Battle of the Gate (3)

Exiting the cave, Vincent carefully placed the wyvern egg into his storage ring as his figure became bathed by the twilight glow of the firmament. Taking a deep breath of clear air, he basked in this victory for a few moments as a content smile appeared on his face.

'Now that one of my goals is over, I can now focus on getting stronger!'

Clenching his fist, Vincent reaffirmed one of his most important goals.

Letting the moment drag on for a little longer, he closed his eyes as the memories of the past flashed before him.

Remembering the awe he experienced after gazing at the patriarch of the family, one of the few humans at the apex of this apocalyptic hell, Vincent unconsciously smiled.

Born with extremely great talent among the new generations of youths who dreamed of being the ones to usher in a new era for humanity, becoming the saviour of a myriad of existences. Vincent was just the same.

Every night when he closed his eyes and entered the land of dreams, he would envision himself rising up through the masses, becoming the golden symbol of humanity, bringing along the bundle of prestige and pride up for the taking back to his family.

This was the goal he was striving so hard to achieve.

After finding out he was the Inferno Monarch's grandson, his already inflated ego became bigger. Hence, he made sure he acted in a way that would bring honour to the Fletcher Family.

Standing on the mountain, Vincent felt as if a portion of his burdens had ebbed away, flying with the wind. Here he felt free, without any worries.

Even though he had an over-inflated ego and was just haughty overall with a clear lack of disregard for anything, that didn't mean he did not feel any stress.

As a scion of a noble family, it placed many expectations on his young shoulders. Even though he was the grandson of one of the five monarchs, that didn't mean the competition from the other members of the family willingly gave up.

Instead, it only served to make them work even harder trying to surpass him.

Heaving a tired sigh, Vincent strengthened his resolve as his eyes took in the stunning view below, which was accentuated by the light of dusk. Closing them, he collected himself for a few moments, feeling as if he was born anew.

Unfortunately, the profound moment was broken as an earth-shaking roar resounded from the horizon. Hearing the bellow, Vincent's eyes turned grave.

'Shit! The wyvern must have felt the connection it had with its offspring suddenly cut off. I need to run!'

Sprinting down the mountain with great urgency, Vincent began his attempt to escape.

***

Rushing desperately, the trio composed of the bodyguard, Vanderson, and the hooded figure followed the direction where the occasional roar rang out.

Straining his body to the maximum, the bodyguard hoped against hope that his young master wass all right, otherwise; he didn't even want to think of the consequences.

'Please. Please, Young master, may you still be alive.'

Smashing through anything in his way, he didn't pay any heed to his surroundings, as all his energy was focused on travelling as fast as he could.

After five minutes of frantic running, the trio arrived at the base of the mountain. Witnessing the gargantuan wyvern high up in the skies, the bodyguard's eyes desperately darted about the place, looking for any sign of his young master.

With each second that passed, despair began to gnaw at his heart. Redoubling his efforts, he finally spotted Vincent running into the barren forest a distance away.

Unparalleled joy bloomed inside the bodyguard as he smiled in relief.

Not stopping to celebrate, the trio bolted in the direction of Vincent, mindful of the looming mass of shadow up above.

High in the skies, the two yellow slits of the Wyvern skimmed across the landscape below, trying to locate the remnant traces of its offspring through its sense of smell.

Taking a few moments to sort out all the sensory information, the wyvern snapped its neck in the direction of the desolate woodland.

Issuing another mighty roar, it flapped its wings with great force as it launched itself, descending from the sky to chase the hateful human who stole its offspring.

Hearing the earsplitting shout, Vincent showed an alarmed expression as he racked his brains, trying to go somewhere where he can receive a temporary reprieve from being chased.

'I vaguely recall there being a military outpost stationed nearby. If I just keep heading straight, I will arrive there shortly. All right, it's decided I'll head over there!'

***

Back in the outpost, unaware of the looming danger, the battle between monsters and humans raged on, with the savageness of the conflict increasing with every minute.

Swinging the shadowy blade in a horizontal slash, Evan sent two monster heads rolling. Decapitating them with ease, he continued moving deeper into the horde.

However, he only made it a few steps before they forced him to stop, as his path was obstructed.

Pouncing toward him with salivating expressions were a tiger, a snake, and an ape. A mixture of hissing, roaring, and grunting resounded as the monsters showed their crazed excitement for human flesh.

Getting into a stance, Evan gulped a large mouthful of air as his blade turned into an impressive display of swordsmanship.

Releasing three black slashes to each of his enemies, he ran up and engaged with the monster closest to him.

Each dodging the slash aimed at them with ease, the three abominations trained their vision on where Evan was a moment ago, only to be greeted by emptiness.

Using the moment when the monsters were distracted, Evan slashed his dark blade toward the snake.

Empowered by the black hue, the sword struck the snake with great force as a ghastly wound appeared on its figure. Bleeding profusely, the snake stumbled due to the weakness provided by the blood being lost from the lesion.

Capitalizing on the opening provided, Evan smashed his fist into the snake's skull, ending its pitiful existence forever. Flicking the bright red splotches which appeared on his blade away, he turned and gazed at his two remaining enemies.

Indifferent to the death of their fellow monster, the tiger and the ape rushed toward him once again.

'First Form—Horizon's Dash!'

With the speed of the blade increasing, the monsters stood no chance as Evan overwhelmed them with many stabs, cuts and slashes, causing their mangled corpses to plop onto the ground as the last vestiges of their life dissipated.