Chapter 397 - 390: The Reward
Alex hummed softly as he returned to the Inn, there Sakuya and Lilith were waiting for him; upon sensing his arrival, Sakuya smiled.
''How was it?" Sakuya inquired, Lilith seemed interested, judging from her reaction, Sakuya must have told her what happened, how she had a brief talk with the Guild master before telling her where Alex was, if not for her, Celesta might have to wait until dawn when the two returned from their date.
Taking a seat across from the girls, by the way they were using Alex's room, Alex roughly explained the situation to them.
''So, the reward for this mission is to be able to board the ferry to pass through the kingdoms, principalities and arrive at the other side?" Lilith asked; she wanted to be sure if she heard right.
Alex nodded to indicate that she hadn't heard wrong. There was a reason for Alex and the girls to come to this particular city; it's because Blue Ivy was connected to a part of the endless sea, a sea said to traverse through all the continents.
The trio wants to board the ferry to traverse to the other side of the human continent; by doing this, they would considerably reduce the distance to the Demon's continent. They could have chosen to continue by land by it would take too much time, although the endless sea was a bit dangerous this time of the year, with fewer ferry willing to sail on it, they still believe that they could take a ferry to traverse, however, reality had proven to be cruel as the group couldn't find a ferry to board, not in a short time, it would take one month to one month and a half before they could be able to traverse. This left the group to be depressed. Therefore they decided to take a break to consider further options. This nominated quest arrived; its timely arrival couldn't be more welcomed; the reward was so enticing that Alex would be a fool; if he ever refused, after completing this mission, he and his group would immediately board a special ferry prepared by Celesta. Hearing the reward, Alex accepted the nominated quest; it is only Aurora grass delivery and some investigation; it shall be done in no time, so he believes.
''I understand, you will be leaving immediately; in the meantime, what shall Sakuya and I do?" Lilith inquired with a smile that wasn't really a smile; the fact not to be able to go with him somehow left a sour aftertaste in Lilith's mouth; she could not understand why she was feeling like this.
''Ayi! Don't worry, stay here; you may try to dive in the underwater dungeon in my absence or else spar with each. It won't take long; the tamed griffon wouldn't be able to take more than two persons, it is still pretty young after all. Don't worry; if I need help, I will contact you, and you will sneak out and carry Sakuya with you. Well, girls, I shall depart at once.'' Alex said as he stood up, giving the girls a beautiful smile he left.
Sakuya and Lilith exchanged glances before chuckling; they have decided to spar with each other; a smile couldn't help but blossom on Sakuya's face at the prospect of fighting against a strong opponent.
•••••
At the same time as Alex mounted the griffon and left the city, in the Adventurer guild in Blue Ivy. Inside the guild master room, Celesta could be seen staring at a magic crystal, a higher level of communication stone.
Pouring mana into this magic crystal, an image was projected.
It was the face of a man in his Sixties. He had a long beard, wore a robe, and had a sense of profound wisdom in his eyes. He was a mage who had been in the same party as Celesta several decades ago, Mathias. Their former party leader Ludic, was the acting lord of the city of Xeeno, while Mathias, like Celesta, was serving as a guild master.
''Celesta, my friend, Are you contacting us this time about the Aurora grass?"
Her former party member, who usually kept a calm expression, had a grave look. From that along, Celesta could easily imagine the crisis that Xeeno is currently in. However, nothing would change even if she had a severe expression, so Celesta nodded with a smile.
''Yes, we gathered a large amount of Aurora grass powder, and the carrier left the city a short time ago.''
''I see. It will take seven days to arrive at the earliest with the fastest magic carriage. I hope the patients with Magic Fever will be able to last until the carrier arrives.''
''Don't worry, the one I have sent would take so much time. Certainly, it will take one week even with the fastest magic carriage, but only if it is by land.''
Celesta's words made Mathias widened his eyes; hope began bubbling inside his chest; he had forgotten about the crazy things these former party members of his were able to accomplish.
''Fufufu! Recently, I have just tamed a young griffon, and I have a talented adventurer mount it to bring the Aurora grass powder over to your side.'' Celesta calmly explained.
Mathias was beyond surprised; he sighed when suddenly, he remembered something.
''Wait, this Adventurer of yours couldn't happen to have a magic storage, doesn't he?"
Facing this question, Celesta smiled; the answer couldn't be more obvious. Indeed Alex does possess a space ring.
''I see, that is a piece of great news. We just have to wait for this man to show up quickly.'' Mathias said with a smile; he felt like some of his loads had been taken off. The future wasn't looking bleak as it was anymore.
Suddenly, Mathias, who was feeling relieved from the current situation, heard Celesta's serious voice.
''Old D, tell me honestly what is happening? How can a magic fever start of the blue? Not even Blue Ivy has seen a Magic fever for decades, considering our proximity to the sea. There must be something else going on, and I know you must know something.''
Facing his old friend's serious tone, Mathias sighed, his shoulders slumped.
''Celes, Although I don't know what is the real cause behind this magic fever as we didn't get the opportunity to fully investigate before more than half of the city got contaminated. Few days prior, the purple fog started appearing from the Forest of Monsters at the east of the city, we sent time to investigate, but some came back while some simply disappeared. As you know, we lack adventurers over here due to the lack of dungeons and monsters, powerful monsters. I want to investigate personally, but as you can see, I can't, not before completely curing the sicks. It would be great if I had a talented adventurer on my side to investigate, sigh! I'm getting older. I should retire. My old bones couldn't take so much pressure.''
Celesta chuckled before saying, ''Don't worry, the one I sent his Rank 7 on par with Rank 8.''
This news made Mathias happier; he couldn't wait to see Alex and what he could do.
Chapter 398 - 391: Xeeno And The Birth Of A Dungeon
After some casual chat with her former party members, Celesta cut off the communication, she sighed.
Unlike how she had faced Mathias earlier, Celesta had a grim expression as she gently played with the crystal with her fingers. If she does remember correctly, the appearance of a purple fog means the birth of a new dungeon, the apparition of a new dungeon if you want. She knew this because of how long she lived; one of the elders back in her hometown had assisted at the birth of a dungeon. The birth of a dungeon can be a blessing or a curse but considering the current situation in Xeeno, instead of saying it was a blessing calling this a curse should be more accurate.
''Sigh! I must make some preparations and maybe send over some assistance.'' Celesta heaved another sigh before staring at the ceiling; she started thinking about various things.
•••••
In a desolate world where the only thing visible was an endless sea, this sea seemed to be entirely made of blood; when one looks closely, numerous bodies filled this endless sea of blood.
And standing in the middle of this sea was a person, a woman to be accurate, judged from the long silver hair, hourglass figure, because this woman had her back facing the other side it was impossible to see her features.
Drip! Drip!
From the woman's arms, blood constantly kept dripping, falling into the crimson sea.
''Where am I? What am I?"
The woman kept muttering these words like a broken record; no matter how much she waited, nothing changed, the same scene kept playing again and again, sometimes there were fragments mixed in, a discussion, a beginning, a war, then nothing.
''Who am I? What am I? Haaahhhhhhhhhh!''
The woman in crimson dress bellowed the endless sea got parted in two; crimson lightning descended from the sky as if to try to strike the woman before vanishing, then the woman snapped her eyes open, before closing them again, no something forced her to close it, however, during that short period, change appeared, the moment that crimson eyes opened, the endless sea disappeared, it got replaced by endless desert.
Somewhere, inside a forest, the purple fog covering this forest increased, bringing more harm to the nearest city.
In a dark dimension, a man snapped his eyes open and stared into a certain direction; his purple eyes with black spiral in them seemed to be able to pierce through space in the search for something. However, he couldn't pinpoint the exact location, just the rough location; however, this was more than enough; he had subordinates there, the man smirked and sent some instructions.
In the deepest part of a dungeon, a black dragon shuddered before opening his big slit-like eye.
''Search for it.'' The dragon ordered, and a man with a mask moved.
•••••
Unaware of what was happening, Alex was enjoying the view from the back of the small griffon; at first, it was hard to control this monster; however, after letting out a bit of killing intent and his MP, the monster had become docile.
Alex enjoyed the scenery as the griffon flew faster; suddenly, his expression changed, and Alex snorted.
''Tch! It's why I hate to fly; I'm in a hurry.''
Alex threw a Silver Bettie at the incoming bee; the silver knife cut through the air before bisecting the 30 cm bee in two. Alex recalled the knife through Link before throwing it at another bee.
Sword Bees. As its name suggested, the original needle-like stinger of a bee was now closer to a long sword. It was an E-rank monster; it wasn't powerful on its own. However, because of its habit of persistently pursuing its prey, it was a monster hated by adventurers. And right now, nearly twenty Sword Bees were flying around Alex and the griffon as they flew through the sky.
Throwing the twelve silver Betties, Alex killed twelve Sword bees before he patted the griffon back.
''Do it, Chucky.''
Although he pretty much dislikes this name, there's nothing the poor griffon could do about it; he only wishes to end this travel as fast as possible before returning to his mother's embrace, even that silver-haired wasn't this hateful.
Because Chucky doesn't want to give this cruel human another chance to abuse him, he takes a deep breath before spitting out a fire breath.
Roar!
"Shaar!''
The instant it was wrapped in flames, a Sword Bee's wings burned up and plummeted to the ground, still burning; the roasted smell reached Alex's nose, he couldn't help but frown. Chucky swept his head while spitting out flames. Naturally, Fire Breath also swept across, wrapping several Sword Bees in flames just like the first as they plummeted toward the ground.
Swoosh! Puh!
Throwing a silver Bettie's at the Sword bee's King trying to flee as soon he saw what Chucky could do, was split in two as a silver light passed through its body. Although it is called King, its height wasn't different from an average Sword bee except for its purple color.
Ignoring the materials falling to the ground, Alex urged Chucky to fly faster. The latter flapped his wings in the sky, flying as if cutting through the air; its speed dramatically increased as if he pushed the Nitro button.
Alex riding on the griffon's back traversed numerous villages, sometimes even cities; however, these cities' sizes were small.
Seven hours passed in a flash, and Alex approached his destination; Xeeno was just past this village, the fork village; it's shaped like a fork, thus the name.
After flying past the Fork village, Alex arrived at Xeeno. The city was beautiful seen from afar. Tall walls surrounded the city. At the East of the city was a gigantic forest stretching as far the eye could see; however, this forest was currently shrouded in purple fog; Alex got an ominous feeling the more he stared at that fog.
〖A dungeon is about to be born.〗Suddenly, Silveria's voice echoed inside Alex's mind, followed by Nyx's voice.
〖A pretty dangerous one, an unusual dungeon. Let's investigate.〗
Shaking his head, Alex decided first to descend and deliver what he came to do, investigating come after delivering the Aurora grass.
The birth of this dungeon should be behind the apparition of this unusual Magic fever.
Chapter 399 - 392: The Soldier's Tears
Alex stopped Chucky a few meters above the ground as he jumped from Chucky and landed elegantly on the ground. He immediately introduced himself as he could feel the vigilance in the soldiers' eyes; no one couldn't blame them, not everyone among was informed of Alex's arrival.
''I'm Sam, an Adventurer; I came from Blue Ivy. I have brought the Aurora grass needed to cure the Magic fever. Can you let me in or inform the guild master?"
Alex's voice echoed into the surroundings.
However, although the soldiers showed a transient expression of joy at Alex's words because his appearance meant the sicks would be saved. They noticed he was empty-handed even though he had said that he had brought Aurora grass powder. They exchanged confused looks with each other.
One man came forward from the soldiers and approached Alex. The man looked to be in his early thirties but was strangely calm. He stopped about 3 m from Alex and spoke up.
''I'm Brutus. I lead the soldiers over there. I want to ask; you said you'd brought Aurora grass powder, but where is it. You seemed to be empty-handed when I looked over. No, of course, we will be very grateful f you have even a little of it. But, since you said you've come all the way from Blue Ivy, you would have brought a reasonable amount, right?"
Brutus inquired, and Alex nodded before he took a small wooden crate from his Item box.
When the wooden crate suddenly appeared from nowhere, Brutus reached for the sword at his waist on reflex. However, he immediately realized that the crate wasn't anything that could harm him, and he looked over it again.
Inside the wooden crate, there was a large number of small bottles about 5 cm tall. And inside each one, there seemed to be some sort of powder.
''I see, thank you. Indeed you have the Aurora grass powder needed to cure the Magic fever,'' Brutus said with a happy smile on his face; he was surprised seeing so much Aurora grass powder; this man must own a space ring. Shaking his head, Brutus looked at the blonde young man in front of him; thanks to his arrival, many people would be saved, his sister included; he couldn't help but be gratified.
''Now that you're sure that I really have the Aurora grass powder, can you let me in?" Alex said as he believed that these soldiers stopped him from immediately entering to do a test; something must have happened in the past.
''Sorry. It was just a test. Actually, the guild master from the city's guild, rather, I heard that an adventurer dispatched from Blue Ivy would come here. However, as you know, Magic Fever isn't supposed to occur around here had spread explosively around Xeeno. Wherever they heard it from, some researchers who were interested in I came over here. Naturally, Lord Ludic rejected their attempts because letting them into the city could put people at risk.''
Brutus apologized and explained the situation.
''Why? Wouldn't researchers possibly be able to determine the cause of the outbreak?'' Alex inquired.
''Yes, if that really were their purpose, then it wouldn't matter,'' Brutus answered with a serious expression.
Hearing those words, Alex realized that there were some complicated circumstances. He decided that it was time to head into the city.
Alex, who started walking forward stop when he saw Brutus fidgeting.
''What is it?" He asked.
''I want to know if this Griffon will attack people on sight?" Brutus asked; the fear inside his eyes couldn't be hidden; he wasn't the only one, though.
'What that man you're letting in is more than dangerous than the poor me!' Chucky complained as he tilted his head. But as expected, fearing the existence that was the Griffon he had just met, Brutus took a step back.
If only Alex knew what was going on inside Chucky's head, the latter would have been skinned alive, Alex wouldn't be stroking him.
''If you don't mess with him, he will not do anything,'' Alex responded and stroked Chucky for a few more seconds before stopping. Brutus and the other soldiers were relieved. They become even more relieved after Alex handed over the Necklace of Obedience Celesta gave him; this necklace is used to control the monster if they get out of control.
Alex also handed over his guild card, as per procedures to enter the city.
''Open the gate!''
Following Brutus's instructions, the soldiers opened the gate that had blockaded the Xeeno's City.
(If I had entered from the sky, I wouldn't have to go through something so troublesome. Well, in that case, though, I would probably be treated as an intruder.)
''Captain. I will go ahead to the guild first.''
''Ahh. The Guild master will definitely be pleased to know this. I'll leave it to you.''
A soldier gave a slight nod at Brutus's words and entered the city ahead of Alex.
''You will see the guild if you just head straight along the main street. Because of the effect of Magic Fever, the number of people out in the city is getting smaller; head to the guild as quickly as you can. Last but not least, thank you again for coming to this city and welcome to Xeeno, the quiet city.''
Saying that Brutus gave a deep bow. The soldiers he led followed suit and also gave a deep bow.
Many of them had family, friends, or lovers who had fallen ill with Magic Fever. Tears fell from several soldiers who had lowered their heads. It was evident that they weren't tears of sadness but tears of hope from the help that had arrived. They kept their emotions in check, however seeing that Alex was about to enter the city, that their loved one would be rescued, most of them couldn't hold anymore. Seeing the people you love suffer why you're powerless isn't a good feeling; they thought it would take time for help to arrive, a few days, maybe among those that might die, someone closer to them could be included. So, Alex showing now couldn't make them happier; they were so happy that they started to cry.
Alex understood how those soldiers felt, sighing as he entered the city.
Chapter 400 - 393: Mathias Shocker
''He was right; the number of people around it is meager.''
Alex murmured as he looked over the streets of Xeeno from the main street. Fortunately, it wasn't like a ghost town where everyone had disappeared. But the number of people around was still a lot less than in Blue Ivy. The main reason for this was the spread of Magic Fever, but that said, the number of residents in the city was still lower than in Blue Ivy. Although Blue Ivy was a coastal city, because of the monster materials that could be acquired from the underwater dungeon, people like adventurers, merchants, and blacksmiths naturally gathered there. Compared to that, this was only a small city in the countryside; it wasn't unreasonable that there would be fewer people even though this city had a Forest of Monsters, only beginners Rank monsters, and some weak, medium Rank are inside it.
〖I sense the remnant of the purple fog still lingering around.〗Silveria's voice echoed inside Alex's mind.
'I see.' Alex mumbled before activating his Eye of Truth; his left green eye turned crimson; Alex was able to see faint purple fog mixed in the mana in the air; it appeared chaotic, almost making Alex's head spin; he quickly switched it off; he continued to advance until he reached the Adventurer guild.
Alex opened the guild door and went inside.
''I see. It was to be expected.''
Those were the first words Alex said. Normally, guild staff would be working busily. But even though this was the time adventurers would usually be eating at the bar, there were almost no people in the guild. There was just one receptionist counter, who appeared to be slightly older than Leonora, and several guild staff behind her.
There was no one that could be considered an adventurer around. However, it couldn't be helped that no one was eating or drinking at the bar if the city was blockaded and food was under a rationing system. Still, as expected of a guild staff and the receptionist, they smiled and gave a polite nod when Alex entered the guild.
''I'm Sam. I've brought Aurora grass powder and other relief supplies from Blue Ivy.'' Alex said the same words he said at the entrance of the city.
Surprise,d the receptionist froze at Alex's words. At the same time, the other guild staff behind the counter were the same.
''C-Could you pass me your guild card just to make sure?"
Alex nodded at the receptionist, who spoke in a trembling voice, and took out his guild card from his Item box; because he still wore that fake ring, people mistakenly thought he possessed a space ring; well, it was convenient.
''Ohh!?"
The guild staff cheered when they saw him use his item box, which showed that the story they had heard was true.
While watching the situation, Alex handed his guild card to the receptionist, thinking their reaction was reasonable if you considered the situation with Magic Fever.
''C-Certainly, you are Sam, leader of the C Rank Sky Wolf group. Current city: Blue Ivy. I have verified it.''
Alex spoke again after storing his guild card, which had been handed back with trembling hands, into his Item box.
''So, mind tell me where do I place the relief supplies I've brought? Because it's a decent amount, I think a slightly larger space would be good.''
''Please wait for a moment. I will call the guild master over right away.''
After the receptionist said that, the guild staff headed further back in a hurry but was stopped by Alex.
''Please wait. I would like you to hand this over to the guild master. It's a letter addressed to the guild master of Xeeno's city from the guild master of Blue Ivy.'' While saying so, Alex handed over the letter he took out from his Item box. The guild staff who received it nodded and ran behind the counter.
'If it has the same structure as the guild in Blue Ivy, then the guild master's office should be further back.' Thinking to himself as he looked inside, Alex turned to another receptionist to get a bit more information about the city, precisely that forest covered in purple fog.
As expected of a receptionist, her appearance was better than average. What was different from Blue Ivy was that there seemed to be two receptionists. Was that was due to magic fever?, he didn't know.
''Magic Fever, was it? I heard that 40% of the residents were ill with it when it was talked about in Blue. I wonder how far it's spread now?'' Alex inquired.
Knowing that question would come, the receptionist shook their head before speaking.
''People showing signs of onset in Xeeno is now approaching 60% of the residents.''
''So many?'' Alex was speechless that in just a few hours, the number of sicks people increased to such an extent.
''Yes, unfortunately. I think you would know since you've delivered the Aurora grass powder here, but Magic Fever will develop if the person doesn't have a certain level of magic power.''
The receptionist sighed, but someone continued from her words.
''In other words, the threshold for Magic Fever, in this case, was considerably high.'' Along with those words, an older man in his sixties appeared from behind the counter. Alex could easily guess who he was from the timing of his appearance. His expectations were proved correct from the receptionist's words.
''Guild master.''
The person wore a cloak and had a long cane in his hand; he appeared to be a mage. He gave off the atmosphere of a veteran mage. From Rei's glance, he appeared to be in his mid-sixties, and a long beard extended from his chin.
Wrinkles covered his face but were well matched to his aura of a strong mage. He was a mage worthy of being called one.
That was Alex's first impression of Mathias Shocker, Xeeno's guild master, who currently stood before him.
Also, seeing Alex's appearance, Mathias was shocked in his mind.
(This magic power, is he really a human?)
Standing in front of him, Alex looked like an above-average adventurer boy at first glance. However, the amount of mana his body hid was enormous.
(Interesting, no wonder Celes think highly of him.)
Unconsciously, Mathias's lips curled up to form a smile as he said.
''Please follow me.''
Chapter 401 - 394: Discussion With Mathias
Alex followed Mathias to another room; this room was more prominent, having enough free space for Alex to bring out all the Aurora grass powder he brought.
Then, Alex started taking out the wooden crates, packed with bottles of Aurora grass powder, one by one. Alex also took out potions for recovering magic power, potions to heal injuries, and other materials used to produce medicine for Magic Fever.
''I'm grateful that the Aurora grass powder is separated into individual portions. Although the recipe to produce the medicine to guarantee recovery is almost unchanged, it can't be made in large quantities at the same time because of the magic power that has to be added when making it. Because of that, it's usually made by a group of several people. No, as expected of Celesta.'' Mathias nodded in admiration while thinking he and Ludic owed Celesta yet another favor.
Hearing that explanation, Alexa realized why the Aurora grass powder was divided into small portions.
After checking the Aurora grass powder and other materials to produce the cure for the Magic fever, Mathias had them send over to be immediately used; he then asked Alex to follow him.
While thinking that with Alex's strength, especially his hidden strength, they might be able to find something, Mathias walked behind the counter.
After giving a small sight, Alex followed after him.
''Now then, I think you have a general idea of why we've come to this room.''
Like the guild master's office in the Blue Ivy guild branch, Mathias's office was located at the top of the stairs behind the guild counter.
Alex sat down on the sofa for guests as he spoke.
''Yes, I do. You want me to investigate the situation in the Forest of Monsters, but first, I would like to ask, can I consider that you bringing this matter mean it's a request?"
''Yes. Naturally, you can consider this a request.'' Mathias responded calmly as he could.
Alex smiled. ''What about the reward? It's a request that may save the city from a crisis. I suppose I would get a corresponding reward?''
As an adventurer, it was only natural that Alex asked that question. Mathias, the guild master of Xeeno's city adventurer guild branch, nodded in response.
''Of course. Adventurers are rewarded for taking on requests. But as you can see, the city is currently in a state of emergency. Even if the cause of the Magic Fever is found, there won't be much money as we're currently in a state of shortage. With that in mind, something other than money. is that okay?''
Mathias asked as he looked at Alex, but Alex nodded without hesitation after a few seconds.
''I want that magic pouch on your waist; I know you have another one; I want that one as a reward for completing this request,'' Alex said with a smile.
Mathias didn't show any signs of being surprised by Alex's demand; on the contrary, he would have been disappointed if Alex didn't take the bet; magic pouches are similar to Space ring; they're mean to transport things, if you wondered why Mathias hadn't used this to send someone acquires a lot of Aurora grass powder, it was simply because the Magic fever happened less than two days ago, and the time needed to travel back and forth he 14 days, the damage the magic fever had done in just two was just so heavy that surviving 14 days would have been impossible, so they decided to contact the other side to reduce the number of days needed.
''Okay, I understand; I shall accept your condition.'' Mathias accepted without hesitation.
The reason Alex chose this instead of monetary reward was simple; it is for his men.
''Can you tell what happened before the Magic fever even began?" Alex decided to move on to the next topic, gain information; he must understand what happened; although he had a general idea of the cause, he still needed confirmation.
Taking a deep breath, Mathias tried to explain what exactly happened; it happened at that moment.
''So, here you are?"
A somewhat exasperated voice echoed into the office. Turning in the direction of the voice, Alex saw a man in his Sixties. Although he was past his prime, he probably didn't slack in his training as he had a well-built body.
'This man must be the city lord.' Alex speculated, and his speculation was correct.
''Ludic, you're late and still rude as always. How many times have I said to you to always knock before barging in?" Mathias said, annoyed.
''Fret not, my friend. I was busy taking care of things after you sent the Aurora grass powder. I have to give various instructions. I managed to finish all that somehow.''
Ludic gave a big sigh after he spoke to that point. It wasn't easy. There was finally a way to deal with the Magic Fever spreading through Xeeno. He had come to the guild to discuss what to do next and see the man who brought the Aurora grass powder.
''You must be the man that brought the Aurora grass powder?'' Looking at Alex, Ludic hid his shock and asked, although he was a swordsman, he had a Gift and possessed keen eyes, he was able to detect Alex's mana.
''Yes, it's me; I'm Sam, a C Rank adventurer.'' Alex introduced himself.
''This is Ludic, the acting lord of this city. He's also a friend of Celesta, Blue Ivy's guild master, and we're in the same party.'' Mathias explained what kind of relationship the three had.
Ludic, the city lord, smiled and said while facing Alex. ''I am truly grateful. Many of the residents who have fallen ill with Magic Fever can be saved with this. Although everyone can't survive, fewer people will die than was previously estimated. No, thank you very much for coming here.''
Ludic expressed his gratitude while striking Alex's shoulder heavily.
Alex smiled; although the man's gratitude was a bit heavy, he didn't escape; he looked at Mathias and asked.
''Guild master, can you continue with your previous explanation?"
Mathias nodded and started to recount what happened.
Chapter 402 - 395: The Girl's Arrival
Late in the night, inside an almost empty Inn, Alex sat on his bed inside his room. A few hours ago, he left the Xeeno's adventurer guild branch and booked a room in this Inn; because of the Magic fever, the city was empty, so was most of the Inns.
Recalling what Mathias and Ludic had told him, Alex couldn't help but sigh, five days ago, the purple fog appeared and covered the city for few minutes; two days later, Magic fever struck. At first, they didn't understand what was happening. Still, because some adventurers stated that the Forest of monsters was shrouded in heavy purple fog, Mathias and Ludic sent some men to investigate as they remembered that it was this same fog that struck the city a few days ago. The result was total annihilation, the first team didn't come back, and only a handful of men managed to come back from the other teams sent, they couldn't even formulate concrete words, their words were all illogical, like the fact that all them keep muttering slaughterer, devils.
Unlike Mathias and Ludic, Alex knew the cause behind the purple fog; a dungeon was being born. The first team must have lost their way, if not wiped, inside the new dungeon; as for the survivors from the other teams, Alex couldn't say what happened to them, why they all became crazy.
Alex heaved another sigh; he had refused Mathias's help to assign few adventurers for them to investigate. Not that he looks down on the adventurers in Xeeno but compared to Blue Ivy, the quality is low.
Blue Ivy's adventurers were always fighting monsters inside the underwater dungeon; naturally, their skills were polished. Or rather, adventurers who did not have a certain level of skill would be killed in fights against monsters and wouldn't be able to live as an adventurer in Blue Ivy. One of the few exceptions was F rank adventurers who specialized in requests inside the city and didn't have to fight or those who were lucky enough to be working with more skilled adventurers. In comparison, adventurers here, although they also fight monsters in the Forest of Monsters, it is only low-rank monsters with the exception sometimes of medium rank one. They are not really strong, and this city is a quiet one, a peaceful city is to say.
The response Alex gave Mathias and Ludic was simple, he would call over his own team, and when the two frowned, thinking maybe it would take this team a few days before their arrival, Alex smiled and reassured them. In fact, the moment he saw the purple-covered forest and heard from Silveria and Nyx, the origin of the purple fog, he immediately contacted the girls on his way to the guild, asking them to join him. To his surprise, they said they would have come even without his call; Alex then understood that Celesta must have somehow known what the purple fog meant and chose to send him some assistance.
''I just have to wait,'' Alex said as he lay down and stared at the ceiling.
Knock! Knock!
There was a knocking sound on his door followed by Sakuya cheerful voice.
''Yahoo~ Mio ga kitta. We know you are in, don't let such lovely ladies wait outside.''
''Annoying.''
Although he said that, Alex was smiling, he couldn't hide his joy at their arrival.
Alex unlocked the door to see Sakuya and Lilith disguised as Mio and Elsa; the three stared at each other for a moment before they smiled.
''Please come in.''
Alex invited them in; the girls entered and sat, Sakuya being bolder, sat on Alex's bed, Lilith on the other hand, chose to sit on a chair.
Sitting not too far from Sakuya, Alex said.
''It's good to see you two so soon.''
''Hmph! Someone had thought he could enjoy a thrilling adventure on his own. Serve you right. Here we are.'' Sakuya pouted; she was dissatisfied to had been left alone; Lilith was as well; however, unlike Sakuya, who could act like a spoiled kid because of her relationship with Alex, Lilith couldn't, nor it outside of her personality.
''It's good to see you too, Alex. Tell us what the plan is. I believe the appearance of purple fog means the birth of a dungeon, and from what I could tell, this one is pretty dangerous.'' Lilith said, on their way here because they used griffon, a mature one, Chucky's mother, they also saw the purple fog covering the Forest of Monsters, and Lilith being a princess, she has more information than ordinary people, being born as royalty come with a set of benefits, knowing what happened before a dungeon appear is one of them.
Any playfulness disappeared from Sakuya's eyes; she decided to listen to those two.
"Yeah, it's as you said. People here don't know that it is a dungeon emerging; they would have known if either Mathias, the guild master, or Ludic, the acting city lord, had gone to investigate; unfortunately, they couldn't; the current situation doesn't allow it. So, we three would go to investigate, many teams of adventurers have gone into the purple fog, but few came back with mental issues. Let us be prudent; this dungeon is dangerous.''
The girls frowned after listening to Alex's explanation; Lilith knew this new dungeon was dangerous thanks to her butler send to investigate. Sebastian had said that even with his strength, he couldn't scan the whole fog; the dungeon entrance seemed to appear and disappear. Just before entering the city, Lilith lost contact with Sebastian, she didn't know what happened, and she was not really worried as she knew how strong Sebastian was.
''Okay, I do understand that this trip will be dangerous but fret not, none of us is weak, well, if you forget, I'm the weakest of the bunches. What I'm trying to say is that you will do what we always do, believe in ourselves, believe in our comrades, no matter what we will encounter, we will triumph. We shall use our full strength immediately as we enter; this will be more prudent; I believe we will be the only one inside, well, I hope.'' Sakuya said as she looked at her man and their friend.
Alex and Lilith looked at each other before, Alex chuckled.
''You are right. Let's rest; we shall depart tomorrow morning.''
That night, a group entered the purple fog ahead of Alex's group; they were dressed in red robes with a white mask adorned their faces, the symbol of a red eye was drawn on these masks, the unknown organization had appeared again.
Chapter 403 - 396: Inside The Purple Fog
The peaceful, joyous night ended as the first rays of dawn spilled through the window. Alex woke, and after freshening up, he went to join the girls ok the first floor as they took their breakfast before leaving for the Forest of Monsters.
''Please be careful.'' Mathias, who was seeing them out of the city, warned.
''Don't worry, we will. How are the patients doing well?'' Alex asked as he waved his hand to indicate that they would watch out.
''Most of them are fine, as for the complicated cases due to lack of mana, we will take care of it. Would you mind focusing on finding the cause of all of this? We don't want a relapse. If the cause of the magic fever isn't eradicated, there will be no end to it.'' Mathias said with a heavy sigh.
Alex could understand how the man felt; he just couldn't tell him it was because a dungeon was being born; there's something unusual about the situation; he needs to investigate first; it was probably why Celesta hadn't said anything to his friends.
The group walked until they were outside the city. Mathias had left, mounting war horses, Alex and the girls left for the Forest of Monsters.
Twenty minutes later, there arrived at the outskirt of the forest; after securing the horses, they continued on foot; the fog covering the forest was so thick that the trees weren't visible anymore.
Taking the lead, Alex entered the thick fog; immediately, his senses were assaulted. Fortunately, he got a strong mentality, special eyes; no normal illusion could work on him. The girls were attacked as well, but Lilith had it better while Sakuya struggled for a while before succeeding, breaking out of the weak illusion.
''Where is it. Wear it. It will help you fight against high illusion.'' Lilith said as she handed over to Sakuya a shinning red bracelet.
After putting on her left wrist, Sakuya thanked Lilith for the gift.
''Thank you, Lilly.''
''Let's proceed,'' Lilith said with a smile.
Alex looked at the two and shook his head; he turned forward and scanned the forest; after getting attacked by a weak illusion, the outline of the forest became visible, tress became visible, strangely, no birds chirping nor insects buzzing could be heard. The forest in front of them was eerily quiet.
Suddenly, someone stepped on a dead branch making it made a cracking sound.
Crack!
Fwoosh!
''Guh!" Thud!
Without even looking in the direction the sound was coming from, Alex threw a knife. The sound was coming; the knife cut through the air and perfectly found its target, a walking zombie; the head had been cleanly lopped off.
''Ugh! Zombie? Seriously, I hate undead monsters.'' Sakuya said as she executed Iaï Giri (Iaï Slash), eliminating the other zombies that popped out after the first one was killed.
Lilith, on the other hand, didn't unsheath her sword, she pointed her finger at the slow zombies, and from her fingers, black lightning was shot, burning the zombie's head.
Rapidly, the twenty-two zombies that appeared were deal with.
''Sigh! The zombies we have just called looks like former adventurers and locals. We will encounter scenes more than this. Let's keep going.'' Alex said as he was done searching for the fallen zombies for any identification that could be used to bury the guys as their current remains couldn't be used.
The group proceeded forward; they didn't encounter any other type of monsters, only endless trees, almost as if there was no end to them.
Half of an hour later, the group encountered their second monster; it was slime this time, different colors of slime.
The group quickly took care of them. It was easy to kill them, but the problem was what happened just after their death; they would transform into a purple fog that would try by all mine enter the trio body. Unfortunately, it failed as none of them had normal mana.
The group spent another three wandering in the Forest without end; it was like a labyrinth.
''I'm getting sick of only seeing trees,'' Sakuya complained; she wasn't the only one getting tired of the same scenery. Alex and Lilith were also feeling annoyed seeing endless trees.
To respond and kill their boredoms, a large orc appeared,
''Go-"
The monster hadn't even finished whatever he ever planned to say before Sakuya had flashed next to it and unleashed a torrent of attacks, firstly it was Iaï Giri followed by Raizen Kiri, crisscross slashes. The poor orc, before he even knew what was going, had been turned into an orc daruma. With a sweet smile on her face, perfect for the S Queen, Sakuya sends the orc to the afterlife.
Alex couldn't only sigh, suddenly the forest shined.
''Attention!!!" Alex shouted as his six senses flared up and rang like a broken alarm; however, it was already too late by the time the girls could move.
A blinding purple light swept the forest covering them; after the purple light disappeared, Alex's group was no more. They have disappeared.
•••••
Alex reappeared on a floating island; water was falling from this island to an unknown purple hell fog; surrounding this island were bunches of a floating island. Up to close, all these floating islands look like broken pieces of a world trying to stick back together but inadvertently fail.
Alex would have loved to enjoy the scenery, but he got no time for that. Although he was curious about how a dungeon could have this type of scenery, he remembered that when it comes to dungeons, you should never lose your calm no matter what you see.
''Hiyahhhh!"
Boom!
From afar, a cry was heard, followed by an explosion. Alex immediately shot in the direction the sound came from.
Completely unaware that the disguise he had put on had lost its effect, Alex ran forward at extreme speed, trees passed him in high motion.. And soon Alex arrived at his destination, he stopped just before he could reach where the sound originated from, it was to assess the situation before making a move, then he saw it.
Chapter 404 - 397: Never Anger A Touch 5
Let rewind time to last night; the unknown organization which everybody was trying to get information on sending dozens of men to Xeeno's city, Forest of Monsters; these men had one goal, which was to get something in the deepest part of the dungeon.
''Eight, Shall we wait and explore the forest tomorrow.'' Asked one of the leading men, codename Nine, a girl, the plain robe and strange mask couldn't hide her voluptuous figure.
Some of the lowest members kept looking at that fat ass, great boobs with lustful eyes. Nine glared at them. If it weren't because they still have to use these fools as cannon fodder, she would have personally slaughtered them by herself.
Calming down her boiling emotions, Nine waited for Eight to respond. As their rank stated, he was above her, stronger than her, so she could only wait for him to talk before deciding what to do.
Finally, Eight, the brawny whose chest shined like a rough earth-colored diamond, said.
''No, we continue. Seven and Cain are already ahead. We must lose out to them.''
Like any organization or society, competition would never cease to exist as long their existing living beings. Eight, Nine, and the forty men between them were from the same faction, different from Seven and Cain's faction. Naturally, the competition was rude, inside the evil organization like these, competitions tend to be genuinely ruthless, if the outside world could be considered a world of the jungle where the strong prey on the weak, then inside this organization, you eat your kin to survive, to evolve into a stronger type of existence, a true devil's world, well, an approximate estimate.
Even though Nine wished to give their men some rest after they had rushed all the way here, nonstop, she knew deep down it was impossible; she couldn't be soft-hearted, so she ordered the group to move on. As they entered the forest, they experienced all kinds of troubles, lost men before finally arriving at the floating islands; it was dawn at that time. The group appeared on an unusual island, a portal was there, the first among them to rush inside the portal got shredded into pieces, same for the second one, it was then Eight, and Nine noticed something, every time someone died, the portal would shine brighter showing sign of unlocking.
Looking at each other, Eight and Nine came to a decision, that's to search for previous unlucky adventurers and normal people that happened to be inside the forest when the purple fog appeared, before the birth of this dungeon. And so they moved to search from island to island, it took them five hours to gather fifteen men, then they started sending the poor men toward certain death.
Another two hours had passed since the group caught their guinea pigs. Now only six men remained (Women and Children included). By now, the portal had rainbow-colored shine, which means from their point of view that with another few sacrifices, it would totally open without any risk of passing through.
Two other sacrifices were sent to their death, leaving four remaining; currently, it was the turn of children around twelve turn to be sacrificed.
Johnny, the little boy who literally lost his family members, his father, mother, and big sister because of these sickos, was about to suffer the same fate, well thinking that it wouldn't be bad to join his family on whatever is going to be (Paradise or Hell). Johnny couldn't help but lament how unlucky he and his family were; they just went out to the most safest part of the Forest of Monsters to gather woods and magic berries but would have thought that things would end like this. It sucks to be normies.
While lamenting over his pathetic existence, Johnny walked forward with dead eyes. Eight and Nine were watching everything with calm eyes; to them, these lives sacrificed weren't human, not evolved humans like them. Therefore they felt nothing even if their newborn baby got tossed in that thrash shredder portal; they are just ants; would you even bat an eyelid no matter how many ants you crushed? Definitely not.
However, while Eight and Nine showed no emotions and weren't interested in anything other than the portal opening to lead them a bit ahead, the same couldn't be said for their subordinates, these fools even though they had lost fifteen men, only leaving twenty-five Rank 7, they found entertainment in others misery, they even bet on what kind of cry the poor sacrifice going to make as they got shredded into pieces, how long these cries would last.
The same thing was about to happen to Johnny, so they thought it was at that moment the Juvenile God of Death descended upon them.
•••••
Alex had just arrived when a mother was sent to the guillotine; he saw some sickos laugh about it while two slightly bigger sickos watched with an annoyed expression on their faces.
Alex saw Johnny walked toward his death with Eight and Nine men laughing and placing bets.
〖These people are sick. 〗Silveria spat, she had seen her fair share of atrocities but nothing like this; these people were really sick.
Even though Nyx had not said anything, Alex and Silveria could feel her anger; talking about anger, nobody was furious than Alex; he may not be a Samaritan, but seeing people being used as grass like that could piss off even the most pacific man if he didn't have one or two screw looses.
So, Alex moved; his anger had been transformed into strength, the more angrier Alex got, the more rational he became. Eight and Nine, alongside their men, were about to see why it was never good to anger a touch.
Like ghosts, Alex appeared between the fifteen men; nobody noticed him at first before Eight noticed him, followed by Nine, they both shouted.
''Watch out!!!"
However, it was already too late; even without using Time Acceleration, Alex's speed reached a godly level; armed with the silver guns he moved, the only thing Eight and Nine heard were sounds of gunshots, and Alex wanted them to hear it. The following thing both Eight and Nine saw was their men falling to the ground like dominos, bullets pierced through their heads; it was instant death, they couldn't do anything as bullets bore through their heads, destroying their brains and leaving the skulls intact, it was cruel, the pain these men received before dying couldn't be imagined; however, it was well deserved. Their souls would suffer Eternal Damnation thanks to Nyx.
Treats people as grass, and you will be treated as such.
Eight and Nine shuddered under Alex heterochromia eyes, Blue and crimson locked onto them, the Death God was about to pass a judgment on them, and nobody was going to stop him.
Chapter 405 - 398: Never Anger A Touch 6
Eight and Nine got frightening by Alex's stare; those red and blue eyes weren't something humans should possess.
Although fear took hold of their heart like that time they saw an angered Zero, they had learned how to handle it; they bit their lower lip to regain control of their bodies. And Eight shot forward; his body seemed to have become taller as he tried to punch Alex; Nine decided to assist Eight in erasing Alex, people may call it unfair, but there's nothing unfair in a fight, especially when your life was at stake.
Eight's punch whistled through the air covered in dark purple flame; the vegetation got instantly dried up; Nine unsheathed her short sword and was about to use it.
Facing the incoming fist, Alex was strangely calm; he looked at the fist that seemed to carry the world with a total indifference; not even Nine's action hadn't escaped his sight.
''Time Manipulation.'' He simply muttered.
Eight got shocked because his speed fell drastically; his immediate thought was to fall back; however, this soon proven to be impossible, then he saw it.
''Deluge of Heaven Punch!!!"
Alex announced and sent punches forward if Eight's punch looked like a mountain; Alex's punches were a small piece of rock; however, what it carried surpass even a mountain. Because Eight was still under the Time Manipulation influence, the Heaven Punch seemed godly, and soon they struck Eight's body.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
It was like someone was tapping on gigantic war drums; each punch sent Eight flying, until he disappeared from Alex's sight. All the bones inside his body got reduced into fine pieces.
Nine was so shocked that she unconsciously lowered her sword; she couldn't believe that an Early Rank 10 got down so easily. She knew Eight was dead; there was no doubt about it; now it was her turn.
''One last ant!"
Alex said as he turned around.
Nine's pupils dilated as, at the exact same moment, he appeared before her and grabbed her head.
Bam!
He thrashed her face into the ground, bursting it with pieces of stones and mud. Before she could release a cry, Alex pulled her out and tossed her into the air. He followed her in the air, his knee crashing into her belly.
Her mouth fell open, and blood sprayed out.
She tumbled to the ground, her body convulsing with pain.
"Ple…please spare me!" Nine begged. The pain had wiped out all haughtiness, replacing it with the sensation of approaching death. Forgotten was the day she thought she was a chosen being; forgotten was the feeling of being superior to everyone except her comrades.
"And why would I do such a thing?"
Alex asked as he slowly approached her like the grim reaper. He might not be wielding a scythe, but that only made him appear far more menacing.
''You seemed indifferent as you watched those people getting shredded to pieces. Do you think of yourself as God? Do you think you are superior just because you go brainwashed and got a little power? That you can treat everyone as grasses? Well, if you superior being then I'm the Supreme one.''
Nine kept shuddering; she even peed herself; the amount of killing intent Alex was releasing was so frightening that it wiped out Nine's fighting spirit; it was like Alex had slaughtered dozen thousands of people.
Even Alex himself didn't know that it was his killing intent affecting Nine to such an extent, he was truly angry.
The reason behind his heavy killing intent was simple. However, he had not even killed thousands of people (monsters included); they exist, someone who had, the one that got the Death Goddess title; due to the extreme anger, Alex entered into a certain mode that let him borrow a bit of Nyx's killing intent.
BANG!
''Giahhh!!"
Nine cried of intense pain after Alex fired a Phantom bullet at her legs, blowing them up; nothing was left until the knee, then followed by the arm.
BANG!
''Gugiaah!"
BANG!
''Gu!!!"
The remaining arm was destroyed as well; Nine suffered so much pain that her voice got numb. Silveria's tempered with the bullets to induce terrible pain, no matter what kind of training you receive; if you can feel the slightest pain, then this would be multiple with each bullet. Therefore after getting hit by three bullets, Nine's pain receptor multiplied three times, making her lose her mind; she was drooling.
Looking at Nine pathetic existence, her body twitching in her own blood, vomit, and other stuff, Alex decided to end it; he didn't particularly enjoy torture, just that he must to have these men experience at least ten percent of what the people they have sacrificed feel.
BANG!
A last final bullet to relieve Nine of her eternal suffering, she vowed to be a good girl in her next life if she ever got the chance.
The phantom bullet blew Nine's head away, making her body stop twitching.
The remaining people looked at Alex with fear. However, in their hearts they were grateful for Alex's assistance, they couldn't help but draw away when Alex looked at them, it couldn't be helped they were just normal people, seeing so much violence, first was their brethren, now the ones responsible for the tragedy were killed in a pretty ruthless fashion, they couldn't be blamed for feeling scared, what if this man turn to them after he was done. They had forgotten what this same man said when Nine begged to be spared, humans are like that, so Alex was not really surprised, not that he expected something as he stepped forward to save the remaining people, he would choose not to do anything but that would be a terrible thing to do, he had not completely changed to the point of becoming indifferent in the case of situation like these, call it being softhearted if you want, but he knew what he must. He mustn't do; he would be ruthless to anybody that tries to harm him or his loved ones.
''Stay on this island, do not try leaving; it must be safer here.''
Leaving these words behind, Alex stepped into the rainbow-colored portal, which had somehow opened.
Johnny and the other watched Alex, and the portal vanished. They decided to follow Alex's advice.. At the same time, Johnny thought that he must get stronger.
Chapter 406 - 399: Sakuya's Struggles
While Alex was cleaning Eight, Nine, and their men, the girls appeared in different islands other than Alex. Lilith appeared on a small island, while Sakuya appeared on a giant floating island.
''Huh!?"
The moment Sakuya appeared, the sensation of extreme danger assaulted her; it was coming from behind; immediately, Sakuya summoned Kaze no Yoroichï and defended against the incoming attack.
Kin~
Sakuya was sent flying in the air, controlling her body mid-air; she saw two men; one had a mask on his face, long blond hair while the last man had his finger pointed in Sakuya's previous direction. The man had a creepy smile on his face; it was Seven, and the one with a mask was Cain, Leonardo disguised.
The moment Leonardo saw Sakuya, he smiled behind his mask; Sakuya's presence here meant Alex was probably here, inside the dungeon as well. Leonardo smiled wickedly.
Suddenly, both Leonardo disguised as Cain and Seven's expression turned dark Sakuya still midair she trying to use her strongest attack.
[Yami Maho Jigen Giri: Dark Magic Dimensional Slash]
The world turned white and black; Sakuya's slash seemed to split this world into two, like a ying-yang diagram.
''Tch!"
Seven clicked his tongue and moved. He caught Leonardo, who couldn't wholly dodge Sakuya Jigen Giri, and disappeared. After their disappearance, that part of the big island where they were standing got sliced apart, falling into the hellish purple abyss.
''Huff! Hah! Hah!"
Sakuya panted heavily as she landed on the ground; with all the training she did, it was still hard to use that ability; hopefully, those two had left. She was not delusional enough to think she killed them; this move was only to scar them as she ran away.
However, things were not to go as she expected. Sakuya hadn't taken her second step before she got frozen on the spot, unable to move, then she heard Seven's voice.
''Hihihihi! Not bad at all, Sakuya Hishimiya, to think I would lose one arm because of that attack. It takes too much energy to regenerate an arm.''
While saying this, Seven presented his newly regenerated right arm; it was paler than the other one; Leonardo was behind Seven with half of his mask gone, it became possible to see his face.
Sakuya was shocked, speechless; who would have thought that Leonardo that everyone was searching for would end up with the unknown organization.
''I see, it's because of revenge,'' Sakuya mumbled; however, her voice was audible enough for the other two to hear it.
Leonardo showed no emotions while Seven was pissed; he disappeared to reappear before Sakuya and slapped her flying; although she saw it coming, she couldn't dodge, so she was sent spiraling into the air, Seven appeared above her and punched her to the ground.
Boom!
Seven stepped on Sakuya's body that felt like all the bones inside her body were broken; she puked blood again and again.
''I shall use as a sacrifice.'' Seven declared before lifting Sakuya by the neck as he vanished.
''Go investigate on the other islands. More sacrifice, better is the chance for us to have access to the main island where what we want is.''
The disappearing Seven ordered; Leonardo sighed before replacing his broken mask; afterward, he also disappeared.
••••
When Seven reappeared again, it was above an ocean; under this ocean was a terrible vortex that went to suck everything into it.
Standing atop a small floating board was a group of people dressed in black robes with the same mask as Leonardo; these people tossed monsters, sometimes people, inside the terrible vortex. This made the vortex shine and expand.
Looking at the vortex, Sakuya was terrified; sensing her fear, Seven grinned.
''You are right to be afraid; that thing is too terrible. Well, go experience it yourself.''
Then with a wicked smile, Seven dropped Sakuya.
''Noooo!"
Sakuya saw her life flashed before her, her life on her life before it came to an end, her beginning here, the time spent with her sisters, their promise, that new feeling she started to recently feel, she didn't really wish to die, however, she wished to be able to do something, in a moment like this one would want people dear to you to come to save you but Sakuya, on the contrary, felt ashamed of her current self, she couldn't do anything, only expect help for her man? It's fine; if it is now, then what about the future? One day dependant, always dependant, she must do something.
''Comeeeeee to me, Yoroichï!" Sakuya shouted with all her strength. Although her strength was sealed, she managed to call out her Gift.
The green katana appeared with a terrible wind tornado.
''Spirit po-"
Seven didn't let Sakuya finish what she was about to say before skin threads pierced her body, forcing her to stop her incantation; her body began to plummet at fast speed it was then.
BANG BANG!!
Two blue bullets appeared and curved like in a certain famous movie on Earth before they clashed, producing an explosion.
Boom!
This explosion sent Sakuya's body flying in the sky, enough for an arm to wrap around her waist.
''Alex?"
Sakuya asked with half-closed eyes, she was tired, but she was fighting against the drowsiness, to firmly engrave the current in the deepest part of her mind, although ashamed to be rescued, Sakuya knew she had tried, so there was nothing to be ashamed of.
''It is you who did this?"
Alex asked with an impassive face, although surprised by the sudden intruder, especially that unusual phenomenon, two condensed mana bullets exploding to generate enough force to send Sakuya into the sky, she who was halfway to the vortex. Seven chuckled when it finally dawned on him who the new intruder was.
''Hihihihihihi! So you're the famous Eighth, Alexander Kael Touch, the Irregular.''
This announcement came as a slap to others; they look at each other, how could they not know the man, everyone inside the organization was after, if weren't because of Lord Thanos, lot of them would have come for his head, now seeing him so close, they couldn't be more shocked.
Ignoring the murderous stare he was receiving, Alex watched Sakuya, whose body was drenched, one of her arms was dislocated, thankfully Alex had appeared and fed her a healing potion. If not, she might have a problem holding katana in the future, just a little bit for Alex to put the dislocated arm back; he was waiting for the potion's effect to kick before performing that action.
''I asked you a question. Who did this?" Alex asked in a plain tone.
''Hihihi~ It's me. What are you going to do about it? There's nothing you can do about it." Seven answered with crossed arms; he was not afraid of Alex at all, even if he was said to be irregular.
''It's that so?"
Chapter 407 - 400: Never Anger A Touch 7
A/N: Hooray! We reached another milestone: the 400th chapter, Thanks to all of you. Please stick with me till the end.
••••••
''It's that so?" Alex said with the same indifferent face; it was almost like he wasn't feeling anything; however, it wasn't the case; he was angry, furious.
As proof of the anger that he was feeling at the moment, his lips curved upward slightly, and a slight smile escaped from his mouth. Just like what happened to many people when their anger reached a certain level, Alex began to laugh softly as he took a step forward.
''Sorry, Sakuya," Alex said and gave Sakuya a lovely smile before yanking her dislocated arm back.
Crack!
''Gah!" Sakuya bit her lip to contain the pain, sweat began to pour from her forehead.
''Easy there, it's done.. Now please rest.'' Alex said before placing Sakuya on the other side; he let her lean against a tree.
Seven waited patiently; he even stopped his men from stepping forward. He had an amused smile on his face, especially after Alex spun and stared at him with a chilling gaze.
''You are truly interesting, kid; I can give you that. However, do you think I'm afraid of you? That you can leave from here alive? Hihihi~ That would be the epitome of delusion if you think like that, I will kill that girl after I have-"
''You talk too much,'' Alex said as he simply continued to walk forward slowly.
Someone among Seven's men couldn't take it anymore, so he attacked Alex.
''Die, you scum!"
Boom!
Before the man could even approach Alex, he exploded in bloody rain; Seven furrowed his brows while his men shuddered; a Rank 8 just died so unexpectedly and in a not nice way.
Alex looked at Seven indifferently; he didn't even feel like he had just killed someone.
''Do you know what your biggest mistake was? Threatening the person behind me."
Seven looked behind Alex, and there he saw the Sakuya, looking at him like he was dead meat, this seriously pissed Seven off.
"Oh? She? Don't worry; I'll soon take care of-"
''Time Acceleration, Time Stop!"
BOOOOM!!!
Before Seven could finish his rambling, the world in front of him stopped for a split second before returning to normal, and a horrible explosion shook the waters under their feet. Several Seven's men were sent flying; some fell into the vortex.
After a powerful explosion that shook the giant island, frightening the survivors, afterward, it becomes silent... A silence so deadly that even the turbulent waters beneath everyone's feet did not move as if they were afraid of something.
Seven said to possess the strongest defense between the Numbers with his physical body alone, frowned as he noticed the incredulous looks of the people around him.
"What's with those gazes of..... Pffft!!!"
Suddenly, the voice of Seven, the Skin manipulator, abruptly stopped, and without warning, he coughed up a large mouthful of blood.
"What the..." Seven's widened at the sight of his blood falling into the ocean with no sign of it. He had no idea what happened! Normally, his high regenerative ability would have kicked in, and yet nothing.
"Leader...Your.... your chest."
One Seven's men pointed in the direction of the man's left chest with a terrified expression.
Seven looked down in confusion but soon wished he had not done it. His eyes widened, and his pupils fluttered steadily, showing his agitated emotions.
There was a large whole where Seven's heart used to be. As for his heart, it was gone. Seven stared at the young man in front of him with an incredulous look; he couldn't believe what just happened.
One moment ago, he was standing there provoking the man, and in the next moment, he was seriously injured.
None of those present except for Alex, Seven, and Sakuya (thanks to Yoroichï help) saw what happened.
In reality, what Alex did was simple. He simply used 100% of his ability to control the wind in his legs thanks to Sleipnir, along with the tiny lightning ability that he had gained control over unexpectedly after his anger reached a certain level (something momentarily awake inside him). With overwhelming speed (Time Acceleration to increase his speed and Time Stop to stop Seven's movement momentarily), Alex punched with all his power at his enemy. After this, he simply returned to his place as if nothing had happened. One needs perfect control over one body perfect coordination to be able to do this.
However, Alex knew it wasn't the end; there was no way a Saint would fall so easily, not the freak before him, and as expected, Seven didn't disappoint him.
''Hihihihihi!"
Not only did Seven, who had his heart didn't die, he even burst into laughter soon; he laughed so hard that more blood flowed out of the hollow hole in his chest; however, Seven seemed not to care as he laughed to his heart content before suddenly his body burst into a bloody fog.
''No good!" Alex instantly Accel-ed to appear beside Sakuya to princess carry her as he took off to the sky. Just after they left, the part where Sakuya was resting at was sliced apart by a fine red thread, a blood thread.
Sakuya shuddered, and to his horror, it didn't end there; many thin blood threads pierced Seven's men.
''L-Leader?"
Seven's men immediately shouted confused, being from the same organization, they heard about this ability; however, never in their wildest dream, they would have thought that they would experience this dreadful ability.
Soon, Seven's men's bodies became dried up, their blood had been extracted to form a gigantic cocoon, and from within this cocoon, evil laughter could be heard.
''Hihihihi~ This my second time using this ability, and only Zero was the one to force me to use it. Be proud of this accomplishment, and die.''
Then the gigantic blood cocoon burst apart, and a giant of five meters appeared; the moment this giant appeared, the sky seemed to have partially turned crimson due to the overwhelming amount of evil energy.
Looking at the giant Seven, Alex snorted, holding Sakuya with one arm; he pointed his right hand at the giant Seven; he knew he must strike before Seven got the opportunity to attack.
Sakuya was curious about what Alex was going to do; she was secretly accumulating her Mana to activate spirit possession to help Alex in case of needs; however, this soon proven to be unnecessary as the Death gun strike for the second time.
A pitch-black gun appeared inside Alex's hand; the moment it appeared, whether Seven or Sakuya, they became scared. Seven, even more, he launched an all-out desperate attack.
BANG!
''The end!"
Alex said after accepting the cost of using the black gun, a dark bullet tore through the air and arrived before Seven faster than he could ever imagine; nothing he did worked, the black bullet simply entered his gigantic body, and as Alex said, it was indeed the end, not even his soul got spared as his existence was forever erased from the universe.
At the same time that Seven was killed, somewhere a man holding someone else ripped arm frowned; this man had white hair, if Alex were here, he would have immediately identified the man as the one he recently encountered when he trying to go to that hot spring, Zero, he called himself.
''Huh? Who is strong enough to kill Seven, that freak.'' Zero said as he watched the old man with gray hair glare at him.
This man was none other than Sebastian, Lilith's butler; their bonds went past the superficial Master-employee level. He was like the father she lost, the last person she held parental feeling for; however, at the moment, Sebastian was in an extremely sorry state, his clothes were ripped here and there, a large cut could be spotted on his chest, he had lost one of his arms. At the same time, one of his eyes got blinded.
''I will ask one last time. Where is the princess at the moment?" Zero asked while the injury on his back was slowly regenerating; he ignored the pain and focused on the man in front of him.
Sebastian ignored Zero's question, clutching his severed hand, he muttered with a pained face.
''Forgive, princess!"
Immediately Zero had a bad feeling. Or maybe that should be called conviction. He felt a chill as if the hair on his back stood on end. He immediately tried to toss Sebastian's arm far away from him; however, it was already too late.
That arm exploded; only the hand was left as it flew in a certain direction; meanwhile, Zero protected himself; the first explosion didn't damage him; however, the second explosion was more terrible.
Kaboom!
Sebastian blew himself; the explosion was so terrible that a space vortex was created and swallowed Zero alongside half of the forest the two were in.
A few minutes later, Lilith appeared, she saw that hand, what was left of Sebastian, it was as if her blood got shattered then it happened at that moment, an annoying fly appeared.
''Hehehehe! How unexpected to see you here, dear Princess of the demons.''
Leonardo wearing the strange mask, appeared.
Chapter 408 - 401: A Fierce Clash
Lilith, who just so happened to have lost the last person she cared about, felt immense sadness when Leonardo appeared.
''Hehehe! How unexpected to see you here, Dear princess of the demons.''
Because Leonardo didn't bother to change his voice, Lilith was able to identify him immediately.
Fwoosh!
Abruptly Leonardo's pupils dilated as at the exact moment she appeared before, she who was twenty meters away. Lilith swung her scythe; it took Leonardo a lot of effort to be able to deflect the scythe with his sword; the sheer of the clash sent Leonardo flying.
From this clash, Leonardo could see how powerful Lilith had become even though he had never really clashed against her. Leonardo's brows pulled together when he sensed a sickle shooting towards him, aiming for his neck. If he were late by a millisecond, he would have been beheaded.
He swiftly blocked the sickle with his sword and deflected it, sending it back in a certain direction..
'Damn, this is too hard.' Leonardo felt that it was too tiring to regain the initiative after Lilith took it. He immediately spread his mana to act as a detector.
*Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!*
Metal clanging sounds continuously resounded. The shockwaves spread in the air as Lilith's scythe fiercely clashed with Leonardo's sword.
Leonardo didn't try blocking Lilith's attacks directly as it would be too difficult. Instead, he deflected her attacks towards the empty air by skillfully using his sword.
No matter which position she moved or the direction from which she attacked him, he was still able to deflect her scythe as if it was nothing.
He realized that he could only sense Lilith or her weapon only when it was in a range near him, giving him only a short window to react.
Lilith finally stopped striking at Leonardo as it wasn't much effective. Her eyes glinted as she vigorously swung her hand scythe not at him but simply in the air.
Five beams of darkness in the shape of the sickle of her scythe shot out from her weapon as those beams stormed towards Leonardo at breakneck speed.
For the second time, Leonardo's brows pulled together, seeing those darkness-curdling beams shooting towards him out of nowhere.
Purple lightning crackled around his body as he swiftly moved his hand to deflect all five blood beams.
''Tch! Tch! Tch! Tch! Tch!''
The ground behind Leonardo cleaved a few inches as all five Dark beams struck the ground.
'So fast!' Lilith couldn't help but raise an eyebrow was surprised how fast Leonardo's movements were as she knew best the speed at which her dark beams shot towards him.
''Ethereal Dance!" Lilith announced as she flicked her scythe as her body seemed to execute some form of dance. She spun the scythe at breakneck speed, and from the spinning scythe, dozen dark beams were shot at Leonardo, who jumped back.
A droplet of sweat dripped down Leonardo's forehead when he suddenly saw twenty sharp projectiles charging towards him at a terrifying speed out of thin air! Lilith used her second element, the darkness element, as she was well aware that Leonardo excels at the lightning element.
Leonardo snorted; lightning streaks crackled across Leonardo's body again as he prepared to move in a different direction to dodge her attacks.
But he was surprised when half of the dark beams were still following him even after moving in a different direction while the other half already curved through the air, surrounding him, making him unable to dodge them. Those beams were acting like homing missiles.
Forced to face those dark beams, Leonardo decided that the best outcome was to deflect them. However, when he tried to deflect the closest blood beam, his eyes widened.
'An illusion??'
Leonardo's sword didn't deflect it but instead went through it, making him lose his balance. It was too late when he realized that the dark beam had strange properties to them. But he quickly recovered and drew a slash in a semi-circular fashion with his sword; purple lightning flashed out his sword.
*Rippp*
The air and most of the dark beams got ripped apart as soon as Leonardo's slash ripped through them, while some of them were lost their unusualness.
However,
*SLASH*
"Arghh…"
Leonardo was shocked when he felt two of the dark beams vanished before reappearing to ruthlessly slashing his back, which sent him flying a few dozen meters. Even his defensive armor was utterly dispersed, corroded, and the dark corrosive beams lacerated his skin.
Black lightning crackled across the sky before descending, aiming straight at Leonardo, who had not regained his balance.
He faced the incoming black lightning, which was more like a lightning dragon than a normal lightning strike.
Leonardo thrust the black longsword forward using his right arm; the latter bulged, seeming to have doubled before purple lightning burst out of the sword and shot at the incoming dark lightning.
Siiiiiii!
Like a snake flicking its tongue, the purple lightning resonated before both lightning clashed mid-air.
Crackle! Boom!
Lightning exploded midair, sending shockwaves in all directions; the two had to firmly plant their feet on the ground to resist being sent flying.
"I guess it's time I fought you for real," Leonardo said as he smiled. He then disappeared in a flash of lightning, and when he reappeared again, he was right before Lilith; he slashed at her with his sword, the speed of the sword was deadly; normal people shouldn't be able to react, not even powerful Rank 10 could as Leonardo's sword strikes mixed illusion and speed, lightning and darkness.
Lilith snorted, wanting to act like a darkness expert user; nothing could be more laughable as she was born with it.
Looking at the sword slashes that seemed to cover her whole field of vision, Lilith moved her scythe, then something astonishing happened the scythe enlarged.
Clangs! Clangs! Clangs!
Lilith deflected the first volley before moving forward, then the scythe shortened for her to be able to deflect the sword slashes.
Leonardo was shocked by what just happened; he couldn't believe what he was seeing. However, he knew now wasn't the time; smiling, he jumped back. He then fiercely swept his sword in the air.
"Lightning Vortex!"
An intense and bright vortex of purple lightning escaped from his sword as it became larger and moved towards the ground.
The ground ruptured and got shredded as the debris got sucked into the whirling tornado of lightning. A huge pressure descended on Lilith and found it hard to move in the opposite direction while slowly getting pulled towards the vortex!
Even the air was not left alone and got ripped apart as if a sword was cutting through them. Because a bit of Sword Will was imbued in his attack, it was more powerful than it should be.
To make sure that Lilith couldn't escape from his lightning vortex as he prepared his next attack.
"Ahhh!"
With a loud bellow, Leonardo swung his sword again. He sent another lightning vortex behind Lilith to be surrounded by two lightning vortexes, making it harder to escape.
Closing her eyes, Lilith opened them again as purple light flashed through them, her scythe vanished to be replaced by a black sword.
''You gotta be kidding me!" Leonardo said in disbelief.
Lowering her body a little, Lilith unexpectedly used the same technique as Kamishiro, not quite the same, but it was closer to it; dark sword slashes were sent in two times, the first at the front while the second to the back.
Dark sword slashes clashed against the lightning vortex producing a shocking explosion that engulfed Lilith. From the explosion, Lilith was sent flying; no, when looked closely, she was riding on the explosion momentum to escape it.
Everything happened too fast, and by the time Leonardo could react, Lilith was already behind him; her back was facing him; however, this didn't stop her from thrusting her sword in reverse with her two hands.
Swoosh!
The black and almost ethereal sword tore through the air and was about to tear through Leonardo's waist; half of his waist would be gone if this strike were to connect.
Leonardo's instinct flared up, and never like before he gained perfect control of his body, he waited until the last moment before moving his body to the opposite side with all his strength.
Although Leonardo didn't come out unscathed from Lilith's sword, he succeeded in minimizing the damage; he received a light injury; however, the injury seemed to be eroding.
Suddenly, Leonardo's eyes almost bulged from their sockets; he couldn't believe what was happening.
''What?"
That sword he thought he had dodged was now turned into a huge black scythe, and this scythe blade gleamed; it was like the gleam you saw just when the grim reaper harvested a poor soul.
Lilith moved her hand from behind, and the scythe descended toward Leonardo's neck like a starving beast that could not wait to taste blood.
Since Lilith first attacked from behind to her switching to scythe form, not even five seconds passed; the black scythe was about to claim Leonardo's neck due to its quickness.
Chapter 409 - 402: Purgatory Vs Angel's Descent
Time seemed to have stopped as Leonardo watched the scythe slowly come toward his head.
Just before the scythe could reach his body, purple lightning ruptured under Leonardo's feet to launch into the sky.
As he floated in the sky, Leonardo launched another two lightning vortexes, those two vortexes combined into one deadly tornado that destroyed everything in its path as it rushed at Lilith.
Lilith waved her hand scythe upwards and fiercely struck it towards the ground.
*BOOM!!!*
A loud explosion sounded out as an overwhelming blast of black energy from her weapon and body channeled outwards towards all sides and even dissipated Leonardo's lightning vortices because of the pure force behind her blast.
Craters formed on the ground as shockwaves passed through it, and Leonardo could see the ground shaking fiercely from the sky. The shockwave was so strong that some spread to the air.
Purple lightning streaks danced on Leonardo's body as he quickly moved hundreds of meters backward.. But the enormous shockwave and explosive force rammed him flying.
However, he somehow regained his balance while protecting himself from the shockwaves. But he still felt like his head was rammed and felt a bit dizzy as he couldn't altogether avoid the shockwaves.
'What a strong attack!' Leonardo was astonished, experiencing the oppressive force behind Lilith's dark blast. He also saw that his lightning vortices, which he had sacrificed a lot of his MP for, had already been dispelled.
[Phantom Sword!]
Leonardo unleashed his sword skill toward his back.
Clangs! Clangs! Clangs!
Lilith, who appeared behind him, was forced to deal with the phantom swords.
In the meantime time, Leonardo raised his sword, and dark purple lightning appeared in the sky and touched the tip of the sword then he swung the black sword, the dark purple lightning seemed to follow Leonardo as it descended toward Lilith at breakneck speed; she was still dealing with the phantom swords when the dark lightning struck.
Zila~ Boom!
The sheer destructive force carried by the dark purple lightning destroyed the ethereal phantom swords before striking Lilith, so it appeared.
At the last moment when the dark purple lightning was about to strike Lilith, the latter lifted her head; her purple eyes flashed dark before like a docile child in front of its mother, the dark purple lightning momentarily stopped as if to worship Lilith before descending after receiving some kind of signal, the dark purple lightning landed on Lilith's body before moving to her hands and enveloped her legs, everything happened in an instant.
Suddenly,
BANG!
Leonardo's felt like a truck had just rammed into his as he was sent flying like a rocket while he vomited a mouthful of blood. It took him some moment to understand what just transpired; somehow, Lilith had borrowed his dark purple lightning to increase her strength before moving toward him at a godly speed; she then punched him with two hands covered in dark purple lightning, everything happened too fast, so fast that Leonardo who prided himself for his speed, to be a speedster couldn't react at all.
''Cough!"
Leonardo coughed up a mouthful of blood. His chest and hands ripped open, and hot blood splashed out. He ignored the pain as the impact sent him flying toward the ground.
Boom!
A small crater was created, and as if it wasn't enough, the shockwave behind the punch tried to drive into the ground; he forcefully altered his body, he stood. Then he put his feet on the ground forcefully and stopped himself from dragging back any further.
Leonardo grinned, dark mist appeared from his right arm to cover his body, and astonishingly, his wounds showed a quick recovery.
Lilith was not surprised by this; she showed disgust because of something ominous from that dark mist.
''This is so much fun!" Leonardo grinned as blood trickled down his lips. "But now is the time we bring this to an end!"
''Purgatory!"
Leonardo used the same technique he used against Alex in their last confrontation.
Swoosh~!
Suddenly, the half-destroyed forest turned pin-drop silent and turned blinding dark. Every source of light lost its function.
A sense of helplessness gripped Lilith's heart. It was a helplessness every blind man would experience as they lost their sight.
RIPPPPPPPP
In such an environment, in the sky, a slit violently ripped open.
The slit was not even as thick as a hair. Still, it was too bright, radiating glow of countless colors swirling as if it was the insides of a kaleidoscope tube.
Instinctively Lilith hurriedly jerked her head at the slit. Memories that were suppressed in her brain awakened; she revived her worse nightmare, that night, the night where she lost everything, where her once beloved brother had gone crazy and heartlessly slaughtered his family members one by one, only leaving her.
''Purgatory...!"
Lilith muttered, half unconscious.
Whoosh!
Ghost-like and demon-like figures appeared in the swirling colors, their expressions filled with hunger.
Lilith looked at them and realized she was right. She remembered what she had read in the ancient record.
''Do you really think now is the time to be distracted?"
Suddenly, Leonardo's voice rang in Lilith's ears, bringing her consciousness back to reality.
It quickly turned its head.
But it was too late.
BANG!
By then, the sword has brutally pounded onto her chest.
Lilith's chest caved in, and her back arched out while her body was sent flying, ready to slam into the slit. The ghost-like figures smiled and extended their hands to grab the incoming meal.
Their ethereal hands turned into chains that shot at Lilith.
Time seemed to have stopped, Lilith saw her life flash through her eyes, she saw what the day she was born, the purple-haired woman above her, this woman looked like her, in a mature form, the woman seemed to be whispering something into the baby ear when suddenly, her purple eyes looked in adult Lilith's eyes, smiling the mature Lilith murmured.
'Wake up!'
Ba-dump!
Lilith's heart skipped, unknown memories flooded her brain, bringing intense pain; among those memories, one particular struck her, almost as if saying this could get you out of your current situation.
Lilith believed in her intuition, so with a bloody mouth, she declared.
''Spirit Possession: Angel's Descent !"
Kang!
There was a bright flash of light that forced Leonardo to close his eyes, and when he opened them again, he was gobsmacked by the sight before him.
A gigantic figure appeared behind Lilith; this figure wore a white robe, she was blindfolded, beautiful dark purple hair, twelve pairs of black wings.
Fear gripped Leonardo's heart; even the ghost-like figures summoned through Purgatory seemed afraid before the angel swung the giant sword in her hands.
Kabooooom!
Leonardo's purgatory was cleaved alongside the whole island.
Leonardo's figure disappeared, then the whole dungeon trembled before the falling Lilith disappeared in the flash of light.
Chapter 410 - 403: Dungeon's Defense
At the same when the angel summoned by Lilith swung her giant sword and cleaved the island in two, it triggered something, so the dungeon reacted and sent those inside it outside. The dungeon forcedly warped them out with only one exception; only Alex was left inside the dungeon.
''What just happened?"
Alex inquired as he was still confused by the sudden shaking followed by Sakuya sudden disappearance.
〖Something happened that triggered the dungeon defensive function that sent intruders outside of the dungeon. As for why you are still here, I believe soon we will find the answer.〗Silveria answered Alex's question.
''I see-"
Alex hadn't finished speaking when another blinding light happened, forcing him to cover his eyes. When the light disappeared, Alex found himself standing inside a room; it was a standard white room, then was a sound.
Click!
.A door opened as if to invite Alex in; looking at the door, Alex hesitated for a moment before advancing; he knew nothing would happen if he stayed in the white room; eventually, he must leave, so why not take the risk to go see what was on the other side?
Thinking like this, Alex stepped out of the white room; he appeared in another room; this one looked like an average dungeon room with a glowing wall, pure Mana in the air. Breathing this, Alex felt like his MP was recovering fast; there was nothing in this room except a stair leading to another level. Because he was not in a hurry, Alex decided to take a short break before continuing; he also wanted to check his status after using the black gun, Nyx, to eliminate the transformed Seven.
''Status!" Alex called out as he sat on the ground crosslegged.
[Alexander Kael Touch]
Class: Magic Gunslinger
Age: 17
Male
Race: High Human
「 Rank 11]
Level 107
Experience Value (XP): 50000/66100
Magic Power: 5800 (+30) ➤ 5830/5830
Magic: None
Attack: 2270 (+ 30) ➤ 2300
Defense: 1840 (+30) ➤ 1870
Agility: 1980 (+30) ➤ 2010 (+200)
Intelligence: 2000 (+30) ➤2030
Luck: 1620 (+30) ➤1650
BP: 60
SP: 10
Gift: Death Guns
Skills: [Item box Level 4] [Swift Fingers Max] [Divine Sense Level 4] [Throwing knife Level 5] [Dark Vision Level 2] [Dual Wielding Level 2] [Accel Level 5] [Knife Art Level 4] [Link Level 4] [Gun Art Level Level 10] [High Regeneration Level 7] [Mana Recovery Level 7] [Crimson's Bullet] [Shadow Shift Level 5] [Blade Dance Level 4]
Special Abilities: [Language Comprehension][Danger Sense] [Overdrive] [Death's Eye] [Envisage] {Erase} {Magic Bullet} {Snatch} [Hellsing] [Xerox] {Death Bullet (???)} [Time Stop] [Time Acceleration] (New) [Eye of Truth Level 1]
Titles: [Otherworlder] [The one whose fingers are faster than Flash] [Goblin Slayer] [The Reborn] [Shadow Nemesis] [The Slaughterer] [The Destroyer] [Death Master]』
Alex was pleased that he didn't lose too much; no, it could be said that he gained in fact, he lost one rank to kill Seven while the amount of XP acquired at the latter death brought back his lost level, and he even jumped three levels on top of it. The death bullet is highly costly, especially when it comes to the stronger opponent, but the fact that you can earn XP after killing your opponent could be said to have halved almost all the demerit of this op ability.
Alex stood up and walked down the stairs leading to the next floor; he didn't bother using his BP nor SP; he would use them later; for now, he just wanted to get out of this strange dungeon. First, it was floating islands with sacrificial portals, but now it was only normal dungeon rooms; it was almost absurd; if he didn't happen to have entered such a dungeon, he would have hard believing it. While thinking how absurd existence called dungeons are, Alex descended toward the next floor.
Meanwhile, outside somewhere in the Forest of Monsters, an unconscious Lilith appeared out of thin, soon another person appeared.
''Lilith!"
Sakuya shouted as she dashed toward the falling Lilith, even with her exhausted body.
Sakuya successfully caught Lilith; her body was ice cold, blood-drenched her clothes. Sakuya gently lay Lilith on the ground as she checked her pulse.
''Sigh! She is still breathing. Only her pulse is extremely weakened while her body is cold. However, her body seems to be recovering. I'm out of healing potion; let's wait and see. I wonder what happened and where is Alex?"
Sakuya mumbled as she sat near Lilith to recuperate while waiting for the Demon's princess to wake up.
In another location, at the other end of Forest of Monsters, a white-haired man with a missing arm held another man in a highly sorry state; these two men were naturally Zero and Leonardo.
After suffering that explosion, Sebastian blowing himself up. Zero was extremely injured as he was sent out of the dungeon; even with his almost godly regenerative ability, he couldn't recuperate completely. It seemed that there was something in the explosion that blocked his ability.
''The mission is a failure.''
Muttering this Zero left with the unconscious Leonardo, what happened to him to be so gravely injured would be known once he woke up. His armor was gone, his arms twisted in odd angles, even that reinforced black arm was not spared; that was a large scar running across Leonardo's chest until it almost reached its crotch. It was so large that Leonardo's innards became visible, and like Zero, Leonardo's regenerative ability seemed to malfunction as his injuries showed no sign of regenerating; the black mix stored inside the black arm seemed to have simply vanished.
While flying high in the sky, Zero couldn't help but wonder why things had gone so wrong; they came with four Numbers, hundreds of low ranked members from the organization; however, not only they failed in completing the assigned task, they were annihilated instead, it was the first time for him to suffer such colossal failure, he knew that Lord Kratos was going to be furious. However, he could do nothing, not after the dungeon seemed to have vanished after spitting Leonardo and some weak humans, which he didn't bother checking.
''Well, at least I killed the Crimson duke.'' Zero tried to console himself to have killed Sebastian, also known as the Crimson Duke. Whether this would suffice or not to quench Lord Thanos' anger was yet to know. It was not like he cared about; Zero just wanted to see the world burn; thinking about it brought a smile to his lips as he disappeared.
At the same time, Alex was stepped on another floor; this one was different.