บท 21: The Rivertown Incident
Lucian stared at the massive creature in front of him, perplexed at the sight of a stone monster wielding a massive iron halberd.
"What now..?" He said as he panted slightly
"Lucian!" Brodin called, "Spread out! That thing is dangerous! Fighting two Onis and a Gargoyle won't be easy!"
Lucian glanced at Brodin who was aiming his missile launcher at the monsters, "You know plenty of this, huh?" He said
Before Brodin could pull the trigger of his weapon, the Gargoyle let out a screech and swung its halberd at Lucian, who was able to jump away.
"Shit!" Lucian said he was in the air, slowly descending back to the ground, "What the hell.....I was barely able to react in time..."
Lucian watched as the force of the halberd created a ripping shockwave that destroyed a large portion of the field they were in. The creature opened its beak, letting out a loud clanking sound; as if metal was colliding against stone.
He landed on the ground, several meters away and he watched as the two Onis took some steps forward, growling loudly. He also noticed that the miasma above in the sky was getting larger and thicker, emitting a powerful stench and ominous aura.
The Onis were massive, about 10 feet tall each and the Gargoyle towered both of them, nearly twice their size. It didn't give off a powerful aura like the Onis, however, but Lucian could tell that it was as dangerous as the both of them.
Suddenly, a projectile hit the Gargoyle in the face, causing an explosion, its head slightly jerking to the side. Lucian saw that Brodin's launcher was emitting smoke from its front barrel.
The Gargoyle and Onis slowly turned their heads towards him.
"Shit." Brodin said as the missile launcher disappeared in a white light, "Well, here we go..."
He straightened up, and summoned a large and thick knife, readying a stance as he narrowed his eyes.
In a swift motion, he swung his other hand, throwing what looked like multiple flashbang grenades at the monsters, a bright explosion of light detonating in the air in front of them.
The Onis covered their faces, the flash affecting them despite their masks, and they stumbled backwards. The unaffected one was the Gargoyle, which took a step forward towards Brodin as its beak was open and the clanking got louder.
"Hm." Brodin said as he took a step back, "I see...."
Before the Gargoyle took another step, it was hit in the face with a flamebolt, fired from Lucian.
It let out a screech as it looked back at Lucian, who was running towards it.
"Alright, ugly!" Lucian shouted as he jumped up in the air, "You and me!"
Lucian waved his hands forward, sending a massive wave of silver flames at the Gargoyle, the flames colliding against the stony body of the monster. As he was in the air, a small explosion boosted Lucian towards the Gargoyle through the flames as he reared his fist back.
Lucian swung his flaming fist at the Gargoyle's face, pushing it back in a tremendous display of strength. The massive body crashed against the two Onis behind it, its large wings hitting hard against them. As they collapsed to the ground, a massive dust cloud emerged from the ground.
Brodin nodded as he looked over at Lucian who landed on the ground, "He's adapting to his newfound power..." He said to himself, "Talk about prodigal talent....unless there's something else in play. The only explanation I could have for this is that he's had some kind of experience...from his past life."
Lucian rubbed his wrists, feeling his rough scales, "Damn..." He said, "What's with this.....?"
He felt better, almost as if using his Flame Sorcery wasn't burning through his Ether as much as he thought it would. His flames felt hotter and stronger ever since Lucy assimilated back into himself. He was beginning to understand better at how his Calamity worked.
Lucy was the manifestation of the Calamity, a Wyvern; a type of Dragon in this world. While she was formidable by herself, she required a direct connection and bond to Lucian for the Calamity's true power, even at the First Seal, to be seen. She was capable of firing off a devastating Fireball, but that was pretty much it.
Since she returned to Lucian, the Calamity manifested in Lucian's body, as intended, and it demonstrated a snippet of what it was capable of.
"Sorcery is the side-effect of some Calamities, huh?" Lucian said as he clapped his hands and extended them, pulling on the flames like before, "So now that my Calamity is active, I would imagine that my Sorcery is boosted. I'll rely on that for now...instead of using the same abilities I used for the other Oni."
He smiled as he rotated his hands clockwise, the flames forming into a circle, emitting an intense heat that even Brodin felt all the way where he stood, several dozen meters away from him. He felt a strange, yet soothing sensation within his body.
"It feels natural to me." Lucian thought to himself, "Fire is just the result of material going through combustion, releasing heat and light.....at a point during combustion, Flames are visible.....Flames should be intangible, it's merely energy that burns and destroys....but I can not only hold it, I can mold it into what I want....can I?"
Lucian then grabbed the flames with his hands, squeezing on them and then pulling them together, the flames focused on a single point, emitting an intense heat. The glow of the silver flames illuminated the entire field, a surge of Ether being felt by Brodin.
"What's he doing?" He said aloud, "Is he molding the flames? Such a high-level Pyromancy? Is he really on the First Seal?"
As this happened, the Gargoyle and Onis stood back up, the massive stone creature extended its wings and let out a screech, inadvertently hitting the Onis again and causing them to stumble.
It looked at Lucian, who was still focusing his flames and lunged forward, rearing its halberd with both arms, letting out a deafening screech.
Brodin launched himself forward and towards the Gargoyle, swinging his combat knife in the air. There was a massive cloud of what looked like gunpowder that lined up in front of the Gargoyle as it was still in mid-lunge.
"Black Sparks"
The gunpowder detonated, releasing several different explosions that hit the Gargoyle, staggering it and stopping it in its tracks. As a bit of smoke emitted from multiple parts of the Gargoyle's body, it shook its head, glancing at the trail of smoke clouds that separated it and Lucian.
"Tch..." Brodin said, "Going to have to add more power...."
What Brodin did was concentrate black powder on his Knife, release it in his swing, and detonate it to create a barrier of explosive sparks. He was capable of doing this thanks to his sorcery.
The other Onis straightened up and released deep growls, readying their weapons as they looked at Brodin.
"Not good." Brodin siad
He looked at Lucian who ran his right hand over the flames, extending them, and watched as the silver flames condensed and formed into what looked like a greatsword. Lucian had formed a weapon made out of pure flames.
"I don't know why..." Lucian said, "But I feel like I'm a sword guy....."
He grabbed the handle and raised his weapon, pointing at the Gargoyle.
"Alright, fucker." He said with a smirk, "Time to get real. I will destroy you."
As this happened, the citizens of Rivertown were evacuating, immediately realizing that the miasma in the sky outside their town was a Swarm Hole; a Demonic Spell that brings in monsters and potentially a Demon.
While they hastily ran out of the town to safety, a large squad of around fifty armored soldiers, marched towards the town, wielding weapons and shields.
At the front of the squad, an armored Knight rode on a horse, he wore dark bronze armor and a bull's helm, a flowing black cloak on his back. He had a massive warhammer leaning on his shoulder while held it with one hand, the reigns of his horse in the other.
"Demons, huh?" The Knight said, "I ought to deal with this before the Darklight Sect arrive, get all the credit from His Majesty."
One of the other soldiers walked up to him, "Ser." He said, "According to the citizens, it is two Onis and a Gargoyle."
"Hmph." The Knight said, "Even better."
"Also, an unknown Traversed is involved, he killed an Oni." He said, "The Traversed known as Brodin is with him, engaging in combat."
There was an unusual silence coming from the squad of armored soldiers, hearing the name Brodin unsettled them for whatever reason. The black-cloaked Knight, didn't seem unsettled, a bit surprised by the mention of the Traversed.
"Brodin, huh?" The Knight replied, "To think that old bastard was still alive. His Majesty will be thrilled when I take his stupid mug to him. Let us go men, let's catch our Criminal."
"And deal with the problem ourselves."
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