章 58: The turning point

KIEEEEEEEEEKKKKK

A loud shriek echoed, followed by an enormous shockwave. The ground shook violently, causing the warriors to lose their balance.

Everything came to an abrupt halt.

Emerging from the distance, a swarm of elementals came into view; their numbers so big that eyes couldn't fathom an end to them. A huge shadow cast over the dome; sunlight, and rain completely blocked off.

"...What in the world..."

"There were that many of them?"

This was the true apocalypse.

The elves and humans froze still, but not the enemy. The elementals went into a frenzy. As if their strength suddenly gained a boost, akin to a bunch of fries in a swamp, they buzzed around, not caring about anything or anyone.

Bang Bomm Clatter

CRASHHH

The walls crumbled. Windows shattered. Houses crushed. The fries hit anything and everything in their path. The trees bent over; the flowers tattered to pieces. Bearing their teeth, they bit on anything. Three seconds later, the skin of the elves got torn down. Tree roots sat on fire and the ground was smashed apart. Screams rose and pained moans rang in the area.

Utter chaos had descended down on earth.

"Damn!"

Losing his elemental foothold, Raven lost his balance. His body freely dropped down. He somersaulted in the air in an attempt, but nothing to prevent his fall was found. As he fell, the crazed elementals gnawed on his body, leaving wounds and scratches all over. Blood splattered in the air as the swordsman struggled to balance himself.

Right before he hit the ground, a massive pressure fired at him from below. The force hit his back, causing him to levitate in the air for a second. The speed of his fall was relieved, and the elementals scattered.

With a brief shift in his posture, Raven safely landed on the floor. Through the corner of his eyes he could see a golden-haired mage panting heavily with his arms reached out towards him.

"This- Gah!"

Alaric staggered, his mind fuzzy. All his remaining mana got consumed at once.

But before he could find his footing, a massive impact crashed on his back. Hit by a wild elemental, he tilted forward and fell down face first. He neither had the energy to fight back or prevent the fall. Despite his struggle to get up, his exhausted brain failed to order his limps. The elemental darted about, heading towards Doris at a high speed.

"Damn-"

The girl's attempt at casting a spell failed. She too, was out of mana. The elemental rushed at her, eyes lunatic, emanating a disgusting smell as it moved. It bore its teeth at her, magma dripping down from the corner of its mouth. Flames roared around its body, threatening to gobble her down.

Gasping at the scene, Doris raised her arms to shield her vitals. Her heart raced with fear, imagining the pain being bitten would cause.

"Tsk!"

The expected pain, however, didn't strike her. An arm wrapped around her from behind, preventing her fall, when another moved in front of her. Teeth dug into the flesh. Blood splashed across her face. A suppressed gasp echoed in her ears.

Once looked up, a familiar figure stood beside her.

The cloaked man pushed her aside as he shook his bloodied arm. Doris was pushed back towards the bushes. The elemental got tossed away by the movement, rolling on the ground. Without caring about his crimson-dyed clothes, Ian rushed to Alaric's side.

"Yo, you dead?"

Grabbing him from his clothes, Ian raised the body up. The boy still had his eyes open, pupils glued on Ian's bloodied arm.

"Tsk."

Alaric was too, flung back.

-Keep an eye.

Aether could scare off the elementals.

-...Let me help.

-Stay here.

-...Yes.

Turning around, Ian strode forward at a high speed.

"Ian? Wait, it's dangerous! Hey!"

Eleen called out for him, but it was easily ignored. Passing the fallen elves, Ian rushed to the center of the village.

'Good thing we have a doctor with us.'

No one was seriously injured, but having Eleen was still a relief.

'Argh, really, how good would it be if I didn't need to step up.'

Just sitting back and watching the others fight. How nice. How relaxing.

'Maybe in the future battles.'

He'd make sure to train these youths to death until then.

Arriving beside Claus on his way, Ian clicked his tongue at the man's sorry state. Scars covered his body, blood gushing out. He gasped for air, trembling fingers barely holding onto the bow. His arrows having long run out, he clung onto whatever he could get his hands on to use as one.

The elf paused for a second upon noticing Ian walk toward the epicenter of the chaos. The buzzing elementals kept hitting his body as he walked, creating scars here and there, but the slave didn't stop.

"Where are you going? You better hide- gah!"

His speech was interrupted by a sudden pain in his ankle. Something was biting on his leg.

"Piece of shit!"

Claus pulled away the elemental and tossed aside his bow. The human walking forward had neither a shield nor an armor. His body became more tattered as he moved on. Did he have a death wish? Claus had to stop him. He couldn't let innocent people die because of him.

"Wait! Ugh..."

Plop

His body, again, didn't obey his will. Knees giving away, Claus fell down to the ground. He struggled to get up, only to fall down again. His muscles ached all over, too exhausted to even twitch.

As if having found easy prey, tens of corrupted creatures gathered around him in a bunch, buzzing around, ready to eat him out alive.

Claus could only grit his teeth while watching the human go.

"My lord?"

The only person still capable of fighting slashed with his sword in his direction, creating a path. Raven rushed to Ian at full speed, yet the enemy didn't allow him an easy pass. The knight could only watch as his master strode forward while being harassed.

'I shouldn't wait to see the results next time.'

A misjudge on his part, and everything could fall apart. Those people were just some children. Ian shouldn't depend on them too much. He made a mental note for his future to remember.

'Here shall do...'

Despite him really not wanting to use up his Aether here, there was no other way. Standing at a desired spot, he looked up at the shadowy sky. Both his hands raised up, fingers intertwined to a tight clasp.

'Let's just wipe out about... Hmmm, 3/4 of the jungle.'

Just as he decided on the scope of the things, a surge of energy gushed out of his body, running through his every fiber. The warmth enveloped his entirety, giving him a surreal sense of delight. Anxiety was washed away. Positive thoughts danced in his mind. Even the ruthless attacks of corruption didn't feel much to him.

With his pupils glued to a place not visible to others' eyes, Ian muttered a word in a soft voice.

"Light..."

The atmosphere surrounding him shifted. A slight glow emerged from his hand before covering him whole. Along his line of sight, a tiny dot twinkled gold. A star whirled, his head further tilted up.

WOOMMM

A flash of gold shot out from his body.

"Wha-"

"Woah!"

Everyone had to cover their eyes, yet they couldn't help but gasp at the scene. A glimmer of light descended down, wiggling under his feet, then spread out in all directions. A bright circle unfurled on the ground, Dieng the whole land gold.

Touched by light, the dazed onlookers felt all the fatigue leaving their bodies. The fear was gone. The anger faded down. Pain disappeared. And a sense of security found its way into their hearts.

It was akin to returning to a mother's womb.

"Uh... God..."

A true miracle.