Burning fire and scattered rubbles were everywhere. Black smokes covered the vast sky acting as a reminder that the centuries old dwarven empire of DwarfMason Dukedom was now no more. Everything ended swiftly when the attack on the empire was led by Dominic himself.
"I just love the feeling when things fit in perfectly like a moulded gear."
Dominic grinned as he caressed the metal cube on his hand. The metal cube was palm sized yet it weighed more than five tonnes. It was previously guarded heavily by the dwarves proving how important this seemingly ordinary metal cube was.
"What is the progress of the other party?"
Upon hearing the question asked by Dominic, a stalwart handsome man appeared from the void behind him who then bowed right away before he talked.
"King Hitam Pekat had decimated the centaur kingdom of StoneHorseman Dukedom and secured their metal cube while the duo Biawak and Sesumpah was still fighting with Harikin, the king of fairy."
"Even father was not done yet. It seemed like we are the fastest of all."
"Indeed we are."
This stalwart handsome man who seemed to be in his early forty was Komodo, the leader of ColdBlood Dukedom. Together with Biawak and Sesumpah, the three of them were the only gold ranked insane bosses of their dukedom. They had been serving King Hitam Legam and his descendant for centuries.
For the mission this time, Komodo was tasked to follow the order of Dominic, the mastermind of their plan. Komodo had no reason to refuse since he knew that this young man would undoubtedly surpassed both his father and grandfather sooner or later with his latent talent. It was better for him to stick close to this man early on.
"What of those at MoonElf Dukedom? I believe everyone should already be in a heated battle already."
"That is true, my lord. With the aid of those from DemonBlood Dukedom, King Hitam Cair already destroyed more than half of the MoonElf Royal Army. Their gold ranker will surely join in the battle soon."
Nodding his head in acknowledgement, Dominic voiced out his opinion yet again.
"MoonElf King Sikacak is not an easy opponent. My uncle can't beat him for sure. What of our allies? Have they reached their destination yet?"
"Worry not my lord. Each of our allies already sent two gold rankers to assist King Hitam Cair. DragonKeep Dukedom, AshenWolf Dukedom, AtomicTiger Dukedom and AncientHydra Dukedom were not top dukedom for nothing. They will show up right after the elf king showed himself."
"Good, good."
Dominic was totally satisfied with the progress of his plan. At the moment, everything had been according to his prediction. Little did he know that the plan he carefully concocted already had a huge hole in it which was the coincidental interference of Mays and his companions.
"Since our job here is over, lets proceed to meet up with my father. StoneHorseman Dukedom was not too far from us after all."
"I hear and obey my lord."
This attack on the four dukedom was all a plan made by Dominic. This plan was a huge gamble made by him. He needed to get all four piece of the metal cube as fast as possible. The Demon Crown Prince would surely mounted a counterattack if they got wind of this. Both his grandfather and the crown prince was vying for supremacy after all.
Unlike the human continent which mostly controlled by The Alliance, the demon continent was more chaotic. Back then, the great demon king united the continent by force which obviously birthed anger and vengeance from the crowd.
At the moment, the demon continent was divided into three big power. The first and foremost was still the Ancient Demon Empire. Weaken as it was, a starving camel was still bigger than a horse. The one at the helm of this empire was none other than the Demon Crown Prince Kuribo. There were at least a dozen of dukedom who still served the demon empire.
The second superpower was obviously the faction led by the dark dragon king. With the four strongest dukedom as his allies, he was without doubt the sharpest thorn for the empire. There were also five other dukedom who swore fealty to the dark dragon king, further consolidating his power.
As for the last power, it pales in comparison against the other two. They go by the name of Nature Alliance. Even after they managed to gather dozens of dukedom under their banner, they still couldn't fight against either two power.
The only reason why it managed to be grouped together with the others was because the existence of the Ancient Demonic Cube. Thanks to the craftiness of the fairy king, they managed to stole that treasure from the empire after the death of the great demon king.
Both the empire and the dark dragon king faction coveted that item. It was a legendary item which held tremendous power if used correctly. Since the Nature Alliance itself had their own elite gold rankers, it turned into a power balance between three power.
Only those higher up knew that rather than a power balance between three power, it was actually a contest between the two superpower. Nature Alliance was just a weakling who was trapped between a rock and hard place. At the very least, they could still held on as long as the Ancient Demonic Cube stayed in their hand.
The four dukedom which was the target of attack were the backbone of Nature Alliance. Each of them held a piece of the metal cube. Never would they have expected that their attacker would be bold enough to attack with more than half of their full force.
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It had been half an hour since the time both Ria and Hallel started fighting against the demonic spawns. There was no clear victor from their fight so far. It was apparent that Ria and Hallel was stronger than those demonic spawns but their attacks was all over the place.
Ktang!
Ktang! Ktang!
Heavy clashing sounds echoed all over the battlefield. The demonic spawn was a legit gold ranked insane boss for sure. They easily parried the attack coming at them without much difficulty despite being the one with lower strength. With just their hand and claw, they could parry a legend ranked weapon as if they were dull blades.
At the very least, this fight seemed to be normal in a sense that the topography of the area was barely affected. Maybe because these demonic spawn were of the same size as other humanoid monster, the most it could do was creating small craters after each clash. These demonic spawn was after all just a weak event boss who didn't have any magic based attack.
On the side was Mays who observed the fight without any intention of helping.
"Those two girl still haven't subdue their opponent yet?"
Inside Mays's consciousness, Drasca was in her human form as she commented.
"Can't be helped. They were never trained for this kind of things."
"But master is?"
"I'm different. In a way, I lived in a different world compared to them."
"Oh really? I don't understand."
"Haha, don't bother with it. I'll tell you someday."
Drasca was staring directly at Mays as if she was demanding for a clear answer. Mays's half assed answer would never satisfy her curiosity.
"..."
Feeling quite depressed by that unrelenting stare focused on him, Mays sighed before he started explaining. Despite how unbridled and noncommittal Mays always acted, he actually had a soft spot for people he cared for. And this Drasca was now one of those people after spending weeks together.
"Your power as a top ranker is enhancement. You might not know this but this power is not exclusive for top rankers only. Some no ranker also possessed the same power."
"Oh. And?"
"In your case, your power enhancement was around five times the norm. It was the same as fighting while wearing a power suits they were not unaccustomed to. That was the main reason of their dull movement."
After Drasca's explanation last time, Mays came to a conclusion that those so called ranker's power was the same as dungeon system. There was two type of dungeon, which were the normal dungeon with a group of monsters and a single dungeon which had at most five monster in them.
"But master can use it just fine?"
"Yes I can."
"Why so?"
"Because I trained hard since I was a kid. I can even fight underwater or on top of a mountain. I can move my body even when I was constrained heavily. I am trained to be different than normal."
There was even traces of melancholy in Mays's tone. His life had been harsh ever since he was a child but he never regret it one bit. In fact, he was thankful. Because of that harsh environment, he was who he was right now.
A mere five time enhancement was child play to him. Hell, even celestial form which enhanced his body ten times was no problem for him either. That was all the fruits of his hellish training for over twenty years. In the end, it was all worth it.
"Is my answer satisfactory?"
"Yes."
With a bright smile on her face, Drasca replied merrily before her gaze once again focused on the fight between Ria, Hallel and the two demonic spawns.
It was clear as day that Ria was having a much harder time in her fight compared to Hallel. Unlike Hallel who have insane reflect and great athletic sense, Ria was trying hard just to ensure her attack connects. Her control of her body was all over the place.
Mays who observed their fight face palmed several time when he saw how poor Ria was doing. As for Hallel, she was already good enough after fighting for half an hour. At the moment, she was the one beating the demon spawn back, no more being pushed around.
Mays pondered for a moment before he stood up.
"It seemed like I need to teach Ria real swordsmanship. She won't improve if I just leave her alone like this."
Unlike Hallel who was quick to adapt in any situation, Ria was someone who was somewhat rigid. Ria would only use her skills as they were without any plan on improvising. She used those skills splendidly but for a real fight, that was still far from enough.
After observing them all these time, Mays finally came to a conclusion about the two of them. Hallel who always moved the way she liked was someone who could easily improve herself without supervision. Ria on the other hand needed his constant teaching and pointer in order to improve further. These two really was different on the inside.
"Drasca, this enhancement of yours won't wear off unless you received damage right?"
"That's right, master."
"That's great then. Swords Blessing! Magical Force! "
Once that was confirmed, Mays leapt into the fray right after he activated both his buff skills. His target was obviously the demon spawn who was busy attacking Ria. Hallel would be fine by herself even if he let her be for another hour. Ria on the other hand was already at the end of the rope, barely surviving thanks to her sturdy shield.
--------------------------------
"Master finally joined the fight!"
Mira shouted excitedly. She was hell bent on joining too but couldn't because of Mays's order. She could only stay far away and observe.
"We can see that. Just shut up."
"You shut up, pervert. Mira won't shut up!"
"Can you both please be quiet. We are here to observe, not to argue."
With Damia acting as the mediator, both Syaitona and Mira finally stopped quarrelling. The others kept their silent as their gaze were focused on Mays who just joined the fray.
"Ria, Shield Bash!"
"Shield Bash!"
The demonic spawn facing Ria was sent flying with that attack. [Shield Bash] barely had any damage but its knock back effect was always effective. With the demonic spawn sent flying toward him, Mays wasted no time as he readied both his sword right away.
"Flaming Thunder Slash!"
A cross mark laceration on top of the demonic spawn's chest was birthed from Mays's attack. His attack didn't stop there though.
"Purgatory! Sonic Slash! Blade Dance!"
As usual, Mays's combo was superb. He gave no chance for the demonic spawn to retaliate. In fact, it would be considered bullying if he used all his strength against this opponent. Others might not know but he knew best.
A fully equipped legend tiered gear maxed level player like himself was equal to one top gold ranked intermediate boss. It was also equivalent to the lowest level silver ranked insane bosses which was at level fifty.
If his fighting prowess doubled, he would at most be on par with a level fifty five insane boss. Now that his fighting prowess was strengthen five times over, the weakest level seventy five insane boss was totally a child play for him. His fighting prowess now was equal to a top tier level seventy five insane bosses. He might even comparable to a level eighty insane bosses considering the fact that he was a Magic Swordsman who boasted to have extra twenty percent overall stats.
"Ria, let's do our usual combo."
"But... I..."
"It's okay. Believe in yourself."
"Okay."
It was obvious that Ria was still hesitant at the moment. After fighting with her newly acquired power for half an hour, she more or less had accustomed herself to it. But still, to perform a perfect combo with Mays, she was far from confident.
Led by Mays, Ria followed closely behind as they rushed toward the demonic spawn who was still in a dazed state. Mays's attack easily sent the demonic spawn toward Ria but Ria's timing fell off a bit, leaving the combo hanging.
"It's okay. Let's give it another try."
With a smile on his face, Mays once again confronted the demonic spawn without putting the slightest blame on Ria. Upon seeing how carefree Mays was, Ria who was quite rigid previously was now nervous no more. Mays wouldn't blame her even if she made any mistakes hence she had no need to be anxious.
As long as Mays was here, everything was going to be fine. This mentality had been ingrained inside her ever since she fell for him years ago. After she relaxed, her movement was now flowing fluidly and naturally.
"Soaring Sword Intent!"
"Knight's Rush!"
Their speed was now totally fast, befitting their current overall strength which was on par with a level seventy five insane boss. It was now Mays's turn to launch his attack. His attack was barely parried by the demonic spawn but Ria's follow up coming right away couldn't be stopped.
"Urhhhhhhhhhh!"
With her shield rammed at the demonic spawn, it couldn't react on time and once again sent flying. Mays who was at his side slashed him several times in the interval. The demonic spawn screamed in pain as he received the attack.
Ria missed her timing several times but she was getting the hang of it. She giggled as she remembered how enjoyable it was to fight side by side with Mays. If only every fight would be this worry free then she wouldn't mind fighting all her life.
"You're getting better at it Ria. Faster, Flaming Slash!"
"Right away. Void Thrust!"
One attack after another, the demonic spawn was showered with attacks nonstop. He couldn't even break free from the chain attack combo. At the moment, Ria's control over her body and power was the same as when she was at her normal state. She had unexpectedly mastered controlling her body in her enhanced state thanks to the aid from Mays.
It took less than five minutes of nonstop beating for the demonic spawn to use up all its magic power. Its injury now was visible all over its body. Without any magic power left for regeneration, his death was now a sure thing.
Ever since Mays joined the battle turning the fight into two on one, never once did the demonic spawn successfully counterattacked. Mays's control over the fight was just over the top. Even when guiding Ria in familiarizing herself with her enhanced state, Mays could easily subdue the demonic spawn without problem.
As for the other fight, the dominating side experienced an abrupt change all of a sudden. Hallel who had been oppressing her enemy for quite some time suddenly turned sluggish. Her opponent who noticed that immediately grasped the chance and retaliated.
Hallel's gaze had been wandering over to the fight on the other side where Mays and Ria easily subduing their opponent with a good combo. She was extremely jealous at Ria who could coordinate with Mays flawlessly. This affected her mind which then led to her current predicament.
"Ugh, I screwed up."
Upon witnessing the demonic claw slash inching closer to her body, Hallel let out a small sigh. Her great sword had just been parried away so now she had no other means to block the incoming attack. The usual her would never made this kind of mistake.
Ktang!
The incoming claw was unexpectedly parried by a pair of crimson sword. It was Mays. Hallel was quite shocked when she saw that. She thought for sure that this guy was busy aiding his girl that he wouldn't bother with her matters at all. She was after all just a friend to him, nothing more than that.
"Why are you here?"
"To help you of course! What the hell are you thinking, dozing off during a fight? What would I do if you got injured because of it?"
Answering that question posed by Hallel, Mays glared at her as he replied. Even though that attack wouldn't injure her fatally, it would still hurt nonetheless.
"Does it matters? Who am I to you anyways."
"Of course it matters! You're one of my precious friends."
"Just friends?"
"Tch, ungrateful. It is already an honour to be acknowledged as my friend you know."
Mays clicked his tongue as he answered. He was sincerely worried about her. If not because she was important to him, he wouldn't even bother to move.
"I have less than five people that I can call friends after all."
He then added in a low tone. Hallel then chuckled as she replied with a smile.
"That makes two of us then."