"Wind Team, be on stand by. Earth Team, prepare to attack! 3, 2, 1… ATTACK!"
The ground begins to rumble and shake. The entire forest shook as a wave of dirt consumes the monster cluster in front of us. After a moment, after the crunching bones and monster groans stop, I shout out my next orders.
"Wind Team, prepare to push the smell up as high as you can. Earth Team, gather the corpses and create a giant bowl. Fire Team, get rid of the corpses once the Earth Team finishes."
As I finish with my orders, I get back and rest. I had led the charge and gathered this cluster here for the teams to handle. I needed to rest before the next cluster appears.
As I rest, a group came towards me. They were being led by that guy.
"Resting already? Lord Ned had you lead us but here you are, just sitting while the team does the job."
The guy was some young noble, looking to gain Ned's favor by harassing me the entire time. Those following him were his lackeys. All friends or family of his.
Before I could rebuttal, another voice chimes in.
"Don't tell me that young master Beavis doesn't understand basic battle tactics?"
I turn to see Mr. Finny standing behind me. Beavis turns red. Of course he knows basic battle tactics. He's a noble child who's been taught it all. He just wanted to belittle me and whatever I accomplished.
"Tch. Let's go."
Beavis and his groupies leave after. They kept glaring back as they went.
"Don't worry about them. You're doing good."
Mr. Finny gives me a compliment and pats me on the shoulder. An awkward silence follows. It finally broke after Mr. Finny spoke up.
"Look, Romeo. I didn't mean to smack you earlier. It's just that I-."
"There's no need to explain Mr. Finny. We can speak after."
There was no need to bring it up anymore. At this point, it's just awkward for me to think about. If he truly insists then I could entertain that conversation after the danger passes.
As the two of us once again sit in silence, a man comes running, shouting my name.
"Sir Romeo! Please, we need your help! A cluster suddenly appeared near our location. By our estimation, they're half a mile from us."
I quickly get up and rush towards the cluster. I turn back to the man.
"What direction? I will check it out myself."
The man pointed a bit north east and I left in that direction.
-
As I got closer, I heard many monstrous noises. Grunts, stomps, huffs and puffs. I stayed in the trees as I jumped from tree to tree.
Within a few minutes I had reached the outer parts of the cluster. The forest was very overgrown and shrouded in darkness. I had to use my vision skill to get a full understanding of what was happening.
"Oh shit!!"
When I activated my vision skill, it didn't even show me the monster's names. All that appeared was "Monster Stampede.". The damn vision skill had recognized that the cluster had become an actually stampede!
I need to warn the others!
As I turn to leave, I suddenly heard someone shout something.
"Seven Soul Sealing!"
A bright red barrier suddenly appeared before me. I looked around me and realized that it was more of a dome that had circled me. The worst part was that the monster stampede was stuck in here as well.
"HAHAHA! I'm sure Lord Ned will reward me for getting rid of you!"
I look in the direction to see Beavis standing just outside the barrier.
"Beavis! What the hell is this?! Let me out! We have to warn the others!"
Beavis just looked at me like I was an idiot.
"Are you dumb Sir Romeo!? You're going to die here! With your death, my ascension to power and my position as the House Head is secured. Why would I let you leave this barrier alive?"
I felt my hands shake with anger. Who the fuck even is this guy?! Some shitty noble NPC brat was trying to kill me? This guy was just some unknown NPC that came out of no where and started annoying me. I have to...
I pressed my hands against the barrier and activated "Beelzebub". I didn't know if it would work but I had to give it a try. Sadly, it didn't work.
"Fuck!!"
When I tried activating the skill, a window popped up. It said that my rank was to low to do this action. I turn back to see that the monster stampede was closing in on me. I tried to think of what to do while ignoring Beavis' mocking cackle. As he kept laughing, a older man came up from behind him.
"Young Master Beavis. I've taken care of the barrier, what should we do now?"
"HAHA! You hear that Romeo!? With General Peter here, the barrier has been reinforced by a Advanced Rank! You won't break free with your weak self!", he turns to the general. "Let's go general, we can collect whatever is left of his body after."
As he spoke, something dawned on me. Maybe my sword could destroy the barrier? It should be one of the strongest sword, it might be able to shatter it. I stood back and took out the sword.
Beavis and the general shuttered and began to run. They both remembered what happened earlier when I had the sword out.
I looked at Bane Mortem. The shimmering purple blue light was truly a magnificent thing to see. I took the sword and just swung it at the barrier. The barrier shook when the sword made contact. The monsters also seem to feel the power of the sword and began running towards me.
"I got to go faster!"
I activated my gravity manipulation and made the sword heavier. It was still light enough for me to carry but heavier than before. Using two hands, I swung the sword down as hard as I could. When the sword hit the barrier, a loud boom could be heard.
The barrier shattered and fell down like glass. That was when all hell broke loose.
The monsters knew they were trapped but when the barrier broke, they began to move before something else appeared and stopped them. The same powerful roar from earlier echoed throughout the forest. Shortly after, the stampede came running at me.
"Fuck!!"
-
As the two ran away, Beavis kept shouting orders at the general.
"Stop him! Don't allow him to leave alive!"
General Peter hesitated. If he stayed behind, he would surely die along with Roman but he had no choice. Beavis was a minor villain in the town and he has a reputation for being ruthless to the servants who disobey him.
"Leave it to me sir!"
With this, it bought Beavis more time to return to the group and make up a story that would paint Roman in a bad light. As he ran off, the general took out his great axe and waited for Roman. He didn't know how he was going to survive but he was sure that Roman would die.
As the general waited, Roman was getting close to his position. Roman had slowed since he was far faster than the stampede. This gave him the chance to see what kind of monsters he would have to deal with.
From your typical fantasy creatures like goblins and orcs to others you don't usually see like trolls, giants and wyverns. There were even some that looked like earth animals that were fused with a monster. He saw what he thought was a regular bison but it had a giant tentacle monster attached to it's back. It made disgusting wet noises and was always wiggling around.
As he got closer, he saw the general that had left with Beavis.
"Is he really trying to stop me?"
Roman couldn't believe it honestly. He thought that they were too cowardly to do anything but the general was a general for a reason.
"Unfortunately general! You'll wish you've died a lot sooner!"
He moved faster and attacked the general before he could react. Roman sliced off one of his legs with Bane Mortem. The general fell down as he screamed in pain.
"Sorry general. With this sword's effect, your tired body and your reduced stats, even a weak Advanced Rank like you would fall to me. But don't worry, those things will keep you company as you go on to the after life."
He looked up at me with fear and then in the direction the monsters were coming from. The monsters closes were female orcs. I saw the fear in his eyes. Well, it's not my problem. He should have left with Beavis instead of waiting here for me.
I continue on as I hear the general plea for forgiveness and asks me to kill him instead but I just ignore those cries. I had actually people to save.
-
(A/N: quick explanation even though I don't like doing this. It felt necessary here. In a regular fair fight, Roman is losing to the general. Many factors led to his defeat. The barrier set up by him required a lot of sacrifices, that you guys will see later. Bane Mortem's skill also drained him of his stats if you can recall it's abilities. So not only was he scared, tired and unable to think clearly, his stats were about the same as Roman's, making him very vulnerable.)