The air around them rippled and the ground melted but before the massive explosion that could tear up this chuck of the forest occurred, Don felt pain all over his right side as he went flying once again.
He could only look in confusion at the monster in human flesh he was about to kill was now holding a giant hammer like he was finishing a golf swing.
'Wha-' *SPLAT!!*
Don couldn't even finish his thought as he met a similar end to the Basilisk, impaled on a sturdy tree branch that was in his body's path. Don struggled to take one more breath before his head fell forward as he exhaled for the last time.
The light in his eyes dimmed and blood slowly poured out of his cold body like a river. Alex ignored the fact that he just killed two 3rd Rings, one in one shot, and the other in two, before he dropped his hammer, it also slowly deteriorating but not as fast as the other weapons.
He let his arms drop to the side, causing the last bit of tendon and muscle that was holding his right arm to his body to give out. His mangled arm and shoulder fell to the ground with a splat and he coughed up a mouth of blood.
Similar to Don, his head hung down as his neck muscles gave out and his legs collapsed from the weakened bones. Sitting up on his knees, Alex struggled to take one last breath before letting go of one last exhale.
His heart stopped as he sat on his knees under the moonlight.
The light left his eyes and the surroundings became deadly quiet. Not even the wind dared to make a sound at the history that was made here, yet none were there to witness it.
Hours went by as the blood left the bodies of all three fighters who killed each other yet no creatures came by to scavenge. Maybe it was because they were still deathly afraid of the 3rd Rings in the area, and refused to contend, but even those creatures, and creatures of the 4th Ring, stayed far away from this area.
That's because at the center of it all, the young man who defied natural order and gave birth to chaos on this simple planet, had an aura burning fiercely into the night despite his death. It was an undying flame, fueled by his immensely powerful will and soul...
…and the system messages that would have rung in his mind.
[You have passed the trials of Ezxio, the God of....]
All of them were undoubtedly important but the last out of dozens of things was what trumped them all. The blood that poured out of the young man's body and had stained the burned grass below, began flowing in reverse.
The blood that had already left its host crawled back in and the muscles and tissues of the young man regrew visible to the naked eye. His body slowly rebuilt itself but yet he showed no signs of increased body temperature and had no heartbeat or brain activity.
His aura flickered violently around him as his soul fought to leave this fleshy vessel. Something however was preventing it from leaving, something with a divine nature that overpowered this mortal soul.
The aura of this divine essence was soothing and familiar to the soul of the young man while another, darker and more bloodthirsty divinity invaded the deceased vessel.
The corrupted essence made the corpse shake, bend, and break unnaturally before going back to normal as the body regrew stronger than before. Every cell, every atom of the mangled body fused with this divine essence and became like a hive mind that thirsted for death, blood, violence, and fury.
The body slowly became healthy again as the dark night became day, then night again. Every creature still stayed away and even the bacteria in the soil refused to decompose the bodies of the dead 3rd Rings any further in fear of incurring the wrath of this newborn higher existence.
When the body fully recovered, the corpse still didn't move. The soul was currently in a tussle with the two divine energies that wanted to consume it. The familiar and white-colored essence with pink sparkles throughout it lovingly held it like a mother their child, while the corrupted essence lashed out violently at the lovely white essence like a brat.
The two fought back and forth as the bloodthirsty divinity managed to hang onto a small portion of the soul, while the rest was completely protected by the white divinity and became an impenetrable fortress.
Once the two divinities calmed down, the soul began to assimilate with its new body once more. The once enormous soul was forced to squeeze into a tiny vessel that threatened to suffocate it but now this newer, deadlier vessel fit it perfectly.
Although the white divinity scowled in its own way as it came in contact with the demonic aura the body radiated, it eventually assimilated without corrupting itself or its host soul while the corrupted divinity ravaged around the body like it wanted to destroy its new body already.
The body broke into bits and pieces again as the aura destroyed and rebuilt its vessel over and over again until it was satisfied.
When both divinities settled into the soul and solidified its strength, the soul completely connected with its vessel, and the heart of the young man's corpse began to beat for the first time in 10 days...
- - -
"I'm going to find him and you can't stop me!!!" Alicia fought against her roommate as she was half a step out of the inn.
Kaya was pale as well as many other patrons after Alicia declared she would go into the deadly Ether forest to search for the freeloader who had yet to come back even a week after his initial month estimate hit.
Alicia's condition had gotten worse to the point of serious depression and Alan, Sharla, and all the people who cared for her watched the young girl spiral into madness. She had gotten the idea from Grace who said she could feel if her master died, but clearly, the divinity of Gods was enough to confuse a little mortal trinket like her slave collar.
While the two were none the wiser, Alicia decided that she would go and "rescue" her friend who was most likely too weak to move. She cursed Alan many times for making her friend do something so dangerous and everyone was shocked by her confidence.
This was the same girl who always kept her head down and shyly nodded at people. She barely talked to anyone several months ago and now she was bashing her boss with a sailor's tongue without an ounce of fear.
They had to admit that it was pretty empowering for them to see a dainty girl like that standing up against the tyrant 6th Ring! Of course, they also felt bad that such a doll was the only one who had balls big enough to stand up to Alan but they knew she was more likely to survive than them.
Alan's eyebrows twitched whenever she said something that hit a sore spot before he had enough and karate chopped her neck and knocked her unconscious. Kaya sighed in relief after getting the help she needed and they began bringing the sleeping girl's body back to her room.
Just before they could enter the kitchen, the inn doors swung open. As big dramatic events like Alicia's were becoming more and more commonplace at the inn, many watched with anticipation at the newcomer who entered, hoping for another good show.
It was like dinner theater but they didn't have to pay extra! However, everyone paled and sucked in their breath as the now, 6'4" and extremely muscular Alex strode in with an aura of superiority. Everyone couldn't help but lower their heads at the intensely pure soul that hit them in the face.
Alan widened his eyes before narrowing them seriously. That was because even he was feeling threatened!
'Just what the hell happened to him?' Alan rubbed his thumb over another storage ring he had just in case something happened.
Alex was covered head to toe in blood and his clothes were all ripped up. It was hard to tell whether those things were caused by his massive growth, or by monsters, but it didn't matter since he looked so deadly all the same.
Although the divinities that rebuilt his body made it much easier for him to heal, there were still things he couldn't heal naturally, like the stone that covered a portion of his face like a broken mask and his missing arm that was now a stub that grotesquely moved as it was still building new flesh.
He constantly blinked his eye to crumble away the stone that built up but it would slowly grow back with time so he needed Sharla to look at it.
Several patrons threw up and before Alan or anyone else who froze by the kitchen door could ask anything, Alex's voice boomed in their minds, rocking their souls.
"Where is that fucking pathetic whore of a woman called Marie? Tell her the freeloader she looooves so much has brought her a present~"
Alex snarled as people passed out. Alan trembled slightly, did something happen between the two? Alan had tried to dig a bit deeper into what Marie had been doing and only found out she was in cahoots with many of the top dogs of the gangs that inhabited this city.
He couldn't go any further than that or he would have drawn a lot of attention to himself, and if Marie was really plotting something with those people, he would definitely find out.
After his threatening display, the E-stone lamps in the building flickered as a figure wrapped in the darkness appeared a few meters away from Alex sitting on one of the bar stools. She had her legs crossed seductively and had a beautiful smile on her red lips.
To everyone around her, she was a succubus that could make any man's dreams come true. However, to Alan and Alex, it was more complicated. Even Sharla felt complicated as she probed her friend's strength from the kitchen.
Marie was no longer a 3rd Ring and had stepped into the realm of the 4th! Whether that had occurred recently or a long time ago, even Alan couldn't be sure since Marie had strange skills related to the dark element and illusions.
Heck, she might not even be here right now and this was just a body double made of essence.
Although Marie was smiling like an angel, in her heart she had a scowl uglier than Grendel's mother. How the fuck is this trespasser still living? She didn't want to even believe that he managed to kill the Basilisk that she knew he had to kill. That was a 3rd Ring beast that even she would have struggled with even as a 4th Ring.
Since the beast was a natural enemy to her illusions since it was blind, she would be severely limited in her attacking methods. There was no way Alex could kill something she had no confidence in killing herself.
There was also something else she was sure of that wouldn't be possible, but her body trembled as the person she hated the most for no apparent reason pulled out a severed, decomposing head and tossed it onto the ground.
A dull *thunk* echoed in the silent dining hall as patrons fought to hold back the breakfast that came up their throats. The bloody head left a small trail as it rolled closer to Marie's feet. Marie turned pale as she looked into the dead rotting eyes of the man she sent after Alex!
"Impossible..." She couldn't help but mutter, making Alex smirk after confirming his hatred for the right person.
Marie was 100% the figure who had talked to Don about killing a "freeloader." She was already his top suspect but he left 1% open for other people like Sarah who didn't like him. Her words only sealed her fate as Alan glared at his friend and Sharla began welling up with tears.
The couple was smart enough to realize what was going on and it made their hearts break that their family friend would do something so cruel and diabolical.
Bringing everyone's attention back to him, Alex spoke loudly so the entire building could hear him.
"This is the man who almost killed me. He is a 3rd Ring adventurer named Don and he kept droning on and on about how he would describe every detail of my death to this bitch sitting at the bar who decided to send an assassin after me.
"The reason for her actions, I'm not sure. But considering that she can recognize this dead man, I'm sure she is the one responsible. So Marie, how are you gonna weasel your way out of this one? Create more ridiculous rumors about me on the fly? Tell people I r*ped and beat you and you sent an assassin after me as revenge? I'd love to see what crazy thing you come up with next~"
Alex laughed heartily at the woman's despair. While many patrons didn't believe his words, the actions of Marie made them take a step back and think again.
She was trembling in fear and her face was deathly pale. Those who looked at Alan could see him glaring at her as he fought to keep his aura under control and Sharla, the woman's best friend, was bawling her eyes out mumbling "why?"
This was checkmate and she knew it.
The was virtually no way for Marie to get out of this one now considering she was aware of Alan poking around in her private business.
"Is this true?" Alan's voice deepened as he growled at her.
Plates and cups elevated from the surrounding essence going nuts while Marie felt the essence surround her throat and suffocate her. She was lifted up out of her seat as she went and reached out to the invisible hand that was holding her up.
She hadn't taken her eyes off the dead Don until Alan was right in front of her face. A little blood came out of the corner of her pretty lips as she knitted her brows in pain.
"I-I'm s-sorry..." She struggled to say.
She had no way to defend herself now since she wasn't able to even put her backup plan into action! She would have taken action herself to poison the dying Alex if he showed up still kicking but in a coma.
It would have been easy for her to hide it with her powerful illusion magic but this young man suddenly came back even stronger than before! Most of the people in the room could feel the aura of a 2nd Ring emanating from his body but how pure it was, they wouldn't dare to guess.
Alan let his full aura explode almost killing a few people and even the newly revived Alex had to drop to a knee in pain. He was still a far way away from really contending with Alan since he only just came back to life a few hours ago.
"Wait!" Sharla called out to her husband and ran over.
Marie gasped for air to bring color back to her purpling face as she held her neck. Tears were in her eyes as well as she hated herself for getting so wrapped up in this petty situation.
Sharla helped her friend stand and the two women faced each other as the drama unfolded.
*BOOOOMMMMM!!!*
Sharla swung her hand and broke the sound barrier and hit her friend straight in the jaw with a right hook. Anger was plastered all over her face and everyone in the building who watched stared at her in shock even as their ears bled and they heard the follow-up ringing and temporary deafness.
Marie went flying into the wall by the stairs and crashed through the building making a human-sized hole in the wall. Marie slowly sat up off the ground after a momentary black out and held her cheek in pain and shock.
Her jaw was shattered and slack while the indents of Sharla's tiny knuckles were stuck to her face. Marie shuttered as she realized what her friend had just done and looked fearfully at the beautiful redhead milf that looked like a goddess as she defied gravity and floated out the hole in the wall.
Her eyes were lit up blue and crackled like thunder as the fist she hit her with was covered with sparks of light that danced around her hand excitedly.
"Shar... I'm so-" "You don't get to call me that!"
Marie started to plead but was cut off by the angry woman. Marie cowered in fear which was strange for a 4th Ring to do against a 3rd Ring, but when emotions of the heart were involved, it complicated things.
Marie was regretting so many things she could never take back and didn't have the heart to defend herself against her heartbroken friend who had tears evaporating out of her eyes from the heat of her eyes.
"You are no longer my friend, Marianne."