"Where is Bruce Goldeneye right now?"
[{Deep within the Thornbore forest East from here at a small cottage }]
"Well let's get to it?" He beamed a smile as his dual scythes grazed each other creating a small spark. He headed towards the forest which was teeming with creatures of different ranks with the stronger ones deeper within the forest. At the outskirts were beasts that lacked rank while venturing further inwards creatures with stronger ranks began to emerge. With the weakest being E ranking upwards to B rank and some A rank but these were extremely few. Finally he made it to a small cottage put in the middle of nowhere shrouded in darkness as the sunlight was hard to reach these parts due to the dense canopy enclosing the place from above.
He made small steps up the stairs and made a small knock on the door.
*Knock- Knock- Knock*
He softly knocked on the door to which the he was left unanswered. "Excuse me but it would seem that I got a little lost. If you could open the door for me I'd appreciate it as there are scary monsters out here." He shyly said. Five minutes passed before a voice came from inside saying ,"Go back kid. We can't help you." The voice boomed to which Aldritch commented ,"I'm sure you could open the door for a split second for me... Leroy." There was dead silence before the voice inside asked ,"How long have you been following us and who do you work for ?" Tired of these games Aldritch broke down the reinforced door with mana and welcomed himself inside.
"Was it so hard to do that ?" He quizzed but nobody replied. Inside the secluded cottage were four knights two with A rank, Bruce Goldeneye with S rank and another in B rank. There was a communication device on the table which required mana to be imbued in it for activation. The rest of the cottage looked pretty run down with dim lighting and worn out furniture. '"The reason why you didn't have your meeting back at the castle was due to fear of being followed but finding rats like you is easy." "Who are you ?" Bruce asked with a startled look on his face. "Feel free to address me as the Troll Devil." The knights exchanged glances before they looked at the dark shaded individual infront of them. "Well it's time to put this cute little meeting of yours to an end. One out of four will be making out of here so chose wisely."
The four men burst into laughter as they ridiculed the Troll Devil. "Do you have any idea who you are threatening? And how are we suppose to be afraid of a person who doesn't even have the slightest mana signatures around him." Leroy who was A rank joked. He had lively brown hair, piercing black eyes and a well built frame. Bruce on the other was somehow wary of the person standing infront of them. "How did you make it through the forest? It's infested with rampaging beasts that would threaten to kill you in an instant." The knights stopped their laughter and realized this truth. If the Troll Devil really had made it all the way out here then either he was extremely lucky or he had a rank that he covertly hiding form them. It was apparent that luck had nothing to do with it so it was probably the latter.
The Troll Devil looked at the quartet before he resumed ,"So which one of you gets to live." Another knight who had a dominating aura around him with red hair, red eyes and somehow had the shortest height among the four in B rank blurted ,"We'll make it through together as we are one family..." Before he could continue his sentence.
*Thud*
His head fell on the rotting wooden floor silencing the entire room. 'Maybe it's him.' Bruce thought but the Troll Devil unmasked his aura of a S rank to the knights making them reconsider their thoughts. Sure Bruce Goldeneye was the same rank as him but if the two were to engage themselves in a fight,it could prove disadvantageous to them as the beasts would be alerted to their location. "Have you decided who gets to live or will I simply kill everyone here ?" He stated in a deep ominous voice concealing his actual voice. Bruce went ahead of the duo and said in an authoritative voice ,"Fall back to the kingdom. I'll keep him distracted." Leroy wanted to refute this order but it was not the time and along with his comrade fled the cottage through an emergency back door installed.
"Do you really think I'm alone? My comrades will put their lives to rest." Blatantly speaking he tried to intimidate him but his gaze unfazed by this piece of information looked at him with undying resolve to vanquish the man infront of him. Of course he didn't have any comrades as he preferred to work alone but the fact that he would be engrossed in a fight with Bruce didn't mean that he couldn't deal with the two escaping knights. Brandishing his sickles both he and Bruce against each other with first letting their aura dominate the grounds around them. No matter how much Bruce raised his aura,the Troll Devil raised his to equal and cancel each other. After five minutes of display of each other's strength, a battle ensued between the two.
[{Take over system. And match his pace slowly gaining the upper hand but do not kill him}]
[{Executing command host}]
As his body and Bruce tussled it out exchanging blows each portraying their skillful mastery in combat, Aldritch brought out a puppet that was strikingly similar to what he had adorned and possessing it,he went in search of the two knights without Bruce's knowledge. Catching up to the two knights was an easy feat as they had both taken rest to recover their energy spent in fleeing. The way back to the kingdom was long not to mention they had to move carefully so as to avoid alerting the wild beasts that inhabited the forest despite their ranks. Sure they could take on the weaker ranks but these were located at the outskirts of the forest and they were knee deep in the forest where the more powerful ones were. Alerting one could result in a chain reaction of alerting more as these ones traveled in packs for their own safety. "Are we far enough?" One of the two asked Leroy but he responded ,"We have to take the longer route as it's safer. As for Bruce's safety, he's a seasoned veteran soldier hardened in battle so he'll be okay."
*Snap*
A twig of a tree snapped and with their senses heightened noticed the Troll Devil seated in a relaxed manner observing the two from above. Leroy realizing that the anonymous individual was here could only mean one thing, Bruce was dead. Wasting no time the two knights cast a A rank barrier around them to shield themselves from any incoming attacks the opponent would have up his sleeve. The Troll Devil surprisingly continued to watch the two withholding their position but they couldn't hold that position forever but then again he had to go back to keep on portraying as Luke so he wasting the day away here wasn't ideal.
So he chose to go about it from a different perspective. "I'm not going to outpower you." He said through his taunting mask. "I'm going to outnumber you to your demise." The two knights were bewildered by his statement. They were two while he was only one so how was he going to outnumber them. 'Peharps he will call for reinforcements.' Leroy thought but what happened next made them start shaking in fear. "Is it just me or do you feel that?" The knight asked but Leroy responded with fear in his voice ,"I feel it. But how is he doing that?" According to their senses,they felt a monstrous hoard of beasts heading towards them ranging across various ranks but what baffled them was their number.
Judging from their senses there should be hundreds heading straight for them. The was a loud rumbling that came straight for them with trees that stood in the hoards way felled and trampled upon. Creatures with the weakest being C class and the highest being A rank finally made it to the small opening where the knights stood their ground. As if by coordination they first surrounded the two from all directions then they started to ram the barrier in place. Facing such a perilous situation the two could only grit their teeth and hold on as long as possible. The two looked at the culprit who continued to sit on the branch way up high observing the whole the whole situation unfold and realize that it was all his doing but what good was this information considering their predicament. They needed to get out of here fast and Leroy was able to come up with an idea though it's chances of succession was pretty low.
"I have an idea Edward but only one of us is going to lay down their lives." Leroy said conveying the details of his plain idea. It involved one of them to keep on sustaining the barrier and the other to make a run for it to safety. "I'll fend them off for some time whilst you break for it." Edward said willing to sacrifice his life to which Leroy agreed. To divert the beasts attention,they would have to intentionally lower the strength of the barrier at one point making them to focus their attention here. And Leroy would make a run for it using a flight talisman he had on him for dire circumstances. The beasts snarled as they had completely surrounded the small dome portraying their razor sharp teeth threatening to tear the knights' bodies. Leroy cast a sixth tier explosion spell affecting a huge radius that made the creatures to retreat momentarily with some dying whilst others had bits of their body burnt further fueling their anger.
With the plan now rolling in action, Leroy did not hesitate to activate the talisman and was able to get out and free but shortly after he could hear the deafening screams of Edward as he got ripped and diced at the clutches of the monsters. He looked at the Troll Devil who continued to watch him without showing any signs of giving chase sitting on the branch with a calm aura around him. Rising high up in the air, he shouted as he made his escape
"I will remember this Troll Devil !!"
...
*Buzz*
Making a couple of meters of the site an ear piercing buzz rang in the air with this being a rail gun the Troll Devil held with his right arm in a shooting stance. The device would emit radioactive beams towards it's target travelling at the speed of light making dodging impossible. It was a manifestation of his clothes taking on such a deadly weapon thanks to the nanotechnology his clothes were made of and with the help with his will. The weapon deformed forming back to his clothes and he jumped off the branch perfectly landing on one of the black furred panther that was feasting on Edward's corpse on A rank. With the panther's swift agility and swiftness,he made it to Leroy who had been shot out of the sky and now lay on the ground with his face contorted in pain and agony that courses through his body. A large hole right through his chest was visible resulting in attraction of stray monsters making him a perfect prey. Leroy was baffled with what he had been hit with as his senses didn't notify him of any danger and it wouldn't.
Sure he was A rank and a seasoned fighter but compared to the reaction of speed of light,the comparison was simply too large for him to sense. Even if he did feel it,he couldn't dogde it as he would have to move his body faster than the speed of light which his body would turn to ash so facing such a a weapon, the outcome was considered predetermined. He tried every single healing spell he had but the radiation coursing in his body was faster and unaware of what plagued his body,he could only wait for death. The Troll Devil crouched down and looked at Leroy writhing in pain and chuckled ,"You won't die alone." He manifested a small glowing orb but unbeknownst to Leroy, it was radioactive further worsening his state at a low intensity. All creatures started to groan in pain as they struggled to flee this place with the only person unaffected being the Troll Devil.