Yes, a problem.
Athelei was still standing at the very top of the obelisk. He was watching the abomination of souls creep towards the immobile Adventurers and humans.
'...I have no idea how I am supposed to defeat that alone.' He thought to himself.
There were two reasons he could practically assassinate any Nightwalker that he came across:
The first, obviously, was his superior consciousness. If he was given an upper hand, he would snowball his advantage until victory. It was the easiest in ambushing scenarios where Athelei could strike first. When the enemy count increased, however, it would be harder. He would have to split up his strength, therefore giving the enemies time to react.
And gods only knew what weird powers his Nightwalker fellows had.
As for the second, it was the Nefarious Icon. It had so far displayed power that earned itself the title of [Bane of the Starless]. It only had one kind of power, and that was its ice-like or crystalline corruption but its effectiveness was staggering. It near-instantly caused insanity.
But with a huge strength came an even greater drawback—at least for Athelei. He had to keep himself hidden, after all. The more people that thought about him and associated any immense uniqueness in him, the higher the risk that he would be discovered by 'something' and then promptly annihilated.
It could be enemies of The Iniquitous who recognized the power of the Nefarious Icon, or it could be the universe itself.
The time when Athelei was simply thinking and then instantly drew the ire of the world itself was still clear in his mind.
So, thinking about all of this, if Athelei used the badge's corruption on a monster that was composed of numerous minds, he would infinitely increase the chance of an uncontrollable plague.
If he could first corrupt the monster and instantly consume it, then sure, Athelei was willing to use it. But, looking at the way the four Nightwalkers went semi-berserk in their insanity and agony, Athelei imagined that such a disabling effect wouldn't work the same way on this specific monster.
If the monster just went mad and infected the humans of the village, and Athelei wanted to stop a plague that could cause extinction, then he would have to consume the minds of every living thing in a certain radius.
Could he do it fast enough? No.
In the first place, could he kill that many people, beasts and more as they all go insane? No. As that had risks of his own.
And then even before that, if a very infamous plague suddenly started in a possibly monitored planet, it would already draw attention. The stars are always watching, after all.
In other words, if not used for a swift assassination like earlier, Athelei was not willing to expose any piece of information about him while using the Nefarious Icon. Perhaps if he had a weapon with a more positive and less notorious ability, he would consider exposing himself more.
'I need to be subtle if I want to fulfil my dreams,' thought Athelei as he decided to give the mindless [Attack and see if something happens] technique—that humanity seems to be very fond of—a good try.
'If nothing happens... then I'll try taking a bite. I wonder if the Adventurers have a way to fight this thing if I figure out a way for them to stand up?'
Just as Athelei thought of this, he spotted a few Adventures doing exactly that—they were standing up with shaky legs and sweat dripping down from their chins.
'Resilient.' Athelei admired their strength, 'As expected of the Adventurers in the stories! If my fellow humans still don't seem to give up, I will try doing the same.'
The Adventurers would be Athelei's new human role models starting now. Good timing as well, for it was about time that he got a new set of role models. He was beginning to step away from the human path, with his endless, robotic studying.
"Rraaaaaah!" Athelei heard a youthful warcry, as a burst of red Tangible Will spread out among the Adventurer crowd.
Athelei looked over and saw a teenager with blonde hair and ferocious red pupils, brandishing his sword. The energetic teenager broke through the spiritual pressure that no other Adventurer had been able to completely get rid of. He charged forward and slashed at the monster that was approaching its first target.
The teenager's Will seemed to be imbued into his sword, and it cut through the monster like butter. A few buckets of the soul liquid dissipated in the air.
The teenager continued to slash violently as the monster attempted to grab at him from several different angles. With every slash, he shaved off a few litres, but with every step forward he had to take, he took two steps backwards. The pressure of the monster's attacks kept pushing him back, whether he dodged or blocked.
C r a c k !
The blonde teenager missed an arm that had extended towards him and it struck like a horse had kicked him with all its force. He was sent flying back, and into a stone wall. The stones did not break, but Athelei cringed at the sound of a few ribs snapping.
"Arnold!" A crisp, feminine voice cried out, and Athelei glanced at who spoke.
It was another teenager, likely around the same age as Arnold. She had beautiful blue hair and blue eyes that had previously been hidden under a robe. She was struggling to stand up, and Athelei was surprised another teenager was capable of that.
'It seems like human adults aren't always the stronger one...' Athelei pondered as another red light flashed.
Arnold continued his violent swings, getting more reckless than ever. The teenager winced whenever he blocked a crooked limb, and he fell back quicker than ever.
"Oh, be careful—" Athelei was inadvertently cheering for Arnold, wanting to warn him about an incoming danger.
Three wretched, bubbling hands were closing in on him, and it didn't look like it wanted to strike. The hands endeavoured to shut down the annoying fly that kept whacking off bits and pieces of the monster it was a part of.
Just as the hands came close, however, a pattern appeared in front of Arnold and served as a faint shield of light.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The hands tried breaking the shield, but every strike they made only caused it to dim and flicker. Perhaps they had to strike harder and at a greater frequency to even hope to break the shield.
Athelei heard Arnold speak with a hoarse voice, "Thanks, Hyeon."
"You're too reckless! If you die here, you won't be able to achieve your dreams. So please, when my shield is broken, play it safe!"
And with that, Athelei saw Arnold rush back into the battle. 'So valiant,' he thought.
"Basic attributes," Athelei cast his Inspect on the weird monster.
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
Unnamed Abomination
Health (In litres): 2, 499, 521/2, 500, 600
Luck: Unfortunate
Strength: 1 - 400
Defence: 1
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
"Uwah..." Athelei couldn't help but exclaim at the monster's health, 'It really deserves its certification as a monster.'
The way health in this world works was essentially how much of a body a person has. An adult, male human would usually have about 20 health while a female would have 17. Changes in their health points would occur depending on their heights, sizes, etc.
And it would always stay this amount for the rest of their lives. Health is a fixed number, thus anyone capable of instantly dealing 20 damage to someone's health can swiftly slay the majority of humans.
The only way humans became harder to kill was if their defence attributes were increased. It makes their body more resilient; their skin gets harder to pierce and cut, their organs more resistant to blunt trauma, and their bones become more solid.
Their health stays the same as they would all bleed out the same amount of blood, but it would be much much harder to shave away at their health if their defence was high.
This monster was clearly an anomaly. A staggering amount of health but with minuscule defence, as well as different amounts of strength.
What also caught Athelei's eye was the monster's Luck. It was dubbed, [Unfortunate] and perhaps it had something to do with being born while he was there.
'These Luck labels aren't simple numbers which are quite intriguing... I should try focusing on this more in the future. I might discover surprises lying within arm's reach.' thought Athelei as he recalled Thallium Yan's Luck being [Weird].
He then tried using Inspect on Arnold and Hyeon, sending chills up their spines. They could not be bothered by such an event, however, as there was an even more terrifying presence looming before them.
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
Arnold
Luck: Heroic
=o=o=o=o=
Hyeon
Luck: Heroic
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
'...What about myself?' thought Athelei.
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
Orien (Hidden: Athelei)
Luck: Questionable
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
When Athelei saw this, he was baffled for a moment, but he ended up nodding. It made sense, after all. He wasn't supposed to exist in this manner and form. He was basically another anomaly where the effects of probability would likely end up going haywire.
While Athelei spent his time in his own world, Arnold and Hyeon were fighting for their lives and the lives of their fellow Adventurers.
Arnold wielded his sword with an undying spirit of battle, shaving off portions of the monster again, and again, and again. Hyeon struck with a variety of Mystic Patterns, from shields to rays of burning light, and healing.
But the sheer mountain of two million health points was near-insurmountable.
A few of the Adventurers in the monster's path had been gobbled up already, and it was easy to see the despair in their eyes as they were sucked in. A few other Adventurers had been able to stand, but they could not fight.
Those who could draw patterns tried their best, while those who could shoot out their Will as projectiles attacked every now and then.
Arnold was battered and wounded.
Hyeon's fingers were trembling at the immense use of her energy.
"Arnold... we should go. We can't beat that thing." Hyeon panted as she spoke, but she knew that Arnold would not listen. She bit her lips and allowed blood to drip onto her palms.
"No! I can still fight! If I figure out how this monster functions, I know I can beat it!" Arnold yelled out as he continued to strike, strike, and strike again.
By all means, his attacks were working, but he was swinging his sword at what was practically a moving swimming pool.
At some point in the battle, the monster had learned how to reabsorb a few of the parts that Arnold had sliced. It made it even harder for them to beat the thing back.
They were at their wit's end.
And Hyeon began to pray silently in her mind. She used her own blood to draw her patterns now as she had run out of energy. She, like Arnold, did not wish to see Colsi Village which had been their home for the past year, be turned into a ghost town... but more than that, she did not want her only partner to die here.
'Please, someone, something! Help us.' She pleaded in her heart.
Fwoosh!
A gust of wind pressed down on her from above as a swift movement of grey swept by her.
Hyeon then noticed that Arnold had slashed another large portion of the monster. It would've been a happy note, if not for the monster already trying to pull the lost part of it back before it dissipated.
That was when a vague, winged figure swooped in and put its hands on the sliced-off portion.
C R I I I I I I I I E !
The monster shrieked when the winged figure took hold of a part of its body. It looked desperate to retrieve it, sending arm after arm towards it. Arnold saw this, and thought someone came to help them, so with one more burst of strength, he jumped and slashed at all the arms as it arrived.
C R I I I I I I I I E E A A A A !
As Arnold fell, the monster shrieked one more time and he watched as a part of it was devoured by the hands of the grey figure.
"Mmmm, flavourful." Athelei licked his nonexistent lips. His wings grew a few millimetres with that hearty bite.
'It's a bit lacking in quality... but I have so much to eat!'