Athelei sighed as he fed Lady Karire with a few potions he had scavenged from the chaotic ruins. He had to slay a few Undead Remnants on his way back and forth, as well as a Nightwalker that suddenly popped up.
Now that the two Rank 2 Artists had fallen, havoc had descended on the Arthime territory.
Thankfully, no annoying high-ranked Exiled showed up, making his trip quite safe. All his opponents were the ones who were helpless against his abilities.
"Haaah," Athelei sighed again as he felt the wounds in his heart, "What misfortune..."
He knew what it was like to lose the ones he loved, and so Lady Karire's wails of heartbreak had reminded him of his own.
His human heart grieved.
"And yet, the three of you were all... beautiful." Athelei sighed for a third time as he felt a warmth in his chest.
It was beautiful, indeed. It was tragic, surely.
It was an End quite touching.
'But,' Athelei tapped the forehead of the unconscious Karire.
A rascal's smile spread across his soft, innocent features.
'I wonder who those [bastards] you mentioned are, Lady Karire?' Athelei inwardly chuckled, 'Could it be... those gods who are not Gods?'
"How suspicious," Athelei pursed his lips before he dragged Lady Karire's body to a safe area where rocks did not threaten to crush her into minced meat.
"Haa, haa," Heavy, ragged breaths approached Athelei while he had been tending to Lady Karire's wounds.
"What... happened here?" A familiar voice rang out, and Athelei turned to the speaker.
Tall, bald head of scars, ripped physique.
"Sir Apple..." Athelei hurriedly straightened up and bowed. When his gaze moved to the ground, he caught sight of a long trail of blood.
Athelei glanced up once more, and there he saw a gaping hole in Apple's chest. The man's beating heart could be seen, somehow still functioning properly. Apple's left lung had been obliterated, though.
Apple saw Athelei's eyes dilate in shock, half expecting the young child to reel back in fright. But the boy did not, eliciting a raised eyebrow from him.
With a dry scoff, "No need for formalities with me, boy. Just... give me some of those concoctions..."
Thud!
Athelei watched as the Rank 2 Evolver collapsed at his feet.
"...Adults," Athelei couldn't help but sigh as he bent down to begin a very... intuitive attempt at treatment.
But just as Athelei was about to send his grey fog into Apple's body to use Examine on his wounds, he felt a pang of hunger as well as a bad premonition.
His obsidian-black eyes shrank when he felt the heat of another Rank 2 Evolver's body approaching from his six o'clock. To his eleven and one, Athelei witnessed the shadows shift as Nightwalkers emerged.
Three enemies appeared within Athelei's vicinity.
"This... This doesn't look good..." Athelei analysed his situation and began weighing his options.
His eyes flickered to the rubble that littered the area, to the fissured ground, and to the skies above where the clouds were thinning.
'Lady Karire's [Malicious Storm] is dissipating... The Nightwalkers may or may not be on a timer... I do not wish to see Apple and Lady Karire perish at this moment in time... It is not the ending I want.' Athelei then snuck a glance behind him through a wisp of grey fog. 'Clearly a Rank 2... Her body exudes higher temperatures than Lucien Ophlain...'
A pleasant laugh sounded from that Rank 2 Evolver lady when she saw the small stature of Athelei, as well as the unconscious bodies of Lady Karire and Apple.
"Oh, Apple. Your little brother has warned you time and time again..." The lady spat and fearlessly stepped forward. Her body exuded even greater amounts of heat.
The two Nightwalkers depicted a disdainful outlook with their simple body movements. Even without their faces, they could express themselves. All it took was attention to detail.
Snap! Snap! Snap!
"Arrogant non-believer." One of the Nightwalkers flickered forward in rapid a lunge, running his nonexistent mouth as he did. "No treasure will fall into your hands."
To those words, and to the massive scythe of shadows that threatened her neck, the Exiled simply scoffed.
"Your Nightwalker bodies are not compatible for physical combat and yet you have the gall..." The Exiled kicked up a cloud of dust as she sprung off her feet. The shadow scythe cleaved a huge area, but the Exiled wasn't there to receive the strike.
Athelei found himself standing right in front that Exiled.
"Hello, boy." The Exiled grinned, brandishing her sword to ward off two Nightwalker attacks.
Athelei heard the two Nightwalkers click their tongues in annoyance as their momentums worked against them, sending them into the rock piles laying around.
"Is Apple your friend?" The Exiled asked, pulling out a sword filled with text carved into its blade from out of thin air.
"Yes..." Athelei nodded slowly as his eyes glistened, 'Archive! A loophole in the Skill's functions?'
"I see," The Exiled continued to smile as she stood in one place, wielding her two swords against the two Nightwalkers who were still trying to get in her way. "Then, do you know where he put the fruit...?"
Athelei watched as the Exiled's gaze locked onto an object in Apple's grasp.
"Nevermind," The Exiled suddenly said, swinging her sword to cut through Athelei's neck. Her eyes were shining like spotlights of greed.
Fwoosh!
The Exiled finished her swing and stepped past the child she already knew was dead. She could already see the small head, sliding forward as the body collapsed. Her swords went to parry another round of futile Nightwalker attempts as she stood on top of Apple's body.
Chaotic energy suddenly surged from those two Nightwalkers when they noticed that they really could do nothing to stop the formidable Evolver before them. They could nothing without a bit of sacrifice, at least.
It wrenched the Exiled's gaze from her target treasure as she growled, "Blowing yourselves up again? I'm tired of dealing with your country's antics."
Sky blue Tangible Will suddenly erupted from the Exiled, looking like a watery set of knight's armour. A terrifying bloodlust seeped from the armour as if the defensive item itself was a more murderous weapon than the swords in her hands.
'Rank 2 Dictator!' Athelei felt the formidable energies emerge from the Lady Exiled as his grey fog reconnected his supposedly severed head.
The last time he had witnessed a dual high-ranker was with Irene. But the enemy had been a Nightwalker, and thus, with Athelei's unique consciousness helping out, it hadn't been much of a fight for the already powerful Dictator.
Now, Athelei was looking a dual high-ranker in the flesh.
'Let's see if I can use this opportunity then,' Athelei eyed the two Nightwalkers who were rapidly approaching.
He took out his Tidal Tome and sensed the [Mana] within it.
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
- [Bonus Effect] When supplied with enough [Mana], grants a cast of [Poseidon's Domain] while near a sufficiently large body of water.
=o=o=o=o=
Mana: 30/30 -> 0/30
=o=o=o=o=
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
BOOM!
Two white spheres of disintegrating destruction burst forth. The Exiled made two powerful slashes with her blades, sending out an immense force with her physical abilities and mental influence.
Then there was a third power, as a large Mystic Pattern circle flashed into existence in the same second the two violent powers clashed.
HUMMMMM!
A tremendous rippling force helped the Exiled negate the self-detonating Nightwalkers. It was a blast of a full thirty points of [Mana], something seen on a Rank 3 Dictator or Artist. Furthermore, this blast was worth their entire energy reserves, and not just one attack. The sheer energy spilling forth meant that she too was flung away from where she stood.
'What... in the world...?' The Exiled noticed a smiling child waving at her. It sent her into a daze to see the child still alive and kicking. Her sword had slashed through his neck, as clear as day. She saw it with her own two eyes and indeed felt her sword move through a solid substance.
"How is he still alive?!"
WHIRRRRRRRRRR!
The Mystic Energy that poured out of the Tidal Tome sang to the tunes of the floods.
It began to swirl like a typhoon, pulling tonnes upon tonnes of water into its domain. The entire Arthime mansion, its surrounding territories, and even the parts that had already sunken into the flood were plunged into a frightening maelstrom.
The Exiled felt the violent rushing waters reject her presence. She spun a few dizzying rounds near the centre of the maelstrom before being flung into the skies like a rocket.
The sheer amount of forces that had acted on her body had threatened to break her bones and make her sick, even as a dual high-ranker.
From the sky, she saw a horrifying zone of raging waters. All things inside that zone were blended into bits and pieces, shredded into smithereens.
It was [Poseidon's Domain]. One that could rival a newly advanced Rank 3 Artist's all-out attack.
This time, with a proper ruler.
And that ruler walked into the depths of the floods, dragging two adults with him. He sought refuge beneath the waves so that no enemy would have an easy time chasing him when confronted with the endless horde of sea beasts.
.
.
.
Athelei held a weird aquamarine fruit in his hand. It was glowing with a variety of different energies.
Among those energies, Athelei found a familiar signature as he studied the fruit.
"The Boon of Longevity..." He whispered as he continued to command his watery domain with the Tidal Tome.
Inspect was then executed with the question, "What benefit does this have for Evolvers?"
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
Sea-Dragon Egg
- Highly beneficial for evolution. Can be consumed within a water-attributed Mana-rich environment.
- Rewards an Evolver with Draconic Blood and genes.
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
"Ooooh, so that means..." Athelei squinted as he walked, commanding his domain to deliver Apple's unconscious body in front of him.
He then tossed the Sea-Dragon Egg a few times in his hand and shoved the fruit into Apple's mouth. Athelei then used the dense Mystic Energies specific to [Poseidon's Domain] to push the fruit down Apple's throat and into the man's stomach.
"Heh," Athelei couldn't help but chuckle mischievously, "That means I can see how Evolvers actually evolve."