Chereads / Mania: Epoch of Sovereignty / Chapter 10 - The Moon, My Being, My Existence

Chapter 10 - The Moon, My Being, My Existence

Before my death, it's recorded that human's had no powers. On the other hand, no other animals had systems, just humans. And once I died, a new age of humanity began.

Whether it was my individual power or power that entered from Heaven via the hole I created, I had no clue. There's nothing to go off. Just my death.

The very same historians also claim that there was a huge hole above what is now Londun, Voloria. The most-northern kingdom, which bordered the country we're at war with, Montag, and Skandia who is currently aiding Kyotara on the Eastern continent against Carmeth.

Amerith is the only country/kingdom at war on the northern part of the main continent. 

The south is where wars constantly happen. Hell, there's five countries in the south alone that are at war.

But that's not important right now.

What is important is how I'm currently navigating a cave with no light.

To see in the dark is one of the many abilities an assassin holds. 

'Just how far have I gone?' I thought, looking down at the map. I'd already covered nearly two-thirds of the paper.

Pondering if I should continue or go back, I heard movement behind me, turning as fast I could.

I equipped my 'Moonshadow Dirks'.

'Cloak!'

The shadows engulfed me, the two of us becoming one. The ground shook, rubble falling from the high ceiling of the cave.

Turning my gaze to the right, the growing rumble resonated through the surroundings. Even within the protective embrace of shadows, the noise remained unmistakably loud, creating an atmosphere charged with anticipation.

What entered my vision was a large humanoid being made of rocks, standing well over thirty feet. 

'That's right. They said they'd summon other shit like these golems.' I took a moment and looked at my skills.

[Skills]

-Passive Skills: Aeonis lvl max, Mirage's Mask lvl 2, Shadow Control lvl 5, Assassination Instinct lvl 5, Ruthless Efficiency lvl max, Evasion lvl max.

-Active Skills: Eagle Eye lvl 3, Shadowstep lvl 1, Surgical Strike lvl 3, Quick Draw lvl 1, stealth lvl 1

[Class Skills]

-Active Skills: Razor's Edge lvl 6, Steady Hand lvl 6.

'Release!' I was unveiled from the shadows. The golem turned around, but I swiftly hid behind a pillar of rocks that connected to the top. I heard faint noises from the golem's area.

Four people were in my view. A mage holding a staff, meaning he's a relatively low level or the exact opposite, an extremely high level. Two warriors who were holding their guns as opposed to their swords. 'Idiots.'

Lastly, a hunter holding a bow and arrow. 

The mage held his staff up to the golem, preparing to launch an attack on it. "Glacier!" He yelled, the orb on the tip of the staff turned from a dark purple to a royal blue. "Attack!" The hunter said, the two warriors began shooting the golem.

With a wave of the mage's staff, a massive block of ice manifested, and a cascade of frozen structures followed suit. They rose one after another, creating a glacial barrier that climbed to imprison the golem, restricting its every move.

"Now!" The mage roared. The hunter knocked an arrow, mumbling a chant as the arrow began to glow.

'She put a sigil on the arrow, not the bow?'

The ice around the golem began to crack. The warriors retreated and yelled, "shoot it before the ice breaks!" Her eyes struck open, a gust of wind circling around the arrow. 

She released the arrow, a deafening resound going through the cave.

The moment the arrow hit the golem, a large amount of dust went flying. "Did we get it?" One of the warriors asked. "I haven't got any exp. Damn it!" The mage cursed.

Then, I felt the ground shake once more, and the golem appeared from the dust, kicking one of the warriors. "Holy shit ru-!" The other warrior met the same fate.

"What now, Kieran!" The hunter asked, shooting off as many arrows she could whilst running. The mage held his staff up again, "I'll use up the entirety of my arcane storage!"

She dodged an attack, shooting another arrow and said, "but you'll faint!"

The orb turned yellow, "just give me a potion after you kill it!" He laughed, swinging his staff downwards to the ground, "LIGHTNING BOLT!"

Crashing through the mountain, it collided with the golem, obliterating the entire surroundings. I pressed my head against the rocks, feeling the rush of wind from the impact on my sides. As the chaos ceased, I looked up again, sunlight piercing through from above.

"GRWAHHH!" The golem was still in one piece. Although it was beginning to crumble.

'Eagle Eye.' Floating above the golem, it's HP bar.

[127,450/500,000]

Her bowstring hummed as she fired a volley of arrows, a select few adorned with activated sigils. The golem crouched low, delivering a powerful swing with its colossal fist. Clenching her teeth, she absorbed the brutal blows, eventually being flung into the unforgiving embrace of a nearby wall.

'They had their chance. Cloak!' I traversed through the shadows, just before hitting the sunlight. 'The EXP is mine now.'

The golem loudly groaned. "Shadowstep!"

Cloak hides me in the shadows, Shadowstep makes me walk on them.

I teleported behind the golems head onto his neck, a sliver of shadow there. Before the golem had time to react, "Surgical Strike!" My twin daggers appeared into my hands, and I accurately hit the golems' weak points using the passive skill 'Assassination Instinct'.

[Critical Hit!]

The golem lunged for its neck, but I agilely hopped onto its head, sliding over the rough surface. Seizing the opportunity, I gripped its yellow crystallized eye, ruthlessly stabbing it multiple times before swiftly leaping off.

Attempting to step on me, I dodged. After evading, I ran under its body and saw something on the back of its lower leg. 'Water! From that mage's first attack!'

With a swift twist of my body, I uttered, "Surgical Strike!" My motions entered autopilot mode, blades scraping against the golem's coarseness. Clenching my teeth, I detected a small, unsteady piece of rock within. Intensifying my efforts, I eventually returned to the solid ground.

Raising my gaze, the golem descended onto one knee, stirring up a cloud of dust that obscured my vision. Struggling to navigate through, I glimpsed movement within. Before I could shout, a forceful impact struck me, sending me tumbling tens of feet away. "Kuack!!" I coughed up blood.

I quickly rose to my feet. "!" The golem attacked once more, dissipating the smoke, but I dodged. It was still on one knee. The knee I injured, the golem ripped it off and was using it like a bat.

I readied myself, waiting for an opportune moment to strike.

'One chance is all I ne-!'

"A two for one special, huh?"

I turned around.

'The hunter!' My eyes widened as I saw her aiming directly at me. The arrow she was using, it was as white as the snow, causing the ground to freeze around her, "thanks for hurting it some more."

The air turned chilly, and she released the arrow, "NO!" I turned as fast I could and threw one of my daggers at her. Right as I threw it, I hopped off the ground, spinning midair, and tossed my other one right near the golem's eye. Her arrow made an impact with my dagger, an explosion filling the sky.

"Shadowstep!" Snow was falling, and having teleported on the golem, I nearly slipped on the newfound wetness before regaining my composure. "My daggers are gone, but I can still get rid of you." I reminded the golem.

 "Shadows are not a problem for me." The hunter murmured.

Gripping my left wrist with my right hand, I extended my palm toward the back of the golem's head. Intricate tattoos materialized, a moon on my left hand and a sun on my right swirling into existence with mesmerizing patterns.

The air got heavy, the golem and hunter unable to move.

"A soul is one's calling," a small black orb was hovering from my palm. " I have destroyed over a billion souls, the universe my witness. My body a crumbling throne, still seething in ice." The orb got larger, consuming everything into darkness. "While I take shape, my soul endures."

All sound ceased to exist, and so did all material things that I wished for. The golem, eradicated.

My body was one with the darkness. I didn't walk through it. I was it. 

"Where am I?!"

'The hunter…'

Sound does not exist here, I merely heard what she was trying to say. 

A section of the darkness, detached from the assimilated mass, separated and clung to her head. She trembled, struggling to swing her bow against the encroaching influence.

However, this was my province.

"You've seen me," my voice gutturally and gravelly continued in her consciousness. After all, what is in the shadow is also myself. "Humans are said to be beings able to persevere. Do you think you can?" The shadows no longer surrounded her, they melted onto her body.

She began to plead. Tears tried to fall, but no sense of gravity exists here. It simply exists.

As she became one and none with me, the shadows dissipated. 

'I'll have to make sure I got a good story.' Around me, neither the golem nor the hunter were here. As I began walking away, the other three members in her group began to awake. 

'I can worry about it later.'