. A strength that could not be taken lightly. With such power and authority, one thing was clear to all those who heard it. This was the rise of the Sixth Great Demon Lord, and by extension, his family.
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As numerous rumors of his identity and exploits spread and esctes far across the demon continent, Tyler remained oblivious to the potential problems as he made his way to his newfound city.
While he could''ve easily teleported to the city, Albert had been against that idea as he had suggested Tyler makes a grand entrance. Compared to before when his city had barely 2,000 residents, the poption had grown rapidly in only a week.
Of course, this had caused a lot of problems for him and he seemed to have bitten more than he could handle but luckily he didn''t have to do all the work himself. Frankly, he had spent most of his time yesterdayzing about in the castle with Rain.
Well, that may have been a bad idea in hindsight as he had ended up being pressured into allowing Liz to move into his office. With that, his ns of an easy life seem to have gone down the drain as he now had to do actual paperwork as though he was an office worker.
Of course, none of his vassals wanted him to work that hard in the first ce. Asoriginally intended, he would''ve only had to dictate a general direction or goal for his subordinates to work towards. All he has to do is to sit back on his throne and observe the hard work of his new family.
The fact that reality did not match expectations was not considered his fault in the least. To his generals, it seems they think that those that could match his expectations were few and far between, in other words, theyck sufficient talent.
Of course, Tyler did not refute them as he didn''t want to be dragged into some more convoluted andplicated ns he could barely keep up with. At this point, even Uriel''s exnations were getting increasingly more difficult for him to understand. It was as though she was increasing the difficulty little by little just to get him to improve.
''What a shrewd A.I I''ve gotten.''
Speaking of Uriel, he could easily solve all their current problems just by relying on her brilliance, passing it off as his own and bing as his subordinates already saw him.
An all-powerful, all knowing and hyper-intelligent Supreme entity.
However, Tyler was actively trying to break that perfect persona in their eyes as carefully as he could without damaging his reputation or losing their loyalty so he wanted the foundations of the new Darknar region to be born of everyone''s hard work and effort and not just by his hands.
That said, he still wanted to create a perfect, or at the very least, near a perfect and peaceful city with technology that could match or even surpass the modern era. So naturally, he had to rely on Uriel to helpe up with ideas for the dwarves to work on for him and had already assigned them with a multitude of projects.
Amongst all his subordinates, he seems to been working them the hardest so he was sure to prepare a descent reward based on their preferences.
????????
Having been dressed for a public appearance by Cora, Tyler and Rain who seemingly had nothing to do and had been tagging along with him since yesterday, exited the castle''s gate in a Magic carriage pulled by tworge and glistening silver wolves adorn by fashionable and high quality gear.
The carriage he was on was the previous in Magic carriage he had brought with him from the Red ogre settlement. However, it''s looks had been touched by the masterful hands of Darren and Hulnyl.
In less than a day, they hadpletely transformed the carriage into a Royal coach.
The carriage was adorned with gold and glistening emeralds as the crest of the Darknar family that could be found at then entrance of the castle, was engraved in gold on the walls of the carriage. A newly designed g containing a simr crest was also flown on both side of the carriage.
The majestic silver wolves that pulled the carriage were different from the regr silver wolves that Tyler had seen before as these were considered magic beast at the Tier 4 standard. Such beast would not normally be used as mounts as they were almost impossible to fully train but Tyler had the Might and Domination Demonic eyes and had practically turned them into well trained yet hardly puppies.
With the surrender of the Queen of the south, Daenerys. As well as the death of both the Ancient Rykir of the East and the Undead King of the west. Along with the banishment of the Great Five''s scouts, Tyler now had control of over 70% of the Darknar forest and its resources.
So naturally, he had sent people to manage the dangerous forest and capture any useful magic beast they came across. As the offer Z had made to Daenerys involves her maintaining sovereignty over her part of the forest under Tyler''s banner, Tyler did not stop her from returning back to her kingdom with most of the demi-humans that she had led during the war.
He simply sent one of the new shadow rogues he had created from the corpse of the few of Daenerys''s demi-humans that had died during the war, back with her to keep a close watch on her activities.
He had created about five more of them but even with the boost from the ring of death, their levels were still quite low and their intelligence was not that high so he didn''t bother keeping them around him or trusting them with anything tooplicated.
He had also sent Moloc''s Chaos Legion promising only Azalea) into the forest to subjugate and tame any powerful and intelligent magic beast in there and have them serve as a recement for the ancient Rykir and undead king alongside Daenerys.
He also nned on dealing with the king of the North at ater date. His only worry was that Moloc wouldn''t go overboard and destroy the forest.
''That reminds me. I should probably learn Time maniption as insurance against things like this. It would be bad if I made I mistake I couldn''t fix in the future wouldn''t it.''
[Notice: The God of Time, Linkway will attempt to prevent any unnecessary changes to time by any means necessary.]
''Wait seriously? There''s a god of time? How did I not know of this.''
[Their existence is inconsequential to masters ns so I have deemed them unnecessary. There is no need to worry about being that can no longer step foot in the physical nes so as long as master doesn''t venture into their domain unprepared, they are of no importance.]
''Of no importance. Where are you getting so much confidence from. Well whatever, there isn''t much I can do now anyway.''
Knowing that he would only drive himself crazy if he thought about this too deeply, Tyler quickly shook the idea off his head as he made a mental note to himself on what to ve mifful of in the future and return his focus back to his ride to Paragon city with Rain.
Tyler knew the trip to the city from his castle took about 10-15 minutes on the paved road. However, the moment he opened his eyes, he quickly realized that their carriage had already arrived in front of Paragon city''s gate, and just by what he saw with his Magic sense alone, his eyes widened.
Chapter 304 C304. Grand Entrance
The distance from the Darknar Castle to Paragon city was roughly around 10-15 minutes on a carriage, or riding on horseback and depending on the speed of the mount one used.
Normally, the castle of the Lord would be built in the center of said Lord''s capital city, or in this case where the castle was built first, the city would be built around the castle.
However, the demon king''s castle was a different story.
Even in the past, the castle had existed outside the fallen Darknar city. This was because the castle was the demon king''s residence as well as a treasure trove of insanely valuable wealth and Magic knowledge and resources.
Thus, not only was the castle a prime target for his enemies, but it was also the one ce where he would be the most vulnerable. As the demob king was someone that could use all manner of magic, it was reasonable to assume that the castle would contain the mostprehensive collection of Magic knowledge known to man.
As magic books or tools were not things that could be easily destroyed, there was a high chance of an area bombardment from those desperate to bring him down.
In order to prevent the city from being coteral damage and going through the process of rebuilding it over and over again, the demon king had decided to build his castle a few meters away from the city.
After all, back then, there was no Five or sixyered barrier protecting the castle from any sudden attacks, especially from a God Tier artifact.
So having opted on building his city in the ruins of Darknar city, Tyler had chosen to keep the city separate from the castle just like his predecessor. The only connection it had was the paved road that led directly from the main gate of the Darknar castle to a special gate at one end of the city.
The trip had taken less than 10 minutes due to the speed of the silver wolves even though they had not even been running the entire time.
Arriving before his private entrance to the city, (which was the massive gate by the south end of the city,) Tyler''s mouth almost went agape as he took in the entire city with his magic sense.
This was no longer the little town he had been in just two weeks ago as they were currently in front of a massive pitch ck gate, more than 20 ft tall.
The gate itself seems to have been made from a high-quality metal like Orichalcum or Duranium, maybe even something as ridiculously rare as Tritanium.
As they now had ess to the mines at the Darkin mountain range, getting their hands on valuable metals like those was not as difficult as it once was.
Besides, the fact that Tyler couldn''t tell by a single nce meant that the gate was probably also enchanted by Magic. The most likely scenario was that basic or intermediate Magic runes were engraved on its surface.
[Answer: Paragon City''s gates were created by thebined efforts of the Master cksmiths, Ragdek, and Bungo the entric. The gates were created using elements from metals like Orichalcum, Duranium, Tritanium, and also magic metals like Runite. The Gates have also been enchanted with intermediate defensive Magic runes.]
''Oh, wow, they really went all out for this, didn''t they. How many gates are there again?''
[There are three gates at various ends of the city. The main entrance is located at the east end, the master''s private entrance is located at the south end and the service entrance is located at the western end. There are no entrances at the northern end.]
''I see. But isn''t having so many entrances bad?''
[No.]
''That''s a quick response.''
Frankly, the massive oppressive-looking gate wasn''t the only thing that had surprised him as a lot of the city had changed since thest time he was here. After all, thest time he was here, this ce could barely be called a town and only hand wooden walls protecting its borders.
Now, however, the city had esnaded its territory by more than 10 folds and although most of thend inside was still empty, from the walls alone, Tyler could tell that this city was insanelyrge, spanning over 5,000 square meters.
''Why the fuck is it sorge.''
[The city was built to epass the fallen city of Darknar and nothing more.]
''Or really.''
Tyler was at a loss for words as he kept his eyes closed while observing the city from within his carriage.
Toplement the sturdy-looking gate was tall and thick brick walls that stretched as far as the eyes could see. He was actually genuinely surprised to see that they had already if she''d building the walls over such a massive area ofnd in the snow but it seems that the Kobolds and Azure dragonflies'' abilities made such work easier.
The carriage they were in waspletely covered so Tyler had been using his magic sense to look around. Rain on the other hand didn''t bother as she was still focused on something else.
He had left the dwarves Darren in charge of the city''s construction based on the blueprint he approved of but had underestimated the scaling of the city. Math really was never his strong suit.
''I probably should''ve asked Uriel for help shouldn''t I?''
[...sigh...]
''Hehe... my bad, my bad.''
Tyler felt Uriel rolling her non-existent eyes at him in his head as he mentally Strachey the back of his head.
Stationed atop the walls were the city''s sentries assigned by Jarret. Even though most of them had never met him, they could urately see where the carriage hade from and immediately opened up the gate without asking any questions.
After all, this gate was made specifically for his use.
As the massive gates parted ways like the Red Sea, their carriage moved into the city that was currently still under construction.
Tyler could senserge buildings being constructed in different sections of the city as well as other residential bourses. Even though most of the residents here didn''t have any experience with construction, Darren was doing a good job supervising them and the Magic tools made by Ragdek made their work easier.
There were still massive tents pitched in the open space all around the city and only a handful of houses had beenpleted. However, amongst these houses, was a mansion at the center of the city.
Naturally, this was the city''s lord''s mansion where Hecate and Tarka had made their residents. The mansion was only partlypleted at the moment. Its style and design were a lot different from the other buildings around as it almost resembled a pce.
All the major roads in the city had already been paved and Magicmps were neatly ced on both sides of the roads. The red river that had been diverted to run through the city as its water supply was masterfully done as it yed into the design of the city and was aesthetically pleasing to behold.
With the basic structure of the city already in ce, even at such an early stage in its construction, the city was already looking like a proper metropolitan city.
The red River was also made to run through the city''s main entrance at the eastern end of the city. A wide stone bridge was created to connect the city to the other side. This was done to control the direction from which the city''s traffic flows.
The gate at the western end of the city was made to face the darknar forest as it would be used in transporting materials in and out of the city. Using that gate would require special permission so only authorized personnel would be able to.
Of course, Loriel''s dragonflies could simply fly over the city''s wall but Tyler nned to set up some aerial defense spells across the entire city, however, that would require a lot of manpower and mana to maintain. He also couldn''t remain in the city constantly.
Then again, creating a clone of himself would aplish the task but his clone probably couldn''t maintain the barrier for long as it was 30% weaker than his original self.
Besides, the effects of the aerial defensive spells he knew could notst forever so he would need to provide a constant source of immerse energy for the spell to cover such a wide range and even 10 of the high-grade magic crystals with him would notst a day.
The only exception to this rule he knew of was the barrier constantly surrounding the castle.
It was a mystery how the demon king was able to maintain such a powerful spell for a thousand years as the source of its energy was yet to be discovered and the only ce Tyler could think it would be was behind the throne room.
However, Tyler didn''t have the time right now to satisfy his curiosity so he had kept that in the back of his mind. Focusing back on protecting his city.
He had already tasked Ragdek with creating a device for that but currently, the city was burning through the scrolls he had given them. He also doesn''t want the Great Five keeping taps on their progress so he had no choice but to sacrifice those precious scrolls.
He would have to restock when he goes back to Winged City.
Entering the city, Tyler saw some of the residents crowding by the sides of the roads as though they had been expecting him.
Even though he was riding on an enclosed carriage through the open road, they were all cheering with excitement as the kids waved at the passing carriage.
As most of this city''s residents were once freemen struggling to survive amongst the dangers of the Darknar region and the demon continent as a whole. It was understandable why they would be so excited to see the one who had practically saved them from that and was even building a city where they could all live in peace on such a chaotic continent.
Naturally, there were those whose excitement had crossed the limit as they desired to see their leader even just a little and had forgotten themselves.
The newly appointed city''s guards were doing their jobs as they kept those residents in check and the streets cleared.
After all, Tyler was now considered a Great Demon Lord at the very least and any show of respect even if it was born of excitement would be met with harsh punishment. Naturally, Tyler didn''t know about thisw.
The carriage moved slowly down the street and Tyler felt more embarrassed with each passing second as he couldn''t to even bring himself to wave at his subordinates even through the windows as he could clearly hear the chatters going on within the crowds.
"Wow, what a majestic carriage."
"Look at those mounts. Are they Alpha wolves? Oh my lord! This is amazing."
"Shit is that really him. I can barely even breathe from looking at the carriage alone what pressure. I''m getting goosebumps."
"I''ve never seen him before but I heard that he Single-handedly destroyed over one million shadow Monsters with a single spell."
"Holy unholy Crap, that''s insane! Shit shouldn''t we be bowing right now."
"Wait isn''t that all exaggerated though."
"Exaggerated or not. It''s a fact that Lord Ty has more than ten demon lord-level of even stronger subordinates under him. There''s no way our leader is weaker than even the great five demob lords."
"Of course not. Don''t you know where we are, this is the demon king''s region? There''s no way our king will be weaker than those bastards that think themselves royalty."
"You''re totally right. Haven''t the Great Five been trying to ess the Darknar castle for centuries now, yet Lord Ty can simply pass through the barrier and allows anyone he wants in? If that''s not the only proof we need that our king''s return then to hell with anyone who can''t see that!"
"Exactly! Lord Ty is our Demon King no matter what the world says! King live your majesty."
"Long live his majesty!!!"
A chant slowly broke out within the crowd all the way to the Lord''s mansion as Tyler almost sank in his seat from embarrassment.
''Oh Albert, what the hell have you been spreading about me.''
Chapter 305 C305. Public Appearance
Hearing the whispers of so many people excitedly proiming him the demon king, Tyler couldn''t help but fe little overwhelmed. It was a good thing he hadn''t opened the carriage''s window as he was already panicking at the immersed pressure brought about by their high expectations.
However, before his rising emotions could go berserk, they suddenly disappearedpletely due to the automatic use of the cate spell, causing Tyler to almost forget why he had been so anxious in the first ce as he was able to maintain hisposure.
This feature of Uriel''s ability was the reason he hadn''t yet sumbed to the weight of the pressure brought about by so many ridiculously high expectations as she always knew the right time to use the spell. Giving him the ability to maintain a clear and calcting mind at all times.
Still, for an asion such as this, riding in on a pnquin or an open carriage would''ve been a more traditional way to make his first appearance to his citizens. However, Tyler had chosen not to do this for obvious reasons.
Luckily for him, the question never once crossed the spectators'' minds as they were already overexcited from the visage of the luxurious carriage drawn by two majestic magic beasts. They could also feel the grand presence of a superior being that transcended theirprehension.
However, the people''s excitement was not born from his presence alone as quite a bit of them seems to have been drawn in by the slender figure driving the carriage.
She was a young beastgirl with a tanned skin tone and a pair of ck dog ears that rested at the top of her hair, styledzily in a singlerge braid.
Adorned by an exquisite set of magic form-fitting armor, she smiled confidently as her almost none existent chest puffed out proudly while subconsciously attracting most of the males'' attention with her racial skill, Cutesy.
*Phew... ''That was close.''
Seeing a lot of the attention being redirected towards Nadine, Tyler sighed heavily as he felt a lot lighter just from that.
"Is something the matter?"
A melodious and fruity voice rang from beside him as Tyler shifted his gaze to the world-ss beauty that sat beside him. She was currently dressed formerly in a gorgeous form-fitting purplish-ck dress, with short ck hair and dark skin.
Her body was adorned with a constetion of jewelry, giving her the radiance of a true noble. However, the childlike gleam in her glistening green eyes told of how free-spirited she truly was.
Tyler hadn''t expected her to take anything seriously but she was genuinely excited to apany him to such a former asion and had even taken the time to prepare so he had no choice but to bring her along.
Then again, she was probably just taking advantage of Liz''s absence once again which may end up causing some problems for him down the line.
There were also two others seated in the carriage with them, namely, his personal maid, Cora, and one of his shadow rogues, Zelda.
As he had left Maeve behind in the castle to contact him in case of an emergency that restricted normal means ofmunication, Zelda was the only shadow rogue with him currently as Kali and re were hidden somewhere in the city investigating on Liz''s request.
Nessi was also busy aiding Z with his investigations on the various noble families in the demon continent.
Perhaps due to the absence of her peers, Zelda had decided not to hide in his shadows for this asion which wasn''t really a bad thing as her existence was not meant to be a secret.
Tyler figured she would probably be bored without the others around so he didn''t mind her hanging around as long as it was what she wanted and maybe see if she would be able to have fun. Not that he could tell whether she was having fun at all as her expression rarely ever changes, to begin with.
''That''s kind of amusing.''
Chuckling softly to himself after taking a nce at Zelda''s face, Tylerposed himself before returning his attention to Rain and answered.
"Not at all, there''s nothing wrong. I''m fine."
"I see, I''m d."
Seeing Tyler smile faintly at her, Rain epted his answer without questions as she nodded and smiled back. Their slow trip through the south side of the city to the Central mansion no longer felt long as Nadine drew most of the attention to herself and she seemed to enjoy it.
However, to Tyler''s dismay, there were a lot more people surrounding the entrance to the city''s Lord''s mansion, awaiting his arrival alongside all the city''s current officials. A red carpet had also beenid out for him which had only made the situation worse for his nerves.
''I shouldn''t have listened to Albert.''
Tyler thought as he sensed the expectations of the masses waiting to gaze on his majestic visage. He could not help but fear that they would only face disappointment the moment theyid eyes on him and he would end up embarrassing himself by making a silly mistake.
Tyler''s mind suddenly got clouded again as countless negative scenarios yed repeatedly in his head, causing his mind to hesitate for a while even after the carriage hade to a stop.
"Hmm, Lord Ty."
Feeling Rain''s hands suddenly take a hold of him, Tyler promptly snapped back to reality as he turned his gaze once again to meet hers.
"I know I can be a little too excited sometimes and maybe unreliable to you but please, if something is weighing on your mind you can be confined in me. I may not be able to help someone like you but I''d do anything to support you whenever you need me to."
Surprised to see Rain be so serious and also the voice of reason all of a sudden. Tyler could not help but forget all his worries. The only reason he was so anxious was because of the number of people that would be staring straight at him but there was really no need to worry.
He had made it this far without messing up too badly so why would he start now. Even if he made a mistake, he was always fast enough to react in order to rectify it on time. All he needed now was to be a bit more confident in himself and have faith in the ones closest to him.
''I really I''m silly.''
Tyler chuckled at his silliness as he reassured Rain that he was fine. As a gentleman, he couldn''t let a girl keep worrying about him so he needed to step up, reaching his fingers out to gently graze over her cheeks, Tyler answered.
"My apologies, I didn''t mean to worry you for no reason but I''m d you''re by my side right now so don''t worry. All you have to do is stay close and I''ll be fine."
Hearing his direct words caused Rain to suddenly retreat in an uncharacteristic show of bashfulness that surprised Tyler.
The carriage came to an abrupt halt in front of the red carpet as its doors slowly swung open, the first to exit the carriage was Zelda as she was acting as his bodyguard and was required to protect him in case of an assassination attack.
Not that any attacks could take him by surprise at this point but Tyler was advised to maintain a semnce of noble culture so he had no choice.
Next wad his maid Cora, who quickly moved to the side to await her master. Although Nadine still attracted a lot of the men''s attention as the carriage came to a halt, Zelda''s cold demeanor and deadly beauty had practically broken her spell on them as they all cheered excitedly.
Cora was also considered quite pretty although not at the same level as Zelda but her maid''s outfit had captivated the hearts of many. Earned her a small fan base of her own.
However, the entire city had ground to a halt the moment Rain had exited the carriage in her gorgeous dress. Hers was a beauty that could not be described by words and it was only made more pronounced by the constetions of jewelry that adorn her perfect figure.
In the next moment, the entire city had erupted in an uproar as this was their first encounter with such divinity. Apparently, as a demigod, her appearance had been even more enhanced in the eyes of mortals, and not even thedies could bring themselves to feel envy or jealousy in the face of such perfection.
Rain simply smiled proudly as she stepped aside and awaited her beloved. Unbeknownst to her that the crowds'' insane reaction to her appearance had made her entrance a tough act to follow for Tyler.
''This is just unfair. Why wasn''t I blessed with amazing beauty.''
[Master can always just adjust his appearance if you deem it unsatisfactory.]
''Oh, my dear Uriel. The fact that you said that doesn''t help me at all.''
[...]
Tyler couldn''t get mad at the hardworking A. I that was only trying to help him, but the fact that she thought he needed to adjust his appearance only serve in hurting his pride.
''Well fuck it, let''s just get this over with.''
Steeling himself to whatever was toe of this, Tyler no longer hesitated as he swiftly exited the carriage in as dignified a motion as he could.
Unsurprisingly, his appearance hadn''t caused an uproar and he was beginning to think his fears hade true. However, the opposite was the case as in a fluid motion, everyone drop down to a knee and stared at him with awe-struck eyes.
Everyone that came out to greet him, led by Hecate and Tarka, who were both dressed in stylish former wears. Everyone including the dwarf, Darren. They had all gone down on one knee as they weed in their Great Demon Lord of the Darknar Family.
''Huh, that''s unexpected.''
??????????
Things after that went as smoothly as one could imagine as Tyler had simply walked passed the prostrating crowd with Rain by his side as they entered the mansion.
This action wouldter start a rumor about his supposed wife and would end up causing him a shit load of problems but Tyler was too distracted to realize that.
The crowd of more than 10,000 residents remained gathered around the city''s lords mansion as Tyler entered the mansion itself.
Besides getting aquatinted with his citizens and making a public appearance, there would also be an event heldter that night and everyone was invited. That was where he would be required to address them all.
Until then, there were a few individuals he had almost forgotten about that he needed to talk to as they had waited patiently to meet him for a while now and he had decided to finally get to them.
Of course, Tyler was talking about the seemingly dying, previous Primordial Behemoth of Envy that had tagged along with Jarret''s and Nadine''s group a while back during their retrieval of the Raven settlement.
Chapter 306 C306. Levian
During the week Tyler had been out ofmission while recovering from negative corruption, it seems the two predatory beastmen that apanied the previous Primordial Behemoth of Envy had grown rather impatient after waiting to gain an audience with him for so long but was constantly being denied.
Frustrated by his appeentck of a conscience for her dire confirmation, they had tried convincing theirdy to leave so they may find another alternative before it was toote but she had firmly denied their request.
Throughout their stay in the city, she had made sure they had helped out wherever they could. Making sure to assist the residents in their work as much as they were able to even without anyone asking that of her.
As they were considered Tyler''s guest, nothing had been required of them for the duration of their stay but staying still was not something theirdy was good at.
Perhaps it was because she was known as the behemoth of the emotion envy, as it seems she was rather envious of the free-spirited lives of themoners who seemed to be enjoying their lives as they procured their hearts into building a new home for themselves.
Part of her had always wanted to live a simple life but that was never her fate, as she had only opposed the Great Five for the sake of those who had ced their fate in her.
Still, even in her current state, she hadn''t lost hope in her dreams and seamlessly got along with those around her as most were naturally curious about her dragon like features.
Her cheerful attitude despite her worsening state had warned her the favor of most of the city''s residents, especially the elderly who¡ª much like her¡ª could not be as helpful as they would like.
Even so, her aides, Yeva and Wrynn could not bear to watch her die so easily. Even if it seemed as though she was having fun living peacefully for the first time in a really long time.
As someone that was constantly under the pursuit of the current Behemoth of Envy, Levian. There was never a moment when she wouldn''t be cautious and watching over her shoulders.
After all, a free of the freemen settlement that had taken her in had beenpletely obligated by Levian''s troops making it impossible to have a moments rest.
However, even the great Levian wasn''t foolish enough to attack this ce after the witnessing the disy of master Ty and his subordinates during the undead war.
With such an overwhelming might it was understandable why Mammon hadn''t stood a chance and Levian hasn''t restless enough to attack this ce without a n so the past few weeks had brought with it a semnce of peace that they knew theirdy hadn''t felt before.
While they both wanted nothing more than to see theirdy happy, it was still an impossible task for them to just sit back and watch had die without doing the best they could, even if that meant leaving behind the peace theirdy had sort out for her entire life.
Luckily, the resident''s love for her had caught Z''s attention so he had decided to provide some assistance until his master was ready for her.
For the next few days, she was then forced into admission in the newly build hospital operated by one of the Six Great Demon Generals, the Water Goddess, Erin, and her Hydriads who served as the hospital doctors.
Of course, as the building was massive, a lot of workers had also been hired to manage its operations, including the nurses who were mainly just healers in training.
As Erin had been busy at the time taking care of the unconscious Tyler and the girls, the hospital had been ran solely by the 10 Hydraids she had created. Hence why Z had assigned one of them to take a look at Levi''s condition.
While she was unable to fully help the Dragonkin regain the energy she had lost from losing parts of her soul. The doctor was able to further prolong her life which was enough to calm those two down as they found an opportunity to pamper theirdy who had been confined to her bed by force.
Now however, she had been released from the hospital as her audience with Tyler had been scheduled and had been escorted to a room inside the Lord''s Mansion.
???????????????
???????????????
After entering the City''s Lords nansion that was both the residents of Hecate and Tarka, as well as their workce, as the massive mansion was divided in several sections conducive for various activities.
They were greeted by a massive luxurious hall that was modeled after the halls in his castle as even the Magic runes on the walls had been perfectly replicated.
With the spatial runes that Tyler transcribed for Darren with the help of Uriel, the hall could somehow contain more than 20,000 people at a time without feeling cramped. It was a convenient ability that saved them on the time and effort in creating thatrge a hall.
However, such powerful tunes could not be used so easily as it corpse the space around it if drawn on inferior materials. It was why t the walls in the hall werezed with high quality metals like Duranium.
As this hall would not be used untilter, they were escorted to the side as they walked casually through the main corridor.
The ones who had escorted them while showing them around was the Assistant Mayor of Oaragon city, the dragon wrought Kobold, Tarka.
As she was a lot more used to Tyler than Hecate was, she acted more freely and her wings pped about in excitement as she floated around and proudly exined the most basic things to him.
Although Tyler already knew most of this as he had Uriel to help him out, he found her enthusiasm and carefreeness quiet refreshing inparison to the suffocating feeling he had felt all the way here.
Just like Hecate, Tarka was born as the daughter of the Kobold cheif and has had great expectations ced on her shoulders from an early age. Not unlike the hobgoblins, she had been groomed to be the next chief whether she wanted to or not. No one had ever as their opinions.
Their entire lives had been nned out for them and they had epted their responsibilities as their fate. However, without warning, they had suddenly been tossed into the role after the tragic deaths of their parents.
In the midst of such a drastic turn of events, there was no room for hesitation orint as the lives of everyone they knew and loved was suddenly ce in their hands so they had to embrace their destiny.
Tyler didn''t put the both of them together simply because they had experience with the job he had in mind as he would feel ufortable making them do something they didn''t really want.
There were other candidates he could''ve chosen yet he still went with them. The reason was simple. After Z had Analyze the minds of everyone he gave hisstst name to, he noticed something about this two and had reported it to Tyler.
While the both of them had been living the life set out for them as though theyck any will, goals or aspirations of their own. They didn''t have any regrets in their heart and only wanted to protect and lead their people.
The only sorrow they felt was the loneliness that came with being in their shoes. As such, Tyler had decided to pair them together and although he didn''t know Hecate well enough to know if it helped her, he was happy just to see how much more Tarka had loosen up since then.
Besides, there was no reason why they couldn''t have aspirations and hobbies even while serving as mayors for his city. After all, all work and no y, makes John a dull boy.
''Or was it Jack? Why did I just say John?''
Moving on¡ª
After exploring the entire mansion, Tarka finally calmed down a bit and showed Tyler to his office. Naturally, an office had been prepared for him here as well. It didn''t matter to them if he would ever use the office or not.
However, Tyler actually had a need for this office today as there were a lot of people that had requested an audience with him.
Besides, the former Primordial Behemoth of Envy, Leviathan, there were still the leaders of the various freemen settlement that had settle in the city and needed to meet with him.
There was also those representatives from various small demon noble families ross the continent that needed to meet with him personally in order for them to make the decision whether to side with him or the Great Five.
Of course, most of them had no intentions of siding with the Great Five but simply wanted to confirm if he had the qualities of the demon king of Destruction as their allegiance still remained with him.
Entering his office, Tyler was impressed to say the least. Although the city was a long ways from being done, it appears his subordinates had taken a lot of time and effort in building an designing this office as it almost rivaled the one in the castle.
There were two demoness dressed in maids garb awaiting inside the office with their heads bow. Their presence there had caused Cora''s brows to twitch as the guards that were standing next to her slowly shifted further to the side.
The maids that vowed in his office wer both demons but their Tiers was below Cora so they had both hesitated when Cora''s brows had twitched. However, there purpose there was not just to attend to him but his guest as well, as Cora was not expected to do that.
Preparing some refreshments for everyone, Tyler understood Hecate''s reasoning as he walked over to take a seat in the lounge section of the office and Rain followed suit and sat next to him.
Jarret was busy with maintaining the security as the residents were currently being entertained in the massive hall he had seen earlier so the only ones here were Tarka, Hecate and a few others working under them, including the bug girl Loriel.
With Tarka leading the way in their conversation, Tyler received more details on the notable people he was about to meet and the discussions they''ve had with them already.
Apiled list of documents were given to him by one of the demon maids which made Cora furrowed her brows a little, causing the temperature in the room to drop by a few degrees.
After going through all the information he was given, Tyler was finally ready to start something he had never beenfortable with to begin with even as a human, the politics of negotiations.
However, he still had to deal with the situation with Leviathan before starting any other meeting and as he had order her be brought to the office next to his, he quickly teleported in there before Rain could suggest apanying him.
Naturally, he had set up a barrier around the room the moment he had appeared there to prevent eavesdropping or intruders as there was a lot he would like to know about these so called Primordial Behemoths.
"Well hello, it''s great to finally meet one of the seven Primodials. Oh right, I guess you''re not exactly one of them anymore are you."
Chapter 307 C307. Levi
"Well hello there. It''s great to finally meet one of the seven Primordials. Oh right, I suppose you''re not exactly one of them anymore are you."
Suddenly appearing in the office next to his assigned one and speaking so abruptly had taken everyone currently present inside the room by surprise. After all, his aura and even his presence had beenpletely erased by one of the artifacts he had on him at the moment.
As predatory beastmen that prided themselves on their senses, be it magic or otherwise, both Yeva and Wrynn could not believe their eyes as they even doubted their senses after failing to notice the appearance of such a domineering figure.
They had been waiting in this office for about a good hour now and had been growing a little impatient. So when they had heard themotion outside earlier, they had extended their senses to try and sense the presence of the one they were seeking an audience with but came up short.
Naturally, they had assumed he was yet to arrive so his sudden appearance here had truly taken them by surprise. However, Levi didn''t seem to have been surprised in the least.
Although she was unable to sense him, she could sense the emotional fluctuations of everyone around her, and thus, she knew the only the only one that could have stirred up such strong emotions of aspiration and loyalty in so many people at a time would be none other than the recently ascended Great Demon Lord himself.
Turning her gaze to meet his, Levi smiled brightly as she stood up to pay her respects to the one who had killed Mammon and taken great care of her during her stay here.
As she was no longer considered the primordial behemoth of Envy, Levi had no problems lowering her head to him which had taken the two by surprise yet again and they hurriedly followed suit, trying not to embarrass their beloved teacher.
Standing next to the trio was a beautiful woman who appeared to be in her twenties, by human standards. Her skin was light with well-defined facial features. She had long silk-like white hair that flowed down from her head like a gentle waterfall.
Wearing a full-length, silverish white colored dress with aqua-colored sleeves, she looked like a being straight out of fiction as her body appears to be semi-transparent and she waspletely barefoot.
Tyler keenly remembered where he had seen thisdy before as her figure was not something one could easily forget. As he recalled, she was one of the 10 High Hydraids Erin had created during her battle with the Grim Reaper, and also, she was one of the doctors working under Erin in Paragon City''s hospital and the one assigned to look after Levi.
As all 10 Hydriads looked alike as though they were quintuplets, it was almost impossible to tell them apart so Tyler couldn''t tell who exactly this one was or if she even had a name.
Then again, given as they were all created on the same day at the exact same time, that might actually be the case.
''Umm, that would make Erin a mother of 10, wouldn''t it? Wow, that''s a lot, she should really give her kids proper names. Wait, doesn''t that mean I''m also¡ª No, I''d rather not think of my undead as children for my own sanity.''
Getting that disturbing thought off his mind, Tyler nodded his head at the High Hydriad standing at the corner, and she smiled charmingly in response before bowing in respect. He then approached the standing trio and took a seat opposing them.
Making himselffortable on the soft leather chair, he took his time studying the trio in front of him while also using divine appraisal on them.
Having found no new information about them on their status, Tyler spoke softly as he crossed his legs while casually resting his face on his left knuckles.
"There is no need to stand at attention. Please, do take a seat."
With a smile, Levi respected Tyler''s wishes and sat back down without saying a word.
The predatory beastmen besides her remained standing as they took a step behind theirdy. Having felt as though the beautiful hazel-colored eyes of this lord Ty hadpletely stripped them of all their secrets.
They felt rather ufortable standing before him as a wave of insecurities had washed over them the moment his gazended on them. It was as though they could hide nothing under his gaze as they feltpletely naked before him.
Seeing as the two beastkins had no intentions of sitting down and looked rather nervous before him, Tyler decided not to force the issue as he quickly returned his attention to the Dragonkin before him.
"First off, allow me to apologize for the dy in granting your request for this meeting. I trust my subordinates have made your stay here a pleasant one."
"Fufufu... I have to admit, I haven''t felt this rxed in centuries. Please do not mind the dy, I''m well aware that you''re a very busy man and you''ve even gone as far as having thisdy treat me before we''ve agreed on any deals so I can''tin. Besides, I''ve rather enjoyed my time in this lovely city of yours."
To Yeva and Wrynn''s surprise, their Lady Levi had spoken smoothly and had even gotten a bit excited but hadn''t broken into her usual coughing fit even though her condition hadn''t gotten better yet.
However, what they did not know was that the High Hydriad Doctor standing behind them had a passive skill to tranquilize and detoxify the air all around her causing Levi''s condition to not get worse as she spoke even though it wasn''t healing her.
"I see... I''m d you feel that way. So tell me, if you were topare this city¡ª even in its infancy stages¡ª to the ones of the Primordials, what would you say the major difference is?"
"Aparison. That''s unexpected."
Seemingly surprised by Tyler''s strange question, Levi tilted her head in confusion as his tail moved atop herp and she gently rubbed its smooth scales.
"I just find myself a little curious seeing as I''ve never been to one myself. Although I do n on making a trip there sometime in the future."
Seeing as his question had not been answered, Tyler thought it best to exin himself a little and provide a reasonable reason on why he had asked that. however¡ª
"You n on taking a trip to a Primordial''s region. Fufufufufu... I''m sorry, I''m sorry. I just didn''t expect you to be so bold to that extent."
"Huh?"
Although Tyler felt as though there was a misunderstanding here as he only nned on visiting the regions of the primordials as a traveling merchant or tourist. However, he didn''t think it would be necessary to correct her as he simply moved to the main topic of their meeting today.
"Anyways, let''s get back on topic."
In an instant, Tyler''s demeanor had changed from a casual one to a rather solemn demeanor as his eyes narrowed and the air in the room suddenly froze. In a manner of speaking.
"I have been briefed on your situation and the incidents that happened on the Red Riverbank. So, do borate in detail, what exactly do you need from me?"
Seeing as Tyler had gone straight to the point, Levi didn''t think it was right to hold anything back at this point in time. After all, without the High Hydriad behind her literally saving her life then she would probably be dead by now.
Worst of all, even death would not be the end for her as Levian would stop at nothing to attain the rest of her soul to further strengthen the powers he had stolen from her and secure himself as the one and only Primordial of Envy, with no one capable of challenging his authority left to stop him.
"Very well, as I told your current Captain of the Guards that day as well as that strange undead girl. I was formerly the one known as the Primordial Behemoth of envy, Leviathan. As you may already be aware, I am not a beastman but a Dragonkin, an actual Leviathan if you will. A distant rtive of the ancient dragon race."
At the mention of her species as a descendant of the legendary Dragon race, the smile on Levi''s face seems to blossom beautifully. It seems she really took great pride in that aspect of hers.
"About 800 years ago, I alongside six others challenged the authority of the great Five for our own selfish reasons, and after decades of seemingly endless battles, we became known as the seven great behemoths, and recently we''ve been called the seven Primordials. However, the time I spent as the Primordial behemoth of Envy wasn''t long. It''s a shame really, I was probably the weakest of my peers at the time."
Levi''s eyes shifted away from Tyler for a moment as she seems to recall something from her past.
"I think Isted only a century before I received my first true challenger. Up until that point, my region had never hosted a tournament of power as I had foolishly thought that everyone would be able to live together in peace without me doing anything to maintain such a fleeting concept as peace."
"That''s not!¡ª"
Raising an arm to stop Wrynn from interrupting her. Levi''s expression changed from a gentle smile to a more serious and strangely mncholic expression.
"It''s strange, for years after my defeat, I had believed that demons were not capable of true peace as our violent nature and strong desires would always rule over us. Yet, after living in this city for only a week, I saw something I never once believed possible. Demons, demi-humans, and lesser demons all working together for the betterment of their lives in harmony."
The thinnest of smiles blossomed in her pale face as she spoke of these concepts that almost seemed too good to be true.
"Such a thing waspletely beyond even my wildest dreams. You used a high-level appraisal skill on me earlier so I''m sure you''re aware but my innate ability is Envy''s Embodiment. It''s an ability that allows me to manipte and control certain emotions of myself and those around me. Mainly the emotion of envy. I can also sense the emotions of everyone I see. That is why I understand the significance of what you have aplished in this city. Without the use of brute force or tyranny, you have brought such a diverse group of people together in a strange bond that exceeded my expectations."
While Tyler disagreed with most of what she was saying, he couldn''t bring himself to interrupt her words as she was clearly speaking from her heart. Besides, unlike him who could no longer rte to themon folks even if he imed to understand them, she had been living with them for a little while now so there was certainly some truth to her words.
Understanding that, Tyler paid close attention to the words she spoke as he watched Levi continue speaking.
"Even as this city grows and expands, you''ve already set up a foundation that cannot be broken. I am truly envious of you."
With a longing expression, Levi stared into the distance as he said those words. A faint aura arose from within her for a moment before disappearing almost as quickly as it appeared.
"I can''t say I understand your feelings but please, continue. I''d like to know more about this Levian character if you don''t mind."
After hearing how she felt, Tyler could understand where this Primordial wasing from. However, there was still a lot he needed to learn from her starting with the current Behemoth of Envy known only as Levian.
"Oh right. My bad, I can''t help but fall into a daze sometimes. As for the current Primordial of Envy, Levian. He was a strange man with a strange and distant air about him not unlike Mammon. Now that I think about it, you do have a simr air about you as well. Albeit vastly different but somewhat distance as though you hail from an iprehensible distance."
''Another Reincarnate? Geez, they''re everywhere these days.''
Chapter 308 C308. Premeditated
As Tyler heard Levi drawing aparison between him, Mammon, and the current Behemoth of Envy Levian, his mind instantly went to the only connection he shared with Mammon and that was the fact that they were both originally from a different world.
While there was no way for him to be sure that they were both from the same earth, that didn''t really matter to him in the grand scheme of things as there was a chance most of these reincarnated souls wouldn''t be able to retain theplete memories from their past lives.
The problem only lies in the few souls that are somehow able to retain their memories and ego through the soul shredding process of transmigrating through dimensions.
A soul that was crossing over to this world would literally have to be been disintegrated and reconstructed thousands of times before it would be capable of surviving in another ne of existence.
Such an intense process ces tremendous burdens and strain on the soul, causing it to almost always lose its memories and ego unless the will of the soul could withstand such an agonizing process.
The perfect example of this was Mammon, or rather, Hemei Sakaguchi who had harbored intense emotions before his death and had managed to retain all his memories.
This also constituted one of the major differences between a summoned and a reincarnate as the necessary energy to protectthe souls of summoned heroes was provided during the first stages of the ritual, in order toplete the summoning circle.
As Tyler didn''t believe that anyone within the demon continent was a summoned hero. He only needed to find out if this Levian fellow had managed to retain hisplete memories from his previous life and if he would pose a threat to the peaceful life he was nning on creating for himself here.
"Hmm... simr to Mammon and Levian I''m I? That''s a bit demeaning, to say the least."
Tyler spoke with a nk smile as he stared straight at Levi while rapping his right index finger on the armrest of his chair.
"Huh? No please forgive my rambling earlier. I was notparing you to those two, just stating a feeling I had felt."
With an unyielding smile that didn''t show any sincerity in her apology as though she was hoping for a certain reaction, Levi''s eyes sparkled in intrigue as she subtly sank back into her seat.
*Kusu... "Very well then, please continue."
Chuckling softly to himself, Tyler softened his gaze sightly as he urged Levi to continue speaking.
? "As I was saying. After only a century of ruling my region, a mysterious man with strangely simr abilities to mine suddenly appeared within my region and challenged me for my title and everything that goes with it.
As per the agreement of the seven original behemoths, I had no choice but to ept any challenges in the form of a tournament in order to promote the idea of freedom and encourage a world where the truly strong would rule the weak.
At the time I truly believed this was the only way demons should live and not the title-based system the Great Five were promoting. However, that idea didn''t matter much because I ended up losing to him in the end. He had simr powers to mine, yet strangely weaker. How he defeated me I still cannot remember but he did, and was somehow able to steal most of my skills and abilities after damaging and absorbing parts of my soul."
*sigh...
For the first time since they''ve met, Levi showed a sign of irritation as she recalled the memories from when she had lost to Levian before begrudgingly continuing her story.
"Idon''t know how he was able to achieve such a feat but I''ve been unable to recover ever since then no matter what healing method I attempted. Well, he was supposed to kill me during the fight but he hadn''t so I suppose that was why. I ended up bing his prisoner for a while and I was beginning to think that was how I would spend what little remained of my life. Iter came to discover that he wanted all of my abilities but could not attain them at that time which was why he had been keeping me alive until he was able to find a way."
"I see..."
Tyler nodded his head in understanding as he pondered on the curious possibilities the questions that arose within him. He soon concluded and decided to share it with Levi.
"I suppose this Levian of a person either possessed an ability that lets him mimic the powers of those he fights. Still, to think he is able to absorb your skills just by absorbing your soul. He must have a pretty powerful authority."
''One that may be simr to my Monarch Authority, not that I fully understand that myself.''
"An authority? That..."
Hearing something unfamiliar, Levi''s interest was piqued but unfortunately, it didn''t seem as though Ty was willing to share his thoughts with her just yet so she just ended up muttering to herself.
"Either way this Behemoth of Envy, Levian is sure to be a problem for me in the future so I''d appreciate it if you can tell me everything you''ve learned about him over the years. I''d also appreciate it if you included all the information you know about the other six behemoths."
Naturally, Tyler''s ears had caught the faint words that escapes Levi''s mouth. However, he had no intentions of exining further so he quickly moved the topic along.
"I see... I anticipated you''d require something extravagant in exchange for Mammon''s soul but I didn''t think you would be aiming for not only the Great Five but the seven Primordials as well. You surely do possess the ambitions of a demon king. Fufufu..."
Hearing Levi showers him with such high praise over something so basic. Tyler couldn''t help but smile as he proceeded to properly enunciate his next words so everyone would clearly understand him.
"I believed you''re severely overestimating me but I do appreciate the thought. However, as it pertains to your request for Mammon''s soul, I''m afraid I can not grant you that request as I no longer possess his soul."
"WHAT!!!"
"You Bastard!"
At Tyler''s surprising words, even Levi who had excellent control over her emotions and had been able to keep her cool no matter what was unable to maintain herposure for a moment but managed to hold herself back from reacting.
However, the predatory beastmen behind her could not believe what the hell they had just heard as the only reason they had remained here even after being dyed unreasonably for so long was that they had ced all their hopes on obtaining Mammon''s soul.
And yet, this man had just told them that their entire journey had been for naught and aplete waste of time as not only did they never even have a chance of getting Mammon''s soul. They had beenpletely yed for a fool as they had managed to get their teacher toreveal so much to him them knowing full well that they no longer had what she needed to survive.
Of course, one could not me them for this as their teacher had been the one that had offered up that information without first preparing an agreement between both parties andpleting their negotiations with a contract spell.
However, in the heat of the moment, such minor technicalities couldn''t appease the devoted pair as their rage had immediately red up and before Levi could even react to the rapid fluctuations in their emotions in order to stop them, it was already toote as their feet''s had left the group and killing intent had been directed at Tyler''s direction.
Unfortunately for them, their first instinct had been tosh out at the one they had denied being responsible for this mess.
"Please stop!"
Naturally, that had been a mistake as their necks had almost been separated from their heads by the shadow rogue that had suddenly jumped out of Tyler''s shadow before they could even take a second step towards him.
Her presence hade out of nowhere andpletely sealed the room in absolute darkness that felt like an abyss. The pair of predatory beastmen werepletely frozen but the terrifying aura of their rampaging emotions was immediately overshadowed by a single one.
The fear of death.
A pair of ck des sharper than anything they had ever seen in their lives had managed to break through their tough skins and drew blood as it rested on the base of their necks. Their minds went numb as their body knew that any slight movement and their heads would be rolling on the exquisite carpet which was not ideal.
"I''d appreciate it if you two do not interrupt me when I''m speaking."
Tyler was keenly aware that these two really didn''t have any intentions of hurting him but had simply reacted heatedly after all the bottled-up frustrations they had been suppressing over the past few weeks thanks to his refusal to see Levi.
That frustration had suddenly surpassed its limits and exploded out after hearing him calmly condemn their teacher to death with such a smug expression.
However, this was all going as he had expected. Or rather, as Uriel had expected. One of the reasons why he hadn''t bothered making time to speak with Levi before now even though there were a lot of opportunities for it before the undead war had even started was simply to create such a fragile state in the minds of these two in order to use it to his advantage.
This was something Uriel had predicted after hearing Jarret''s full report on the situation that had transpired with the trio at the red River. She was able to urately judge their personalities and rtionship with Levi to be able to predict how they would react when their request was tantly rejected after being strung along for so long.
While Tyler had the means to negotiate with Levi for the information he sought. There was a chance she wouldn''t be willing to divulge the more sensitive and important secrets he wanted even at the cost of her own life.
This was why he needed to go the extra mile even though he wasn''t exactly fond of such tactics. There was a chance Levi had expected him to try something the entire time they were waiting on him but Tyler didn''t think she knew exactly what he was after so she couldn''t prepare her students in advance. Unfortunately, it was already toote even if she wanted to use her abilities to restrain their emotions.
*sigh...
Seeing her students already at the mercy of a different shadow rogue than the one they had seen before. Levi couldn''t help but let out a heavy breath. As this was a city''s lord mansion, it meant they were currently having an official discussion with this region''s ruler and thus, those two idiots had yed right into the palm of his hands and hadmuted a grievous offense.
"Please allow me to apologize on my disciples'' behalf. While they were only thinking of me, I admit they have overstepped their bounds but I hope you''ll forgive their transgressions."
Hearing Levi''s somewhat diplomatic apology, Tyler could tell that she understood his intentions and waved an arm to dismiss Zelda¡ª who had followed after him with shadow movements while using her soul link to bypass his barrier.
"While I do understand their reactions today, I''m afraid as this is a former and official event, I cannot pardon such tant disrespect on such an asion. However, in consideration of your situation, I shall give you my word that they will not lose their lives for this."
"I understand. However, I hope you can be lenient in regards to their punishment. I will also be more willing to listen to a request of you grant me this favor."
At this point, it was already tantly obvious to Levi that thing so far had gone exactly as this demon had wanted it to and the idea on its own waspletely terrifying.
Even at her peak, she didn''t think there was any way she could be content with such a being be it in the strength of intellect. In the end, she had no choice but to go along with his will.
''Well whatever, I''m already retired so why should I care. My apologies guys, you may all be in serious trouble if this man decides toe after you.''
Chapter 309 C309. Negotiations?
In the Lord''s mansion, located at the central district of Paragon City.
¡ªSituated in a small office next to his asigbed one. Tyler sat ross from the Dragonkin Levi, who currently had a troubled expression on her face.
In front of her was her two most loyal student who had let their emotions get the better of them and attempted to attack a being that was beyond theirprehension.
Lucky or perhaps unlucky for them, they had been stopped almost immediately, by the shadoe rogue that served as this Great Demon Lord''s body guard.
Left with no other option if she wanted to keep her students alive after they had been lured tomit such a grievous crime agaist the ruler of this region. She had no choice but to dance ording to the tune being yed for her as she no longer held much hands to y agaist someone as powerful as he was.
"I understand. However, I hope you can be lenient in regards to their punishment. I will also be more willing to listen to a reasonable request if you grant me this favor."
At this point, it was already tantly obvious to Levi that things so far had gone exactly as this demon had wanted it to. The thought of having someone predict and manipte all her actions at his whims waspletely terrifying.
Such a being should not exist and yet, here he was smiling at her. As she was unable to sense either his aura or presence, she found it difficult to sense his emotions and was unable to tell what his state of mind was right now.
No matter how hard she thought there was no way she could picture herself getting out of this without having to break the promise she made to those six all those years ago.
''*sigh... well whatever. I''m technically retired now ain''t I.''
It didn''t take long for her to get over those troublesome thoughts as she decided not to think too deeply into it. She may have made a promise to the other six original primordials that none of them would interfere with each other nor divulge any of their secrets.
However, they had not entered a contract or used a pact so it was still fine as long as she wasn''t the one personally acting against them and was no longer even part of them.
"Very well."
With a casual smile, Tyler snapped his fingers and the pair of predatory beastmen disappearedpletely from the room along with Zelda.
Their sudden disappearance had caused Levi to frown a bit but that was all. She had simply reacted instinctively but knew Tyler would not go back on his words so it was best she did not react so as not to fall into any more of his traps.
"There''s no need to fret. I had simply sent them into an isted room in the basement of this mansion as their punishments. Getting the guards involved may prolong things so let''s get straight to the point."
Hearing his casual exnation that almostpletely disregarded the existence of her students. Levi did not react to his words and simply answered with a steady tone.
"Understood. However, while I promised to heat you favor for showing mercy to my students. I''m afraid that even with that promise, o cannot reveal much of the secrets of the seven primordials to you without getting the soul of Mammon or a soul from another demigod of his level or higher."
"Please do not worry about that. As I said, I no longer possess the soul of Mammon but, correct me if I''m wrong. The only reason you need Mammon''s soul is to recover yours and nothing more right?"
Tyler casual waved an arm to dismiss Levi''s concern as he proceeded to ask a question instead of providing her the answer she wanted.
Hearing that, Levi could vaguely understand what he was trying to confirm so she decided to provide an honest answer.
"If you''re asking if I desire to steal his skills and abilities in order to strengthen myself to regain my lost title, then no. Besides, I do not have the ability to gain skills from absorbing a soul. I just require the lifeforce energy in the soul to recover mine."
Indicating that he understood her exnation with a gentle nod, Tyler decided to reveal his offer to Levi as he spoke in a confident tone.
"Very well. Then there is no problem. While I do not have the soul. I do possess a way for you to recover your missing life force."
"That''s possible?"
A look of confusion was stered all over Levi''s face. After all, she had spent centuries looking for a way to heal her soul to no avail. The only method she had learnt about was by taking in the souls of an individual that rivaled hers.
Yet, this man just uttered something thatpletely rendered all her hardworking useless yet again without even batting an eyelid. She was beginning to think this was a joke and it wasn''t funny.
However, Tyler didn''t seem interested in her skepticism at all as he disregarded her concern and continued.
"Naturally, such a simple task is mere child''s y. Still, the question remains, are you satisfied with this instead of the soul of a demigod?"
Hearing Tyler ask that question with a look of absolute confidence that left no room for doubt, Levi fell silent yet again as she thought deep and hard about his offer. Gaining the soul of a demigod was something special as there was a lot one could do with it.
However, she truly didn''t need it for anything other than her health. Of course, she had thought about using part of it to strengthen herself against Levian for when he eventually found her.
So, the question lies, what the hell should she do. In front of a man who had conquered the rich Darknar region and owns his own freaking city, the pennies she had spent so many years saving had suddenly be worthless and the only thing she had to trade with was the information in her head.
Naturally, as a high-ranking Behemoth, her mind was well protected against mind-maniption and even the remains of her souls could not be forced into revealing any information even to the terrifying gazes of devils.
"Fine then. I''ll ept your offer on one condition."
With a renewed and determined smile, Levi raised her head to stare straight at Tyler''s domineering gaze without backing down. Her tail slowly moved from side to side in anticipation of the negotiations that was toe.
However¡ª
"Oh... a condition eh... Interesting. Very well, I ept."
"Huh?"
In an instant, this man hadpletely dumbfounded her as her head subconsciously tilted to the side in utter shock and confusion. Despite all her calctions, this response was not what she had expected.
"What do you mean you ept? You haven''t even heard my condition yet."
"Hmm. There''s no need for that. I''m already aware of what you require."
"..."
Levi was at a total loss for words as she just stared at Tyler dumbly.
"is something wrong?"
Seeing his guest suddenly grow quiet, Tyler naturally got worried as he decided to check up on jer
"Wait wait wait wait. Can you by any chance manage to read my mind?"
"Uh? I haven''t attempted yet but it seems like you''re well-defended against mind invasion as well. You''re quite skilled even in such a state."
"Huh? So how can you¡ª"
"If you''re still referring to how I can possibly know what condition you would decide on then it''s pretty easy. Just some simple deductions. Giving as you''re being hunted by Levian and how you''ve already lost to him before and he had gotten stronger since then."
Noticing that Levi couldn''t just let this go, Tyler decided to provide a summarized breakdown on what had led him to that conclusion as he spoke to Levi, snapping her off her daze.
"Even recovering your peak strength will not be enough to save you. However, you mentioned you were quitefortable in this city than you have been in centuries so it means you feel a sense of security being here giving as Levian would be a fool to attack me without proper preparation so it was easy to deduce that you wanted to be allowed refuge inside my city in exchange for breaking something like an oath to the other original primordials."
Hearing Tyler''s calm exnation that had fully exined the reasoning behind her choosing a condition for him hadpletely stunned Levi. Of course, with the way he exined her situation, it would seem as though it was onlymon sense but that''s not something a normal person would consider in such details after only hearing it once.
Of course, this was all based on Uriel''s predictions but there was no reason for Tyler to tell her that.
"So was I mistaken?"
"Uh, no, not at all."
As she heard Tyler ask for confirmation, Levi chuckled inwardly to herself as she gently shook her head.
"That''s good. I find your ability to sense and manipte emotions to be something that would be quite valuable. We can discuss offering you a job at ater date but for now, let''s get back on topic."
"Very well. As you know I was only a behemoth for about a century before losing to Levian and spending the next 300 years in his prison and being used as ab rat. Why I did manage to escape after enduring through 300 years of his failed attempts at absorbing what remains of my soul, I managed to recover a little and escape. And as I''ve told your subordinates, I was then taken in by a few freemen settlements over the years, two of which were destroyed by Levian so I''m not exactly versed on the current state of all the Primordials."
Levi suddenly stopped taking as she remained silent for a while seemingly in deep thoughts about something before deciding to speak again.
"I''m also not sure if what I''m about to tell you had changed over the years. I also don''t know much about Levian himself apart from the abilities he had used when chasing me down. Of course, every single one of them had been mine, to begin with."
"Do not worry about that. I only require a starting point about these Primordials I know almost nothing about. It matters not if the information is outdated, there is bound to be a constant amongst them."
"I see... you really are a strange one."
"Really? How so?"
"I''m sorry. I didn''t realize I was thinking out loud. Never mind that let''s just get back on topic, fufufu..."
Tyler couldn''t tell if Levi was serious or not, but he didn''t let himself get dragged in by her strangeness as he simply shrugged off the slight irritation he had felt and moved on.
Following that, Levi finally told Tyler the information he was looking for including a detailed description of theyout of each and every Primordial behemoth''s region. She also described the structures of their kingdoms as well as the power dynamics and society.
Their talk had gone on longer than expected but with that out of the way, it quickly came to an end and Tyler took down the barrier he had set up around the room.
Immediately, a knock came from the door to this office and by hismand, Erin entered the room after being summoned by him via telepathy a while earlier.
As the doors swung open, the graceful figure of a God-Tier beauty that even stunned Levi walked elegantly into the room as the atmosphere seems to surrender to her divine presence.
The High Hydriad in the corner¡ª who had simply lowered her head when Tyler had walked in early¡ª had immediately dropped to one knee the moment Erin took a step into the room and in Levi''s current weakened state, even she could not stop herself from lowering her head in the presence of an actual goddess.
Arriving before Tyler with a beautiful smile on her face as she tried her best not to get nervous. Erin lowered her head and bowed to Tyler, awaiting his instructions.
"Raise your head."
Adhering to his request, Erin raised her head and turned her gaze to meet the stranger in the same room as her master with a questioning gaze that caused Levi to freeze up.
"This is Leviathan, the former Primordial Behemoth of Envy. She is currently in a weakened state as her soul has been damaged and her lifeforce is almost at an end. Do you think you can help her to fully recover?"
"Easily."
Chapter 310 C310. Life-Force Augmentation
After entering the room with divine Grace, Erin walked up to Tyler and bowed before switching her attention to the other party in the room and staring at her.
Giving as this was their first time meeting, as Erin had been stuck helping him out over the past week, Tyler figured an introduction was in order.
"Erin, this is Leviathan, the former Primordial Behemoth of Envy. She is currently in a weakened state as her soul has been damaged and her lifeforce is almost at an end. Do you think you can help her to fully recover?"
"Easily."
Levi was already at a loss for words at the sheer force that was currently suppressing her very being. So she waspletely dumbfounded at the word that came out of Erin''s mouth.
Unlike the case with Tyler, she could sense the divine aura emanating from the person before her as well as her emotional fluctuations. So when she had been asked that question, Levi had focused all her attention on her to Ascertain if she would lie or not.
However, contrary to her expectations, she hadn''t even hesitated when she said the words ''easily''. It was as though the issue was merely child''s y to her. This was something they had spent decades trying to find a cure, they had tried every conceivable method they could think of.
Yet, she had just dismissed her predicament as though the solution was the easiest thing in the world befor her.
''How frightening.''
The scales on Levi''s tail trembled slightly as the thinnest of smiles adorned her curios face, trying really hard to hold back her excitement and anticipation as her emotions stirred in a flight of envy.
"Oh, I suppose I am yet to announce this to the public so you''ll be the first to know. This is one of my six Great Demon Generals, the Water Goddess, Erin Darknar."
"Demon General? Darknar? You''re kidding right?"
Levi''s smile suddenly froze yet again. At this point, it seems like she was getting surprised over and over again just for kinks. This time, however, her mind waspletely blown away as she could not believe what she had just heard.
It was one thing to take over the Darknar region by rendering the Great Five unable to move with the threat of a traitor in their midst. As well as with the disy of strength equal to their by means of the undead war.
However, for some reason, this demon hadn''t just stopped there. For someone to actually adopt the Darknar name was insane.
This was something that even the Great Five stayed away from as the name itself held tremendous authority and power. Anyone foolish enough to adopt the name of the demon king should be ready to go to war with the entire world and not just the demon continent.
Such was the curse of the infamous name, Darknar.
A name that was capable of creating chaos and destruction all across the entire world.
Still, Levi couldn''t see this demon as a fool who was just seeking fame and attention by gaining notoriety from the entire Demon race by any means necessary. No, that was definitely not the case.
"Huh? Why would I be joking about that?"
Tyler may not be able to read Levi''s mind at the moment but even he could urately guess what this girl was thinking by the expression on her face as the glow in her eyes seems to die and be reignited over and over again.
Apparently, she was going through an internal struggle on whether or not she wanted to remain anywhere near him when the entire world learns of this.
Tyler was aware that the Darknar name was both feared and respected all over the world and once news of him using the name goes around it would cause some level of chaos and they may be attacked by the entire world.
However, that would happen sooner orter regardless. It didn''t matter if he used the name or not, for as long as he remained in the Darknar castle, those that lusted after the possible treasures that were in the magic Library would have found a reason to start a war just as what they had done a thousand years ago.
For now, all he needed to do was make a stronger statement that whoever was foolish enough to do that would end up just like the undead king. For that, he needed a far stronger opponent than the undead army had been.
An opponent that was already both feared and respected by the world. One whose authority and power cannot be denied.
''Is that why he is so interested in the Primordials?''
Levi''s mind quickly caught up to the possibility after remembering the series of questions Tyler had just asked her only a moment ago. A cold thrill ran down as spine as cold sweat could be seen on her forehead.
Her mind waspletely at a daze as she tried topute the situation and find an answer that made more sense. However, her attention was so drawn by, Tyler as he spoke again.
"With that, we''vepleted our agreement so I''ll be taking my leave. Erin will take it from here and handle the rest. I''ll also send over Hecateter to discuss the nature of your new job in Paragon City."
Tyler spoke as he casually stood up to take his leave when Levi quickly called out to him after taking a moment to digest his words.
"Okay... wait! Please hold on."
"Yes?"
"What about my students?"
Hearing her question, Tyler pretended to think about it for a moment before promptly remembering who she was talking about.
"Oh right, those two, I almost forgot. They would be released from their confinement by morning. Don''t worry, they''ll bepletely fine after their senses are restored."
Tyler spoke casually as he dismiss the question as though there was nothing wrong with his statement. However, Levi wanted to palm her hand on her face as she could not believe her ears yet again.
"You took away all their senses?...", ''That''s, that''s just too harsh.''
Indeed, all Tyler had done was sealed away the senses of those two who relied heavily on their predator''s genes heightened senses far too much. Causing them to be far too impulsive for their own good.
He had then locked them in a sealed and isted room, forcing them into experiencing a state of absolute nothingness.
Of course, such a thing could be called another form of torture as losing touch with all your senses, especially for beastmen like them was absolutely terrifying and theg would slowly drive a person insane.
However, mental illness was something he could easily fix and thus, that didn''t matter. No matter how much it drove them mad, he would always restore their mind until they''ve served their time.
The reason for this brutal treatment was simple. Tyler was just trying to get them to detach from their senses and see if their survival instincts help them develop a skill to survive or if they would evolve.
Basically, he was using this opportunity to conduct on experiment about the various species not know for their evolution and try f to force one. Zelda was also there to record the results and observe their bodies reactions to the process.
Naturally, Tyler didn''t mention this to Levi, he only hoped they didn''t surfer any permanent damage he could not fix.
Still, if there was really something like that then Uriel would have been aware of this and informed him. FutureSight also didn''t reveal any such possibilities. However, Tyler hadn''t used Fate Maniption or Possibility Corrections as that would taint the purity of the experiment.
"Well then, I should be on my way."
With his business with Levipleted, Tyler quickly teleported out of the room. Leaving Erin alone with a stranger which was not ideal as to those who didn''t know her, they would consider her to be rather cold and distant.
An after her source was restored, anyone trapped in a room with her in this state would privacy die from the anxiety and fear her demeanor would inflict on them.
"Let''s begin. Please keep your eyes closed."
Not wanting to spend any more time awkwardly staring at each other, Erin quickly went to work as she used her skills; Physical Augmentation and Life-Force Augmentation to control, manipte and improve her physical condition before augmenting her life force.
Perfect healing was used to fix the damage to her soul before she used Life-Force Augmentation again to restore her soul energy to its peak. As Erin had an infinite life force while connected to her source, she could easily restore the life of a god much less a demigod.
In an instant, the air in the roompletely changed as the weak Divine aura Levi was emitting suddenly spiked and an oppressive aura¡ªthat would immediately kill any mortal that sensed it¡ª exploded out of her.
Her eyes began to glow as her tail got a bitrger and her appearance got wilder inparison to her much tamer demeanor only a moment ago.
In less than a second, the illness that had gued her for centuries since she lost to Levian hadpletely disappeared as she could feel her energy rising and her skills returning to their peak.
However, even with her returning to her demigod status, she still could not feel herself a match for thedy before her. It was obvious that she was a being that had surpassed the level of amon demigod by leaps and bounds.
To think Ty had a powerful being serving under him. And there are six Demon Generals aren''t there? With such a force, why wouldn''t he feel confident enough to use the name of the Demon king? It would be hard for anyone to even refute his im to the throne.
After all, almost everyone that had moved to his city already believed in their hearts that he was the reincarnation of the demon king and perhaps that was true. Such an answer was easier to ept given all that she had just witnessed.
After confirming that her soul had beenpletely restored to normal and her strength was returning. Levi raised her head to look at Erin before lowering it once again and expressing her deepest gratitude.
Erin coldly dismissed her thanks as she said she was only doing as she had been told and doesn''t deserve her thanks. Still, Levi did not stop as she could barely contain her excitement and gratitude.
After forcing her thanks on Erin, she simply nodded and then told her to wait in the office for the person that Tyler spoke off toe to see her.
As she left, the High Hydriad in the room quietly followed behind, living Levi along as she stayed back down and waited patiently for Hecate to arrive an exnation the details of her responsibilities in Paragon City.
Chapter 311 C311. New Guest
"¡ªDarling! You''re finally back! I''ve missed you, kyufufu~."
Having concluded his meeting with the former behemoth of envy, Levi. Tyler had decided to leave her in Erin''s care as he teleported away and reappeared back in his assigned office as the scene before him had instantly changed.
As expected, he was greeted by an enthused Rain who had been anxiously waiting for his return as he had left without giving her a chance to react.
Although he didn''t think he had spent that long talking with Levi, in actuality, it had been over 3 hours since he had been gone yet everyone aside from Rain had remained in the same spot waiting for his return.
He hadn''t given them any directives before he left so they had been unsure of what he had wanted them to do and ended up just remaining in ce as they awaited his return in awkward silence.
Realizing his mistake, Tyler felt a bit embarrassed as he could''ve handled that situation a lot better if he hadn''t been so ufortable with the whole thing and had been anxious to leave. In a normal setting, they would''ve been able to act freely on their own without awaiting orders from him but as this was a formal asion, they had all felt nervous just as he had been.
''*pheeew... and here I was thinking I was the only one not used to this type of event.''
Tyler let out a silent sigh as he received Rain''s embrace before proceeding to address Hecate and the others. Hisck of a reaction seems to have dampened Rain''s mood a bit as she puffed her cheeks but Tyler didn''t have the time for that as he knew he needed to get this back on track.
He had a lot of meetings to attend to before the start of the event this evening so he knew he didn''t have the time to lounge around anymore had needed everyone to get back to their duties.
"Hey, Hecate."
"Yes! Yes sir."
For some reason, Paragon City''s newly appointed mayor was startled by her own name as she instantly stood at attention before regaining awareness of the situation and shyly responding to Tyler''s call.
"There''s no need to be that rigid. Anyway, I need you to design a position for the person in the room next to this one. A position for her to act as a liaison between the masses and me. Someone everyone can feelfortable speaking with without getting nervous or bashful."
"Understood!"
Although Levi was a demigod and as a Dragonkin, her appearance did look a bit wild and selcouth. For some reason, everyone seems to get along well with her, especially the elderly. It was just as the kids got along well with Rain and Liz, despite Liz being the quiet type.
With such a likability factor plus her ability to read and control the emotions of others, she would serve as the perfect liaison between Tyler and his people. It was important for him to create a peaceful city that everyone could enjoy somunication was important and he didn''t want his titles as the Great Demon Lord and Demon King to get in the way of that.
With that done, Hecate proceeded to leave the room with Tarka in tow as she waved Tyler goodbye. As the time for the city''s event was drawing close, Tyler only had a few minutes to himself before he had to meet with all sorts of important figures in this world. Then there was the issue of addressing over 10,000 people.
''Just get over yourself Tyler. You''ve given presentations before right? No big deal.''
Using the opportunity to psych himself up, Tyler walked towards his new desk and took a seat as Rain trailed behind him, seemingly excited about something.
Tyler was curious about what was making her so excited that he wanted to ask but the smile on her face just told him it was going to be something stupid and inappropriate.
He also knew she was hoping for him to ask and that just made him not want to do it even more. So Tyler pretended as though nothing had happened and took a seat on the leather chair behind the exquisite desk ced at the end of the office, behind a massive window that overlooked the entire city.
This office was located on the highest floor of the lord''s mansion so the view from here was impressive. Although the city was still only halfpleted and there wasn''t much to see yet.
"Lord Ty."
Having given up on Tyler asking, Rain finally decided to initiate the conversation herself as she approached him with quite the pulchritudinous smile.
"No."
"Wait, but I haven''t even asked anything yet."
"Doesn''t matter. My response is still no."
For a moment, he thought he saw something behind Rain ¨D a sh of light that was the physical manifestation of the blow she had just suffered. Although he felt a little sorry for her, there was no way anything she asked with that smile on her face would be appropriate for the current asion.
"No fair."
Rain pouted cutely but Tyler paid no mind to herint as she was forced to sit in the chair on the other side of his desk, stillining.
Tyler sighed inwardly as went through the list of names that had been ced on his desk. This was the list that had been shown to him earlier on the people that requested an audience with him.
He needed to see them before the grand event in only a few hours. There were representatives from all the freemen settlements in his city. As well as from the freemen settlement in the regions closest to his. Most of which were seeking sanctuary in his city by swearing loyalty to him on various terms and conditions:
There were also secret representatives from a lot of noble families that hated or were against the Great Five and wanted to use him to achieve their own selfish agendas.
Of course, Tyler wouldn''t allow such a thing but there were also a few from the families still loyal to the former demon king and were holding out hope that he was the returned demon king of Destruction.
"Alright Cora, allow the first ones in."
After going through the list and memorizing the names and descriptions of the representatives as well as the details of their requests. Tyler turned to Cora and handed her the list as she gracefully curtsied in response.
"Yes My Lord."
Following his order, Cora walked over to the door and exited the room with the list in hand. Whoever his guest was, Tyler assumed they had been made to wait for far too long so there was no need for him to act arrogantly in front of them as a show.
"Hmm, you two."
Shifting his gaze to the side of his office where two demons dressed in maid''s outfits slightly different from Cora. Tyler casually addressed them as they bowed respectfully in response.
"Yes My Lord?"
The one who had answered him was the maid with short grayish golden hair, bright gold-colored hair, and a tanned skin tone.
The other maid that stood next to her looked a lot different from her as she was a little petite with long silver-colored hair, sky blue eyes, and a lighter tan on her delicate skin. They both had well-defined facial features and were naturally quite pretty.
"What are your names?"
"Forgive ourte introduction, my lord, I am Varys Nexion and this is my sister Verlia Nexion. It''s an honor to serve your Grace."
''Your Grace?''
While Tyler had been taken off guard by a single phrase from Varys. Rain''s attention seemed to have been drawn by another detail as she couldn''t help but ask.
''Hmm, so you two are sisters? You don''t look alike in the least."
"You''re correct mydy. Verlia is my childhood friend from the Rial settlement. Her parents died in a raid when she was little and we took her in so she has be my little sister ever since that day."
"Is that so. How unfortunate. I''m d you were able to find a home for yourself in the end. That''s a good thing."
Hearing that exnation from Varys, Tyler smiled gently and addressed the petite Verlia who appeared to be rather shy at the moment.
"I-I''m honored by yo-your Grace goodwill."
"Do not worry about that. Anyway, please prepare some beverages for my guest and treat them with respect no matter who they are or what attitude they express toward me."
"Understood my lord."
"Un-Understood."
With that, they both walked to the side of the room where a small table had been set up with all kinds of light foods and drinks and they soon began to set up a tray.
Tyler looked away from them and sighed. He could see Rain¡ª already over her pouting fit as she smiled at him again¡ª with an expectant gaze pointed in his direction.
"What is it this time?"
"They''re preparing beverages. That means we have to entertain your guest in the lounge area, ehehe~"
It was a somewhat bashful, yet thoroughly delightedugh from Rain as her eyes seems to sparkle. As Tyler had decided to move to a single seat, she had probably wanted to ask to sit next to him but Tyler had immediately shut that down.
Besides, there wasn''t space for her to move a seat close to his so the only ce she could sit was on his legs which Tyler was too embarrassed to consider. However, given as he wanted to have a more rxed conversation with this representative instead of a rigid office-type meeting, he had no choice but to move back to the couch which meant she would be able to sit next to him and that alone had made her excited.
''How childish.''
Tyler thought so but wouldn''t say that out loud as he relevantly stood up and walked back to the lounge portion of his office.
Rain waspletely delighted having won the day as she practically hopped behind him in her pretty dress. She knew she would be going on a long trip after Z returned with some intel in a few days so she didn''t want to waste any moment away from the one she was enamored with.
Having sat next to Tyler, a knock finally came from the door and Varys went over the check who it was before reporting to him and getting his permission to allow his guest in.
Entering the room was Cora who escorted two young men that trailed behind her as they approached where he was seated.
With a graceful bow, she greeted Tyler before introducing his guest.
"Lord Ty, these are Mr. Oxa and Mr. Onyx. They are both behemoths that hailed from the Primordial behemoth of Pride''s region and seek to be one of your subordinates in hopes of learning from you after witnessing your esteemmight by ident during one of their exploration mission across the scarlet seas at the time."
In a surprising twist of fate, the first people that came to see him were not the representative he had read about but rather, these were too unknown behemoths that had managed to observe his battle with the shadow king above the scarlet sea simply by being at the right ce at the right time.
This was something that was beyond his expectations as he had failed to sense the presence of any intelligent life around him during that fateful day. Aside from Levi, these would be the first normal behemoths he had seen since he''d arrived on the demon continent.
Chapter 312 C312. Unknown Behemoths
"Lord Ty, these are Mr. Oxa and Mr. Onyx. They are both behemoths that hailed from the Primordial behemoth of Pride''s region and seek to be one of your subordinates in hopes of learning from you after witnessing your esteemmight by ident during one of their exploration mission across the scarlet seas at the time."
After hearing Cora''s summary of the reason why these supposed behemoths were seeking an audience with him. Tyler shifted his gaze to the two young men she was eluding to and they both naturally lowered their gaze as a show of respect.
Dressed from head to toe in all ck, they were both dark-skinned men that looked to be in their early 20''s (human age), with short brown hair and light brown eyes, they could be considered to be quite handsome and had air of dignity around tnem.
Their well defined facial features were simr which told of their rtionship but while one of them had a huge burly build, the other was quite thin, tall, a bitnky and his eyes shed with a gentle yet mysterious gleam.
Therger one of the two behemoths wore a dark grey shirt and ck pants with a bright yellow fur winter''s coat that wasplimented with yellow boats. A few rings were adorning his finger but none of them exuded any aura.
The second behemoth wore a white shirt, ck pants, and a grey jacket topliment his outfit. He didn''t seem to have any equipment on him besides the ck gloves on his hands that exuded a faint demonic aura.
While they had been inspected before entering the city for any dangerous weapons or artifacts. There were probably several ways for people of this caliber to hide their items away from prying gaze or the low-level inspections tools Tyler had provided to the guards.
Still, a magic item as strong as a God Tier artifact could not bepletely hidden from Jarret''s gaze so whatever they brought with them would not pose a threat to Tyler.
This was why there was currently no guards stationed inside his office. It didn''t matter that he was capable of defending himse
"You may have a seat. And please, do make yourselffortable."
After observing the two behemoths without using his appraisal skill on them, Tyler permitted them to take a sit in his presence and Cora ushered them forwards and showed them to the couch directly opposing Tyler.
After entering the massive office with Cora leading the way, the two men immediately felt stifled by the aura they felt as they cautiously observe their surroundings.
Although there were only five people within the room, it felt as though there were more than a dozen gazes locked on them.
While it was normal for both parties during thwor first meeting to observe each other, this felt a lot different as even with all tgere resistances, they could not trace were these extra gazes wereing from.
As their minds rapidly tried to unravel the mystery of the situation. They had unknowingly remained standing for an unatural period of time before suddenly being snapped out of their daze by Cora''s inviting words that sounded more like a politemand,pletely disregarding the level of difference between their strength and hers.
It felt as though she regarded them as lower creatures simply because they were not considered her master''s subordinates when in other regions of the continent, she¡ª as a demi-human¡ª would be considered less than them¡ª who were actual demons even though they were only half demons and could not be considered demob nobles.
However, Tyler''s first impression was that they had been taken aback by Rain''s appearance and perhaps there was some truth.
Their gazes seem to have been fixated on him and there was a high chance they were attempting to use their appraisal skills on him. However, not only could Tyler simply resist such a skill from weaker beings, but his ring of nullity also had the effect of hiding even his data from prying eyes.
After a brief moment of observation, the two behemoths finally located the source of that stifling feeling they had felt all along. It was passively being exuded by the god-ss beauty seated next to the master of this city.
For some reason it seemed like they were the only ones being affected by his aura but that wasn''t even the surprising part.
What surprised yet confused tnem the most was the man who was supposed to be the master of this entire region.
Not only did he look like an ordinary man, but even their keen senses could not pick anything emanating from his person. Both in body and spul. He truly felt like an ordinary Humana being.
However, not even a fool would consider this man to be ordinary. From the way he sat on the couch with a world ss beauty on his arm, the level of his clothing and the absurdly ineffable rings that adorned his fingers.
The look of absolute confidence in jos eyes and the adoring gazes from the maids that surrounds him.
Nothing about such a being could be considered ordinary.
*Gulp.
A subtle sound of the pair swallowing their saliva escaped their mouths as they tried their best to remainposed.
They had both witness a sight that waspletely beyond theirprehension a week ago and could only imagine what a being capable of such power would feel like only toe to find out that he felt like nothing.
Yet, this was far more terrifying than they could''ve ever imagined that all thoughts thoughts of doubtspletely disappeared from their mind.
In only an instant, an image was forever immortalized in the hearts of these two behemoths. It was the image of a being far above what anyone couldprehend. An illogical conclusion that had solidified this Great Demon Lord as a God.
With a renew determination in their hearts, the two behemoths moved in front of their assigned seat and swiftly lowered their heads in a graceful bow before taking their seats. Like clockwork, Varys and Verlia moved in the moment they sat and offered them food and beverages.
The thin behemoth silently declined their offer but therger fellow happily epted it as the maids proceeded to serve him but a nce from his second behemoth made him nervously restrain his appetite.
Following that sideways nce, the thin behemoth returned his gaze to Tyler and then shifted it towards Rain who had barely even noticed their existence as she seemed excited over something they were unaware of.
Without allowing his gaze to linger, he quickly returned it to Tyler before speaking in a respectful tone.
"Mr. I mean Demon Lord Ty, I humbly thank you for your most generous wee and for granting us an audience with your esteemed self."
Lowering his head once more, the thin behemoth expressed his gratitude in an unusually docile manner for a behemoth of his caliber.
"I have to admit. I did not expect to be visited by a behemoth hailing all the way from Pride''s region. You have both taken quite the long trip to seek an audience with me, I''m honored."
"The honor is all ours, your Grace. Please allow us to humbly introduce ourselves. I am known as the Grey behemoth, Oxa Necronn, and the one besides me is¡ª"
"The mighty Savage behemoth, Onyx Necronn. Respect!"
Interrupting Oxa''s introduction to do his own personally, Onyx puffed out his chest as he spoke proudly despite him irritating his own brother.
"Please forgive my elder brother''s indecorous and unruly mannerisms. I''m afraid he''s more a brute than a demon. However, he means no disrespect your Grace."
"Yup, no disrespect. That''s why I said respect, duh..."
For some reason, it didn''t seem like the two of them were on the same page but at the same time it did. It was a strange spectacle that Tyler actually found amusing.
At this point, Oxa wanted to facepalm himself but managed to hold back his nerves as he maintained eye contact with Tyler.
"It is fine. While I do not mind the little misconduct, I employ you to keep in mind that I have taken the time out of my busy schedule to arrange an audience with you. That being the case, rather than wasting time to no use ¡ª by beating around the bush and bandying insincere ttery ¡ª let us be frank with each other. I trust there are no objections?"
"I understand. As we exined earlier to your maid. My elder brother and I had borne witness to the might disyed by your Grace over the scarlet sea only a week ago."
"Indeed! We have never felt anything like that even in the seven most chaotic regions on the continent. I was in awe."
"As my brother had said. What we felt that day was something that has etched itself into our very souls to this day and we can no longer forget it. This is something we had never experienced even when faced against the seven Primordials. For some reason, our entire being was being drawn to you that day so we decided to seek you out."
Oxa did his best to speak frankly and to the point. Not wanting to be used of being insincere.
"Exactly. Of course, I only wanted to fight such a strong opponent but my brother felt strongly agaist it. Although I never would''ve guessed the person I was after would be the one who was taking over as the new demon king. I would''ve died like a pig, whahahahahahah..."
Onyx suddenly burst outughing as he imagined himself challenging this fellow and not even living past one second to enjoy a glorious death. For some reason, he found that funny and couldn''t stopughing.
"Again, please pardon my brother''s rudeness. He''s... quite dumb."
"Hmm, that''s rude."
Pouting at his younger brothers words, Onyx folded his arm and Tyler couldn''t tell what was happening anymore.
Tyler was silent for a while as he finally decided to use his divine appraisal on these two. Naturally, he couldn''t control who stayed in his city but he had no intentions of having any spies as his direct subordinates.
The two behemoths froze at his prating gaze and the air around them seems to stand still for a moment before returning to normal. What Tyler had confirmed was that these two were ridiculously strong.
The strongest amongst them was unsurprisingly the younger brother who was at the basic stage of the 7th Tier with an impressive number of skills and could use two magic types. He had no innate ability but was a freaking demigod.
The elder brother was also at the basic level of the 7th tier but couldn''t use magic and still had fewer skills than his brother. However, Tyler could understand why none of them had felt intimidated by the seven primordials when they had easily matched Mammon in strength.
Although Tyler was aware from Levi that Mammon was the weakest amongst the seven primordials, and could only made up for the difference with his overabundance of skills and spells,bined with his vast mana reserves.
With the capabilities of these two fighters who had just handed their services to him, it was hard for anyone in their right mind to miss out on such a golden opportunity to gain more cards to y against all the other superpowers in the demon continent and the world alike.
However, the possibility of this being a trap to insert moles into his inner circle was quite high so Tyler had been thinking carefully about his decision. The fact was, their level of strength was not even a factor when chosing hispanions do it didn''t matter to him that these two were actual demigods.
With one more use of his ability on Z and Albert, they would both cross that seemingly boundless threshold and step into the domains of the gods.
Still, if he could actually trust this two behemoths then it would be a waste not to ept them into his fold. This was quite the difficult decision.
However, just like always, Uriel immediately came up with a solution to his problem as though it was nothing. But upon hearing, in details her exnation, Tyler immediately got annoyed at her.
Chapter 313 C313. Representatives
As Tyler observe the two behemoths, he contemted his decision but found it difficult toe to a decision as his mind rapidly went over the countless reasons for both sides of the situation.
However, his stalemate quickly came to an end as Uriel provided him was an answer.
[Answer: Master does not need concern himself as it matters not if these two behemoths are spies or not. This encounter is as expected and will prove useful to Master. However, to ease Master''s nerve, the use of a demon''s pact is advised.]
Tyler waspletely at a loss for words as he couldn''t believe his ears or what he had just heard.
''Huh? What exactly do you mean by ''this situation is as expected?'' Did you sense their presence during the fight at the Scarlet sea?''
[Of course.]
''Of course? Then why the hell didn''t you inform me about this?!''
To be honest, Tyler hadn''t been focused on scanning his surroundings during that fight with the shadow king. His only other focus was to prevent the prying eyes of the Great Fives from learning about his skills so he had mainly been using anti divination spells at the time.
Who would''ve expected that there would be a couple of behemoths sailing tat deep into such a dangerous sea. Then again, they were both demigods so there weren''t that many sea monsters that would be capable of hindering their exploration.
[Master never asked for that information. Also, such minor hindrance was judged to be at the lower end of the Master''s list of priorities, as such, it was discarded.]
''You''re kidding me.''
[...]
Tyler found it almost impossible to argue with Uriel as she apparently had a perfect answer to everything. She even had an answer to when she would just t out ignore him which he could notin about as he did not understand most of what she would tell him anyway.
Anyway ¡ª back to the point.
Tyler retracted his scrutinizing gaze from the pair before casually stroking his chin as he pretended to contemte the issue a bit longer. He then returned his gaze to the pair and answered.
"Very well. I Shall permit you to pledge your fealty to me. However, you will both remain outer members of my family until you have proven your usefulness to me."
While Tyler was still worried that this was a trap, he knew from the daily report he got from Liz that they were still short on valuable resources as they hadn''t yet established any trade negotiations with other regions so they needed to hunt for these valuable resources themselves.
However, with very valuable resources being located in an equally dangerous area, they currentlycked sufficient manpower to cover all their basis and having two demigods he could send to these dangerous areas as both a test and a necessity, was bound to be apossitive in the growth of his city.
Besides, if he remembered correctly, Z was currently working on a n to take advantage of all the spies in his city and these two would be no exception.
With those thoughts shing through his mind, Tyler decided to trust in his subordinates, especially the ''know it all'' Uriel as he epted the pair of behemoth in the outeryer of his family.
His words immediately brought a smile into Onyx face as Oxa made a gentle sigh of relief before immediately standing up and genuflecting before Tyler. Onyx was caught a little off guard but soon mirrored his younger brother.
"Truly this is more than we had expected from you, your Grace. You have our eternal loyalty. We, the brothers of Necronn solemnly bow to serve you with everything we have."
At his words, aplicated magic array took root in Oxa''s pupil as Onyx followed his brothers led and they activated the demon''s pact.
Seeing no fault in their degree, Tyler silently agreed to the terms of the pact and the glow in their eyes slowly faded away.
It was hard to see such genuine words as anything but that. Still, Tyler couldn''t help but feel off about something as though his intuition was speaking to him. Well whatever, he''ll just have to let it go for now while he tries to stay atop of things as they progress.
"Very well said. You may leave for now. I''ll have someone prepare a temporary residence for the both of you before we begin discussions on what your duties for the next six months will entail."
"As youmand, Master!"
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Havingpleted his meeting with Oxa and Onyx. Tyler had Cora lead them out of his office and hand them over to someone that could assign them a temporary resident in the city.
After which, Cora escorted in various other representatives that were patiently waiting to see him.
Most of them were the representatives from the settlement already in Paragon city and only wanted a chance to swear their loyalty directly to their demon lord so the fact that Tyler had epted their request had filled them with joy and excitement.
Another portion of these representatives was from the noble families seeking to form alliances with him because they believed he was in cahoots with one of the Great Five that was currently on the verge of taking over the entire continent.
Of course, Tyler neither epted nor denied their subtle remarks as he didn''t mind leading them deeper through that thought process.
Soon, Tyler finally met the representatives from those families wondering if he was the seconding of the demon king. It was hard to make such a judgment call as if it was as simple as strength alone, any one of the Great Five Demon Lords would''ve already be qualified to be called a demon king already.
What these representatives wanted was to look into his eyes. Hoping against all odds that they would see the spirit of their beloved demon king of Destruction within him.
Tyler had no idea what the hell this meant but he didn''t expect to meet their expectations as he wasn''t the type to rely on destruction even against his enemies. He needed to be pushed to the absolute limit before something like that would be an option.
However¡ª
"Lord Ty. I, Anox Jirx Hervia. The representative of the noble family of Hervia, the sovereigns of the Kanton Region. With the authority granted to me by our family''s head, Azon Kirx Hervia. Hereby pledged our family eternal loyalty to you. Please ept the Hervia family as your first vassal family and we will do everything in our power to make our family worth the honor."
To Tyler''s surprise, a demon family actually took a look at him and immediately decided to be his vassals.
This waspletely a surprise as there had been more than ten such representatives that only expressed their respect for taking over the Darknar region and initiated talks of trade between their regions instead of kneeling before him.
Of course, this did not include the first group of noble households whose original purpose had been to strike an alliance with him because of his possible connection with a Great Family.
There had been a limited number of such representatives so Tyler had only met them briefly before referring them back to Hecate who would prepare a report of the details of their aice to Liz for approval.
However, of of the ten previous representatives that came in hopes of confirming he was qualified to be the demon king, none of them had deemed him capable of seeding the image they had of their king. So naturally, none of tnem had even considered initiating talks of partnership with him or even bing partial allies.
So the fact that there was actually a representative that had taken a look and him and immediately genuflecting before him, was truly, in every sense of the word, a surprise.
Of course, Tyler hadn''t been bothered by those other representatives even though Uriel sounded irritated by their audacity to look down on him. None of their trade offers had been in any favorable terms to Darknar so most of the talks had fallen through.
Frankly, it seems they didn''t even want anything to do with Tyler after judging he was not qualified to be their king, but as they were still in his territory, they acted diplomatically and offered him insincerepliments and trade offers.
Still, Tyler also couldn''t let such an insult slide as he had been the one restraining Rain from tearing these representatives apart.
This was why she was currently pleased to see at least one representative could see her beloved ''husband''s'' greatness. Sitting proudly beside him, she had her legs crossed and her chest puffed out as though the representative was swearing loyalty to her.
Tyler chuckled inwardly at her actions which were always amusing. Still, he couldn''t allow those families whose trade with him had fallen through to go scot-free but he didn''t want to start any wars so he would just have Z thoroughly investigate the secrets of these families for future reference.
Indeed, he would need to open talks with them again after gaining enough information on their darkest secrets. That was something he could actually look forward to.
Still, that didn''t change the fact that there was still a family here willing to be his vassals. Unlike with the two behemoths, this was something he could actually trust as¡ª the reasoning behind their decision aside¡ª this was something that would benefit both parties.
Bing a vassal family was in essence, the same as bing a branch family of the Darknar family. They would not be his direct subordinates and could maintain their current status and rights to rule their region with minimal interference from him as this results had note from a conquest but a show of good faith.
However, they would in turn receive his protection against other noble families looking to extend their territory into their borders in exchange for resources and amenities.
A trade route would be established between both regions and Tyler would receive a report about the families'' secrets and specialties, as well as an annual breakdown of their earnings from both taxes and trades.
A percentage of those earnings will then be paid to the Darknar family. Of corse, this didn''t mean they wouldn''t receive other benefits besides his protection as they now had ess to the resources that Great Darknar region produces via the established trade routes.
This would surely increase the merchant traffic in their cities as well as attract more businesses. Increasing their yearly revenue by a sizable percentage.
These were all the benefits of bing the vassal family of a Geat Family, but that didn''t mean such a thing didn''te with its own disadvantages.
Taking a look at the representative kneeling before him. It was an aged man with crimson-colored hair and contrasting sky blue eyes.
Ignoring the few wrinkles on his slightly oval face, he had the features of a handsome man with neatly trimmed crimson-colored beards. He wore a mage''s robe of white and red, a blue scarf was wrapped around his neck as he remained on one knee awaiting Tyler''s response with a gentle expression on his face.
His demeanor was that of an high ranking noble and his aura matched his strength. Yet, he was willing to lower his head to the young man sitted ross from him as though it was the most natural thing in the world.
Such a thing was to be admired and it was not something that would go unnoticed by Tyler as a faint smile was stered on his face as he spoke.
"You may rise. I have decided to ept the loyalty of the Hervia family. From this day forth, the Hervia family will be considered vassals of the Darknar Family."
The expectation on the aged man went through several stages but soon, a gentle smile crept into his face as he obey his new master and stood up.
With a deep bow, he loudly proimed:
"As the representative from the Hervia Famuly, I offer your Grace our eternal gratitude."
Chapter 314 C314. Qualities Of A King
To be honest, bing the first vassal family of his Darknar family was not necessarily a good thing as using the former demon king''s name was still considered a taboo ross the demon continent. So any family that decided to attach themselves to that name may be branded an outcast.
The chances of other families attacking them to get to at Tyler were very high and failing to protect one''s vassals would be a blight at his qualities to use the Darknar name.
Such a thing was enough to turn the entire continent against him. However, it didn''t seem like the Hervia family cared about such a thing as Anox hadn''t even hesitated in utilizing his authority as the Hervia family''s representative to immediately be Tyler''s vassal family the moment heid eyes on him.
Naturally, this had made Tyler a little bit curious as he hadn''t expected such a sudden turn of events given how the other representatives had acted.
Taking a look at the prostrating aged man, Tyler decided to satisfy his curiosity as he asked:
"Tell me, what made you decide I was worthy of bing your family''s head? Do you not fear the consequences of making such a vital decision for the Hervia family''s future so lightly."
His sudden question caused the aged man to raise his head as he silently nced at Tyler before returning back to his prostrating state as he answered Tyler''s question.
"There was nothing light about my decision today your Grace. I value the Hervia family''s name above all things and I will not take such a risk on a whim."
"Is that so." Tyler said in an almost silent mutter but eveyone in the room has still clearly heard him. He found Anox answer a little vague an as though he had sense his thoughts, Anox proceeded to elucidate his thoughts at the time.
"Indeed your Grace. I, Anox Jirx Hervia have chosen to exercise my rights as a representative and an elder of the Hervia family not out of desperation, but simply because, to me, your Grace exudes the qualifications of a true king."
''Say what!''
Tyler stared directly at Anox in confusion but the dude didn''t budge in his statement which meant he was actually serious. He had no idea what the hell could make this man think that way, especially when so many other representatives had not.
As though Anox could hear his inner thoughts once again, he answered Tyler without changing his serious yet gentle expression.
"When I walked into your office, your Grace, and from the moment Iid my eyes on your esteemed visage, I felt every fiber of my body and soul tremble in excitement. Even though I am not keen on the details, my instincts have never once failed me. It is why I was chosen as the representative for the Hervia family."
"Fascinating. So, what did your instincts tell you about me?"
The more Anox spoke, the curious Tyler became as he eagerly awaited the answer he was hoping for.
"What I felt from you my lord, was an excitement that told me the person I''m looking at will be the one to influence the direction of the demon continent. Also, there is no one alive that is capable of hiding their presence from me even if they were the world''s greatest assassin."
The moment he spoke out the word assassin, the air in the room suddenly felt still as though the gravity around them had been increased a thousand fold. Anox froze for a moment as he noticed the deathly re being directed at him from the person that sat beside Tyler and he immediately adjusted his posture.
Managing to retain hisposure, he quickly corrected his phrase.
"What I mean is, my innate ability is named, ''Peerless Perception''. It grants me perfect awareness of my surroundings even from ghosts and specters. So even though I may not be able to sense divine auras, I''m confident in my ability to sense the presence of the gods themselves."
"So that''s it. That is quite the interesting ability."
Tyler understood what Anox was talking about. With his ring of Nullity, none can even sense his existence much less his aura, so for someone like him who prided himself on his extraordinary perception. Such a thing was unthinkable.
His ability was able to bypass the stealth skills of a demigod assassin even though he was not a demigod himself. So naturally, it would be able to bypass the restrictions of magic items and artifacts.
However, God tier artifacts were a different story, and not even the Great Five would have more than a handful of them yet Tyler possesses a vast array of them.
The reason why Tyler decided to equip the ring of Nullity on himself instead of giving it to a scout or assassin like Z or Rain¡ª who may be able to make better use of it furring their missions¡ª was because he didn''t want to attract any attention to himself either from his foes or his subordinates.
He didn''t want his presence or aura to constantly intimidate those around him as simply restraining his aura would not be enough topletely defendagaist those prying gaze.
Still, the artifacts alone were not the only reason why Anox had made such a quick decision afterying eyes on him.
"Yes your Grace. However, my ability was not the only reason why I made my decision. It was your eyes."
"¡ªMy eyes?"
A look of confusion was stered all over Tyler''s face as he pondered on what Anox meant by that. Was there something wrong with his eyes, or was hazel an unnatural color in the demon continent.
"Indeed, when I had looked into your eyes I didn''t find the same arrogance I had expected from a young behemoth of your caliber. Someone who was able to take the Darknar region from under the nose of the Great Five. What I saw was a confidence that was not baseless, a pride that was not bloated. Apanied by the benevolence of a great leader. These were all the qualities o believe the demon king should have and not what he had."
"So that''s it."
Tyler finally understood how Anox hade to his decision while the other representatives had not. It was because he wasn''t trying to look for the qualities of the old demon king inside of Tyler to begin with.
Rather, he was looking for the qualities he believed a true demon king needed. It was already clear to all that Tyler had the strength to rival the Great Five demon Lords and could no longer be considered a simple behemoth, or even a primordial.
However, what these representatives were after were the qualities of the demon king of Destruction. So naturally, with Tylercking the same senseless ruthless eyes of the demon king, they had deemed him unworthy.
''Unworthy Huh? Now that I think about it. I haven''t had any emotional outbursts since Uriel became a part of my soul. Does that mean I''m freed of that guy''s remnant physique? Well, whatever.''
Tyler didn''t think much of the representative who had deemed him unworthy. His only goal in this meeting was to gain allies and unlike his subordinates, he wasn''t trying to take over the world.
With a swoosh, Tyler stood up from his seat unprompted and appeared right before Anox in an instant. cing a hand on the man''s shoulder, he smiled and spoke.
"I appreciate your honestyAnox, and for that, I shall greatly reward the Hervia family.", ''Of course, I don''t yet know what that reward will be.''
"I am honored, your Grace."
"Good, then you may leave. I will have someone escort you back to the Kanton region to finalize the terms of the Hervia family bing my vassals."
"Thank you my Grace."
A smile blossomed on Anox''s wrinkled face as he bowed to Tyler before taking his leave. He was not thest representative seeking an audience with him as there were still about four more to go.
Watching Cora escort Anox out and then bring in the next representative, Tyler returned to his seat and continued his meetings with a increased pace.
He quickly went through all four representatives and unsurprisingly, none of them had sworn loyalty to him as Anox had done. In the end, he had only ended up with one vassal family and open trade talks with six other families.
These were from the families that still believed he was allied with one of the Great five and were trying to take advantage of the situation to gain a portion of the once forbidden resources of the Darbar region.
These families may even be worse than the ones who had deemed Tyler unworthy as they were actively trying to take advantage of them. Still, this was a golfer opportunity that could not be missed as the Darknar family could not trive on the resource of the Darknar region and the Kanton region alone.
They needed to y along with these families untill they were able to outwit them into a more favorable trade agreement. This was why none of the proposed trade so far had not been finalized.
Hence, Tyler needed to send his own representative to visit this families heads to continue the negotiations.
That presented another problem as Tyler didn''t know who to send as his representative. He could send Tarka, alongside the dark drake, Drago with Anox to finalize the details of the Hervia family''s submission to him.
However, talks with the other six families were on another level as they did not respect or at least fear Tyler''s authority so he could not send someone weak. He also needed someone intelligent enough to handle the negotiations and not get swindled into signing a disadvantageous trade deal.
As there was the matter of establishing a trade route between the regions. It would be bad if all the cost of the trade was ced on them.
Liz and Z were the perfect candidates for such a task, however, there was no way Tyler could afford to pull those two away from their duties and even Albert and Erin were currently vital to the continued progress of the Darknar family.
The only other viable option was¡ª
"Lord Ty is something the matter. You''ve been standing there for a while now. What''s wrong?"
"¡ªUh, oh right my bad. I was contemting the best candidate to lead the negotiations with those six families. There aren''t that many capable candidates."
Hearing Rain asked worriedly, Tyler finally snapped out of his daze and strolled back to his seat.
"Oh, if such a thing bothers you so much then I wouldn''t mind going myself."
"Huh."
Hearing Rain''s words, Tyler''s went wide as he immediately turned to stare at her in an exaggerated motion.
"Wait, why''re looking at me like I can''t handle a simple negotiation. I''ll have you know, I was trained as an assassin by one of the Great Five and my training included all forms of education. After all, one does not just be the world''s greatest assassin just by moving in the shadows. Hehe~"
''And who the hell gave you that title.''
All kidding aside, Tyler waspletely blindsided as he hadn''t even considered Rain for the job at all even though he knew she was far more intelligent than he was without Uriel.
''I suppose that''s her own fault, to begin with.''
Tylerpletely shifted the me for his negligence back to Rain as the considered her proposal. It wasn''t exactly a bad idea but still, there was a lot to consider as Rain''s presence was currently also needed in his city.
"Is there still a problem with sending me out Lord Ty? Do you not trust me with this?"
Tyler remained silent for a second before gently muttering in response.
"That''s not the case¡ However, your presence here is very important, so if I send you out¡ I would be quite troubled¡"
"My," Rain smiled in delight. "It will be fine, Lord Ty. I shall immediately settle matters and return to your side."
"Is that so... Very well then."
Chapter 315 C315. The Unholy Region
The innermost reaches of the Rantre Lahoured Region. A ce under the sovereignty of the Great Alcar Family.
Very few demons were allowed into this invible sanctum designated to the glory of their god.
The first being in the entire region allowed in such a ce was the highest-ranked member of the Alcar Family; the Great Demon Lord, Cain Lyra Alcar.
Next were the Six Elders, the highest-ranking members of the Alcar family. Also, the highest appointment holders of the Alcar family''s six decisions are solely devoted to the demon god.
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Unlike most of the other demon families, the Alcar family were devout believers of the Great Demon God, Apollyon.
Throughout history, there were only three know names for the Great demon god that had brought destruction upon the entire world during the mythical age of this world.
An age before mortals was born, an age where gods, celestial, and dragons roamed amongst the other life forms of this world. It was a time before the physical ne and the astral ne was separated by the Almighty. The demon god stood amongst the strongest gods in the omniverse.
However, during the Great War between the lower gods and the dragons, the demon god of Destruction fell to a multitude of Devine beings. His body was scattered across the multiverse and his death gave birth to what was now known, as the demon race.
However, there were those that believed, the Great Demon Lord was notpletely dead, and will soon return, to bring destruction upon the world, and those that stood against him. Sparing only those that served him.
As the strongest believers of the unholy word, the Alcar family will be the ones to save the demon continent. By bing the demon king, the Alcar family can enlighten the entire continent about their impending doom, and bring them under the protection of the Great Apollyon.
With that belief etched in their hearts, the internal structure of the Alcar family was focused on their religion.
The power distribution was focused around the Six sects, headed by each of the six great elders of the Alcar family. Except for the capital city that was directly under the Great Demon Lord''s domain.
The entire Rantre Lahoured Region was divided under the jurisdiction of six sects'' influence, giving them absolute control over the entire region. This limited the authority the other noble families had over theirnds, but that strangely did not stir up any internal conflicts or displeasure as they were all devout believers of the unholy word.
Of course, the Alcar family had also set up various governing departments that help to manage the power structure of the Rantre Lahoured Region. Ensuring that no one sect gained power greater than that of the Great Demon Lord himself.
While their religion had strengthened the bonds of the demons living in the Rantre Lahoured region, it also caused a deeply rooted rift between the demon race and the various other "Lesser" races living in the region.
While most demons and demon nobles deemed themselves superior to lesser demons and more especially, demi-humans, those raised in the Rantre Lahoured Region took this concept to another level as lesser demons and demi-humans were not even considered beings with free will.
Although lesser demons were in essence still of the demon race, they were only considered inferior beings to actual demons. Whereas demi-humans, or as the Alcar family had called them; heteromorphic beings¡ª they were considered no more than livestock and shown a great amount of animosity, even by lesser demons.
They werepletely hated by the entire region and one could not find a single freeman settlement anywhere in the Rantre Lahoured Region. This was because the Six Great elders took great pride in their race and solemnly eliminated any and all that dared to defy their authority.
As freemen settlements were considered a haven where demi-humans could live freely without being constrained by thews of the region they were in. These settlements were considered enemy strongholds and were immediately decimated with everyone within them being massacred.
Death was considered a show of the demon god''s mercy as anydemi-human that manages to survive would then be taken in by the noble household as ves or sold in batches like livestock.
Hence, very was amon thing in the Rantre Lahoured Region. While the Alcar family sumbed to the will of the other Great five and condemned the act of very.
They were not under any obligation to enforce thatw and thus, this ce became thergest market in the world''s underground very industry and a focal trading port for every underground organization in the demon continent.
Currently, one could not walk through the streets of any of the cities in the Rantre Lahoured Region and fine any lesser demons or demi-humans without ve cors wandering the streets.
The entire Rantre Lahoured Region had be a holy group only for demons and other races were either fiercely ostracized or hunted.
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Gathered in the innermost sanctum of The Jade-Ice Pce, in the Alcar family''s main castle located in WaterWays City, the capital city of the Rantre Lahoured Region.
The only ones allowed in this holy ce were the highest-ranking members of the Alcar family. Including the Great Demon Lord, there were also the Six Great Elders, most wildly known as the six pirs.
The Pir of Fire ¡ª Eddard Dryden.
He looked like a kind old man with short blonde hair and sky blue eyes, but as the former head of the family''s assault legion known only as of the Red Circle, he had exterminated many heteromorphic beings during his time as a Demon Mage.
His wrath was like a wildfire that destroyed everything with ice so cold it burns. His murderous intent was like the chilling frost that paralysis all who met his gaze.
The Pir of Ice ¡ª Caz AzulAlcar.
He was an old man with a bald head and dark grey skin tone. He was so old that one could not tell his exact age, with a long white beard that almost touched the ground, he looked as though he was a dried-up branch that had fallen off a tree.
For a demon of his caliber to reach an age where their bodies could no longer maintain their form, they must''ve crossed a thousand years as even the demigods did not possess an immortal body. Although people worried about his health and memories after living past countless live times, none could exceed his intellect.
The Pir of Wind ¡ª DeeIie Haz Alcar.
She was the sole female among them. She was an aged woman with short grey hair and a wrinkled face that showed the passage of time against her once unparalleled beauty. Her kindly-looking face bore a motherly smile that put all who looked upon it at ease.
Yet she was the most sadistic being one could find in the entire Lahoured region.
The Pir of Earth ¡ª Faxon Hale Laureut.
He hovered a few inches above the ground, wearing a brown robe that fluttered around him even though there was no wind in such an enclosed and sealed room. He wore a pair of spectacles and held several books underneath his arm.
As an extreme believer of the demon god, he believed it was a sin to stain the floors of this holy sanctum with his feet, hence the reason m he was currently floating.
The Pir of Chaos ¡ª Sai Akonow Jahy.
His narrow eyes, solemn expression, and skinny frame made him look like a sinister person, but that was in contrast to his actual personality. He wore leather armor but held a wooden staff akin to those of mages.
He was a user of chaos magic but was also proficient in closebat, ranking him among the strongest being in this room.
The Pir of Shadows ¡ª Ike Okon Lemande.
He was a keen-eyed man with a dark brown skin tone. He was also the youngest of his presentpanions. That said, he was still in his mid-90s, though his energy made that fact difficult to believe.
He was a former member of the Family''s Assassination legion known only as of the ck Circle. They employed the services of dark elves to take on the bulk of the risk involved in their missions but his skill transcended even those creatures who nature had blessed with the perfect physique.
Having carried out countless assignments to maintain the peace of the Rantre Lahoured Region, he was truly an unsung hero of the Alcar family.
In addition to these six, there were the heads of the Legitive Branch, the Executive Branch, and the Judicial Branch of the Rantre Lahoured Region''s currently established government.
There was also the head of the research institute which handled magical research. In addition, there was the Grand Marshal, the highest appointment-holder in the Family''s military, the only demigod here aside from the Six pirs.
Then there was the Grand Admiral of the family''s Air Force and Naval forces.
Last was the Head Master of the Alcar family''s Magic academy. Which was separate from the Research Institute, unlike the other four families.
These 14 peopleprised the highest executive authority, the highest most ranked members of the Rantre Lahoured Region.
The reason not everyone here had thest name Darknar, was because the unholy words ced a higher focus on strength rather than heritage. As such, each of the six pirs was a potential candidate to be the next Great Demon Lord and inherit thest name of Alcar.
However, the current Great Demon Lord had inherited the throne from his father but not because of his blood. He had just been the most worthy candidate amongst the Six pirs at the time.
They were currently gathered in the holy sanctum of the Demon God, Apollyon.
As no living being besides these 14 were allowed in this divine sanctuary, they were in turn the ones responsible for keeping the room sparkling clean and without a spec of dust.
Of course, there were magic and Magic runes that could not only clean the room instantly but also maintain a constant state of cleanliness.
However, anyone who didn''t take pride in working in the holy sanctum of the demon gods does not deserve to be spared by his Grace and would immediately be in on the spot. Such an event had urred only once in the thousand-year of history of the Alcar family.
Keeping this room in such a pristine state was of the utmost importance to these high-ranking figures that ruled over the entire region.
Even the Great Demon Lord¡ª who had been the sovereignsince crossing into the territory of the divine¡ª was no exception as he led the charge in their cleaning duties just as he would in battle. He was aware of the vast difference between the tiers the moment one went passed Tier 7 and was keenly aware of his limits.
Even after attaining godly powers, one still could not approach the realms of a true god and everything else was constrained by a universal concept, a limit. Even if one could surpass one''s limit, a new limit would be formed. Even someone like him could not defy the authority of a true god.
As the 14 finish up their cleaning duties, their extreme devotion showed their love and respect for the Demon god, as theypletely disregarded their worldly titles and meaningless pride in the presence of a true god.
After they were done with their work, they all quietly walked towards the north end of the room and bowed towards arge Tritanium statue of the Demon god before moving back to the center of the hall and standing around the six pirs sparsely ced around a round table.
"Today, we give thanks to the Demon god Apollyon that sinners like ourselves are still alive."
After the Great Demon Lord said those words, everyone repeated them after him and deeply bowed their heads again to the statue of the Demon God.
"Let the God of Death and Destruction, receive our praise."
They raised their deeply bowed heads and took their seats at the round table.
This included the Great Demon Lord of the Rantre region. He sat on a simplistic high ck chair and issued amand.
"Then, let us begin the meeting."
Chapter 316 C316. The Alcar Family Meeting
After cleaning their dirtied clothes with a basic clean spell, the 14 highest ranked members of the Alcar family lowered their heads, then said their thanks to the Demob god. They then took their seats at the round stone table ced at the center of the room.
This included the Great Demon Lord of the Alcar family himself, Cain Lyra Alcar.
At this table, everyone was considered equal before the watchful gaze of the demon god. There were no superiors or inferiors here in the holy sanctum.
They were all coborators in their servitude to the demon god with each of them having been blessed with a divine mission. Here, even the Great Demon Lord himself, would not receive any special treatment.
"Well then, Goodmorningdies and gentlemen, by the grace of our God, Lord Apollyon, let us begin the meeting."
After Cain had dered the start of the meeting, the organizer of this meeting, the Pir of Shadows, Ike Okon Lemande, stood up from his high ck chair and spoke as several documents suddenly appeared while floating in the air in front of him.
"Our first topic is the seizure of the Demon King''s castle as well as the surrounding areas as the heart of a supposed brand new Great family''s territory by the self-proimed Great Demon Lord, Ty Falls Darknar, a fortnight ago."
There was nothing that could possibly be any more important than the sudden advent of this mysterious behemoth that is believed to be in cahoots with either one of the Great Five or the seven primordials.
However, far too few people knew the details of the situation. Most of what they knew was little more than spections and hearsay, news that had traveled through countless mouths. Combined with the rapid spread of exaggerated rumors amongst themoners, it was hard to filter the lies from the truth.
Most of the information they knew now had been gained from the spies they had sent to Paragon city and that did not include any information about the origin of this new demon lord or how he was able to bypass the barrier protecting the Darknar castle.
This was why their scouts had yet to make any drastic movements in the city had they had limited their normally weekly reports.
For starters, they now knew that this person was a male demon noble at the very least. That was something they could respect, he was a magic caster capable of using spatial magic. That he had up to seven or eight demigods or demigod level fighters serving under him and so on.
What theycked was the more crucial information that would give them the advantage in this situation. Information like who was behind the sudden rise of this demon lord. Such a powerful being could not go unnoticed for so long.
Someone with invaluable resources must''ve nurtured him for all those years, keeping him hidden until they were ready to strike. Such a task was impossible for a regr noble family to aplish so the only viable suspects were the seven primordials and the other Great Families.
That was unless they wanted to consider the possibility of the elves getting involved, or worse case, those insignificant humans.
Ike, whomanded the information bureau, reported these details in his capacity as the meeting''s organizer.
Just then, someone spoke out:
"I knew we shouldn''t have let it happen, we should have intervened in that war instead of just relying on those two worthless worms!"
One of the six pirs voiced their opinion and immediately, another retorted, and soon, the room would steadily break out into a heated debate for a while.
"¡What the hell are you going on about? Open battle against a magic caster who controls so many demigod-level fighters is extremely dangerous. Didn''t we all agree on that earlier? You might have objected then, but don''t try to overturn our previous decision¡ Although, I didn''t think he would actually establish a new family of his own, and using the name of thete Demon King no less."
The group nodded one after the other.
"What does the Morningstar n to do? They didn''t seem too enthused about sending representatives to that war even though they had eventually sent over a devil. In the end, that devil had ended up defecting to the enemy''s side. You might even say that was nned, so does that mean they''re officially coborators now? Or did those vampires somehow end up getting controlled?"
"I doubt it. The court mage, Silver''s there. Besides, the mind is their domain. If something exists that could control them then we wouldn''t be able to defend against it."
"Then, I guess we made a mistake in thinking thatzy Vampire Lord could be trusted."
"¡Well, a more important problem is the fact that he''s one of the few talented individuals who isn''t being properly utilized. Should we begin the n to seize control of the Morningstars? I heard he''s moved his research center to the moon. It might be worth learning what he''s hidden there."
"Then¨C"
*p!
After a brief pping of hands, the debate which was about to heat up promptly cooled down as everyone''s attention shifted in the same direction.
"¨CLittle Rnd Quiver, our head divinator was observing the battle between the Undead army and the new Demon Lord. However, there''s been a slight problem, so the report was dyed. I beg your forgiveness."
The problem in question probably referred to the fact that the kid had locked himself in his roomzing about with those new figurines that had been circting the ck markettely, due to that he had been in there for quite some time.At least, that was what everyone thought.
"Then, we shall distribute the records of what he saw. These have not been verified by other dictators or crossed checked with the memories retrieval unit. They''re just his ount of what he saw of the Demon Lord''s army at the battlefield."
''Why do all the talented ones have to be the weirdest of the bunch, everyone thought that but did not voice it out loud. They then cast those thoughts aside and took the records and studied them.
They only stopped after thest piece of paper. Their hands trembled as they went over the same part over and over again.
They all had the same stiff expressions and their faces slowly grew pale the more they tried to understand what was written on that page. A thrill of cold washed over their backs as cold sweat appeared on their foreheads.
Ike smiled as he saw the changes in their expressions. He had been through the same thing that was happening to them now, and he was d because misery lovedpany.
And then, as though to represent everyone else, Cain shouted. His mouth opened so wide as his fist mmed into the stone table but it did not crack. Not because his strike was weak but simply because the stable was heavily reinforced with Magic metal and enchantment.
"Impossible! That''s impossible, how could such a thing?! sphemy!!"
"I told you earlier, didn''t I? This is just a description of what he imed to have seen."
Cain shut up in the face of Ike''s cold response. Such an attitude to the Demon Lord would''ve not been tolerated in another family but in this room, everyone was truly equal.
Cain panted heavily as though he had just run a marathon across the gxy. As he struggled to get his breathing back under control, Deelie decided to ask another question, to see if someone shared her opinions.
"Can you say that again? Is this actually real?"
"If everyone here still believes the skills of "Rn Quiver", then it is."
With pained looks on their faces, they all looked back to the papers they were holding with the same expression and it did not change.
They had all stopped at the same ce ¡ª the Appearance of a universal entity such as the Grim Reaper even though it had only been a projection of its powers and authority.
While they could somewhat understand the Annihtion of the undead army, even the defeat of all those demigod representatives was bearable. However, this was a different story.
After all, that was the embodiment of death itself they were talking about, a concept of the universe''s very foundation. It didn''t matter if its strength had been greatly reduced by their descent into the physical ne utilizing a cursed item, its might was still leaps and bounds beyond what a demigod or transcended demigod was capable of.
Yet, such a conceptual being was capable of almost rivaling the might of their god. The demon god Apollyon. Such a being was actually defeated in battle by not only this Self-proimed Great Demon Lord but by his subordinates as well.
Ridiculous.
It didn''t matter if they had used a sealing crystal in the end. The fact that they were even able to stand against it to such extents waspletely ludicrous.
"Was he mistaken? Maybe the Demon Lord noticed our surveince and used illusions to confuse us."
Caz put that possibility forward as he stretched out his withered, branch-like arms.
"Oh", the surrounding people murmured as they mused about that possibility, but Ike shattered that possibility.
"Even if the information has its share of minor inuracies, it''s impossible for the one is chosen by the demon god to be ced in charge of providing intelligence support to his team. There is no way he could have been mistaken. Besides, we provided him with several of our family''s sacred artifacts as this was of the utmost importance."
Ike''s words were answered by several defeated sighs as everyone tiredly lowered their heads.
All they could do was acknowledge the point in voices full of fatigue, and then they continued discussing the matter.
"What should we do? What is the best course of action for ourselves, as the protectors of the demon race? What can we do about so many beings capable of toppling gods, albeit their avatars?"
"This simply means we cannot refute his rights to the Darknar region and I do not believe any Great would be willing to support such a threat to the throne. The only viable option would be the seven primordials as they have the most to gain."
"That may be true. But the possibility that there is no such backer still exists no matter how improbable it is. The real question is what this demon lord ns to do with the current area under his control. I heard we''ve already lost our stake in the darknar forest as his forces are expanding rapidly."
"So he ns onying im to the entirety of the Darknar region. How truly troublesome. Quite a fair percentage of our region''s financese from the resources we gain from the resources we mine from the Darknar region so this will be a terrible blow for us."
Everyone had a sour expression as they pondered on the gravity of the situation, thinking of the various methods and solutions from their seemingly endless questions when the pir of Earth suddenly thought it something and spoke.
"Surely not as much as the Brimstone family though. That family''s barrennds have almostpletely relied on the resources they gain from Darknar. Mines."
After that, the Headmaster of the Magic institute suddenly chummed in after remaining silent for a while.
"Indeed... if we move quickly, we might be able to take advantage of the situation there in our ns to usurp the other families."
Chapter 317 C317. Vessels
¡ªIn the Ratre Lahoured Region''s capital City.
¡ªWaterWays City.
Still gathered in the inner most reaches of the family''s castle, the holy sanctums. Was the 14 highest ranking members of the Great Alcar family. Naturally, this included the Great Demon lord himself, Cain Lyra Alcar.
The meeting had been organized by the Pir of Shadows, Ike Okon Lemande continued on with increased intensity as the ones sitted around the round table voiced their opinions one after the other.
"The question is, what does this new Great Demon Lord intend to do with the power and influence he would gain with his control over the demon king''s castle? If he just intends to use it in defending his supposed territory, it won''t be a problem in the short term."
The Head of the Magic institute spoke but his thoughts were quickly rebuked by one of the six pirs.
"How could that be? The power he would gain from the castle is far too much just for defense. Also, if this Demon Lord is one of the fallen king''s followers and is working with the seven primordials, don''t you think he''ll hate the Great Five and use the power he gains from the castle to attack us."
"It doesn''t matter how this Demon Lord intends to use his military strength. What matters is what we can do about it."
After finally calming down from the shock of learning how this Demon Lord had defeated or rather, sealed the embodiment of a god, Cain''s mind finally began to spin again as he spoke calmly and calcting.
His father had been the one who had betrayed the demon king alongside the other Generals of the demon king for straying away from the servitude of the demon god and even he, did not know the true extent of what the demon king had hidden in his castle.
As far as he and everyone here knew, there were countless God-ss artifacts hidden in their and from the report that had just read. It looked as though this Ty of a person has managed to find most of them when even his father and the other Great Five Demon Lords could not.
They had read the report of several low level demons fighting on par with demon lord level creatures and the possession of God ss artifacts was the only exnation.
However, to hand over so many God ss artifacts to even the likes of lesser demons and demi-humans and devils. Such atrocities could not be tolerated.
Still, Cain''s words was a valid opinion, and the direction of the meeting began to turn.
"Then¡ can the Golden Circle deal with it? That''s the most important thing."
The Golden Circle. They were the Alcar Family''s final ace in the hole, a special force unitposed of only demigods. One could think of them as primordial behemoths level fighters, but there was a critical difference between the two, that of their weapons and equipment.
The Alcar family possess a multitude of artifact level weapons and equipment left behind during the mythical age of the dragons and gods. They were ones the items possessed by the demon king but had been rightfully liberated by their ancestor.
While these were not God ss artifacts, they were almost the next best thing. These were items not even the primordials could easily possess.
It was why they had all been nervous after reading the report on the undead war. For sovmany of this new Demon''s subordinate to possess such items and equipment pose a great threat to their authority. It instantly raised their evaluation of him from a simple behemoth to another Demon Lord that rivaled the Five.
However, each member of the Golden Circle possessed multiple articles of such high ssed gear and had all been carefully butting from theor days of at tge Magic academy.
This was why they the Great Five had only created a single Magic academy in their regions in order to gather the most talented kids in one ce where they would be closely watched and recruited.
If even they could not handle a threat like this, then they could still conduct a grand ritual to summon the embodiment of the demon god for his aid but no one wanted to test that theory.
Normally, there was no foe alive that could stand before the embodiment of the demon god even though it only possessed a fraction of the god''s true power.
However, learning of how the Grim Reaper had been sealed so easily made them all particrly nervous. They found their own thoughts to be sphemous but yet, none of them could absolutely refute that idea.
All eyes went to Ike, the organizer of this meeting as they desperately sort out reassurance in their fate.
He chuckled.
Some people smiled in response to hisughter. Their minds seemingly relieved, but those smiles froze on their faces as they heard what he said next:
"It''s impossible. I say this as a former head of the Golden Circle; anyone who expects us to face such a Demon Lord with his multitude of God ss artifacts must be an absolute madman. It was already a difficult task to face someone at the same level as a Great Demon Lord on his own much less with the backing of so many demigod level fighters and his multitude of artifacts."
The nature of his smile changed.
"However, it''s different for our Lord''s vessels."
"Ohh," went the sounds of rejoicing as they all remembered the twodies Ike was referring to and their hearts fell at ease.
"The two of them should be able to disregard the abilities of those artifacts and deal with the demigods quite easily. Of course, just in case, we still need to give them the best backup we can."
"So it''ll be fine with those two."
"Well, that''s a relief."
Amidst this jubtion, only Caz went "hmph". Sensing the weighty air of fatigue around him, everyone quietened down and their attention was shifted yet again.
"Ike! You''re not telling us everything, are you?"
"Caz, what are you getting at?"
In a re of denial, one of the other pirs impatiently quarrel Caz for his intentions i hopes that nothing was wrong.
"We the highest level executives of the Alcar family are not subjected to the samews as everyone else. However, in the presence of the demon god, we are all equals serving under his grace and lying to your colleagues here is a grave offense. If you agree with this, let me ask you one more time: What are you hiding?"
"Caz. What''s wrong with you? Why are you saying this?"
"Eddar, I have a question. Why did Little Rnd Quiver lock himself away before he had sent over his report?"
The room remained silent as everyone exchanged confused gazes with one another. They had all assumed the same thing but none of them was clueless enough not to understand that there was probably more to this by the mere fact that Caz was bring it up now.
Knowing that nobody could answer that question, he continued to speak.
"He did so out of despair. Or perhaps he must have suffered some sort of shock or bacsh. It''s true that a force of so many demigod level fighters was concerning. However, the kid''s a member of the Golden Circle. Do you really think he would go into hiding just because of that?¡ Even he is not so irresponsible not to know when an information is important or not. The reason for his dy was because he had saw something that even the Vessels could not beat. This report isn''tplete, isn''t it?"
Everyone looked at Ike and Caz, their expression somber and a little pale as they slowly shifted their gaze towards the standing Ike.
"..What are you trying to achieve by hiding that point? I trust you. I know you''re not the sort of man who would use the Circles for his own gain. But why are you not revealing this?"
Caz continued his line of questioning and Ike smiled at him gently before responding.
"Well done. As expected of you, Caz. I simply wanted to explore the possibilities¡ then, I''ll say it. Agonizing over this problem alone would simply give me an migraine, so I''d be d to share it with all you gentlemen here."
Ike looked at his seated audience for a moment before speaking again.
"How much do you know of the battle between the Undead army and the Darknar force''s ¡ª no, between the Undead King and the Great Demon Lord himself?"
The person who answered on their behalf was the Alcar family''s Great Demon Lord.
"I heard that the undead king was using a cursed artifact but lost his mind and was controlled by some spiritual entities. If I remember correctly, it was then the surveince spell were blocked and we had to leave the rest to Rnd. It''s because of this uncertainty that caused the Great Five to remain passive, thereby silently seeding the Darknar region to this unknow Demon lord."
"And do you know what being possessed the undead king?"
The Great Demon Lord simply shook his head at Ike.
"I don''t know. That news has not reached me yet. It should be the same for the rest of you, right? And also why we''ve been waiting on Little Rnd before this meeting was finally organized."
"Yes. None of the scouts we sent to take advantage of the situation had survived the night and our spies in his city are yet to make their second report. So all we hear are rumors of unknown provenance. Most likely being spread around by this Demon Lord''s subordinates. It''s quite impressive."
"So we need the Circles ¡ª this sort of thing is better suited to the Blue Circle than the Yellow Circle, right?"
"Yes, which is why only themander of the Six Circles ¡ª namely, you all ¡ª know the truth. All we learned is what little leaked out."
"¡I see. Then, release the full, unabridged version of what Little Rnd Quiver saw during that battle to us."
After reading the rest of the report, the room was ruled by silence yet again.
Feeling that this could not be allowed to go on, Sai raised a questions.
"I see, I see. ¡You were afraid our hearts would stop if we saw this first, right?"
"Not really. I''m sure everyone here is capable of surviving without a heart. I was simply afraid that if I opened with this, none of you would believe it."
Sai nodded, unable to refute that.
Indeed, for an unknow behemoth that has only just recently worked his way out of the shadows to posses such power was absurd.
The Grim Reaper incident had been a shock but even still, he had used a sealing tool to aid him and the reaper had been weakened with the help of a devil as well as divine nymph. However, this piece of information waspletely ludicrous.
Chapter 318 C318. The New Demon Lord
After reading the unabridged report that had been ced in front of them. Everyonefell into deep contemtion as they reevaluated their entire worldview, as well as their ultimate agenda.
What they were currently reading was not something that could be believed easily. In fact, if Ike hadn''twatered them down from the beginning by releasing the information one piece at a time, they would all most likely call him delusional and question his sanity.
Sai nodded his head in resignation as he broke the deathly silence that had ruled over the unholy sanctum for a while now.
"It''s true that we would have doubted this if we had seen this first. We would not have believed it at all. But after understanding the reality of this Demon Lord''s forces and ess to the demon king''s resources, we have no choice but to believe it. Something this insane could not possibly be made up."
Sai fell back into his seat as he spoke with a somewhat defeated attitude. His irises seemed to disappear when the stone table was suddenly mmed by another of the six pirs.
"Still!¡ I don''t want to believe this. Who would''ve believed that such a lowly undead Lich would stumble upon an item cursed by the Shadow king? That was one of the ancient artifacts that went missing during the Great War and now it''s also in the hands of this despicable Demon Lord."
As Eddard spoke and the air froze around him, the other 13 members of the round table finally snapped out of their daze as a new discussion broke out.
"That''s not even the worst part. How in the name of Lord Apollyon is a single demon capable of defeating the Shadow king? This is getting ridiculous. That''s the fucking Shadow King, a cosmic being capable of rivaling the embodiment of death itself, the Grim Reaper! I just can''t believe it¡"
The fact that they had also dealt with the Grim Reaper, however absurd that was, they could still understand it. After all, they had faced it with the aid of a Devil, a powerful water nymph, and an ArchLich, before finally managing to seal it in an equally powerful sealing crystal.
However, the report on the Shadow King waspletely different. Not only had this Demon Lord faced it head-on, but he had also actually defeated it by himself. Not even the Great Demon Lords of the Great Five could manage that without significant preparations, and even then, they might still not survive the battle.
"Only he saw it, right? It says the Demon Lord had sealed off the area the moment the Shadow king began taking over that thing. Even if it''s Little Rnd, I''m sure he''s capable of bypassing even the mostplex of anti-divination Magic but, isn''t it possible he was mistaken? Perhaps he had misused the activation of an artifact¡"
In a desperate attempt to wrap their head around the logic of the situation, the head of the Judicial department raised his doubt but was immediately shut down by Faxon.
"Even so, it is still a fact that this behemoth had gained enough power to venture into the territory of the gods much less the Great Five. We would need to revise our strategy in dealing with him."
"I can''t deny what he''d seen anymore. This is the true power behind even the level of ascended demigods. That should be it."
"The advent of a god, or perhaps a celestial?"
"I might be exaggerating here but the abilities of this Demon Lord written here are simr to the description of that god¡ is it possible He has descended from the astral nesonce more?"
"Impossible. The legend states that the God of the Abyss, Magma, was destroyed by the Dragon King. This must be something else. And if Lord Magma had actually descended once more, she would surely have told us. After all, she is Lord Magma''s first servant."
"Then, it''se atst?"
"Probably, yes. After 800 years."
"It should be correct, judging by the words of the scripture. It might appear somewhere on the continent."
"Their power and influence over their assigned parts of the continent increased so slowly because those piles of trash that call themselves Royalties messed up so much of the n."
"Those idiots in the other Greats, more especially the Zoraks¡"
Everyone had looks of disdain in their eyes as they heard those words.
The Sentro Region was the most geographically secure region of all the Great Five. Because of that, the Alcar Family had secretly assisted them in the hopes that the region would one day develop into a region capable ofsaving the demon race.
By breedingrge quantities of demons on safe and fertilend, many talented individuals would also appear, who could then be groomed into the proper vessels that could ept the divine descent of the demon god, Apollyon.
However, peace and prosperity over thest few huffed years had caused the region to fall into degeneracy, and the Zorak''s rotted from within. Filthy creatures like demi-humans had also swarmed into that region and they were slowly infecting the entire region as they began to gain titles rivaling that of nobles by bing these so-called Hunters of a thing.
Worse of all, they''ve also may their way into the Zoraks Magic institute and academy. Such a thing was further damaging their ns for a pure Jew world where demons would reign supreme over all other beings.
What was more troubling was how they produced narcotics and exported them to the other family''s regions, mostly the Taine Ze Region.
Thus, the Alcar Family had changed their n.
Their backup n was to incite the Brimstone to devour the Zoraks as theyck the presence of their Demon Lord. They had learned by their spies in the family that one of the Great Demon Lord''s brothers was responsible for his current illness.
However, the biggest problem with the family was the fact that the Grand Elder was aware of this and still chose to do nothing even though they may be targeting her next.
Such a degenerate family did not deserve the mercy of the Great Demon God.
The reason why the Alcar family did not conquer the Zorak themselves was not simply because they would be viting the non-aggression treaty by the Five but because they would then be neighbors with the Elven Continent, which might lead to a dangerous movement within the people to destroy the Elves.
Although the continents were separated by the Silent sea, it didn''t stop the possibility of invasion as the elves worshiped the God of Life, Freya, a mortal enemy of the Demon God of Destruction.
The basic t of the Alcar''s was that the Demon race was chosen by God, and all other races had to be exterminated, or serve underneath the demons'' feet as ves.
Thus, they inculcated an attitude in the people that they were surrounded by enemies and lower life forms, and that they had no choice but to work together.
This was the only way they could instill the unholy word deep within the souls of their people to be a truly unified race, unlike the other families. However, if they became neighbors with the Elven continent even when separated by sea, there was a chance that their philosophy might lead them in a dangerous direction.
Everyone here understood that they could only n the future of the Demon Race by knowing the strength of their family and not harboring any pointless pride that would lead them down the wrong path.
It was important not to overestimate ones self and be keenly aware of their weaknesses. Also, one must know the strength of their opponent, and which matters to prioritize. However, themon folk would shout for war with the Elves in order to destroy the enemies of the demon race.
That would be disastrous.
After all, the Elves were very strong.
To be precise, the dangery with one of the High elves of the Forest elves, the White AngelKin, the child of an Arch Angel, and a Hugh elf. If they did battle with her, the mightiest of the High Elves, they ran a risk of the demon continent being reduced to ash. It was the same reason why none of the Great Demon Lords had battled seriously with each other and why they were being patient with this new Demon Lord.
However, for the people who did not know any better and were eager to serve their God. What would they think? They would see enemies to destroy, yet all they could do was bite their nails and wait impatiently for the higher hopes to make a decision.
Such a thing would create a state of high tension amongst the masses and could easily be escted into a chaotic riot.
Of course, everyone here could easily quash such resentments and unease through force, but that would produce bacshes that would weaken the unification they had worked so hard to achieve. In addition, they could not deny that a war might break out in the future.
Thus, the Alcars could not share a border with the Elven continent, nor could they directly control the Zoraks. Even if they wanted to rule it from the shadows, the Sentro Region was simply toorge.
"Let''s consider this new Demon Lord first. By the way, I believe we should find a way to obtain the crystal with which he had sealed the Grim Reaper in. I sense the power that item now contains may even rival that of a God Tier artifact."
"Well that''s to be expected, it does contain the embodiment of death itself. With it being sealed we should be able to freely manipte the powers of death. Provided we find a suitable medium for its use. It would be dangerous to be exposed to the entirety of that energy at once."
"Indeed. That would be elevated on our list of priorities. However, stealing such an item from a being of his caliber is more delusion than reality. We might be overestimating our capabilities here. Even if we manage to somehow kill him, I don''t think we have the means to break into his dimensional storage."
After hearing the suggestions from two of the six pirs, Cain decided to voice an objective outlook on the situation.
"In that case, we would have to find a way to force him to hand it over. Perhaps in a trade of sorts."
"That would mean we would have to make contact with him after all. And why would he trade us such a thing."
"We don''t have to give him a choice you know. If he''s hell-bent on remaining in the Darknar region, regardless of his might, he would have to answer to the Five."
"I see where you''re headed. So in the end, we''ll have to officially ept him as one of the Greats. So a Grand conference between the five families, and him? Thest time we did that was more than 500 years ago, after the Civil War."
"Indeed... however, how do we bring forth the idea of a Grand Conference to the other families without being a target of suspicion given the tension amongst ustely."
"There''s no need to worry about that, I believe he has gained interest in this matter and might finally make a move."
"Him Huh. Is that true?"
"Yes. That fellow is extremely fickle, but I believe this situation is to his liking. We might finally get to witness something we haven''t seen for more than a thousand years."
"He is still a part of the noble demon race yet he acts separate from the other Greats, his personalitypletely annoys me. Still, one cannot deny his genius."
"Then all we need to do now is wait."
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement and the room regain his calm. However, that calm did notst for long as the Pir of Ice initiated another topic and a new round of discussions erupted in the holy sanctum.
Chapter 319 C319. The Black Sheep Princess
"Now then, let''s get back to the purpose of this meeting. Speaking of this new Demon Lord, I believehe should have been the one who destroyed our scouts in the Darknar forest a while back. I take it that was in preparations for his usurping of the king''s castle, is it not?"
The air seemed to crackle and freeze.
"ording to the information we got from our spies in the Mereotti Family, the ones who destroyed the scouts were a pair of female demons. Their description didn''t match with him at all."
Caz answered Cain''s question but his tone was notced with as much conviction as it once was.
"Of course, it doesn''t match. Both parties are of different genders, but that doesn''t mean it wasn''t him or better yet, his subordinates. There are two, in particr, that seem to match that description."
"Indeed you''re right. For someone of his caliber, using shape-shifting magic isn''t too difficult for him if he wanted to handle the matter personally. Besides, I sense the memories of that scout might have been altered, and their descriptions do match those two that appear in the report as Caz was hinting at. It''s hard to ignore their presence in his forces isn''t it?"
"You mean the ones that had defeated our representatives don''t you?"
Everyone''s eyes shifted in a single direction. It was at the Great Demon Lord himself, Cain Lyra Alcar.
"There''s no need to say it. I''m aware of how this looks and what''s going through everyone''s minds. But know this, I am not my father."
The room fell silent for a while as everyone took a moment to think about something before the silence was once again broken by Faxon.
"Indeed. Last we heard the ck sheep of our family. An abomination that contaminated our blood with that of a lowly demi-human, had died after jumping off a cliff and next, we see her and her filthy elf servant fighting toe to toe with our family''s Demigod level representatives on the side of that Demon. So tell us, Lord Cain, how is that possible?"
"Please be careful of what you say, Faxon, I do not like what you''re insinuating."
"I am not insinuating anything. I am well aware that the transgressions of your father, who had failed to be the Demon Lord, cannot be ced on you. However, sending only the Dark Elf legion after your half-blood daughter and her dark elf servant seems a bit odd."
"Indeed, if you truly wanted to eliminate the disgrace that dares spit on the mercy Lord Apollyon had shown her by running away, then why didn''t you send the entire ck Circle after them? Even the Red Circle would''ve been preferable to only the Elf legion. It matters not if they are under the ck circle''s control."
Hearing Deelie pick off from Faxon''s indirect usations, Cain sighed inwardly as he took a moment to reflect on his thoughts before bothering to answer the using gazes of the six pirs.
"Sigh... As you have surmised, I had no intentions of executing one of my daughters in the first ce. Even if her blood had been tainted by my father''s atrocities with a snow spirit. In that aspect alone, she is innocent and still shares half our family''s blood. However, that doesn''t mean I would tolerate a deserter even if it was my son."
The room once again fell silent as everyone turned to each other before Faxon spoke in response to the Great Demon Lord.
"Those are pretty words but the evidence shows otherwise. If you were truly serious about preventing our family''s sin¡ª the ck sheep¡ª from escaping then she should''ve been eliminated the moment her innate ability manifested in such away. We ended up losing valuable researchers and research data on that faithful day."
"Indeed... We had also lost the prototype artifact created from the years of research we had conducted on her. Those weapons had the potential to ovee the Darknar''s castle barrier. With that in mind, it''s hard not to think we are the ones responsible for granting ess to the Darknar region to the new Demon Lord."
As everyone heard those words from Deelie, they were all speechless as they had unconsciously tried to avoid that train of thoughts for their own sanity.
The artifact that the Dark elf designated with the code name; Rain, had stolen were experimental weapons being created by the family''s top Magic researchers and cksmith.
As the Alcar family''s innate ability was ''Ice Domain.'' An ability that not just freezes everything around them to the subatomic level, they could even freeze the atoms themselves, destroying everything their ice touches including Magic formations and barriers.
However, theyered barrier around the Darknar castle had ayer that protected it against elemental Magic. That barrier was believed by the public to be a Fiveyered barrier but in truth, it was beyond even a tenyer barrier, and not even the Great Five knew the extent of itsplexity.
They had hoped to create a Magic artifact by extracting the dormant innate ability from their ck sheep. However, their experiments had failed countless times over.
Still, there was one semi-sess, and that was the artifact urately named, Epitome of Destruction. A byproduct of their experiments and the first Magic artifact the family had created.
Even though its abilities were weaker than they had expected and it was the lowest grade artifact, the fact that they had sessfully created an actual artifact was outstanding.
That was a technique that had been lost in time and with that alone, they would be able to easily grow their strength to surpass that of the other families and take over the demon continent for their god''s descent.
However, that girl had awakened a false persona and killed off all their researchers, destroying all the data they had on the method of creating Magic artifacts.
The worse part about this was that they had both escaped with the only prototype. Learning they had died had been a relief as all they had to do was located the missing artifacts from their grave sight, yet now, they were now finding out that not only had they survived the fall, but were now insanely more powerful and under the protection of a Great Demon Lord level being.
This information was frustrating and detrimental to their ns. So it was understandable why they were all a bit irritated at the possibility that the Demon Lord had gone easy on them.
"That''s quite enough Eddard, you''ve gone too far."
"Too far!? Did you not read the report on our losses from that day Ike, or are you hiding something from us once more?"
"Of course not, please be civilized. If anyone is to receive the me for that day then it''s the ck Circle as they were the ones that had been tasked with bringing back the ice princess dead or alive. I was the one who had personally issued the order."
"Is that right?"
"Indeed, they must''ve severely underestimated the prowess of those two as they had only sent a forcepromising of only three dark elves after them."
"Sending dark elves to eliminate a demon from our family, what nonsense is this. Eve. If she is the ck sheep she still shares the holy blood of a superior race. Were you aware of this Ike?"
"Well, the n had been to eliminate the dark elf with the princess while priority capturing the princess herself alive. Unfortunately, we heard that they had both been wounded and then fallen off a cliff into the red River. We also searched through the memories of the ones sent after her and confirmed this truth."
"Is that the truth?"
"Well, I heard two of those pursuers had been rted to the dark elf. Wasn''t she also showing results from the experiments?"
"That''s correct. The ck Circle had sent the older siblings of the dark elf after them in hopes of garnering an emotional reaction to ascertain the results of the test in a natural situation of distress but the results remain iplete and after they fell off the cliff we assumed they were dead. The Green Circle was then sent to search and retrieve their bodies, especially the artifact. However, they had unfortunately encounter someone from the Morningstar family and were almost wiped off the face of Neron."
"Well, clearly things didn''t go as expected, I doubt those weirdos would take responsibility for this even if we try to force them."
"Indeed, it''s hard to predict what those guys are thinking. Especially now that they''ve moved their main headquarters to a deserted ind."
"That''s a discussion for another time. For some reason, we also sent that failure as one of our representatives and now she''s been captured and reunited with her sister. Absolutely deplorable!"
"The dark elf is of no concern to us. They''re all fairly disposable and I supposed that''s why she was sent along. The problem lies in the girls'' ability to defeat those two by themselves. Their strength had clearly exceeded their previous recorded numbers by leaps and bounds."
"Well, that can still be attributed to the multitude of God Tier artifacts that had been gifted to them by that Demon Lord. Little Rnd also mentions this in his report as evident by the transformation of our ck sheep of a princess."
"Hmm... even with her impurities, wasn''t she kept alive to be a candidate as one of the lord''s vessels? If she''s still alive, can we reim her? Her innate ability is unstable but her noble bloodline is still valuable."
"I believe they might''ve sworn fealty to this Demon Lord in exchange for protection as well as trading that artifact to him. Giving as none of them was a valued member of our family, there isn''t a fear of valuable secrets being revealed."
"Still, if they are now at the core of this Demon Lord''s inner circle then it might be a good idea to reim them."
"Well, there''s a chance they might be bait for our family to make a move. If we were to recklessly reach out to them it might be grounds for war and clearly, our forces cannot overwhelm his."
*Sigh...
At the mention of war, the entire atmosphere in the room dampened as a look of fatigued gued everyone''s faces as they recalled the brief report they had just read in this Great Demon Lord''s forces.
"This is all just conjecture at the moment. We just need to think about making contact with this Great Demon Lord. A direct confrontation might be the way to go."
"That''s too risky. It''s far too risky. We should instead go to the Taine Ze Region and gain information from the Hunters there, it seems they''ve been trying to make direct contact with the Demon Lord''s new city. We can then make contact with the Brimstone''s family''s Great Demon Lord."
"That would be good, as long as the Brimstone doesn''t cower in fear or worse, wag their tail for the new Demon Lord of Darknar, that is."
"It''s a gamble, but it can''t be helped. If we do nothing but cower in a corner, in fear of a possible traitor, we''ll end up having to y catch-up with others."
"Still, when you say a gamble¡ how much of a gamble? If we mess it up, it''ll be a casus belli to attack us, no? Although I don''t believe any of the Great Five is working with them, we should try to understand the Brimstone''s stance on the matter before making contact."
"Indeed. The treatment of the Brimstone family''s representative had been extremely more brutal than the rest so it''s hard to see them as anything less than mortal enemies of this people but given as it seems they''ve already been acquainted with each other, that may very well just be an act."
"Indeed..."
Chapter 320 C320. The Circles
The fact that the Brimstone family had someone make contact with this new demon lord was a troubling thought for them. It was already bad enough that the Morningstar family had interfered with the Gren Circle''s retrieval mission of the two deserters, so the idea that the brimstone family was somehow involved with this new family would be a nightmare for them.
However, it was still a possibility that they had shed during one of the Brimstone family''s many discrete missions to the Darknar region in their demon lord''s pursuit of immortality.
"I agree. We should find out the Brimstone family''s stance on the matter being attempting to make use of them. Even if they''re in league with this new Demon Lord, there are other ways of making use of them."
? As everyone agreed on that proposal, someone else asked a reasonable question.
"¡Now then, about the newest report about the city being built over the ruins of the fallen city of Darknar. What''s the situation there? Is it by chance being used as a base for this Demon Lord to amass arger military might?"
After hearing that question, hardly anyone could believe Ike''s answer.
"We haven''t received much intel from our spies that managed to infiltrate the city disguised as freemen. However, from the littlemunication we''ve had with them, the city seems to be growing in poprity with the freemen in the surrounding regions and had been growing rapidly in both strength and technological advancement."
"Awk, a city filled with those filthy pigs. How unruly. As expected from a Demon Lord whose noble blood is in question. This will be a stain on our noble lineage if we do nothing."
"Indeed. To make of citypromising of mostly freemen of heteromorphic origins ispletely ludicrous. Especially in and as rich as the Darknar region."
"What a fool. With so many lesser races living together as equals with demons, there''s no way that''s possible. That ce must have be a sea of chaos by now. We might be able to take advantage of the chaos and incite a revolt within the city. Even if that tactic will not grant us ess to the castle, it may be worth it to serve as leverage in any future negotiations."
Hearing one that,Ike simply chuckled at Sai''s statement before he even bothered replying to such tant naivety.
"Although our surveince of the city via divination and irvoyance is being greatly hindered by the protective barrier surrounding the entire city, we''ve been able to gather enough information to know that the citizens have been living in peace so far. In fact, their ability to co-exist with each other has been the major reason why the city''s construction and development have been so rapid."
"Hah?!" That sound did not fit these people at all, but it could not be helped that they made it after hearing something nobles like them could notprehend. It was to their understanding that there had been fallen demon nobles that had migrated to the city so they could not understand how they could exist in the presence of demi-humans.
While the other noble families were not as extreme as the Alcar family and did not consider demi-humans and lesser demons as nothing more than livestock, it was still a fact that demons were considered the superior race all across the demon continent.
The only ce where demi-humans could think themselves equal to demons were the regions belonging to the seven primordials, and even that ce was solely for demi-humans so demons would not be caught dead there.
Hence why these 14 leaders of one of the Great Five families had a dumbfounded expressions on their faces and could not believe what they had just heard.
"Hmmm... You see, I''ve been in so many loud situations that at my age, I do end up hearing things that aren''t there, but it seems my condition has suddenly worsened. Ike, what was that about peace?"
"It seems like the world has turned upside do overnight. I won''t be surprised if the sun rises from the south or even the north tomorrow."
In the face of such a ridiculous notion that defied their faith and all they believed in, thehighest-ranking members of the Alcar family could not help but turn to jabs and jokes to reduce the level of shock they had received yet again.
"¡All right, enough with jokes. If Ike is telling the truth, that would be a truly unimaginable sight. Are our observers'' madmen or satirists?"
"Even so, I''m sure they''re being forced to leave in peace. The tension between them must be brewing. If they are enduring such nonsense for the sake of their own security after losing their wealth and regions, then I suggest we attack that security. We can start by inciting crimes in the city to raise the levels of tension even more."
Hearing the Grand Marshal''s suggestion, the others nodded thoughtfully as they considered that idea. However, Ike simply sooks his head in disappointment before immediately dashing their hope yet again.
"The report states that the city is being patrolled by undead Doom Knights as well as an undead drake and countless undead night terrors. I''m also told the City''s guard captain possesses an ability that lets him watch over the entire city."
Everyone''s jaws dropped besides Ike''s.
"Nonono, wait a minute. What? Could you say that again?"
In the face of Cain and his astonished expression, Ike did not change his words as he calmly repeated himself.
Haaah?! Once more, that same unfitting sound escaped the mouths of the 14 people seated around the round table.
They had all read the reports that there were demons and demon noble living in that city alongside heteromorphic beings and that had been a shock in itself. However, learning that they were existing in peace during the most fragile stage of their society, didn''t align with anything they couldprehend.
Yet, hearing that the city was employing the undead as the guards had been a true jaw-dropper.
None of them could understand how such a thing was possible. It was important to note that the art of necromancy was considered a taboo type of magic. It was part of what was known as a Mutated or Bizzare form of Magic that uses the highly corruptive negative energy instead of nature''s essence.
Thus, this form of Magic was heavily frowned upon by the entire world and not just the demon continent. It was why the previous demon king had used lesser devils as his minions during the Great War instead of creating an army of the undead.
Hence, those who practice this form of Magic were ostracized by the world and considered heretics by the Alcar family.
Thest person to openly use this Magic was a Demon noble by the name of Adelt Wilderbelt. He had been forced out of power by thebined efforts of the Great Five and had ended up taking refuge in the Darknar forest after a failed experiment had turned him into the Eldar Lich, Zerahut.
However, what truly surprised them was not the fact that this new demon lord was using a forbidden Magic. Rather, it was by the mere fact that he was able to control so many undead without suffering any bacsh. From the report they were given there were over 500 Doom Knights, 150 undead Night Terrors, over 50 Nightmare wolves, and a Dark Drake.
Those were a ridiculous number of undead creatures for a single demon to control without turning himself undead as Zerahut had done. Moreover, Zerahut had only been able to control that many undead with the use of a certain curse item in his possession.
Yet, this man waspletely unaffected by the penalty for using Mutated Magic and appeared to havepletely mastered it. This was not something they could ever hope toprehend.
Worst of all, he was even using them as guards in a city and after so long, the city had yet to be overturned by negative energy.
"What the hell! What kind of power is this Demon using to achieve this. Is he also using that curse artifact?"
"That''s impossible, that item has released all its power in thest altercation with the Demon Lord and should no longer possess such an ability."
"Even if that were the case, it does not exin why the normal residents of the city are unaffected by the presence of the undead."
The practice of necromancy requires the maniption of negative energy which could lead to negative corruption. However, negative corruption didn''t just ur during the creation of undead creatures.
As the undead was born for negative energy, their entire being emitted that same energy, and being exposed to such energy constantly would undoubtedly lead to being corrupted.
As the practice was forbidden, there weren''t that many individuals capable of resisting such corruption as it was something even Great Demon Lords couldn''t fully resist.
This was why the practice of necromancy had halted over the years without any significant breakthrough that led to the control of massive numbers of undead without corrupting the body of the user.
Yet, the Demon Lord apparently is capable of using this skill without suffering from any negative side effects. Even going as far as creating intelligent undead creatures.
"This is the work of nothing short of a monster."
"Undead... such feats are beyond even normal monsters."
"Speaking of monsters. After sending Boro to the Darknar region as our representatives, we no longer have the employ of any exceptional behemoths of that level, shouldn''t we try to boaster up our strength by recruiting more?"
"Well, with the way things are right now, it doesn''t look like there are many behemoths of that caliber that meets our requirements. As we denied the request of the Hunter Association from operating in our region¡ª given as the majority of their Hunters are heteromorphic beings¡ª our choices in this matter are quite limited."
Although the sudden change of topic seemed a bit forced. The others happily went along with it as they were willing to take any opportunity to worry about something less mind-boggling.
"Indeed, there ain''t that many demons aiming to be behemoths these days. Thanks to the Hunter Association, those capable individuals would rather now attempt to attain a noble title by rising the ranks of the association. Because of that, those who would piously devote themselves to worshiping the demon god are rare."
"That may be true, but I don''t think we require a behemoth that is a devout believer of the demon god. None of the behemoths we''ve hired so far have met that requirement except Lance. We should just focus on those worthy of being used by us."
"You''re right. I had set my expectations too high. Let us go through the list of those already scouted for the job."
"Yes. I assume it''s safe to exclude any Hunters already at the peak of their ranks. We could try recruiting them from the Sentro region if we seed in setting the Brimstone family after them."
"Speaking of the Sentro region; I do remember a report about a certain mysterious individual that joined the Zorak Magic institute recently. With the description on him, he seems to be a capable behemoth that even Marline had expressed interest in him."
"Wait, could you please repeat that."
At the mention of the name Marline, everyone''s attention was immediately piqued as they turned their head, awaiting more details about this supposed behemoth with the qualifications to work for them.
"I''m talking about the mysterious stranger that showed up in Winged city a few weeks ago in a Magic carriage. Our spies report that he had garnered the attention of the three powers ruling that city the moment he had stepped his foot in there."
"Oh right, you mean the VIP merchant known as Lix. ording to the report, he became a VIP merchant after his first transaction with the merchant guild and then joined the magic institute on his first attempt."
"Indeed that''s him."
Chapter 321 C321. Final Topic
As the conversation in the inner sanctum had switched directions towards recruiting new behemoths to strengthen the position of the Alcar family. A name was suggested by the pir of Ice, and everyone took a moment to consider that possibility.
However¡ª
"I don''t think it will be possible to convince him to join us given as his partner was a demi-human. We also don''t know what race he is as his appearance is still unknown. However, even though there''s no record of this, several spections have been going around on his strength and it might be a good idea to test him."
"If I remember correctly, that report states that he fought and defeated a high-ranking member of the Zorak family even though that''s not confirmed."
The room fell silent for a moment as everyone took a moment to breath.
"The question is, was that incident a coincidence, or does he have ill intent against then Zorak family."
"Well, he ended up joining the Zorak''s Magic institute so that may not be the case. The only thing we know about him is that is strength is superior to most of our behemoths."
"What led to that conclusion?"
"ording to the report, he escorted a few low ranked hunters into the Farbelt pass and discovered a Grade 3 Gold mine that is currently being explored by the Zoraks. There also seems to be a dangerous creature lurking within the mine as the Hunters sent there have yet to be heard from."
"I see... if those Hunters he went with are of low rank, then they wouldn''t be able to tread into the Farbelt pass due to the ColdFire Drake presence. Perhaps he is the one responsible for the missing Drake."
"That seems to be the most usible scenario. If he was able to contend with the King of the Pass even if he had only forced the creature to retreat, that means his personal strength is not something to scoff at. I recon he''s at least the level of a Basic Tier Demigod."
"Hmm... if that''s the case, is there a way to set Lix against the Great Demon Lord of Darknar? Perhaps if we used the people from his city, we could¨C"
"That''s dangerous, far too dangerous. If it goes poorly, we''ll make a direct enemy of Lix and the Darknar Demon Lord at the same time. The fact that his true strength is still a mystery even after all our investigation is troubling for us."
"You''re right. As it is, we''ve already taken considerable losses. Though the dead have been revived, the Golden Circle will still be short on manpower after their encounter with the Daki tribe the other day. The Celestial Grade artifact, Staff of Irony has just been stolen, and the ice princess and assassin designated as Rain have defected. It''ll take us at least several decades to recover our strength. We can''t go around roasting meat next to a sleeping Dragon in this state."
The Alcar family were very particr about their involvement with the activities of any region outside theirs, and amongst the Five Great Families, they held the smallest territory and very few branch families but that hadn''t diminished their authority in the least.
Their research into the development of talent had born fruit over thest few centuries and they had concentrated their strength on the six sects known as, the sixcircles.
They were each an elite groupprising the most talented individuals with the highest potential. All under the directmand of each of the six pirs namely, the Golden Circle, the Red Circle, the Blue Circle, the Yellow Circle, and the ck Circle.
Each circle specializes in something vastly different from its counterparts, but with the concentrated military might and support of the Alcar family. Of course, this does not include the regr military overseen by the Grand Marshall.
"Yes. We need to avoid provoking a battle on two fronts at the same time. We also don''t want a repeat of what happed with the seven primordials."
At this moment, the hostility in the room seemed to swell as a chilling pressure erupted from everyone seated here. In such an atmosphere, almost normal people was suffocate under such pressure.
"Those filthy Oceanid."
"Those bastard nymphs."
"To think such a worthless bunch is causing us so much trouble. Ridiculous."
The Alcar family was currently at war with the Dryads of the Vermilion Rainforest, located in the Far East. Originally, the Alcars and the dryads had a cooperative rtionship.
? Well, it was more like amon ground based rtionship as their hostility towardsheteromorphic beings had not yet extend that Far East and they could still work with the Dryads of the forest towards achieving amon goal.
However, that rtionship had been broken due to certain interferences, and the Alcar''s was now engaged in a serious conflict with the dryads.
They had built a research base at Gresac Lake, at the capital vige of the Dryads and trends. ording to their original n, the vige should have been destroyed in a few years after they''vepleted the research they were conducting away from the prying eyes of the Greats, but that n was slowly going off-script.
"How about a ceasefire with them for now?"
"Don''t be foolish. How much blood do you think has been spilled in the fighting up till now? Firstly, how can we not take revenge for that girl?"
"That child¨C"
After saying this, Caz smiled bitterly as he seemed to have recalled something rather distasteful.
"¨CHow is she?"
"Maintaining her post guarding the underground ruin."
"Umm, we need to give her a chance to rescue her brother. If the nymphs are still keeping him alive, then they have other ns for him rather than just as a war prisoner. That may prove to be a more troublesome oue than just killing him."
"Indeed. It was him who enabled her to be a vessel. If he dies, she might be unstable. Or worse, if they attempt to us him agaist her, that would be dangerous to say the least."
"Indeed... We have to make rescuing him a priority and if thingse to that, assassinating him to prevent the worse oue. I also don''t like the idea of those bastards keeping one of our own hostage."
Listening to that, pained looks appeared on the faces of everyone present. As devout believers of the unholy word, none of them could stomach the idea of demi-humans treating a demon as though they were superior.
"..Frankly speaking, I take offense with the priests tasked with that girl''s education. They thought her to suppress her desires and now her personality has been warped."
"Well, that might be fair but it was from a time before we perfected the process so you could say that''s our fault."
"¡What a troublesome topic."
"Still, as the vige of the dryads is located deep in the Far East, the Daki tribe may respond in kind if we deploy that girl, and worst of all, it may even cause the AngelKin to take action giving the rtionship between the elven continent and the Daki tribe."
"That may have been the reason why they had attacked the Golden Circle during their subjugation of the Red Drake the other day."
"Indeed, it was a stroke of bad luck we were unable to locate the ColdFire Drake. That addition would''ve strengthened our force immensely. However, we were forced to go all the way to the Far East for the Red Drake and ended up suffering losses in that unexpected attack. I never imagined that the Golden circle could be forced to retreat by so few people."
Everyon now had soured looks on their faces as they heard that. The Golden Circle was their most powerful sect and their trump card agaist the other Great Five. So for them to suffer such a massive loss was a big blow to theor prides.
"Tht can''t be helped, no one could''ve predicted that the Daki tribe would actually make a move. Normally they would rather just mind their business no matter what''s happening around tnem. Even we, don''t dare bother them so why?"
"That''s still under investigation."
"Well, the God Tier artifact, Absolute Mind Weaver, will probably not work on that fellow who can use origin magic, unlike with the Red Drake. How about using it on the Darknar Demon Lord?"
Silence descended over the meeting room. It was a proposal that they were thinking, of but could not speak about. A God Tier artifact was world defying and thus, even someone of his level could fall under its influence.
"¡It''s not a bad idea, but the fact that we don''t know the true power of his demigod subordinates makes me uneasy."
"¡If only it didn''t have such strict limitations, there would be no problems."
"Head Master, never utter such sphemy before us again. That artifact once belonged to the demon god, toin about such a gift is an atrocity."
After the rebuke from one of the six pirs, the old man¡ª who was the headmaster of the Magic academy¡ª bowed his head deeply.
"My apologies, I misspoke."
"Do not apologize to me, you''ll have to pray for mercy from the demon god after this is over.
"I understand."
"Then, back to the topic. We are all against using Absolute Mind Weaver on the Demon Lord?"
"It''s too dangerous."
"We could''ve sent the Red drake to cause problems in his city but with the Dark drake Patrolling the skies, that is no longer a viable option¡"
There was no point in hoping for what was not there.
"It can''t be helped. Should we send a messenger to talk with that Daki tribe about the Dryads?"
"Who knows what they''ll ask for?"
"Let''s just ept if the request isn''t too unreasonable. After all, this is for the sake of that girl''s brother."
There were no objections. Everyone here was deep in introspection. All except one.
"Fufufu¨C"
A quiet chuckle rang out, and everyone''s gazes shifted to the person who had made the sound with questioning looks.
"Fufu. With the ones involved in this situation dead, you lot have suddenly be quite thepassionate bunch."
While those words might''ve sounded disrespectful, the tone wasn''t and no one here had taken offense by it.
"¡ we aim to save the demon race from destruction, and that includes the holy vessels. I think we can be forgiven for a little abuse of our power if it''s to save arade and prevent any further problems from arising."
"..I have no reason to object if this does not result in any losses on our side."
As he heard this, the Grand Marshal smiled bitterly.
"With that exaggerated rumors spreading around about the Darknar lord. It might be better to control the information flow rather than letting it spread like wildfire."
This was a suggestion that had been made fairly often over the centuries. It was important for the Alcar family to maintain a certain standard within the Rantre Lahoured region.
"There is no need for that. The change this time is too drastic and its spread is almost intentional. It would be too difficult to control the narrative properly so it''s best if nothing is done to filter it."
"If that''s the case, what do we do about our ck sheep. It may be iplete but she still has the innate ability of our family."
They all hadplicated expressions on their faces.
"I''m not quite sure, but we may need to observe things a bit more. Her position in their family seems rather high so it might be hard to retrieve her."
"We may be able to take care of the dark elf, although her sister was taken captive the brother is currently the Second Rank of the ck Circle, with our help he should be able to handle it."
"Interesting, plus we would have usible deniability giving as they are siblings. The excuse that they had a personal grudge should prevent an open decree of war. With our forces still recovering, that''s the one thing we can''t afford."
"Hmm... still, the fact that their position in the family is so high is indeed troubling."
There were several sighs in the room.
"The most important thing right now is to handle our conflict with the dryads as quickly as possible. The involvement of the Daki tribe has made things a bitplicated but it''s still impossible for us to lose. We need to be able to focus our attention on this new demon lord before things get even more out of hand."
"We still need to strengthen our forces though, the Red Drake is strong but not enough to turn the tides. I think it might be time to bring out those golems we''ve spent so much money on."
"Good idea. Although it would be an ideal to keep that as a trump card for a while longer, now is the best opportunity to test their capabilities in actualbat."
"Geez, those things were expensive. How do we always end up spending more money on such projects only to never use them."
Self-deprecating chuckles echoed through the room.
"At least we''ll get to see these ones in action."
"Indeed..."
After theughter stopped, the Great Demon Lord, Cain Lyra Alcar spoke again:
"Then, everyone, let''s begin the next topic. Ike, do continue."
Chapter 322 C322. The First Ball
¡ªParagon City.
¡ªThe city''s Lord''s Masion.
After his business with all the various noble representatives that sought an audience with him was concluded, the only ones left in his office was Tyler himself, Rain and Cora.
There was of course the two maids, Verlia and Varys¡ª who had been assigned to attend to his guest until now¡ª they both stood silently by the side of the room as they patiently awaited a need for their services to arrive.
Their disposition and mannerisms were leagues above those of the maids in the castle as they hadobviously received more training than even Cora as they were originally the daughters from a low ranking noble household that would usually have their daughters be married off or serve as maid in higher ranked noble household.
Still, the way they were able to blend into the background without anyone noticing them unless they moved was impressive and Tyler was even wondering if they were using a skill to aplish that.
However, his interest in their abilities wasn''t strong enough for him to bother asking them for details as his main focus at the time was getting done with his work.
Still, having them just stand there watching his ever move was a little unnerving and he was starting to get a little ufortable.
With thest representative gone, Tyler didn''t think there was anymore need for them to remain standing but he couldn''t find the proper words to express his thoughts to them without sounding rude.
He also didn''t think they would be happy to be dismissed and didn''t want to go through thatst ordeal again.
Then again, perhaps he was just being full of himself and they didn''t even like standing like that to begin with. Those conflicting thoughts were swirling around in his head as he found himself in deepcontemtion on what to do.
After thest representative left his office, the only thing left for Tyler to do now was attend the grand opening ball of his city where he would have to address everyone in a speech he hadn''t even written yet.
''I''m not getting anywhere like this.''
With that in mind, Tyler suddenly stood up, breaking away from Rain''s embrace as he dered.
"I will be attending the ball next."
It had been several hours since he arrived here and began meeting with various noble demons who simply came toy judgment on him, so naturally, the time for the ball had already passed.
The sun seems to have set a while back and the city still under construction was beautifully illuminated with Magicmps, set up ross the massive city.
With hisst statement that sounded more like an order, Tyler strode forth and Rain apany him. Cora also followed in silence. Naturally, so did Varys and Verlia as they would be attending to the guest in the hall alongside the other maids.
Upon getting to the door, Tyler subconsciously reached forth to grab the doorknob when Cora hurriedly rushed past him and open the door with a stern smile.
''Ah... right,''
For some reason, his maids didn''t like it when Tyler would try to open the doors himself as it seems he was taking away aspects from their duties.
There wasn''t much for them to do for him so they had taken pride in the little things he had allowed them to do.
Frankly, this was his fault for being so passive in the beginning as he was so unustomed to such treatments and simply allowed them to do whatever they wanted.
However, it was truly hard for Tyler to deny a sincere request from those around him. This was something his little sister had taken advantage of quite often. In the end, she had had always gotten her way.
...sigh
Tyler let out a silent breath as he walked through the opened door and down the corridor. At this point, everyone had been gathered in the massive hall on the first floor of the City''s Lords mansion and they were all simply waiting for his arrival as they chatted with one another, creating new friendships and bonds with the multitude of races they would usually never associate with.
Unbeknownst to Tyler, his tardiness had allowed the little animosity between the several races that had always shed with each other to finallymunicate their grievances, realizing that they no longer had a need to fight as they were all now serving under the same master.
Tyler enjoyed his quite stroll down the mansion as he approached the honored entrance to the main hall were everyone was gathered.
However, before he could reached the entrance to therge hall, the space directly in front of him suddenly distorted for a moment as a slender figure appeared directly in front of him.
"Well well well... it looks like the two of you are having quite a nice time together aren''t you, Lord Ty."
A beautiful smile adorned the face of a God Tier beauty wearing a extremely gorgeous sky blue dress thatplimented her beautiful blue eyes that were current as cold as iceas she approached the figure of Tyler and Rain, who current had her arms wrapped around his.
However, the air around her didn''t seem topliment her smile as the temperature in the corridor began to drop rapidly.
"Oh-oh Liz... you-you''re done with your work so soon... that''s odd..."
"Odd you say? Now why would that be odd uh Rain. Do you mind enlightening me."
Seeing Liz suddenly appear before them, Rain seem to get rather anxious. Almost as though she was a criminal having been caught in the midst of of crime.
"Oh umm... no reason, it''s not because I had them send over multiple days paperwork to keep you busy today or anything. Definitely not, tehee."
"Why you..."
Liz brown twitched as she red at Rain who had moved slightly behind Tyler doing her best impression of a bashful maiden.
''What the hell did she do.''
Tyler found himself stuck in the middle of a conflict he didn''t have anything to do with as he found himself wondering what the hell Rain had done to caused this.
[Answer:¡ª]
Although Tyler wasn''t really interested in knowing what happed. It seems Uriel was quite excited to inform him of the events that had unfolded behind his back.
Apparently, Rain had secretly snuck out of the castle and instructed Hecated to gather up all the paperwork reserved for Liz office and send it to her today. It was why she had gotten so dressed up as she wanted to be the one to walk into the hall with Tyler, instilling the image as his primary patner in the eyes of everyone gathered here today.
Her n had been quite simple but had clearly been effective and Liz had been forced to use various skills and techniques to make sure she could go through the mountain of paperwork on time without making any mistakes.
''This girl.''
Tyler waspletely at a loss as he found himself no longer able toprehend what the girls were thinking as apparently, they were now resulting ying such dangerous games that surely wouldn''t end well.
Still, he wouldn''t get involved in their borate plots but unfortunately for Rain, she had lost the right to escort him for the rest of the day after being scolded by Liz who had taken full advantage of the opportunity.
While she pouted and grumbled, she didn''t try to argue with Liz''s decision as the temperature in the corridor finally returned to normal before she had unintentionally frozen Cora and the other maids who¡ª while shivering, managed to naintain theirposure during the entire encounter.
''Now, that''s what you call a professional.''
???????????????
????????????????
The majestic arch doors suddenly swung open as the entire hall grounded to a halt and all eyes immediately shifted to the ones that stood behind those massive doors.
An aged man dressed as a butler with a pair of Golden gloves on her hands entered the hall alongside two guards d in exquisite metal armor. The guards moved uniformly as they marched inside the hall before moving to the side, making way for their supreme ruler''s entrance.
In the next moment, the aged man most where hadn''t seen before announced their Lord''s arrival in a dignified tone that instilled a sense of reveren In all those that heard him.
Subtle gasps and awed-inspired looks escaped the mouths of everyone thatid eyes on the world-ss beauties that had graced their presence upon them as they walked into the hall alongside a man everyone here knew well.
The Great Demon Lord of the Darknar family, Ty Falls Darknar.
Of course, that name was not known by many until this day as his appearance right then had been announced by the aged man dressed in a butler''s garb and wearing a pair of Golden gloves.
The interior of the hall hadpletely changed since thest time Tyler saw it only a few hours ago as a vast array of individuals dressed in their best garbs stood motionlessly as they admired the beauties by his side.
Tyler was sure they had even forgotten about him but didn''t let himself get discouraged as he moved cooly to the center of the hall.
As though on cue, a maid gracefully brought them sses of wine and a spoon for Tyler to draw the attention of the crowd in a toast to start the event.
As the hall was massive, a subtle strike to his ss would not be sufficient to break the crowd''s daze from the girls but with a little spatial distortion, he had done just that.
"Good eveningdies and gentlemen. To be frank, this is more of a celebration of all of your hard work over thest few weeks so there is no need to be this former. However, this had also be, the former debut of our new family, the Darknar family."
Naturally, rumors of what Tyler had just said had already spread far and wide but this was the first time anyone had heard it in such official capability. At least,ing straight from his mouth. This was as official as it gets.
"This party will also introduce you to all our officials including, my most trusted aides. The six great Demon Generals."
At that, several individuals moved towards Tyler seat and stood proudly by his sides as they boldly faced the crowds and looks of amazement and curiosity as well as anticipation, filled the hall.
"Unfortunately, some of my generals are on missions and are currently aware of the city but please, do not let that distract you. With that in mind, I hope you''ll have fun at Paragon City''s first ball. Cheers!"
Tyler raised his drink high into the air as a symbol for everyone else to do the same and they followed suit as cheers of joy and excitement rang out from across the hall.
With his heart racing and surprised he hadn''t embarrassed himself, he took a sip from the wine and walked away from the center of the hall as the live music began their performance.
The generals that had stood beside his seat him had scattered as they were engaged in talks with several representatives and ambassadors from other families perhaps to get a better feel of their strengths in person and even Rain and Liz were being approached.
In a normal setting, Tyler didn''t think anyone here would be able to even mutter their courage to approach the girls and it wasn''t because of their looks either.
After a while of everyone mingling with one another and indulging themselves in the vast array of food and drinks, they invited Tyler who sat on the chair prepared for him in the front of the hall to the dance floor to have the first dance.
However, this was beyond Tyler''s expectations as he had never danced a day in his life. No one had ever mentioned this to him so he hadn''t even been prepared or practiced.
His nerves immediately rose as tension gripped his heart trying desperately to maintain his facade.
''What kind of twisted punishment is this! Somebody save me!''
*Boom!
As though the heavens had heard his cry for help, therge doors to the lord''s mansion were mmed open as several figures barged into the hall.
''Oh thank God.''
Chapter 323 C323. Meeting A Great
*Boom!
Amid Paragon''s city''s first ball, a loud sound suddenly reverberated across the entire hall, instantly garnering the attention of everyone present here today.
There were currently more than 10,000 people in the hall with the majority of them being at the very least of the Tier 2 standard, and currently, that many gazes filled with hostility were directed at the ones who had disrespected their master by barging in on such an important asion for their city.
With such numbers, even a Demon Lord-level fighter would hesitate to take a single step into the hall.
However¡ª
Despite the pressure emanating from the masses, several figures d in silvery ck full te armor¡ª with glowing red crystalline metal lining their edges, hurriedly marched into the hall uninvited before splitting into two rows as they moved to either side of the door and stood at attention.
They hadpletely disregarded the death res being directed at them as they proceeded to stand by either side of the doors motionless, as though awaiting something.
Following the knight''s shy entrance were three figures as they casually strode into the hall almost without a care in the world. They easily moved admin the hostility as easily as though they were simply taking a stroll in their own backyard.
Even against the gazes of thousands of insanely strong members of hidden amid the crowd, their attitude did not change as their presence immediately epassed the hall, causing the hall to fall into silence.
Despite their previous hostility, almost everyone standing close to them would subconsciously take steps back, unintentionally creating a path for the intruders as they walked unhindered towards the center of the hall.
Tyler stared quietly at these three figures that had just intruded on his party uninvited as they casually approached him as though they owned the ce. However, contrary to his nk and somber expression, he was actually quite overjoyed by their intrusion and if he could, he would''ve happily thanked them for saving him from facing the embarrassment of the dance floor.
However, now was not the time for such idle thoughts and he could not let himself remain distracted by that. After all, the people that had just barged into the hall after secretly infiltrating his city were no ordinary individuals.
Of course, he had been aware of their intrusion but had been advised by Uriel not to do anything, and boy was that the right decision based on their timing alone.
At first, he had been a bit skeptical about letting beings of this level infiltrate freely without retaliating but Uriel was usually never wrong so there was no huge risk in the idea.
Besides, Z had also predicted such an irrational move by one of these people so it was fine. The only reason why he didn''t know who exactly would try such a thing was because of hisck of a widespread informationwork. Divination alone could only get one so far.
As Tyler''s mind wondered, the three individuals that had barged into the hall had finally made their way to the other side of the hall and stopped a reasonable distancebefore his seat. It took everything Liz had to restrain Rain from t out attacking these three from the moment they had taken a single step into the hall but Tyler was interested in what they had to say before escting issues.
However, he had severely failed to take into ount the multitude of emotions swelling up inside every single one of his subordinates. And while the presence of these three intruders was enough to suppress the majority of them, there were still those that could easily resist such things.
*Whoosh... Boom!
The moment the three intruders hade to a stop in front of Tyler. Several figures appeared behind them, weapons drawn as they moved swiftly and as a unit.
Their weapons glow in a gentle hue as each of them activated their strongest skills whilebining them with secret techniques.
These figures were the members of the ck me Legion under themand of Orias. As the members of the ck mes were still only consisting of the original members of the former ck Ravens, their teamwork was impable and their movements were without ws.
They hadn''t made any sounds as they moved and their strikes aimed directly at the trio''s blindspots, aiming to split their skulls before they could even realize what had happened.
However¡ª
While the members of the ck me Legion had received an increase to their Magic potential as a reward for their contributions in the undead war and had all gotten stronger.
Their attacks had still failed to reach their targets.
"Zero Counter - Gravity Fall."
For a moment it felt as though their attacks had met an imprable wall even though there was nothing there as the force of their strikes waspletely absorbed in an instant and a ck dense ball of gravity appeared above them and the force of their attacks was reflected back at them.
Everything had happened in only an instant as over a dozen members of the ck me Legion had suddenly crashed to the ground, unable to get back up.
The scene stunned all those who had witnessed it. Especially those that had been able to follow the high-speed movements of both parties.
At this moment, Tyler''s Great demon generals present here frowned as they moved toward the trio in retaliation but Tyler simply signaled for them to halt.
He was well aware that if a fight was to break out between these three and his generals, almost all of his citizens would die immediately before they even had time to flee. Worst of all, the beautiful city they were still in the midst of constructing would be obliterated.
However, those were not the only reason why he didn''t want them to engage in a fight.
After signaling for his Generals to hold off, they all took a step back to his side and Tyler settled his gaze on the intruders.
"Greetings Demon Lord Ty, it''s a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. So please, pardon the intrusion."
The one who spoke stood at the front of the group, he was a slim male figure wearing official attire of ck and gold with several items of exquisite equipment adorning his person.
He had long, silk-like white hair that gently fell all the way to his back. His scarlet eyes shone with a soft hue that wasplemented by his vertical slits and deathly pale white skin tone that made him look as though he had never once stepped foot into daylight.
Standing only a step behind him and to his right was a youngdy with skin almost as pale as his. She had short white hair and red doll-like pupils, adorned in an exquisite body-fitting ck and white dress, her enticing figurebined with a pretty, yet expressionless face could stir the hearts of many.
Simrly, standing a step behind and to his left was yet another youngdy of equal beauty and simr presence, yet her demeanor was almost aplete prity.
She was rather tall inparison to the two, standing at almost 6''3. She had long ck hair that fell all the way to her lower waist, she had simr scarlet eyes that seems to match the other two.
Wearing a rather short white dress that enunciate her rather erotic figure, she smiled rather lewdly as she casually observed the male gazes focused on herrge chest.
However, those gazes had onlysted a moment as everyone''s attention and animosity had been directed at the one responsible for injuring theirrades.
"Lord Ty Falls Darknar. Please forgive our rude interruption, this is the ruler of the Demnirantre Region, The Great Vampire Lord, Felis Drax Morningstar, who seeks an audience with you."
The one who spoke was the silver-haired female to his right as her head was slightly lowered as a show of respect when addressing someone of a higher status than hers even if they were of an opposing family.
''The Lord of the Demninatre region? A vampire?''
Tyler questioned internally as he failed to understand what this girl was saying. What the hell was a vampire doing in the demon continent and how the hell was he also a Great Demon Lord.
[Answer: A Vampire is a rare path in the demon evolution hierarchy. Mirroring the path of demon nobles, vampires ascend in strength based on their titles.]
''So there are vampire barons and vampire dukes.''
[Correct. However, vampire dukes are also known as vampire elders and as the vampire gene pool is only limited to the Morningstar family, there can only ever be one Vampire Lord at a time.]
''Wait what? That''s a bit weird.''
Tyler was still trying to wrap his head around what he had just heard when the situation suddenly took a turn for the worst.
"You seek an audience after barging into Lord Ty''s presence unannounced, and then proceeding to attack his vassals. Such arrogance."
A sweet yet bone-chilling voice came from the blonde girl standing beside Tyler as the temperature in the hall instantly dropped below the freezing point and if it wasn''t for the Magic runes engraved on the wall maintaining a constant pleasing temperature, everyone would''ve immediately be a block of ice.
However, those runes were not powerful enough topletely negate Liz''s cold aura as everyone shivered from head to toe. Even the ck armored knight that escorted those three here was shivering in their metal boots.
Tyler immediately fell into a panic as he had failed to stop Liz on time. He was aware that there was a rather high possibility for one of the Great Five topletely forgo caution and either attack him or seek to negotiate with him.
However, he had never imagined in a million years that they would not bother to send a representative to him, rather, the Great Demon lord himself.
[I apologize for my ipetence master. As any information on the secrets of the Great Five is protected against even my World Divination. It was impossible to predict their behavioral patterns without any information to go on so my calctions could not meet an adequate conclusion.]
''Hmm? Oh, that''s not really your fault. It''s only natural for them to have their own God Tier artifact to protect their most precious secrets so even if your calctions had failed, that would''ve been understandable. However, there was only an unexpected variable added to the middle so I''ll say you did better than even possible.''
[I''m sorry master. I will try better to achieve a more than 97% conclusion rate next time.]
''Indeed. You were still able to¡ª Huh? Wait what!''
[...]
''Don''t tell me you had a more than 97% chance that the Vampire Lord would be visiting me unannounced and you didn''t tell me!''
[I cannot provide a report to master when it has a more than 1% likelihood of failure.]
''Ah..''
As though struck by lightning, Tyler was rendered speech as he just continued to stare strangely at the three intruders standing before him.
''...You''re kidding right?''
Chapter 324 C324. Vampire Lord
[Answer: I cannot provide a report to master when my analysis has a more than 1% likelihood of failure.]
''Ah..''
Tyler waspletely dumbfounded by Uriel''s deration. What she meant was that she will not report anything to him as long as her calctions weren''t up to 99% uracy.
Such a thing waspletely ridiculous and needlessly extra. While Tyler could understand what she meant, he was still at a loss for words on how to address that concept.
His problem now was how to de-escte the situation happening in front of him before it gets out of control, as the armed guards who had escorted the three of them in here were beginning to get nervous and even the atmosphere around the girls that stood beside the Vampire lord was getting tense.
After all, what happened next could shape the future of the Darknar family. Liz¡ª who had been introduced to his vassals as the General overseer of the Six Great Demon Generals¡ª had be enraged by the intruders'' rude attitude.
The masses began to feed upon that energy as the hostility in the air rose rapidly and the remaining members of the ck me Legion instantly surrounded the armored knights'' stations by the door.
They now knew they were no match for the trio¡ª giving as theirrades were still being pinned on the ground by the Vampire Lord''s ability. Still, they could not simply give up and had chosen to restrict the Vampire Lord''s guards instead.
Making yet another rash move before Tyler had even found the time to organize his thoughts. He could sense the situation further escting and if he did not act now, this might turn out to be a meaningless brawl where winning would not gain him anything.
However¡ª
Just as he was about to make his move, the Vampire Lord surveyed the situation and spoke first.
"Oh right... how rude of me. My apologies, I surely didn''te all this way just to get on your master''s bad side, that wouldn''t be the least bit interesting."
With a carefree smile, the Vampire Lord casually dismissed the tension in the air before speaking again, this time, he addressed Tyler directly.
"Demon Lord Ty Falls Darknar. I am known as the Great Vampire Lord, Ferlis Drax Morningstar. In my haste to meet with you, I''m afraid I may have gone through various unorthodox methods so I hope you will not treat this intrusion as an offense. I''m not very good at such troublesome things as formalities so I hope you''ll forgive me."
Tyler stared at the young man with a carefree smile on his face as he genuinely yet rather insincerely apologized. He couldn''t help but find that attitude rather amusing.
For some reason, he had painted a rather stereotypical mental image of the five Great demon Lords inside his head so this had taken him by surprise in the most unexpected way as he could not even find his arrogance offensive in the least.
However, while Tyler found the demeanor of the Vampire lord to be somewhat reassuring inparison to the scary image in his head. He still didn''t have the luxury of being passive in such a situation.
As the supreme head of his own region, he couldn''t allow another Lord to infiltrate into the heart of his own region and attack his subordinates without any consequences. If such news was spread across the continent, it would surely incite the entire demon nobilities, including the ones that were on the verge of swearing allegiance to him, to rise towards uprooting his forces from the Darknar region no matter the cost.
That was something that could not be allowed to happen. With that, Tyler''s eyes slightly narrowed as a dangerous glim shed across his pupils.
"To ask for forgiveness while on the verge of killing Lord Ty''s subordinates before him. Just how disrespectful can you be!"
The one who spoke this time was the aged man standing beside Tyler, Albert¡ª who was casually taking steps towards the Great Vampire Lord while adjusting the glistening Golden gloves on his hands.
As a butler, he was well attuned to his Master''s wishes, and although there were times when his master would be hard to read. At times like this, he could clearly sense what his master had felt as he continuously heard the groans and moans of pain from the members of the ck me legion still being crushed on the ground behind the trio.
Hearing his words, Ferlis looked confused for a moment before a sh of inspiration washed over his pale face as he nced behind him.
Truth be told, he hadn''t even noticed those guys behind him even when they had attacked him. As their levels were so far beneath him and he hadn''t found them interesting in his first nce the moment he entered the hall, his mind hadpletely disregarded their existence.
This was not a form of disrespect of any kind. This was simply how the Vampire known as Ferlis was.
He simply chased after ideas and people he found interesting andpletely ignored bothered he doesn''t. He also couldn''t be ordered to guard against guys of such low levels as the attack they were currently being crushed by was an auto-counter ability of his.
If he hadn''t been so taken aback by the new Great Demon Lord of Darknar, he probably would''ve sensed their attack and disabled the skill almost immediately as he wasn''t interested in a fight just yet.
This was not because he was against the idea of shing with such a formidable opponent, but simply because he felt it would be more interesting to be around this guy instead. After all, what was the point of immortality if there were no interesting parties around to make it worth while.
Hence, he quickly decided to deactivate his skill before any of these guys would die by ident.
However, the moment he thought about that, he heard the butler approaching him to snap his fingers, and the ball of condensed gravity behind him immediately destabilize and copse in on itself before disappearing faster than it had appeared.
"Huh?"
Ferlis was at a loss for words as he stared back at Albert before muttering.
"An ability to disrupt skills capable of even affecting my skills. Fascinating."
Hearing those wordse out of their Lord''s mouth had shocked the two girls standing beside Ferlis as their attitude towards Albert''s approach changed and they both stepped forward.
However, Ferlis simply shook his head as he patted the two female vampire''s shoulders, understanding his intentions, they simply nodded and took steps back.
Ferlis then smiled at Tyler before, finally turning his gaze on Albert who hade to a stop directly in front of Ferlis. His sharp gaze pierced straight through his soul.
This was the first time since he had walked into this hall did Ferlis look at anyone besides the lord of this region as he hadn''t found any of them to be interesting in the slightest.
While he did think the two girls standing beside him were a little interesting given their origins. None of them could hold a candle to him, who hadpletely changed since the first time he hadid eyes on him in the outskirts of the Darknar forest.
However, after seeing how this butler had negated one of his skills. His interest in him had peaked.
"I suppose arriving here unannounced was a bit disrespectful to the unofficial lord of this region. However, do not forget who you''re talking to. I am one of the Great Five Demon Lords, I do not take orders from servants. So know your ce kiddo."
In an instant, Ferlis''s demeanor hadpletely switched as his carefree expression was reced with a frightening one. His aura, though it could not be sensed by mere mortals, erupted from his body like a raging volcano and his presencepletely dominated the entire space.
The air trembled and the space around them waspletely destabilized as it felt as though reality itself was quaking in fear.
No one in the hall was able to even breathe as the majority of them were even on the verge of passing out. If it wasn''t for the presence of demigods like Liz, Erin, and Rain who immediately released their auras to counterbnce the dimension''s destabilizing, everyone here believes the level of a demigod would''ve died instantly.
All this had urred within the span of an instant and even the likes of Erin, who was by far the strongest amongst Tyler''s Generals¡ª aside of the absent Moloc¡ª couldn''tpletely negate the effect Ferlis''s aura and presence had on the space itself.
However, despite being the target of such a fearsome aura that was on the verge of copsing reality itself. Albert remained unhindered as his Golden gloves glowed a faint hue thatpletely stabilized the limited space around him.
"Oh... now this is interesting. I supposed that must be a God Tier artifacts. Still, to resist my aura of hate, outstanding. I really want to see how far you can take this. Hehe~"
Albert narrowed his eyes at Ferlis''s delighted expression. He knew the might of the Great Demon Lords werepletely out of his league as a former Demon Lord himself. However, he hadn''t expected the difference to be this great.
Truly, his master was incredible. Albert realizes just as magnificent his master was as the only reason he was even able to stand face to face with one of the Great Five is because of him.
Even with the God Tier artifact in his possession, if he hadn''t grown stronger thanks to his master''s abilities then there was no way he would''ve been able to resist the aura of a being that had already transcended the levels of a Demigod.
Still, he hadn''t expected this oue. He always knew the Greats were beyond his reach but he just hadn''t realized how much they had surpassed him.
Truly, if they wanted to destroy this world it wouldn''t take them more than a single move to do so. In that sense, none of the other demon nobles truly stand a chance against them.
If they wanted, they could''ve already conquered the entire continent with each. The only thing keeping them in check was each other.
All those demons who think themselves nobilities were in the end, just fools ying at the whims of the truly powerful. They were simply ying make belief in their so-called politics.
This was the true essence of the Demon continent.
Stricken by such a damming reality, Albert frowned. To think that his entire family had been nothing but toys to these so-called Greats stirred up immerse rage within him.
However, he knew now was not the time. He hadn''t stepped forward just to fold under such a damming reality. After all, that was all in the past. Right now, he was standing face to face with one of such greats for the sake of his master, and he didn''t mind dying for that cause.
However¡ª
"That''s quite enough."
Those calm words came from the one he revered the most in this world and as though proving his dominance. Those simple words hadpletely erased the instability in the air in an instant, his master had wrestled and won dominance over the space to the surprise of the Great Vampire Lord himself.
"...Ferlis Drax Morningstar, I am afraid my subordinates have failed to offer you a proper wee given the nature of your arrival. I''m, not one for formalities myself so I do understand your thoughts. However, I cannot simply overlook the fact that the head of one of the Great Fives has snuck into my territory uninvited."
Chapter 325 C325. Territorial Claim
? Tyler leisurely sat on the ck high chair ced on one end of the hall as he silently watched the crowd break into nervous murmurs at the sudden turn of events the moment the ck me Legion were so easily defeated by the Vampire Lord.
This was supposed to be a party to celebrate the resurgence of the Darknar family, and yet this was happening. One of the fearsome Lord of the Five Great Families had just barged in and disrupted their celebration.
They were supposed to be celebrating the beginning of their new lives after being subjected to the harsh nature of the demon continent for countless centuries now. Especially since the majority of them were lesser demons and demi-humans.
So the fact that one of the leaders of the five most powerful tyrants in this world¡ª had just barged into the new city they had poured their hearts into in order to create a ce where they could belong.
The idea is that they may not be able to ever escape from the tight grips of the Five. Such a thingpletely terrified them, sowing the seeds of doubt to the ones who had not personally witnessed the might of the own Demon Lord.
As such, the moment the vampire Lord released his aura. The entire hall fell deathly silent as even though they could not sense the aura of the Devine, their souls could clearly tell the vast difference between them and the vampire lord.
Most of their minds went nk as their legs shook. It was indeed a disgraceful sight to show in the presence of an enemy but no one could me them. Faced with the intimidating presence of the strongest member of the Five Great Demon Lords, even other Demon Lords would cower in fear.
However¡ª
"That''squite enough."
Those calm words came from the one they revered the most in this world, as though proving its dominance. Those simple, and calm words hadpletely erased the instability in the air in an instant, their master had wrestled and won dominance over the space to the surprise of the Great Vampire Lord himself.
The air returned to its previous calm and the space came under its rightful ruler. Seeing this instant change that not even the Vampire lord himself could stop, strength returned to the hearts of the masses and their reverence for their master skyrocketed even further.
"...Ferlis Drax Morningstar, I am afraid my subordinates have failed to offer you a proper wee given the nature of your arrival. I''m, not one for formalities myself so I do understand your thoughts. However, I cannot simply overlook the fact that the head of one of the Great Fives has snuck into my territory uninvited."
The looks of hesitation, confusion, fear, admiration, and lust, which had been their initial reaction to these beings whose might hadpletely overwhelmed them had instantly turned to looks of hostility directed at the overly powerful vampire lord the moment they heard the voice of their demon lord.
Every single one of them knew that the only reason they could even dream of owning a home they could belong to was because of their master. Thus, none of them could cower in the presence of their master, even if their opponent was a Great.
"Absolutely interesting."
Those words seems to be lost in a whisper as Ferlis surveyed his surroundings. To think a few thousand mortals wouldpletely break free from the pressure of his presence even without the help of their demon lord.
That was actually impressive as he was a beingpletely different from the other demon lord and his presence carried a certain weight that generally made him the center of attention.
As vampire nobles themselves, Silver and Selene also had such a presence about them that draws the attention of both males and females in by their alluring appearance. However, even that had failed to captivate the hearts of these residents for long as their original list towards them hadpletely morphed to looks of contempt.
However, that wasn''t even what had interested Ferlis the most. The most interesting thing he had observed so far was the fact that his aura had been dismissed with a single word from this demon lord.
Not only that, he had even lost control of his skill to manipte space as though he had been overruled by an authority. That was something only a God could do yet, there was no doubt in his mind that this demon had just done that to him.
Not the mention, the actions of his closest subordinates were a bit strange too. They allowed weaker opponents to attack him knowing fully well the oue of that situation.
After that, only a single one of the General came down to challenge him. It was also weird how they reacted more strongly to his supposed disrespect of their master than his actual presence here.
''Hehe... how truly fascinating this turned out to be. I''m getting more excited by the minute.''
By now, it was already painfully obvious by their reaction and poor acting that they had all been aware of their actions in the city thus far and had simply chosen not to take any actions.
They must be truly confident in their ability to deal with his group at any time and we''re simply creating the grounds for a more favorable negotiation with them.
''How truly amusing this is. Did they only expect one of the Great Five to make such a bold move or had they even foreseen this chain of events? I''m getting goosebumps.''
Ferlis smiled as he boldly took a step forward without minding the hateful looks being directed at him. He also didn''t consider this an insult to him, none of those people even existed before his gaze.
"I understand your current position, Demon Lord Ty. After all, I am also the lord of a region myself and we cannot simply allow another region to trample upon ournds without first permission. However¡ª"
The smile on Ferlis''s face broadened as he saw the crowd hanging on his every word, he had already predicted the extent of their ns and thus. It would be impossible for him to allow such a blunder on his end just to entertain his curiosity. There was no way he would''ve remained a Great Demon lord of his strength was there was to him.
"I''m afraid you have yet to officially proim a legitimate im to this region. From the report I received only a few days ago, you''ve only disyed your ability to defend your territory. Hence, deterring any invaders as you kicked open the doors to join the Ranks of the Greats. However, you''ve only just kicked open the door and have yet to step a single foot in."
His words were fleeting but held weight as the hostile gazes he received from the crowd had immediately died down considerably.
However, to his surprise, the expressions and demeanors of the Demo Lord Ty and his generals did not change at his words as though they were asking him the question;
And so what?
"Clearly, it seems you''re already aware of this."
"I am. And what of it?"
''¡ªHe actually said it. This guy.''
The smile on Ferlis''s face did not change as he continued his detailed exnation that debunked their general idea of milking his intention.
"What I meant was. Without making an official im to a territory. It remains unimed and thus, it can be imed by another party without the need of going through a former deration of war or following any battle etiquette."
"So that''s your aim."
Basically what Ferlis was saying was that he had not technically intruded on Tyler''s territory as it didn''t yet belong to him even though he was currently upying it, it could only be seen as somewhat of a highly dangerous squatter.This was aw that had gone into effect a few centuries after the death of the demon king.
As the Great Five had gone through a rampage across the continent to rapidly expand their regions and military might. This had caused a bit of conflict as other Noble families also seemed to expand as well and would target the same region at a given time.
Thus after the Great Five solidified their authority over the rest of the continent, severalws were written to prevent the advent of the chaos they had experienced.
Of course, one could just simply kill the intruder whether they were considered a squatter or not. In the end, what Ferlis meant was that they could not use his intrusion against him in any negotiations and they could simply attempt to kill him ore to an agreement with it. There was no middle ground in this.
"Regardless, I do apologize for ruining such a lovely party in celebration of your new city, and as a token of my sincerity, the Morningstar family will be willing to aid in an official deration of the Darknar family''s im to the Darknar region. With one of the Great Five attached to the report, you would be faced with much less resistance than usual."
"Lord Ferlis!"
"Lord Ferlis, you can''t¡ª"
With a subtle arm raise, Ferlis had immediately dismissed any objections from thedies beside him as he focused his attention on Tyler''s face with the same carefree smile still stered on his handsome features.
However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not read this man''s emotions on his face at all. His thoughts were even more guarded.
Everyone could tell from the reaction of the girls beside him that what he had offered the Darknar family was a really big deal but Ferlis seem determined to make the deal for some reason.
"Then, Vampire Lord, Ferlis Drax Morningstar."
"Ah, Demon Lord Ty, just Ferlis will do. I''m afraid I''m not particrly a fan of long names you see."
"Is it so. Well then, Vampire Lord Felis, you make a valid point so I will take your offer intoserious consideration. It seems I may be drawn into some troublesome situations if I don''t make an official im to my territory in the near future so I''ll be forced to personally deal with those troublesome things."
The current Demon Lord of the Darknar family finally changed his expression as a subtle smile formed on his face, causing Ferlis to wonder what thest words he said truly meant.
"That would mean?"
"Giving as your fellow Great Demob Lords ce so much attention on this region, I''ll have to make an example out of one of them.First, we will have those who had plotted against us till this moment pay the price for their foolishness. After that, we will crush all the troublesome families that stand against us until I attain my desirednd of peace."
"Peace you say. Do you intend to go to war with the entire continent for that silly concept?"
"If necessary."
"..."
Chapter 326 C326. An Invitation
"Peace you say. Do you intend to go to war with the entire continent for such a silly concept?"
The smile on Ferlis''s face hadpletely disappeared as he stared daggers at the one sitted in the high ck chair without a change in expression. His demeanor seems to demonstrate his rising hostility that could explode at a careless answer to his rather provocative question.
As a Great Demon Lordmonly regarded as the strongest Greats amongst the Five, he didn''t need to release his aura to intimidate his opponents. His presence was more than enough to swallow the wills of lesser beings and right now, everyone could sense that he was wrestling control over the space around them with their demon lord.
However¡ª
"If necessary."
"..."
Hearing the Demon Lord''s immediate response without a change in his expression as thoughpletely disregarding the grueling tension in the air, caused Ferlis to be momentarily short on words as he just stared nkly at Tyler before suddenly bursting intoughter.
"Hahahaha... spoken like a true Great demon lord candidate. I''m quite impressed. You already possess the power and resources to consider such a thing so I can''t challenge that goal of yours. In a way, the Morningstar family does share a simr thought process. That may be why we tend to stray away from the norm too often."
Ferlis smiled brightly despite Tyler''sck of a reaction to his cleverly worded sentence and intimidating tactic. There were several reasons why he had done what he did but he didn''t dwell on the oue for long as he finally got a response.
"...Vampire Lord, Ferlis. It is about time we move on to the situation at hand. So canyou get to the reason why you had sought an audience with me?"
Ferlis didn''t take any offense to Tyler''s blunt response andck of interest in the Morningstar family. In fact, he couldn''t. The truth of the matter was that this endeavor may have been too much of a risk for his family simply to satisfy his wild intuitions.
The reason why he felt this way was not just because of the strength disparity between his current party and the Demon Lord''s forces. He hadn''t brought his strongest force with him as he didn''t want to ignite a conflict between the two families, it didn''t matter how inferior they were to a true Great, he just felt that this would bring about the most interesting oue of all and his intuition was seldom wrong.
However, the fact that the armored knights that had escorted him thus far, who were specially hand-picked for their versatility and strength, had immediately been pinned down by a stronger force, whose existence waspletely beyond their expectations,pletely surprise him.
The original report he received from the Undead war had clearly outlined the strength, structure, and limitations of the Darknar family''s forces beit failed toprehend the strength of the Demon Lord himself.
However, what they had observed was enough to provide the Great Five with an estimate of the Darknar Family''s strength, even though they knew no one was foolish enough to expose themselves without maintaining a hidden trump card.
However, they must''ve all assumed that the said hidden trump card would be the hidden treasure of the Demon King. So Ferlis believed he had chosen the appropriate strength of his unit, that would not be too threatening, and could not be intimidated by the Darknar family.
Yet, for some reason, their estimation had beenpletely off to the point that he was wondering if his intel division had been stupid enough to be sopletely fooled by the mere illusion.
His senses could also pick out members of the crowd that were capable of rivaling or even surpassing those 4th Tier Knights of his. Such a thing should not be possible ording to the report. It was as though the lot of them had suddenly grown stronger overnight.
Regardless of such an impossible feat, those unexpected individuals weren''t even the reason for his concerns. The issue was the so-called six Great Demon Generals that stood beside the Darknar demon Lord.
He had read the report about their absurd strength feats but seeing them in person was a treat that made him both excited and worried. Currently, there were only four of the six Generals present in the hall and the weakest amongst them was the aged man that had withstood his aura of hate like it was nothing.
He couldn''t feel any divine aura from this man dressed as a butler, yet, he could tell that he was fully capable of going toe to toe with a demigod of Selene''s level¡ª the ck-haired beauty standing to his left.
While Silver¡ªwho was considered the strongest mage in the Morningstar family¡ª was strong enough to handle him with rtive ease, there was still the matter of the three girls that were yet to make any significant moves.
One of them even seemed to be almost capable of rivaling him. There was a chance that given the right use of a God Tier artifact, she could actually kill him, or at the very least neutralize him for a while.
Of course, he had his own God Tier artifact so such a scenario was most likely never going to happen. Still, if a fight was to break out right now, he was most likely the only one that would survive.
However, this ring disadvantage was also within Ferlis''s expectations, and frankly speaking, it may prove more favorable in furthering his agendas than if it was the other way around.
The smile on Ferlis''s face did not change as he casually responded to Tyler''s question while the two female vampires beside him maintained their position.
"There really isn''t any major reason for my appearance here today. I simply wanted to make the acquaintance of the man who had taken the world by storm and brought the entire demon continent to a halt. Such a feat is not possible for just anyone you know."
Ferlis carefully watched the expression on the Demon Lord''s face but unfortunately, he was unable to read his emotions. It was safe to say that skills such as mind-reading and charm would be easily resisted by such an opponent.
While there was a chance he could be honorable to such ability. The risk far outweighed the rewards of taking such an action.
"Is that right?"
The Demon Lord''s response was curt and a little distant but Ferlis could sense his willingness to listen as asked in a questioning tone that prompted a further exnation.
"Indeed. Once again, I apologize for the intrusion earlier, and I do hope we can form a mutually beneficial rtionship with the Darknar family in the future. However, you will have to show me more than just the strength of your family if you want to be the allies of the Morningstars. A first step would be to step into the ranks of the Greats where you can attempt to stand on equal footing with us."
No matter how hard Ferlis tried, he could not predict the thoughts of this Demon Lord and couldn''t shake the feeling that his mind was being read. Or at the very least, he felt as though his actions till now had been foretold which was why these demons seem tock the proper reactions.
This was why he had chosen to attach an extra condition in hisst statement. His original n had been to ally with this Demon Lord if he found him interesting enough to warrant it.
However, despite him meeting his expectations, Ferlis felt as though backing off now and acting frivolously¡ª which was the norm for him¡ª would affect his image in the eyes of this family which was not something that holds well for the start of any alliance.
Something like that would only serve to create more work for him in the future. So he quickly decided to confidently make that statement in an attempt to remind them of the vast disparity between an already established Great Family, and one that was yet to get its bearings.
However¡ª
"I see.. then let it be so."
"...Urh... right, yes."
Tyler hadpletely ignored Ferlis''s statement and agreed so fast that it left him dumbfounded for a moment. It was almost disappointing and Ferlis found himself searching for words to respond. He had not expected things to go so smoothly.
"Excellent. Given as we''vee to an understanding on this topic. Shall we get to your next goal for this meeting, or by chance, is that all you came here for?"
Although Tyler''s tone remained the same all throughout his question. There was just something within his tone that seemed to rub Silver and Selene the wrong way.
Their eyebrows creased and their eyes narrowed, but their auras did not re and they almost effortlessly retained theirposure. As direct vassals serving under their king, they could not make a move without first reviving their master''s permissions, even when it involves their master''s honor.
"You continue to impress me Demon Lord Ty, very well then. Let''s get to the second reason why we''vee all this way just to meet you."
Without ncing to his sides, the female vampire to his right instantly pulled out a scroll from thin air as she approached Albert¡ª who had only moved to the side after Tyler''smand earlier¡ª and presented it to him.
After waiting for a moment, giving Albert the time to go through the letter before bringing it to his master, Silver spoke calmly and emotionlessly.
"Please allow me to introduce myself to your Grace. I am known as Silver Morningstar, The Court Mage of the Morningstar family as well as my lord''s personal assistant."
With that, she paused yet again for Tyler to receive and read through the letter before lowering her head slightly as a show of respect that surely did not exist in her eyes before.
"On behalf of my Lord, the Vampire King, Ferlis Drax Morningstar. I announce your formal invitation to this century''s summit of the Greats, located on the Reus ind, between the demon continent and the dwarven continent, a neutral zone."
Theplete details of what this so-called summit of the Greats truly is, were written in the parchment Tyler had received and it basically states that this was simply the gathering of most of the higher-ranking members of the Great Five once every century to discuss various aspects of the demon continent as well as maintaining their various pacts between the families.
This was also how they usuallymunicated their intentions to attempt breaking the barrier of the Darknar castle before the arrival of the new Darknar family.
Obviously, this also meant that this was a ce where Five almost God-level beings gather to decide the fate of the entire demon continent. It was a wonder why they had never attempted to dominate the entire world.
"For what reason?"
After taking a moment to go through the details on the entire parchment. The demon lord casually returned his gaze to the Boeing vampire mage and asked that question.
"While this century''s summit had been called earlier than expected to address various topics of urgent nature. The main aim this time will be theinaugurationof the Sixth Great Noble Family. Each Great Family had nominated a single family for this position and my lord, the Vampire King, Ferlis Drax Morningstar, has chosen your Grace''s family as a potential candidate."
"An invitation? Potential candidates? Are you by chance mocking me, vampire king, Ferlis."
"..."
Chapter 327 C327. Take Offense
"An invitation? Potential candidates? Are you by chance mocking me, vampire king, Ferlis?"
"..."
After reading the information about this so-called summit of the Greats that had just been presented to him. The air surrounding Tyler finally changed as his eyes narrowed in response to the female vampire mage''s loud statement.
The fact that his vassals were referring to the supposed Great Demon lord as the Vampire king instead of lord hadn''t really surprised Tyler in the least as he had received more information about the working of the Morningstar family so he simply focused on the subject matter at hand.
Sensing his sudden hostility and hearing his response to Silver''s exnation had rendered Ferlis speechless for a moment before ultimately recovering his senses. That reaction was far beyond his expectations so the sudden change in the air had taken him by surprise.
However, Silver''s expression did not change as she calmly replied to Tyler''s words with her usual tone of voice.
"My Lord means you no disrespect, your Grace. As the Great Five families have already borne witness to your family''s public disy of strength,bined with your acquisition of the Demon king''s castle, there is no other candidate more worthy to be one of the Greats."
Although Ferlis had nned to step in if by chance the Demon Lord had taken his request the wrong way. He wasn''t surprised to see Silver unfazed by so many stifling aura.
The fact was, he didn''t care much for formalities but that didn''t mean he was insensitive to the worlds perception of the nobles.
Hence, allowing Silver to present his invitation was tradition and he was interested to see how this family responds to it hence Ferlis choose to leave everything to Silver for now.
Silver, who still had her head lowered in a polite bow, slowly raised it to face the seat of honor at the end of the hall and continued speaking. However, he eyes could not meet that of the Darknar Demon Lord and she was forced back into her polite bow.
"Recently, there have been several high-ranking families that have been rapidly expanding their influence across the continent over thest few centuries and are now close to rivaling the Great Five in both military might and resources, even if none of them could stand on the same level as the Great Five Demon lords as you, have."
While Silver''s face remained emotionless the entire time. One could tell that she had struggled to voiced thatst word. Admitting a random behemoth could rival the likes of her master who even the other Greats could not touch was a tough pill to swallow.
However, this eas her master''s will and even though it was born of a capricious and fickle thoughts, she had no choice but to obey him.
"Still, with these families rapid growth and increasing public opinion. There is a possibility of them forming an alliance and starting another revolution on the same level as the seven primordials. However, the seven primordials were still just a few individuals that could not amass arge army to fight on a unified front. So, if a conflict between nobles of these ranks were to arise, it would spark another continental scale civil war that the other continents may take advantage of to destroy and enve us."
Gentle murmurs arouse wittin the crowd as looks of understanding was stered on their faces, having acutely understood where there girl was going. Still, this did nothing to dampen their hostile gaze towards them.
"Hence why talks of inaugurating a new Great Family had begun. In an effort to quiet down the other nobles that believe the Five''s influence has been dwindling in thest few decades. This would also serve to strengthen the authority of the Greats ones these Demon Lords that have only just stepped foot into the realms of the divine are reminded of what it truly means to be a Great Demon Lord."
At this point eveyone hadpletely understood what this was about and they all had varying reactions to her words. However, a single grave from Albert made the room quite down in an instant and Silver continued.
"This is why invitations have been extended to all qualified families to attend this century''s summit of the Greats as the guests of each of the Great Five. However, I''m sure there is no Great Family out there that''s foolish enough to believe any of those families is capable of rivaling yours, your Grace."
Silver finally raised her head for the second time in an attempt to meet Tyler''s gaze once more. Perhaps proving to herself that he was not at the same level as her master.
However, her eyes could not meet his as her head was forced back down and she could only stare at the marbled floor beneath his feet.
"So you''re asking Lord Ty to ept to be used by the Great Five in order to strengthen their authority over the continent? Are you confusing us for yourckeys!?"
The icy cold voice of Liz cut through the tension in the air as it pierced directly at Silver who was unable to immediately answer that question.
The hall fell eerily silent for a moment as everyone stared coldly at the trio standing proudly at the center of the room. Completely disregarding the presence of the dozen or so armored knights that had announced their entrance earlier.
Given as the three vampires hadn''t responded to Liz''s questions caused the crowd to grow inpatient yet again, causing murmurs to arise amongst them.
"Answer the damn!¡ª uwah!"
A clear, bell-like voice rang forth, followed by the sound of something moving swiftly. The dark elf girl frowned slightly, while Liz, standing beside her ignored her looks of difort and focused her attention on Silver.
Although Ferlis wasn''t paying attention at the time, his dynamic vision was leagues above what was considered the norm and thus, it was good enough to see what had happened. It would seem the blonde girl had just kicked the Dark Elf girl in the leg.
"¡Hey, you¨D"
"¨DYou''re making too much noise. Quiet down."
With a gesture befitting a demon king, Tyler majestically waved his left hand to motion for silence as his pupils shed with a red glow for a moment before returning to normal and the pressure on Silver immediately disappeared.
Those regal movements seem toe naturally to him even though he was supposed to only have been doing this for less than two months now. It felt like he had the aura of one who had been through countless decades of rulership.
Ferlis''s expression change once more as a faint smile graced his beautiful features.
''I see... how interesting. I assumed he was just a behemoth who had attained the strength and ability to make things interesting for me. But, perhaps there''s more to him than even I can predict. Magnificent.''
Ferlis decided to observe Tyler''s subordinates with more interest than he had originally intended to from now on. He then disregarded all distracting thoughts and spoke in ce of Silver, who was still finding it difficult to answer Liz question in a possitive light.
"My goals are to foster a good rtionship with whoever shall rule the Darknar region. I generally do not have an interest in the other noble families and I do not share the Great Five''s interest in the Darknar castle. That should be obvious to someone like you by now, I believe your capability to gather information should be on par with even the greats so you know I have never once Exercised my right to break the castle''s barrier in over 500 years."
Ferlis received a silent nod from Tyler before continuing. Hisst statement had been the absolute truth. As the Great Five took turns in their almost public attempts to bypass or destroy the 5yer barrier surrounding the Darknar castle to im the hidden treasure within, the Morningstar family has always forfeited their turn after their very first attempt had failed more than 800 years ago.
As their family consisted of vampires instead of demons, they had operated on a different system than the rest of the continent, even in the time of the Great Demon King.
It was as though they considered their region a kingdom of its own with Vampire Lords being equivalent to Demon Elders and inaugurated their Demon Lord as the Vampire King.
With that and them having very minimal interaction with the other regions due to the difference in their societal structure. They did not share the other Great Families'' interest in bing the Demon king as long as they would maintain their current way of life.
In a way, one could consider them the easiest member of the Great five that a family like the Darknar family could ally with. However, as they were also more detached from the things of the continent than the others, they were also the most difficult family to get along with.
"With that said, I hope you''ll believe me when I say this. It is in our best interest that a civil war doesn''t repeat itself on this continent as the world is currently in a fragile state of peace at the moment. And any sudden spark may lead to a repeat of thest Great War. Only this time, I believe the Elves would be participating."
"The Elves¡ª uwah!"
A sound of difort once again came from the mouth of the beautiful Dark Elf standing beside the demon lordand why Ferlis found himself a little curious about what this elf opinion on the elven continent was, he hesitantly chose not to pay attention to it as he needed to be a little more serious in the presence of another demon lord.
"While I do not know your ultimate goal in attaining this region despite the presence of the Greats. I do not particrly care. However, it will be hard for a single family to survive on the resources of their region alone. Especially if the Great Five was allowed to meet and somehowe to an agreement to ostracized said family."
What the vampire king was saying was something that could be easily understood. The only reason none of the Great Five had made any drastic moves the moment they found out about the Darknar family was because of the looming possibility that another Great was behind them.
However, that could all change the moment they were allowed the meet each other in the Summit of the Greats. For all they knew, they would have the entire continenting after them.
And while, dealing with a war was not impossible giving the strength disyed in the undead war. Such a thing would have the opposite effect in the peaceful live that the demon lord had imed to be his aim.
"I believe the best way forward for your family is to attend the Summit of the Great in two months and help the Greats regain their authority within the continent. Of course, this will benefit my family as well."
The smile on Ferlis face did not change as he made his calme and bold exnation while expressing his own transparencies.
Chapter 328 C328. Ferlis Conclusion
"I believe the best way forward for your family is to attend the Summit of the Greats, held in two months to help the Five families regain their authority over this continent. Of course, this will benefit my family as well, so I do have a personal sake on the matter."
The smile on Ferlis''s face did not change as he made his calm and bold exnation while expressing his own transparencies, trying to appear as open as he could possibly be.
There was no reason for him to hide his goals as it was obvious from the start that his family would benefit from this arrangement so it was better served with his cards on the table.
For the Darknar family, the Summit of the Greats was something they could not afford to miss as they severelycked the backings of a Great Family, which was the main thing that had kept the Greats at bay till now.
There was always a high possibility that the Great Five all believed some, if not all of the seven primordial were behind the Darknar family. However, that idea did not hold as much weight as the first one as the seven primordials did not possess the resources the sponsor such a risky venture.
So if this summit was allowed to go on as nned without any interference, the Darknar family would not be allowed to continue its development in peace.
Even with all its military potential, the family stillcked the appropriate manpower to contend with all five Great families at once. It would also be impossible to locate key members of the Great Five inner circles for Systematic assassination without any spies already rooted on the inside of each family.
This was something that could not be achieved so easily just because one had skilled individuals. After all, the Great Five took great care in weeding out spies in their family and it would take decades if not centuries to develop spies into various key factions of the family.
This was literally the only way one could gain any information on the Great Five as even someone as capable as Erin had been unable to locate the Great Demon Lord of the Brimstone family''s location up till now. Even pinpointing the locations of the Elders and high-ranking nobles or gaining information from a distance was next to impossible.
It was safe to say that Tyler still had business with the Brimstone family and due to the importance of this summit, it was also safe to say every single Great Demon Lord would be in attendance. Meaning this may be the only chance they have to gain Intel on them and their regions.
"Very well then. I, Ty Falls Darknar, ept your invitation to the Summit of the Greats. Pleasemunicate the details with my subordinates."
Saying that Tyler rolled up the piece of parchment he had been given and handed it back to Albert as he nodded. Just like a supreme ruler, he naturally shifted the responsibility to his subordinates after making the overall decision.
This was naturally the most optimal thing to do and not just because he had no idea how to handle such things.
Albert did not hesitate to receive the parchment with a Graceful bow before walking back to the side as Tyler returned his attention back to the Vampire Lord and his two female subordinates.
"Excellent, I''m d we could agree on this so easily. That should conclude the purpose of my visit today so I shall take my leave, but before that, permit one of my subordinates to stay behind and assist in the distribution of your official im to the darknar region. I''m, sure she should prove useful to you in getting the information to the entire continent with haste. She will also be the one tomunicate the details of the summit of the Greats. Selene Morningstar."
As that name left his mouth, the female vampire standing to his left swiftly genuflected before him in a way that did not match her previous enigmatic and erotic persona.
"¨DUnderstood! I shall offer up my body and soul for my lord''s sake!"
Although Ferlis could not see Selene''s face as she was now kneeling a step behind him, he could keenly feel the conviction in her voice. In truth, the decisions made here would decide the Morningstar family''s future to an almost ridiculous extent.
So if he hadn''t been stuck with a backlog of years'' paperwork waiting for him thanks to his years of absence, Ferlis would''ve actually preferred to stay here for a while longer and bear witness to this Demon Lord''s actions as they dictated the demon continent''s future.
He wasn''t ignorant to the fact that this d decision could also reflect poorly in the eyes of the other Greats but Vampires never considered themselves the same as demons, to begin with so they were not one to care about theck of the normal societal structure being established within this region.
Of course, this was mostly just his curiosity at work here so while he was aware of the weight of his decision today, there was no way he would ever volunteer himself to take on any excess work-rted responsibility.
"Very well, I shall have Albert here take care of this in my stead as well. Albert is one of my most trusted followers. I am sure there will be no further problems if he and Selene discuss these matters privately."
"That would be fine."
Seeing as Tyler showed no hesitation in epting his offer to let a demigod of Selene''s level stay behind made Ferlis confused a bit. It was normal for any noble family to consider the possibility of a spy when another noble family makes such an offer.
Was he not worried about spies or had he never even considered this fact. Ferlis contemted these two options but the former seemed more likely given how intelligent he considered the Demon Lord Ty to be.
Someone like that would not remain ignorant to the risk that came with making such a decision so quickly and without establishing any predisposed conditions which he was prepared to negotiate.
However, this only made him more curious on why he wasn''t worried about spies of such caliber being left in the heart of his region.
Was he simply confident in his ability to prevent any information leaks or does he n to systematically control the information that would be leaked out of his region?
Thetter was more likely but that wasn''t something that could be achieved so easily, especially with spies that had surpassed mortal limitations.
Now that Ferlis thought of this, he could clearly sense the presence of several spies within the crowd and there were even a few at the demigod standard.
He might''ve slightly underestimated the Great Five''s desperation if they were willing to sacrifice their demigods after losing so many of them during the war. There was even the possibility that some of them had originated from the regions of the Seven Primordials.
Then again, none of them had the same level of information on this new family as he did after observing the darknar region for so long in the past years so it was understandable they wouldn''t want to remain in the dark forever.
"Very well then, the present situation is different from before, given as you''ve already traveled all this way. Why not stay the rest of the night and celebrate this day with us and let usmemorate such a memorable asion."
Sitted on the high ck chair at the end of the hall while resting his face on his right knuckles, the Darknar demon Lord suggested passively, and immediately, the hostile gaze that had surrounded them up till now instantly disappeared as though it was never there, to begin with.
Even the armored knights that had been subdued by the ck me Legion were released without a fuss. Ferlis smiled gently as he casually observed the situation before offering up his response.
"No, no, no, we could not possibly trouble to intrude any further. Besides, I have been absent from my region for quite some time now, so I do have a lot of work that has urgent need of my attention so I hope you''ll understand."
Ferlis graciously rejected Tyler''s offer as he made a mental note of his reactions as well as tendencies while observing the situation closely as it continued to develop around him.
"Is that so. What a shame, then please, allow one of my subordinates to escort you back to your carriages. Please feel free to have him show you around the city and ept some souvenirs."
Tyler responded without a change in his expression as he nced at Albert who was the most suited for that duty.
"How generous of you. Very well then, I will ept your offer so we shall now take our leave."
Sensing that it would be pointless to refuse the offer without reason. Ferlis conceded as he turned his attention to face Albert for the second time today.
This was the first mortal that had been able to stand before him and live to tell the tale in over 400 years. Even if this achievement was only made possible by his possession of a God Tier artifact, it was still enough to warrant his respect.
After all, he didn''t see Tyler as a fool that would bestow such a precious item to a man that wasn''t worthy of the honor. Besides, even with the protection from divine auras, God Tier artifacts tend to provide, not many would have the willpower alone to stare him down and survive his murderous intent even if he had been holding back.
With that in mind, Ferlis had taken great interest in him and decided to have a chat with the former Demon Lord of the Cronoff family. It wasn''t every day he could meet so many people that piqued his interest.
"Excellent. Now then, Albert¡ please escort our guests on their way back. I''ll leave the rest to your discretion."
"As youmand, my lord."
With a deep and gracious bow, Albert epted the responsibility as he turned to face Ferlis with the expression of a world-ss butler. His previous animosity was nowhere to be found and he seemed as thing this was his first time meeting the Vampire Lord''s personality.
Returning Albert''s gaze with a smirk, Ferlis promptly turned around and left the hall, apanied by Silver and his entourage of knights that marched behind him, leaving behind only the female vampire called Selene.
Even after several minutes passed after therge doors were shut behind the intruders that had turned out to be members of a Great Family, the hall maintained its silence before suddenly breaking into an uproar.
Chapter 329 C329. Why?
After the surprise discussion with one of the actual Demon Lord of a Great Five family came to an end, the vampire Lord of the Morningstar family left behind a proxy for his family and left under the guidance of one of the Six Great Demon General, Albert.
The topics of their conversation had not been kept secret from the ears of everyone present in the hall so they had all bore witness to entire event as it unfolded before their eyes.
Causing the entire hall to grow silent for a while before busting in chaos as excitements arose within the crowd. They had clearly just witnessed the amount ofrespect, one of the Great Five Demon Lord had shown their master, something, none of them had considered possible this early into their family''s development.
Although many of them had been pissed by the intrudersck ofmon courtesy, they had all begrudgingly epted his exnation that their master was yet to officially proim the Darknar region as his own which was an important step in creating a kingdom.
They were also pleased with the fact that he had offered to make things easier for them by attaching his name to the Darknar family''s official decree.
Basically, most of them were relieved that one of the Great Five families would potentially be an ally to them, or at the very least, sign a non-aggression pact.
However, most of them still could not understand why this had all happened so suddenly, and why their master had not taken offense in their tant rudeness. In fact, everything seems to have gone as he had expected.
So the fact that not even a Great Demon Lord could actpletely arrogantly in front of their master was one of the highlights of their evening and they only wished Tyler had put him in his ce at least ones. Of course, these thoughts were simply just wishful thinking.
Tyler watched the hall break into a fit of murmuring and couldn''t help but sigh. This time, his actions had not gone unnoticed as Rain sensed it and her presence exploded out like a torrent, suppressing the entire hall in a moment.
"Please be silent in the presence of your Lord."
While Rain tried her best to remain polite as there was still a foreign emissary amid them, her eyes clearly betrayed her as those murderous gaze swept across the room, forcing the mouths of everyone shut.
However, in Tyler''s eyes, Rain has been in her best behavior for a while. He had expected her to act up several times furring that meeting that he had already prepared cool phrases for him to use during those situations.
So to him, it had seemed as though she could sense his stress and was trying hard to alleviate his worries. she had even volunteered to go on a diplomatic mission for him which had been a shock to say the least.
Tyler thought about how to thank her for a moment but couldn''t think of anything so he had to put that in the back of his mind for now.
While everyone here held mix feelings about the intrusion of the Morningstars, Tyler couldn''t be more trilled as he had been granted a timely Grace from the heavens that saved him from entering the dance floor.
With such a troublesome situation gone thanks to that fellow, Tyler decided to offer them the benefit of a doubt as he proceeded with his ns. He then simply altered his original speech this time and reassured everyone that there was nothing to worry about.
The party resumed soon after and went on without a hitch. Naturally, the topic of discussion had changedpletely but by all appearances, everyone seemed to have had some fun.
Having elegantlypleted his assigned duty, Albert promptly returned to the hall and attended to thedy Serene, who had been left behind by the Morningstar family. Heter escorted her into one of the offices in the mansion as ironed out the details of the so called Summit of the Greats. As well as draft out an official im to the Darknar region with the support of the Great Vampire Lord, Ferlis Drax Morningstar.
This would be the next thing to shake the entire continent once more. As soon, the world would learn of the revival of the Darknar family.
Of course, this had also caused a massive uproar amongst the noble families of the demon continent, as the Great Five could not help be wonder, if the Morningstars were the traitors all along.
However, the decree did not make mention of any alliance between the two party as they had simply enforced their im to the Darknar region with the backing of a Great, and the Morningstars would not gain anything from that alone. It was entirely possible that they had simply made a deal that benefited both parties.
After all, there wasn''t a sing noble family out there, that did not understand the nature of the Morningstars. And that, was why thus announcement was more scarier that a makeshift alliance.
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After the party finally came to an end, Tyler gathered all the Generals that remained rtively close to the city and their return would not affect the progress of their assigned task, namely¨D Albert, Liz, Rain, Erin, and Moloc ¨D in his room, along with Cora.
He signaled to his kneeling subordinates to rise. This was had be a lot more bothersometely as everyone around him seems to be getting more and more formal.
Tyler ced both elbows on his table and meshed his hands, covering the lower half of his face.
He waspletely immune to illness or any physical difort but for some reason, his belly ached. Given how he had barely managed to handle that situation even though he had been told about it, made him feel as though his subordinates would suddenly start denouncing him.
Truth be told, he hadn''t made much of a reaction to Ferlis''s offers and negotiation tactics simply because he was trying desperately to minimize his window for mistakes.
In his mind, the less action he takes to lower the likelihood of a slip-up. However, thinking back on it now, he had probably already made a mistake by choosing not to capitalize on the opportunities he might''ve had during the talks.
As he held that feeling in his heart, he peeked at Liz and Albert.
They did not seem angry. Nor did they seem speechless.
However, who could tell if that was or was not a poker face? His poker face was exceptionally good due to his high levels of body control so who is to say there wouldn''t be anyone else who could do that.
After thinking of that, he looked closely at them again, to see if their faces were frozen in anger.
I want to get out of here. In the first ce, why did I sit here¡ no, it''s toote. No use crying over spilled milk. Why do I keep falling into self-deprecation these days? Perhaps the pressure of this ruler of a thing is simply too much for a mere human to handle. What the hell did they expect from me anyway, even Uriel continues to be vague as if I''m smart enough to just magically understand their thoughts.
The phantom pain in his gut seemed to have subsided a little aftermpooning a bit, but he still felt like throwing up.
When he had sensed the Vampire Lord approaching the Lord''s mansion as predicted by many, Tyler had practically asked Uriel "What shall we do next", but instead of exining shit to him, the answer he got was along the lines of, "Since all is going as predicted, we shall stick to the n."
But what the fuck was the n!
In the end, he had ended up just stuck reacting to whatever the Vampire lord was saying and trying desperately not to fall behind. He had even tried contacting Z who was busy with his missions and indirectly asking him for help. But that guy was even worse than Uriel as all he could do waspliment Tyler on his supposed achievements.
Before the war with the undead king, Z hadid out a series of ns and contingencies for them to follow to achieve Tyler''s goal of building a peaceful city without the interference of the other nobles'' families. However, Tyler simply couldn''t keep all his ideas straight and had been coasting along so far.
However, the thing had gone off the rails with this current event. Although their arrival had been predicted and their intrusion into the city had been sensed, Tyler had still not been prepared to face ab actual Great Demon Lord face to face and had struggled mightily to maintain hisposure.
The actual talks with the Vampire Lord, Ferlis Drax Morningstar had been yed entirely off the cuff, trusting that there would be a way through no matter what. As for how confident he was of having said the right thing during the negotiations¡ well, simply put, he was not.
He had consorted with Uriel on most of his answers but generally, she tends to say there was no such thing as a wrong choice for her master. Frankly, Tyler was beginning to think she was a troll.
This was why he was currently nervous as he stared at his Generals in anticipation that one of them would tell him how much he had fucked up but they all remained silent as they patiently waited for him to address them.
"Now then, the Morningstar family were the ones to make the first move as predicted."
Tyler took a deep breath. Just as he was about to speak, a voice interrupted from beside him.
"Lord Ty, pardon the interruption but I have the opportunity to contact Z to make him extend our informationwork to the Demnirantre Region. Unfortunately, there isn''t much information known about the Morningstar family as the main branch of the family seems to be operating from a small ind off the coast of their region."
With someone suddenly gifting him a lifeline to hold on to, Tyler firmly grasp that lifeline, as he calmly thought about the details in her words as he spoke.
"An ind?"
"Yes, master. I''ve already had Erin use divination and irvoyance to make quick surveince of the Demnirantre Region. However, we didn''t find a trace of any vampires living in the cities there. It seems they may all be stationed on that ind. Their numbers are quite a few, only about 1,500 of them but they are all individually strong on average. And as they don''t age and rarely reproduce, there is no rapid decline of their strength."
"Is that so."
"Yes. Unfortunately, that ind is protected against any remote surveince and thus, we didn''t get any information about it. This was why it was hard to predict what moves they would be taking. I deeply apologize."
"There''s no need for you to apologize for ack of information. If anything, this is my fault as I have failed to provide my subordinates with the appropriate tools for sess."
"That''s not true. This is all our fault for our failure to meet your expectations."
''I should be the one telling you that. I''m so sorry.''
Tyler once again couldn''t bring himself to say that so he had no choice but to return everyone''s focus to the matter at hand.
"Now then, let''s get back on topic."
"Right!"
"With ourck of information, we could only narrow our predictions on the Great Five''s reactions to our disy of power. We had thought the most likely candidates to seek Lord Ty out would be the Mereotti family as the lord of the Morningstars was rumored to be rather unpredictable."
Yet it seems Lord Ty had expected this oue from the beginning. As expected of Lord Ty.
''Albert my man. What the hell do you have against me?''
Still, the question remained, why did the Vampire Lord decide to visit Tyler first?
Chapter 330 C330. Ferlis, Reasons Or Impulse?
Five luxurious carriages raced over the snow-filled ins with each stride of the majestic beast pulling them along. Easily oveing the minor obstacles of the uneven and unsteady terrain as though they were nothing.
Their motion was surprisingly stable even when they were galloping over the unpaved roads and slippery icy terrains covered almost knee-deep in soft snow. It was almost as though they were gliding above the surface of the ground without actually touching it. Eliminating any possibility of friction.
Although these carriages were Magic carriages, that wasn''t the only reason for such aw-breaking effect. Each wheel on the carriages was a Magic item known as a vibrating wheel.
These wheels vibrated at such a high frequency that they canpletely phase through obstacles while magically enabling the wheels to touch the ground by vibrating at the precise frequency that allows the wheels to glide mere centimeters above theground molecules, eliminating friction as well as controlling the inertial force of the carriages.
There were obvious limitations to this as the wheels could not make the entire carriages phase through obstacles so the carriages still needed to be driven on as t a surface as possible. Theck of friction also prevents any wear and tear to the items.
In addition, the chassis of the carriages had also been treated by a magic item called Gravitywalk. Which allows them to control the weight applied on the wheels.
These unbelievably magnificent carriagesmanded an eye-popping price, but just as astonishing were the creatures which pulled them. The eight-legged magical beasts looked like giant lizards and were known as me smanders.
Their bodies emitted the same fiery aura that the six-eyed bulls did and they had tough scales that could not be damaged by physical attacks.
Calcting the precise cost of fielding five of these vehicles was an exercise in foolishness.
These vehicles ¨D far out of reach of the merely wealthy ¨D were escorted by a group of riders mounted on powerful Tier 2 Demonic horses.
There were over twenty of these riders, each d in raven ck full te armors and armed with longswords at their waists while carrying crossbows made out of beast cores on their backs.
Leading the group was a young man d in a suit of heavy armor simr to the ones the others were wearing but gave off a more ominous aura that drove away most of the weaker monsters from his path.
Unlike the other riders around him, this man did not wear a helmet but had a pair of spectacles on his face as his scarlet eyes carefully surveyed their surroundings. His skin was pale and he had an appearance that could be considered handsome.
However, his ever-scowling face made him a difficult man to approach as his sharp gaze seems to pierce straight through the soul.
The groups of skilledriders moved in perfect sync as their disciplined movements and clipped, precise words helped them maintain their current pace while their keen eyes maintained a high level of alertness.
Some might have taken their wariness on such wide-open ins to be a form of paranoia or cowardice, but that person would be a fool as they were currently galloping through the outskirts of the Darknar region.
One of the most, if not t out the most dangerous regions on the demon continent. In such a ce, even being on guard against everything they could see and sense was not enough to guarantee their safety.
Unlike the other regions, the Darknar region was home to a variety of dangerous monsters, and a few of them had migrated out of the Darknar forest during the undead incident.
The majority of them were now roaming the region and one could not be too careful. This action had made the outskirt of the region a more dangerous ce than the forest had been.
This was the reason why flying was not an option for such arge group and their master had to make do with this mode of transportation. After all, it was practically impossible to teleport so many people at once not to mention across such a long distance.
Even their master only possessed an artifact that could teleport himself and two people at most as he did not possess the skills himself, skill books of such level were a rarity in this world and it wasn''t something even a being of his level could do casually obtain.
This was why the Great Five had risen to power so quickly even against families that had thousands of tears of history and knowledge. It was because they were the ones to inherit the knowledge and power of thete demon king.
This was also why, they were still so desperate to obtain his hidden treasure as they knew, far more than gaining the throne, they would gain something much more important, power.
Hence why, the ability to teleport long distances, was not something anyone was capable of in this world. At least without the aid of an artifact.
With teleportation beingp infeasible, and flying being extremely dangerous. That left them with the only feasible method of transportation avable,nd.
Still, despite the dangers of flying across this region, there was currently a secret unit of mages, flying in the air under the effects of invisibility as they shadowed the carriages from a rtively safe distance.
The reason anyone would take such a risk was obvious. It was because they were currently protecting a being of utmost importance. One whose life was more valuable than theirs that they were all willing to sacrifice themselves for him.
These people were considered the Royal guards of the one known as the Vampire King of the Morningstar family.
Of course, that meant that the owner of the carriages was the Vampire King himself, Ferlis Drax Morningstar.
There was a reason why Ferlis was openly riding back to his region after his disy in Paragon city when he had disguised his forces as freemen to sneak into the city.
The biggest reason was that there was no longer any need for him to hide his visit to the city as the spies of the other families were all present in that hall earlier. He also couldn''t find the motivation to go through all that trouble when he had already achieved his objective.
If it was left to him he would''ve been fine if they had simply flown back home despite the monsters as that would still be faster than this. But ording to his personal assistant, Silver, who was also the court mage, he needed to put up an appearance.
In this convoy, the security around the third carriage from the rear ¨D the Ferlis carriage¨D was heavier than those around the others.
The interior of the carriage was supremely decadent. Judging by the furnishings alone, it was more akin to a mobile high-ss suite than a simple carriage, from the furred upholstery on the walls and floor to the soft andfortable seats, which had been designed to not cause even the slightest bit of difort over long journeys.
Only three people were permitted to share this luxurious conveyance with Ferlis, which meant that a total of four people upied the space of the cabin. The first person was obviously Silver¡ª who sat in the seat directly facing Ferlis.
As his personal assistant, she was usually the closest person to him besides his three Fianc¨¦.
Sitted next to Ferlis was a recement for the person he had left behind in Paragon city, Selene. She was the Vice-Captain of his personal guardsmonly referred to as the royal guards and can be considered, Selene''s assistant even though she was her twin sister and almost as capable.
Sharing a simr appearance to Selene to the point that they were only able to differentiate them because Selene''s sister, Sylvia, preferred to wear light armor, matching those of her subordinates, and was more of a fighter than a mage. Wielding a thin rapier as her preferred choice of weapon even after mastering every known weapon in this world.
Sitted next to Silver was an aged man with short grey hair and just like the others, he had a pair of scarlet pupils. Wearing a white mage''s robe and reading arge book.
This man was the General of the Morningstar family''s Air Force and was the actingmander of the air unit currently shadowing them.
For a while now, all three of them had been staring daggers at Ferlis''s face. Such res were enough to bore a hole through solid steel.
"Don''t stare so hard, you''ll make me shy."
"Please don''t joke around lord Ferlis, now is not the time. Why did we have to sneak into that city if we were just going to boldly dere our presence? You must know that this would make us the prime suspect amongst the other Great Families."
The one who spoke was the aged man, Jirvi Liwri Morningstar. He closed the book he had been reading as he addressed Ferlis with a curious gaze.
"Suspected uh... fufufu... that''s an interesting idea. Might be fun taking on the other Four, don''t you think?"
"Lord Ferlis!"
"Please don''t joke around like that."
"Haha... Just kidding, there''s no need to bother ourselves with such a trivial matter anymore."
Ferlis spoke dismissively as his eye trailed from the others and out the ss window.
"A trivial matter?"
"Tell me, what did you all notice after meeting with him? I''m curious. What were your thoughts? Did he look like a being that could be controlled by someone like me?"
The three of them had fallen silent as they all pondered on Ferlis''s words for a moment before Sylvia decided to voice her thoughts.
"I didn''t sense anything from him directly which was quite scary on its own but those four petioles closest to him were overwhelming even for me. Especially that nymph at the end. I could tell that she waspletely in a league on her own. It''s quite simr to the feeling I get from you lord Ferlis."
The looks on the other two faces grew sour at herst words but none of them could refute her analysis. After all, her perception was leagues above anything they were capable of.
Even her more capable sister would be hard-pressed to beat her in this aspect.
"Indeed. Even for me, I don''t think I''ll win against her without my tools, isn''t that exciting."
"No!"
A resounding responsepletely shut down Ferlis''s giddy thoughts as the three rejected his idea simultaneously.
"Please lord Ferlis, try and take this seriously. If care is not taken, your decision today may lead to another war."
"Oh, you worry too much. Anyway, that guy was truly something else. This is the first time I met a being I couldn''t read or predict. I also couldn''t sense his aura no matter how hard I tried. That must''ve been the effect of a God Tier artifact."
? The eyes of the three-wide fed inprehension as they too had been unable to sense the presence of the Demon Lord much less his aura.
"So he truly has found the demon king''s treasure. At the very least, confirming that was worth the risk."
"Even with that. I found myself unable toprehend the limits of his strength. It was a feeling that truly piqued my interest. Thest time I saw him, he clearly wasn''t this strong, I wonder how he did it. This is true, the most interesting thing I''ve found in centuries."
"Is that the reason why you had authorized the use of your name in their im to thisnd?"
"Huh? Not really. As I said, that was simply an apology for breaking into his city. Wouldn''t want them to retaliate against us after all."
"..."
The three could not utter a word but the looks on their faces showed that they were not satisfied with Ferlis''s answer so he casually decided to borate some more.
"I was simply curious about him so I came to observe things by myself. While the city is not a problem for now. He clearly has enough to boldly im to be one of the Greats. Besides, I have no interest in bing the demon king so I see no reason to get on his bad side. For now, let''s just keep a close eye on them and see how things develop before we decide if he is worth our help or not."
"Understood."
Chapter 331 C331. Emissary
A few dayster, Rain was to leave for the Helxoc Region on a strangely clear, sunny day even though it was still the middle of winter, so Tyler came to see her off at the courtyard of the Darknar castle.
The Helxoc region was the region belonging to one of the six families whose representatives had initiated trade talks with Tyler before the start of Paragon City''s creation party a few days ago.
This region belonged to the Baxley family, and it was the first step in Rain''s mission as an emissary for the Darknar family. She would still have to travel between all six regions to meet them and negotiate with the lords of each family.
The incident with the vampire lord had done little to change the hearts of those representatives. If anything, it had worked out in their favor as those representatives had returned to their regions with a strengthened level of confidence in their decision.
The invitation to the summit of the greats had shown them that even the Great Five had been forced to show respect to the new Darknar family, so none of them had sorted Tyler out to renegotiate or retract their deals.
However, while the invitation to the summit of the Greats could be seen as a good thing, it could also be seen as a bad omen. A way to trap the Darknar family is by drawing their leader away from the Darknar region. Because of this, none of the other representatives changed their minds and no negotiations were conducted.
In their minds, they didn''t think the vampire lord had been impressed with the new Demon Lord, given as he had barged into the hall unannounced and in the end, they did not ally themselves with the family.
They felt the invitation was nothing more than a ploy to discreetly dispose of the new demon lord and rece him with a lookalike or clone.
Hence, Rain was still required to visit the few regions that did not waver in order to conduct fair trade discussions. If anything, her job might''ve gotten even more difficult because of that.
Tarka had already left Paragon City earlier with the representative of the Hervia family on the back of Drago while being escorted by two ck Wyverns Tyler had tamed only the day before.
The Hervia family was the only family that had be his vassals so Tyler hadn''t gone all out to impress them with gifts and his region''s wealth, but had rather opted for the option of showing off his strength.
With the materials from the Darkin mountain range, Ragdek had been able to create a lesser version of those mechanical golems he had gotten from the Brimstones so Tyler had sent a hundred of them over as gifts to the Hervia to increase their strength.
With that, they would be able to fend off the advance of any family that wanted to take advantage of them for swearing loyalty to a yet unknown family like his.
After Tarka was done presenting the Hervia family with the terms of submission, the lord of the family would then follow her back to personally swear loyalty to him under oath, if he finds the terms eptable.
With that, the only issue was the six families Rain would be paying a visit to whose only goal at the moment was the establish a trade route to the treasured and almost secretends of the Darknar region.
There were currently five luxurious carriages parked in his courtyard. One of them was for Rain and another was for her luggage which was a surprise for Tyler because he had given her a storage ringpreviously but apparently,dies did not like storing their clothes in another dimension because of reasons he could not understand.
One of the remaining coaches contained gifts to the Lords of these families, to impress upon them the difference between the might of their small families and the Darknar family.
Surrounding these carriages were 20 Undead Doom Cavaliers which Emrys had created as Tyler hadn''t found the time to conduct any more of his undead experiments.
It would have been simple enough to just teleport to these regions, not to mention wasting entire carriages to carry things that could be fitted into a single box yet, because of formalities, they had not chosen to do that.
Rain and her party were responsible for demonstrating the Darknar family''s power to those minor families that had not personally witnessed the undead war and were clearly underestimating his forces.
That was why they had gone out of their way to hunt down the Magic beasts and converted them into mounts instead of using simple monsters. With Tyler''s demonic eyes of domination, it was fairly easy to tame most monsters instantly as long as they possessed low levels of intellect.
He didn''t even need to rely on tamers for them to be able to respond tomands for other people besides him. This was because they were semi-intelligent creatures and could understand their situation.
The creatures pulling their coaches were One-horned White Tigers. They were lightning-attributed Advanced ss Magic beasts resembling normal tigers but insanely massive with a single curved horn on their foreheads.
To have such powerful monsters that were capable of destroying towns and cities by themselves as mounts, was iprehensible as the most difficult task was not even capturing such beast without incurring heavy losses but the sheer cost of taming and maintaining them.
What Tyler had done in mere seconds was something even the greatest tamer alive would spend weeks if not months doing. With the risks, such a tedious prove entails, came an exuberant fee that would no doubt run many families to bankruptcy.
"Then, Darl- I mean Lord Ty, please take care of yourself for a while. I''ll be sure toe back to your site as quickly as I can."
"Right... please try to be cautious on your journey. Outside the darknar region, we don''t have any allies and you can never know who would be seeking to hurt us."
"Of course. I will be careful and never let this leave my person."
Rain brought the bracelets in are arms closer to her face before ultimately resting the God-ss Item on her soft chest.
"Right. Those should eliminate most of the threats along the way and give you an edge against stronger opponents. They should be able to negate the effects of those Magic sealing barriers used against you guysst time. Remember though, if you evere into contact with those girls again, don''t try to eliminate them and stay cautious of traps."
"Understood, besides, I''m an assassin, I don''t have to fight head-on, Am I right¡"
Raim tilted her head adorably at Tyler as he couldn''t help but remember when he had said those exact words to her after finding her passed out on the snow under Liz''s ice prism.
"Kuku... I''m d to see you''ve grown a bit since then."
"Hey!... why are you teasing me." Rain pouted at Tyler''s words but her beauty could not be tarnished by any expression she made. One could even say this only improved her charm.
"Kuku... All I want to say is, don''t be careless because you''re strong. Although I don''t think you''ll make a mistake like that again."
Come to think of it, Rain had never been outside on her own until now.
She had grown up with Rain trapped underground in the Alcar family castle. The only time she went out was with her team of Darkelfs and thest time she went to the Darkin mountain range with Liz they were attacked.
Because of this, Tyler felt worried, as though he was letting a child go out on an errand by themselves for the first time.
"Try not to get distracted along the way and make sure to remain alert and do not be careless. You''re an assassin with the Foresight skill so if you ever feel there is danger, retreat immediately and hide in the shadows. You don''t have any teleportation skills and using a scroll might cause a dy so it''s better you simply run. With your speed, I do not believe there would be anyone capable of keeping up with you around your route.Of course, there may be some enemies capable of using teleportation or would try to seal up your movements. Have you thought of a way to handle that? There might also be enemies who distract you with bait before ambushing you. Don''t be fooled by your enemies'' strengths or supposed weaknesses, alright? I''ll have Zelda shadow you in secret so have her contact me the moment you sense something. In addition¨D"
He thought hisck of preparation was the reason he had been so taken unaware during the Mammon incident so he made it a priority to not just have backup ns but to always cover all his basis. As he did so, he sprayed Rain with a stream of words at machine-gun speed.
He couldn''t remember how long he had spenting up with all these tactics in order to keep up with everyone around him especially since even Uriel was beginning to have too high expectations of him.
He had only stopped after he realized that both Rain, Cora, and Albert were staring at him with an awed expression on their faces.
This was terribly embarrassing.
Tyler coughed.
"Well, you get the gist. I don''t think you will ck off on your preparations. I apologize for dying you. Take care on your trip."
Tyler hurriedly tried to rpose himself as he faked a cough but that only made the smile on Rain''s face grow to broaden as she replied with even more enthusiasm.
"Understood, Lord Ty."
There was still something that bothered Tyler about sending Rain out by herself. It was Z. If he had received his report about the various powers and the current fragile state of the demon continent, he could have had Uriel plot the safest route that avoided any unnecessary confrontation but that had not happened. In the end, he simply needed to trust in her ability.
"Then, Lord Ty. As the Lightning General, I will show you results that will not humiliate your name. Those nobles would be dancing in the palm of my hands."
Rain spoke in a reassuring tone with the same levels of confidence as ever. Normally, her smile may have made Tyler worry but this time was different.
"Right, I''ll expect nothing less."
Tyler nodded in satisfaction, he felt as though he was no longer talking to the carefree Rain that he hade to get used to by now. Rather, the person before him was the same person that had gotten Liz safely out of the insanely guarded Alcar castle and was one of the greatest assassins in this world.
"There is one more thing I have to say. While you are highly resistant to sickness and diseases. I''m told there are certain regions'' climate conditions that dark elve physiology does not agree with. I''ve tried to avoid those known regions but there may be a few unexpected ones along the way."
The transition between the four seasons was not very clear in this world but it was even worse for the demon continent as various regions would experience vast changes in their weather and climate during each season.
Even as he said that Rain still had the same sparkly-eyed expression on her face. ¡It didn''t seem like she was worried about such trivialities but it seemed as though she had happened upon a devious n.
As Tyler thought it might''ve been a bad idea to openly show his concern for her health, Rain excitedly volunteered a suggestion, with a look on her face like a freshly-bloomed flower:
"Lord Ty! There''s a magical remedy that''s sure to protect me against all forms of ailments, negative conditions, and even diseases."
"Hoh¡?"
Tyler feltas though he had walked himself into andmine but at this point, there was no turning back.
He hope he was just imagining things and she was actually talking about medicine like an herb or potion but he still didn''t look forward to what she would say next.
"A kiss!"
"¡A kiss? Of course, why am I even surprised."
Chapter 332 C332. A Kiss
"A kiss?"
Tyler tilted his head slightly perplexed at the sudden request being thrown his way. While he might''ve expected this from Rain, he just couldn''t wrap his mind around her current demeanor.
"Yep. I read somewhere that kissing someone you love boosts one''s Magic immune system ¨C the saliva from someone of Lord Ty''s caliber contains substances that fight bacteria, viruses, and fungi and grants various immunities and resistances. Especially deep kissing! I read it increases the flow of saliva, which helps to keep the mouth, teeth, and gums healthy. Basically, I would receive Lord Ty''s protection just by kissing me."
Tyler waspletely stumped for a moment, so much so that he could barely respond in his usual dignified tone.
"That, does sound kind of familiar¡ but where in the world did you read something like that?"
"Hmm... oh, right. It was in the library."
Although Tyler felt as though he had heard a version of shan''t Rain had just said before and couldn''t just casually dispute its validity. It also didn''t feel like something that would be viable in most scenarios but what surprised him the most was the fact that there was such a book in the castle''s main library. How unusual.
Then there was something else that he foundpletely strange about Rain''s behavior so far. For a while now, she''s been acting a lot different than usual which could be seen as a good thing but he felt as though there was more to this. Not only has she been acting more mature but now she was even being bashful around him.
Tyler believed that if she had been her usual self, she would''ve probably assaulted his lips before asking for permission. While this newfound maturity was great, he couldn''t help but wonder why this was the case. For some reason, he felt as though there was an agenda behind this change and he was most likely correct.
"Therefore, I want a kiss~"
Having provided indisputable reasoning being her absurd request, Rain closed her eyes and puckered her lips.
This scene contradicted Tyler''s image of her and in the end, he could not stop himself from being voicing his curiosity to the Dark Elf General.
"Hey Rain, are you alright? You''ve never been one to ask for permission when there''s something you wanted."
At Tyler''s question, the expression on Rain''s face seems to die down as she started fidgeting a little nervously while softly muttering something.
"Is that how you truly see me. I just wanted the man I love to kiss me, is that so bad. Do you not like me?"
Her words were soft and fleeting as though she was only whispering to the wind but Tyler''s ears could easily pick up on it. He didn''t have much experience with girls so he could not understand what he had done wrong as he had only asked a reasonable question.
A thought shed through Tyler''s mind as he wondered if she had only been acting differently because of him. Perhaps she felt he didn''t like her the way she was and had been desperately trying to change her entire character in order to earn his affection.
Was the reason she wanted him to be the one to initiate a kiss to confirm his feelings toward her? Or was there apletely different reason behind all this he couldn''tprehend?
Those thoughts shed through his mind and Tyler strongly considered running away at this point but he didn''t have the heart for that.
He wasn''t the best atmunicating his emotions so perhaps that had a lot to do with this. Still, he couldn''t allow Rain to go on this errand in her current state of mind and didn''t mind kissing her if that would help.
However, a simple kiss wasn''t really what she was hoping for but even Tyler didn''t understand his own feelings. There was no doubt he hade to grow fond of the girls and everyone under him.
Just like he had with his family back on earth, he cared for the ones closest to him and would do anything to protect them. He had realized such during the attack of the Primordial Behemoth of Greed, Mammon.
So when a girl he cared for was making herself vulnerable before him. What kind of man would he be if hepletely disregarded her feelings.
Tyler chuckled inwardly at his childish behavior even though he had been using Rain of being childish. He then took a step forward and took Rain''s chin in one hand, and nted a kiss on her subtle red lips.
Although it was a tad embarrassing to be doing this out in public, especially under the keen gaze of his servants. Given as he had hated those annoying couples that always came to the convenience store he worked at to make out, he had no choice but to impose himself on her.
After a brief moment, Tyler pulled his lips away from Rain''s and his hand left her chin as he whispered into her ears.
"There''s no need for you to change who you are for me. I''ll always care about you no matter how you act. Even when I get annoyed and scold you, it will not change my feelings for you."
He thenpletely pulled away from her and his eyes met Rain''s wide-eyed gaze.
"What, what''s wrong? Did I startle you?!"
''...or was I actually being too presumptuous Crap.''
As Tyler panicked internally wondering if he had been overthinking things and had made too many assumptions, Rain suddenly opened her mouth and spoke.
"No, it''s just. ¡I did not think you would have considered it at all."
Before Tyler could ask her what she really meant, tears suddenly welled up in the corner of her eyes, and without warning.
"Fueeeen~"
Rain wept. Those were not crocodile tears. She was truly crying and Tyler waspletely at a loss for words.
After the long-awaited shock of his, Uriel finally cates his emotions as he finally regains his rity of mind.
Tyler then hurriedly scrambled to do something. That said, he had no idea how to stop a grown woman from crying. If it had been his little sister then he would''ve simply asked her what she wanted and probably bribed her with a small gift or the promise of an outing, but now, it was a lot moreplicated.
Tyler considered what those popr pretty boys would do at a time like this. He remembered reading what he considered to be trashy magazines about those boys'' experiences with women but they never covered a situation like this.
"Rain, you don''t have to cry."
''That was horrible. What the hell is wrong with me.''
He desperately wanted to look to Cora, who was behind him for help, but he had already embarrassed himself badly enough. He could not disgrace himself even further.
"Hey, it''s alright."
Tyler pulled Rain into his embrace and gently patted her back.
They stayed like this for a while, and then Rain sniffled. It would seem her tears had stopped.
Tyler released the hands holding Rain, as relief washed through him.
"How are you feeling? Are you alright now."
"Yes, I, I am very sorry. I didn''t expect you to say that. I thought you would only love me back if I be a properdy like Liz, I''m sorry."
Though stained with tears, hers was still a very beautiful and charming smile.
"There''s no need to be sorry. I''m just d you''re fine now."
"I am. I''m also very happy right now. Lord ty told me he loves me."
''Wait, I did what?''
"...that was almost a proposal, hehe~ I feel my body filling with energy right now."
The switch was almost miraculous as Tyler found himself having whish from how quickly Rain had worked herself up by misinterpreting his intentions. At this point, there was nothing he could do to calm her down so it was best he redirected this supposed energy to something more productive.
"Is that so. ¡Well, it''s about time. You should set out if you''re fine."
"Understood, Darling!"
??????????
As the five coaches left through the majestic main gate of the Darknar castle, the curtains mounted in one of the coach windows opened, and through them, he saw Rain excitedly waving at him. In response, Tyler waved back to her.
This was quite a lovely scene if one was to disregard the event that had transpired beforehand.
The coach stirred slowly into motion, and the sentries began moving as well.
Tyler watched until he could no longer see Rain''s coach, and as he stared into the distance, he issued a somber, gravemand to all those who had witnessed such an embarrassing moment in his life.
"Forget everything that happened here."
"Yes my lord."
Tyler wasn''t sure if such amand would work but he had no choice but to try as he walked past Cora, whose head was lowered with a reverence aura around her.
He had no way of seeing the kind of look she had on her face with his eyes alone and didn''t n on using his Magic vision for something so silly.
He then reached therge arched doors to the castle where Albert had been standing waiting for his arrival and bowed politely as Tyler approached.
After walking past Albert, Tyler headed in the direction of the south wing before asking a question.
"How are the prisoners?"
"We''ve managed to gain some information from them but up till this point, they are yet to give us anything of any value."
"Is that so... How unfortunate."
"Well, this was expected. I''m afraid they''ve both outlived their usefulness to us. Sending them back also isn''t an option."
"Well, you''re not wrong."
During the undead war, only two of the representatives had managed to survive the fury of his subordinates. The first was called Misty. A Peak Tier 6 Assassin type mage, and apparently, she was also Rain''s sister but Rain didn''t seem to care about her at all.
The other prisoner was a demigod from the Zorak family named Brethal. Her condition was in a worse state than Misty so Erin had to heal herpletely before they could even begin their interrogations.
Most of the bodies of the other representatives had beenpletely reduced to ash so they had only brought him three rtively intact bodies.
He was yet to make use of those corpses as the only ones he had been using for his experiments till now were the female demi-humans that had died during the shadow king''s awakening. He had simply turned them into shadow rogues and scattered them across the darknar region to serve as the foundation of his informationwork.
Tyler''s footsteps echoed in the empty halls of the darknar castle as he wondered, what else he could create with the corpse of demigods. Thest time he used one, he had ended up with Emrys so he was truly looking forward to this.
Chapter 333 C333. Underground Cells
¡ª Located deep in the Darknar Castle.
Several sets of footsteps steadily echoed in the empty corridor as they slowly got closer and closer to the bottom of the staircase that led to the underground cells, located in the south wing of the Demon King''s castle.
Unlike the other areas of the castle that w re being patrolled by the newly appointed knights under Albert''s supervision, the only guards stationed down here were undead ck knights.
This area was only a level below ground but it was deep enough to give the area apletely different vibe to it than the rest of the castle.
As the footsteps descendedpletely, two figures appeared in the almost empty hall devoid of life itself. They were obviously the figures of Tyler and Albert, who had insisted on apanying him in ce of his personal maid, Cora.
However, thanks to his presence, Cora had been spared the duty ofing down to an eerily creepy ce like this. Tyler silently observed the hall as well as the cells on either side of the long hallway.
ck knights were standing by either side of the staircase as well as at the extreme end of the hallway. Their undead eyes shifted at the entrance of the pair but they didn''t make any reaction to their arrival.
This was because they could sense the identity of the intruders and knew it was Tyler and Albert from the very beginning. So they wouldn''t react unless they failed to identify the identities of anyone who casually approached this ce.
As for how they''re able to sense Tyler at all with his ring of Nullity still active, it was simply due to the faint soul connection they had with their master''s master.
Still, even with these terrifying creatures present here, this ce wasn''t as protected as one would think for an underground dungeon of sorts. The cecked any magical defenses and even the walls here didn''t seem to have been reinforced with Magic runes.
The entire situation felt as though it was inviting its prisoners to attempt an escape which didn''t seem to be that difficult. However, that seems to have been the point in the past.
Rather than protecting the cells with Magic, the former demon king had chosen to stationed assassins around the cells instead.
Either as a way to ambush those foolish enough to stage a rescue, or track any escapees back to theirrades or hideouts.
As Tyler silently observed his surroundings, a deep and ghastly voice suddenly entered his ears from the side of the hallway.
[Wee back, Master. What can I have the honor of assisting you with.]
Tyler''s eyes naturally shifted to the origin of the voice as the figure of an undead skeleton, d in a tattered but luxurious ck mage''s robe as he stood up from behind a ck wooded desk and knelt before him.
"Ah, Bones, you''re already here."
[I am, Master.]
Originally, Tyler had assigned Bones¡ª who was a Tier 6 Eldar Lich¡ª to the undergroundbyrinth alongside Emrys because he didn''t think Emrys would be able to protect such a massive territory on his own.
However, due to Emrys retaining Mammon''s innate ability to record any skills and spells he sees only once, as well as use them with 100% proficiency. He now had the ability to summon over a hundred Undead type beings that would not disappear until a period of seven days.
He was able to use this skill once every 24 hours. Meaning, that he no longer required arge number of corpses to expand his forces as his summonses would only continue to grow in numbers even as one set disappears in seven days.
With that, his minions could then protect all the exits of thebyrinth without the aid of Bones who could only create a limited number of undead creatures each day.
Hence, Tyler had moved him to this ce as his guardian and made him the interrogator in ce of the busy Z. However, it had been a surprise to Tyler when he learn this dude could speak so fluently even though his voice was like a nightmare.
He was already too used to his shadow rogues who were capable of maintaining their lovely voices with only a slight undertone of ghastliness.
"I need to speak with one of your prisoners."
[Your will is mymand, Master.]
Adhering to his order, Bones stood up and walked deeper into the dungeon as Tyler followed after him with Albert trailing behind them.
Tyler had to admit, he really hadn''t wanted toe down here himself as this was the ce he had been imprisoned in over a thousand years ago. He had spent many long nights in here and had heard the most gruesome of things being done to his colleagues.
As he walked by an empty cell, Tyler stopped in his tracks as he stared at the interior. While this ce had a gloomy had depressing feel to it, the conditions inside the cells weren''t as bad as they used to be.
He could clearly remember sleeping on the cold hard floor but currently, there were beds and a single chair, and a small desk in each of the cells. He had instructed them to be installed but he didn''t think they would''ve beenpleted this early.
''How strange.''
Tyler was sure the cell he was currently looking at was the one he had been locked in but he couldn''t find any traces of the copse that had sent him down into the undergroundke at the time.
"Is there something wrong, my lord?"
The one who asked this time was Albert, who had been watching Tyler stare at an empty cell for a while now with u usual expression.
"No, it''s fine, let''s move on."
"As you wish."
Tyler decided to put away his thoughts and worries about the past as he continued to walk down the hall with Bones leading the way.
They only took a few more steps as they soon came to a stop in front of a cell that was being guarded by an undead Lich. Taking a look around, a few more undead Liches were staring in front of some of the cells in the hall.
Those were obviously the cells with prisoners in them and to Tyler''s surprise, there were a lot more than he had thought.
Most of the prisoners they captured were usually just tortured for information and killed so their corpses could be used to strengthen the castle''s forces as undead creatures.
Judging by the number of Liches standing in front of cells, there were currently around 7 prisoners in here but Tyler was only interested in 2 of them.
As they came to a stop in front of the cell, the Lich reverently bowed its head before Tyler.
"Open it."
Tyler gave his order and the Lich nodded as it moved away from the cell bars and the gate was magically opened.
"Wait here."
Tyler spoke as he walked inside the gate and stood there observing the only person in the cell.
Laying almost lifelessly on the bed was apletely naked dark elf with bruises on her body. That bruise wasn''t from physical torture but from negative corruption, simr to what Tyler had previously experienced.
Unlike Tyler though, this elf did not have a high level of pain resistance or immunity. Her body also wouldn''t constantly surpass its limits to adapt to the situation like him so although her corruption did not originate from within and was only at the surface, due to her constant exposure to the undead, it was still ridiculously painful.
From the half-dead look on her face, Tyler could tell that she was constantly being overwhelmed by pain and was on the brink of a mental copse.
''Geez, I feel like throwing up. Was I really this brutal.''
While he has permitted her torture, he hadn''t expected the level of pain she would require to make her mind submissive enough for an easier read.
"Greater Magic - Purification."
Although he no longer needed to speak the word before casting a spell, Tyler was already used to this as he used purification on the elf before moving to touch her.
The reason he was here was mainly to scan through her memories for information but that job could be easily achieved by Albert and he didn''t need to do it personally. However, there was something he wanted to know about both Liz and Rain that he just couldn''t ask them himself.
The moment his spell activated, the negative corruption guing her waspletely removed without a trace. If only his own had been that easy.
As the constant stream of pain suddenly disappeared, life finally returned to the eyes of the dark elf. As she was in the midst of being tortured, a spell had been cast on her to prevent her from passing out so she could feel every second that passed.
However, with the sudden relief, strength slowly returned to her limbs as she slowly sat up on her bed and held her aching head.
"Hmm, if I remember correctly, you''re called Misty, correct?"
Misty''s eyes suddenly widened as those words entered her ears and she instinctively jumped back, her breast catching Tyler''s attention. Not because he was a pervert, rather, his eyes had caught a glimpse of a number written underneath her right breasts in the demonguage.
While he could easily understand everynguage spoken in this world, reading was another question but from the studying he had to undergo before his first trip to Winged city, he could now tell the differences between the letters and numbers of the demonnguage.
"Albert, was that done by us?"
Tyler spoke as he used gyro-telekinesis to move her right breast out of the way, causing the girl to squirm as her body had be overly sensitive thanks to the earlier corruption lowering her resistance.
"No my lord. We believe that is the branding of the Alcar family''s Dark elf legion given to only the official members of the legion."
"Is that so."
''So they''re branding them like properties Huh. For some reason, that idea infuriates me.''
Tyler''s first thought has been if Rain had been branded like that as well but as Albert had said they were only for official members of the legion, the chances she was had be low as he recalled them saying she hadn''t been an official member of the legion and would only go out on asional missions with them.
"S-stop it.."
As his thoughts trailed, Tyler hadpletely forgotten that he was using his ability on the elf until her soft voice caught his ears. Tyler then silently stopped what he was doing as though he had done nothing wrong and walked closer to the girl.
As he got closer to her, she suddenly snapped out of her daze as she instinctively tried to cover her body with her hands while folding her legs, trying to make herself appear smaller than she actually was.
"Who are you? What do you people want from me? Where''s my sister? Don''t touch me."
Tylerpletely ignored the words of the panicking dark elf as he moved closer to her and before she could continue rambling on, he ced his palm on her head and her entire body went numb as her consciousness sank deeper into her soul.
"Now then, let''s see what you''ve been hiding."
Chapter 334 C334. Mind Manipulation
Tyler''s skill, ''Mind Maniption'' was a Divine Tier skill that possessed several subsidiary skills such as ''Mind Guidance''¡ª the skill Z had used in his battle against the representatives from the Zorak family.
However, that was only a fraction of the skill''s abilities as it also possesses other subsidiary skills that could practically dominate the minds of others, provided certain conditions are met.
Altogether, the skill''s powers allowed the user to manipte the mind, the mechanism of processing information, and the set of immaterial facilities that are linked to it.
The user of this skill could create, control, customize, negate, and otherwise fashion parts and functions of the mind such as perception, desires, thoughts, beliefs, memories, attention, personality, behavior, and intelligence in a variety of ways.
Beneficially, this ability could be used to unlock one''s inner potential, (not to be mistaken for one''s Magic potential), with precise maniption of the target''s mind, the user could essentiallybestow talents, and mental abilities, as well as improve the target''s mental capacity.
Destructively, this power could be used to shatter minds, grant a diversity of mental disorders, and take over the mindpletely. Either way, anyone capable of wielding this skill masterfully would possess an outstanding power that makes them a force to be reckoned with.
However, everything had its limits and even for Tyler who was also yet to master the skill, one couldn''t use this skill on a target equal or superior to them in status or someone with adequate mind-altering resistance.
That alone would not be much of a problem but there were also countless spells and tools capable of shielding even weaker opponents'' minds from the skill''s influence and interferences of any kind would lead to a rather harsh bacsh at the user''s own mental state.
Hence, limiting the abilities of the skill to mostly reading surface thoughts and creating mental cues in most cases.
With so many restrictions in ce, one could not easily showcase the full capabilities of this skill until they had sessfully broken through the opponent''s mental defenses.
However, if Tyler wanted to bypass such a tedious process, all he needed to do was dominate weaker targets first with his Domination Demonic eyes before using mind maniption on them.
Still, if he recklessly tries to break through an opponent''s mental defenses by force, there was a high chance his eyes wouldpletely destroy the minds of his target,pletely turning them into a shell of themselves. Hence why he had left this Dark elf in Albert''s care until now.
Even though Rain had said she didn''t care about her sister and he was free to do with her as he saw fit, Tyler had still felt bad for subjecting this girl to such mental torture over thest few weeks just to satisfy his curiosity.
And aside from that, he would also be using her mind in experimenting with the limits of his skill''s ability, which could just as easily destroy her mind and send her into a vegetative state.
The sub-skills of Mind Maniption include; Mind Weaver, Mind Guidance, Mental Cues, and Mind Barriers, which was a defensive ability that protected Tyler''s mind against mental interference with several multiyered barriers.
There were also; Mind Break, Mind Restoration, Mind Imprisonment, and finally, Mind walker.
Thetter was the skill Tyler was currently using as he ce his left hand on Misty''s head and palmed her entire head in his hand. Her consciousness fell deeper into her soul as Tyler invaded her mind world and assert control over her entire being, gaining full ess to her weakened mind.
In the span of mere seconds, he went through hundreds of years of memories as he learned everything she had locked within her mind. Even things she had forgotten and chosen to bury deep within her mind.
Although he had aimed to learn about Rain''s past as well as theyout of the Alcar family''s territories while identifying their key members for his ns. What he saw both disturbed and disgusted him to the core.
The fact that the Alcar family were fanatics worshipers of the demon god hade as a surprise to him. This was something Rain and Liz hadn''t taken seriously because they had barely been exposed to the true nature of these so-called saviors of the demon race.
He hadn''t been fond of Misty himself as any sibling that could watch their younger ones being tortured and experimented on was not someone he could get along with.
Liz had pleaded with him to convert Misty to his side and he had his reservations and came into this with as much an open mind as he could muster. However, nothing could''ve prepared him for what he saw in her head.
From the day she was born, she was bred and raised as nothing more than a life stock whose lives belonged to the Alcar family. As if that was not enough, from a very young age she had been passed around in the beds of the so-called higher-ups of the Alcar family.
She couldn''t even remember when she had lost her virginity but Tyler had seen it all, his stomach turning at the sight before his eyes.
''What kind of sickos would do this to a child.''
The scene before him was of the room of one of the six Great pirs of the Alcar family. On the luxurious canopy bed were the figures of two young girls no older than 11 or 12. Their bodies were covered in bruises and cuts that could even be found on their faces.
One of these girls was obviously a younger version of Misty, and the other was apparently her twin sister, Windy. Sheid motionless beside Misty with a look of terror permanently frozen on her face as the demon noble rammed his tool in between her bleeding legs and continued to ravage her body even now.
Misty''s eyes were bruised and tears could no longer even be produced from them. Her vision was almost gone and her consciousness was fading rapidly.
However, her bleeding heart could not let her pass out as she held on tightly to her sister''s still warm hands. She could no longer react to the pain of the man atop her as he punched, pped, and bit her chest in lustful bliss even after her heart had stoppedpletely.
That''s correct. Her twin sister had died right in front of her and she was most likely going to be next. However, as fate would have it, that demon had reached its climax inside the body of the dead child and was no longer needed for her.
Her body was then sent back to the dark elf legion without care if she had lived or died, as high-ranking demons could control their bodies at Unparalleled levels, they were able to control the reproductive essence of their seeds and as they saw the dark elf race as nothing more than tools, they generally wouldn''t impregnate them to prevent their linage from being tainted. Only using their bodies to satisfy their carnal desires.
As such, they would specifically breed the dark elves with each other to maintain their numbers at an eptable limit. This was why they didn''t care if one or two of them died as a result of the noble''s twisted fetishes.
However, Misty had survived thanks to the timely healing she had received from her older brother who barely showed any emotions towards her near-death state and the disappearance of her twin sister.
For the next few years until she had outgrown that certain pir''s desired fetish, she was forced into his bed and brutally beaten and vited for years.
However, unlike her twin sister, she refused to give up. This was because, she knew the pain of losing a sister, and after gaining a younger sister of her own, she did not want Rain to experience such a thing.
Her desire to protect her younger sister seemed to have been answered by a higher power as she was then chosen to be the bodyguard of the Alcar family''s disgrace, exempting her from the family''s cursed fate.
Misty could not be happier. She eventually grew numb to the pain after the possibility that Rain would be that demon''s next target was out of the way.
Her mind instinctively began to blur the details of those traumatic events and soon she would forget them altogether. Although she had outgrown that demon noble, there were still other demon nobles that desired her body and as such, she slowly began to grow jealous of the sister that had been spared from such a fate.
Even then, her love for her sister never waned but those feelings of jealousy kept growing. And soon, they would be directed a the girl who she believed had taken her ce in the life of her sister.
As she could barely see her sister to resolve this matter, those Complicated feelings continued to swell inside of her and because of that she could not approach or speak to Rain on the few asions when they had met. Hence why she had never developed a rtionship with Rain.
Tyler fell silent for a while as he just nkly stared at the shing memories before him. These were all the memories that had been locked or hidden and they were all submitting themselves to his gaze.
His eyes soon focused on the face of the man who had raped Misty''s sister to death and had even harbored an interest in Rain. If she hadn''t been chosen to be with Liz, the same thing that happened to her would''ve been done to Rain.
It seems Liz had been more aware of the situation in the castle than the carefree Rain who was intelligent but also simple-minded. That was probably why she wanted him to give her another chance at life.
''Very well. I''ve seen enough.''
As Tyler had already gotten the information he needed, he dismissed the memories before him andpletely unlocked them for Misty. Although he was about to make some major alterations to her mind, he still felt as though it was best if she understood where those dark feelings she felt had originated from for her to heal and for her mind to function properly under his skill.
As for the Alcar Family who looked down on all races and kept an entire n of Dark Elves as though they were pets, Tyler now had a beef with them that had now rivaled the one with the Brimstone family.
If he hadn''t met the Vampire lord of the Morningstar family himself, he was beginning to think every one of the so-called Great Five families was degenerate. However, the affairs of the remaining three families were not his concern and his only targets now were both the Brimstone family and the Alcar family.
Both families have now directly opposed him and could not be allowed to exist. As Tyler thought to this point, his mind returned to the face of the man he had just watched in Misty''s memories and he immediately felt sick to the stomach.
"The pir of Fire; Eddard Dryden, congrattions, you''ve be my enemy."
With a single motion, Tyler stretched forth his arm as though reaching for something. In the next moment, a single image of the demon noble known as the pir of fire appeared before him.
Next, aplicated and intricate Magic circle appeared in front of Tyler and waspressed to the size of a mere golf ball before slowly disappearing into the floating image with the distortion in space and time.
"Soul Curse."
On this day, a simr Magic circle appeared in the lower back of Eddard Dryden who was currently resting in one of his mansions located on the other side of the continent. Laying sideways on a familiar canopy bed with the bruised body of a young Dark elfying motionlessly next to him.
In the next moment, the cursed mark was slowly being absorbed into his body as it merged with the core of his mana body and fed off his aura until it becamepletely docile without leaving a single trace behind.
Chapter 335 C335. Misty
Having viewed the memories of Misty''s entire life, Tyler was able to gain a lot of useful pieces of information such as a detailed structure of the Alcar family''s operation system. That is to say, he now understood what the inner workings of one of the Great Five noble families were like.
He had also learned the faces of all the higher-ranked officers Misty had interacted with, and for someone who had been considered a lower life form, she had met most of the high-ranking nobles. Including members of the so-called pirs of the family.
While most of the more sensitive information had been sealed behind a seemingly unbreakable barrier, Tyler didn''t think he would have much trouble forcing them out. However, doing such a thing would cause a bacsh that would most likely kill Misty and send information about him back to the one who had ced those restrictions on her mind.
Of course, Tyler could also trace back the signal to the source and locate that person but it was highly unlikely that person would be of much value to him at the moment. There could always beyers of traps set along the way.
For now, he didn''t need to be impatient. He had already achieved his main objectives and with the extra information he had on the Alcar family, Uriel would now be able to better predict their actions ande up with countermeasures against any ns they mighte up with.
However, even after learning about her past and deciding to help the dark elves for Rain''s sake, and because he found the messed-up ideas of the Alcar family sickening, Tyler still had no intentions of halting his current experiments.
He needed to find out the full extent of this ability so he had no choice but to risk Misty''s life and mental state for his cause.
''I won''t apologize for this, but do not fear death. However, hold on to that one thing you hold the most precious in the world and do not lose yourself in the abyss.''
As Tyler broadcast his voice deep into the depths of Misty''s soul, where her consciousness was currently residing due to his intrusion into her mind. He began shaping and manipting her memories, feelings, and thoughts.
He learned he could fabricate fake memories to help shape her personality but that was not his aim. By introducing anything new into her mind, he was able to reconstruct the very essence of her being.
If he wanted to, he could turn her into apletely different person. Of course, there were limitations to this, and due to Misty''s acknowledgment of his words and attaching her consciousness to her first memory of her twin sister, the nexus of her being could not be erased without tampering with her memories.
''That should be about it.''
Although Tyler hadn''t made many adjustments to her mind to avoid any abnormalities. He would be able to gain more from monitoring the subtle changes in her as time went on. After all, living beings had a great potential for evolution, which would have an effect on how he uses this ability in the future.
However, just as Tyler was pulling himself out of her mind, her body suddenly went into shock as her mind could not handle even the subtle changes he had made.
Obviously, this was the bacsh he had been so afraid of. As it turns out, even making such minute changes and few alterations was too much for her already fragile mental state to handle.
Tyler silently opened his eyes back in the underground cell as he watched Misty''s body convulse profusely and in the next moment, it stopped as the life slowly drained from her body.
Both Albert and Bones who had been standing outside the cell the entire time had not even moved a finger to help her and before something could be said, she had taken herst breath.
"Even changing only this much had such an effect. I suppose this wouldn''t be an effective method of creating spies. I''ll have to take another approach."
Thinking aloud to himself, Tyler casually wave an arm over Misty''s corpse and snapped his finger as he cast a spell.
"Resurrection."
Unfortunately, this was only the 6th Tier spell for resurrecting the dead so there was a bit of a side effect as it had ced an enormous strain on her body and she had lost a lot of her soul''s energy which would take a long time to recover normally.
Unfortunately, this wasn''t something that could be fixed by just breaking the potential of the spell and using more mana than necessary. If this spell was to be used on a weaker person, odds are, that person''s body would not be able to handle it and would be immediately reduced to dust from losing that much soul energy.
However, for those that could withstand the initial spell, losing a little soul''s energy wasn''t much of a side effect for the Darknar family as Erin could easily restore any lost soul energy.
In the next moment, ck Magic runes appeared all over Misty''s body before suddenly glowing and being absorbed into her skin, and immediately, the life returned to her body as her eyes slowly opened.
As she had only died from her mind''s shock at being altered and not the alteration itself, everything Tyler had done in her mind had remained and even her mental fortitude had increased and her mental state restored.
"Hmm... Urn... W-Wher-where am I? You''re?"
Looking a little lost for words, Misty turned her head to observe her surroundings and her gaze naturally stopped at the man standing next to her bed
"Apparently, I am now called Ty Falls Darknar. But everyone here calls me Ty, Lord Ty to be precise."
"Lord Ty?"
Raising her head to further observe her surroundings, she noticed she was in a somewhat dark room being a set of bars where an undead monster and what seemed to be a noble''s butler stood behind as they silently watched her.
"A cell? Did I fail a mission, why am I here?"
A series of questions came at Tyler as it seems she was beginning to regain her memories. He hadn''t erased any of her memories, to begin with, so the reason why she couldn''t remember everything at once was that her mind was still recovering from the shock it sustained earlier.
"You seem to be miss understanding something. This is not the castle of the Alcar family. Now then, I''ll need you to remember everything that just happened for me."
As he spoke those words, his eyes suddenly glowed in a red hue as Misty''s soul shivered and her body went stiff, the words that she was about to retort were seemingly stuck in her throat.
"Now then, do answer my questions sincerely. What is your name?"
Misty''s face changed as she suddenly remembered the tortures she had been forced to endure from that undead so far.
While her natural instinct would''ve been to remain silent as she had been trained. For some reason, she had opened her mouth and began to speak before she had even realized what was happening.
"The dark elves do not have names. I am known by my allocated designation of Misty."
Hearing her speak without hesitation, a faint smile crossed Tyler''s lips as he muttered to himself in a not-so-quiet tone.
"So it worked. Your instincts right now would be to always answer my questions truthfully and without hesitation."
Of course, this was only one aspect of what he had done to her mind as Misty could not bring herself to hate what had been done to her.
Misty instead remained silent after answering Tyler''s question, not finding anything weird in the reason why she felt so willing to obey this man.
"So, do you hate your sister?"
"No, If you''re referring to my Rain then the answer is no. love my younger sister. Although I did harbor hostility towards her friend I had been projecting my insecurities onto her and med her for stealing my sister. However, I remember clearly that I was the one who made that decision myself and forgot it for a while now."
"Would you like to be closer to your little sister?"
"I cannot. I still belong to the Alcar Family and cannot risk endangering my sister by exposing her to the family''s wrath."
"Is that right?"
"Yes."
"Now I''ll ask you onest time so look at me clearly when I ask this. Do you want to be with your sister again?"
"...that''s not possible... if I can... yes I would."
As Misty began to rattle off answers, eye eyes firmly met Tyler''s gaze, and her heart almost melted away. It was as though his eyes had swallowed up all her fears and reservations.
"In that case. Swear your absolute fealty to me and you shall attain your wish."
Misty''s eyes widened at that bold and confident deration. This was unlike anything she had ever experienced before and she could barelyprehend what was happening.
The only thing she know about such was that the demon before her was the furthest thing from ordinary. His presence could not be felt yet she felt as though his mere figure was enveloping her. His hazy eyes pierced deep into her soul and her mind almost wentpletely nk.
However, I single memory suddenly shed past her and her left hand felt her heart. A pained expression on her face as she struggled to mouth the words out of her lips.
"I-I can''t. My heart, it''s¡ª"
"I''m aware."
Misty''s heart suddenly skipped a beat as her entire person be flushed while Tyler crouched before her and ced an arm on her chest, right above her racing heart.
"I have seen the chains of very that have been ced around your heart and it is of no concern to me. If death cannot stop me, then what do you think will?"
Misty''s eyes widened as she realized the meaning of Tyler''s words having understood that he had already invaded her heart once before. There was no reason why he wouldn''t be able to do it again.
She had no idea why she was so willing and eager to be Luce after everything this man had said but her mind waspletely free of doubt as she eagerly epted her fate.
"Yes. I ept, I''ll swear my entire existence to you if that''s what you want."
"Very well."
"Ack..."
As Tyler acknowledged Misty''s response to his deration, a slight chuckle escaped his mouth as he swiftly made his move and in the next moment, his hand bore a hole straight through Misty''s chest as it pulled out her heart.
The process was so fast that it had taken her a few seconds to even feel the pain. Even her brain had not been able to keep up with that speed. However, it was only a matter of time before those things would catch up with her missing heart and she would end up dead ones more.
However, with the current state of her soul, if she were to end up dead, resurrection would be out of the question as her body would be turned to ash if it was used on her before she had recovered her soul energy.
Chapter 336 C336. Brethal
"Greater Magic - Revivify.Max Magic - Heal."
Without missing a beat, Tyler promptly cast two spells simultaneously. The first was a restoration and resurrection spell that cost him 100 ingots of rare metal to activate, in this case, gold. Immediately following that, he cast the highest grade healing spell he knew at the gaping hole in Misty''s chest.
The first spell was to keep her body alive even in such a critical state as the spell ''Revivify'' was a necromancy ss spell that could actually resurrect any dead creature to life with the lowest possible vitality. Thereby keeping them alive no matter the fatality of the wound they had sustained beforehand.
However, the spell would only work if cast within the first minute of death and would not consume any soul energy. However, the spell provided no healing effects and if immediate medical aid was not provided after a certain period of time, the revived creature would eventually die again from whatever killed it the first time.
The spell also uses a decent amount of negative energy and wasn''t suitable for being used multiple times on a single being. After all, this was only. 3rd Tier spell and Tyler only intended to use it as a life support system.
Hence the reason for the second spell.
Following a gentle burst of negative energy, a pure radiance embraced the dark elf''s entire body and filled her with rejuvenating energy.
In the next moment, a new heart began to form inside her chest as new flesh and bones were restored around it and before her body could even realize she had died, the new heart had beenpleted and her body''s functions simply continued as though nothing had happened.
Even her mind had failed to process the information fast enough as she had just stared at Tyler with a shocked expression. Even after she had finally snapped out of her dazed and saw a still beating heart in the hand of the demon crouching in front of her, she could not possibly imagine that it was her very own heart up until a moment ago.
Tyler on the other hand, felt a chill run down his spine as he could still feel the heart in his hand beating which was extremely weird for someone like him who had never been to medical school.
However, he didn''t want to appear uncool so he steeled himself and stared seriously at the still pulsating heart in his hand as he scanned it with his Magic vision and the Keen eyes of a Demon.
His pupils changing colors ranging from red to yellow before returning back to its natural state as Tylerpleted his scan.
As expected, a near invisible ck chain was wrapped around the heart and not even Albert and Bones could see it. The ck chains slowly moved on their own as they tightened their grip on the heart and in the next moment.
*St!
This was the reason why the dark elves¡ª despite being treated as trash, toys, and considered inferior lifeforms ¡ª remained loyal to the noble families as they could not betray the family even if they wanted to. Such was the consequences of their actions.
Those ck chains were known as the chains of very and wouldbe passed down from generation to generation. It originated from a powerful blood contract between the very first dark elves that had escaped from the elven continent.
''Damn... talk about not having a break.''
[Notice: Chains of Submission detected.
The chain of submission is an 8th-tier spell that binds the souls of the targets and their entire generation to the user and their descendants. This was an incredibly powerful blood contract that can only be nullified after the true death of the victims.]
''Is that so, only by true death?''
[Yes. Destroying the heart itself would not be enough to break the curse as the chains would return to the new heart of the victim as long as their souls remain in this ne. In order to break the spell, Master mustpletely erase the spell itself and not just the heart.]
''I see. So that''s why they are unable to escape even after so long.''
As Tyler stared at the squashed heart in his hand, he quickly activated a restoration spell on it and it quickly returned to normal. The chains of very then slowly reappeared around it.
Apparently, the chains would destroy this heart as it had been separated from its host before reappearing back inside Misty. This meant Tyler needed to figure out a way to get rid of the spell itself before the heart in his handspletely died out.
Considering how insanely potent the original 8th tier spell appears to be, destroying the spell was something that was easier said than done.
''Still, if this curse is hereditary, why didn''t I sense it from Rain?''
[The chains of submission seem to have been destroyed in miss Rain. Most likely by pure coincidence or by ident due to the various experiments conducted on her to imnt her soul with an iplete innate ability.]
''So it was because of that. How unsettling.''
Returning his attention to the heart in his hands, Tyler could see the chains attempting to destroy the heart once more so it could return to its host and couldn''t allow that to happen at all cost.
?ck mes?
With only a thought, ck mes erupted on the heart still in his hand as they consumed everything they touched, reducing the chains and even the heart to absolute nothingness.
A dumbfounded expression was stered on Misty''s face as her mind could barelyprehend what had just happened. Unlike Rain, she was well aware of the fate of her race and what happens to all those that even thought of betraying the family.
Such a fate was inescapable even when the elf attempted to defect to another Great Family. Yet, without even breaking a sweat, this man hadpletely destroyed the chains that held her down all these years.
Misty slowly touched her chest as she felt her heartbeat no longer being hampered by the chains of very. Misty''s eyes watered as her mind became overwhelmed with emotions. Emotions she had almostpletely forgotten she had.
''What is this feeling...''
As she desperately tried toe to grips with her own emotions, Tyler stood back up and walked towards the entrance of the cell as he spoke:
"Now then, we''re done here. Albert."
"Yes my lord."
"Show her to a room in the servant''s quarters and observe how she interacts with the others."
"As you wish."
"Oh and, get her some clothes."
Hearing those words, it didn''t take long for her mind toprehend what he meant as Misty finally realize that she waspletely naked in front of this man all along and her entire body practically glowed bright red for some unknown reason. It wasn''t like she wasn''t used to being naked in from of men by now so she could barely understand why she was so embarrassed and ashamed right now.
Perhaps this was also his doing as she couldn''t even bring herself to look him
in the eyes. In front of him, something just felt different and she couldn''t help herself from being flustered.
Tyler hadn''t even noticed her reaction as he was already walking out of the cell as he spoke and casually left the cell. He then moved onto the next cell, where another nakeddy with multicolored hairy on the bed in the same condition as Misty had been when he had first entered this ce.
Tyler casually walked inside the cell and repeated the same process as he had gone through with Misty. He first used purification to erase the negative corruption that gued her before proceeding to deep dive into her mind using Mind Maniption after sending her consciousness deep into her soul.
Next, he speed ran through her memories but unlike with Misty, there wasn''t anything he needed to learn about the Zorak family as Z had already provided him with everything he needed to handle them. That was why he had chosen to be a merchant in Winged city in the first ce.
He was simply going through her memories in an effort to be thorough so he would have all the information about her character needed to conduct and observe his mind experiments on her.
However, having gone through the entire life of this girl. You would expect Tyler to grow attached or feel empathy for her. Yet, the only thing Tyler had felt was disgust.
He had never imagined that such a twisted being could be born in a person from childhood, but even though being in this girl''s head irritated him a lot. Such aplete degenerate would be the perfect test subject for his more extreme sub-skills of Mind maniption.
To start with, Tyler used ''Mind Break, andpletely destroyed the mind he was currently in as he washed everythinge crashing down on him.
However, in the next moment, he used, ''Mind Restoration'' and the world of memories around him began to repair itself.
''Well I''m d that worked. She would''ve be a vegetable otherwise. This will is surely toe in handy in the future.
Tyler thought as he waited for her mind to finish repairing itself. He then proceeded to test out all his ideas and theories on her mind as he fabricated new memories while deleting some old ones.
He found himself able to adjust her instincts and interest as hepletely turned her from an entric antisocial psychopath to a more tamed bookworm. Or at least that was the idea, as her change was aplete 180, he had no idea what would happen next.
Unlike Misty, Tyler confirmed that there weren''t any chains of submission bounding thus girl to the Zorak family but as a behemoth, she had simply been hired by them and quickly became part of their elite force alongside her now dead husband.
After what seemed like hours of work, Tyler ended the activation of his skill and left the world of her mind as her consciousness returned to her body.
Immediately, her entire frame began to tremble as she had also gone into shock due to the sudden alterations in her mind.
''I guess the only way to go about this would be to take my time making minor tweaks here and there. What a shame.''
Tyler thought as he watched the naked body of this crazy girl convulse violently before her mind wentpletely nk and she died of shock. Even as life was snuffed out in front of his eyes, the only thing he could think of was that.
''Uh, her boobs are quite small aren''t they? No wonder she''s crazy. Wait?... that doesn''t make sense...''
Having been distracted for a moment, Tyler suddenly snapped back to reality as Brethal''s body stopped shaking. He then used resurrection on her and the same thing that happened to Misty happened to her as her soul energy became weaker.
"Hm... err... Master, is that you?"
As the life returned to the multicolored-haired girl''s face, her eyes slowly opened as she turned to look at Tyler and spoke gently, unlike her usual tone and personality as Tyler had seen in her head.
''I suppose this is one way to go about this.''
While it seemed as though he could easily manipte people''s minds so extensively as long as he could resurrect them to eliminate the side effect, things usually weren''t so easy.
For instance, it had taken a while to break the wills of these girls enough that he wouldn''t experience any resistance as the slightest resistance could create a mental block that he would not be able to get rid of.
Still, these results were satisfactory enough as this was not something he nned on using often. It was something that would only be effective against certain opponents so it wasn''t worth the risk unless he used a tool to achieve the same results.
''Well whatever.''
After staring at a docile Brethal for a while, Tyler asked Albert to also provide her with a new set of clothing. He had no idea what to do with her but given as she was a demigod, she would surely have her use.
However, the fact that she was a demigod was what he was worried of. Her mind had been more difficult to break but given as Z had done a good job traumatizing her, he was able to easily manipte her mind but he had no idea if she would be able to break free from the path he had set up for her on her own.
Tyler thought deeply about the issue for a moment before settling on what to do about it. He then gave some more instructions to Albert and Bones before swiftly leaving the miniature dungeon and heading towards the south wing with intentions.
Thanks to Ferlis and his surprise invitation, Tyler now had a lot of work on his te before he would head out to Winged city tomorrow. He needed to find a way to establish a connection between Paragon''s city''s merchant Guild and the other Merchant Guilds in the demon continent.
Chapter 337 C337. Communication Device
After ending his business with the two prisoners in the underground cells, Tyler left the rest to Albert as he exited the miniature dungeon under his castle. With that, the only thing left for him to do now was check up on Ragdek¡ª who was currently working with Erin in creating a highly securemand center on the highest floor of the East wing, the 10th floor.
Thismand center would be where Erin would establish hermunicationwork, where a secure method ofmunications would be established amongst all Tyler''s officers.
Working in close proximity with Z''s intelligence Command Unit that had been established on the same floor. They would be able to control the flow of information in a more effective and highly secure way.
Walking out of the stairs that led to the dungeon, Tyler met back up with Cora¡ª who was waiting with the guards that stood by the sides of the stairs in shifts.
Demons of their levels could easily go days without food or drinks so it was easy for them to remain in their post constantly with little breaks.
However, as a former minimum wage worker, Tyler couldn''t stand for such harsh working conditions despite their insistence that it was their pleasure to serve him. He made sure they were not only wellpensated but had ample time off despite their shortage of manpower as he didn''t want to introduce his undead minions inside the castle.
The only undead he allowed inside the walls of the castle was his shadow rogues who could pass off as living beings if it wasn''t for the death aura surrounding them.
Naturally, this selfish desire of his had only added to Liz''s workload which Tyler could only apologize for.
However, the reason why he hadn''t used the undead who possessed limitless stamina was to avoid the possibility of someone being corrupted by the passive negative energy his undead emitted, even if he knew he could easily cure them if that was to happen.
He hadn''t created that many undead creatures since the ones he had were destroyed in the war but the few he had personally created beside the shadow rogues were assignedas sentries to protect the castle walls.
As the barrier protected the castle from unexpected attacks and intruders, it would be rare for a situation like the one that urred with Mammon to repeat itself so he didn''t think it would be wise to waste the potential of his vassals by assigning them to such an uneventful job and being sentries.
As the undead did not need sleep, food, or feel fatigued, he knew they were the best candidate for the job. Plus, with intelligent undead like the Lich and Doom Lords, they could instantly report to him if they sensed something amiss and would never ck off due to the protection of the barrier.
Walking down the castle''s corridors towards the East wing, Tyler casually passed the time by messing around with a few of his skills while simultaneously paying attention to the maids who greeted him in awe along the way.
He didn''t know how long it had taken or when he had arrived but before he knew it, Cora announced that he had arrived in from of the entrance to their newmand center.
She was just about to open the door for him when it suddenly opened on its own and Tyler''s eyes widened in absolute surprise.
''Automatic doors?''
The idea hadpletely escaped him before now, but it was clearly the solution for having to wait for his maid to open his doors for him which only made him feel awkward.
However, to Tyler''s disappointment, the doors had not opened on their own, rather, they had been pulled open by someone from within.
"Oy, it''s Lord Ty. Why are you here?"
Tyler''s disappointment caused him to ignore the person that spoke to him as his mind wandered aimlessly. The reason he had even thought this could''ve been an automatic door was because he had used his skill; Nensha, to provide the dwarves with countless product ideals from his world that was safe to be implemented here and this had probably been one of them.
He hadn''t really paid attention to the process as he had left the task to Uriel and had been focused on mastering his skills as well as improving his mana control.
As Tyler''s mind reflected on that pile of paper he had given the dwarves, his mind was sudden jotted back to him by the abrupt response from his side.
"This is Lord Ty''s castle, he has the right to go anywhere he please."
"Hmm, oh, my bad, I wasn''t trying to sound rude. I was just curious about Lord Ty''s presence here. Thest time I saw you I was blessed with so many marvelous ideas for new products so my curiosity got the better of me. Kfufufufuu..."
While Tyler was still stuck on the disappointment of this not being an automatic door, Cora had been annoyed by Ragdek''s supposedck of respect as he had been the one to open the door only to meet Tyler standing there.
Ragdekughed as he stroked his beard only to catch a glimpse of Cora ring at him which quickly calmed him down as he coughed slightly before speaking again:
"Ah... Lord Ty, to what do we owe this honor?"
Tyler smiled somewhat awkwardly as he saw Cora nod in satisfaction to Ragdek''s improved behavior.
"I came to observe the recent progress. By the way, did you seed in replicating that item, the Paragon Observer? I believe I made that your top priority."
The Paragon Observer was one of the God Tier Magic Artifacts that Tyler had obtained from the Magic Library. It was an insanely broken item that Tyler intended to make the crux of Erin''smunicationwork as not only could it be used on a grand scale, it had God Tier skills like Ultimate irvoyance and Remote viewing.
The God Tier item also had skills like Magic projection which was essentially a holographic projection of what it could observe and given that the item had a worldwide range, it could see everything that wasn''t hidden by Magic and transmit the information back to light speed.
The item also had a skill called parallel construct that allowed it to be duplicated and used in multiple locations within a limited range by creating projected linked constructs of itself with the same abilities.
This meant it could be used all across the castle formunication and even entertainment purposes. However, that was only limited to the castle which was the limit of the items range.
While Tyler had thought about using the Thoughtmunication spell in conjunction with the item to establish a form ofmunication as the item could view any location coordinate imputed in it.
That hadn''t been a feasible idea as thoughtmunication was also limited in range and he was the only one capable of extending its range. The spell was also of rtively low tier and even with high-end encryption, it would be easy to hijack theirmunication or worse, cut offmunication at a crucial time.
This was why Tyler had given the God Tier item to Ragdek in an attempt to create lesser versions of the items that could be linked to each other worldwide. As the item could transfer both images and sound at light speed, it was a perfectmunication device that would work a little simr to a smartphone orputer monitor without the inte connection.
However, God Tier artifacts were not something that could be easily replicated so this was a tall order for the dwarves. However, Uriel had provided Tyler with the main concept of the artifacts which should aid in the process.
Of course, Tyler had also asked them to add a memory function to the device so he could someday figure out a way to upload the movies and music in his memories inside them and regain some more functions of his smartphone.
"I''m ashamed we haven''t figured out the secret to creating Magic artifacts yet my lord, but the runes you transcribed for us are a big help and we''ve managed to create Extraordinary ranked versions of that artifact."
"Really?"
"Yes, my apologies. Although we''ve made the device just as you''ve specified. The range is even more limited than Thought Communication. We may need to create something that can optimize the signal and boost it across the."
To be honest, Tyler hadn''t expected the dwarves to have sessfully made the lesser versions the same rank as actual magic items. Hell, he had expected them to be no more than Ordinary ranked items, yet they''ve somehow made it even better than he''d hoped.
"Creating many of such things might turn out to be ineffective and pointless so we''ll need to make it powerful enough to optimize the items all across the. I think we''ll have to either ce such a massive booster on the mood or in the outer sky... What am I saying, forgive me for spewing out such nonsense Lord Ty? I seem to have gotten carried away."
''Wait, is he talking about creating a satellite?''
Tyler thought as he reached into space close to a spatial box strapped to his waist, Ragdek brought out a small box that was half the size of an adult male''s palm and almost as t as a smartphone.
Of course, it didn''t look like a smartphone as it waspletely made out of metal with a single button to the side. There was an array of Magic runes engraved on its surface and as Tyler could read up to level one advance runes now, he instantly knew how to operate this item.
Basically, each item was given a unique code that could be described as a serial number and that number was then magically recorded into the God Tier artifact, in essence linking the two together.
As they didn''t have aputer or an A. I like Uriel, all this would be stored in Erin''s head and she was able to urately keep track of which P.O would be given to whom.
Of course, Tyler didn''t think this was the most efficient way to go about things so he had made it a point to find out how he could attach Uriel to the castle just as thest demon king had done to the Magic Library.
Naturally, the solution to that could only be found in the Magic Library which was still on cooldown for another two months.
"The level for this is excellent. We can''t mass produce it if its level is too high or he''s too valuable."
"I see... so my lord ns on selling this to the public."
"I''m considering the consequences of allowing such ease ofmunication to be widespread in this world. But for now. Make only the Extraordinary versions for those with the Darknar name and Ordinary versions for everyone else in the family."
Ragdek and his friends had been present the day Tyler had named his inner circle so naturally, they all now had thest name Darknar attached to theirs, and they had also had their Magic potential broken after the undead war so their skills had improved tremendously since then.
"Alright. I''ll prepare them at once. I''ve also prepared a special one for you. It should be ready before you leave tomorrow."
"Is that so, alright? You may leave."
With a subtle bow, Ragdek received the P.O he had given Tyler before excusing himself from Tyler''s presence and walking towards his workstation.
"Hold on, there was one more thing I''ll need you to work on for me if you have the time."
Ragdek immediately stopped in his tracks after hearing Tyler call out to him and tirned to face him when he saw an interesting expression on his master''s face and smirked.
"Oh... and what could that be?"
"A door."
Chapter 338 C338. Command Center
After discussing his idea for an automatic door in a more detailed exnation than the picture he might''ve given Ragdek a while back, Tyler bid the excited dwarf fare ware and walked into themand center through the already opened door.
Upon entering the room, he couldn''t help but be impressed by the sight before his eyes.
He had simply expected to see Erin sitting in a corner by herself awkwardly while using her powers of divination,so she could avoid a conversation with her own subordinates given how reserved she normally was.
Naturally, he had appointed some people to work under her as she couldn''t be allowed to do the entire job herself and he simply didn''t want her to be alone now that everyone she wasfortable around was currently busy with their duties.
However, what he was currently looking at had taken him a little by surprise. The room behind the door was a bit dark as the colored crystals on the ceilings had been dimmed and the majority of the light in the room came from the massive holographic projection at the end of the room.
ced on a tform at the end of the room was the God Tier artifact, the Paragon Observer, and disyed above it was the massive holographic projection that disyed an insanely clear image of the bird''s eye view of multiple unknown regions.
The screen appeared to be split into ten, each section disying apletely different image than the next.
Situated on both sides of the room were miniature workstations where mini duplicates of the Paragon Observer created by the originals ability, were ced, and above them were mini holographic projections that disyed varying images from each other.
These were not still images either, they were live recordings from various parts of the demon continent as everyone here seems to be perfecting their control over the Magic artifacts before them.
They seemed to be able to control the item by hand gestures so Tyler could see all of them awkwardly waving their hands across the front of the Magic projection, and due to them being rather unskilled at the moment, they appeared rather silly doing that.
All except Erin of course, she stood seriously at the front of the massive projection as the multiple sectioned images continuously zoomed into the various areas of the unknown regions with such grace that could mesmerize anyone.
Even while her subordinate struggled to control a single image, she appears to have mastered the magic artifact as she perfectly controlled over 10 different images on the screen of the Magic item and could even control the item with her mind as she barely made any hand gestures.
Shifting his gaze to the side, Tyler was relieved to see that he wasn''t the only one impressed by the wless sight before his eyes as Cora''s expression changed as she watched Erin''s figure work with extreme grace and wlessness.
''As expected of one of my generals.''
Patting himself on the back internally, Tyler walked into the hall and it didn''t seem like anyone had noticed him enter. He has his presence erased by a Magic item so this was normal but it seems Cora was getting pissed off at Erin''s subordinates''ck of awareness.
"Are you searching for something?"
"Huh?"
Hearing Tyler''s voice suddenly from behind them, everyone in the room immediately turned to face him. In the next moment, his unexpected arrival caused amotion amongst Erin''s twelve subordinates as they panicked and tried to show their respect by kneeling inplete fluster.
Tyler scratched his cheeks awkwardly at their overreaction and just smiled and waved his hand to put them at ease before walking straight towards Erin who had only sensed his presence after sensing the disturbance in the room.
This goes to show just how hard she had been concentrating as he didn''t think her sense of awareness was any weaker than his and even if she could not sense him due to the ring on his finger, she should''ve been able to sense Cora''s presence.
"Err... Umm, lord Ty, you''re here. I mean Umm... what brings you here?"
Tyler chuckled in amusement as he voiced a very casual response to her beforeing to a stop next to her.
"Yo! I just dropped by to see how you were coping with all this?"
"Y-you ca-came just to check up on-on me?"
"That''s right."
Erin appeared flustered as she struggled to mouth her words but Tyler didn''t try to rush her or anything like that. It was already good enough that she had found a way to work with these people even though it seemed as though she had just given them tasks to do while she minded her business.
However, she was still required to listen to their report and give feedback which should help her improve hermunication skills.
What had surprised him early was that her subordinates had increased from the original six he appointed her to twice that. He remembered someone mentioning something about people volunteering to work for her but he hadn''t expected her to ept them.
Then again, Erin was usually too nice for her own good so she might not be capable of denying a sincere request from anyone she cared about. Tyler smiled as he fought against the urge to tease her a little and remained focused on his objective.
"Soo... how''s it going?"
Returning to the matter at hand, Tyler adopted a more serious expression as he asked the question before staring at the images on the screen in front of him.
"Huh... How''s what going?"
"All this. The establishment of themand center?"
"Oh that. It''s... well, we''re making steady progress."
"You don''t sound sure."
"Umm... well, it''s just a littleplicated."
Tyler tilted his head slightly in confusion as he stared at the nervous nymph who was fidgeting with her fingers and looking away. It didn''t seem like she wanted to borate further but Tyler couldn''t understand why.
Perhaps there was a rather personal reason for that and she was just too shy to say it out loud so he decided not to harp on that horn.
"Well, that''s fine I guess. You seem to have gotten quite used to controlling the Paragon Observer, what do you think of it as the standardmunication tool?"
"Umm. Yes, I was just in the midst ofbining my irvoyance and divination with the artifact''s disy, just to see if I could enhance their range with the item''s worldwide tach as well as boost the item''s effects against magically protected information without being noticed."
Erin''s mood seem to sour as she said that, her face dropped and her fidgeting stopped as she mncholically gave her report.
"Unfortunately, so far, I''ve only been able to observe ces that are protected with the weakest anti-magic. I''m sorry, I''ll try better."
Even as she said that with such a sad and apologetic look in her eyes. Tyler waspletely stunned and speechless by her achievement in mere days. If this was the result of a few days of effort, then what could she aplish given more time?
He hadn''t even thought ofbining skills with the effects of Magic tools and items and yet, she had done just that on a whim and still felt as though such a thing wasn''t a ridiculous achievement.
This was truly the difference between a genius and an ordinary person. Although Uriel could be considered to smartest being in existence given her ess to the vast information collected in the magic library, she normally only operated independent of his thoughts on a cosmic scale that Tyler couldn''tprehend so most of the time, he was left to handle things of this nature by his own wits.
Unless he asked for her help. However, being like Erin, Z and Liz, even someone like Rain and Albert, operated on apletely different level than he does and it was only his knowledge of earth that has allowed him to survive this far without exposing himself as a fraudulent King.
The fear of being exposed was constantly weighing on his mind almost daily that he found it hard to becent or even enjoy the current attention he was receiving as it felt as though everything coulde crashing down around him at any given second.
"Why are you apologizing? You''ve done far more than even I could predict. To think you''ve already achieved so much in such little time. I couldn''t possibly have done any better myself."
Erin seemed surprised at Tyler''s words for a moment before her expression returned to normal again as she appears to have thought of something.
"There''s no way that''s true. Lord Ty is truly amazing. You''ve achieved whatever you''ve tried with ease. I can''t possiblypare to you. I do appreciate you trying to make me feel better though. If anything, I''m d I was able to expand my divination range to span the gxy with the aid of the artifact."
''Wait what!''
Tyler had no idea where these people were getting this ridiculous notion about him from, he didn''t think he had done anything most demigods couldn''t do and most of that was even because of Uriel''s help.
What''s worse, herst statement hadpletely taken him by surprise. For someone''s divination to span, an entire gxy wasn''t that approaching the same level as Uriel''s "World Divination".
[That assumption is urate. With the use of Artifact, Erin''s divination prowess is on the verge of being enhanced to World Divination.]
"Listen Erin."
Hearing Uriel''s words, Tyler snapped out of his daze as he walked closer to Erin and grabbed her shoulders with a serious expression.
"What you''ve done is incredibly impressive. Do you think I''ll lie to you?"
For a moment, Erin was short of words and couldn''t respond but by the sheer pressure and force Tyler''s gaze was cing on her, while his face was suddenly close to hers, she instinctively shook her head and timidly retreated away with a redded face.
"Then believe me when I say this. I hadn''t even consideredbining my skills directly with the effects of Magic tools so there''s no need to be so down on yourself. Especially after the fact that you have achieved something most wouldn''t even dream of. I am proud of you so hold your head high as one of my Six Great Demon Generals."
"O-okay."
Erin''s face waspletely flushed as she lowered her head in an attempt to hide it. However, her attempt seems to have failed as her subordinates in the room, all of which were girls, immediately began whispering amongst themselves with a giddy expression on their faces.
"Aww..."
"That''s so freaking cute."
"Lady Erin is so adorable, I can''t. My heart is gonna burst."
"I just want to hold her."
Well, their discussions went like that, with most of them just simply fawning over Erin and the others focusing on a rather strange detail instead.
Tyler sighed inwardly as he simply ignored their idle chatter before returning his attention to Erin.
"You said you were able to observe an area protected by weak anti-Magic. What were they?"
"Umm, oh, Z sent me a message from the Vermilion Rain forest in the Far East and wanted to know if I could help him locate the vige of the demi-humans living there. The forest itself has no Magic barrier protecting it, rather, it''s being protected by the residual essence of the spirits that live there."
"Oh... interesting.", ''I wonder why he''s looking into demi-human viges. Didn''t he leave here to investigate the secrets of the other noble families, or is this in some way connected?''
"In that case, I should probably leave you to it then. Just, try not to overwork yourself. Even if you don''t get fatigued, always make it a point to rest your mind every few hours."
"Umm, okay. If that''s what you wish."
That response just told Tyler that she probably hadn''t even taken a break since she began her work. That was most likely why things had progressed this fast.
"Sigh... alright. Why don''t you all take a break and let''s have dinner together? What do you say?"
"Huh!!!?"
At Tyler''s suggestion, an uproar broke amongst the girls in themand center as they all shrieked in both joy and excitement.
Apparently, the concept of having dinner with him was such a big deal amongst them and they were over the moon about it. He had only intended for them to take a break from work yet had ended up with this.
However, things would only escte from here as words of his dinner would spread like wildfire across the castle as what was supposed to be a small dinner, would end up bing a festive banquet.
Chapter 339 C339. Mental Block
''Ahh... Hmm... Damn, I can''t believe they ended up turning my dinner into another party.''
As the first rays of the mourning sun peaked in through the cloudy skies and illuminated a slim portion of his room. Tyler opened his eyes as he stared at the ceiling while his body simted the feeling of a hangover.
Of course, he wasn''t actually hungover, and even if he allowed himself to get drunk by negating his poison resistances, his body would still automatically repair itself by mourning so the drowsiness that he was currently feeling was all in his still human mind.
After spending another couple of minutes beingzy in his bed, Tyler decided it best to wash up so he tried to get out of bed.
''Why do I feel unusually heavy right now?''
His first and casual attempt to sit up on his bed ¡ª while still feeling groggy from his mental exhaustion fromst night ¡ª had failed due to him just now noticing the extra weight on his body the entire time.
Looking down, the first thing Tyler saw was the figure of an absolutely perfect beauty with blonde hairying next to him with her head ced on his chest as she slept soundly with a satisfied and peaceful expression on her face.
''Hmm... How does this even keep happening without my knowledge.''
[...]
Tyler didn''t remember the moment he had lost all rights to his privacy but there was a reason why he hadn''t instructed Cora to prevent everyone from disturbing him while in his chambers.
He currently didn''t have ess to the Magic library so he felt now was the best time to eliminate the presence of the magic library being in his chambers from the minds of all those around him.
Not that he didn''t trust them but rather as a precaution to any magical investigations that involve mind reading or dream walking. He also wanted his subordinates including the impulsive Rain, to take his orders seriously when the library bes essible again.
While there wasn''t really much of a need to keep the library a secret at this point, he still wasn''t ready to let anyone find out about it as it was still his ultimate trump card and apparently, the only ce where he could be alone if he ever gets overwhelmed by all this attention he was receiving.
Somehow, seeing the almost limitless and vast knowledge stored in the Boundless Void Library, which contains secrets to magic and probably the knowledge of the universe, always tends to humble him while also improving his confidence.
With that in mind, Tyler gently shifted Liz¡ª who wasying naked on top of him¡ª and gently ced her on his bed while adjusting the covers on her, as he shifted his attention to the door after sensing movements from outside.
*Knock. Knock. Knock.
A polite knock was ced on the door and Tyler already knew who it was.
"Enter."
"The door was slowly opened as a short pink-haired and pretty bunny girl, dressed in abat maid''s outfit walked into the room.
Obviously, it was Cora who had waited outside his door the entire night while focusing her senses inside the room actively monitoring Tyler''s movements in case he needed something.
This was the fastest she had ever sensed him awake so it seems she was steadily getting better with her Magic perception racial skill of a beastman.
After failing to convince her not to do that so many times, Tyler had given up as this was even better than her original idea of standing next to his bed the entire night. She even sounded enthusiastic about the idea which was a bit weird.
Hopefully, she hadn''t developed any sort of weird kinks from most of the other beastgirls.
"Good mourning Lord Ty. Would you prefer your breakfast be brought to you at once or would you rather I run you a bath first?"
Her mannerisms also seem to be getting better after meeting the two maids at the Lord''s mansion the other day. Her growth, beit her magical aptitude or character-wise, was immersing and Tyler was starting to feel like her talent was being wasted on him.
"I''ll have my bath, there''s no need for breakfast this mourning so prepare my outfit for my trip and have someone set up my carriage."
"Understood."
After what had happened yesterday over a simple dinner, Tyler decided it was best to skip breakfast today even though he genuinely enjoyed the food the cooks have been able to createtely.
He had used his skill ?Nensha? to print out the recipes (with pictures and everything) for a lot of foods from earth so the cooks could attempt to recreate them and they were also discovering new dishes along the way that was blowing his mind.
However, sacrifices had to be made to keep the peace else he''d be used of showing favoritism if he didn''t have breakfast with everybody.
''Damn, I may have brought this on myself. Perhaps I might''ve spoiled them a little.''
Tyler felt like a father who had pampered his children all their lives and had now set a certain standard he could not keep up with.
''Such high maintenance kids.''
He sighed internally as he could onlyugh at himself for causing his own misfortune. He quickly had his bath and got dressed in a very familiar outfit, simr to the one he had first worn as the VIP merchant known only as Lix.
"L-lord Ty, you''re leaving already."
Tyler suddenly froze as he was about to walk out the door after getting dressed by Cora who insisted that dressing him was her duty. The one who had spoken to him was Liz, having finally woken up in her natural bathing suit.
Tyler figured the high workload she had might''ve been too much of a burden for her if she was that exhausted that she didn''t wake up even after he had left her side.
Liz groggily sat up on the bed with azy expression as she looked at Tyler with a longing expression that was impossible for anyone to resist.
"Hmm, yes I am."
Liz seemed a little surprised by his answer that it took her a second to process his words as she slightly tilted her head and her eyes blinked rapidly before she was finally able to answer.
"Th-that''s not fair."
"..."
Tyler waspletely at a loss for words as he saw Liz hurriedly sit up on the bed with a priceless expression on her face as her body gently bounced up on the soft mattress.
"You spent the whole day with Rain yesterday and even went as far as seeing her off personally. So I thought we''ll get to spend some time together before you leave. Even if it was only for a few hours, you''re not being fair."
Faced with such illogical logic that left no room for argument, Tyler was rendered speechless as he simply scratched his head as he thought of a solution for this.
"I suppose you have a point. However, I''m afraid I can''t alter my ns at the moment. Still, I should be back in about a week or two. I''m counting on you to take care of everything while I''m gone, you''re the only one I can trust with this you see."
This was the solution presented to him by Uriel so Tyler decided to follow it to the letter, however¡ª
Liz didn''t seem pleased by Tyler''s answer even after he had tried to boost her morale with that line about trust. She slowly balled herself on the bed as she pouted, a sight Tyler believe would even be able to melt the heart of the old Demon king himself.
Again, Tyler was defeated by hisck of proper experience with women as he never fully had the time for them so he had no choice but to give in to the pressure as he walked back to his bed, patting her on the head before offering apromise as per Uriel''s follow up suggestion which he hadn''t wanted to resort to.
"How bout this, when I get back, I''ll make time to spend a day with just the two of us somewhere away from the castle. Is that fine?"
Liz''s face instantly brighten up with excitement and she jumped up and hugged him, seeming to be genuinely excited which was something Tyler was yet to understand.
"Then... before you leave, I also want something right now."
As Tyler''s mind wandered off, he was soon dragged back to reality as Liz let go of him while making a request, suddenly seeming shy for apletely different reason other than the fact that she was still naked.
"And what''s that?"
"I want you to, do the same thing you did with Rain yesterday, to me~"
"The same thing?"
Tyler struggled to remember what she meant for a moment before seeing Liz''s face turn red as she avoided eye contact with him. He suddenly remembered the event that unfolded in the castle''s courtyard before Rain''s departure and immediately turned back to look at Cora.
Her expression was off innocence as she clearly hadn''t revealed the information to Liz so obviously, Liz had witnessed that scene herself and Tyler had been too distracted to notice. This exins why she had been so bold recently as she didn''t want to feel left out.
''Why did I think I was over such awkward requests.''
Tyler thought for a moment, it would be weird if he took too long to answer but he also didn''t want a repeat of the situation. Still, there really was nothing to a kiss for him which was why he had done it but apparently, him initiating it instead meant a lot to the girls.
''Oh well.''
He didn''t think he would get away without doing this so it was best he didn''t show any weaknesses. Tyler sighed inwardly but smiled on the outside.
There wasn''t a man alive that would be able to resist such a request from God Tier beauties like Liz and Rain yet Tyler did feel a bit hesitant. There seem to still remain some unresolved issues inside him that were holding him back from indulging in his most primal desires. Hence why his libido was almostpletely, still non-existent.
ording to Uriel, this was a result of a mental block he had ced on himself willingly during his transformation into the demon race which had taken centuries toplete. As such, he could not simply remove it with skills as his resistance would work against him.
Feeling anxious after making her request, Liz was about to say something in an attempt to escape this awkward situation when her lips suddenly met with Tyler''s, her eyes widened and her heart almost seem to stop.
Neither of them seems to have expected Tyler to go through with their request but as he would be leaving for a while, Tyler felt as though he had no choice in the matter.
Besides, he was still a guy. And even with his libido being at an all-time low despite being amongst so many beauties. Still, that didn''t mean his desires werepletely suppressed.
After pulling away from the dumbfounded Liz with apletely flushed expression, Tyler gently caressed her cheeks before subtly patting her hair as he spoke.
"There. Do take care of yourself while I''m gone and try not to overwork yourself. Everyone needs to rest their minds daily so remember to stick to the schedule I gave you, alright?"
Hearing to lose words of genuine concern from Tyler was thest straw as steam practically erupted from Liz''s head as she immediately retreated under the covers inplete embarrassment.
Her head then slightly peeked from under the covers as an almost slilent whisper escaped her plumbed lips.
"Oh-okay."
Tyler couldn''t help but get captivated by how cute Liz was, hiding under the covers as he smiled inwardly as he watched her now being shy after acting so bold earlier.
With her bodypletely under the covers, Tyler finally found the chance to leave the room.
After saying his goodbyes to Liz, he quickly walked out of the room with Cora apanying him down to the castle''s stables where a Magic carriage pulled by the six-eyed bulls and being driven by Nadine was waiting for him.
Chapter 340 C340. Heading Out
After his conversation with Liz hade to an end, Tyler didn''t try to get her out of his bed as he simply left the room with Cora hurrying along behind him. Again she had wanted to open the door for him but his mind was already preupied with thoughts that he simply did it instinctively and walked out of the room which left a disappointed expression on her face but Tyler didn''t notice.
He then decided to teleport straight to the castle''s courtyard with Cora in order to avoid creating any unnecessary drama resulting from his departure.
He hopes to avoid most of his subordinates working in the castle by doing this. If he had chosen to walk down himself, then he was sure to be surrounded by a horde of his spoiled vassals who would''ve offered to take his ce as Lix so he could remain behind.
He was sure if they could all have their way, he would never leave this castle again, and as they waited on hand and foot. Hell, if that were to happen, he may end up bing azy bum falling into degeneracy as he indulges in his most depraved desires, an oue that was dangerous for him.
Although he knew his insecurities and fears were the reason he hadn''t been able to establish a more casual rtionship with his vassals, there wasn''t much he could do to change the past now so he simply needed to focus on the future.
He hope one day, he would have enough confidence in himself and trust his vassals more to establish a more wholesome rtionship with them where he could just rx and be himself.
With the hope that the moment he stopped acting like the Demon king, they would not be disappointed in him and turn against him. However, his originally human heart could not yet handle the thought of dining and rxing with demons no matter how strong he became. This was something he needed to work on slowly when things around him hadpletely calmed down.
With a thought, Tyler''s view changed instantly as he appeared at the entrance to his courtyard alongside Cora. He quickly scanned his surroundings with aid of his Magic sense and let out a breath of relief having confirmed his n had seeded.
"Something wrong Lord Ty?"
"No, no, it''s nothing. Please, don''t mind me, that was nothing more than a habit."
Dismissing Cora''s worry at his sudden pause and a deep sigh, Tyler continued walking towards the stables where Albert had prepared the carriage for his departure. Fortunately for him, the only ones he met along the way were the armed guards who had been trained excellently enough that they didn''t break character and stood at attention to the side.
He was impressed at how effective Albert''s training was and made a mental note to have him teach him more about swordsmanship and help him refine his techniques whenever he had Some time to spare.
Tyler responded to the guards'' greetings with a simple nod and continued on his way. It didn''t take him long to reach his destination where he saw a familiar in-looking Magic carriage strapped to a single Magic beast awaiting his arrival at the front of the stables.
There was a young beastgirl with thick and lustrous ck hair, styledzily in a singlerge braid and fell all the way to her back. She had a lightly tanned skin tone and herrge and fluffy dog tail, moved gently to the sides as she patted therge six-eyes bull on the head while humming a song Tyler obviously didn''t know.
Upon sensing someone approaching with her highly keen beast sense, she curiously turned her head to see who it was and her gently swaying tail immediately began to wag vigorously like an excited puppy.
"Lord Ty, you''re here already, sorry I wasn''t really expecting you this early but rest assured. I''vepleted the preparations."
Nadine spoke with a proud and confident expression on her face as she early awaited praises for her work. She said she hadn''t expected him yet she was somehow already done with all their preparations.
Tyler nodded his head thinking she had probably gotten an early start so as not to keep him waiting even though he hade straight here the moment he woke up.
"Good work. I''m d I can rely on you on this trip."
Hearing Tyler''s sincerepliments, a wide grin bloomed on Nadine''s face as she excitedly showed Tyler to the back of the Magic carriage.
Just like thest time, the back of the carriage had been loaded with all sorts of rare materials and consumables that were native to both the Darknar region and the Far East, in order to support Tyler''s im that he was from the Far East.
The reason for this was not only to justify his absence from Winged city for so long but also to earn some money for his region''s operation before Rain could finalize the trade talks with the other regions have taken most of their funds with her to aplish her personal missions which Tyler knew nothing about but trusted her not to waste it.
He also needed more money to purchase some Magic books from the Magic institute. He wanted to ce them in the main library of the castle for his vassals to learn from and improve as he couldn''t take any books from the Magic Library.
As Tyler inspected their cargo, he suddenly sensed a presence approaching him rapidly as it immediately lunged at him in a tackle the moment it got close enough.
However, Tyler simply took a step back as this figure flew past him and crashed into the ground with a loud bang.
Still, this figure immediately stood up and ran over to Tyler before Nadine and Cora could evenprehend what had just happened.
Unfortunately, Tyler didn''t have any of his shadow rogues with him at the moment otherwise they would''ve been able to intercept this troublesome person.
He had sent every single one of them out to serve as his personal eyes and ears so he would not experience the same thing he had thest time he left the castle for the Sentro region.
Most of his new shadows were currently in Paragon City keeping an eye on the spies there and the rest were in the Darknar forest as well as the Darkin mountain range.
Zelda had been sent after Rain and Nessi was escorting Z on his mission. The only one present in the castle was Maeve who was working with Erin in themand center.
"Hehe... that was really mean master. Moloc only wanted a hug. You didn''t have to dodge me like that, that hurts Moloc''s feelings..."
Tyler rolled his eyes at the curved-horned, red-skinned, and incredibly busty beauty before him as the image of Moloc''s original four-armed and chiseled figure appeared in his mind and the thought of hugging her made his skin crawl.
Moloc had moved closer to Tyler and was pushing her face closer to his while entuating herrge breast. Those subtle actions that were meant to seduce the opposite sex told Tyler that this was truly a devil.
There was a lot of meaning to every movement she made that one would think she was a subus instead.
Well, at the very least, she was a better subus that Kylyra-- one of the members of Unrivaled, the Hunter team he had met in winged City. It hadn''t even been a month since Moloc was given this body but apparently, she hadpletely integrated her soul into it and her mindset haspletely changed to be more feminine. Although devils weren''t gender-oriented, to begin with.
Staring at Moloc''s face for a moment, Tyler slowly pushed her face away from him as he sighed inwardly.
"I don''t have time for your games today. You shouldn''t be here anyway so why are you?"
With her face smushed back by his palm, Moloc helplessly frailed her arms around in protest as she attempted to speak but her words came out muffled.
"Don''t bee lek thawt Mastwa, how cowuld you just leave--"
"Don''t speak with my hand in your face dumbass."
With Moloc''s lips and tongue tickling his palm, Tyler pushed the iling girl back and immediately flicked her on the head.
*PA!!
"Ow!"
A loud dull sound echoed across the castle and a red bump appeared on her pretty face which surprisingly made Moloc crouch down in pain.
"Now then. What were you on about."
"Pew ow ow ow... that hurts master, why...?"
"If you have nothing to say, tell me why you''re here. I believe I ordered you to the Darknar forest with the Queen of the south for now, didn''t I?"
"Master did do that, yes. But Moloc had to rush back the moment she heard her master would be leaving for a long time. Why would master leave with his strongest servant, ie, me."
Halfway through her sentence, Moloc hurriedly stood back up havingpletely recovered from the pain and moved closer to Tyler once more. Her face almost touched his.
"Don''t get so close!" *Pa!
Another dull sound reverberated across the castle as Moloc was forced back down and Tyler addressed what she had said.
"So you abandoned your duty because of that."
"Nope! Moloc has fully trained her disciple thoroughly and he is now capable of handling the situation in the Darknar forest on his own, so Moloc came to make her report personally so she could see her dearest master."
Again, Moloc shot back up after Tyler flicked her on the head and enthusiastically moved closer to Tyler again, undiscouraged by anything thrown her way.
*Pa!
''Sigh... just dealing with her is exhausting.''
Tyler sighed andined inwardly as he flicked Moloc on her forehead again with a tired expression.
"If you''re done with your duty that''s fine then. You will be assigned somewhere else this time."
"Moloc would rather go with master on his journey lets--"
*Pa!
"Don''t get carried away."
"Ow... Master''s going to crack Moloc''s skull. Moloc might end up enjoying this. Hehehe."
''Great, now she''s bing a masochist.''
Rather than flick her on the head again, Tyler decided it best to ignore her as he moved towards the seat on the carriage alongside Nadine.
"Alright Cora, we''ll be off now."
"Yes my lord. I''ll inform lord Albert of your departure."
Hearing her master''s words, Cora''s expression changed slightly as she seemed to have been just as disappointed as Moloc was but a smile soon graced her face as she responded to his will with a bow.
"Wait master, please don''t leave me..."
Having forgotten to speak in the third person this time, Moloc attempted to plead with Tyler once more but to no avail.
"Cora, see to it that this one reports to Liz as well. Have her move the Darknar project to its next phase and elerate its progress."
"Understood."
"What!!! That''s so mean Master... I do kinda like it though but still... "
Despite Moloc''s position as one of his Six Great Generals, Tyler didn''t show any remorse for giving his maid authority over her for the moment as Nadine immediately drove the carriage towards the castle''s gate while Moloc frailed around in protest but was dragged away by the ear.
To think Cora would be so fearsome even in front of Devil Lord capable of destroying the world in her sleep. She must''ve been taking out her frustration on not being able to apany him on her.
The guards Manning the gates were the only ones to wave him fare ware on his trip as they seem rather disappointed they hadn''t been able to share breakfast with him as they hadn''t partaken in dinner with himst night.
His departure stirred up a lot of emotions in everyone who had been relying on him but Tyler didn''t n on handing this duty to anyone else as it was one of the only instances where he could act like a somewhat normal person without everyone fawning over him with unreasonable expectations.
Or at least, that was what he thought.
Chapter 341 C341. Becoming A Third Party
¡ªThe Sentro Region, Winged City.
Situated on the highest floor of the most luxurious building in the city besides the lord''s castle, the ckwing hotel. In one of the royal suites reserved for only the highest ranking members of the Zorak family.
A male figurey silently on therge and exquisite canopy bed ced on one end of the luxurious room, half of his body hidden underneath the thick and soft covers of the bed as he rested his back on his pillows that were pressed against the bed''s headrest while seated in a semi-upright position.
He had a sheet of coarser grey paper in his hand and wore magical reading sses. A neat stack of the same paper was ced on the coffee table next to his bed.
As he read through the information recorded in the paper, the lights in the room suddenly became saturated for a moment and in the next instance, a figure that surely wasn''t there before appeared in a kneeling posture by the open window.
"You should not be here."
Aur spoke in his usual curt tone without his eyes ever leaving the piece of paper he was reading, his expression as stoic as ever.
"Forgive me Lord Aur, but I have urgent news for you."
"Don''t call me Lord. I am no longer the lord of this city and merely andless noble."
The figure that knelt in the shadows was lithe and slender with ck watery hair that reached the lower parts of her back. She wore a skin-tight ck rogues outfit. Spotting a simr colored mask that covered the lower parts of her face and dark purple metal greaves that matched the same colored gloves with metal knuckles.
Her purple-colored pupils stared intently at Aur as she opened her mouth to respond to Aur''s words.
"Lord Aur is the true leader of the Ghost Legion, and as itsmander, I answer only to you. It matters not if you have been unjustly stripped of your title."
A bell-like voice reverberated beautifully across the room with a determination that could not be refuted or challenged.
Aur finally stopped reading the piece of paper before him as he took off the reading sses and turned his gaze to meet the girl''s eyes.
"Never mind that then, why are you here today."
The expression on the girl''s face instantly softened at Aur''s words. Seemingly relieved that he hadn''t chosen to send her away despite hering here unprompted.
"Right, we''ve confirmed the location of the VIP merchant you''ve been looking for."
"I see... And where is he?"
"On his way to the merchant guild. It seems he has just returned to the city. Judging by his wares, he must''ve taken a trip back to the Far East."
"Hmm... so that was it. It''s been almost a month since we sent the guilds to explore the Grade 3 mine in the Farbelt pass. It may already be toote."
"I understand your worries lord Aur but I believe there''s still a chance the top Hunters are still alive. Even faced against several superior foes, Hunters of that caliber are well equipped to survive no matter what."
"Hmm... you may be right. It will be impossible for us to mobilize a more capable unit to mine the Gold from that mine without seeking aid from the family or the other cities."
Saying that, Aur''s face slightly contorted into something of disgust and anger as the piece of paper in his hand was reduced to dust without even bursting into mes.
He then got off the bed in his natural bathing suit and walked over to the white robes he had left on the sofa next to his bed. He was about to pick it up himself when the lights saturated once more and Aika appeared behind him and took the robes.
Aur stared at her for a brief moment before simply turning his back to her allowing her to dress him.
Although he had lost his city, and even his personal Ghost legion to the third prince of the Zorak family, Nullen Marx Zorak. He had still retained his title as a Viscount. This means he was still someone of rtively high status inparison to the masses and other nobles.
He still owned several businesses across the city and would be given an estate to manage within the city so he was still entitled to his maids and was not someone that needed to dress himself.
However, Aur hadn''t brought any of his personal maids with him and asked that they would be sent over to his new estate whenever it was ready for him. He felt like he needed some time to himself for some self-evaluation and to ponder on how he had failed.
His schemes had been perfect so far and he was on a steady rise to the top of the family food chain even as someone who could not approach the level of a Demon Lord much less a demigod.
However, everything had gone to shits the moment that boy was sent over to him. Aur frowned as he thought about the prodigal son of one of thete family''s elders. If only he hadn''t presumed he had died after seeing the gaping hole in his chest through the memories of one of his ghosts, Amra.
"Even if I can''t regain control over my city again. There''s still a chance to continue my rise if I''m able to attain the Runites from the interior cavern inside that mine."
As Aika proceeded to tie his robes around his waist, Aur spoke those words to no one in particr before taking a moment to think, and as soon as Aika was done, he asked.
"What has lord Nullen been up to since he arrived?"
"The prince had immediately relieved me of my duties as the Ghost leader and appointed Cia as the new leader. However, everyone''s loyalty still lies with you, Lord Aur."
"I see. And what of his actions to rescue the Hunters and Merchants."
"As per the Grand Elder''s decree, lord Nullen has mobilized a small group of mages from the magic institute alongside his person aides for the mission but they had intentionally dyed their advance until the end of the week tomorrow to wait for the VIP merchant Lix, location to be found."
"I see... how unfortunate. Is Lord Nullen aware of this Lix of a fellow''s arrival?"
"Not yet. I intentionally dyed the report and immediately came here."
"That''s good."
Aur nodded his head in approval as he contemted his next move. He hadn''t yet reported the existence of the Runite found in the Gold mine to the family even though he had written about the possibility of a double mine in his report.
Even though he had been questioned thoroughly in hisst summon to ckwing City, he hadn''t revealed any details about the rare metal found in the second cavern.
Lucky for him, the mere mention of the possible appearance of a Devil had garnered their attention and redirected their line of questioning to the point that he didn''t even have to lie.
"Alright then. Aika, I need you to do me a favor."
"There is no need to ask so politely my Lord. I am still your servant and your wish is mymand."
Aur turns to stare at Aika''s lowered head for a while before nodding his head once more in approval.
"Excellent. Secretly make contact with the VIP merchant, Lix, and make him an offer to work with me. I''m sure someone like him wouldn''t take kindly to working for someone they haven''t met so try and be persuasive. You should keep my identity a secret for now. Report his response back to me before informing Lord Nullen of his arrival."
"Understood, I''ll get on that immediately."
"Make haste, I do not believe lord Nullen came here with his private legion but I may be wrong. It''s best you do not give him any cause for concern over his control of the Ghost Legion."
"I''ll keep that in mind."
As those words left Aika''s mouth, the lights in the room saturated once more and herst words echoed ethereally in the room as her figure was nowhere to be seen.
Anyone with extraordinary perception skills would notice that not only had her physical body disappeared, but every single trace of her existence hadpletely vanished as well.
Such a phenomenon was simply impossible to aplish even with the highest level of spatial teleportation as everyone leaves a faint trace of their existence wherever they went.
Such minute traces cannot be erased or hiddenpletely even by the most skilled rogue-type mage in the known universe. Even gods and celestial were not exempt from this rule as this was the foundation of divination itself.
Without such traces that were invisible to almost all living beings, the concept of divination itself would not work as there would be no information left in the world to trace. Unless one was equipped with a Ring of Nullity, a God ss artifact that was forged from the embodiment of Nothingness itself.
The conceptual entity is known only as the lord of nullity, the god of the infinite void, Novak.
Legends are, the only one being had been capable of attaining a bit of the essence necessary to forge such an item and live to actually create it was the original Demon king of Destruction himself.
Being the only being crazy enough to travel through dimensions to find the lord of nullity and steal a piece of his essence within being reduced to nothingness.
In the presence of Novak, even absolute destruction would be reduced to nothing as everything in this world and beyond was born from nothing and everything must return to nothing.
Although it was still unknown how the demon king had been able to survive an encounter with Novak. It was safe to assume he hadn''te face to face with the Lord of Nullity and had merely stolen a piece of his essence from a distance. However, this did not take anything away from the ridiculousness of this feat.
In all of creation, no one else had been crazy enough to attempt such a suicidal task as even gods would not challenge the lord of nothingness. Therefore, there was only one such artifact in existence.
Aur silently shook such an outrageous thought off his mind as he turned back around and headed straight for his indoor bathroom.
He knew Aika, while highly skilled beyond her level¡ª was incapable of attaining such an overpowered item, and even mimicking a tenth of its powers was undoable.
However, what she had just done was an Advance Tier skill thatbined light illusions and stealth with spatial movements to hide both the tear in space and any traces of her existence temporarily.
This was why the area saturates whenever the skill was used. Its effects were ridiculously effective for such a low-ranked skill and made them appear like ghosts to their opponents.
Hence why they were known as the Ghost Legion and their capabilities and effectiveness surpassed their tiers. Otherwise, there would be no reason why the family would even bother about the Legion under a low-ranked noble such as amon viscount as even the weakest legion under a prince like prince Nullen, wouldpletely outss the Ghost legion in every other category.
Yet the family had seen the great potential of the Ghost Legion''s unique abilities and their application in espionage. It was obvious they believe the Ghost Legion he developed from the ground up was being wasted on a low-ranked and low-tiered noble like him.
However, as they were his personal Legion not supported by the family, they were unable to take them away from him until now. If he was unalienable to redeem himself with the family, he was as sure the third price would soon send the Ghost Legion back to the capital to teach the families experts their unique skills before tossing them aside for their low magic potentials.
This was the reason the Legion was still loyal to Aur despite them already being assigned to the third Prince by the Grand Elder.
Chapter 342 C342. The Return Of Lix And Lilith.
After teleporting both himself, Nadine, and the carriage alongside the Six-eyed bull to the end of the Grayad ins, which borders the Vazel region. A small region once under the Darknar region''s territory but was usurped by the Sentro region to control the traffic in and out of the once forbidden Darknar region.
Tyler figured this was far enough to escape the secret monitoring gazes of the entire continent in order to prevent the association of the character known as Lix the mysterious merchant, with the mysterious Demon Lord of the new Darknar family.
Unlike thest time Tyler had done this, he was no longer restricted to teleporting only as far as his eyes could see. However, he did not dare appear inside the borders of another family''s region so suddenly. As the borders of each region were strictly monitored.
Left to him alone, he was confident he could escape any type of divination and detection skills and magic with the aid of his God Tier artifacts as he had conducted several experiments with Erin being unable to detect him.
However, with the addition of Nadine and Mike Jr. (The six-eyed bull now serving as their mount in ce of thete Mike Sr. that met a tragic end in the mouth of the wounded ColdFire Drake now known as Drago.) currently traveling with him, he wasn''t a hundred percent confident in concealing their presence and auras the moment after teleportation.
Erasing the traces left behind by the distortion in space after teleportation was already an impossible task for anyone else if it wasn''t for his skill, Spatial Domination.
However, even with theplete dominion over space, achieving the same result whole teleporting with others was currently still too difficult for him as finding that instant to conceal their existence was impossible for a human mind to process at once.
[Notice: There''s no need for Master to concern himself with such trivial things as all traces of Master and hispanions will always be concealed by Uriel.]
''...Huh!?''
Tyler waspletely at a loss for words, after spending so long contemting how to handle the situation and spending so long performing experiments to improve his stealth skills, turns out it had all been a wasted effort.
[Master''s ability to learn and improve is a valuable asset to Master''s growth and provides the Master with a sense of satisfaction and gratification while helping ground your thought process to consider each situation from multiple perspectives. As your most loyal servant and tool, it is not my duty to rece those aspects of the master and only serve to assist and safeguard.]
Tyler sighed tiredly at that exnation, he hadn''t expected Uriel to sound so protective and inspiring.
"Something wrong, Lord Ty?"
Hearing his tired sigh, naturally, Nadine turned a concerned expression at Tyler and he had no choice but to wave the matter aside for now and return her worried expression with a smile. Even Mike Jr. appeared to have sensed his worries and turned to grunt at him.
Tyler chuckled softly and reassured the both of them.
"Everything''s fine. Now then, let''s head out shall we."
Nadine smiled innocently and nodded and Mike Jr widens his stance slightly, lowered his head, and in the next moment, he pawed the snow and activated his fiery aura as he charged through the thick snow field easily until they reached the main roads.
Mike Jr casually pulled the heavy carriage through the unpaved roads towards the Vazel region borders. Unlike thest time, the roads were no longer covered in dirt and snow as they had been cleared out by the workers of Paragon city along with the help of some low-level undead creatures.
Of course, these roads were yet to be paved as they were still short on manpower. However, this alone made their trip a lot more pleasant thanst time.
Although, unlike thest time, the monsters patrolling the outskirts of the Darknar region were a lot more numerous than before and they had encountered more than three times the monsters than they had done before.
This was because, most of the monsters that had fled from the Darknar forest due to the smog of negative energy being emitted by the massive undead army, were yet to be returned to their natural habitats and were out here scavenging for food.
Still, even with their increased numbers and strength, Tyler had less trouble dealing with them now thanst time. He simply teleported them back to their homes in the darknar forest before they could even get close to the carriage.
Mike Jr didn''t even have to slow down for a moment. Tyler also didn''t make any mistake in sending them back to where they were from as he had Uriel who had ess to all the information known in this world.
He was even slightly d there was a lot of hidden information in this world else he might feel inferior to an A.I. Well, Uriel seems to be capable of managing that delicate bnce on her own.
After what felt like hours of riding across the Sentro region even though it had only taken them like 45 mins thanks to the little obstructions in the road, they finally arrived at the main gates of Winged City.
Unlike how it was in the mornings, the gate was actually not that crowded but still, there was a decent line of people and carriages and they would have to wait for a while if they didn''t have V.I.P merchant licenses each.
Without even sparing a nce at the irritated masses in line, Nadine nonchntly controlled the carriage around the line and headed straight for the guards checking and processing the information of those entering the city.
However, contrary to Tyler''s expectations of scorned and hateful looks being directed at them, those irritated and tired workers and Hunter immediately recognized their carriage and broke out into amotion.
The guard wondering what was causing all this ruckus raised her head from the document she was inspecting and was prepared to yell out the words, "Quiet down!'' to silence the noise when her eyes suddenly widened by the massive six-eyed bull in front of her.
The massive Magic beast then came to a stop mere inches from her face as she couldn''t maintain her bnce and fell on her metal-ted butt with the sound of a metal ng.
"Pardon me, do you mind letting us pass first, it''s a tad urgent."
The female guard blinked several times and almost couldn''tprehend the words that hade out of the mouth of a fucking bull that she just sat there with a dumb look on her face.
"Excuse me, are you alright?"
For an instance, the mouth of the bull matched the words spoken and she had no choice but to doubt her sanity. A freaking bull was speaking to her in such a gentlemanly manner.
"What the hell is going on out here? Riva, what in the lord''s name are you doing on the ground?"
Having overheard themotion outside and noticing it hadn''t died down after a while, arge plump demon came out of the guard''s post in a rage only to find his Lieutenant on the ground staring at a bull as if she had just met a god.
"T-th-the b-bu-bull! It-it spoke!"
"Have you gone mad?"
In an instant, the rage in the man''s voice hadpletely disappeared as it was reced with a confused and inquisitive tone instead. His eyes then slowly traced the girl''s wobbling arms as they pointed at the bull.
However, unlike her, he had a better view of the situation from where he was standing thus, he traced the Harness back to the carriage and on the driver''s seat where two figures were sittedand staring back at him with a perplexed look on, the girl''s face as her partner''s face was hidden under the shadow of his hood.
Startled by what he saw for a moment, the Captain almost ended up in the same state as his Lieutenant for a moment only to quickly snap out of it.
"This carriage, that Magic beast, and a cloaked figure apanied by a cute beastgirl. There''s no mistaking it, you must be Mr. Lix and Miss. Lilith. Please, pardon my lieutenant, she was only just transferred here. I''ll handle your inspection personally so please forgive her. You can just show me your merchant license and you may enter the city."
Hearing those namese out of the Guard captain''s mouth himself, themotion immediately intensified as everyone discussed the pair and their supposed feats of defeating the vice-captain of the Magic guild.
After hearing the voice of her captain and the topic of discussion between the workers and Hunters, Riva finally calmed down a bit in her momentarily daze to think rationally as she finally looked up beyond the head of the bull to see two figures as they stared back at her.
"So it wasn''t a talking bull."
You idiot! Get off your ass and do your job!"
"Right!"
"Hearing her captain''s anger once again being directed at her, Riva show up to her feet as she ran over to attend to the others on line while asionally looking back at the pair seated at the driver''s seat of the carriage.
She had only just recently been promoted and transferred from a smaller city to Winged city where she hoped to make a name for herself and slowly climb up thedder of the military.
Yet, on her very first day in her new post which she had thought to be too mundane for someone of her rank, she had instead made such an embarrassing blunder and may have even angered what looked to be an important figure in the city.
Her face waspletely red so she felt lucky she hadn''t decided to take off her helmet thanks to the cold. If this had happened in the summertime, she didn''t think her nerve would be able to handle the looks everyone was currently giving her.
''Crap Crap Crap... why did I have to be so distracted today. What a mess.''
Lowering her head as she continued her work amid the chaos, the Magic carriage that was being pulled by a six-eyed bull was permitted to enter the city after only a quick inspection of the pair''s merchant license.
This was something only nobles were capable of yet she hadn''t noticed a family''s crest on the Magic carriage. It was a in-looking carriage that seems as though it was mainly designed for the use of transporting cargo and there was no way a noble would ride on something so in.
''They must''ve been really important o guess. Crap, what the hell should I do now. This is not good for my career.''
Riva thought as she subconsciously made herself look small as she felt the piercing gaze of her captain ring at her from his office door before angrily walking back in.
Themotion outside the main gate hadn''t died down even after the pair had long entered the city. The more new visitors came the more the story which now included her spread like wildfire.
Riva couldn''t help but feel the looming feeling of despair as she could tell that there was no way that story would not get exaggerated the more it was told.
''Oh well, to think my career ended way before it even started.''
Taking a deep breath after resigning herself to reality, Riva grew tired of the noise and with an aura that surpassed the norm, she immediately silenced the crowd.
"ENOUGH!!!"
It was already bad enough that this would probably cost her, her job so she wasn''t going to allow them to simply just say whatever they felt like.
The crowd fell into deep thoughts and no soul could even find the courage to muster up another word. Even though there were those just as strong as¨C if not even stronger than her within the crowd.
Faced with an intense gaze, not even the most experienced Hunter in the line could bring themselves to defy hermand.
However, at the end of the line, two cloaked female figures chuckled softly as they whispered to each other as though finishing each other''s thought process.
"How amusing that girl is..."
"I think she almost peed her pants..."
"Well we can''t me her,I hadn''t expected to see him here..."
"I couldn''t even sense his presence from this distance..."
" That must be why he is such a mystery..."
"This was just a simple trade mission but things seem to have gotten more exciting don''t you think Sigrid! "
" Indeed, Sigrun. If only we could stay in this city for more than a day..."
"Unfortunately, our devilish leader will surely murder us for that. What a beast."
" Indeed... Still, I hope we can meet him again soon. Fufufu..."
After quietly exchanging those words with each other, the two female figures gently giggled to themselves as they slowly approached Riva at the end of the line. Their aim, like everyone there, gain entrance to Winged City.
Chapter 343 C343. Changes In The City
Having been distracted for only a moment by something he had seen amid the crowd, Tyler failed to stop Nadine on time as she practically almost ran over one of the guards on duty at the main entrance of Winged city.
Tyler wasn''t sure if she was simply trying to freak out the guard for kicks or perhaps she had simply expected her to get out of the way for some reason. As though she couldn''t fathom why they would have the audacity to stand in their carriageway.
Almostpletely forgetting that they were currently in disguise and there shouldn''t be a reason for anyone to show them any respect just because they were VIP merchants.
While he hadn''t found the time to educate her on these aspects earlier he had made it a point to caution her on their short trip here. However, it didn''t seem as though she hadpletely understood what he had said but at the very least, she had taken his words seriously.
Luckily for them, she had managed to realize her mistake on time and the carriage came to an abrupt halt only inches away from the inspecting guard who then stumbled backward obviously in shock.
At the very least, she didn''tsh out at the guard as she tried her best not to cause any trouble for their alternate identities.
Although Tyler felt bad for the guard who had almost been trampled to death. He didn''t think he had the luxury of a lengthy apology as he simply got straight to the point while trying not to seem rude or pretentious.
"Pardon me, do you mind letting us pass first, it''s a tad urgent."
Of course, he didn''t exactly have anything that urgent he needed to do within the city but he didn''t have any intentions of waiting in line and wasting the privileges granted to them by their VIP status.
The female guard blinked several times as though she couldn''tprehend the words that hade out of his mouth. However, Tyler quickly realize that she wasn''t even staring at them.
Rather, her expression what that of someone who couldn''t believe her eyes. As though his words hade out of the six-eyed bull''s mouth. ''No, no no no... no one''s that dumb, are they?''
While this was in fact a fantasy world where it wouldn''t be strange to find an actual talking bull. Such a thing was still incredibly rare, especially in the eyes of themon folks. Then again, perhaps this guard was not as simple as he thought.
"Excuse me, are you alright?"
Still, Tyler found it strange for someone living in the demon continent to be so freaked out by a mere bull even if it could talk. And as though to confirm his thoughts, the captain of the guard came out of his office in a rage, prompting the girl to make quite an embarrassing disy.
Tyler found her to be quite amusing but that was all. He then presented his merchant license to the captain and they were immediately allowed into the city.
Their carriage gently galloped into the city and to Tyler''s surprise. The city had changed quite a bit since thest time he was here only about a month ago.
For instance, there was a lot more traffic in the streets with luxurious and fancy carriages being pulled by exotic beasts and fancy horses. It was to the point that almost nobody had even recognized them.
While theirs was indeed a magic carriage of high quality, it was very in in design inparison to the other more fancy designs of the other ones that passed them by along the way.
Tyler felt a bit underwhelmed by theck of a reaction inparison to what had happened in the main gate but this was actually a relief. He couldn''t help but feel like he had inspired this change for some reason.
However, the one most affected by this new reality was Nadine who was seated right next to him, her facepletely pale. It seems she had expected the same reaction she had gotten on their first visit which was quite a shock for her.
Even though she was still attracting the gazes of all those who looked at her. The only problem was it was no longer on a grander scale as their carriage no longer drew everyone''s attention at first nce which apparently barthered her a lot.
There were still those that recognized them just as the Hunters at the entrance, Tyler even got himself some fan girls which was a surprise.
While the scornful gaze he got from the men jealous of him being next to Nadine was annoying. He truly appreciated theck of attention which allowed him to feel morefortable as Lix than as Ty.
If for some reason the character Lix was bing popr, it would just end up bing a nuisance.
Luckily, there were only a handful of thesedies who may or may not be psychos.
As Tyler observed the subtle changes in the city, they quickly arrived at the merchant guild on central avenue. Unlikest time, it was still early in the evening so the ce was quite busy with merchants and Hunters alike.
Although for some reason, Tyler couldn''t sense the energy of the strongest Hunters in the city. He hadn''t particrly done any research on them but had simply felt their presence thest time he was in the city.
There were always at least two of them at a given time yet now there were none. He usually limited his perception range to around him and left Uriel in charge of the rest as that much information would constantly distract him.
However, Tyler decided to actively expand his range to span across the entire city in hopes of locating a single high-rank Hunter yet nothing.
''That''s weird. Are they all out on missions?''
Tyler expected the city to assign only the strongest Hunters on the mission to the Farbelt pass based on the existence of a supposed Green eyed devil but it''s been more than 3 weeks since then.
He had already visited the Farbelt pass and eliminated the city''s knights while capturing their miners but that was all. His goal was to make the mission aplete failure so the city would seek out his help but he had no intentions of eliminating the Hunters as well.
For one, he hadn''t expected the city to send every single high-ranked Hunter for that quest, and even then, the monster he summoned to rece Zelda as the green-eyed devil shouldn''t be capable of eliminating that many Hunter who specializes in ying stronger monsters than them.
The best case scenario at the time was the creature cutting the Hunters'' numbers in half before being eliminated then the survivors would require his service as a merchant given that he had also taken care of the merchants alongside the city''s knights.
Thus oue didn''t provide the best rewards but it was the easiest to manage and would also help him increase his rank in the magicians guild so he could ess their libraries and research halls.
Worst case scenario his summoned monster eliminates 2/3 of the Hunters causing them to seek his help as a magician which provided the most gain to his magician''s status as the prospect of eliminating a devil was something that wouldn''t be taken lightly.
However, not only was there not a Devil in the cavern, even the creature he summoned to act like a Devil would''ve already disappeared after only a week in the physical ne, causing that mission to have already ended long ago.
Hence why he was expecting to sense the presence of a high-ranked Hunter in the city as he hadn''t thought the city would send all their High rankers to a single mission and he also wanted to confirm the state of his ns.
Tyler didn''t consider himself a genius which was why he always tried to think of as many possible oues when making ns and decisions so as to prevent the possibility of screwing up as much as possible.
While he could always rely on Uriel if things ever gets out of hand he didn''t want to be solely dependent on her for everything amd it didn''t seem as though she wanted that for him as well.
However, Tyler had to admit that his processing speed and calcting prowess has improved since he gained the A I so there was a part of him that expected the city to send all their Hunters but in order to proceed with his ns, he still needed to gather some more information on the matter.
Naturally, as his mind followed this logical train of thought, he began to consider the various reasons why there were no high-ranked Hunters in the city besides the Farbelt Pass possibility.
There was a chance they had already been mobilized by the Zorak family against the Darknar region and a slim chance it was just a freaky coincidence that had nothing to do with him. Still, the former seemed more likely given the information he had now.
''If that''s the case then they''re moving faster than expected. I''ll have to have Liz keep an eye out.''
As Tyler''s thoughts wonder about, the carriage hade to a stop in front of the merchant guild, where a worker there came to view their license.
As the guild was busy, they would normally have to wait their turn to be attended to but upon inspection of their VIP license, the guild employee quickly ushered them through the back entrance.
Once again, they were taken to one of the VIP meeting rooms on the guild''s second-highest floor. An assortment of desserts, snacks, and drinks was prepared for them and Nadine couldn''t help but stuff her face again.
''For someone so tiny, she sure eats a lot. Then again these are just sweets.''
Tyler thought such as he silently waited for the Merchant guild leader after his goods were inspected and appraised. However, in less than 10 minutes, the doors to the VIP room were swung open.
Shifting his attention to the door, he was surprised that the one who had entered the room was not the Guild leader but his representative.
A slender female figure, wearing a skin-tight ck and white striped business suit with quite a short skirt of a simr design, which wasplemented by long ck stockings that covered the entirety of her long legs and thighs.
She had a fair and rich skin tone, her glistening ck pupilsplimenting her shoulder-length ck curly hair.She had narrow eyes that were sharp but not piercing.
They were the eyes of a professional, a high-ss businessdy, one that Tyler could clearly remember seeing in certain magazines back on earth.
Upon her abrupt entrance to the room, his mind quickly shed back to the first time he met thisdy and he remembered she was the Vice guild leader of the Merchant Guild, Xelen Cornal.
"Wee back Mr. Lix, my apologies if our employees caused you any difort."
She spoke in a courteous and business-like tone as she approached the sofa facing the pair of familiar faces and sat down. Unlike thest time they had met her, she hadn''te in alone this time.
A young man d in a purplish ck robe walked in only a step behind her and took a seat next to her after offering them only a polite bow.
He hadn''t bothered to introduce himself and it didn''t seem like Xelen was nning on doing so either. If anything, her eyes felt as though they were pleading for them not to inquire any further into this strange young demon that had just barged into their private meeting.
Tyler¡ª or rather, Lix shifted his gaze from Xelen to the strange man as he observed him for a moment. His attention then seamlessly shifted back to Xelen as though dismissing the presence of the man.
"There''s no need for apologies. Everything went as fine as I would hope. Now then, let''s get straight to business."
Noticing how Lix hadn''t bothered inquiring about the young man beside her. Xelen felt relieved as she epted Lix''s request and brought out a tally of the items that had been inspected in his carriage.
Chapter 344 C344. Checking In
After a round of negotiations, the meeting between Lix and Xelen, the vice guild leader of the Merchant guild, came to an end with the items brought by Lix and Lilith earning them more than 41,000 DCs not including the Merchant Guild''smission.
That was almost twice the amount they had earned the first time they had visited this ce but inparison to theirst transaction of over 2 tones of Gold, worth more than a million DCs, this could be considered to be quite a meager transaction.
However, aside from the Merchant Guild''s affiliatepanies, no single merchant team was capable of matching a 40,000 DC trade in a single transaction. Even the other VIP merchants were unable to top this.
"That will conclude today''s business. The guild will be transferring the necessary payment to your ount. Is that eptable?"
"That''s fine."
"Understood. On behalf of Winged city''s Merchant guild, I''ll like to thank you again for doing business with us."
Throughout their entire discussion, the only person that had engaged in a conversation with them was Xelen. The strange man that had entered the room with her had not spoken a single word since he''s been there.
Only silently watching and observing the trade between both parties. It was as though he was ying the role of a silent mediator between both parties.
However, Lix was yet to pay him any attention as his presence itself waspletely dismissed.
"Then if that''s all, we''ll be taking our leave. Do give our regards to the Guild leader."
"Of course. I''ll be sure to convey your message."
With that, both Lix and Lilith stood up simultaneously as Xelen hurriedly tried to match their pace. After exchanging brief exchange of goodbyes, they left the room.
Being a courteous host, Xelen escorted them to the door before returning to the office where the young man remained sitted with his legs crossed. He had a more rxed demeanor now than he did before.
Frankly, he had seemed so tense that Xelen had been panicking the entire time she was discussing with Lix. It seemed as though he would attack at any moment yet Lix hadn''t paid any attention to him in the slightest.
"So that''s the infamous VIP merchants, Lix and Lilith. I have to admit, I''m quite impressed."
"Is that your honest opinion?"
"Why would I lie? Those two were not only skilled at negotiating deals but they clearly possess strength beyond the norm. Enough topletely disregard the amount of pressure I was putting on them."
"I would''ve appreciated it if you didn''t actively try to antagonize our guild''s most important merchant. The Guild Leader will not be pleased."
"Oh rx. I was holding back my aura quite a lot. Anyone that couldn''t even resist that clearly doesn''t belong on my lord''s side."
"That¡ª that has nothing to do with our Guild''s interest. The merchant Guild is an independent organization. We only agreed to this for the sake of our missing workers."
"Are you challenging the authority of Lord Nullendy?"
At this point, the air in the room stiffened up as a beast-like aura exploded from the young man and engulfed the room. The guards standing by the doors were immediately rendered useless as their entire bodies froze in fear.
His was a terrifying aura that none of them had felt before. An aura that even surpasses the strength of the previous lord of this city.
This was the power of a being akin to a demon lord of the highest level and he wasn''t even being serious up yet.
However, Xelen remained calm even in such a dangerous atmosphere as she adjusted her posture and sent a hostile questioning look straight at the ring young man.
"Mr. Fox, are you by chance trying to make an enemy of the Merchant Association?"
Even while chosing her words carefully, her demeanor showed no signs of fear and even though she wasn''t strong enough topletely resist such an aura. She was a professional and one with decades of experience dealing with short-tempered customers more dangerous than this.
So naturally, such idle threats were useless against her. Or more importantly, agaist the independent juggernaut that was the Merchant Association.
"Kfufufufu... no no no, there''s no need to go that far. I was only kidding."
The young man¡ª Ral Fox, chuckled to himself as he watched everyone''s reaction to his antics. He then stopped abruptly and stood up.
"Miss Xelen, your cooperation with my master''s sudden request is most appreciated and the Merchant Guild will be free to continue its operations with the city as it always had. I shall now take my leave, do give my regards to the Guild Leader as well."
Without even waiting for a response from Xelen and the others, he quickly donned a hooded cloak and left the room the same way he came.
Xelen could only frown as she watched him leave without saying another word. She didn''t appreciate his attitude towards the Merchant guild and even worse. She was angry at the fact that they had been given no choice but to allow him to sit in on her meeting with their most valuable merchant by far.
However, the sudden change in the Lord of this city had caused a ripple effect that none of them could have possibly predicted. Thatbined with the fact that most of their most skilled workers had gone on a mission to the Farbelt pass and were yet to return had put them in a terrible situation where they could notpletely withstand the pressure from the new Lord''s regime.
The city''s new lord, prince Nullen was also a brilliant individual. He knew the Merchant Guild was not as unified as the Hunter Guild and also did not have the battle prowess to resist him without the aid of the Hunter Guild.
However, both the Hunter Guild and Merchant Guild are currently handicapped due to theck of their strongest members. Nullen had used the opportunity to push for more control over both organizations, especially the Merchant Guild which was more vulnerable due to theirck of a unified front.
They had been forced topromise their autonomy into making a deal with him. Even though they knew he didn''t really have any interest in controlling a single merchant guild and risking angering the entire Merchant Association.
''Sigh... Guild Leader. You had better be right about this.''
Feeling a sudden wave of exhaustion wash over her, Xelen copsed on the sofa as though resigning her worries, leaving the rest to her Guild master.
??????????????????
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After leaving the premises of the Merchant guild building. Tyler and Nadine headed straight for the Royal borough. With the rapid changes that had urred in the city in their absence, they no longer needed to take any public transportation just to maintain a low profile.
With the countless fancy carriages moving about in the city, theirs was now even considered in inparison, and aside from the asional nces in Nadine''s direction, no one was really paying any attention to them.
With their new found freedom to move, they headed straight for the most expensive hotel in the city, the ckwing hotel.
This wasn''t because Tyler was pressured into it by his subordinate''s perception of him, no. Rather, this was simply to satisfy his curiosity about what a 7-Star hotel was like.
He was also into the idea for research purposes of building one such hotel in his city. After all, if he never experiences what a hotel like that was like, how would he hope to create one better than it?
As usual, the trip took them around an hour toplete and they soon came upon the tallest building in the entire city.
The massive structure imposed its will upon the other buildings in the area. A ce surrounded by luxurious buildings and mansions, all of which paled inparison to this structure.
The only other building that could match its glory in the entire city was most likely only the city''s lord castle and the Magic institute.
Upon arriving in front of the hotel, they had their carriage valet by the hotel''s employees and they were shown to the massive reception hall.
Tyler couldn''t help but be impressed by the interior design of the building, frankly, he hadn''t expected something that would not only match the pictures he had seen back on earth but even surpass them.
Of course, with Nadine beside him, he couldn''t afford to embarrass himself by gawking at the rather modern design of the hotel.
''I think I can do better.''
Taking the impressive hall as a challenge, Tyler proceeded down the hall and approached the receptionist stationed at the end of the hall. To his surprise, the receptionist here was of the dark elf species.
From the little he knew about the race, he hadn''t expected to meet his third dark elf in such a ce. It seems the Great Five were using them for more than just assassinations.
Their appearance were usually pleasing to the eyes so he supposed using them for a job like this should''ve been a given.
"Excuse me. I would like a room please."
Raising her head from the Magic device on her desk, the dark elf receptionist took a nce at the hooded man before her and then shifted her gaze to the cute beastgirl beside him.
"Wee to Wingcity''s ckwing hotel. Would you like to check into a room? We have a vast variety to choose from."
"Can I get a list of your avable rooms?"
"Of course."
While the girl speaking to them wasn''t being rude and rather professional. Tyler could tell that she was showing some reservations about attending to them. Perhaps because she felt they were not qualified to stay in this hotel simply because Nadine was a beastkin.
However, she had no choice but to do her job unless she felt they were being a nuisance to the other guests.
After going through the list presented before him and noticing that the cheapest rooms here were equivalent to a Deluxe Room, he understand why this ce was practically empty.
They were literally driving awaymoners with their outrageous prices while pretending to be all-inclusive.
Tyler silently shook his head as choose to stay in a Royal suite. The dark elf seem to be rather skeptical at first but she immediately lightened up when he presented her with his ck card.
Due to the nature of hisst transaction with the Merchant guild, they had used most of their influence within the city to prepare Tyler, a ck Card. One is generally reserved for only the elites of the elites.
Her expression had suddenly be livelier and more weing as she smiled and changed her tone.
"Lord Lix, please pardon my earlier rudeness. How may I be of service to you?"
Chapter 345 C345. Intruder
To be honest, Tyler wasn''t expecting to experience social discrimination based on his appearance alone. Even though his outfit was quite simple, it was still something that could easily be considered stylish and quite fashionable.
Not to mention, ridiculously expensive thanks to the many enhancements from Ragdek and the other dwarves. At this point, every single one of his attire was basically a national treasure with arge number of magic runes and enhancements used on them.
While he was dressed simrly to thest time he was here, his outfit this time was leagues apart from the first in terms of quality.
He wore an intricate designed dark red hooded coat, whose edges were masterfully designed with white threads that engraved intermediate runes along the edge. Toplement the coat was a ck buttoned shirt and ck pants.
A red and white half bootced with high-grade Duranium and enchanted with Magic capped off the outfit. The long coat was also equipped with exquisite leather vambraces and his hands were protected with ominous ck gloves that gave off an indescribable feeling as though they would swallow the world whole into the endless abyss.
Nadine''s outfit was also on par with his as her dark brown cloak was made of the hides of Wyverns, and anyone with keen eyesight could easily distinguish the vast disparity between hers and a normal cloak.
The armor she wore underneath, while lightweight and revealing, was nothing to scoff at. They had specifically upgraded their gears after thest transaction with the Merchant Guild.
The reason for such unnecessary spending (ording to Tyler) had nothing to do with his image as the Demon Lord of the Darknar region. Rather, his reputation as a VIP merchant.
As it turns out, Tyler''s persona as the VIP merchant known as Lix, was more important than he had originally intended as it did more than provide them with the necessary resources their family needed to survive until theypleted a trade route deal with other regions.
ording to Z''s understanding of his non-existent ns, Lix would one day serve a very important role in the survival of the Darknar family so all he needed to do right now was established a favorable reputation amongst the high-ss faction of the demon continent.
To be honest, if it wasn''t for the wisdom of Uriel, Tyler wouldn''t have been able toprehend what Z had been hinting at and would be at aplete loss on what to do.
''Sigh...''
Putting those issues aside for a moment, Lix ignored the female receptionist''s abrupt change of attitude towards them as she hurriedly sent for another one of the hotel''s employees that escorted them to their room.
Although Tyler already felt irritated by the high and mighty attitude of a noble-run facility, he still couldn''t help but be impressed with the suite he was given.
This was the first time he was in somethingparable to a Presidential suite back on earth so he could barely contain his expression from being stunned. The room was a whole apartment with an incredible view of the city, several baths, bedrooms, and a kitchen.
There was somethingparable to a jacuzzi, as well as a physical training facility and a potential reading orb to the side.
Of course, the only reason this room wasrger than the Demon''s king''s chambers was that it had been built to be a suite and not a single room or chamber. It contained a living room, three bedrooms, a kitchen, three bathrooms, and the said training room, all interconnected together.
Still, with all its extravagance and decor, the ce still paled ifpared to the almostpletely emptied-out Demon king''s chambers even though the stolen decor was slowly being restored.
Having checked into his room, Lix gave the hotel employee a rather generous tip as a gentleman and immediately asked him to leave. He wasn''t in a hurry to enjoy his time here but he didn''t see the point of wasting any more time pretending not to have noticed.
Using Uriel''s algorithm to encrypt a simple thoughtmunication spell, he conveyed his instructions to Nadine and she subtlely nodded.
Tyler then walked over to one of the luxurious sofas in the living room and took a seat, a momentter, Nadinepletely disappeared from sight and in another corner of the room, a loud impact was heard.
*nk!
The resounding sound of metal striking metal with enough force causes the hand holding the metal on the receiving end to grow numb and vibrate.
Nadine had suddenly appeared on the other side of the room with her Bo-Staff drawn and a cheeky smile on her face. A few meters in front of her, the lights in a concentrated area suddenly but slowly saturated as a slender figure d in all ck appeared there in a defensive stance.
Her brows creased with tension as she red daggers at the cheeky Nadine which only made her smirk mockingly back at her. A hint of surpriseced those intense res.
''I think Nadine may have been taking too many lessons from Rain.''
The glistening purple eyes of the figure narrowed at the smiling Lilith before shifting to the apparently surprised Lix as she slowly corrected the gap in her stance after being knocked out of her ''Ghost'' state by the beastgirl before her.
Her skill, ?Phantom Incarnate? was a unique skill created by Aika herself and partially taught to the rest of the Ghost Legion. To those that had learned the iplete version from her, the skill could be ssified as a Normal Tier skill but to her, it could even surpass an Advance Tier skill.
So, for someone to see true it so easily, she had really underestimated the beast girl''s capabilities. Seeing as the male demon looked surprised, Aika felt the only one capable of bypassing her most valuable stealth skill was the incredibly agile beastkin.
With that, the parameters of her mission had immediately shifted as she could not permit the existence of someone that could so easily defy the essence of her Legion while not being a demigod.
It was a shame because she hadn''te here to fight and would be ignoring her true master''s intentions in doing this. However, now that the male demon wasn''t making a move, it was the perfect and most likely the only opportunity she would have to rid herself of her biggest threat even if that would cost her the chance of any negotiations.
Grumbling to herself internally after being forced to make such a drastic decision, Aika adjusted her posture and was about to speak inpromise when the girl in front of her suddenly disappeared once more.
''Shit.''
In only the split second she had hesitated in her attempt to speak, the beastgirl had taken advantage of that to close the distance between them, instantly appearing to her left already swinging her staff diagonally towards her neck as she swirled around in mid-air.
In such an awkward angle and with so little time to react, she couldn''t equip any weapons to defend herself much less move her body out of the way. Even casting a spell would take a second, and that was one second too long to do anything.
However ¡ª
*ng!
With the resounding sound of metal striking metal, Aika was forced back yet again, however, Lilith''s weapon had failed to make any contact with her.
Seeing this, Lilith narrowed her eyes andpletely forgo her defenses as she kicked off the floor and charged at the Ghost girl.
A barrage of attacks assaulted Aika but her strikes hadpletely failed to reach her person, yet the air was filled with the reverberating sounds of metals colliding at high speeds. To the point at which sparks were all that could be seen by the naked eye.
At the same time, Lilith''s beastman senses warned her of danger from all around her even though there was nothing there and she was the only one on the offense. Yet, she choose to rely on her senses as her body instinctively and nimbly avoided a torrent of invisible attacks that seem toe out of nowhere and from every direction.
However, despite their speed and sudden nature, Lilith managed to stay a step ahead as she narrowly avoided almost all of the attacks with only one of them managing to nick her cheek, barely drawing a drip of blood.
"Tck... invisible threads Huh? Well, I guess they''re not actually invisible."
Finally catching a glimpse of the incredibly sharp metal threads that had beenced with a stealth skill to make it almost impossible to see, Nadine''s smile widened as she folded back her Bo-staff and returned it to the strap on her waist before proceeding to wipe the aloof look off her face.
Her eyes suddenly began to glow Golden-yellow as her hair suddenly grew longer and thick and shiny furs grew on her lower legs and forearms.
Razor-sharp ws protruded from her fingers, dyed in a dangerous hue as her aura suddenly began to skyrocket.
?Full Transformation?
"I nned on going easy on you but It''d be easier just to tear those things apart. Don''t me me if you''re dismembered along the way."
In an instant, the situation seem to get even more dangerous for Aika as she had a bad feeling that those ws may actually be sharp enough to tear through her almost unbearable metal strings.
With that, this young girl became an even bigger threat to the Ghost Legion yet her ns to eliminate her had instantly be an almost impossible task.
Noticing how she hadn''t even been given the time to exin herself the first time, Aika promptly decided to make a hasty retreat and think of another way to approach this pair. If she was already having trouble with one of them, she didn''t want to find out what the both of them working together would look like.
In the next moment, as Nadine was about to make her move, the lights in the room suddenly began to saturate as her figure slowly began to disappear.
However, as though throwing a ss at a brick wall, Aika''s skill suddenly shattered like ss as her figure was forcibly revealed once more.
Her eyes widened but before she could evenprehend what had happened, Nadine was already in the air in front of her, her hands wide open as her ws shed with a red hue, before crashing down on her.
?Thread Cage?
Instinctively, Aika subconsciously weaved a thick cage of solid metal threads around her and continuously infused them with her energy, constantly augmenting the metal''s durability and at this point, each string in the cage was harder than diamonds.
However, like a hot knife through butter, Nadine''s ws easily cleaved through the thick metal cage as they continued on their trajectory toward her neck.
With her greatest defensepletely useless, and her mind too overwhelmed to even think properly, Aika was unable to activate even her most useful life-saving skill and could only just dumbly ept her imminent doom.
*p!
"That''s enough for now."
With those words alone, the bloodthirsty ws that sought after her delicate neck came to an abrupt halt with one of them already an inch into her neck and if it had been stopped even only a millisecondte, she didn''t think her head would still be attached to her body.
"Phe..."
Letting out a deep breath to calm herself down, Nadine''s w retracted back into her fingernails and her eyes and body returned to normal. It was rare for a beastman to retain such high levels of control over themselves while using their true forms but she had managed that splendidly.
Nadine was by nature, a verypetitive soul so when she learned Jarret had received the same boost she had from her master Ty, she immediately felt an immense hunger to grow stronger and received guidance from Albert who had achieved mastery over his demon Transaction.
In less than two weeks, she had already Attained some levels of mastery over her own power that transcended her current Tier. Truly, she was more talented than most.
Chapter 346 C346. Out Of His Depths
In one of the Lord''s suites, located on the top floors of the ckwing hotel.
The momentary disturbance in the room hadsted literally for a moment as the suite returned to its previous calm in an instant.
Feeling as though she had done a good job in carrying out Tyler''s orders and had even seeded in stopping herself from cleaving the phantom girl''s head off, Nadine excitedly turned to face Tyler for acknowledgment, and her emotions were practically stered on her face so even Tyler couldn''t miss that.
"Excellent work. You can rx now, I''ll handle the rest from here."
Although Tyler had been brief in his feedback, his words had still caused Nadine''s face to be flushed and her tail to wag uncontrobly as a satisfied smile blossomed on her face.
Tyler sighed internally as he waved his hand and the ghost girl disappeared from Nadine''s side and appeared in front of him with the same dumbfounded expression on her face.
Tyler then gently moved his fingers from where he was seated and pulled down the mask that covered the lower half of her face, revealing a rather pretty youngdy underneath.
Of course, Tyler didn''t remove her mask just to get a look at her face. To be frank, there was simply something that had piqued his curiosity.
He could vividly remember seeing a girl dressed in the exact same outfit as this youngdy a while back. If just memories serve him correctly, it was back in the Darknar forest.
To be precise, it was when he first met Zomatsu. Ther had been an assassin sent after his life and his mother''s momento. As he recalled, she had managed to kill his twopanions and had even managed to escape his grasp. A feat he didn''t consider impressive at the time as he had still thought himself weak.
However, he was no longer that naive. Hence why he hadn''t wasted any time in locking the space around them the moment Nadine had forced the intruder to reveal herself. And just in case she was carrying a God Tier artifact¡ª which was highly unlikely ¡ª but Tyler wasn''t taking any chances so he had Nadine distract her to be safe.
He truly hadn''t expected her to be defeated so easily. Not that the Ghost girl was weak in any regard. No, it was just that Nadine had gotten far stronger than he had imagined.
Although her magic potential was still at Tier 4, thanks to Potential Break. Her physical abilities during her full transformation were at the peak of Tier 5 at the very least.
Returning his attention to the intruder kneeling before him, he could easily see that her height and proportions werepletely different from thest one. However, he still wanted to be sure they weren''t the same person and besides, the chances of both girls being rted were incredibly high.
"Y-you... you prevented my unique skill. Jus-just who-who the hell are you guys."
Hearing those wordse out of the girl''s mouth as a mixture of emotions swelled up within her after snapping out of her dumbfounded stateafter her appearance was exposed.
Tyler tilted his head a little confused. His original assumption was that this girl was already aware of his identity or at least suspect a connection between Lix and Ty as he believed she was in league with the other one.
Hence why he had decided to trap her as he couldn''t allow her to confirm his identity to whomever she was working for.
He thought those were the reasons why she had been tailing them so either her question just now was rhetorical, while simply being a desperate rant of despair, or, she genuinely didn''t know their true identity and was only interested in Lix and Lilith, the VIP merchants.
"Hmm... oh well, let''s just find out then."
Although Tyler felt as though he had wasted yet another Golden opportunity to further Z''s ns and his goals, he quickly decided against dwelling on the past as he focused his attention on the ghostdy.
The moment those words left his mouth, Tyler''s eyes glowed crimson as he activated one of his Demonic eyes. The Demonic eyes of Domination. Having already crushed any hope within Aika''s mind of surviving this alive, breaking through her mental defenses should be rtively easier than the Demigod, Brethal.
However¡ª
To Tyler''s surprise, he was unable topletely dominate her. The reason for that was simple. Surprisingly, she had an undying love and loyalty toward her master. Whomever that was.
Loyalty was easy to understand for an assassin type. It was also something that was easily handled with a few memory alterations, provided only minimal changes are made to avoid any inconsistency that could copse the entire mind.
However, love was a different story. The irrationality of the emotions was hard to understand much less deal with. Besides, this wasn''t something like Stockholm syndrome that could be easily traced back to its origins, rooted in self-delusions that made memory maniption even easier.
Tyler frowned, he hadn''t expected this to prove to be so much trouble because if he were to push any dipper, he could simply destroy her mind, turning her into nothing more than an empty shell.
"Well, I''vee this far, the hard way it is."
In this case, the resurrection wasn''t a possibility if he were to mess up as this girl was too weak to survive the process. Hence, Tyler made use of Uriel''s precise calctions and practically took the back seat when activating and using his skill.
?Mind Maniption?
He had no interest in this girl so he hadn''t wanted to see her memories and had simply nned on asking her the questions he wanted but this was fine too.
He could simply view the details of the information he wanted from her memories so there were no problems with this. While her mind was protected against invasive skills and spells like this, it took Uriel less than a nk instant to shatter those defenses and began Tyler''s questioning.
What he wanted to know was her connection with the petite girl that had attacked Z in the forest, andas though reading his mind, Uriel sent memories of her assigning the mission to Amra his way.
There were also the memories of then torturing her after she had managed to escape from him which was a feat this one had failed to aplish so he was the failure in that regard.
Next was the identity of her master and although a lot of resistance came from this question, Uriel instantly dominated her mind once more and continued as though nothing had happened.
Tyler was sure if he had been in control just then he might''ve made a mistake and caused irreversible damage to her mind.
As Tyler''s thought shifted to this, the new memories Uriel sent his way snapped him out of it. These were memories of her addressing the former City''s lord as master.
As a bonus, he found out that the Zorak family had removed the previous lord from his post and assigned one of their direct descendants to serve as the city''s new lord.
To send a prince all the way to a border city like this, Tyler couldn''t understand why the Zoraks would do that. They must really value this city highly to even consider the idea. Then again, perhaps this decision has something to do with him, either as Lix or as Lord Ty of Darknar.
Tyler consider the possibility careful and concluded that there was a high possibility that was their reasoning. However, he held little to no information at the moment and couldn''t rely on mere spections and theories to decide so he quickly shifted his focus.
Moving on, the next question Tyler asked was why she was after them and instantly, thememories of her meeting with Aur appeared before him and exined their reasoning to him.
Honestly, it was a good n, it''s only w was he had sent a minor spatial user against a Space dominator, and one who was immune to illusions to booth. A typical case of ''the wrong opponent.''
Still, something else stuck to Tyler from that particr memory and that was the fact that none of the high-ranking Hunters and Merchants had managed to return from their expenditure of the Grade 3 Gold mine.
He had found it strange that he couldn''t sense the presence of any high-level Hunters when he had first entered the city but he didn''t want to believe that they were truly stupid enough to get done in by only a temporary summoned creature.
Not to mention, the creature, wasn''t even that strong. Its mere purpose there was to scare the Hunters and provide legitimacy in the Green-eyed devil story from Kylyra.
Of course, he realized that perhaps his killing the Royal knights guarding their cave and kidnapping their miners hadn''t helped but still, those were the highest-ranked Hunters they were talking about.
Even he as a weak-ass human wasn''t stupid enough to get done in by a monster beyond his capabilities. It was important that one values their life and know when to fight and when to retreat. Then again, perhaps that was solely the mindset of the weak. Or maybe the mindset of humans. One of the Minor differences between humans and demons.
"Geez... I can''t hide from reality anymore. I guess this little predicament is partly my fault. I will have to ept the Lord''s request I guess. As for this Aur fellow..."
With that, Tyler asked another question while still within the mental world of the girl named Aika. The location of her master Aur, and apparently, the dude was just a floor above him.
"And here I thought this was the highest floor avable for guests. I suppose thest floor is set aside for members of the Zorak family only huh, can''t really me them for putting their family first I guess. How annoying."
The reason Tyler had thought there were no residential rooms on the floor above was that his Magic perception could not pick up on any signs of life on the upper floor and he only knew there was a floor above his due to his spatial awareness skill.
With a deep sigh, Tyler digested the information he had just received and contemted his next step.
Firstly, there was the situation with the new lord of Wingedcitywho seem to have developed some interest in him. An unexpected bonus of his actions thus far.
Next was the situation with the missing Hunters which Tyler could only pray for their safety as World divination could not peak into this information meaning there were outside forces at work here.
Andst was the situation with Aur. His disgraceful step down as city lord was an unexpected boon from his actions but his existence was now a wildcard in the game he was ying and wildcards were more dangerous than anything else he could expect from the others.
The issue now lies in how to handle each and every one of these situations in a way that would aid in Z''s n for his nation.
Although he didn''t really like leaving things up to Uriel and only ever sort her advice on how to proceed as a way of self-improvement. Tyler found himself now ying a political game beyond hisprehension and waspletely out of his depths.
Sigh... What a massive drag this turned out to be. Fine then, I give up.
Alright, Uriel, I''ll leave this to you.
[Understood.]
Chapter 347 C347. The New City Lord
Although Tyler didn''t think there was anything else he needed to know from this girl, he decided it best to ask some more questions on this so-called Ghost Legion of a thing and their activities in the city. Everything she knew about Aur as well as detailed information on this prince Nullen of a person that had recently taken over from Aur.
However, there wasn''t much information about him and the people he had brought along with him.
With that, he no longer had any use for the ghost girl which brought about a new problem as he couldn''t just let her go scot-free. It also wasn''t wise to just kill her and turn her into one of his shadow rogues designated to Winged city.
That would only serve to increase the City Lord''s wariness of him. He also couldn''t afford to repeat what he had done with Misty and Brethal where he goes through their memories and minutely made changes to them in order to gain her loyalty as that emotion was all jumbled up and mixed with the irrationality of love and couldn''t be affected by memories alone.
Besides, her mind and body weren''t nearly strong enough to handle such a strain as her mind might actually copse in aplete meltdown. With her weak constitution, even the highest-grade resurrection skill and spells wouldn''t be able to save her mind and body.
The only thing that had a possibility of working would have to be the skills, Temporal Resurrection, and Historical Void Resurrection.
However, both of these were unknown to Tyler at this moment, and thus, he needed to find another alternative.
"I suppose I''ll just have to take the risk and forgo the long game."
Tyler sighed inwardly, personally, he didn''t particrly care for this method as he only targeted Aika''s recent memories of what had only just recently transpired and immediately left her mind''s world.
In the next instant, he used cate and Heal in juncture to maintain her health. Seeing as his body didn''t convulse in protest of the changes as they were fairly recent and had jot stake in a personality yet. Tyler finally rxed.
With a snap, the female rogue d in a skin-hugging ck outfit, opened her eyes with a slight headache as she casually wore back her mask as though nothing had happened and proceeded to knelt before Tyler.
"Mr. Lix, I''m d you''ve decided to ept my Master''s request. You will soon be summoned to participate in the rescue mission of the city''s Hunters and Merchants, please ept the request and do not let the others find out about the Runites until my Master arrives."
Her words were smooth and without hesitation as she spoke with earnest determination, believing every single word that left her mouth.
"Very well then, it''s a deal. Make sure your master keeps his promise and we''ll be fine."
"No problem."
With that, the ninja-like rogue disappeared from Tyler''s sight in widely saturated lights. Tyler stared at the empty space for a while before simply nodding his head.
"Giving as the memory alterations worked without a hitch, let''s hope those psychological cues y out as expected. I wonder how long it''ll take to reach that point."
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"Hey, Lord Ty, Lord Ty..."
"Hmm?"
"You said I did a good job earlier right? Can I get a reward?"
"You know one can''t always expect a reward for being good. Such is the harsh reality that we live in."
"Really?"
"Sigh... Never mind that, exactly want reward did you have in mind?"
"Oh right! Can I please lie on yourp while you pat my head? Can I? Can I?"
"Huh?"
"I saw Lady Rain doing it to you the other day. So can I please..."
Tyler was at a loss for words, he hadn''t expected Nadine to be so bold but perhaps this was his fault for not setting a good example. Then again, he was unconscious at the time so there was no way for him to have handled that situation better.
However, he could surely do better this time. When raising a child, it is important for the adult to be strict sometimes and set clear ground rules and boundaries so as not to spoil the child.
Yet¡ª
"Sure, why not."
Unable to refuse such an adorable request, Tyler fell into her whims yet again and resigned himself to his fate. As for Nadine, the moment she heard Tyler''s response, a big and bright smile, usually umon for her, appeared on her face.
She immediately jumped on hisp and curled herself into a little ball as Tyler gently stroked her hair, her tail wagging gently until she fell asleep.
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¡ªA few hours earlier.
In the miniature castle located at the center of Winged city, the city''s Lord''s domain.
A single knock was ced on the exquisite wooden door before the doorknob was turned and the door slowly gave way for a male figure to slowly enter the room.
This figure was a young man d in purplish ck robes. He had long raven ck hair with purplish streaks running along its edges. An assortment of Magic rings decorated his fingers as he strolled into the office with barely a care in the world.
Situated in the City''s Lord''s office were multiple figures d in varying yet simr purplish ck attires. There were three of them sitted in the lounge portion of the office ying a certain card game with what looked like Tarot cards mixed with poker cards.
There were two females, one of which was d in the same mage''s robe as the young man that had just entered the room. While the other was wearing purplish ck leather armor of the same design.
The only other male in the group wore a light suit of Raven ck metal armor with purple lining and a refined and run edge. He had two curved swords resting on the sofa next to him, as the light in the room beautifully glistened off of them.
"You came back earlier than expected kid. How did your meeting go with the Merchant Guild."
Seated at the other end of the room and behind a more majestic desk than the one that had once served the former lord of this city, was a young child that stared at the young man with an inclined gaze as he slowly rocked the chair back and forth with his legs¡ª that could not touch the ground¡ª swinging along.
This child had long blonde hair that fell to his lower legs and almost touched the ground. With an adorable-looking face and baby blue eyes, one would find it difficult to ascertain the gender of this child.
However, this was none other than the youngest prince of the Zorak family, Nullen Marx Zorak. He was rather on the shorter end of the height spectrum as he had a petite build that made him not only look like a child but also like a girl.
Hearing the word kid being thrown at him, especially from the mouth of someone with Nullen''s figure made the young man known as Ral Fox crease his brows for a moment.
"Ahhh... Lord Nullen, I''ve asked you to please don''t call me kid anymore. It makes it hard to feel motivated."
Ral scratched his head awkwardly as he spoke, causing the other three in the room to snicker in his direction. However, Nullen didn''t seem amused by this joke as he paused for a moment and rified his words.
" Stop focusing on the wrong thing and answer my question."
While Nullen''s expression hadn''t changed much, the air around him spelled impatiently and even someone asckadaisical as Ral would not make the mistake of missing the subtle signs in the air around him.
"Right. Well, there wasn''t much to discuss with those Merchants anyways. They have no choice but to eventually conform to your will. Unlike the Hunter Association, the Merchant Guilds are less structured and barely united, with enough pressure, there''s nothing a single Merchant Guild can do to resist you."
"You don''t say."
Nullen nodded his head as he resumed rocking his chair back and forth seemingly in deep thought when a crude voice suddenly broke the silence as it addressed Ral Fox.
"And if that''s the case, then why are you here "Kiddo"? Did you forget you still have much to do?"
Hearing that annoying voice made a vein budge in Fox''s head as he turned a fierce gaze at the one who spoke. However, the thoughts of his master''s presence soon calmed his mind as he sneered condescendingly and restored.
"Says the onespletelyzing around in front of me."
As though expecting such a reaction, the man with the crude voice paused for a moment, giving Fox a quick nce before chuckling to himself and then responding.
"Hehe... While it may not look like it. We''re actually quite busy you know."
"Right, of course, you are. I wonder what on Neron made me think you were just ying cards like bums."
"I wonder that as well. You may need to get those things you call eyes checked, no clue why you would assume such a thing."
"Ack!..."
Receiving such an immediate response had taken Ralpletely off guard that he was unable to immediately respond, almostpletely stunning him. For someone to be so shameless as this was beyond his understanding.
"Hmm... so Ral, why exactly are you back so soon?"
Still rocking his chair back and forth like he was on a swing set, Nullen suddenly stopped and turned to ask the question seriously. The moment his casual tone shifted, the trio ying cards to the side immediately stopped and took on a serious expression as well.
Everyone''s gaze was immediately shifted to Ral, who silently took a breath to regain hisposure before responding with a serious smile on his face.
"I''ve met him."
There was no need for anyone to ask who he was referring to by intentionally ying the pronoun game. There was no one else any of them would remotely be interested in such a backwater city like this one so the answer to that question was obvious.
The only person that had managed to garner their interest in this city was none other than the mysterious VIP merchants known only as Lix and Lilith.
"So he finally returned to the city. How fortunate. The timing is almost perfect."
"Indeed... it also looks as though our report on his origin were right. They seem to be hailing back from the Far East based on the rarity and kinds of the materials they had sold to the guild."
"Is that so? That should indeed narrow down our area of interest by a lot. Still, our family''s influence in the Far East is quite minuscule. We''ll need to divert quite a bit more resources into that area in the future."
"It''s just as you''ve surmised Lord Nullen. We know too little about the Far East to make any urate predictions even now. Such ignorance can pose a threat in the future."
The one who spoke this time was one of the girls that had remained silent the entire time even during the banter between Ral and the crude man she was ying cards with.
Her demeanor was that of superiority but Fox''s expression didn''t change neither did he take offense to her sudden interruption between his conversation with Nullen. If anything, he immediately fell silent so as not to draw the wrong attention to himself.
"Well, whatever. Let''s focus on what''s in front of us first."
Taking her words into consideration for a moment, Nullen quickly gave up on the thought as he made his decision on the matter.
"As youmand."
"Alright, Ral... Notify the Magic institute that our preparations areplete. Have them send over their members for the Rescue mission, then send someone to personally invite this Lix and hisrade to participate. I''m truly interested in meeting someone capable of piquing my mother''s interest like this. This should prove entertaining for a while."
A gentle smile slowly bloomed on his face as Nullen returned to swinging his feet back and forth as he sank into therge ck leather chair that was several sizes bigger than him.
The room also went silent as everyone simply stared at him with the same smiles on their faces.
Chapter 348 C348. Personal Quest
At Nullen''s earliermand, the room fell silent for a moment as the other four people in the room exchanged several ves with each other seemingly hanging aprehensive conversation with just their eyes.
Having settled on the details of each of their tasks, three of Nullen''s personal guards simultaneously stood up as they silently headed for the door when they were suddenly stopped in their tracks.
"Also¡ª"
Just as three of his servants were about to spring into action, Nullen suddenly thought of something as his about word garnered their attention.
He then simply contemted for a moment before continuing.
"Have the Ghost Legion maintain surveince on the merchants'' movements in and out of the city. While I didn''t think they would be so useless to have not noticed them entering the city earlier, such missions should be their forte."
Hearing that, the female guard that had remained sitted to stay by her master''s side spoke with a slightly concerned tone.
"Are you sure about them My Lord? If they have noticed the merchant''s arrival and failed to report it to you immediately. That would be a sign of treason, making them traitors."
"I''m aware. That''s why I want them¡ª"
Before Nullen couldplete his sentence, he suddenly felt a presence enter his perception range and stopped talking. Allowing the presence to draw closer to him as the lights in the office quickly saturated and a slender figure appeared in the office and genuflected before Nullen.
"Hmmm... Cia was it?"
"Yes my lord. I am called Cia, the newly appointed leader of the Ghost Legion."
"I do have some recollection of something along those lines. So why have you interrupted me so abruptly?"
"Forgive me, my lord. But I''ve received an urgent report."
Nullen''s expression did not change as he heard those words but his interest seemed to have been piqued and even Aika could tell that much about him.
"What report?"
"We''ve confirmed the appearance of the VIP merchants, Lix and Lilith back in the city. We''ve also managed to monitor their movements in the city thus far and have confirmed their current residents."
"I see... impressive."
Even Nullen''s four guards in the room seemed to be quite impressed with this news as this had contradicted their first opinion on the famous Ghost Legion.
Their ability to gather information seemed second to none and they could pretty much understand how someone as weak as Aur had risen to the position he had held.
Nullen suddenly sat upright as he observed the expression on the Ghost Legion''smander''s face which held no emotions whatsoever but something just didn''t feel right.
Her scarlet eyes stared nkly at him without a glimmer of life in them. Making it impossible even for Nullen to read her emotions just from her face. Of course, that alone couldn''t stop him as he could tell all he needed to know from her aura.
With that, it seems the reason for the dyed report was that they wanted to confirm the merchant''s destination and obtain more information before reporting back to him.
This may have been how they had operated with Aur and what they were used to. He hadn''t implicitly specified that they report back to him immensely they saw the merchants so this might''ve been the result of a brokenmunication between such an unfamiliar unit.
One he hadn''t expected to be of much use to him, to begin with. If it wasn''t for the usefulness of their unique skill in the right hands, he wouldn''t have even kept them around in the first ce.
"My lord. Do you want us to make contact with the targets?"
As Nullen''s mind wandered, Cia''s question suddenly snapped him back to reality as he spoke.
"No. There''s no need for that. I''ll send one of my messengers to them. Just maintain your current surveince from a distance and keep me informed."
"Understood."
With that. The lights in the room saturated once more and the female figure disappeared as all that was left behind in silence were the original five.
"Lord Nullen, didn''t you intend to have the Ghost Legion make contact with them earlier?"
"I changed my mind. Now that you''ve volunteered, you have the honor of doing it yourself."
"Wait what!"
"Just be quiet and do your job."
"Always acting a fool, take responsibility for your actions for once."
" Why you little... "
Nullen silently watched his men throw jabs at each other in good fun but his expression wasn''t that of happiness or satisfaction. Rather, it was one of perplexity. He couldn''t put his finger on it but from his interaction with the girl earlier, he felt as though something had gone seriously wrong.
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The next day.
Tyler stood in front of the massive ss window of his suite as he stared at the rising sun that slowly illuminated the city through the slight cracks in the clouds.
He hadn''t slept the entire night but that didn''t bother him in the slightest. Nadine on the other hand had slept like a baby the entire night.
Of course, as a beastkin, she was very sensitive to sounds and vibrations and would immediately wake up the moment something enters her perception range which was why he hadn''t moved an inch since she fell asleep, until now.
''Strange.''
Tyler thought as he strolled away from the window. He had spent the entire night monitoring the movements of the entire city and couldn''t help but find it puzzling.
How unfortunate that he hadn''t been able to jeong one of his shadows with him and could only rely on Uriel''s Divination to find any information that wasn''t hidden.
As he intended, Tyler''s first step had alerted Nadine to wake up and promptly began their preparations for the day.
After cing an order at the front desk for their breakfast, the pair soon got ready and departed for the Magic institute with their carriage. It was a shame he hadn''t been able to turn that spy undeadst night as he was very curious to learn how things were proceeding with her but had no means ofmunicating with her anymore.
However, he couldn''t establish any forms ofmunication with her for now as he didn''t want them to sense anything amiss.
As they were already located in the Royal borough, it only took them around a 20 mins drive to get to the massive towers that served as the Magic institute and research center. Their carriage didn''t stop a distance from the building this time as they proceeded towards therge gates that protected the towers.
Upon their arrival, thetticed gate yawned open, and on either side of it were several armed guards, stationed by the gate that fenced off the massive buildings.
The guards did not obstruct the pair ¡ª although they quickly looked them over and seemed to have recognized them ¡ª and they were able to pass through the gate with their Magic guild''s Rank 2 Badge boldly disyed on their chest.
Shortly after passing the gate, they were required to leave their carriage to the institute''s staff and proceed into the first tower on foot which was as expected.
Upon entering through the open doors, the pair found themselves in a small entrance hall, which had been established to be the building''s lobby and reception hall. Several exquisite magic chandeliers beautifully hung down from the high ceiling of the massive hall.
To the right was a guest lounge that contained a sofa and several other pieces of furniture. And just like thest time they visited, several mages and Hunters sat idly by as their gazes keenly observe the pair that had just entered the hall.
unting their absurd wealth, the guild had a Magic item to the left of the hall, a ss board that disyed quests and missions as they arrived and erased them as they are cleared.
Naturally, there were still people studying it in earnest; some wore robes and looked like magic casters, while most of them were naturally Hunters. As the magic institute provided really high-paying but difficult quest, this was generally the ce most high-ranked Hunters would flock to for work.
However, what Tyler saw this time was sought different as the seems the average level of Hunters here had dropped significantly.
Tyler silently sighed as he shook the thought off his mind and returned his attention up ahead.
At the innermost reaches of the hall, was a counter, where several young, handsome, and beautiful men and women of different races including dark elves, were seated behind.
They all wore simr robes, with crystal badges on their chests which had the Magic institute crest engraved upon them.
Ignoring the gazes they were currently receiving as they were now more or less ustomed to this,Tyler''s shoes pounded out a steady beat and were mirrored by Nadine as they nonchntly approached the counter at the end of the hall.
The youngdy on the counter they were approaching noticed them and gave a slight bow as a greeting before attempting to attend to them.
"Wee back to the Zorak Magic Institute, Mr. Lix and Lady Lilith. How may I be of service to you today?"
Her voice was pleasing to the ears and her attitude respectful as she gently stared at the pair with interest.
"Do you mind taking us through a list of Rank 2 quests that would be most effective in raising our ranks as quickly as possible?"
The reason Tyler had joined the Magic institute in the first ce was to ess the institute''s Magic library as well as its Magic research documents. All of these were things he could only achieve with a Rank 3 Magic badge and higher.
"You mean high-value Rank 2 quest right? Certainly, one moment please."
With a courteous smile, the guild''s staff quickly essed the Magic institute''s database from the Magic device on her desk and went through the list of Rank 2 quests with the highest guild-based reward value when she suddenly noticed something.
"Pardon me Sir, but it seems you have a personal quest request."
" Mmm?"
Although Tyler''s hearing was perfect and heard the receptionist''s statement. He instinctively tilted his head slightly as though confused and the receptionist had taken that motion to mean the pair, as neers to the magic guild, did not understand, what a personal Quest was and eagerly proceeded to borate further.
"That is to say, someone has issued a quest specifically for your party and is awaiting your response."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. As for the reward value of a Personal Quest, it is usually a lot higher than a normal quest of the same rank. Guild members are also not restricted by the difficulty level of Personal Quests which made them highly sought out for."
"I see..."
"As for this personal quest, the rewards are much higher than even the most lucrative Rank 3 quest reward. Uponpletion, it offers an instant promotion to Rank 3. Plus arge number of guild points."
" Guild Points?"
Chapter 349 C349. Syphilia
"Guild Points?"
"Yes. Guild points are the Magic Guilds'' mostmon form ofpensation that can be easily exchanged for actual currently at a 2:2 ratio. However, they are the only currency epted by the Magic institute I''m exchanging for our members-only services."
" Is that so? How convenient."
"Indeed it is. As for the reward for your Personal request, it is a lot higher than even the most lucrative Rank 3 quest reward. Uponpletion, it offers an instant promotion to Rank 3 which is something we normally don''t do but a special exemption has been made for this. Besides, the guild points awarded upon sessfulpletion are enough to raise your ranks by one full tier. Making this a 2-rank promotion quest."
An instant double promotion quest. That''s ridiculous. Who are these people?"
Although the receptionist''s voice was rtively soft and she hadn''t spoken loudly at all. There were still some rtively high-ranking Magicians around with sharp ears.
Most of them were already paying close attention to the pair and had been listening in on their conversation with the clerk the entire time.
Hearing the possibility of an instant promotion quest made their ears perk up instantly. Not to mention this was a double promotion quest. It was verymon knowledge that increasing one''s rank in the Magic guild was considerably more difficult than it was in the other two guilds.
As one not only needed to have the magic potential and skill required to be qualified for the rank. But, as a show of survivability and resourcefulness, they all needed a considerable amount of guild points to attempt the test.
The magicians that understood the inner workings of the magic guild were at aplete loss for words as they stare nkly at the pair,pletely dumbfounded.
"A quest granting instant promotion huh... How... Strangely convenient."
While the female staff couldn''t see through the shadows that covered the face of the hooded Lix, for some reason she could easily just visualize his mouth slowly curving into a smile.
The fact of the matter was, private requests like this were incredibly rare, to begin with, much less one that carried such ridiculous rewards aspensation.
Even her colleague who was stationed next to her today waspletely blown away when she heard that, not to mention the increasing murmuring in the hall.
To them, it was iprehensible to understand why the Guild was willing to allow such stiptions to be added to a private quest unless the quest came directly from the top brass.
Bringing to mind another question, just in the world were these two that even the higher-ups were willing to grant them each 2 instant promotions just frompleting a single quest?
Naturally, one question led to another as they couldn''t help wondering just what sort of quest was difficult enough to warrant such lucrative rewards.
Just as the female receptionist was about to respond to Lix''sments, the doors to the left suddenly swung open as the room''s activities grounded to a halt.
Two men of impressive builds and geared in gleaming full te armors suddenly ushered in a beautiful demoness in an elegant and stylish red dress.
She had long light brown hair that was styled gorgeously, narrow brown eyes that glistened beautifully with the light, an enchanting smile that drew men in, and a figure that wouldn''t fail to drop the jaws of any one of the opposite sex thatid eyes on her, and that was exactly what it did to the men in the hall.
Without even sparing a second nce at the awe-struck men staring lustfully at her and the confused gazes from the magic institute''s staff, Syphilia walked gracefully towards the hooded man and the young adorable beastgirl who had remained silent the entire time.
Her smile radiated an alluring aura that could easily melt the hearts of even the coldest man. Still, as someone who has faced many more tempting temptations recently, Lix was able to maintain his calm as he turned his head to face the Magic Guild Leader after she hade to a halt in front of him.
As Syphilia''s beautiful brown eyes stared at the hooded Lix for a moment, her head gently tilted slightly before she silently let out a sigh of resignation.
"I guess it still doesn''t work on him Huh, what a shame."
"Pardon?"
Those words had been little less than a fleeting whisper said under her breath yet the man seems to have perfectly heard her.
"Never mind that Mr. Lix, I would like to talk with you privately about the private quest awarded to you. Do you mind?"
Wave a surprise washed over the entire hall and the jaws of most of the low-ranked Magicians not unlike Lix himself dropped to the ground. Most of them werepletely at a loss for words the others are stricken with envy.
"That''s fine. You''ve piqued my interest."
"Really, I''m ttered. Please, follow me."
With that said, the three of them were escorted by therge guards into one of the VIP meeting rooms on the middle floor of the first tower, under the curious and mostly jealous gazes of the masses.
After settling down in the VIP meeting room, Lix finally spoke to Syphilia, who had been trying to strike up a conversation with them the entire way there but was met with silence the entire time.
"So tell me Guild Leader. Why did the Magic institute issue me a personal quest and what might it entails?"
As she heard Lix speak in such an overly former tone asking an insincere question, Syphilia sighed for a moment before speaking again.
"Sigh... you''re such a shrewd fellow, Mr. Lix, it''s clear to me that you''ve already figured out everything by this point so why are you trying to make me spell it out."
"Please, you overestimate me. My assumptions may bepletely correct or just as incorrect. So please, enlighten us."
Not expecting such a valid response, Syphilia was momentarily at a loss for words before promptly snapping out of her daze.
"Fine then. Allow me to enlighten you, the Magic institute has been tasked with a job to rescue the missing Hunters and Merchants that had ventured out on a joint quest only a month ago but have yet to report in. The missionpromised of only the strongest Hunters and Merchants so we have no choice but to put together our strongest force to investigate and we believe your presence there is a must."
"I see... I have to say, I was way off."
"Fufufufu... you''re quite the jester, Mr. Lix."
"The true irony might be the details. Alright then, let''s move on to my main point, who exactlymissioned this quest for us? The receptionist earlier seems to havepletely disregarded that little detail in her exnation."
The smile on Syphilia''s face seems to fade for a moment before being restored almost immediately. Anyone else would''ve easily missed this minute detail but Lix didn''t fail to notice it.
"I suppose at this point, there''s probably no reason to hide this from you."
"..."
"You see, this request was issued to the Magic Guild directly from the Zorak Magic Academy''s Headmaster. We can''t refuse such a request."
Although Tyler already knew that the Zorak family was involved in this. He also knew that the Magic institute strived to operate independently from the main family but like all organizations of this size. There is always corruption at the top and he simply wanted to know who that was.
Apparently, it was none other than the Headmaster himself. Tyler assumes this Headmaster was a high-ranking noble of the Zorak family so is directly under the influence of the Elders or Grand Elder of the family.
Meaning this quest came to him as a direct result of the Grand Elder''s influence.
"Is that so?"
Thinking those words were in response to her previous statement, Syphilia happily continued.
"Yes... I''m sure you''re aware of the Headmaster''s connection with the main Zorak family. Normally they wouldn''t interfere with the Magic Institutes duties but it seems this time is special."
To Tyler''s surprise, Syphilia didn''t attempt to hide the connections between the Headmaster and the Zorak family and he couldn''t help but wonder why.
"Special? What do you mean by that?"
"Simple. It''s because this quest came with a special reward."
"A special reward?"
"Yes, onepletely separate from the ones listed alongside the quest. Upon thepletion of the mission. You will receive an invitation to visit the Magic academy as a substitute teacher."
"A teacher? Why would I want that?"
"Your ignorance is understandable as not many a privy to such information but the Magic academy possesses a vast array of Magic knowledge than any of the various Magic institutions. So if you''re this interested in our Magic library, the library on the Magic academy is a must."
"So that''s it. How impressive, the Zorak family seems to have covered all bases."
It seems his goal of joining the magic institute had already been seen through. This was something that was expected as using the library in the magic institute was the first thing Tyler had wanted upon joining the institute.
Giving as he hadn''t disyed many spells to the public. It was easy for her to surmise why he wanted to join the magic institute despite already bing a VIP merchant.
"Naturally, when the Zorak family makes a move, they like to be prepared. So, will you take the quest?"
"I don''t see how I can possibly refuse such an offer."
Of course, Tyler had already decided to ept the quest from the very beginning. He already expected something like this after interrogating the Ghost girlst night but he hadn''t expected such lucrative rewards to sway him.
Hearing his response, the smile on Syphilia''s face grew radiant as though a huge weight came off her shoulders and her expression became more rxed.
"Excellent. Please visit the Lord''s mansion by noon today, so you may meet the other members of the Magicians that were given the same quest as you as this will be a team mission. Any other detail will be provided by the new lord of Wingedcity himself."
"The new lord uh... very well."
"Umm... is something the matter?"
Noticing the shift in Lix''s tone for a moment, Syphilia was a bit worried that something had gone wrong with her exnation, however, the demeanor of the hooded man seems to get a bit more friendly as he spoke.
"Quite the opposite. Everything seems quite straightforward to me."
"That''s great then, I suppose. That will be all."
"Indeed, we shall now take our leave."
Syphilia nodded gently as she stood up to escort the pair to the door despite her being of a higher status than them. For some reason, she didn''t even realize what she was doing.
Chapter 350 C350. Second Gathering
After leaving the VIP meeting room, the pair found themselves back in the main hall of the Magicians c institute, and as expected, they were faced with scrutinizing gazes as they nonchntly walked out of the building.
They soon left the Magic institute on their carriage as the pair headed to several of the many luxurious clothing shops in the area. While Tyler normally wouldn''t care what he wore as long as it was simplistic and a bit stylish.
Such things can be easily made for him in Paragon city. However, his family seems to have grown drastically recently so he needed to provide more variety and samples to improve the skills of the city''s tailors.
After spending a few hours picking the most expensive andplicated outfits, they both went to an impressive restaurant forunch, giving Tyler another chance to try one of this world''s delicacies.
After having aunch, it was already a bit past noon and they should''ve already been at the city''s lord''s mansion but Tyler wanted to be thest person to arrive.
He wasn''t sure how many people had received the same quest as he did so he didn''t waste his time summoning a creature to keep taps on the miniature castle.
After waiting for an appropriate amount of time that wouldn''t make him an asshole, the pair got back on their carriage and headed straight for the lord''s mansion atop the hill at the center of the Royal borough.
He had originally nned on rejecting any request from the city lord and hadn''t expected the Magic Guild leader to personally offer him that quest with the right rewards to tempt him.
Whoever this new lord may be, there was one thing Tyler was certain of. He was surely more capable than the old one and had clearly nned ahead. However, even though this scenario had been predicted by Uriel and Tyler now knew how things should proceed from this point onwards.
This also meant nothing had gone awry with the card he had ced in the castle so there was no longer a need to reject such a lucrative quest.
He also couldn''t help but shoulder the me for the missing hunters as he had been responsible for their disappearance and possible death. If he hadn''t taken away the minders and killed the Royal knights that were protecting them, this situation would''ve been avoided.
While it was extremely dangerous for a knight to venture to and from the Farbelt pass sessfully without any assistance from experience Hunters, it was surely still possible and there was a chance those knights had tools and equipment for contacting the city''s lord for help during times of emergencies.
So basically, Tyler''s actions that day led to him receiving this quest. However, this wasn''t a bad thing for his character of Lix. If anything, this situation had turned out more favorable for him than his initial expectations.
Not only could he strengthen the reputation of Lix, but he could also expand his influence rapidly, creating a wide of connections for him that may be of use to the Darknar family in the future.
Their journey to the city''s lord castle had taken less than a few minutes and they soon arrived in front of the massive gates that protected the castle.
As expected, there were two armored knights standing guard in front of the gate as they stopped their carriage from proceeding any further.
"Halt!"
One of the guards held at the top of his lungs as he walked over to the side of the carriage while casting a scrutinizing gaze on the carriage before returning his gaze to the pair seated at the driver''s seat and asking:
"Please identify yourselves and state your business here?"
Tyler wasn''t one to take offense to someone simply doing his job even though he was invited here and the guards should''ve been aware of his arrival. Without sparing the matter a second thought, he answered simply.
"I am known as Lix and this is my partner Lilith, we''re from the Magic institute."
His words were to the point and brief, not saying more than was required.
"From the Magic institute?"
The knight''s eyes naturally went to the Rank 2 badges on their chest and nodded knowingly before responding. He seemed he had already been given instructions about their arrival but the information had slipped his mind due to theirte arrival.
As the persona of Lix and Lilith were a lot less known here in the royal borough, it seems Tyler''s decision to arrive now had produced some unforeseen side effects. Not that it mattered to him at all.
Whoever this new city lord was, he was sure someone Tyler needed to be mindful of as the Demon Lord of the Darknar family. However, as Lix, he was someone he needed to get acquainted with.
After confirming that their guild badges were authentic, the pair was finally allowed into the castle''s walls as they were led to the front door after their carriage was attended to by the castle''s staff.
The staff then handed them over to the head maid who led them to one of the castle''s meeting rooms where this city''s lord as well as the other high-ranking members of the Magic institute were already awaiting his arrival.
??????????
*Knock knock knock!
"Enter."
The magically reinforced door to the meeting room swung open as a single female figure walked into the room with her head lowered before properly bowing to the one seated at the head of the long table at the center of the room.
"Pardon the intrusion Lord Nullen, please allow me to introduce the Rank 2 Magicians of the Magic Guild, Mr. Lix, and Ms. Lilith."
The head maid announced to the ones in the room while Tyler and Nadine waited patiently outside the door.
"Oh... they finally made it, please, bring them in."
"As you wish, Lord Nullen."
With a gracious and splendid bow, the maid excused herself from the room and after only a few seconds outside, she walked back in with the two guests in tow.
"Come,e on in. Please, pull up a chair anywhere you''d like."
The pair walked in under such a gracious wee and located their seats as they proceeded to scan the room in an instant.
There were ten people in the room. Three of them were stout-looking demons that seemed to be girt for war despite their position as high-ranking magicians for the Magic institute.
They were all d in full te metal armor with melee weapons resting on the wall behind their seat.
The other male demons looked like proper mages, d in long colored robes and wielding staves-like weapons. Whereas the females seemed to be rogue-type mages except for the one seated next to the seat of honor in the room.
And seated on the long ck chair at the end of the engraved wooden table at the center of the meeting room was a child-like figure with a presence so imposing, it caused Nadine to hesitate for a moment.
He was the one who had risen to beckon Lix over. Four of the people seated closest to him seemed to be dressed simrly despite the vast disparity in their choice of equipment and style.
Seated to the right of the seat of honor was a pretty youngdy with short brown hair and golden-colored eyes. She was d in a purplish ck and luxurious Magic robe and wielded a curved wooden staff with two contrasting gems embedded on its end.
Right next to her was a burly man d in a light suit of raven-ck metal armor with purple lining. The armor seemed to have been made of immensely valuable and flexible material as it gave off an impressive aura.
And to the right of the seat of honor was one of the only three familiar faces in this room. It was the face of a young man d in a purplish ck mages robe and an assortment of colorful rings on his fingers.
The man had long raven ck hair with purple streaks running down its edges and a familiar carefree expression on his face. This was the same person that had entered the meeting room with the assistant Guild leader of the merchant Guild thest time they were there, which was only a day ago.
Apparently, his presence there may have been orchestrated by this city lord. Hence why they had been able to ce pressure on an organization like the merchant guild.
Naturally, this wasn''t new information for Tyler as there weren''t that many powers capable of influencing an independent organization like the Merchant guild despite them being the weakest of the three organizations due to their wed fundamental structure.
Next to the young man was a young female demon d in ck leather armor of a simr design and the lower part of her face was covered with a purple mask. With short ck hair that was tied into a bun, her sharp gaze naturally scrutinized the pair that had just walked in.
After the maid introduced them once more and left, Lix and Lilith took a seat, under the eyes of everyone else, and then the standing man that look more like a young girl spoke once more.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am the newly appointed lord of this city, Nullen Marx Zorak."
She was a young child in the presence of a monster. She had long blonde hair that fell all the way down to her feet and an adorable-looking face that wasplemented by her baby-blue eyes.
However, this young girl had just introduced herself as male and anyone with eyes would find that to bepletely absurd.
"These four here are my personal guards, Ral, Willow, Glinda, and Kung."
The childlike lord pointed at each person as he called their names to Lix. It seems the name of the one he was familiar with was Ral, the female mage was called Willow and the masked rogue was named Glinda.
"While I''m sure you''re already aquatinted with these two, allow me to introduce them to you non the less. This is the Guild Leader of the Hunter Guild, Ivan Geryl."
Lix nodded, and Ivan smiled slightly in response.
"Ah Mr. Lix, we meet again."
"Indeed."
"And this is the leader of Winged City''s Merchant Guild, Riokar Vird."
The middle-aged man who Lix had met in the Merchant guild the first time they had entered this city, nodded to him in response to Nullen''s introduction.
"Now allow me to introduce you to the ones that will be apanying you on this quest. The highest ranking members of Wingcity''s Magic institute. They are all Rank 7 Magicians who are experts in their respective fields of Magic.
Chapter 351 C351. Qualifications
Addressing the room was the childlike lord of the city, Nullen Marx Zorak. While his appearance and voice may have resembled that of a female child. He carried a certain charisma about him that instilled a sense of authority and superiority.
Thisbined with his monstrous presence and aura that could not be felt by mortals, prevents even the most arrogant demon out there, from looking down on him.
Nullen smiled gently as he introduced the other Magicians from the magic guild as he carefully observed Lix''s body movements as he mentioned their ranks.
Seeing as he did not react to the looming auras of the elite Rank 7 Magicians, despite the fact that he was only supposed to be Rank 2, not to mention hisck of a reaction to his overwhelming presence that had managed to garner a momentary reaction from his partner.
Nullen smiled in satisfaction as he had already confirmed what he believed made this man the subject of interest to many, including the likes of his very own mother. He had even gone as far as though expose his true strength, something he had so brilliantly hidden from his siblings for a while now.
He knew only someone at the same level as him could sense his aura without the aid of the magic artifact he normally uses to fool everyone. Still, even if this Lix was not yet at that level, even gone being aware of his missing aura would tell him all he needed to know.
Without taking a breath, he proceeded with his introductions as though nothing had happened, his momentary pause appeared to have gone unnoticed by all.
"Like yourself, these three are also members of the Magician guild which are the pride and joy of this city. While your team may have only joined the Magic institute recently and haven''t yet risen through the rankings. I hope you know that the citizens of this city consider your team one of the best. From the single achievement of bing a VIP merchant on your first day to exploring the dangerous Farbelt Pass, stories of your adventures in the Far East had only served to intensify your poprity."
Lix tilted his head slightly at Nullen''s words as Lilith had a look that said, such a thing was only natural which seemed to rub one of the Magicians seated across from them the wrong way.
Sensing the gaze of the hooded Lix sweep across the room andnding on the three Magicians guild representative. Nullen promptly began their introduction.
"Allow me to introduce them to you, from the right to the left are Evreux of Exodus, Severus of Tensen, and Te of Thunder."
Those three each had a familiar crystal badge pinned across their chest -- with the demon character equivalent to the number 7 engraved on it -- and each of them gave the impression of beingmanding and even powerful.
At this point, their equipment was nothing more than junk to Lix, but they were still far above the gear sported by most Hunters and Magicians in this city.
However, their expensive gearpletely paled inparison to the gear of the four demons seated closest to Nullen. The quality of the material and skill behind the craftsmanship was a league apart from anything they had on.
Yet, for some reason, the simple-looking cloaks donned by the two Rank 2 Magicians seem to be on par or even better than the ones worn by the personal guards of a prince.
Of course, this minute detail did not escape the scrutiny of everyone present. A feat that seems to have silenced most of their original skepticism and reservations to the idea of inviting Rank 2 Magicians to such a gathering, if only just by a bit.
Every one of them had vastly different looks in their eyes as they observed the pair that sat before them, but they all shared one thing inmon, the same thread of curiosity.
Each of them had heard the rumors going around about the mysterious Lix and his beast kin partner, Lilith, by one means or another. However, this was the first time they had ever met them in person and they were all curious to find out, just how much of those rumors were true, especially after seeing the quality of their equipment as there were some things money couldn''t buy.
One of them -- the representative of Thunder, the only female demon amongst the trio from the Magic Guild, Te -- red icily at Lix and interrupted.
"Before that, there''s something I''d like to ask you, Lord Nullen. So pardon me as I''d rather ask this question to the Guild Leader of the Magic institute but seeing as she isn''t here, I''m left with no other option."
Although she was addressing Nullen, her re never deviated from Lix, something that could be considered a form of disrespect and was. However, Nullen didn''t seem to mind such trivialities as he immediately spoke before anyone could react.
"Alright, there''s no reason to be so reserved around me. Please ask away."
Getting the confirmation she needed, Te didn''t waste any time speaking about what was boiling in her chest.
"Until yesterday, I''d never heard of the name Lix before. I suppose that''s not surprising given as you just said he''s only a Rank 2 Magician. Still, I do trust the Zorak family''s judgment so I believe he should have done something noteworthy, right?"
There seemed to be a little hostility and satire in her voice. However, Nullen seemed to pay it no heed and cheerfully replied:
"As I was eluding to earlier, Mr. Lix and Ms. Lilith''s feats include, escorting a party of low-ranked Hunters to safely explore the likes of the forbidden Farbelt Pass without a single death, locating a Grade 3 Gold mine in the process."
"They located a fucking Grade 3 Gold mine? You mean you invited them here for that?"
Unlike the confused Te, Evreux of "Exodus" eximed in surprise.
"Are you referring to the rumored double mine where a supposed Green eyed devil was found? I suppose you now believe that devil is responsible for the missing Hunters and Merchants right?"
"Kekeke.... that''s correct, you''re quite well informed. I''m sure even someone like Aur had managed toprehend the significance of that incident and instructed that the matter not be made public due to receiving that piece of troubling news. So, where did you hear that from?"
While his tone remained the same and he had his usual adorable smile on his face. His eyes told a different story as he turned his attention to Evreux.
"Forgive me, my lord. I merely overheard this somewhere, so it''s difficult for me to tell you where exactly the news came from. In addition, I do not know much of the details myself."
The two of them looked at each other and they smiled as Evreux tried his best to avoid Nullen''s gaze. His smile was forced and a bit awkward but Nullen did not attempt to pursue the matter any further.
"Hm~ It seems to have gotten a little too exaggerated to me. For something like this, there should be a lot of people who know the truth to confirm right? Yet if I''m not mistaken, the only Hunters that apanied him during the "illegal" exploration have conveniently gone missing. Ah forgive me, I seem to have interrupted identally."
"It''s fine, Evreux. All three organizations, meaning the Merchant, Hunter, and even the Magic Guild have conducted their own investigations into this matter and it had been deemed that Mr. Lix and Ms. Lilith are not responsible for the disappearance of the Hunter party known as Unrivaled. And due to their initial involvement with the Grade 3 mine and capabilities, they have been chosen to participate in this rescue mission."
"Just one mission? I''ll understand it if they hade face to face with the King of the Pass bute on. Surviving a trip to the Farbelt Pass and back does not warrant such tant disregard for our ranks. There''s no proof they even came across a Devil, to begin with. It might''ve been just some minor spirit. If that''s the case then his presence here is practically a waste of our time."
She wasn''t even pretending to be polite anymore. Te disyed naked aggression on her face as she was clearly displeased by Lix and Lilith''s presence. Especially since they had spent thest few days just waiting for them to show up while the likelihood of those hunters still being alive grew slimmer by the second.
She clicked her tongue in irritation and was just about the say something else when someone suddenly spoke coldly from the side.
"Hmph. Frankly speaking, I have to say that I''m not happy about these two receiving special treatment despite the disparity in our ranks. For all those who had gone through the grinds of climbing up the ranks of the three organizations, such a thing is t-out disrespectful."
The man who cut in was the leader of one of the top-rated parties in the Magic guild, Severus of Tensen. There was a derisive expression on his face, though Lix understood that it was not directed at himself, but at Te. However, Te did not realize this and responded to Severus with a satisfied smile.
"I''m d someone here seems to understand the consequences of these actions."
"Ah..."
Severus sighed tiredly as his lips grew tinner in baffled amusement.
"While I do understand where you''reing from, I feel as though you have failed to understand the full intent of my words."
"What do you mean by--"
"Really, that''s enough out of you, Te. There are people in the Guild who feel as though Mr. Lix and Ms. Lilith are already deserving of even the 8th Rank. After all, the Vice guild leader is an 8th-ranked Magician and Ms. Lilith here was able to defeat him in a duel."
"What!?"
Te''s face seemed to be asking how that was possible.
As he saw it, Severus'' mocking smile grew so wide that it twisted his entire face. She had no idea that this guy could even make a devilish face like that. They had never been hostile to each other so she had no idea why he would choose such a time to y some cruel tricks on her.
"Not only that, but they had also easily defeated a Rank 5 magicians party after that duel. Although it was only the Grimers family''s moronic third son''s party. Still, that party boasts an impressive gear quality thanks to the family''s influence, and not even you could aplish the feat in an instant."
"--Please, any Rank 7 with the right equipment could just as easily--"
Severus sighed, in a somewhat exaggerated way.
"Indeed, you are correct. Initially, Even I felt the same as you. However, after a short discussion with the Hunter''s Guild Leader, I understood why this opportunity has been given to them."
At that point, Severus turned to look at the cloaked Lix in front of him, a stern but cautious look in his eyes.
Whereas, Ivan -- the Guild Leader of the Hunter Guild -- stroked his long white beard gently with a knowing look in his eyes, whilst giving Severus a gentle nod.
"...Amongst the monster carcasses that were sold to the Hunter guild by Mr. Lix, there were the corpses of a couple of Lesser Basilisks. Those are Advance ss monsters if you''ve forgotten. I''m sure you know how many Rank 5 and 6 Magicians it requires to battle a single Magic beast much less two."
Te''s face turned sour at the surprising attitude from her fellow Rank 7 Magicians and she struggled to muster a response.
"So... so what. A couple of corpses doesn''t mean--"
"Oh, there''s also the testimony of the missing Hunters that confirmed that Mr. Lix by himself was capable of driving off over a hundred Night Terrors with a single spell. So not only are they already familiar with our destination, but he''s also more capable than any Rank 7 Magician I know."
"Indeed he is... Frankly, if it were left to me, I''d seize this opportunity to promote Mr. Lix all the way to a Duranium Ranked Magician."
The conclusion by the Hunter Guild Leaderpletely dumbfounded Te, as well as the others in the room that were unaware of these facts. This single statement had caused the looks in their eyes to changepletely.
Chapter 352 C352. New Appearance
Tyler, or rather Lix waspletely at a loss for words as these people rather seriously discussed his aplishments in front of him the moment the Lord of this city introduced him to the room.
For some unknown reason, it seems one of the Magicians representing the top-ranking parties in the Magic Guild and were supposed to have been assigned the same mission as his party, did not share the room''s favorable opinion on his little group.
Although a part of him could understand how she must''ve felt after working her ass off to rise through the ranks all the way to where she is right now, only for amon Rank 2 Magician toe along and suddenly be put on the same level as her.
Even he would be annoyed at such a thing, not that he would actually care that much though. However, despite his transformation to a demon, he wouldn''t be able to maintain a human mindset if he wasn''t a hypocrite sometimes.
So naturally, despite his understanding of her feelings, he still could not allow such tant disrespect to the character of Lix he had spent so much time and influence in building up till now. It didn''t matter if everything had started out identally or premeditated.
However, just as this thought crossed his mind, one of the other two magicians in the room, Severus, suddenly addressed him directly.
"Pardon my interjection for a moment Mr. Lix. Before we proceed any further, please allow me to offer my gratitude for escorting my little nephew and his party on their unauthorized quest to the dangerous Farbelt Pass. Knowing their strength personally, I''m sure the only reason they were able to make it back unscathed was because you were both there."
"Your nephew?"
"Oh, I suppose you''re wondering who I''m referring to. While I may not look it right now, I''m actually still a lesser demon myself. My full name is Severus Mat."
"Mat?"
Lix asked with a hint of contemtion as he seems to have found the name Mat rather familiar. It didn''t take long before his posture returned to normal as he had quickly found the information he was seeking in an instant.
Noticing that Lix seems to have recalled who he was referring to, Severus quickly acknowledged his silent conclusion and proceeded to exin further before he could ask any questions.
"Indeed, Dohel Mat, the supposed leader of the Hunter party so ignorantly named Unrivaled, is the only son of myte brother. I''m ashamed I haven''t been able to look after my nephew myself given my busy schedule so I appreciate you looking out for him."
A warm smile graced his face as Severus lowered his head slightly for a moment as a show of gratitude towards the hooded Lix.
"I see... still, I didn''t really do much. Also, I''ve heard your nephew and his team have gone missing for a while now. So there really is no need to thank me."
"Please don''t sell yourself short. Knowing that idiot of a boy. I''m sure he has only just gotten his team into another trouble and I''m already looking into it. But if there is one thing that boy is good at, it''s staying alive."
Lix tilted his head slightly to the left with reservations. He was quite sure those five may already be dead by now as he couldn''t sense their auras or presence in the city so he was wondering where this dude was getting his confidence from.
"You really have a lot of faith in him, don''t you?"
That question hadn''t surprised Severus at all as he could understand where the skepticism woulde from so he replied simply and honestly.
"As his guardian who has been absent from his live for so long, I really have no choice. I just have to."
Te''s face and ears turned red as she watched the way Lix and Severus spoke lightly to each other. Unable to stand the rapidly changing atmosphere any longer, she bellowed:
"That''s enough of this nonsense! My team could do the same things they did if we got everyone together! Besides, what kind of Magicians only have a party of two Huh? He obviously can''t get anyone to join them because they''re no good or are hiding something!"
The air in the room grew tense even as it grew frigid, and then the sound of someone letting out a forced breath came forth.
"Sigh... Let''s leave the matter at that. We didn''t gather everyone here to fight now, did we?"
After thatst exaggerated sigh by the Merchant guild leader, Te sat down, seemingly deted. However, she still red hatefully at Lix.
The two guild leaders watched this sight and shook their heads helplessly. Their role here was not to speak but serve to show their support for the City''s lord n, yet the situation had suddenly taken a strange turn.
"Fufufufu... I understand that you all value strength, but that is not the topic we are here to address, so why don''t we move on to the matter at hand?"
Seeing as the room had finally calmed down, Nullen finally broke the silence as he decided to initiate the start of the meeting. After all, there was a reason everyone here, people who were at the top of their respective fields, were gathered here today.
"Thank you, Lord Nullen."
"There is no need for you to thank me but sure, please exin the details of the current situation to everyone here."
"Understood. If only I could have reported it right away¡"
"Don''t worry, I was handling a matter in connection with the Farbelt Pass myself."
"There is another Huh."
"Now then, let''s get to the point¡ª"
"Before that, shouldn''t we show some basic courtesy and remove our hoods?"
Te cut in once more with mocking words and a cheeky smile on her face, however, unlike with Rain, Lix didn''t find that smile appealing in the slightest.
While she was not incorrect in saying that, she was also being quite annoying out of spite. Even the other Hunters frowned as well and were about to say something giving as Nullen had refused toment on it.
Rather, it seems the new city lord had a thing for the drama as Lix got a feeling that he was carefully waiting for something. There was no need for Lix toply with any sort of formalities and take off his hood.
However, he had a feeling this childlike lord was nning something and for some reason, he couldn''t help himself but ept the challenge.
"It''s fine. This time, she has a point. I have been somewhat rude."
Ever since Tyler first donned the identity of Lix, he hadn''t really worn the hood to hide his identity. Rather, he was simply afraid the distinct appearance that differs from the people around him would arouse suspicion.
However, he had once been able to get away with it with the exnation of being from the Far East when he had revealed his identity to the Merchant guild leader. A decision he admits to being shortsighted at the time.
As that decision had been made with little to no information on the world around him, things had changed dramatically since then and he couldn''t help butugh at his own naivety considering how things had progressed beyond his wildest expectations.
Not only had he revealed himself to the Great Five as their opposition for the Darknar castle. He was now the absolute ruler of his own demon family.
So naturally, his face would soon be well known amongst the nobles and high-rankingmoners. Which was why he now needed to deal with the only loose end which was the Merchant guild Leader, one of the main reasons why he had headed straight for the merchant guild upon his arrival.
Unfortunately for Tyler, he hadn''t met the guild leader at the time, and now, he could not activate any spells without the Lord of the city, Nullen, sensing something was off leaving Tyler in a rather peculiar situation.
However, this was little more than a Minor obstacle for the current Tyler who had learned a vast array of utility spells and skills from the magic Library for situations just like this. With that, he was able to create a miniature version of himself during the time he had waited outside the door for the maid to invite them in.
All he needed to do was create a clone of himself, and then, using Matter maniption to manipte the clone''s size to that of an atom, sensing its presence and energy, especially with the Ring of Nullity was impossible for anyone that wasn''t a literal God.
Of course, his clone''s mission was simply to enter the room unnoticed and discretely attach a spell to Riokar''s brain. Manipting his memories right now would be impossible to pull off unnoticed so Tyler attached a memory recement spell instead.
Simply by taking off his hood, the spell would rece Riokar''s memories of his real face with the new face he had transformed his face into by using shape-shifting.
His current appearance only slightly differs from his original one. As he was originally mixed race, his skin tone had been a little tanned but right now, he was almost pale with short blonde hair and a seemingly average appearance which told everyone he was not a demon noble.
"Since I''m from the Far East, I try to avoid attention by wearing my hood and have gotten used to keeping it on no matter the asion. Do forgive myck of manners."
"Cheh, just an average joe."
As per the trend, only one person couldn''t Control themselves but made a rude remark almost purposefully.
"That''s enough rudeness from you, Te. Our three organizations were founded for themon demon and just because you were once part of a noble family does not give you the right to look down on anyone else. "
As the voice castigating Te''s second interruption rang forth, she realized that everyone else in the room felt that way, so she reluctantly fell silent. A vein bulged on her forehead as she gritted her teeth and mumbled something under her breath.
Of course with the high levels of everyone here, there was no amount of mumbling she could do that they wouldn''t hear but rather than fall for her tricks and deviate from the topic, they all chose to ignore her.
"...Well, it''s mindsets like this that maintain and reinforce the current structure of this wed society."
Everyone fell silent at Lix''s words and Te''s face had gone from pale to red. The four guards that sat next to Nullen and were yet to speak a single word frowned slightly but Nullen maintained the shameful childlike smile the entire time, remainingpletely nonchnt about everything that had happened so far.
Chapter 353 C353. Quest Details
*p!
"Alright then, I hope we won''t get sidetracked any further. Let''s get right to the issue at hand."
With a p, Willowpletely silenced the room as she spoke. However, her intensions didn''t seem to have gotten through to everyone here.
"Well, it''s because someone waste that we haven''t heard about anything until now."
Still failing to read the mood in the atmosphere, Te''s rude retort was met with a few disappointed gazes but no one bothered to engage her only for Lix to respond sincerely.
"That was a mistake on my part. Do pardon our tardiness."
Lix lowered his head in apology, a gesture which seemed to anger the beastgirl who sat next to him as her eyes narrowed at Te, a dangerous glint in her gaze.
However, Tyler had not thought of the consequences of his casual action due to his current status even as a Magician. It was his n to arrive fashionablyte to begin with yet he had instinctively wanted to apologize for his actions.
He had experienced this sort of thing before during one of his part-time jobs as a retailed salesman, where certain meetings could only begin once everyone had arrived.
Thus, he had suddenly found himself reliving that situation the moment the girl hadined angrily about it. A wave of disappointment suddenly washed over him as he felt a bit embarrassed by letting the words of a stranger almostpletely shatter his carefully crafted persona of Lix in an instant.
However, giving his godlike level of body control, Tyler immediately controlled his demeanor and expression in order to salvage the moment by maintaining his sincerity.
When contrasted with Te''s hostility and constant jibes, Lix''s sincere apology made him seem even nobler than the one who was supposedly raised in a noble household.
"Oh please!"
Te scoffed angrily as her scowl deepened because she was well aware that the general opinion of her had fallen even further thanks to this one move.
However, there was someone who was even angrier than her.
"...Shut your mouth! Have you forgotten in whose presence you are? One more interruption and you''ll be escorted out of this room."
To no one''s surprise, the one who spoke so harshly to a Rank 7 Magician as though they were beneath her, was thedy seated proudly at the city lord, Nullen''s right-hand side.
As Lix could recall, thedy''s name as introduced by Nullen earlier was Willow, one of the four closest people to the Lord of Winged city. Meaning, technically, she outranked everyone here including the two guild leaders.
As those words left Willow''s mouth, the atmosphere in the room grew stiffer and even the overbearing Te was forced to back down as sheinclined her head slightly in apology, albeit with a bit of resistance in her eyes.
Lix, understandably was confused as he observed Te''s reaction. Given the hostility she had shown him just now, it would not have been strange for her to break into a childish tantrum after being so harshly berated because of him.
However, after only a brief moment of thought, he came up with the answer. Or rather, he was given the most likely possibility by the handy little A.I in his head.
At this point, what''s a man without his trusty A.I assistant with the power to end the world at her fingertip. Figuratively speaking of course.Maybe. You can never be sure.
Now then, back to the matter at hand. Why Te had so easily back down after Willow had gotten involved.
ording to Uriel, the answer was simple, reputation. What would people think of Te if she were to be thrown out of a quest meant for only Rank 7 and above Magicians while a couple of novice Rank 2 magicians were allowed to stay.
Or rather, what would the world think of her Magician party, Thunder.
Even if a reasonable exnation was given, there would still be rumors spread around that she was kicked out for being useless and her Magicians party would immediately be discredited, tarnishing their standing within the guild.
Not only would they find it difficult to work with other parties, they would soon have no choice but to leave the city and start all over somewhere far away.
Everything she and her friends had worked so hard for would be wasted because of her beef with aplete stranger.
Hearing this, Lixpletely understood why she hadn''t hesitated to take a step back after that.
With Te finally silenced, Willow decided it was time this meeting got to it''s crux as she stood up and reached for the file in front of Nullen and spoke.
"To summarize the reason why we are all here today, this is the report containing the known details of the unsanctioned questpleted by the Hunting party known as Unrivaled, alongside Mr. Lix andpany. To put it simply, after Mr Lix and the tinum ranked Hunter party reported the unexplored Grade 3 Gold mine they had discovered in the Farbelt Pass to the previous Lord. He had foolishly not chosen to report it back to the family in time and had underestimated the report on the Green eyed devil."
At the mention of the word ''Devil'' everyone''s expression changed in an instant as they all knew, any mention of devil''s in history has never led to something good.
It really didn''t matter how strong or weak the devil''s were, their immerse intellect and deviousness always led to catastrophe wherever they went. This did not include the lesser devil''s known only as mindless minions of thete demon king.
Before anyone could get sidetracked though, Willow''s intense re caused them all to pay close attention to her as she continued.
"In his hunger for power, Aur decided to enlist the two guilds he could still influence and organized an extermination party to im the mine, perhaps in an attempt to booster his standing within the family despite hisck of talent."
Everyone could sense the disgust in her voice as she spoke about the previous City Lord despite herck of any expressions. They could not help but pity Aur as Willow continued speaking with taking a pause.
"However, that was over a month ago now and no report has been received from them. We''ve already sent advance scouts into the Farbelt Pass and they''ve confirmed that the party had encountered and even engaged in battle against the King of the Pass and may have seeded in wounding it but most likely at a price."
"Did you just say the King of the Pass?"
"To think those rumors were actually true, I''ve always suspected as much."
"Taking on the King of the Pass and even sessfully wounding it, that''s impressive."
"Tsk... For mere Hunters you mean. I''m sure my party could''ve done the same by ourselves."
Not minding the distractingments of the group. Willow continued her briefing, not bothering to silence the chatter as the room instantly grew silent the moment she started speaking again.
"With the losses they may have sustained, we feel they may have ended up too short handed to handle the mine monsters and have somehow been trapped in the mine, fighting for their survival if they''re not already dead."
Her casual tone when referring to the death og so many people as though it meant nothing to her made the minds of the Magicians shudder.
Willow on the other hand, paid no attention to their reactions as she casually read through the file as though it were a book.
"With that, the main objective of this quest will be to locate an rescue any surviving Hunter and Merchant but especially the Royal knights. As well as capture the mine if possible."
As he listened to the description of the events that had led to this, Tyler''s hopes shattered like ss.
He hadn''t expected his spontaneous action to rece Zelda with a summoned spirit so as to validate that Party''s story of a devil to have such spiraling effect. He had only intended for the monster to scare the returning Hunters a bit before diapering and remaining a mystery.
Building up a legend of a powerful devil by the stories of the survivals so when he was inadvertently called upon the y the devil, it would be the stuff of legends, allowing him to grow his ranks within the guild drastically and not just by one.
''I have no idea how things ended up like this, but things might go badly if I don''t alter the memories of any survivors. I''ll have to be careful in the mean time.''
It was indeed a shame thing hadn''t gone ording to n as he had killed off the Royal Knights for this very reason but unfortunately, there hadn''t been any survivors to spread the tale of the Green Eyed Devil.
So now he had to settle for such meager rewards for this mission. However,
As Tyler furrowed his brows, the discussion continued apace.
"Well I can''t say I understand the situation perfectly but I''m starting to get the gist of it. Still, if you''ve already sent scouts to the area, why don''t they also investigate the location of the Hunters as well as the situation with the Green eyed devil?"
The one who spoke was Evreux the leader of the Rank 7 Magicians party called Exodus, he could tell that everyone was thinking along the same line of thought as him. It was one thing to stage a rescue operation with little information, but it was apletely different story when a being as diabolical as a devil is involved.
"That is indeed an excellent question. However, our scouts are not equipped to venture that far into such a dangerous region as they only specialize in extracting information from people and not investigating uncharted territories."
"Well, I suppose that''s to be expected. After all, exploration of dangerous territories was one the the reasons why the Hunter Guilds were formed."
Indeed, even for the Great Five, the exploration of the vast demon continent was quite an expensive endeavor. Hence why they could tolerate the existence of the three Associations.
"Then, gentlemen, do you have any further questions?"
"When you say ''Farbelt Pass,'' where exactly do you mean in there? After all, the pass is quite extensive and will be impossible to search within a short time frame."
"Well ording to the report, it''s a ce only a few hour''s walk from the east entrance to the Pass. There are steeper cliffs andrger hills along the line, the mine being located in one of therger caves. Is that urate Mr. Lix."
After reading off the file, Willow''s gaze sudden shifted onto Tyler as she asked coldly with an oppressive stare.
"That''s correct."
Without hesitation, Tyler offered up a simple reply as the room went deathly silent for a moment before Severus asked.
"So, I suppose I understand the city''s interest in finding the lost Hunters or rather, the Royal Knights, and finding out what happened to them especially with the King of the Pass incipient recovery. So, ...I''d like to ask, why have you brought so many Top ranked Magicians on board for just one Devil? Is there going to be apetition of some sort?"
"He''s got a point. Rank 5 Magicians can deal with a single devil and sending in so many teams at once will only draw the attention of the King of the Pass and may just well be the intensions of the devil to begin with. So I have no idea why you''ve gathered so many Rank 7''s for this. Including your personal guards, Lord Nullen, that seems to be an overkill."
Seizing the opportunity to showcase her worth, Te added to Severus thoughts as though she could read his mind. Her questions ignoring Willow as they were directed straight at the City lord himself.
"Well the answer for that is rtively simple: it is simply because that Devil is believed to be very powerful."
Chapter 354 C354. Arch Devil?
Before Nullen could even muster up a response giving as he was eager to speak for a while now, someone suddenly interrupted him and answered with all seriousness.
Everyone looked at Ivan in surprise as he interrupted.
"A very powerful Devil?¡"
"Could it be you''re trying to say that the opposition is a high-ranked Devil¡ the Devil Lord ''Moloc'' who was mentioned in the Saga of the Ancient Gods? Please... there''s no way, you are joking right?"
Te strongly refused to believe anything so Ludacris. After all, a Devil Lord was a being only etched in legends. A being capable of going toe to toe with gods should not be mentioned here so casually.
"We do not know if the enemy is indeed a Devil Lord or an Arch Devil, but ording to the Hunters'' report, the devil appeared to have been territorial about a hidden underground cavern that housed an incredibly rare mineral this city must obtain at all cost."
They had nothing to say. The stiff looks on their faces spoke for them. Everything seems to be clear after hearing those words from Willow.
"So that''s why the city is so interested in amon Gold mine."
"Indeed."
Although the consensus was slowly viinizing the city, Nullen didn''t seem to care much about that as their intentions did not affect the nobles. It was understandable why they would all have reserves of going to a ce where arge capable group of Hunters and merchants had gone missing not too long ago.
"As per the devil. We do not know its exact strength but divination from our investigation department shows that it is not a devil lord. Which is why we''ve decided to send you all in. To reassure your safety as Aur had done with his Guards, I''ll also be sending three of my personal guards to apany you."
''Three of the huh?''
Everyone''s expression went somber as they stared at each other withplicated feelings on the matter. None of them could respond to that statement and their initial confidence in the matter didn''t seem to be as absolute as it once was.
"Now then, with this situation in mind, I would like to ask you Magicians: are you confident in eliminating this creature? If not¡ well, then how about asking the Zorak family''s Elders for help?"
The Zorak family''s elders were beings beyond the level of even Rank 9 Magicians. Their strength was something that could not beprehended easily by people like them.
However, Ivan immediately shot that proposal down.
"There is no need to go to such extent against a single Devil. As the Hunter Guild leader, I am aware of the state of my guild members'' living status through the means of their Hunter bracelets. I wouldn''t be revealing this to you all if I wasn''t already aware that you can sense the spell that was embedded in your badge yourselves."
"And here I thought I was being too paranoid."
Te finally spoke up after being abolished earlier only for everyone to ignore her once more as they considered what Ivan had just admitted to they all turned their gaze to observe the reaction of Lix and Lilith.
Everyone here was strong enough to sense the hidden spell in both the magician''s badge and Hunter''s bracelets. This was a life-sensory spell that could be used as a location spell.
The spell hidden deep within the item could ry the wearer''s information back to a certain location. Allowing for ess to the wearer''s current living status as well as location.
However, this spell was usually dormant within the item and would only be activated when the wearer''s safety was in question to locate their body if possible, else, no one aware of this fact would willingly keep these items on their person.
This was also why they had turned to Lix and Lilith to see if they were already aware of this information. Giving as they were only a party of Rank 2 Magicians. However, there wasn''t even an ounce of worry on Ivan''s face.
This was because, neither he nor Riokar had believed for a second, that he was incapable of sensing such a basic spell despite how well it was hidden and they were, of course, correct as neither Lix nor Lilith had reacted to Ivan''s words.
"Let us continue."
??????????
¡ªStill in one of the Meeting rooms located in the Winged City''s Lord''s miniature Castle.
The meeting between the city lord himself, the leaders of two of the threergest organizations in the city alongside the leaders of the highest ranked Magicians party in the city, with the exception of a single Rank 2 Magician Party, continued their discussions after their main objective had been stated by Willow.
"Let us continue. The ideal solution would be to recruit orichalcum and Adamantine-ranked Hunters for this. No offense; but I''d prefer the aid of these professional Hunters who are versed in exploration rather than our Lord''s personal guards. No matter how strong they turn out to be."
Severus voiced his concerns which seems to be legitimate concerns as Hunters, despite their ranks were more experienced in the field of exploring new territories and had a higher survivability rate inparison to Magicians from the various magic institute.
However,
"That would be giving up the advantage, don''t you think?"
"That is the best possible solution to the worst-case scenario. Need I remind you that our foe may be capable of leaving that cavern given the right motivation? If that happens, devils are incredible tempter and they could amass a fearsome army in only a few months."
"I¡ I don''t want to imagine the terror facing such a fearsome and cunning foe would entail¡"
Thanks to the presence of Hunter''s guild as well as the Magician''s guild, who regrly epted the various cities'' permanent quests to aid the city''s forces in clearing out the monsters around. No city has been raided by monsters in over 500 years.
However, if such an intellectual creature was to escape what may as well be its prison because of them, it could be very much a disaster for their city. Or even the world as they know it.
"...But, isn''t that the more reason why the Lord''s personal guards would be preferable than mere orichalcum ranked Hunters? From what I can see, they are far stronger than most."
"Well, strength isn''t necessarily what we need here. It would be one thing if it was just defeating the devil, but that''s not it. In this case, there I''d the constant threat of encountering a wounded drake and when faced with both the King of the Pass and a Devil, I don''t think their strength would do us much good in that situation."
"Hmm... you might be right. While escaping might not be a problem for us, that risks the possibility of allowing the devil to escape into the city. Who knows how much chaos it could cause by its presence alone."
"Indeed..."
After being quiet for a while now, Nullen suddenly felt that these Magicians appear to be getting the wrong idea about something.
"Please do not worry about the city. If you will be fine with just the Hunters helping them my guards will take care of the city in case of an emergency. Besides, you''ve greatly underestimated the capabilities of my personal guards. Be assured, I leave you in good hands."
"I see, please ept our apologies then. With that settled, that just leaves..."
"Well, in lieu of that, what do you think of everyone just deploying together?"
The magicians promptly shot down the Merchant guild leader''s proposal.
"I doubt that would be possible. In order to work as closely as that, we''ll need to craft intricate battle ns, but the moreplex the n, the more likely it will go awry when something unexpected urs. Rather than risk that it would be better to not work together and just operate independently. Speaking of which, aside from the existence of this precious mineral, do we know the reason why that Devil appeared there and what it is up to?"
"That''s true. There is no reason why the devil would be protecting a few precious metals given how intelligent and cunning they tend to be."
"My guess is, it''s preparing a ritual."
"A ritual?"
"Yes. Although I''m not sure what it''s for, given the details of the information and its current location, I''m guessing it''s using the energy from those metals to power aplicated Magic circle. For all we know, it might be trying to summon its master to this ne and has already obtained a living host."
Everyone fell eerily silent.
"Do you think that''s why so many of the Hunters are still alive? That maybe it has only captured them to increase its chances for its master''s selection of a host."
"That may be."
"How despicable."
"...Let''s leave that aside for now. It''s great that we have confirmation that most of our hunters are safe. Unfortunately, there appears to be a very high possibility that the merchants, miners, and Royal knights have already met their end with something that may be equally as dangerous as the devil. Our scouts were unable to locate any signs of them within the Pass."
"Something equal to a high-ranked devil? I take it you mean the King of the Pass. If that''s the case then there are several ways of avoiding a confrontation with that beast."
"Still, it''s really hard to do anything without any concrete information. We really should investigate that cave!"
The opinions of everyone present gradually began shifting in favor of that extremely sensible proposal.
? The presence of the possible high-ranked devil that was suspected to be an Arch-Devil was a huge conundrum that ces the lives of any scout they sent into the cave in danger.
Such a task would mean instant death, the devil was still located in that cavern. Moreover, the trip to the hidden cavern also poses a humongous threat on its own.
Also, such a cause of action would be very bad for Tyler if it came to pass.
He currently had no idea what had happened to those Hunters but luckily for him, a majority of them were still alive. If he had known things would escte so quickly in this direction when he had decided to summon that spirit to y the part of a devil back then, he probably wouldn''t have done it.
He hadn''t fully understood Magic as he did now so he knew that he had left a trace of his identity behind when he had left that summoned creature there.
While such a minor trace was not enough to expose him fully as the demon lord of the Darknar family, it still had the potential to destroy the identity of Lix which had be increasingly vital to the survival of the Darknar family who possesses minimal influence outside the Darknar region. A problem he aimed to fix with the current trade talks with smaller ruling-ss noble households.
Although allowing the identity of Lix to be dragged into the politics of the Darknar region was a shame ad its original purpose was to escape the chains of being a ruler as well as exploring the continent with a certain level of freedom no longer essible to his role as w Demon Lord.
Nheless, Tyler could not allow anyone else to enter that cavern before him and he surely needed to get to those Hunters before anyone else could.
Tyler desperately tried to think of a way to guide the situation in a more favorable direction.
In the end, there was only one way to avoid exposing his identity.
Lix gulped ¡ª though his mouth at the moment waspletely dried up and thus, there was nothing for him to swallow ¡ª he then said:
"To begin with, you are mistaken. That Arch Devil has nothing to do with the Chao Lord, Moloc."
Chapter 355 C355. Lixs Reasoning
This was the first time the mysterious merchant known as Lix had spoken so suddenly beside the asional response he made after being addressed by someone.
Everyone''s expression turned to that of interest as they all shifted their gazes simultaneously to look at the man whose face was once again hidden behind the shadows of his hood.
"Why is that, Mr. Lix? Do you know something about this?"
Riokar asked that question with regard to Lix''s previous statement concerning the Green-eyed devil they were discussing. Everyone''s attention had already been piqued by that single statement and even the city lord and his personal guards could not help waiting for him to speak in anticipation.
"Not particrly. However, I do know its description does not match that of any of the servants of Moloc because I have encountered all of them."
"What!?"
The air shuddered.
Tyler''s brain spun into overdrive as he formted a perfect strategy with the guidance of Uriel. With that, the main event was only just about to begin.
"You mean to tell us you''vee face to face with multiple Arch Devils and lived. Ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous."
No of the Magicians could bring themselves to so easily believe those words and even Nullen''s personal guards were finding it hard to swallow.
To begin with, none of them had ever met a devil in the first ce so they understood just how rare they were in this current day. So just how could one man im to have not only met a Devil Lord but also several Arch Devil as well?
Safe to say, anyone, not a Demigod has no chance of surviving an encounter with a Devil Lord so just how could just one demon and his partner survive such a thing?
"Indeed I have. I''ve alsoe in contact with Moloc himself, although he was heavily restricted by its weak vessel and an iplete summoning at the time and none of its three top lieutenants serving him could operate in this ne while the summoning ritual was in process."
"Oh... Still, Mr. Lix, I must admit this is a little hard to believe. That''s a Devil Lord we''re talking about. Are you absolutely sure it wasn''t a different devil?"
"Absolutely. That was indeed the Chaos Lord, Moloc. Even in such a weakened state, it was an extremely powerful Devil that we could not defeat alone. In truth, the reason I sort the rmendation letter of the merchant guild to join the Magic institute was to collect information about how to defeat them. Which is why I do not believe this green-eyed devil is rted to those monsters at all."
With perfect control of every cell in his body, the subtle movements of Lix became wless as they seamlessly sold the lies he was so confidently spewing out of his mouth.
As such, not even the demigod-level prince of the Zorak family had found any fault in anything he had said.
"When you said defeat, you mean to tell us you and yourrades fought and defeated a weakened Devil Lord and its servants?''"
"No, that would be ridiculous. Those servants could not operate in this ne until they hadpletely finished summoning their master so we only had to deal with the weakened Devil Lord."
''That, would be ridiculous??''
Those words ran through most of their minds but none of them had voiced their thoughts as they knew he was right but couldn''t help but feel embarrassed by getting so caught up in his flow.
"I''m sure everyone here is aware that a Devil lord surely possess a horde of minions serving under them, besides its top lieutenants."
"Indeed that''s correct."
"What I''ve learned is that these minions can be used as a catalyst in locating their lords as their entire being is bound to it the moment they pledge their loyalty. This is why a low-ranked devil can''t defy or betray its master."
"Is that the case?"
"So what! What the hell does that have to do with the current situation!?"
Of course, the one who had so rudely interrupted was none other than Te who was getting increasingly more frustrated as the atmosphere seems to flow ording to the pace Lix decided.
"This will be yourst warning Te. Interrupt us again and there will be no second chance."
"Why yo¡ª tsk."
The words were immediately stuck in her throat as she click her tongue and fell silent once again.
The City''s lord smiled gently and nodded slowly, and as Ivan saw this he bit his lip and looked intently at Lix. As did everyone else including the Lord''s four personal guards.
The air in the room immediately became stale as the pressure from so many powerful beingbined at an intensity that could even kill a normal man.
With his current rank within the guild and his original n to maintain a mid-rank within the guild, Tyler would''ve at least pretended to be bothered by this level of pressure but everything had suddenly changed.
He no longer needed to maintain a low profile within the city as he had already failed at that on his first day.
Such a thing was no longer meaningful to him as he could aplish so much more with a higher status within the guild than with just a VIP Merchant license.
Not to mention, he now had a city he needed to support with resources from all over the demon continent. Paragon city couldn''t continue relying solely on one of the resources from the Darknar region forever.
With that in mind, Lix casually brushed the insane pressure aside with a brusqueness that would brook no interference and continued:
"I believe this green-eyed devil is also a minion of the Chaos lord."
" Wait what? I thought you just said you believe that the devil had nothing to do with Moloc. Was that a lie?"
"I knew it. Fufufu..."
A smile finally appeared on Te''s face as she said that. Seemingly delighted to see Lix embarrassingly contradict himself. If one didn''t already know the ugliness that exists behind such a smile one would almost find her smile to be charming. However¡ª
"That was not a lie and there was a reason for my particr choice of words."
The smile on Te''s facepletely disintegrated as the room seem to have returned to Lix''s control.
"Bullshit!"
Ignoring Te''s remark, everyone seriously focused on the words that came out of Lix''s mouth next.
"The reason I said that the devil has no connection with Moloc is simple. I have a skill that allows me to sense the very nature of Mana essence and having met the Chaos Lord and its minions personally, I can tell you the difference between demons and devils."
Magic Perception or Magic sense was not exactly an umon skill and it was rtively easy to learn. However, there weren''t that many people amongst the elites that could use it as precisely as he could so iming its effect were the result of a unique skill was not hard to believe.
"Normally one would think a skill like that wasn''t useful. who would''ve guessed it woulde in handy at a time like that."
Without even questioning his words, everyone simply epted them as fact. After all, while unique skills weren''tmon, they weren''t exactly a rare thing as the majority of them usually turns out to be quite useless and weak.
Sensing no doubt from anyone here, Lix continued without a pause.
"Indeed. For instance, while demons are creatures of flesh and blood that absorb mana into our mana body to strengthen us. Devils are truly beings of pure energy and that energy changespletely whenever they pledge themselves to a stronger being. They tend to take on attributes from that being. However, when I sensed the presence of the Green-eyed devil in that mine, there was almost nothing there."
Mixing the truth with a few lies made his story more believable than Lix could''ve ever predicted. It was true that Devil was beings made up entirely of energy. However, that energy never changes simply by swearing loyalty to another being as he had observed from Azalea and Moloc.
It was true that a connection that cannot be broken is formed automatically as though bounding their souls together. But unless the stronger devil grants its minions a portion of its powers, they do not adopt any attributes from their master.
"Almost?"
Ivan''s sharp ears had picked up a word from Lix''s sentence that intrigued him. He then repeated the word in a questioning tone, bringing a slight smile to Lix''s hidden face.
"Yes. Hence why I said this devil has nothing to do with Moloc. While it''s clear there is a connection between this devil and a stronger entity, I believe this devil has been trapped in that cavern for almost as long as it had been unexplored."
Without having toplete his line of reasoning, everyone here including Te could easily understand what he had meant by that now.
"I see, so after being isted from its master for what could be a few millenniums now, its connection with whomever that is must''ve weakened considerably by now and the likelihood of them already being forgotten is extremely high."
That was easily the most likely exnation for why a devil would be territorial in such a ce. Given that the said cavern was sealed off inside of a Grade 3 Mine, there was no telling how long it would''ve been stuck there, giving Tyler a lot of leeways to exin the situation as it best benefits him.
"That''s correct. There is a high possibility this devil is also a minion of the Chaos Lord that has been forgotten and may be trying to return to the Underworld to seek its master or worse summon it here into a new vessel. It was why I had joined the guild moments after my return to the city and only left to begin preparations for its elimination."
"So that''s why you returned to the Far East so abruptly."
With one fell swoop Uriel had guided the conversation into a reasonable exnation for why he had been forced to return to the castle during Mammon''s unexpected attack.
"Indeed. I understand your intentions now. So what''s your n then?"
With that, no one could depute the fact that Lix and his party were the most knowledgeable in this mission and as such, may even be the most well-equipped and well-prepared to handle the mission.
Lix was well aware of the reason four separate Magicians parties were present here today. it was clear each of them had received the same personal quest as he did. However, he had no intentions of working with any more liabilities, to say the least.
He had a separate goal from anyone else and couldn''t afford to be restricted by any of them, especially by the members of Nullen''s personal guards, who he had insisted on them escorting them during the mission in case they required backup.
However, Tyler knew the only reason Nullen would insist on such a thing was because he wanted to keep an eye on the Magicians. Hench, getting them to stay behind would be impossible. However, the only thing he truly needed was a head start, after all, there was no such opponent as a Green-eyed Devil, to begin with.
"Our n is simple. My team will handle the reconnaissance into the cavern as we''re already familiar with the terrain. If we find the Devil there, we will y it on the spot and collect its essence in order to track its master as well as any more of its servants."
With an all-epassing confidence, dered theteing Rank 2 Magician.
Chapter 356 C356. 5th-Tier Mage
¡ªWinged city.
Situated in the city''s lord castle. In a private meeting room on the first floor.
Ten figures sat around a long silver table as they all stared at the hooded demon sitting at the far end of the table as he spoke thosest words.
Though they could not see his face, they could feel the confidence and determination brimming in his voice.
The air filled with a pressure which might have been mistaken for rumbling, and the sigh which followed made everyone think they had made the sound.
Amongst the group sitting here, only the Lord of this city, the childlike Nullen, sat leisurely with a strange smile on his face.
Faced with the strange atmosphere that had ovee the pressure of these powerhouses, Riokar had no choice but to find a way to break the tension as he began addressing the other teams.
"Then, ah, the other teams will¡ª"
"¡ªAren''t needed. Their presence will only serve to slow me down given as we have never worked together before."
"What!?"
With a gentle wave of his arm, he waved off all opposition to Riokar''s suggestion even before he had even gotten a chance to voice it.
His sudden arrogance hadpletely stumped and surprised everyone here aside from Nullen, who seemed to have expected this rather sudden turn of events. After all, he was the one responsible for issuing the private quest to everyone. So naturally, one would expect a level of resistance from him yet there was none.
However, Lix''s sudden gesture was not a wise one, not among fellow magicians of equivalent rank much less when one was a couple of ranks below theirpanions.
However ¡ª all the Magicians here including the four personal guards were elites even amongst their peers, and have ovee the odds of countless life-and-death struggles to rise to the top in such a gruesome continent.
Therefore, they could sense that Lix''s attitude was not born of recklessness, narcissism, or a demon''s pride, but had been coldly, carefully calcted after a careful analysis of the situation. This decision seems to have been made even before he had attended this meeting today so clearly, he must believe himselfpletely prepared for it.
At the same time, this also proved their suspicions of the hidden strength of the VIP merchants Lix and Lilith.Not that anyone besides Te had doubted him after being invited here by the city lord himself.
It felt as though his figure was growing before their eyes, and the pressure they felt made them imagine that the room itself was shrinking.
They could sense that this demon was someone they could not so easilyprehend, the mysteries that surround him only seems to be growing by the second and they could not keep their eyes off him.
For whatever reason, they felt their selves shrinking before his person. There was no doubt in their mind, that this man, was capable of standing amongst even the highest-ranking Magicians on the continent.
Nullen''s smile only widened as his mind confirmed his thoughts. He knew there wasn''t a chance in the world that his mother would take interest in any ordinary merchant so this flow of events was more or less what he had expected given his observation on Lix.
Ivan choked his words back, and then took several deep breaths. In fact, everyone besides Nullen and his guards was doing the same.
In a quieter voice, as though whispering into Lix''s ear, Ivan asked:
"¡ªI take it you would require a revised payment if you''re to handle this alone, right?"
"That is indeed a factor. However, as a VIP merchant, I do not particrly care about the marypensation so I am open to discussing that after the job is done, so after this incident is resolved¡ and the devil is taken care of. I expect to be promoted to the 8th rank at the very least. That would make it more convenient for me when I track down its master and any other of Moloc''s servants because it will be inconvenient for me if I don''t have ess to the full resource of the magic institute."
Although they had all expected such an answer, everyone beside Nullen still gasped in realization.
While Hunters and magicians did not work for cities or regions, this city did not have any 8th ranked Hunter or Magician at the moment. If they became one of the highest-ranked Magicians in this city, everybody would know their names. Not that they weren''t already the most popr Merchants in the city already.
However, this would more than increase their fame within the city as their names would be spread across the continent and people would bring them more dangerous quests. Allowing them to gain useful information from all across the continent as they track down the Chaos Lord and its minions."
However, as everyone seem to nod with understanding; there was someone here whose heart refused to ept this, even if she had already been persuaded on an intellectual level.
A chair screeched, and as all eyes went to the source of the sound ¡ª needless to say, it was Te, who had been hectoring Tyler all this while.
"What nonsense is this! The 8th Rank you say? That is not something that can be handed over to just anyone and I can''t bring myself to believe in your so-called strength when I''m yet to see any concrete evidence of it. Be-Besides, it''s still not clear if that Devil is as strong as an Arch Devil or not, after all, we only have the words of some low-ranked Hunters and yourself. Who''s to say y''all didn''t just make this shit up just so you can be rewarded for it. Even defeating those Hunters can be aplished by anyone with a Magic or Cursed artifact. My team is going with you!"
The reason why Te could still muster up her opposition to Lix despite being shaken to the core by Nullen''s warning was purely because of her hostility towards him and his refusal to acknowledge her very existence.
Her heartpletely full of frustration from not even being spared a second nce as though she was nothing more than a bug before him.
Such tant disrespect to his superior was not something she could tolerate any longer and so, those words had slipped out of her mouth. However, that was undoubted, a bad idea giving her already bad reputation in the room.
At the next moment, her fellow Magicians who did not approve of her attitude. Severus spoke in a barbed tone:
"Te, that tone of yours is¡ª"
"¡ªMs. Te."
Those coldly calm words had immediately shut Severus up as the air in the roompletely changed and everyone began to sweat.
The words had originated from the lips of the city''s lord as his previous childlike expression was nowhere to be found. His eyes narrowed and cold as it sent chills down their backs.
"Remember what I told you."
Te''s mind went nk for a full second before suddenly booting again as she began to stutter through her words.
"I-I d-do. B-but, t-this is not¡ª"
"Ms. Te. I''ll advise you to quickly walk out of this room and leave this castle."
"Eh¡ª"
"Are you deaf?"
"What! You can''t do this! I''m one of the three highest-ranked Magicians in this city. I even outranked the greatest Hunters. You can''t afford to lose me¡ª"
"You have 30 seconds toply, else forfeit your life. This is not a request."
"Why¡ª that''s..."
"Ms. Te! Lord Nullen has given you a direct order. Utter another word in defiance and you''ll lose your head."
In an instant, a de had already been drawn and was now resting on Te''s neck before she could evenprehend the current situation and forcing her words back down her throat.
Such a vast disparity in strength between the four personal guards and the Magicians hadpletely stunned the others in the room before they could even think about what was happening to Te.
With her life now in the hands of another, Te grumbled internally as she clicked her tongue and silently stood up from her seat before leaving the room.
An awkward silence ruled over the room after the doors shut behind Te for a moment and just as the tension built in the air, Ivan ¡ª who had calmed down a little ¡ª asked Lix:
"Allow me to apologize on behalf of my fellow Magicians. However, It''s all well and good to be confident, but Te did drive home a good point. Is there any basis for that confidence? I''m aware of how strong you and your teammate are, but surely you must know that an arch-devil is not an opponent to be trifled with."
Nodding his head in agreement with his fellow guild master, Riokar continued. It was safe to say they could not only afford to lose the missing Hunters and Merchants, but in the worst-case scenario, they would at least need to take possession of the Grade 3 Mine before any other city can offer a im to it for any reason.
"Indeed. We also know very little about your strength personally. So frankly speaking, we''re not sure if we can leave everything to you either. If¡ if for some reason you''re defeated, we need to think about what to do after that, perhapse up with a contingency n..."
Without skipping a beat, Tyler replied:
"I understand your worries. However, such worries are pointless."
"Why''s that."
"I''ve spent a long time preparing for such a situation and naturally, We''ve collected a plethora of useful Magic items specifically for the elimination of devils. Besides, I''m also capable of using 5th-tier Magic."
"What!? What did you just say!?"
The faces of even Ivan and Riokar¡ª who understood the extent of the hidden mysteries under that hood¡ª distorted weirdly as they heard those words.
They were also not the only ones to experience such strong emotions of shock and disbelief. As even the very confident Four guards were at a loss for words. To think there was someone else in the room capable of rivaling them in strength, how surprising.
"You mean to tell us, you''re already a 5th-tier mage. Or are you just referring to your potential?"
*Click.
As the Magicians struggle to grasp thest possible lifeline to exin such a situation. The man known as Lix casually tapped his right pinky finger on therge magically reinforced table in the room and activated a spell.
"elerated Decay."
Within moments, the bronze table that had been reinforced by Magic to withstand the asional wrath of powerful being instantly decayed and was reduced to dust before their very eyes.
"I hope this is proof enough."
Chapter 357 C357. 7th Rank Quest.
"elerated Decay."
*Click... *Crumble...
"I hope this is proof enough."
Lix asked nonchntly after watching the table fall easily to the cursed spell he had learned from the mind of the body Moloc was currently possessing.
As his goal was to attain a level of recognition while remaining mysterious, that spell seemed like the best option given its level of rarity was the perfect amount.
With that, his gaze swept through the room, hoping to gauge everyone''s reaction and prepare the perfect response to any questions they might have.
The roompletely fell silent as everyone stared at the Adamantine-lined table that was also magically reinforced and should be able to easily withstand the force of a typical Rank 7 Magician, as it rapidly crumbled to dust right before their eyes.
The expression on their faces was filled with surprise and astonishment as they struggled to process the information they had just witnessed with their eyes. Frankly speaking, this was something they all already suspected about Lix, yet, seeing it being so casually disyed to them hadpletely thrown them for a loop.
Severus couldn''t help but shake his head as he could only imagine the expression Te would''ve had if she was still here to bear witness to this. He reckoned this was enough to push her to the very edge so perhaps kicking her out was a good thing in the long run.
Despite how damaging that was to her reputation as a rank 7 Magician.This might''ve been much worse as a reputation was at least salvageable, her pride, on the other hand, might''ve never recovered. Ignorance was indeed bliss.
After ncing at everyone''s faces to make sure they were all back to normal, Ivan gently stroked his long white beard as he decided to formalize the request on behalf of the three organizations.
Normally, this task would''ve been left to the Guild Leader of the Magic Guild, Syphilia¡ª to handle as Lix was receiving this quest as a member of the Magic guild and not as a merchant.
However, given as she was currently absent from this meeting, he had naturally stepped up as her representative given as he was the strongest leader of the three organizations present here, as well as the oldest.
"...Then, Mr. Lix, we''ll be leaving everything to you if that''s alright."
Safe to say the other two Rank 7 Magicians party leaders in the room did not have a problem with this oue. After all, a Tier 5 Mage was an incredibly rare urrence in this world.
With the Vice Guild Leader of the magic institute being only at the intermediate Tier 4 standard, not even they had reached that level yet this man had not only imed to be one, but he had also even casually disyed a 5th Tier spell to boot.
It was one thing to have reached even the Basics of the 5th Tier as one would gain an absurd boost from their mana body alone, let alone be able to learn the incredibly difficult andplicated spells written in unreadable runes that make it almost impossible to draw out the magic circle and understand how to activate it.
Yet, seated before them was a genius capable of doing just that. There was no way any of them would be able to keep up with his party. Hence why they had both remained silent despite missing the opportunity for an instant promotion. A chance almost anyone at the guild would jump at matter the cost.
However,
Lix nodded confidently in response to Ivan''s humble submission. As the three organizations agreed unanimously to leave everything to him.
"I understand."
Then, he shifted his gaze to the child seated at the head of the table and spoke. While he had sessfully gotten rid of any interference from the magic guild, there was still the issue with the city''s lord''s personal guards to deal with.
He also could openly reject the Lord''s offer straight up, which was why Uriel had prepared a series of options for him and Tyler chose the simplest way.
"We''ll be moving out as soon as possible given as all our preparations have already beenpleted. Besides, any further dys would likely increase the chances of the Devilpleting its ritual with the remaining survivors."
"Hmm... that makes sense. I suppose there''s no longer a need for my guards to apany you there is there? Although their assistant will not affect your rewards."
"There is no need to bother yourself with my safety. It will be faster transversing to the Farbelt Pass without any extra weight on my carriage."
"Extra weight?"
All four of Nullen''s guards furrowed their brows at that statement as their auras red up rapidly and instantly suppressed the room. However, it didn''t seem as though Lix or even Lilith ¡ª who was supposed to be weaker ¡ª was even slightly bothered by the pressure.
To think someone aside from the Elders of the Zorak family would ever dare to consider them as nothing more than extra weight. Such insolent attitude was unheard of even though they knew he had only been referring to their actual body mass weighing down his carriage and slowing down his travel speed.
Lix didn''t bother to pay attention to the four as thoughpletely denying their presence just as he had done with Ral at the merchant guild.
This grant disrespect caused anger to re up within the four but before any of them could burst into a childish outburst of rage, not unlike that of the Magician Te, Nullen''s words immediately calmed them down.
"So that''s a no. That''s fine then. I look forward to hearing the results of your quest soon. And for your sake, I hope you don''t disappoint me."
"Understood."
The eyes of everyone in the room rested on Lix with varying expressions on their faces. Lix didn''t bother to extend the conversation any further as he deemed the meeting over and returned his gaze to the others in the room.
"Then, we shall set out immediately. I hope everyone else will defend the city. If the Devil has trulypleted its ritual to summon its master and I missed it, I do not wish to return to a destroyed city."
His intentions were clear for all to read as there was no hidden meaning behind that statement as far as they could tell. This only goes to show how even someone like him was wary of the devil''s true nature till the very end.
"Well, I can''t say there won''t be any problems, but you can leave it to us. If you meet any danger, I pray you will fall back immediately."
Lix nodded as he stood up, apanied by Lilith, and left the room.
??????????
After a few minutes of some awkward silence then idle chatter. The other magicians said their goodbyes and exited the room as well.
In the end, there were only four people left in the room; Nullen, his second inmand, Willow, Ivan, and Riokar, who currently had a proud expression on his face with a smug smile to the booth.
"You seem to be quite pleased with yourself for some reason Riokar."
"Ah, forgive me for my insolence my lord. I am simply d the situation is finally getting resolved. Unfortunately, it appears my merchants have all met their end on this trip so I am d Mr. Lix is a part of my organization."
"It is indeed truly rare for such a powerful person to be a member of the Merchant guild. I had tried to even recruit him for myself but he had only chosen to join the Magic guild instead. Not that I''mining."
"I see. Was his revtion truly that impressive to you?"
"Surely you jest my lord. I''m sure you know that a tier-five mage is equal in the might of a true demon lord of a low-ranking noble family. One that is capable of governing his own region if I may add."
"And for a being like that to be part of a Merchant organization is outstanding."
Despite their enthusiastic exnation, Nullen''s face appeared as innocently confused as it did in the beginning. It was understandable that a Demigod like him was probably not aware that even Tier 5 nobles were considered Demon Lords in this day and age.
Still, even being aware that Lix was at the same level as a Demon Lord, Nullen didn''t feel like it was enough to warrant such a level of excitement from the two guild leader so he had to ask.
"Why is that?"
"Well my lord, you see, the merchant guild is usuallypromised of silver-tongued salesmen or traders as the ability to buy and sell goods while making a reasonable profit from each transaction are the most sort out qualities of a true merchant. While here in the demon continent, a bit of strength to survive in the wilderness is advised, that''s not a requirement."
"So that''s it."
Nullen easilyprehend where the Merchant guild Leader wasing from given the current state of the Merchant guild as the weakest member of the three organizations.
"Indeed, this is why the merchant guild relies on the two other organizations to function anywhere outside the city''s borders. So, for a merchant capable of traversing the wilderness on his own to join the guild, this in itself creates a vast amount of lucrative opportunities for us. The next part will be if Mr. Lix would consider opening a tradingpany under the guild."
"I see, such apany would be able to bring in a vast amount of rare material from over the continent and the profits from that would only be shared with the merchant guild as the two organizations would be left out of the process. Plus, with such a reliablepany in town, even members from the two organizations would be making use of thepany''s resources sometimes. Allowing the merchant guild to profit from the other guild for the first time."
"My lord, your intellect is truly outstanding."
"Indeed. You''re a hundred percent correct. Such a tradingpany would improve the guild''s standings amongst the other organizations. But more than that, the presence of such apany would no doubt increase the trade traffic of WingedCity. And in turn, increasing the other guild''s revenue as a whole."
"That exins why the two of you seem to hold him in such high regard. It''s impressive that a single individual is capable of affecting an entire city to this extent. How fascinating."
Nullen rxed his shoulders as he sank back into his seat with a satisfied expression on his face. He could easily see how the fate of this city had suddenly be tied with a single individual''s whims but at this point, there wasn''t much he could do to change that.
"Lord Nullen. If he really has so much influence on this city as a VIP merchant. Is it really okay to let him handle this quest alone? The original n had been to send all three parties of Rank 7 magicians at once."
Willow asked in a soft tone that made the others think her intentions lie in the safety of Lix and hispanion. However, Nullen could read the undertone in her words as he simply smirked and responded.
"This is fine too. We can just use this as an excuse to request aid from the headquarters. There''s no need in spreading this city''s already dwindled defenses even further by sending any more force at this problem."
"If you say so."
Willow didn''t press on further as she epted Nullen''s response and returned to her previous calm demeanor.
"Well then my lord, if that''s all, we will now be taking our leave."
"That is epted. You''ve both done well in educating me on the workings of this city. You have my thanks."
"It was our honor. For a pure-blooded noble prince like yourself to seek the advice of usmon folks, there''s no way we could possibly decline that."
"You tter me too much. It''s always a good thing to seek the advice of your elders."
"Right."
"Well then, we bid you farewell, my lord."
Chapter 358 C358. Mike
Tyler''s carriage sped through the streets as they head towards the west borough.
His hood did very little in protecting his face from the cold breeze as he felt the wind bounce off his skin. Normally, such high-pressured wind would prevent any normal person from keeping their eyes open, however, that did little to bother his eyes as he maintained a steady expression as the carriage sped up even more.
Looking down, he saw the paved road flying past them beneath the carriage, as though he was currently seated on a modern vehicle from earth. He did not know if it was because he was close to the ground or because of some other reason, but it felt like they were moving faster than they actually were.
Of course, even this speed paled drastically to what he could achieve with his own feet, and even flying would be an overkill. However, moving at near light speed, especially without the use of Magic to infringe on inertia, one would easily cause massive damage to everything around them.
It also required a drastically high level of Mana control to be anywhere beyond light speed else one would fail to interact with the very fabric of space and time itself. Although with Tyler''s Spatial Domination, it was easier for him to exist in a world like that, he didn''t possess any Time maniption skills topletely counter the negatives of moving in that state.
Even moving at supersonic speeds would cause massive shockwaves that would obliterate anything the object pass by so going even faster would easily obliterate an entire city within seconds.
There was also the threat of causing devastating ripples across time and space the closer one approaches the speed of light without any protection from skills or spells.
However, moving at such speeds wasn''t something that could be enjoyed so leisurely hence why the use of carriages was still the most popr form of transportation and the world was slowly headed into the modern age as new forms of transportation and technology was being invented.
Even now, they had passed by a few automobiles or self-drawn carriages along the streets of Royal borough. There were also a lot of exotic beasts pulling fancier carriages than theirs but Tyler didn''t mind the simplicity of his carriage.
He was also quite impressed with how well the six-eyed bull (Mike) stacked up against all these expensive beasts around it. Perhaps if he used his innate ability on Mike he could evolve into something even more amazing than these exotic breasts, but that was something he couldn''t test anywhere near a city rted to the Five Greats.
While Tyler fantasizes about Mike''s possible evolution he seems to be awakening a hidden side to him. One which seems to resemble the ambitions of a beast tamer. To see how far their tame beast could grow.
''How interesting.''
Nadine was currently the one driving the carriage as she held on tightly to the reigns but Tyler was also seated up front even though there were no cargos in the back this time.
He wasn''t sure if he was imagining it but it seems as though the six-eyed bull was taking pride in being their sole mount as most of these other carriages were pulled by at least two monsters and there weren''t that many Magic beasts.
''What an intelligent guy you are Mike. With pride like that, I''m sure you''ll evolve in no time. Next time we''re back in the city, these other creatures won''t have shit on you.''
As though their thoughts had beenmunicated through telepathy, Mike bellowed with excitement as he increased his speed even further. This was the main street and onlyrge carriages were allowed to drive in thisne at high speed but there were still a few carriages on the road.
However, theirrge carriage swiftly moved past the other fancier carriages as though challenging them to a race before leaving them in the dust. Of course, Nadine seems to be having the time of her life showing these overly expensive-looking carriages off.
Seeing these two have so much fun, Tyler couldn''t help but chuckle to himself. Although thest six-eyed bull he had named Mike had met a gruesome fate at the hands of the ColdFire drake, Tyler simply had a good feeling about this one and decided to make him the most powerful mount in the region as he couldn''t use Drago here.
? ''Good boy Mike.''
Tyler nodded his head in satisfaction as he enjoyed the smooth ride through the streets as they headed towards the Runic weapon shop.
While he didn''t need any preparations for the quest, his city still needs a lot of supplies and now that he had gotten some more funds from his earlier sales, he naturally had to restock as much as he could.
Of course, even with so many more fancy carriages present in the city, theirs seems to still garner a lot of attention and most of that was directed at the demi-human seated next to him. After all, their speed naturally reduced when they came upon a minor street.
With an unusually focused expression as she drove, her figure was a dazzling sight, skillfully guiding the gigantic bull as it galloped down the city streets. Herrge single braid swayed gently in the wind, and her brown cape fluttered out behind her.
The way she stillmanded the men''s attention was still a puzzling sight for Tyler but he wasn''t in the best position toment on that.
In contrast, he didn''t get any adoring look as he would get back in the darknar region. Rather, all he received were contemptuous gazes from those same men that couldn''t keep their eyes off Nadine.
Well, if Tyler was being honest, that wasn''tpletely true. After all, it seem he had gained a rather peculiar fan club of some rather odd yet alluring women as he could sense them secretly tailing him with no ill intent yet their expressions continuously sent chills down his spine.
''Damn, this is more than humbling. Are they, some sort of yandere?''
As expected, the poprity he dreaded and maybe enjoyed a little in the Darknar region was abnormal as not many people even paid him attention besides those that seems to be fans of their Magician team which doesn''t have a name yet. And the only fans he managed to pull seem to be from some unstable individuals.
Tyler sighed tiredly as these thoughts ran through his mind. He had been a little worried that his identity as Lix would not be the escape he wanted from the monarch''s life but perhaps he was wrong. Still, what he got now doesn''t seem to be any less stressful than the life of Tyler Fall Darknar.
Although when people recognize their party, they didn''t go nuts just from seeing them and Nadine was the one attracting the bulk of the attention. He still felt worried about these abnormal groups of women tailing them.
While they seem to be rtively harmless now, who knows what they would do if he ever did something they didn''t find worthy of whatever image they had of him. Worst-case scenario, they might even team up with Nadine''s infatuated admirers and spread nasty rumors about him, ruining the precious reputation he was trying to build.
''What a drag.''
With their current pace through the city, they were somehow able to make it to and from the Runic weapon shop within two hours which was a lot longer than Tyler had first imagined.
However, they were quickly able toplete their shopping after cing an order with the shop owner that would be ready within a week. Giving them just enough time toplete the quest before having to be charged any extra for dyed pickup.
Departing the Runic weapon shop, they immediately headed towards the western city''s gate, a journey which took less than half an hour, a time that was more than twice faster than when they had taken a public carriage around.
As their carriage approached the city''s gates, they saw the inspecting guards gging their carriage toe to a halt. Although entrance to Winged city was free, one would naturally be subjected to a rigorous string of inspections before receiving a temporary pass to stay in the city for up to seven days if that person was not already a citizen or part of any of the three organizations which gave that individual easier ess to the city.
While leaving the city was a lot easier than entering. Everyone still had to face a strict and time-consuming inspection process, especially those that did not possess any form of identification from the city to discourage smuggling and other illegal practices.
However, that was only the case for themon folks and an exception was made for a select few. For instance, those who possess high-rank Hunter bracelets or Magician badges as well as VIP merchant licenses.
Lucky for Tyler, he still possessed a VIP merchant license even though he held only a Rank 2 magician badge.
As their carriage came to a halt, the female guard walked over to his side and he simply showed her his license for an unknown reason, the guard''s brows seem to twitch rapidly as she appearedpletely flustered for a moment.
Tyler¡ª a little confused tilted his head slightly to the side but this guard seems to have taken his simple gesture to be that of impatience as she rapidly bowed her head several times in apology.
"Aiek! I''m sorry. I''m so sorry. Please go on ahead master Lix."
"Master?"
Tyler waspletely dumbfounded for a moment. For some reason, this guard seem to be familiar with him but as she had her helmet on right now, he could not recall if he had seen her face and Uriel seems to be ignoring his question as though she didn''t have the time for pointless questions.
''Well, whatever.''
The female guard promptly signaled for his carriage to be allowed through with all due haste so Tyler decided not to dwell in his confusion any longer as it seems his presence was making her ufortable even though she should not be able to feel it.
Nadine on the other hand seemed pleased by this guard''s response. She had been quite annoyed by thest guard that had stopped them during their entrance so this new treatment made her smile.
''Wait... was that the same guard fromst time?''
Such fleeting thoughts were left unanswered in his mind as he could only save his questions for the next time they meet in a week or so.
Sensing the presence of the women that had been tailing them all day remaining within the city, Tyler was d he didn''t need toplicate his situation any further by having to deal with them.
With Nadine in the driver''s seat, the carriage sped through the gates as it headed south in the direction of the Mounta region. They traveled through the main road for about two hours and were preparing to make his usual stop when Tyler suddenly looked forward and saw a group of demons and demoness standing a distance away, with weapons in hand.
They were a team of five people, and they seemed better equipped than the members of the tinum-ranked Hunting party ''Unrivaled'', with whom Lix had traveled with a little over a month ago.
Thinking about that party, Tyler was a bit worried about their well-being after hearing what Severus had said earlier. For some reason, he felt as though their disappearance may have been his fault but he couldn''t imagine why anyone would target such a weak ass party especially after they had already reported the matter with the Grade 3 Gold mine to the City.
''Hmm... I really should try searching for them when I get back. It''ll be bad if they ended up dying because of me.''
Chapter 359 C359. Ambushers
As their carriage drew closer to the five people standing in the middle of the unpaved road, Tyler tucked the matter of Unrivaled into the back of his mind, letting go of hisplicated thoughts concerning that issue, and then studied the appearance of the five who stood in their way from almost a mile away.
They were all mounted on majestic beasts, befitting the ranks that appeared on the badges on their chests.Which was also a massive clue to their identities, proving they were far from beingmon bandits.
Of course, their expensive-looking equipments and exotic mounts were already proven enough to disqualify them as bandits, to begin with.
While Tyler was no beast tamer, nor even a beast expert, he was still able the recognize the value and rarity of their mounts. Four of which appeared to be superior Gray wolves, a variation of the ones found somewhere in the Darknar Forest.
Thest was of a more advanced species that Uriel''s information had its name being a rather rare Twin horned Bengal tiger¡ª which ording to Uriel ¡ª was not a native beast to this area or season.
"Well hello again, how unfortunate for you that we should meet again so soon. I''ll make sure you regret what you''ve cost me."
The one who spoke with an insincere smile on her face was in fact Te ¡ª the leader of the Magician''s Rank 7 party known as "Thunder."
She addressed them rather casually even though they were still quite a distance away and moving at high speeds. However, the wind suddenly fell silent as it carried the sounds of her rather obnoxious voice clearly to their ears like the roar of thunder.
Hearing that voice again so close to his earspletely soured Tyler''s mood as they rapidly approached the five of them. He didn''t particrly care for the character of the so-called Rank 7 Magician and expected her appearance here to be nothing but trouble.
Which was why he had no intentions of stopping his carriage to entertain their foolishness. While he could understand the reasoning behind her actions given how hard she must''ve worked to reach her current rank and status, that still didn''t give her the right to take it out on him when all he had done in that meeting was mind his business.
Perhaps she could learn from his example.
He had once been at the absolute bottom and could empathize with her feelings if she had expressed them like a proper adult. However, that was not the case. Hence why he had chosen not to pay her any attention.Given the rather strange interest of Nullen with him, he would rather not make things moreplicated for him.
"Don''t stop."
Tyler whispered his order to Nadine and she happilyplied. She had already been pissed at the constant jabs Te had been throwing at Lix during the meeting earlier and if it wasn''t for Tyler holding her back, she was already prepared to remove her head.
Naturally, Nadine normally couldn''t just ram their carriage right through the five without consequences. She knew their exotic mounts were particrly chosen for their speed and sturdiness. However, they could not withstand a hit from a Six eyed bull head-on.
This was why she believed they were only baiting her so as to control their direction as their mounts were swift enough to maneuver around them and they would easily surpass the speed of the Six eyed bull to force them to stop.
However¡ª
"Max magic - Haste,
Widened Magic - Protection against projectiles,
Charge and Magic Barrier."
In mere seconds, Nadine quadruple cast several 3rd tier spells that hastened the steps of the six-eyed bull while engulfing the entire carriage with an anti-projectile Magic Barrier as they intended to ram their way through the party known as Thunder.
"Seriously, that''s your n! What a coward! I knew someone like you doesn''t deserve to be given this quest. What a joke."
Running her mouth as usual, Te mocked the decision of Lix when she noticed their carriage wasn''t slowing down at all and was rather picking up speed, clearly about to ram them through.
"Don''t let them pass!"
Addressing the members of her party, everyone seem to reluctantly draw their weapons as it seems they were a little confused about why they were currently ambushing the most popr merchant group in the city.
Two of her party members appear to be a type of archer with another being a pure mage like Te and thest being a fighter like the Vice guild leader of the Magic guild, Kal.
However, as Rank 7 members of the Magic institute, it seems every single one of them was capable of using Magic despite their appeared ss.
"Giant FIREBALL!"
"Sunburst"
"Chain Lightning!"
"Thousand Cascading Arrows!"
"Curse Wave!"
Each personunched their own spells at the approaching carriage as every single one of their spells was befitting of the high rank within the Magic guild. With each of them being powerful enough to reduce the entire Magic carriage to dust.
As expected, with the release of their spells came to the loud shattering sounds of ss as the Magic barrier Nadine had cast around the carriage was instantly destroyed and a few of the spells even made their way to the pair seated in front of the carriage.
"Devour everything, Endless Abyss."
Raising a single hand, the effects of the remaining spells were instantly drawn to Lix''s Palm as they promptly seem to be absorbed, or rather devoured by it.
"What the bell was that!"
The person who eximed was the man mounted on a Gray Wolf in his right hand of Te. He seemed to be the oldest in the group and was the sole fighter simr to Kal.
"Watch out!"
As Te looked dumbfounded at the unbelievable scene that had been disyed before her, the six-eyed bull had already closed the distance and was already about to ram head-first into her Bengal Tiger with its fiery aura already activated.
Reacting in time, the man shoved Te out of the way as even her higher-ranked mount would take significant damage if it ever tried to tank a full charge from a Six eyed bull not to mention its speed had been greatly increased by haste magic.
"Don''t just stand there! After them, and fire everything you have!"
Quickly recovering from her previous stupor, Te immediately gave an order the group reacted quickly and their mounts moved with incredible speed. Almost instantly catching up to them.
Tyler sighed inwardly. Frankly, he didn''t want to get into any direct altercations with a member of the Magic institute which was also why he tried his best not to pay attention to Te''s mockeries.
However, this had gone too far. He had hoped using the God Tier artifact, Depths of the Abyss, to utterly crush the spells of all five Rank 7 magicians would discourage them from chasing after them especially since the feat was aplished by the Rank 2 magician they were looking down on.
Yet, he wasn''t blessed with any such luck.
Chasing after their carriages with increasing pace, it quickly became painfully obvious how much their rare mounts outssed the speed of the Six eyed bull as they rapidly began to gain ground on them.
"Thunderp!"
Releasing a spell, the force of a sonic boom shattered Nadine''s barrier once again as it proceeded to m into the back of the Magic carriage but failed to destroy it.
At this point, there was no reason for Tyler to hold back anymore as they had finally moved far enough from the city to avoid being noticed by any sentries. However, as he stood up and turned to face the five surrounding them, an evil smile crept across Te''s face as she signaled something to her party members.
Tyler was just about to use one of his spells when¡ª
[Notice: I have sensed several spacial distortions ahead. Magic disruption has been activated and is now in progress.]
''Wait what!''
Tyler was not surprised by the spatial distortion ahead of them. After all, even without using his normal perception skills, he was still well aware of the space around him and had sensed the disturbance a while back.
He hadn''t been sure if Te was capable of such a thing but had taken precautions to prevent it from affecting his travels. However, the Magic disruption had taken him by surprise.
Thinking back to it now, he had seen two of Te''s men shatter a ckened orb a fraction of a second ago. Following that, the Magic essence around him was rapidly being killed off, preventing any spells or skills from being activated in such a state.
Although this didn''t affect skills that were already in use or that were activated internally, it was still a bothersome ability for someone like Te to possess and Tyler could not help but wonder how on Neron she had managed to get her hands on something he hadn''t even heard of.
However, it didn''t matter if the Magic essence around him waspletely nonexistent, such a thing could truly only hinder Tyler for a second as he could always just break the potential of his spells and activate them with his own mana, and thus, this annoying venture had only seeded in prevention him from activating his spell so he only needed to try again.
However¡ª
"NOW!"
"Huh"
As Tyler prepared the use a spell once more, he noticed the evil smile on Te''s face had grown even wilder as she yelled hermand and in the next moment, his six-eyed bull stepped on a dyed Magic circle as countless bone spikes suddenly shot up from the ground, skewering Mike to a thousand piecing.
The forced stop had also caused the carriage front to shatter as its body was thrown over the spikes but it seems they would eventually be next as it looked as though the spikes went on forever.
"Die bastard!!"
Te''s expression grew even more unsightly as her formerly pretty face became twisted in an ugly expression that mirrored the depths of her heart.
"I- I can''t believe this..."
Tyler''s eyes widened as he witnessed his second mount, Mike being turned into minced meat without him being able to stop it. His arrogance in handling the situation seems to have backfired badly as he had beenpletely blindsided by this reality.
His body trembled as their carriagesomersaulted over the bone spikes and their bodies flew aimlessly in the air.
"The five members of Thunder soon came to a stop in front of the carriage and Te couldn''t help butugh maniacally at the words that had left Lix''s mouth.
"Believe it! The so-called great and mysterious Lix is about to die for such a cheap trick. What! You didn''t think we set any traps around here. Face it, without the use of your Magic you''repletely useless, now die a pathetic death for your foolishness."
"This... tsk... unforgivable."
"Huh!?"
*Boom!
The words of mockery Te was about to spree were immediately reced by an exaggerated grasp of disbelief as the Magic vaster known as Lix had casually shattered the thousand curse spikes simply bynding in its midst as he casually caught his fallingpanion and a cold gaze washed over her body from the shadows of the hood that no longerpletely covered his face.
A thrill of fear, terror, and despair washed over her very soul as her life suddenly began to sh before her eyes. It felt as though she was standing before death itself.
"To think someone like you is capable of angering me so. No, that''s wrong. That was not my fault, I foolishly allowed trash like you to exist before me, so why wouldn''t you kill Mike? You just need to know one thing, your death will not be quick."
Although the terror from his gaze alone had rendered her all but paralyzed. One word still stuck in her mind as she could help but think.
''Who the fuck is Mike!?''
Chapter 360 C360. Escape
''Who the fuck is Mike.''
That thought ravaged through her almost empty head, seemingly being the only thing that her fragile mind could hold on to, in a desperate bit to maintain her sanity.
"Dragon''s Soul."
As luck would have it, one of her teammates was cognitive enough to activate the 4th tier resistance spell, Dragon''s soul on instinct alone. Thanks to their passive resistance to mental attacks and fear, they were able to barely resist the pressure they felt from his cold gaze.
Despite this only being possible simply because the bulk of the pressure was not directed at him.
"Bastard! How-how dare you to continue to mock me!"
At this point, veins began to bulge in Te''s deathly pale forehead as she refused to ept the drastic change in the situation before her eyes.Stubbornly ignoring the fact that she has almost just lost control of her dder only a moment ago.
Her deluded confidence seems to derive from the fact that she was quite adept at sensing one''s Magic capabilities as well as sensing magic powers so her failure to pick up on the Magic fluctuations of the mysterious man before her, gave her a false sense of security.
However, she wasn''t foolish enough to not sense just how much dangerous the situation had gotten. There was no doubt that this man possessed strength far superior to her own, yet she couldn''t ept the reality of that statement.
However, Te''srades didn''t seem to share in her foolish determination as they slowly began to retreat with absolutely paled expressions.
"Fools! Don''t you dare chicken out on me now! Use it!"
Under the suffocating gaze of the monster known only as Lix, Te forced those words out of her mouth with all her might as her aura exploded and forced her teammates out of their state of terror and despair.
All this had happened in mere moments and in the next moment, three of herrades quickly brought out a ck scroll and activated it, and without missing a beat, Te used a Magic item''s effect in casting a spell far above anything she would normally be capable of.
"OverTier Magic, Widened Magic, Max Magic - Infinite Dimensional Prison!"
It was normally impossible for anyone no matter who that person may be or how strong they were, it was impossible to use more than one special effect on a spell unless they possessed the same magic item as Te.
In an instant, the space around Lix was locked on his very existence as the spacial distortion around them immediately began to copse with him as the epicenter.
As the spell''s magic circle had already been prepared beforehand, it did not require an activation time of even a nanosecond and could not be interrupted even by spacial maniption due to the erasure of the Magic essence in the air earlier.
"Kwahahahahahaha... cough cough... kakakahahaha... I did it. You bastard! This is what you get for making a fool out of me. That''s my most precious secret trump card. A Magic that can even trap demi-gods. A fucking 7th-tier spell boosted beyond even that. You should feel honored that I''m using it on the likes of you. Gwahahaha..."
Hearing that, even Te''srades were beginning to notice how mentally unstable she had be. They were all friends and had worked together for decades now so they blindly trusted each other.
Hence why they hadn''t asked any questions when she hade back from the meeting of the highest-ranked magicians earlier than expected and was fuming about how she was embarrassed by the new member of the guild and wanted to teach them a lesson.
They were prepared to go to any lengths for each other but now, it seems they may have been too hasty in their decision as they watched their leader descend into madness before their very eyes.
Just as one of them was about to go talk to Te, they suddenly heard the faint sound of a sonic boom.
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! *SHATTER!!!
"That''s... that''s impossible. Just who in the hell are you?"
Those words that came from her right suddenly dragged Te out of her mental delusions as her expression waspletely devoid of blood and energy. Her eyes were inplete disbelief as the space in front of them had been shattered like it was nothing but ss.
Standing inside the empty void behind the shattered space was none other than Lix who was still holding on to his partner with one arm as he retracted his fist and floated through the opening, the shattered space slowly mending itself behind him.
"That, that was an infinite dimensional space constantly closing in on your very existence. In such a state, there''s no way mana can flow within your body much less being able to use Magic. How? HOW THE HELL ARE YOU NOT EVEN DEAD BY THAT, MUCH LESS STANDING HERE RIGHT NOW!"
A maddened expression took over the once pretty face of Te as Tyler slowly ced Nadine on the ground and took a step forward before pointing his left index finger at Te.
"How did I get here you ask? it''s pretty simple I''m sure anyone can do it. I just punched infinity. After all, everything must submit to the authority of the Supreme Monarch."
mes as ck as the hearts of men rapidly gathered in front of his fingertip before beingunched at the deted Te who had lost all her will to live along with her sanity.
"That''s¡ª what''s so stupid. There''s no way something like that is even possible. This isn''t real, that''s right a dream. No, a nightmare, this is just a nightmare, so why ain''t I waking up."
As her pupil filled with the light of absolute destruction known as ck mes, her mind refused to ept reality once more as it seemed as though her fate had been sealed.
However¡ª
Somai¡ª one of Te''s femalerades who stood to the side¡ª could not bring herself to watch her best friend die so miserably as she reacted quickly.
Creating an earth wall in front of Te before using her life-saving tool to swap Te''s position with that of a tree.
Somehow able to pull such aplicated n off before the ck mes utterly consumed everything in its path without resistance but failed to im any lives as they were all fortunately evenly spread out amongst themselves.
*p!
"Te! Snap out of it! We need to get out of here immediately!"
With a resounding p, life was able to partially return to Te''s eyes as she couldn''t help but be intimidated by her ownrades'' intensity and order a retreat.
"Sca-scatter!"
As though it was second nature to them, the group of five had instinctively spit up and dashed in multiple directions towards the forest through which this part of the road was cutting through.
Their exotic mounts proved their worth as they moved at incredible speeds, most likely due to the activation of several supporting skills that boosted agility and movement speed.
Even Te''s two-horned Bengal tiger had responded to her orders and picked her up with its teeth, tossing her on top of its back as it dashed straight at the forest.
However ¡ª
Every single one of these beasts had almost immediately, mmed head-first into an invisible wall that seemed to form hundreds of meters around them.
Forced to a hasty halt, they all couldn''t believe their eyes as they found it hard to fathom the idea that they had already been trapped in a barrier all along.
"Did you really think I was going to allow your escape?"
As though ying the part of the devil himself, Lix, who no longer bothered with his hood, casually walked out of the burning ck mes as he appeared before the confused and concussed Bengal tiger.
Forced into a corner with no way out, the beast''s survival instincts kicked in as it growled and slowly moved sideways with its limbs bending as it prepared to pounce.
However, the beast was not even in Tyler''s sight as he stared coldly at Te while he continued to approach.
Feeling the imminent threat of death, the Horned Bengal tiger lunged at its target after tossing its master to the side. However, its massive frame suddenly hung in the air only inches from its target before being flung across the forest like a cannonball.
There was no longer anything that could surprise Te as he couldn''t even spare a second nce at her trusted mount but waspletely prettified with terror and despair.
Her body seems to shrink with every step as Tyler''s figure loomed massively at her. The fabric between her leg soaked instantly as her knees rapidly pped together with an iprehensible expression on her face.
"Leave- leave me alone!"
Panicked intounching onest attempt, she tossed the Magic item in her possession at him only to have it hang in mid-air as he suddenly approached right in front of her.
Her entire body froze.
Grabbing her chin with his left hand, Tyler''s cold eyes scanned the expression on her face as he lightly lifted her entire body from the ground with her chin alone, her neck making strange sounds that should not be normal.
"I don''t remember ever meeting you before. Yet, you have the audacity to attack me and even kill my mount. I''m almost tempted to feed you your own heart but remember what I promised you, your death will not be quick."
The light in his eyes shed red as his right hand moved like a de. Aiming directly at her heart as it easily tore through space and even distorted time in its clean arc, only to stop after barely prating her skin.
Seeing death sh before her eyes yet again, tears gushed out of her eyes as her face waspletely devoid of blood and her eyes practically rolling behind her head yet Tyler would not let her pass out.
His hand had left her chin and now held her fragile neck. It seems with any slight amount of pressure he puts in his squeeze, her neck would snap in an instant.
However¡ª
"Greetings Master Lix, No, Lord Ty."
With the sound of that familiar voice, his grip on her neck lightened as he pulled his other hand from the slight sound he had dug into her chest. Still, the force of his initial attack had carried had already disintegrated the Magic armor and fabric worn around her chest.Which left nothing but her blood-stained bare chest exposed.
Ignoring the almost lifeless demoness, Tyler casually turned to the side only to see a pitch-ck Gate had opened up to his side and three figures had walked out of it.
One of these three figures was a dignified older male with light brown hair with streaks of greys running across it and a well-trimmed beard. To his right was a petite young girl with a face that anyone would call adorable,plimented bya pair of golden dog ears that rested on her neatly styled golden hair, a stark contrast to the girl to her left.
The girl to the left was d in a stylish rogues outfit. She had a pair of dark horns protruding from her head and dirt blonde hair that was ruffled in a way that seemed she''d given up on it a while back. She also had a pretty face and tanned skin as she carried arge purple crossbow on her back.
"Albert. Why are you here?"
Chapter 361 C361. Self Control.
"Albert. Why are you here?"
Having walked out of the highest level Gate spell opened up by the person currently in charge of transportation for the Darknar family-- Emrys, Albert, as well as the girls that had escorted him, lowered their heads in the presence of their master.
"My apologies for the abrupt interruption my liege. It seems Ms. Nadine had been a little worried about letting our master dirty himself with scum like these and I''ll have to agree. It''s bad enough they dared anger you so but it will be worse if we were to stand by and let you be responsible for taking out the trash. Such is the task of your servants."
Tyler''s eyes naturally shifted to Nadine, who now stood behind him and she fidgeted awkwardly. While Albert wasn''t saying it directly. It seems his anger may have scared the young girl quite a bit if she had been forced tomunicate the issue with Albert.
The fact that he had even failed to notice the moment she had done that, was even more worrying than her having to call Albert for help.
Naturally, he had given her the directive ofmunicating with Albert or Erin if things were ever to go haywire but he hadn''t imagined that n would be used on him.
Why had he gotten so pissed off over a mount? Why had he allowed this to progress thus far instead of just killing them outright with a demonic eye?
It seems he had instinctively toyed around with them in order to instill a deeper sense of fear and despair in their hearts as he kills them slowly.Although that was his intention for Te, the other four should''ve already been dealt with yet he had not.
Such sadistic and egotistic behavior was not something he had been capable of as a human and thus, Tyler''s heart suddenly sank.
Was he really being affected by his innate desires as a true demon now? Or was there something else influencing his personality change? If care is not taken he may just end up bing a typical prideful tyrant like every other demon king before him.
"Sigh... I see..."
In that split second that he had taken to survey his surroundings, the emotions that were bubbling up inside of him suddenly disappeared as though it wasn''t there, to begin with.
His fingers then naturally rxed as he let go of the petrified Te and turned around to walk toward the nervous Nadine.
"I should apologize for making you worry so much. That''s disgraceful of me."
"Err... no, please.... there''s no need for you to--"
With his usual gentle expression, he patted her on the head as he attempted to apologize without actually apologizing. It wasn''t that he had done that on purpose but rather, he had simply adjusted his speech pattern to match what had received the best response from his subordinates.
Tyler''s heart settled a bit just by looking at the unusually bashful beast girl before him. He hadn''t expected to react so strongly over the death of another Magic beast he had so ingeniously named Mike.
Perhaps that name was a curse.
''Ahh... Mike, I probably shouldn''t have named you at all. Then I wouldn''t feel so bad about it.''
Still, losing it wasn''t an excuse to lose hisposure and act so recklessly. They were only a few miles from Winged city and while he was fortunate enough to have an A.I like Uriel who had automatically created an anti-divination barrier around them, things would not have ended in his favor.
[Notice: A new restrictive barrier is being used to destabilize the Magic essence in this space. A counter has already been analyzed from thest barrier. Would you like me to enforce it, master?]
''Umm... Sure.''
Answering Uriel''s request, the looks on the faces of the four members of Thunder trying to escape immediately went pale as they noticed theirst resort failed to activate.
The Magic restrictive barrier was an incredibly rare legendary ranked Magic item that was most effective against stronger opponents as it did not affect the target personally but the Magic essence around them.
Such a tool was impossible to resist or counter even by demigods so the fact that it failed to activate was something that could not beprehended.
"What the hell is this? Who are those people? Where the hell did theye from? And what the fuck is with this ''Lord Ty'' bullshit!"
These loud questions bombarded Tyler from all around him as the group had subconsciouslye to an understanding. Which was, the three neers were responsible for their tool''s failure to activate and they could not help but get frustrated.
Their frustrated howls had even gotten through to Te-- whose selfish will to survive had been greater than one would expect as only one thought flooded her mind right now--
''I need to escape, I need to escape, I need to get the hell out of here!''
These disrespectful bellows were an entirely understandable reaction for Te''s crew, but it was an unpardonable offense to Albert, Lora, and Gail, who were still bowing to Tyler.
Fiery rancor zed within his heart, and then, Albert let it out, as though he nned to incinerate everything in the area with the mes of his silent wrath.
Even Nadine-- who was standing close to Tyler -- shuddered, every hair on her body standing on end, more than ever before.
Given that even a bystander had this sort of reaction, how much worse must it have been for the targets of Albert''s fury?
The answer was simple. It was a total nightmare.
Their faces had turned white and oily sweat cascaded down their foreheads as their mouths were forced closed. Their mounts slowly retreated as they realized that their insignificant lives would be snuffed out shortly.
Albert wasn''t normally someone that got offended or even annoyed easily much less getting angry. He was the perfect stable of cool, calm, and collected. His dignified demeanor was second to none and that has been his identity as the king''s butler, as well as one of the Six Great Generals of the Darknar Family.
Yet after receiving the full report from Nadine on the behavior of the leader of this so-called magician''s part called Thunder, towards their master and even what lead to the death of one of his six-eyed bulls. Even he could barely reign his anger under control.
Seeing such a pathetic reaction from these so-called high-ranked Magicians only served to baffle Tyler at how stupid he had been to allow himself to sink so low to their level.
In the end, his precious Ring of Nullity that protected his identity ended up backfiring on him in this situation. After all, there was no way this group would''ve had the ability to fight him if they could merely feel his presence.
Then again, perhaps Te had a God Tier ability that allowed her to crawl so deep into one''s skin.Not to mention her ability to self-delude herself into foolishness.
Shaking his head in disappointment, Tyler turned to the crew of Thunder and spoke:
"Allow me to introduce you to everyone. This is my subordinates -- Lora and Gail, thest is one of my Demon Generals, Albert Cronoff Darknar."
"D-Darknar..."
One of Te''srades stammered those words in hesitant enlightenment. There was no one alive in the demon continent that did not know the name Darknar.
There was no one that did not understand what would happen if a random person foolishly take the name in vain. Yet this mysterious demon that was insanely strong had just introduced his so-called subordinate with thest name of Darknar without even batting an eye.
Having heard the rumors going around about the new city in the Darknar region along with the new Darknar family, only one thinges to mind when such a person suddenly appears before them from a Gate that was so ck, it looked as though they had walked out of a ck hole instead.
Noticing the looks of frightened enlightenment on their faces, Tyler nonchntly continued.
"Indeed, they are all members of the Darknar family. Does that answer your question? I''ve wasted too much time on this so I''ll leave the rest to them and be on my way."
The men were still staring in stunned silence as Albert walked towards them.
"Oh, I almost forgot. My name is not Lix as you may have guessed. My real name is Ty. Not that you need to remember that, of course, I''m not even sure why I''m telling you this."
Both Lora and Gail smiled smugly as they beheld the confused looks on the group''s faces. However, that smile was as icy as the grave.
Tyler watched how these Magicians struggled beyond all odds to retain their sanity before immediately dismissing them from his mind as he walked over to where Mike''s almost none recognizable body was.
There was no way a resurrection spell would work on him as he was still too weak to survive such a strenuous process. If only it had evolved before it died.
For a moment, Tyler considered turning Mike into an undead creature but he soon shook that thought out of his mind. Again, Mike''s body was too weak to create an intelligent undead creature and a mindless undead beast would be disrespectful to a creature he has grown fond of.
Although he had confirmed with Enrys that even intelligent undead creatures do not awaken with memories from their previous life after death. One living being that is turned undead while still alive can retain their memories and personality as their souls would remain.
However, after death the soul leaves the body and even when an undead creature retains its intellect, they do not retain its memories or personality.
However, after being around Zelda for so long, Tyler could surmise that intelligent undead being can in fact develop an ego and eventually a soul over time. This is shaped by their strength and experiences.
Knowing all that, how can Tyler justify turning Mike into a mindless beast?
With a sigh, Tyler adjusted the magic circle of the Tier 1 spell fireball by changing a few magic runes to create a whole different effect, creating a new Tier 2 spell name, meball.
A condensed amount of pure blue mes wrapped around the corpse of Mike and immediately reduced it to ash. With that, he was done honoring his mount as he walked back over to Nadine and casually picked her up, and addressed the pissed-off Albert who remained calm andposed no matter what.
"Then, Albert... I''ll leave the rest to you. Be sure to take one alive... no, another one might be good as a spare. Stick with using the device Ragdek had distributed instead of thoughtmunication and let''s gather some practical field data on it."
Just as the shock from hearing Tyler''s calm and dispassionate orders began filtering into the minds of Te and her people, Tyler continued his instructions:
"Take their corpses back to Emrys in thebyrinth. If they''re strong enough, he can use them for experiments in making high-tiered undead."
"Understood."
Albert slowly raised his weapon that had appeared out of thin air, a massive red-lined great sword that gave off a bloodthirsty aura.
There was no murderous intent or hostility in that action.
That was only to be expected. After all, to Albert, these people were nothing more than trash at the depths of filth itself, yet dared to disrespect a god.
Te and her party might not have understood the situation, but they still knew they were in danger, and the situation may have even gotten from bad to worse depending on how one looked at it.
"Ah, right sorry. I did make you a promise didn''t I?"
Naturally, there was only one person Tyler could be referring to and that was Te whose senses had immediately gone nk and her almost dried-up pants had gotten wet yet again.
"I''d like to consider myself a man of my word so I''ll do this. Albert, make sure this one is delivered to Moloc dead or alive. With her level resurrection should work on her so tell Moloc she''s a gift for her to do as she, pleases. As for you, I doubt you''ll be able to with where you''re headed but please, try to die with a little more dignity."
Thus did Tyler pronounce their death sentence as his figurepletely vanished from the space he had just been standing in.
Chapter 362 C362. Teylas Retreat
As Tyler''s figurepletely disappeared from the scene without a trace, so did the Universal barrier that had enclosed them. Naturally, the sharp instincts of these high-ranked Magicians did not miss the fluctuations in the Magic essence around them as they immediately scattered in all directions.
There had been no hesitation in their actions as their survival instincts hadpletely taken over. None of them even sparing a second nce at the other. Not because they suddenly didn''t care about each other''s safety, but rather this was the only way they knew to increase the chances of their survivability.
Once again, the twin-horned Bengal tiger recovered its bearings as it quickly tossed Te back on its back and dashed straight into the snow-covered forest, its destination? Back to the city.
Although their reaction was well within Albert''s predictions and expectations. He did not immediately attempt to give chase as that would be too chaotic. Rather, Albert''s keen senses and the eyes of a Demon kept track of every single one of them as they swiftly moved through the forest.
Taking a single step forward, he easily chased down his first target in an instant, the unfortunate bastard had be aplete mess as he desperately tried to struggle but was easily captured after passing out from Albert''s aura alone.
Albert then casually turned around as his keen hearing picked up on the sounds of his next target but it seems he had gotten out of his Magic sense range.
His keen eyes of a demon also could not get an urate fix on this person''s position due to the trees blocking his line of sight. He also wasn''t a rogue type andcked the appropriate skills necessary for hunting so it was best he left it to the professionals.
Thinking this, Albert shook his head and sighed. Then he issued amand:
"Gail, Lora, deal with those two. Ah, right, eliminate the one who was disrespectful to Lord Ty, I''ll capture thest one as ordered."
"Understood."
"With pleasure."
????????????
*Huff huff huff...
Sitting on the back of her trusted mount that had just saved her life, Te''s barely stable mind tried its best to maintain any level of rity as she ran for her life. The top of her Mount''s back was already wet as she could no longer control her dder at will and the bumpy ride made it hard to hold back.
Back in the city lord''s castle, she had understood to some extent that Lix was a better Magician than herself, but she was unwilling to acknowledge that fact.
She was already aware of the insanely high standards of the Magic institute and was sure that they would never allow any ipetence in their ranks, yet for some reason, she could never bring herself to ept the truth even when it was staring at her right in the face.
Even after she had gotten kicked out of that meeting because of Lix, that man had not even spared her a single nce. Just the thought of that caused raging anger to boil inside of her.
I don''t know what region you''re from, but don''t get in my way. How dare a nobody like you constantly attempt to belittle me in front of my peers. Crawl back to the cave you came out of asshole.
To Te, it was as though someone had trespassed in her territory.
She and her group had trained hard to fulfill their dreams, they had slowly climbed the ranks after countless close brushes with death, attaining the status and fame they had been denied simply because they were bornmoners.
Or in her case, because she was amoner, who in her naivety, was taken advantage of by a nobleman only to be cast asideter on.
Given how hard they worked to get were they were against all odds, It was only natural that they would be unhappy when somebody cut in all of a sudden and overshadowed them, not to mention while jumping several ranks in the process.
After going through such humiliation earlier today, Te had solemnly voweed in her mind. She would pull Lix down if she had the chance. She would ruin his reputation with false rumors and usations thereby hurting his rapidly growing poprity.
That was what Te had in mind when she had chosen to set an ambush for Lix.
By defeating him, she would spread the rumor that he had run away from the quest with his tail between his legs and volunteer her party for the job after demanding a promotion for her troubles.
With the Magic items she had collected over the years, this was supposed to be an easy task even if he was slightly stronger than her. She could always wipe his memories of the attack with a tool as well, providing the perfect solution to any problems that may have ured in the future.
However ¡ª
Absolutely nothing had gone the way she had nned in the least. Rather, the impossible seems to happen over and over again as he had even managed to smash his way out of an infinite prison where Magic was unusable.
That item had nearly cost her party their lives as well as everything they owned, and it was considered a death sentence for even demigods yet, he had been able to destroy an infinite dimensional space as though it was nothing.
Such a thing should not be possible.
Despair, fear, terror, madness. Her body had gone through every single conceivable emotion possible. It was to the point where she had almostpletely given up on the fear.
However, things had changed.
First, it had been one of her crew members who had reminded her that all she needed to do was survive. It didn''t matter if she had already been humiliated here after facing such aplete and utter defeat, all that truly mattered, in the end, was survival.
As long as she could make it back to the city, there were countless ways of attaining her revenge on Lix, no, on Ty. Even her current disgraceful appearance could be used to her advantage. After all, he was truly the one who ripped her clothes off.
A strange smile suddenly appeared on Te''s face as her hand subconsciously touched the wound on her bloody chest. The Duranium breastte she had on earlier was nowhere to be found as she could feel her bare breast hanging out in the wind.
This would''ve been a humiliating sight for someone of her caliber to appear in, however, such a thing no longer mattered to Te as only the thoughts of revenge upied her mind. The bleeding had already stopped a while back as one of the items she had on her grants a slow regeneration ability so she should be fine even if she was attacked right now.
The appearance of the three dangerous demon lord-level intruders had looked like the end for her earlier. But in the end, it turned out to be more favorable as she had managed to escape.
Her mount was an insanely rare Advance ss Magic beast with both stealth and speed-based skills.
''Bastard!!! Serves you right, I''ll make it back alive for sure and then I''ll disclose everything about you to the world!''
She did not know what Lix''s true identity would mean to the Zorak family but she was sure she could find something to connect him with. There was no way such powerful being like them would be hiding their identity if they were on good terms with the ruling family.
Hell, this may even be enough to earn her the favor of the Zorak family and restore her noble status.
Though she waspletely terrified of those people to the bone and knew that terrible weapon that man held might scythe down on her at any time, Teughed, unable to suppress the emotions surging up in her heart, her screws seemly nonexistent.
She no longer cared about herrades. No, if they became decoys that let her live on, so much the better.
''I will reach the top. Even after this humiliation, I will attain the impossible Rank 9 and be a Noble even greater than that man.''
There was no need for anybody strong besides herself. Herrades had always just been a convenient means to an end and she would not allow them to be the reason for her downfall.
Attaining a noble status and wealth greater than that of her family, were the ultimate goal she aspire to ever since she was rendered a lowly peasant girl wandering the streets of South borough. This was why there was no way she could allow it all to end here.
But then, there was a man who was going to stand in the way of her dreams ¡ª was going to surpass her and her team. Worse, he was doing it as a part-time job, maybe even as a side job.
That reality had almost driven her mad.
Lashing on the reins of her mount, she urged it to run as fast as it could. Leaping from tree to tree as it avoided leaving any traces behind. She could almost see it now, the exit of this forest and a straight path to the city under the watchful gaze of the city''s sentries.
The fact that Te could constantly bring her mental state back from the brink of being broken over and over again was a testament to her incredible willpower and determination.
However¡ª
In the next moment, ripples coursed through Te''s heart; big ones.
''What just happened? Where is this ce? I was being careful not to be tracked but there''s no way my Tiger can lose her way in such a familiar territory like this right?''
Te felt that this was right, and the Bengal tiger seems to agree with her. However, her sixth sense said otherwise.
A Bengal Tiger would not get lost even if this was their first time in any particr forest. Yet, for some reason, she was still uncertain of their location.
'' I''m I imagining things or have I fallen victim to an illusion?''
She thought that but did not believe it as this did not feel like her imagination at all. Neither did her anti-illusion Magic item activate at any given time.As an high ranking Magician, she waspletely prepared for almost anything and having a tool that protected against illusions was part of that preparations.
However reluctant, she had to acknowledge that this was real.
"...Am I lost? But¡ how the hell can a Bengal Tiger be lost in such a familiar forest?"
Te did not want to believe this. Not only was she¡ª a rank 7 magician with an increased sense of direction ¡ª lost, but also a Bengal Tiger. A beast that usually resides in the depths of the forest even if it was still winter.
However, a strange, unsettling feeling filled her and her heart began to pound loudly. This forest now seemed like the gaping maw of some vast carnivorous beast.
"A trick! No, have I fallen into a dream?¡ A deception spell?"
Unease and anxiety welled up inside, as a change came over the forest which should have beenpletely familiar to her. The fear and despair she had almost seeded in burying deep in her heart seems to be wiggling their way back up.
And then¡ª
¡ªShe heard the sound of quiet rustling apanied by footsteps muffled by the snow.
Te recalled the angry old man from just now and jerked her head back to look at the source of the sound, her heart nearly flying out of her body. However, she saw a young girl''s head poking out from behind a tree as she smiled at her.
''A child?''
Chapter 363 C363.Death Sentence
''A child?...''
Te could not recall the appearance of the two who had stepped out of the ck gate with the angry aged man but she was finding it difficult to believe that one of them would be a child.
Was she lost or something?
The thought did cross her mind for only a split second. After all, they were no doubt in the middle of a fairly dangerous forest, and despite its close vicinity to the city, there was no way a random child would be wandering around aimlessly in the woods at this hour of the day.
Te did think about bringing the child along with her to use as a decoy as she tried to find her way out of this forest, but the chance this was a trap set by that despicable Ty fellow was also high.
Doing something so underhanded was definitely something someone like that would do. Still, this was just a child no older than 13 or 14, perhaps as a beastfolk, she may be older or younger depending on the lifespan of her species but she shouldn''t be that strong.
The chances that she was just sent as part of a scouting unit to find her was quite high as Te believed that beast-folks were quite suitable to that role while also being a lot more expendable so they wouldn''t care if she killed her as long as they were able to locate her the moment she used her magic.
''Well think again fools.''
Te quickly unsheathed a curved dagger from behind her waist. Despite her ss as a mage, she was quite adept at using a dagger as she had trained as a rogue during her childhood, way before she had discovered her talent in magic.
However ¡ª
Just as she was pondering how to strike, the girl stepped out of the snow-covered bushes and dusted off the snow from her coat.
Her outfit spelled that of a Magic caster which was a relief as Te felt they were the easiest to take down with a perfect sneak attack.
However, Te''s eyes suddenly widened as she noticed something peculiar, the child''s equipment was leagues and bounds better than anything she had ever owned and the aura that oozed out of her person the moment she got closer was that of a monster.
Te instinctively sheathed her de as she took a step back.
She wasn''t normally the type to retreat from anyone but if thest ordeal had taught her anything, it was that she could not afford to underestimate anyone who felt like trouble even if they were only cute little beast-girls.
"Ah... You noticed me. Damn... I had wanted Gail to be the one who found you first you see, so I was hoping you wouldn''t notice me..."
The girl suddenly looked nervous and uncertain as she fidgeted around with her staff. Her mind seems to be wandering around aimlessly. Te immediately took the chance to dismount as she made a snappy decision to sacrifice her precious Tiger mount.
She had sent her mount after the unsuspecting beast-girl and the moment the creature cover the child''s view, her legs immediately bent oddly as she kicked off in the opposite direction.
However, it was already toote.
Large and flexible earth spikes rose from the ground,pletely skewering the massive Twin horned Bengal Tiger. A mirror image of the scene that had yed out with Mike.
*Crack... Crack... Crack...
Next, the ground underneath Te''s foot suddenly opened up and swallowed her whole. Bringing only her head back up to the surface. Such a basic level attack would''ve normally not been effective against a Rank 7 Magician like her but at this point, Te''s body hadpletely lost the will to fight back at anything rted to Lix.
"...I don''t really like the smell of blood you see... Sorry, I''m also not confident in my aim so I''ll try my best. Gold still..."
The girl reluctantly advanced toward the trapped Te. Each step sounded more threatening than thest as she used everyst fiber of her being tying her best to escape.For some reason, she seemed to have forgotten how to use magic.
In the next moment, a shadow fell upon her face from behind as the girl forcefully swung her staff.
"Wait! Wait! Wait! Don''t do this! Don''t try your best! Please stop!!!"
????????????
Albert arrived just as Lora''s staff fell on the demoness''s head. Her skull was already shattered and deformed under the impact of the staff as it caved in and spurts various liquids and brain matter, her eyeballs popped free of her head from the force of the tremendous impact.
Still stuck in the earth with only her smashed head expose made it look almost exactly like a watermelon during a game at the beach.If one was psychotic enough topare the blood and brain matter to that of watermelon juices that is.
"Good job. Thanks for your hard work."
"Ah, about that, Lord Albert. I¡ª I thought she was stronger so I may have used too much force. She died faster than I expected, is that okay?"
Albert removed his glove, and a faint smile adorned his face as he addressed Lora.
"It was perfect. Granted, it was a somewhat messy way of killing her, but it was fine. I''m sure Lord Ty will surely praise you for this."
"Re-Really? Ehehehe."
The delighted beast girl looked at the corpse, and then Albert asked:
"How about the other one?"
"Ah, w-well¡ he''s been taken care of, Gail should be arriving here with the corpse shortly..."
"Is that so? That was perfectly executed. Then, Lora, can you help me bring the corpses back to the Darknar castle? I''ll have Emrys open a gate for you. Oh and, I''ve restrained thest one behind the tree so please make sure they are delivered to Emrys along with this one, he''ll handle the rest."
"I... I got it."
Albert smiled once more at the smiling girl who was giggling as she held her bloodstained staff. She was really an honest girl so he was a little surprised she could aplish the mission so easily.Frankly, he hadn''t nned on bringing her along, but she had insisted and they were short on time at that moment.
Well at least, everything seems to turn out fine. Albert raised his head and confirmed the various scrolls he had used to prevent observation from the outside as well as divination was still active.
Apparently their activities here today had not been noticed but still, they could never be too careful. It was best to finish things here quickly and leave.
With that said, Albert used themunication tool he was tasked to test and ryed his order to Gail as well before using it once more to request transport from Emrys.
A ck gate then opened up behind Albert and he casually walked in as it closed behind him as Lora got to work gathering up the corpses with the help of her friend, Gail.
????????????
"It is finished, Lord Ty,"
Stepping out of a portal gate with his massive great sword already returned to his storage ring, Albert spoke as he solemnly took a look around the space he had entered, his brow seems to twich for a moment before ultimately returning to normal.
Sitting next to Nadine on the edge of a steep cliff at the peak of a frozen mountain, Tyler silently nodded as he heard this.
The situation had developed far beyond his expectations but luckily everything was within Uriel''s calctions else he would''ve been exposed to the Zorak family thanks to the magicians making such an irrational decision.
What was the point in attacking him when they were both part of the same guild? Not to mention killing Mike (who was on the verge of a rare evolution) in the process.
To be honest, Tyler felt quite embarrassed after losing his temper at the loss of what was at best a pet. Still, he had formed a connection with the creature after losing thest one he named Mike to the ColdFire Drake.
Perhaps he had felt guilty for forgetting the poor bull in the cave to be food for a dying drake. Hence why he must''ve tried to make things up with the new Mike. Yet that ended spectacrly in failure.
The fact that Mike was also on the verge of evolution was also what irritated him the most. An evolution was something that was extremely rare even in magic beasts and the only creatures he has seen evolve were the two trolls now working for him in the Darkin mountain range.
At the very least, there weren''t any witnesses of his identity, and while he had gone a bit overboard, he was strangely d that those that had killed Mike had paid the price and that annoying girl will definitely love her time with Moloc.
Exactly as Azalea had.
With his hood and coat gone, Tyler felt a lot more at ease as his heart finally settled down quite a bit before he replied to Albert:
"Good work Albert, I appreciate it."
"Your gratitude is wasted on me, sire. I only fulfilled my duty to my liege."
"Is that so... alright. How about the recovery of the bodies?"
"I have already tasked Lora to send them back to Emrys as you requested."
"I see. Well then, that problem''s taken care of. So, why do I still feel so uneasy."
The air around still felt a bit stale but there wasn''t much change in the atmosphere. He felt as though a dark cloud was looming over him which left a bad taste in his mouth.
"For such lowlives to constantly go against you is an incredible offense. However, attacking you so close to the city was the epitome of foolishness. I understand why Master had seen the need to discipline them thoroughly."
"I suppose you could say that. Well whatever, there''s no longer any need to dwell on the past. Let''s move on."
"Understood. Then¡ Lord Ty, do pardon me but, what is that creature trembling next to you?"
"Oh this, meet Mike. It''s a clich¨¦ name I know but I''m now attached to it for some reason. Anyway, it suddenly attacked me when I arrived here so I knocked it on the head a little and it''s been pouting ever since."
Albert''s gaze shifted to thepletely terrified Silver Wyvern shaking on the ground beside Tyler and shook his head. There was no way that creature was just pouting but it had clearly already submitted itself to his master so there was nothing he needed to say about it. Frankly, he was just impressed once again by the speed at which his master could tame such powerful magic beasts.
"I see... and what of that?"
"What of what Albert. You have to be specific or else I won''t know what you''re talking about."
"Of course, Please forgive me for stepping out of line but... why is there a mountain golem stuck trying to attack you."
What Albert was referring to was the strange image that had perplexed him ever since he had arrived. Yet as a butler, he could not put his own confusion before his master''s needs and thus had to finish his report before asking.
After all, who wouldn''t be confused when the towering image of a mountain golem? Creatures taller than even the tallest mountains as their bodies fold together to form arge mountain when in a state of rest.
One of which was standing before the mountain his master was sitting at its peak. Its fist, the size of a massive boulder, descended upon them as though it was a meteorite, or rather, it should be.
Yet for some reason, that same fist had stopped a few meters away from them as though time has stopped. Yet there was no way that was true as everything around it could still move and only the golem was paused.
The creature''s massive size cast a shadow across the entire mountain, its fist looming over them like a ticking time bomb. Although this time bomb may have lost its fuse. Or perhaps, it has lost its timerpletely.
"Oh that, well it also rudely attacked me after Mike did but I''m not really interested in stone golems."
"Ah... Right. Understood."
Chapter 364 C364. Tyler
"Then my lord, if you don''t mind me asking, why have you visited the Darkin mountain range today?"
Doing his best to ignore the strange sight before his eyes, Albert proceeded to inquire about his master''s objective. Albert was well known as a very intelligent and knowledgeable gentleman with immense leadership qualities and a sense of honor and integrity.
One of the many reasons why he was able to perform so well as one of the Six Great Generals of the Darknar family, as well as Tyler''s personal butler even though thetter was self-appointed.
However, not only was he able to easily control the vastly diverse personalities in the castle after earning their trust. Making Liz''s work easier as she now only had to focus on paperwork, but he was also able to bnce his work within the castle and Paragon city wlessly. As well as the training of both new maids and butlers but also continuing his trading of the castle''s guards.
Yet, there was one thing he seemingly could not do, and that is predict the actions of his master. He wasn''t as preceptive as Z, who seems to be able to perceive what his master was thinking for the most part. Nor was he as empathic as Erin and the girls that he could understand what he was feeling.
There were times when he felt out of ce because of that but his devotion to his master could never waver. For Albert, trusting his masterpletely was only natural to him as he was the one that not only saved his and Erin''s life without hesitation but also the entire Red ogre settlement when there was no reason for him to do so.
As such, Albert had nned to devote his entire being to serving Tyler even before he knew who he was. So naturally, his master could do no wrong in his eyes. I mean, if the word of a king isw, then what is, the word of a god?
Just as Albert strengthened his resolve in his mind, he unconsciously taps into Tyler''s innate ability through his connection with both their family pact as well as his demon''s pact with Tyler. His potential seems to crack for a second, on the verge of breaking when Tyler answered his question.
"Well you see... it will take a normal carriage traveling through the main route to Farbelt pass at least 2-3 days to get to its destination. Even the shorter more dangerous route through the border between the Sentro region and ours will take a full day''s journey."
"I see."
Naturally, Albert quickly understood what Tyler was talking about. As he could easily teleport to and from the Farbelt''s pass, there was no reason for him to actually make such a trip so he nned on using this time for something else.
"Still, forgive me but I still don''t understand why My Lord has chosen toe straight here instead of returning to the castle."
"That''s understandable. The truth is, one of the evolved trolls has discovered a rather strange monster nest deep within the mountain range. ording to Liz''s report, the nest may house an unexplored mine, not unlike the one in the Farbelt pass. I take it you know what I mean."
"I understand. Most of the mines in the Darknar forest may be of the highest grade but they have all been mined for millenniums now and are soon running dry. In such a case we would have to wait centuries for the mine to replenish itself."
Albert calmly nodded in understanding.
Due to the density of the mana essence in this world, rare elements like Duranium and Orichalcum would slowly form in certain locations over a period of centuries.
"Exactly. I''ve heard from Moloc that she discovered a new mine deep within the northern region of the Darknar forest as well, she''s currently in the process of clearing out the monster nest inside and requires no assistance, I think she might even be having fun."
Due to the immense danger within the Darknar Forest, even families as capable as the Great Five could not fully explore the entirety of the forest and only chose to mine the few mines they discovered closest to the safe zones. Hence why they needed the safe zones in the first ce.
This was also why Tyler had decided to render the safe zones unlivable by infusing magic crystals with negative energy every week for the time being. A job he had delegated to Bones until they are able topletely solidify their im of the Darknar region as the territory of the new Darknar family.
As such, there were probably tons of unexplored mines hidden all across the Darknar region albeit protected by powerful monsters that even the Great Five could not dare carelessly provoke. Monsters that may even be more terrifying than the four kings who ruled the Darkar forest because of their intellect inbination with their strength.
This could also mean there were more terrifying monsters that were either less intelligent than them but far stronger, or weaker but with superior intellect. There was also the rare possibility of one with far superior intellect and strength but wasn''t territorial, making it remain hidden till now.
Hence why the Darknar Forest was such a fearsome ce to date.
However, Moloc was a different story entirely. Being the Chaos Lord of the Underworld, she was a force to be reckoned with, and aside from gods and another devil Lord, there was nothing in this world that could challenge her.
This was the reason why Tyler has given her control over the Darknar Forest along with the subjugation of the demi-humans living there with the aid of the Queen of the south, Daenerys who already held control over the southern region of the forest.
"Umm... If I remember correctly, those two demigods from the behemoth of Pride''s region are currently under Lady Moloc''smand. With Azalea also assisting her, I don''t believe there is any creature in the Darknar forest that is capable of standing up against them."
"That''s true. By the way, have you found any information on those two?"
"Yes, sire. As expected, there were no lies in their story and they did desert the behemoth of pride''s region. However, it seems they hadn''t told the whole truth either as there''s been confirmation that they havemunicated with someone from Pride''s region fairly recently."
"Is that so? How unfortunate. I''m even scared of what Moloc will do to them when she finds out."
"I believe they''ll get what they deserve. Unfortunately for them, not even death will save the from a devil."
"You think so... Anyway, make sure this information does not get to anyone else. I''ll have a shadow monitor them myself. Let''s allow things to y out as Pride has nned. I''d like to see just how clever he is for myself. Hmm..."
"Is something the matter?"
"Now that I think about it, I may be able to get under Pride''s skin if I pay a visit to Envy''s region. With Levi now under me, I''m sure Levianbe making a move soon."
"I''m afraid I can''t foresee as far into the future as you my liege, so I can''t offer my opinion."
"Don''t sell yourself short like that. No matter, let''s get back on topic, Moloc and those two''s primary mission seems to be going smoothly. So that brings me to the current situation."
"If that''s the case we could always send--"
"I''d rather not risk it. The task Erin and Liz are currently engrossed in is vital to the growth and survival of the Darknar family and I can''t pull them away from it at such a crucial time. As I said, Moloc is busy and so is Rain who is finally being a proper adult. So given as there isn''t much information on this monster nest, sending the trolls or anyone else is far too risky. As for you and Z, well-- "
"Please forgive my tardiness, Lord Ty. I have returned as you asked."
As though waiting for the right time to make an entrance, Z casually walked out of distortion in space and stepped on the mountain peak as he proceeded to approach Tyler and Nadine before making a graceful bow. His golden mask still adorns his handsome features.
"Don''t worry about that. I did call you back unprompted. How''s your job going."
"There''s still ack of manpower to expand thework across the entire continent yet but we now have a significant informationwork capable of rivaling a ruling ss noble family. It will only be a while before we will surpass the great five in the information given the effort Ms. Erin has taken in improving ourmunication methods."
"And the spies?"please visit
"It will be impossible to infiltrate a true noble family with a spy in such a short amount of time. However, thanks to lord Ty''s blessings, I''ve been able to ce some mental cues on key figures in almost every nobility on the continent. Currently, your shadows are performing the majority of the work."
"So where''s Nessi?"
"Investigating the situation with the primordials."
"The seven huh? What about your n with those underground organizations for more valued Intel?"
"There are a few prominent underground organizations with a wide enough influence that meet our criteria, but the most influential one around the Great Five is numbers. You may be familiar with them."
''Hmm... I am?"
"I suppose to you, such an encounter was nothing to bother with but I''ve deemed our most effective way in as discreetly as possible will be with the aid of that Mr. 99. My information tells me he''s captured a few hunters in an attempt to lure your identity as Lix out."
"Huh, is that what happened to Unrivaled? Unreal."
"If you''d permit me I''d like to engage this Number 99 of Numbers. It''s best if the identity of Lix isn''t associated with the underground."
"I see... Then go ahead."
"As expected, I''ve created a clone in the area, it should be done soon."
"Impressive. Good work as always."
"You tter me, lord Ty. I hadn''t expected the Primordials would make a move so soon. As expected of my master."
"Is that so?"
"Well, that''s only to be expected."
"All right, the greetings are over. From now on, I will be going onward with Albert and Z. Nadine, return to the castle with Gail and Lora... and have them retrieve any items found on the bodies of the Magicians, and have the dwarves inspect them thoroughly. I am curious to know the quality of items Magicians of that rank would usually carry on their person."
"Yes!"
Nadine''s reply was quite energetic.
Tyler nodded and created a gate directly to Emrys where the other bodies would soon be deposited before the captives would be taken to the underground cell.
"Now then, shall we head to the mountain settlement? I''d like to see how far it has developed without much aid."
"Would we be taking the trolls with us to the monster nest?"
"No, that would be too dangerous for them. We would only be requiring a guide to the ce."
"The skies are crawling with Wyverns and thunderbirds and the mountain range is the mountain golems territory. Disturbing them would cause a bit of chaos and may be dangerous for the guide. Should we try to clear them out first?"
Hearing Z''s suggestion, Tyler raised his head and scanned the skies around. There weren''t any Silver Wyverns flying close to the mountain they were on but he could see them gathering on a mountain a distance away.
Thunderbirds made their nest on the other side of the Darkin mountain range so they were not really thatmon in these parts.
"No. Such a thing would damage the ecosystem in this region and destroy the castle''s natural protection from any possible invaders. I''d like to avoid that if at all possible."
"Understood."
"I see..."
For the first time since Z got here did he understand why there was a mountain golem stuck in an ufortable pose in front of them? Both he and Albert could now understand why Tyler had not chosen to destroy the monster, although paying no mind was not something just anyone could do.
"Umm... Well, I suppose taming a few more Wyverns isn''t a bad idea. It would making transportation between Paragon City and whatever city we establish here easier until Ragdek is able to build what I told him to."
"It is as you say, my lord. Shall I go hunt them down?"
"Oh, no need to go out of your way for that. I''ll just drag anyone that flies by us down for you,we wouldn''t want to attract more than necessary."
"Understood."
"Alright, let''s head out before it gets dark. Common Mike."
Straddling along down the mountain path, the massive Silver Wyvern, which was only slightly smaller than Drago, acknowledge its new master''s orders and immediately stood up and crawled down behind him.
Albert and Z could only stare nkly at this scene as they could also see the mountain golem in front of them slowly moving its head to re at Tyler, unable to move any other part of its body.
"Well then, shall we? I take it flying is out of the question."
"Indeed Mr. Z, please, after you."
With that, the two walked behind their master and his strange new pet as they headed down towards the Mountain settlement hidden somewhere here in the Darkin mountain range.
Chapter 365 C365. The Minor Alliance
Volume 6. Epilogue.
Another day in the life of Patrick.
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Winged City a€" South Borough.
District A.
In a familiar house that was considerably better off than the other houses in the area. A bald man with a trimmed ck beard, brown eyes, and dark skin tone, groggily woke up by the fragrance of the morning snow that carried the first rays of sunlight, hidden underneath the thickyers of dark clouds that constantly loomed over the city.
"Oh dear, what a surprise. Having you wake up by yourself for a change is a bit worrying. What''s wrong?"
Patrick Pazuzu, a former patrol guard of winged city, sat up on his bed as he scratched one of the short horns protruding from the sides of his head as he instinctively nodded to his wife''s words before suddenly disagreeing with her.
"I have no idea why you would assume something is wrong. Is it a crime to wake myself up sometimes?"
"Fufu... I was only having augh. No need to be so defensive. I adore waking you up you know. So it''s a bit worrying when you''ve been doing this recently."
"Urr... right... my bad."
With azy attitude, Patric stood up from his bed and stretched his arms wide in a yawn before walking over to the bathroom to wash his face. Even for a recently promoted city worker like him, a bath wasn''t something he could afford in this neighborhood so a basin filled with hot water was the only alternative for washing up.
The taps in his house flowed unlike most of the houses in the south borough but he could not afford the luxury of a magic plumbing system to magically produce perfectly heated water so he had to do so himself as he woke up earlier than usual, which meant his wife hadn''t had the time to prepare some hot water for him.
Truth be told, there weren''t many households in the entire city that would be able to afford the luxury of magically heated water running directly through the taps so he considered himself to be doing quite well for a man of his status.
Thanks to a certain deal he had with the former city lord he had been promoted from a patrol guard to the patrol captain to expand his range of influence in order to gather more detailed information from the entirety of the south borough.
Lucky for him, the paperwork for his promotion was pushed through before the new city lord had arrived, otherwise, he would''ve still been amon patrol guard earning only peanuts for his sry.
If he hadn''t inherited this house from his father he didn''t think he would''ve been doing so well till now but things were starting to change for him.
After preparing the water for himself, Patrik hurriedly finished getting ready for work as his wife had already prepared an early breakfast for him this time around.
Stepping out of his front door he was met with an almost empty street as the sun hadn''t even risen yet so only a few public carriages galloped through the streets every once in a while.
As he walked, he could see a few homeless people sleeping in the alleys along the streets with a few drunks passed out on the gutters.
The cold air made his breath visible and even Patrick himself was beginning to wonder why he was heading out so early today. Well, he was well aware of the reason and it wasn''t because of his new position but rather the condition that came with it.
Even though Lord Aur was no longer the city lord, he was still a very powerful noble in this city and thus, controlled some influence so Patrick had to honor his side of the deal and investigate everything he could about Lix else he loses more than just his newly found promotion.
Hence why Patrick had decided to wake up earlier than usual recently, it was so he would have time to investigate when fewer eyes were watching.
The reason why he was being so cautious was because of the incident that had given him this opportunity, to begin with. The incident had happened behind the alley close to the south borough junkyard.
The time he and his friend Gaap had walked in on the dismembered pieces of countless bodies. An incident that had been so well covered up that no one besides him and Gaap, alongside one of his former superiors, the previously Patrol Captain for district A, no one else in South Borough knew about it.
Not to mention both that superior and Gaap had been transferred out of the city which was something that seldom happen tomon patrol guards. Hell, he wasn''t even sure if those two were still alive.
Patrick believes that if it wasn''t for Aur, he probably would''ve ended up in the same boat, which was why he had to do his best.
From the way things about that incident were handled, Patrick believes the underground organizations in the city may have had a hand in it. The chances they were after Lix was also high so he couldn''t carelessly ask people about any of them.
This was why he spent his time identifying those that could secretly be questioned for a price by hanging around shady ces like bars, brothels, and gambling parlors before and after work.
At first, he had thought this would be a waste of time but after stumbling upon some crucial information on the underground organization in question, he changed his mind.
He now knew that the organization most prominent in the winged city was called Numbers, controlled solely by their Numbered elites. However, that incident behind that alley a while back hadpletely incapacitated the Number division assigned to South Borough.
He didn''t know if Lix was responsible for doing that but if so, he owed him thanks as things had been more peaceful in the southtely. There seems to be fewer people high on blue and the only ones going crazy were the crackheads which the patrol guards could handle fairly easily.
Still, none that brought him any closer to learning about Lix. All he knew was that he regrly visited the Runic weapon shop whenever he was in town but unfortunately, Patrick did not have any connections in the other boroughs and was unable to know when Lix had entered and left the city.
How unfortunate as he heard Lix had alreadye and gone before he could blink. If only he could find a connection from the west that would be willing to help.
After doing his round with thete bars and gambling parlors as the brothels were uneventful in the morning. Patrick headed to work as usual.
Everything seems to go smoothly today as well with the reduced violence in the south borough although this meant there was a surge in petty crimes with no organization to control the meatheads.
Yet, these idiots were easier to deal with than with the surge in the drug, Blue powder. After rounding up his work for the day and assigning the night shift to someone else, he began his nightly ritual again and headed for a cheap bar.
Hoping to hear some more juicy information again today, he quietly went to the corner and took a seat.
"Oy! One draft beer and a bowl of minced meat stew."
Calling the attention of the rather robust bartender, he ced his order and rxed only to hear a tired sighing from the seat in front of him.
Unfortunately, as he was busy observing the more rowdy characters in the bar when he walked in, he failed to notice the youngdy that sat on the other side of the table he had chosen at the corner of the bar.
She had a gloomy expression on her face as she gulped down an entire cup of bear-like its was just water.
Patrick''s eyes opened up wide as he observed her rather familiar appearance. She had short brown hair that seem to have been scattered by a helmet, and a pair of short ck horns protruded from her forehead,plimenting her pale orange skin tone.
Her bright brown eyes seemed dull andckluster as she stared nkly at the empty wooden cup of beer she had just consumed.
"Is that you, the umm... Talking bull girl?"
"Oh great, even aftering this far out."
Her cheeks seems to turn red as she sighed tiredly without even raising her head to see who had addressed her. Most likely assuming they were only there to tease her.
"Oh right, sorry. I''ve only heard the rumors so I only wanted to confirm it was really you. Your name is, Riva right? You''re one of the guards assigned to the west gate ain''t ya?"
"Hmm..."
Having finally heard her namee out of someone''s mouth since the event that urred yesterday, Riva raised her head for the first time to see who was speaking to her. He was wearing the uniform of a Guard simr to hers but slightly different and she didn''t recognize his face.
"Right, since you live in West borough you wouldn''t know who I am. I''m Patrick, the Guard Captain. Nice to meet you."
"A captain? Sorry, I didn''t mean to be rude."
"Don''t worry about it, I''m just a Patrol Captain so I''m not of a higher rank than you I''m afraid."
"Oh... Is that so. Sorry."
"Hmm... Why are you apologizing. I said not to worry anout something like that."
"Right..."
RIva sighed deeply as her head droopped down as she said that. Sensing her willingness to talk rapidly fasting, Patrik suddenly thought of something as he spoke.
By the way, I have a proposition for you. Should help you get rid of this silly nickname as well, what do you say?"
Riva''s ears twitched for a moment as the light finally reflected off her eyes. Her attention seemed to have been piqued as she leaned forward to listen to what this lesser demon had to say.
"I''m listening."
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End of Volume 6: Demon Conspiracies.
Chapter 366 C366. The Floato Region
Volume 7: Demon Nobilities - Invaders of the Labyrinth.
Prelude.
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--The Floato region.
--Radiance City.
The capital city of the Floato Region. Located at the top of one of the widest mountain in the Demon Continent, this city was one of the most naturally protected cities in the entire demon continent, giving the ruling family, the Jaxith family a huge advantage againstnd invaders.
However, this natural advantage that was supposed to serve as a deterrent against invasion from the neighboring regions, had suddenly be the most coveted thing among the more lower ranked ruling ss nobilities.
After the defeat of the Great Demon King more than a thousand years ago, hundreds of noble families had been forced into a massive civil war that divided the nobilities into two categories.
The ruling ss nobles and ranked ornded nobles.
For all those families that lost the war but not their lives, their titles could not be stripped from them as a demon nobles title came from their strength and not just their bloodline, amon misconception in the modern era.
As such, those who lost their territories would fall into thetter category as ranked nobles under the lordship of the ruling ss nobles. While they may retain the rights to govern their previous territory asnded nobles, they were essentially just vassals to their Lord.Hence why it was forbidden to make demon Nobilities into ves.
With that, the number of ruling-ss nobles continued dwindling until there were no more than 77 of them strong enough to stand the test of time. In the same way, this was how the Great Five attained dominace over the demon continent till this day.
However, for thest few decades now, things were slowly shifting back in that direction albeit in a different way than in the past as wars were no longer tantly fought in the open these days.
Yet with the movements of thergest families in the continent, it was clear to everyone, another Great family was about to be born.
After 800 years of being docile, the more powerful noble families outside the Five Greats have finally begun making their moves after collecting enough information on the Greats.
They''ve slowly begun their expansion as the previous 77 ruling-ss noble families have begun to dwindle again. As such, smaller families like the Jaxith family have be a target in their ambitions. Hence why most low-ranked families like them had gone seeking an alliance with other high-ranked families.
However, due to the Jaxith family''s natural defenses against invasions, they''ve been rather protected from the expansion. Yet, this safety was now increasingly coveted by their border regions who seek to take the mountainous region for themselves.
As such, the Jaxith family was currently engaged in war with thebined forces of the three other smaller noble families who were probably under the control of a muchrger family.
There was also the possibility that they were attacking to stave of the influence of the otherrge families. However, the Jaxith family''s natural defenses were almost too much to handle even for thebined forces of three other families.
Only about two months ago, did the family lose a battle at one of the border cities of the Floato region. Led by the first prince of the Jaxith family, that defeat had taken them by surprise. The city had beenpletely overturned by enemy forces, it was aplete and utter defeat.
As such, even the proud Jaxith family, had been forced to send a representative over to the Darknar region after news of a new Demon Lord appearing out of the blue to take the Demon King''s castle from under the noses of the Great Five.
Such a feat was an incredible aplishment even if this new Demon Lord was not a pureblood.
After rejecting the offers from variousrger families to be their vassal state due to their pride, the Jaxith family was left with no other choice but to seek the aid of this new Demon Lord.
However, the representative that had been sent to ascertain the worthiness of this new Demon Lord had been aplete fool. Although he had not been so foolish as to dismiss the new Demon Lord as ipetent, he had still failed in negotiating a deal with him before the appearance of the Vampire Lord himself.
With the new Darknar family now invited to the great summit by one of the Great Five, any possibility for a reasonable vassge had gone out the window.
a?¨Ca?¨Ca?¨Ca?|???a?¨Ca?¨Ca?¨C
Deep in the ins closest to Radiance City, a few miles away from Ozark forest, thergest forest in the Floato region.
Situated atop a rather steep hill that overlooked the Riaz ins were four figures, staring silently at something from the overlooking view of the cliff.
The magic item in his pocket vibrated, and Bam -- a well-established knight of the Jaxith family, recently assigned to serve under the 5th daughter of the Jaxith family''s purebloods-- took the item out and pressed the button.
It was a golden pocket watch, justrge enough to fit into his palm, with three hands a€? the hour, the minute, and the second a€? which traced a halo of twelve numbers.
While each year on Neron took 395 days, and 396 on a leap year. The hours, minutes, and seconds were all the same as it was on earth, and Bam''s new pocket watch only told the time but not the date. However, this was a rather expensive magic item that not many could afford.
Being a lesser demon and ofmon birth, Bam normally wouldn''t be able to afford such a luxury item. However, fortune had favored him at birth as it blessed him with a rather useful innate ability.
Thanks to this, he had been able to climb up the ranks of the army to the point where he was able to distinguish himself in battle sometime back and was rewarded with a knighthood and taken in by the 5th princess.
Originally, he had been bitter about this as he felt the Jaxith family did not want a lesser demon amongst the Royal Knights so they simply assigned him away to the furthest pureblooded noble from the throne.
However, things changed the moment he set eyes on the princess. Perhaps one would say it was love at first sight but frankly, it was more than that. What he felt was beyond anything that could be described by mere words orprehended easily.
Just one look into her emerald green eyes and he understood something. Behind her exterior beauty and elegance. There was something iprehensibly hidden behind her every word, smile, and expression. Something he found himself longing for and devoting his entire existence to that pursuit.
"Hm? Is it time already? That was fast..."
Those words came from the person standing beside Bam with a bored expression on his face.
"It seems that way," Bam answered the young demon named a€? ne, the most recent addition to hisdy''s retainers. As far as he knew, ne was originally from one of the Brimstone family''s branch families.
He was a handsome young demon with long ck hair and green eyes. Wearing a ck body-fitting suit with dark green metal greaves and Vambraces, he gave off an impressive aura that kept Bam constantly on his toes.
He wasn''t sure how he had found his way in the service of the 5th Princess of a small yet ancient Family like the Jaxith family but he knew he could be trusted to put hisdy''s best interest at heart.
Taking that into consideration, Bam no longer concerned himself with that as he turned his gaze forward.
Closer to the edge of the cliff were two female figures. One of them sat leisurely on quite the fancy stool and the other stood to her side as she leaned on the metal spear she had plunged into the ground next to her.
The one sitting on the stool was none other than his mistress, the 5th princess of the Jaxith family -- Athena Fleur Jaxith.
Next to her was the leader of one of the strongest Hunter parties in the entire demon continent. The leader of the Quantium-ranked Hunter party "Evident" -- Aurora Hue Bario.
Originally based in the capital city of the Brimstone family, they had suddenly decided to make Radiance city their second home around the same time as ne if one would add.
While Bam felt that there was more to the recent changes that had begun to ur around hisdy. He knew it wasn''t his ce to inquire about anything and revel in the opportunity to finally see what his mistress was made up of.
Bam took several steps towards the pair ahead. They had simply been stationed a few paces behind them to protect their nks from any stray beasts or monstersing from the forest.
As he came closer to the two extremely pretty demonesses at the edge of the hill, Bam''s eyes naturally got a glimpse of the battle happening on the ins just below them.
Currently, Over twenty monsters led by a single magic beast were being fended off by only four individuals.
This was a situation not usuallymon along these parts but due to the current war between the Jaxith family and the neighboring regions, a lot of monsters had been chased out of their homes and rampaging in many of the surrounding viges.
The various Hunter guilds in the city were currently swamped with quests and requests to eliminate hordes of these monsters but they are unable to meet so many requests that the cities needed to send their guards to patrol along their cities borders to give the Hunters so more freedom toplete the quests.
As there was constantly a possibility of another battle in the war, the cities could not afford to send any of their guards or knight to partake in any of the hunts and were forced to leave everything to the Hunters. It didn''t matter if they decided to abandon one or two viges.
However, this was where the Quantium-ranked Hunter party, Evident, began to show its usefulness to the 5th Princess of the Jaxith family.
Perhaps using the word usefulness was a bit extreme as given the current state of the Jaxith family with their funding being stretched out by the war, the family itself wouldn''t have the money to hire Quantium ranked Hunters much less the 5th daughter who was not entitled to any special fundings and had to pay her retainers from her monthly allowances.
Frankly speaking, they were simply doing the princess a favor in exchange for certain considerations, and all this was thanks to the princess''s sudden friendship with the leader of Evident.
As the intense battle on the Riaz ins continued, Bam arrived beside his mistress and spoke:
"...My deepest apologies, mydy. It is time to return to the castle."
"Is that so~ Then, my friend, although I deeply appreciate your hard work in lending a hand in this respect, I''m afraid I must take my leave."
Princess Athena spoke sweetly with an apologetic expression as she addressed her friend leaning on her spear beside her.
"Is that so? Well, I suppose there is no point in prolonging this battle much longer, we''ve already attracted as much of the stray beasts in this area as possible. Just give me a minute."
"Hmm... Yaeeee... Do I finally get to see Aurora in action, I can''t wait."
"You''re getting too excited. Stop it, it''s weird. "
With such a backhandedment, the red-haired beauty named Aurora easily pulled out her spear that had been so firmly plunged into the hard rocky ground and jumped off the hill.
d in reddish-ck body fitting armor that was engraved with magic runes, she had dark brown eyes, and her hair was tied in a neat ponytail as she was wrapped in a golden aura as she descended on the battlefield like the goddess of war.
Bam, being a warrior himself could not find any ws in her movements as he watched her presence instantly change the oue of the battlefield.
This was the power of the leader of one of the few Quantinum ranked Hunter party in the world.
Chapter 367 C367. Evident
Most of the monsters the Quantium ranked Hunter party named ''Evident,'' was facing were intermediate ss monsters and above, some were even advanced ss magic beasts and yet, these fearsome monstrosities were all being led by what seemed to be another Advance ss magic beast.
Or rather, what should''ve been just another advanced-ss magic beast. However, this creature felt different. While towering over the other creatures with its size, it oozed a monstrous aura that suppressed every other advanced ss beast around.
Clearly, this was not the aura of a mere advanced ss magic beast, rather, an aura this powerful could only belong to a Lord ss Magic beast. Despite the fact that all of the monsters present on the Raiz in right now were of the same species, one clearly stood above the rest of the White Apes.
With its domineering presence and crazed bloodthirsty aura, this was what happens when a regr White ape bes, a crazed White Ape.
a?¨Ca?¨Ca?¨Ca?|???a?¨Ca?¨Ca?¨C
Having gained dominion over the southern parts of the Ozark forest at a young age. Cobb, the king of the white apes and one of the strongest five monsters in southern parts of Raiz forest soon earned the moniker -- The Crazed White Ape.
This hulking primate loomed over others of its kind by more than 3 feet. Its filthy white fur is matted and yellowed, and a deranged look haunts its blood-red eyes as its presence dominates its opponent''s mental state the more it fights, granting him greater strength.
This caused most of its foes to either run mad with fear or get pummeled under its mighty fist. Yet, this same magic beast, feared across the southern parts of the Raiz forest was now having a hard time against only a few opponents after sessfully escaping being caught in the Demon''s battles as they use its territories as strategic battlegrounds yet continue to blow it to bits with magic ballistics.
Naturally, as the king of that territory, he couldn''t just let the demons get away with intruding on its territory so naturally, it had ordered its minions to attack but had lost more than half of its kind to the sheer numbers of the Demons armies and the might of their fearsome magic artilleries.
Hence, they were forced out of their territory and were attempting to migrate northwest to the mountain caves.
However, upon exiting the Ozark forest, they encountered a small party of four demons with impressive gears that had attacked them unprompted he had mistakenly assumed they would be easy to finish off so they had unfortunately missed their opportunity to escape.
Again, History had repeated itself badly, as he had lost more than 20 of his remaining 40 plus white apes in the mere minutes that the battle had started.
Angered to the brink of madness, Cobb entered into a truly enraged state that emphasized the origin of its name as the Crazed Ape King.
However, after onlyunching a single attack that sent one of the Hunters flying back while dealing a decent amount of damage. Everything suddenly went ck for him as he was forced to eat dirt as his head came crashing down and shattering the earth below with a resounding boom.
His thought slowed down and all it could taste and feel was pain, as well as the taste of metal from the spear that had pierced its head and mmed its body to the ground.
In less than a second, Cobb, the self-proimed kind of the White Apes, an Advanced ss Magic beast with strength rivaling that of Lord ss monsters in its crazed state, had met his end without even knowing how it died.
This was an advanced ss magic beast they were talking about. A creature with the strength to match that of most Demon lords and yet, it had met its end without the chance to resist.
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Things had gone exactly as Aurora had said and everything ended in a single minute as her follow-up attack only took 30 seconds before the cores of most of the remaining monsters were forced out their backs by the force of her spear thrust alone, creating massive holes in their chest in an instant.
None of them were even capable of putting up any form of resistance, unable to even follow her sheer strength and blinding speed.
Her teammates immediately followed up on her example and quickly dispatched the remaining monsters that had been scared shitless by the sudden death of their so-called king. Everything ended within thest 30 seconds and the battle in the Raiz in came to an abrupt end.
While these were all intermediate-ss monsters and above, they were still just mindless monsters incapable of anyplicated strategies and techniques.
Even the so-called crazed king was nothing more than a savage beast with only a little over average intelligence and battle instinct.
Compared to a party of well-equipped and experienced Hunters with skills tailored to the task of eliminating monsters, this could barely be called a challenge for them.
With theplete annihtion of all the monsters they had lured herepleted, the rest of Aurora''s team then turned to her.
"Oi, Well if it''s not our evil and selfish leader, it''s about time."
"Come on Moon, that''s no way to talk to the boss. She''ll kill youter when the princess is not looking, she''s quite sneaky you know."
"You''re right, such a cowardly leader is sure to result in such underhanded tactics, I should''ve known."
"Hmm hmm hmm... Aurora is quite vicious, indeed."
With every slyment emanating from behind her, a vein bulged on her forehead as she tried her hardest to ignore the foolishness being disyed by her ownpanions.
However, her aura could barely remain docile as the air surrounding them changed rapidly as she turned around to face her party members.
Amongst herpanions, there was only a single male. Dress in all ck, he had been the first to speak as he waved his wooden staff around.
He had a pale grey skin tone with long pointed ears and yellowish green eyes with long ck hair that covered most of his face and made him appear like a Goth girl to some extent.
Standing beside him were two beastgirls that were dressed simrly and appeared to be sisters. They both had dark brown skin tones with short white hair and a pair of grey tiger ears resting atop their heads.
Their skin contained grey tiger stripes on their arms and legs and they wielded a pair of curved short swords on each arm.
Thest was a literal child. Or at least she appeared to be a child as she hovered above their heads sitting on a fluffy-looking cloud monster under her control and appearing to be constantly half asleep.
"Tsk. Just hurry up and retrieve the cores and carcasses of the monsters and that magic beast. It''s already time for the princess to leave so we''ll be heading back to the city now."
With a casual swing of her spear, Aurora casually tossed the magic beast next to her at the gothic male called, ck Moon. Raising a brow slightly impressed by Aurora''s surprising self-control and what she was willing to go through to protect her image in front of the princess, he chuckled inwardly and responded.
"Hm~ Well, we''re her bodyguard too, even if she doesn''t say it a€? although, since this isn''t a quest, it''s more like we happen to be traveling together so there''s no real point in us riding the same carriage. So go on ahead with the princess and don''t worry, we''ll be right behind you."
Hearing his reply, a thought went through Aurora''s mind and she immediately kicked off her feet and jumped. In a single bound, she had reached the hill at which Athena was awaiting her return and spoke.
"Athena, sorry I''ll have to handle something for a while longer but I''ll have some of myrades escort you back to the city."
"Oh feel free. There is no need for you to go out of your way for me anyway. Allowing me toe here was already generous enough."
"Alright then."
Seizing her chance to gain some payback on her disrespectful teammates, Aurora immediately went back down to deliver her judgment and withdrew into the Raiz forest with only Cloudy in tow after reveling in the dismay which was their reactions.
The 5th daughter of the Jaxith family was widely loved by many and especially those closest to her, not simply because of her beauty or figure. Her personality that defied the personification of desires, that was the Demon race was considered one of her many charms as well.
However, for some strange and unexinable reason, ck Moon and the others never feltfortable whenever they were left in the same room with her without their leader, Aurora there with them.
So naturally, Aurora deemed this as the perfect punishment for their earlier disrespect and immediately passed her judgment.
Before any of them could even voice their displeasure, Aurora had already dragged Cloudy by the neck and disappeared into the forest within the blink of an eye.
"Well she''s gone "
"Yeah, she''s gone."
Speaking with a consecutive rhythm that resembled the gentle ringing of a bell, the sisters, Sigrid and Sigrun ced their right hand in Infront of their foreheads to cover the tip of their eyes as they leaned forward in a slightly exaggerated pose as they stared in the direction Aurora had disappeared in with interest.
"I''m aware she''s gone. Jeez... You guys just get to clear this ce up and I''ll retrieve the cores before we head back with the princess."
" Hey, no fair, no fair, we don''t like--."
"--clearing up. We don''t. No fair at all."
They both acted with extra motions that were almost exaggerated whichpletely contrasted the emotionless looks that were ever present on their faces. Perhaps choosing to overreact as a substitute.
"Shut it up. You guys were here when Aurora left with Cloudy, who would''ve made this job a lot easier so I don''t wanna hear it!"
"Well, Moon is the one who decided to get on the wicked leader''s bad side."
"Yeah... Moon was the one to get on the evil leader''s bad side. Even if she has no good side."
As though in perfect sync, they both pointed at ck Moon as they made an exaggerated pose that seemed to have angered him for an unknown reason.
"DON''T ACT LIKE YOU GUYS DIDN''T PARTICIPATE IN THAT TOO!"
" Eeeeh... Moon is scary."
" Eeeeh... Moon is too scary."
While pretending to be frightened children and seekingfort in each other''s arms, Moon couldn''t help but facepalm himself for getting baited by these two nut jobs and just decided to ignore them and went to work before heading up the cliff to meet up with the 5th princess.
"Wee back, great work out there today. That was an excellent disy of skills and coordination at the highest level. This has truly shown me the difference between other Hunters and Quantium-ranked ones."
With an almost bewitching smile contrasting her honest appearance, Athena pped her hands gently as she stood up to greet the Hunters that had arrived before her.
"I''m d someone appreciates our hard work. Well, we are getting paid for this after all. There''s no need to thank us for that."
"Oh no, please. I''m aware Hunters of your caliber wouldn''t normally ept this kind of quest so the least I can do is offer my gratitude."
ck Moon was stumped for a moment, others would''ve felt something different hearing those heartfelt words from the mouth of a Princess, However, he couldn''t shake the feeling that there was always a double meaning behind everything Athena says which always threw him around for a loop.
Before the three Hunters had arrived, ne had gone ahead to retrieve the carriage and it soon pulled up beside them,ing to a gentle halt.
"Well then, shall we take our leave."
Chapter 368 C368. A True Demon Nobles
"Well then, shall we take our leave."
"Please, mydy, allow us."
In response to Athena''s statement, ck Moon signaled for the sisters to move ahead as they were currently acting as the princess''s bodyguard for the moment and could not afford to be used of being anything other than professionals.
With ne sitting alongside the driver in front, Sigrid entered the carriage first without introducing herself. Although it seemed like she was being rude, she was simply ensuring the safety of the carriage before being apanied by her sister as though the two of them could not be apart for long.
Shortly after that, Athena, Bam and finally ck Moon entered one after the other, and then the carriage set off towards Radiance city''s side entrance.
A small and private gate at the Southside of the city walls used mainly for the transportation of goods and supplies by the Jaxith family and thus, was heavily guarded.
The luxurious carriage, marked with the emblem of the Jaxith family, easily passed through the supply chain and entered the city. Galloping its way toward the Jaxith family''s castle.
Soon, the carriage drove through the west district-- where numerous shelters had been built for the survivors from the border city that had been attacked by thebined forces of their neighboring region, Gerroyian City.
These shelters housed the women and children driven from their homes and were unable to fend for themselves. These women were then given the task of running and maintaining the shelter while taking care of the children as though it was an orphanage.
The typical war shelter was usually just temporary housing for those who were rendered homeless by war and was usually managed by the city''s paid workers.
These were mostlydark and dampwarehouses that would get incredibly cold at night. Providing only the bare necessities for its upants.
However, the shelter that had been constructed in Radiance city was on a whole different level. Not only were they massive with proper lighting that even most middle-ss citizens didn''t possess, but there were also multiple clean bathrooms and a separate section for children in each of them.
The idea for this was brought up and pursued by Athena herself, a feat that rapidly increased her poprity with the masses. As such, she has also taken it upon herself to visit the shelters personally on several asions and was very well-loved by both the men and children around.
Naturally, as the kids outside the shelter saw the familiar carriage slowly moving through the streets, they found a way to break free from their caretakers and ran excitedly after the carriage which immediately came to a stop so as not to harm any of them with the horses.
The doors to the carriage opened up and Bam rushed out before his mistress. Her appearance caused an uproar among the kids as they happily surrounded the nice demondy that always brought them sweets and toys.
Her outfit may have been a tad inappropriate for kids, but her pure expression made it impossible for anyone to stare at anything other than her face.
The way she smiled tenderly at the rowdy children and the posture which she took to listen to their words made the hearts of all who saw her skip several beats.
As a pureblooded noble princess, she was already supernaturally beautiful enough, so being the first humble demon noble they had met added severalyers of charm to her person.
As Bam -- who stood behind her-- beheld this picturesque scene, he lost the ability to speak.
He was aware of their time constraints but found it difficult to disturb this perfect picture of true nobility.
As someone who had once held a deep hatred for those high-ss noble demons that always looked down on others as though they were nothing, meeting Athena had truly opened his eyes to what it meant to be a true pureblood noble, hence why he has vowed toy down his life for his mistress.
However, there were a few individuals that weren''t affected by this scene as one of them rudely interrupted them.
"Hey kid, weren''t you the oneining about yourck of time?"
"Right. I deeply apologize mydy, but we must leave if we''re to make it in time."
"I understand. Then, although it pains me that I can''t stay long today, I must be on my way."
The kids simultaneously grumbled "Ehhhhhh~", in voices filled with longing and reluctance. They would not have made such a sound if she had not thoroughly ensnared their hearts.
In response to the children, the caretakers'' and mothers, hurriedly sprang into action. They patted the children soothingly and pulled away those children who were slower on the uptake from Athena''s side.
"Everyone, can Ie to y with you some other time?"
The kids energetically affirmed in excitement as Athena returned to the carriage and wave the children goodbye.
Within the bumpy carriage, ckMoon could not help but mumble:
"...It must have been pretty hard to build so many Shelters like that."
"Hard you say?"
"Indeed, it''s no secret that the funds of the Jaxith family are all being allocated to the war efforts and there isn''t much to spare on anything else. So where on Neron did you get the money to spend on so many fancy Shelters as well as pay for their maintenance and upkeep."
Athena cupped her chin with one hand, tilting her head slightly in amusement.
"I don''t believe it was that difficult to get the funds especially since there was an urgent need to build shelters for the victims of the war. My elder brother was more than willing to grant my request given as the only real cost was for building the shelters."
"Hmm... you mean..."
"Yes, there was no need to hire any staff for the shelters as the women were willing and eager to clean and maintain the nice environment they were provided. Using any random warehouse would not have inspired such devotion. All we really needed to do was asign the most qualified leader to help optimize their job and the rest was up to them. With a bit of training, they took care of the injured, the sick, and especially the children."
"There is still the issue with providing food and water as well as other necessities isn''t that right."
"Of course, we still have to provide that for now but the shelters are also providing somebor force for the city. While the only men in the shelters are mostly the elderly or wounded, there are a lot of abled bodies we are currently using for somebor which pays for more than half of what we spend most times. Besides, with the current state of the Demon continent, maintaining a favorable rtionship with our own people is a must don''t you think?"
ck Moon raised his chin slightly, as though to permit her to continue speaking.
"As you all may have surmised. The situation with the Darknar region has spread tension across the entire continent and beyond that many have even begun to question the authority of the Great Five. And with thetest rumors of the strength of the Darknar family''s Lord being on par with the Great Demon Lords, families that have not allied with any superpower are far more likely to fall apart from within if care was not taken. This may be the beginning of a new age in the demon continent."
At the mention of the name Darknar, ck Moon suddenly thought of something but decided to focus on the topic at hand.
"The Darknar family''s Lord, huh... well, we''ll talk about thatter. Couldn''t that money be better spent on things besides those brats? If you ask me, the weak losing their lives is just the way things work in the demon continent, no?"
"That''s not urate."
Athena''s statement was clear and sinct. Unlike her tone from just now, those words were filled with tremendous power that it made even someone as strong as he hesitated.
"Saving the weak is the duty of the demon nobles, it''s why we established a society, not unlike the humans. And..."
Bam felt Athena''s eyes suddenly turn to him
Perhapsa€?
The image of himself as a child appeared in his mind. As a lesser demon that was an orphan, his childhood was filled with pain and suffering. However, he was also one of the lucky few that was blessed with a talent in the form of an innate ability that allowed him to crawl out of the gutter and now finds himself by the side of his beloved mistress who he greatly admired as the only decent Demoness in the Jaxith family.
Perhaps she had built the shelters because she remembered what he had told her about his past. With the majority of those in the shelters being lesser demons and beastfolks.
A wave of heat shed through his chest.
Of course, he could not verify the Princess'' actual thoughts. Even so, Bam did not doubt that it was that way.
"Well, I don''t really care either way but the only thing that bothers me is why you had to create so many of them."
"Well of course. After all, we have to consider that we will take in many survivors in the future, as the war is yet to reach its climax. We''re also evacuating many of the border towns close to the front lines so there will be many seeking refuge from those ces as well. With that in mind, even 6 shelters of that size may not be enough. The children also take priority as many of them would end up losing their families in battle, and we need to take care of them to make sure they don''t go down the wrong path."
"Hmmm. The princess is really considerate isn''t she?"
"Hmm. The princess sure is considerate."
"What are you guys trying to say, Sidrun?"
"Oh, we were just thinking about how children without their parents would live, ck Moon."
"I see. I can now understand why this was the best way to maintain public order considering the chaos with the Great Five and Darknar. Your understanding of the world is really as impressive as ever Princess Athena."
"Impressive. So you''re saying she has a keen insight then."
"Keen insight. They usually say the same thing about you ck Moon."
" I think they''ve greatly overestimated my abilities."
ck Moon did not respond to Athena''s gentle smile as a chill crawled down his spine. He could not help but imagine just how far into the future could this so-called princess predict and control.
Not only has she singlehandedly maintained the public order of Radiance City while promoting herself to the public in the midst of an ongoing war. But all her actions seem so selfless and saintly that she had be a proper candidate for the throne without doing anything.
While thetter half was something that nobody but ck Moon and the girls could understand, the first half was simple enough that even Bam could understand.
Those survivors, especially the children who had lost their parents would often turn to crime in order to survive. If that happened, even the less active underground organizations in the Floato Region like Numbers would easily be able to spread across the continent and would be worse for the weakened Floato Region.
In other words, his beloveddy had done this to prepare for the future.
However a€? Athena asked ck Moon in a curious tone:
"a€?What does that mean?"
"Hmm... did we read too deeply into it? Or is this just an act?"
"Hm~ it looked genuine enough at a nce."
"Hm~ it certainly feels genuine to me."
The girls, Sigrid and Sigrun were excellent and reading facial expressions despite theirck of one themselves so when ck Moon held their opinion, he stared at Athena''s confused face for a moment before deciding to ept it.
"Well, if you guys say so, then it must be true. I feel like I just wasted my brain cells thinking too much about that."
Chapter 369 C369. The 5th Princess
Listening to the Quantium-ranked Hunters in the carriage lower their opinion about her, Athena tilted her head a little shocked and spoke.
"Huh. Why does it feels like you''ve decided to lower your opinion of me all of a sudden... Well you''re not wrong though. I do think about a lot of things, you know? For instance, we''ve already begun to conduct aptitude tests on the orphans in the shelters and once we get enough talents, the family would be able to secure our future even without allying with anyrge families and without the resources of the Great Five Magic Academies. Of course, relying on the kids that have been affected by our war for our survival is not exactly something to be proud of."
As only the Great Five possess the right and resources to create Magic Academies, it was safe to say that the other families could not properly nurture every one of their young talents as they only had the opportunity to send a handful of their very best talents to study at the magic Academies every year.
The various Magic Academies were also a ce for the Great Five to secure the top talents for themselves, hence one had to be cautious of the talents they send to the academies and this usually means, only the most talented purebloods were selected each year.
The magic Academies were also a ce where the young talents of lower-ranked nobles could even be poached by otherrge families making it an incredibly risky endeavor. Especially when those talents were from branch families that didn''t bear thest name of the noble family to hold on to.
Safe to say it was incredibly difficult to nurture talents that weren''t absolute geniuses without an abundance of time, resources, and tools that most families did not possess especially when those talents were meremoners, yet this was what Athena was currently suggesting.
Perhaps in her own way, she was trying to create a new magic academy for the Jaxith family. For that, she not only needed an abundance of resources, but to get that, she would not to have already secured a number of talented children whose potential would he Worth the risk.
"No, that''s actually a line of reasoning I can understand, for demons, especially demon nobles, this is actually pretty admirable if you ask me. And if you can produce results, it would be worthy of praise. That must be why you''ve been so interested in us Hunters for a while huh? Given as most of us did not possess the abundance of resources you nobles do, isn''t that right."
Hearing ck Moon''s theory, Athena''s pretty face was adorned by a bitter smile as her expression soured greatly in her reply.
"I suppose I can''t hide it from someone like you. Pretty cruel huh? You Hunters go through hell in order to survive out here and that''s the kind of life I''m nning for those children, I must look like a monster to you right?"
"Princess..."
Bam''s face immediately sank as he heard those words from his mistress. He wanted to cut in and hold her close to his chest as he tells her ''that''s not true.''
He had been the one apanying Athena over thest few months now so he knew just how hard she was working to save those survivors, especially the kids when none of the other nobles cared for them.
Her actions had even caused a stir in the castle pushing for her to be immediately married off if it wasn''t for the masses rallying behind her against the corrupt nobles.
However, as her attendant, he could not overstep his bounds and say such a thing to her face. Using all of his mental fortitudes to hold himself back when suddenly.
"I don''t believe that. In fact, it''s the opposite, no one buys you act this naive so naturally, people are going to be suspicious if you do something without expecting anything in return."
ck Moon was a half-dark elf. His mother was a dark elf that had been a ve to one of the ranked noble families under the Jaxith authority back when other families were allowed to possess dark elves as ves. So he was a half-demon Baron as well.
However, driven by the disgrace of tainting their so-called noble bloodline with a vile lesser being, he had been cast aside and experienced firsthand just how cruel and unfair the demon society could be which led to his now dark outlook.
However--
"Nah, ck Moon''s just twisted because his heart was crushed by our devil leader."
"Yeah... It was absolutely smashed to pieces, no one besides him doubted the princess''s intentions."
"Hey! Don''t go bringing needless information into this. Besides, you guys are just as bad as me aren''t you?"
"Certainly not. We''re very pure. It''s only you who has been corrupted."
"Yes, we''re adorable super pure maidens."
The sisters once again made an exaggerated pose even though their expressions remained the same.
"Tsk!"That sound came out of ck Moon''s mouth as he turned his head to nce out the carriage window for a moment. Causing Athena tough softly as she replied.
Yup, yup. To be honest, Mr. ne was really the one who gave me the idea of building the Shelters."
"ne? huh. Oh, you mean your new attendant, the one seated upfront. If I remember correctly he''s also from Sun City, right?"
Hearing that surprising revtion, ck Moon''s attention returned to Athena as he asked that question.
"You''re correct. Mr. ne is originally a part of the Brimstone family''s specialized division. But he''s been let go and has now chosen to work for me instead. How fortunate."
"From the Brimstone family!"
"The Brimstone family, oh my!"
The girls, Sigrid and Sigrun eximed in uniformed surprise as they turned to look Athena in the face with strange eyes.
"Something wrong?"
ck Moon narrowed his eyes, as though to conceal his feelings.
"No, it''s nothing. We''re just a little shocked that someone from one of the Great Five would choose to work under the 5th princess of a rather small noble family. Despite it being of the ruling ss. I can finally see why our moronic leader has taken a sudden interest in you. "
" You tter me, but don''t you think you''ve been rather mean to poor Aurora?"
"Don''t bother yourself about that. The boss isn''t as delicate as she may appear to be. Let''s just get back on topic. Can you please tell us what was ne''s reasoning behind the shelters? I can''t imagine him thinking about the political side of things you mentioned earlier."
The interior of the carriage was magically soundproofed, so even with ne being only a few meters ahead, in front of the carriage, it would be impossible for their words to reach his ears unless one decided to use magic, which can easily be sensed by almost everyone in this carriage.
"His reasoning was simple and I expanded on his idea. Basically, the reason families like mine are unable to grow and contend with the likes of the Great Five is that we cling to the ideals and tradition of ancient times, especially families like mine."
"Oh, you mean..."
"Precisely. The nobles in this world from the demon, elven, or even the human continent consider themselves superior to the mass and as such, are unable to seek their salvation from themon folks. No matter how pure our genes are, like me, the chances of producing any true protege on the level of the Greats is minuscule, practically almost impossible."
"I see. So that means because the demon nobilities shun lower-ranked races and condemn their strength even when great, they are forever doomed to remain under the shadow of the Five Greats. Is that right?"
"That''s correct and may also be the intention of the Five Greats in order to maintain the status quo for the time being."
"Really? Isn''t this the same with the Great Five? After all, they are even stricter with the traditions of purebloods."
" Well, you''re not wrong there, but the fact is, the Great Five have found a way to bypass this by use of the magic institutes and Magic Academies. Not only are they now able to nurture a vast array of their nobilities, rather than leave their education to each branch of the family and household. They are now also selecting talentedmoners to bolster up their forces from the outside."
" So that''s it. I never went to the magic academy but they did try recruiting me once. Makes sense. However, how is this rted to the shelters?"
"That''s simple, the shelter offers an orphanage home to kids that have lost their parents and adults that lost their homes and families can also work there. Naturally, as long as we can gather a vast number of them and nurture them even crudely, there should be quite a few truly gifted ones amongst them that would be weed into the outer family."
Hearing Athena''s words made ck Moon''s eyes widen. He already guessed what her n was earlier but not even he could imagine the scale at which she was intended. In other for this n to make any significant progress for the Jaxith family, arge number of children had to be brutally trained at once so as to flush out their hidden potential before any resources could be wasted on them.
"Holy shit. To think everyone thinks you''re just another pretty face for the Jaxith family."
"Really, I''m ttered."
" That was not my intention."
" I''m aware.".
''This girl.''
A cold chill ran across the entirety of ck Moon''s body as he stared at Athena, confusing Bam at the sudden shift in the atmosphere.
" Say, the next time I''m headed to the shelter, I would appreciate it if any of you would apany me."
"Oh no, no, no, I''m hardly that perceptive,"
"Oh no, no, no, I''m hardly that perceptive,"
Sigrun and Sigrid said simultaneously and continued as they turned to their friend. "How about you, Moon?"
"You can''t discern magical potential at a nce. At the very least, they''ll need to use the guild''s Magic orb to be able to estimate their magic potential but that won''t tell you if they can actually use magic or are more suited towards meleebat."
"Hence, they''ll still have to go through a lot of hellish training before I can roughly understand what aspect of magic they''re attuned to or if they''ll be better off as magic swordsmen, warriors, or rogues. Of course, this only applies to a few as there are aspects of magic I am unfamiliar with especially if they''re atunned with Bizarre Magic."
For Athena, without the aid of a magic academy as they were unable to finance such a venture. What families like theirs needed desperately was a sudden influence of talent and willing teachers to nurture them to have value in negotiating a favorable alliance with any of the Five Greats.
For her, even just locating a handful of kids with high-tiered magic potential was enough to turn the tide of negotiation even without sending the kids on any dangerous missions.
The problem lies in the rather high possibility of only finding kids with average magic potential at best. As the talents of skilled warriors were not as easy to learn as magic potential, the kids would be forced to undergo rather harsh training before being sent to the wild to attain first-rate experience and skills to help increase their value to the family as their potential alone would not be enough.
Currently, they would be lucky if bing a vassal family was the worst thing that would happen to them at the end of this war. As a matter of fact, bing a vassal to arger family wasn''t even a bad thing for them. The true terror lies in the conditions of such an oue. Controlling that condition in her favor was what Athena was truly after despite that being only a part of her ns.
Chapter 370 C370. The Inquisitive Princess
¡ªStill in the Jaxith Family''s crested carriage, heading straight for the family''s Castle at the city center.
Athena was looking at the three Quantium ranked Hunters in the coach with her, apparently trying to convey something with her gaze. To some extent, it was more persuasive than an actual speech.
"¡That''s pretty na?ve. But if it was her, ah¨D"
"Hey, Moon, you do know what the boss would¡ª"
"¡ªDo, right?"
Athena''s gaze had proved to be rather effective as she made the three Hunters seriously contemte their decision.
"I''m aware, shut up. Still, I won''t agree so easily, even if it''s for her, no? After all, we need a certain amount of remuneration for this ¨D since we''ve been hired, we''ll need a minimum payment. Besides, if we don''t collect anything, it''ll be bad for the others too. It''ll also vite the Hunters'' code. In addition, a price has to be paid for teaching skills or spells, secret techniques are out of the question."
"Well, I do agree with everything you''ve said, but I''m very sorry. The truth is, those shelters took more than budgeted so I don''t have any money at the moment¡"
Athena hung her head in dejection as she said that.
As the 5th princess of the Jaxith family not born with a decent potential and even failing to inherit the family''s innate ability. The fact was that Athena held no true worth within the family besides her ability to extend the family''s influence and bloodline through marriage.
As such, Athena held no stake in the family''s finances besides her monthly allowances and could only afford the shelters thanks to her Elder brother''s recent high evaluation of her intellect and advice. Hence why he assigned the task to her but unfortunately, he could not increase the original budget set aside from the war.
So naturally, Athena who had spent more than the allocated budget on the six shelters no longer has any money of her own. Not that this was a problem for her day-to-day lifestyle.
As someone that has spent thest couple of months by her side, Bam could easily feel her intentions through the armor he wore.
"Really? I would''ve thought all princesses live a life full of all sunshine and roses¡ then again, this is the demon continent. I''m surprised you don''t have a leach on your boy toy over there."
Bam''s brows twitched for a split second and his cheeks shed red. Still, he could not disrespect his mistress by speaking out of turn in front of her guests. Even if they were rude guests. She clearly valued their opinions highly.
"Reality''s hardly that nice, besides, Bam''s not a toy so I''ll appreciate it if you could please refrain from calling him that."
Athena frowned.
"Geez... my bad. I was only kidding. I guess you can''t take a joke huh."
*Sigh... "Still, to your first point, we can''t say there aren''t any princesses like that on the demon continent. I''m sure all the Great Five pureblood Demoness live simr to that though, perhaps with a bit of thorn in their roses."
As he watched his mistress'' expression turned serious when she spoke of him before her eyes lit up with admiration at herst statement, an emotion that he could not express with words welled up within Bam''s heart.
His heart skipped a beat as he thought about how he would love to give a life of sunshine and roses to the one who was the most beautiful being in the world with a brilliance that overshadowed everything.
Just then, Athena turned her face, and her sparkling eyes met his own from the side.
"¨DThinking of something?"
"Ah, no, it''s nothing, mydy."
"Is that so? Well, if you think of anything, you should speak up. We need to help each other in tough times, after all. Also, don''t let the words of Mr. ck Moon get to you, I don''t consider you a toy you know that right?"
"Ah, yes! Thank you very much!"
Bam snapped into an upright posture as he saw Athena''s eyes sparkle worriedly when she thought he was upset for a moment. His mind almost went nk as the words barely left his mouth.
"Err... Hate to interrupt this... Whatever this is but know I''m not nning on working for free even if she says so."
Bringing everyone''s attention back to the issue at hand, ck Moon ignored his part in the current situation and made his decision as the sisters followed.
"Yeah, me neither."
"Me neither."
"I understand, I shall surely try my best to meet your expectations. It shouldn''t be too hard to earn more money now that the shelters are up and running smoothly."
Athena said confidently with a smile on her face, making ck Moon sigh in resignation.
"Then I guess that''s settled. However, finding highly talented kids among so many isn''t impossible. Finding those with an innate ability is. There is no true method of finding out if someone has one or not. Much less what that ability is, so choosing kids solely based on magic Potential might not be the best approach."
"Although... It''s not impossible to identify those with innate ability. I''ve heard the Great Five are capable of such a feat."
Athena spoke with a left hand on her chin as she contemted on what she may have heard a while back.
"Yes, yes, it is barely possible."
"Really? Can you really test for that?"
"Well, I don''t know what that sparkle in your eyes is for, but don''t get your hopes up. This is anything like a spell or magic item like the Magic orb. Rather one just have to use various method to enable the target to sense if they have any dormant ability within them and that rarely works."
"Is that so¡"
The light in Athena''s eyes dimmed.
"Things like teaching them true meditation to deep dive within their inner world where the mana body is located is an option. Although a deep dive is not something just anyone can learn much less do. If they aren''t careful their consciousness could get lost in the never-ending darkness within their soul."
"That sounds very unsafe."
"Right, the chances of sess are incredibly low with that one. The other option is to have someone hypnotize them into a trance. If the person is unable to use it by instinct alone which is how most people learn about theirs in the first ce. Apparently, it makes you sense your own innate ability, mixed up with something else. "
"Really? ¡Hm, is that really true? Hold on, do you have an innate ability too, Mr. ck Moon?"
At this, the uncharacteristically hitherto chatty ck Moon suddenly fell silent. It would seem he had heard something he wasn''tfortable talking about.
Everyone here fully understood what it meant to possess an innate ability despite how useful it may turn out to be. It was why the matter with the shelter had held any weight with the second Prince who had taken over the session of the throne after the 1st son of the Jaxith family went missing in the war.
Bam also possesses an innate ability himself, one of the reasons why he had been able to crawl his way out of the depths of the slumps.
For Hunters and Magicians, these abilities were usually considered trump cards that may end up saving their lives and were considered a well-guarded secret as it was impossible to tell who possessed one or not. Innate abilities were even more coveted than unique skills.
Yet, his master was clueless enough to actually ask that question and even proceeded to press on.
"Could you tell me what kind of ability it is?"
This level of ignorance and insensitivity was not because she was being mean or wasn''t smart enough to read the flow of a conversation. Rather, this simply disyed the results of growing up in a pce with a different set ofmon etiquette.
"What are you getting excited about?"
ck Moon finally spoke as he stared intently at Athena.
"There are very few people with such abilities around me, so I''d like to know what sort of ability you have. As far as I''m aware, they should all be unique abilities that were shaped by destiny or fate, so I am quite intrigued."
"Is that so? Well, since it''s gotten to this, I might as well tell you. Scoot over."
Hearing that, Athena''s face lit up with excitement as she scoot over to hear his words more clearly. However¡ª
*Pong!
The wooden staff next to ck Moon moved as it hit Athena on the head with a slight bump before Bam could even react to protect her.
"Ow."
"Did you really expect me to answer that? You''re lucky I don''t hit you any harder."
"MR. BLACK MOON¡ª"
Bam''s words were cut short by the re he received from the half-dark elf and the hand already reaching for his weapon froze. He already knew he wasn''t a match for the likes of ck Moon and the others but his body couldn''t help itself from wanting to protect his beloved mistress.
If someone like him was to be ranked ording to the Hunters standard then he would be nothing more than an Orichalcum-ranked Hunter.
Being ranked that highly meant he was stronger than most of the Hunters registered in Radiance City. However, this only meant he was at least stronger than the average Hunter.
He couldn''t even hope to contend with an Adamantine ranked Hunter and above. Much less challenge the highest-ranked Hunters like the members of Evident.
He had already been made painfully aware of the vast difference between them from his pathetic attempt at having a duel with them a while back and they were even graceful enough to give him pointers which made his loss all the more embarrassing.
Yet, those factors did not stop his body from reacting to protect his mistress the moment she was struck on the head. However, his movements had been far too slow and before he could even draw his weapon, his body froze from a single nce from Sigrun and Sigrid.
However, there was someone in this carriage that didn''t seem to have read the situation at all.
"Help me Bam. Mr. ck is being mean to me. My head hurts."
The stunned Bam was immediately jotted back awake as Athena leaned over to hug him, as though she was a frightened child seeking protection from an adult.
Pressing her body against his armor caused Bam''s head to instantly go nk as the adorable look on her face was almost too much for him to bear.
She looked up from his chest, her eyes brimming with tears.
"Tsk. Stop acting like a spoiled brat. I didn''t even hit you that hard. You''re a princess for crying out loud."
Seeing this annoying charade being pulled in front of him seems to aggravate ck Moon even more.
"Mr. ck Moon. Please reframe from hitting and insulting the princess. Even if it''s you, I will not overlook it a second time."
Forced to his senses by ck Moon''s words, Bam steeled himself for any consequences that may arise from his words as he could not help but defend his mistress.
"Oh... Is that a tbhreat? You''ve grown some balls, uh kid."
The air around ck Moon instantly changed as it intensified and was directly aimed at Bam. Such a staggering aura could even kill a full-grown man but Bam did not back down as he shielded his mistress with his body.
At this, even ck Moon was shocked. He hadn''t nned on going this far but was pleasantly surprised by Bam and couldn''t help himself. He also caught a glimpse of Athena mocking him with her tongue out and he almost increased his aura to dangerous levels.
"How annoying..."
Chapter 371 C371. Black Moon
"That''s enough Moon, there''s still someone else here you know."
"You''ve gotten carried away again. Don''t forget this is still a job."
Sigrid and Sigrun had no choice but to stop ck Moon before he went too far over something like that.
"a€?Ah? Punk, she''s be like this because you keep indulging her!"
Bam''s face immediately went red as he felt his mistress body press on his armor that he found it difficult to refute ck Moon.
"That''s not-- there''s no way someone like me can indulge the Princess..."
To Bam, even if he wanted to indulge his mistress''s every wish and spoil her, thinking she deserves it, there was no way he could even go about such a thing.
"Don''t listen to them Bammy, you can surely spoil me all you want. I wouldn''t mind being pampered by you you know."
At this point, it looked as though his head would explode, a reaction that caused ck Moon to almost face Palm himself thinking this kid was too easy.
"No, no, that''s not right, that''s something that absolutely mustn''t happen."
"Really, but why not? I wanna be pampered by you all the time,e on..."
At this point, even the two sisters felt bad for the kid as they watched his fragile heart being jerked around like a string in real time. It was to the point that ck Moon was forced to cut them off.
"Ugh, I''m really stupid for mentioning that. Let''s just move on. Princess, try not to just randomly ask people to tell you their innate ability, especially Hunters. You might end up being mistaken for a spy and killed on the spot, no one would care who you were in certain instances."
"Is it really that dangerous?"
Currently, it was no secret to high-level Hunters that the Great Five, especially the Brimstone family, were interested in gathering people with useful or dangerous innate abilities, either to enlist them or get rid of any potential threat.
There have also been reports of missing people, especially Hunters suspected of possessing innate abilities. However, these cases were immediately suppressed making the information itself dangerous to speak of with individuals that weren''t Hunters.
While mostmon folks were unaware of the details of the Great Five''s innate abilities, they all knew the reason for their continued dominance over the demon continent was because of how powerful those abilities were in the right hands. Hence why the value of innate abilities was so high.
There was also a minor rumor that the Brimstone family was at attempting to figure out a way to steal the innate abilities of others to use in their expansion for the sake of bing the next Demon King family.
Of course, this was just a rumor that could not be proved and thus, too dangerous to speak out loud so ck Moon went for a simpler exnation instead.
"Of course. An innate ability is our ace in the hole and some of them are even capable of reducing an entire city to dust. With the Great Five desperate need for power, carelessly revealing it is almost a death sentence."
There seemed to be a terrible weight in ck Moon''s voice as he said this.
Still, Bam was unable to fully concentrate as a baffled "Hm?" made its way up from his chest. He wanted to look down, but if he didn''t, his mind might not be able to handle it.
He thought about pushing Athena away, but after considering her soft and seemingly fragile body, he did not know how much force he should use and couldn''t possibly bear the thought of hurting her.
As Bam''s heart continued pounding, the conversation continued without him.
"That aside. It seems working for nobles has be increasingly dangeroustely. I heard all the high-level Hunters of an entire city, epted a mission from their city''s Lord, and have yet to be heard from since then."
Not wanting to dive deeper into the matter anymore, ck Moon quickly changed the subject while doing his best to ignore Athena''s tant advances towards Bam, who was about to burst at any moment.
"Really, when was this!?"
"About a month back now. It''s a city under the Great Five no less."
"Winged City right?"
" Oh... Boy, so the kid has heard of it as well."
"I only know the basics. I hadn''t expected to hear they haven''t been heard from giving as that city has more high-ranked Hunters than Radiance City."
"That''s true. Given as we are not from this city that statement is valid. Although they don''t have any Quantium-ranked Hunter amongst them, they had a decent amount of Duranium-ranked ones."
"Is that so? If that''s the case, just how dangerous was the quest they had epted."
"Not sure. The city is keeping a tight lid on that information."
" Seriously. Do they not have any intentions to rescue them."
" Well, they are just Hunters to them you know."
"What, that doesn''t matter! Hunters or nobles, you can''t just leave your own citizens to die if you can help! "
"Well don''t tell me, tell them."
" Sorry. "
" That''s fine kid. I know what you mean. Still, those Hunters are very valuable to a border city like Winged City so they are preparing to investigate this situation. I heard they contacted the Magicians guild for their help although the details of their intentions are still unknown."
" Oh yes... We heard the mysterious Mr. Lix and Ms. Lilith was also invited to join their investigation along with three Rank 7 Magicians teams."
" Oh yes. I think they''re going to be the ones leading the charge. How cool is that."
The sisters'' expressions might not have changed but their eyes and tone had suddenly shifted as they mentioned the names Lix and Lilith. Speaking of them fondly and with stars in their eyes.
"Huh... I believe I may have heard of this Lix fellow. He was a merchant, right? A VIP one if I recall correctly."
"Yes. Please don''t mind them. They simply went on a trade mission with the Merchant guild of Winged City because of the rare materials they''ve been listing recently, ever since this Lix joined their ranks and only passed them on the streets inside their carriage. Yet, for some reason they found his mysterious figure to be perfectly gant and are now big fans of them."
"Fans? Like admirers?"
"Something like that. We''re lucky they hadn''t left us and joined one of their obsessed fan groups in the city, I heard there is a lot of them in the city, and spreading fast. The whole thing is weird."
"Fufufu... How amusing."
Athena smiled as she finally loosen her hold and Bam had taken some interest in this story. However, there were two people that didn''t take kindly to ck Moon''s summary of the situation.
"Weird, don''t you dare disrespect--"
"--Mr. Lix and Ms. Lilith like that, and besides--"
"We didn''t just pass them on the streets, we met them in the front of the gate--"
"--And even when the Talking Bull Girl was being rude to them, he never lost his cool and mysterious charm."
"Yes... he''s so calm and cool. The perfect demon."
Sigh... "We''ve lost them."
ck Moon was at a loss for words as he could clearly feel the excitement oozing off the bodies of these two usually emotionless girls as though they were teenagers.
"Only problem was--"
"--We didn''t get any chance to meet him because --"
"--Our evil leader forced us toe back that same day."
The sisters sighed in defeat simultaneously when Sigrid suddenly thought of something and be rather serious in an instant.
"Oh right... Moon, I remember you and the devil leader went to the Darknar city''s opening ceremonyst week. We''ve heard the story of how it went but we must know, can you take their Demon Lord?"
"Yeah, do you think you can take him down? Or stand a chance?!"
"What do you mean by that, Sigrun?"
"I mean, if you were toe face to face with him in a one-on-one duel, can you kill the Darknar family''s Demon Lord?"
ck Moon froze. His previous excited expression drainedpletely as the demeanor of the highest-ranked magic caster at the level of a demon lord.In raw magic power alone he was superior to even Aurora, as vast magic body capacity was his inheritance from his dark elf side.
For him that had lived far longer than anyone here and had reached the peak of his potential, there weren''t that many people that could match him and that included Aurora. Not even most Demon Lords could match his raw power.
"Normally I will never admit it but that''s impossible. I may be capable of taking on most Demon Lords with my innate ability but the exceptions are obviously the Great Five and the Seven Primordials. Which was why I utterly refused to believe those rumors about him and went to Paragon city myself. However, what I witness there only confirmed the worst. If nothing, those rumors utterly downyed how ridiculous that guy is."
The air shuddered.
"For someone like Mr. ck Moon to say such things. Just how much of a monster is he? "
Athena''s face twisted in agony.
"From what we heard about the undead war. The Darknar lord had a force of less than 3,000 strong and utterly decimated an undead army of more than 30,000 strong. Our family had sent a group of spies to monitor the fight but amongst the 100 skilled rogues, we sent, only a handful were able to make it back alive. And even then, they were so mentally scarred that we could barely get any information from them."
Remembering the faces of the spies the Jaxith family had sent to the Darknar region before and after, Athena''s mood sank as she couldn''t even fathom what had happened to them that they had ended up in that state.
"..., I can see how they''d end up like that. From what I heard, none of the scouts from the Great Five even made it back alive much less in one piece..."
Sigrid and Sigrun nodded their heads in agreement as they spoke at the same time.
"Understandable..."
"Don''t say it like that! Someone like the Darknar Demon Lord is already at the level of the Great Five and the Primordials. There''s no way someone like me or our crazy leader can hope to stand against him. Given the tone in which he spoke to the Vampire King, I reckon he may even be beyond that level. He may already be at the level of the gods."
"Is that even possible?"
"Who''s to say? I heard he even has a real Devil under him now, what a monster."
"A Devil huh? If only it belongs to the Chaos Lord, then we might have a bargaining advantage."
"Bargaining?"
"Yes. Our family also sent representatives to Paragon city''s opening ceremony and have initiated a trade talk with them so we should be expecting an emissary from the Darknar family soon. With how foolish our representative had been, we will need all the advantages we can get in a negotiation that is sure to go beyond a normal trade talk."
"Oh... How interesting. Unfortunately, I won''t be there to see it. Don''t want to cost an international incident or something."
"There''s no way someone as creepy as you will be allowed there in the first ce."
" Yeah, no way. Moon is too creepy for such things."
" Why you little--"
Just as the mood in the carriage began to change, there was a knock on the tinted and engraved ss which separated the passengerpartment of the coach from the driver''s seat, before it gently slid open and ne lowered his head to speak.
"We''ll be reaching the Jaxith castle soon princess."
As she heard his words, Athena slowly rose to her feet and locked eyes with the three Hunters seated before her.
"Today, I have received your care in various ways and you have indulged my whims. When Aurora returns, I will thank her properly, but please, allow me to express my gratitude to the three of you first so would you be able to dine with me?"
.
Chapter 372 C372. The Devious Prince
¡ªSituated in the Emerald pce, inside the Jaxith family''s main castle.
A figure sat in one of the royal offices belonging to the crown prince of the Jaxith family as he scratched his head while going through the recent report given to him by one of his loyal vassals.
After reading through the report that simply stated his younger sister had returned, the Second Prince of the Jaxith family ¨D Reynald Ley Jaxith ¨D quickly departed his office to wee her home.
The location and state of his elder brother who had been at the forefront of the battle at the border city ¨D Andrea Geld Jaxith ¨D was still unknown. Given that a long time had passed, his chances of survival were considered extremely low.
That being the case, Reynald was now considered the heir to the throne as his younger brother ¡ª Vaxil Leyroil Jaxith ¡ª was still underaged and studying magic in the Brimstone Family''s Magic Academy.
Making Reynald the current crown prince of the Jaxith family and heir to the throne as the next Demon Lord. As such, he held the second highest position in the region and must carry himself as such, making the way in which he went to receive his younger sister entirely inappropriate, and one might consider it, demeaning.
While they were siblings, not only was there a clear distinction in their respective stations, but their level of existence itself was worlds apart.
This was not for the simple reason of him being the crown prince of the Jaxith family in session to bing the next demon lord if their mother ¡ª the current Demon Lord of the Jaxith family, Keyrille Mayz Jaxith¡ª were to ever lose her life or retire.
Rather, this was also because of their current life rating. Being a protege on the verge of bing a true Demon Lord level being by reaching the 6th Tier. He was already considered a Demon Lord in strength only and his younger sister, who had failed to even reach the 4th tier, could not bepared.
This was further enhanced by the Jaxith family''s ancient bloodline which ces more value in status and rank than any other family besides the Great Five.
Normally, the only families permitted to refer to themselves as royalties were the Great Five and any other family that was doing what the Jaxith family has been doing so far would''ve already been erased from history by thebined forces of the Five Greats.
However, the Jaxith family was a different story, being the only other family that had the right to do just that. The reason for this was their connection with the first demon king of the demon continent.
Just like the Great Five families were born from the splitting of the first Darknar family by the former Five Demon Generals of the Demon King after their betrayal, the Jaxith family had also been part of the Darknar family''s outer families.
Making them truly one of the oldest families in the demon continent. Even when the Great Five had used their strength to rapidly expand their newfound families and expand their regions, thanks to the Jaxith family''s natural territorial advantages and former connections with the Great Five Demon Lords, they were able to maintain their autonomy to date.
Hence why they had been so hesitant in allying themselves with any otherrge families or even expanding themselves as they had remained loyal to the first Demon King.
This was the main reason why they had sent a representative to the Darknar region during Paragon city''s first opening, to appraise the worthiness of this new Demon Lord.
Unfortunately, the foolish representative they had sent had grossly misjudged the capabilities of the said Demon Lord and missed his opportunity for a favorable negotiation.
Still, that did not diminish the pride and prestige of one of the oldest ruling ss noble families in the Demon Continent with the blood of the first Demon king flowing through their veins, making them just as qualified to call themselves royalties as much as the Great Five were.
All this was the reason why being the crown prince held so much weight, especially in the eyes of thended nobles. Hence why it was so strange for Reynald to leave his office just to wee his younger sister back home.
However, the reason why he had chosen to go in person despite knowing this fact was that he had a proposal he urgently wanted to discuss with her.
Reynald might not have been entirely willing to do so, but he had lost his closest confidant ¡ª his brother ¡ª in the war and thus had nobody else to turn to.
Soon, his younger sister appeared before him.
Her attendant, a young lesser demon named Bam ¨D d in silvery white armor ¨D walked closely behind her. Wherever the young princess went, Bam often follows. He was like a stray dog attached to its new master despite the difference in both status and life rating.
The child his sister ¡ªAthena Fleur Jaxith¡ª had picked off the streets and secretly enrolled in the army named ¨D Bam.
He was an orphan boy that had distinguished himself about a year ago in one of their many skirmishes with their neighboring regions. If he remembered correctly, his sister had once had a strange obsession with collecting random children off the streets and enrolling them in the army.
As they were often orphans and thieves, there was noint from the armymanders as they would often honor her request and continuously send the children to the front lines which were often to their Deaths.
That was until Bam that is, not only had he survived countless times on the front lines he had also managed to distinguish himself in battle and rise through the ranks.
Despite his appearance as a clueless kid, he held a vast array of experience on the battlefield and knew how to avoid fights he couldn''t possibly win.
The funny part was, his sister had always found a way to do these using his authority by offering one thing or the other, hence maintaining her image to the public and to Bam himself.
Due to Bam''s impressive potential for a lesser demon and the family''s desperateck of manpower after the countless losses in thest battle. As expected, Athena had managed to achieve her goal yet again and he was appointed as a knight only two months ago, allowing his sister to take him under her wing.
In the past, he had thought she must''ve had a megrim and picked him up out of a moment''s fancy as he does have a childlike appearance despite his age.
However, after he came to understand Athena''s strange personality and her iparable intellect that maintained her relevance to the family despite her low magic potential, and after connecting most of the dots and realizing Bam was indeed thest orphan she had made him shipped into the front lines.
Reynald began to think she might have had a reason for going through so much trouble just to create a bodyguard.
And then, after the loss of their elder brother, the previous crown prince. The role of being the crown prince began to show its toll, and he slowly began to understand the meaning behind her actions.
There were very few warriors in this city who were stronger than Bam. Even among the men of his hand-picked warriors, one could count the number of people who were stronger than Bam on one hand.
In addition, there was the man called ne, who had recentlye out of the woodworks and joined Bam, as well as her close friendship with Aurora, the leader of the Quantium-ranked Hunter party called "Evident".
While they were permanently based in the capital city of the Brimstone family region, Sun City. They''ve recently set up a temporary base here and have formed a strong rtionship with the 5th Princess of the Jaxith family.
Thinking of this, there was no doubt that his younger sister now possessed the most physical power in the Royal Capital, despite the limits her magic potential had ced on her since birth. It seems his sister Athena may be intentionally or unintentionally trying to change the very foundations that the demon continent was found in.
The fact that this had alle together almost too suddenly was the truly terrifying aspect of her genius. Taking advantage of their current predicament to root her foot in the family, avoiding the possibility of being used as a political tool and married off into an obscure branch family.
¨DWas she not conspiring to overthrow him with this new military force?
Reynald was right to suspect her of doing so, after all, his current reputation as the devious prince was thanks to her obsessions and why he did not have much support from his own citizens. Just how long has she been nning this? Or was this just a coincidence?
Even if Athena was not one to resort to such measures so easily, one still had to take precautions. Therefore, Reynald had begun to secretly build ties with Duranium and Tritanium-ranked Hunters from across the Floato Region.
Safe to say, this region did not possess any magic guild or institute, as those were resources only the Great Five were capable of providing. Thus, he could not build ties with any skilled Mages or Wizards unless he left for the Great Five regions.
Another reason why he needed to increase his connections with thended nobles in the Floato Region as most of the nobles that had been supporting his elder brother, which was the majority of them, did not hold him in high regard. Again, thanks to his title as the devious prince.
Although the only positive in all this was that the nobles were sticklers for traditions and would never support anyone with low magic potential in bing the next Demon Lord.
Reynald knew Athena was also aware of this fact, probably why she hasn''t bothered getting close to them and was doing things in her own way.
Then again, there was a chance this was all in his head and his sister was just a weird girl with strange obsessions and a devilish personality. If he wasn''t confident she was part of the Jaxith family, Reynold would''ve considered the possibility that his younger sister was a devil.
The very idea of such a thing was more than terrifying knowing full well what his sister was capable of. In fact, the truly terrifying thing was the idea that she was still capable of far more than he could ever imagine.
Chapter 373 C373. Wildcard
As he walked down the Emerald pce corridors with his attendant trailing only a step behind him, Reynald quietly sighed as he couldn''t decide whether to thank his elder brother or mourn him.
Despite his close rtionship with his elder brother, Reynald had never once believed he was fit to be the next Demon Lord. The reason for this was because his elder brother was more focused on bing the strongest magic swordsman than he was on the family''s affairs or future.
It was clear his brother had no intentions of improving anything once he became the next Demon Lord and would rather maintain their family''s obsolete traditions, firmly refusing to expand their territory and influence in what he considered an outrageous sense of loyalty to thete Demon King.
Reynald on the other hand didn''t particrly care about his family''s ties to the Darknar family but didn''t particrly oppose the idea either. He also wasn''t against most of the family''s traditions and was only focused on their ability to make changes if need be and not be held back by his ancient bloodline.
He believes firmly in epting change and knew their family had no hope of surviving past this generation if they were to remain as passive and strict as always.
He was keenly aware of the family''s shorings and wasn''t as shackled down by his noble bloodline as his older brother to admit it.
Born as the second prince of the Jaxith family, he normally would not have the authority or power to push his family toward change but everything was different now.
His original n had been to stick to his brother''s side as his advisor and confidant to influence his brother''s decisions in the right direction for their family''s continued survival.
However, with his elder brother missing for months now, he had virtually left him the throne which was the only reason why Reynald could confidently work hard without reserves.
Another big reason was that his brother''s stipend now went to him and he now has control over his private legions and elite guards and mage corps. Giving him adequate power to back his newfound authority.
Even his brother''s estate, wives, and concubines were now his but Reynald didn''t particrly care for used goods that held no tangible benefits for him.
That said, the fact that Crown Prince Andrea''s corpse had not yet been found left a hint of unease in his heart. Reynald felt terrible for thinking this way but for the sake of the family, it would be very troublesome if his elder brother had been imprisoned by one of the three attacking families or was hiding in a vige somewhere while recovering from his wounds.
Not only would such a thing hamper his ns, but it could also hinder the family''s ability to make a move and be forced into a stalemate.
Hence why he had spend a good sum of money in recruiting Hunters to find his brother''s corpse. He had even tasked the court magicians with locating the body through divination but their family did not possess a skiled user of spirit magic.
Of course, losing the crown prince was not enough to stop a demon family from attacking but allowing one to be used as a pawn by a lesser-ranked family was a disgrace and would be a permanent stain on their name.
"How troubling... Dear brother, let''s hope you do not cause trouble for your family in the future."
Reynald muttered, quietly enough so that the members of his retinue could not hear even with their enhanced senses.
Although he considered his elder brother to be his closest confidant at one time. He wouldn''t hesitate to eliminate him if he allows himself to be used against the family no Mather the reason.
Their mother was amongst the oldest current Demon Lords remaining in the demon continent. Someone that has met and served under thete Demon king and was on the verge of passing away due to her fading life force.
So naturally, this was the opportunity he had been waiting for over the years, the opportunity to show his family what he was capable of.
He had made several ns for the future of his precious noble family which included giving up on his aspirations for the thrown and bing his elder brother''s advisor but naturally, one of those ns included a scenario in which things hadn''t worked out with his elder brother and he was forced to get rid of him.
Or, something unforeseen like this war had happened which contrary to expectations, was one of his most optimistic scenarios amongst the bunch.
However, in every one of these scenarios, he hadn''t predicted the sudden creation of a sixth Great Family. Much less one that had sessfully revived the name, Darknar.
Not only that, the sister he hadn''t even considered an opponent up till two months ago was now capable of sitting at the same table as him.
''What a joke.''
He really had to avoid agitating the other ranked nobles under the Jaxith family before hecould consolidate his position.
Currently, Reynald''s backing was still not very secure. He was considered a protege so he had himself in the right position to take over. He also had his brother''s multiple legions and personal guards but their allegiance was questionable at best. If his brother were to return right now they will no doubt, abandon his side for his.
As the second son, he only had the right to create a personal guard unit of not more than a hundred men just like everyone else. As such, he would need the backing of the other noble faction to support his rise to the throne if, in fact, his brother was still alive.
After all, he had already surpassed his brother''s max potential in thest battle and could not simply give up right now aftering so far so soon.
However, strength alone would no longer guarantee his session rights especially now that his sister had suddenly attained the support of so many powerhouses in such a short span making get military force, almostparable to his.
She was the type that would normally attach herself to the masses and was loved by the people so he could tell that she would have the support of their citizens if a session battle were to take ce.
Reynald was speechless at her frightening intellect that seems toe out of nowhere, and like a serpent, she lurked in the shadows, waiting patiently until the perfect time to strike.
He had once considered himself patient for keeping a low profile as he gathered his strength in order to challenge his brother if his original n wasn''t going as well as he wanted. However, his patience paled inparison to his sister who seems to have taken the world by storm at the precise time.
''How truly fearsome. If only he had pieced together her true nature in time. He might not have been stuck with the moniker of Devious Prince.
Reynald clicked his tongue as he considered what his sister''s next move would be. Her expression was always impossible for him to read and with most of his supporting from his brother''s forces, he hasn''t fully prepared himself to take on any challenges.
Unfortunately for him, Duke Zeik Hal Zinder ¡ª one of the highest-ranked nobles under the Jaxith family and the closest noble to bing an Elder.
He was also one of the first noble Reynald had managed to convince to side with him making him his biggest backer and an ally against his brother with the sole goal of making him the next Demon Lord in order to usher the next era of the Jaxith Family.
He had thrown off Reynald''s hand as he reached out to pull him back after his devastating loss during the same battle that had taken away his elder brother, returning to his own territory within the Floato Region.
From what he has heard, it seems the Duke''s first son was making his debut in that battle as well but had unfortunately met his end so Reynald could not me the Duke.
After all, this oue could not be helped, as he had not only lost his first son, but also many people from his demesne during their outstanding defeat, faced against thebined surprise alliance between three ruling ss families.
Theirbined defenses didn''t stand a chance in front of the families Elders and the city was rapidly taken before anyone could retreat or escape.
Despite the overwhelming victory by the Demon Lord of the Jaxith family having been lured to the eastern border by the presence of another Demon Lord. Their catastrophic defeat in the southwest border still bore a blemish on their names and the loss of the prince ced a heavy toll on his shoulders.
So thest time he saw him, there had been an air around him that seemed to say that he would never being back to the capital.
Having also lost his demihuman ve-turned-strategist, a lion kin woman who Zeik had considered a treasure, maybe more.
With so many devastating losses, Reynald would be a fool if he expects him to quickly recover from the mental blows he has received. His desires must''ve already been broken.
Reynald felt a slight pain pricking at his gut as these thoughts rushed through his mind at breakneck speeds.
As he approaches the end of the corridor, he couldn''t help but wonder, could discussing matters with his younger sister soothe that pain? Or would it aggravate it?
He had also been agonizing over a certain problem for the past few days. Ever since he heard the report of the representative they had sent to the Darknar family''s first City''s opening ceremony.
The report in itself had stumped him, to think sending a demon Earl as a representative was a mistake. That was something even he could not predict. If they had maybe sent a normal demon as a representative, maybe he wouldn''t be facing the predicament he was today.
That was ¨D should he offer a tribute to the Darknar family''s Demon Lord? If he did so, should he send them in the name of celebrating the founding of his family? Or as an apology for their representative possible rudeness?
The idea in itself terrified Reynald for some unknown reason. The new Darknar family was an unknownmodity in his equation. The idea that a family capable of rivaling the Great Five could just appear so suddenly waspletely ludicrous.
Not to mention, unlike the Great Five, even a family as ancient as the Jaxith family had little to no information on this family which scared him. They were unexpected, unknown, and powerful yers that had taken the entire continent by storm and without any information on them, how was he supposed to prepare various ns for dealing with them?
Reynald was the type of person that would rather not act unless he had enough information to prepare a foolproof n with several contingencies for his opponent.
While he was someone that admired change, he was surprisingly the least willing to ept the concept of unpredictability.
Although the new Darknar Family most likely held no rtionship with the original Darknar family, their strength and unknown elements alone make them the demon continents wildcard, and something that they absolutely cannot afford to anger.
Chapter 374 C374. The Troubled Prince
Judging by the current circumstances, not sending a gift would be the right choice. Giving as the Darknar family may have already sent over an envoy that should be due to arrive any day now.
The surrounding countries may also take it as a show of weakness. However, that will also give them a reason to be worried and may provide them the break from the battles they most surely needed.
This was why it was crucial to remain on the best of terms with the most unpredictable faction in the demon continent, the Darknar family.
Though the Darknar family''s fighting strength remained rtively unknown to smaller local families like theirs, the fact that their Demon Lord was on par if not greater than the seven Primordial Behemoths was already widely known thanks to the defeat of the Behemoth of Greed, Mammon.
No matter what, even if his mother did not consider him worthy to be the next Demon lord, it doesn''t matter, he had to make sure the family enters an alliance with the Darknar family before the envoy leaves.Of course, the chance that the envoy will pass by their family was still there.
Thanks to their stubborn representative, they hadn''t made any formal trade agreement with the Darknar family and if the Darknar family deem their current predicament more trouble than it''s worth, their envoy might even bypass their family entirely
Because of that, he had to send a gift.
Reynald felt that it could not be helped, even if other regions believed it to be a sign of weakness and hypocrisy. Giving as their Family is one of the very few families that refuses to acknowledge the Great Five''s authority as they choose to remain loyal to the Demon King.
Hence, they were not allied with any powerful families as they were considered thergest family to remain loyal to the Demon King, with the others giving in to the pressure from the Great Five and eventually bing vassals, or rather, branch families of the Great Five.
This was why he wanted the family to swear a more favourable vassge under the new Darknar family. Not because he believes this new Demon Lord was qualified to be the new Demon king or not.
Rather, this solution was borne after analyzing the state of their family currently and selecting the optimum solution to salvage what pride and dignity they had left. While also avoiding beingpletely annexed by the other lesser families.
He had arrived at this conclusion after hearing the report that the Vampire king himself had personally visited the Darknar Demon Lord and had offered him an invite to the Great Demon Conference that wuld he held in a few months.
This was the Vampire King they were talking about. A being that notably held no interest in the battle to be the next Demon King and had never partaken in the Great Fives attempt to breach through the Darknar castle''s Five Layer barrier.
The morningstar family also held the smallest regions amongst the Great Five and had never even once expanded their family since the Great Five were formed yet the Vampire King still maintained the respect of the other Great Demon Lords.
It''s said that the Vampire King was the strongest amongst the Five Greats due to his heritage as a pureblooded vampire and standing at the peak of his species.
Although Vampires were an extremely rare sub-race of true demons, they possess vastly longer life span as they were practically immortal. A strong affinity to darkness and blood magic and superior physique.
Even with their limited numbers and slight weakness to sunlight, they were still a force to be reckoned with and the Vampire king was said to even be older than the first Demon King and may even be on par with him.
Yet that same being had personally taken an interest in the new Darknar Demon Lord. If anyone would know who was best suited to be the next Demon King it would be him. Yet for some reason, no one else seems to understand what his presence that day truly meant.
He knew that a wildcard like the Darknar family that was possibly allied with the Morningstar family was not something they could contend with and approaching the negotiation with an attitude of submission was the best way to their survival and would give them the most leeway for negotiation.
However, the other ranked nobles and the elders would never ept that. This was the troublesome part.
The Darknar Demon Lord''s might was widely known. That said, there was no way those old demons that considered themselves purebloods would ept an attitude of submission from the future ruler of the Jaxith family to someone who they consider unworthy, to begin with. Suggesting it will not benefit him in the long run.
The nobles had suffered tremendous losses and were looking for scapegoats upon which to vent their frustration. Most of them, stem from ancient families with history beyond the time of the demon king and believe the Demon king would return one day.
Thanks to that, they had all adopted a stubborn mentality that made them stuck in their ways.
And due to the loss of her husband and confidant more than a decade ago, the current Demon Lord, Keyrille Mayz Jaxith, has lost the edge she once had and the toll of time seems to have finally caught up to her as her decisionstely were heavily swayed by the Elders.
Herck of her usual dominating presence made her decisions easily swayed and therefore indecisive.
With the Demon Lord in such a state at such a crucial point in this war, you can imagine how incredibly fickle the family''s current situation was.It was a miracle she was even able to drive off one of the neighboring region''s Demon Lords without having to fight seriously.
Luckily, her reputation on the battlefield as the terrifying Emerald Devil was still feared far and wide.
''If that fellow was around, he''d probably be able toe up with something good, wouldn''t he?''
Reynald sighed in exhaustion, he had only been in charge for a month now and was already about to be crushed under the mess his ipetent elder brother had made of the family. If possible, he would have liked to havee to a conclusion himself. However, time was tight, and he needed a n for action soon.
Reynald finally turned the corner and saw the elegant figure of his younger sister as she strolled down the hall. He then stopped and turned to face the balcony by the side as his sister turned and walked up to him.
Soon, the 5th princess of the Jaxith family stood before him with an almost angelic smile on her face as she spoke first to preserve the dignity of her elder brother who hade all this way to look for her.
Her appearance, her mannerisms, and her entire being was the epitome of elegance. The perfect princess that would put the daughters of the Great Five to shame.
"Elder brother, I''ve returned."
"Ahh... Athena. Wee back."
Pretending he hade all this way just to stare at an empty balcony, Reynald elegantly turned to face his sister as he weed her back.
In the face of Athena''s respectful greeting, Reynald responded with equal generosity. He saw Bam saluting from the corner of his eye, but there was no need to return the salute of a mere soldier.
"Come, share a cup of tea with me."
Not wanting to stand awkwardly in the corridor, Reynald pointed at the balcony as his attendants rushed ahead of them to prepare their seat and brew some tea.
Despite the pce being at the peak of the mountain with the rest of the city during winter, the balcony was surprisingly warm as a spell called ''Wind Curtain'' was being used to filter the air flowing in and out of the pce.
Hearing her brother''s invitation and sensing his purpose, Athena smiled gently as she kindly epted his request.
"It would be my pleasure." .
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The 5th princess of the Jaxith Family, Athena Fleur Jaxith -- was widely considered to be a perfect princess. A world-ss beauty despite her unusually low magic potential for a Noble Demoness of her status.
Being the youngest member of the Jaxith family''s purebloods and at marrying age, she had recently taken the noble world by storm with her recent rise to fame and her increasing favorable public opinion. Making her the third most powerful authority in the Floato Region.
Wearing a fashionable vibrant blue dress that gave off an image of pure royalty. Around her neck, hangs a sapphire ne that gave off an aura of gentleness.
She had long light green hair, silky smooth and supple as it drapes over the back of her neck. She has vibrant, bright green eyes that shine like emeralds, filled with life as they dazzled everyone who gazes upon them as though entranced by a sirene.
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Reynald and Athena set out for the balcony together, side by side as Reynald matched his sister''s narrow steps subconsciously.
As they reached the table at the center of the balcony, his attendants drew out their chairs before the maids came with a freshly brewed pot of tea and a te of sweets for Athena.
Reynald then simply raised his chin, indicating that his retinue should keep their distance. If he had looked over, he would have seen Athena gesturing to Bam that he was permitted to stay further away before taking a sip from her freshly poured cup of tea, her expression seemed to change for a moment before returning to normal.
Maintaining the subtle smile on her face, she then proceeded to dowse the cup with an absurd amount of milk and sugar.
"Your sweet tooth is as unhealthy as always."
Seeing such a childish side from the sister he hade to be wary of, made Reynald sigh a breath of relief inwardly as it seems there was still a part of his yful younger sister he could still recognize.
"What do you mean, I rarely get to indulge myself like this you know."
"Is that so..."
Reynald nodded his head in understanding as he proceeded to take a sip from his cup as well.
Athena''s smile seems to change for a moment, it seems her elder brother''s wariness toward her had calmed down from that little disy so she proceeded to get to the point in her usual way.
"By the way, Elder brother, you seem quite worried a moment ago. Did something happen while I was away?"
Athena smiled gently as she asked her question.
"Could it be that the new Darknar family has sent an envoy over?"
Chapter 375 C375. Athenas Desires
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Reynald remained silent as he thought about his sister''s words. He had indeed been expecting the Darknar family to send over a representative given as their representative hadn''tpletely shut down the possibility of vassge even though it had morphed into mere trade possibilities.
However, part of him had begun to secretly doubt that idea as he couldn''t see the benefit of them going through such trouble just because of a wounded family like theirs, given the situation that had taken ce during Paragon City''s opening ceremony.
If they had sessfully opened talks for an alliance, that would be a different story but there wasn''t much their family could offer the Darknar family in their current state unless they were submitting to them, something the elders would never agree to.
Still, the fact that his genius sister felt that it was about time for the other side to send an envoy, meant that she had found a reason why they would without fail.
He felt his heart thump in his chest as that idea reassured his sinking spirit. Truly, the council of the wise was all he had needed all along.It was one thing to make solid ns, but it was something else entirely to have your ns supported or enforced by someone much smarter than you.
Reynald made a mental note of this and shook his head.
"No, that''s not why I''m here."
"So you mean, you came all this way to see me for some other reason? Does my elder brother simply misses his little sister...I''m blushing."
Athena had a charming smile on her face as always but there was a certain trace of mischievous intentced behind her perfect smile as she addressed her elder brother.
Originally, Reynald would''ve thought nothing of this a few months ago when he still believed his sister was just an ordinary Tier 3 little princess that was bound to be used as a political tool just like all the others.
However, his views of his younger sister have seen a drastic change over the past two months as he got to witness the other side of her that she had kept hidden from everyone since the day she was born.
He still remembered the expression she had when she had skillfully manipted their elder brother, the crown prince into leading the battle that urred in the border city.
Normally, there was no reason why a crown prince would ever lead the charge for a mere border city but their elder brother had eagerly volunteered to prove himself in that battle even though there should''ve been no reason for him to do so. Reynald found that strange at the time but dismissed his worries as mere paranoia.
Only for the other two neighboring regions to nk the city from all sides. Reynald couldn''t shake the feeling that Athena might''ve already predicted that oue before anyone else. Manipting their elder brother straight to his doom.
"Ahh. I suppose you can say that. I was wondering where you''ve gone but the main reason for this is concerning the issue of tribute."
"Tribute you say... I take it you''re talking about the Darknar family, aren''t you."
"I''m sure you''ve already read my mind so there''s no need to beat around the bush."
"You tter me too much Elder brother. However, I think that once the Darknar family''s emissary arrives, it would be better for you to offer twice as much as what you''ve no doubt already prepared. Half of that is a token of thanks for making theme all this way, while the other half ¨D I trust that goes without saying?"
Reynald once again remained silent as he pondered on his sister''s words for a moment. As expected of her, she has instantlye up with the perfect solution to the problem that had gued him so intensely.
When it came to a battle of wits and intellect, he had to admit, his sister has far surpassed him in every single aspect and even if he had the support of the nobles. He had a sneaky suspicion that if she so wished to ascend to the throne, there was nothing he could do to stop her despite his personal strength far outssing hers.
Which was why, he has no choice but to keep a close eye on Athena, doing everything he could to appease her.
As pertaining to the issue with the tribute, Reynald didn''t think any of the nobles would object to presenting a gift to a guest who hade to their home in such a trying time, even if there were ulterior motives for doing so.
Putting that matter aside for now, Reynald mind wandered back to how he could cate his younger sister into stepping aside for him to be the next Demon lord. Despite her intellect and support, her level was just too weak for the position.
Even though Reynald wasn''t a stickler for traditions, there were some things that shouldn''t change and that was requiring the Demon Lord to be one of the, if not the strongest Demon around with noble bloodline.
After all, Demons were creatures of desires and tend to be prideful, being led by a Demon Lord weaker than their subordinates would only bring cmity upon their family as it would be a sign of weakness and the other families would take it as a challenge.
If he remembers correctly, his sister had skillfully declined any marriage arrangements made on her behalf to strengthen the family. She would easily pick apart the logic behind the proposal and make the disadvantages of that offer evident for all to see.
This shows that she did not wish to be used as a political tool and found no interest in getting married. He wasn''t even sure if she was even interested in having a romantic partner.
Perhaps her desires were something that could not be achieved if tied down to a single man. Was she wanting to take multiple partners or do her desiresy elsewhere entirely?
To win the people''s hearts, Athena yed the part of a perfect demoness with grace, lewdness, and a certain level of purity. Yet, Reynald knew there was more to her than that.
Turning his head slightly, Reynald nced at Athena''s retainer. The young warrior boy that had been attached to his sister''s hips for months now.
He recalled the various boys she had made him send to the forefront of various battlefields and for the first time ever, he began to notice some simrities.
''Is that the sort of thing she''s into?''
Reynald wondered as he took another sip from his now lukewarm tea while contemting the issue, soon, he decided to forgo the formalities and just ask, trying to predict what was in his sister''s head was almost impossible.
Her facade was wless and even his demonic eyes couldn''t see that deep into theyers of illusions and lies she has surrounded herself with.
"So Athena, tell me, what is it you desire?"
Reynald''s voice was lower than earlier as he didn''t want the walls to hear him speak. And understanding his intentions easily, Athena replied in the same fashion.
"My desires. I don''t really have alluring desires Elder brother. But if you''re asking me what I n to do, is simple. I n to be independent."
"Independent? Like amoner, or Hunter of sorts."
" Surely you jest Elder brother. Just because I''m friends with Hunters doesn''t mean I have the strength or will to join them. No, what I want is simple, Freedom."
"Freedom? I see... so you want to be freed from your duties as a princess without losing your noble lineage."
" Something of sorts."
Reynald was originally at a loss for words but soon nodded his head in understanding.
"Indeed, bing the next Demon Lordes with a lot of responsibility so that wouldn''t work for you, will it."
" Again you tter me Elder brother. My ambitions are not so grand that I would aim for the throne. Even I''m aware of the Chaos that would cause."
" Very well then, when I be the next Demon Lord I will grant you a territory at the end of the region. You''ll be free to do with it as you wish. Rule it, sell it, that will be up to you. I can also grant you special privileges so you will be free to take on any partner you want."
Reynald nced at Bam as he said that but soon shifted his gaze back to Athena, he didn''t really care what kind of sick games she was ying with such a cluelessd as long as her obsessions benefited him.
"You''re truly generous elder brother. You have my deepest gratitude."
"You may take any of the castle''s staff as your retainers. In that respect, you may do as you wish."
"Thank you very much."
The fact that she replied without a dy was evidence that Athena already knew what Reynald was going to say.
ncing back at her boy toy, Bam. Reynald''s mind came to a very odd conclusion. Having multiple partners was not unusual for Princesses if they had impressive magic potential. However, what was still uneptable even then was to bear the child of ordinary demons much less lesser demons.
In order to maintain the purity of the family''s bloodline, it was important for all demoness of a ruling ss noble families, to only carry the children of other pureblooded noblemen. Or at the very least, other nobles.
As such, Athena would not be allowed to carry the child of servants ormoners unless she was freed from that restraint.
''Is that truly the reason for this?''
Reynald was fully aware of his sister''s obsessions with fragile-looking orphan boys as he had been made to y a part in that obsession, or perhaps he should call it a fetish.
He hadn''t seen his sister interact with any males for more than a few minutes until they had recruited Bam into her service which also led to the hiring of ne so Reynald could only think she was also interested in Bam in more ways than one.
Then again, the appearance of ne made it a bit difficult to a certain her true intent as his appearance defer greatly to that of Bam. Perhaps she had only hired him to prevent her boy toy from being truly harmed in battle.
After going through so much trouble to get him, it was safe to say she wouldn''t want anything drastic to suddenly take him away from her.
However, Reynald could not be sure of that at all. Was her reasoning really that simple, was she just moving ording to her desires or was there something else he could not see?
The lingering thoughts gued him as Reynald felt puzzled by the enigma that was his younger sister.
Chapter 376 C376. The Chargé Daffaires
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"Then, I do look forward to the day you will be the Demon Lord, Elder brother. After your coronation, I would be happy if you would visit me from time to time."
Athena spoke with her usual smile on her face, her eyes seemingly sparkling with glee.
"Of course I shall, you''ll still be my little sister after all. I would also appreciate it if I could seek your counsel from time to time as well."
Reynald''s chuckle came to an abrupt halt as he turned his gaze to the entrance of therge balcony as one of his knights suddenly barged in before his retinues or Bam could stop her.
The knight was part of the scouting unit and was originally part of his older brother''s personal legions but now reported directly to him.
The knight soon arrived before them and genuflected in a fluster before hurriedly speaking, her tone slightly panicked.
"Lord Reynald, Her Grace desires your presence."
The instant she finished that, she turned to look at Athena.
"She also requests your presence as well, my Lady."
Hearing thest sentence, Reynald frowned, he knew his mother had returned for a while now and would soon be sending for him but to request Athena''s presence as well meant something else was at y here.
"What happened?"
Hearing his question, the knight thought for a brief moment before responding.
"We have just received a report that the Darknar family will be sending a diplomatic party to negotiate with us soon."
Reynald expression change but it wasn''t that of a surprise as he already expected as many thanks to Athena. Although there was a sign of relief in his eyes after receiving confirmation that the Darknar family had not chosen to ignore them even in such a fragile state as they were still surprised on all fronts by their enemies.
After all, the Jaxith family was still considered a powerhouse in the Darknar continent with territorial advantages and ancient secrets that even the Great Five coveted.
The only reason why he had been so worried was simply because of how little information he had on the Darknar family. There was simply no guarantee that they cared about what they have to offer be it as a trade partner, an ally, or a vassal family. Meaning, Reynald had to approach this situation with the utmost care as the Jaxith family desperately needs the help of the Darknar family.
"I understand. Notify mother that we will be arriving shortly. Athena, I will be proceeding first. Please proceed with all haste once you are ready."
"I understand."
Having been on an outing trip, Athena''s garb wasn''t suitable for a Noble atmosphere as she would need to return to her chambers to change into something more appropriate before going with Reynald to see their mother.
With that, Reynaldstood up and took off with a stern expression on his face. Leaving behind a rather pleased Athena with a nk expression on her face as she silently whispered to herself.
"How boring... I''d hope you wouldn''t be as much of a disappointment as he was but I guess not. Oh well..."
????????
After the brief meeting with his mother, it was estimated that the envoys of the Darknar Family would take about two weeks to travel from Paragon city to Radiance City.
Today was already the fourteenth day. If all went ording to n, the envoys would reach the Capital city today.
Although there had been a question about how they would cross the border given that their region was currently still at war with the other neighboring regions.
However, that didn''t seem to be a problem for the Darknar family''s unit as there wasn''t any noble family that would be foolish enough to attack any carriages flying their gs.
With that, the only things they had to worry about were the monsters and bandits along the way. However, that also didn''t seem to pose a problem for them.
Reynald, d in his ceremonial heavyweight armor that did not feelfortable as he was more of a rogue or swordsman than a warrior and preferred lightweight armor or even leather gear.
However, the ceremonial armor he was wearing was designed with aesthetics in mind and was embedded with various heavy gemstones that weighed it down. Its design was a slick white with colorful gems creating a stylish design on its chest te.
Normally, Reynald would be using a pair of short swords as his preferred weapons. Yet, an heavily decorated long sword was strapped to his waist as a Verdant-colored cape was draped over his shoulders.
He stood in line at the gate that faced the direction of the Darknar region. It was currently still the middle of winter and normally, the skies would be dyed grey in a thickyer of clouds.
However, the family had gone through the trouble of expending an incredibly valuable 6th Tier magic scroll to create a clear weather that was the perfect picture of spring.
Naturally, one could still see heavy cloud cover in the distance as the power of the scroll only created the azure sky in the air directly above the city. Giving as Radiance city existed atop a mountain, the thickyers of clouds in the distance seemed as though it surrounded the city like a ring, making it quite the sight to behold.
Reynald sighed deeply under his breath.
For any normal envoy, his family would not have gone to such lengths to impress them. Yet, none of the nobles he was worried about had even challenged him when he suggested the use of this precious scroll from the Treasury.
He wasn''t a mage himself but even though he knew that a 6th Tier scroll was not something that should be used so casually, he had already weighed the value of the scroll inparison with the value of the Darknar family''s envoy''s favorable opinion of them.
Hopefully, the envoy was not as useless as the representative his family had sent to Paragon city in the first ce. As long as the envoy was someone that could be reasoned with, then the use of a 6th Tier scroll would''ve been worth it.
Reynald remembered that there was a mage amongst his sister''s Quantium ranked Hunter party that was capable of casting 6th Tier magic with ease.
Even his brother who had been a Basic Ranked 6th Tier mage before he went missing had only been able to learn two 6th-tier spells at the time.
For normal people that were unable to read magic runes, learning spells wasn''t as easy as just memorizing the runes. One needed a level of understanding of the concept the runes were describing based on the name of the spell alone before the spell would take effect.
As such, the normal mage would only truly master a spell after months, if not years of slowly gaining an understanding of the spell by constantly using it in its iplete form.
Plus, the higher tiered a spell was, the more difficult it was to learn as the more advanced the magic runes that construct it were and the moreplicated it''s effects, making it harder toprehend.
This was why a mage that could so freely use high leveled spells was insanely rare and impressive as even geniuses would find it easier to learn skills than spells.
As such, the fact that his sister had connections with so many powerful individuals made his skin crawl even now.
If possible, he would like to hire Hunters to work for him but that was seeming against the rules of the Hunter Association. Even retired Hunters might not want to work under him due to the treatment they had faced from nobles but Reynald didn''t n on giving up.
"¨DMy lord!"
The shout of the knight next to him brought Reynald back to his senses. He looked to the end of the street ¨D and saw it. The silhouette of the Darknar family''s diplomatic party.
Naturally, they had shut down the street beforehand and announced this to the citizens of the city. As such, the streets werepletely devoid of traffic and were currently sparkling clean.
"All right, listen up. You are to treat the envoys from the Darknar region with the utmost respect. Any forms of disrespect will not be tolerated, understand?"
"Understood!"
The reply of the royal knights was quite forceful, and the swords at their waists made a clear, crisp, and unified sound.
"All right! Prepare to wee them with the dignity that disys the glory of the ancient Jaxith family."
"Sir!"
The group remained still until the envoys arrived. Reynald nced at his side and saw the captain of the guard beside him. He felt a little lonely as he would normally have the Duke beside him during such situations.
However, he had no choice but to carry the burden of the Jaxith family alone if he nned to be the next Demon lord. And keeping the Jaxith family from disappearing was one of his duties.
After all, one couldn''t rule a kingdom that did not exist.
Before long, the envoys'' vanguard reached them.
It was a ck-armored knight. It rode a single-horned dire wolf that exudes the aura of a magic beast.
Safe to say, the rider of such a majestic beast wasn''t ordinary. They weren''t even sure if it was alive. It emanated an aura of death that turned into a thick fog surrounding it. Its blood-red full te armor pulsed as though it was alive and every single one of his men could feel the grip of death.
"A-a a Doom Knight?"
Reynald could feel his demonic warhorse trembling in fear beneath him.
Doom Knights were one of the most powerful undead monsters he has ever seen in his life. Their existence was second only to Eldar Liches and was on par with Liches who had the power to tten a small city.
Yet, such a creature that would be a devastating force on the battlefield was being used as a vanguard cavalier for mere envoys.
''Just how formidable is this new Demon Lord.''
As Reynald tried his best to calm his horse, the Doom Knight clenched its wed gauntlet and thumped its chest.
"Apologies! We are the envoys of the Darknar region under themand of the Great Demon Lord, Ty Falls Darknar!"
''It spoke! Huh? It can speak!?''
Reynald''s mind went nk for a moment. Of course, the monster spoke, it was being used as a vanguard that lead the cavalier unit. Why wouldn''t it be able to speak?
However, this hadpletely taken him by surprise, to say the least. The only undead he had ever heard that could speak were Lichs and Doom Lords.
''Does that mean...? Just how powerful is this family.''
The voice that came from behind the Doom Lord''s helmet made its listeners'' hair stand on end just by hearing it which caused their horse to almost go out of control for a moment.
He was just taken by surprise as well, after all, the monster was weaker than him so why would he be afraid? The aura of death around the creature had only surprised him a bit, that was all. Indeed, he was simply just surprised by something he hadn''t expected.
After a moment of sorting his men out, Reynald gathered up his courage to banish his fear¡ª no, to regain hisposure, that was it, taking a breath, he spoke.
"I am the Second son of the Jaxith family that Lords over the Floato region, Reynald Ley Jaxith! In ce of my the Demon lord of the Jaxith family, please allow me to guide you back to the castle!"
"Acknowledged. Then, we shall avail ourselves of your guidance. I am the captain of the Doom Cavaliers, designated by mydy as, Savago."
''It has a name!''
Stunned, Reynald quickly recollected himself so as not to seem rude and quickly replied.
"Then please, allow me to call you by that one as well."
" I see no issues with your proposal."
"I see. Then let us move on to other matters. May I be privileged to speak with your leader? It is my responsibility to take care of your group so I would like to be acquainted with them."
"Acknowledged. I shall convey your message to mydy."
"You have my deepest thanks."
With that, the outrider retreated to deliver his report.
Chapter 377 C377. Let It Rain
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As Reynald watched the Doom Cavalier ride back to make its report, he suddenly felt the surge tough at himself. Who would''ve thought the crown prince of the ancient Jaxith family would be made to look so stupid at the mere presence of a monster?
Granted, this was the first time he had everid eyes on any undead creature much less one as powerful as a Doom Knight. He hadn''t been prepared for the thick stench of death oozing out of it and was taken aback.
As he was considered royalty, he had obtained his strength strictly by the nurturing of the Jaxith family. Even though he was only the second son, the Jaxith family was powerful enough to nurture both him and his elder brother with all their knowledge and resources.
However, their main focus was naturally on his elder brother, the crown prince. As such, he had received far less attention from the family and had been sent to the Brimstone family''s Magic academy to help further his development.
Naturally, no ruling ss family would be willing to send their heirs to another family''s region to learn even though the Magic Academies boast of their independents from the ruling Great Families as they allied themselves with both the Hunter Guild and Merchant Association.
So as only the second son who was not in line to inherit the throne, the family couldn''t waste all of their resources on him and thus didn''t mind sending him into enemy territory to attend a Magic Academy.
As for his younger brother, his high magic potential alone could not qualify him to receive any help from the family but had earned him admission to the same magic academy Reynald had studied in.
Unfortunately, none of his sisters had any promising magic potential so they had all been used by the family as political tools to expand their lineage. Everyone else was left to their own devices with the family providing minimal support.
Due to his special but private training, Reynald had only gained real world experience from the battlefields in the fairly recent wars against their neighboring regions.
Still, he had fought a few monsters and magic beasts in his days at the academy and even defeated ones that were stronger than himself. However, these were not just ordinary monsters. They were creatures that should not exist in this world. The undead.
Even for a ce as dangerous as the Demon continent, undead creatures were not amon sight and he knew just how powerful and dangerous they could be. Making them one of the most hated beings in this world and the practice of necromancy had been banned for centuries now.
Yet Reynald had heard about how the Demon Lord of the Darknar family had some terrifying undead beings under hismand yet for some reason, no one in the Darknar region had anyint and even the Great Five was hesitant about what to do.
Necromancers were both hated and feared across the world not only because they were desecrating the Dead and tampering with the sanctity of life itself, but also because of how troublesome an army of the dead could be.
Imagine an army that never tires, never hunger, never sleeps, and only multiplies the more they kill. Anyone capable of controlling such force would be a god amongst men. Something the Dark Demon, Adelt Wilderbelt, had attempted to be after attaining the immortal body of an undead Eldar lich.
However, controlling the undead was not simr to taming monsters, to say the least. As far as he knew, many promising mages back in his day at the Brimstone Magic Academy had destroyed their lives in the process of trying to create and control the dead.
Adelt Wilderbelt was the greatest demon necromancer to ever exist in the Demon continent and even he could not fully control the powers of the dead and ended up being corrupted by his own negative energy until he became an undead creature himself before retreating into the then forbidden Darknar region.
Although the Dark Demon had obtained the immortal body he so desperately wanted, it wasn''t exactly as he expected, and even his ns to transform the world into thend of the dead had been cut short as the current Darknar family had been founded after winning the war against Adelt and his army of the Dead with overwhelming force.
''So does that mean they found a way to take control of the remnants of the undead army? Or has their demon lord already corrupted himself? No way.''
Reynald shook his head at that possibility, for some reason, he couldn''t imagine this new Demon Lord to be that ignorant as to make use of the undead without having a way to deal with the corruption.
Something he didn''t even think was possible but no one had ever believed the Darknar region would be imed by someone not part of the Five Greats so maybe anything was truly possible.
."Alright everyone, stay alert. We cannot afford to do anything that would offend them."
"Sir!"
Reynald felt the weight of the situation pressing down on him. These envoys were supposed to simply be here for trade talks so why did it feel like a do-or-die affair already?
The envoys had passed through several towns and viges to get here so Reynald was already away of theirposition and might.
The mere fact that they had not been stopped by the allied families they were at war with was a testament to how far the tales of the new Demon Lord had spread.
There were five luxurious carriages. Each of them was pulled by One-horned White Tigers.
They were lightning-attributed Advanced ss Magic beasts resembling normal tigers but insanely massive with a single curved horn on their foreheads.
Each of those creatures was capable of toppling towns and falling mountains so Reynald couldn''t fathom for the life of him, how the hell did they tame so many of them. And why were they being used during a simple trade negotiation?
This was so tantly an intimidation tactic, just how cocky could they be.
As his thoughts ran far and wide, a Doom Cavalier ¨D probably the same one from just now ¨D approached him from the envoys'' side.
"Forgive the long wait. Our leader, umm... ¨D t-the first wife of the Great Demon Lord, Ty Falls Darknar, Lady Rain Darknar, has agreed to meet with you. Lord Reynald, please, follow me."
For some reason, the Doom Cavalier seem ufortable when it introduced the supposed wife of the Demon Lord but Reynald didn''t think much about it.
After signaling to the other knights to hold their position, Reynald guided his horse after the Doom Cavalier. Wondering the entire way, what sort of being would the wife of the Demon Lord be.
Frankly, he was sort of relieved. After seeing the Doom Cavalier he had been worried that the leader of the envoys might actually be undead as well but at least he didn''t think this Demon Lord would be into something as kinky as that.
He hoped.
He didn''t know how he would introduced her to the elders if she was really undead.
Reynald''s horse could not keep itself from breaking out into a cold sweat as it approached the coach so Reynald dismounted, standing before the coach.
"Then, this is the leader of the envoy party, Lady Rain Darknar."
The door slowly opened, and to Reynald''s delight, a humanoid figure slowly emerged. It seems he had let his imagination run wild as he was beginning to think everyone from the new Darknar family was undead as well.
However, what Reynald saw there was neither undead nor a demon, but rather, a goddess.
Should he call her beautiful?
No, Reynald could not think of an adjective that could better describe her. The only thing which came to mind was "god-tier beauty"
Unfortunately, Reynald had not been as privileged as his brother to represent his Family in the rare balls sparingly thrown by the Great Five so he was yet toy eyes on the Demon continent''s top-ss beauties but he had heard tales about them.
Hence, he didn''t believe any of them could evere close to possessing looksparable to Athena, who was far weaker than them but was constantly beingpared to then. Yet, what he was witnessing now was beyond anything possible by mortals.
For noble demoness, their beauty was usually a reflection of their strength as proof of their untainted bloodline so Reynald ¡ª who had met various female demon lords from across the demon continent ¡ª thought that he had seen the limit of what could be considered beautiful was thoroughly at a loss for words.
This was a level beyond mere mortalprehension. A true God-ss beauty.
Rain trod on the step board of the coach. The faint sound of her high heels jolted Reynald back to reality saving him from the embarrassment of the crown prince fawning over the wife of a Great Demon Lord.
Such a sin could easily mean the destruction of the Jaxith family.
Reynald immediately genuflected before her and lowered his head.
This was not reassessed or nned but waspletely instinctive and involuntarily. This wasn''t because the current situation of the Jaxith was desperate inparison to the Darknar family.
Rather, this was his body''s reaction when it came face to face with a superior entity. The vast difference in life rating between a mortal being and a Demigod not trying to suppress their aura even though mere mortals could not even sense the Aura of the divine.
"Umm... Oh my... Could you please raise your head?"
The slightly confused and quiet, lovely voice rang out from above him.
"At once."
As he looked up, the peerless maiden''s face was all smiles as she tenderly looked down on him, her long pointed ears twitching slightly in amusement.
After making such a blunder before the negotiations could even take ce, Reynald was sure she was looking down on him but decided to y it cool as though he had meant to do that.
Reynald then moved his eyes to size her up. Her long pointing ears and darker skin tone were the features of Dark elves. To think the wife of the Darknar Lord would be a Dark elf, he suddenly had a strange respect for such a being as he could not take his eyes off her.
Wearing a body-fittingced purple dress, it didn''t seem like she was carrying a weapon on her person so perhaps she possessed a storage box or ring.
.
The Gold and Emerald bracelet on her arms had a particr gleam to them so clearly, they were magic items. However, he couldn''t tell just how strong they were or even if they were artifacts.
"I am the leader of the envoys of the Darknar family, Rain Darknar. Though it is for a few days, we will be imposing upon you so please stand up."
" Ah, you have my gratitude."
As Reynald stood up with as much elegance as he could muster in such a situation, a thought suddenly crossed his mind as he asked.
He had failed to inquire about the title of the leader of the emissaries. Although she had dered herself the wife of the Demon lord. He needed to convey a more tangible title to the elders to avoid any diplomatic dispute by unintentionally insulting the Leader of the diplomats.
He couldn''t just refer to her by her name as that was not an appropriate noble etiquette and would undoubtedly be considered an offense.
Normally, this was something he should''ve already been aware of but thanks to the current war and the sudden appearance of the Darknar family, no information wasmunicated with them so he had no choice but to bear the shame and asked.
"Forgive myck of manners, but may I know how I should address you?"
At his unusual question, the dark elf tilted her head slightly to the side with a smile and as though seeing right through him she answered.
"While I may not look it, I am one of the Darknar family''s Six Great Generals, The Lightning General, Rain Darknar. You can address me however you wish."
Chapter 378 C378. Unwanted Eyes
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"While I may not look it, I am one of the Darknar family''s Six Great Generals, The Lightning General, Rain Darknar. You can address me however you wish."
"I see... "
''Lightning General? Is that even a title? Still, so there really were six such beings working under the Darknar Demon Lord? If every single one of them is at the same level as she is, just how terrifying is the Demon Lord himself.''
Reynald''s thoughts ran rampant as several scenarios yed through his mind before he finally snapped himself back into reality.
"Then, General Rain, permit me to escort you to the Emerald Pce. There are guest mansions in the Capital where I hope you will take residence for the time being. My mother ¨D Demon Lord Keyrille is currently upied with the war efforts, so she assigned me the task of meeting you at the gates. I pray you will forgive us this slight."
"That''s fine."
Her smile had not changed at all.
Normally, she should have been thanking the Prince for his efforts. However, he could clearly sense who was the superior party from her attitude.
Not to mention, she was a dark elf, a race widely known and feared for their innate talent at assassinations. The fact that he could not sense her aura proved how dangerous she was just standing in front of him. Despite his confidence in his strength, he instinctively knew that if the thought of killing him ever crossed her mind, his head would roll before he evenprehends what happened.
''And yet, I have no choice but to lead her straight to our Lord. ''
Of course, they were not on bad terms with the Darknar family despite their representativeck of brain cells. Still, if the Darknar family decided to take advantage of their weakened state and assassinates their Demon Lord with the excuse that negotiation had broken down and she was only defending herself, it would not go against the war pact of the demon continent and worst of all, there would be nothing they could do to stop her.
"¡Normally, we would announce your arrival to the entire city and celebrate your wee but due to our family being caught in a war as you know there has been a lot of tragedy, so please forgive us for not doing so. We will also be taking more secure routes as themon folks are not aware of your presence."
"Of course, it is not a problem."
The real reason for this extra level of precautions was to prevent the spies from any other family from attacking the diplomats in an attempt to prevent any sort of alliance with the very dangerous Darknar family.
After all, none of their current enemies would be confident enough to attack a family under the protection of a dangerous wildcard like the Darknar family.
Goes to show how the appearance of a single Great Family, could shake the entire demon continent to its core, forcing everyone, including the seven Primordial Behemoths, to rethink their ns and strategy going forward.
As for Reynald himself, the reason he didn''t think it was a good idea to inform the masses of the arrival of Emissaries from other regions was so as not to give them false hope if their talks, unfortunately, ends up in failure.
He knew just how hard it was to maintain public order during these trying times and had been forced to allow his sister, Athena''s sudden growth just to cate the citizens. Which was why he had insisted on not announcing the Emissaries'' arrival even at the cost of offending the envoys.
This was also the reason why he had worn the family''s ceremonial armor and personally escorted a wee party to meet the envoys at the gates, hoping to cate the impact of taking such an important guess through the back roads of Radiance city.
However, it appears luck was on his side as the dark elf did not appear offended by this and simply maintained her charming smile. It didn''t take long after that for their discussions to end after rying to her everything she needed to know before she returned to her coach and Reynald, to his horse.
For a moment there, he thought he had seen her shadow move weirdly but on further observations, he was clearly mistaken. It seems he has been under more pressure than he thought as his mind was ying tricks on him. Even his magic sense hadn''t reacted so clearly, this was all in his mind.
Fortunately, she didn''t turn out to be as scary as her presence made him feel so as long as everything went smoothly, there shouldn''t be anything for them to worry about.
The itinerary for the next few days included her attending a dinner party held by the Jaxith family and the various ranked nobles under them, then giving her a tour of the city the next day. Then they would attend a theatre show before a more private dinner with only a few of the Jaxith family members before finally, any diplomatic talks could be had.
????????
"Hmph... seems everything is going smoothly for the Jaxith family so far. How nice for them."
"Hehehe... To think the proud and ancient Jaxith family would suddenly be cowards and call for help, how hrious."
"What a joke for a family. They should''ve just surrendered earlier if they can''t fight. Idiots."
"Well, they are facing off against the might of three families from all fronts at once. If anything, I''ll say we''re the cowardly ones here, don''t you think?"
"Huh?"
"What did you say!"
"You bitch!"
Gathered atop one of the guard towers on the wall surrounding Radiance city, abined team of six individuals stealthily observed the crown prince of the Jaxith family meet up with the diplomats from the Darknar region, three of which, mocked the Jaxith family for seeking aid when they were one of the few families that refused to acknowledge the rule of the Great Five.
However, there was one of them who seem to think otherwise as the othersshed out at him for speaking up.
Currently, three families were allied against the Jaxith family, and to keep an eye on each other, they had all sent two assassin''s each to eliminate the envoys from the Darknar family behind the walls of Radiance city, thereby incriminating the Jaxith family in the process.
It didn''t matter if everyone knew the assassins were sent here by the three neighboring families and were not part of the Jaxith family as their failure to protect the diplomats would be frowned upon by the entirety of the demon continent as a whole.
As for the assassins that had been dispatched from each family. There were three male and three female demons.
Two of the three that were mocking the Jaxith family earlier were from the Adams family. As assassins, none of them used their real names as this was the first time they were all working together so they only knew each other by their code names.
The two from the Adams family were known by the codenames, Nyx and Seth. The assassin next to them was from the d family, a female assassin, codename, Shiva.
Her partner was seated on the ground next to the window of the tower with her eyes closed, her face resting on the sheath of her long sword. Codename, Megai.
While thest was the guy who the earlier three were ganging up against and thest female in the group. Both were sent by the Bree family, they were known only as Karyan and Kerra.
As the two from the Adams family rushed at him, Karyan timidly tried to exin himself as they seem to have taken offense to his words.
"Don''t get me wrong, I''m not calling any of our families cowards, I was just trying to say that¡ª huk!"
Before Karyan could even finish his statement, Nyx, thergest guy here, picked him up by his cor as his other hand moved to m into his teeth when suddenly.
A scaly green tale moved around Nyx''s neck as it yanked him back and mmed him into the wall.
"Don''ty your filthy hands on my brother you numbskull."
Suddenly standing next to Karyan, was the child-like girl with simr features as he knew only Kerra. Being demi-human rting to sea serpents or maybe even sea dragons, if they existed, their reputation as vicious assassins was known far and wide in the underground.
"Why you little."
Seeing his partner get shoved aside like it was nothing, Seth couldn''t help but think they were mocking the Adams family even more and charged at her with his first balled up.
However...
eaglesnov?1,§ão§® "That''s enough."
The one who spoke was the girl that seemed to have been sleeping this entire time, Megai.
"We didn''te here for that. Even though we''ve taken care of all the guards on this tower, if you continue to make a ruckus, the ones on the other towers will soon notice us and if they sound the rm, it''s over."
As she said thosest words, her eyes suddenly opened as she slowly stood up and walked to the window. The other assassins didn''t argue the point as they all regained theirposure and moved out of her way.
It was clear who was in charge here without anyone else needing to say it. They had all witness her might first hand and weren''t foolish enough to challenge her a second time.
To aplish their asigned mission smoothly, it was important to assign a leader but none of them would ept the leadership of anyone weaker than them, especially if they were from another family despite their alliance.
Which is why the family had left the position up for grabs and Megai and won it without even trying. Judging by their expressions, it was obvious how thoroughly she had beat the fact into their heads.
"Besides, it seems the prince is done greetings the diplomats and should be heading back to the pce now."
"Right, right, I wasn''t being serious in the first ce. Hahahaha..."
Standing up as though he wasn''t the one that was just tossed aside earlier, Nyx dusted himself up and shook his head at Seth. There will be enough time to settle the score after their assignment waspleted.
"Right. Still, I didn''t expect the diplomat to be this strong. Moreover, their leader is a dark elf, probably more versed in all the known knowledge of assassins than any of us, and even the unknown ones. I doubt even a hundred of us will be able to take her out."
Understanding what Nyx had meant, Seth nodded as he immediately brought the topic to the mission at hand.
"That may be correct, but still, we don''t need to kill her you know. I believe we were all given a ck scroll from our families weren''t we?"
Everyone quietly nodded their heads as Megai continued.
"Then all we really need to do is destroy those carriages and if we can wipe out the undead or inflict her with some injuries that will be a bonus. There will be no chance of an alliance after that."
"So what are we waiting for, let''s go!"
"Right. We''ll allow the carriage to move further into the city and then strike, so everyone, prepare your scrolls... huh? Everyone?"
Megai froze as chills ran down her spine.
The air suddenly went still and the temperature in the room dropped drastically in an instant, her heart suddenly began to race as her mind told her that something was horribly wrong.
Just as she had turned around to finish her statement, her eyes immediately widened as she could barely process the information her eyes were feeding her brain.
Only a moment ago she was speaking to a room filled with the finest assassins in this part of the demon continent, yet now, every one of them slowly dropped to the ground like puppets whose strings had been cut.
The best assassins she had ever met were suddenly all dead before any of them had even realized what had happened. She was sure none of them even knew how they died or even what the hell had killed them.
Yet, right now, Megai was wishing she had died the same way.
Her legs were shaking profusely yet she couldn''t move a finger.
This wasn''t because she was weak or had little willpower, rather, the opponent was just something beyond what she could understand.
After all, standing next to the now lifeless bodies of herpanions could only be described as a monster, she couldn''t even bring herself to believe it was alife.
"A-a devil?"
Standing casually in the middle of the room as its shadow spread across the room and the lifeless bodies of herpanions sank ever so slowly into the ckened ground was a creature of nightmares even for demons.
A being shrouded in a thick aura of darkness as the strong stench of death that oozed from her very existencepletely paralyzed her. With glowing green eyes and two sharp des dripping with fresh blood.
It was indeed, a Green-eyed Devil. Or so it seems.
Chapter 379 C379. The Ranked Nobles
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The lights from the dazzling ss chandeliers reflected off Armin''s sses, blinding his eyes momentarily as his wandering mind snapped out of his daze, instinctively raising an arm to obstruct the light before walking away.
He took a sip of the wine in his ss before handing the almost-filled ss back to the wandering waiters in the hall.
Taking a nce around him, all he could see were noble demons and demonesses, dressed in their finest attires as they engaged in frivolous conversations with one another.
These were all the highest-ranked nobles present in Radiance City and they were currently all gathered in thergest hall located inside the Emerald pce after being invited by the Demon Lord herself.
This was a rather impromptu dinner party as he had only received the invite only a few days ago. Normally an invitation would be sent a couple of weeks in advance. Moreover, this was the first party the Jaxith family had hosted themselves since the war began almost a year ago.
That was rather understandable, as most of the family''s budget went towards the war efforts. Despite their territory advantage, against thebined might of three families, it was taking the Jaxith family everything they had to survive much less push their enemies back.
Nobles ¨D huh.
Armin forced himself to smile while smoothing out his clothes.
This was only the third time he had participated in a noble''s party like this. Or rather, perhaps he should say he had never participated in a dinner party like this.
Of course, this was expected of a dinner party organized by the Jaxith Family ¨D the sheer decadence of this event outshone the ones he had previously attended.
Which made him wonder, where the funds for this party hade from. It seems they had even gone all out for this asion.
The nobles here were also of higher status and their former attire seemed almost too extravagant toprehend. Inparison, while his outfit was of pretty high quality, its design was rather in whenpared to everyone else.
The reason he was dressed so simply was because he whad never been one to care for such things untill recently. However, this disparity now made him feel out of ce and ostracized by his fellow ranked nobles as a sense of anxiety slowly gripped his heart even though he normally wouldn''t care for such things.
The demoness in their fancy dresses all had smiles on their faces as they conversed with other noble demons while they avoided him, so were those smiles mocking him for his in attire? Or was it because of his awkward and gloomy appearance?
Armin could not help but think that way, even without any basis for such assumptions.
He couldn''t help but feel as though everyone here was mocking him, looking down on him simply because he had the lowest magic potential of any ranked noble in the region.
''This is why I despise this sort of social gathering.''
Although Armin was of a rtively high noble family,ing from a viscount family which held a considerable amount of influence within the Floato region and a rtivelyrge domain. Unlike histe father and younger brother, he was cursed with an abysmal magic potential for an ordinary demon much less a noble one.
Unlike the 5th Princess who had what others consider a low magic potential for royalty, her potential was actually rather high inparison to other ranked nobles who were usually around the ranges of Tier 3-4.
Her having Tier 3 Advanced potential was just a little below average for ranked nobles. While his magic potential, on the other hand, was barely up to the Basic level of the 2nd Tier, which practically made himparable to mere lesser demons.
Nowadays there were even lesser demons that surpassed him so how could he call himself a noble viscount?
He had learned the hard way just how vicious the demon society could be, especially with kids who possess little to no filter. Hence why he had never enjoyed any sociable gathering like this.
His tragic experience caused him great anxiety which led to him not being a very sociable person and holding little interest in noble culture or etiquette.
Hence why Armin would usually refuse any invitations to events such as this in the past. Choosing to focus solely on his hobbies and handling everything that has to do with paperwork.
Basically, he had handed over his birthright to his much more talented younger brother before he could be disowned and stayed out of the public eye while proving himself useful behind the scenes. Only able to stand the stress and insults by drowning himself in his rather questionable hobbies.
However, everything had changed only a few months ago when his father led their troops to aid in the war and defend one of the boarding domains closest to theirs, taking his younger brother with him as his official heir.
What was supposed to be an easy win due to the disparity in both sides'' forces, ended up being aplete annihtion thanks to a pincer attack from the enemy''s allies. Resulting in the death of his father and younger brother, plus the 500 demons that had apanied him.
If he could hand over control of his family''s estate to his uncle he would have. Unfortunately, Armin was the only pureblood left in his family.
In the end, Armin was forced to reim his birthright and take over his family''s domain as its head and unfortunately, such a heavy responsibility required him to attend events like this if he didn''t want his family to be aughingstock in noble society any more than they already were.
His low magic potential,ck of social life, and odd facial appearance had already made him a target for gossip amongst the demonesses'' tea parties so he could not afford to drag his family''s name through the mud any longer.
Or at least that was what he was told by his grandfather, the previous head of the Heartrail family.
In just under two months he had been appointed head, Armin has been forced to participate in three of such events including this one. He couldn''t understand why powerful nobles such as these would often waste their time on meaningless activities like these.
What was the point of throwing such luxurious parties each week regardless of the reasons? Demons were supposed to be creatures of pure desires yet everywhere he looked were pretentious brats that have gotten soft due to the political state of the current era.
To think, even in the midst of a war, they would still find reasons to throw extravagant parties like this one. What was the point of having such arge dinner party over the arrival of an unknown emissary from another ruling ss family?
"How bothersome¡ª"
Just as the words of disdain left his mouth in a silent whisper, a male voice called out to him in a rather friendly tone. Naturally, Armin who should not have any friends was taken aback for a second, turning around to observe the person that had called out to him.
"Oh... Earl Korver. It''s a pleasure meeting you here today. Thank you for hosting mest time."
"Oh, don''t mention it, don''t mention it. Us outcasts have to look after each other right?"
"Umm... Right..."
The one that called out to him and was heading over was the fourth son of the Korver family and its current master, Earl Saleo Korver.
Armin considered this man to be one of the luckiest men alive. Born as the fourth son of an Earl household, his only options in life would''ve been to be a knight for another noble family or be cast out and be amoner.
However, Saleo ended up taking over as the new head of the Korver family after his entire family had died fighting in the war. Despite that, Saleo possesses a decent magic potential as such Armin could not consider them the same, but he couldn''t say that out loud.
"I have to admit, I didn''t expect to see you here. Perhaps you''re starting to understand just how great noble parties are, right?"
"Urr... No, that''s not..."
"I''ll be hosting another dinner party a few nights from now, you''re invited toe."
Completely disregarding Armin''s quiet mumblings, he proceeded to offer him an invite as he walked over to Armin''s side with his rather refined nobledy in tow. Armin wasn''t sure if this was his wife or concubine but he really didn''t care.
While one could say she had a pretty face, they were so covered in makeup that Armin wasn''t sure if she would even look the same underneath all that. She gave Armin a disgusted look as though he was forcing her toe closer to him as she walked over to cling onto Saleo''s arm.
''Worthless bitch.''
Armin cursed in his mind but was too scared to say it out loud. It wasn''t as though he asked her toe closer to him so why was she giving him such a nasty attitude.
He didn''t even like Saleo that much as he considered him an absolute idiot that did nothing but waste his family''s wealth onvish party''s, so why was he forced to tolerate such nonsense.
Standing next to Armin, Saleo was about to speak when a male voice suddenly rang through the hall and to Armin''s delight, cut Saleo short.
"Wee all, Demons and Demonesses! I present to you the leader of the envoys from the Darknar family, The Lightning General, Lady Rain Darknar.
At this moment, the orchestra in the main hall put down their instruments, and the cheerful mood in the air also subsided.
From the sound, the emcee had just announced the stars of this sudden banquet.
"Lady Rain is one of the Six Great Generals of the newly founded Darknar Family and the wife to the Darknar family''s Demon Lord, holding a position equivalent to a Grand Elder. Lady Rain will grace us alone tonight."
At that statement, Armin heard the soft female voice from beside Saleo question, " She came alone?" Immediately a Saleo frowned and scolded, "Be quiet."
Armin was a little surprised by this. Was this a normal reaction when speaking about amon diplomat from another family? Armin hadn''t even heard of this so-called Darknar family.
All he knew was the Darknar region so he was a little surprised a family was using the name of the Demon king and not having the wrath of the entire demon continente down upon them.
Yet, not only had that not happened but even the ancient Jaxith family that were usually not keen on allying with any of the Great Five and remained loyal to thete Demon king to a fault, were weing an diplomat from such a family with as much respect as they could offer.
Does this mean the Jaxith family approves of the new Darknar family and recognizes their Demon Lord as the next Demon King or was this simply a ruse to get closer to the false family before they struck? If it was thetter then Armin could understand the reasoning behind this but if it was the former...
''Has the Jaxith family sank so low? This might be a good time to rethink the Heartrail family''s allegiance.''
Still, Armin couldn''t figure out anything without any information to go off on so he simply just had to wait and see how things progressed for now.
With the Jaxith family being surrounded on all fronts by enemies and having disregarded the Great Five''s authority, it was a miracle they had even been allowed to send their purebloods to any Magic Academies but there was no way they could gain any help from any of the Great Five in this instance without giving up everything they valued and believed in.
So reaching out to this false Darknar family may have been ast desperate attempt to stay relevant. If that''s the case then, there was no longer any hope for the Jaxith family in his opinion.
''Let''s just preserve this to the end for now.''
Wondering what kind of person this emissary would be, Armin nced at the door, where the master of ceremonies stood.
"Then, please wee the leader of the envoys, Lady Rain!"
When therge arched doors opened, the entire hall fell silent.
There stood a goddess-like woman. Her perfect features were prettier than even the highest-ranked demoness he had ever seen. Hers was a beauty that was impossible for mere mortals to obtain. It was as though they had just witnessed the descent of a true deity.
Her clothes were also other-worldly as well. It was as though it had been handcrafted by the gods themselves. Her light purple dress was ented with golden hair ornaments which matched the golden bracelet on her arm she gently kept ying with. Her reflection in the magical lights above made it seem as though she was glowing.
However, despite the entire hall being brought to silence by her appearance, Armin waspletely focused on only a single detail about the envoy.
''A¡ªa... d-dark elf? The leader of the envoy is a Dark Elf. Amazing!''
Armin''s fingers trembled as his heart began to beat faster than it had ever beat before and the blood flowed straight to his head.
"We are d you could join us today, Lady Rain."
The Demon Lord of the Jaxith family, Keyrille Mayz Jaxith rose from her throne to wee Rain.
"Your Grace, I am honored by your generosity ."
Armin''s eyes werepletely glued to the Emissary''s long and pointed ears as they subtly twitched when she spoke. He could only see the corner of her face but when she smiled, his entire world seems toe to a stop as all forms of logic and reasoning disappeared from his mind.
''She''s beautiful. I can barely hold myself back, I must have her.''
Chapter 380 C380. Being The Puppeteer
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As the hall fell silent and marveled at the sight of the leader of the legates from the Darknar region. Keyrille Mayz Jaxith, the demon lord of the Jaxith family stood up from her throne at the end of a short flight of marbled stairs and spoke.
She was an aged Demoness but behind her wrinkled face, one could easily tell that she was once a beauty in her day. Adorned by a gorgeous tinum ceremonial gown, a light blue cape draped over her shoulders as she held a Quantium scepter adorned by colorful gemstones and emanating a tranquil aura.
Her demeanor was that of a wise elder with eyes that seem to have seen almost everything. Her expression was hard to read but giving as she smiled at the envoy, everyone in the hall understood that this was someone even the Demon Lord herself showed respect, or at least, mostly everyone.
"Lady Rain, do forgive me for not being able to personally wee you. I''m sure you''re already aware of the current state of the Floato region, but let''s not dwell on such issues tonight and join us in celebrating your arrival and thanking you for the generous gifts you brought us. We offer our gratitude to the Demon Lord of Darknar. In that respect, everyone please be sure to indulge yourselves to your heart''s content, and Lady Rain, I hope you''ll enjoy yourself as well."
Keyrille gave a gracious smile as she raised her scepter to Rain in invitation.
"I''m honored by your generosity your grace."
A sweet smile bloomed on Rain''s face as she turned to address the other direct descendants of the Jaxith family as well as the Elders.
Armin''s heartpletely skipped a beat as he watched the dark elf interact with the ruling family. To the side, he could hear the jealous demoness beside Saleo whispered the words, ''Isn''t she being too casual with the royal family? She isn''t even trying to be respectful.''
He couldn''t care less about the opinions of demonesses'' much less from in and ssless nobles like her so he promptly remove the thought from his mind as he burned the image of the emissary speaking closely with the Jaxith Princesses into his eyes. His mind was only filled with one thought.
''How?- Just how can I make such a goddess mine.''
He understood that it would be a very difficult task. His family was not of the highest rank of the titled nobles but they were pretty well off. However, even if he was to focus on improving his family''s rank within the next week, there was no feasible way he could legitimately court the emissary from the Darknar region without making the entire Jaxith family his enemy.
Besides that, even someone as introverted as him could surmise the current significance of a new family suddenly spawning and usurping the name of the former demon king under the noses of the Great Five.
Although he didn''t really think a family that was just founded could ever hope to rival a family with several centuries worth of history and knowledge like the Jaxith family and the Great Five, he could make an educated guess that the family''s current military might could barely rival the Great Fives to make them hesitant in taking action against such levels of disrespect.
Although he still had a lot of doubts and believed if the Jaxith family were not in such a desperate situation, they would not be so tolerant of them, there was nothing he could do to change that.
With the new Darknar family being considered roughly equal to the Great Five in might, there was no way someone like him would be allowed to court someone with the rank of General from such a family.
Still, that didn''t stop him from fantasizing about the various possibilities and options. One could say Armin had quite an unusual taste when it came to his interest in the opposite gender.
He generally found members of the opposite sex intimidating and unappealing as he wasn''t attracted to the opposite gender of his own race be it, Lesser demons, ordinary demons, and especially not demon nobles. However, he had strangely garnered an interest in dark elves ever since he met one in the ck market as a child.
Dark elves were not amon race found in the demon continent as almost every single one of them had been taken in by the Great Five after very was officially abolished.
They were incredibly rare creatures even amongst the elven race as their skills and beauty were aggressively sought out by even the highest-ranking demons.
This made thews against trading dark elves so thorough and strict that one could not even find them in any illegal ve trading organizations so Armin found it almost impossible to find many dark elves to satisfy his fantasies.
As far as he knew, the only underground organization capable of trading dark elves was the Northern organization called Numbers. Unfortunately for him, they had not been the most prominent underground organization in the western parts of the Demon continent so it was hard for him to make a consistent transactions with them.
In fact, thest transaction he had with them was about four months ago and he had been expecting a dark elf girl for almost three months now but apparently, their very division''s base in winged city had been destroyed and he didn''t get any information on what happened to his package.
So Armin had been rather pent uptely as he was tired of his current collection. This was why Armin hadn''t chosen to leave his family when he handed over his birthright to his younger brother at the time.
He chose to handle the paperwork and managed the family''s finances because he needed the funds for his rather expensive hobby. As ve trading was now considered illegal, the underground organizations now charged exuberant amounts of DCs for amon ve depending on the race.
However, even though the Great Five were aware of these illegal very operations, they chose to ignore it as long as the ves being traded were not of noble heritage or Dark elves.
As such, there weren''t that many organizations that would even be willing to go into ve trading much less trading nobles and dark elves. However, Numbers was an incredibly powerful organization with ties with powerful nobles and seemingly unlimited resources.
Still, even they were unable to sell many dark elves making their prices soar absurdly high and he was barely able to afford any.
As he watched the diplomat interact with the princess of the Jaxith family, Armin felt a wave of heat surge up from his lower body snapping him out of his delusions.
He hurriedly picked up a beverage from nearby before his fantasies grew out of control. It would be very bad if he got hard here. The cool sensation of the drink sliding down his throat helped him regain a measure of calm.
Such luxurious wine.
Armin gulped down the entirety of the wine in his ss as he picked up another ss from the waiter walking passed him at that very moment. He then took another sip before returning his gaze to the envoy.
Hmm...
Having finished her greetings with the Jaxith family. The emissary''s leader descended the short flight of stairs at the end of the room to exchange some pleasantries with the nobles but only a few of the Demonesses was approaching her.
With his curiosity piqued, he took a nce around and notice that most, if not all of the male demons around her were all awe-struck unable to approach. Even Saleopletely ignored the jealous res from his partner as he was unable to take his eyes off the envoy.
Like him, they all seem to all be taken aback and intimidated by her looks and aura while the nobledies could not help but ask only questions concerning her dress and makeup.
He didn''t know why but Armin felt as though the emissary wasn''t interested in the topic of choice being thrown her way. While her expression remained the same, he felt as though he could feel a sense of loneliness from within.
Normally this was a time for the titled nobles to introduce themselves to her to establish a connection for future opportunities but things seem to have taken a rather unusual turn.
''Well, this is interesting.''
Armin shuddered at the idea he had just had.
¨DNo no no Armin, don''t think about such dangerous things. Even I''m not that stupid enough to try such a thing on the diplomat from another region.
He looked at the side of Rain''s face. His blood seems to boil as it rushed down his pants. An incredibly risky scheme formting in his head, and even he couldn''t believe what his mind was capable of.
Armin smiled.
''There''s no use in denying my desires anymore is there.''
With both his father and younger brother gone, there was no one able to challenge his decisions in the family so as long as he could avoid putting his estate in harm''s way, there was no reason for him to hold back. It seems being forced to reim his birthright and represent his family in events such as this has finally paid off.
Armin returned his half-finished drink to the waiter as he hurriedly straighten up his outfit before taking steps forward. Despite his minuscule potential, he wasn''t an ugly guy, and neither was he overweight.
He was also physically fit due to his family''s training and his need to dominate his ves, especially those that had higher potential than him motivated him to gather powerful magic items from the underground, so he shouldn''t cower under the scrutiny of the mighty.
Being on the shorter end of the spectrum for Demon nobles, he stood at 5''9, with short curly dark green hair that was styled a bitzily to the back. His dull grey eyes were covered with a pair of sses, making him look a bit nerdy but respectable.
His gloomy expression andzy posture hadpletely disappeared as Armin gathered his nerves, fighting against his crushing anxiety as long as this brought him closer to his fantasies.
He knew he needed to be the first one to approach before everyone else began snapping out of their stupor else his weak presence would be drowned amidst the crowd.
After all, one could not attain the rarest of jewels without taking risks. Even Saleo had failed to notice him leave his side until he stood in front of the envoy.
Armin stopped in front of the horde of desperate Demonesses surrounding Rain and spoke in as a dignified manner as possible. His voice seems to have given up on him for a moment there as this was the first time speaking so boldly in public for a long time now.
"Pardon the interruption General Rain Darknar."
Thanks to his distinct voice, Rain turned her smile toward him and so did the otherdies surrounding her.
A nce aside revealed that thedies and higher-ranked nobles all had shocked looks on their faces.
For someone as solitary as him, he could not help but feel ufortable as he realize all eyes were on him. In only a single sentence he has be the center of attention at the entire dinner party.
Despite his nerves rising rapidly, he still maintained full control over his body movements as he gathered up his courage and continued the conversation.
"Well hello, how do you do¨D"
Her brows creased for a moment, as though deep in thought. Armin immediately realized what she was looking for.
"Ahh... my name is Armin Heartrail of the Viscount house of Heartrail, but please, you can just refer to me as Armin."
"Oh? Viscount Heartrail. It is a pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure is all mine, General Rain Darknar, but please, call me Armin as I am not yet the head of my household."
"Is that right."
"Indeed. Nothing could delight me more than to make your acquaintance."
"Then I hope you''ll refer to me by name as well."
Armin bowed politely, he was keenly aware that the air around him seemed to have changed.
The shocked and curious gazes of thedies around Rain made the atmosphere around them quite awkward and intense. However, Armin couldn''t afford to mess up his ns now.
For someone like him that generally didn''t want to be in the spotlight, he didn''t hesitate to risk everything for the sake of his desires. After all, a demon''s desires were their entire existence and nothing more.
Armin was weak, incredibly weak, and if this was the old world he was sure he would not have survived till now. Yet, Armin did not care for the modern world where demons were forced to suppress their desires and were shackled by the chains of the politics of nobility.
This was why it was ironic, the only way for him to satisfy his desires was to leverage the benefits of those same politics and noble titles.
Although Armin wanted to immediately invite Rain on a tour of Radiance city, which should already be on her itinerary, he wasn''t stupid enough to make such a mistake of inviting the Emissary of another region on a date with a mere viscount.
If he wanted to y with dragons, he needed to be far from the bait. That is to say, he needed to get close to her but not too close, all that mattered was that he was the one pulling the strings.
"Lady Rain, if you''ll allow me to be your escort for the evening, I''ll be d to introduce you to my fellow nobles."
Although Armin knew he was the least qualified to be given such a responsibility, he had to take his chance before everyone around him snapped out of their stupor and gathered around them.
Using his only acquaintance, Earl Korver, he proceeded to guide Rain around the hall to the surprise of many, and sessfully establish a connection with the Legates from the Darknar region.
Chapter 381 C381. The Genius Of Armin.
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"Correct me if I didn''t hear you correctly, what did you just say!?"
"I''m saying I was invited to a private dinner party in the Korver family''s estate, please don''t be too loud I''m already exhausted."
Laying on the long sofa in the corner of the dimly lit office room still fully clothed was Armin, who had immediately copsed after returning from the Emerald Pce only a few minutes ago.
While seated across from him was an old man that was basically all skin and bones, with a long white beard and holding a wooden cane. To his left was a middle-aged demon noble with short ck hair and a well-kept beard.
Wearing a well-tailored ck suit with both hands in his pocket he stared at Armin with a confused expression on his face.
Many noble households with territories close to the western border of the Floato Region had suffered terrible losses in the war and a few of them had even lost their lords as well as their families'' heirs. However, amongst all these families that had suffered such tragic fates, it wasn''t presumptuous to say, the Heartrail family had it the worst.
Not only was their heir, the first-born son of the Heartrail family a lowly Tier 2 existence, but they had also lost their Lord and the promising youngest son of the Heartrail family. Leaving Armin as the only viable option to take over the family.
However, it was impossible to govern a territory when the Demon Lord was weaker than their subordinates. Once word of this gets around, the family would be unable to protect much less control the demons living in their territories.
The moment that happens, the Jaxith family would be forced to step in and they would be lucky if their household was only demoted back to Baron title and not stripped of their noble rank entirely.
Hence, Armin''s uncle and grandfather had decided it was best for their family to ally with a more powerful family either by marriage or other means, and the best ce to make connections with those powerful families were of course, during the various dinner party invites they had used their limited connections to obtain.
Yet, for some reason, after pressuring Armin to attend three such parties in quick session, the only noble he had managed to form a connection with was actually from the Korver family.
While the Korver family was true of a higher rank than the Heartrail family, they were also facing a simr situation given as they had lost both their family head as well as three of their family''s purebloods next in line in the war.
Making their fourth son, the only viable heir the same as Armin. Although Saleo Korver was a more qualified head due to his rtively reasonable magic potential. Hisckadaisical personality and low work ethic make him ill-suited for the responsibilities that came with such a title.
"Of all the families to get acquainted with, why did you choose the Korver family? Their new head is bound to run their estate to the ground, we can''t afford to be so closely associated with them else they drag us down with them."
Armin''s uncle seemed annoyed by hisck of interest in what he was saying. Their family may not have been better off than the Korver but that was exactly why they needed to build a rtionship with a more capable family that would be willing to help them in the future.
"That doesn''t matter."
With a single sentence, Armin dismissed his uncle''s words as though they were of no relevance to him. A vein clearly buldged on his uncle''s head and his aura immediately began to skyrocket, suffocating the air in the room.
"What!"
Armin was keenly aware that if his uncle had been a direct descendant, he would''ve long killed him off and take over the family and he could see the idea surfacing in his eyes so he has to immediately exin himself.
"It''s not like I''m interested in Saleo or anything like that, I said it was a private dinner but that doesn''t mean I was the only one invited. There should be a lot of young promising nobles there, after all, the envoy from the Darknar region should be present as well."
Saying that as he sat up from the sofa, Armin rubbed his aching temples as he stood up and exined most of what had happened inst night''s dinner party to his uncle and grandfather. It was best he omitted his reasoning from the story as his family was unaware of his secret hobbies or what was in the underground cells.
To be frank, the reason he was so exhausted was not simply because he had been forced to deal with so many social interactions at the partyst night. Although that had yed some part in it.
Rather, the main reason for that was that he had to immediatelyy the foundations of his n to obtain the dark elf emissary for himself.
He had noticed just how Saleo''s eyes had been glued to the Emissary the moment she entered the hall and how much colder his attitude towards the Demoness that apanied him had grown over the night.
Safe to say, there wasn''t a demon in that hall that wasn''t totally entranced by the dark elf as he was. Although his reasoning may have been more twisted than theirs as they were all too cowardly to ept their true desires.
Hence, Armin would use that to his advantage as he provided Saleo the opportunity of inviting the Emissary to his estate for a party, creating the perfect stage for Armin to enact his genius n while ying the spectator.
As Armin believed it was only natural for a pure-blooded demon noble to be true to their desires, he did not think lusting after the legate from another noble family was wrong.
There were no faults in his reasoning as it was the fault of the Demon Lord of the new Darknar family for using such a beautiful Dark elf as amon envoy.
However, Armin was not stupid, he knew the world would not support his beliefs and he was far too weak to protect his ideas and satisfy his desires. Yet, thanks to the weakness of the Demon in this era, even someone like him could survive as long as they were intelligent.
Armin surely didn''t think highly of his strength but he knew how truly intelligent he was. One could call him a genius and not be wrong.
Hence why Armin knew he could not allow himself to be caught trying to turn the emissary into his ve, and needed an adequate n if he wanted to achieve his goal.
As such, when the party was overst night, he had left for somewhere other than his Mansion, and that was, the base of the underground organization known as Numbers.
Although Armin didn''t have the funds to purchase anything from the organization as his family''s finances had been stretched thin thanks to the loss of the 500 soldiers his father had led to battle. Their weapons and equipment were expensive and needed to be reced for the safety of their territory from both monsters and bandits.
However, Armin had paid an exuberant sum of money to Numbers in order to buy a new dark elf ve for his collection but the organization had failed to deliver on their side of the deal.
As one of the organization''s biggest investors in the east, Armin was owed adequatepensation as he decided to finally collect.
Despite his weakness, Armin had grown to be keenly aware of how strong someone was which was why he had taken the risk of approaching the emissary in the first ce.
He could tell that she was at a level far beyond hisprehension and on a different ne of existence than him. Still, that just made him want to possess her more.
As someone that grew up with an inferiorityplex towards his younger brother, the only thing that made him feel like a demon noble was dominating the strong dark elves'' ves he owned. Being such a special race, coveted by even the Great Five with limited numbers, nothing could bring him more satisfaction than when he sessfully breaks a new one.
The stronger they were originally, the more intense the ecstasy he feels from breaking them using the ve contract and various other methods. At first, he had only been entranced by the race because of their uncanny beauty and dangerous eyes.
However, when he started buying ones with higher magic potentials than him, he slowly started enjoying the feeling of having them submit to him and it didn''t matter how strong they were.
Thepensation he had gotten from Numbers was an absurd amount of their specialty drug, Blue Powder.
As far as he knew, it was an incredibly addictive drug made from solidified mana shards and a secret ingredient only known to their higher ups and the drug was even effective on demigods.
After all, even gods use and absorb mana into their bodies and the stronger they were, the more mana essence they absorb to survive, making the drug impossible for anyone detect and prevent it as the body would not recognize it as poisonous or dangerous.
Taken in small doses, the drug would interact with the body the same way as the mana essence in the air until it umtes in the body andpletely disrupts the body''s functions. By then, it would already be toote and the target wouldpletely fall victim to the drug.
This was the basis of Armin''s ns. He would secretlyce the emissary''s drinks with Blue and with the help of numbers, he would move her unconscious body to his underground cell without anyone noticing, leaving the Korver family to be med for the disappearance of the envoy.
Armin was aware the Jaxith family would face the consequence from the new Darknar family but that should not affect them as their territory was at the border of the Floato Region and would easily be absorbed into the neighboring region.
Besides, he didn''t think the Jaxith family held any hope of surviving this war and was already using his connection with Numbers to open negotiations with the neighborimg families for the safety of his region.
Therefore, there was no longer any need to remain loyal to the Jaxith family or make friends with any other ranked nobles in this doomed region.
Naturally, Armin did not rte this n to his already worried uncle and grandfather as he proceeded to assure them that he would be sure to make connections in the uing dinner party in the Korver family estate.
Chapter 382 C382. Pawns And Plans
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Located within the Emerald Pce.
One of the Jaxith family''s royal knights ran through the pce corridors as she barged into the room at the end of the hallway.
"Princess Athena!"
The knight opened the door in a fluster as though she had ran here as fast as she could the moment she was given her order. She had alsopletely forgotten to knock, nor wait outside until permitted to enter.
Normally, this would''ve been a punishable offense.
However, herck of manners was not a result of disrespect but instead implied something had happened which flustered her to the extent of forgoing her training and duties as a royal knight.
Athena could easily understand what had happened. However, in front of the pce workers including the maids, Athena did not disy her usual charisma as she choose to disy the attitude of a spoilt and pampered princess with the lowest magic potential in the family.
Someone that they would deem unfit to be served by nobles such as themselves.
As the royal knights and maids were all sons and daughters from high-rankingnded noble families within the Floato Region, someone like her, a spoiled brat that was only the 7th in line for the throne, with no real power nor potential, would not be truly respected and would be looked down upon and underestimated. Allowing Athena to remain under the radar and operate seamlessly in the shadows.
As some of the knights and maids even had higher magic potentials than she did, it made her the target of mockery for the prideful maids who had no choice but to serve her due to her bloodline.
The fact that her personal guard was only amoner despite him possessing higher potential than they did, was deemed to bepletely atrocious, knowing he was ranked higher than them.
For some reason, Athena seems to enjoy the chaos and treats it like another form of entertainment.
Comments like; "Is she truly a pureblooded descendant of the Jaxith family or did her Grace pick her up from the gutters."
"Did she really bring her boy toy into the pce just to mess around with a street rat? What nonsense."
"I can''t believe I have to serve such an obnoxious brat every day. My father would be livid when he hears about this."
Most of that time, they didn''t even bother to hide their disdain and the appearance of someone they considered trash like Bam, their agitation had only gotten worse.
Thanks to that, the maids showed little respect for Athena and tend to gossip casually around her thanks to her splendid performance as a clueless and spoilt princess, giving them the leeway to talk about their family''s deepest secrets, which naturally provided Athena with valuable information.
As a lowly princess with little to no real power or authority, this was the only way she could think of to gain a thorough understanding of the activities of the nobles outside the Emerald Pce, allowing her to gather information and gain enough dirt on the nobles to develop her ns without having to leave the castle.
With that, Athena closed the book she was reading and asked nonchntly.
"What''s going on?"
The knight''s eye twitched, most likely due to a wave of subconscious anger that suddenly bubbled within her. Seeing Athena, who sat leisurely by her tea table reading a book with her legs crossed.
Her outfit was designed in such a way that it exposed most of her cleavage from above, and the slit of her gown was as high as her waist, every time she dropped a leg to cross the other one, it revealed the lines of her lower region, making it seem as though she wasn''t wearing any underwear.
With the street rat that called himself a knight standing behind her with a direct line of sight to everything, the maid could easily guess the sick show this princess was putting on for her knight and felt disgusted. It didn''t matter if she was only teasing him, exposing yourself to a meremoner was the most degrading thing she could think of.
Athena saw the change in expression in the knight and a faint smile adorned her pretty face as she took a sip from the tea on her cup andzily ced it on its saucer.
The sound of doing so seemed to jolt the knight back to reality, and she hastily sprang into action.
"A-a-about that¨D"
"It''s okay, It''ll be fine, Calm down, take a deep breath."
The knight did as she was told, taking several deep breaths to regte her panting. After regaining a measure of calmness, Athena asked,
"What happened? Is it monsters? Or are we being attacked?"
"N-no, none of that. The Darknar family''s emissary insisted you partake in the diplomatic negotiations!"
"Really, Is it ady?"
"Yes, a very beautifuldy! A Dark elf."
Athena''s question should have been strange because there was only one woman among the envoys from the Darknar region and she had been present during their introduction to the nobles and had even exchanged a word of greeting with her. If someone pressed the point, they might wonder what she was on about. However, the knight was currently confused and answered in earnest.
Athena on the other hand, did not mind suchpses. Not being taken so seriously by the maids allowed her to ess a vast array of information she could use so this was fine.
Bam had been standing by her side. His armor ttered in response.
He must not have been able to follow what was going on. Nor did he understand why anything that was said was of any concern to make the knight so worked up over Athena''s attendance or not.
His adorable actions, like an innocent puppy, filled Athena''s heart with a surge of tenderness. However, she could not allow herself to indulge in her desires just yet and had to remain patient.
Athena enjoyed thepany of the clueless Bam more than she should, perhaps it was because he was in love with her andpletely failed to notice her faults that she grew attached to him.
As Athena had known since an early age that no knight of noble heritage would willingly serve under a princess with no authority like her, she had decided to create one for herself.
A knight that would meet the requirements of her desires, just like the romantic books she once read. Of course, sending orphans to their death was not part of the kooks but who cares, after the fourth one, she sessfully created a strong enough knight with a cute face and adoring eyes.
He was also innocent enough to get flushed at the slightest touch or any exposure to skin and Athena couldn''t get enough of that reaction. She could probably tease him forever but now was not the time as she had been so rudely interrupted by the knight.
Even though the knight''s reasons were important, Athena could not just simply forgive her for interrupting her fun so she needed to be extra annoying right now.
"Why exactly would Lady Rain want me there? I wonder..."
Tilting her delicate little head was very important. Doing so would induce a negative reaction in the worried party. Its effectiveness had been proven over and over again. After all, the diplomatic negotiations were of the utmost importance to the family.
And sure enough, weak mes flickered in the maid''s pupils. They were mes of anger. At the same moment, Bam''s armor ttered softly.
He must have sensed that knight''s feelings and thought of something. But the sound soon stopped, and he returned to his upright and locked position.
How cute.
His restraint and self-control despite his anger sipping through as he struggled to maintain hisposure were simply adorable. If he wanted to, he could easily kill this knight with a single strike but he knew that would only cause problems for his mistress so he was trying desperately to restrain himself.
He was probably crying inside since he believed so much in Athena. If only he wasn''t amoner, this sort of thing would not be happening.
Athena could feel herself getting aroused as she desperately resisted the desire to turn to look at Bam, who was standing behind her. This was because the interfering knight opened her mouth to speak:
"I do not know the reason, only that she had insisted on your presence when the meeting was about to start."
"Is that so¡ I wonder what she would like me to talk about during the meeting. Perhaps she only wanted anotherdy there with her, do you think that''s it? I noticed she wasn''t wearing much makeup yet she radiated so brightly, I wonder if I can ask her to teach me her skincare routine."
"I don''t know about that. The meeting is scheduled to start in 2 hours, would you be honoring her request? "
"Of course, I would! Please inform Mother that I would be participating in the diplomatic negotiations with the Darknar representatives."
After she replied with feigned delight, Athena turned to look at Bam.
"Hmmm~ Bam, I would need some time to prepare myself, could you step out of the room for a while?"
"Understood."
After his response, Bam exited her room with the maid, leaving Athena as the only person in the room. Athena did not require Bam to exit the room simply to get dressed as there was already arge changing room adjacent to hers so all she needed to do was summon her dressing maid.
However, Athena needed the roompletely empty for a reason. It was kind of a shame, but that could not be helped either. Bam did not need to know about bothersome things that may alter his feelings towards her, especially with the presence of her new visitor.
The moment the room was emptied, a slender figure suddenly appeared by the curtains to the open window. This room was on the 5th floor of the Emerald Pce, as such it was nearly impossible for one to scale its walls to the open balcony so it was a wonder how this person had entered the room undetected.
The figure strode across the room and took a seat without waiting for the owner of the room to give her permission.
Then, she looked to the girl who was genuflecting before her with her head lowered, and chuckled.
"Common, there''s no need to be so stiff in front of me~ Common, take a sit, let''s chat."
"¨DYes."
The girl called Athena ¡ª the 5th daughter of the Jaxith family ¡ª obediently lifted her face.
"Nice job. You have done an excellent job so far~"
"Thank you very much, Lady Citrus."
Athena sat down with a smile.
"Hmm~"
Citrus seemed quite interested in Athena''s reaction, which waspletely unlike what she had shown thus far. A cold smile the likes of which would send shivers down the backs of even Demon Lords was stered on her face.
To Athena, she had not betrayed her family, making a deal with Citrus was only a means to achieve her desires, something any true demon would understand.
Whether the consequences of her actions benefited the Jaxith family or destroys it, that was not her problem as there wasn''t really much that mattered to Athena except her enjoyment and desires. It wasn''t a different motive than the noble she had selected for the next phase of her ns.
Looking at her expression right now, one could almost call her, a devil.
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On one of Athena''s trips abroad as a child, specifically on a vacation trip to Sun City. She had met a young boy with an extremely cute appearance walking hand in hand with his two loving parents.
He was amoner of lower birth than hers but his eyes were different from hers which were devoid of any positive emotions. Born into a family that was destined to use her as a political tool. With her low potential, she was guaranteed to be viewed as nothing more than a womb to carry the future of the Jaxith family.
Hence Athena could only see the world in ck and white as her cold eyes gazed through the carriage window at the pawns walking cluelessly on the streets.
However, her eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of Bam. A boy not born into a rich household yet his eyes shone brightly with a beauty that was iprehensible to her.
Her heart was Captivated, as she felt it beat for the first time.
Although Athena had no idea what that meant, she felt it was the best way to describe how she had felt at the time. Utterly captivated by those pure eyes that saw the world in an assortment of colors.
Unfortunately, he was not from her city and Athena could not resort to kidnapping in another family''s City. Especially not in a city belonging to one of the Great Five.
However, perhaps she had been manipted into meeting her but a fortunate encounter with Citrus had changed everything.
In exchange for her betraying her family in the future, Citrus had orchestrated the death of Bam''s entire bloodline. A thorough cleansing that wiped out anyone that was even remotely rted to him and sent him to the slumps of Radiance City after altering his memories to make him believe he was from there.
The rest was simple for Athena to handle as she made sure Bam would not lose the colors in his eyes by secretly providing him with enough assistance to preventplete despair on the battlefield.
She had even gone as far as experimenting with other orphans to make sure she would get the bnce just right to make him stronger without letting him be truly traumatized.
Manipting everything until he becamepletely enamored by her. Everything had gone as she had nned and that was all thanks to Citrus.
Chapter 383 C383. Toys And Reward
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After epting her terms for the sake of obtaining Bam, Athena became a sleeper agent for Citrus against the ancient Jaxith family. Maintaining her irrelevant and weak persona in the pce as she steadily gathered information on the entire continent from theforts of her bed chambers until the day she was inevitably called upon.
A day that came sooner than she had anticipated as it was before she had even brought Bam into her servitude after perfecting the process of preparing him by finding orphans with simr build and facial structure to Bam and having her elder brother send them to the front lines of various battlefield so Bam could obtain strength necessary to be epted into a royal family as her attendant.
The fact that Bam had possessed a decent magic potential and an innate ability had been a rather unexpected boom as she had been willing to sacrifice more for Citrus to resurrect him if he had turned out to be too weak to fight. At that point, she would''ve been forced to find another method to bring him to her side which would''ve been a moreplicated strategy.
Her assignment was to incite the war between the Jaxith family and its bordering regions, forcing the family into its current desperate situation.
This was a task that normally would''ve been impossible to aplish within such a short period of time if she hadn''t gathered incriminating information on most of the high-ranking noble families simply by listening to the pce maids gossip and piecing together the bits and pieces of information they provided as though she could see the entire picture.
With that, starting the war was mere child''s y as all she needed to do was have the noble families under her thumbs sow seeds of discord against the Jaxith family as a show of disarray to the neighboring families.
Allowing their spies, most of which had already been identified by her and manipted to safely gather the information she created for their various families to create an alliance for the sake of an invasion of the crumbling ancient family.
As the Jaxith family was one of the oldest families in the demon continent, it was rather easy to convince the neighboring regions of their immense value to them.
To aid her ns, she had even manipted her impulsive eldest brother into charging straight for an ambush which led to the death of the 1st prince of the Jaxith family, leaving the 2nd prince as the heir to the throne.
While the second prince was more logical and rational inparison to the first prince, that didn''t mean he was harder for Athena to control.
If anything, she found people that were too impulsive and irrational to be the hardest to control as she could never predict when he would do somethingpletely ridiculous and identally ruin her ns.
Using the war, she was also able to bring Bam to her side a lot earlier than she had originally calcted, which was a sweet bonus that made her want to work even harder as he was even more adorable than she remembered.
While she hadn''t been told the reason for the war by Citrus, something like that was easy for Athena toprehend. She was confident at least one of the neighboring regions at war with them was already under the control of the Brimstone family and that was all she needed to know to peice everything together.
????????
"You okay~"
Athena instively jerked her head back by a inch as Citrus face had at some point gotten only an inch from hers as she crouched in front of Athena with oddly fascinated expression on her face.
Athena regained herposure almost immediately which was a first for her as there weren''t that many people whose actions could so easily Garner a genuineresponse from her.
Looking at the rather fascinating smile on Athena''s face, Citrus chuckled as she licked her lips and spoke, all while she was still crouched in front of Athena as she stared at her eyes.
"¡I have to admit, I hadn''t expected so much from you at first but I''ve been quite impressed by your progress so far. Here, I even brought you a gift~"
Citrus reached into the air and pulled out a strangely colored item from her storage space.
It was a crystal with mismatched colors swirling within it as it glowed a dim light. If one observed closely, one would see the translucent sculpture of ady with four arms in a pose like the god Shiva but with the head of a serpent.
Each hand held a different weapon and a different colored gemstone adorned each of the serpent''s eyes.
"This would be¡"
As the girl epted it with gratitude, Citrus watched her with a cold predatory gaze, as though the girl was little more than a bug before her eyes. She then stood up and casually threw herself on the couch.
Indeed, Athena was nothing more than a bug in the presence of a being like Citrus. But because of that, both sides shared the same goals.
"You have my deepest gratitude, Lady C¡ª"
"There''s no need for thanks when you earned something. I''m not the type of person to not reward my tool''s hard work you know~ Intake it you understand the requirements to use such an item?"
"Of course."
The girl smiled.
It was a very lovely smile.
That was why she asked:
"Are you sure you are prepared to use it properly? You will not survuve a failed attempt you know~"
"I am fully aware of that l, Lady Citrus. Trust me, the preparations have already begun."
"Really now. Then, make sure they''re finished before this regionse under the banner of those guys~"
"Understood, my mistress."
Citrus smiled a predatory smile as she stared at the girl as she lowered her head in reverence.
There wasn''t really a reason why she had decided to take Athena under her wing back then. She was probably just looking for a reason to kill someone and that child''s entire family just happened to be a pass time for her.
Although she enjoyed killing. Random and pointless killing wasn''t fun for her. She needed there to be a reason and helping a twisted child that had caught her interest just happen to give her a legitimate reason to go wild.
She had almostpletely forgotten about Athena until about a few years ago when she met Mammon and decided to help him in his foolish attempt at world domination. She had only found him cute and thought it would be fun to assist him for a bit.
Especially since he was one of the few people she had met that possessed the stamina to satisfy her in bed. The fact that he was strong and had a cute face was a bonus.
However, she was still a member of the Great Brimstone family and could not afford to have someone else be king, whether it was one of the other Great Five or an idiotic Primordial.
She had nned on killing him after learning the method he had used to take down theyered barrier around the Darknar castle but he had unexpectedly died to the unknown Primordial who had somehow taken over the Darknar region.
While Citrus was given the freedom to act as she pleased despite being a pureblooded noble of the Great Brimstone family, it was because she had earned special privileges for various contributions to the family.
As such, when Mammon had failed, she needed to find a new method to help her sister aplish her goal while providing her an excuse to let loose once more.
Thinking of that, she remembered the pawn she had met in the city a dozen or so years back and she decided to cook up several more ns of her own. To Citrus, people were nothing more than ythings for her. They were toys and pawns that could be manipted rather easily by her wimps and she had quite the knack for it.
However, amongst all the people she had met, there was only one person she was unable to make move as she pleased, and that was her exceptional and darling little sister, Izabel.
It wasn''t that her sister was a genus like Athena or was as calcting as herself, no, if anything, she was aplete idiot who was only exceptional at fighting even though she was yet to reach her full potential.
Despite that, she was always able to go against Citrus'' expectations time and time again and was the only one capable of surprising her.
Citrus was ecstatic, her love for her sister growing with each day, and to further her growth and not have her constantly chasing after her shadow, she resigned from her position in the family and handed it over to her.
In only a few years, she should be able to ascend to her level and be an actual challenge for her. If anyone would be the next demon king of the demon continent, it would be one of the two after an epic fight for supremacy.
That was Citrus'' ultimate goal. She did not truly care for the family or the Great Five. As long as she was able to eventually face up against her beloved younger sister. Being killed by her also didn''t sound so bad. It was a rather storybook ending she craved for.
A rather sadistic smile crept across her face as she watched Athena lower her head to her while a tingling sensation ran across her body. However, as Citrus''s mind wanders in excitement, a pair of green eyes appeared and disappeared in the girl''s shadows without so much as a trace.
"Alright, let''s end this here. I''m sure you know what to do in that meeting right?"
"Yes, mistress. I''ll make sure the Jaxith familyes under the Darknar family without fail."
"Excellent. The most vulnerable time for a family is during its expansion. You never know what or who, you''re bringing into your family which is why the Great Five is no longer aggressive with their expansions. I''ll have them learn that the hard way."
Citrus had only two objectives ining here today.
The first was to reward Athena for her hard work so far, to inspire a deeper dedication from her.
The second was to confirm the situation with the Jaxith family and how far along Athena''s n wasing. The n for the Jaxith family is to be a vassal family of the Darknar family against the objections of the Elders.
That was the whole reason why she had incited war and created the shelters. To reduce the power of the prideful ancient family while still making them worthy of vassge.
So far, everything seems to be going as nned so there was nothing to worry about. Especially since Athena''s presence had been particrly requested for the meeting.
Citrus could not help but smile. When this unknown behemoth had first appeared, he had immediately disrupted her ns with Mammon so Citrus had expected more out of him.
However, everything, from the ridiculous disy of power against the undead king to the formation of the Darknar family, everything had gone as she had calcted so Citrus couldn''t help but be disappointed.
As she expected, truly, only her younger sister was capable of surprising and stiring excitement within her.
As Athena raised her head to ask a question, she finally noticed her mistress was already gone, without a trace. With a smile, she stood back up and kept the item she had received inside her specially encrypted storage box.
A box she had obtained from Aurora with several moreyers of protection than the ordinary storage box. Despite that, she proceeded to ce the box underneath her underwear drawer and chuckled.
She found the thought of someone going through her underwear drawer to find the storage box to be quite alluring, despite the possibility of such a thing being null.
Walking over to the mirror, Athena adjusted her hair and makeup before ringing the small bell next to her for the maid responsible for dressing her for the day, her smile as clueless and charming as always.
After everything waspleted, Athena rejoined Bam outside as she headed for the conference hall. She willter summon ne to herself to help solidify her presence in the meeting with so many powerful individuals.
??????????
In the next moment, a shadow quietly slithered into form as a figure appeared in the now empty room. It walked towards the drawer and its green eyes glowed brightly for a moment before returning to normal.
Chapter 384 C384. Making A Grand Entrance
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¡ªSomewhere in Radiance City.
A grand hall filled Armin''s eyes, easily equal to that ballroom in the Emerald Pce ¨D no, it might even be better than that. It seems the Korver family had gone all out in their preparations for this event.
As expected, the resources of an Earl-ranked family were of apletely different level than that of a Viscount family. Although to actually find a hall that could rival the ones in the Emerald Pce was something even Armin hadn''t expected.
Saleo had sought his council beforehand as the one who had introduced the Darknar envoy to him on whether or not he should go all out and arrange the grandest of halls for the emissary or y it cool and use a regr ballroom.
Of course, he had chosen the former as he needed everyone distracted and not focus all their attention on the envoy else he risks lowering the sess rate of his ns.
Topensate Armin for his help in organizing this event as it would no doubt be the grandest of balls ever thrown by the Korver family, Saleo had added his family''s name on the invitation letters he sent out as a co-sponsor of the event.
This was an honor no doubt, but it was one Armin did not care for but had no choice but to ept. He hadn''t wanted his family''s name to go down with the Korver family given the events that were about to unfold here but he had no choice but to salvage the situation as ites.
After all, nothing ever goes exactly as nned so he needed to be even more cautious than ever.
As the night went on, the guest began to arrive one after the other.
As they entered the hall, the first person everyone spoke to was Saleo. After that, they''d generallye to greet him. Although, they only did so reluctantly, after Saleo mentioned Armin''s name as a sponsor. It seems, none of them really liked him due to his gloomy demeanor and his fiasco in the Emerald Pce hadn''t changed that.
Well, that didn''t bother Armin in the least, it was best if he was only considered a side character in this party, allowing him to move around more freely without all the eyes staring at him or random nobles trying to speak with him.
As Armin''s eyes observed the room, he could see a few members of Numbers mixed wlessly among the servers in the hall, a faint smile appeared on his face as he did his best to hide it.
Just as he moved his hand to cover his mouth, Saleo walked over to him and asked.
"Something wrong?"
"Uh? Oh no, it''s nothing."
"Really... Well alright. It seems all the invited guests have arrived."
"Is that so? As expected of the Korver family, there are a lot of high-ranking noble families heads and representatives here."
"Oh please, they''re all here to meet the Darknar family''s representative, not me. I''ve always invited them to any dinner party I throw but this is the first time most of them are epting my invite ever since I took over as the family''s head. What a shameless bunch."
"Is that so? I did not expect even you to be going through something like that."
"I suppose I don''t show it. But I have to thank you for introducing the envoy to me Armin, if it wasn''t for you I don''t think I would''ve had the courage to speak to her. I guess being as gloomy and solitary as you makes you immune to being intimidated by such a godly beauty. You must''ve built up a tolerance from the scornful looks thedies always give you. Hahahaha..."
"..."
The smile on Armin''s face froze for a second, he hadn''t expected what had juste out of Saleo''s mouth. Honestly, Armin didn''t know what he was expecting, this was everyone''s impression of him after all. He didn''t know why he had expected Saleo to be any different.
"I meane on, with your appearance and demeanor, no one had expected you to be the first to speak with the emissary. Who knew you had it in you? Good thing you brought her to me though, I was afraid you''d end up causing an international incident if you kept talking to her, that was smart of you. Ke ke ke..."
Taking a sip from his wine, Saleo continuously spoke without much regard for the words that came out of his mouth, he seemed to be a little tipsy but Armin didn''t think this was a result of alcohol so he couldn''t help but smile.
"Isn''t it about time to escort the emissary in?"
"You''re right. Since everyone''s here, there''s no need to keep them waiting any longer. How do I look? Never mind I always look good I''m sure the envoy would instantly fall for me."
"Right."
"Hahaha... what do I do if I unintentionally make the wife of a Demon Lord fall for me. I''m afraid my charisma may be too high for me to control. Oh well, we''ll cross that bridge when we get to it."
Armin waspletely at a loss for words as he just stared nkly at this man as he gulped his drink. He really hadn''t expected something like that toe out of his mouth despite his reputation with thedies.
Well, who could me him, even Armin almost couldn''t control himself after seeing the envoy once? He shouldn''t have expected more from this buffoon, his only hope was that someone would not overhear this and implicate him in the downfall of the Korver family.
"Listen, Armin, I''m a demon of principles so I will not forget your help today as I be the new leading force of the Floato Region."
Saleo said seriously as he handed Armin his ss and walked away. The smile on Armin''s face soon shifted to a rather sinister expression as he handed the ss back to the server before walking to a different server and whispering something to him and then walking away.
There was no longer anything left for him to say or do, all he needed was to sit back and rx as he watch everything unfold.
??????
Feelingpletely satisfied with his current situation right now, Saleo walked through the corridor and headed for the room the Darknar family''s representative was waiting in.
He hadn''t expected things to so quickly fall into ce for him. One moment he was being forced to be a knight for his elder brother or leave the family, the next he was being named the sole heir to the entire family''s estate.
He couldn''t believe it and spent thest few months inplete ecstasy, throwing onevish party after another. However, it didn''t seem like the other surrounding noble families liked him very much and most of them would not ept his invites so he was forced to associate himself with the odd and gloomy Viscount Heartrail.
However, it seems his kindness had paid off as he had been rewarded with this generous opportunity. Not only was the Korver family gaining a lot of attention from the other surrounding families, but in these few days alone they had been getting a lot of trade and partnership requests.
All this was because of his seemingly close acquaintanceship with the emissary giving as no one wanted to associate themselves directly with the worthless head of the Heartrail family.
Not to mention the emissary in question was incredibly beautiful. If she wasn''t already wedded, Saleo would''ve probably proposed to her even though she was just a Dark elf.
Arriving at the room she was in, he knocked on the door and a maid came to receive him into the waiting room. She was one of the Royal maids assigned to the emissary by the Jaxith family.
Her maid''s outfit was simple, unlike the usual design from the ones in the Emerald Pce, perhaps attempting to bled in with the maids of this mansion.
Saleo didn''t shook the pointles thought off his mind as he was led into the room by the maid.
What he saw behind that door was a being whose beauty knew no equal.
She wore a silver-colored dress, a different one from their encounter in the Emerald Pce. Her neck was adorned by the most beautiful ne he had everid eyes on. Her hair was styled to the side with an exquisite tinum hair ornament with intricate design.
How beautiful¡
Saleo blushed despite himself. For a demon noble that believed there were no other races at the same level as demons, he could barely control the blood flow within his body.
"¨DThen, shall we?"
The emissary''s words brought him back to his senses as he hurriedly replied:
"Yes. Please permit me to be your escort."
Saleo took a hand that was sheathed in a greyce glove and helped Rain up.
A fragrance came from his side. What kind of perfume is this, it makes my heart feels so light. Although he subconsciously wanted to sniff at it, that would have been terribly rude.
While the two of them were already walking side by side toward the ballroom, proceeding in silence like this made the air seem heavy. Even though he didn''t believe a dark elf should be on the same level as a Demon noble, to his surprise, he found himself being intimidated by the emissary.
He felt an overwhelming pressure just from walking by her side and found it difficult to open his mouth to spark a conversation.
"Are you alright? You look rather pale."
To his surprise, the one to have broken the silence first was the emissary, having noticed his strange behavior and trembling fingers.
"Oh no, please. I am fine. Thank you very much for your concerns."
At his words, Rain smiled tenderly, making Saleo''s heartbeat speed up. He tried his best to maintain hisposure as he decided to change the topic.
"I should thank you for epting my invitation today, Lady Rain. Because of you, there are many nobles in the ballroom. All of them have gathered to see you."
"Hmm, really? Then I should thank you for this opportunity as well."
"No please, it''s absolutely my pleasure."
Saleo panicked as he spoke. He didn''t know what was wrong with him. This was the first time he had ever found it difficult to speak with someone of the opposite gender.
Yet, he now found himself unable to hold a conversation as his heartbeat raced uncontrobly. Before he knew it, they were already at the entrance of the door leading to the ballroom where everyone was waiting on his entrance with the emissary.
Saleo gulped.
He couldn''t afford to waste this golden opportunity to walk into the spotlight as the rising star of the noble society. Hell, if things went well, he could even be the new leader of a noble faction with authority rivaling the Elders.
With that in mind, Saleo steeled himself and stretch out his elbow in an exaggerated motion that caught the attention of the emissary. He couldn''t bring himself to look back at her as he closed his eyes and hoped for the best.
He could feel the eyes of the emissary turn to him for a moment before returning, his heart began to sink when she suddenly held onto his arms, allowing herself to be led into the hall by him.
The lights shown brighter as the doors swung open and all the eyes in the hall shifted in a single direction.
It was a sight to behold.
Seeing everyone''s gaze shift to them as he led the emissary into the ballroom made Saleo feel he had done it. Everything was finally going his way and he could tell that his future was bright. This was his Grand Entrance into the world of the truly elites.
Chapter 385 C385. Flawless Execution
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His eyes scanned across the ballroom hall from the corner as he silently observed the interactions among the demon nobles in the hall, wondering what they could be thinking right now.
Everything around them, including the cuisine, the wine, and the utensils were of the highest caliber, however, by Armin''s rmendations, most of the nobles here were below average.
He hadrgely invited nobles in a simr situation as them so the Korver family wouldrgely stand out amongst the lot. However, the real reason for his suggestion was to include a selection from the list of nobles given to him by Numbers.
Despite the organization being mostly based in the northern part of the continent, its influence amongst the nobles in the Floato Region was quite impressive. However, most of the noble families associated with them were of rather low ranks, forcing Armin to think up a suitable reason for inviting them without being suspicious.
As there was surely going to be bacsh from his n here today, he needed the Korver family to serve as his scapegoat. Hence, having noble families who would willingly point the finger at Saleo was a must.
Armin was well aware of Saleo''s superiorityplex as most nobles tend to have. He knew he looked down on other races especially Dark elves that had once been enved to the nobles and nned to capitalize on that.
It didn''t matter if he had changed his mind after meeting the emissary as his n was already in motion.
That''s why, Armin could not help but wonder what these nobles thought of this event.
Were they simply excited to make the acquaintance of the emissary because of her beauty?
Or did theye here for the possibility of forging a rtionship with the new Darknar family?
There were also some rather high-ranking nobles here so perhaps they were more interested in forming an alliance with each other than meeting the emissary.
For the high-ranking noble families present, this may have been the perfect opportunity to attract weaker families under them. Because of that, this gathering was a gigantic feeding ground for them and may be the only reason why they had epted the Korver family''s invitation.
This dinner party was a ce where hungry whales would lure the small fishes into their mouths and devour them.
So the question was, would the small fry be eaten without them ever noticing? Or would they realize something and skilfully disengage? Or perhaps ¨D would there be nobles filled with desire who would turn their tables on their would-be devourers?
After studying this scene for nearly an hour, Armin concluded that there were no nobles here that would pose a problem to his ns, as long as they got what they wanted, they wouldn''t care to investigate further the downfall of the Korver family.
After all, to them, that would be one less family to worry about. As for the wrath of the new Darknar family, Armin didn''t believe they had the leeway to dere war on the Floato Region when they were already surrounded by the Great Five.
Indeed, this was the reason Armin was so confident. It didn''t matter if the Dark elf was the wife of their Demon Lord, a demon like that would no doubt have hundreds of wives, as such, losing one, shouldn''t be that much of a big deal to him.
This was why, he couldn''t just give up on his desires.
The only thing he needed to worry about was offending the pride of the Darknar family so somepensation had to be made and that would be the destruction of the Korver family.
Sending the head of Saleo along with several more of his officials should be enough to settle the issue. Of course, there would be some numericalpensation but that would be the Jaxith family''s problem.
Armin already had ns of cutting his territory off from the Floato Region so it didn''t matter how the Jaxith family reacted to this.
They would be too distracted by their own impending doom to care about a lowly Viscount family like his.
Then, it''s about time, no?
It had been an hour and a half since the ball started, so it was the appointed time.
Armin''s true objective was only beginning.
¨DIt was frightening.
His previous gloomy demeanor that drive people away vanished as if it had been nothing more than a lie.
It was about time for the emissary to take a break after speaking with so many people consecutively so he needed to act now. If he wanted the me to be ced on the Korver family, she needed to go missing during this ball not afterward.
There was no exnation for allowing the emissary from another region to go missing in one''s territory whilst the me can be shifted off if it happened afterward.
Even if Saleo''s mind was scanned and showed his innocence, he would still be forced to take responsibility in order to appease the other region.
Armin straightened his outfit and walked casually through the hall towards the emissary and Saleo who had just finished talking with a noble.
Like clockwork, one of the servers walked by as he arrived before them and Armin stopped him and took two sses of wine from his tray.
One of the sses held a deep blue-colored liquid that gave a sweet scent and faint alcoholic odor. This was one of the most expensive blue wines in the world and Armin casually handed it over to the emissary with a straight face.
The second ss held a normal red wine and Armin handed that over to Saleo. He had specially chosen that wine for its textured and gentle vor which was perfect for this scenario.
"Greetings Lady Rain and Earl Saleo. After all that talking I''m sure you both must be tired."
"Lord Armin, it''s nice to see you again, I should thank you for your help the other day."
The face of the lovely emissary, "Rain" turned her wless smile in his direction and greeted him without any hesitation. Normally, most nobles would pretend not to recognize him for a moment before proceeding to rudely address him.
This only goes to show just how superior Dark Elf women were to Demonesses.
Armin thought but before he could reply, Saleo interjected as he took the ss of red wine from him.
"Oh Armin, I didn''t see you connecting with the other nobles at all. Were you just standing in the corner this entire time? Come on now."
Armin chuckled and smiled wryly as he observed Rain ept the drink from the corner of his eyes. He didn''t care about the suddenly self-conscious Saleo, who had let the attention he was getting go to his head but he couldn''t show that in front of the emissary as he decided to fake a smile.
"Ha... ha... something like that."
"See... I knew it. You''re too much of a loner. You should get out there and make some connections to help your family out of its current predicament. It would be a shame if all my efforts to help you go to waste because you''re shy."
Although it seemed as though Saleo was giving him advice, Armin was aware of this personality trait of his. Apparently, Saleo was the type that always felt the need to show off when he was in the presence of a beautifuldy.
Still, his current attitude was a bit off as Armin hadn''t expected him to be this abrasive about it. He was usually the one to act ssy and elegant while spewing some nonsense on how great and generous he was, yet it seems something had made him agitated.
Still, this was not something that was beyond his expectations as Armin already expected suchments from him so he simply ignored it as he turned to face the emissary.
With the most beautiful smile on her face, she seems to twirl the drink inside her ss around for a moment as her expression shifted for a moment before returning to normal and then, it happened.
The moment he had been waiting all night for, the emissary took a sip from the wine that had been infused with a concentrated dosage of Blue Powder.
Armin had been carefully watching the emissary the entire night from the sideline. He had seen her drink a few times during the night as it would be incredibly rude for the invited guest in such a grand event to not take the refreshments offered by the host.
Each of the few sses of wine she drank from wasced with trace amounts of Blue Powder to first disable any auto resistances in preparation for this.
"You were right Lord Armin. I am indeed a bit tired. I should probably take a little break back in the waiting room. If you''ll excuse me, Earl Korver."
"Umm... Ah please, I''ll have your maid escort you there. She''ll take care of you for the time being."
Hearing the emissary''s words, Saleo was caught off guard for a moment but immediately recovered as he escorted her to where the maid that had escorted her here was standing and asked her to look after the emissary while she rest back in the waiting room.
Armin smiled. So far everything was going as nned so all he needed to do now was make himself visible to s few nobles not under the thumb of Numbers for insurance. He wasn''t the type that like to leave anything to chance so he had to deal with the grueling task of social interactions with this worthless bunch.
Time went on like this as Armin noticed the Numbers'' staffs disappear from the hall slowly. Most of the nobles here were still waiting on the emissary''s return but it had been about an hour now since she went to take a break.
Saleo seemed stressed and anxious as the nobles kept going to him and requesting for the emissary to return. It had gotten to the point that he decided to send another maid in to check up on her, something that could be considered rude in noble society but as she was the star of the show, it couldn''t be avoided.
From a corner, Armin gleefully watched as the whole event unfold. The maid came back iming the emissary had gone missing and everyone became so panicked, they didn''t even question the disappearance of the maid that had apanied her earlier.
''Such fools.''
It didn''t take long for more and more nobles to start asking questions and Saleo going in himself to see what had happened.
To the point where the idiots concluded the new Darknar family was just too uncivilized to understand noble culture and she had rudely left without a proper farewell.
Of course, there was some opposition to this idea as some believed the Korver family had disrespected the emissary which forced her to leave before they could finish speaking to her.
This sparked all sorts of conversations about what the Korver family had done to anger the emissary to make her leave so abruptly. Many of the high-ranking nobles even went as far as using the host, Saleo himself of making a move on the emissary which was a grave offense.
Talks of the Korver family harming the emissary had even surfaced but everyone was soon calmed down by the representative from a Duke household. As there was no proof of anything, none of them held the authority to search the Earl''s estate so they simply had to be patient until they made confirmation of the state of the emissary before reporting this to the Jaxith family.
''What a bunch of buffoons... This is going better than expected.''
After all that, the noble simply went back to the party as a few of them began to take their leave. None of them had even bothered to confirm the state of the emissary by simply investigating the state of her knight escort stationed outside.
Naturally, this only made things easier for Armin as only a sponsor, he didn''t need to wait till the end of the party to leave as he bade his farewell to the dejected Saleo and left his mansion before the Royal Knights outside would sense something is wrong and lock down this entire mansion to find the person they had been assigned to protect.
The entire Floato Region was about to be rocked by the time the Jaxith family discovered the disappearance of the emissary but the time they would need for their investigation was more than enough for him.
Chapter 386 C386. Last Huddle
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"Wee back, Master Armin."
The maids greeted him as he alighted his carriage that had only just arrived in front of his Mansion. Due to their supposedck of funds, their estate could only retain a small number of their staff so there weren''t that many maids still left in the Mansion.
However, Armin never really cared for the maids as they were all Demonesses from the lower-ranked Baron families around. He allow the maid to take his coat as he walked in.
It was currently the middle of the night so it seems his Grandfather and Uncle had already retired to their chambers for the evening so he decided not to bother them with his presence as he walked down the hall and headed for his chambers.
Asking the maids not to disturb him, he shut the door behind him and walked straight for the firece at one end of the massive chambers. His fingers located a secret button as his entire firece slowly moved to one side, revealing a set of stairs that led down.
His family''s estate did house some holding cells for criminals at a separate building from the main mansion. However, to indulge in his desires without any interruptions, Armin had secretlymissioned a secret underground cell to be built under his family''s estate.
To achieve such a massive undertaken within the capital city of the Floato Region without the Jaxith family finding out, he needed the help of Numbers, the only secret organization he was acquainted with.
Being an organization that specializes in almost anything, they had surprisingly agreed to build the ce for free, linking the cell directly to Radiance City''s underground tunnels for easy transportation.
The reason for their uncharacteristic generosity was obvious, they needed to use part of the underground cell for storage given as they were an organization that wasn''t based in this region, making their operations here limited and extremely risky.
It seems they were mining part of the raw materials for Blue powder somewhere close to Radiance City and needed the underground tunnels for easier and rapid transportation.
That may have been why they insisted on maintaining a minimal activity level in this region despite the nobles being a great market for their products, it seems they did not want to draw any attention to the source of their illustrious Blue powder, the single most potent drug in the world.
Armin chuckled, he didn''t care about the source of the drug but only its effect. Even with a single drop, he''s able to dominate even Demon Lord-level Dark elves without even using a ve contract or pact.
Of course, most of the dark elves he''s bought from Numbers had already been contracted as ves so they couldn''t defy him even if they wanted to but as his usefulness for the organization grew, they asionally even gave him first picking whenever they newly captured a dark elf not already contracted as a ve.
These Dark elves, albeit docile after being nearly beaten to death several times by the rough members of Numbers, were still a bit more resistant than the ones that were already ves, and breaking them further with the aid of Blue was an absolute delight.
So, how would breaking a dark elf at the level of the emissary be? Her godly beauty, charming yet dominating presence, everything that made her an untouchable gem beyond his wildest fantasies.
How would it feel to slowly strip all that away as he made her nothing more than a ve?
Armin could feel the blood rush to his lower region as his head almost went nk. He tried his best to remain calm as he reached the end of the stairs.
There was still something he needed to settle before he was free to indulge himself to his heart''s content.
Opening the door at the end of the stairs, a dimly lit room came into sight. There were three individuals seated around in the dimly lit room and the moment the door ipened, they all turned to look at him at the same time.
"Ah, so you''re finally back. Bout time, I was getting sick of waiting."
The one who spoke was arge Lion-kin beastman that satzily with his legs on an empty crate and a battle axe ced across hisp. His appearance was nothing special as he looked like a typical brute with the face of a lion, wearing a ck pants, a pair of brown leather boots and some sorts of reptilian skin jacket.
The other two were lesser demons with short horns and thinly long red tails protruding from their lower waist. One of them was a male wearing the same server outfit as the attendants in the Korver mansion. He had curly grey hair and grey eyes.
The other lesser demon was a female d in light leather armor. There were no visible weapons on her person but her right hand was adorned with a pair of ck and white rings.
She had long ck hair with bangs covering her eyes but one could tell she was pretty by the lower parts of her face alone.
"My apologies, I had to be patient and wait until the appropriate time to leave, else I may draw some suspicion to myself. Still, I was able to leave before the Royal Guards were made aware of this event."
"Jeez, what''s a cautious bastard."
The lion-kin snickered at Armin''s response as he turned to look at the pair of lesser demons for the next step.
"Right, I should thank you for your help Mr. 77 and Ms. 10. I didn''t expect the two of you to actually participate in my selfish request personally, thank you."
"Please don''t tter yourself. We''re only here to make sure you don''t screw up our supply chain for something as ludicrous as this, and to retrieve any magic items or artifacts on the emissary. To think, you were actually given permission for this, what are the Single Digits thinking? Good thing everything went as nned."
The female lesser demon, Ms. 10 spoke with a condescending tone in her voice as she seemed to forcibly suppress her emotions. Perhaps she felt disgusted with working for trash like Armin but she couldn''t voice her opinions as the higher-ups seems to value him greatly.
The other lesser demons didn''t seem to care much either way. They were both among the Numbered elites in the organization and knew just how valuable their work here in Radiance City was to the entire Number organization.
Not only did this ce possess the main ingredient for Blue powder, but the city itself also pose as the perfect base for their manufacturing and distribution division which was headed by Ms. 10 herself.
Theirck of activities within the Floato Region was necessary to maintain the secrecy of their operations here which was why they chose not to interfere with the prominent underground power in the east.
The Dark Order.
Their activities seem to strive from some sort of religious beliefs so they generally wouldn''t care about their faint presence here unless they directly interfered with their activities.
To maintain their manufacturing and distribution division, they needed to provide other services for certain nobles like ves, drugs, and assassins, in exchange for facilities like the storage units in these underground cells hence their rtionship with Armin and why they did not refuse his request despite how dangerous it had been.
"I take it you had no problem abducting the emissary. Was the dosage of Blue sufficient? Will she be a problem?"
Moving on to the most important part of his n, Armin asked with great anxiety.
"Rx... I spiked her drinks with the perfect amount to escape any magic defenses and thest ss was spiked with enough dose to make you a vegetable."
Mr. 77 spoke confidently as he walked over to the second door in the room and opened it slowly.
"Why don''t you take a look... ke ke ke..."
The Lion-kin that had beenzily pouting in the corner eagerly stood up as he couldn''t resist the temptation to see the god-like beauty in such a vulnerable state again.
They all went through the door and rows of cells with only a single bed in them appeared before their eyes. There were at least 50 cells in the hall if not more.
There was also another door at the end of the hall but through that door should be the storage units for Numbers and an exit that lead to the city''s underground tunnels and should be the method at which they had brought the emissary through.
To protect their investment, these underground cells were lined with a concealment magic array drawn by magic runes and reinforced by a magic artifact so it was practically impossible to find from the outside.
Unless one had the other half of the magic artifact. Meaning, the only person that can locate this ce from the tunnels was Ms. 10, the owner of the other half of the magic artifact.
Armin felt this was why she had personally participated in his ns as she couldn''t even trust the item to her subordinates. Being only a single rank from bing a Single Digit, there was obviously a reason why she had been left in charge of their operation here.
However, that didn''t matter to Armin as he was only focused on one thing, seeing the emissary in one of his cells as his new ything.
The first cell that came into view was one of his dark elf ves.
Chained to the bed she had long white hair and a moderately pretty face and was dressed in an absurdly lewd maid outfit for some reason. Her expression seem to be a blend of ecstasy, despair, pleasure, and horror as shey in the bed with lifeless eyes.
Ms. 10''s face twisted into one of disgust but she chose to ignore her feelings on the matter as they all proceeded forward.
The next dark elf they saw was prettier than thest and was dressed in armor like Hunter, her expression seem to be the same as thest with lifeless eyes.
The next was dressed like a noble demoness, then another was dressed like a priestess, and so on. It was clear these were all a reflection of Armin''s degeneracy and not even the Lion-kin cared for his fetishes.
Frankly, he has already used most of these ves before they were sold to Armin so he was only interested in the one he hadn''t tried yet.
He hadn''t been able to ce his hands on her during their trip as any slight touch could trigger a surge of ecstasy but it could also bring her back to her senses temporarily and that would be bad. However, it has already been a few hours since then so he should have a little leeway right?
There was still a need to spend the next few days administering a daily dosage of the drug in order topletely drown her mind in pleasure, making her more easier to dominate and control.
He had done simr things several times before and the moment they broke was the most pleasurable sight to behold. At that moment, they would be enamored by the sensation of the drug, they would eagerly do anything to get more and that was something he could never get tired of seeing.
Unfortunately, the one who would be responsible for doing that with the goddess of Dark elves would be this scrawny loser for a noble.
''How uneptable.''
Upon reaching thest cell, everyone''s eyes went wide as the figure of the Dark elf,ying helplessly in the bed with a slightly blushed expression as she slept made their hearts skip several beats that they almost had heart attacks.
Her perfect figure in her fancy dress without the usual charming smile on her face and her usual confident demeanor is reced with the expression of a teenage girl in heat was almost too much for them to bare.
*Gulp!
"Uh... Boss, shouldn''t we make sure she''s probably addicted to Blue before giving her to this loser?"
"Huh..."
The Lion-kin could no longer control himself as he ripped the cell door right off its hinges and walked in before anyone could even answer him.
"Hey! Don''t you dare! She''s mine! You Bastard!!!"
Chapter 387 C387. The Emissary
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After her formal introduction to the nobles of the Floato Region during the wee party a few nights back. The emissary from the Darknar family, Rain Darknar was led to a guest mansion that had been prepared for her stay in Radiance City.
Normally, a guest such as the leader of a diplomatic party from another region would be allowed to stay within the walls of the Emerald Pce.
However, to prevent fear and panic from the pce staff guards due to the frighteningly dreadful undead unit that had apanied the Leader of the Darknar family''s Legates, the Jaxith family had been forced to prepare a detached mansion for their stay in the Central district of the city, away from the other noble residents.
They had also restricted the city''s guards from approaching the luxurious mansion while having to rece the mansion''s workers with a few especially skilled maids to personally attend to the emissary.
These maids were high-tiered Demonesses capable of withstanding the aura oozing off the bodies of the undead creatures without affecting their efficient work. They had also received assurance from the emissary that the undead creatures would not attack unless provoked.
As the presence of the Doom Cavaliers was enough to threaten even their most skilled knight, there was no need to worry about assigning any protection details to the emissary as long as one of the maids apanies her at all times.
As such, the entire mansion was only attended to by a pair of two maids and a cook, making the massive mansion feel rather vast and empty. However, that did not seem to bother Rain.
"Wee back, Lady Rain."
"Ah... Thank you."
Rain smiled gently as she walked by the main door of the mansion and entered what had been her current residence for thest few days. The interior of the mansion had a simple design but the quality of each item of furniture was almost as impressive as the ones in the Emerald Pce.
Although there were only two maids and one cook working here, everything remained as spotless as it was when she was first brought here, it was easy to see how seriously skilled the maids the Jaxith family had provided were.
Of course, Rain was keenly aware of the fact that they were also here to keep an eye on her and inform the pce of her movements but that was only to be expected.
Rain sighed as she walked through the entrance hall and up the stairs, heading straight for her assigned chambers.
She had spent the majority of the previous day touring the popr locations in Radiance city to better familiarize herself with the workings of a city not operated by one of the Great Five but everywhere she went had been cleared out for her visit, making the sights a littleckluster and uninformative.
After that, she escorted the 2nd prince and the 5th princess in seeing a theatre y dedicated to the old demon king which only annoyed her for some strange reason.
As though that was not enough, she had also been forced to attend an early lunch with the so-called royal family and the elders before the main diplomatic negotiations that had happenedter that evening.
Rain frowned. This was not the first time she had needed to dress elegantly and act so prime and proper in noble society as she had needed to do the same once before for an assassination mission from the Alcar family.
She had also received countless training on noble etiquette and mannerisms but she still found the entire thing to be rather tiresome even though those experiences were proving rather useful right now.
Rain increased her pace and before the maid that had escorted her could react to match it, she swung the door to her room open and took a seat.
To be fair, the diplomatic negotiations with the Jaxith family had turned out to be more interesting than she had expected, thanks to her following Zomatsu''s suggestion of inviting the 5th princess to participate in what was meant to be simple trade negotiations simr to the others she hadpleted on her way here.
Having visited five other regions before heading here, she had already sessfully signed several trade deals with the ruling ss families of each region that solved the Darknar family''s problem of a stagnating economy.
However, throughout Rain''s trip, she had receivedpiled and detailed pieces of information on the ruling family of whatever region she was visiting with a brief suggestion at the end of each report.
The reason she was able to continuously receive the information on time was due to her master''s shadow creatures Shadow Network.
Apparently all of her master''s shadow undead share the same shadow dimension where they are all able to store and retrieve items not including living matter. The shadow dimension was something that existed within all shadows and was what they normally used for their shadow movements.
This did not extend to all of his other undead creatures, only beings like the Shadow Rogues and Shadow mages. It was indeed a convenient feature that aid the transportation of key items and information provided a shadow creature was around as they simply needed to store and retrieve an item from wherever they were, no matter the distance.
A sort of shared, inventory system if you will.
Thanks to Nessi and Zelda traveling with them, Rain was able to receive urate information from Z''s ongoing investigations as he establishes an informationwork for the Darknar family. She could surmise this was the reason Lord Ty had sent his shadows with them in the first ce.
Although Rain didn''t know much about Z, from his actions alone, she could tell he was truly loyal to their master even though the reason for that was still a mystery to her.
She didn''t think such strong devotion was a result of him saving his life just once even though that was a valid reason. She believed there was something Z knew about their master as a former noble of the Zorak family.
Still, the fact that he was now loyal to her master was enough for her to trust him and take his suggestions extremely seriously.
For the other families she had visited as an envoy, the information he had provided had not only provided her with the right information on the family to negotiate a more favorable trade deal for the Darknar family, but it had also included the possibility of Dark elves ves being illegally owned by a few ranked noble families under the ruling families of each region.
Not knowing if she would be interested in taking action, he had always still included personal suggestions that would help in locating and freeing the ves without so much as leaving any traces behind.
Given as the trading of Dark elves was strictly prohibited by the Great Five even more so than very itself, former owners couldn''tin about their missing ves.
So far, she had managed to free more than five dark elves'' ves after getting permission from her master, sending them back to be treated by Erin with the aid of Emrys''s Gates.
The fact that there were so many dark elves still being used as ves even after the Great Five abolished ve trading and aggressively persecuted the trading of dark elves ves was worrisome.
While Rain had only ever been close with Liz ever since she could remember, she still didn''t fancy the idea of her fellow race being treated like toys. It even made her wonder if this was why her beloved master had sent her as an envoy.
Rain believed her master''s shadow creations were more than intelligent and charismatic enough to be used as envoys for simple trade negotiations but she hadn''t initially thought much about it as she had only wanted to be just as useful as Liz.
However, after reading Z''s reports and suggestions one after the other, she was beginning to believe there was more to this than simple trade negotiations.
What if Z''s words were true? What if there were several hiddenyers behind their master''s every word and actions?
He hadn''t given her any solid response when she had brought up the issue with the Dark elves, just stating she was free to do as she pleased. If that''s the case, shouldn''t she strive to achieve more than simply establishing trades with each family?
Aftering to this realization, Rain wasn''t surprised after seeing Z''s report on the Floato Region and the Jaxith family. This was the oldest family that had remained loyal to the demon king and resisted the Great Five''s influence to the point of extinction.
Judging by the Great Five''s interest in them while being willing to back down till now, it was clear this family held a secret they were willing to die for.
Such a family was definitely worthy of bing the new Darknar family''s first vassal family which would send a message to the rest of the Demon continent, and one of Z''s suggestions about this family proved he had the same idea.
Inviting the 5th princess of the Jaxith family to participate in the diplomatic negotiations proved to be quite beneficial to their cause as she seemed to share the same mindset.
However, her intellect was rather surprising as she had barely said a word yet led the conversation in her desired direction.
As a Demigod-level assassin, there was nothing that could escape Rain''s observation and she had never once failed to judge a target and this princess was no different.
Z hadn''t mentioned much in his report perhaps trying to test Rain''s capabilities or maybe he had simply believed Rain would notice everything without fail. Seeing the 5th princess''s attitude at the dinner party had made her send Zelda to investigate more about her which had turned out to be the right call.
After learning of the 5th princess''s true intent from Zelda, Rain didn''t alter her ns in any way. The diplomatic negotiations had proceeded as nned and a solid trade agreement was on the verge of being signed between the Jaxith family and the Darknar family.
In exchange for specialty goods and items, the Darknar family would provide the Jaxith family with a few Doom Knights to defend their territoryn. Yet any talks of vassge were met with immense resistance from the family''s elders.
Despite their dire situation, it seems the pride of the elders as the oldest demon family to serve under the original demon king was too great for them to ept the new Darknar family as worthy.
Unfortunately, the Demon Lord seems to be easily swayed by the words of the elders even going against the advice of the 2nd Prince who was the current heir to the title.
Rain could tell the 2nd prince was subtly pushing for favorable vassge as the number of Doom Knights they were able to negotiate for was far too insufficient to fully protect them from thebined might of their neighboring regions.
However, despite her extremelyx vassge conditions, the elders would not bulge but this was only the first round of negotiations so there was still time to change their minds.
Perhaps if she had Zelda destroy one of their bordering cities still standing they would feel the pressure and swallow their pride.
However, doing such a reckless thing not knowing whose watching might end uping back to trouble her master in the future so was most definitely a bad idea.
"...Sigh..."
The entire situation now was extremely burdensome but that didn''t mean someone like her couldn''t solve it.
She could simply just rx and allow the 5th Princess''s ns to handle the situation but Rain had a feeling her goals may be slightly different from Citrus.
Fortunately, aside from Z''s information, Rain had also done some more investigation of her own with the help of Zelda and thus, there were other ways of achieving her goals.
There hadn''t been much time to interrogate the assassin captured by Zelda but thanks to the information she was able to gain from their brief conversation, she was able to get a general idea of the situation surrounding the Floato region and formte a n using all the pieces that had conveniently been ced around her by a genius.
She couldn''t help butpletely believe Z''s words. Their master had surely things to y out this way when he asigned her thid mission.
Everything moved as they had expected and now, they were currently in the best position to spring board the n for their beloved master''s ultimate goal.
With all the yers now on the board, it was about time to make their move.
"Lady Rain, it''s almost time."
"Right."
After taking a minute to calm herself down, the maids assisted her in changing for her next asion for the evening. After all, she has been invited as the guest of honor in a private dinner party that should be starting soon.
Chapter 388 C388. Zeldas Investigations
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Three luxurious carriages left the premises of the Jaxith Family''s guest mansion as they galloped through the city streets to their destination at sunset. The cold wind was apanied by light snowfall.
The streets were lit up by countless magicmps and bustling with pedestrians returning to their homes after a hard day''s work, d in thick winter coats as they walked down the streets of the central district.
As they were trying not to draw much attention to themselves, these luxurious carriages did not carry the emblem of the Jaxith family or the Darknar family.
Unlike therge carriages the envoys from the Darknar family had arrived in, these carriages were far smaller and more fancily designed for in-city use. Pulled by several armored Demonic horses, they were also being escorted by a few riders mounted on powerful magic beasts.
Driving each carriage was fully armored Royal knights wearing thick fur cloaks to hide their equipment from the public. The first andst carriages in this miniature convoy were filled with more knights assigned with the protection of the Darknar emissary.
The main reason for this level of security within the city walls was in two parts, to protect the envoy from the spies of the other neighboring families and to prevent the use of the Darknar family''s undead legion within the city to prevent panic amongst the masses.
The Jaxith family seems to be doing everything possible to hide the presence of the undead within their Royal Capital. It was easy to imagine how the neighboring families would incite a revolution if strange rumors were to spread around.
The ride to the Korver family''s mansion within the city would take around an hour and it would''ve been several times faster if they had just flown but Rain didn''t mind the extended journey.
The interior of the coach was supremely decadent. Judging by the furnishings alone, it was more akin to a mobile and portable high-ss suite than a simple carriage, from the furred upholstery on the walls and floor to the soft andfortable seats, everything, including the soundproof walls and tinted windows with magical reinforcement.
Everything about these carriages was designed for private and secret conversations without any interruptions.
Only one other person was permitted to share this luxurious conveyance with Rain, which would''ve meant that there would always be a total of two people upying the space of the cabin in any given instance. However, for the first time since this arrangement began, Rain declined the maid''s request to join her and sent her forward to share the front cabin with the Knights.
Rain sat leisurely by herself in theforts of the coach and the moment the carriage left the vicinity of the Emerald Pce, the shadow cast on the seat next to her by the magicmp in the carriage slowly moved as it morphed into a slender shadowy figure with glowing green eyes.
"Zelda!"
Just as the shadow''s body was fully formed on the seat next to her, Rain practically tackled her with a tight hug as she happily rubbed her face on Zelda''s cleavage.
Zelda''s expression did not change as she tilted her head in confusion at the unexpected situation. She could not understand the reasoning behind this action and thus could not formte an adequate reaction.
"Hmmm... I was right. That scent. You smell more like Lord Ty each day, I wonder why? Is it because your connection to him is growing stronger? Or do shadow creatures usually mirrors the scent of their master after spending so much time within his shadow? Or maybe a little of both? I can''t believe you''re closer to him than I am, that''s not fair!..."
Zelda was at a loss for words as Rain continued to sniff her chest. To her, all shadows share a connection to the shadow dimension so perhaps they were all continuously connected to her master as her connection to him was still strong even when they were so far apart.
"Ahh... I''ve missed this scent so much. I didn''t think being so far away from Lord Ty and Liz would make me feel so lonely. This never happened before..."
Rain''s excitement suddenly came to an abrupt halt as she gently pulled away from Zelda and asked with a serious expression as she gripped her shoulders.
"Is it just me or are you getting stronger the more you fight? Is that normal?"
Rain asked but Zelda''s expression remained confused so she just decided to use appraisal on her instead. If Zelda didn''t want to, she could always resist the use of appraisal to learn anything about her but this time, she just sat there and epted it.
Rain didn''t have the appraisal skill so she simply cast the spell which was only at the Tier 3 level and could be resisted easily.
"Max Magic - Appraisal."
????????
Name: Zelda.
Race: Undead.
ss: Shadow Rogue - Peak Tier 6, Breakthrough imminent.
A powerful immortal undead rogue that was created in the depths of negative energy, grasping the secrets of the shadows and Darkness. Possesses a greater affinity for the Darkness element due to an enhanced Darkness core.
Enhanced Darkness core: Capacity - 97%
Magic Type: Darkness, Shadow, Lightning, Abyss.
Racial Skills: Shadow Dwelling; Invisibility; Shadow Movement; Assassinate; Darkvision; Perfect Stealth; Magic Sense; Mark Soul; Darkness Aura; Dark-Shadow Assault.
Skills: Dark Lightning(D); Abyssal Bind(A); Shadow Clones(N); Shadow Swap (N); Shadow Armor(A); Shapeshifting(A); Death w. (D)
Resistances: Darkness Damage Immunity; Negative Energy Immunity; Immortal; Magic Resistance Mid; Physical Damage Resistance Low; Lightning Damage Immunity; Destruction Energy Resistance Mid; Chaos Energy Resistance Low.
????????
"Oh my..."
Rain''s eyes widened as she received the information on Zelda''s stats. As the Leader of the diplomatic party, she had naturally receivedpiled and detailed information about all the undead apanying her, this included Zelda''s information as recorded a few weeks ago.
As a result, she had named all the undead under hermand.
With her memory capacity, Rain could recall each and every little detail of the information written about all her undead units which was why this had surprised her.I think you should take a look at
From what she just saw, it seems Zelda had gained several more skills over the past few weeks and was almost at the point of a breakthrough, which shouldn''t be possible for a freaking Undead.
From what Rain knew about the undead, she didn''t think they could improve at all much less so rapidly by themselves as the only way to grow was to absorb enough negative energy to enhance their cores either naturally or by outside means.
As Zelda''s core was already enhanced by her master, she should''ve already reached the peak of her potential yet she had gained a couple more skills in the span of a few weeks and was now on the verge of bing a Demigod as her core Capacity was already almost at it''s maxed.
"No fair... Is this also because you spent so much time within Lord Ty''s shadow or because you share a Soul Link? How in the world does this work?"
To be honest, Rain was a little jealous about Zelda''s soul connection with her beloved, as the first shadow creature he had created, he seemed to have a soft spot for her and she should have a stronger connection with him than the others, which was probably why she was growing so fast.
''Even her expressions have be more lifelike recently.''
...Sigh...
Rain sighed in resignation, if only she had possessed a simr connection she wouldn''t feel so lonely. However, now was not the time to mope about when she had a mission toplete. The sooner she gets this over with, the faster she could return to her beloved.
Rain''s demeanor instantly changed as she became more serious andposed, an attitude more befitting of the leader of a diplomatic party.
"So how was your investigation?"
Zelda''s confused expression also disappeared as her soft voice, ¡ªstill apanied by a ghastly undertone,¡ª reverberated in the cabin.
"Unfortunately, I''m unable to bypass the encryption of that girl''s special storage box without leaving a trace so I cannot confirm the use of the item she received."
"Is that so? No worries, her ns don''t seem to be in their final stages as of yet. Just leave her be for now."
"I''ve confirmed there is a connection between one of her attendants and that Demigod but he''s role appears to just be an observer for now."
"I see... Perhaps his presence alone is all they need, interesting. What about the other thing?"
"You were correct, it appears that girl was the one to request an invite be sent to the falling noble house of Heartrail."
"Hmm... So he must be from one of the families connected to that organization Z was talking about. The one with the member that was rude to my love, 99 was it?. To think he would be the first person to approach me."
"Unforgivable."
"You''re right. Still, I can understand how Z gets his information but how does she? Uh, I''m quite impressed."
Zelda was confused once again but Rain didn''t think she cared that much for her to exin herself so she decided to move on.
"And thest thing I asked you to investigate?"
"I''ve searched the entire city. No Dark elves are being kept prisoners anywhere above ground. It doesn''t seem like there''s any ve trading operation going on in this city even in the slumps."
ording to Z''s report, the underground organization prominent in this region was known as the Dark Order, a group of devoted Devil worshipers that deals inrceny, terrorism, Assassination, and Smuggling.
As this group''s only goal was to summon the Great Devil Lord into the physical ne in exchange for power, their grasp on the criminal underground wasxed at best, allowing the space for an outside organization like Numbers to operate discreetly within their territory.
Hence why Zelda stated that there were no ve trading operations happening in this city. Rain had instantly picked up on the underline meaning behind her words.
"Above ground? I take it you found something underground?"
Zelda nodded as she continued.
"Several high-level concealment spells are being used in the City''s underground tunnel system and I''m unable to break through them easily. There are also several illegal brothels within the city that seems to be using the tunnel system for smuggling ves and other goods."
"Seriously, a concealment spell you can''t bypass, how intriguing. Hmm, wait, did you say several?"
There was something in Z''s report that made Rain even more interested in making the Jaxith family vassals to the Darknar family, something the other regions should not be aware of and the reason why the Great Five are being so secretive in their actions against the Jaxith family.
After reading Z''s report, Rain had three objectives ining to the Floato region, a ce on the brink of destruction by three neighboring families.
The first was to sign a favorable trade deal for the Darknar family. The second was simply to find and free any Dark elves being used as ves in this region, she didn''t care about any other race and would even abandon the dark elves if freeing them would negatively affect her new family.
The third was the most interesting one of all, it was to find out the reason why both the Great Five and the underground organization known as Numbers were so interested in this region and why they were so desperate to keep it a secrete.
Basically, she wanted to know, what exactly the Jaxith family was protecting from the world. What was the Jaxith family''s Greatest Secret?
Chapter 389 C389. Glasshouse Princess
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After spending a few days within the Floato Region, Rain could finally understand Z''s report in its entirety. Countless ruling-ss families were trying their best to expand their reach and increase their strength due to the uncertainty the arrival of a new Great Family brought with them.
Yet, the fact that three distinct families were working together to topple the ancient Jaxith Family that had somehow managed to survive this long was still a bit unnatural.
As the difference between tiers grew exponentially as one went up, so did the power bnce between ruling-ss families, as such, the idea of weaker families working together against a more powerful family was absurd.
There was also no possible gain to such an alliance as each family would leave themselves vulnerable to be attacked whenever they decided to finish off the already crippled Jaxith family.
After seeing how some of the Jaxith Family''s Elders were so strongly opposed to any talks of vassge, Rain could easily surmise the rest and only needed Zelda to confirm her conclusions.
Thanks to that, she now knew there were more than a handful of ranked nobles already under the control of the Great Five, meaning even the three attacking families were most likely a result of the Great Five''s interference, an extension of their power.
With the appearance of Citrus in the 5th Princess'' chambers, the Brimstone family''s involvement was already confirmed but even Rain could predict who the other families involved were.
She didn''t believe the Morningstar family was a part of this as they''ve never shown any interest in participating in things like this so the most likely suspects were the Zoraks, the Mereotti family, and the Alcar family, which was also an unlikely suspect giving what Rain understood on how they operated.
Well, the identity of the masterminds was not really a factor in Rain''s ns as the only thing she needed was the identity of all thepromised nobles within the Floato region.
This was one of the reasons why she had epted the invitation of the Korver family this evening. She had hoped to slowly gather the information she needed from the nobles at the party but to her surprise, Zelda had also confirmed another suspicion of hers.
Knowing that Athena was the one that had pushed for an invitation to be sent to those households that had been greatly affected by the war, families like the Heartrails and the Korvers, connected the dots in the puzzle.
Confirming that was a delight for Rain as her connection with Citrus meant she would do her best to make the Jaxith family a vassal of the Darknar family as a trojan horse y for the Brimstone family.
Knowing the recently appointed heir of the Heartrail family was obsessed with Dark elves meant the 5th princess had wlessly manipted the events to her advantage, pushing for the Heartrail family''s heir to encounter Rain and expecting his obsession to get the better of him, causing him to make a move.
Having a ranked noble orchestrate an attack on the diplomatic party from another region was the same as dering war on said region, and would give the visiting family a reason to resort to force, thereby taking the decisionpletely out of the hands of the family''s Elders.
A brilliant n no doubt, one that was not easy to execute yet she had wlessly controlled the oue from thefort of her room, ounting for every variable almost to the absolute.
Rain smiled.
This must''ve been why Z had referred to her as the sshouse princess in his reports. She was most definitely a genius-level intellect even amongst the standards of Demigods but that was all.
She was clearly able to seamlessly manipte everyone around her with a level of intellect that surpasses most Demigods but within the fragile body of an ordinary demon and that was the problem.
This was not the Human continent, despite the fact that demons have be more docile over the years, this was still the Demon continent where strength matters almost as much as knowledge, and with Zelda''s ability to bypass even the senses of Demigods with her stealth, her intellect was meaningless in the end.
After all, everything that had happened up to this point was exactly as she had predicted simply because of how urate Z''s report had been.
Having only spent a few days here with Nessi, he was seemingly able to find out about everything going on in this region. He knew about Athena''s connection with the Great Five, he knew most of the elders were already in leagues with the Great Five and even some of the ranked nobles were rooted in corruption.
A few were being manipted by Athena and some were in league with the two secret organizations operating within the region. This was why Rain had simply just yed her role as an envoy till now, there was no need for her to personally take any actions.
From the looks of it, more than 50 percent of the ranked nobles in this region were corrupt, including the elders, this was a true infestation, one that cannot be eradicated easily and without bacsh.
Not unless one had the informationwork of a vast underground organization like Numbers. The existence of several high-level concealment spells underneath the city had confirmed her suspicions, the only thing she needed to do now was find a way to bypass the spell without destroying and exposing the family''s secret to the world.
Rain turned her head as she stared seriously through the tinted ss window, seemingly in thought. She would have to y alone with Athena''s games for now if she wanted to locate the base of Numbers and free her fellow dark elves before investigating the secrets of the Jaxith family.
It was about time she began to take action as well, for now, she needed to get through the ns of the desperate noble driven by lust.
"Zelda, there''s one more thing I''d like you to investigate for me if you will."
"Understood."
????????
¡ªBack underneath the Heartrail family''s estate.I think you should take a look at
"Hey! Don''t you dare! She''s mine! You Bastard!!!"
Seeing the brute of a lion kin about to touch the emissary''s blossoms sent Armin into a fit of rage as he screamed at the top of his lungs. His eyes were bloodshot as he let loose whatever meager aura he possessed and charged.
He couldn''t allow such a filthy beast toy his hands on his most prized possession to date, yet, even his best was far too weak to stop anyone here as his face nted into the outstretched arms of Number 77 and his body was forced to a halt.
Even Ms. 10 had been so enamored by what she saw, that she hadpletely failed to react to her subordinate''s careless actions.
Perhaps even someone like her had also harbored thoughts of taking the Dark Elf for herself or maybe she was just awestruck.
As for Number 77, he didn''t particrly care either way but couldn''t just stand by and allow amon Numberless to taint their most prized merchandise in front of the client so he decided to interfere as he moved to intercept the stupid beastman when.
*Slice.
*Thud.
Before anyone could even react, much less follow what happened, the hand of the Lion-kin that was about to touch the emissary suddenly dropped to the ground with a dull thud, as it cleanly fell off his arm leaving the one who had just lost an arm more confused than anyone else.
There was no blood. The wound on his arm for not suddenly gush out blood neither did the hand on the ground.
Raising his arm to look at it, it seemed as though it had been cut so thinly and so fast that his blood cells had instantly coagted before any blood could spill.
The idea that his hand was gone slowly registered as his mind almost instantly went nk with pain and rage as he instantly red daggers at the Dark elf on the bed in front of him. For a mere ve to take off his arm, this was utterly unforgivable.
''Huh? Empty?''
Indeed, the bed the emissary had been on only a moment ago was now empty before anyone could understand what had just transpired.
''This¡ª this is bad.''
The first one to understand the implications behind this was obviously her, Number 10, the strongest person here.
A cold thrill ran down Number 10''s spine as she sharpened her gaze yet still found it difficult to follow what happened next the Lion-kin beastman soon fell to his knees, and then, like a lifeless doll, his headless body dropped to the ground without spilling any blood.
"If this had been the me of a few months ago, I wouldn''t have so despised the idea of using my body toplete my mission. After all, that is simply what it meant to be an assassin. However..."
The magicmps in the room flicked rapidly as though they were responding to the drastic change in the air around them as it became increasingly difficult to breathe to the point where Armin was forced to his knees, gasping for air.
"That''s no longer the case. I''m no longer simply just an assassin you see... hehe. Wow, I can''t believe I''ve only just thought about it. I''m really no longer just an assassin anymore. I have to admit that''s a bit strange..."
The stiffening air in the room disappeared almost as fast as it appeared as Armin was finally able to catch his breath before he lost consciousness.
The soft and pleasant voice strangely emanated from behind them, yet, none of them could turn their heads around to look. No, none of them was confident enough to turn their necks else, it fall off.
They were all still staring at the cell where the Lionkin beastman''s body wasying lifelessly on the ground, the cell doors in front of them that no one should have been able toe in and out without their notice yet here they were.
Paralyzed by fear, not even an elite member of Numbers could resist as they all silently listened to her drifting voice suddenly filled with emotions as her presence altered the atmosphere around them between being stiffening and pleasant.
"To think, I even have ast name now, even my first name feels more like a name than it used to. I even have a title, a rank, and even a job. I''m like, totally a normal girl right now ain''t I? Hehe... I think Liz wouldugh if she heard me saying such things. I just never thought such mundane things could make someone so happy you know."
Number 10 was at a loss for words, she had known the emissary from the Darknar region was strong but hadn''t expected it to be to this extent. This was why she had been against this mission from the start yet the Single Digits decided to underestimate her might and now she was being forced to pay for their foolishness.
"This body of mine now belongs to my darling husband, but he has yet to touch me you see. I''m guessing he''s waiting for us to be officially married to take my first time. Aww... what should I do if he decides to take it sooner, I might not be able to control myself, hehehe... So¡ª"
Seemingly in her own world, the voice continuously giggled to herself as her fantasies continuously escted until they suddenly stopped, and so did the flow of air.
"To force me to reveal such an expression to insects like you. How absolutely infuriating! I''ll have to wipe your memories, a quick blow to the head should do the trick."
Chapter 390 C390. Number 10
?
At Rain''sst words, the temperature in the hall dropped drastically as only one thought ran through the heads of the two Numbered elites in the hall.
Escape.
After being part of the underground world for the better part of their lives, they were both keenly aware of their own limits. Being part of an organization where their ranks were based on strength and influence, they had both constantly challenged stronger opponents in the past and knew exactly where they stood against an opponent whose movements, they couldn''t follow with their eyes and did not hesitate to spring into action.
? Cavernous Darkness?
The moment Number 10 sensed the change in the temperature, she quickly activated one of the rings in her hand and an already precast spell was activated instantly.
A dome of absolute ckness shot out from the ck ring on her finger and instantly expandedacross the hall. Within the ck, even creatures with Darkvision are unable to see through this magical darkness.
This 4th Tier spell also throws off the magic essence within it, preventing an urate use of magic sense or any perception skills and spells. This was one of the most efficient covers for an escape and both Number 10 and 77 understood what to do next without any furthermunication between them.
The white ring on Number 10''s fingers glowed but its light was immediately swallowed up by the darkness as it instantly activated another spell.
?Dimension Door?
As the supposed 10th strongest person in the organization, Number 10 was indeed, very confident in her strength even against beings at the Level of Demon Lords. However, as the Leader of the organization''s secret manufacturing division, she needed to be constantly prepared to escape in every given situation.
She couldn''t afford to let herself be defeated or even worse, captured and tortured for the secrets in her head which was why she hadn''t been in support of this mission to begin with and why she had instantly chosen to retreat without even confirming the enemy''s strength.
The moment the spell sealed in the white ring was released, a formless door opened behind her and she immediately dashed towards it and was closely followed by Number 77 who had not even questioned her decision to flee despite this ce being an important location for the organization.
However,
?Gravity Wall?
The moment the skill was used, an invisible wall of pure gravity, fell upon the Dimension door, shattering the spell in an instant, forcing both Number 10 and 77 to stop in their tracks.
"What! How?!"
Number 77 found it difficult to believe what has just happened. He had witnessed Number 10 use thisbination of spells before and there had never been a person capable of stopping their escape.
Most people would just randomly send spells flying but as the Darkness skrews with their perception, their attacks lose all uracy yet in a single move, she has urately shattered their escape spell.
"Greater Magic - Daylight."
Before Number 77 could evenpletely process what had happened earlier, the darkness was immediately dispelled as a sphere of light suddenly spread out from the center of the hall,pletely erasing the absolute darkness.
"Now then, where do you think you''re going?"
Number 10 clicked her tongue in frustration as both of her escape tools were rendered useless in a matter of milliseconds, she didn''t care how they had been located within the darkness as it wasn''t as though they had switched locations the moment the darkness spell was activated so anyone with perfect memory and spatial recognition should be able to remain aware even in the darkness.
What she couldn''t believe was how frightening her reaction speed had been despite theirck of hesitation in her decision to retreat.
''Did she already predicted that? Was this all a trap to begin with? Fuck.''
"Focus fool!"
She knew full well they couldn''t just stand there looking stupid if they wanted to escape and now had to force their way through. Although she would rather not use her Ultimate trump card as it was a gamble on its own, there would be no point in having it if she were to die here.
"Max Magic - Grand Fireball."
"Widened Magic - Ice wall!"
Snapping out of his stupor, 77 immediately followed Number 10''s attack with a massive ice wall to protect them from the massive st of the Fireball and give them a moment to prepare for their next attack to create an opening for another attempt at an escape.
However, before they could even begin to chant their next spells, their attacks were shattered once again before their eyes with an immersed Gravitational force.
"Tsk! Bitch! Try and stop this!"
"Darkness Magic, Overtier Magic - Dark Lance!"
The entire hall pulsated as a wave of absolute darkness gathered in front of her extended hand and slowly formed a massive corporal spear that shot out with the speed of light.
As the spear wasn''t made up of any tangible or physical object, none of them believed the attack could be affected by gravity and they were indeed correct.
Still¡ª
Raising her slender finger at the iing Darknessnce, Rain silently cast a spell of her own and immediately, dark purple lightning danced across her fingertips and shot at thence of Darkness, shattering the over-tiered spell in its entirety as it continued onward to the caster.
Chaos Lightning.
"Fuck! She didn''t even use a chant."
77, being the slowest to react, found himself in front of the iing lightning after being pushed from behind by Ten, he hadn''t even been able to grumble at being used as a shield before his entire existence was reduced to ash.
"Oh... Trash will be trash I guess."
Number clicked her tongue again at the mocking words from the emissary as she pulled out an item from her spatial box during the time Number 77 was being vaporized by the lightning.
This item was the organization''s most valued Divine Grade Magic Artifact.
The Hourss of Chronos.I think you should take a look at
This was the Ultimate trump card she had been entrusted with by the organization. A weapon of absolute power, one that signified her rise through the ranks.
??????
Formerly known by the name Grendel. The now 10th ranked of Numbers had been nothing more than amon orphan thief living in the streets of ckwing City, the capital city of the Zorak family.
She had always felt as though the world had forsaken her. Raised in a run-down orphanage after both her parents had died in a war, she met with misfortune all her life as the orphanage she lived in along with everyone she hade to know died in a mysterious fire that burnt down the building to the ground.
After losing everything she had at such an early age, she was forced to steal to survive and slowly discovered her talent for crime until one day, she was ambushed and beaten to a pulp by a band of bandits who felt her ambitions was too big for a nobody like her.
However, their attempt at snuffing out thepetition had only lit a fire under her, causing her to seek the help of the organization to increase her strength beforeing back and annihting the band of wannabe and iming their territory for the organization which helped increase her rank and in turn, gave her ess to more resources to grow even stronger than she was.
This was when she realized the only thing she could truly rely on in this world was her own strength. After that, she dedicated herself to the organization,pleting mission after mission as she rapidly increased her rank until she had nearly reached the pinnacle of the organization and earned the trust of the Single Digits.
As such, she was also trusted with the secrets of the organization and permitted to carry one of the organization''s only ten artifacts as a trump card. A number that would put most noble family''s to shame as the idea of possessing even one true magic artifact was a dream for most.
So the fact that she had been trusted with one such item, give her a sense of belonging and loyalty to the organization. As such, her determination and will to survive had grown even more.
??????
The moment she brought out the hourss from her storage, Number 10 did not waste any time and immediately turned the hourss upside down to start the countdown.
The moment the first grain of sand touched the bottom of the hourss, everything froze. From the birds and bugs in the air to the tiniest insects on the ground, every single living and non-living organism in this world hade to a halt.
Chronos was known as the living embodiment of time itself, the personification of endlessness and a being that had existed since the very beginning and this artifact was the perfect representation of just that.
Possessing several Temporal abilities, it was one of the most powerful items in the possession of Numbers. One of these abilities was, of course, Time Stop.
This did not simply stop the flow of time within a limited space but rather, itpletely brings time itself to a stop in all of reality for the duration of the hourss.
The Hourss of Chronos also protects its user from any Temporal attack and from being noticed by the God of Time and any being capable of resisting Stopped Time within the universe.
Naturally, there were countless risks to this artifact as it possesses a living attribute that can influence its user to abuse its powers until it destroys time itself.
Seeing what remains of Number 77 hanging in the air in front of her in the middle of being vaporized, Number 10 sighed in relief as she had been afraid of being stopped from activating herst resort.
"I should get out of here immediately."
Even though the hourss timersted an entire hour, Number 10 didn''t want to take any chances as she didn''t know when the emissary would be able to resist the spell even though she didn''t believe that was possible as this was a 9th Tier spell.
A spell at the pinnacle of existence itself. A spell that existed in the same realm as the gods themselves. The possibility that the emissary from a recently created family like the Darknar family could resist such a spell was null.
However, she hadn''t even been able to take a single step when she suddenly felt the arm holding onto the hourss get lighter.
She hesitated for a moment before turning to look at her hand, or at least, where her hand should''ve been.
For some explicit reason, it seemed her hand all the way to her elbow was missing, and just like the Lion King before her, the veins in her arms had also been coagted in the process.
"That''s... Impossible... how can you¡ª..."
Naturally, her eyes located the source of her problems as her eyes caught sight of her hand being discarded as though it was trash, and the emissary that had appeared behind her at some point, now held the hourss as she observed the artifact with great interest.
No matter which way she swirled it, the sands in the hourss continuously flowed in one direction as though it was determined toplete its countdown at any cost.
"Oh... so this was yourst card. I was wondering when you''d use it. How interesting."
With the artifact stolen from her person, the protection it gave against its effects was slowly being stripped away as her body gradually became frozen in time.
"The spell worked, time has stopped. Why... how are you able to still move."
"Hmm me? Curious?"
A cheeky smile was stered on Rain''s face as she returned one of her short swords to her storage and turned to face Number 10.
"I''ll be honest, I have no idea too, but you didn''t think you''d get away from me just because you stopped time did you?"
Unfortunately, Number 10 could no longer speak as her body had beenpletely frozen in ce after the effect of the stoppage of time has caught up to her.
Rain sighed, she hadn''t expected the girl to freeze as well and had only taken the hourss Incase it possess more effects.
She also wasn''t aware of why she had been immune to stopped time but looking at the Gold and Emerald bracelets in her arms, she thought perhaps it was a side effect of having a God Tier artifact on hand.
"Now then, do I have to wait the full hour or? How the hell do I start the flow of time again."
Rain mused to herself as she used appraisal on the artifact before learning how to use the item. She then turned to observe her surroundings.
Given that she had already killed off two of the members of Numbers, she, unfortunately, couldn''t kill the girl for now as she was their only ess to information on the secrets of Numbers and their information on the nobles of this region.
As for the Viscount responsible for bringing her here, he was balled up in a cornerpletely terrified at some point during all this. Rain thought about how she should deal with him for a moment before casting two dyed spells and resuming time.
Chapter 391 C391. Bams Mission
Chapter 391 C391. Bam''s Mission
As thest grain of sand dropped on the pile of sand on the bottom of the Hourss of Chronos. Time resumed its flow once more as countless gazes were immediately aimed in a single direction having traced back the source of the Temporal disturbance.
The world almost seem to stand still once more as the gazes of countless celestial beings and more were aimed in a general direction.
However, the feeling of being watched soon passed as they all failed to peel through theyers of concealment from the Divine ss Artifact, the Hourss of Chronos.The item would automatically move to protect its wielder from drawing the attention of the God of Time alongside any other interested party capable of moving through stopped time.
This was one of the usefulness of artifacts with a living property as they usually did everything to ensure their continued use which could also be considered one of their biggest drawbacks.
"An interesting Artifact indeed. I wonder if Lord Ty would be happy if I brought this to him. I should call him when I''m done here."
The moment time had begun its flow once again, the dyed spells Rain had cast earlier had taken effect, she had used one of the effects of the hourss, Time Capsule to put Number 10 in a Temporal stasis.
She should be locked in a period of time for somewhere between 10-45 minutes. As for the Viscount balled up on the ground, it seems he had already fainted and the ''Hold Person'' spell she used had been pointless.
"Well whatever. he has outgrown his usefulness anyway. Oh right, Zelda, are you done?"
Just as Rain contemted her next move, a shadowy figure came down the hallway before appearing in front of her.
"I''ve searched through the mansions, there are no magic items or artifacts up there. As per your orders, I''ve retrieved anything of value within the estate."
"I see... I suppose it was too much to hope a failing Viscount household has magic artifacts just lying around, well whatever. Just take this thing up with you and destroy the estate. We can''t leave anyone alive if we want to make an example of this."
Rain spoke as she pointed to the balled-up Viscount on the ground. The ground around his waist had been drenched at some point and a strong ammonia odor permeated through the air.
"Understood."
"As for this one, I''ll pry the information I need out of her before freeing the ves here and sending them to Erin myself, hope she''s not too busy because of me. I didn''t expect there to be this many dark elves in one ce. Hmm... that''s strange..."
"What''s wrong!?"
Sensing the concern in Rain''s voice, Zelda''s demeanor immediately switched into battle-ready mode as she expanded her perception in anticipation of an attack.
"Oh, it''s nothing, just... The souls of those two havepletely disappeared."
"Is that bad?"
"Not necessarily. It''s only been a few minutes since they died, their souls should still be lingering around their death ce before passing on but now they''re missing. I had wanted to capture the souls for Lord Ty''s experiment with reincarnation and the metal golems but I guess not. Someone here must be ying with souls, I wonder if a new necromancer is being born, this is getting more and more interesting by the second."
"..."
Zelda tilted her head in confusion as she couldn''t follow Rain''s rapid train of thoughtspletely. Noticing this, Rain chuckled and replied.
"Never mind me, just thinking out loud. This is not of any immediate importance. Let''s just stick to the n for now."
Without saying a word, Zelda nodded and dragged Armin by his legs as she slowly headed back up the stairs. A few minutester would be the sudden disappearance of the Heartrail family''s estate within the capital city of the Jaxith family in a devastating explosion that could be seen and heard far and wide.
This would be the topic of conversation amongst the masses for weeks toe as the citizens of this city wonder if the war had finally reached their doorsteps.
????????
¡ªA few hours earlier.
After receiving the information of the missing emissary from the Royal Guards assigned to monitor her movements, Bam was quickly issued an order from the 5th princess to aid in the search and rescue of the emissary from the Darknar region.
Unfortunately, such nderous news could not be allowed to spread and any slim hope the family had of receiving aid from other ruling-ss families would be squashed and the proud ancient Jaxith family would slowly disappear from the world.
Wearing a darker variation of his armor lined with the more lightweight yet incredibly more durable Tritanium but made from the less reliable tinum, Bam was tasked with leading a separate search unit with ne by his side.
The Royal Guards that had been assigned to protect the emissary im to have lost her in the privately hosted dinner party by one of the Earls'' estates. They im to have searched the entire vicinity of the mansion but failed to pick up any traces of her whereabouts, but given that they had failed to prevent this oue in the first ce, Bam didn''t think their words could be trusted.
Still, this situation was most likely the work of one of their enemies. He was sure it was an attempt to hinder any form of an alliance between the Jaxith family and the Darknar family. However, this may also be the work of the Dark Order.
They were the secret organization responsible for the disappearance of many youngdies of low standing, apparently for ritualistic purposes and the family was still in the midst of investigating that situation. So what if they were now targetingdies of higher standings and mistakenly captured the emissary instead of one of the demonesses'' in that party?
That would be bad, wouldn''t it?
Bam thought but quickly shook his head as he didn''t want to believe such an organization could be that stupid. Otherwise, what would it say of the knights who had not been able to eradicate the crime organization from the city, much less the entire region?
As his thoughts wander freely, they arrived at their destination.
This was the mansion of the Viscount family, the Heartrail family. Shortly after the disappearance of the emissary was discovered, this mansion suddenly disappeared in several shes of bright lights and purple lightning that were unapanied by thunder or a storm, so it could not have been natural.
He hoped.
"Sir Bam, we''ve located the remains of the residents and have confirmed, there are no survivors within the wreckage."
The knight unit captain came up to Bam who currently ranked higher than him and made a report.
Bam''s heart sank as he took in the vastness of the piles and piles of stones and dust. He could only imagine just how powerful a spell must be to cause such devastation in its wake, and how many people had died under such powerful magic.
He had seenrge-scale magic used on the battlefield before and still could not believe magic was capable of such pure destruction.
"There''s no need to get stumped over such minute details. We still have a job to do so get over it."
Those words came from the Demon standing casually beside him, the one known as ne. Bam wanted to say something but couldn''t find the words to refute what he had said and was forced to remain silent.
ne didn''t react to Bam''s hesitation as he simply turned his head to the Knight captain and asked.
"Have you found anything else?"
"Yes sir! We found a secret entrance that seems to lead underground. ording to the submitted design for this estate, there should be no unground chambers in this ce so this could''ve only been constructed after the mansion was alreadypleted and fairly recently."
"Is that right?"
Hearing the knight''s words, Bam and ne followed him to the entrance to the underground stairs that had not been covered by debris. It was as though this stairway was intentionally left this way for them to find.
"What do we do?"
Bam asked ne nervously, a little rattled by the whole situation. He did not want to make a mistake that could cause any problems for his mistress so he had to make sure he wasn''t making any hasty decisions.
"We were given the mission of finding the emissary and investigating the cause of all this. We can''t afford to wait here and risk losing any chances of aplishing our mission by dying here."
Bam could understand what he meant but still felt ufortable about this.
"Besides, the emissary might be in danger. It''s our job to rescue her if possible."
"Right."
Bam nodded in understanding. Despite his previous hesitation, he didn''t want to be the one responsible for someone else losing their lives. If he could help someone by taking a slight risk, he would. As long as that risk did not endanger or trouble his mistress in any way.
After making some preparations, it was decided that only a select few would venture down the stairs and the rest of the knights would remain here and secure the perimeter.
As their selected team was about to enter the stairs, they suddenly heard the sounds of footstepsing from the bottom of the stairway and everyone was immediately on alert.
They all stepped back from the entrance and prepared their weapons. None of them had sensed any feeling of animositying from the person on their way up but none of them would risk their lives on just that.
The sounds slowly got closer and closer until finally, the silhouette of a slender figure walked out of the staircase.
Their eyes naturally widened as the figure of the one they were looking for materialized before their eyes. This was none other than the emissary from the Darknar region.
"Hmm... and you are?"
Given that Radiance City was located at the peak of a mountain, during times like these when the clouds were thick, it was natural for the city to be covered in dense fog which was usually just the clouds in the lower atmosphere.
So naturally, visibility was lowered in times like these so Bam could barely make out the appearance of the emissary but if there was one thing he could be sure of, it was that this was definitely the emissary as her eyes carried the authority of a superior entity.
Not only that, the moment their eyes met, he felt the sudden urge to kneel as though the weight of the world had been ced on his shoulders.
He was beginning to wonder why they had been worried about her in the first ce.
Rain''s eyes alternated between the boy and the young demon beside him. Her gaze carried little interest in them as she wasn''t even looking for an answer to her question.
However, seeing as she was about to walk away, Bam hurriedly responded.
"I am Bam, the 5th princess of the Jaxith Family''s personal knight. We heard something had happened to the emissary and immediately came to investigate."
Rain stopped in her tracks and nced at the two of them once more before responding.
"That girl huh? interesting. Tell your family I will send their maids and knights back to them with a report of what had transpired here today. Have someone take me back to my residence."
Her tone was notmanding yet none of them could utter a word to refute. They could not even ask any questions about what had happened to her and immediately prepared a carriage to take her back to her assigned mansion.
"We should still investigate what lies beneath those stairs."
ne''s words carried more weight to them than they had previously as Bam nodded in agreement. He could understand what his tone was implying and they didn''t even have a choice in the matter.
"I agree."
Chapter 392 C392. Bam & Blane
Chapter 392 C392. Bam & ne
Bam was silent and he did not carry a magicmp as he walked down the quiet and dark stairway. The fact that he could see while moving in the darkness was thanks to a magical effect in his helmet which made it function like a set of night vision goggles.
As he did not possess the DarkVision skill, this was the best way he could attain a simr effect. While he could only see up to 10 meters in front of him,bined with his magic sense, what he could see was not only as bright as day but in a much wider radius than what he could achieve with his eyes alone.
In addition, the enchantment on the armor meant that there were no sounds of metallic rustling when in motion. Unless they had an exceptional hearing or were a skilled thief, not even someone standing beside him would be able to pick up on the sounds of him walking.
That was why he had joined the advance investigations unit with ne who was more of a rogue than a warrior. While scouting and Investigating may not have been his specialty, he was provided with the right equipment for this mission.
After walking down the stairs for a while, their target came into view.
it was arge wooden door engraved with magic runes and gave off a sturdy feel. This door appeared even more sturdy than a heavy metal door made from adamantine and it would be almost impossible for them to break if it wasn''t already slightly opened.
ording to their maps, this ce should not exist and the only thing this door should lead to was the city''s long-forgotten underground tunnel system.
"This really shouldn''t be here," Bam muttered as he readied his weapon. A voice answered from the empty air beside him.
"Agreed, leader. Judging by the feel of this ce, I think this might have some connections with underground organizations. That''s the only way such a thing could be built unnoticed. Allow me to go first."
The person who replied was a former Duranium-ranked Hunter who possessed thief-type skills and was a master at infiltration, even more so than ne. After he was done, ne ¡ª who was also with them ¡ª added:
"Be careful. If you notice anyone hiding their presence from you, retreat immediately."
"Understood."
With that, the presence beside Bam began fading away. While he could not hear anything even while craning his neck to listen, perhaps a thief on par with him might be able to hear soft footsteps drawing away, heading towards the door.
The door moved slightly, opening slightly not evenrge enough for a small rodent to pass through yet did not open any further. Somehow, it seems he had managed to enter the room through such a tight opening.
This left Bam, ne, and Kate.
She was a female lesser demon that had also apanied them. A mage that was also a Duranium-ranked Hunter in the past. While she was a skilled elemental magic caster, she also had some talent in concealment magic which was why she was brought along with them.
They had left the others behind because they did not possess any stealth skills as knights were generally only trained to be warriors and magic swordsmen. Hence why their unit included former Hunters to expand their versatility.
The Jaxith family had begun hiring retired Hunters ever since the 1st prince had gone missing in battle. The second prince seems to value their versatility and strength rather than their bloodline but faced resistance from the elders so he could not officially make them part of the knight core.
However, he was still actively recruiting Hunters into a brand new Legion that would report personally to him. Bam guessed he was trying to solidify his im to the throne by increasing his backing now that his mistress had the support of the people and the Quantinum ranked Hunter party, Evident.
Naturally, both Kate and the thief earlier were part of the newly formed Legion but ording to what he heard, their numbers were stillcking which was why they had assigned two of their best to apany Bam.
He wasn''t well versed in noble politics but he assumed there was another reason why they were sent along other than the issue of versatility.
Bam turned his gaze to the mysterious ne beside him before ncing at the older Kate, they were both perfectly calm at this moment and Bam could only me hisck of experience for his current unease.
Bam grew even more nervous with each passing second, despite his experience on the battlefield, he still felt tension from situations like this.
He did not know how long they had waited when the door suddenly opened with a loud squeaking sound.
Bam immediately tightened the grip of his drawn weapon, when the no longer invisible figure of a second lesser demon appeared from behind the door.
"Rx, it''s just me. I''ve confirmed, there are no living bodies here."
Bam subconsciously let out a sigh of relief before realizing there was an anomaly in the thief''s sentence.
''Living bodies?''
Although he questioned why the Hunter had phrased his words like that, Bam decided it was best not to ask such an unnecessary question as they followed the lead of the thief into the room behind the door.
The ce was dark and the walls were cracked seemingly affected by the destruction of the mansion above.
There was a table at one corner of the room, a few empty crates but nothing else. ne walked over to the desk and went through the documents on the table but none of them appeared to be anything important.
On the other side of the room was a second door. Its design was simr to the one they had juste through but itcked the design of the magic runes, making this one seem more ordinary.
"Shall we?"
Bam asked and ne responded with a simple nod as the two walked in towards the door and opened it. Rows and rows of cells appeared before their eyes and a foul stench of blood, burnt flesh, and more assaulted their noses.
"What is this?"
"Seems like this was where they had brought the emissary to. It seems she had taken care of her kidnappers single-handedly."
"No... no wonder she didn''t care for our help earlier."
"I''m more surprised they were able to kidnap her in the first ce. Did she allow it?"
"Huh? Why would she allow herself to be kidnapped."
"Oh don''t mind me. I was just thinking aloud."
From what they could see from here, there were two dead bodies here. One of them had been burnt to a crisp and they could see the head of another smashed up against a wall.
"Geez... this is brutal. I wouldn''t have expected the emissary to be capable of such violence."
ne turned to look at Bam and then chuckled, he could understand where his thoughts were headed. What a naive kid he was, no wonder the princess has a thing for him.
"There''s another door up ahead, let''s go."
Bam and the Hunters nodded their head simultaneously as they hurriedly walked ahead, each cell they pass seemed to have housed somebody until very recently. It was safe to say this ce was being used for very.
They soon came in front of the third door and attempted to open it. It seemed to have been locked but fortunately, this door did not possess the same magic runes as the first else this would''ve been a problem.
ne simply kicked the door and the thing shattered like dried wood. Revealing the interior of the room to them which was slightly simr to the previous hall full of cells.
However, instead of a cell, to their left were rows and rows andrge crates stacked upon each other and gave off a cold feeling that drastically reduced the temperature of the room and made them feel as though they had just walked into a freezer.
As it was currently still the middle of winter, all of them had on equipment to fight off the cold either utilizing magic or wearing extrayers so they shouldn''t have sensed the changes in the room''s temperature as the other rooms had also been as cold as the outside yet this feeling was different.
ne ignored the dumbstruck three and walked into the hall he walked over to the first open crate he saw and took a look at the content stored within.
What he saw next made his eyes widen in disbelief.
Bam and the other two, noticing this quickly snapped out of their daze and jogged over to where he was standing to take a look at the contents of the crates as well. Their eyes also went wide as soft blue light illuminated their dumbstruck faces.
"Wh-what in the world?"
"Is this what I think it is?"
"Is this... Blue powder? The drug that has been spreading across the continent like wildfire?"
"Don''t tell me, this ce... Are all these crates filled with this?¡ª"
Bam and the two experience Hunters were all at a loss for words as they stared dumbly at the contents of the half-opened create in disbelief. They''ve all heard countless stories of the terrible effects of the extremely addictive drug that waspletely indetectable by magic.
To think a massive supply of such a drug was being stored right underneath their city was insane. However...
"No."
"Huh?"
"Look closely. This is not the final form of the drug you''re talking about. I''m guessing this is merely one of the main ingredients."
Bam and the Hunter quickly observed the contents of the box closer and immediately noticed what ne was talking about. They had received a description of the drug a while back when it had first invaded the underground market and one of the characteristics of the drug was that it was a powder.
However, the current contents of the crate were in the form of shards of crystals that gave off the faint air of undiluted Mana essence.
"Are these, Magic crystals?"
That was a good guess, the abnormal coldness in the air that disregarded the presence of winter could only be the result of one of the effects of a concentrated amount of magic crystals from magic beasts.
"That can''t be. Magic crystals retain their form unless they''re being melted to infuse in forging items. Even then, they lose most of their Mana so I don''t think shattered crystals like these could retain so much Mana if they were broken magic crystals."
Kate suddenly chimed in. As a former Hunter, he knew more about magic crystals from fighting monsters than any of them and had dealt with the consequences of using them in an attempt to forge weapons.
"Indeed. I believe these are Mana shards."
"Mana shards?"
"They are simr to magic crystals but are not formed within monsters, rather they are formed in areas with high magic concentration."
"High magic concentration. If that''s the case then that means..."
"¡ªThis is the main ingredient being used for the production of Blue and it''s being mined somewhere within the Floato region."
"You''re kidding. To think the Jaxith family was housing such a massive treasure within their territory. Is this the reason for the war?"
ne ignored the shocked gazes of the three as he walked over to thest door in the hall and opened it. This door had the same magic runes as the first but unlocks easily from the inside so there was no issue in opening it.
Behind the door was the darkness of an abandoned tunnel. His eyes sharpened as he extended his senses to his limit before turning to address the two Hunters.
"This tunnel might lead to the enemy base, me and Bam will investigate further along with Kate. So Freos, please return to the others and report this ce back to the pce. Have the Knights discreetly confiscate these crates and send them to the Emerald Pce."
Giving as he was the weakest one here despite his superior infiltration prowess, Freos did not object to ne''s directive as he promptly nodded his head and answered.
"Understood."
Chapter 393 C393. Secret Base
Chapter 393 C393. Secret Base
The tunnels underneath the city were originally designed for the Royal family''s use and thus, were kept secret from the rest of the masses. Hence why they had not been maintained for decades now yet ne and Bam did not find its current state to be too bad.
It was clear the tunnels were still in use even now, or at least, the tunnels leading to the underground storage unit they were just in. Meaning, these tunnels were being used for the transportation of that drug''s main ingredient.
After leaving the storage unit housing the Mana shards and walking for a while, ne¡ª who led the group as their vanguard, suddenly stopped as he felt his sense of direction was being skewed.
"Something wrong?"
ne turned to nce at the pair walking behind him and shook his head as he continued walking without saying a single word.
He could now vaguely sense the effects of a powerful concealment spell that was currently active all around them but it seems the two behind him were unable to sense its effects.
In the presence of such powerful ancient magic, telling the others might end up exposing them to danger rather than increasing their awareness. As they were already being affected by the spell, he couldn''t be sure what words they would hear from his mouth.
Still, the fact that they were still following closely behind him meant their sight was not yet being affected so keeping his mouth shut was the best option in this situation.
He could tell that locating the underground cell again would be a problem but that couldn''t stop him from tracking the enemy base.
He was currently using a piece of clothing from one of the dead bodies as a conduit in locating their base and as long as he followed the Mana trail and kept a close eye on the others, they would not get deceived by the concealment spell.
However, they had only walked for about 10 minutes when they came upon a dead end.
"It''s a dead end."
"We can all see that kid."
"Oh right, my bad."
"Spread out and look for anything that might be a clue."
"Right."
ne frowned inwardly, his tracking spell pointed straight ahead so there was no mistake about this on his part but that didn''t change the fact that there was a solid wall in front of them.
After searching around for a bit, they soon located a lever at the right corner of the tunnel and Bam curiously pulled it before ne could stop him.
The wall in front of them moved aside, revealing a dimly lit hallway with flickeringmps on the wall.ne red at Bam who awkwardly scratched the back of his helmet slightly embarrassed.
ne sighed and gave the signal for Kate to wait behind and protect this entrance Incase anyone was able to escape from them. He then turned to Bam and spoke seriously.
"Listen Bam, we should kill everyone from here onwards. I don''t have anything to bind them with, and if they raise the rm we''ll be in trouble. Even if we knock them out, they might wake up. Under the circumstances, it''s just too risky to try and subdue a location we don''t know anything about... is something wrong?"
"Ah, no, it''s nothing."
Bam shook his head to chase away his uneasiness. His heart pounded in his chest, but he tried his best to ignore it.
"Forgive me. I''m alright over here. Ready to go at any time."
"Really? ...Hm, looks like I was underestimating you, forgive me."
"Oh please, you don''t have to apologize for anything. My face does not scream confidence, to begin with."
"I see... You''ve been acting strange ever since this mission started, but you''ve got a determined face on you now. I do understand how you feel, giving as this is not the type of mission you''re used to and we might encounter a powerful enemy. Still, don''t worry. I''m here. There''s also no need to fight to the death, we''re only here to investigate after all."
ne patted Bam on the back and walked into the hall. This was the first time he had ever spoken to Bam so casually since he arrived and Bam could understand why.
He clutched his weapon tightly and followed closely behind.
They''d only walked for a few more minutes when the sound of heavy footsteps came from behind the door to their right of the hallway. Then they heard the sound of locks disengaging ¡ª three, to be precise.
The two immediately paused and readied their weapons.
In the instant the door opened, Bam mmed his entire body weight into the door, rooting the entire thing off its hinges, and before he could even stand up to finish off the guy on the floor, ne was already done dispatching the rest and his de came piercing through the guy''s skull.
Simultaneously, there were sounds of bodies dropping to the ground like lifeless puppets as ne pulled out his one-edged de and swung it in the air to get the blood and brain matter out.
Bam was left speechless as he raised his head to see the entire room now almost empty, over six headless bodies on the ground with their heads rolling next to them.
''What the hell just happened.''
Bam waspletely dumbfounded. He had always known that ne was stronger than him yet he had never expected the difference between them to be so vast it almost seemed limitless.
His mind was pulled back together by a voice that made a simr sound as the one he was making in his mind.
There was one more person left alive within the room, a demihuman in leather armor and carrying a short sword. Bam knew why this one had been left alive and while he felt ashamed to receive such handouts, he could notin as he immediately rushed him and closed the distance in an instant.
"Ah! Who the hell are you?!"
The man stabbed at Bam with his de, but Bam easily deflected it with his sword.
After that, Bam raised his sword high and brought it down on the man from above.
The man tried to block it with his sword, but a mere short sword could not withstand a strike with Bam''s full weight behind it. Bam''s sword snapped the short sword in half and his de sank into the man''s shoulder, carving through hisrynx.
The man cried out in pain as he copsed to the ground. Blood gushed out of his open wound as his opponent twitched and spasmed on the ground as hey dying.
Bam rushed deeper into the room, riding the flow of the battle while remaining alert. No enemies came out of hiding to meet him. He could hear ne running up the stairs to the first floor behind him. This was clearly the underground base of the same organization that was producing the drug so there shouldn''t be any operations going on in the upper floors but there could be enemies all the same.
Still, he had to make sure there were no enemies left alive here before he moved on to the next room.
A minute passed.
Having checked their assigned floors and satisfied themselves that there were no other enemies, Bam and ne met at the entrance.
"I went over the first floor, but I didn''t see any enemies."
"Same here. With the number of people we found here, this doesn''t seem to be the base of the Secret Order as expected. I reckon this might just be a temporary hideout of a new organization."
"You may be right. There seems to be an extension to the top floor that leads to other buildings that might be the cover of this organization. If that''s the case, then there should be a hidden entrance to where they''re running their operation from."
ne spoke as he walked towards one of the walls in the room, his eyes keenly searching for any hidden doors they might''ve missed.
Bam had not learned any thief skills, so he could not detect secret doors just by looking, so he simply had to rely on ne while remaining alert In case of hidden enemies.
After searching the various rooms for a while, a secret door was suddenly triggered and therge painting on the wall moved to the side to reveal a narrow passageway that extended deep into the wall.
"What do you think?"
"Seems like a whole different section of the base. This ce might just be here to fool their enemies and their true base of operations might just be on the other side."
"That''s current. I''ll go first, when I get to the other side, I will signal you to make your way there as well."
"Understood."
ne moved swiftly through the passageway, he didn''t seem to be worried about any traps, perhaps he possessed a skill for sensing traps which was why he had decided to go first.
After what seemed to be more than a minute, Bam received the signal and dashed through the narrow passage. If he were to be ambushed in such a tight space, he didn''t think he would be able to fully defend himself as his fighting style was ill-suited to such cramped spaces.
After getting to the other side, he came to an open room with no pieces of furniture but a bunch ofrge paintings that seemed valuable on the walls. There appeared to be stone ps with rare items on each side of the room.
There was also arge door on the other side of the room where he could sense the presence of a single individual behind that door.
"I''m sure you can sense the presence of someone behind there. You wait here, we don''t want to go rushing into the enemy base. I''ll use stealth and Investigate further in case there is someone too strong for us to handle."
"Right! Understood."
Before Bam could fully not his head, ne''s body slowly became transparent as he sank into his shadow and disappearedpletely.
Bam also did his best to hide his aura and rein in his presence as he observed the room he was left alone in.
Walking to the stone ps at each side, there were items like vases, crowns, and gauntlets but even someone as inexperienced in valuables as him could tell that these were all fakes and even the paintings appears to be copies but that was to be expected.
He didn''t think any self respecting criminal organization would so carelessly disy valuable items like these in such a shabby ce, even if this was a secret base.
Although he had to admit, even if these paintings were fakes, they were the most aesthetically pleasing art piece he had ever seen in his life, and he had spent thest few months living in the Emerald pce.
That was because, these paintings all depicted the most amazing and beautifulndscapes of building and cities he could never imagine in any lifetime. He couldn''t find the words to describe what he was looking at as he couldn''t evenprehend the concept of such impossible structures.
''The cities of imagination. How interesting.''
Bam spent several seconds admiring the art work when he suddenly shook his head and snapped out of his daze. He couldn''t afford to get distracted in such a ce.
He then walked over to the painting and began to study them closely. As the hidden passage that led here had been hidden behind a painting, he wanted to make sure these did not hide any more hidden passages.
He ced his ear to the painting and listened, cing a knock on each of them as ne had done to confirm if it was indeed hollow within.
As he moved around repeating the action over and over again, the sounds of foot steps suddenly rang in his ears. Bam''s heart skipped a beat as he jolted into a fighting stance and traced where that sound wasing from.
To his surprise, it wasing from the passage from which they had originally entered.
Secondster, a man slowly emerged from the passageway just as Bam was stunned with shock.
Cold sweat poured down Bam''s back as the man''s aura flooded the room.His metallic armor seems to develop a mind of their own as they tightly gripped onto his body for dear life.
"Ahhh.... you must be one of the intruders. Are you also one of the ones that destroyed that foolish Viscount''s mansion? If so, what happened to Number 10? Was she captured or killed? Do tell you''re dying to know."
Chapter 394 C394. Number 16.
Chapter 394 C394. Number 16.
Plod. Plod. Plod...
Grim footsteps echoed through the chambers as Bam subconsciously took a step back, the grip on his sword loosened for a moment as an uncontroble terror gripped his heart.
The source of such menacing footsteps soon walked out of the tunnel, dragging something behind his back.
The figure was a demon with blood-red pupils with a vertical slit. His body was contorted weirdly and his arms appearing longer than they should and his back hunched slightly due to hiszy posture.
With a slightly red skin tone and a sickly build, he gave the feel of a nocturnal creature from the deepest parts of the sea rather than a lesser demon.However, the twin curved horns protruding from his head and the thinly red tail scrapping the ground. as he walked confirmed his race.
d in tattered leather armor with huge bags under his eyes, his skin practically clinging to his bones with barely any flesh on them, he almost seemed as though he was one of the walking dead.
Despite his tired expression and weak-looking frame. His cold gaze and dominating aura made Bam''s skin crawl. Even for someone that had been thrown into countless frontlines of active battlefields, he had never experienced true terror like this.
What truly drove the nail in the coffin was when his eyes finally perceived what this demon had just dragged into the room as though it was nothing more than a bag of flesh to him.
His long and bony hand gripped the hair of a slender figure d in leather armor as he casually walked into the chambers.
It was Kate, the former Hunter they had stationed at the entrance of this base to keep her safe, yet this had happened. Her face appeared to have been bashed in and she was bruised and battered everywhere else.It didn''t seem to have been a fair fight on any level.
While the sight of this man dragging her unconscious body around as though she was nothing more than a doll made Bam''s blood boil, his veins ran cold as the man''s gazended on him. He knew he couldn''t afford to lose control here.
After all, if this man was capable of doing that to a former Duranium-ranked Hunter, that meant Bam stood no chance in this fight. There was also no possible way for him to safely retreat. His only hope now was to stay alive until nees back.
Bam''s heartbeat grew louder as the man''s gaze fixated on him. He felt as though it was almost in his throat as he couldn''t bring himself to breathe.
Just then...
The man made a cut on his thighs and then proceeded to ease a de out of the blood that floated out of his wound as he looked at Bam, he then narrowed his eyes and said:
"Sigh... Such a bother. Why does everyone have to stress me out? Why did Nine have to assign such troublesome duties to me? Answer me, boy, where''s number 10?"
As he spoke, his left hand moved and tossed aside the body he was dragging as he took a step towards Bam who reflectively took a step backward.
"N-Number what?"
For a moment, Bam had no idea what this man was talking about before quickly remembering the words of his mistress concerning the secret organizations in the Demon continent.
He remembered hearing her speak with the Quantium ranked Hunter party, Evident on the issue a while back. Apparently, the organization most prominent in the Floato region was called the Dark Order but another organization has begun to operate only within Radiance City''s borders recently.
If he remembers correctly, they were called Numbers and referred to their elite members by numeric figures. So who was this number 10 he was asking about? Bam had no clue.
"ying dumb huh? Whatever then, I''ll just have to force the information out of you, thest one didn''t know anything either though. What a bother."
Bam swallowed a mouthful of saliva and tightens the grip on his weapon. He knew he had no chance of winning this encounter so he couldn''t afford to lower his guard no matter how terrified he was.
He willed himself to stand his ground as his trembling hands became still once more and he finally took a step forward. His body was sending all kinds of warning rms his way but Bam forced his mind to ignore them.
If he allowed himself to falter now, what would he do if his mistress'' life was ever in danger? His eyes suddenly burnt with a renewed vigor as he prepared himself.
He pushed his senses to their limit as he observed even the slight motion from the enemy.
However¡ª
"What are you looking at?"
That voice came from somewhere it shouldn''t as Bam could not even fathom what had happened. The hair on his back stood as he hurriedly tried to defend himself from the enemy that had suddenly appeared behind him.
Pain suddenly blossomed on his defenseless back and he was very nearly tossed away.
"Gwaaargh!"
Bam stumbled forward several steps and collided against the wall next to the unconscious body of Kate. He had no time to think about what had happened ¡ª his enemy was already in front of him and a sharp pain arose from his right thigh.
The hardened blood in the shape of a rapier had pierced through his thigh without resistance as Bam intuitively attempted to counter with azy sword sh but hit nothing but air.
Bam didn''t hesitate as he fought through the pain and stood back up. Entering a defensive stance once more. He knew staying down would not do him any good so he couldn''t afford to wallow in despair.
"Worthless."
Seeing Bam struggle to maintain his stance, the man sighed as his feet kicked off the ground and he appeared beside Bam and thrust his de.
?Dragon''s Heart?
?Steel Wall?
Refusing to go down so easily, Bam activated two skills simultaneously, something he had never done before. He couldn''t afford to allow fear to get in his way right now and needed to increase his durability if he wanted to tank the attacks from such a strong opponent.
Although he still could not follow the attack speed of his opponent, he barely felt the pain from thatst strike as his body slid through the room to the other side from the impact alone.
His innate ability was called ¡ãGuardian¡ã and once activated, it increases his durability considerably as well as improves all his defensive skills, allowing him to even transfer damages between himself and any willing participants.
Meaning, if he were fighting in a group, he could distribute the damage they received evenly, lowering the risk of dying considerably which was how he survived the various battlefields he had been constantly thrust into.
"It seems you''ve deluded yourself into thinking you can keep taking my attacks if you simply boost your defenses, that''s funny."
like a snake eyeing its target before it struck.
"Secret Technique - Crescent Moon Cutter "
The look in the man''s eyes after seeing Bam''s decision grew considerably sharper as his hardened blood sword drew in more blood from his thighs and grewrger, his aura also turned sharper like a snake eyeing its target before it struck.
"Secret Technique - Crescent Moon Cutter "
Again, Bam lost sight of his opponent as he felt the aura of death emitting from behind him. However, his Dragon''s Heart skill eliminated any trace of fear from within him and his Steel Wall''s skill was still active so Bam remained calm as he tightened the grip on his sword and prepared to counter.
However,
The man''s de swung at an rming speed that was too much for his eyes to keep up with as three blood-red shes in the shape of a crescent moon aimed at his vitals as they split the entire chambers in three.
A chill rose from his guts and his throat suddenly grew hot. Bam reflexively raised his left hand to grab the heated portion in his body.
Pain shot through the hand holding his throat and fresh blood spewed forth, bringing with it a disgusting sensation of wet clothing. Had he not sensed his enemy''s murderous intent, or if he had not had any skills active with the boost from his innate ability, his throat would have been cut through. Though d to still be alive, he grits his teeth and bit backwith as much strength as he could muster.
Yet, his sword was met with no resistance yet again, but Bam did not give up as he immediately swung his de at the empty air behind him.
*ng!
As expected, his sword had met the de of his enemy for the first time since this battle began. Even though he could not keep up with the man''s pure speed, after receiving so many of his attacks one thing was clear to him.
This guy was not skilled with a sword.
Although he was surely stronger than him, Bam hadn''t seen him use any fencing moves except the secret technique earlier. Perhaps he was rightly underestimating him due to the disparity in their strength, but if he was going to fight using such simplistic movements and basic attack patterns, as a veteran swordsman, Bam could easily predict his moves no matter how fast he was.
And so...
*ng! ng!...
The sounds of metal striking metal resounded in the small room countless times as Bam urately predicted where his enemy would strike from,pletely ignoring his pain and the vast amounts of blood he was losing.
The reason he was able to do this was because he was keenly aware of his vital points whenever he attacked and his enemy couldn''t help to go for them.
He has expected him to attack everywhere but his vitals in an attempt to torture information out of him but that had been a mistake. He wasn''t sure why this demon didn''t n on keeping him alive but hisck of faints and techniques made his swordy easy for Bam to understand and react ahead of time.
However, he was currently losing blood and his strikes were getting weaker and weaker as he continued the intense battle with a superior opponent.
How can he allow himself to die in a ce like this? How can he allow himself to die when his mistress was expecting him back?
Bullshit!
Bam roared...
Bang!
His next strike carried all his might and lifted the feet of his enemy as he was thrown back having not expected the sudden increase in strength.
However, thatst strike had taken all he had and Bam was struggling to maintain his consciousness as he fell to his knees.
"Impressive. How unexpected."
Despite thatst-ditch effort to take his enemy by surprise, he had stood back up without even taking any damage.
"I was going to keep you alive and torture the information out of you after taking a leg or two but I changed my mind. You can die along with that trash."
? Blood Lance ?
His sword slowly softened as it expanded rapidly in the air, forming a massive floatingnce in mid-air as it slowly spiraled around stirring the air around it as it oozed an oppressive aura.
Sensing his impending doom, Bam attempted to stand back up but fell back on his knees as his eyes felt lighter by the second as his body grew colder. He could barely maintain his grip on his consciousness as he couldn''t help but dread his fate for failing to fulfill his duty to his mistress.
However, just as the lesser demon was about to aim his attack, a shadow suddenly appeared in the air behind him, and in the blink of an eye, he felt his head being severed from the rest of his body before he could even formte a second thought.
"Be quiet and die."
? Assassinate ?
Chapter 395 C395. The Operation
?
After sensing Bam''s aura spike rapidly several times alongside the ominous aura that had suddenly appeared close to him, ne contemted his next move carefully and decided it was best to rush back here.
He couldn''t allow the favorite bodyguard of the 5th Princess of the Jaxith family to die in such a ce.
His enemy must''ve been one of the elite members of this secret organization to be able to outss someone like Bam, who was an experienced warrior so ne decided to take various precautions.
He activated several skills including, Shadow Stealth, Shadow Movements, Hide Intent, and Conceal Aura. All the skills were predicated on the main purpose of an assassination. He held no interest in a fair fight nor a frontal assault.
"Be quiet and Die."
His movements had been swift and decisive, appearing behind the blood magic user without being noticed, even his words had failed to reach his enemy in time as he instantly deactivated all his other active skills and poured all his Mana into the next one.
?Assassinate?
A dark aura coated the de of his sword as it cut cleanly through the air at the speed of light, cutting through anything and everything in its path before they could even recognize the state of being cut.
The bloodnce wobbled in the air a few times before losing its form and sttering on the ground as the Demon elite hesitantly touched his neck to prevent his head from falling off. His blood moving unnaturally as he attempted to heal himself by controlling every single blood cells in his body.
"You¡ªyou''re? Why is someone like you here¡ª ack!"
Before he could even finish his sentence, ne had appeared in front of him and his de had pierced through his open mouth as the man''s eyes went wide in shock.
"I said be quiet. Don''t think any of those would''ve saved you."
ne calmly pulled out his de from his mouth as his eyes widened as he struggled to retain the blood in his body but ultimately failed and his body dropped lifelessly to the ground.
ne then walked over to Bam who was slowly losing consciousness and pulled out a rolled up parchment from his sleeve.
"Light Heal."
The scroll burst into mes as Bam''s body glowed slightly, his wounds began to heal albeit slowly and he soon regained consciousness.
"You okay."
"Yeah, I''m fine. Thank you for helping me out."
"No problem."
"What about her?"
ne turned his gaze to match Bam''s as he saw the beaten and battered bodies of the guard they had left outside this base and shook his head.
"That was my only healing scroll. Besides, she would need a stronger healing spell to survive such injuries."
"But we can''t just leave her to die."
"Sigh... Fine. Here, the Hunter guild should be closer than the castle. Why don''t you take her there and hire a healer to save her? I''ll handle the rest down here."
ne handed Bam a few gold coins totaling up to 1000 DCs for his climb back up to the surface. Neither of them knew just how much the Hunter guild charged for its services so this should be more than enough for using a few healing spells or tools.
"Alright. Will you be okay down here by yourself?"
"I''ll be fine. Besides, I''m more suited to stealth than you so I don''t have to fight any battle I can''t win."
Bam''s gaze shifted to the lifeless body of the opponent that gave him such a hard time and felt as though he had wasted his breath.
"Right. Stay safe."
Understanding his reasoning and the underlying implications that his presence here would only serve as a further hindrance to ne, Bam nodded his head as he went and picked up the unconscious Kate and immediately ran out the way they came.
The moment Bam figure hadpletely disappeared from view, a shriekingugh entered nes ears from a corner of the ruined chambers.
"Kekeke... I thought he''d never leave."
ne sighed deeply as he turned to the direction that voice hade from, next to the body of the Demon he had just killed was a man, dressed simrly to him and shrouded in darkness.
"Why are you here? I just submitted my report yesterday."
"Kekeke... There''s no need to be so hostile. Still, the ns have changed. You have new orders."
????????
Bam finally returned to the Emerald Pce at the crack of dawn as the lights began to spread across the capital city of the Floato region.
His wounds werepletely healed by a healer in the Hunter guild but he was still dog-tired. For some reason he had expected the healing spells topletely wash away his fatigue but unfortunately that was not the case.
The fighting had taken quite some time, and so had coordinating matters after the fact. In the end, things had worked out not because they had rescued the emissary but because she had been capable of handling the issue herself.
This was not the best possible oue considering the Jaxith family would be forced to take the me for this incident and the elders'' opinion on the Royal knights core must''ve taken a hit.
There was also the issue with the secret organization behind all this. Considering their base had been raided by the knights and their vast inventory of Mana shards confiscated, there was bound to be retaliation from the organization in question.
Given that they had just inadvertently stumbled on a massive operation being carried out by the said organization under the noses of the family, this was bound to be a big deal amongst the nobles.
As such, he was forced to sign his name and that of his mistress on the report he had sent to the Elders.
Of course, there were drawbacks to doing so but there were a few merits to that.
The first was that Athena''s reputation would be boosted as the one who discovered the presence of another secret organization working within the walls of the capital city for a while now. In addition, her subordinate had led the charge against that crime syndicate.
Secondly, as his unit was the one to escort the emissary safely to her temporary residence, they would be credited as the ones to prevent an international incident from urring.
As for ne, Bam wasn''t sure where he was currently. He had gone ahead to investigate the base but was yet to return. Perhaps he had discovered something even more crucial to taking down that organization.
Bam thought about those things as he knocked on Athena''s door.
Although his mistress had told him several times that he didn''t need to knock and could simply just walk in at any moment, he didn''t think that was appropriate, especially at an hour like this.
As he waited for a response, Bam thought about the fight he had with the blood magic user earlier. If ne hadn''t appeared when he did, he didn''t think there was anything he could''ve done against such a foe.
After surviving the brutal battlefield of various wars since he was a child, Bam had thought of himself as strong. He wasn''tcent to believe he was the strongest but at the very least, he had thought he was strong enough to protect his mistress with his innate ability, no matter the opponent.
However, things changed when he met ne. With the few sparring sessions he had with him he was painfully made aware of how truly weak he was and thest fight was evidence of that.
Bam felt his heart grow heavy as he thought about all the things he would be troubling his mistress with due to his ipetence.
He could not help but think about how much better it would be if he were stronger. It was all thanks to her that he could lead a life like this and serve such a great mistress, yet he could not do more for her.
...Strange. There didn''t seem to be an answer... There wasn''t one, right?
He had not heard her permitting him to enter. Did he?
Bam knocked again.
This time, he heard a quiet voice granting him entry from inside the room. That put his heart at ease and he entered.
"Please forgive my tardiness, mydy."
He bowed his head low, in apology.
"This is the first time you''ve been gone the entire night. I was worried you know?"
Bam could hear distinct anger in Athena''s voice, which surprised him. His mistress wasn''t the type to get angry over anything and this was a first. To think someone like her would be worried about a mere soldier like him made his eyes water.
"You know, because I was so worried about you allst night I couldn''t sleep very well, do you n on taking responsibility for that?"
Bam had no idea how a meremoner like him could ever take responsibility for causing such difort to a princess like his mistress so all he could do was sincerely apologize.
"I''m truly sorry for causing you such unrest mydy."
"Apologizing isn''t the issue¡ª well never mind, how did your mission go?"
Bam was going to deliver his report from a standing position, but Athena insisted that he sit down.
Thus, Bam took a seat. There was a teacup in front of him, and Athena poured him a piping hot cup of tea from the magically heating tea kettle before walking behind his seat and leaning forward to hug him from behind.
Bam''s face immediately went bright red as he tried to stand back up but was pulled down tightly by Athena''s locked arms. Not wanting to hurt her, he hesitantly epted his fate as he tried distracting himself by taking a sip from his cup.
"Come on now, tell me everything that happened."
Bam then narrated the entire situation to Athena, because he felt there would be people that would need her help.
"What did you think of the emissary?"
Bam was briefly baffled by the first question Athena had asked after hearing the proceedings. However, she had asked, so he had to answer.
"I''m not sure. She felt like someone beyond myprehension."
"Is that so... I guess even my Bam can''t help but be entranced by her beauty huh?"
"I was? What! No! That''s impossible."
Bam immediately shot up as he rejected Athena''s words with a serious expression before suddenly bing rather embarrassed for raising his voice in front of his mistress and immediately lowering his head.
"Is that so? You''re really adorable you know, Bam. fufufu..."
"Urr... I''m not really..."
Athena chuckled gently before walking to take her seat.
"...Let''s leave that aside for now; I have something to tell you. After I received your report, I spoke to my elder brother and it''s decided that due to the war, the two criminal organizations have be too active within the capital to the point of daring to kidnap an emissary under our protection. Even the Dark Order has been kidnapping orphan children from the streets recently."
"The Dark Order? I had no idea they''d be active again. My sincerest apology, I let myself getcent and failed to notice such crucial information."
"No, please pay it no heed. While I feel for the missing kids considering the goals of the Dark Order, this situation has given us the authority tounch an all out attack on all the bases of both organizations. I''ve had Aurora and her team investigate their hidden bases within the city for a while now, she hase up with a list. Now that we know they''re using the tunnels for transportation and transit, we will be able to hit all their bases efficiently before the Elders can protest."
Athena finally let go of Bam as she walked curtly back to her seat before smiling.
"Since you''ve sessfully uncovered a base of the enemy. They would be in recovery mode for a while before they can recover from such losses. We''ll hit them again before they can get the word out of the Royal Capital!"
"Understood! I will go rest now, and gather my strength for tomorrow''s operations!"
"Please do. I think tomorrow will be quite an exciting day. Please keep that in mind."
Chapter 396 C396. Lord Of The Dead
¡ªA few hours earlier.
¡ªUnderneath the Heartrail family''s mansion.
A ck portal whose existence distorted the space around itself, slowly closed behind a figure as she walked back into the underground hallway.
After sending all 35 Dark Elves ves through the Gate to a section of the undergroundbyrinth, the only other living being left with Rain was Number 10, who was currently still stuck in a temporal stasis caused by the magic artifact, the Hourss of Chronos.
Rain silently stared at the frozen member of the organization she was quite interested in as she thought about the various ways to get the information she needed out of heras quickly as possible, but surprisingly came up short.
Normally she would be able to fairly easily force the information out of her target but as Number 10 was a high-ranking Numbered elite from such an important organization, she naturally would have several mental protective spells cast on her.
Such a thing would not have been an issue if it were only spells to fortify her mental resistance or protect her mind.
However, Rain had confirmed she had the worst one of all. If she was ever magicallypelled to divulge any of the organization''s secrets, her mind was programmed to copse, sending her into a berserk state and attacking anyone around her. Hence, Rain needed to be rather creative this time.
Taking out the Hourss of Chronos from her storage, she undid the Time capsule skill and just as Number 10 was regaining her sense of time once more, Rain activated Spatial teleportation, returning to the undergroundbyrinth alongside 10 whose vision suddenly shifted as she appeared in apletely different ce than she was only a moment ago.
Any thoughts of resistance were immediately suppressed by the overwhelming sense of dread and despair that had suddenly surrounded her.
Even for a warrior of her caliber, she found it difficult to even breathe much less stand up or even escape. It seems all her trump cards and escape tools had been utterly demolished and only fear lingered in her eyes as she raised her head and observe her new surroundings.
They were currently still underground but were now located in what seemed to be a cavern with the purest ofkes she had ever seen at the center of the cave. The waters emitted a faint blue glow that continuously purified the air around it and gave a tranquil feeling.
Theke seems to be protected by a magical barrier she can hardly see but felt as though it would be impossible to destroy, its surroundings was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen.
The light from theke softly illuminated its surroundings as thend around the waters appeared rich with green life about a meter around theke. Incredibly rare and magically rich flowers bloomed around theke, causing the entire atmosphere to became rich in magic essence which was almost suffocating.
The entire ground of the rest of the cave was surprisingly constructed with marble, making her doubt her earlier conclusions on whether this was indeed an underground cavern.
As her eyes slowly took in more information, around her, she saw massively built armored warriors, each exuding an aura rivaling if not surpassing hers with ayer of death aura oozing out of the slits of their armor as they were strategically ced around the cave.
"Pardon the intrusion, Emrys. I require your assistance on a slight issue with this one."
Hearing those wordse from a familiar figure beside her, Number hesitantly traced her line of sight as her already fragile heart shattered in absolute despair.
Before her was the very definition of death itself. The embodiment of the grim reaper, the king of the underworld.
Seated atop a stone throne as back as the void of a ck hole that was ced atop slightly elevated tform at the end of the cave, was a skeleton, an ArchLich. Its bones as ck as its throne as a malicious blue me devoid of life, danced inside the empty eye sockets of its skull.
A chill immediately ran across her spine as she practically lost control of all her bodily functions as her mind went nk,pletely devoid of any thoughts or emotions.
"Very well."
Emrys''s voice rang out in the undergroundbyrinth, his ghastly voice that seem to originate from the underworld werepletely devoid of emotions as his gaze swept across the insignificant insect before him. An illusionary book appeared before him and immediately began to flip through its pages on its own before stopping at the right skill.
? Malevolent Intent ?
A skill once belonging to a devil, being a more dangerous variation of the skill, Domination without any mind-altering effects as it was even more simr to simple aura intimidation.
However, in this case, the skill forces its target will to zero without damaging their spirit or soul whichpletely ignored any mental resistance, setting the stages of Emrys'' next action.
Using Spirit summoning, Emrys summon a Mind Eater. They were powerful Tier 5 spirits with the ability to magically consume their target''s mind and memories from a distance of up to 12 feet.
Normally they would immediately digest the memories, turning them into energy but as a summoned creature, they could be forced to relinquish the memories, infusing them into another creature or item.
Without hesitation, the unsightly Mind Eater obeyed its summoner''s order and attacked the stunned girl before it,pletely consuming the essence of her mind in minutes.
After devouring all of 10''s memories, leaving her an empty shell to be used in the creation of the undead in the future, all her memories were then transferred into the transmission crystal already prepared by Rain.
With that, Rain''s business with Emrys had ended and she left the rest to Emrys to deal with as she teleported back to her previous location with the new memory crystal in hand.
Thanks to the usefulness of the hourss of Chronos, it had only taken her a few minutes to locate the information she was searching for through decades of memories.
There were only two things Rain was interested in learning from her memories.
The first was the location of her organization''s base within the city as they could not operate their ve and snuggling operations from the warehouse underneath the Heartrail mansion.
The second was finding any incriminating documents on the organization''s dealings with the various noble household and information pertaining to possible corrupted nobles families within the Floato region.
The third and final thing she needed to know was the location of the highest-ranked elites of the Numbers organization, the Single Digits. Along with any vital information on the organization that may be of use to them.
First things first, she needed to handle the aftermath of this situation with the knights sniffing around above ground.
????????
"Hmm... The shop being used as a front for Numbers'' base of operation in Radiance City should be just behind this door. ording to her memory, there ought to be another entrance through the building over there too."
Rain currently stood at the entrance to a lower-ss flower shop in the middle district of Radiance City. This unappealing building saw little to no traffic during the day and held little to no flowers in stock yet managed to stay in business for so long now.
Her gaze then shifted towards an old abandoned building several houses away.
After waiting for the Royal Guards to locate her using the sudden destruction of the Heartrail family''s mansion, she used the event as an excuse to dismiss the maids and knights assigned to monitor her in the name of protection.
With that, whatever magic tools they were using to keep an eye on her could be fooled by a simple clone as they would no longer have ess to the interiors of her current residence.
Hence, Rain switched her outfit into something morefortable and escaped into the city retracing Number 10''s movements as she located their base in the city.
Using a flower shop as a cover was a surprise to Rain but she assumed it made it easier to exin away the high foot traffic going in and out of such a deste shop as flowers were quite high-maintenance items that didn''t necessarily need to be sold to draw in admirers.
Or perhaps there was another reason for the choice. Rain thought but did not dwell on the matter as her attention had shifted slightly.
"The second entrance can also serve as an escape route, and her memories showed it should be manned by at least two people posing asmon thugs. I''ll handle the main entrance, why don''t you head for the other one and stop anyone from escaping."
The Shadow underneath her feet suddenly moved with insane speed as it merged into the night and disappeared in a certain direction.
"Now then, let''s begin."
Indeed, her decision was correct. The second entrance can also serve as an escape route, and her memories showed how the entireir was set up in a way that prioritize escape rather than defeat.
Rain turned to face the heavy metal door before her. If anyone had investigated even a little, they would find it strange for the doors of a simple flower shop to be made with such heavy metal and the windows that were even more heavily reinforced with magic, making them even more secure than the massive door.
Rain didn''t dwell on their stupidity any longer as she returned her attention to the door. She remembered how Number 10''s memories showed this door could only be opened from within as she touched the door''s surface.
The door was made of refined steel sheathed in rare metal tes, probably adamantine or Duranium, making it both thick and heavy. It was immediately apparent that an ordinary demon would have a lot of trouble breaking this door down without magic tools.
However, Rain grabbed the metal handle of the door and pulled it. She knew from the memories of 10 that the door opened towards the inside and should be locked unless a special knock was made.
Yet to her surprise, the thick-looking door was rather fragile as it casually came off its hinges without much effort, even though it hadpletely destabilized the structural integrity of the building.
"I guess I should''ve attempted to pick the locks first. I''m getting less stealthier by the minute. Well, who cares anyway."
Rain spoke to herself as she casually waltzed through the flower shop and approached the metal door at the end of the room. This time, she opted for a light kick instead.
*Boom!
What... the hell...?"
Inside the second room was a passage with a staircase leading upstairs to the right, and a pair of heavy adamantine double doors at the end of the passage. In front of the door stood arge bearded ogre with a Great Sword strapped to his back. His mouth was open and he had a retarded look on his face.
"Hmm? Oh right, sorry, the doors here were more fragile than I expected. I only wanted to see if they were locked and they just came off... hehe."
Rain tilted her head and stuck her tongue out as she casually turned her back on the ogre and roughly put the already deformed door back in ce using gravity maniption as though it would magically go back to normal if she just shoved it in.
While the ogre was still frozen in shock, Rain casually stepped inside, no longer bothering to conceal her intent.
"¡ªOi, what the hell was that?"
"Hey, bozo! what''s going on out there?!"
Several voices came from behind the Adamantine doors behind the ogre.
However, the ogre facing Rain did not bother about them. Instead, he addressed Rain,pletely stumped on what to do:
"...Er... W-wee?"
Chapter 397 C397. Rains Investigations
?
The ogre didn''t understand what was happening much less did his mind process what would be his next move. None of his prior experience had prepared him for such an encounter. He was well aware of how sturdy the door she had just so casually kicked off its hinges was, so how was he supposed to react to something like that?
Although the first door had not been protected by magic, the second one was. He was sure even a Numbered elite would not be able to break down that door so easily, so what was he supposed to do?
The ogre smiled at Rain in a sycophantic manner, ignoring the shouted queries of his colleagues from behind him. His survival instinct told him that the best choice here was to not offend this person before him right now.
He had seen several dark elves being smuggled in here and knew just how dangerous they could be if not for the ve contract restricting them.
So seeing one of such beings, not being led in with shackles told him all he needed to know and he did not want any part of it.
Unfortunately, it was already toote.
Rain smiled back at him. That smile was gentle andpassionate. Yet, there was no trace of goodwill in her eyes. It was more like a deadly, entrancing gleam of light ying along the de of a dagger.
The soles of her shoes tapped gently across the floor as she approached the stunned heavily armored gray ogre with a smile, his leg firmly rooted on the ground as he found it difficult to take a single step.
"You should brace yourself, else you might just die."
Before he could even react, Rain''s delicate fingers touched the ogre''s armored chest te and her palm swiftly moved forward.
*m! *Whoosh... BOOM!
Therge muscr ogre d in heavy armor hadpletely failed to put up any resistance as his massive body was shot through the air like some kind of ragdoll, flying through therge adamantine doors at speeds invisible to the naked eye. His body savagely impacted the wall on the other side with a wet sttering sound.
The entire building shook violently, as though it was being struck by a high-magnitude earthquake as cracks rapidly spread across the wall in web-like patterns.
"...That''s unsightly, I really should listen to Lord Ty''s advice and start fighting like an assassin should. Leaving such a mess is not like me."
No longer wanting to see such a gruesome sight, Rain decided to move on as she walked through the opened door and stepped into the next room.
Not including the mess she had just made, this was an exquisitely-furnished viewing room. It felt more like she was walking through an empty house than invading the base of a criminal organization.
As expected, there were several male figures within. Around four of them if she had bothered to count.
One of them appeared to be some kind of beastman, a variation she wasn''t aware of, and another, a lesser demon with curved horns and a tail, the others appeared to be a simr type of ogre to thest one she had just spoken to.
Their eyes were goggled open and their jaws dropped as they were still staring at the enormous blood stter that had painted the entire wall red.
None of them had even expected the base of a dangerous organization like Numbers to be attacked, much less by a single dark elf.
Thebination of alcohol, fresh blood, viscera, and internal waste, made the odor in the air rather revolting and Rain was forced to pinch her nose.
Her mood appeared to have been soured as she quickly went over the information she had obtained from Number 10 memories, then began to figure out the building''s structure.
She knew the true base of the organization was located underground for obvious reasons, and everything here was merely for show. Even the stairs she had seen earlier were meant as a diversion and the true entrance to the base was hidden somewhere in this room.
Rain took a look around. It seems the trapdoor leading underground was concealed pretty well but she already knew where it was. Even without the memories of Number 10, she could''ve easily seen through such levels of concealment.
"Excuse me. I''d like to go through that door under your feet, would you mind moving a bit to the left..."
"Aiiiiieee!"
The beastman she addressed immediately responded with a hoarse scream. It would seem that he had no intention of putting up a fight.
That relieved Rain, since she did not want topletely destroy the organization. After all, they were an already established informationwork Z could use to quickly extend their reach faster than his original n.
Since he had no intention of resisting, paralyzing them with a spell should be fine.
The terrified beastman backed away from the spot Rain had pointed to, trembling against the wall as he did. Rain looked indifferently at the beast-man''s shameful disy and smiled thinly with her mouth alone.
"Aiiiiiiieeeee!"
Apparently, that seemed to have frightened him more as the stench of ammonia filled the air.
Rain sighed.
She understood that the people stationed up here were not originally part of the organization as they were simply hired thugs picked from the slums so perhaps exerting so much pressure on them wasn''t a good idea.
She decided to restrain her presence a little and the legs of the other three lesser demons and ogres in the room suddenly started shaking as they instantly lost control and fell to the floor, panting heavily.
"Perhaps it would be better if I just killed everyone here."
The air froze¡ª
The men''s foreheads broke out in oily sweat, and their backs shuddered.
Rain suddenly remembered the state of the dark elves she had rescued earlier and frowned. Even if these men weren''t officially part of the organization, chances are, they partake in the activities that rendered those girls in that condition.
Seeing the smile on Rain''s face change to a frown, the men realized what would happen to them next. Their faces turned gray and they trembled uncontrobly. Still, one of them clung to a faint hope and cried:
"Please, please don''t, don''t kill me!"
"No."
Rain''s prompt answer froze the room solid. The beastman''s eyes went wide, in the way humans did when they were trying to reject a reality they did not want to believe.
"But you just said otherwise? Please, I''ll do anything, just spare me!"
"I changed my mind... there''s no point in letting trash like you live any longer. Although I''m sure there are countless others able to rece you."
Hearing his life being so casually dismissed even by such a person was infuriating and absurd. The man''s eyes widened as anger burst out from inside him.
"Are... are you kidding me!?"
"Sure, here''s your punchline. Lightning Ricochet."
The beastman was unable to retort when bluish-white lightning danced across the tips of Rain''s outstretched fingertips and jumped through the air in an instant, reducing the man to ash in the next moment before bouncing off a magic circle on the wall onto its next victim.
"Y-you you bastard!"
Seeing their college turn to dust before their eyes, the other three could not allow themselves to just stand by any longer. Despite their rage and confusion at the current situation, their instincts did not allow them to act rashly as they all took off in all directions.
This course of action had surprised Rain for a moment as she didn''t think these thugs were stupid enough to believe they could outrun her if they simply split up.
However, their true intentions became apparent almost immediately.
As this was the main entrance to the organization''s base, it should''ve been obvious that they would set up severalyers of security to ward off any intruders besides the protection of the brave thugs.
As such, the fastest amongst the trio who had been only a few steps away from his objective, arrived in front of one of the four levers in the room and pulled it.
"Die!"
The lesser demon yelled as a maniacal smile adorned his face, obviously confident in the trapid by the organization. He had once seen it in action and refused to believe that anyone was capable of surviving such a fate.
Almost immediately, the lights in the room went dim as two massive magic circles that appeared to have been carved on the floor and ceiling of the room beforehand, glowed in a purple hue as they activated, trapping their target within.
In the next moment, the inside of the barrier created by the magic erupted into a raging purple inferno that continuously condenses itself into a tight ball with temperatures easily surpassing the surface of the sun.
The entire room was blinded by the massive ball of purple fame as it continued to copse in on itself. Even with the protection from the miniature sun by the barrier, the temperature in the room had risen considerably as well, almost turning the surviving trio to ash if they all hadn''t sacrificed their precious protection scrolls.
The blinding light of the purple sun soon disappeared as it hadpletely copsed in on itself, unable to sustain such vast energy emissions for long.
The trio whose eyes were closed, slowly opened their eyes to take in the burned visage of the dark elf. However, their eyeball almost fell out of their sockets the moment their vision was restored once more.
The figure belonging to the dark elf surprisingly stood in ce, not even a scratch could be found on her body.
The trio''s heart sank as their mind practically went nk, not knowing what to do or even how to respond to such a scene.
The spell contained in that magic circle was at the very least a 6th tier spell. That was a level beyond their very understanding yet they had just witnessed someone tank such a devastating attack ande out without even a scratch.
Just how in the world were they supposed to survive this?
"I suppose it''s my turn right?"
None of them could even muster up a response as another bolt of lightning consumed their very existence until everything went ck.
"Geez... that only made the odor in this ce worse."
Rain sighed as she decided to hold her breathpletely, the rest of the way. As a Demigod, she did not need to breathe as the Mana essence in the air was capable of sustaining her for as long as she lived, but she was already used to the motion and wouldn''t feel right otherwise.
Even under the immense heat of the copsing sun, the carpet on the ground was not affected due to the protection of the magic circle engraved on it.
She then burnt away the carpet covering the hidden entrance to dust before mming her feet into the Duraniumced door, revealing the stairs that led to the organization''s undergroundir.
Chapter 398 C,398. Zeldas Will
?
Please stop...
Save me...
Spare me..
I''m sorry...
The cries of desperate women echoed from various rooms into the empty hall. Apanied by various explicit, disturbing, and lewd sounds.
The air was filled with a strong stench of alcohol, smoke, and abination of various other things.
Well, Zelda did not possess a sense of smell so none of that mattered to her. A figure slowly arose from the shadows as she walked down the empty hall.
Her job was simply to capture as many as she could while eliminating the rest and preventing any possibility of escape.
She had already taken care of the guards standing by the entrance but unfortunately, they were far too weak and had died from a single hit so she could not capture them.
She soon came upon the first upied room and entered it. Temporarily Turing her body into shadows before turning solid again allows her to walk through any solid surfaces with cracks.
Entering the room, she saw a ratherrge demon mounted on top of a slender figure that continuously mumble the phrase, "I''m sorry " while the Demon ignores her cries as he continues to pound her with his hands around her neck.
He seems to have perfected the timing of when to stop so she would regain her breath before choking her again. The girl underneath him appears to be a rare species, a dragonkin of sorts, which seems to please the Demon greatly as he asionally pulled on her tail.
He also asionally reached down to grab the woman''s breasts, deforming the soft flesh between his fingers.
She seems to have less and less of a reaction as time went on and the Demon moved even faster, seeming to enjoy snuffing the life out of thedy and appearing to be very close to climax.
Zelda contemted on how to proceed. She had not been given any instructions on how to deal with a situation like this.
¡ªThe air behind him changed and Baron Taibo froze.
"Ah!"
He hurriedly turned back, and a slender figure appeared in his vision. She was d in all ck so it was hard to make her visage out fully but her curvy figure made his tool even harder than it already was.
He felt like he would climax in his next stroke.
The soles of the girl''s ¡ª Zelda''s'' ¡ª shoes clicked neatly as she walked into the room. Taibo was a bit confused about why thisdy was walking into his room.
This was not his first timeing here, and this had never happened before. Was she a member of the organization? He clearly remembered he had paid all of his debts and even lent a few of his men to the organization recently so if anything, they should be the ones owing him a favour.
Wait, was this their way of repayment?
The girl walked closer to the bed and Taibo saw her face, despite her being a bit pale, her appearance was leagues above the Dragonkin he was currently ducking.
''Hell yeah.''
This was most definitely his lucky day and there was no doubt in his mind that this was a gift sent by Numbers.
His face twisted with great enthusiasm as he resumed thrusting his tool into the Dragonkin and stretched out his right hand to grab the chest of the green-eyed girl.
Perhaps he should have ordered her to strip while he continues fucking the Dragonkin but he was just too excited to wait, his hands only inches away from his price when¡ª
"I suppose that ssifies you as a target."
The sweet yet terrifying voice immediately sent chills down his spine. Then again, perhaps this was simply from the pain of his missing fingers that had dropped on the ground before he had even realized what happened.
His entire body was rendered limp instantly from the pain and terror that had so suddenly flooded his system.
"Aieuiiii! Aaaaah... My fingers..."
Strange sounds came out of the baron''s mouth as his body trembled furiously, his mind apparently going nk as he attempt to flee.
However, Zelda had no interest in a chase, and his body whirled out of the bed. A swift wind blew across his head, and his body copsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut. A ball hit the wall and slid to the ground, trailing blood in its wake.
A momentter, the man''s headless body spewed a geyser of blood from its neck, covering the ground in gore.
Zelda was careful not to stain her shoes and her technique was perfect. Without the use of any skills, she swiftly decapitated her target in the blink of an eye.
He didn''t even have to struggle but had lost his life not knowing why or who was responsible.
Zelda''s gazended on the girlying motionless on the bed. She was surely already hooked on drugs and the only one in this world capable of saving her was surely only Erin.
However, saving the ves here was not part of her assignment. She had only ventured into this room looking for members of Numbers but encountered a rather peculiar person.
Having judged he was not a member of Numbers, her next action should''ve been to subdue him and await further instructions, so she didn''t know why she had ended up killing him.
Zelda tilted her head to the side as she contemted the issue but immediately gave up on the thought.
She would simply add this to her report afterpleting her mission and subduing everyone she came across.
Thinking that was the best option she could make, Zelda rapidly nodded her head as she walked out of the room.
She then casually took care of the other clients in the various rooms as she continued her search. Coming to the end of the hall, Zelda extended her senses through the door in front and found nothing.
She then walked through the door and unsurprisingly, there was no living being within the empty room. To the right was a giant rack where different types of weapons were hung.
To the left was a small round table with an empty box ced on it. Apparently, there was someone here until presently. Perhaps they had heard the screams of the client earlier and ran away.
Zelda suddenly felt bad. Although she hadn''t been explicitly asked to be stealthy, she was still a rogue, and allowing her enemies to be aware of her presence ahead of time was a failure on her part.
Just as she contemted her mistake, the door at the other side of the room slowly creaked open and a male figure walked out of it. Behind the door, she could see pools of blood and several bodiesying lifelessly on the ground. So clearly, this person was not part of the organization.
He held several rolled-up scrolls in his hand and with a single nce at the room behind the door, one could tell the table and the shelves had been ransacked, most likely in search of specific documents which were now in his hands.
"I was wondering why the guards here were suddenly aware of my presence when I managed to infiltrate this far undetected. I suppose you''re the reason for that?"
As he spoke, his eyes narrowed and his expression darken. He appears to be clearly annoyed by Zelda''s presence as it seems he had wanted to go about his business undetected, not leaving any traces behind.
He was a handsome young demon with long ck hair that was currently tied in a high ponytail, he also had green eyes slightly simr to hers. Wearing a ck body-fitting suit with dark green metal greaves and Vambraces, and wielding a long thin de simr to a Kodachi.
Zelda tilted her head slightly, pondering on what to do. If this person wasn''t part of the organization and wasn''t a client, should she still kill or subdue him, or should she let him leave?
The only person she had a direct connection to was her creator but unfortunately, she was currently under themand of one of his Demon Generals so she could not seek guidance from her master on how to proceed.
Using a conjunction spell in front of an enemy was not ill-advised so she was left to made a decision for herself.
"Huh... an undead assassin? I take it you are also from the Darknar region. To be capable of entering the city undetected, you must possess some skills. Are you also the reason why the ones from the three regions failed to attack the envoys?"
Zeldapletely ignored his questions as she contemted what to do. From her investigations, she was aware of his identity as one of the 5th princess''s two-person guards so naturally she alt to report this back to her current supervisor, (Rain) before making a move, yet that did not seem possible at the moment.
However¡ª
"Tsk! I don''t know why I''m talking to an undead anyway, you''re all just mindless creatures, to begin with. I won''t allow anyone to get in the way of my mission."
*Plop.
Before she could even think of a solution, ne suddenly sank into his shadow as though he had jumped into a pool of water.
? Assassinate ?
*Swoosh!
A sudden gust of wind cut through Zelda''s body as an invisible de sliced through the air several times in an instant, aimed at every single vital spot in her body.
However¡ª
? Shadow Dweller ?
The de that had moved faster than the eyes could see and even faster than sound could keep up with,pletely sliced through its intended target without facing so much as an ounce of resistance. It was as though his de had just cut through nothing but thin air.
The ability to exist in both the Shadow realm and the physical realm at the same time was the embodiment of the skill, Shadow Dweller. As long as it was active, the user will not receive any physical damage whatsoever.
For anyone else, this skill would be a double edge sword as it also prevented the user from attacking while it was active. However, as Zelda possessed the skill as a Racial ability, as such, she was able to use it instinctively as her level of mastery was already maxed out from the beginning.
Able to switch it on and off instantaneously.
*Swish... Bang! swoosh... Boom!
A series of sounds reverberated in the air as Zelda instinctively retaliated to the strike she had just received with a lightning-fast spinning hook kick.
Despite the fact, he had turned himself invisible for his attack, Zelda''s strike was fearsomely urate as though she waspletely aware of his location and her reaction and attack speed were faster than he had expected much less keep up with.
His body had been flung through the air, smashing into the wall with a devastating impact that almostpletely shattered the wall, sending vibrations through the entire building and leaving a massive dent in the wall.
Completely stumped by the weight of such a simple attack without the use of any skills or
enhancement of any kind, ne gasp for air as he struggled to repair his internal organs with the healing item he always carries on him.
Chapter 399 C399. Blane Vs Zelda.
?
After managing to save his life thanks to the healing items he had specially equipped himself with for this mission. ne crawled out of the hole in the wall he had been kicked into, his invisibility skill, having beenpletely seen through was immediately shattered on impact.
For some reason, the female undead hadn''t made any follow-up attacks after that which was both infuriating and a relief as it granted him a moment to recover.
He couldn''t help but wonder, what was the undead''s true objective here. Was her aim truly the same as his or was she here for a different reason?
Still, ne was trained to have no other priorities than the mission at hand. He couldn''t allow himself to get distracted from his current objective.
His current mission was from the former head of the specialized division, Lady Citrus, it was a simple mission that involved keeping an eye on the activities of the 5th princess of the Jaxith family while serving as her bodyguard and he had done just that.
His job was not to question his orders even when he did not understand the reasoning behind it. As a member of the specialized division of the Brimstone family, he would carry out his assignments wlessly and without fail.
Reaching into the pouch on his waist, he felt around for the spatial storage box he had stored the documents he was sent here to retrieve as he considered his options carefully.
This was an important mission given the urgency of the situation. He had only just received the assignment from Citrus messenger earlier today.
He was to secure and retrieve the list containing the names of nobles involved in dealings with Numbers as it was bound to implicate their carefully positioned spies, ruining centuries of hard work.
ne understood that this list was most likely the reason the organization was able to set up a base in this city despite theirck of power and influence in this part of the continent.
They surely possess a vast informationwork if they were able to put together such a list in such a faraway city from their headquarters. Who knows just how long they''ve been operating in this city unnoticed due to the power this list holds against the nobles of the Floato region.
For an organization outside the influence of the Great Five to possess such influence was insane. He couldn''t understand why the Brimstone family had to attempt to control the entire organization from the shadows.
Although he could imagine the bacsh having such an advantage over the other Four Greats would entail despite the fact that the Great Five each possess an informationwork vastly superior to that of this organization.
This only goes to show just how fragile the bnce of power between the Great Five was as even a needle such as this would greatly tip the scale.
Thinking of all this and the consequences of failure, with consideration to the strength of the undead before him, ne made his decision.
He ran.
?Shadow Stealth?
?Shadow Clones?
?Shadow Surfing?
?Shadow Movements?
In less than a second, he had sessfully activated four different skills at the same time, expending most of his mana in the process.
Seeing as the undead hadn''t attacked him immediately, he used shadow Stealth, a variation of the stealth skill that increases the effectiveness of the skill in darkness, as such, he followed the skill up with shadow movement.
The shadow underneath his feet widened and two identical copies of him formed from his shadow and took shape, each immediately charging at the undead with great speed.
Using Shadow Surfing, a skill that controls the shadows in a way that increases their ability to move and/or maneuver either in various ways, either by granting them abilities they otherwiseck or allowing them to ignore normally needed equipment.
In this case, the shadows extended from their backs in the form of jet-ck wings that boosted their speed several folds.
ne saw the shadows underneath the undead''s feat move to take the shape of two daggers and she easily used them to parry the attacks from his clones as he sank into the shadows.
He clearly didn''t believe he was capable of defeating this undead and knew his clones could only serve as a distraction for a few seconds, but a few seconds was all he needed to escape with the information he had retrieved.
Sinking into the Shadow realm through his shadow, an infinite dark void of semi-sentient shadows that were connected to every single shadow in the physical world, he used shadow surfing to boost his speed as well, diving through the shadow realm to aid his escape.
?Shadow Clones?
Having parried the attacks from the two shadow clones, Zelda made her decision as her shadow expanded and two copies of herself rose from within and lunged at the iing clones of ne.
?Shadow Assault?
A barrage of attacks assaulted the clones in less than half a millisecond, rendering the clones countless pieces as Zelda and her clones also used shadow movements to chase after their target.
Due to the use of Shadow Stealth, it should''ve been impossible for anyone to sense or see ne in the absolute darkness of the Shadow realm yet the three Zelda''s almost immediately caught up with him.
"How is this possible? Tsk!"
Seeing all his preparations go to waste without even slowing down his opponent at all, ne was a little frustrated that he lost his cool. He clicked his tongue as he created multiple clones of himself again, sending them to distract his opponent even for a moment.
?Shadow Garden?
Zelda''s clones suddenly disappeared as the slowly moving shadows all around them morphed into countless thorns with ck roses that slowly bloomed the thorns shot at the clones of ne from almost every direction, imprisoning them in what seemed to be a ck rose garden.
"What sort of skill is that? Fuck!"
ne cursed after seeing his clone pose no threat to the undead, her glowing green eyes seem to prate even the absolute darkness as though it waspletely locked on him which sent shivers down his spine.
?Mark Soul?
Turning his attention within, he finally sensed it. Realizing something was wrong as she shouldn''t be able to sense him or track him while shadow Stealth was still active within the absolute darkness of the shadow realm, he turned his attention within and finally sensed it.
His soul had been engraved with the mark of the undead, perhaps this was what she was doing when she had chosen not to attack him earlier. Somehow, it seems she had known he would attempt an escape rather than risk failing his mission.
"Damn it. I can''t even get rid of it."
Having been marked in his very soul, ne knew he couldn''t hide from her anymore and deactivated his shadow Stealth skill as it was now a simple waste of Mana.
He then exited the shadow realm, their brief chase had already taken them out of the city and he jumped out of the shadows of the trees of the Ozark forest.
With his increased speed and agility, he moved swiftly around the dense forest, using the trees as cover to avoid being shot down from behind by his pursuer.
He nned to lose his tail within the density of the vast forest so that he can buy himself enough time to rid himself of the mark on his soul.
However,
*Bang. Swoosh... BOOM!
The undead had somehow shot out of a shadow ahead of him and before he could even react, her leg was already an inch from his face.
Moving on instincts alone, his arms moved to block her kick with the base of his sword which might''ve saved his life as his de shattered under the force of the kick. breaking his right arm as his body was sent flying through the trees until burrowing into the ground in a devastating impact.
ne gasped as the air was forced out of his lungs again, spitting out blood as he hurriedly used a healing scroll before another attack woulde his way. He could not afford to stay still even for a second.
"Max magic, Shadow hounds."
The shadows all around him moved sentiently as they took form and 10 shadow wolves lunged at the undead that had justnded where he had been.
Jumping out of the crater his body had just created, he cast a spell and quickly followed it up by retrieving another de from his storage box.
"I guess I have no choice. If I want to escape I''ll have to use it."
To many, an innate ability was the essence of their livelihood, their ultimate trump card. It was no secret the Brimstone family was seeking out the innate abilities of lesser demons and demihumans.
These abilities were unique abilities that could be insanely weak or ridiculously strong, and in the wrong hands, even a single ability could very much destroy the world. Hence why the Brimstone family was trying desperately to extract those abilities from anyone and gift them to their forces.
As such, everyone that had been assigned to the specialized division possessed such innate ability that would aid them in carrying out their mission and ne was no exception.
He had hoped he wouldn''t need to use it as his ability was somewhat harder to control and extremely valuable.
? Strings of Fate ?
Glowing red strings slowly wiggled out of his back as ne nted his feet on the ground and exploded forth, shattering the ground underneath his feet.
His shadow hounds moved randomly as they used the trees and branches to lunch at their target. Her movements were swift and precise as she urately dodged the dog''s attacks and her des would instantly split them in two.
Within a second, she had already eliminated 5 of the 10 shadow hounds but just as she moved to avoid the jaws of another hound, a single red thread touched her leg and she one characteristic tripped and was forced to stop the attack with her arm.
Still, an undead felt no pain and what would''ve been a hindrance to many was merely a slight annoyance to her as her free hand moved swiftly, detaching the head of the hound from the rest of its body.
However, the other 4 moved around her and lunged at her from all angles with ne charging in from
the front as another red thread attached itself to her leg yet again.
"Time to rest in pieces undead beast!"
?Rending Death?
Chapter 400 C400. Battle of The Rogues
Chapter 400 C400. Battle of The Rogues
?Rending Death ?
The shadow hounds moved through the forestpletely uninhibited by any obstacles as they could choose to go through solid objects or bounce off them at will, and thus, they swiftly surrounded Zelda as the shadow aura that oozed off their bodies suddenly intensified.
In the same motion, they made a sharp turn and viciously lunged at the undead from all directions.
Their speed constantly increases as though unaffected by inertia. Their eyes glowed a deep crimson with razor-sharp fangs that could easily tear through steel like butter. At such speed, even Zelda would struggle to avoid all four of them at the same time much less in this current situation.
An almost invisible glowing red string mysteriously attached itself to her legs yet again and as she positioned herself to receive their attacks, she suddenly stepped on a random pebble and lost her bnce.
For an undead, this was something that should not be possible, yet Zelda found herself unable to stop her current momentum as her body swayed against her control.
*sh.
Without missing a beat, ne appeared before the stumbling undead and swung his de in a horizontal sh, his de tracing a greyish-ck arch that cut through the very fabric of space itself.
This was the result of the Advance tier skill, Rending Death. A unique skill he had attained from studying the tome of the Divine Tier skill, Absolute Rend.
This iplete skill was still powerful enough to cut through space itself, even though it was still unstable and hard to aim. However, this did not matter to ne with the effects of his innate ability.
The ability to affect Fate itself.
While his ability was still heavily limited by hispetence and could not control fate on a Grand scale as that was beyond mortal limits, he could still affect the Fate of non-living things and the body parts of his enemies.
Hence why he was only going after Zelda''s ankles and limbs, creating opportunities for him tond a finishing blow.
However¡ª
*ng! BOOM!!!
Despite the fact that she was now at the mercy of her target, having lost her bnce. Zelda''s expression did not change nor did she panic as she simply moved her weapons to defend herself.
?Shadow Armor?
The shadows around her quickly moved to wrap around her body before taking a more solidified shape and texture, reinforcing her current outfit with ayer of solid shadows as her arms moved to receive the attack from ne''s sword,pletely ignoring the shadow hounds making at her.
The weight of the de that tore through even the very fabric of space as it cut through the air felt like a mountain,pletely shattering her daggers as she received the full force of ne''s attack, sending her flying through the air as she mmed into the ground a distance away.
An undead could not feel pain, yet Zelda found it difficult to stand, her shadow armor slowly disappearing after absorbing most of the damage she had received from that attack.
"How annoying. To think you can still survive such an attack!"
Despite using most of his mana on hisst attack, ne immediately downed an expensive Mana recovery potion as he chased after Zelda, his shadow hounds trailing after him.
His knees bent slightly as the ground shattered underneath his feet as his body shot into the air, a dark aura engulfing his de as he held it overhead.
"Secret Technique - Phantom fortress, Meteoric strike."
The aura engulfing his de suddenly intensified as his body moved shot down as though his mass had been greatly multiplied in mid-air.
*BOOM!
The air reverberated with an explosive impact that shook the entire forest, sending the magic beast running in the opposite direction.
However, Zelda had managed to push off the ground at thest moment, unable to use her skills effectively in her current state. Yet, another red string of Fateshed onto her arm as a shadow hound suddenly cameunching at her.
Unable to maneuver herself in mid-air, she was forced to sacrifice an arm as the shadow hound viciously ripped her arm off as she struggled to maintain her center of gravity,nding awkwardly a few meters away from the impact as the other three hounds moved in to finish her off.
"Tsk. Can''t seem to get any fatal hits. How can an undead have such high resistance to fate maniption."
As ne prepared his next attack, his shadow hounds continuously attacked the now defenseless undead rogue as her missing arm continuously failed to regenerate. Still, she moved swiftly as she avoided all their strikes within an inch despite ne''s threads of Fateshing onto her legs and arms over and over again.
"Let''s end this!"
ne lunged into the fray as he coordinated his attacks with his hounds, finally able to touch her with his des albeit barely. Her movement speed and agility were greatly hindered by his threads as he used the environment to his advantage.
Whenever his threads touched a tree, it would affect her field of view and she would be unable topletely avoid any attack from that angle.Whenever it touched her legs, she would momentarily lose her bnce and struggle to avoid his attacks.
Given that her weapons were already shattered, she had lost her means of attack and could only allow herself to slowly get pushed back.
Her body slowly became more tattered and beat up as she barely avoided his de techniques as he could no longer use his skills anymore after losing so much Mana already.
Having been driven to a corner by her target, Zelda felt as though she was on the verge of failing her mission. It would''ve been fine if she was just on the verge of dying without the prospect of disappointing her master.
The undead does not hunger, the undead does not fear, nor do they get fatigued or suffer any negatively induced status. Yet, she could feel something bubbling up within her very core the longer this fight went on and the closer she got to losing the battle.
Frustration.
She was not frustrated because she was losing, but rather, she was frustrated because she felt like a disappointment. As the first Shadow Rogue created by her master, she held a sense of pride in that title.
However, she was not the strongest of her peers. The arrival of Nessi made that quite apparent. A shadow rogue at the level of a Demigod was something her master could trustpletely.
So why does she have to be weak? Even after her master had blessed her with a Darkness core, she was still weak. How can she allow herself to bring such disgrace to his name?
"Absolutely NOT!"
There was a crack. A crack within her very core and a crack in the very fabric of reality as an immersing aura exploded out of her body, returning the attacking shadow hounds back into shadows as ne was sent flying from the explosive impact alone.
The entirety of the vast Ozark forest immediately went silent as every living thing trembled under the pressure of an insane amount of such ridiculously dense negative energy, that felt as though death itself, loomed over the entire forest.
The air froze as Zelda''s aura suppressed everything, reducing everything around her to dust, including, the snow, the grass, the trees, the insects, and monsters as her aura transcended beyond the mortal ne.
Her core haspletely shattered from sheer energy overflow as it began to reform itself into a Death Core.
The shadows moved as though they had gained sentience as they attached themselves to her missing limb, reforming into her arm. All her injuries began to heal itself by the influx of negative energy and her outfit reformed with the shadows.
The shadows soon moved into her hands as they solidified into two exquisitely designed daggers, oozing an abundance of negative energy. Dark lightning danced across her body as though it was a living entity waiting to pounce.
Safe to say, ne was at a loss for words.
He could barely process what had just happened. One second he was on the verge of eliminating his opponent yet the next thing he knew, he was flying through the air and mming into a massive tree.
Only to regain hisposure and see the undead transforming into the embodiment of death before his very eyes. Her aura alone had disintegrated everything within a 30-meter radius but soon disappeared as though nothing had happened.
The oppressive and terrifying aura that almost drove him mad just a moment ago had suddenly disappeared yet her presence remained and he could feel his limbs trembling in fear.
"What is this? Impossible!"
How could he believe what his mind had just suggested to him? ne was a warrior who has trained and studied his entire life just to live up to his potential.
He knew what it meant to improve and grow as a fighter. He understood what it meant to transcend between tiers, the sudden jolt of energy one received as one got one step closer to their limits.
This was why he could not believe what his brain was interpreting the current situation as, how can someone transcend tiers in the middle of battle? It requires a deep level of concentration and meditation to control the influx of Mana and avoid destroying one''s Mana body and going berserk.
So what truly happened just now?
"An illusion? Yes, it has to be. That''s why her aura disappeared. Undead cannot evolve to begin with."
Desperately clinging to the tiniest bit of hope he had left, ne resisted the fear and forced his body to move, gathering his remaining Mana into onest attack. This state should also be ast-ditch effort from the undead to survive so he would put an end to everything with this one attack.
ne took a deep breath to calm his nerves, he lowered his stance as his aura began to skyrocket. His entire body was engulfed in a dark aura that shrouded his figure.
However, contrary to his body, his de burned with a furious luminosity that encased the entire forest in perpetual daylight as though the sun had risen. His legs bulged as they dug deep into the ground and then.
"Secret Technique - Dark Emperor, Lacerating Quasar sh."
His body shot forth like a bullet train as he spun himself in mid-air, his de burning hotter than a star as the extreme luminosity erased every shadow around, making this attack, impossible for a shadow creature to avoid.
This was an attack thatpletely eradicated the darkness.
Yet¡ª
Zelda blinked and the night returned almost immediately as his body was flung across the forest like a ragdoll.
ne was confused as he almost lost consciousness in an instant.
What just happened?
He strained his eyes to see what the undead had done and it widened. His body was still flying in the air yet he could see his storage box already in the hands of the undead, his weapon was melted and his body felt as though it had been crushed by the force of a ck hole.
He couldn''t even process any of the information he was seeing when the undead stretched forth her arm and th
e Dark Lightning jumped eagerly at him before it all went nk.
He had died, his body disintegrating without even leaving behind dust.
Chapter 401 C401. Second Evolution
Chapter 401 C401. Second Evolution
Everything had happened in an instant.
The blinding light that suddenly illuminated the entire Ozark forest disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared and the night returned to its previous calm.
The sentries stationed on the city walls of the capital city of the Floato region were all visibly confused by the sudden brightness that had originated from the incredibly massive forest miles away.
With the city guards already stretched thin by the destruction of a demon noble''s mansion a few hours ago, their unit station on the city walls could not afford to investigate the cause of that blinding lights and thus, all they could do was send words to the Royal knights Captain, Nars Hoce, and await his response.
However, there was a group of individuals standing atop the roof of the guards tower, observing the situation in the forest with grave expressions.
d in her usual reddish-ck body-fitting armor that was engraved with magic runes, her dark brown eyes narrowed into a slit as she stared deep into the center of the Ozark Forrest tens of miles away.
Her scarlet hair, no longer tied in her usual ponytail suitable for battle, swayed beautifully in the wind as she stood atop the guard tower, the grip on her spear tightened the moment she sensed a drastic change in the air.
Tucked underneath her left arm was a seemingly sleeping child with an oblivious expression on her face. Behind her were the remaining three members of her party and they each wore a simr expression to hers as they observed the area surrounding the Ozark forest.
"What in the world is that?"
ck Moon questioned as his vision extended through the vast distance but failed to prate the dense aura of negativity suppressing the entire Ozark forest.
Their gazes all gravitated towards the part of the forest that had slowly begun to die as everything around the origin of that light had suddenly begun disintegrating to dust under the absurd levels of negative energy.
Anything living would die and anything already dead would be reborn in darkness. If left unchecked, this aura would transform the entirety of the Ozark forest into a spawning ce for the undead. A forest of the living dead.
"The rest of you head back into the city, I''ll go take a look."
Aurora spoke as she tossed the child she was holding at the sisters who while startled, managed to catch Cloudy before immediately dropping her as an actual fluffy-looking cloud instantly caught her before she hit the ground.
"Are you insane! Whatever is exuding such dense amounts of negative energy has to be at the level of a Grand Lich or higher. Are you by chance courting death?"
"Rx, I''m not stupid. I only n to take a look at the origin of that light. I sense there is a battle unfolding within the forest and I have to see this, hehehe... Besides, if there is an undead infestation in progress, it''s best to eradicate it before it starts."
Saying that she did not wait for a response as her body was engulfed in a golden aura as she jumped off the roof of the tower and dashed towards the forest at a blinding speed.
ck Moon couldn''t help but face-palm himself as he watched their reckless leader run head-first into unknown territories yet again.
"Ah... There goes¡ª"
"Our idiot leader again..."
"What should we¡ª"
"Do now eh, Moon?"
The sisters spoke off each other as usual as the child, Cloudy floated above their heads on a literal cloudpletely oblivious to the situation at hand as she slept.
ck Moon rubbed his eyes in exhaustion as he wondered why he was stuck working with such a bunch.
"Ahh... I''ll go back up our idiot leader so she doesn''t die. The rest of you should report this to the princess and see what she thinks is going on in this region tonight."
"Alright."
"Alright."
With that, ck Moon floated off the roof as he flew after Aurora and the sisters dragged Cloudy towards the emerald pce.
??????
After being driven to the brink of defeat by ne, Zelda''s unwavering determination not to disappoint her creator, had led to her strengthening the connection she shared with her master, and suddenly, a strange female voice rang in her head, one different from any she had heard before.
??????????
{Notice: The conditions have been met. SoulLink connection has been perfected.}
{Notice: The subject designated as ''Zelda'' has met the requirements to transcend.}
{The subject''s Enhanced Darkness Core has reached the limits of its capacity, overload is imminent.}
{Notice: SoulLink has established a connection with Master''s ?Potential Break?.
Notice: The required action is not avable for the ssification of the designated subject and evolution cannot bepleted. Monarch Authority is required for evolution overrule.}
{Notice: Monarch Authority has been granted. The restrictions of the undead race of the specimen will now be overruled. The enhanced Darkness Core will now be evolved into a Legendary Death Core.}
{Evolution sessful. The subject will now begin its transcension into a 7th Tier Demigod. The souls of the defeated will now be absorbed for evolution.}
{Notice: The subject has now sessfully be a Demigod. The basic Level of Tier 7 was reached. The experiment has beenpleted sessfully. New skills will be distributed.}
??????????
Zelda had no idea whose voice this was but could understand what it was saying. She couldn''t sense any malicious intent within it and felt a level of familiarity from the voice.
She could alsoprehend the conclusion to everything the voice had said and understood one thing. It didn''t matter what or how it had happened, what mattered was, she had somehow attained the strength she had desperately wanted moments before she could lose.
In a blink of an eye, her transcending aura exploded out of her body, suppressing the entire forest as though death itself had descended upon them and dark lightning danced around her body.
Her aura soon stabilized after a while as it transcended the mortal ne beyond what could be perceived by the physical dimension.
Zelda could sense her new core slowly repairing and strengthening her body when she suddenly felt the air around her shift as the darkness waspletely eradicated by a blinding light originating from her target''s location.
His body was shrouded in an absolute dark aura despite the fact that his sword was shining brighter than the sun. His aura had increased by several folds as his feet dug deeper into the ground and he lunged at her with incredible speed.
However, every single molecule in Zelda''s body waspletely oozing off with immerse power that she was yet to control so every single movement of hers, no matter how minute and casual, carried within it, the might of a Death goddess, one who ruled over the end of anything and everything.
As such, when Zelda blinked, the world shuddered as a massive wave of death aura exploded forth, eliminating everything it touches, including the light and darkness of ne''s technique. If he hadn''t been protected from direct contact by the darkness shrouding him, odds were, he would''ve also met his end.
Still, that didn''t matter once Zelda decided to end this farce, increasing her movement speed at will, she causally walked towards his body that was now frozen in mid-air as though time has stopped, retrieving the storage box she had seen him ce the documents Rain wanted in before proceeding to eliminate all traces of his existence with Dark Lightning.
The skillpletely eradicated any trace of its target even the smell of burnt flesh was destroyedpletely. It was as though he had never existed.
Seeing such a sight even surprised Zelda, who could barelyprehend what had just happened. There was a chance she had made a mistake in killing such a valuable target but unfortunately, she could barely control her strength in this state as everything around her was still being reduced to dust.
Just as she contemted on how to proceed, a sound soon echoed in her head as a familiar voice soon followed.
''Zelda.''
This was the first voice she had held the day she was born. It was a voice she could never forget as this was the voice of her creator. As though the motion was already engraved in her soul, she immediately genuflected to nothing in particr.
''Hmm? Did you just kneel? It feels like you did, you know I''m not there right?''
[Master, I...]
''Well, it''s fine. Congrattions on your evolution. I have to admit, I had no idea my undead could also advance without a core infusion. Tell me, what exactly happened?''
Although Zelda was not one for long stories, she tried to exin things as they urred as well as her thought process along the way which was the normal way she was ordered to give a report.
After a brief moment of narrating the events and what the voice she heard had said, the voice of her master went silent for a moment.
''It''s a shame you didn''t keep that guy alive so his memories could be preserved but under the situation, that''s absolutely fine so do not fret about it. You''ve certainly surprised all of my expectations as my first shadow rogue. I can''t believe I''m actually proud of an undead.''
The space in front of her head suddenly distorted before a tear the size of a ball was opened and an arm reached through space, the hands of her master patting her in the head for a moment before retreating back through space.
"Well done."
Zelda''s nonexistent heart practically jumped for joy as she heard those words. Aplishing her master''s wishes and meeting his expectations should''ve been her only goals yet for some reason, beingplimented like this made her feel a bit weird inside as the decay around her immediately stopped.
''Take some time to get ustomed to your newly enhanced body before rejoining Rain on your mission and the both of you try and be more stealthy, you''re both rogues after all. Alright, I should leave you to your mission, good luck.''
With that, the connection between her and her master via their SoulLink returned to normal but unlike before, she no longer felt the chaos within her body as everything had be calm.
Zelda could now feel and control the absurd amount of energy within her core and no longer exuded a ridiculous level of negative energy that destroyed everything around her.
She couldn''t help but observe her body for a while as she stood in ce silently before returning her attention to her current mission and her gaze shifted to the storage box.
Zelda didn''t attempt to bypass the encryption of the storage box as that would be a moreplicated process and would take far too long. There''s also a chance of the Item self-destructing if tempered with and losing everything stored within the box.
Hence, she opted for the simpler approach as she isted the box by infusing it with her Mana and isting the pocket dimension tied to the magic artifact, bypassing the item''s protection and tearing through space itself as she shattered the storage box.
Normally this would also copse the pocket dimension itself, destroying everything within it but given as she was now faster than light, she had enough time to reach through the tear in space using her newly acquired spatial maniption from her master, and transferring everything in his storage to her shadow space.
After that, Zelda quickly adjusted to her new core as she instantly learned how to control her newfound strength and disappeared into the night.
Her connection with her master had also granted her a few new skills including shadow teleportation, which was indeed faster than shadow movements.
Momentster, two figures arrived in the scene, as everything around them had already been disintegrated into nothing but dust. They could not help but stare nkly at their surroundings in utter disbelief.
Chapter 402 C402. Nine
Chapter 402 C402. Nine
¡ªUnderneath the capital city of the Floato region.
A strange-looking group blended into the darkness.
They were all outfitted differently, without any sense of regimentation or unity. The closest thing to them would probably be Hunters or mercenaries.
However, in contrast to those groups, the quality of their outfits was leagues beyond anything a normal Hunter or mercenary could afford.
Leading the group was a tall muscrly built demon¡ª who, while contrary to his build and appearance, was dressed in a finely tailored suit, a ssy top hat adorned his head and fingers, decorated by several jewels, held onto an expertly carved wooden cane with a Victorian style solid gem dragon head handle.
Behind him stood four figures, the first was of an dapper-looking demon and ady in a gauzy cotton outfit that seemed ill-suited for battle.
She had a slightly pink skin tone and two red horns protruding from the sides of her head, with a pair of bat-like wings gently pping on her lower back. It was safe to say she was a subus and the man beside her, an incubus.
Further behind them was a robed person whose face was hidden behind the darkness of his hood and finally, a naked furreddy manned the rear.
The group was looking at an opened door through the walls of the underground tunnels. The room beyond was pitch-dark, and they sensed that any previous upants were long gone. A look around did not turn up anyone else.
This was quite a strange situation. Indeed, the base should have been stripped bare and everything within it, taken to a guard post. That said, someone ought to have been posted to stand watch, even if the ce was empty.
In fact, if one looked along the otherwise empty tunnel, one would be able to see signal fires where the night watch would have been stationed as there were no magicmps working in this abandoned tunnel.
Yet, there was nobody here. That was because this group had used their influence to temporarily get rid of the sentries rather than outright killing them and drawing attention to their arrival.
However, this was not something they should''ve had to do as their operations in this city should''ve been kept top secret, so what the hell happened here!?
Thergely built demon that led the group ¡ª known only by his code name Nine ¡ª mmed his cane into the ground as it dug into the hard concrete as though it was made of dirt, creating web-like cracks on the ground as he red fiercely at the gutted base and growled:
"What kind of sick joke is this? What the hell is Number 10 doing? I even lent her 16 for assistance, but to think this ce was taken down so easily, not to mention our secret operations have been discovered by the Jaxith family and our supply of Mana shards has been cut off!... What a joke."
Sneeringughter came from behind him. Nine turned and fixed the source of thatughter with a razor-sharp gaze, his aura ring uncontrobly.
The woman in cotton knew Nine''s personality rather well, so she hurriedly spoke while shrugging.
"Ah, well... How do you want to handle this situation? Should we find and kill Number 10, since she got captured? I doubt the enemy would''ve killed her yet. Capturing a high-ranked member of Numbers must be their wet dream. None of us here are rogues or assassins but I''m sure we can request for a unit pretty quickly... what do you think?"
"There''s no need for that. Sure, even someone as weak as her still has some uses so I''ll just have one of the elders locate and release her for us... we''ll just have to retrieve that list from the hidden safe, there''s no way the city knights have found it yet."
"How about the crates of Mana shards taken from that Lord''s mansion? Without that, the production of Blue will be significantly affected. That''s millions of DC''s in losses." The incubus asked and Nine furrowed his brows as he spoke.
"Unfortunately, we''ll have to ept the losses for now. There is only one other mine in the world that produces Mana shards, we can''t afford topromise this one by acting too rashly. I''m sure the Jaxith family will cover this mess for us. How about the ves? I heard the guards took them but all the dark elves are missing?"
"Information on that front has note in yet. The knights did not find any ves in that Viscount mansion which was strange but the dark elves used in the underground brothel here disappeared without a trace as well. There may be a rogue Dark elves operating secretly from the shadows and using the chaos to their advantage."
The voice from under the robe was low and crisped with an ethereal undertone that subconsciously infused those who hears it with a sense of calm.
"They might even be the reason for this mess to begin with. We did a great job of hiding out actions from the royals so this was strange. To think a mere dark elf would go against us, I''ll definitely rip their head off once I find them."
"That''s impossible. Even with their natural racial abilities, a mere dark elf cannot achieve such a feat!"
"What I can''t understand is why the Single Digits epted such a ridiculous request from amon third-rate Viscount."
"That third-rate Viscount was the gateway to expanding our influence to the east, a single dark elf was,¡ª hmm..."
"Huh? What''s wrong!"
"I just remembered something, wasn''t the emissary from the Darknar region said to be a dark elf formerly from the Alcar family?"
"I believe so, wait, you don''t mean...?"
The incubus shrugged in response to Nine''s spiel. They could finally understand how such a mess could be made by a single dark elf after putting everything into consideration.
"In any case, we''ll investigate this matterter on. Even if we''ve cleared out the guards around this ce, we still can''t linger here indefinitely. We should probably head for the hidden vault and retrieve the list. Still, whoever killed Number 16 must''ve been pretty skilled, looks like a clean cut from behind. He didn''t even sense them."
"It must''ve been that man with the 5th Princess, he''s the only one in this city capable of this even though this is still a little surprising."
All eyes went to Nine''s body and he continued.
"Well, 16 waszy and unskilled, relying on just his innate ability was his downfall, even Number 10 was slightly stronger than him."
"¡ªThat guy, ne was it? That''s still impressive even if his strength is nothing to worry about. If I remember correctly, he also has a connection with the Brimstone family. Hmm... With two of the five Greats running interference with us, it really makes this moreplicated than it should be."
Nine walked by the pool of blood where 16''s body must''ve been and sighed. He then continued walking deeper into the base as the others followed behind.
The incubus spoke up, somewhatmely:
"You know you can''t judge strength byparing it to yours. All the Single Digits are borderline Demigods so strength like ours might not seem much to you. Either way, should we investigate why this ne is working for that bitch?"
"No need, just because 16 lost doesn''t mean that guy was strong, only means he has pretty decent assassination techniques."
There was an undercurrent of mockery in the robed person''s voice.
"Well, both Number 10 and 16 are far weaker than us. None of us wanted the responsibility of ranking directly under the Single Digits so, understandably, they both have ring weaknesses."
He was answered by several chuckles. This was both a sign of approval and a sign of mockery for those weaker than themselves.
"We''ve said everything that needs to be said. I''ll ask again ¡ª what should we do? Shall we pull back after retrieving the list? I don''t think shing with our opponent will be worth the potential losses?"
"Don''t be ridiculous!"
Nine''s words wereced with an anger that he could notpletely suppress as the ground quaked under his steps.
"We are Numbers. Just because this ce is far from our base of operation doesn''t mean we can allow anyone to tarnish it. Fuck the losses. We''ll make an example out of everyone that attacked this ce. Get ready, Thirteen."
The robed man chuckled as he stretched forth his arm. Said arm was translucent while emitting a faint light that attracted nature''s essence to gather gently around any exposed and almost translucent skin.
"''Number 15."
The naked furreddy shrugged her shoulders as her ws tore through the reinforced walls of the base like paper as they continued walking down the hall.
"And you, Number 14."
The cotton-d subus dipped her head elegantly, as her bat-like wings pped in excitement.
"''Number 12."
The incubus clicked his heels together with a resounding report.
"As your boss, one of the Single Digits known as Abyss swords, Nine, we shall begin our hunt!"
The people around him nodded to show their agreement and understanding.
"First, we''ll find and free Number 10 and question her before retrieving the hourss. After that... we''ll use the stopped hour to retrieve the stolen crates of Mana shards as well as capture all the attackers including that god-damned emissary and make them suffer for this!"
Everyone smiled sinisterly as they felt the pure unadulterated rage flowing out of Nine as he made his deration. There was a reason he was amongst the highest-ranked members in the organization known as the Single Digits.
None of them doubted his words as they were clearly aware of how truly terrifying the difference between a Single Digit and a Double even when their ranks were only a single number apart.
Everyone here knew just how strong Nine was. In fact, they were all already stronger than the one known as Number 10 but chose to remain at a lower rank for various personal reasons.
Yet, Nine was still several-fold stronger than they were and even the Elders in this region were no match for him.
However¡ª
"Curious, how exactly do you n on making me pay for my before his eyes.
A dark figure had appeared behind them and a pair of bloody crimes? Hehehe... I''m truly dying to find out~."
That voice could not have originated from more than a few meters away yet none of them had sensed any presence approach them which sent rms ringing in their heads and everyone hastily drawing their weapons in a desperate attempt to prepare themselves.
Even Nine furrowed his brows as he turned his head around to trace where that voice had originated from. If even he had failed to sense an enemy approach then it must''ve been a skilled assassin. Or at least, someone in possession of a magic artifact.
His gaze narrowed in a re as he stared daggers at the scene before his eyes.
A dark figure had appeared behind them and a pair of bloody daggers were currently protruding from the neck and heart of the naked furreddy who had been
unable to avoid that attack as the de was silently pulled out and her now lifeless body dropped to the ground.
"Number 15!?"
Chapter 403 C403. No Contest
Chapter 403 C403. No Contest
After quickly eliminating one of the neers, Rain''s gaze calmly swept across the room. There was nobody here who could begin to rival her, but she found the Single Digit elite whom she had seen in Number 10''s memories and knew of his scheduled arrival today.
One of the underlings that apanied him wore a hooded robe. The robe was ck, stitched together with magic-resistant materials originating the threads from blood moths, enchanted with various magical effects.
Rain could not see the face under the hood, but she could feel the natural essence in the air shifting in his direction.
A spirit.
Indeed, the translucent limps that extended from his robes gave him away as one of the rarest creatures in the world, spirits. Their race were solitary creatures and usually bound to their source sharing a simr existence with nymphs.
The group''s sole remaining female was dressed in a practically see-through cotton dress as she pped her bat-like wings and floated above the ground. She then pulled out a pair of Urumi that was attached to her waist.
The next male was dressed in a loose cotton outfit as well. He shared simr demonic features with thedy. He was dressed in baggy pants and an high-top boots. His weapon was a fencing saber but the Mana around him swirled around his de indicating he was more of a magic swordsman than a fencer.
With the naked furred beastgirl already dead from her first attack, thest was the leader of this group, the Single Digit known as Nine.
The four of them had grown cautious after the assassination of one of their own as they began to advance on her, the robed spirit mmed his staff to the ground and the entire room rumbled and massive arms shot out from the ground.
In the next moment, severalrge earth golems rose from the soil as they instinctively moved to encircle Rain.
"You must be the so-called emissary from Darknar. Not bad, I heard the assassination skills of dark elves were legendary. Seeing how you could take someone like 15 unaware, even with her enhance senses as a fey, I''m guessing the rumors were true."
The somewhat ethereal voice from underneath the hood of the ck robe as hemanded his earth golems to entrap the emissary, echoed across the room.
"Even if 15 was the weakest one here, to think you were able to assassinate her with a single attack that''s impressive. However, we didn''t get ranked so highly in the organization for no reason. None of your stealth skills will work on us again. Grand Magic - Stardust Fall."
The subus immediately cast a spell as countless specks of light flew out of her fingernails like fireflies and epassed the entire room.
These specks of light could not be interacted with by any physical force and would expose the presence of any creature using any stealth-based abilities under its light. This was a spell of the 4th tier used by mages with a weak magic sense against rogue-type enemies reducing their efficiency by half.
This was simply meant to confirm the presence of any other enemies hiding in the shadows.
Seeing as no more enemies were lurking in the shadows to ambush them, 14 smiled as Nine moved forward and asked a question.
"I''d like to know something before you die. Even if 10 was weak, she was more cautious than 15 and had several specialized magic items on her to boost her skills. The only person amongst the Royal capable of taking her down should have no reason to. So were you the one that captured Number 10?"
A strange smile adorned Rain''s face as she titled her head rather cutely in response to Nine''s question.
"Capture? I suppose so."
Nine''s brows twitched for a moment before his expression returned to normal. If anything, their was more of a sense of relief from his current demeanor.
"I see. If that''s the case then you must be with the item we''re looking for. Someone like you would have no idea how to use such an item so I''ll advise you to hand it over immediately."
"An item? Do you mean those worthless rings on her fingers? Not sure why you''d consider such things to be so valuable though. Hmm, perhaps your organization isn''t as impressive as I assumed. How unfortunate."
Rain spoke with a delighted smile as shepletely ignored the massive earth golems around her and chuckled.
"Don''t y dumb with me you brat! You know what I''m talking about you worm! Hand over the hourss this instant or suffer the consequences."
Rain tilted her head in a smirk.
"Do you mean this? I was wondering why such a thing was in her possession. Must be important if you came all this way for it."
A strange-looking hourss appeared at some point in her hand as she spun it around in the tip of her index finger in a careless manner tossing the item in the air before it suddenly disappeared without a trace.
"You bitch!"
A vein bulged in Nine''s forehead as his aura exploded, pushing the specks of light to the edge of the room before everything suddenly returned to normal.
"I see, so you really did defeat 10. How unfortunate. I suppose that''s why you appear confident standing in front of us, howughable. Do you think that item will help you against us, we''ll have to knock some sense into you."
"Such confidence... I take it, you must be the Single Digit member called Nine, am I right? I heard a lot about you."
Seeing as his brief disy hadn''t done anything to intimidate his opponent made Nine frown slightly as he observed the elf more carefully than he had done previously.
"Ah, yes. Trying to bluff uh? It''s impossible for anyone to break a Numbered elite so don''t bother lying to me. Despite how worthless she was, she was still a Numbered elite."
A scornful expression appeared on one of the four. Rain sighed as she brought the hourss back into her hand before tossing it into her left hand and returning to her storage space.
"What are you doing? Do you think we can''t get it back after we kill you?"
"Never mind that. Can you please tell me where I can find the true base of Numbers? I mean the ce where all the Single Digits are gathered."
"Hahahaha... What, are you trying to be funny."
Her opposition was still sneering at her as they answered her question with a question. Rain calmly replied:
"Not really, I''ve never been the funny type... Hmmm, I wonder if Lord Ty likes any jokes? I should look into that."
"How annoying. There''s no longer any point to this conversation, preparations have beenpleted. Let''s just kill her now."
"Hold on."
"What? Ready to beg for your life?"
Just as three of the four were about to pounce on her. Rain raised her palm to indicate the other party to halt, which haspletely stomped them all.
She then moved both her hands into her storage space and pulled out an excessively massive battle axe that mmed into the ground causing the floor to crack and the room, slightly tremble.
"That''s¡ª"
Indeed, that was the weapon belonging to the Numberless Lion-kin that had apanied number 10 to the Viscount mansion.
"This is a rare asion, so why don''t you alle at once? This is my first time using such a brutish weapon so I might not be able to control my strength perfectly and my aim might be a bit off, so it''s better if you all attack at the same time."
Everyone including Nine was at a loss for words as they all stared nkly at Rain for several seconds before somebody finally broke the silence.
"...You talk big for a mere dark elf."
"You must be feeling cocky because you managed to defeat 10, huh? But believe me, you haven''t seen what real power looks like?"
The smile on Rain''s face grew wider as she heard those words. While she was currently restraining her aura the best she could. Even for mortals, these four should''ve been able to sense her presence despite herck of animosity towards them.
Perhaps they possess skills or items that protect them from intimidation and fear. This was something that would be considered a given for people in the underworld yet now, it was working against them as they constantly seem to be underestimating her.
Rain casually picked up the massive battle axe that had dug into the ground with a single arm as she gently rested it on her shoulders and smirked.
"For the so-called elites of Numbers, do you think it''s a good idea to look down on someone that was able to take down one of your own so easily?"
"Please don''t tter yourself. Number 15 was far weaker than we are just like that fool 10. It''s easy to tell from your weak aura alone that the only thing to worry about is those bracelets on your arms. Did you really think we wouldn''t notice the presence of an artifact?"
"Indeed. You must think possessing those artifacts will give you the edge against us but don''t think you can activate their abilities in our presence elf."
"I see... So you have the ability to prevent the activation of artifacts. That''s actually impressive, I''m almost tempted to take you all alive now. Nah, just one will do."
Rain could gauge her opponent''s strength with magic sense and by the potency of their aura as well. However, much like her other ability, it would be difficult to tell if her opponents were concealing their strength with skills or magic and it was even possible to inte one''s aura with buff skills to provide one''s enemy with false data.
"That''s why, we''re giving you a chance. We''lle to you one at a time, so¡ª"
"¡ªThere''s no need for that. Let''s get straight to the point. I''ll be fighting as a warrior today, soe at me with worms."
Rain flexed her fingers, taunting them toe at her.
"My usual style and skills are all geared towards assassination, so this way, at least one of you might survive."
"This bitch! Don''t you dare underestimate us?"
The hooded spirit known as Thirteen Shoulders trembled in fury.
"Underestimate you? Please... I''m an assassin, I do not underestimate my targets. You''re the ones underestimating your opponent even under such conditions. Jeez... I wasted enough time talking with morons like you, let''s put an end to this."
Rain stepped forward and swung the battle ax at the empty air as lightly as she could. Yet, the air split as the wind pressure alone forcing the four to take a step back.
The ground beneath her feet caved in as shepletely disappeared from their view leaving behind a storm in her wake.
"I''ll start with you."
Chapter 404 C404. Those Stronger Than 10
?
Known throughout the organization by various numbers over the years, Number 12 ¡ª the incubus ¡ª had rapidly risen through the ranks in the span of a few months and had only chosen not to raise his rank any further after meeting the ones known as the Single Digits in person.
??????
His full name was Kino Soucriant.
Born in a small vige in the western parts of the continent to the household of an unassuming farmer. He was discovered to possess an innate ability and a talent for swordsmanship.
With the aid of his innate ability and sword skills, he was practically invincible amongst his peers and distinguished himself on the battlefield. With his racial abilities as an incubus, he could practically live forever as long as he fed off the vitality of others, and his name was soon known far and wide as the blood-sucking demon Kino.
Having never known defeat in swordsmanship nor in battle, he walked an eternal path of victory.
Nobody, not even himself, had doubted this fact, as such, he decided to venture out into the territory of the Primordials to seek stronger challengers and had entered the annual martial tournaments held by the Primordial Behemoth of Lust.
At first, he had not joined to win as he knew his magic skills were far too weak to challenge mages on the level of Demon Lords. He had simply intended to let the entire region know of his prowess with the de.
He had aimed to leave every Martial artist and swordsman crushed at his feet. However, he could barely believe the result of that tournament.
Absolute defeat¡ª
For the first time in his life, he had been utterly humiliated and defeated. He hadn''t even stood a chance.
The man who defeated him in the very first round was none other than Nine. He had entered the tournament in search of skilled recruits for the organization at the time.
What scared him the most was the level ofpetition in that tournament. Despite the fact that Nine had made it to the semi-finals before stepping down, he had faced far more skilled opponents than he had been and that was a devastating blow to Kino, even more so than the actual defeat.
He realized he had been living in a bubble all this while and how truly weak he had been back then. It would seem his perspective on this world had been too naive and limited.
This was truly the tale of the big fish in a small pond.
However...
Despite the utter humiliation and defeat that would''ve shattered the world view of an ordinary lesser demon, Kino broke through the despair that would drive anyone to drink and steeled himself.
Driven by his pure passion for the sword, he swallowed his pride and approached the one who had defeated him and pleaded to be trained by him. This was not something just anyone could do, approaching a being vastly superior to oneself would make even the bravest of demons cower.
However, Kino was driven by pure determination and passion that would not back down for anyone. Seeing that, Nine decided to take him under his wings, soon he joined the organization called Numbers in the process.
He trained ceaselessly, honing both his skills and his body.
He learned more about magic and furthered his knowledge.
The genius now applied himself like a schr.
Defeat had only made Kino stronger.
He had only one aim in mind.
That was to wipe away his earlier shame and avenge his defeat with victory. To surpass the one that gave him that defeat.
To that goal, he sacrificed everything and rose through the ranks of the organization rapidly until he has gotten to the 12th seat where he was qualified to meet the rest of the Single Digits.
That was when his ambitions died.
He had reached the limits of his magic potential and was struggling to gain any extra leverage he could by obtaining greater weapons and items to boost his strength.
However, upon meeting the Single Digits, he realized. There were some walls, you couldn''t ovee.
As such, he could not imagine himself loosing to anyone that was not a part of the Single Digits.
??????
However ¡ª
He had suddenly found himself back in the same situation on that very day of the tournament. His confidence and expectations, all blown away in an instant.
¡ªRain closed in like a gale, her hands tightening their grip on the battle ax as she swung casually with a wide motion. Despite the fact that her movements with the weapon were amateurish at best, Kino was unable to defend against the attack or evade it, without so much as the time to move, Kino Soucriant''s top half went flying after being cleaved clean through.
Kino''s fairly unremarkable life was thus extinguished in an instant. It vanished without him knowing why or how he had offended his opponent. Needless to say, he had failed to attain the strength he desired, and his life goal was snuffed in mere moments.
Not unlike her usual self, Rain chuckled and said.
"Is that how you n on making me pay for my mistakes? I did tell you not to underestimate me too much."
Rain flicked therge weapon in her right hand, causing the blood stain on the de to dissipate. As Kino''s body sttered on the ground, the sword and item he had on his hands ttered to the ground as he didn''t even had the time to activate the magic item.
Although the sight before their eyes was shocking, the remaining members of Numbers did not stop moving as they prepared their attacks.
I suppose their im to be stronger than Number 10 wasn''t a joke.
Rain mused to herself as she stalked toward the subus. Despite the fact that two of hispanions had died so easily, Nine wasn''t making any moves as he calmly watched the battle from the rear.
Rain smiled, with both her speed and the hourss of Chronos, she could easily end this fight in an instant but she hadn''t done so as though she was awaiting something.
As Rain approached Number 14, the Mana around her body shifted as the bat-like wings on her back pped rapidly and she took off into the air.
She then pulled out two sets of multi-de weapons from behind her back as the des moved independently from one another as though they had a mind of their own.
Her hands also didn''t stop moving as she pulled out the halves of a red pole that had been strapped to her thighs and connected them together as she prepared to move in for an attack.
The multiple multi de weapons moved around her without any need for a conscious thought to control them as though they truly did have a mind of their own.
Rain could sense theck of a direct influence on the weapons and found the method at which this was achieved to be rather interesting.
This was most likely due to an enchantment on the weapons itself or a spell she wasn''t familiar with. Even so, most enchantments of this type only allowed for simple movements, and thus it was not usually suitable as a primary offensive method as it made one''s attack patterns predictable.
Normally, such enchantments would not be used alongside a short ranged weapon and would be used as a distraction for mages to cast higher ranking spells that needed a full length of incantations in battle, but her skill to control these des was slightly different as she could control the extended des as though they were an extension of her arms.
? Cascading de Domain?
?Falling Vine Hook?
Still hovering above the battlefield, Number 14 activated a second skill and the des of her weapon moved rapidly as they descended on the ground duplicating itself rapidly in mid-air increasing the area of impact considerably.
While Thirteen also activated a skill sensing the disparity in their strength and nning to trap the emissary between a torrent of des and a storm of dark vines that tore through the reinforced walls and ground toward her.
This was a barrier of des and vines. Stepping into this cage meant certain death and even if they were somehow blocked by the dark elf, it would be impossible for her toe out of such a torrent unscathed, and with that, 14 can move in to finish the job.
However¡ª
Before both attacks could reach their intended target, Rain hadpletely disappeared from their sight and appeared behind the floating subus and swung the massive weapon at an impossible speed, causing the de to be ignited mid-flight as cracks began to appear on the weapon having endured far more pressure than it was built to handle.
In the next moment, her head fell to the ground as her body still hung in the air, her wings still pping as she went through the motions she was already in having not realized her death.
The vines moving towards her des shattered the skill that had lost its source of Mana and absolutely shredded her headless body as Rain moved out of the way before casting a spell in passing.
"Widened Magic - Burning Fireflies."
Specks of mes simr to the specks of lights still floating around the room rapidly appeared around Rain as they flew towards the approaching forest of vines, igniting them into a ze that instantly reduced the vines to ash.
"Come on, attack with me! Let''s get him together!"
A voice that sounded like a shriek came from under the hood of Thirteen as he raised his staff in the air and began to multi-cast several spells at once.
"Grand Magic - Spirit Binding.
Overtier Magic - ck Stone Coffin.
Max Magic - Burning Light."
To cast three vastly different spells simultaneously was no easy feat as this was something even most Demon Lords couldn''t do. This showed just how skilled and attuned with the Mana essence he truly was.
However, none of that meant anything in front of absolute power.
Several magic circles appeared around the hooded spirit as his aura skyrocketed and Mana exploded from his essence.
The ground beneath the emissary''s feet shook violently and two ck pirs in the shape of coffins shot up from beneath the earth and mmed into her, trapping her within its walls.
Simultaneously, translucent slippery vinespletely different from the ones earlier rose around the ck Stone coffins and bound them firmly in ce.
These were both spells of the 4th tier boosted with meta magic and powered by the very life force of a spirit to transcend the limits of his users'' potential.
To finish up thebo, a massive beam of burning light shot at the ck Stone coffin chained with spiritual vines trapping the emissary within for only a moment.
Thirteen was no fool, he had put his pride as a superior species aside having witnessed the death ofradesparable to him in strength, and did not believe this attack was enough to kill the emissary.
However, sacrificing all his Mana and even his life energy to power these spells was only to create an opportunity for Nine to end this.
He firmly believed that no matter how strong this dark elf was, there was no way Nine¡ª one of the Single Digits¡ª the highest ranking elites of the organization, would be unable to kill this enemy.
However¡ª
He caught the image of Nine from the corner of his eye yet to even take a single step. His expression hadn''t changed and he clearly had no intentions to help him.
"What is this? What''s wrong with you?"
Before he could even find out what was going through Nine''s mind, his eyes suddenly widened as he saw the beam of light that had shattered the Spirit Binding and ck Stone coffin being absorbed into an invisible shield around the emissary and his mind went nk.
"Is this a joke?"
A momentter, his attack came back at him faster than he could even think even with thought eleration as his body was erased from existence in the blink of an eye.
Or rather
, if he were any other species but a spirit, such an attack would have beenpletely fatal. However, that did not mean that he hade out of this unscathed.
Chapter 405 C405. Apex Predator
?
Half of Thirteen''s body had been blown away by his spell which seemed to have been reflected at him several folds by something surrounding the emissary. His near-translucent body was only hanging on to life by absorbing the Mana essence around himself.
Spirits were being attuned to the natural energy around them and could easily assimte their internal Mana with the raw and unfiltered essence of the world.
However, this was not an easy process.
As Thirteen attempted to restore his nearly exhausted Mana, he looked to Nine for assistance as he dragged himself across the ground and bellowed.
"What are you doing? We should''ve attacked together, she''s stronger than what you describe¡ª"
Before he could get thest word of his sentence out, the end of a cane came crashing into what remained of his head, ending what little grip he had on life.
"I''m to take it you''re next, Number 9..."
Rain smiled as she raised the massive oversized weapon across her shoulders but unlike the previous times, she did not stagger due to the awkward weight discement.
"You didn''t step in to help your underlings, I wonder why. Were you scared?"
Nine''s expression did not change as he continued to observe Rain with the same serious expression on his face.
The air stood still inside thepletely dark room yet both figures did not lose track of the other as the ground beneath their feet gave in to the mighty pressure as the two lunged at each other with such blinding speed that it took several seconds for the sound of the devastating impact his gloved fist made with the battle ax.
In the blink of an eye, the two fighters had switched positions after exchanging a single blow in mid-air.
Nine raised his fist as he observed the cut the battle ax had made on his magically enhanced gloved that should''ve been able to withstand the sh from an actual magic weapon.
"I''ll admit it. You''re quite strong. Stronger than me currently."
Nine spoke as he stared at the shallow cut between his fingers being healed slowly before returning his attention back to the emissary.
"Really, I guess that means you should give up then. If you surrender peacefully I promise it won''t hurt. Well, not much anyway."
"Me, surrender? Hahaha... You clearly have no idea who you''re dealing with."
"I could say the same about you though. Plus, it''s already toote to regret your actions since you allowed your team to die so easily."
"Those guys were useless to me the moment they failed to defeat you."
Nine chuckled as he shrugged his shoulders, revealing a sinister expression in the moment.
"You sound so confident for a guy who''s rankedst in your little group. Ain''t you the weakest of the bunch."
A vein visibly bulged on Nine''s forehead but he chose to restrain himself for now. He silently took a deep breath as he allowed the tension to escape from his clenched fists.
"Me, Weak? That''s a nice joke. I''ve watched you throughout the fight with the others so don''t think you''re doing a good job of hiding your abilities by using such a weak weapon. Or did you really think I wouldn''t notice."
"Oh... you noticed. I wasn''t really trying to hide it you know. This was more of an experiment."
"Nonsense! Let''s see the weapon you used on 15."
Saying that the ground underneath his feet shattered once more as he shot out like a storm and Rain matched his speed. A grey aura engulfed his fist as he threw a devastating straight punch at the iing de of the battle ax being swung at him.
*BOOM!
The impact shook the entire base, sending shockwaves through the walls and causing earthquakes across the entire city that could be ssified as the heights magnitude earthquake.
As both fighters exchanged positions once more, Rain noticed the cracks forming on the de of her weapon as it soon shattered into countless pieces.
"Well, thatsted longer than I expected. Still, I do feel like I''ve expanded my repertoire a bit. I wonder if I can get the Weapon Mastery skill if I keep using different weapons?"
Rain tossed the base of the broken battle ax to the side as she turned around to face Nine with a smirk as she pulled out her ck daggers from the void of space.
"Now then, do you really believe you can defeat me with that level of strength? It''s about time you show me what you''re hiding as well."
"Hahahaha... I should''ve expected I couldn''t hide it from you."
Nineughed sinisterly as he walked over to where he had plunged his cane into Thirteen''s body and grabbed it with his right hand without pulling his cane out.
The flow of Mana suddenly changed around him as Rain''s eyes narrowed at the sight unfolding before her eyes.
The body of the Spirit being on the ground had slowly begun to shrivel up as his essence was slowly being sucked into Nine''s body through his cane.
In less than a few seconds, the body hadpletely disappeared and the aura Nine''s body was emitting had increased significantly.Not only that, his physical presence had also increased significantly.
Nine slowly let out a long sigh of ecstasy as he closed his eyes andpletely assimted the new abilities he had absorbed within himself.
"Yeaaaaaaah... Did you really think I dragged these worthless bums everywhere with me for their mediocre abilities? Hahahaha... that was your mistake."
Rain tilted her head a little puzzled as she watched Nine move and absorb the essence and body of hisrades one by one. With each one he absorbs, he goes through a drastic change as his body growsrger, his skin gets darker, and his aura skyrockets.
Now standing at a whopping 7ft 7, his tailored suit had been ripped by his erged muscr frame as a thinly ck tail and goat-like horns protruded from the sides of his head.
He seems to have reverted into his True Demon form as his power increased rapidly, without any signs of slowing down. This didn''t seem to be a temporary boost either as it seems both his mana and magic potential has increased as well, something thought to have been impossible by even the Great Five.
The only person in this world she had believed could do this was none other than her master, the reincarnation of the Demon King himself.
Yet, here was a lowly riff-raff, achieving something simr despite his rather barbaric methods. If she wasn''t witnessing this herself she would''ve never believed it was possible.
In fact, she had already refused to believe this oue when she had seen Number 10''s memories of the rough data she had gathered on Nine over the years, as only the Single Digits would be aware of his abilities, skills, and items, all she could do was mostly spection from the various bits of rumors akd information floating around.
Given her ambitions to rise through the ranks and be a part of the Single Digits, she had dedicated herself to finding out everything she could about them, and the person she had the most information on, was Number 9 himself.
She had also spected on the various possibilities for what his innate ability would be, but this was not part of the list so Rain had not expected it. Even though she knew Nine was hiding most of his powers from the beginning.
The question now remains. How was he achieving this? Was it a skill? An ability? Or a Magic artifact?
Rain''s eyes naturally wandered to the cane that had grown considerably smaller in his hands as thest option came to mind.
"What? Trying to figure out my secret? Don''t worry sweetheart, I''ll tell you¡ª"
The arms holding the cane bent in a familiar motion as the cane was shot out of his hand with an impossible speed, crossing the distance in an instant.
"¡ªAfter all, you''ll die soon anyway!"
**Boom!
Rain slightly tilted her head and the cane missed her face by a hair and crashed into the wall behind her like a meteorite. It shattered the wall behind her and continued with its omentum until the cane itself disintegrated.
"What you just witnessed is not the work of any mere artifact. This is my power as the apex of this world. The one who will one day rule over this universe from the shadows. This is my innate ability, Predator."
Not wasting time, Nine casually swung his fingers at the space between him and Rain, and the air was split in four as an explosive wave sliced through everything in front of him only slightly missing Rain on purpose.
The smile on Rain''s face did not change as she ignored the crumbling base around her and continued despite knowing they could not fight underneath the city no matter what.
"You make that sound like an impressive ability yet you''re still only ranked 9th in your organization. If you could really grow stronger by simply absorbing others, I''m sure you would not willingly stay in thest position. Despite all this, you''re still just a barking dog ain''t you."
Rain swirled her des as she grinned which apparently seemed to rub Nine the wrong way as he clicked his tongue and spoke.
"I don''t me you for being ignorant but make no mistakes, I have the greatest innate ability in the world. Clearly, I''ve been chosen by the gods. Don''t get it twisted. I''ve simply been bidding my time until I nurture the right targets to prey on."
"Nurture?"
Rain keenly picked up on the word that stood out the most in the barrage of nonsense he was spewing and hearing her repeat that word out loud made Nine frown slightly before smirking a momentter.
"Hehehehe... Fine, you got me. My ability has a few drawbacks for it to work, but most of all, I have to stalk my target and learn everything I can about them as the apex predators do. The more I do, the more of their strength and abilities I can assimte, otherwise, I''ll barely get anything."
Rain finally understood why this demon was only as strong as he was till now. He was hiding a lot of information but she could figure out the rest from what he had said till now.
The conditions necessary for his Predator to activate were strict and thus, incredibly difficult for him to attain any meaningful skills and abilities from his prey making his ability a worthless imitation and posing no threat to her master.
Still, she could not permit the continuous existence of anyone iming to be the rightful ruler of this world. Even as a passingment, that statement was unforgivable.
With that, Rain was done talking and there was no longer any need to ask leading and provocative questions, her entire body leaned forward as she immediately disappeared from view.
"Enough talk, it''s time you di¡ª"
Before Nine couldplete his sentence, a tiny palm inparison to his now-massive face had covered his vision as his surroundings instantly changed and his massive body was tossed ross the wilderness, burning under a zing red sky despite the fact that it had still been the middle of the night a moment ago.
Chapter 406 C406. Rain V Nine
?
"Enough talk, it''s time you di¡ª"
Nine''s aura red up as his muscles tighten and his now bare feet, easily dug into the concrete floor, his knees bent in preparation to lung at his opponent.
However¡ª
Before he could evenplete his sentence, a tiny palm inparison to his now-massive face had covered his vision as she had grabbed his face and his surroundings instantly changed.
He had immediately sensed the sudden difference in his environment with his magic sense, and before he could even process the sudden rush of new information, his massive body was tossed across the vast wilderness, his eyes burning under the sudden ze of a red sky with a copsing sun despite the fact that it had still been the middle of the night a moment ago.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!... ... ...BOOM!!!
With a wild toss, Nine massive frame had been flung through the air with an absurd force as his body smashed through countless hills and mountains before finally losing its inertia and mming into the ground with a devastating force that left behind a massive crater as though a meteorite had just crashed on the surface of the.
Nine was confused.
His mind had gone nk momentarily but he quickly snapped out of it. He had spent years, decades, even centuries nurturing those four to serve as the ultimate stepping stones to his greatness.
Throughout his life, Nine, or rather, Benjamin Olsen. A man that had reincarnated into this world from Earth, had never once failed to urately judge his opponent''s capabilities.
He was once a skilled boxer that had moved from his home country in Africa to dominate the heavyweight division in America at the early age of 15.
He had always been bigger than the others around him causing him to get in fights with people older than him all the time. However, contrary to his massive frame at the time, he had never been the confrontational type. As such, he has developed a keen eyesight for his opponent, knowing when to fight and when to flee.
He wasn''t an idiot, he wouldn''t stand to fight an opponent he knew he couldn''t defeat for any reason and that trait of his was why he had been undefeated in his time as a boxer, holding a record of 44 wins, 0 losses, and 0 draws.
That trait of his had also followed him to this world the moment he woke up inside the body of a kid that had been abandoned by his parents in the forest after dying an unremarkable death at the hands of a stray bullet, during a mass shooting at a certain event he had been invited to.
He had been forced to suffer through various hardships as he had to survive in this dangerous world alone in the middle of a very dangerous forest.
Unfortunately for him, he wasn''t lucky enough to be born in the body of a baby and the body of the starved child he had taken over had already passed the age necessary for absorbing Mana essence and shaping his mana pool so he didn''t have any influence on his magic potential.
Fortunately, his training as a human allowed him to survive in the forest and hunt the weaker animals while escaping and avoiding the monsters. However, during a rather dangerous encounter, he awakened his innate ability and devoured a monster he had studied in order to avoid its territory and had suddenly increased his strength and magic potential.
Later on, he was discovered by a band of mercenaries and soon joined Numbers as the organization granted him the resources and leeway he needed to study and understand how his ability worked.
Throughout the years, he had killed and preyed on the souls and bodies of over a thousand demons and lesser demons and despite figuring out that stronger opponents granted him more strength and abilities which increased his magic potential, raising his original Tier 3 potential to a Tier 5 and rising through the ranks.
He still felt the vast amounts of soul energy being wasted every time he used his innate ability on his enemies. However, that quickly changed when he killed and absorbed the soul and body of one of his closestrades in the organization that had attempted to betray them.
The amount of energy he has gained despite the low magic potential of the target was massive. He had gained a full tier, something that only happened whenever he preyed on over 400 people.
He soon figured out how his abilities work so he decided to create his little faction in the organization as he went around recruiting talented individuals to feed his hunger for power.
This was one of the secrets kept by the Single Digits who had been aware of his vast potential for greatness and turn a blind eye to his hunting spree within the organization. Even then, nothing could satisfy his hunger for power.
The truth was, Benjamin hated himself. More urately, he hated his cowardly nature despite his manly appearance. He hated himself anytime he had to run from a fight just because he might lose.
This was why he had immediately sought after strength the moment he learned of his innate ability to infinitely increase his magic potential by bing a true Predator. He hadn''t cared for the ones he had to kill to attain this strength, he just wanted to never feel that way again. After all, these were all demons he was talking about.
To him, demons weren''t worth his sympathy despite him also being in the body of a demon currently. It didn''t matter to him as long as he could be the strongest in this world.
However, the fact that his ability was so limited that he had to consume thousands of lives to gain any significant increase which was only getting more difficult the higher his tier increase was a problem.
Even if he could cover his tracks as a high-ranking member of Numbers, that didn''t mean he could just go around killing in the thousands without drawing the attention of the Great Five or other powerful beings like the Seven Primordials.
As such, the fact that he could gain more for less was the best solution to his problem. Yet, he had been forced to end his stalking early, and even worse he had failed to kill most of his prey and had lost a lot of soul energy.
Still, what he had absorbed should''ve been enough to deal with this dark elf.
His keen sense to tell an enemy''s strength has only gotten better aftering to this. world and mixing with his magic sense and enhanced perception.
He had urately judged that this dark elf had recently ascended to be a Demigod which was why she was being so cocky as he was only at the peak stages of the 5th tier earlier.
However, he has absorbed the strength of four preys he had stalked for more than a decade, and had risen rapidly despite the loss of energy and reached the peak of the 6th Tier.
Plus, to contain such a rush of energy he had unrestrained his true demon form and was now.parable to a true Demigod temporarily plus he currently has two Magic artifacts on him that should be passively boosting him as well.
Also, the more he fought and digested the vast energy within him, the stronger he would ultimately be when he finally stabilized the chaos within himself.
So right now, he was at leastparable to a basic 7th Tier being as well and would only grow stronger, which was why he couldn''t understand how this had happened.
Not only had the dark elf taken him by surprise but she had also forcibly teleported him against his will to the outskirts of the omniverse. He could sense the slight difference in the vibrations of the molecules in the air and instinctively knew they were no longer in the same dimension.
To impress such an influence on him at this stage should''ve been impossible. So, how the hell did she do it?
''Don''t tell me? She also possesses multiple Magic Artifacts of her own?''
Although this was rtively unknown, it was a fact that carrying more than one magic artifact on hand for an extended period of time, without storing them in a storage box could sometimes grant a passive boost to one''s abilities.
The truth was, this depended on the type of artifact and their ranks as high-grade magic artifacts possess dense mana aura that could strengthen the users'' Mana body after a certain period, and depending on the type of artifact, it would improve one''s strength or speed, defenses or attack power.
However, aside from Demon Lords and veteran Demigods, no one would casually disy a valuable item like a magic artifact on their person where it could be easily stolen even from a distance which was why Nine had not even considered this possibility.
Nine stood up in his crater, barely a millisecond had passed since he was mmed here as he was currently using thought eleration to gather his thoughts, everything around him seemingly moving slower the more he elerated his thoughts.
Nine sighed heavily, the fear of defeat slowly crept into his heart for a second as he changed his mind. He cannot keep running forever.
The energy he has absorbed was yet to be fully digested and he still had several escape ns for dire situations so there was no need to panic.
Nine smirked as he wiped the blood away from the corner of his face where the dark elf''s nail had dug into his skin and left a scratch that had already healed.
His body could feel the change in pressure from the differences between this dimension and theirs, the vast increase in gravity and the thin air, almostpletely devoid of Mana essence.
This was no doubt the oue of a dimension on the verge of destruction. A cepletely devoid of life and the perfect stage for a sh between Demigods.
He steadily forced himself to adjust to the new environment as he began his counter.
He then assumed a fighting stance as he prepared to receive the emissary that had chased after his body. He had boosted his thought eleration to its limit to get a breather but the emissary was still moving fast even in nk time.
It was almost as though the world had stopped without the need for that item.
''So this is the power of a Demigod?''
Nine was reveling in his newfound strength as he observed the world moving at a speed he had never thought was possible. At this point, he realized how Number 10 had been defeated even with that artifact.
Anyone capable of moving in nk time was already capable of stopping time without the need of expending Mana. He almost felt like a fool for thinking that item was unstoppable.
Nineughed within himself as he took a boxing stance instead of the wild one he had taken earlier. This would be the first time since he came to this world, he had ever taken any opponent this seriously.
The emissary had reached him and swung her dagger, he quickly weaved and threw a jab with the force of a nuclear explosion but even such a quick strike was avoided by her frightening agility.
''Two can y that game.''
The next few moments were intense as he threw a fury of jabs and weaved through her barrage of attacks. They weren''t making any wild movements and were practically standing in the same spot yet the ground and everything around them was being blown away by their strikes and swings.
Mountains were being leveled and the terrain was rapidly being altered. It was only now that he understood just how truly naive he had been in the base.
The fact was, this elf has been using magic to protect that base from being blown away so as to not destroy the city. With his fast the vast wilderness had be a deste wastnd, he could understand why he had never heard of any fights between Demigods and demon lords.
They were currently on a deste ind in the middle of an already copsing dimension yet he felt as though any careless movement and they wouldpletely wipe out this dimension before it''s time.
Just as the slight bit of worry surfaced in his mind, Nine felt his mind go nk as his head was rocked by a powerful kick to the dome.
*Bang!
"What''s the matter, getting cold feet?"
"Wha¡ª how?"
Chapter 407 C407. World Devourer
Chapter 407 C407. World Devourer
Bang!
In the blink of an eye, several more of the inds in the archipgo in the middle of this deste disappeared one after the other as a figure was blown through the inds like a rock that had been skipped through a body of water, with a sound that did not seem like it could havee from a body of flesh and blood.
Nine felt his brain collide with the inside of his skull several times as his body continuously bounced off the inds like a massively distorted ball of flesh. He realized if he didn''t do something soon, the emissary would surely finish him off, so he quickly activated one of the magic items on his person.
Currently, he possesses two magic artifacts and three magic items in total on his person. The first artifact was the belt around his waist, the second was the storage ring on his left hand and thest was simply an Epic Ranked magic item in the shape of the trousers he was still wearing.
As he thought about activating one of these items, his blinding momentum instantly slowed down immensely and his almost slipping consciousness was immediately restored as his body began to rapidly repair itself from the absurd levels of damage he had taken in that single hit.
He then quickly twisted his body in mid-air as hended on his feet, though he was still skidding over the mangled terrain at a rate that would swiftly wear out the soles of his shoes if he had any. After several dozen more meters, he finally came to a halt and immediately prepared himself.
Apparently, he had greatly underestimated what it meant to be a Demigod. It didn''t seem to matter that she had only just ascended, even matching her raw power with his true demon form wasn''t enough to truly close the gap between a mortal and the Divine.
"Nonsense... Absolute nonsense! Don''t you dare underestimate me you wrench!"
He hadpletely lost his temper as he bellowed at the air in fury.
Aftering this far, there was no way he could allow himself to get so overwhelmed by a mere dark elf. He was done holding back. Since she had brought them to this copsing dimension so they could fight freely, he would do just that.
No longer restrained by the overwhelming suppressive gaze from the astral ne, he could now freely use all the tools at his disposal without worries.
?Unique Skill: Boxer Domain?
? Mirage Arcane?
Immediately, the air around Nine changedpletely as he maintained his boxing stance and closed his eyes, in the next moment, he shifted his head slightly to the right and everything directly behind where his head had been was shattered and blown away as far as the eyes could see.
No longer hesitating, he immediately threw a counter at the invisible enemy in front of him in the form of a straight hook. The speed of this punch was faster than anything he had thrown before and practically unavoidable. It carried with it an unrestrained pressure that would frighten even the most skilled fighter in the world.
*BANG!
His punch has connected with a resounding bang. The pressure and shockwave from the impact of this attack alone hadpletely shattered the entire ind they were standing on. However, even such a devastating blow had only served to push his opponent back a single step and dispel her stealth.
Her fighting style including the random use of stealth and invisibility mid attack, causing her entire existence to disappear from his perception, making her attacks almost impossible to avoid.
After somehow managing to dodge her attack, Nine suddenly managed to corner her with a left hook that moved faster than ever before. She was forced to block the attack head-on with her daggers and was even pushed back a step.
The entire ind had crumbled underneath their feet yet the two of them remained standing on the troubled water as though standing on solid ground.
Rain was slightly surprised but the smile on her face did not change as she decided it was best to put some distance between them until she got a grasp of the skills he had just activated.
With a slight jump, she had put a considerable distance between them and contemted her next attack when her danger sense, or ForeSight kicked in as she quickly moved aside as a sea behind her was split in two.
The image of Nine charging at her to attack had promptly shattered as her mental or Mind Influence resistance had pulled her out of the illusion skill Nine had activated.
Still, Rain was at a loss for words as Nine was still several meters away and she hadn''t sensed his attack crossing the distance between them. Yet the destruction that had ured was not an illusion.
She hadn''t even seen him throw a punch, it was as though his attack had originated from beside her.
''Spatial Distortion? No, I would''ve sensed it. He''s also not affecting the gravitational field around me so how?''
Before Rain could understand what had happened, she suddenly sensed Nine threw another punch and her ForeSight kicked in once more as she instantly activated Ultraspeed and leaped out of the way.
In the next moment, a hole was blown into the sea that nearly destroyed the core of the entire. Again, Rain hadn''t sensed that attack traveling through space, it didn''t matter how fast it had been, she was confident in her speed enough to believe there was nothing faster than her perception.
It was almost as though the effect of his punch had materialized on top of her, as though he had been standing right above her.
''Hmm is that the case?''
Rain pondered as her body defied gravity and she stood in the air, awaiting his next attack. As predicted, whenever Nine would throw a punch, its impact, or effect, would happen wherever she was located.
It seems he had control over a vast space around himself and could attack any inch of said space in an instant. His previously short-range attacks had increased dramatically.
Rain immediately grasp the effects of the earlier skill used by Nine and smiled as she prepared herself.
Just as Rain thought, Nine moved continuously as several more devastating attacks materialized anywhere she was, even in the sky.
''Alright then.''
Having confirmed the nature of his skill, Rain smirked as she flew across the air, constantly avoiding the attacks all around her as Nine unleased a barrage of punches with frightening speed.
The impact of each blow caused the entire ne of existence to tremble vigorously as each attack tore through space itself but failed to reach their intended target.
Nine gritted his teeth as Rain rapidly approached him despite his Boxer''s Domain massively extending his reach and his ability to attack any specific space within the Domain.
?Ultraspeed?
In an instant, Rain avoided the barrage of attacks as she closed the distance between them once more and swung her des.
''Secret Technique - Phantom Assault''
The image of his defeat immediately surfaced in Nine''s mind as he hastily halted his attacks and raised his arm to defend himself while simultaneously activating a skill.
?Battle Skills: Battle Aura?
A greyish-blue aura wrapped around his body as countless shes simultaneously appeared on his body and his massive frame was sent flying once more.
''Shit!''
.Nine''s mind raced as he received the brunt of Rain''s attack head-on. If he has been only a momentte in activating his skill, that attack would have reduced him to minced meat.
Despite the advantage his Boxer''s Domain granted him in a vast area of a 2-mile radius, he had failed tond a single hit on the emissary and had taken damage once more.
Nine gritted his teeth in frustration as he activated his second and final unique skills.
?Unique Skill: Boxer''s Avatar?
The greyish-blue aura wrapped around his body immediately expanded greatly, taking shape as an avatar of his body standing over 100 meters tall.
The massive avatar then threw a punch with staggering speed at the emissary below it. The sheer size of its fist covered a vast distance and the speed at which it had thrown the punch had left no room for escape.
Rain saw no need in dodging the attack as she simply used a skill of her own.
?Chaos Magic -Raging cataclysmic Storm ?
Activating one of the few 7th Tier spells she had managed to learn on the road, a gale of purplish ck wind blew from almost every direction as the bright red sky suddenly grew darker, and thick ck clouds spawned across the vast in mere moments.
The purplish-ck tempest swallowed the figure of the massive blue avatar and Nine himself, shredding everything within it to nothingness.
Yet again, Nine found himself on the brink of death even after using one of the most powerful skills in his arsenal. The violent storm was rapidly tearing through the protection of his Boxer''s Avatar and he could sense the absolute destructive capabilities of these ck winds and Rain.
Despite his ridiculously high resistance to various types of magic, Nine felt as though he would die without fail if he were to take even a portion of this attack.
Thinking quickly, he reached into the void of space and pulled out several scrolls from his storage space, and immediately activated all of them.
"Conjure Celestial - World Devourer!
Gravity Infringement.
Darkness Protection."
Just as his Boxer''s Avatar waspletely eradicated by the Dark Storm, the space above him became distorted for a moment before splitting in two as giant tentacles crept out from the void beyond the spatial tear.
Soon a ridiculouslyrge, amphibious aberration with some nasty features, nearly the size of a moon,pletely surfaced in the upper atmosphere above Nine and opened its mouth.
Its very appearance in the skypletely destabilize the core of this before it had even done anything.
This creature resembled a bizarre cross between an octopus and an eel, with a long, tubr body, as well as a tail at one end and two fins near the head and another along the back. Its'' mouth wamprey-like, filled with serrated, jawless teeth with no end in sight, as it loomed over the entire like a deranged god.
They were called the world Devourer for one reason and one reason only, their unquenchable appetite as they possessed or rather generate a supermassive ck hole within their stomach.
However¡ª
Just as it opened its mouth, everything around it was instantly being pulled into its stomach with a force trillions of times the gravitational force of Neron. A force that could easily tten a mountain into the size of a pancake.
Needless to say, everything, including the chaos storm, the rain, the vast ocean, the atmosphere of this, the vastnds. Everything was being swallowed up by this World Devourer perched in the upper atmosphere of the.
The only one who was currently, immune to the gravitational pull of the beast was Nine, who had used another high-level scroll to make himself unaffected by thews of gravity as his wound slowly healed.
In mere seconds, this entire would be devoured by the creature and even the sun, the moon, and everything in this deste dimension would be swallowed up in a matter of minutes.
At this point, there was no stopping the monster and Nine wasn''t in any shape to try as this was a conjured creature and not a summon that could be easily controlled. His best move right now was to figure out a way to return to Neron.
He wasn''t sure if a normal teleportation tool would work the way he wanted but at the very least, he needed to escape this ce before everything came crashing down on him.
However¡ª
Nine pulled out the highest-grade teleportation tool in his inventory and activated it almost immediately. The space next to him distorted as a ck tear in space opened in the form of a Gate.
This was one of his escape items, and could only be used once every 8 days but this was not time to be concerned about such a trivial thing as Nine immediately jumped through.
A momentter, his figure was thrown out of the Gate and he found himself back where he had been a moment earlier.
"Did you really think you could run from me? Hehe... Too bad. Our Fates have already been intertwined. So for you, your destiny has already been decided."
Chapter 408 C408. Testing Limits
Chapter 408 C408. Testing Limits
Nine''s entire demeanor changed as he heard the bell-like voice that somehow traveled the distance, filtering its way through the noise, as though his opponent was standing right next to him.
He waspletely at a loss for words as he stared dumbly at the emissary, who, despite the presence of the World Devourer that loomed over the as it steadily pulled the apart underneath their feet, devouring everything that enters its mouth, she appearedpletely unaffected and was yet to have moved even a centimeter.
He had expected her to be desperately struggling for her life as she attempted to escape the range of the World Devourer. Yet she seems unaffected by the ridiculously strong gravitational pull of the supermassive ck hole within its stomach.
"Impossible."
Nine''s entire body went limp. This had been the ace of his sleeve given that everything he had tried up to this point had been utterly destroyed by this dark elf.
How unfortunate.
He had beenpletely outssed from the moment the emissary had arrived in that underground base. Hisck of information on her was the deciding factor in this battle.
Given that she had been vaguely aware of his hidden innate ability at the time, it was safe to say she had a degree of information about him and had the chance to properly prepare herself against him, while he had been taken by surprise.
The spell scroll he had, ''Gravity infringement'', was an insanely rare high-tiered scroll he had chanced upon a few decades ago. Since then, he had never encountered a single person with that skill even amongst the most skilled Gyromancers he had fought.
It was truly a twist of fate, for him to encounter an opponent this strong, with the perfect skill to ovee his ultimate trump card. It was as though the goddess of fate had turned her back on him.
With the conjuration of a celestial beast like the World Devourer, any other Demigods might''ve lost their life to such a creature that could Devourer worlds and dimensions in mere minutes, as the beast size increases the more it consumes.
Yet, his opponent had been one of the very few with the exact skill granting them the ability to outright reject thews of gravity, and with enough Magic resistance to pull it off.
Everything around them was being rapidly devoured by the creature, even the core of the they had been standing on had been destabilized and was devoured before it had even had the chance to explode.
The very ground and sea beneath their feet was nowpletely gone and the unstable star within the sr system millions of miles away was already beingpressed and pulled towards the creature''s mouth, and by definition, the very sun was headed towards them with ridiculous speeds.
As this was already a dying world to begin with, the presence of the World Devourer has only served to elerate this world''s destruction from a few hours at best to barely a few minutes.
Even if they somehow survived the very destruction of an entire universe, they would be forcibly thrown into the nothingness of the boundless void, exposing themselves to beings beyond their wildest dream and far above theirprehension.
"Widened Magic - HellFire Rain!"
Just as Nine''s thoughts wandered uncontrobly, Rain made her move as the red sun drew closer to them. Countless balls of reddish ck mes spawned all around the massive beast, each ball of HellFire capable of disintegrating an entire city, yet there were several hundreds of them surrounding the gigantic celestial beast.
With the snap of her finger, the fireballs began to rain destruction upon the eel-like creature from every which way.
Or so it seemed.
Upon closer observation, it would seem the fireballs were rapidly being pulled into the creature''s mouth only moments before making contact with its skin, no matter where the attack had originated from.
Even attacks from the opposite side of his open mouth were being pulled at a force almost too fast for the eyes to see.
In somewhat of a retaliation to being attacked, the World Devourer swung its tentacles at Rain who casually avoided the path of the massive tentacles as she prepared another spell.
Although she was indeed a Demigod and her mana reserves surpassed any mortal limits, it was still finite and she had already exhausted a majority of her mana on the fight leading up to this point so she couldn''t afford to waste her spells on a fruitless endeavor.
However...
Rain couldn''t care less. One of the purposes of this battle was to truly push herself to the limit and see how far she could go on her own. If just running out of Mana could stop her then she didn''t think she would be worthy of the title of ''Lightning General.''
The first spell she used with ''Silent Magic'' was ''Clone Self'' as she split into 10 perfect copies of herself even though they''re clones only had 70 percent of her abilities.
Immediately, one of the clones consumed thest of her remaining Mana, as she augmented herself with her skills, using severalyers of stealth and charged at the World Devourer head-on.
The clone used several skills and secret techniques, including, Thunder God''s Descent and Absolute Rend. However, the World Devourer was more than just a moving supermassive ck hole.
The creature''s body oozes a degenerating and soul-corrupting mist andpletely disintegrates anything thates in contact with it. Unfortunately, even with the ridiculous severing capabilities of the skill, Absolute Rend at such close range, the World Devourer could still force the attack into being devoured in its stomach.
With the clone''s weaker statspared to Rain, she could not withstand the degenerating mist of the World Devourer and disappeared.
Rain smirked despite having confirmed that even close-range attacks, which she specialized in, weren''t very effective. She and her remaining 9 clones then moved to surround the creature and cast their spells.
"Chaos Magic - Hellfire Meteor."
Insanely massive fireballs the size of actual asteroids, gathered above the gigantic monster as they began to rain down upon it. Upon first observation, it would seem Rain had wasted thest of a Mana doing something that was destined to fail.
However, destiny to Rain was only a fragile string underneath her fingertips.
?Fate Maniption?
Just as the giant fireballs were about to strike the creature, they all suddenly took a sharp turn as they were promptly devoured in its mouth. Well, all but one.
*Boom!
The was a devastating explosion on the back of the massive eel and the creature let out an audible scream in pain.
Nine''s eyes widened, he could barely believe his own eyes, norprehend what had happened. To his knowledge, nothing should''ve been able tond on the celestial creature''s body. Yet, what was this?
He firmly refused to believe this.
Rain, on the other hand, was slightly disappointed. She has used Fate maniption to alter the possibility or rather destined all ten of her attacks to bypass the creature''s gravitational suction and hit so she could test the creature''s level of resistance to fate and only one of her attacks had hit.
This meant this conjured creature had a ridiculously high resistance to Fate alterations and probability maniption. Still, the smile on Rain''s face soon returned as a 10 percent sess rate was still impressive.
However, after the mes that burnt the back of the creature were suppressed, the creature''s back was already rapidly recovering at a staggering pace. Clearly, the beast was also absorbing the energy from whatever it was devouring and growing stronger.
If left unchecked, this beast would rapidly be unstoppable and even be a threat to the infinite multiverse, or worse, the entire omniverse.
"Hahahaha... Useless! You can''t defeat such a beast. It''s foolish."
Given that his escape n has failed, Nine was now in the same boat as Rain as he could not afford to let this creature devour this world, he wasn''t even sure he could survive the destruction of an entire universe as he was yet to be a true Demigod.
Even so, his will to fight had been utterly crushed and all he could do was simply await his inevitable demise.
So seeing his creature rapidly heal from such a devastating attack made him feel like they were now in the same boat. If so, what was the point of such pointless resistance?
"Is that so? Then watch me. I''m not allowed to die before her after all, besides, I can''t afford to make Lord Ty disappointed in me."
Rain smirked as the buzzing crashing sounds of electricity could be heard even at a distance, ck lightning began to dance across her entire body and her eyes shone with a bright blue hue. At the same moment, the entire dimension began to tremble.
*Thump. Thump. Thump...
Its mouth slowly began to close as it kept retreating backward even though its movement speed was incrediblycking. For some reason, Nine felt as though the For the first time, Number 9 sensed Rain''s aura, his heartbeat increased as his eyes dted and they began to bleed and his blood boiled. He could feel every fiber of his soul and body trying to escape at all cost but there was nowhere to run.
She slowly stretched forth her arm as she pointed a finger at the creature and it immediately started to retreat, the force of its gravitational pull reducing drastically. It was clear, as a celestial, it could sense that something was terribly wrong.
Its mouth slowly began to close as it kept retreating backward even though its movement speed was incrediblycking. For some reason, Nine felt as though the creature''s death was imminent.
It was as though Fate itself had ordained it.
"I suppose I should thank you. I haven''t gotten to unleash my full power freely till now. One dying world shouldn''t be a problem, should it? Oh well."
Before Nine could evenprehend the meaning behind her words, she had already unleashed her power.
Dark Lightning - Wrath of Destruction.
Lightning as ck as the void of space, eagerly jumped from her fingertips as they greedilyshed onto everything and anything, beit solid, air, physical, magical, conceptual, temporal, dimensional, or even imaginary, nothing was spared from their wrath.
Not even Rain herself was spare from the rampage of her own spell. Yet, she luckily protected by an unusual magic barrier that reflected the lightning back at the world around her, sometimes even multiplying the magnitude of the attack.
Naturally, the ck lightningpletely consumed the World Devourer, destroying both the supermassive ck hole within its stomach and its entire existence.
In mere moments, what was once a celestial beast, had been reduced to absolute nothingness by the fangs of the Dark Lightning.
Even then, the attack still didn''t end there as the lightning greedily tore through the fabric of this dimension''s reality, consuming both space and time, burning the sun itself, and destroying the entire universe around them without any signs of slowing down or stopping.
"Oops... I might''ve gone overboard a bit. Oh well, time to go."
Just as she willed it, the ck lightning, even as they rampaged through the dimension,pletely avoided the dumbfounded Nine, both his pride and will, already shattered as he aimlessly floated away in the void of destruction.
Seeing the dead look in the eyes of the previously proud and arrogant elite of Number, Rain chuckled as she prepared to cast the spell, "ne Shift" once more.
She did not possess the spatial maniption or domination skill like Zelda or Tyler so she could not teleport between dimensions with her shadow skills and even a high-tier teleportation spell like Gate could not aplish this task.
The only abilities she knew could achieve this was her master''s Warp and the 8th Tier spell, ne Shift which she had used earlier when bringing Nine here.
Unfortunately, Rain could not cast such a powerful spell as a 7th Tier Magic Assassin and could only achieve this feat with the aid of the magic artifacts on her person. Besides, she was already out of Mana and was only operating on fumes.
She understands that this fight would''ve been unwinnable if she didn''t possess these artifacts gifted to her by her beloved. Both itemsbined for a prolonged period also granted a massive boost to her stats, and their abilities were incredible.
??????
Bracelet of Minerva. (Indomitability)
Magic Artifact - Divine ss
Bestows the user with the Indomitable powers of the goddess of Contradiction, Destruction, and Protection, Minerva.
Primary Effects:
Indomitable by Shield.
A barrier that absorbs the energy from magical or anti-magic attacks directed at the user and stores or reflects them several folds.
Grants protection against the bacsh from the Bracelet of Destruction.
Secondary Effects.
Anti-Detection.
Protects the user from scrying effects which makes it impossible to be tracked by magic.
Enternal Youth.
The Bracelet prevents its user from aging, which will allow them to defy death as long as they can stop themselves from being destroyed.
??????
Bracelet of Minerva. (Destruction)
Magic Artifact - God Tier.
Bestows the user with the Destructive powers of the goddess of Contradiction, Destruction, and Protection, Minerva.
Primary Effects:
Wrath of Destruction.
Calls down a storm of highly destructive pure ck lightning at the user''s will that brings havoc. Destroying anything from a single to entire universes.
Can kill the users if protection is not used.
Secondary Effects.
Soul Corruption
Infuse all users''attacks with soul destruction attributes.
ne Shift.
Grants the user the ability to travel between dimensions.
??????
Rain sighed in relief as she took a breath but failed to pull in any air. Her attention quickly we g back to the dire situation around them as she could not afford to waste anymore time here and attract unwanted attention.
With the use of one of her magic artifacts, she appeared before Nine and they disappeared just as this dimension seized to exist within the vastness of the omniverse, a phenomenon that seem to have drawn the attention of a particr entity.
One who sits above the throne, in the Pce of Stories.
New Book
Chapter 409 C409. Impact
Chapter 409 C409. Impact
¡ªTwo dayster.
¡ªRadiance City, Emerald Pce.
Situated in the confines of a highly secured chamber within the Emerald pce, were the highest-ranking demon nobles of the Floato region, and members of the Jaxith family''s Royal Court, having been summoned here by the degree of the Demon Lord herself.
The tension in the room rose quickly as this was a gathering, unlike many others. The presence of every single Elder in the family spoke volumes to the seriousness of the topic being discussed here today.
Theirbined auras, made the room unbearable for even the royal knights to enter, making them the only ones present in this meeting room.
In the center of the room sat a rectangr tinum meeting table and situated on the most important seat in the room was the Demon Lord herself, Keyrille Mayz Jaxith. Sitted to her right was the second prince, Reynald, and the rest of the seats had been filled by the Jaxith Family''s Elders and ministers, consisting mostly of Earls and Marquises.
If this was a normal situation, everyone except the Demon Lord would have stood up to pay their respects and then properly initiate the meeting ¡ª this was the protocol after all ¡ª but that was not what had happened.
They each had a stack of parchments in front of them and an holographic disy from a magic crystal on the center of the table showed stilled images of scenes andndscapes from within the city.
After confirming that everybody had received and taken their time to peruse the materials they had prepared ahead of time, Reynald cut through the tension in the air and spoke.
"Let us begin. The topic of this meeting will be the attempted kidnapping of the Darknar Family''s envoy. An offense that could very much lead to the annihtion of the Jaxith family."
He had used a term as intense as ''the annihtion'' in hopes that everyone would treat this meeting with the gravity it deserves.
As he paused to observe the reaction of the room, he noticed the white-haired and bearded Elder, who was around the age of his mother, had the most displeased expression out of them all. It seemed that he was deeply anxious about the emergency.
Reynald didn''t find his expression to be strange as it best fits their current predicament, if only his mother hadn''t allowed the Elders to talk her out of the first vassge deal the envoy had presented, they wouldn''t be in as bad a situation as this.
Reynald couldn''t help but worry about his mother. Would she be able to make a well-informed decision concerning this issue?
''She probably has some convictions against the family that''s using the name of her precious Demon King.
''If only Father were still here to talk some sense into her.''
After the death of their father, his mother appeared to have aged quite significantly. She had lost all motivation and was now a shell other former self, perhaps that''s also why she''s still so stuck in the old ways.
''I messed up by not pushing for vassge hard enough in thest meeting, what point does the elder''s favor matter if there''s no region to rule.''
The reason their family relied so heavily on the support of their Elders and nobles was because of the ring weakness of their family''s head, and hisck of power. They currently depended on the strength of the Elders and their armies to protect their region and maintain their rule.
This level of dependency is what had led them to their current predicament.
Reynald felt uneasy so he took a peek at the Elders and nobles of the court.
The topic of this meeting was something that was delivered to them only a day ago by the maids they had assigned to the envoy. The content of her report basically said; The emissary had gone missing during her attendants at the Korver family''s head dinner party.
The knights assigned to her were unable to locate her for most of the night so they requested the aid of the pce rogues, which led them to the Heartrail Family''s estate after it had beenpletely blown away.
Upon further investigation from the 5th princess''s personal guards, the Mansion''s ruins revealed an underground storage facility that was discovered to be for the foreign secret organization most widely known as Numbers.
The emissary was also located during the discovery of this underground chamber having taken care of her assants herself after recovering from whatever spell or drugs were used to kidnap her initially.
After escorting the envoy back to her residence, the 5th Princess''s guards then led the charge to investigate the underground chambers where countless illegally smuggled substances were found in the underground storage and cells that seem to have been housing ves recently.
The origin of these substances that are believed to be the main ingredients to a highly addictive drug and the whereabouts of the ves remain unknown.
Powerful anti-divination magic had most likely been used to prevent the use of any magical methods to investigate the origin and use of everything found within the underground chambers.
The worst part about this report was the utter failure of their knights to even rescue the envoy even after failing to prevent her capture in the first ce. Their utter uselessness had only given the emissary enough grounds to use against their surveince of her actions within the city.
As of now, the envoy had remained within the detached mansion prepared for her but had declined the services of their assigned maids and knights, insisting that the undead that had escorted her to the city were more capable than their knights.
A statement they all found difficult to refute.
She was probably waiting for the Jaxith family to conclude their investigations no doubt having ryed their blunder back to the Darknar family as they decide on their next move.
Given that this could be considered an international incident, it would not have been unusual to give the other side more than a few days to investigate before responding.
Even then, for them to reach a consensus on a response, finish their preparations,plete investigations et cetera, would probably take them more time than they were given, even if they were to rush through every process.
"I''m sorry for the dy your Majesty. Our report had been dyed because we needed to investigate more about the organization known as Numbers, it took us quite a bit of time."
The one who had lowered his head was a Demon marquess and the head of foreign affairs, who was also the minister of information and was in charge of the investigation of the rather unknown secret organization known as Numbers.
"The report we got says they are an organization based in the northern parts of the continent, they apparently specialize in Drugs, Smuggling ve trades et cetera, correct?"
The Marquess and head of foreign affairs nodded in response to one of the Elder''s questions.
"That is correct. There wasn''t much known about this organization as our informationwork did not fully extend into the regions operated by the Great Five. We''ve judged that the base of their organization is located somewhere within the Sentro Region, as such, they are currently beyond our reach."
The entire room went silent for a moment as the Elders all exchanged curious gazes before someone finally asked.
"How can an organization located so far away create a facility, or rather a base of operations underneath our city without anyone noticing them!?"
Another Demon Marquess and also the head of military affairs and defense, or the Minister of War, was in total disbelief, his eyes narrowing in a rather horrifying realization.
He was the youngest person here and also 10th in line to the throne despite not being a pureblood. He had well-shaven grey hair, a dark skin tone, and a slender but muscr build.
His eyes were bright green signifying his connection to the Jaxith family and a scar across his left eye that appeared more like a curse mark than any injury.
His rtionship with the royal family was rather poor as he believes he should be the next in line to the throne as someone with the highest potential in the family so he stayed away from court meetings frequently, making Reynald unaware of his true capabilities.
However, Reynald did not doubt his strength as his aura alone was already enough to rival him despite receiving no special training from the family. He was also vastly more experienced in battle than him given his rank as the minister of war.
"It appears as though the minister of war is not familiar with the internal affairs of our region. The Dark Order is an organization operating within our city and we have been unable to fully eradicate them. If they are aiding this new organization then it would''ve been very difficult to know about their operations ahead of time. They might''ve even masked any operations from this organization byunching an attack on a random location."
Hearing one of the Elder hurriedly defend the ipetence of their information department made the Demon Lord''s expression change for the first time in a long while as she furrow her brow as she asked:
"...So you''re saying we can''t even monitor the operations of a small religious organization like the Dark Order so how can we monitor the ones of Numbers?"
A cold chill ran down the Elder''s back as he hurriedly tried to exin himself.
"Please forgive me, your Grace, I''m afraid this is the current limits of our information department after being limited by the Great Five''s attempts to pressure us over the years. Our spies outside the region are also rapidly being hunted down and in. We are literally being forced into a corner likemon prey.''
Reynald smiled inwardly while simultaneously letting out a silent sigh of relief. It seems there was still some fight left in his mother as only a single sentence from her had forced one of the Elders to hesitate and he had ended up saying something he otherwise wouldn''t have.
This was the sign of a True Demon Lord.
Keyrille''s gentle gaze slowly swept across the room as she observed the dejected demeanor of every single member of her royal court. To think the Great Jaxith family had sunk so low that none of them could raise their heads high when speaking about their situation.
"Has our influence in the Demon continent sank so low? If the Great Five is also responsible for the current war, that means the current affair with the emissary from the Darknar region may also be a ploy to drive us into a corner."
"Yes, your Grace."
His mother let out a tired sigh.
"Has the Adams family also bent their knees to the Great Five?"
The Adams Family was one of the neighboring families they were currently at war with, however, despite them being on the weaker end, they were also one of the oldest families in the continent and were once their allies.
"We can''t be certain, your Grace, because we have yet to receive intel on what is going on in their region. Perhaps they had fallen prey to some honeyed words or perhaps they simply felt that there was more to gain by siding with one of the Great Five than siding with us."
The Adam family was therger of the three neighboring families and thus, were most likely leading the charge in their current alliance.
"Is that so? I understand, head of foreign affairs. Thank you for your hard work so far."
"I''m honored by your kind words your Grace."
At the Demon Lord''s praise, the head of foreign affairs stood up and lowered his head. Just then, the Demon Lord''s gaze shifted to one of the Elders beside her and asked with an even more serious expression on her face.
"Now then... Elder Crome, or rather, Minister of internal affairs. Have you confirmed the statements in the maid''s report? Do we believe In the involvement of our very own nobles in this incident or was this done by outside forces?"
New Book
Chapter 410 Chapter 410. Nobles of the Floato Region
Chapter 410 C410. Nobles of the Floato Region
At the Demon Lord''s question, the Minister of internal affairs stood up from his seat despite not being asked to do so.
"Yes, your Grace. Though we''re not too sure about the entirety of the report, about seven-tenths of those within the court believe this to be a ploy of the Great Five to hinder our rtionship with the Darknar family. About a tenth of us believe that it was done solely by the Heartrail Family in coboration with the Korver family. The rest of us believe this was simply the work of Numbers."
Keyrille remained silent for a moment, her expression remained the same as she let out a slightly frustrated sigh and spoke.
"Hmm, so you do believe our very own nobles are capable of doing such a thing."
"No your Grace, I didn''t mean to¡ª"
The words of the Elder were cut short by a simple wave from the Demon Lord as she contemted his response.
"Your Grace, I believe that this was the maniption of the Great Five to be much more likely than a pair of uninspired nobles being foolish enough to attempt a kidnapping of an envoy. If anything, they might''ve been mind controlled as the head of the Heartrail family is considered to be incredibly weak."
"Really? Mind control on our soil, that would not be possible, I believe the emissary is skilled enough to notice someone being mind controlled anywhere near her, stop thinking like a weakling."
The minister of war and defense asserted the impractical nature of the Minister of internal affairs assessment. His expression was of irritation by the other''s intent of denying the obvious.
"It can''t be mind control, if anything, it''s more likely we''ve been betrayed by the two families and this was their offering to cut off from the Floato region and be part of the neighboring regions."
"Are you saying that our investigations were inept?"
"I did not say that at all."
"But you implied it¡ª"
"Minister of information, minister of war, please calm down. We do not have time for this."
The two lowered their heads upon hearing the Demon Lord speak.
The minister of war continued to speak to a now silent room.
"But, I have no doubt the Heartrail family were considering betraying us as they are the only family on the verge of copse after suffering the most from their territory being in the forefront of the war and losing their most promising heir."
Everyone here knows of the devastating results thest battle had incurred, most of the lower-ranked noble families had lost their heirs and promising soldiers in that battle and even the Demon Lord had lost her firstborn.
However, to most of the nobles present here, that was definitely not enough reason to betray the Jaxith family and the most likely exnation for this was the presence of the secret organization called Numbers.
Everything made sense once they considered the presence of such an unknown variable in the equation, perhaps they had been ckmailed using one means or another.
"Reynald, though not much time has passed, how much progress have you made on your investigations?"
Keyrille chose to ignore the murmurs in the room and turned to the seat next to hers and asked:
"Well mother, after going through what was left of the Heartrail mansions, we did not find anything that led us to believe they were being mind controlled or ckmailed."
The courtiers all had expressions of disbelief on their faces as they stared at him, but Reynald ignored their expressions and continued.
"...Well, the existence of the underground structure connected to the tunnels proves they have been in coboration with the secret organization known as Numbers for years now. We believe they may have been the ones to aid the organization in setting up their operation in our city."
As Reynald spoke, the holographic image in the center of the table constantly changed to reflect his words, disying any images to represent his report.
"Is that so? What makes you believe that''s the case, isn''t it possible that that structure was already existing underneath their estate?"
"The underground structure has been confirmed to only be a decade old and the presence of ves in the cells shows their dealing with Numbers as we''ve confirmed the Dark Order does not deal in ve trades."
The courtiers began to speak. "All that just for some ves, that doesn''t sound right.", "Is the Heartrail family even capable of such a thing?", "This is not adding up.", "Sounds more like the Great Fives Ploy to me." "I''m not sure they have the financial capabilities to do all that, much less back the ventures of a secret organization."
In the midst of this, the one to speak up and silenced the noise was a female Elder, who appeared to be pretty miffed.
"Your Grace, this is ridiculous. I fail to see why a noble will associate with a criminal organization for mere ves. This has got to be the maniption of the Great Five or even the Darknar family themselves, for all we know, they could''ve nned this to intimidate us into bing their vassals."
The air reverberated with resounding gasps.
"I concur. We know nothing about this new Darknar family, who is to say they aren''t the type that to nonchntly use grand spells like Domination on a national level? For example ¡ª was that Viscount being controlled using [Dominate]? Or perhaps some mental cues were ced ahead of time."
The phrase "I see" could be heard throughout the room. Reynald couldn''t help but feel regret for leaking that particr piece of information after hearing the usations the Elders made in the second half of rhetoric.
"I''m afraid I''ll have to disagree, the Darknar family has only just been founded a few weeks ago while the Heartrail family has been in Kahoot with Numbers for almost a decade now. If anything, the Viscount was guilty of multiple crimes already besides this one."
Reynald had no intention of backing off now, he could no longer turn a blind eye to the Elder''s gross negligence while their family was currently on the brink of extinction.
The Elders'' expressions changed at Reynalds words as they began to voice their objection when a single voice silenced them.
"Very well. Summon the Earl of the Korver house. Investigate his connection in all this and find anyone connected to Numbers and arrest them."
Hearing the Demon Lord''s orders, Reynald thought it was a bit naive. They did not have the resources or time for a proper investigation and they needed to deal with the biggest issues on the ground as quickly as possible.
"Your Grace. Even if we find a connection between the Earl and the Viscount, we''ve already allowed an emissary from a Great Family to be kidnapped under our noses. I''m afraid even offering the head of the Earl isn''t enough to appease them."
"What are you talking about?"
"I am simply calling light to the reason why we had called the meeting in the first ce. We need to agree on how to deal with the emissary."
"So what is your suggestion? Or do you n on passing judgment on the Earl without gathering all the necessary information? Is that how the heir to the throne should act?"
Reynald licked his lips and replied,
"My answer remains the same regardless of what anyone may say. I believe that we must avoid angering the Darknar family even more. They are a wildcard that cannot be predicted so I believe treading on the side of caution would be best."
Reynald did not permit any interjection as he spoke to his mother directly.
"I understand your worries. However, we cannot lose sight of our way and must follow the necessary process. We do not conform to the rules of any that is not the Demon King."
Reynald was stumped. This was the same roadblock he had encountered multiple times now whenever he would bring up topics like this, no matter what he says his mother simply refuses to see the bigger picture.
He was once again on the verge of giving up when,
"...Your Grace. Your servant supports the young Prince''s proposal too."
The one to agree with him was the head of foreign affairs, but he was about to add to Reynald''s proposal,
"Your Grace, your servant understands your desire to protect all who fall under the rule of the Jaxith family, but we no longer have the strength and resources to aplish such a task anymore. So if power is all we need, why don''t we just ¡ª be a vassal family of the Darknar family? A proper negotiation might even grant us the status of, a branch family."
Almost immediately, the entire room broke into chaos with many spewing words of insults and profanities at the minister. This was the usual resistance whenever the talks of vassge came up.
Faced with a suggestion that had branded the suggester a traitor, his mother gradually let out a smile.
"That, I''m sorry, that will be difficult. That would be akin to betraying the loyalty of generations of people who had served so brilliantly under the Demon King. It would go against a millennial of servitude. I apologize to you, Marquis. Thank you for your suggestion."
"Your servant did not deserve that apology."
Reynald saw that they weremunicating on a deeper level through their gazes and felt a sense of newfound admiration for his mother despite not agreeing with her answer.
Plus the fact that she had been able to answer his question without dismissing his suggestion was a sign of a true leader and a loyal subject. Would he be able to have courtiers who were as loyal as the Marquess?
He did not think so, after all, he had failed to protect the only noble that was loyal to him so how could he expect so much? Reynald shook his head to dismiss such a depressing thought from his mind. If his mother was still against the idea of vassge, he needed toe up with a way to appease the diplomatic Leader.
For now, it was a necessity for them to pin all responsibilities on that Earl. Although his role in this was yet to be confirmed, given that the emissary had gone missing in his estate, to begin with, was a sign of negligence and weaknesses.
Even if he had nothing to do with it, as an Earl of the Floato Region, he held a responsibility to ensure the safety of his guests and should be held ountable for any such mishaps.
However, Reynald couldn''t think of a way to pin all responsibilities on him. If he allowed the investigation to go on and it was discovered that the Earl was innocent, he was sure his mother would not allow him to be made a scapegoat.
''Damn, why did she have to be so stubborn in times like this.''
Reynald couldn''t think of the perfect solution to their current predicament, he was sure if it was his sister, she would''ve been able toe up with the perfect argument to convince their mother but unfortunately, she was not qualified to be present in court meetings.
Reynald cursed in his heart. What was the best way to handle this to achieve the oue he desired?
At that moment, the sound of aggressive door knocks could be heard.
Reynald gulped.
To interrupt such a meeting of the most powerful and influential demons in this region especially after the guards had been explicitly warned not to disturb them, only meant one thing.
The information was incredibly urgent and urgent generally meant bad news.
Reynald, as their representative, gave his approval to let them in. A knight hurriedly entered the room, just as he had expected.
"The General of Lightning, Lady Rain Darknar, has requested an audience with Your Grace!"
The term requested was being used rather loosely here as they had tried to get an audience with her for days now but she had declined and was now demanding one bying straight here instead of sending a message.
Perhaps she has needed tomunicate the situation with her Demon Lord and has now received his decision. This meant, whatever she was to say to them now, came directly from the Demon Lord of the Darknar family himself.
"Grant her an audience. Prepare the throne room for an appropriate reception immediately."
"Yes, your Grace!"
The knight left the room upon hearing his mother''s orders.
"Everyone, I apologize but can you all switch to more formal attire and gather in the throne room?"
Upon hearing their Ruler''s request, the courtiers including Reynald, lowered their heads.
"Yes, your Grace!"
Chapter 411 Chapter 411. An Instant Decision
Chapter 411 C411. An Instant Decision
There were multiple throne rooms in the Emerald Pce, each designed for separate purposes unlike in the case of the Darknar Castle, where a temporary throne room had only just been created recently.
The throne room used for audiences with representatives from other demon nobilities, wasn''t toorge, so preparing it so that it was adequate for dignitaries took less time than the other throne rooms in their pce.
Doing their best not to keep the emissary from the Darknar family waiting for long, they had gathered the courtiers who were now clothed in ceremonious attire with the use of valuable transportation scrolls and items.
Receiving the emissary was also several members of the court, who were not present in their earlier meetings including the 5th Princess and her guard.
The room was exquisitely decorated with freshly cut flowers and masterful artworks, hung on the walls.
Reynald felt such cheap attempts at impressing the emissary were meaningless at this point, but he didn''t think of himself as an adequate judge of what demoness'' of his family would like much less the emissary.
As Reynald''s mind wandered concerning the decor of the throne room, the door suddenly swung open and the emissary from the Darknar region walked into the room.
As a General from the Darknar family, the seductive beauty had a dark air of allure about her. Her beauty was such that it could almost make them forget that she was a high-ranking official from a family already widely considered the Sixth Great.
Seeing her bewitching smile as she elegantly strode down the hall, he strongly felt like he could understand why that noble would risk everything for her.
''Huh, what the hell am I thinking? I must be going out of my mind.''
Reynald immediately shook those dangerous thoughts off his mind. To have such an effect on even the prince of an ancient family like his, she was truly, a beauty beyond the concepts of the word itself.
This was the Lightning General of the Darknar family, Rain Darknar.
The sound of men who had be instantly love-stricken could be heard throughout the room, the sound they made as they sighed, "Ooooh." The nobles who had made those sounds were also obvious in their enraptured ogles.
Despite her alluring smile that seamlessly entranced the hearts of men, Reynald could sense the air stiffen up a bit by her mere presence. Although he was unable to sense her aura, he could tell, she was not in a friendly mood as she had been in the past.
Unfortunately, it did not seem like anyone else had noticed this as even the demonesses in the room were already entranced by her dress, an outfit that didn''t seem quite right for an asion as serious as this.
To top it off, unlike thest time she was here, the emissary hadn''t walked into the throne room alone. Trailing behind her was the petite figure of a girl d in a rather expensive rogues outfit with a mask covering the lower half of her face.
Despite that, one could easily tell just how pretty she was from the exposed portion of her face, her greenish-ck hair was styled in a single bun and her now bright green eyes glistened like glowing tsavorite.
Her figure was the definition of seduction as her outfit clug tightly to her body, revealing the outline of her perfectly proportioned figure. The dangerous aura that seem to leak off her person, only seem to thug on the hidden desires of the nobles to were lustfully entranced by her.
Reynald couldn''t recall seeing thisdy amongst the emissaries when he had gone to receive them at the gate. Perhaps she was stationed inside the carriages but even after so many interactions with the undead emissaries, he had never once caught a glimpse of her person.
''Could it be she has only just arrived from the Darknar region? If so, how did she get past all our defenses?
Although the capital city did not possess any anti-teleportation or instant transportation spells to protect it from intruders. The city''s defenses still include a series of sensory methods to discover when anyone illegally enters the city and expose their locations.
Even for Demon Lords, it was practically impossible for them to appear suddenly in the city without anyone noticing them. Unless they possessed a special pass. This was why they were at a loss for how the new organization Numbers, was transporting goods in and out of the city.
With that said, how was the girl apanying the emissary able to enter the city undetected?
Is this the true skill of a rogue from the Darknar family? How terrifying, she could end our lives before anyone would even notice.
''Wait, is this also part of their negotiation tactics? Such terrifying brilliance. I can no longer afford to back down.''
Seeing the twodies walk through the room, Reynald suddenly felt a chilling from his mother''s direction. Shifting his gaze towards her, his eyes widened as he saw his mother''s reaction to the emissary''spanion.
Reynald''s heart sank at the sudden realization. He wondered if his sister had noticed it too and snuck a nce at her but failed to understand her expression.
Was she confused? Did even his genius sister not predict this oue? That would be a first. Reynald didn''t have time to think too deeply about it as the emissary had arrived before his mother.
"It''s good to see you again, Lady Rain. It''s been a while."
Upon hearing his mother''s voice, the nobles who had been enthralled by Rain''s beauty and confused by the mysterious rogue, finally snapped back to reality.
"My apologies for not visiting Your Grace for a while now."
Rain replied with a strikingly appealing voice that matched her appearance. Despite this, her back stayed upright and her head remained in a perpendicr position, just like she had done thest time around.
This was in direct contrast to her gentle demeanor, it made clear her belief the Jaxith family was no longer worth her respect.
"You do not appear to have changed much even after such a traumatic event, that is a relief."
"Well thank you, Your Grace. You look to be doing well yourself."
Rain smiled as though she was meeting a close friend despite the uncertainty in the situation.
"There is no need to dance around the issue, so I will be direct, why have youe here today?"
"Indeed. I''m here to discuss the recent incident ¡ª that being how one of your nobles in conjunction with a crime syndicate, conspired to drug and kidnap me before coercing me to sign a ve contract."
As she spoke, the rogue beside her, someone whose presence they had almostpletely forgotten about if she hadn''t moved, despite the fact that they had only taken their eyes off her for only a few seconds already, brought out a holographic crystal from nowhere and disyed images that matched Rain''s words as she spoke.
The entire hall was rendered speechless as silence ruled over the throne room for a full minute which felt like hours to most.
This was an unexpected turn of events, one not even Reynald had considered for a second.?It was one thing toy im against a noble family as a diplomat, it was another when evidence of such im was provided in such an official setting and without warning.
"Oh, do pardon thete introduction."
Rain suddenly cut through the silence like a hot knife through butter as she turned to face herpanion and continued.
"This is Zelda, one of the Great Demon Lord''s personal guard. She was assigned to document the trade talks for future use so excuse me for not introducing her to you sooner. I assumed a family such as the ancient Jaxith family would be easily capable of detecting her presence so I had forgotten to introduce her earlier."
A lie. That was most definitely a lie. There was no way a demoness of her caliber would forget to do anything. Not to mention, the smile on her face had suddenly gotten more genuine, it was as though she was mocking them.
The expressions on the elder''s faces immediately sank at the sudden realization, many of the nobles fawning over her beauty now had twisted expressions but were forced to swallow back the words they wanted to say.
In this world, something like the projection of someone''s memory was easily essible to many so there were no legitimate reasons for them toin about this, the only thing that truly bothered them was the simple fact that they had allpletely failed to notice her presence the entire time.
"As you''ve no doubt guessed, this crystal has recorded evidence of the crimesmitted against me and by erge, the entire Darknar family, and as such, we''ve decided to retract our trade offer effective immediately."
Though this was noughing matter, Rain''s smile remained steadfast from before as none of the elders could follow the rapid change in the situation from what they had discussed earlier.
The fact of the matter is, with only that single statement, their family was officially screwed. They didn''t have much chance even with the undead soldiers they were getting from the Darknar family much less without them.
With the Great Five most likely pulling the strings of the three families, safe to say their family would seize to exist within the next few months, if they evenst that long.
Thinking of that, Reynald could understand why the elders were faced with suchplicated expressions.
In contrast, his mother had immediately reacted as she stood up from her throne to say,
"I see, so that''s the reason for your sudden request. Then allow me to firstly, apologize for my subject''s actions."
His mother lowered her head and bowed deeply. This was the first time anyone here had ever seen the Demon Lord lower her head even in the presence of a Great Demon Lord.
This only goes to show her pride and integrity did not only apply when she was in the right, she would even go so far as to degrade herself if ever she was in the wrong.
However, lowering her head to the emissary when their investigations on their side were yet to bepleted and they were yet to test the authenticity of the recorded evidence brought by the emissary was an automatic admission of guilt and there was no going back on that.
Only a while ago, she was saying something about the noble being innocent and this was a ploy of various parties yet here she was, admitting their fault and disregarding the words of the elders.
Reynald didn''t know whether to be happy or afraid. He couldn''t tell what was going through his mother''s mind and didn''t know what to expect.
He felt everything had changed the moment his motherid eyes on the roguepanion of the emissary.
Reynald turned his ce back at the rogue, her aura wasn''t weak but it was so well hidden that one could easily disregard it and her presence seems to be fading in and out of reality.?If he blinks even for a second, he would immediately forget she was there.
This was a level of skill not even the finest assassin in their family could hope to achieve, could it be that his mother had failed to notice her presence as well? A Demon Lord failing to notice the presence of a mere servant was unheard of.
"I understand why you would no longer wish to deal with a family responsible for causing you such terrible inconvenience. However, I can assure you, all responsible parties will be dealt with. Hmmm... As an apology, right, how bout I offer you, the Jaxith Family''s Great secret, would that be enough."
Time seem to freeze for only a moment before the room exploded into an uproar.
"Huh?... WHATTTT!!!"
"Ohh... I''m listening."
Chapter 412 Chapter 412. Deal or Not
Chapter 412 C412. Deal or Not
The entire throne room went dead silent once more as everyone could barely fathom the words that had juste out of their Demon Lord''s mouth, it took them quite some time to actuallyprehend it.
After another painful minute, some of the elders finally broke the silence, snapping the others out of their dumbfounded daze.
"Huh?... WHATTTT!!!"
The eyes of the nobles immediately lit up was various emotions as the room was thrown into an uproar.
"Your Grace, you can''t be serious. The Jaxith Family''s secret has been locked away since the death of the Demon King more than a thousand years ago, not even we the elders have been permitted to know it. You can''t just so easily reveal it to a mere emissary!"
One of the Elders voiced his opinion loudly, his words had gradually gotten higher as he spoke, something one should never do in the presence of their liege, yet no one had attempted to chastise him. Instead, more began to speak up.
"Indeed! If you would permit your servant to be direct, Your Grace. This is ridiculous. We cannot reveal the family''s most treasured secret for generations to just any random family. If not, we should''ve already done so with the Great Five in the past."
"I concur with the Elders your Grace. We may be in an unprecedented situation currently, but that shouldn''t affect our pride as the Ancient Jaxith family."
The room slowly got more noisy as the nobles continuously voiced their disapproval of the idea when.
"SILENCE!"
A resounding male voice echoed throughout the throne room, apanied by an epassing aura that even silenced the Elders themselves.
The voice originated from the Demon that stood behind the throne. The Demon Lord''s personal knight, the captain of the Royal Guards. He looked rtively tall and was d in a full-te ck and gold armor with a helm that covered the majority of his face.
With broad shoulders and an imposing build, he welded a massive great sword that emanated a bone chilling aura.
After stepping forward to silence the noise, he stepped back into position as the Demon Lord smiled and resumed her talk with the emissary.
"Please do not mind my courtiers. Now then, let''s get back on topic. What do you think of my offer."
Rain''s face became serious. Despite her usual cheerful appearance, her expression was strangely intimidating, or perhaps, frightening was the correct adjective.
"...Hehehe, I''m curious, are you simply hoping to restart our simple trade negotiations with that offer, Demon Lord Keyrille Mayz Jaxith?"
Rain''s eyes sharpened, her gaze seemingly shifted to the Elders, and then the 5th Princess before ncing at the 2nd prince for a moment, and then, before anyone could even blink, she had taken a single step and appeared right before the Demon Lord.
For someone who was a known assassin, she should''ve never been allowed to take a single step in the direction of their leader, yet even the famed captain of the Guards had failed to register any of her movements.
His slow attempt to draw his weapon a momentter was immediately halted by a casual wave from the Demon Lord. The entire hall was stumpedpletely speechless by the rapid change in the atmosphere of the room.
Despite the appearance of the emissary right before her eyes, Keyrille did not flinch or move, rather, she smiled and answered.
"As expected, you did figure out my true intentions. While I do not mind offering you our most treasured secrets as it is not something just anyone would be able to touch, much less use. I would be remiss if I didn''t at least attempt to reopen the talks of Vassge for such an offer."
Reynald almost tripped on nothing at the sound of the word vassgeing out of his mother''s mouth. He could feel the jaws of the elders drop as well as the rest of the courtiers, no one could believe what they had just heard.
He was sure he had even heard a strange sounding from beside him, where his sister and her retainer had been standing but couldn''t afford to take a nce at her current expression.
Reynald felt the gaze of the emissary stop on him before returning to his mother, he had expected the room to explode into chaos at those words yet no one had even said a word and he could figure out why.
Due to how sudden and peculiar the presence of Rain had been, no one had noticed it at first. She hadpletely forgone the etiquette expected of an envoy during an audience with the Demon Lord of a region.
Even if she was a highly respected guest from a Great Family, this was not how one addressed a ruling ss Demon Lord in a public setting.
However, such rules could not be enforced on a superior entity such as a Demigod. It was a miracle she had even shown any of them respect in the first ce and any demon would only deem this as the natural hierarchy of power.
They were no longer dealing with the emissary from another region, but the General of a family capable of rivaling the Five Greats. A being capable of reducing their entire region to dust with the blink of an eye.
Perhaps that was why. They all felt an invisible pressure emanating from the Lightning General, that stopped everyone from voicing their displeasure.
Seeing the elders struggle to restrain the words in their throats, Rain sighed disappointedly, and smiled seamlessly as though nothing had just happened.
"I''m afraid I''ll have to decline your offer, there shall no longer be any talks of trade nor vassge with the Jaxith family."
The elders that seemed to be fuming with anger from the progression so far were all immediately dumbstruck. It seemed they had never even entertained the thoughts of the Darknar family withdrawing their interest in their family despite their current predicament with the war.
For some reason, they had been under the assumption that their family was too enticing to pass out on. Perhaps this was inbination due to their family''s secret and Athena''s proposal with regards to using the shelters as an orphanage and in turn, using the orphanage as a way of finding kids with high magic potential just as she had done with Bam.
Hence why they were all currently at a loss for words. Even the Demon Lord herself had not expected such a reply but Reynald felt like there was more to this.
Rain surveyed the courtiers who were standing on opposite sides of the aisle and proimed loudly as she retired to her previous position.
"This is a formal decree from the Great Demon King of the Darknar family. For the grave sin of daring toy your hands on one of my Generals, there shall be no forgiveness. However¡ª"
"That''s bullshit! This must be your ns from the very beginn¡ª eh"
"Hold On!"
"Be quiet."
One of the Elder''s face had gone pale and he could not stop himself from shouting in the spur of the moment, interrupting the words of the Lightning General.
However, before the beautifully curved arc of the Shadow rogue''s daggers could fall his head, Keyrille interfered and the des were stopped in mid-air, only drawing a drop of the blood from the so-called powerful Elder of the Jaxith family.
" ...Let this be thest time any of you gizzards will interrupt the words of my master."
The lovely voice of the rogue was left lingering in the air as she had already appeared in her previous position behind Rain. The ghastly undertone in her voice sending chills down the Elder''s spine as he couldn''t even bring himself to gulp much less make any notable movements.
To think a single undead had nearly snuff the life of an Elder. Almost nobody in this room could believe what their eyes had just witnessed. They hadn''t even noticed when the emissary had stopped referring to her Lord as a Great Demon Lord and had begin to refer to him as the Demon King directly.
Such a statement would''ve been considered sphemous if she had said it during their first meeting, yet now, none of them could even pay attention to such small detail.
"Do forgive the eagerness of my Elders, I would also appreciate it if you do not threaten their lives any further. Please continue."
While Keyrille was being deathly serious, her expression remained the same as she calmly waited for Rain to continue. Rain smiled cheekily before resuming her master''s decree loudly.
"However, as I am not so cruel as to punish the innocent for the sins they did notmit. I shall only eliminate the corrupted nobles ording to the list gotten from the crime organization known as Numbers."
At the mention of the crime syndicate, the Shadow rogue behind Rain pulled out a parchment from thin air and handed it over to Keyrille personally.
Normally, any documents exchanged between the Demon Lord and any emissary would have to pass through the court''s representative but at this moment, no one present in this room could focus on anything other than the wordsing out of Rain''s mouth.
"This list contains the names of any nobles that had dealings with the crime syndicate in one form or the other. Any attempt to stop this Purge will be deemed a deration of war and the Floato region would be immediately removed from the face of this continent, there will be no formalities."
At this point, even Reynald eyes shot wide open. He could even feel the sudden shift of his sister''s aura and a nce showed her expression to be unlike anything she had ever shown him before. This situation, was clearly beyond even her expectations.
If even she had failed to predict this oue, then how was he supposed to do the same? If the Darknar family had truly abandoned them then they wouldn''t even survive the next few months and Reynald could not see the Jaxith Family''s depleted forces, defeating the immortal undead of the Darknar family.
This could even be worse if any of the Darknar family''s Demigods were toe alone. He didn''t think any of the family''s high-tiered scrolls, secret weapons, or even artifacts could stop a true Demigod for long.
Especially now that they had the evidence to justify a war. It wouldn''t even be a Contest.
Just as Reynald was slowly drifting into despair, the Lightning General spoke again.
"Once the purge of the corruption rooted within this family isplete, our original offer of Vassge with the same conditions will be presented once more. You may choose to ept or decline. You have a day to decide."
After hearing all that, Reynald could finally understand the stance the Darknar family was taking in this incident. If they didn''t take any action when someone as important as a General was. attacked, the Great Five would see it as a sign of weakness and use it as a reason to turn the entire continent against them.
On the other hand, if they had opted to ughter everybody or simply blow up the entire region as he feared, the Great Five could spin it as an hical show of aggression against weaker opponents.
Which was why he couldn''t help but find their solution to this as nothing other than pure genius. If the reason that Rogue was here was to record the event that urred here today, then they would have proven they had offered to settle this as amicably as they could.
On the other hand, they would be eliminating all the bad eggs, including spies and corrupted nobles in a potential vassal family. A sort of killing two bears with one spell. Or was it two birds with one arrow? Whatever.
For a family like the Darknar family that had only just recently been founded, it was important that they approached their expansion as cautiously as possible else they destroyed themselves from the inside out.
"Well then, we shall take our leave now. There''s no need to escort us. We will be back at the same time tomorrow to hear your answer."
After Rain exhibited the attitude that told them that she had said all that she had wanted to, she turned her back on the rest of them and was about to walk away, trailed by the Shadow rogue when.
"There is no need for that. As the Demon Lord of the Jaxith family, I ept your terms and offer. If you''d like, we can sign the necessary documents immediately."
"Uh!? WHATTTT!!!!"
Chapter 413 Chapter 413. A Great Loss
Chapter 413 C413. A Great Loss
"Uh!?... WHATTTT!!!"
The mouths of everyone within the throne room almost practically dropped to the floor at the words that had just left the Demon Lord''s mouth. None of the elders could believe what they had just heard.
Throughout the years, centuries even, talks of vassge hade up multiple times from the Great Five and even otherrge families but the Demon Lord had firmly declined their offers without even a chance for negotiations due to her unwavering loyalty to the previous Demon King.
So the fact that she had just agreed to vassge carried certain implications that none of them could even hope toprehend.
Just as the hall steadily became loud, the Demon Lord''s voice quickly silenced the hall as she continued to speak.
"However, I only have two conditions before any agreements can be made."
"Conditions?"
The dark elf slightly tilted her head with a curious gaze, prompting the other party to continue.
"Firstly, I would appreciate it if you would allow us some days to trial and persecute the noble on the list you have shown me. Even if my subjects are truly guilty of the crime of corruption and treason, I would rather not have my nobles be ughtered without a chance to defend themselves and give proof of their innocence."
The eyes of the Demon Lord scanned the room for a moment, forcing the mouths of the nobles shut before any objections could be made before returning back to the emissary.
"Secondly, I would like to offer the secret of the Jaxith family to the Demon Lord of Darknar, personally. That will decide whether or not the Jaxith family bes a vassal family once again."
¡ªThe air reverberated with unified gasps.
Reynald in particr was stunned. This was too much of a change for his previously docile mother, who had allowed the Elders to practically walk all over her ever since she lost her husband.
He had even considered a coupe d''etat, utilizing one of the family''s artifacts to give him an edge over his mother, yet afterying eyes on the rogue that had apanied the Lightning General, she instantly returned to the Demon Lord she once was.
What could be the reason behind this sudden shift?
He wondered as the rest of the courtiers recovered from the shock of their Demon Lord''s deration.
"Your Grace. You can''t just simply ept such ridiculous terms by yourself. The Elders must first¡ª"
"Silence!"
One of the elders panically voiced his disapproval when he was suddenly silenced by the Demon Lord herself. She then returned her gaze back to Rain and asked.
"What is your decision? If you do not have the right to make such decisions, then I will simply await your response at ater date."
Rain''s expression had once again be serious as she observed the room. Everyone had conflicting emotions except one. Rain smiled softly and responded.
"Very well, I have been granted the authority to ept your conditions."
"I suppose that means you''ve already predicted my response. Truly impressive, I cannot wait to meet the one capable of controlling one such as yourself."
The Demon Lord of the Jaxith family smiled a magnanimous smile but her expression did not showcase the superiority of a Demon Lord, rather, she could smile at herself for failing to live up to the promise she had made.
"Your Grace! This is ridiculous! I demand t¡ª"
*Boom!
One of the Elders, seeing Keyrilleing to an agreement with the emissary could no longer stop himself from challenging such a dangerous deal. However, he had only gotten halfway through his sentence when his head was suddenly mmed into the marble floor by the Captain of the Royal Guards.
"I believe her Grace asked you to be silent."
The other Elders could not believe their eyes, they were supposed to be the second most powerful demons in this region in both status, magic potency, and physical strength, yet a mere lesser demon knight had easily overpowered one of them.
They had all heard about the prowess of the Knight captain but had never once seen him in battle. His aura had also never felt this intimidating so the only exnation was that he was carrying several magic artifacts on his person.
Keyrille saw the looks on most of the Elders''s faces and frowned.
"I was hoping this list would not be true and many of you were only being targeted by the crime syndicate, yet your actions right now speak volumes. I cannot help but be disappointed. When did you all lose your demon''s pride."
The Demon Lord of the Jaxith Family''s eyes turned blood red as her aura exploded as though it was a volcanic eruption. Even at her age, her presence was still strong enough to shake the foundations of the entire pce.
Keyrille sighed tiredly as she restrained her aura. She then returned to her seat before handing the list she had received from the rogue to the Captain of the Guards, Nars Hoce.
"Nars, please arrest everyone on this list immediately. It matters not who they are or what rank they hold. Anyone with territories will automatically be relinquished of them and repossessed until their trial is over and a judgment is made."
"As you wish, your Grace."
In the presence of the Demon Lord herself, not even the Elders could resist their fate as the Royal Guards soon marched in and escorted more than half of the courtiers including 7 out of the 12 Elders of the Jaxith family.
Within moments, the entire throne room had be mostly empty and Reynald couldn''t help but sigh. He had suspected the corruption of the Elders but not to this extent, to think most of their most trusted ministers and nobles were always working against them, how foolish their actions must''ve seemed to them.
"With that, I shall take my leave. Be warned, the punishment of the nobles on that list will be closely monitored and when that''s done, a time will bemunicated on Lord Ty¡ª, I mean, the Demon King''s arrival."
With those words, Rain turned her back on the throne and walked out the doors without waiting for a response as Zelda silently trailed behind her.
The giant doors were shut just as Rain and Zelda''s silhouette disappeared over the side of the doorframe. After a moment of silence, Reynald said to his mother,
"Are you sure about this, mother?"
"Don''t ask questions you already know the answer to. We both know the Dark Order can only exist with the backing of one or two powerful noble families. It''s been painfully obvious that the Jaxith family has been betrayed a long time ago. I suppose I just didn''t want to see it because it was so hard."
His mother replied with a feeble voice as she ced her hand on her forehead and massaged her temples as if to rub her headache away.
Reynald felt as though his mother had just rapidly aged somewhatpared to just a few moments ago. It seemed as though she had used up a vast amount of her remaining life force to suppress the Elders earlier.
"Minister of Internal Affairs, how badly would this purge affect the state of affairs within the entire region?"
"I''m afraid the results would most likely be devastating Your Grace. With so many heads of territory on trial for treason and our diminished forces thanks to the war. I expect there to be some form of bacsh in the form of riots and coups. There may also be many deserters and in our already weakened state, this will no doubt lead to the fall of the Jaxith family."
The minister spoke with a grave expression as he observed the practically empty room. There were so many divisions that had just lost their leaders and it would be impossible for any family or organization to function in such a state even if they were at their peak beforehand.
"Is that so?"
"Well, I mean... Once the vassge pact has been signed, I''m sure there will be some assistance from the Darknar family with the suppression of the masses. However, the true problem lies in the loss ofpetent leaders and heads of state. Including the various court positions that have been left open."
Listening to the Minister attempt to console her, Keyrille turned to her son and asked tiredly.
"What do you think about this, Reynald?"
"There shouldn''t be many issues filling less important positions in the court as the Ministers all have assistants, most of which should be in the clear. As for the others, we might have to look into dividing their responsibilities between the remaining ministers and Elders. There''s also a chance the Darknar family will send uspetent representatives to help the process along."
"What about ourck of manpower? We would need a lot more knights and soldiers to maintain security in the various cities and towns."
"I believe we might need to consider drafting moremoners into the knight''s core. We should also look into Athena''s orphanage for promising youngsters to develop, although that''s in the long term. I don''t think we can rely on the Darknar family for this aspect as they have only just been formed and recently just created their capital city, I believe they wouldn''t have enough living soldiers to spare."
Reynald''s mindset was that, while the Darknar family most likely possessed enough undead soldiers to defend their territory against the other three neighboring families, they wouldn''t have enough trusted andpetent workers to send to their vassals for international support.
"Well normally I''d be against the idea of makingmoners knights, but after being betrayed by so many nobles, I''m beginning to find it difficult to think of nobility as anything impressive. As long as they are talented, I suppose evenmoners should have the right to be part of the noble knights core."
None of the other courtiers remaining in the room could fault the minister''s words as their expressions sank even further. After witnessing the sheer amount of possible traitors existing amongst them, none of them could muster up the strength to defend their pride as nobles.
"Alright. Minister of Internal Affairs, I''ll leave the rest in your care. Please try as much as possible to minimize the damage before the trial will begin."
"Yes Your Grace."
"Reynald, Athena. I have something to tell you. Could youe to my roomter? Now then, I do apologize to everyone gathered here, but we will have to convene in another hour to discuss what will happen next."
The courtiers all lowered their heads and bowed as they waited for their leader to leave before they could.
After the Captain of the guards escorted his mother out of the room, Reynald and Athena left together.
Chapter 414 Chapter 414. The Stringmaster
Chapter 414 C414. The Stringmaster
Though Bam had escorted Athena to the throne room as her personal guard and retainer, Athena told him to wait in her room so he just watched as Reynald and Athena left in the opposite direction.
The two walked shoulder to shoulder through the corridors.
"So, Athena. You acted rather strange earlier when Lady Rain was speaking. Was there something wrong with what was happening?"
"Strange?" Athena tilted her head in response as she smiled and continued; "I don''t believe I know what you are referring to. Could it be that you were daydreaming during an important meeting such as that?"
"..."
Reynald stared at Athena with his eyes wide open for a second, to which Athena responded with a smile as if nothing had just happened.
''This girl''s such a pain to deal with.''
Reynald sighed inwardly as he adjusted his posture and continued walking as he responded to his sister.
"That doesn''t sound like what I would do. If anything, that sounds more like what you would do, dear sister."
"Um¡ª"
Athena ced her index finger below her chin and tilted her head towards the side. Reynald saw what she was doing and intentionally sighed heavily. His hands moved like lightning as they struck the top of Athena''s head with a thud.
"What do you get out of acting cute in front of your brother? Go act for Bam instead, he''s the gullible one."
"Oww..., Elder brother, that was mean of you. Well, I guess I''ll try this with Bam next. Shouldn''t you be more excited, getting the elders to ept vassge was one of your goals wasn''t it? Now they can no longer stand in your way."
"You say that like I was trying to get rid of them from the beginning. I wanted the family to be vassals of the Darknar family not because I wanted us to be servants that badly, but because it was the best way for our continued existence. Even I did not expect this oue."
"I see... Well, I also did not expect this oue. I suppose not knowing anything about the Darknar family was the cause of this... fufufu... It''s no wonder the Great Five are at a loss on what to do about them."
Athena chuckled but her expression did not change. Reynald stole a nce at her but could not tell her feelings on the matter through her expressions alone.
Even now, he found it difficult to understand what his sister was thinking.
"By the way, what happened to your other guard, he''s usually not too far behind the kid?"
Deeming the topic had ran it''s course, Rey ald quickly cha ged the subject as hemented on a prior observation.
"Unfortunately he''s yet to return from the mission a few days ago and any attempt to contact him has failed. I also can''t locate him anywhere within the city with magic, I''m afraid the worst must have happened.''
"Is that so? We''ve sent the knights to thoroughly search through all the locations rting to this incident and his body was not reported found. Perhaps he chased after a high-ranking criminal elite and can''t afford to lose them."
"You''re more optimistic than I thought you''d be, Elder brother. Perhaps I should strive to be more like you after all."
"What do you mean after all?"
"Ah, no reason, hehe."
Reynald felt his head hurt the more he tried to understand his sister so he simply ignored her taunts as they reached the entrance to their mother''s room, where the Captain of the Knights stood watch.
After both of them had entered their mother''s room, they saw her seated on her bed sweating profusely as a maid wiped her back with cold towels, several empty bottles of Mana recovering potionsid on the ground.
"I''m sorry, Reynald, Athena, it seems my time is almost here. However, there is still something I must do before that. I had hoped to restore this family to what it once was before I went but I may have made it a lot worse instead. I hope after this is all over, you will both understand my decisions until now."
The two of them looked at each other without saying a word. This was to be expected after all, their mother was already more than a thousand years old without being a Demigod, but due to the war, she had been forced to expend most of her energytely just to maintain the appearance of her former glory.
Thest straw was suppressing the Elders earlier with everything she had. If it wasn''t for her presence, Reynald was sure the throne room would''ve been stained with the blood of the elders who would''ve foolishly attempted to kill the emissary.
He didn''t think that undead rogue could hold back and the entire Jaxith family would''ve been in ruins.
With that in mind, it was even a miracle his mother was still able to talk at this point, she must already be pushing herself with sheer will and determination at this point.
"Now then, before the trials begin, I''ll tell both of you what our family''s treasured secret is, listen well."
????????
An hourter, Reynald and his mother returned to the original meeting room where the remaining elders and minister awaited the arrival of their Demon Lord.
Athena on the other hand, was assigned a task and asked to return to her chambers for now. She watched her brother and mother enter the meeting room as the doors shut behind them.
After which, she slowly walked back to her chambers, her charming expression from earlier nowhere to be seen. After not hearing back from ne for days now, she urately surmised that he must''ve been killed already.
Although she had not been able to narrow down the suspect any further. There weren''t that many people in this region that would be capable of capturing ne much less kill him and she didn''t believe he would allow himself to be captured no matter what.
While she didn''t think the emissary would engage ne in battle, if he had encountered that undead that had escorted her earlier then she wasn''t sure if he would survive.
There was also the possibility that he was killed by the members of Numbers but ording to her personal information, there should be no one in that base capable of that.
Athena smiled. She knew exactly why Citrus had assigned ne to assist her, it was mostly to keep her in line and monitor her actions closely.
With him around, she had been heavily more restricted than she had been as a Princess. His presence alone had caused her to dy ns for months now but even then, everythings had gone smoothly.
That''s right. Everything up to this point was moving as she had nned.
She had been the one to insist on sending an invitation to more obscure families like the Heartrail family and personally made sure an invite was sent to both the Korver family and the Heartrails.
After all, Athena had more dirt on the nobles of this region than any foreign secret organizationbined with the Dark Order itself. She understood the personality of every single noble demon in the region and knew exactly what would happen when Arminid eyes on the emissary.
She was already aware of the presence of Numbers and knew about the existence of that list. She knew Citrus would also be aware of it and for her ns to seed, she would need to get rid of it.
She fully expected her to send ne who had ess to the base at the time, to retrieve the list or destroy it and Athena was counting on the emissary or her attendants to get to it first.
She had even prepared a second list with even more detailed information based on her knowledge in case ne had somehow seeded and escaped the emissary.
Pretending to be surprised in the throne room earlier was the easy part. She couldn''t even believe just how well her ns had worked out so far. It was even as though the emissary was actively participating in her ns.
Athena smiled as she approached the entrance to her chambers, where Bam was standing, waiting for her return like a cute little puppy.
"Ah... Bam, I asked you to wait for me inside my room. Have you been standing here the whole time?"
"Of course mydy, I can''t enter mydy''s room while she''s not in it."
That doesn''t even make any sense. Oh well, let''s go in, I have a task for you."
"Yes."
Bam then hurriedly moved to open the doors for his mistress as she walked behind him and entered her chambers. Soon, a maid came in to help her change back into her casual gown and another prepared some tea and snacks for her.
After changing to something morefortable, she teased Bam a little by asking forpliments on how the dress was on her, a question that had turned the poor boy''s face bright red.
Athena chuckled gently as she took her seat before taking a sip from her freshly poured cup of tea and spoke.
"Hey Bam, I need you to assist the Captain of the Knights with the investigations of the detaoned nobles. Can you please do that for me?"
Athena pursed her lips and tilted her head gently to the side as she asked cutely. Bam''s heart skipped several beats as he immediately answered.
"O-of course. I am your servant, there is no need to ask for my decisions, your wish is mymand."
"There''s no way I can do that. You''re very precious to me don''t you know."
At this point, Bam''s mind had gone nk as he hurriedly stood up and rushed out of the room, causing Athena to giggle gently before taking another sip from her drink. She then dismissed the maids from her room and locked the door.
A few momentster, Athena walked over to the drawer of her delicates and pulled out a small storage box from underneath her undies, her expression currentlycking any emotions as the clothes on her body slowly started to disintegrate, revealing her smooth silky skin and her oddly eroted underwear.
Soon even the underwear covering her most private parts slowly disappeared, revealing the near-perfect body of the 5th princess in all its glory as she released the exception on the storage box and pulled out the only item within it.
Any man witnessing this scene right now might''ve been too distracted by the perkiness of her breasts and firmness of her exposed butt that they might''ve missed the strange runic symbol moving spirally on her chest as it slowly got bigger and her body gently trembled.
Athena then gently returned to her bed with a slightly blushed expression as sheid on the bed stillpletely naked, cing the item on top of the spiraling runes on her chest.
As the time slowly passed the item gently vibrated as it began to sink into her very skin as it released light pulse throughout her body before epletely sinking into her chest.
"Ahhh.... With this, all my preparations isplete. They should be here very soon, I almost can''t wait."
With the Jaxith family now thrown into chaos by the sudden revtion of this list, the stage has finally been set her to make her move.
Athena spoke as her right hand then gently moved to massage the slowly disappearing mark on her chest, the slightest touch sending shockwave throughout her now incredibly sensitive body.
A soft moan escaped her lips as her body tremvled, her left hand subconsciously moving in-between her legs and her right hand gently squeezed her right breast before letting out a series of erotic moans as she lightly bit her lips to hold herself back.
"I hate this body."
Chapter 415 Chapter 415. What happens Next
Chapter 415 C415. What happens Next
After the arrest of a majority of the Jaxith family''s Elders, including a considerable portion of the ministers who were the heads of various divisios responsible for running the entire region, the situation in the Floato region began to shift from bad to worse as words of the arrest of indispensable heads of state rapidly spread around the entire region like wildfire.
Despite the desperate attempts of the Jaxith family to prevent this, it seems one of the corrupted families had been responsible for spreading the news in an attempt to foster doubts in the hearts of the citizens of the Floato region, causing them to lose what was left of their fate in the Jaxith family''s leadership abilities.
As such, riots and crimes within the cities under these nobles protection l, including here in the capital, had increased significantly in the past few days, stretching the forces of the Jaxith family and its remaining nobles thin and throwing the entire region in chaos.
While it would be a lot easier to cate these riots and crime spree with force, doing anything that would significantly alienate the masses in their current situation, considering they were still at war with their surrounding neighboring regions¡ª was the epitome of a bad idea.
If the masses chose to revolt against them, the Great Five will no doubt use it as an excuse to directly invade the Floato region. As such, they had no choice but to attempt to resolve the issue the best they could.
As though to make matters worse, this situation had unfortunately led to the disappearance of multiple innocent young demonesses'' within the capital city.
The work of the Dark Order no doubt. With the Jaxith family''s forces stretched so thin, it was impossible to prevent these kidnappings from happening and it seems the Dark Order are hell bent on taking full advantage of this opportunity.
Reynald sighed heavily as he perused the report in front of his desk. His eyes felt heavy and his head ache just thinking about the mess their family was currently in.
After finding out the true nature of his family''s secret, he could understand why his mother had been so against any talks of vassge until now.
Still, that did not improve their current predicament in the slightest, especially if the Demon Lord of the Darknar family does not turn out to be who his mother thinks he is.
While the investigations of the families on the list given to them by the emissary were progressing rather smoothly, the results did not hold well for their family as a majority of the ruling ss high-rankingnded nobles and their families were being found guilty of multiple crimes, including treason. An unpardonable offense punishable by death.
Reynald felt that with the way things were progressing, ever single name on that list would be found guilty of treason and be sentenced to death, leaving their territoriespletely unprotected from both bandits and monsters.
Although the terms of vassge with the Darknar. family would include protection against the other ruling ss nobles, Reynald didn''t think a recently established family like them, with only a single city to their name could offer the help they needed to stabilize their control over these vulnerable territories within their region.
At the very least, they would no longer have to worry about any interference from outside forces or spies from the inside, which was most likely the reason why the emissary was insistent on a purge.
Reynald gently shook his head as he decided there was no point in dwelling on things he couldn''t change. He quickly went through the remaining reports on the investigations.
Each elder and noble had their own army that was extremely loyal to them so investigation on their territories wasn''t easy given theck of influence of his mother over her nobles in recent times.
The one leading the investigations to avoid any issues was the Captain of the Knights who was also assisted by his sister''s pet guard, Bam. It was only thanks to those two that everything was going this smoothly else a coup d''etat might''ve been formed.
Hell, there was even talks of the listed families secretly bandding together to fight with their enemies in this war and there wasn''t much they could do to stop it. He could only hope the negotiations with the Darknar family would bepleted before it became toote.
Just then, therge doors to his office was suddenly swung open as a knight barged into his office with apletely paled expression, panting heavily as though he had ran a great distance just to get to him.
"What is it?"
Reynald''s words was curt and direct as he stared coldly at the poor knight that instantly trembled in terror. Recent history has taught him that this knight could only bring him bad news and even though it was not the knight''s fault, Reynald couldn''t help but feel irritated by the knights presence.
With a audible gulp, the knight resisted the sudden urge to run as he hurriedly genuflected and spoke.
"Lord Reynald, we have a problem. The Adams family has broken through our boarder defenses and invaded."
Reynald''s brows twitched at the knight''s words, his mind almost went nk at the thought of an attack a time like this. Then again, if he were the other party, he would also choose to move when his opponents were at their weakest.
Reynald silently forced himself to calm down as the knight continued his report.
"ording to the report, one of our border cities had suddenly sidded with them and all the towns and viges in the area have been destroyed. Their army is making its way to the capital this instance."
"..."
??????
In the Taine Ze Region.
Located somewhere in the southern end of the region, close to the ce were one of the Brimstone family''s secret fort, the Lerantel Fortress, hadpletely disappeared without a trace a few months back.
A horde of monsters could be seen in the distance, approaching from the Delling Region. One of the Brimstone family''s outer (vassals) families region.
The monsters have been reported to have been gathering in the previous location of the Lerantel fortress after being attracted there by whatever force had caused the entire fortress to disappear without a trace, not even the highest level of divination could find out what had happened on that faithful day.
Of course, the location of the fort itself had been secret so the news of it''s disappearance had only reached the ears of a select few with wide reach. Yet, not even these people could peel through theyers of distortion surrounding the fort''s disappearance.
At first, the monsters presence there had not been an issue. In fact, it had rapidly be the most popr Hunting ground for the Hunters residing in the cities and towns around the location. Increasing the security around the southern borders immensely.
That was until, the monsters that came there steadily bing more and more powerful until the Hunters were no longer strong enough to handle any of them. Some even losing their lives in the process.
The ce slowly became infamous for bing the new den of monsters in the Taine ze region. At some point, the Brimstone family was forced to take action, sending their specialized division to deal with the problem.
However, even someone like Izabel could only handle so much as the numbers of monsters continuously multiplied at a ridiculous rate. To the point when they had be a Continental threat, numbering in the thousands.
Most of these were freaking Lord ss monsters and magic beasts with the rest being Advanced ss. Each one of those creatures was enough to tten an entire town and a few of them couldpletely trample an entire city yet there were currently thousands of them.
They were creatures of different shapes and sizes, types and breeds. Some of these creatures could not even cohabitate with each other yet here they were charging together.
No one could understand why this had happened and how. There were also not many people that would be capable of taking on so many magic beasts at once so it was understandable why the Hunters had failed as even Quantium ranked Hunters could not fight so many Lord ss monsters at a given time.
There was also not that many Quantium Ranked Hunter party in the Demon continent to begin with so how could such a force be stopped.
These were all desert creatures that could easily move in the hot and sandy terrain and for some reason, they had begun to charge in the direction of Sun city a few days ago. Before then, they had simply remained in a single spot, growing stronger just by sitting around and doing nothing for some reason.
The Brimstone family had also stealthily sent a specialist to investigate why this was happening but the only thing they coulde up with was that the magic essence in the air at that particr location had changed somehow.
They had needed to drive the horde of monsters away to further investigate but hadn''t even gotten around to it when this had happened.
Was it the earlier disturbance in time that startled them? Or was it the shockwave that shook the entire continent that had done it. Or was there another strange reason why over 4,000 Lord ss beasts were running straight for the capital city of the Taine ze region.
These were all questions that ran through the minds of the elders when they had been discussing the proper way to handle this problem before their precious city of oasis would be trampled to the ground.
"Woah... That''s a lot of monsters~ hehe... how scary~"
The still air rippled with sounds as silent vibrations carried the milky soft voice across the distance to their intended target.
Those words had originated from the mouth of the figure that had just appeared behind the massive frame of an aged man that seamlessly floated in the air several meters away from the horde of approaching beasts.
Standing at an impressive height of 6 feet 5 inches, he had short white hair with slight streaks of red running through it. An eye patch ran across his left eye.
He had a neatly trimmed beard of white and wore an extremely luxurious red and white robe that gave off an imposing aura. His fingers were adorned with several rings of insane value, one could not begin toprehend the worth of any single one of them.
His scarlet eyes pierced through the distance as he observed the approach of the rampaging horde with a stoic expression on his face.
"Why are you here?"
His cold words was directed at the figure that had only just appeared behind him. She had worn an hooded cloak but chose to pull back the hood when she was addressed by none other than, the Great Demon Lord of the Brimstone family, Malik Vyle Brimstone.
The hooded figure broke into a fit ofughter, the voice was a little high pitched and sweet, she removed the hood revealing the figure of a young woman in her early twenties, she had a pretty face and doll like eyes, with short silver hair and a carnivore''s predatory gaze.
Despite the overwhelming pressure that distorted the space around the Great Demon Lord himself, a pressure that would suffocate any demon that tried to approach him even the elders. Yet this figure seempletely unaffected as her demeanor remained one of a mischievous child ying a prank.
Chapter 416 Chapter 416. Flame Emperor
Chapter 416 C416. me Emperor
The hooded figure giggled in amusement, her voice was a slightly high-pitched yet sweet, she gently removed her hood revealing the figure of a young woman who looked to be in her early twenties, she had an extremely pretty face and doll-like eyes with short silver hair and a carnivore''s predatory gaze.
Her figure was well-toned and countless men would no doubt find her impossible to resist, as long as they admired her from a distance.
"Why are you here?"
That question rang in her ears from the imposing figure standing in the air in front of her, his presence condensing the atmosphere around her to the point where most demons would lose their breath just standing there.
However, Citrus shrugged as she smirked and spoke in a childish tone.
"Well I just returned and heard you were facing off against a horde of Lord ss monsters alone, so I came to see my old man in action after so long. Is that so bad~"
Malik remained silent after hearing Citrus'' response to his question. He did not bother to repeat himself as the air trembled around him and Citrus giggled.
"Oops... looks like I''ve been found out. My bad~ I simply came to deliver Isabel''s report on the Jaxith family cause I''m so nice. Aren''t I a great big sister?"
"Get to the point."
Malik frowned, his gaze still fixated on the approaching horde in the distance.
"Geez, you''re such a party pooper. Anyways, the soul link I had on the agent I sent to infiltrate the Jaxith family disappeared."
"Hmm..."
"That means he is probably dead or no longer in this dimension. Unfortunately, that means the list I sent him to retrieve from that organization was stolen and is now in the hands of the Jaxith family."
"Is that so? How unfortunate."
Citrus couldn''t sense any reaction from Malik''s voice so she couldn''t tell if he was at all displeased as her report essentially meant the failure of the Great Five''s ns to pressure the Jaxith family into submission from both within and externally.
A n that had been in the works for over 3 centuries as the Great Five had systematically cut off the Jaxith family from all forms of support and alliance before finally using those three families to begin their attack.
A n with thousands of moving pieces and carefullyid traps and traitors. Yet in only a single month, the appearance of a single-family had utterly demolished their ns with very little effort on their part.
They had been aware of the secret organization Numbers using their corruption of the nobles of the Jaxith family as a means and opportunity to infiltrate the Floato region to feed off the scraps of the Jaxith family''s secret by establishing connections with said nobles'' households.
However, they hadn''t chosen to interfere with the organization as it had proved useful in the past yet this time had been different. They hadn''t been aware that the organization had kept a list of all the nobles they had "convinced" to help them and many more.
Perhaps this was used as a ckmail tool against the nobles or a form of deterrent against the Great Five but now that said list had ended up in the wrong hands, no doubt due to the interference of that sted family.
That said¡ª none of this was of any concern to Citrus as she had only involved herself with the n because she had taken an interest in Athena and considered her to be fun to y with temporarily.
Aside from her sister, there weren''t many people in this world that could catch Citrus'' eye so the fact that the 5th Princess of a small noble region could hold her attention had surprised even her father.
There was also someone else she was interested in, and that was Snow, the ice princess they had captured a while back but failed to extract her innate ability. If only that man hadn''t arrived when he did, things might''ve gotten more interesting.
"You don''t seem too concerned about this news. Now that the list is in the hands of the Jaxith family, all spies and coerced nobles are being captured and trial for treason."
"Hmmm... It no longer matters."
"Huh?"
Although Citrus didn''t care about any of this, she was still at a loss for words at her father''s nonchnt reaction. She hadn''t told him any of her personal ns involving the 5th Princess so she didn''t think there was much tough about. Unless her father has finally lost his mind.
*Rumble... Rumble... Rumble...
Just as her thoughts began to trail, Citrus felt the sands and air tremble violently as her eyes naturally traced the source, her gazending ahead of Malik, she could see it now, the vast horde of terrifying monsters capable of leveling towns on their own, charging at them with insane speed.
"There is no longer a need to worry. The moment the Jaxith family listened to the emissary and began its trial of demon nobles was the moment the lost whatever little value they had left."
Just as Citrus was beginning to question what her father was saying, a wicked smile soon crossed her face in realization.
She was keenly aware of the current predicament of the Jaxith family and what they had essentially just done was akin to crippling themselves as they had begun to cut off their own hands and legs by reducing their manpower even more, and of course, sowing chaos and doubt in the eyes of the clueless masses.
With all that being the case, now was the perfect time for those three families to go on an all-out attack and invade the Floato region with full force. Using the excuse of rescuing the oppressed citizens from an ipetent sovereignty, the Great could easily justify theplete annihtion of the Jaxith family.
"I see~"
The smile on Citrus face because even more predatory and sinister as she licked her lips in anticipation.
"I guess I''m going to see something interesting soon, kekeke~"
Malik did not respond to his daughter as his muscr frame began to heat up to a ridiculous degree that even Citrus with a ue heat resistance it a member of the Brimstone family, had to fly back before she got burned.
The purest of red mes began to encircle Malik''s body as he suddenly shot forward before Citrus could even blink. The air literally burning in his ce.
*Boom!
His ming body had crashed into the horde of Lord ss monsters with the sound of a devastating explosion that shattered and incinerated anything he hade in contact with. A massive crater of crystalized sand forming underneath his feet in a vast radius.
In just one move, he hadpletely halted the charge of a ridiculous number of Lord ss monsters, creatures even Quantium-ranked Hunters needed to be careful with.
Malik''s eyes nced at the eyes of the monsters that seemed to be possessed by something yet did not carelessly move as they began to encircle him. He had thought about using his innate ability, World of Inferno, but soon decided against it.
He was still inside his territory after all and did not want to render this ce unlivable more than it already was. After all, thest time he used his innate ability, his bustling region full of life and vegetation was reduced to nothing but sand.
"How annoying."
Malik frowned as his mind had gone to a ce he didn''t want to remember. Just then, the monsters and magic beasts seemed to sense his distraction and instinctively lunged at him from every direction.
There were monsters ranging from Demon Sand scorpions, Giant worms, Sand Demon Vipers, and many more. Most of them were highly intelligent and possessed both magic and skills.
The intelligent ones did not rush to attack as they immediately activated several protection skills and used attack spells at the same time.
This was what it meant to fight multiple Magic beasts or Lord ss monsters at the same time. Despite them notmunicating with each other, they all instinctively understood each other and acted ordingly.
However, in front of a true Great Demon Lord, none of that mattered as Malik hadn''t even bothered to dodge their attacks and didn''t even deploy any magic shield. Yet, before any of the mindless monsters or spells could reach him, they had all promptly been reduced to ash by the sheer heat being released from his body alone.
"I haven''t been out in a while so I was hoping for an actual challenge from beings ssified as Lord ss creatures. Worthless."
The truth was, he had onlye here himself due to the peculiarity of the situation with these creatures as he was interested in the reason why they had been gathered in the previous site of that fortress.
However, none of his observational skills has yielded any significant results. From what he could tell, these creatures were probably just reacting to the magic signature left by the skill that had caused that fortress to disappear.
Still, that did not exin why they had suddenly gone mad and charged in the direction of Capital City although he had judged that there was no information he could gain from these creatures.
Just as he came to this conclusion, the remaining monsters that had stayed back and used magic, began another round of spells and skills, each stronger than thest.
At some point, they hadpletely surrounded him and had used their most powerful attacks.
"You insult me. Burn in Hell, - ze of Fury."
Sensing nothing worthwhile in this endeavor, he scoffed and cast an original spell as mes hotter than the temperature of the sun erupted from his body in all directions, in a radius further than the eyes could see, reducing everything it touched to dust in seconds.
The mes were so powerful, that they had burnt through the magic shields and protections of the magic beasts without even giving them time to escape.
Even Cirus had needed to alter the kic energy of the mes to protect herself from bing coteral damage. She had also activated a spell to boost her heat r distance despite the fact that she had few a few miles away to get away from the impacted zone.
In the next moment as the mes disappeared, thousands upon thousands of magic crystals and monsters in the forest began to rain from the sky.
"Wow, as impressive as always."
Citrus marveled at the beautiful sight of falling crystals that oozed an air of calmness across the desert as she appeared behind Malik in amusement.
"We''re done here, have the Adams family begin the attack on the Floato region immediately, there is no longer a need to hold back, I want that city to be reduced to nothing. This is where the true war begins."
Chapter 417 Chapter 417.The Invasion of Floato
Chapter 417 C417.The Invasion of Floato
¡ªRadiance City, Emerald Pce.
Gathered once again in the same meeting room was the Demon Lord of the Jaxith family, Keyrille Mayz Jaxith. Alongside her was her second son, Reynald Ley Jaxith¡ª who had taken the reins as the crown prince ever since the death of his brother the first prince, Andrea Geld Jaxith.
Along with them was what remained of their court, consisting of only 5 of the original 12 Elders and a few ministers of state. This was now all that was left of the Jaxith family''s ruling families.
The once vibrant and suffocating room due to thebined auras of high-ranked noble demons was now only a shell of its former glory.
The reason for their current urgent gathering was to discuss the current state of affairs within the rapidly copsing Floato region. The urgency of the situation was obvious.
A week after what would be referred to as the Unfortunate Trials of the Floato region, or rather, the beginning of the fall of the Jaxith family, the war between the Jaxith family and the other three families, including the Adams family had suddenly escted beyond what could be considered normal even in the Demon continent.
The cities being controlled by a majority of demon nobles on trial for treason and corruption had immediately surrendered to the invading forces without any form of resistance or even any attempt at seeking aid from the capital, giving the invaders apletely open path to the capital city.
Such a situation has beenpletely unprecedented and unheard of ever since the establishment of the modern system of nobilities.
Naturally, this all but confirmed the involvement of these families with the enemies of the Jaxith family, branding them traitors of the Floato region and bringing the trial to an abrupt end with all of the used being found guilty.
This was a truly unfortunate situation, after all, the grace given to them by the Demon Lord herself was repaid with nothing but hostility and they had lost valuable time and resources trying to subdue the traitors without killing them.
Faced with such a dire predicament, having lost a majority of their strength in one fell swoop, even the Demon Lord, could no longer justify keeping these traitors alive despite their current rank and title within the family.
A decision that had lowered the masses'' opinion of nobles even further, causing them to lose what little control they had over themoners.
To make things worse, the Demon Lord''s hesitation from the beginning had given leeway for most of the guilty Elders to escape and seek refuge with the Adams family, making their situation even worse than it was.
"Now then, let''s begin."
The minister of War, or military affairs stood up with a grave expression and spoke as he waved his hands to control the holographic projection at the center of the table, disying the gruesome scene of the areas around the cities that had surrendered to the invaders.
"As you all can see, we''ve lost a total of 5 cities in only a few days and more than 20 towns and viges have beenpletely destroyed in their wake. This amounts to the loss of more than 90,000 lives and counting. That''s almost a tenth of our total poption."
Due to the high levels of nature''s essence in the Demon continent, the density of the mana here increased drastically, making the monsters and creatures living in the continent to grow stronger and more ferocious than anywhere else on Neron.
Naturally, this made the Demon continent a more dangerous ce than anywhere else. Making the poption of the continent be drastically lower than the rest of the world, especially the Human continent.
However, this also caused a massive disparity between the poption of the Great Five''s regions and the other families'' regions. Even an ancient family like the Jaxith family only had one-tenth the poption of one of the Great Five''s capital cities.
Meaning, that the entirety of the Floato region holds a poption of less than a million people while a single city in any of the Great Five''s region casually boast a poption of several million at a time.
This was a result of the vast disparity in power and the ability to protect one''s citizens and provide stability as evidenced by the Jaxith family''s current predicament. The only reason the poption of the Floato region was even this high was because of their status as an ancient family and advantageous terrain.
The Great Five had already solidified their influence over the Demon continent and had be the Apex of predators that only consumed everything around them and had no natural predators capable of challenging them.
After all, the only ones that could truly contend with a Great was another Great and a conflict like that would rip the universe apart a billion times over. The gods would never allow such a thing.
This was why the noble etiquette and the war pact held so much importance amongst the ruling ss nobles who stood no chance against tyrants like the Five Greats.
Naturally, if every other ruling ss nobilities were to unite, even against the frightening powers of Demigods, even the Great Five would be forced to yield but why would the Five allow such a thing?
Even though they could never truly disy their might within the vast Omniverse, Neron was unique as it stood at the center of the magical cosmic nexus that binds everything in all of creation together, and thus was under the protection of a multitude of gods that not even the Great Five could afford to threaten the for morend.
As for why the Great Five could still be restrained by their own rules andws, the threat of another situation simr to the conflict with the seven primordial behemoths was enough to keep them on their toes. Contending powerhouses with nothing to lose while maintaining a reputation was practically impossible.
Hence the poption amongst the ruling ss nobles¡ª who were constantly at war for the goal of one day ascending as the Sixth Great¡ª was so low. There was always the threat of death, looming over the ordinary demons, lesser demons, and demihumans living under these nobles.
As such, the majority of the Demon continent''s poption has naturally gravitated towards the regions ruled by the Five Greats.
Hence the poption of the brand new Paragon city within the Darknar region was growing at such rapid pace after news of the new Demon Lord beingparable to the Five Greats spread around.
The minister of war sighed, as he waved his hand and the image disyed on the holographic screen changed to that of the towns and viges that have been absolutely decimated.
While the cities that had surrendered had simply been upied without any casualties, the towns and viges around them had not been so lucky as the lifeless bodies of demons and demihumansy in between the ashen rubbles of the destroyed buildings.
"We''ve heard rumors that a majority of our citizens close to the borders are already seeking refuge from the Great Five. Even the ones here in the capital are desperately calling for the help of the Great Five to save them from us. It''s be an absolute mess."
Reynald''s brows furrowed at the words of the minister. The images being disyed on the screen made his stomach turn as he shook his head and spoke.
"As expected, this was the n of the enemy. To use our own citizens against us. Even with the help of Quantium ranked Hunters, Evident, we''ve practically lost any semnce of control over the masses."
With each passing day and with every fallen city, the number of people that sought the aid of the Great Five was soaring by the droves, it was only a matter of time before the Great Five responded and used this as an excuse to attack them directly and everyone here knows it.
"Our only hope now is the Darknar family. With the trialpleted and the remaining traitors executed, we can only hope the Darknar family responds to our message andes to our aid as soon as possible."
Everyone''s face immediately went pale, it was as though the blood had instantly drained from their bodies.
After making her decree during herst visit to the throne room, the emissary from the Darknar region had chosen to return to the Darknar region. Leaving behind a strange device that was apparently amunication tool they had never seen before.
She had stated that once the trial ispleted, the tool be used to contact them and they will return immediately to finalize the details of their vassge.
Reynald had been against this decision as the borders between the Floato region and the Darknar region were hindered by the Adams family''s region which might dy the Darknar family''s forces froming to their aid on time.
Although he didn''t think the Adams family by themselves would dare challenge the Darknar family, he wasn''t confident in that assumption with one if not more of the Great Five secretly backing them.
They had sent their messages through that device only yesterday so their biggest problem right now was to survive until the Darknar family''s forces arrived.
"Is that even possible? At our current strength, I don''t see how we can stave off three separate armies for another two weeks. Will the Darknar family even still be interested in us."
One of the remaining elders suddenly spoke up in anxious agitation as his face and clothes were already drenched in sweat.
"What exactly are you saying, Elder Lowe?"
The minister of war who was in charge of this meeting asked with a questioning gaze as he turned to face the fidgeting elder.
"While we still possess our family''s secret and calling back our forces to the capital should help strengthen our scattered forces."
"That would mean leaving our citizens to die, are you okay with that?"
"What of it? Isn''t it more important to protect the capital than the lives of meremoners and lesser demons?"
The minister of war was speechless, so much so that he couldn''t even fathom a proper response to such a statement. This was why he rarely attended these meetings, to avoid listening to nonsense like this.
Just when he thought things would go downhill from here, someone suddenly responded to the elder.
"Are you by chance incredibly stupid Elder Lowe? What did the minister of war just say about our citizens losing faith in us and you want to give them even more reasons to do so? What do you think would happen after that?"
Reynald''s eyes were as cold as the night''s sky, so much so that even the elder couldn''t help but take a step back.
"Oh..."
"You moron. Not even the Darknar family would be able to save us if the Great Five came at us directly."
The room fell silent at Reynald''s words as even the remaining elders fell into despair at the thought of their impending doom.
"True, with the addition of the Dark Orders'' sudden increase in activity, any semnce of control over themoners is non-existent. Still, at this stage, is there any way to salvage this situation even with the help of the Darknar family."
"That is not something I have an answer to. All I know is, that we don''t have the military might to hold back the forces of the Adams family alone much less with the other two families sitting with them. We''ll need a miracle at the very least."
The Demon Lord sighed, her eyes unfocused and hazy. Herplexion was utterly pale but one could see a small fight within her eyes, she was desperately trying to hang on even in such a hopeless situation.
Just then, the world shifted.
Or rather, the atmosphere as far as they could sense had suddenly changed so drastically, it felt as though they were no longer in the same dimension as they were only a moment ago.
Tension in the room rose drastically. After all, everyone in this room was a high-level demon capable of sensing even the slightest change in the air.
There were countless forms and types it the ability known as Danger Sense, a sort of Precognition if you will.
As the name of the skill implies, every variation of the skill grants the user one ability, the ability to sense or perceive danger or threat ahead of time.
As everyone present here possessed a variation of this ability, they had all sensed the arrival of a sudden subtle pressure that immediately suppressed the Mana essence of the entire region, making the air, or rather, the atmosphere itself bend to its authority.
"What''s going on?"
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