Strength Is The Only Necessity

"Reo!" Infuriated, Renji swung his sword directly at him. Reo smiled raising his sword just before Renji's blade could strike his chest. "How do you possibly hope to defeat me warrior? I hold the power of a god!"

BANG!

He concentrated a great deal of mana at the tip of the sword, creating enough pressure to send Renji flying backwards and releasing a deafening sound.

Reducing his momentum with his hands, Renji executed a series of backflips before he could fully counter the force that drove him all the way backwards. "Tch." He grunted.

"Why..." He muttered under his breath.

"If the sword is truly what you are after, why kill the old man?" With a soft yet bitter voice, he demanded to know.

"Why you say?" He chuckled softly, spinning the sword of Phantasos in his hands. "Do you know why we seek power Renji?" He added.

"I'm not sure I care." He responded in anger.

"It's because we are weak, it doesn't matter how strong or skillful you are. There is always someone who easily outclasses you, in our case it was the Drakons. It's not that I didn't want to reveal my magic to anyone, it's because there was no point in giving false hope." He said as he immediately clutched the hilt of the sword, he seemed to have grabbed Renji's attention momentarily at least.

"I honed my muscles to the core, I developed my magic to it's peak and yet it wasn't even enough to kill even a single one of them. Then my grandfather discovered the temple of Phantasos and everything changed."

"What? You knew about the temple this whole time?" Renji asked.

"The old man never really was a pro in sneaking around and covering his tracks, take the footprint for example. The moment I laid eyes on that temple I knew, the answers to my prayers were answered." Reo responded.

"All I had to do was wait for someone to break open the seal that kept the gates shut and sure enough you came along." He added.

"Then why kill Tunlop!?" Renji exclaimed, he became visibly irritated by his voice and story he had little interest in.

"Because he'd only get in my way, he feared retrieving the sphere would only attract something unspeakable. Then you came along, you who outclasses me in everything, from magic to physical strength, from physical strength to skills." As he spoke, a grey aura emanated slowly from his body as he slowly approached Renji.

"As it stands you're the only one with the capabilities to stop me, therefore you are the biggest threats to my conquest of a peacefully village! I cannot allow you to interfere anymore."

[Notification]

[A side quest has been activated]

[Hostile intent is harbored towards the Mythic]

[Defeat enemy to ensure the Mythic's safety]

[Enemies: 0/1]

[Failure to complete the quest will lead to immediate heart stoppage]

"W-what?" Renji muttered under his breath silently as a sudden notification for the side quest popped up.

As he was distracted, Reo seized the opportunity and launched a direct offensive. He dashed forward at Renji who had not realized this yet and drove the hilt of the sword into his stomach.

His eyes widened along with his mouth as saliva was ejected from it, Reo followed up with a swift right cross which drove Renji backwards and into a tree.

As Renji fell to his butt, the feeling of dismay dawned upon him. "The system... wants me to kill? A human?" Given his status it may sound weird, but that was the driving factor that led to his quest for freedom. Each time he killed in his previous life he always felt a part of his humanity was stripped away from him.

It wouldn't take long before he fully becomes a monster, so in order to prevent this from happening, he seeked freedom from the chains that binded his humanity.

"Now it's over." He muttered softly, propelling himself instantly at Renji who sat on the ground with his back laid against the tree.

"Die!" He exclaimed as he swung the sword sideways, attempting to slice his skull cleanly into two.

At that moment, Renji raised his head up. Staring at Reo with a cold piercing gaze that sent chills down his spine.

Alarmed, Reo withdrew immediately as he couldn't help but sense a spine chilling and disturbing aura from his target. "What!?" He exclaimed within his thoughts. "His aura... It changed completely?" He added.

"I see." Renji uttered with a cold voice as he slowly rose to his feet. "I'd forgotten, that's how the world has always been regardless of which world I'm in, the weak has no reason to exist in the same place as someone who is far superior to them as they always end up becoming their prey. That's what the system was trying to tell me." He added as he stared down at Reo.

"You understand what it means right? If you claim to be strong, then you must be ready to face someone even stronger." He said.

"Are you implying that you're stronger than me?" He chuckled softly. "Don't make me laugh, you insolent fool!" Outraged by his words, Reo dashed forward at him instantly. Renji responded to his actions as well and both individuals dashed forward at each other.

As they got in range, Reo called forth the mana within the sword and cloaked the entire blade with it, increasing its cutting capacity. He swung the sword sideways at Renji's neck.

Seizing this opportunity, Renji waited for the blade to reach his neck and at the last moment, he crouched to his feet instantly before the blade could touch him. "What!? His speed increased!?" Reo bellowed in his thoughts, undoubtedly shocked after witnessing his reaction time.

"Wind Magic..."

Wasting no time, Renji surrounded his right fist with powerful currents of wind and aimed it at Reo's jaw. "Wind Cannon." He released a huge air cannon from his fist which overwhelmed Reo's whole body and launched him high into the air.

"Grr!" Reo grunted as he immediately sliced through the canon with the mana infused blade, but at that point he was already airborne.

"Wind magic: Wind Dragon's Blast!" Renji proclaimed from above.

"What!?" Reo exclaimed in disbelief as he looked up above him swiftly. "His speed increased again? To a level I couldn't follow his movements? How!?"

He emitted a large blast of wind at Reo which assumed the shape of a dragon, the wind dragon descended swiftly at Reo who tried to dispell it but was too slow to do so.

"ARGH!" He groaned as the wind dragon drove him into the ground, giving rise to a cloud of dust as Renji landed softly on his two feet.

[You have created a new spell!]

[Wind Cannon (Level 1)]