A Sudden Awakening

"So I am alone, huh? The last to become Wulnus' plaything?" Zaneth said. He clenched the handle of his blade and gritted his teeth. "AAAARRRGH!!"

Zaneth roars and swings at Lann down hard.

*CRASH!!*

Lann was knocked backwards despite blocking that attack. He skids to a stop and notices a glowing aura coming from Zaneth's body and sword.

"Dammit, he has Aura too!?" Lann huffed.

"If I am to die...I'll take all of you with me, Wulnus!!!" Zaneth roared, causing his aura to explode forth. He then charges at Lann.

"If that's the case..." Lann envelopes himself with pale green aura along with his sword.

*KABOOM!!*

The two warriors clashed, sending shockwaves and knocking the knights away. Zaneth pushes Lann through the army, knocking them away like mere fodder.

The two were sent into the opening of the cave where the rest of the army resides. Lann recovers himself and retaliates.

*BOOM!*

Another aura explosion, mixing with green and red. The rain droplets that were falling were pushed away from the pressure.

*Crumble!!*

Lann manages to block the greatsword, causing him to be pressed down. The force from the collision caused the ground to crack.

"Even with my aura, I am still pushed back." Lann thought, he knows that if one's mind is in disarray, one cannot use aura properly.

"Die, follower of Wulnus!" Zaneth yelled and makes a downward slash at Lann.

*Woosh!*

*CRASH!*

Lann sidesteps to the right, dodging the slash. Lann then twists his body and use his momentum to retaliate at Zaneth.

*CLANG!*

Zaneth blocks it and deflects it, knocking Lann off balance. Lann's eyes widened as he is left vulnerable.

"Not good!" Lann screamed in his mind. Zaneth already raised his sword to finish him off.

"You will not!" Altu yells out and envelopes himself with Lightning Magic. Altu strikes down with his longsword also covered in Lightning Magic.

*BZZZZT!!*

The lightning bolts danced violently upon impact, illuminating the night sky. Altu noticed that his sword did not reach Zaneth's flesh as he blocked it with his blade.

"I am at S+ rank, and yet this Leorian is unmoved. Is he a rank V? No...rank U!" Altu thought.

*ROOOAAARRR!!*

*BOOOM!!*

Zaneth roared ferociously and fearlessly, causing his red aura to blaze furiously. Lann and Altu were knocked back where the other mages and knights were sent further back.

"Such strong power complimenting with his aura! He could rival a hero if he so wanted to." Lann said as he is knelt down to prevent himself from being sent back. That is until...he sensed something is wrong.

The red aura he sees slowly grows larger and the white inner aura is slowly changing color of yellow.

"No...it can't be...the Lion Beastkin is becoming a Hero!?" Lann yelled. Lann soon felt a mass of magic collecting above him, above the Lion Beastkin.

*Rumble...*

Thunder rumbles in the sky, but that sound is not that kind of thunder. The rumble of thunder becomes louder gradually, the light becomes brighter and then sees the Ergex army running past him and his troops as well.

"Lann, get up!" Altu said, helping him up. "Whatever it is happening, we'll be in trouble if we don't run!"

Lann nodded and began to retreat along with his army as he looks back, the sky turns a hint of yellow. And then the clouds scattered, running from their lives.

The clouds ran, showing a large mass of magic falling from the sky. A bright yellow sphere of light descends from above. A sphere so bright, it could be a second sun being created.

"Oh my god, where did it come from!? RETREAT!!" yelled Lann in desperation to get away, thinking that if he were to get caught in the blast radius, he will undoubtedly die.

When the Noltian and Ergexian reaches the bottom of the mountain and look at the sphere nearly touching the ground. Lann and Altu remember that the Lion Beastkin is still at the mountain in the middle of awakening.

But that doesn't matter to Lann, Altu, or any of the soldiers. What matters is that they must get away from what is falling from the sky.

{Earlier...}

Back in the tavern, Hyoran, the monsters and I fall asleep to wait for the Noltian and the Ergexian armies to wrap it up. If I was there fighting Zaneth, I'd be screwed even with my aura. With the army there, this complicates things if I jumped in.

I was sleeping so soundly until I felt something shaking me. I opened my eyes to see Hyoran was shaking me with a worried look on her face.

"Hyoran? What's wrong?" I said.

"Kain...something is wrong." Hyoran said. "I can't sleep and my tail is stiff."

I touch her tail and she was right. Every time I push it, it quickly snaps back. She must be in high alert.

*BREEP!* *BREEEP!!*

The alarming sound rings in my ears which confirms Hyoran's alertness.

[WARNING! WARNING! A Hero is being awakened nearby!]

Huh? A hero? Did I hear it wrong because of the rain?

"Did you say hero? HE-RO?"

[Correct, a Hero is being awakened.]

I know how heroes are born from different circumstances. It could be multiple things such as being blessed by Deities, breaking their traumas, being faced with a death battle, facing a monster or monsters that could threaten the world, or in some cases, becoming a Hero by birth!

By attaining the hero in the game, they gain a massive stat boost! So much so that level 1 hero can take on a level 10! Also, if they put a player in a party with a hero, they gain a stat boost! When it came to that, they could level up like crazy! Luckily, it's not only rare, but the number of heroes cannot exceed 20 in the game and must not be affiliated to any guild.

Otherwise, having a Hero in any guild will break the balance in terms of guild influence. However, if a guild were to task a Hero to kill a certain monster or player, by agreeing the terms, it's fair game.

If it's a player, they have to find them in the general location. On the other hand, if you're hunted by a hero, it'll say so, but the Hero will also be in a general location as well.

When I was a Level 577 Archdemon, a 4-man hero party came and attacked me while I was at half health. It averaged at level 400-450. I was struggling to stay alive because of my weakness against Holy Magic and my Life Drain and Regeneration couldn't keep up the DPS. When my health went below 30%, I cut my losses and retreated.

Since I am in the world of this game, I have a feeling that the restriction of the number of heroes are above 20 or it doesn't have a restriction at all.

I hope it is not too close from here.

"System, where is the Hero Awakening located?" I asked the system, hoping it's far away.

[The Awakening is located at Valtuz Mountain.]

"Dammit...!" I cursed under my breath as it is my worst-case scenario. I barely survived from Zaneth when he is Rank-U, but if he becomes a hero, it'll be near impossible for me and my monsters to kill him.

I jumped off my bed and quickly put on my black cape outfit on and grabbed Red Moon.

"Where are you going?" Hyoran said.

"To Valtuz Mountain." I said.

"But the army from Noltia and Ergex should be done, but...it's more than that, right? There's a reason my tail is like this." Hyoran said as her tail is like this.

[Notice. Skill Perception acquired for Hyoran.]

With this, she can know what's coming after her if she were to be separated at the time.

"You're right about that, but something unexpected happened." I said. "A hero is being born."

"A hero? Who?" Hyoran asked.

"I'll explain along the way. C'mon." I said as I grabbed her hand and Viri's and soon enveloped ourselves in darkness.

*Shooom!*

Before Hyoran began to speak, she was quickly silenced and then we reached outside of Alphonse's property.

*Shoom!*

[Notice. Unique Skill Shadow Sneak acquired for Hyoran.]

Hyoran blinked and looked around to register what happened.

"W-weren't we inside the room?" Hyoran asked, confused.

"Zala." I called out to her.

*Shoom!*

Zala jumps out of my shadow for my command. Hyoran and I jumped on Zala and I grabbed the reins.

"Let's go Zala!"

Zala began running into the forest towards the mountain and then she used Shadow Sneak to get us there faster.

"System, how long until the awakening finishes?"

[3 minutes.]

"Groza, Burya, Vampa, Santrasa, come to my location." I said with my telepathy.

[You have arrived.]

I arrived at the location, but I am now at the left side of the cave instead of the right side and I see a mass of red aura.

"Zaneth? Zaneth is awakening to become a Hero!?" I said.

[Correct. Your previous chance against Zaneth alone as a S-rank is 15.33%. If you combine your monsters, it will be 76.44%.]

"Damn, so he's that strong."

[If Zaneth were to complete the awakening, the chances will be....less than 1%.]

"That's just me or all my monsters?"

[Yes.]

Then I better use all I got and make those 3 minutes count! No, 2 minutes!

"Gris, Noire, Dichrome, Mavros, Saeva, Arex. Come on out." I said.

*Shoom!* *Shoom!* *Shoom!* *Shoom!*

Gris, Noire, Dichrome, and Mavros jumped out of my shadows.

*Fwoom!*

A dark flame erupted besides me and Saeva appears as well.

*Bwing!*

A flash of silver light came from behind and Santrasa became the last to come.

"My goodness, is that an Awakening?" Arex gasped.

"Yeah, and we're stopping it from happening." I said.

"What happens if it finishes?" Hyoran said.

"Then we're in trouble." I said. I turned to Zaneth who is engulfed in his aura and the color is changing. I clenched my fists.

"Zaneth, I was gonna let the knights do the work, but you had to do an ass pull, huh? I'll just make sure not even your ashes will remain!" I declared inwardly and get ready to work.