Razark's hastened his steps as he jumps from building to building towards the main gate. Screams of pain and agony, cries of desperation and despair could be heard as he made his way to his destination. Along the way he also kept track with his clones as some of them had already engaged in combat, their pain could only be felt by their original.
Razark raised his hand and wiped off some blood on his nose as he sped up faster to the main gate and as expected the walls there were wide open and the black humanoids flooded through the entrance as the soldiers did their best to block the humanoid's path. Cries of war could be heard everywhere accompanied by the sound of blades clashing.
"Ultimate skill. Absolute Fortress" Razark spoke and soon enough his body was enveloped in a light golden ray and from the distance ten other locations also shone in gold.
Ultimate Skill: Absolute Fortress is a skill that supports your allies by giving them a layer of shield that would break after receiving enough damage and this skill also regenerates allie's injuries and decays enemies that enter the specific area range of the skill. (This skill protects the chanter from any attack until the chanter runs out of energy.)
'I've managed to maintain this for three hours tops but that was without the clones and utilizing other skills. Let's just hope I can hold it until back up comes,' Razark's thoughts were cut short as a shield appeared on his right side and it blocked a giant spear. And Razark saw it, the monstrosity that was stomping its way towards the soldiers and him.
A ten feet monster that had a scarlet rhino's head, a ruby scorpion tail and blood bat wings charged at them. The soldiers that snapped out of their shock tried to fight back but they were easily pushed away by the monster. The monster then turned to Razark and prepared to charge at him but suddenly a rocky humanoid slammed itself at the monster and the monster was sent back flying and landed beside the rest of its minions.
"Goum," Razark for the first time after the battle started had his lips curved upwards slightly as he looked at his rocky friend that was decked out with armor and weapons from top to bottom.
"Sorry Goum was late. Goum needed to prepare goum's equipment first" Goum spoke as he flashed Razark a smirk.
"Goum you son of a bitch, you always knew how to make an entrance" Razark smirked as he pumped more of his energy into his spell to heal the wounded soldiers.
"Listen up men!! We are the last of what stands between these beasts and innocent people of our city. We fight until we can't fight anymore and we will kill until we can't kill anymore. If your sword breaks, take out your daggers!! If your daggers break, use your fists!!! Mages If your mana is depleted, use your physical abilities!!! We fight until this is over or until we die in battle!!!" Razark shouted to his soldiers to boost his men's morale. BUt it was interrupted as sounds of claps could be heard from the gate.
A man that was wearing full black from top to bottom and a black skull mask with golden engravings around the eyes and mouth of the mask.
"Bravo. Bravo. As expected from the shadow protector of Ashben city. The dog of the city chief" The cloaked man spoke as he approached closer towards Razark and his group, the soldiers that tried to stop him exploded as if they were balloons.
"I hoped we could've met in better circumstances but it seems like it wasn't fated to be that way" The man spoke with a respectful tone before unsheathing his rapier and pointed it at Razark, the air suddenly became chilly as the soldiers began to shiver in fear and cold sweat started to form on their foreheads. It seems that only a couple of them could stand against his pressure.
"Let's end this charade, I have places to be and a city chief to behead" The man spoke arrogantly as his lips curved up forming a sinister and psychotic smirk. He then leaned his body forwards and in a blink of an eye he disappeared and a sound of metal clashing could be heard and the soldiers turned to the source of the sound to find that mysterious man in front of their leader, his rapier blocked by Razark's shield.
"H..how did he get here?" A soldier muttered out loud as he snapped out of the trance and readied a fireball spell to fire at the cloaked man, but before he could even fire it a dark sharp object pierced through his heart, blood was gushing out from where he got hit and soon enough he fell to the ground lifeless.
"You bastard" Razark roared as his eyes began to glow red and his horns glow intense purple and as seconds passed his pressure only grew and soon enough he pushed the cloaked man back to the gates where his army stood.
"Do not think that getting past this point will be easy. You people have guts trying to invade Ashben city. As punishment we'll turn all of you into ash as we did to our previous enemies. There is no escape for any of you. No matter how many people you brought they will all turn into ash in my hands" Razark's voice became cold and dark as he held his sword and the sword started to be engulfed in purple fire and a black mask appeared in on his left hand, a mask that was very simple, a black mask with no holes.
"That mask. You're from that organization" Razar growled as the man put on his mask and took a stance.
"I am Razor of the Ancient Shadow Sword Clan, a clan that once flourished the lands but now only I remain. Fifteenth harbinger of destruction" The man introduced himself and as soon as he finished his introductions his body was swallowed by shadows and he disappeared once again and the soldiers took a stance and kept their guard up.
"Don't attack him!!!" Razark yelled as he powered down his skill. "Soldiers focus on defending. I'll deal with him" Razark spoke calmly as he unsheathed his sword and charged at Razor, the impact of their weapons clashing was akin to a small explosion as dust covered the vision for both sides.
"Call for backup" Razark yelled and his boots glowed before he suddenly accelerated and pushed himself and Razor out of the city. The soldiers were now left behind alone with only Goum who was almost as strong as Razark.
"Goum will defend, mages guard Goum from behind and swordsmen let not any enemies in the city. With your life protect the civilians. Long Live The Red Sun," Goum barked out shoulder and as soon as he finished his speech he charged towards the mass of enemies in front of him.
Razark POV
After launching myself and that man outside the city, towards the red forest I quickly felt a strong feeling of dread and when I looked in front of me I immediately jerked my whole body to the side, using every bit of my survival instincts. After dodging whatever that was I jumped back and something hit the ground below me and launched me further up.
Pointing my sword downwards towards the smoke plume I tried to cast a barrage of fire balls towards it, but something shot out of the smoke and appeared behind me. I quickly swung my hand to position my sword in front of me but it was too late, by the time my sword was in position the attack was already slightly in front of my blade and before it could reach my neck I quickly redirected the attack to my shoulder and thus I was shot back down to the ground, my impact leaving behind a decent size hole on the grassy ground.
I closed my eyes and calmed down my breathing as I tried to recall information I've read about the shadow sword clan. "The shadow sword clan specializes in speed," With my calm demeanor back I could hear everything and soon enough I jerked my head slightly to the left and a thump could be heard beside me. Opening my eyes slowly I could see the man in front of me in a position when someone had just thrown something. Using this opportunity I jumped back further to gain distance, fighting close quarters with that kind of sword are was basically suicide so I tried to maintain my distance with him.
"You will never succeed in this invasion. Your forces may be strong but the generals have yet to step up and when they do you will all pay for this insult" I snarled at him as I fired multiple fire shots towards him which he easily dispersed with his rapier.
"You're right we can't win this invasion, but even if the so-called generals do make their move. What makes you think the city would survive constant pressure and attacks for a few months. Not just a few weeks and we will tear that city to the ground" He spoke with a sadistic smirk, but that wasn't what I was most concerned with, I was more concerned with what he meant by constant pressure and attacks.
"You bastards. You will all pay for attacking The Red Sun's territory" I roared as I fired a huge fireball that melted the ground and accelerated towards Razor.
"Such futile attempts" He sighed and simply waved his hand up and the fire was dispersed. I was surprised at first but not for long, his necklace. It was a power canceling necklace, it usually has a limited amount of uses and there are cooldowns between uses.
"Did you really think you could play with my mind when you have that damned necklace and didn't even bother to hide it?" I spoke with a smirk and pointed my sword towards Razor's necklace.
"As expected from you. It seems like the information I bought was not for naught. You are as careful, observant and calculative as the information broker told me" Razor smirked and sheathed his rapier which left me confused why he did that. Was he planning on fighting me long range as well? How many ranged spells can he cast? How many spells does he know? How strong is his mana? So many questions flew inside my mind but it was for naught as he held up both his hands and pointed his left hand towards the city.
Dread
"Salutem in tenebris!!!" Razor chuckled as I saw thick black smoke slowly rise from the city, but no explosions could be heard any longer which indicated their retreat, but the sight of the city I vowed to protect ablaze made me lose my mind, giving myself to rage I lost control over my emotions, but before I could attack he spoke words that were barely audible for me but I managed to caught it because of the dead silent forest.
"This is the start of a new era. Change is inevitable. Goodbye Razark, may we cross paths again in the future" Razor spoke in a smirk before holding up his index finger and middle finger upwards and disappearing in a cloud of mist.
"I'll kill you all!!" I screamed in rage as I felt my aura losing control and I destroyed everything around me. Red. I could only see the world in one color. Blood red. I knew that this was bad for me, that I had to take back control before I lost it completely but I couldn't. I tried so hard to regain control over my body but it was as if my body was rejecting my mind.
"Razark?" A soft feminime voice echoed behind me, I tried to turn back but I couldn't.
"Razar?" The voice spoke again and this time I turned around but I wasn't the one who turned, it was the body. And when I could see the person dread flooded my entire being as I saw Lesley coming out from behind a tree and eventually took a stand in front of me unarmed and possibly unaware that I had gone berserk.
No.
"NONONONO!! Take back control dammit" I was practically begging at this point as I tried focusing back in taking control over my body but I couldn't, and the body started to move towards her as if it was some kind of machine. It was all stiff and rigid.
"Razark? What's wrong with you?" She asked me, her voice already noticing that something was wrong as her guard was up and her hand haw at her sword handle.
"Run please" I pleaded even if it was futile I tried. I tried taking back control, but before she could even usheathe her sword my body dashed towards her with my sword ready to strike her down. I watched as she pulled out her sword and barely parried the strike with her sword handle and redirected the slash to the side and my body passed her without leaving any damage towards her.
"It seems like you've gone out of control once again," she sighed and took a stance. " Don't worry this will be over in a flash." As soon as she finished those words her figure became a purple blur and the next thing I knew was that I could no longer see what was happening in the outside world.
It was then I realized what had happened and the thought made my chuckle. She had knocked me out in one strike. But I was glad my body was currently too weak after maintaining a dozen clones and the support spell. But that rage. It was the first time I've felt so angry to the point nothing mattered to me any more besides death and destruction.
How long was it? Seconds? Minutes? Hours? Days? Weeks? Months? I've felt as if I've been stuck in this never ending darkness for so long. No light could be found for what felt like eternity. I waited, waited, waited, and waited for any signs for me to wake up but none could be found.
I wandered endlessly in this neverending void of darkness, this pitch black surrounding plaguing my mind driving me to the tips of my sanity. Until something different happened. I saw a light, not a white one, not the light that I was expecting. This one was more ominous, evil, dreadful. It was nearly untraceable because the color of that light was purple, not too dark, not too bright. I tried to step back but with each step I took that light just came closer and closer until I was facing it directly a few inches away from being engulfed by it.
I tried to think of other ways to escape but it seems like that light had other plans. It covered me fully and I was hit with a bright purple light that covered my vision. Soon I was in a worn out library with many dusty and old looking books on the bookshelves. It was as if the place had not been managed for centuries. The wood was starting to show signs of breaking down and the book's ink was starting to fade. I tried to read the ones that were readable only to be met with language I was not familiar with. In my hundred years of wandering this was the first time I've seen writing like this. Times like this make me remember the good old days when I was still young and foolish. I've gone on many adventures before settling down in Ashben. The many historical artifacts, relics, and books I've collected could not be compared to what this place was. It was as if I'm standing in an ancient library from the dawn of time. But that should be impossible.
I scoffed at that thought and ventured further until I was met with a pitch black metal door with a gray skull in the middle, with red ruby eyes and a purple crystal on its forehead and a bone hand as its handle. I wrapped my hand around the handle and it suddenly grabbed me tight. I tried to pull back but suddenly I felt a sharp pain on my palm only to see my hand bleeding as my blood dripped down the floor, but my focus was soon shifted as I saw the gems on the skull glow.
"You" It spoke
"So you are the one he has chosen as his bond. Not bad, you do not lack talent or skill. It's good to see that the old man has found himself a good candidate" It spoke in a robotic and rustic voice. It started deathly at me before sounds could be heard behind the door.
"Welcome future bond of the scythe. The third God slaying weapon" It spoke and it was then I realized. He was talking about him. The bastard I chained up in my basement. How could this be? I have yet to form a contract with it and the skull spoke as if I've made one. It was then curiosity got the best of me.
"But I've yet to sign a contract with him. How am I a candidate?" I asked and the skull stayed silent before laughing.
"You may have not formed a contract but I can see that old man's mark from a mile away," He spoke and I was confused before the hand let go of mine and pointed at my hands. "That is a place where he did something weird to you isn't it?" He spoke and my eyes widened in realization. The bastard had marked me during our fight.
"There seems to be a misunderstanding here. I have no wish to join a contract with him" I spoke and the skull laughed at me before the door opened and I was pulled in.
"You thought you had a choice? No. Once you are marked you are to form that contract or death awaits you. That is the rule of all candidates. Once they are marked by us they are to fight with us and to form a contract with said contractor" The voice hissed, malice evident in his tone as he dragged me deeper inside.
"Even if you were to reject the offer, are you declaring that you would be our enemy? You want to make us your enemies? We are the spirits of old, the first consciousness to have walked down these lands. Spirits strong enough to kill even Gods." It spoke in an arrogant manner but before I could question it further I found myself in a dark room with weapons circling around me all different kinds of weapons but similar in design.
The room brings me back to when I first met him, but a little smaller.