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It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
( Psalms 118 : 8 )
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Ze looked at the charging drake. It was a majestic beast, standing 20 meters tall. Its strength was overwhelming. Being a brethren to the dragon, its scales were especially tough; even sword auras couldn't graze it. It was a creature close to nature, with an astronomically high mana capacity and a tenacity to fight until death. It was walking destruction. The pure white drake rushed, its scales glistening in the sunlight. With every move, the ground beneath it cracked.
Ze reacted, becoming a blur as he moved, and the ground where he stood caved. He arrived before the rushing drake in the air, with his hand arched back. He was moving extremely fast, leaving afterimages. But the drake's eyes followed him, its reptilian slit eyes focused on him.
*Grr*
It growled, commanding the mana. The mana covered the drake, creating a barrier. It was prepared; it had seen him kill other beasts and found him dangerous. Three strong barriers formed around the rushing drake, converging at its head.
Ze punched out, and his fist collided with the drake's barrier. His punch broke the first, second, and third barriers, releasing shockwaves. His fist reached the drake's head, but the drake's scales absorbed his impact, nullifying it. Ze's punch lost most of its strength due to the tough barrier, and the scales absorbed the rest. The rushing drake's head smashed into Ze, who was in midair, flinging him into the sky. The charging drake stopped, turned its body as it slid, and looked back.
Ze twisted his body in midair, dispersing the impact of the drake's charge, and landed on the ground. He looked at the drake as he touched his side; he could feel his broken ribs. Even though the pain didn't bother him, the fact that his renewed body got damaged again angered him. His eyes sharpened as he met the drake's gaze. His shadows became alive and moved to his hand; they swirled and condensed, taking the form of a stick—a long cuboid shape, like S*suke's chukuto in the sheath. He gripped the stick; it was strong and blunt.
The drake looked at him, seeing that Ze didn't move, it proceeded with its attack. It prepared its breath. The mana was drawn to its mouth, condensed, and collided, taking form. But it was bigger and stronger than the previous breaths. Ze stood in place like a wall, golden particles emanating from his body. The golden vapor enveloped his body, mixing with the shadow dress. His dress changed as golden stars appeared in the night sky. Ze's body changed; it became like that of a golden flame, burning ever brightly.
The drake opened its mouth, releasing its breath. The blue beam of destructive power neared Ze, freezing the air around it. Ze moved his hand and swung his black nightstick.
The beam split as it met the stick. The divided beam struck to the sides, freezing the ground and forming spikes. Mist covered the space.
*Grr*
Seeing its breath being split, the drake commanded its mana. The mana gathered around the drake, colliding and compressing, taking the form of icicles, each as huge as a pillar. The formed icicles shot towards Ze, striking through the mist.
The mist cleared due to the impact, and the icicles struck to the ground, freezing everything around them. But Ze was not there; the icicles had only struck the ground.
"Yo," a voice came from its side.
The drake moved its eyes and noticed Ze swinging his stick. It moved and commanded the mana to form a barrier, but there was no time; the attack had already reached its head. The drake felt the immense force transferred through its head, flinging it to the right and lifting its whole body. The drake fell on its side, its head rattling in pain.
Ze landed back on the ground and looked at the fallen drake. He waited for the drake to get up, even though he preferred to kill it instantly, despite it being a pain in the a*s. He wanted to test his limits, and because there was an audience.
"Wow, щ(ʘ╻ʘ)щ," they exclaimed.
"What was that? You were so strong. You beat the huge lizard like it was nothing," Zeru exclaimed, showering Ze with praises. Zeru, who had been angry due to the pain, was amazed by Ze's hyper-speed movements and ability to defeat monsters with a single strike.
Ze felt exasperated by Zeru's praises. As someone who had always been alone, he felt thrilled to have someone else traveling with him, even if it was the owner of the body he inhabited. While Ze was basking in the shower of praises, the drake regained its composure, slowly stood up, and felt pain in its side. In its long life, it had never sustained this much damage to its body except when it was a drakeling.
The drake's gaze landed on Ze, who was looking up, seemingly lost in thought.
*ROAR*
It roared, releasing its mana. It recognized the human before it as strong, strong enough to kill it if it let its guard down. It would do its best to kill and eat him in order to gain the energy of life. An aura of death emanated from the drake, and its muscles bulged. The mana around it went into a frenzy as it charged its attack.
It prepared for its most powerful breath attack, absorbing all the mana around it, freezing the air as it gathered.
"Look at this b*stard going berserk," Ze murmured.
He observed the drake charging its attack while being within its close range. Seeing its state, it seemed to be planning on freezing the entire plane with its breath.
Normally, the best strategy would be to run or avoid the attack and strike while it was distracted. But this was Ze, a person of madness incarnate. Ze took a stance for a sword draw and brought the stick to his other hand, holding it near his waist, with his right hand gripping it, ready to draw. Lightning crackled and sparked around his body as his golden flaming form burned brighter, resembling the mid-day sun.
The drake finished its preparations, and its target remained motionless. With such close range, it could kill him with its breath. It closed its mouth, compressing the prepared breath, and unleashed it. The blue spiral of destruction shot forward, while the drake's claws dug into the ground to maintain its position against the power of the breath.
The breath moved, freezing everything in its path, as if attempting to freeze the very space itself. Ze pulled the stick.
*Click*
With the sound of the click, the hilt separated. The golden energy condensed, forming the blade as Ze drew it. He swung the sword vertically, splitting, breaking, and destroying the breath upon contact. A beautiful golden arc traced the path of the sword, cutting through the frozen space and reaching the drake, slicing through it as if cutting through the very fabric of space.
The breath disappeared, transforming into crystalline particles, all in a split second. Ze slowly stood upright and sheathed his sword.
*Click* *Boom*
The clicking of the sword's sheath created a shockwave that dispersed the particles around him. He turned to look at the shadows, the thousand shadows that sat above the dead beast, watching him.
He mouthed, "Thank you," as the shadows melted and returned to his own shadow, wavering as if to complain about the demanding task.
"WHAT WAS THAT? Щ(ʘ╻ʘ)щ," Zeru's voice echoed in his mind, as he shouted in his head.
"Calm down, this is just a fraction of my power," Ze replied. He turned to look at the dead monster, his eyes filled with excitement at the thought of the mana cores. He couldn't forget about the drake and the other Zenith monsters; they possessed high-capacity cores.
But if he were to do it himself, it would take a large amount of time. He lifted his right hand, and the darkness of the shadow gathered and swirled. Ze commanded the mana, and a deadly green aura covered his body.
The green hue moved and mixed with the shadow, giving off a deadly wail. The mixture of death and darkness spread towards all the dead monsters. The death aura captured the souls, and the shadow gave them form. The monsters took shape and breathed. They were made up of death and darkness.
The hundreds of monsters moved before him and bowed in front of their new master. The drake stood among them, taking on the role of the commander.
"Bring me the mana cores," Ze commanded.
The shadows moved, ripping into the flesh of the monsters and retrieving their cores. They brought back the cores of hundreds of monsters, piling them up to form a mountain. The drake and other Zenith monsters approached Ze and offered their bodies. They understood that the command to bring the mana cores was given to the weaker ones. Ze looked at the monsters before him. "You guys work efficiently when you're dead," Ze complimented. The monsters bowed in response. He lifted his hand, and the shadows of the Zenith monsters sprang up and pulled the bodies into them.
"Where did they go?" Zeru asked.
"I will use them later." He looked at the pile of monster cores, and one of the shadows brought a core to him. He took a bite out of the bloody core.
***
The chief moved to the gate after listening to Siena. He asked them to move to the shelter just in case. From the sounds before, the chief figured that there was a battle taking place and that someone or something was blocking the monsters.
He opened the gate and looked towards the plain, where the monsters were rushing towards them. His eyes widened, and his body froze like a statue. He felt like his reality had turned upside-down. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Before him lay a battlefield. The monsters were fighting against something black, preventing them from advancing. He saw a lightning panther impaled by a spear, a dead Blizzard falcon with its head caved in, and a huge snake with its head crushed. And he saw Zeru attacking the drake.
All he saw was the drake being flung, the monster that had brought death to many and was the incarnation of destruction, being defeated by a boy no older than 15. He had seen swordmasters killing monsters, but their power and skill came from years of experience and training.
*Roar*
The drake roared, and a pressure bore down on him, causing him to fall to his knees as his legs gave out. He struggled to lift his head and looked forward, witnessing the drake preparing its breath of destruction. He saw Zeru assuming a stance.
The drake unleashed its breath, and Zeru drew his sword. He saw it all—the fierce breath leaving the drake's mouth, the golden blade drawing a beautiful arc, the breath being destroyed, and the drake being split in two. It happened in the blink of an eye.
*Boom*
A shockwave spread, and the pressure bearing down on him reduced. He saw the dark figures sigh, then melt and join Zeru's shadow. He saw the green aura of death surrounding Zeru, and at the same time, he felt the presence of death embracing him. His heart unknowingly stopped beating as he clutched his chest and forced himself to keep watching. It was a moment he would never witness again.
He saw the green aura of death washing over the monsters, and the black mass taking the form of the monsters. The death aura fused with the darkness and became contained within them. He saw the monsters bowing to Zeru. He saw them tearing into their own bodies to retrieve their cores, and the drake offering its body.
In that moment, he remembered.
'If I wanted to, I could create an army of undead and conquer the continent,' Zeru had said.
"Haha," a laugh escaped the chief's mouth. He couldn't help but laugh. They say when humans see something absurd, they tend to laugh.
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