Death

• Far off the Nedveded Region

• Black Wyvern Mountains

Luckily, before I could get attacked Gallus stepped in front of him while simultaneously unsheathing his sword.

The flat side of his weapon clashed with the claws of Greerheart.

This caused small particles of glowing matter to be discharged like sparks.

Hermoine and I stood there in amazement.

What just happened? We thought.

Still struggling to hold back the advances of Greerheart, Gallus grunts laboriously, "Sir Nyx! Take Miss Hermoine and run!" He ordered me.

I'd never seen Gallus in this state before.

He was always so calm that seeing him like this bothered me.

After they broke off their clash of sword against claw, a rush of air emanated like a cannon of sorts.

Then dragon scale reinforced fists against the blade of Gallus. One, two, three, four times their respective armaments impacted directly.

These clashes resulted in abrupt sparks with every contact made.

Gallus was slowly digging his own grave.

With every hit he noticed the difference in power.

After a short pause by the two Gallus went on the offensive.

He performed his [Thousand Blade Strokes] the quickness of his sword strikes deserved praise.

The velocity at which they moved, outstanding. 

But, Greerheart was so quick, so ruthless and so skilled he could predict every spot Gallus aimed for, blocking them with his strengthened fists.

In between the process of the [Thousand Blade Strokes], Greerheart capitalized on every 0.3 second gap before another swing could be taken. Each time, making successive strikes at the pressure points of Gallus, incapacitating him in seconds.

The head, lungs, neck, sternum and joints were all the points which Greerheart struck with his fist.

Each strike caused the eruption of wind like a shockwave.

Finally, he twisted and tossed Gallus in the air like he was a rag doll.

In total, the fight only lasted 10 seconds.

I was shocked to see Gallus on the floor, I could only breathe heavily as I felt death looming over me.

And sure enough he appeared before me.

I was bereft of words.

This War Dragon stared at me in a condescending manner.

Not a word was spoken.

I saw him lift his right hand slowly.

For some reason my life flashed before my eyes.

Was this my end?

"Leave him alone!"Hermoine spoke.

Her staff [Lumino Dilhevia] was pointed forward, she planned to attack but hesitated at the last moment.

The intense stare of Greerheart was fixated on her.

All of sudden she lost the will to fight.

With the flick of his index finger he lightly fractured her skull and sent her flying into a wall.

He easily dispatched of her like she was day old bread.

"I've been forced to hurt people I didn't intend to... All because of a filthy creature like you.."

I didn't respond.

I wasn't asking for a death wish, I wanted to live.

But the image of a barely conscious Hermoine guided my actions; absolute anger.

I wasn't going to let this bastard get away with what he'd done.

My blood boiled in red-hot anger, my veins throbbed and my eyes were a short step away from total insanity.

"You bastard!"

As I climbed to my feet, I thrusted my arm forward, reinforcing it with [Exo Armor] of the Durosauraus. It had one of the most durable bodies in the world.

Yet, after everything: My anger, uncontrolled rage and whatever emotions that followed wrath, were all useless when compared to this man.

His hand set like a blade had sharp claws emerge quickly.

In a moment's notice he cleaved my right arm like it was butter.

Blood spouted from my wound which violently contrasted the hope of victory I once had.

I screamed enough to fuel the nightmares of a child. I'd never come across pain of this magnitude before.

With the knowledge that I was a mage he punched my throat. Saliva with blood was coughed out and like that, verbal expression was gone.

I could no longer speak.

I fell to the ground, bleeding excessively and my vision slowly fading as I watched his backview move farther and farther away. Maybe he'd chosen to give me a painless death.

He left me here to bleed out.

As if I'd let him leave. I won't die without a fight.

I employed the use of Zestrian magic: [Gale of End], an intermediate class spell (2nd rank) was no match for him.

After I'd fired off the violent vortex of wind, it felt like nothing more than cool breeze to him.

'That's impossible... I tripled its damage rate.' My mind couldn't comprehend just how strong he was.

"Chant annulment... An advantage that comes with the name of the Revenant I suppose." Greerheart mentioned, after noticing I'd casted a spell.

His strategy wasn't bad one bit, crushing my windpipe meant speech was impossible. Which would mean no chants.

My wounded arm bled profusely.

It'd been severed from the forearm region. But I still had my other limbs, I could still fight.

I anemically outstretched my left arm and conjured a ball of fire performing the Zestrian magic [Fire Ball] also the first spell Hermoine had taught me.

An elementary class (1st rank) spell.

The sphere of fire rocketed on a rectilinear path for him, and when Greerheart was to block it with his fist, it changed nature.

Using sub-skill [Phenomenon Modification] I converted the flame's properties to a much hotter one via dark mana from gallanite.

It had now become a variant of [Apocalyptic Flame Control] which in turn amplified its speed.

The sphere darted past my targetʼs fist.

When it struck his chest, it left a deep wound there.

But it wasn't enough to make him express anything. Emotionless.

"So you broke through my [Dragon Fighting Aura] impressive," for him to have commended me showed how commonplace this battle was to him.

It was a mundane task which stirred nothing in him.

While I struggled to survive.

Slowly but successfully I crawled from the ground to rest against the wall on the side.

Greerheart watched me labor in pains.

He wanted to see me die and I was trying to survive.

[>> Unique Skill, "Composite" active. <<]

[>> Using sub-skill of "Composite" ---> "Combination" <<]

[>> "Apocalyptic Flame Control" has successfully been modified to support spell cast - "Grand Conflagration." <<]

[>> Would you like to use this attack? Yes or No? <<]

It was not like I had a choice.

I mustered the strength to cast the spell.

It was similar to the starting process of the usual [Grand Conflagration].

After focusing a tremendous amount of magicubes before my left palm, a light golden flame emerged.

Gradually it turned red and then jet-black in colour.

Darkening until the flame had completely lost its "light." 

It was now a black condensed ball of fire.

But more, I needed more.

From a black ball of fire which was "condensed," the density increased but the magnitude remained the same.

If this was to be ranked, it was a spell that would greatly outclass numerous +S rank spells.

It had gone far beyond that now.

Despite the size, this ball of flame was factually with enough mass to shame an elephant.

This was my desperate attempt to defeat him.

The explosion from this sort of attack would arguably waste an entire city block.

I coughed even more blood.

The colour of my irises were slowly fading and I was losing consciousness.

Greerheart didn't make any movements whatsoever.

Instead, he waited for me to shoot this attack.

'I'll make sure he regrets choosing that decision.' I said to myself. 

My arm could barely stay up anymore, my head throbbed like there was a drill in my skull and I'd lost a lot of blood.

I definitely wasn't going to make it.

This guy seemed to have his sights set on me, which was good.

I wouldn't want the others to have to go through this.

The moment I discharged the attack, it rocketed forward like a widerange beam of mass destruction.

The power it possessed was tremendous, it had somewhat cracked the defensive barrier Greerheart activated in-between the time of me discharging the attack and direct impact.

As the ground rumbled unendingly, the strength of this attack could be felt throughout the mountain range.

Birds, Dragons and Mountain Tigers alike sought after safety.

The intensity of my attack was more than I'd have ever predicted.

It took a whole 12 seconds before Greerheart completely neutralized the attack by way of defence.

His defensive barrier had been destroyed and his right arm was scorched.

The attack burnt away his defensive aura.

Something that he believed shouldn't be possible by human standards.

"Your Highness! Are you okay?!" Natia asked, because of his right arm.

He may have severed mine but I burnt his till it was unrecognizable.

To my surprise his additional skill [Ultraspeed Rejuvenation] was in play.

Somehow the situation felt hopeless.

"Do not worry Natia," he spoke like what I'd done was insignificant.

My coughs increased and the blood that poured out of my mouth even less, which meant there was barely any blood in my body. 

I was feeling asphyxiated, my throat was burning and my body felt cold.

Was this how death felt?

I fell flat on the ground again.

Greerheart approached me, lifting his right leg slowly, he pressed his foot against my head.

There was this mild sadistic joy he gained from watching me toilsomely battle.

He degraded me, reveling in the power gap between us.

"In the face of overwhelming power... Determination, sentiment, revenge, anger... They're all useless, every last one. It doesn't matter what Spriggan plans to do with you. Anyone who can elude my [Omniscient Mirror] should not live.." There was animosity in his voice.

The sword of Gallus moved autonomously toward Greerheart, and he grasped it tightly by the hilt.

Without any consideration his foot increased the force on my head, pushing it deeper into the ground.

Then, he drove the sword into my back.

Blood upsurged like a geyser the moment he did.

And it was then I knew I'd truly die.

He turned and took his leave.

Not another word was spoken.

There was horror in Hermoine, one groomed by anger and fear. She was in equally poor shape, but seeing me there with a large sword driven through my back scared her.

"Nyx?"

Teardrops rolled down her cheeks.

Debilitating fear gripped her, she couldn't fully grasp the scene.

Her back was badly damaged.

Her attempt to stand only left her to fall again.

"Nyx!"

She crawled laboriously toward me.

My sight was fading, and fast.

'Am I dying...? No, I don't wanna die. I haven't done anything noteworthy in life, I haven't saved Belitha from them..'

While I thought deeply, Hermoine still crawled.

She'd get there even if her right arm was fractured, even if her back was damaged, nothing would stop her.

Not even the blood rushing down the sides of her head which blinded her sight would stop her. 

"Nyx please! Stay awake! If you die I'll kill you!"

'Come on... I have to stay alive, Hermoine won't be happy. No one will. It's just one small... one wound.'

My constant gasps were gradually diminishing.

Signs of life were ceasing, '..Nyx, are you really going to die?' I asked myself.

"Gallus! Gallus! Please save Nyx! He's dying! Anyone please save him!" Her mournful voice cried out, tears and blood.

She couldn't crawl any further, her body was too exhausted to do such.

I couldn't talk, no last words for me? Damned throat. 

'I always believed... that deep down, this world worked in my favor. Is this my punishment for thinking that?' At this point only my fingers could move.

'My strength is a lie, it's all just a bunch of skills and stats that belongs to Scentia... I didn't give a damn about rules, or even my limits, I forgot I'm only human after all..'

There was no luster in my eyes.

The light was gone.

"Nyx please! Don't die! Someone help him!"

She still cried.

Gallus remained unconscious, he wouldn't be waking up anytime soon. 

Meanwhile, Greerheart and Natia walked away.

He didn't look back once, he was sure my death was certain. And he was indeed correct.

'I'm sorry... Hermoine.'

My eyes shut closed, I was lost to perpetual darkness.