Chapter 70 - Shado Beasts

Rynold, Jack, Oliver, and X ran down the corridor.

The lights that illuminated the corridors were dim, such that the corridors turned to gloomy tunnels because of it. Regardless, the group continued on to their destination.

"So, why the Rogue Elves Division?"

Oliver was curious as to why Rynold was guiding them towards the Division that he was assigned to. Earlier that day, nothing seemed to happen out of the ordinary. Well, none of what he experienced anyway since he toured the place first.

"I just have my suspicions," Rynold replied as he focused on what's ahead.

Luckily, the lights had some sort of independent Mana Crystal powering them but the Mana that they were supplying was barely enough. The dark covered most of the room with the lights ever so slightly dim each second that passed.

Thinking that he couldn't waste any more time, Rynold continued forward. But it was hard to do so without knowing what was ahead.

Regardless, they had no choice but to carry on. Rynold was leading the charge with a brisk pace until they were stopped halfway through by a creature that had appeared in the corner up ahead. It was a creature that appeared from thin air and seemed to embrace the darkness that surrounded it.

"What the hell is that?" Jack asked without restraint.

Rynold replied with a snark, "Use Scan, dumbass."

[Shado Beast Lvl 8]

That was all the information that Rynold needed for him to strike.

Without a second's worth of time, Rynold ran and struck the beast. It was not the time to hesitate, after all.

Using Mana Infusion while his gauntlets were in Strength-form, the beast dissipated into nothingness as fast as it had appeared. The creature was ethereal, meaning his gauntlets had merely struck air but his Mana Infused strike was still effective.

Turning the corner, Rynold saw that the path forward was filled with a bunch of Shado Beasts. They were nothing but small fry to him, however, the same couldn't be said when they numbered in thousands.

Tsk.

Rynold inadvertently clicked his tongue as he waited for Oliver and the rest to catch up.

"Woah..."

It truly was a sight to behold if it weren't for these creatures being at fault here. Jack and Oliver readied their weapons as they prepared to charge through and let loose. Until that is, Rynold stopped them.

"Play it smart here," he warned, "we can't just charge all willy nilly. There isn't time for that and these creatures seem to be summoned by someone else to stall anyone who tried to interfere. We have to just move past them, not tear them dow-"

A scream interrupted the last syllable that Rynold said. He turned around to look at where the scream had come from. But before he could even check, Oliver moved into action.

Oliver jumped and utilized the full passive of his dagger, [The Devil's Interest]. Using the darkness to his advantage, Oliver managed to easily make his way to the source and struck the Shado Beast causing harm.

To no effect.

Rynold clicked his tongue once more and followed after Oliver with the rest not far behind.

"Can't you wait?!" Rynold yelled out and struck the Shado Beast that Oliver had failed to deal with. "Physical attacks don't work on these guys," he continued as another punch found its place, "You need to use Mana attacks to deal with these."

Scolding, Rynold let his guard down slightly and a Shado Beast jumped him. Thankfully, though, Jack managed to shoot it down using his Mana Rifle.

"Focus!" Jack yelled out while preparing another shot.

Rynold moved into action and constantly used his Mana Infusion to run the creatures down. Even though the Shado Beasts were all low leveled, he couldn't help but sweat.

Meanwhile, X was running down on fumes. The Mech Knight was being overrun since he had no ability to use Mana-based attacks against the creatures that were overwhelming him. At the same time, Oliver was unaware of what he could do in this situation.

With that, Oliver then decided to check on the person who screamed earlier.

Rynold decided to let Oliver be since he was preoccupied with something else. He knew that sooner or later this whole battle would end but he wasn't sure how it would end. At this point, he certainly didn't want to find out.

Knowing full well that a battle of attrition against an infinite number wasn't the way he wanted to die, Rynold thought of a plan to deal with these creatures once and for all. Or, at least, make it so that they aren't a problem later on.

How he'd go about doing that was the question at hand.

"Jack!" Rynold called out, "head into the room that Oliver went in and regroup! We won't be able to find who did this if we waste everything we have here and now! Go!"

Jack hesitated before following Rynold's orders. The young soldier knew that Rynold had a point but admitting defeat and retreating wasn't something he wanted to do.

With Jack retreating, Rynold slowly inched back and moved towards the room. X, on the other hand, was still struggling. Clenching his teeth and braced himself for what he had to do, Rynold raised his hand and dispelled the summoning, something he hadn't done ever since X has gotten sentient.

Rynold slammed the door as soon as he got in. He breathed a sigh of relief now that he was in a safe area. Although the Shado Beasts were huge and stubborn, they really seem to have any intelligence. It was as if they were creatures of pure instinct or lack of control.

Looking around, Rynold saw that there were elves that were scared which made him think.

To terrify elves who have the power and ability to control Mana, these creatures must have a significantly heavier impact psychologically instead of physically. Rynold had stumbled upon that conclusion because he was able to kill a bunch of them despite being weaker than the elves.

He raised his hand to his chin to ponder.

Rynold factored in the terrifying factor that these creatures brought was maybe because of a higher and deeper meaning. Context and cultural input were important among the elves and perhaps by asking around, Rynold could get an answer. Even if he could, he knew that he won't like it.

Like a detective asking witnesses, Rynold got to work. After a few minutes, he realized that he was right.

He definitely didn't like what he heard. At all.

Apparently, these Shado Beasts came from a man named Shado. They were a part of a group that has existed for millennia now and their purpose was clear. They wanted to expel and deny the very existence of the gods. No matter what.

Case in point, one of the elves a story of a mighty elf wizard who fought against one of the members of Shado's group. The elf wizard had won but the cost was too high. The story ended with the elf wizard being the sole survivor because he was too focused on the fight to defend his own home.

The battle was of epic proportions, to say the least, too bad the devastating ending canceled it all out. The enemy had motives that went beyond logic and the actions to back it up. It was like a fish swimming against a current and winning. There just was no reasoning when it comes to a group that was so dedicated to what they were doing.

So much so, that their actions had gone to direct extremities and dangerous to whatever was around them. Rynold sighed and thought that maybe, just maybe, they were way in over their head.

But he had no choice.

Rynold felt responsible ever since he had gotten the new title of being Lord. It wasn't like he was arrogant or anything, it was more of the feeling that he had to do it. Protect the ones who don't have the ability to protect themselves.

"Listen up," Rynold yelled into the room, "I'm going to track down whoever's doing this and deal with it. I vow to do whatever it takes to keep this Tree from falling into the wrong hands."

He paused to see that everyone was listening intently.

"Whatever this threat is, no matter how powerful this guy supposedly is. I can't do it alone," he sighed to emphasized a point. "Look, I know these things terrify you all but don't think for a second that you can't do anything about it."

Rynold paused once more as he faced towards the door. He then took in a deep breath before opening his mouth and saying,

"The first step to defeat the enemy is to acknowledge that there is always a chance of victory. It's just up to us if we reach for it or not."

With that said, Rynold walked out of the door and cracked his knuckles for the fight to come.