045 | Four

"Who knows~", they spoke sarcastically, "I could or couldn't have been the one behind it."

They knelt down and the bones of the black skeleton crumbled even more. They put their index finger below my chin and lifted my face up.

"Why would you do such a thing?! So many people have DIED because of YOU!"

Their laugh was unnerving. Once again, it sounded like all the most terrible of screams, combining into one sound. That was how the Lord of Darkness sounded.

"And are you any better?"

"Of course I-"

"-Let me rephrase that. Are you, humans as a whole, any better than me?"

As if it suddenly came to me, I realized that oftentimes, the reality of the world is not what it seems.

"Humans kill and so do I. They exploit others and I do the same. They will do ANYTHING to continue living and I as well."

"It-It's not right!"

That was the only thing I could reply with. Nothing came into my mind. It was blank. As if my brain was still processing how a monster like it could speak so factually.

"Why have you...taken the Grim Reaper's body?"

They laughed once again, louder than before.

"Grim Reaper?? I beg your pardon, this FILTHY and DISGRACEFUL skeleton is nowhere near a true Grim Reaper. Do you really think that a weak nation such as Yanalia will survive if I released the real thing?"

They were right. We were simply lucky to have encountered a 'fake' Grim Reaper, but then that begs the question:

"What...were we fighting all along then?"

The dark silhouette supinated their forearm and spread their fingers.

"Fight? Ha! Did you call that a fight? That was only a mere low-class warrior of my army."

Insanity...If THAT was only a low-class warrior that serves the Lord of Darkness, then I can't even begin to imagine the horror of their entire army advancing and conquering the Allied Central.

"Are...you going to kill us?"

Once again, although I couldn't see it, I was able to feel the smiles of a devil behind that blank expressionless silhouette.

Parts of the black skeleton crumbled even more. Some pieces of bone were afloat, unaffected by gravity.

"Kill you? No, not yet. Not until-"

Four holes in the ground were dug up, adjacent to the Lord of Darkness.

"-You watch your own KINGDOM burn down in flames!~~"

They giggled and laughed making me feel very dejected.

My eyes widened as I saw what the Lord of Darkness had summoned.

"N-no!"

Four skeletons completely identical to the 'Grim Reaper' we fought before rose up.

Their eye sockets were dim but were lit up by the same blue flames once the Lord of Darkness tapped the back of their skull.

"Allow me to introduce you to Death Skeletons."

"T-This is a low-class warrior?!"

"Watch with me, as your beloved kingdom is brought down to ruins!"

A sudden burst of fire engulfed the Lord of Darkness, burning their bones but their silhouette remained unchanging.

"I-It's not w-working..."

Pen came in and grabbed me by my arms. He escaped while blocking an attack from one of the Death Skeletons using his saber with one hand.

"As the Yanalian manager of the Adventurer's Union, I shall not let more people die!"

Pen turned his head and yelled in the direction he came from, "Felix!"

"Earth Cage!"

Two thick pieces of Earth came up from the front and back side of the Lord of Darkness and clasped the dark silhouette inside.

Felix was sweating and gasping for air. He just finished running here.

"What's wrong with you?! Why weren't you doing anything?!"

Pen threw one of his sabers, "Watch out, Felix!"

The Sorcerer made a panicked squeaking noise like a mouse and quickly lowered his head. The Saber went through the empty space between the ribs of one Death Skeleton and struck into a tree, holding the monster in place.

Felix turned around, waving his wand around, "Ice Spears!"

Several sharp spears of ice exploded from the center of the tree, piercing the Death Skeleton but not doing any harm to it. Their injuries were almost instantly recovered.

The cage made of Earth that was holding the Lord of Darkness crumbled into ashes and was blown away by the wind.

By now, the black skeleton that the silhouette was possessing had already fully crumbled away. All that was there was a creepy slender dark shadow body.

"Magic of this level won't work on me."

The Lord of Darkness laughed and teleported straight in front of Felix.

"F-Fire Pillar!"

Flames erupted from underneath the Lord of Darkness. However, once the flames stopped erupting, the Lord of Darkness remained unmoved.

"H-huh? W-why are you? Impossible! Take this!"

Felix backed away and several magic circles appeared in front of his wand. He circled the Lord of Darkness who merely stayed standing and turning their head in Felix's direction.

"Blink!"

Felix suddenly teleported up into the sky and suspended himself in place. He aimed his wand down at the Lord of Darkness.

"Hurricane! Fire! Earth Cage!"

A strong current was generated, creating a small tornado that traveled into the Lord of Darkness. The fire was added to the tornado making it a red flurry of wind and the same Earth spell was used to encage the Lord of Darkness in Earth while the two different types of magic brewed inside.

Felix wasn't just waiting while all this happened. As soon as he had cast the Earth Cage spell, he began charging for another spell. Dark clouds gathered above in the sky.

"Release! Lightning strike!"

The Earth Cage melted from Felix's command letting a huge bolt of lightning strike down directly at the Lord of Darkness.

"Lightning!"

Felix kept sending down strikes of lightning without stopping. Smoke shrouded the air and I smelt something burning. Pen slashed with his single saber to get rid of some of the smoke blocking our view.

While Felix was using his spells, Pen had grabbed Haydon and Bridgette, bringing the two of them by me.

Poor Bridgette had blood dripping down her head but she was still alive, just unconscious.

On the other hand, Haydon was starting to regain his consciousness after being force-fed a red liquid of some sort. Haydon coughed up some blood but his scratches and bruises all over were healing.

I heard some bones cracking, I really hope that means Haydon's broken spine was getting repaired.

"It's a healing potion. It's in the works and it's a prototype so far but...I'm willing to risk it."

I nodded, "Y-yeah...but what do we do?"

Pen shook his head with a sad sigh, "Run. There's no way we can match up to a Lord."

I ignored the most obvious. What the f*ck is a Lord? Someone or something incredibly powerful, I'll bet.

I was losing my sanity, "Did you know about this?! You piece of-"

"-I didn't. Felix and I ran here immediately after we felt two magic signatures clashing. Did one of you come to stall the Grim Reaper?"

"N-no, I'm pretty sure it was the golden-haired boy mercenary."

"Ha! Incredible, Asher! I almost feel sad that I might not be able to witness your future!"

I grabbed Pen by his collar, "What do you mean?!"

Slowly, I was regaining my senses and what my duty was. Protecting Yanalia and my family that lives peacefully in it.

Pen gently pat my clenched fist, "A Lord is not something we can fathom. I'm pretty sure that the Lord of Darkness had disappeared long ago. If they're showing themselves here right now, they must be heavily weakened seeing as how they need to possess a physical body."

What the hell is this guy saying?

"Cut to the chase!"

"Not even one of the Twelve Duke's would challenge a Lord. Surely, you know how great this is?"

I fell to my knees.

Were we really doomed?

"Waryun! It's been nice getting a chance to be friends with you. I am a manager of the AU, and I shall go out honorably! I wasn't a Three Star Gold Mercenary for nothing!"

Ah, that seemed to have slapped the sense back into me.

I grabbed the hand that Pen reached out to me with and smiled.

"Together, we'll buy time for everyone to evacuate."

Pen nodded. I was grateful when I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"Haha- Ouch! Haha! I shall fight as well! It is our duty, my friends!"

Haydon had one hand behind as if he was an elderly man with a cane.

Pen chuckled, "Looks like the potion needs to be tinkered with a bit more. You're supposed to have been fully healed by now."

"Haha! Don't worry! I will support myself with Raw Energy! I will use EVERYTHING that I have! This is our last stand!"

Annoyingly, but grateful I was when Bridgette also came to be.

"I'm...also here. If what I heard while I was knocked out was right...This 'Lord of Darkness' is responsible for the death of many of my scouts!"

She struggled to get up and bobbled around as she unsheathed her sword. Blood was continuously dripping from the top of her head.

"Bridge, you're-"

"Shut the f*ck up Waryun and worry about yourself! I'll handle myself!"

Bridgette conjured some water spell to regenerate her own wounds. I couldn't help but smile. Standing by my side were my friends, ready to dedicate their entire lives to defend Yanalia.

Every single second of extra time we buy, we can have more people evacuated.

I forgot about how Felix was still sending down strikes of lightning. The sounds of each bolt of lightning striking down was incredibly loud and I have no idea how I zoned that out.

"Lightning...Light-"

The Lord of Darkness was unmoved and unscathed. They stood in a small crater caused from the impact of several bolts of lightning.

"Are you done venting out your anger? Ahhh~ such unpleasant memories with the Sorcerer's Guild."

Within a blink of an eye, the Lord of Darkness teleported up to where Felix was and put their hands on Felix's shoulder. He patted Felix a few times.

"H-huh? W-why are you?- Y-you didn't even use m-mana-"

"Oh, how I would have LOVED to teach you. Though, you can't learn much if you're dead...Right?"

I screamed at the sky, "No! Leave HIM ALONE!!"

The Lord of Darkness put their foot on Felix's chest and pushed him all the way down, crashing into the ground. Felix bounced when he hit the ground and coughed up blood. The Lord of Darkness appeared where Felix crashed, grabbed both his hands, and held him down on the ground.

Felix's body was facing the ground and all four of us rushed over to try to help.

"Sorcerer's Guild? What good are Sorcerers? How much do you like magic, hm?"

Felix chuckled as his face was buried in the ground, "I f*cking love it."

This time, I saw it. I was able to feel AND see the dark silhouette of the Lord of Darkness smile. It was a faint black curve on their blank and expressionless face.

"Can you still conjure magic if you had no arms?"

The Lord of Darkness gripped both of Felix's arms and ripped them off of his body.

Felix screamed in agony as all four of us tried to get there as fast as we could.