Those with the Baldwin bloodline had a chance of being born with both a Magic Gate and an Aura Gate. That was a secret known to all. Bloodline could be passed down, and so can its specialty. That's why Leila had not shown the slightest resistance when Badulf expressed interest in her. And that's also a part of the reason why the Sun bestowed his daughter to him. But their children weren't quite up to their expectations, but they still treasured them. Noah was a born mage, but he didn't have an Aura Gate. Arthur was a born knight, but he didn't have a Magic Gate.
Furthermore, those carrying Baldwin's bloodline awaken innate abilities when they solidify their stance against Chaos. This was a secret known only to a select few. It wouldn't be a surprise if only Badulf and Arlo were privy to this secret. It was also kept a secret from Roy. But he found it anyway while confronting Chaos.
The map of the small world was in his hands. Following it, he moved towards the closest marked spot on the map. His figure could be seen rapidly moving through the trees.
There was a clearing in the forest. In the center of it was a runic circle, surrounded by four items called formation flags. It was drawn using blood and hence, gave off an eerie feeling. There were fourteen circles on it, and a corpse with empty sockets and a puddle of blood beneath it could be seen in each of them, making this sight even more horrifying. A barrier of a very pale red color like that of diluted Red Wine was erected around it. Protecting this barrier were two guards.
He could be seen coming to a stop when this sight reflected in his eyes.
AD
He inspected the guard.
『Ding! You've inspected Diego and Felipe. You received their Status Screen and Character Information.』
Going through their status screen, he found out they were both at the twelve levels of chaotic body tempering.
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. 'Let's assassinate them too and inspect the barrier.'
He didn't step into the clearing.
Using the tree as his covering, he rushed to their blind spots.
Moments later, their backs were to him. This gave him a signal to start his assassination. He stepped out of the trees and rushed into the clearing, crouching down and moving towards them at a certain speed. It was a pace that allowed the activation of his passive, Stealthy Movement. All the noise produced by his footsteps was canceled.
AD
"Why are they taking so long to return?" Diego said. He looked pissed. Their shift had ended ten minutes ago. But the ones supposed to take their place still hasn't arrived. Thus, he could only stand guard here with his flesh-eating buddy.
Felipe patted his shoulder heavily. He was basically smacking Diego. "Didn't you say you were bored staying here? I am too. I think this is our chance to have some fun. Let's hunt some beasts on the pretext of looking for them. We might be lucky and come across the invaders. I haven't heard a good song in a while. Maybe breaking their bones and hearing them scream would scratch my itch for music. We won't be blamed even if they find out. We have an excuse prepared, and we have done our job."
"No thanks. GhostWalker is low-key crazy. He kills others for fun, and he would kill us too for not following his rule." Diego said no to his temptation.
Felipe turned his red to the side, rolling his eyes at him. "Alright, you can stay here by yourself. You big pussy. I'll have some fun myself." After speaking, he started walking away.
This was the moment Roy had been waiting for. He crept up to Diego, who was at a distance of seven steps from Felipe. His left hand reached out to block his mouth as his right hand slit his throat using the sword, Reflection.
Blood gushed out of Diego's neck without noise while the moan died out in the person's throat. Immediately, the sword was pulled out and then embedded in the side of his neck. He was dead for sure this time.
Roy charged out from behind the figure of Diego, that had lifeless eyes and was falling to the ground.
Thud!
The sound of his body hitting the ground rang out. It was heard by Felipe. He immediately turned around, only to see the corpse of his friend and nothing else. Where was Roy? Well, he had moved behind Felipe from his blind spot as Felipe was turning around. It was quite a scene to see.
"D-Diego…" Felipe rushed up to his buddy and crouched down, and placed his finger on his neck, examining him. No breaths. He was dead. "How did you die? Who did that to you?!"
Puchi! The sound of a sword stabbing a man echoed.
"I did," Roy whispered into his ears like a devil after he stabbed him to powerlessness.
AD
Felipe didn't even have the strength to utter a word.
He could be seen close to death yet also far away.
The chaotic energy was keeping him from dying. 𝙛𝑟𝘦ℯ𝘄e𝙗nov𝙚𝑙. 𝐜𝑜𝗺
He had a good look at his killer's face. What a handsome face. It was like no other he had seen in his life. Felipe mistook him for an angel of death. Then… he noticed his lips moving.
Roy said, "Giving into the temptation of chaos was the worst choice of your life. Why am I telling you this? Well, I wanted you to die knowing that."
The next second, he cut his head off. And then he turned his gaze to the magic circle and the barrier, inspecting them.
『Magic Circle of Disguise: It's being used to hide a grand construct. You can disable it by ruining the design of the magic circle or pulling out the formation flags.』
『Everlasting Barrier: It's created by a runic item known by many names, including Erector. It's a barrier of the third level. When struck with the full force of an Aura Master, it can be destroyed. The other option is to obtain Erector. All barriers created by this runic item can also be taken down by it.』
Where was Erector?
Roy had gone through Ayaan's library. He knew he had handed it over to the Lord of the Flame bridge. They were safeguarding it. Who they were… Roy didn't know. He looked down at the second mark spot on the spot.
'I might find out after reaching there.' He thought, moving towards it.