No Other Choice

The devilish spies did not bother to mince words, and quickly began sprinting towards their target.

Swords cut the wind in motions to build momentum, and within a matter of seconds blood began to paint the battlefield.

Niko was behind everyone, shooting beams of fire while staring into the distance whenever it became illuminated by the lightning. A small hope that the professors and assistants would soon show themselves was continuously circling in his mind. The only way they survived this ordeal was if that was the case.

Or… If Elijah revealed himself to the close world — to the people who he would inevitably protect.

Niko knew deep down while watching the powerless thirteen year olds being bludgeoned to death, that Elijah was the strongest of anyone among the people here. While his skills were rough around the edges, the unfathomable power he could release if he decided to concentrate a large amount of mana within his fist would prove his spot at the top. 

Even if such an attack were to only be made once…

Although, Niko had his own strengths…

If it came down to it, Niko would create a clone of himself while hiding inside a bush — or even playing dead.

Time passed, and more spies had joined the fight. This caused Niko to employ the tactic he so desperately wanted to avoid, and created a clone of himself while running into the dark distance…

Within the illumination of the storm, a thick and dark bush was found, with leaves that would easily cover his body.

However, before he had jumped inside it, he saw his clone being pierced by a black spike that materialized from a familiar boy's hand.

Oliver!

…

From Elijah's viewpoint, it felt as if he had been the one who was stabbed in the back.

Oliver, a black hair and black-eyed boy with a tinge of mystery, turned out to be his worst nightmare. The bringer of death to his best friend…

Likely, this boy was a spy, and also possessed a darkness affinity, which made sense when the memory of Zion's eyes came into his head.

Elijah sped through the trees, breaking many innocent branches in the process.

Bam!

At the very last second, Oliver turned his head at the sound of breaking branches, and saw Elijah within ten feet of his face.

Instantly, the simple and mysterious boy turned into a grappling monster.

Whoosh!

Elijah's hand whizzed by Oliver's face, and allowed Oliver to swing his legs around Elijah's neck.

Bam!

Elijah's head quickly hit the floor, struggling to make sense of what had just happened.

His emotions were far too deep within this battle, clouding his judgement from man opportunistic plays he could've made.

"Seriously? You were one of the few I was worried about facing. Looks like war isn't for you…"

Oliver held his palm out, seemingly waiting for something.

However, during these few moments, Elijah became bored of the rain not hitting his face. He became tired of caring about a war he didn't know the motive for — especially when the problem lies with the beasts terrorizing the world…

Elijah shuttled mana into his entire body moments before a knife glued itself to Oliver's palm.

Whoosh.

It was light, but the knife was swatted out of his hand, and resulted in Oliver's back being dragged against a tree.

Elijah only smiled, and soon threw Oliver forty feet into the sky shove the trees

Boom! Ba-boom!

Several fireworks illuminated the sky alongside the many strikes of lightning.

Oliver was seen aimlessly flailing his arms while a dark blanket struggled to spill out the front of his body.

'Dammit! These damn fireworks stop me from veiling myself in the darkness!! I won't be able to blunt my fall!!!'

Elijah simply stared as he fell into a thick tree. Visibly, his figure was seen struggling to pass through, and soon disappeared into the darkness of the night.

'That was definitely a darkness affinity… I have to be careful.' Elijah quickly thought before taking a single second to view the beautiful sight of color.

Upon touching the ground, he was met with a knife materializing into thin air. This knife was held within Oliver's hand who slowly revealed his body. Perhaps he was unable to make the spell last long, or he couldn't attempt combat while focusing on a concealment spell.

Elijah slapped the knife out of his hands, resulting in the handle of the knife lodging itself deep into a nearby tree. With the distant memories and mediocre experience, Elijah was soon countered by muscular legs being wrapped around his neck again!

"Heh. You are weak."

Boom!

Elijah's fist that had been concentrating mana met the floor, causing anything below him in a five foot radius to practically disappear.

This brought Elijah the opportunity to not kill Oliver, but forced his legs and arms behind his back while mounting his behind.

"Tell me Oliver… You make a mess, betray the kingdom, for what reason? What offer could've been made for the price of a thousand kids' lives?"

"Wha ki d o monte at u?"

"Ugh… I forgot your mouth is attached to your face…" Elijah turned Oliver's neck into an awkward position revealing a dirty side profile.

"What kind of monster are you?" Oliver was finally able to get his words out after taking a deep breath.

"Doesn't matter. Answer the question and maybe you will live."

"Ah… It doesn't even matter anymore. Other Frostfire spies have their sights on me… It's obvious they are wary of you. If you don't kill me, my family will die. So please… Just get it over with, I don't care anymore…"

Oliver's statement forced Elijah to loosen his grip, yet Oliver didn't take advantage of him.

He was helpless, and knew any attempt to kill Elijah would be fruitless. Even his darkness affinity would not have an effect from the lack of training with said element. If anything, he wanted to keep Elijah alive as a force that would shake the kingdoms of the entire world.

A solo warrior with a strength unfathomable to mankind.

"You idiot… giving up is a ticket to nothing—"

The very second Elijah spoke those words, the handle of a knife somehow lodged itself into Oliver's brain. Unbeknownst to Elijah, his palm was in the perfect position to pull the magnetic knife towards its magnetic mate.

His face was suddenly painted with blood, and his mouth dripped with the taste of death.

"Dammit! This is so stupid! This war means nothing compared to the beasts! The Void… Seems to be the center of everything, once again."

Elijah's face soon became a painting from the combination of blood and the cold rainfall dripping onto his face from the tree above him. "I just want to live a normal life… go to school… get a girlfriend… grow in power… see the world… and eat good food…"

"But everywhere I go… there is nothing but bloodshed… What will it take to stop this from happening? What!?Will it take!? To stop this from happening!!"

"Is it me… Or is this world simply sick beyond repair…"

During this time, Elijah was funneling his anger into his fist without thinking of any possible consequences. Around him were his dealers of death, and throughout his body, was a feeling of numbness.

BOOM!

Rapidly, his ethereal glowing fist that even had small bits of exploding light welling within it — slammed against the ground violently.

His emotions were within the violent strike, and caused the elven spies lunging at him to be filled with vibrations. The earth cracked underneath them, and even two of the struggling spies became trapped in the small cracks of the earth.

This world obviously had a hatred towards Elijah, or rather he himself was magnetic with all of the benevolence he carried. Not just his benevolence that was given to him by Esulith, but the true nature of his character that caused him to be contagious to anyone who was lucky enough to have a conversation with him.

This battle had marked something new in Elijah's heart. A possibility that he might have to rid himself from the so-called benevolence people praised him for in his past life. 

Because of the time he gave to the people of the world, he had not one problem attaining anything he desired despite the fact that he was a simple man and cared about relationships and health more than anything. No car took his soul, and no woman could fool the trust he had with himself.

Now, having gone through trauma after trauma, he seemed to be developing a new version of himself.

A version that had one goal.

Preserving his own life…

Unfortunately, this also meant that anyone who were to step in his way, would be punished.

Take Oliver for example. He may not have had his life stolen by him, but he surely played a part in his death. 

However, he was obviously working with the elves who had invaded this land, and thus deserved everything that came to him.

While there may have been a motive behind his actions — family being held at gunpoint, he was still a kid who decided it was right to kill the many to save the few.

There Elijah was, staring at the three elves who were slowly pulling themselves from the cracked earth. His demeanor gave everyone witnessing his actions that he wanted nothing more than a brutal fight to the death.

Bam!

Elijah punched a hole through the first spy, resulting in his body cracking against the side of a tree.

The side of Elijah's hand bore blood and excess flesh that dripped onto the muddy ground.

In the moments of turning around, he felt his back be caught by a thick silk web, but paid it no mind as it instantly broke from the force of his body turning around.

Bam!

Whoosh!

A thick spike of earth grazed by Elijah's face, taking a small portion of his skin with him.

Elijah felt not an ounce of pain, and destroyed a last minute stone wall before punching yet another hole instead of a helpless spy.

Bam!

"Maybe if you kept your mana inside your wall you would've survived a few seconds longer…"

One second Elijah was levitating above the elves, and the next — after the lightning had fled, he was gone with the wind…

…

"Damn! That guy is a monster!"

Within a thick bush was Jonah Astallac, and Niko Trident.

Evidently, the bush Niko had fled into was where a bloodied and beaten boy who desperately wanted to live was found.

"Yea… I just hope he doesn't think I am truly dead." Niko responded while sitting with his knees to his face. Knowing small parts of Elijah's past, he could only imagine what he was going through.

From a king to a bloodied pawn.

How cruel…

"I guess I shouldn't mess with you either considering that wild ability you have."

"What are you talking about?" Niko did his best to play dumb, but it turned out to be for naught.

"You can't fool me. You created a copy of yourself and hid in the bush…" while Jonah's words were spot on, they still coincided with his own creation ability, which told the story of envy.

This shoved Jonah the cold hard truth that there will always be someone better than him in at least one aspect of life.

In this scenario, he was outclassed by pure strength, deception, and maybe even imagination.

Although, if that were to happen, Jonah felt that he may never have the courage to wield his power again — as it is the life of his soul.

What keeps him going within the difficult times a royal has to go through…