The group of elves flying at high speeds felt the strong wave in the distance. Soon after, they felt the thick walls of the palace tremble; as more time passed, the vibrations could be felt to increase, and two energies filled the air. One of the energies was in its natural state, but the other energy seemed to be contaminating it. The elf with blond hair and hazel eyes spoke:
"I didn't know natural mana could be used like that."
Eru was shocked. The invader was, without a doubt, dangerous. Ever since he saw him, he knew that he was the leader; his instinct told him to be careful of that black sphere that formed on his finger. That sphere contained enough energy to shatter everything around it. If it weren't for that being that pulled them away from the area, they would have been caught in the middle of the collision. They were already far away, but it was difficult to even breathe because of the dark energy moving through the air. He didn't want to even imagine what it felt like to be in the place where such energy originated. A tall elf with a wound on his side answered; he seemed to have been stabbed in that place:
"Using natural mana like that is ineffective."
"So you're saying that being will lose?"
"He'll probably run out of mana first, though I doubt he'll go down easily."
"What do you base your claim that it won't fall so easily on?"
"That elemental has been screwing us for some time now, and from what I understand, he easily defeated Idril."
"That?"
"It's just as I said; from what I heard, Idril lost to him."
"You mean that thing is an elemental?"
"According to Mr. Angrod's words, it is."
Eru didn't know what his master had based his claim that the being was an elemental on. The thing didn't look like an elemental; it had more of the shape of a monster.
"So he's an ally?"
"No."
"So why are you helping us?"
"I don't know; I just know that we have orders not to disturb that elemental under any circumstances."
"Did the king give that order?"
"No; it was his father."
Eru was even more shocked by what he heard. For his master Angrod to give such an order, just how dangerous was that being? As they spoke, they noticed that the pressure the invader was emitting was increasing with each passing second. This worried everyone; if that being was defeated, they would be back to square one. Eru noticed that the speed at which they were moving was decreasing every time the pressure the invader was emitting increased. It was obvious who had the advantage. After a while, their bodies finally descended to the ground. Noticing this, the high elf who was injured spoke:
"Looks like it ran out of power."
"He must be having a hard time. That guy he's fighting is no joke; his attribute is, without a doubt, darkness."
"It's not as simple as that."
"What do you mean by that, Keijo?"
"The bastard who raised the barrier can control the dead."
At those words, Eru's face hardened; his face became extremely serious. There was only one thing they knew of that could make a dead person stand up and fight as if he were alive. Eru asked, his voice worried:
"A lich has appeared?"
"Yes, and the best case scenario I can imagine would be that the elemental defeats that invader. As for the worst case scenario... well, just imagine that the invader defeats the elemental and manages to control it somehow."
Keijo's words left the group of running elves cold. The thought alone gave them goosebumps. Eru said:
"That would be a big problem; however, we must first ensure the safety of the royal family."
With that statement, everyone agreed and soon increased the speed at which they ran.
Inside a gigantic crater two figures could be seen. One of the figures was breathing heavily, and the other was just staring at the panting individual. The panting person spoke:
"How much energy do you have, bastard?"
"Enough to kill you several times, what an idiot. You should have turned around and tried to escape."
"That amount of mana is not normal."
"Well, enough talk. What other power are you going to throw at me? You already used your energy beam and it was of no use. What else are you going to show me?"
The guy in the mask failed to finish me off. He couldn't seem to draw out any more power; he used up a lot of energy in the previous attack. The dark energy beam, in a moment, weakened and shrank. I did the same with mine; if I didn't, I doubted there would be anything left of it.
- ANALYSIS IS COMPLETE. THE SOURCE OF ITS ENORMOUS POWER LIES IN THE HEART. MULTIPLE SPELLS WERE DETECTED AROUND THE SOURCE; MOST ARE RESTRICTIONS, AND THE REST ARE TO HIDE THE SOURCE.
'I see. That's why I couldn't see his heart.'
- CORRECT.
'What do you say, D? Do we kill the bastard?'
- IT IS NOT RECOMMENDED TO BECOME THE TARGET OF THE BEING CALLED GARDOLAK.
'You're right. We'd better let someone else kill him for us.'
I had already made up my mind not to kill the masked man; I had no desire to earn a stalker named Gardolak. Without wasting any time, I began to approach him. My body currently didn't have a single external wound, but internally everything still hurt, and that pain worsened with every second I spent near that dark power. The first thing that came to my mind was to activate my authority, but after thinking it over, I gave up on the idea. I decided to save it for when I was about to die at someone's hands. Arriving in front of the guy in question, I stood up and we looked at each other face to face. His eyes radiated determination; I didn't know his motivations; he seemed ready to drag me with him to the depths of hell. With a smile, I said to him:
"I forgive you for mistaking me for a girl."
His eyes widened; it seemed like my words had surprised him, though that was the whole idea. Without a second thought, I used 'Wind Boost', 'Ice Heart', and 'Iron Skin' simultaneously. In an instant, I shot towards him and stabbed my right hand into the spot where his heart should be. He barely reacted to my attack; it was too late to dodge.
"Ugh, you..."
"I'll keep this. Consider it payment for sparing your life."
I squeezed hard and grabbed something hard that was on the masked man's chest. Without wasting any time, I ripped it off his chest; a black heart was pulled out of his chest.
"What a horrible heart you have."
"You... you... how...?"
I quickly moved away from the subject. In my right hand was a heart that emitted a deadly energy. The energy quickly tried to enter my pores; it was more than clear that this heart wanted to devour me in some way. Without wasting any time, I put it away in the bucket. As I put it away, I almost instantly received multiple reports:
- ABNORMAL ENERGY DETECTED.
- AN UNKNOWN ENTITY IS TRYING TO TAKE CONTROL OF OUR BEING.
- AN AUTHORITY HAS BEEN DETECTED.
- AUTHORITY ALREADY HAS A NAME: 'DEATH'. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO REPLICATE SUCH AUTHORITY.
'Does that heart have will?'
- YES. THE POWER THAT LIES WITHIN THE HEART SEEMS TO BE CONNECTED TO AN EXTREMELY POWERFUL ENTITY.
'Hahaha, what does that matter to me? Start learning everything you can about that power and don't let anything weird get into us. If you can't replicate the authority, just take what can be replicated.'
- UNDERSTOOD. IT WILL TAKE SOME TIME. THE HEART ITSELF IS A SORT OF RESTRAINT THAT PREVENTS THE STRANGE ENTITY FROM TAKING CONTROL. THE TRUE POWER LIES DEEP DOWN.
'Do what you have to do. It's not every day that we come across this kind of power.'
- UNDERSTOOD.
After putting the black heart into the bucket, I looked at the masked guy. He was clutching the hole in his chest. Usually, a normal person would have died if they lost their heart, but this guy wasn't bleeding to begin with; his body was the strangest thing; it was as if he was already dead. I said to the guy, jokingly:
"So the reason you didn't use all that power was because the entity connected to that power was trying to control you?"
Aris's face frowned. He had originally planned to finish the human off in a minute, but to his surprise, a certain being attacked him from within his mind the more power he used. He had no choice but to regulate his power to prevent him from taking control, but that didn't matter anymore; his power had been stolen. Aris let out a sigh to calm himself down; it was obvious that this was his defeat.
"I admit it, you are strong. I underestimated you too much."
"You realized it quite late."
"And what are you going to do now? Kill me?"
"I already told you that I would spare your life in exchange for this power."
"Do you know how dangerous that power is?"
"Hahaha. Just because you can't control it doesn't mean I can't."
"I'll take my companions and leave. So, the mission failed."
Aris concentrated the residual dark energy that remained within him, and with a wave of his hand, space distorted and two figures appeared, both of whom looked noticeably wounded. Eldarion spoke almost instantly:
"Aris, bring us back. We almost managed to finish off the elven princess."
The first thing Eldarion said was that the elven princess had almost been killed. This did not go unnoticed by a certain white-haired human. The human said:
"What did you say?"
Eldarion noticed too late the small figure watching him in the distance. When he saw it, he cursed internally and quickly looked at Aris and asked:
"Aris, why is that guy still alive?"
"Eldarion, be quiet. We're retreating."
"What happened to your chest, Aris?"
"Nobody goes anywhere until I allow them to."
The childish voice was accompanied by an insane pressure that made it difficult for them to breathe. The small figure of a certain child radiated mana in large quantities, although this time the mana was not hidden; therefore, people could feel the immensity of said power. The small figure asked, his usual smile nowhere to be seen:
"Did you come to kill the elf girl?"
With that simple question, a deathly silence fell on the surroundings. The pressure exerted by the small figure increased with each passing second. Soon, an answer entered their ears:
"Yes, we came to end that girl's life."
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't turn them into ground beef."
The three individuals felt it: one wrong answer, and it would all be over for them. Aris answered, as if he were under no pressure:
"Certain individuals want the princess dead, as they fear her power. We made a deal with them. That's all I can say."
"That's not a valid reason. I want a good reason not to finish you off here and now."
"There is nothing more to say."
"Hahahaha. I see. Then, I'll make it easy for you. One of you will stay here; let's say you'll be the sacrifice for the rest to escape. Make a decision; it should be easy for you to decide; after all, it was very easy for you to try to kill an innocent girl."