Chapter 23: The road to Falas

Damn it! Kibadios cursed as he exhaustedly leaned back into a corner. Next to him were Maia and Rowan, their bloody bodies laid unconsciously on the ground . A few blocks of rubbles away were the severely wounded Ryan and Yllaner, who were busy tending for Kyles, whose chest had been pierced through by a metal pipe. The great capital of Lorian, the pride of the Kingdom of Maeg, was reduced to nothing but ashes. Hovering on top of the sole standing structure, the Royal Tower that once housed the magical barrier that acted as the Royal Palace's last line of defense, a hideous winged creature looked down at the carnage it had caused, yet tears filled up its eyes and streamed down its cheek.

「...Kibadios… Some… Somebody… Anybody… Please… 」It barely spoke before diving down toward Kibadios and the panicking crowd.

I was too careless! Kibadios raised his scythe and readied to receive the creature's attack. Yet, he knew he was no match for this Celestial Threat . The only way he could come out triumphant would be to fuse with HaoS. But how could he, for Adela was now observing the fight from the distance, a twisted grin donned her face. If he summoned HaoS, his identity as her worst nemesis would be revealed since she knew too well that no other being in Esthar would be capable of performing such a feat asides himself. Running away was another viable option. But that meant leaving his three slaves and Sylvia's reincarnation, princess Yllaner, to die. It was the most logical action to take, yet, somehow, he could not do it. Without him knowing, his three precious slaves have become such a big part in his pathetic life that he could no longer abandon them. And Yllaner too. Sharing the same face as his beloved Sylvia, how could he leave her? Damn it! How did it come to this!

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The journey to the north eastern region, where the City of Falas was located, did not take that long the moment Kibadios' party decided to follow the main road. From the jungle and thick vegetation landscapes that covered the land near the Royal Capital, the scenery before Kibadios' eyes have slowly transformed to a grassland terrain, mixed in with a few ranges of mountains, protruding from the flatland from afar. The cold wind at the end of the fall season started to blow from the North, sending chills down the three (intentionally) lightly dressed companions of Kibadios. Although the hybrid did not feel any cold with his superb control of Haki, the others in his group were a different story. And so, during the last settlement they visited, the hybrid had bought his slaves extra cloaks to wrap and protect themselves from the increasingly cold weather. Presently, both Rowan and Maia were hiding inside the cozy carriage, leaving their master and Ryan outside to steer the horses. Unlike the other two, although not at Kibadios' level, Ryan was much more adept at controlling his Haki so he was able to protect himself from the cold wind. What he was not able to protect against was his master���s constant nimble kisses and touches as the hybrid was sitting right behind him, his arms wrapped around his slave's torso while his hands molested the guy's sensitive nipples.

「We're almost at Falas, master. The traffic will get more crowded as we approach the city, maybe it's time for you to take hands out of my shirt.」The hero reminded his master.

「Hmm, what to do. My hands are still cold though.」Kibadios grinned as he leaned his chin on the hero's shoulder.

「How about this? If you take them out, I'll make sure tonight's sex will be one of the best we have ever had.」

「...Fine!」Kibadios finally removed his hands from Ryan's pants. 「I'll be looking forward to it」

Ryan sighed at his master's constant horniness.「Anyways, what shall we do when we get to Falas?」

「First thing first, we need to find Kyles and Princess Yllaner, right? They left a few days before us so they should have gotten there for a while. The next thing would be waiting for the prime minister's arrival. Before we left, he did say he will try his best to wrap up the work at the capital before leaving for Falas. Technically, without him, the only thing we can do is exterminating the monsters gathering close to Falas. We can't do nothing about the seal since who knows where they seal Ryujin.」

「...」Ryan stayed silent for a moment before finally deciding to ask his master the question he has always wanted to ask ever since he explained to his master about the Legend of Ryujin. 「Kibadios sama, I have always been meaning to ask… have you known about Ryujin before? 」

「Why do you ask?」

「It's just… It's just ever since our first meeting… actually more like when I explained to you about this world, I could feel your hatred oozed out from your body. Then when I explained about Ryujin, you seemed to have already known about him.」Ryan continued to list his every single suspicion he had about the hybrid and his past. 「Then Rowan chan told me how you said Princess Yllaner just looks like someone you knew in the past. And most confusingly of all, you were able to summon HaoS, one of the missing primal spirits. It just seemed to me you're more than just a typical .」

… One of the missing primal spirits? Did the Astral lose possession of others besides HaoS... Kibadios was surprised at the revelation, but he remained silent.

「I dont mean to upset you... but… but was what you told us about your village and your purpose to travel up along the Kidan River even true?」Ryan was prepared to see his master getting mad over his accusations, but to his surprise, the hybrid still warmly embraced him and showed no sign of irritation.

「It's true. But just like what I told you, Rowan, and Maia.」Kibadios calmly replied. 「There's no need to tell you about my past since it would change nothing. Rowan and Maia are still my loyal slaves. You're also my loyal slave. Aren't you? Even if you guys know my past and my purpose, will you ever disobey my command?」

「No, I would not.」Ryan turned to look at his master and answered without any hesitation. 「Though, knowing about your past would be nice since you will have someone that can share your pain... and possibly your hatred.」

… Is that so?... Maybe it is. Maybe if it's them, I can share with them… Kibadios stopped short of his thought. Still, this slave of mine, despite his trusting nature, is pretty sharp, huh?

「Ryan will stop you… He will...」Kibadios suddenly remembered what Ruek had initially warned him when they first met after he died.

「Say, Ryan chan.」Kibadios hugged his slave tightly before continuing. 「If one day, I do something despicable… something unspeakable… Will you also be on my side or will you carry out your heroic duty and stand against me?」

Ryan looked troubled for a moment. He has always felt as if his master was planning something sinister but this would be the first time Kibadios alluded about it directly to him.

「I actually dont know.」answered the hero honestly. 「I really want to say I will stand with you no matter what… but I really dont know if I would be able to. On the hand, I can't ever imagine going against your wish either.」

「Is that so?」Kibadios' face turned grimmed. Seriously, is he still under my skill? I will never figure it out, will I? 「If that's the case, I'm warning you. I don't care who will stand in my way, but I will never stop until I achieve my goal.」

「What if it's Yllaner sama who wants to stop you?」Ryan asked, partially out of curiosity and partially as a joke. All and all, he really wanted to invoke Yllaner's name to get his master to explain more about his past.

「Ha, Not even Sylvia can stop him, let alone Yllaner. 」Kibadios scoffed.

「... Sylvia? So that's the person you knew that shared the same look as Yllaner sama?」

「Are you trying to get me to talk about my past?」Kibadios could easily tell Ryan's intention.

「Yes, though you're making it really hard.」the hero casually admitted.

「... Who knows...Maybe some days, I'll tell you three about it.」

「「「Really?」」」All three of his slaves, even Rowan and Maia, who were eavesdropping from inside the carriage, excitedly asked.

「... Or maybe not!」Kibadios let go of Ryan, hurriedly stood up, looked worriedly at the sky 「Rowan, quick! Erect a barrier above us!!」

「Kibadios sama?」Ryan was alarmed at his master's sudden command. Of course, Rowan, who stayed inside, was also confused since he could not tell what was going. Yet, a large barrier was quickly constructed as the carriage came to a sudden stop.

BAAAMMM!!!

「What was it?」Both Rowan and Maia leapt out from the carriage, only to see their master and Ryan both looking up to the sky, cold sweat ran down the hero's cheek.

「... Wyverns?」Ryan mumbled. 「There should not be any wyvern around this region. How come there are two of them here? 」

��Aren't they high level monsters?」asked Maia.

「Yes, they're A-rank monsters according to the Guild Association's standard.」Ryan reached out to his sword. 「You two should be careful.」

「Hmm.」Kibadios carefully observed the situation. The two wyverns were still unable to break through the invisible barrier, their two large eyes glowed in frustration while their claws continuously smashed and scratched onto what appeared to be thin air to them.「It's true they're fairly strong, but they're as unintelligent as ever.」The hybrid thought for a moment, then continued. 「Actually, Rowan, dismiss your barrier. This is a good opportunity for you three to level up.」

「Huh?」surprised Rowan. 「You want us to fight them?」

「Yes.」Kibadios nodded. 「Ryan will assist you two if needed… three actually. NU! Come out here!」

「Chii!!!」Hearing his master's call, the slime quickly jumped out from the carriage and slid up the hybrid's body to his head. 「Chii? …. CHIIIIIII!!!!!」 Yet, one look at the two raging wyverns, the slime's somewhat solid body quickly turned liquidy as it melted down under its master's feet to hide from the two menacing monsters.

「Stop being a freaking scaredy-cat, Nu! 」Kibadios grabbed the slime and brought it to his eye level. 「You're a strong monster, act like one.」

「I think Nu is afraid because they're winged monsters.」suggested Maia.

「Oh, that's right!」nodded Rowan.「Wasn't it caught by some winged monsters as a prey when we first found it?」

「Yeah, thankfully the flying monsters dropped Nu down when it was hit with our strayed attacks. 」Ryan recalled. 「That might have traumatized Nu, causing it to be afraid of winged creatures」

「Hm… Well, get over it, Nu!」ordered Kibadios after he looked straight into its weeping eyes.

「I, too, am a winged creature.」Kibadios suddenly revealed his two dark incubus wings, spanning as much as the length of the whole carriage. 「Does it mean you're afraid of me? If you don't want to be my pet anymore and leave us, I'll let you.」

「Chii, Chi, Chiichi.」The slime vigorously shook his body, disagreeing with the idea.

「If you want to be with us, then get over your fear!」demanded Kibadios.

「CHII!」The slime confidently shouted. It seemed as though the threat of abandonment was enough to force the slime into facing his fear.

「Good! Dismiss the barrier, Rowan.」

「Yes, master!」the teenage healer obeyed as he waved his hand. Within seconds, the invisible disappeared into thin air, allowing the two wyvern to swoop down at the carriage. Seeing that all four of the participants in this trial that he concocted were ready, the hybrid swiftly flapped his wing and leaped backward away from the carriage, allowing his slaves and Nu to fight the wyverns on their own.

「Remember to keep the carriage intact!」

「「「Yes, master!」」」

Ryan himself jumped up to the air, receiving the strike of a monster five times his size. Despite the disadvantage, he was able to push the wyvern away from the carriage. The other wyvern was received by the courageous slime as it inflated itself and reflected the winged creature's attack. With the two wyverns being lured away from the carriage, the fight commenced while the hybrid stood silently on the side, nonchalantly judging each move his slaves made. The looks of wyverns did not change after 3000 years, Kibadios noticed. During his first reincarnation, he had fought with countless of these creatures when his party stormed the land of the Demon Overlord. Of course that was when he was at his peak. At his current condition, he doubted he could take on more than a dozen of them at a time without summoning HaoS or any of his other familiars. During his second reincarnation, being born as a monster acting as lab rat in the laboratory, he had seen a few of wyvern corpses being dissected and experimented on too. Wyverns were typically not as big as a full fledged dragon. Unlike dragons, which had a distinct pair of wings on their backs, wyverns' wings were attached to their forearms, much like a bat. Interestingly, depending on the element they were affiliated with, their wings would manifest differently. The wings of fire affiliated wyverns would usually be covered in flickering embers while thunder affiliated ones would be sparking with electricity. The two that were fighting against Kibadios' slaves, though, clearly belong to the undead class since their miasma could be clearly seen dripping down on their torn wings.

「Undead huh? That means Ryan would be fine. But then for Maia...」

As the hybrid correctly guessed, since the wyvern was an undead, Ryan's holy imbued swords were extra effective at dealing with the creature. As he activated his Arte, , six different blades made out of holy aura dropped down from above and hovered around the wyvern. Originally, Ryan could have utilized and summoned numerous blades beyond counting. However, ever since his association with the hybrid, who tainted the hero with his dark element, he could not fully control this arte, which relied heavily on the holy element. To make up for this, he had listened to the hybrid's advice and summoned less than 10 blades at a time. By doing so, he now had complete control over the movement and trajectory of each blade. Keeping the blades floating around his opponent while he himself moved from one blade to another at lightning speed, Ryan has seemingly warped around space taking one blade to another and slashing the wyvern from multiple directions in a moveset that would make Noctis Lucis Caelum proud.

「Looks like your training paid off, Ryan.」Kibadios slightly nodded, acknowledging the hero's growth. After all, his flawless control of both his speed and his blades was not easily obtained. Ever since he received advice from Kibadios, Ryan has been practicing to control his Arte at every opportunity he got. The result was commendable , the hybrid thought.

「My poison doesnt affect it!」Maia called out to Rowan.

「It has to be an undead class.」Rowan successfully deduced.

The hybrid's attention has now switched to the trio, Maia, Rowan, and Nu. The three have been struggling with the wyvern for a while now. Most of Nu's water jet attacks were dodged by the winged monster while Maia's usual weapon, vials of poison and her arte , were proven to be ineffective . Rowan, as normal, acted as the shield of the group by constructing barriers to protect all three of them from the monster's slashes and miasma breath. Technically, Rowan's skill was much more versatile than just defending and he could repurpose his barriers to attack by projecting the barrier he made toward his enemies to crush them like what the Priestess did to the Goblin Lord in Goblin Slayer. Yet, at his current level, such an attack would be as ineffective as Maia's poison. The reason laid in the strength of his barriers. Rowan did not possess the skill or level sufficient enough to maintain the integrity of his barrier while moving it around so more often than not, a projected barrier made by Rowan would easily be shattered.

「Ouch!」Maia shouted, as part of her arm was hit with the wyvern's breath. The miasma quickly spread up her shoulder.

「!」Rowan activated his Arte without thinking. The blue flame suddenly enveloped the girl's arm and quickly reverted it back to normal. 「Be careful, Maia. My Arte cannot be reactivated for another hour.」The girl simply nodded.

Such a powerful skill . Kibadios thought to himself as he watched the fight from the side. Too bad the cooldown time is fairly long. Hmm.. I wonder if they can deal with it on their own. Maybe Ryan has to come to their rescue.

Maia has stayed behind the barrier for a while as the slime has taken its turn to attack the wyvern. Interestingly, the alchemist was not just standing there idly by. She was formulating her plan for a counterattack. After all, poison was not all she was good at. She could easily ignite her alchemy dust and burn the winged monster to crisp, as she did during the goblin cave, but the problem was the fact that the wyvern could easily extinguish the flame by flying around at high speed.

「Rowan, I have a plan.」Her eyes were now full of determination as she explained what has to be done to bring down the monstrous creature. By now, Ryan had already finished dealing with his opponent, but the hero, just like his master, just stood by and watched the trio. Somehow, he was confident that his fellow companions would come out of the fight victorious.

「... I see!」Rowan nodded after listening to the alchemist. 「Nu, come back here!」

「Chii!!!」The exhausted slime was glad to be summoned back.

「Now, Maia!」screamed out Rowan. For his part, the healer has already trapped the wyvern inside a hollow spherical barrier. Yet, unlike any of his other barriers, this sphere was purposely filled with small holes. Kibadios was no barrier expert but from just one look at the sphere, he could tell the tremendous talent that was required to construct one. In a sense, Rowan was a prodigy in both the art of healing and barrier construction. For the alchemist's part, the girl was now directing a stream of dust emanating from the vial on her hand toward the monster. Since there were hundreds of small entrances that allowed the dust to enter, soon enough, the sphere was full of the combustible dust particles.

「Burn!」Maia snapped her hand, causing the thin layers of the fine dust to sparkle. The sparks became more intense as it travelled along the stream toward the sphere. Once there, due to the high concentration of the particles and the initial spark, a huge explosion was ignited

BOOOMMM!!!!

And so the fight ended as the explosion easily enveloped the undead wyvern. After the explosion, an intense flame continued to burn. Once Rowan dismissed his barrier, the corpse of the crispy burned monster crashed loudly down onto the ground. This has turned out much better than what the hybrid had anticipated. After all, he did not expect the trio to win, at least not with the assistance from Ryan. Maybe, they're stronger than what I give them credit for. Kibadios thought to himself.

「That was incredible, Rowan, Maia, and even you too, Nu!」Before Kibadios could say anything, Ryan had already complimented the two for him.

「Indeed it was.」The hybrid nodded

「Thanks, Ryan, master!」Rowan scratched his head in embarrassment.

「That was nothing!」Maia was also blushing, while the slime excitedly jumped up and down.

Unbeknown to the trio, the burned wyvern still had a little life in it left as it summoned all its strength and sprung forward with its jaw wide open, aiming at Maia in a desperate attempt to take her down with it.

WOOSSHH!

Before anyone in the group could react, a large harpoon had already crashed down to where the wyvern was and smashed its head into pieces before it could harm Maia. The three slaves and Nu were all dumbstruck at the attack, only Kibadios was aware of what had just happened.

「Thank you for saving Maia.」The hybrid shouted out.

「It's nothing.」A figure standing on top of a large boulder some distance away casually replied before jumping down to the ground.「I'm sure you had it under control even without my intervention, didn't you?」

The man who saved Maia turned out to be Thomas, one of the heroes that were summoned by Prime Minister Stringer back at the capital. As he stood in front of Kibadios, the hybrid suddenly realized the middle aged hero was much more muscular and taller than what he remembered, as he stood almost two heads above the hybrid. Asides from his gray beard and mustache, which covered most of the lower half of his face, it was his eyes that stood out. Or rather, it was the scar that ran across both of his blinded eyes that caught the hybrid's attention.

「Well, I still have to thank you nonetheless.」Kibadios looked up at the man. Just like Kyles, he could feel a great pressure coming off from Thomas. If he had to rank Thomas, the man would be somewhere above both Kyles and Corey in terms of pure strength and Haki control.

「Again, it's nothing.」Thomas shook his head. 「Rather, I have to thank your party for showing me such a beautiful fight.」... He can see? Surprised Kibadios 「Your retainers were much stronger than I gave them credit for. And Ryan too. I guess the Prime Minister was right in requesting for your help. The situation is getting out of hand.」Thomas finally bypassed Kibadios and walked to the dead wyvern to retrieve his harpoon.

「What do you mean?」

「Well, just as you can see with the two exhibits laying dead here, because of the aura leaking from Ryujin's seal, Falas has increasingly been experiencing an influx of monsters… And it's not just the low ranks, strong monsters like these wyverns are also gathering around Falas. My party and I have been busy keeping the road to Falas clear of these monsters ever since we got here. 」

「Is that so?」

「... To be honest, with the increasing frequency of waves of monsters, I'm pretty sure soon enough, if we don't fix the seal, this region will be overrun by monsters. Now that you two are here, we only need to wait for Corey and the Prime Minister.」

Kibadios' group flinched at the mention of the fallen hero, though the hybrid himself remained stoic, acting as if nothing had happened.

「Have you heard any news from them?」asked Kibadios.

「Nothing from Corey. Though the Prime Minister should be arriving to Falas today.」

「Really? He should be leaving the capital after us, I figure it should take him a while longer.」

「Dont you know? He's travelling by the Royal Airship, which only takes about 2 days to get here.」

「I see. Anyways, again, thanks for your help. We should get going and head to Falas. I bet I will see you there?」

「Yes.」nodded Thomas. 「I will head back later once I regroup with my party. If you found any monsters while heading there, just eliminate them.」

「... Will do.」

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「So you met with that hybrid's party on their way to Falas?」

「Yes. Their party is pretty strong. Ryan-kun was one thing, but even the other retainers and their pet were strong enough to take down an undead wyvern.」

「What? No way? Are you sure it's not just some trickery they pulled in front of you?」

「... Nonsense! You know even if my eyes cannot see, no trick can deceive my . To be honest, if our party goes against theirs, I can't even guarantee we would win.」

「You're joking!」

「The worst part was that I could not ascertain the hybrid's power. I could feel a tremendous potential in him with my skill, but I did not see him fight in person.」

「That's not good, isnt it? I know the Prime Minister and this kingdom needs help, but we can't trust any demihuman, let alone working with them without knowing the full extent of their power.」

「I know. Dont worry. I'm not as gullible as I was before. After all, I did pay for the lesson with my eyes.」Thomas touched the aching scar across his face. 「For now, we will corporate with Ryan-kun and his hybrid master. But always be on guard. After all, he's a demihuman. We don't know what he is thinking.」