Chapter 43: Enter the Warlock Hero
Myran's headless body limped onto the ground. Hmph, he never stood a chance.
I'd drop his head, his head rolling across the ground towards his body. I looked at the blood on my hand and licked them off my fingers.
Ding!
[Multiple Skills have Leveled up!]
[Title Obtained: Enemy of Cocytus]
[Levels in Store: 375]
[Passive Skills in Store: Sub-Zero Resistance, Thread Creation, Pain Negation, Earth Manipulation]
[Active skills in Store: Cocytus(Locked)]
[Skills in Store: Steel Threads, Razor Threads, Freezing Threads, Frost Bolts, Frozen Land]
I see, it would make sense that Cocytus is locked since I don't have the required passive skill. If only I could pick what skills I wanted but I guess you can't have everything.
Now, I believe that's all I can do. My mana reserve is almost gone.
I withdrew my Shadow King Domain. My Shadow King Domain was made up of two parts: my aura and my shadow; the dome and the atmosphere being my aura and the floor being my shadow.
My domain had completely consumed Cocytus so it was clear when I withdrew it.
I dropped to the ground after withdrawing my domain. Looks like I've also exhausted a lot of stamina. He was a tough enemy I must admit.
[Mana: 1,603,000/110,000,000]
I'm a little astonished that I consumed so much. If this continues one when I fight stronger enemies, it won't end so well for me. I also can't rely on Shadow King Domain every time I fight an enemy. It's not that easy to summon it considering it takes a while to start it up.
"So you killed him…"
His sister descended, landing next to his body.
I got up and crossed my arms.
"You gonna kill me for it…?"
She turned to me and then back to her brother.
"No."
"May I ask why?"
"If you managed to beat my brother's Cocytus, I must acknowledge you as a dangerous man. However, I will not kill you. My main reason is that I want to fight you in the future."
Hmm? Is she serious?
"I'm completely vulnerable you know? You could kill me right now."
"That wouldn't be fun now, would it? What would the point in killing you achieve anyway? Vengeance? Revenge for my brother? I don't get it."
She crouched and placed her hand on Myran's deceased body and it was instantly encased in ice.
"I will retreat. My army has already been taken off and the heroes are coming. I will leave with my brother's body."
She sat on her broom and floated into the air, her brother trailing alongside her.
"We will meet again. Goodbye."
And she flew off.
I sighed. Guess I lucked out again.
"Master!"
"Nero!"
I turned. Looks like they took care of the army.
"Good job you two."
I took a step forward but my legs gave out, luckily I landed in between their breasts. Aah, today must really be my lucky day.
"Let's go now, I'm… pretty tired."
The two nodded as they began carrying me towards the exit.
Suddenly, I was shot in the back of my neck, the tip of the arrow sticking out from the front of my neck.
And then, everything was normal again.
A Premonition!
"Both of you get down!"
They obeyed and I quickly equipped Osiris. Osiris' tail then lashed at the incoming arrow.
Clang!
I equipped the mask and turned around while letting down my hair.
"Damn it, he blocked."
Kai said as he got another arrow.
Well, well, couldn't this day get any better?
I smiled under my mask as I turned back to Ravyn and Kiyomi.
"You two retreat, I'll meet you back at the wagon."
"R-right."
"Will you be ok Master? We can help." Kiyomi asked me.
"I appreciate your offer but this is my fight. Don't worry, I won't die."
Kiyomi looked a bit distressed but she eventually complied.
"Ravyn, let me borrow your mana."
"Huh? Alright."
[Mana: 41,324,127/110,000,000]
As I borrowed her mana using Shadow Harvest, Kai had his bow readied, this time aimed at Kiyomi.
"Tch, you aren't escaping."
He fired but I caught it before it struck her.
"Damn it."
I looked over my shoulder and used Wolf's Blood. The two were now out of range. Thank goodness.
I turned towards Kai and behind him were the other sev- no, there were six, one was missing.
Risa…
"Are you the demon general?" Kai asked as he readied another arrow.
"No, but if you are looking for a fight, then let's fight."
"Hmph."
I saw that everyone had their weapons ready. Hmm, I should make this easier for myself since I just had a fight moments ago.
"I have no business with the four of you."
I said pointing to the Berserker, Assassin, Summoner, and Enhancer hero.
"You three are the ones I want to fight." I pointed to Kai, Murai, and Jessica. The three looked at me confused.
"Tch, just shut up!"
Kai fired an arrow which came at me at ultra-speed. I managed to Shadow Shift in time and went forward.
I first went for Kai, as he would be a bother when I'm fighting the others. However, Murai stepped in front of me.
"Lion's Roar."
A powerful force struck my stomach but I managed to resist it.
"Hmph, Soaring Dragon Fist."
I returned a punch that blew Murai back. He would crash into Kai in the process.
Flash!
I turned and Jessica had a bright light at the end of her staff pointed towards me.
"Light Beam!"
Her staff shot out a bright beam that darted towards me. I slammed the ground and the beam fell off course, hitting Murai and Kai.
"Shit!"
Jessica would charge up another attack but I punched the ground and trapped her in my Grim Dragon Cage. I also did the same with Murai and Kai.
"Tch, damn it! Let us out!" Kai yelled at me as he reached for his bow.
I Flash Stepped in front of him and snatched his bow away before using Swift Slash, slashing the side of his cheek.
"Hmph… I missed."
I was aiming for the neck but I couldn't reach any further since the spaces in Grim Dragon Cage were only so small.
Hmm, now that I had them trapped. I could kill them right now. But it would be a shame if they didn't know who killed them.
"How does it feel to be the one kneeling now?"
I'd release them from the cage before striking all of them in the stomach and throwing them against each other.
"It's not so fun now, right Murai?"
"H-how do you know my name?"
"Hmm, maybe you would know Kai."
"…bastard."
At least someone knows what's going on.
"Kai, you know him?"
"You're an idiot, it's obvious who you think he is!"
"B-but he looks completely different!"
I watched as they panicked and attempted to fight back but I already trapped them in another cage.
"How long has it been since we've met? About a month, or maybe longer?"
"Tch, Naoko. So you finally stopped being a pussy, huh?"
"A few things can change a man you know? I expect you are still the same snobby faggot I still remember. Well, that's pretty obvious actually."
"So what are you gonna do, huh? Kill us?"
"Precisely, and then I'll kill the king."
"Pff, don't make me laugh, you wouldn't do such a thing."
He quickly drew another bow from under his cloak and fired an arrow at me which I dodged. I saw Jessica perform a spell and my Grim Dragon Cage was quickly dispersed. She began firing multiple rays of lightning at me.
I Shadow Shifted back and deflected the beams before charging forward with Shadow Blade Assail.
I noticed Kai was off his feet and I targeted him first.
Vwoomp!
"Huh?"
I grabbed his face and slammed him to the ground.
"Hmph."
I then headed over to Murai. I did a sweeping kick, knocking him off his feet.
"Whoa-!"
He fell. I stamp on his face as he attempted to get up onto his feet.
"Not so entertaining now when you're the one facing the ground, huh?"
I pushed him down, pressing his face against the floor.
The others saw what I was doing and ran to stop me but I stomped the ground and activated Grim Dragon Maw.
A dragon's jaw erupted from the ground and blocked their paths. It didn't bite down because I didn't want it to.
"You interfere and I'll kill you as well."
My words seemed to make them understand what their positions were. I resumed.
"Maybe I should deal the first blow to you."
I accumulated all my mana into my right fist, charging up Fallen Descent.
However, I stopped when I felt an overwhelming energy source approach us.
I quickly withdrew my attack and Flash Stepped away as a sphere struck the ground. There was no explosion, but it left a crater where it had landed.
Descending from the sky was a man dressed in a white short-sleeve coat over a black turtleneck, skinny red pants, and black boots. His short hair was divided in two colors; the right was black and the other was white. The same went for his eyes as the one was silver and the other was like a diamond. He had pale skin and tattoos covering his arms with many black rings and bracelets on his arms.
"Am I interrupting something?" He asked.
I used Analysis on him and inspected his stats.
[Level 1793; Class: Warlock/Sorcerer; Title: Warlock Hero]
{Abilities}
Passive Skills: Analysis, Explosion Magic, Disintegration Magic, Cursed Red Arts, Cursed Blue Arts, Cursed White Arts, Black Magic, Void Magic, Transcend
Active Skills: Void of Suffering, Violet Nephilim, Aura of Incineration, Fatal Detonation
Skills: Scornful Orbs(Lvl.9), Dissipating Sphere(Lvl.6), Burning Curse(Lvl.7), Obscuring Strike(Lvl.8), Meteor Explosion(Lvl.7), Banshee Bolide(Lvl.6), Blue Devil Arm(Lvl.Max), Red Angel Palm(Lvl.Max), Cerulean Cyclone(Lvl.Max), Scarlet Storm(Lvl.Max)
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His power, his level… they were very high, higher than mine. I also noticed he was a hero. The Warlock hero, to be exact.
"I thought the other batch of heroes wouldn't be summoned until a month later. When did you come here?"
"Hmm, I think I came here a week ago."
A week ago, huh...?
Damn it, only a week? A week and he's already over a level one thousand? He's... on a whole 'nother level.
I doubt that he came here alone. But it wouldn't matter, considering that the warlock class is one of the strongest classes in existence.
"Looks like this is as far as I can go."
I slowly began to back up against the dark corner of the arena.
"I may be arrogant, but I am not so cocky to fight someone of your caliber," I said to the warlock hero who in return said-
"At least someone knows their place."
I may know his abilities, but to underestimate and fight a warlock is like going up against a nuclear bomb. A warlock alone can destroy an entire army or if they had the power, an entire country. They are essentially weapons of mass destruction.
"My strength has run out after fighting the earlier guy. I am retreating, but before that, may I ask you your name?"
The warlock hero nodded and opened his mouth.
"Giuseppe Valentino, you can call me Joseph."
"I see, I will bear your name in mind."
With that, I fled using Shadow Shift.
.
.
.