Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
A pair of yellow eyes shone with grace, watching as several bodies around him collapsed, lifeless, to the ground.
The bodies belonged to thin figures with long, sickly arms that unnervingly stretched down from their backs, their bodies now motionless at his feet as their blood slowly seeped into the dry ground beneath, staining the earth with dark black color.
But as if that wasn't enough, several dozen more of the sa creatures surrounded him. They stood still, their vacant, empty eye sockets staring blankly in his direction from all sides.
They were all alive, yet not a single one seed capable of moving.
As if frozen in place.
".... How many does that make?"
Caius stretched his arm to the side. In a short few seconds, he felt sothing soft fall on his hand, and he brought it to his face.
"It makes it twenty-three at once."
"Oh, not bad."
Caius wiped the sweat using the towel he received and tossed it back to Angela.
Massaging his neck, he flicked his hand up.
One of the Wraiths that surrounded him lifted off the ground and floated before him.
"They're quite a bit weaker than I thought."
Swiping his hand, the Wraith's body turned and twisted in the air before it levitated right before him.
Caius pinched his chin as he closely examined the corpse.
"It's been almost a week, and we're soon going to have to return. It's a bit of a pity if this is the little warm-up that we'll have to do before the second phase."
Closing his hand, Caius watched as the Wraith's body suddenly crumpled, the air filled with the sickening sound of bones cracking and twisting.
Cra Crack-!
Within seconds, the Wraith was reduced to a thin, compressed ball, which Caius casually dismissed with a flick of his finger.
Boom-!
The ground shattered beneath the impact of the ball.
Thump!
Several bodies fell imdiately after, their bodies torn in half, with the missing portions scattered like debris.
Caius glanced around at the dozen or so Wraiths surrounding him. The corner of his lips curled up slightly, a trace of amusent lingering on his lips.
Raising his hand, Caius gave the Wraiths back their ability to move. Instantly, they lunged at him from all sides, hundreds of arms reaching out for him and casting long and thin shadows over the area where he stood.
He remained motionless with the sa thin smile on his face as the hands covered him.
Tilting his head slightly, Caius peered through the narrow gaps between the outstretched hands reaching for him. He fixed his gaze on the white sun hanging in the sky, his bright yellow pupils gleaming with an unsettling light.
As he stared, sothing intangible began to expand from the ground beneath him, gradually enveloping his surroundings and the Wraiths in a creeping, invisible force.
"Stop."
As he spoke, his voice quietly layered as his surroundings froze.
His face twitched slightly as he rubbed his head.
"....It's not quite there."
Scratching his head, a do started to form over his surroundings. It slowly covered his surroundings but stopped halfway.
Staring at the half-complete do, Caius sighed.
"I'll get there soon enough, I guess."
With a sigh, he pressed his hands together, and a fountain of black sprayed all over him. Basking in the blood of the Wraiths, Caius took a step forward as the bodies collapsed alongside him.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Without turning back, he quietly mumbled,
"Let's go. We're going to be late at this rate. There's an interesting fellow I want to match up against. Though I'm not sure how entertaining our fight will be."
***
In a different area.
Crackle~
A fire crackled as a man stood by, silently observing its dance with his cold, gray eyes. Beside him, a young woman with long platinum hair and piercing blue eyes sat. She wore silver armor that covered half of her chest and legs, reflecting the flickering light of the flas.
Beside her were several other mbers of the sa empire.
"What are you thinking so deeply about, All?"
11
".....
All didn't answer, keeping his gaze fixed on the fire in front of him.
"All?"
It was only after Agatha spoke again that he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"It's his birthday today..."
"Ah."
As if realizing what this was about, Agatha's expression changed subtly. The atmosphere surrounding the fire grew a little tense.
This was a sour topic within the Empire. Sothing that the Royal family refused to talk
about and hid from the world.
Everyone seed to have forgotten.
Everyone but All...
"He would've been about my age by now."
It was regarding his brother's death.
To this day, All refused to accept that his brother was dead. The body had never been found, and as long as there was no physical evidence, he clung to the belief that his brother
was still alive.
The harsh truth, however, was that what remained of his brother was probably nothing but
ashes.
The fire that raged on that day would've made it impossible for a young kid to escape.
Agatha, his fiancée, and the future Sword Saintess of their Empire knew the truth all too well
but chose to remain silent.
There was no use taking the idea off of his mind.
To lighten up the mood, she tried to joke.
"Do you think he would've been as handso as you?"
That did seem to work as All chuckled slightly.
"Probably not."
Even if they were twins, he still believed he'd be better-looking. But what brother didn't
think they were more handso than their brother?
"Hmm, I don't know."
Agatha tilted her head and looked to be in deep contemplation.
Finally, All's expression changed as his head flicked in her direction.
"What are you thinking so deeply about?"
|| ||
Agatha didn't answer and just stared into his eyes, her lips curling slightly.
"I don't know if you'd look better than your brother, to be honest."
"Ah?"
"From what I heard he takes more from your father than you did. Your father is pretty
handso, so..."
Agatha covered her lips and laughed.
".... It's a tough one."
"What? What's so tough about it?"
"Um."
Agatha shrugged.
"Whatever the case, he has the sa gray eyes as yours. I'm sure he looks good."
After all, those gray eyes of his... They were one of the distinctive features of the Verdant
Empire Royal Family.
"I guess."
All waved his hand and the fire faded. Standing up, he looked towards the others to make sure they were all well-rested before nudging with his head.
"Let's go. We're almost there."
***
"Haaa... Haaa..."
Kaelion's chest heaved with labored breaths, his entire body drenched in blood from head to
toe. Surrounding him lay several scattered monsters, pieces of their bodies strewn across the
ground.
It was a devastating sight that would upset the weakest of stomachs, and yet, Kaelion treated
everything as if it were normal.
No, he was used to such a scene.
For as long as he could rember, his life had been like this.
Alone, and filled with blood.
It was for that reason that he didn't think twice about betraying those within his Empire.
They'd do the sa thing if they were in his position.
Since birth, they had been taught the sa thing over and over again. Strength first, everything else second. To be strong, he needed to live so he never regretted his choices.
This was the reality of his life.
"Hoooo."
Taking a deep breath, Kaelion raised his head as a smile graced his lips.
"....I think I should be able to handle it now."
Emotive Magic.
Ever since the incident at the strange, cult-like place, he had tornted himself day and
night, hiring every Emotive Mage he could find to expose himself to their power. He ruthlessly subjected himself to it every second he could. To the point where he wished nothing but death on himself, but it was all worth it.
He was confident in his ability to resist it for at least a few seconds.
It wasn't much, but it was enough for him.
"Roooaar-!"
A thunderous roar echoed in the distance. Turning his head, Kaelion saw a gigantic, tiger-like
monster with bat-like wings hurtling toward him at trendous speed.
His lips twisted into a cruel smile as he brought the leg of one of the monsters he had killed to
his mouth and took a bite.
Crunch!
Staining his lips in blue, he tossed the leg to the side and rushed toward the approaching
monster.
With both hands outstretched, the ground cracked and splintered with each step he took,
causing the surroundings to twist and distort wildly.
"Haaa!"
Shouting at the top of his lungs, he grasped the tiger's massive paws, and a trendous
explosion erupted, reverberating through the surroundings and shattering the ground beneath them.
For a brief second, the two remained in a stalemate like that before Kaelion's entire body
twisted and he brought his hands down.
Boooom-!
With a pained wail, the tiger cried out, but before it could react further, Kaelion's hand
descended sharply, cleaving down toward its neck.
Spurt!
A fountain of blood drowning his features, Kaelion stood still as his chest heaved up and
down unevenly.
"Нааа... Нааа..."
Staring at the lifeless corpse before him, he quietly mumbled,
"A few seconds... That's all I'll need."
Without wiping the blood off his body, he slowly turned around and headed forward.
***
Grimspire.
The Main Plaza was deserted.
It'd usually be filled with all sorts of people, chatting and purchasing goods for the rchants
stationed by the sides, but today, it was quiet.
The reason for this was that today would be the day the participants of the Summit would
return.
Standing on one of the balconies that overlooked the plaza from above, Delilah calmly gazed toward her surroundings.
A certain, intangible tension lingered in the air as all eyes were on the Plaza. While death was possible, all the participants were the cream of the crop. Death was quite rare
given their skill level. The reason why everyone was so nervous was because there were only forty-eight spots available for the second phase.
It was all on a 'first co, first served' basis.
In that sense, the tension stemd from the fact that there was no equal number of
participants for each Empire. The country with the most participants would inevitably hold the advantage.
It was for that reason that the atmosphere was tense.
"Are you not nervous?"
Sitting opposite Delilah was Atlas. As the two mbers of Haven, they naturally sat together.
Delilah briefly glanced in his direction before shaking her head,
"It doesn't matter."
"Oh? Are you that confident that we'll have a lot of participants?"
"No."
Delilah turned her head and looked at him indifferently.
"...The number doesn't matter. We only need the right people to get at least one spot."
Atlas smiled, turning his attention toward the plaza.
"I am of the sa opinion."
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