"Rank? The ranking system does not apply to me. I've developed beyond that. Please, allow me to formally re-introduce myself. My name is Rudeus Greyrat, also known as the Magic God, ranked seventh among the Seven Great Powers."
"Magic God? So you claim to be a Divine ranked magician then?", Derrick asked.
"The... Seven Great Powers. I've heard of them before", Ariel wondered. "Supposedly they are legendary warriors; the seven strongest people in the entire world."
"That is correct. You are well learned, your highness. I had expected you to have known."
"Legendary warriors? You hardly look legendary to me", Derrick protested. "How old even are you?"
"I am twelve years old."
"Hahaha. You expect us to believe this tall tale? No amount of talent can bring a twelve year old child to the level of Divine. Come then; if you really are who you claim to be then prove it. Cast a divine level spell for us."
I rolled my eyes at his request.
"I'm surprised, Derrick. From what I'd heard about you I thought you would be smarter. Are you really asking me to haphazardly launch a spell that could level this entire region?"
"Hmph! Of course not. It's only because your claim was such an obvious lie that I would make such a request."
I looked back over to Ariel to notice that she wasn't laughing. She was staring intensely at me. It seemed like she was studying me; trying to determine if what I claimed really is possible.
'Hmm... Perhaps I should teleport all of them back home with me to Sharia. The only problem is... I don't want to bring Hitogami's apostle into my home. At first I thought it was Luke... but now Derrick is being unexpectedly antagonistic towards me. I need to be sure.'
"Princess Ariel."
"Yes, Rudeus?"
"Gather everyone who is with you outside the carriage. There is something I need to determine."
"Who do you think you are giving the Princess commands!? Such arrogance!"
While never breaking eye contact with me, Ariel held out her hand in front of Derrick, motioning for him to be quiet.
"Why is it you want everyone gathered together?"
"I believe there is a spy amongst your midst."
"Oh? What makes you think that."
"The way you were moving while father and I were tracking you. It's almost as though you knew every step we would take in advance."
"We have merely been taking steps in order to avoid being caught by Grabell's agents. As we've made our way up North, we've been sending scouts ahead of us to keep an eye out for Soldier's or suspicious persons and have modified our course to avoid them."
"Who is it you've been sending out to scout?"
"Now that you mention it... one person in particular has been the one who spotted potential threats and suggested course corrections almost exclusively. I had assumed it was just their specialty..."
"And who was that?"
"It was..."
Before Ariel could even finish her sentence, my head snapped to the side as I saw an intense wave of mana coming our way at high speed. Without holding my arm out, I pointed towards Ariel and Derrick and pushed them back against the side of the carriage with gravity magic. At the same time I leaned back against our side and held Father back with my other arm.
Moments later, the wave of mana sliced through the carriage, cutting it in two down the middle vertically. The mana continued on past the carriage killing two of the soldiers standing outside.
Paul and I jumped out from our side of the carriage towards the direction the surge of mana came from. Ariel screamed in fear as Derrick got up and placed himself between her and our assailant. Luke came running from the other side of the carriage to help as well. More yelling and screaming could be heard coming from the soldiers and adventurers behind us.
Slowly walking out from the tree line came a familiar face... Aleksander Ryback.
"You... You're still alive?"
"Heh", he sneered. "An attack like yours isn't enough to kill me. T'was but a mere flesh wound."
"I'll make sure to finish the job this time", I said as I stepped forward in front of everyone.
Paul stepped up by my side to join me, but I reached my arm out and pushed him back.
"No. I'm sorry, but this isn't someone you can handle. This is the North God. It seems he's still alive after all."
Paul flinched a little when he heard 'North God', but he grasped his sword even tighter before responding, "I'm not going to let you fight someone like that on your own."
"You'll only get in my way if you try to help!", I yelled. "Stay back and protect the princess! I can handle this fool on my own. Trust me."
Paul looked conflicted but took a step back and placed himself beside look in front of the princess.
"You'll handle me on your own? My how brave you've gotten. It seems your fluke of defeating me has gotten to your head."
"A fluke?", I laughed. "I recall that finishing blow striking you in the chest? How did you wind up with brain damage from that?"
"Grrr", Aleksander snarled before making a sweeping motion with his sword, sending another slicing wave of mana towards me.
I followed his movements clearly. With my Magic Power Eye, I could see the magic sword he held sap the mana from his battle aura and compress it before launching it in the direction he swung. It would seem he got his hands on another powerful magic sword.
I stepped to the side, easily avoiding the wave of mana as it flew past felling several trees before finally dissipating.
"Another fancy sword you've got there. I see you still rely on a powerful weapon to make up for your unpolished skills."
Alexander glared at me in anger.
"You will return the King Dragon Sword Kajakut to me."
"Return your sword? Now why would I do that?"
"That sword belongs to me. It has been passed down throughout my family for generations."
"Belongs to you? I see your grammar is just as lacking as your swordsmanship. The sword BELONGED to you. Past tense. It's mine now."
"Then I'll just have to pry it from your COLD DEAD FINGERS", Aleksander yelled as he charged at me.
'What the hell? Does it look like I'm carrying that big ass sword? Whatever. Good. He's angry', I thought as I easily evaded his first two strikes. My eye of foresight was easily reading through his straightforward movements. Last time I fought him I saw endless possibilities and had to guess based on the clearest image. Right now I've got him blinded by fury and he's attacking recklessly. Not to mention without the gravity manipulation of Kajakut, his angles of attack are standard.'
Aleksander came at me with a flurry of strikes. I evaded them easily, but with each swing a wave of mana was being shot forth, decimating the surrounding area. Paul seemed to catch on to what his sword did and managed to deflect the waves of mana that came towards Ariel.
"Stay behind me!", Paul yelled to Ariel, Luke, and Derrick. "Each one of his swings is sending a condensed wave of energy forward!"
Luke was shocked and went wide eyed watching Paul's fast reflexes and honed technique. Several of the other knights had come rushing to join the battle but each one was cut down by the waves of mana Aleksander was shooting forth.
The members of Counter Arrow surrounded Phillip's Carriage and Timothy encapsulated the carriage in an earthen dome.
Seeing the collateral damage our battle was causing, I decided to take the offensive and cast the quagmire spell right as Aleksander was stepping forward for another swing. As soon as he touched the liquified ground he pulled back to correct his footing but I used the split second opportunity to fire a powerful stone cannon at his chest.
Aleksander deflected the stone cannon to avoid a direct hit, but the spell was shot with such force that he fell back due to not having corrected his footing yet. As Aleksander landed on his back I had already liquified the ground below him with another quagmire spell and as soon as he fell inside I hardened it again, trapping him in the ground.
I fired off another stone cannon, pulverizing his right hand that held his new magic sword, and then used gravity magic to send it flying away from him.
I stood above him and looked down at him smugly as he could do nothing but glare back at me.
"Ha! Pathetic. You really are nothing without your precious King Dragon Sword. You're so easy to bait with cheap taunts. Isn't that supposed to be the North Style's specialty? Can you really call yourself the North God?"
Right then, just as I thought the battle was already over, I saw myself lunging forward and coughing out blood with my eye of foresight.
'What? Struck from behind!?'
I turned around to see where the attack was coming from. I looked in confusion as I didn't see anyone behind me except Paul, Luke, Derrick and Ariel. None of them looked to be taking an aggressive stance at all. Suddenly Paul charged forward at me.
"Rudy! No!!!", he yelled out.
'Shit! The North God! I got completely distracted and took my eyes off him!'
I turned back around to see Aleksander had somehow gotten himself out of the earth he was encased in and was coming at me with a short sword he must have had hidden in his clothing. It was a plain sword with no extra mana imbued into it.
I reached my hand out to counter him with a spell when...
*THWACK*
My vision jolted forward as I felt an intense pain in my neck and coughed out blood. I reached up to my neck to feel the pointed end of an arrow sticking out from it.
*CLANG*
I looked forward again to see Paul had intercepted the North God's frontal attack at me.
'No! I have to help him! He can't beat Aleksander on his own!'
Aleksander and Paul had their swords locked together in a bind as Aleksander lifted one of his legs for a kick. As he pivoted on his other heel to kick Paul, I pushed him back with gravity magic causing him to lose his balance and Paul pushed him down onto his back again.
*THWACK*
Another sharp pain. This time in my abdomen. I coughed up some more blood.
"What are you doing Sara!? Stop!"
I could faintly hear Suzanne yelling from the background.
I turned around, my vision slightly blurred, and shot a fireball towards Sara. She was standing on top of the earthen mound Timothy had created and Suzanne was trying to pull her down. The fire ball struck the earth dome beneath their feet and exploded. The shockwave sent them both flying back dozens of meters.
Sara struck a tree on the other side of the clearing. Dazed, she just stood there for a couple seconds before realizing she felt something warm trickling down her stomach. She was stuck against the tree, impaled by one of its branches.
As she felt her consciousness beginning to fade, she smiled in satisfaction.
"Mother... Father... I've avenged you..."
***** Sara's POV - Three Months Prior *****
"Sara? Are you ok?"
I was trying to be quiet, but evidently I'd woken Suzanne.
"I'm ok. I just had to use the bathroom."
I lied. I didn't want Suzanne to worry about me; she's already done so much. The truth is I had another nightmare.
Ever since that horde of monsters attacked and killed my parents I haven't been able to get a good night's sleep. I often see my parents getting mauled or devoured by those monsters, screaming for help but nobody comes. Then I wake up, and cry awake in bed.
Tonight was no different. The dream was so vivid. My mom reached out her hand and pleaded for help, but I wasn't able to do anything for her. I was paralyzed and could only watch in terror.
I covered my face with my pillow as I continued sobbing.
'There was nothing I could do', I told myself. 'My parents would have never allowed me to help them fight. I was too young.'
'I'm so tired... I need to sleep. Alright. Close my mind. Don't think of anything.'
...
...
"Arrgh!", I yelled out in frustration.
'Nothing works! I hate this! Why did this have to happen to me!'
"Sara!", Suzanne yelled as she rushed into my room. "I told you to tell me when you have nightmares! I'm here for you."
"Go away! I'm fine!", I yelled out in frustration.
"Come now. We're here for you. You don't have to do everything on your own."
Suzanne sat down on my bed and laid beside me.
"I'm ok, really", I whimpered.
"I know. This is for my own sake. I won't be able to get to sleep being so worried about you. Won't you please let me sleep here tonight."
"I... I guess that's ok."
Suzanne wrapped her arm around my shoulder and propped a pillow under her head.
"Alright. Let's get to bed. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."
Despite what I had said, Suzanne was often able to comfort me on nights like this when I couldn't sleep. Feeling her warmth beside me I was able to ease my mind and doze back off to sleep.
The next morning, I opened my eyes to... wait? What is this? Everything around me is pure white. It's like I'm in a huge void of empty space.
I must be dreaming... but this feels so real? A lucid dream then? That must be it.
"Hey there. Nice to meet you, Sara."
"Wha-?"
I spun around to see a white figure within the otherwise empty void. He had a blank, wide face. The only distinguishable feature I could make out was his wide grin.
"Hello? Can you hear me?", the figure asked as he tilted his head in confusion.
"Erm.. Yes? Who... No. What are you?"
"Me? I'm the Man-God."
"The Man-God? You mean... Like an actual god?"
"Yep! An actual living, breathing deity!"
"Hmph! Then I have nothing to say to you!"
"W-what? Why?"
"If you really are a god of this world then you must be rotten to the core!"
"Me!? Rotten? No. I'm only here to help you!"
"Oh really? Then do me a favor and bring back my parents!"
"Look. I don't have the kind of power you're imagining. I'm more of the silent observer type."
"Then what use are you to me? Also, you sure don't seem very silent."
"What I meant is that I can only ever communicate with a very select few; and only when the situation is just right. You know. Stars aligning. Stuff like that."
"Ok then. Assuming I believe you, what are you here to help me with?"
"I've come to give you advice."
"Advice? Really? That would have been useful when my parents were still alive!"
"Don't be so hostile. Like I said, I can only communicate with certain people and only at certain times. I'm sorry you lost your parents, but you still have others you care about, don't you?"
I turned and looked away when he said that. Whether or not I want to admit it, he's right.
"Ok, I'm listening. What's your advice?"
"Within the next couple days, a shady looking man is going to come to the Adventurer's Guild looking to hire some adventurers to guard and escort him. I want you to make sure your party accepts his request."
"Who is that man?"
"The man is a close relative of Pilemon Notos Greyrat, the noble who caused the death of your parents."
"What!? Why would I help him!?"
"While it's true this man is only looking out for himself, if you want your revenge, you'll have to go along with him for now."
"So we accept his request? Then what?"
"The man will not reveal the truth behind his request. He is on the run from other nobility who want him dead. During your travels, your group will run into the Second Princess of this country."
"The Princess!?"
"Yes. The other members of your group will want to abandon the quest once they realize the gravity of the situation. You will need to convince them to follow through and escort the princess as well. Your real enemy will come before you later."
"My real enemy?"
"Yes. Another noble of the Greyrat family. He is a boy who goes by the name of Rudeus Greyrat. He is looking to manipulate the princess into doing his bidding."
"A boy? Why would a young boy be my enemy?"
"He may seem like a mere child, but don't let his looks fool you. He has been pulling the strings behind the Greyrat family's shady actions. It was he who ordered Pilemon not to send soldiers to help your village. In truth, the boy's body has been taken over by the soul of an evil demon who's out to destroy the world!"
"Destroy the world!? What could I possibly do about that?"
"I have sent a hero to dispatch this evil demon, but alone he is simply not strong enough. Rudeus will defeat him. Just before he delivers the finishing blow, his overconfidence will give you the perfect opportunity to attack. Shoot the boy from behind. Save the hero, get revenge for your parents, and save this world!"
"I... I don't know if I can do this."
"You can. You're the only one who can. I'll be following you along and guiding you the whole way."
As his words echoed through the void, the Man-God abruptly disappeared and I opened my eyes to find myself awake the next morning.
***** Present Day, Paul's POV *****
'Rudeus is hurt! Badly! I need to take this guy out quick so I can help him!'
*CLANG*
I just barely managed to block that strike. This guy is fast. Really fast! I guess I shouldn't be surprised considering Rudeus called him the North God. Can I really win against someone like that??
No! It doesn't matter. I have to win! Losing means death for the both of us!
Thankfully my opponent is fighting with only one arm; his other arm being reduced to a bleeding stump. That should give me the edge I need... but... even with one arm, he keeps pressuring me back.
*WHOOSH*
I ducked under his swing. I felt the blade cleaving through the tips of my hair as I returned with a horizontal swing of my own at his exposed abdomen.
In response, Aleksander jumped up and landed on my blade, holding it down into the ground and at the same time arcing his swing that I had just ducked under into a vertical one coming straight down onto my head.
*CRASH*
All of a sudden he abandoned his strike at my head to narrowly deflect a stone cannon spell that had been shot his way. The force of the stone cannon shattered his sword. As he twisted his body to deflect Rudy's spell, he also lifted one of his feet off my sword and gave me a spinning kick to the face, sending me flying back towards Rudy.
Rudy is in bad shape. I can tell he's struggling to breath and constantly coughing up blood as he does so. We need to end this quick or he's going to die!
As I was looking towards Rudy, he reached out and handed me a pouch with three small blades in it. They were small like a dagger, but oddly shaped. They seemed more like throwing knives.
I took the bag gratefully. It's not what I'm used to, but it's better than fighting the North God unarmed!
Meanwhile, Aleksander kicked up my sword that he had been standing on into his hand and came running back towards us.
He jumped up and swung my own sword downward at me. I held up the two throwing knives Rudy gave me in a cross shape to block it, but the strike never came.
'Oh no! It was a feint!'
Aleksander had only done a short hop and raised my sword as if he were coming down on me. Instead he just ran past me straight at Rudy.
Rudy slowly raised his right hand and stretched it outward towards Aleksander, but it was too late. Rudy would be cleaved in two!
But then... Wait? What?
All of a sudden, Rudeus simply appeared beside me, his arm still outstretched.
*BOOM*
The sound of Rudy's spell going off right next to me was almost deafening. The pointed, spinning lump of stone fired off towards Aleksander at supersonic speed.
Confused at first by Rudy's disappearance, Aleksander spun around when he heard the high pitched whine of Rudy's spell just before it fired. He didn't have enough time to block or dodge the strike, but he was able to twist his body just enough to avoid a lethal blow.
The stone struck him near the collarbone on his right side, completely blowing off what remained of his right arm, shoulder included.
*Pant... Pant...*
Aleksander and Rudy both just stood there trying to catch their breath. It looked like it was taking everything they had just to keep standing. Aleksander was propping his body up with my sword in his left hand, while Rudy was bent over with his hands on his knees.
This was my chance!
I charged in towards Aleksander, throwing one of my daggers at him once I got close while coming in for a stab using the other.
Aleksander leaned to his left to narrowly avoid the thrown dagger, but was moving too slowly to avoid my charge.
'I've got him!'
I thrust the dagger right in between his rib cage using both hands and gave it a twist, causing him to cough up blood.
As I did so, I also noticed Rudy had once again teleported behind Aleksander, right to where I had thrown his dagger. Rudy held out his hand forming one final stone cannon aimed right at Aleksander's head. I ducked my head down so that Rudy would have a clean shot to finish him off.
*BOOM*
Once again, I heard Rudy's deafening spell go off.
'That's it! We've w-'
'What? What is this? What happened?'
I felt an intense crushing pain in my chest.
I stood back up and looked down, only to find the tip of my own blade sticking right out the center of my chest, coming in from the back side.
'Ah. I'm dead.'
***** Rudeus' POV *****
Father threw one of my kunai at Aleksander and then went in for a charge using the other one. Aleksander narrowly dodged the kunai that was thrown, but seemed too tired to evade the incoming charge.
Using the opportunity that Paul had created, I used my gauntlet to teleport to the thrown kunai and appeared about three meters behind Aleksander. I reached out and charged up another stone cannon to finish him off.
Paul was still locked up with the North God, but he seemed to have seen me appear behind them and ducked down out of the way so I would have a clear shot with my spell.
*BOOM*
The stone cannon launched with such such speed that it caused a supersonic boom as it zipped through the air.
However, just as the spell was being fired, Aleksander raised up my father's sword that he had taken and plunged it down into my father's back while ducking just under my spell that was flying straight at his head.
Aleksander and Father both staggered back a few steps from one another. Paul looked down in shock at the blade piercing straight through his heart while Aleksander glanced over at him and smirked at his handiwork.
"Heh...", he laughed as he glanced back at me. "Serves you right."
As he said this, he collapsed onto his back and stopped moving. It seems he used everything he had left just to take father out with him
'Bastard!', I tried to yell out, but all I managed was gurgled coughing with the arrow still lodged in my neck.
A healer!? I need a healer! Wait! Mimir is here, right? He's the healer for Counter Arrow.
I looked back hopefully only to see Mimir's mangled body sprawled out on the ground beside what was left of Phillip's carriage. He was badly burned and disfigured; obviously dead.
'Damn! Fuck!'
I looked back over towards my father who was taking slow unsteady steps towards me while reaching his hand out.
"Take... Take care of... your mother."
As he said these final words, he collapsed face down onto the ground right in front of me.
'No! You can't die! Not again!'
I reached down and pulled the sword out from his back and flipped him back over. I placed both my hands on his bleeding chest and began to try and heal him.
A dim, yellow-green light emitted from my hands, but it didn't look like it was doing anything to close the wound.
'Shit! This is way beyond anything I've been able to do without an incantation. The most I've ever done is heal small cuts, and even that would take several minutes.'
I continued to try and heal him, giving everything I had... to no avail.
'Damn it! I can't concentrate!'
I'm not sure if it is from blood loss or the stream of tears flowing from my eyes, but my vision was getting extremely blurry; so much so that it was getting hard to make anything out.
I wiped the blood and tears from my eyes and could see a little clearly again only to find the light leaving Father's eyes. He was dying. There was nothing I could do.
'No! You can't die! Not again! I won't allow it!'
I continued trying to heal his body, but couldn't see any effect. My vision was getting blurred again.
I was starting to get dizzy as well. I can hardly breathe. Every time I force a breath, there is such sharp pain it feels like I'm getting stabbed.
'NO!!!! NO!!! YOU CAN'T DIE!! NOOOOOO!!!!'
I could feel it. I was beginning to lose consciousness.
With one final push I put absolutely everything I had into healing him. There's no way I was going to let him die for my sake. Not again! Norn and Aisha need their father! Please, father! Wake up!
At this point I couldn't even see anymore.
"Rudy? Rudy is that you? Rudy! Rudy, wake up!"
I could hear his voice. I did it. I saved him.
With that I could die in peace.
My face relaxed into a contented smile as I finally gave in to the exhaustion.