"Big brother Sol."
Amon called out to Sol causing him to come out of his momentary daze. After whipping his tears, Sol stood up.
His father wanted him to leave so he should hurry.
"Let's go."
Sol went to carry Amon and hurry away from this place, but his hand suddenly grabbed nothing but empty air.
Sol immediately stiffen at this, but he soon whipped his head around.
"A-Amon!"
"Kukukuku! Is that bastard already dead? But why don't I see his body?"
Sol's hands and feet grew cold and his heart began to pound rapidly.
Adalhard was several meters away holding Amon by his neck. His golden robes were mere rags on his blood-soaked body, while one of his hands looked like it was forcefully ripped from his shoulder.
Adalhard's overall appearance looked wretched, but despite his severely injured state, Sol's nervousness was still at sky-high levels.
"Let him go!!"
Sol roared out as he burst forth with all the speed he could muster towards Adalhard.
"Child do not be so quick to rush to your death, give me some time to devour this nutrient."
Sol ignored Adalhard and punched forward, but his fist was blocked by a three-meter radius black barrier that appeared around Adalhard. Sol was sent flying from the rebound as a result; coughing up a mouth full of blood as he landed on the ground.
However, Adalhard frowned when he heard the barrier crack before several fissures appeared on it.
'Despite his exhaustion, he can still display such strength? It would be a waste to just kill him, perhaps I can turn him into my servant and nurture him.'
Adalhard smiled.
"Big Brother Sol-Ugh!"
Amon tried to call out to Sol, but Adalhard suddenly squeezed his neck.
"I see you've been diligently praying to have this much faith energy. But why did you kids stop praying? If it weren't for that do you think I would be injured this badly fighting that bastard?"
Adalhard squeezed Amon's throat tighter.
"I'm too far away from the village to call on that gathering of faith energy, but Lord Gao-On always provides seeing how he sent you here. You're good enough to replenish my power somewhat. "
Adalhard praised his Lord Ga-On for the meal before he opened his gapping mouth and sucked.
"AH-AHHH!!!"
Little Amon couldn't help but cry out in agony as a golden stream flowed from his body towards Adalhard's opened mouth.
Midway from entering Adalhard's mouth, the golden aura from Amon turned pitch black and mixed with Adalhard's Holy Power.
"NO!! Bastard!!"
Sol took two steps forward and instantly one bracelet on his ankle and one on his wrists fell with a loud bang. Sol's figure instantly reached Adalhard's barrier before he lashed out with a monstrous kick.
BANG!
The already cracked barrier shatter into fragmented pieces, causing Adalhard to frown once again, but he wasn't overly concerned.
After the barrier shattered, Sol was knocked back by the force. But despite destroying the black barrier, his heart dropped as there was a second one surrounding Adalhard.
"Big brother… Sol…"
Sol looked over at Amon and his body trembled.
Rage.
A blinding rage Sol had never felt before erupted from every fiber of his being.
"AHHHHH!!!!"
Sol released a mad howl and he charged at Adalhard; his fists slammed against the barrier as he tried to break it. However, the more of the Holy Power Adalhard sucked from Amon, the denser the barrier became.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Sol's fists and legs rammed against the barrier again and again. The ground beneath him cracked and fissures lined its surface.
However, the barrier merely trembled at his futile attempts.
But after a few breaths of time, even the trembling from the barrier stopped and became stable.
Soon, Sol's attacks slowed down.
His hands and legs were mangled at this point and he could no longer feel them. But Sol managed to deal a few more blows before the pain in his broken legs forced him to stumble back.
Thud
A soft almost inaudible sound of something hitting the ground echoed out. Inside the barrier, Adalhard had released Amon from his grip.
With tears streaming down his face, Sol looked at Amon's corpse which had become extremely emaciated like all his blood and vitality had been sucked out.
He felt numb and he couldn't breathe. Sol wanted to believe all of the events that happened so far was just a long nightmare he would wake up from.
Perhaps he had fallen asleep earlier in the day after exhausting himself from cutting the forest trees with his father. He needed to wake up before his father scold him.
He needed to… wake up…
Sol was in denial of reality.
He could no longer feel the pain from his broken arms and legs, and neither could he feel the backlash from him taking off two bracelets either.
Sol's mind was somewhere else entirely and he just stood there in a daze. Perhaps if he stood still he would awake from this dream.
But Sol's last strand of rationality denied him the chance to believe this was merely a dream.
And Sol hated it, he hated the fact that he couldn't escape from reality. So much so his denial turned to extreme malice and hatred.
Sol's head shot up and he glared at Adalhard as if he wanted to drink his blood and gnaw on his flesh.
"AHHHH!!!"
BANG!
Sol suddenly released a maddening scream before he slammed his head against the barrier with full force.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Sol continuously banged his head against the barrier, uncaring of the damage he was doing to his already wrecked body.
However, with a last head slam against the barrier, the pain soon forced Sol to stop and he knocked himself unconscious.
But even as he slipped into unconsciousness, his red eyes filled with hatred continued to glare at Adalhard.
Adalhard watch all of this, and he saw the look in Sol's eyes. That look caused him to completely scrap his idea of keeping Sol alive as his servant.
'This child will only be a sword aiming at my back if he's left alive.'
Although it was a pity to let such a talented youth go to waste, Adalhard unhesitatingly made his decision to kill Sol.
With a gesture from him, the barrier around him warped before condensing into a three-meter-long black spear; that had fanciful carvings on it while a ghostly black aura emanated from it.
Without wasting much time, Adalhard pointed at Sol, and the spear was sent flying towards him.
Pitua!
The spear effortlessly pierced Sol's chest where his heart was, pinning him to the ground.
With another hand motion from Adalhard, the spear twisted and sent Sol's flesh and internal organs flying everywhere.
After killing Sol, Adalhard felt a weight he hadn't realized lifted from his shoulders. He looked at ease as he turned and flew off back to the village.
...
Swoosh!
With a low whistle, the evening wind blew across this ruined battlefield.
From the broken tree line several meters away, a small green creature leaped out.
It was little Zeel.
Little Zeel ran as fast as its little chubby legs could allow him towards the battlefield, and soon, little Zeel reached the bloody area where Sol had been brutally killed.
After sniffing around, little Zeel's eyes flickered with a sad light.
If only it came sooner, perhaps it could have helped. But due to the nature of its existence, it could not have followed Sol into the village without dire consequences to itself.
But Little Zeel had waited by the village entrance for Sol, however, when Sol finally exit the village, he had madly dashed off into the forest.
It was only now Little Zeel had caught up to Sol, but he had already been killed.
Little Zeel roamed around the battlefield until the sun was beginning to set; unwilling to just leave.
However, it soon turned and reluctantly left; its gaze lingered on the battlefield for one last time before dashing into the forest.
...
Swoosh!
A cool breeze blew through the battlefield. The sun soon set, ushering in a moonless night as if to conclude the bloodbath that had happened during the day.
At least, that was how the scene panned out for a brief moment.
On the battlefield, a starry black crescent moon materialized in mid-air.
It then began to release a resplendent deep blue glow that seemed to act as this night's missing moon.
This light illuminated the entire battlefield and spread out to the forest nearby.
After this occurred, something strange began to happen.
Something that no mortal being could ever comprehend.
Time froze for all existences in the cosmos.
Only the crescent moon seemed to be unaffected.
No.
Perhaps it was the thing that was causing Time in the universe to stand still.