What Lies Underneath

A smooth running river, a leafy green forest and wildlife. How was all of this thriving under the surface of the mist?

The most bizarre thing was the massive crystal, way at the top of the cave. It shined so bright that it lit up the massive landscape.

Estelle: "Is this supposed to be the trap? Not very intimidating."

Louis jolted at the glimpse of something hiding among the trees.

"What the!?"

Swsh! Fwsh! Slash!

In a flash, a massive creature leaped out and swung it's claws at his throat. It was fast, but Louis still easily moved away and countered.

BMP!

He smashed his knuckles into the creature's side, It was enough to shove it back. Finally, they had a good look at the creature.

Estelle: "That's a…."

Louis: "Relax, it's not that exciting."

The creature wasn't technically a living thing. It was the un-dead body of a demon. It's gleaming red eyes showed that it was still thriving with power.

Demon's were a great threat by themselves, but being un-dead gave it a significant power boost. And if that wasn't enough, it was obvious that this one was also enhanced by magic.

Just the mere arua of it's figure was enough to make Estelle hesitant.

As for Louis, he only held the slightest worry because he was already prepared. He snapped his fingers and a bright orb appeared. Instantly, it shot through the skeletons chest.

Swooosh! Blast! Crackle!

"See, not exciting. These things are extremely weak against holy magic of any kind."

Crunch! Smash!

The trees began to get cut down by the swings of iron axes and swords. The ones wielding these weapons were angry orcs. When they grew closer, spears were hurled at Louis and Estelle.

Louis: "Lol."

He stood calmly as every projectile missed him. Meanwhile, Estelle used her sword to rapidly block the spears.

Clink! Slash! Wack! Clink!

When there was nothing left to defend against, she leaped forward, beheading an orc.

Slash!

As they were about to be surrounded, Louis stomped his foot into the ground. A shockwave violently threw every Orc on their back's.

This was all it took to strike fear into each and every one of their hearts. All the orcs regained their balance but did not attack. Their eyes showed horror as they all stood without any kind of action.

This was an utter surprise to Estelle. Usually, monster's didn't back off if they outnumbered their prey.

"What kind of spell was that?" she asked.

Louis: "Nothing special. I used some mana to create a powerful stomp."

Intelligent monster's like Orcs would know when to back off as long as a great power is shown to them.

It almost looked safe enough to just walk past them, then the Orc leader showed himself. This one was twice as tall as the others and even wore shiny red armor. He came close enough, then finally spoke.

Orc Leader: "Unauthorized Surface dwellers, I am the one who will be dealing with you. I am Modified Beast, number 11."

The way he spoke, made it sound like he was some sort of lab experiment.

Louis stroked his chin while addressing it.

"Hm. Modified beast? Not sure what that is. Mind explaining?"

He didn't receive a kind answer.

Orc Leader: "Perhaps if you survive this encounter, then you'll find out."

Louis shrugged: "Alright. Show me how great you are."

The orc grabbed an axe from one of it's underlings and snarled. With a harsh shout, he hurled it at Louis's face. The moment before the axe could actually hit him, it swayed off track and sliced a tree.

Slash! Crackle!

An awkward silence filled the air. The Orc leader had failed miserably. So miserably that even his underlings looked surprised.

Louis: "I'm sure your aim isn't normally that bad. So I'll give you a chance at redemption. Go ahead and try again."

Orc Leader: "You'll regret giving me a chance."

The Orc's hand snatched another axe. With a long charge up, he launched it at the center of Louis's chest.

Swoosh! FWshhh!

Like before, it swayed off to the side and missed. The Orc grabbed yet another axe and tried again. His arm tensed up and all his veins pumped with blood. Using his full body strength, he threw it. This time, it couldn't possibly miss.

Louis winked as the axe swayed downwards, hitting the dirt.

Fwsh!

"Aw man. I guess you're just horrible today. Am I right?"

In a destructive fit of rage, The Orc dashed forward. The 1 thing on his mind was to obliterate Louis's entire skull. One inedible chop from above, Louis weaved away. Another chop came from the side. Louis easily jumped over and kicked a hole through the Orc's chest.

Fwsh! BMP!

All the Orcs watched their leader fall lifeless, but none of them dared to attack.

Estelle: "What are we going to do about the others? Do we kill them?"

Louis took a look at how terrified the other Orcs really were. They saw how easily their leader was killed. There was no way they'd try anything.

"I think we'll be okay just leaving them. I honestly don't think they could be that dumb."

It was questionable, Orcs did seem like the type to think angrily instead of rationally. But Estelle trusted his judgment even if that's what led them below the surface in the first place.

They picked up from where they left off and started heading into the forest.

Neither of them started a conversation while walking, giving their brains time to wander off in thought. A single detail did weigh on Louis's mind. Since coming to the mist, he hadn't come across any monster as strong as the rumors said.

What was that about? Was the hype around the mist just fabricated? It couldn't be. But where were all the strong monsters? There wasn't any clear answer. The only lead Louis actually had was a hunch.

The phrase which the Leader orc used. "Modified Monster."

This gave the insight that monsters were in fact being modified/enhanced. The organization had to be behind that much.

Louis: "What do you think about the monster's we've come across? They don't seem as strong as we've heard they were."

Instead of Estelle's soft womanly voice, a different voice answered.

"Oh dear, you're certainly on to something."

Louis jolted and spun to see the speaker.

Very long silver hair, killer red eyes and a soft face. It was a man, but a major detail stood out right away. He was wearing heavenly white armor and a long black cape. This was a look unique to those who held the 'Spirit Knight' title. It was a title given to knights who are overly skilled in sorcery and spirit magic. If a Spirit Knight like this man was here, it meant that he was a rogue, abandoning his duties to assist a criminal organization.

Louis: "Who are you? And where's Estelle?"

The silver-haired man answered the question.

"I used a spell to confuse your senses. The two of you strayed away from each other without even realizing it. It's funny how weak you Royal Knights are to sorcery."

Louis: "And what makes you think we're Royal Knights?"

The man chuckled and replied, "Everyone knows Estelle's face. She is a popular Royal Knight. As for you, I guess you're nothing to write home about. Just an unknown Royal Knight.

Louis's eyebrow twitched in anger.

"Alright! Just get to the damn point." he snarled.

With a long sigh, the man expressed his disappointment by shrugging.

"I have no clue why you are so rude. But as you wish, I will get to The Point. Under my leader's orders, I am to capture the two of you, along with those other 2 in your group. I will look for them later. For now, this will be my focus."

His figure was standing as calmly as a tree, but his intent to harm was quaking the air. This was not a good situation to be in. This was Louis's hunch. His hand wrapped around his sword's handle, lifting it from it's scavern.

Louis: "I usually don't start off a fight seriously, but I have a strong hunch that I shouldn't play."

In the man's palm, a light flickered, revealing a blade. The sword looked well-crafted and had the bright appearance of snow.

One cut through the air.

Slash!

It didn't seem to be aimed at anything in particular. It really only looked like the man was practicing.

Again, he softly cut across the air not aiming at anything.

Swsh!

After that, he stopped and sent a strong stare. The Darkness within his eyes was projected clearly.

"If you come easy, I can at the very least guarantee that you won't be tortured. However, death won't be off the table. If you insist on resisting, your life will end here."

Louis: "Yeah, no thanks. I'm not going anywhere."

The man's aura changed to pure killing intent. His legs didn't move him forward. He stood in place and gently swung his blade through the air.

Swsh.

It seemed like nothing happened, until a splitting sensation hit Louis's chest. A deep wound opened, spilling his blood everywhere. He tumbled back onto a patch of grass. In a matter of moments, he was beginning to feel the effects of weakness. He thought to himself about this silver-haired man.

'Melee attacks and projectiles shouldn't be able to hit me.....So...what was that?. Is he a canceler?'

It would be easy to assume, but it didn't add up. If the man was a canceler, Louis would've got a warning that his abilities were canceled. Since that wasn't the case, it was unknown how the man's attack ignored the workings of [Auto Dodge] & [Ranged Counter]

Louis was losing way too much blood. He tried to stand but fainted right away. The silver-haird man stared, knowing it wasn't going to be long before his opponent bled out.

"I suppose it wouldn't cost anything to leave his body here. I am sure the monsters will enjoy the meal."

He set off, heading towards Estelle's location next.

Once the rogue Spirit Knight was gone from sight, Louis rose from the floor.

[Resurrection: Activated]

As much as Louis would've liked to tail him right away, it was too big of a risk. Sure, Louis was almost invincible in a simple 1 versus 1, but that former Spirit Knight wasn't someone that should be underestimated. If Louis acted carelessly, there was a chance he could end up dying for good.

Especially because even [Resurrection] had its weaknesses.

For now, we couldn't help Estelle. The best he could do was wait and figure out some sort of plan that didn't involve a fight against the Spirit Knight.

Until then, he couldn't do much.

___________

(Meanwhile)

"So what are your thoughts, Louis?" Estelle asked. When no reply came, she glanced to her side, Louis was not there. Estelle then turned around to see if he stopped for some reason, but he wasn't there either.

She had just been having a conversation with herself for the past 5 minutes.

"Gosh. Where could he have wandered off too?"

An unfamiliar voice spoke, causing her spine to jump.

"Yes, a good question. Maybe he wandered off too far and got himself killed."

The voice came from a silver-haired man. It was clear right away that this was an enemy. Estelle's eyes noticed the particular armor the man was wearing. It was the same kind of armor that Spirit Knight's wore.

"I assume that you're a rogue. Now, state what you are up to."

She unsheathed her glorious blade, pointing it in his direction.

The man did not draw his weapon. But it wasn't because he was non-hostile. It was more like he didn't have to. His confidence was shown all over his expression.

The man's confident face turned to a gentle smile.

"Oh my. Getting straight to business? That's to be expected from a Royal Knight. Here, have my name before we begin. Zane Al-Dieu-le."

When the name reached Estelle's eardrums, her eyes widened greatly. The strongest show of shock and worry splashed on her face.

Right away, she snapped.

"That's a lie! You won't fool me with your lowly deception."

Estelle dashed forward, recklessly. Her mind didn't have to worry about being cautious in a sword fight. [Combat Clairvoyance] would allow her to see any attack coming. Even if it was too fast, she could easily keep up by using [True Sense]

She was the very definition of a slippery opponent.

Zane kept a smile as a marble-size orb floated in his palm.

"It would be troublesome if your sight became a bit CLOUDY."

Just as he said that key word, a thick fog flowed in, covering everything.

It wasn't clear which way his voice was coming from while he continued talking.

"You see, this isn't a normal fog spell. It is something quite unique. Those who have been targeted will have all of their senses confused beyond comparison. It goes without saying that this will guide them to an utter defeat."

BMP!

Estelle froze in pain. A powerful fist bashed into her in the stomach.

Bmp!

It was the strongest punch she'd ever felt. It nearly felt like it was enough to rupture every organ she had. Much so, that she lost consciousness the very next second.