Chapitre 10: The Piercing Light
In the darkness of the night, I am right now watching closely the activity of the Apophis Familia base. From the information we gathered, we managed to point out their known hideout in three spots. Most of the places they chose as their base were former mining places that had already exhausted all of the minerals; the only thing that was left was a perfect place for a criminal to hide their presence. I already cleared out the two of them, but they are all a decoy to fool anyone trying to find their base.
"How much are they, Orstrid?"
"There are 32 of them, Master."
"Hm, 32, not 27."
'Most likely, a slave or a hostage is being captured by them. hm, I can attack them carelessly.'
I need to lure every Apophis Familia member from their hideout and capture them. There is Iduun Familia nearby waiting for me to give them the order to capture them, but it will be useless if we know for certain that there are Apohis among them. If we attack them carelessly, he just uses his escape route.
But bad for him. I know each of their locations; all I need to do is dig another way so I can rescue the hostage and avoid any detection. Then I head to the hiding place of Iduun Familia, ready to capture any Apophis Familia that tries to escape.
"Sera."
"Oberon, how is it?"
"There are 32 of them... Either the Iduun Familia information was wrong or..."
"Or? What is it, Oberon?"
"There is a chance that they are slaves or hostages that they capture... I heard they raided some caravans, so I am not so surprised if they did."
"So are we sticking with your plan or do we change it?"
"I already predicted this, so there is no need to change the plan."
"Okay… Just be careful, Oberon."
I just nodded, then went to the place to start my digging into the enemy base. That is not so hard to dig through the dirt and rock; my earth magic control capability is already at the rank of emperor class anyway.
'This will be the first time I will confront or fight a god, hm. Make yourself a bit worried, goddess. Iduun already assures me it will be a stupid god or goddess to use their Arcanum because they will be forced back to heaven, and there is a chance they never be allowed to go back to Gekai.'
"Master, just move to two o'clock if we keep our speed... We will arrive in 5 minutes."
'Orstrid is always so helpful to me; she always watches my back and always follows my order... Well, sometimes she denied my order, but all for my sake. But her main weakness is that she is bad at socializing with other people.'
I can help to chuckle a bit.
"Hm, Master, is something wrong?"
"Nothing Orstrid I just think you are so helpful since I summoned you here. Is there any wish or reward you want from me, Orstrid?"
Then I can see Orstrid stop, so I am waiting for her answer.
"I am a spirit, so I don't have too many wishes or desires, but if there is something I want or wish... I- I want Oberon-sama to be happy after we made our contract. I see Master's memory. I saw what Oberon... no Rudeus-sama has suffered a lot and yet..."
She looks into my eyes. I don't know why my entire body feels warm. I don't know if it's her magic or if it's just my imagination.
"Master keeps going forward and learning to be much stronger, try to be a better person, and try to help everyone that needs help but don't forget Oberon-sama. If you have to choose between your happiness and the other, please choose your own happiness."
"It's a hard request... I will try Orstrid, but I am sorry I can't always keep that promise because I can't be happy when people I care about are suffering."
"That's enough for me, Master. Now, shall we continue? We can let Lady Sera wait too long."
Then I continued digging. After 5 minutes, we arrived at a room full of weapons and clothes. From what Orstrid told me, the prisoner should be close to here. After closing the hole, we sneak to where the hostage should be held.
After walking to the long hall and taking down a couple of Apophis's children, we manage to find them. They are all held in an iron cage. There were six of them: three Catpeople and three humans, and most of them were adult women and one child.
"Hey, you both, who are… ugh!"
I quickly moved close to them and used my electric magic to stun the guard. The prisoner, noticing the two guards, went down and stared at me.
"It's okay, everyone. I am here to help you get out of here."
Then open the gate that held them and cast a healing spell to heal all of their injuries, but the child is still not awake yet.
"Can you all stand up?"
Five of them all nodded and started to stand up, but the child was still unconscious, so I carried her on my back.
("Orstrid keeps watching the enemy movement.")
("Understood.")
Then we went to the room where the way out was. Thanks to Orstrid's detection skills, we managed to avoid alerting the Apophis children.
"Just follow this hole it will lead to my acquaintance they will help you and please carry that child with you. Don't worry, we will punish the people that make you suffer."
(("Thank you"))
'Now it's time to find Apophis.'
("Orstrid tries to find a group of people close to each other in one large or small room with great security along the way.")
("Hm,... I found one master. There are three people close to each other, and one of them is sitting on a chair.")
("Good, now we are heading there.")
(-Third POV-)
In the underground base, there is a room like a king's hall, where Apophis rests on his throne with his two guards. Apophis is so restless because there is no information about the two Elven races that visit Tein Town, and most of the spies inside Tein Town went silent yesterday.
"Harlow, still no news from them yet... My patience has a limit, you know."
There standing on the right of the throne is an adult man, but he is not an ordinary man; his name is Harlow; he is the captain of Apophis Familia; and he has a scimitar on the right of his waist.
"I am sorry, Apophis-sama, they all went silent. Probably the Iduun Familia patrol made our spies go silent. If there is no news until tomorrow morning, we will send our best spies to look for that elf."
"*sigh* then up the security until we gather any information about that elf. Somehow those two elves make me feel the same unease when Freya and his children visit Tents Town."
"As your command, Apophis-sama."
'Those bi*ch Freya on a single night manage to wipe out my power base, and because of her, my plan gets postponed.'
Apophis has the plan to summon a cobra-like monster that he had in heaven, but of course, he can only summon a small amount of the monster's power to Gekai because, if too powerful, it can be detected by another god in heaven, and on Gekai. If he uses too much of his Arcanum power, he will be forced back to Heaven and probably never back again to Gekai.
When Apophis is still in Heaven, he sees the One-Eyed Black Dragon wipe out almost an entire country's population. He feels so pleased and entertained by it. Because of that, he descends to Gekai to make his calamity monster, but for that, he needs a lot of mana crystals. There is a great place to gather mana crystal in the City of Oraio, but he knows that he can't prevent the guild from sniffing his plan, especially that old man Ouranos. So he chose the place where he was safe from the watchful eyes of the other god, but he forgot to count Goddess Iduun, seeing her as just a weak goddess.
'But still, she posts great threats for me... *sigh* If not because of that schemer bastard Evilus, I can't continue my plan, hm?'
Then I notice two elven-like figures getting closer, then Harlow pulls out his scimitar, and the other guard does the same.
"Who are you two?"
(Oberon POV)
When I went to the location where Orstrid told me, it was full of guards patrolling along the way, but we could take down all of them easily because I was well prepared and knew where the enemy guard's location was. I only used my electric magic to put them down quickly. Electric magic was the weakest form of lightning magic. This magic I created myself when I first learned lightning magic from Roxy.
After taking down the guard along the way, we arrive at the door that should be the room where probably Apoophis was.
("Get ready, Orstrid, please avoid attacking Apophis; let me handle him.")
When we went closer, I saw three men, one of whom had dark hair and tan skin, sitting on a throne. I immediately recognized that it was Apophis because it matched the illustration that Goddess Iduun had shown me, and the other one was most likely the captain of Apophis Familia. He has dark blue hair and blue eyes, and he wears a dark purple coat, and he uses a scimitar as his weapon.
"Who are you?"
"I am the elf you are looking for, and I am here to capture all of you. Don't bother to call the guard; they are all already asleep."
I can see a panicked expression on their faces after their gods are silent, which means they know what I said was 100% true, and in 10 minutes, Iduun Familia will storm this place.
'Hm, he seemed awfully calm just in case...'
Then I cast a barrier to protect me and Orstrid. Most criminals I encountered in my previous life always prepared a trap for any intruder. When Harlow notices I drop my guard, he straight-headedly dashes forward and tries to cut my head, but
"*Ugh*"
His head bumps into an invisible wall and falls back.
"Oh, you think I am stupid enough to let my guard down without any reason? I just want to talk first before we start the fight."
"Hm, I don't want to spend my time talking with a mortal. Harlow, Apep kills them."
Whatever they tried, they couldn't get any closer because the barrier I put in could nullify all physical attacks.
"It's no use; you are all too weak to destroy my barrier."
"haha… HAHAHAHA! You look down on God's power too much, mortal. Just because the gods and goddesses can't use our full power in Gekai because of the restriction, that doesn't mean we can't use our power at all. Let me teach you how to fear a god."
Then I can see Apophis put his finger on the button or something on the left arm of the throne.
"Apohis-sama, what are you?"
Then the ground below us glows red, and without my notice, Orstrid pulls me in and runs as fast as she possibly can. As we head to the exit, the cave starts to crumble. We manage to leave the cave before the cave sheath crumbles and buries us with the Apophis Familia. Sera and his Familia greet us at the exit of the cave.
"Oberon, what happens?"
Sera was panicking because of the earthquake that was just happening. Before I answered her question, I saw a big shadow emerge from the rubble, and I could hear a snake-like sound.
"What is that, Oberon?"
"I-I don't know what!"
A big tail smashes in our direction before it hits any of us. Orstrid blocked it with her hand.
"*ugh*… ar… Are you okay, master?"
"Yes, Orstrid, I am fine, thank you."
I can see her hand start to bleed. That attack is strong, and I am not sure I can survive it if it hits me directly.
"Orstrid, Sera, and everyone, we need to fall back fast!"
Then I cast a large stone wall to stop the tail. After we went a fair distance, I could see what the creature was. I saw it was a large Cobra Snake, and with his body alone, it could crush tall skyscrapers.
'How did Orstrid manage to block that monster attack?'
"Come closer, Orstrid, let me heal your wound."
When she takes off her clothes, I can see her bone is cracked, and there is an open wound on her arm. It needs king-class healing magic to heal it completely.
"Thank you, Orstrid. I don't know what will happen if you don't block that monster tail, but how did you manage to block it?"
"I cast the magic barrier before his attack master, but I know it isn't enough to stop it, so... I use my strength to stop the rest of the weight."
"I see… I am glad you are the one answering my summons."
"T-thank you, master, but I should be the one thanking you."
Then a blue-haired lady emerged from the shadow; she was the goddess Iduun herself. I told her to stay in Tein Town to stay safe during this operation, but she insisted on partaking in this raid.
"Oberon, what is that monster? I see it appear from the hideout of Apophis."
"I don't know Goddess Iduun. I can tell you this: when my confrontation heated with Apophis, there was a large magic red circle that appeared in the room, and Orstrid sensed danger. She quickly pulled me away, and we left the cave before it fell into our heads."
When we are talking, the monster stays still while screaming at the night sky. The sound is so loud that I cast a soundproof barrier around us.
"*ugh* That damn monster is so loud. Thank you, Oberon."
"Thank me later... That monster is too big and strong to manage to hurt Orstrid. I am sorry to say this, but neither of you can help me in this fight."
From the size alone, it is already obvious that they are no match to fight that snake monster, and I need a strong magic spell to kill that monster, but something is nagging me.
"Sera, did you see any golden light that indicated God went back to heaven?"
"No, why did you ask?"
"That means Apophis was still alive, and we don't know where."
"But I am not letting my children get near that monster to look for him."
The last time I saw him, he was still on his throne, and the magic circle started to appear when he put his hand in some container.
'Did Apophis summon that monster? If so, is it forbidden for gods or goddesses to use their arcanum?'
("Master, that monster starts to move.")
("!!!")
When I saw that large monster stare in our direction with a menacing glare, it was like a hunter staring at their prey.
"Everyone, I want to leave this place."
"But Oberon, we..."
"GO!! Please Sera I don't want any of you to die because of my magic. Please."
I can see her frustrated expression because she knows from the start that she can do anything to help me and Orstrid in this fight.
"I understand… Iduun-sama, let's head back to Tein town."
'Now, first, I will cast my most powerful magic at my disposal to open the fight.'
Then I cast gravity magic to fly high above, and after enough altitude, I cast cumulonimbus, which is the first step I need to take to call one of my powerful magics called {Lighningh}.
"Orstrid cast a magic barrier and a sound barrier around us; this time my lightning magic will be much more powerful than before."
Then I start to flow my mana with Terrifying power flows through the 'Laguz' blade in my hand, and I shoot my hand that holds Laguz, pointing it to the clouds, and it starts to form a heavy storm with thunder starting to scream through the storm. The magic begins getting harder to control.
'For the Cumulonimbus, it should be strong enough, but I need more power.'
Then I push it much further in power. I know a monster capable of hurting Orstrid is not a normal monster I ever faced. Something about strong spell magic is really hard to control for people with a small amount of mana, but for me, it is not troubling me at all. While I stand still, the Cobra Snake-like monster tries to attack me with his fire breath, but it is of no use because of Orstrid barrier magic.
((Crack))
I need to make the lightning magic explosion too big. I need to make it concentrate in one spot, and then I point my Laguz blade in the direction of the monster.
{Lighning}
.
..
…
((BOOM!!))
What follows is a blinding blue light, followed by a heavy explosion sound and a large thunder scream that can make anyone without ear protection go deaf in a moment. After a few minutes, the storm starts to calm down and stop, but the smoke around the monster is still not gone yet.
Then I checked around the devastation of the magic to make sure the shock wave did not reach Iduun Familia.
"Hm, how was that forest area tree not affected by the shock wave? Is that your magic, Orstrid?")
("Yes master, I know Master doesn't want any of them to get hurt.")
("Thank you, Orstrid.")
Then I make sure the monster disappears with the explosion.
{Wind Blash}
After clearing the smoke, I can see a large purple crystal left in the crater.
"*sigh* It's finally over."
No way any creature can survive the lightning magic that powerful, but before I turn my back, I can see a white-like bone start to reform around the crystal-forming snake skull, then it spreads rapidly to form a snake bone structure, and what follows is what flesh starts to appear.
"It regenerating!!"
'After all of that, does it still manage to regenerate?'
"This is bad. Really bad."
'Wait, don't panic. Inhale… Exhale Let's analyze it again. hm, I am sure that attack manages to burn to crisp the flesh and bone of the monster, but...'
"Only the crystal is remaining... I see it probably is the core of the monster; if we destroy it, maybe that monster will die for sure."
'The core is on his head, but I need a much stronger magic spell... Meteor no, it needs to be precise. How about the Earth Bullet? It may fit, but...'
("Master, may I suggest something?")
("Hm, Orstrid, what is it?")
("May I suggest using Banamathr Ooss?")
("!! That magic is one of the ancient magics of the Elven Kingdom, but it is forbidden, Orstrid, because that spell is for killing a god.")
Banamaðr ʫ́ss, or a 'God Killer', is one of the magic spells that I learned in the forbidden section of the Royal Library in the Royal Alf Forest. That magic spell was created by our ancestors out of fear of the god's existence. It was the era before the gods' descent into the Gekai world.
("Master, maybe you don't notice... inside that crystal was Apophis himself.")
'I see, so that's why... But a mortal is forbidden to kill a god, but..'
Then I stare at the monster, still regenerating it, probably 2 minutes before it fully recovers.
("Orstrid, where is Sera?")
("Just fly to the south, Master, and you can find them there.")
("Okay, stay here and watch the monster until I return.")
("I understand, Master.")
Then I fly in the direction that Orstrid told me to meet Goddess Iduun. When I arrived, I saw them all standing still.
'They are probably in shock about my magic, well, I can't blame them for that.'
"Oberon, have you managed to defeat that monster? I guess you did. I can't believe any living thing can survive that kind of magic."
"I am sorry, Goddess Iduun, but that monster did survive my attack."
((!!))
"Is that even possible? Oberon, your magic is powerful enough to decimate an entire city! Even the sound is still ringing in my ears."
"For that, I am sorry, Sera, Goddess Iduun, and everyone. Now I come here to speak to you, Goddess Iduun. There is an Apophis body inside that monster. I guess that somehow or someway he summoned that monster."
((!!))
"I see…. That means you need to kill Apophis for that monster to be defeated."
"Yes, can you deal the blow about a mortal killing a god, and is it possible to make a vow never to tell anyone I am the one responsible?"
"My name is Iduun, the goddess of youth, fertility, and death. I promise that I will never reveal your identity without your consent."
Then I bow to show gratitude.
"I thank you deeply, Goddess Iduun; now I must head back to put down that mad god for good."
When I turned my back in that direction, Sera said something to me.
"Stay safe, Oberon."
"Thank you, Sera. I will and you will stay safe."
Then I head back to the location where I will prepare for casting that magic.
("Master, it starts to open its eyes.")
("Okay, Orstrid, I will make the preparation, so I need you to keep that monster distracted.")
("As your command, Master.")
When I find a good spot for drawing the magic circle, I pull out the book that I keep in my pocket, copy it, and draw it on the ground. I have practiced drawing many magic circles, so it does not take too long.
After finishing it, I need to activate it before I start the chanting. I need to drop my blood at the center of the magic circle (this magic can only be used on people that have high elf blood), and then I start my chanting.
"My name is Oberon Aendryr Wishe I open the seal of the forbidden magic, Banamathr Ooss. (You need to name yourself before starting the chanting so the Elven King knows it was me who opened the seals.)"
Then the circle started to glow with a gold color, and I could feel my mana getting connected with the circle. Then I pointed my right hand to the sky.
"I Summon the power of the abyss to destroy the life force of a god…"
Then a light started to fall from the sky into my hand.
"Drains the divinity of a god and reduces them to a mortal state. Reveals the truth that will set a god free, from their life…"
It starts getting brighter and brighter. I use my mana to control a large amount of power in the light, just like I do with my lightning spells.
"Vox Populi Vox Dei, Requiem Aeternam Dona Eis."
Then the light starts to get pulled and absorb into my body. I absorb as much as I can and contain it in my body. It covers my body with a golden tattoo, and my hair becomes a more gold-like color. All I need is to cast the release spells.
("Orstrid, bring him to me.")
Then I could feel the earthquake getting stronger and heading in my direction. And I can see Orstrid fly towards me.
"Creates a void of nothingness and denies the existence of a god…"
A light spear formed from thin air. This spear's name was 'Banamathr Ooss' which means I succeeded in the hardest part. Now I need to release it. Then I took the spears, and they absorbed all the power that I had gathered and included my mana in them.
'*ugh* This is bad; it absorbs all of my mana. I must release it quickly.'
When Orstrid arrives at my back, the Cobra Monster is only 300 meters away; it runs like a snake with its mouth open. Then I pointed my spear at the head of the monster. Before I released it, I shouted.
"Banamathr Ooss!!!"
What followed was golden light piercing through the mouth of the monster and brightening the night. The light is so bright that it brings the night sky, and the light of the beam is so long that it looks like it can reach the end of the Gekai world.
After releasing that spear, my sight becomes blurred and my consciousness starts to fade away before I fall to the ground. Orstrid catches me to stop me from falling to the ground.
"Good job, Master, you did it. Now go to sleep, and I'll take care of the rest."
"T-thank.. you... Orstr-"
Then I fall asleep from exhaustion.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone