Chapter 8: A Crooked Bunch (III)

"This is...they are... Humans...!"

The whole world came to a sudden standstill. No one moved an inch, each muscle fibre suspended mid-twitch. The sound of his own exhaling flooded Arthur's ears, and then suddenly the voice was drowned out by the ear-splitting cacophony of something exploding underneath and to his left. 

Wobbling to the side, Arthur brought his hand up just in time as he caught an arrow that whistled to his right, just a centimetre away from blowing a hole into Astrid's head. 

The slowed perception of time returned back to normal as Arthur's eyes glowed in a pallid shade of grey. Multiple cracks resonated and the platform that Arthur and Astrid were using to stay on for a while broke down. 

Reacting in a flash, Arthur exploded towards Astrid before wrapping her in his arms and tucking her head inwards—against his chest—followed by his own as he placed his temple over her head right before another arrow whistled past them. Astrid's hair fluttered wildly in the air for a moment, before Arthur threw her back on the main path. 

"Go. Now." Without looking at her, he spoke, his voice raising just above the normal volume that he used to talk in. Standing up quickly, she started to run, kicking up dirt as she did. 

Spinning on his heel, Arthur extended his arm to the side as Thelesa narrowly bent her back. However, the speed at which Arthur had reacted to her dash towards Astrid was too fast, evident from how she was unable to dodge it and his arm made contact with her neck. 

The forward momentum and the force of his blow made her feet leave the ground before flipping backwards as she was thrown to the ground. Pointed stones that were scattered all over the mountain dug into the exposed back skin, making a yelp escape her lips. 

"Thelesa!" Elara cried out. Faster than which Arthur could react, an arrow—as bright as a bulb—made its way towards him. The arrow grazed his cheek and then closely nipped away at the tip of his ear, tearing the cartilage. 

He registered the searing sensation of a small portion of his ear blowing away a second later after Thelesa spun her spear in a full 360 while still laying on the ground. 

Clenching his jaw, Arthur folded his leg and plunged his knee into Thelesa's ribs. The arrow that was fired a moment ago homed back, like a boomerang. Thelesa rolled to the side and narrowly dodged the attack. Arthur's knee sunk into the rough surface of the mountain, and a crack ran all along the place and extended upwards towards the tip of the mountain. 

"Gah-" A yelp escaped his lips as the homing arrow grazed his hip and then stuck into his calf, making him fall on one knee. Capitalising on the small opening, Thelesa stood up and jumped towards Arthur. Spinning the spear in her hand, she spun around her heel and then made a horizontal slash with it, aimed right at Arthur's neck. 

To hell with it…

「Phase 1 」

The tip of Thelesa's weapon bent backwards before exploding on itself. The shrapnel from the exploded metallic tip flew in every direction, except for Arthur's. Caught off-guard, she jumped backward, trying to create some distance. 

Elara pulled the bowstring and another bright arrow formed from thin air, extending from between her pinched thumb and index finger. Not giving Arthur any time to relax, she fired it. 

Arthur put his hand in front of himself. A translucent, almost invisible force field manifested as it formed an oval shaped dome that bent the individual particles of the light before dissipating it into a swirling mix of photons. The little motes of white were trapped in a small vortex, gradually dimming out before totally being snuffed out. 

"Impossible!"

"Who is this bastard…?!"

Thelesa and Elara grunted as Arthur took a deep breath and jumped back. The rain was increasing, growing more heavy with every passing second. And despite the rain drenching him, cold sweat rolled down his forehead. Blood streamed down his ear, the thick stream diluted with the rain water as it formed crimson trails over his neck and soaked the scruff of his high neck. 

'They attacked as soon as the old man said I was a human… haaah… guess there is no other option than to fight…'

Shaking his head, Arthur got rid of the dizziness that was approaching him due to the loss of blood, the edges of his consciousness slowly turning black. 

"Thelesa. Elara." The same old voice spoke, making the two girls look back. Squinting his eyes, Arthur focused on them. Despite the murky dark ambiance around them, now that Arcanum flowed freely inside every inch of his body, Arthur could see everything. The old man, despite having his chest puffed, was quivering, his lips trembling uncontrollably.

Despite wearing a loose tunic that fully covered his body, Arthur could see the inscribed writings in a foreign language all over his body that were visible every time the wind made his clothes flutter. The entirety of his skin was extremely loose, dangling down like a pendulum in an old clock. 

He doesn't seem to be shivering from cold or old age… It's fear, there's no doubt in that. But fear of what?

"Keep a level head. This little Mudwalker is that— that man's descendent!" He spoke, his voice creaking, losing any semblance of power and authority it held. The old man was gazing right into Arthur's eyes, his mind racing to events. Events that made the very cells inside his body tremble in fear. "That bastard Adam… you are his descendent!"

"Adam? You mean that Adam, grandpa?" Elara asked, her eyes wide as she alternated her gaze between her grandpa and Arthur. 

The old man looked down at Arthur. "Elara, Thelesa. Fall back into support." He said as the final figure standing there stepped up. "Let Frosti deal with him."

Getting his cue, Frosti stood a few steps away from Arthur. Standing at well above 2 metres, he towered over Arthur. Arthur looked up at him, and gulped down a dry lump of saliva. Broad shoulders, thick limbs, veins that seemed like the roots of an eldritch tree and extremely well defined blue-grey muscles. The blue skin was complimented with his white beard that reached until his pecs which were completely made out of pure ice.

"Frost giant." Arthur mouthed. 

"You know about us." Frosti spoke back. His irises were so light coloured that they seemed to almost not exist in the sclera, getting totally camouflaged into it. 

"I have read a few books." Arthur admitted and then looked up. "Eve was said to—"

Arthur's provocation was stopped midway as a vein popped on Frosti's temple just from the mere mention of Adam's wife's—Eve's—name. The next moment his mouth opened and a glittering breath rushed towards Arthur. With his hands dangling loosely to the side, Arthur kicked the ground beneath him. The small area of the mountain gave away underneath the sheer force of the Arcanum infused kick, kicking up huge chunks of land. 

The breath collided with the debris, freezing them in the air. As Arthur took in a breath, he felt as if a hot knife was poked into his lungs.

Powder snow. The breath freezes the target and then secretes powdered snow. He reached to a quick conclusion.

More Arcanum slipped out of his body as Arthur kicked the frozen objects back at Frosti. 

A shimmering arrow of light zipped from his side and exploded the incoming debris as Thelasa let out a loud battle cry, her spear still in hand. Landing beside Arthur, she raised it over her head before flinging it down like a club. Arthur raised his arm, and blocked it. The force from the blow made his feet sink into the ground. 

His calf which had an arrow pierced it a while ago screamed in agony as the force doubled. 

"I have no idea what you used a while ago, but you will pay for harming my family's prized weapon."

"It either wasn't worthy of being a prized weapon or your family just gave you a fake because you are not worthy." Arthur flicked his gaze towards her as another rush of freezing breath made its way towards him. 

"Filthy mudwalker!" Thelasa screamed as Arthur ducked underneath her overhead slash before crashing his shoulder into her midsection, immobilising any further movement. Her body caved inwards as she spat from the force of the blow. The next instant, Arthur elbowed her throat making her fall to the ground. 

'Is she young? She's a dark elf, right? Why is she not using her Arcane Arts…?! Or was it because she underestimated me? Hmm- Should I keep her alive? I want to see her Arcane Arts in action.'

*cough cough*

Spitting up saliva tinged with lots of blood, she fell to the ground with a muffled thud. As Arthur was about to brab her by her hair, an icy claw gripped his face. The sheer coldness of the touch created a burning sensation against his skin. 

Frosti held him by his face and raised him above the ground before smashing his head back into the ground. The pebbly ground started to become more and more unstable and the rocks that formed its foundation finally gave away. 

Crashing Arthur's head into the ground once again, Frosti and Arthur were thrown down along with a landslide. 

Elara ran after Thelasa who was still panting from the blow she had received. 

"Thelasa? Thelasa! Are you ok… what happened to you?" Elara spoke with concern, placing her head in her lap. 

Her eyes almost rolled to the back of her head. "El…"

"Shush- I will h-heal you. Don't talk…" Elara reassured her. She didn't want to lose her friend in this way. Her throat bulge was crushed and her vocal chords seemed to have stuck out of somewhere else. A boiling fury whipped up inside Elara as her hand glowed in a bright golden light, trying to heal her up. "Grandpa… she will be fine, right?" She asked her grandpa who was sitting right beside them. 

"She will live." He replied, his tone grim. "But she won't be able to talk." He continued as he gripped his staff so tightly that his fingers turned pale. "If she's lucky. Leave this to Frosti. He is able to open Phase 2 of his capabilities. He won't lose."

"But grandpa, you just saw what he did to Thelasa. I have to go as well. I have to take revenge."

"It's not a matter of magic, child." He spoke, rubbing the bride of his nose. "That mudwalker—human -- was just a better fighter. I hate to admit it but… if he wasn't curious about something that Thelasa possessed, he would've killed her right at the start." He paused, letting his words sink in. "However, humans don't have access to much ambient Arcanum. Not as much as we do. Handling a 600 year old Frost Giant who can unlock Phase 2 is impossible for any human to accomplish. Even if it's that wretched bastard's descendent." He spoke as a grin formed on his face. "And interested or not, that human was hesitant in landing the killing blow. He's not used to killing others."

"Frosti is only 600?" Elara was dumbfounded. "Grandpa, he is too young. He doesn't have any real experience as well."

"He is a human with very low magic. He will die soon enough." The old man reassured. "Leave Thelasa to me. You go after that silver haired human girl." Despite how the old elf downplayed Arthur, a memory– ingrained in his soul made his whole body, no it wasn't just his body. It was as if his cells were screaming at him to run away. He's not him. He's not him. He's not him. He kept reminding himself. 

Reluctantly, Elara looked down at Thelasa before nodding and running away. 

As the old man looked down, heaps of dust, stone, gravel and trees were thrown into the air in a faraway distance where multiple lights were shining. The fight was being dragged towards the main city. The old man shakingly stood up from his place and looked over the vast expanse. 

"So this is Earth… But we were going towards Silverglade's mountain until now. How?" With the question repeating like a broken record inside his mind, he squinted his eyes, trying to focus on Arthur and Frosti's fight. 

The trees lining the boundary of the mountain's premises that let a few glimmers of light intrude through them were blasted into the air as Arthur was thrown like a comet into a car. The impact made the vehicle totally cave in, followed by both the car and Arthur crashing into a small building on the other side. 

Screams erupted from everywhere as Frosti's giant form appeared from the other side of the tree-lined avenue. Translucent mist flowed out of his icy hair?, dropping the temperature of the surrounding air with every step that he took. 

Shaking his head a few times, Arthur rose to his feet. Blood streamed down from his hairline down to the right half of his face, the crimson hue spreading inside the white lake of his eye. His eyes flickered between a hollow grey to a brighter hue as he struggled to maintain his consciousness. 

Frosti looked around, his composure breaking. His almost invisible irises flicked in every direction, looking at everything with either a sense of surprise or meek fear. "This isn't Eden." He spoke out loud, his voice sending a chilly sensation down everyone's spine. 

This part of the city was usually vacated, with not many people living here. However, that didn't mean there was no one. Around 30 similar looking buildings lined both sides of the cobblestone road with multiple small cafes and grocery stores opened at the ground floor of these buildings. 

Arthur looked back at the car in which he had crashed in. A long metallic shard was lodged inside the driver's solar plexus, his eyes closed. Looking away from him, Arthur tried to redirect his attention to the matter at hand. 

"So you have no intention of talking." Frosti continued. 

"Any opportunity to talk it out was already thrown out of the window when you attacked me as soon as you heard I was a human." Arthur replied, wiping the blood from around his eyes. Frosti glared at him. "However, it is a shame, really." Cocking his head, Arthur brought his hands up. Now that they were inside civilization, Arthur could see him more clearly. He was clearly well above 2.1 metres, around 14 inches taller than Arthur. "I would've loved to learn more about your Arcane Arts."

The ground underneath Frosti's feet froze into solid ice as he kicked it. Breaking into many pieces, he hurtled it towards Arthur. The huge slab of ice broke into a million different pieces, reducing to powdered dust. The dust formed a small cyclone around Arthur, slowly closing in on him. His jacket started to tear open, bits of fabrics flying upwards. 

Arthur let out a deep breath which felt like his lungs were getting punctured. 

Again… an invisible force field manifested from the small region between Arthur and the closing powdered dust and then expanded outwards like a dome. Swirling in an opposite direction than the powdered dust, it completely dissipated it. 

Frosti narrowed his eyes. The next moment, lightning crackled around Arthur and a deafening explosion reverberated as he closed the distance in the blink of an eye. 

"He's faster now..." 

The thought barely registered inside his mind before Arthur's fist crashed into Frosti's jaw with bone-jarring force. 

A sickening crack echoed through the chaos as Frosti's body hurtled through the air like a rag-doll, slamming into the nearby building with a deafening crash. 

The structure groaned in protest, collapsing under the sheer force of the collision as it sent shockwaves of panic rippling through the crowd.

Frosti clawed his way from the wreckage. The cobblestone quivered beneath his touch, fracturing like fragile glass. As he looked up, a smirk formed on his face. 

With a snarl, he punched the ground beneath him. 

Multiple fissures tore through it, splitting the road like the jagged maw of a monstrous creature. 

With each passing second, the cracks widened. Before long, jagged spikes of ice erupted from these crevices, jutting outwards towards Arthur. As the road splintered and the parked cars were impaled by the onslaught of ice spikes, Arthur flicked his wrist. 

The cars that were trapped into the coming spikes started to cave in. As if being crushed by an invisible hand, the cars were crushed into little balls, breaking the ice spikes in a near instant. As Arthur stood there with his hands loosely dangling to the side, only a small shard of ice reached him that harmlessly bounced off his chest and clattered on the ground. 

Frosti's expression turned grim for a second, his immaculate, icy features scrunching into a frown. A certain sense of weirdness, or rather something more fundamental gnawed at his mind and heart. He could not comprehend anything. Although being significantly stronger physically and having the advantage of being many times his age, he just could not shake this… unsettling sensation that continued to loom ominously into the air like a thick fog. 

There were a lot of unknowns. Many things about Arthur's powers that he did not understand. The fact that Arthur was standing alive at this moment despite having his ear blown and calf pierced by a light arrow which still festered like an infected wound was enough indication that he was not an opponent to be taken lightly.

"No wonder you filthy humans were driven out." Frosti spoke, cloudy mist escaping his lips. "Wretched sorcery. Just like your foul Arcane Arts, you humans are unworthy of living." He spoke with a sneer. 

"Driven out?" Arthur's tone was laced with mockery.

"It was a Holocaust. A genocide." His tone grew grim, like rumbling thunder. Limping a little to the side. Multiple metallic objects in his vicinity started to shake violently, as if the molecules themselves were excited. 

Frosti straightened his back even more, raising his nose towards the sky and looked down at Arthur. "You have the nerve to talk in my presence after everything your ancestors did to my people. You mudwalkers have no shame."

Arthur tilted his head sideways. "I am not sure what lies have been fed to you. However…" He lowered down. "...if your ancestors were killed by us-humans, then it's just their fault for being so weak." He spoke as the entire vicinity started to shake, quaking as if struck by an earthquake. "Don't tell me you expected the humans to let you slaughter them without fighting back."

"Bastard!" 

Mist spilled out of his body and then flowed towards his hands before materialising into a long handle. The handle continued to grow upwards until it formed a sleek, round ball. Immediately afterwards, multiple spikes protruded from inside the ball, turning into a morningstar. 

Pushing the ground, Frosti propelled towards Arthur like an arrow from a bow. 

「Phase 1 — Forge」

Arthur extended his hand towards the sky. A huge utility pole—that was just behind Arthur—got uprooted and was split into half before forging into a sleek claymore. Gripping it by its crude handle, Arthur swung, his eyes getting lit up again, his golden aura flaring like a whip. 

Arcanum spilt outwards from his pores and coated the weapon in his hand. As the two weapons collided, a shockwave was produced, followed by the wind that scooped shards of glass laying on the broken road beneath and blew them away. 

The next moment both of them started to swing their weapons, with the sole intent to kill. Gripping his claymore with both hands, Arthur swung it in a horizontal slash, aiming for his torso. Using a single hand and taking advantage of his longer reach, Frosti swatted the incoming slash with full force. The grating sound of metal clashing against dense ice reverberated in the whole block, the shockwaves breaking windows' glasses everywhere. 

The claymore and the Morningstar became a blur, coated in golden and blue auras as they exchanged hundreds of strikes in the matter of a few seconds. The road beneath, the lamp posts and the buildings… everything was being lined with slashes from their Arcanum whipping like a whip in every direction. 

Arthur flicked his wrist and the other half of the utility pole - the one that Arthur had split in half to make a sword from - shot forward towards Frosti.

His eyes widened as he pushed Arthur back and brought his Morningstar upwards to block it. Arthur boxed in and slashed at his torso. 

More and more mist started to leak out of Frosti as he kicked towards Arthur in an act of desperation and braced for impact against the incoming pole.

Using his right hand to swat the kick to the side, Arthur closed the distance even more and thrust the claymore towards his solar plexus. 

A huge disc made of ice formed on his torso as the pole made contact with his raised arms. His icy arms cracked under the impact, his feet digging deeper into the road and a spider-web of cracks ran beneath him. There were visible gaps in his arms, slowly falling apart. As he looked down, he saw Arthur was now behind him. 

"Simple minded."

With those words, his claymore dug deep into Frosti's back and impaled his heart.

The sound of glass shattering drowned out the continuously blaring alarms of security systems in the car and screams of people as dark blue fluid spilled out of Frosti's lips.

"H-How…?" He managed to speak, pushing the pain away. "...how did you know I was going to-"

"Perception. Feeling. Emotions. Thoughts." Arthur spoke in a low tone as he gripped the handle of his sword more tightly. "In the end they are just waves. Laying somewhere on the spectrum."

He paused, plunging the sword deeper into Frosti's heart as he succumbed to his feet. "But you don't have to think much about it." As he said that, Arthur twisted his sword and with one last Arcanum augmented swing, he tore open his chest by slicing to the right, severing Frosti's heart and destroying the "Node" that stored his Arcanum. 

A small implosion in Frostis'chest caused a sudden outburst of his lifeblood to spill outwards of the gaping hole that Arthur's claymore had formed. 

Without wasting a second, he pulled the sword out of his chest and closed his eyes, focusing his mind. 

What the actual hell! Those were elves, were they not? And a flipping Frost Giant? I thought they were just American movies! What's next? Arthur pulling out Excalibur? Huh!? I swear to every God, I will have Arthur answer everything to me! It's my fault for not asking anything from him beforeha– 

Arthur flinched, opening his eyes. 

'A woman's mind is a scary place.' He thought to himself.

In the distance, the old elf trembled as he saw Arthur stand on Frosti's corpse, a tangible yet invisible veil surrounding him. 

"It's just like the Gods prophesized…" A bitter taste pressed against the back of his throat as a tear escaped his eye. "...as soon as we capture that girl, we will find a way back. I am sure. Frosti's sacrifice won't be in vain." He spoke to himself. "I am sure there must be a rift that caused the connection between Eden and Earth before the Great Merger. I just need to find it…"

"Too bad, that won't be happening." A voice spoke from behind. 

Light brown hair and green eyes. Aksel Olvasen. 

As he stepped forward, the old man's hair stood on the edge. The confidence he had against humans vanished almost instantly. 

In the blink of an eye, multiple swords of pure light formed all around him. However, the swords dissipated as soon as they had manifested as a huge magic circle extended from underneath Aksel and enveloped the entire region. 

At that moment, a memory from deep within the old elf's mind resurfaced.

The sight of a man… a lone man.

A man capable of mass slaughter in a few seconds.

His cells themselves trembled as he saw Aksel perform the height of what any Arcanum user dreamed of. 

It was a mistake to underestimate them… The realisation came far too late. 

"Technique Deployment." Aksel mumbled under his breath. "Coffin of the Thunder God."

It was only for a tenth of a second, but the only thing that remained after his utterance was a giant crater and charred skeleton of the old man, still standing in his place, like a worn-down lightning rod.

As he glanced down, a spark of electricity flashed inside his Olive Irises. His eyes widened as he saw Arthur who had just defeated a Frost Giant and was now making his way back to the main residence. 

"Hahh- He has grown." He spoke to himself in a bittersweet tone. "So much that it worries me." As he said that, he bent down and scooped Thelasa up. "I pity the one that went after Astrid."

—----------------------

Astrid was out of breath. 

Her destination was just in sight. 

As she reached out for the huge door of the main residence, she saw a woman standing there. 

She was short and she seemed so delicate. Fragile even. 

Astrid's first instinct upon seeing her was to protect her automatically. Despite not fully knowing who it was. 

"Uhh, excuse me. But Arthur- He sent me. You should go inside. I felt like someone was following m–"

The woman in question placed her finger on Astrid's lips. "Shut up before I pull your tongue out." She spoke with a bright smile, making a shiver run down Astrid's spine. She didn't dare to say another word. She could already feel it. The overwhelming Arcanum that the small, petite, blonde woman possessed. 

As Elara blipped in front of them with a bright flash, the woman—Sif looked at her. 

It was only one look, but Elara's mind was immediately overwhelmed by an unfamiliar sensation, like a heavy weight pressing down on her thoughts. Panic surged as she struggled to make sense of the overwhelming force crashing against her senses.

With each passing moment, it seemed as if invisible hands were tearing through the fragile fabric of her consciousness, sending sharp jolts of pain through her mind. Desperation clawed at her as she fought to hold onto her sense of self, but it was slipping away, bit by bit.

And then, when Elara met Sif's empty voids, it felt like staring into the depths of her own fears. A shiver ran down her spine. 

A cry escaped Elara's lips as she crumpled to the ground, her body wracked with sobs of agony. Tears streamed down her face as she clutched her head, trying to block out the overwhelming onslaught of memories and emotions—her own and even those which she had never experienced.

"Weak." She commented with a nonchalant look. "Eric dear~ Capture her~"

"Yes, mom." Eric walked up to them. Glancing to the side, he let out an awkward chuckle. "Oh, hey… uhhh, Anna!"

"Astrid."

"Ah yeah, Astrid. Hello." As he looked at his mother glaring at him, he coughed awkwardly. "Ehm, don't mind me. Go inside. I can feel Arthur coming." Saying that, he trudged towards Elara's unconscious body. "And he doesn't seem to be in a good mood." He added, pointing at the huge congregation of clouds overcast.