“I was right! I knew that he would be a problem…” The enemy captain gritted his teeth.
“We are under attack!” The special guard shouted. “Secure Lord Marnis and track the assassin!”
Two soldiers reacted fast and formed a shield in front of Marnis. Irnik and the guard moved behind their horses. Irnik held the hilt of his sword and pulled it. The sword came out with a shriek.
The special guard took off his cloak and looked Irnik in the eye. They both stared at each other for a second and nodded.
“Tsch! Our cover has been blown. We have no choice but to confront them head-on.” The captain clenched his fists. “Soldiers…” He said, turning towards his soldiers. “As you all know, the orders are: let none of them live!”
“Yes, sir!” The soldiers shouted, full of morale.
“Roosevelt…Remain hidden and provide us with assistance wherever necessary…”
“Affirmative!” Roosevelt nodded and moved to another location.
As Irnik stared at the small overgrown patch of the forest, ten armed personnel stepped out of it and began walking towards them. Irnik untied his cloak, placed it inside the saddlebag, patted his horse and released the reins. As the horse ran off, Irnik, holding his sword tightly, began walking towards the enemy.
The special guard copied Irnik’s actions and followed him with alert and hushed steps.
‘We are heavily outnumbered. The odds are against us, but we can’t back down now…’ Irnik thought, analysing the situation.
He looked at the three men in front of him.
‘Their stance tells me they are seasoned fighters…’ Then he looked at the two men on his left. ‘They seem a bit nervous, but I don’t think they are weaklings.’ Finally, he looked to his right. ‘Hmm… They are not as powerful as the latter. But if they attack together, they can overpower the two of us… So I know my target.’
Irnik, taking a deep breath, immediately bent and took an attack stance.
The enemy immediately raised their guards. In a blur, Irnik disappeared from their sight.
“Orb release…” Irnik murmured, standing between the five soldiers. “Severance…”
“Damn it!” One of the soldiers said, shivering.
The spherical orb spread out towards the soldiers and threw them away. After a few seconds, the soldiers stood up and tried charging their swords with magic, but…nothing happened.
“Huh? What is happening?” A soldier lamented.
“Why isn’t it working? I can’t release my magic!” Another followed.
“No way…Did he…” A soldier’s eyes opened in shock, realising what had happened.
‘Hmm…He suppressed their magic. I think I have heard about this man…’ The enemy captain thought, drawing his sword.
The special guard manifested his sword with magic and rushed at the pair on the left.
“Sword Art, Throwback!” He said, striking the duo.
The enemy duo immediately cast defensive magic and resisted the guard’s Art.
The enemy captain stepped back a few steps from Irnik and looked at him all over the top.
‘The striking blue suit, blue hair, and those blue eyes. The Arts he is using, and the swiftness in his attacks. These attacks sure do ring a bell.’
Irnik cast another Art at the soldiers. “Wind Arrows…” Invisible blows of wind pierced through the chests of the soldiers, instantly killing them. Then he turned to the enemy captain.
As he got a closer look at Irnik’s face, he recognised him.
‘Ah! Those monocles…Hahaha…Now I know who he is…’ The captain smirked.
“Finally, now I remember who you are…”
“Hmm…That’s great. Do you care to tell me who I am?” Irnik nodded.
“Irnik the Wind Rider. It’s an honour to meet you…” The captain narrowed his eyes.
“Hmm…I didn’t know I had fans around the world…” Irnik smiled, clapping.
“They talk highly about you. But I think that you are a weakling. Attacking weak soldiers rather than the leader first…” The captain smirked.
‘Typical words in literature. I am sure he has read a lot of action novels…’ Irnik thought, smiling.
“What are you laughing about?” The captain took his stance. “Ready for a spar?”
“Hahaha…” Irnik’s smile vanished. “I would love to…”
Irnik leaned in for an attack. Then, suddenly…He stopped. Irnik caught a purple light from the corner of his eye. It was very far away. Irnik, ignoring the enemy in front of him, took a step forward, like the light was calling him.
Then…
Boom!
A massive explosion occurred where the light was present, shaking both the earth and the sky.
It caught everyone’s attention and diverted their gaze towards the mountains.
Irnik took a few steps forward and narrowed his eyes. Far away, in the mountains, a purplish-black light pulsed slowly. It felt…like it was alive.
He understood that something was wrong. Danger was arriving, and fast. He grabbed his shivering arm.
‘What is happening…? Why am I trembling? Why can’t I calm my heart?’ Irnik thought, panicking.
‘I can’t let them know that I am scared. It will make me vulnerable.’ Irnik gritted his teeth.
He looked at the enemy, and they had the same condition. Shivering and scared to death.
As they stared, a purple line, stretching from south to north, emerged from the dense fog of the mountains.
Irnik took another step forward. Suddenly his survival instincts struck again, and fear gripped his legs. The line seemed stationary, but it was becoming larger every second.
‘Wait…No…’ The special guard understood.
With all his might, he shouted, “Everyone! Get down!”
Soon, at overwhelming speed, the purple line arrived. Both the enemy and allies ducked to avoid the shockwave.
With its arrival, it blew away everything in its path. Those who kept standing were swept away.
Roosevelt held tight to an old tree as the shockwave pulled him.
‘When will this end? At this rate it will snatch away my legs…’ He thought, groaning with pain.
Soon, the shockwave ended and moved ahead to take out more of its target.
Cautiously, Irnik and the guard stood up, still shivering. Irnik looked at the mountains. The fog vanished as if it had never existed.
“Oh, god…” Irnik said, flabbergasted.
…
Far away, inside the Alcoz Mountain Range, in a cave.
A man, clad in red and black, with long silky hair and crimson red eyes, held his wounded abdomen tightly and retreated a few steps.
Black threads began to emerge from his body, and his wound began regenerating. He wiped the blood on his face with his sleeve and pointed his red sword at the mysterious being in front of him.
A big, monstrous creature stood in front of him. It was covered in a mix of purple and black, with its white eyes glowing like the moon. It opened its mouth, and a black fluid pelted from its mouth.
The man stared into its oral cavity and only saw the same colours the creature had on its body.
‘What is this thing? I have never seen this in my whole life!’ The man clenched his teeth. He looked behind the creature and saw the door he had attempted to open. A purple light spiralled inside it and converged at the centre.
‘I never expected that this would be inside that door.’ The man thought as cold sweat ran down his cheeks.
The creature gave him a murderous stare and slowly took a step towards him. It tilted its head continuously and looked at the man from different angles.
As the creature took another step, the man’s sword gleamed with immense red light, with black veins and horns appearing on it.
Upon seeing the changes in the sword, sudden fear gripped the creature, and it retreated. In its retreat, it hit the wall hard, and the door collapsed on itself, probably sealing it forever.
The creature, panicking, rushed to its left but met the wall and hit its head hard. More black fluid was excreted from its injury.
The space was tight for it. So, without caring about the man in front of it, it rushed towards the cave’s exit.
The man, trying to avoid the creature’s escape, clung to the wall on his left. The creature stomped on the man’s foot in its flight, escaped the cave, and jumped into the deep, dark void of the mountains.
The man, without caring for his injury, rushed to the exit.
As the creature descended into the deep valley, it transformed into a purple and black ball and flew towards the plains of Qaeristisk at breakneck speed, vanishing from the man's view.
The man stepped back and leaned against a wall.
Lamenting his actions, he said to himself.
“Oh, Irfika…What have you done?”
“Hmm…You survived. Impressive.” A voice spoke inside Irfika.
“Yes, I did. Now keep quiet…”
Suddenly, footsteps echoed outside the cave. Irfika immediately grabbed his sword. Soon, the sound got closer, and a hooded boy came into Irfika’s vision. The hooded boy took off his hood and looked at Irfika.
“Oh! It’s you, Melfer…” Irfika relaxed.
“Thank god you are alright, Master Irfika…” Melfer ran towards Irfika. “What was that thing? I know you told me to wait, but the explosion, then the shockwave, and then that creature. I couldn’t, sorry.”
“No…It’s okay…” Irfika took deep breaths. “Don’t worry, I am alright. You know how my powers work.”
“Yes, I do…But after seeing all these things, one can’t remain calm.”
“First of all, the explosion was my attack against the creature. But it reacted with the mysterious magic from the door, and increased tenfold, and hence the immense shockwave.”
“It’s okay…You don’t need to explain anything to me. I only joined you because I want to meet Felmer and tell him something very important.” Melfer said, sitting and smiling.
“Yes…I know…” Saying this, Irfika immediately stood up. “Now, I have to do something about the mess I have created. The door is gone. So the only solution is to kill that thing.”
“Want an idea?” Melfer stood up as well.
“Yes?” Irfika said, patting him on his clothes.
“Rather than killing it. You can severely injure it, and research what it is…”
“Hmm…Not a bad idea…” Irfika replied, thinking. “My lessons are having an effect…” He ruffled Melfer’s hair, giving a light smile.
Irfika sheathed his sword and swept away the dust from his face.
“C’mon, Melfer…Let’s go!” He ordered, and they left the cave.
From between the small gaps in the debris that covered the door. The purple light pulsed…slowly.
…
The creature, in the form of a ball, rushed at the plains.
“Oh, god…” Irnik said, seeing a mysterious ball rushing at them.
“Incoming!” He shouted, and using his wind Art, dashed towards Marnis.
The other soldiers in the area saw the ball and ran as far as possible. Yet, some stood there, gripped by fear.
Bam!
The ball struck the ground in a flash, raising a huge cloud of dust in the sky.
As the dust settled, Irnik looked here and there and saw Marnis standing up.
“You alright, Marnis?” He shouted.
“Yes, I am…” He replied, coughing. But soon he fainted.
“Marnis!”
“Don’t worry, sir! We will take him to a safe place.” One of the two soldiers said.
Then the two picked up Marnis and took him away.
He observed his enemy’s state and found out that they had lost half of their forces and the captain was severely injured.
‘First the explosion, then the shockwave, what now?’ Irnik thought, confused.
Irnik got close to the impact site and saw a purple and black ball in the centre of the crater.
‘The colours…They are weird. Also…’ Irnik narrowed his eyes. ‘They seem to be…moving…’
Three enemy soldiers entered the crater and walked towards the ball with their swords.
Irnik, thinking and confused, observed the soldiers and wondered how the ball would react. Near enough, they stopped.
One of them gathered some courage and decided to get closer. Hesitating, he extended his arm towards the ball and took one step at a time, his body shivering with each step.
The ball pulsed.
The soldier pulled back his arm immediately. Looking at his sword, he charged it with magic and continued his walk towards the ball.
At a safe distance, he leaned forward with his body and tried to touch the ball.
Inches away…The ball erupted, and a bright light covered the area.
The three soldiers were thrown back with their bodies shattered into unseen fragments.
Instinctively, Irnik covered his eyes with his arm. Soon, the light dimmed, and he uncovered his eyes. With the sight of the creature in front of him, he was flabbergasted.
A creature, clad in pure purple and black, maw open, black fluid drooling, staring at Irnik with one thing in mind.
Hunger.
The special guard ran up to Irnik and stood beside him.
“Are you alright, captain?” He looked at the creature. But he got no response.
Irnik’s eyes were fixed on the creature’s. Fear was devouring him.
“Captain!” The guard shouted at Irnik.
“Ye…Yes, yes…” Irnik replied with a face that had seen death up front.
“Are you alright? Don’t lose your composure. We have no choice but to fight this thing…”
“Yes. You are right…” Irnik answered, snapping back to reality.
‘Hold yourself together. You are a captain. And this is a battlefield. There is no time to space out.’ Irnik said to himself, gathering his thoughts.
“We don’t know what this creature might be and what it is capable of. So I will start with a simple yet powerful magic attack.” The guard informed him.
“Correct…If it works, we will continue such attacks. If not, then I will launch a single destructive attack at it.” Irnik said, manifesting his magic.
“And if it doesn’t?” The guard asked, preparing the attack.
“God knows what will happen then…” Irnik replied and retreated outside the crater.
The guard heaved a breath and sat on one knee. The creature turned its head towards him. Snarling and growling, it took a step towards him.
The guard closed his eyes as lightning flashed around his sword.
“Lightning Art, Dash and Flash”
The guard dashed towards the creature, and within a fraction of a second, he was on the other side of the crater. As the creature was about to turn, a flash struck its front legs and cut through them. Its upper body fell to the ground, unable to resist the attack.
The guard turned, and a thing came at him.
“What the…” A tail struck him, and he was thrown back far.
The guard, with the help of his sword, tried to stand up, but he couldn’t.
‘That was a powerful blow…’ He thought. ‘But it didn’t have a tail before; when did it grow one?” The guard was confused.
Irnik prepared his attack, staring at the creature.
‘A concentrated attack won’t work. If it can grow a tail so fast, it can also regenerate its organs…’ Irnik began thinking. ‘Hmm…I want to land a single decisive blow. We can’t waste our magic. But what would work?’
The creature regenerated its front legs and stared at Irnik, taking a single step towards him.
‘I need to be fast.’ Irnik thought calmly. ‘The crater is big, but not much. The creature… its size is massive. And so it has a great mass. Hmm…Drowning him might work. If I continuously fill the crater with water, it might drown due to its mass.’
Irnik rotated his sword and pointed it towards the ground.
“Water Art…Sprouting Springs!” He announced his Art and dug his sword forcefully into the ground.
The crater began to shake, and soon, water began to sprout from countless spots.
The creature, confused, began to look here and there in a hurry. Before it could react, the water had reached its neck. It began to struggle and escape the water, but all in vain. Soon, it was engulfed by the water.
The creature kept struggling under the water, and soon…it stopped.
Irnik sat on one knee, leaning on his sword.
‘It worked…’ He sighed, relieved.
The guard lay down on the ground, satisfied and happy that they had survived.
‘Finally…’ Irnik let out a deep breath.
Irnik stood up and walked to the edge of the crater. Suddenly, Irnik sensed something. The water was gurgling and shaking.
Again…He saw that pulsing light. And then…
Boom!
Irnik was catapulted backwards.
“Water Art…Water Pool” He cast an Art and landed in a shallow pool. Successfully reducing the impact damage. But still…his arm was broken.
The creature resurfaced and jumped out of the crater. A light pulsed inside it.
‘Huh? What is that? Gills!?!? It grew gills! How did it adapt so fast?’ Irnik was dumbstruck.
The creature gritted its teeth and growled at Irnik.
“Killer Art…” Irfika, far away among some trees, pointed his right palm at the creature’s head. “…Red Ash.”
As the creature became ready to lunge at Irnik…
It paused.
Then…It fell. Irnik stood up and saw a hole in its head, red ash floating above it. The light inside it…pulsed no more.
“Bullseye…” Irfika chuckled.
Chapter discussion