06:13 AM, AT THE BLACK ESTATE... IN ARNOLD'S ROOM
'Should I go and wake Nicole up? No, I should take care of the things I have to do first.' Arnold thought as he opened the void and called Talos out. Talos was back to his normal form as he came out of the void.
"Master, you summoned me?" Talos asked as the void closed behind him.
"You said you've recorded everything that I did right?"
"Yes master."
"Show me."
"Yes master."
Talos' eyes started glowing as he turned toward the wall in front of Arnold, his eyes were like a projector, projecting a movie on a curtain.
Arnold saw everything that led up to the moment where Bob the him out of the window, whatever he saw was from Talos' point of view. He could see that Talos was about to rush in to protect Arnold but he was stopped by one of the guild warriors.
"Sir, why are you doing this!?" The warrior asked Talos, who had been mistaken for Jake.
"Cut this crap and show me what happened after I fell down." Arnold said as he massaged his temples, his head was throbbing like it would explode any moment.
"My apologies, master." Talos quickly changed the scene to when Arnold was already up and fighting.
"So by the time you returned to me, I was already engaged in combat with him?" Arnold inquired.
"Yes master, I couldn't arrive earlier as the enemies kept coming bac-"
"Just carry on with the video."
Talos didn't reply and turned back to face the wall.
'The last thing I remember, was the activation of [SACRED PROTECTION] just before I was about to hit the ground, I wanted to know what happened right after that but looks like it won't be possible.' Arnold thought, and continued to watch the video.
Bob still had the upper hand and kept pushing Arnold back, but it seemed like his attacks got weaker and weaker with every punch, and Arnold wasn't getting injured by any of his attacks.
'No it's not that I'm not getting injured... I'M HEALING CONTINUOUSLY!' He thought, 'But I don't have any abilities that can grant me such strong regeneration...'
Talos ran ahead to help him out but, Arnold raised his arms, instructing him to stop and not interfere in the fight... but something was off, his eyes were closed.
'But... how am I being able to fight with my eyes closed...'
But it wasn't the only think that had changed. Arnold was moving and fighting a way he had never before. Whenever he had tried to fight an enemy stronger than him, he had always prioritise his safety and used the [VINDICATOR] and the overwhelming number of his summons to suppress the enemy. But this time he was facing the enemy head on, matching punch with a with and kick with a kick... Arnold wasn't the only one shocked by this change of fighting styles, Bob seemed confused by this sudden change as well.
The monstrous brawler let loose with a cry of savage wildness, and launched himself at his Arnold who was dressed in midnight black. Even as Bob let loose a torrent of blows at Arnold, unlike before Arnold's composure remained calm, but this led to a smug smile playing on his face as he effortlessly manages to deflect all the brawler's attacks. With every unsuccessful strike, a look of uncertainty and anxiety creeps into the Bob's face. All of a sudden, a demonic voice came out of Arnold's mouth, he was speaking a language he himself haven't heard before but somehow Arnold could understand whatever he was saying.
"YOU DARE MOCK THE PALADIN CHOSEN BY THE IMMORTAL ONE HIMSELF!?" The demonic voice bellowed, "I'LL MAKE YOU REGRET EVER BEING BORN INTO THIS WORLD!"
At this moment a weird and spine chilling sound was heard around the area, like it came from a void. A jet black gate filled with darkness rose from the ground before Arnold. The endless dark space was a couple of meters tall, Bob was still sizing up the portal when a leg came out of the portal followed by rest of the body of a demon, but he wasn't the only one who came out of the portal. Half a dozen demonic warriors that were been 1.5 to 2 meters tall, walked out from the gate one after another. They wore armor made of a weird material Arnold had never seen before. Two of them held a two-handed sword, another two had a club in their hands, while at the front of them stood a frost giant who had a halberd¹ in his hands and rode on a bear-like beast...
*****
AT THE SAME TIME, INSIDE THE MAIN MANSION...
"...the demon-like summons seemed to have some kind of relationship with Arnold, because as soon as they saw him, they immediately threw themselves at his feet like they were preaching their God." Johnny, was giving a rough description to Nathaniel and Todd about what had happened during the battle. They were sitting in Nathaniel's private chamber.
"Isn't it common for a summon to behave like that, I mean the summons exist because of the summoner right? So to them, the summoner's existence is equivalent to that of Gods." Todd sincerely asked.
"That's true but I've never seen any of Arnold other summons behave like that before. Arnold seemed different as well, I mean at one moment he nearly died, and the next moment he's up and wrecking the person who nearly killed him? It's suspicious to say the least."
Nathaniel was lost in thought. He knew Arnold's potential was immeasurable, but he had never thought that Arnold would've as unknown power within him. Many Questions were simultaneously racing through his mind.
Who was the artificially engineered being? Who would have the technology and resources to invest in such a project? How was Arnold able to physically subdue a being who had been artificially engineered? How come Arnold always overcomes and defeats his enemies in the end? Who were those mysterious summons?
Nathaniel had always had a clear mental image of everyone he ever met, but the more he got to know about Arnold, the more blurry Arnold's image became in his mind. The story wasn't over yet so he had to hold back the questions.
"What happened next?" he asked Johnny.
"He again spoke in the same weird manner as the summons in front of him sprung back to their foot and mercilessly attacked the enhanced being, who somehow managed to defeat them all. But that wasn't the end of it, as for every summon he defeated, two more came through the black portal-" (Author's note : Enhanced being = Bob.)
"What kind of terrifying power is that?" Todd interrupted once again.
"Todd, don't interrupt him." Nathaniel told Todd to keep quite, and turned towards Johnny once again, "Continue."
"Ahm... as I was saying, for every summon he defeated, two more came through the black portal. Soon the enhanced being got tired and that was the moment 'it' appeared." Just thinking about the monster made johnny's skin crawl.
"What appeared?" Despite Nathaniel's nagging, Todd couldn't refrain himself from asking questions again and again.
"A Wyvern²." Johnny replied, "Just it's appearance caused a havoc. But it wasn't a normal one... an ominous aura surrounded it as if it was made of the darkness itself. The thing which surprised me the most was the fact that Arnold's body absorbed the wyvern's aura along with the monsters that came out of the portal. His aura was like a supernova. The next moment, he jumped in the air and slammed his hands on his target. The enhanced being was crushed like an ant, the mysterious summons disappeared once Arnold had won."
"And you think Arnold can't control this power?" Nathaniel asked.
"It would seem so, as he admitted he had no recollection of the incident whatsoever."
Nathaniel sighed heavily. "We have to do something about him, if he loses control here, it would be devastating to say the least. We can't endanger the safety of the family..."
"I have a plan." Johnny gave a rare smile to Nathaniel, "We can send Arnold to Rio de Janeiro, and let him train under 'his' guidance."
"Really? Him of all people?"
"Of course, Fernandez, is the only SS ranked psychic mage and the only one in the world who has better mind control capabilities than you. Furthermore, he's an experienced SS ranked warrior, so even if Arnold activates his 'berserk' mode again, he'll be able to suppress him." Johnny replied.
"You think he'll agree?" Todd asked.
"Even if we haven't talked in years, he still owes me a couple of favours." Johnny smiled, "Don't worry, I'll take care of it."
*****
1. Halberd : A halberd is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. The word halberd is most likely equivalent to the German word Hellebarde, deriving from Middle High German halm and barte joint to helmbarte. Troops that used the weapon were called halberdiers.