"Huff! Huff!"

     A person panted heavily while running away in the forest. He was wounded heavily, yet he didn't take even the slightest break.

     The person's skin color was dark brown. Its long, brown hair is tied behind its head. It had bulky muscles, indicating that the man had trained his body for years.

     He was accompanied by a woman with a similar skin color to his and a muscular physique. She was also wounded while holding her weapon. They are on the run against the pursuers.

     The woman noticed a streak of light permeating through the deep, dark woods. She immediately turned around to inform the wounded man.

     "Völun, I can see a light in the distance. There must be a clear space ahead!"

     The man named Völun swung his weapon, which is a warhammer, into a tree in order to block the pursuers path and delay them for a short period of time. The tree cracked and immediately crashed to the ground.

     In the distance, Reika, Soru, and others heard a loud thud.

     "What was that!?" Silas exclaimed.

     Soru noticed two figures running in their direction. They were both heavily wounded and were panting heavily.

     Völun and his companion noticed that there were several humans in the clear space in the forest. He became wary of them and immediately halted.

     His companion also noticed them and stopped.

     Humans...? What are they doing here?

     Both of them looked around and noticed that they were already surrounded by their pursuers. Left with no choice, they were forced to gather at the center of the open area.

     Reika, Soru, Silas, and others were also caught up in the battle and slowly walked towards the center. Although they didn't know what was going on, they gathered closer in order to avoid the hostile people that surrounded them.

     "Tell us where that king of yours was hiding!"

     Völun and his companion raised their weapons and pointed at their pursuers.

     "Even if we die here by your hands tonight, none of you shall know the king's whereabouts!" Völun shouted.

     Amongst the crowd of pursuers, one man stood out, tossed his dagger in the air, and caught it. He was smirking while staring at them.

     "Well, well. Even if you won't say anything, I'm sure "that person" would find him sooner or later!"

     Völun twitched his eyes upon hearing one of the pursuer's words.

     "He was a skilled swordsman, you know? With his ability, looking for that king of yours would be easier!"

     Upon hearing the bad news, both of them took a stance in preparation for an upcoming battle.

     "We must deal them with haste in order to assist the king!"

     His companion nodded silently.

     "Aeden, take the front and left side! I'll handle the rest."

     Unable to escape from the heated conflict, Silas, Sylva, and others gathered at the center while being guided by Soru. Reika, who was still weary from her battle with the dragon, followed them and was trying to gain her strength back.

     "Hyaa! HAAAH!"

     "CLANK! Swoosh!"

     A loud clash of weapons and swords can be heard throughout the entire area. The village men crouched on the ground, including Silas and Sylva, in order to avoid the heating battle.

     In the bush, three archers popped out and pointed their arrows at the villagers. Völun's companion, Aeden, noticed the archers and immediately swung her axe towards them.

     "HYAAA!"

     In an instant, all of them got hit by the axe and died immediately. The axe flew back to her, and she grabbed it with her hands. But without her notice, one arrow managed to release from the bow and was rushing towards the target.

     The arrow!

     Aeden swiftly swung her axe again and tried to stop the arrow, but it was already too late due to the difference in speed between the arrow and her axe.

     Damn it!

     The arrow was heading in the direction where Soru was standing. Although he noticed the incoming danger, he didn't move a single inch.

     Aeden noticed the arrow's trajectory and warned Soru to duck.

     "Hey! You-"

     Aeden stopped when she noticed that the arrow just bounced away from his body.

     Eh?

     "KUARGGGGH!!"

     All the cloaked men who pursued them groaned in pain in unison. Völun noticed that all of their chests were bleeding heavily, as if they were being attacked by some invisible forces.

     Aeden looked around in disbelief as the cloaked men began to drop one after another.

     What is happening...?

     While in the middle of confusion, Aeden noticed that a human boy, named Soru, was holding the head of a dying cloaked man. The man groaned while blood was coming out of his mouth.

     "Just, what are you people... Koff!!"

     The man passed out and died on the spot. Soru dropped the body on the ground and moved away in order to avoid the blood staining his shoe. The stunned Aeden didn't move, as she couldn't believe the sudden deaths of the cloaked men.

     Völun rushed to the villagers and helped Silas stand up. The rest followed while Sylva helped Reika get up.

     Soru walked towards the confused Aeden. Aeden didn't notice him due to confusion.

     "Why are they pursuing both of you?" 

     Aeden snapped out of it and turned around. She saw Soru standing beside her.

     "They are hired assassins that were sent in order to deal with us."

     Soru looked around in silence. He saw several corpses scattered around the area, covered in blood. All of them suffered the same fate of being pierced by something else, and it was caused by his unknown power.

     In the distance, Reika stepped back slowly with a confused look on her face. 

     Wait, wait, wait, wait!

     Reika looked around. She saw Soru talking to a dark-skinned woman, which is Aeden. She also saw Silas talking to the dark-skinned man named Völun while others were busy inspecting the wounds of the deceased men.

     "Why are all of them talking in Japanese!?"

     Reika heard that the dark-skinned man was talking in Japanese fluently. Although Silas can speak Japanese, the fact that she heard him talking to the man in Japanese made her confused. 

     Not just them... But those villagers could also talk in Japanese! 

     "Heh... Surprised?"

     "Hwuh!?"

     Reika jolted when she heard a strange voice beside her. She immediately noticed a strange, glowing figure floating on her right side.

     "You... Is that you, Veylir?"

     The figure has crimson skin with a slight hint of a woody color. It wasn't translucent at all, yet it was still glowing faintly.

     "But... What happened to your body? And your voice..."

     "Cute, aren't I? I morphed my soul into my younger state so that I could conserve my spiritual energy to the lowest level possible. Along with my voice, I became like this!"

     Reika took a closer inspection with Veylir. She tried to poke its chubby cheeks, but her finger was permeated through its soul body.

     "So, about the situation right now..."

     Veylir suddenly remembered the topic they left before.

     "Ahem! About that... I do have a theory in mind, but it seems that you inherited my ability "Translator" for some reason."

     Reika thought for a second and remembered her third ability, the Subjective Link.

     "I don't know what method you used, but you can only acquire that ability after mastering all languages in this world. And by the looks of it, you're too young to roam around the continent and learn all of it by yourself. So, I assumed that ability came from mine."

     Reika realized that Veylir's theory was right, and the user of Subjective Link can access all the abilities of its subjects.

     Veylir's right. Subjective Link can access the abilities of the subjects I've binded with my ability...

     "That "Translator" ability—how does it work?"

     Veylir closed its eyes for a second. Reika waited while hearing the mutters of the people in the background.

     "Ah!"

     "The word that came out of the mouth of a speaker vibrates through the air, but that word that the speaker used is a language that the user didn't understand or had no knowledge of at all."

     "Thanks to the "Translator", it converts the vibration of the incoming frequency to match the frequency into a language you're most familiar with, and vice versa. With that amazing ability, you don't have to worry when conversing with others whose language is different from yours!"

     Reika looked at them, busy with their own things. A smile appeared on her face.

     With this ability, I don't have to hassle myself by listening to their gibberish language! 

     "How convenient this ability was!"

     While in the middle of their own, separate conversations, they stopped upon hearing a loud explosion in the distance. Aeden suddenly remembered the situation with their king.

     "Oh no... Our king!"

     Aeden looked in Völun's direction. Both of them nodded in silence and quickly rushed towards the source of the explosion. 

     Silas noticed that the direction they're running was the same path they took before while searching for them.

     "That direction... Isn't that the path that leads towards the village...?"

     ...

     Reika, Soru, Silas, and several others quickly rushed towards the village. In the distance, they could see that the wooden walls that surround the village were destroyed. Several houses fell in shambles, and trees were uprooted from the ground.

     Upon arrival, they couldn't see any villagers running around the area. They looked around, but all they could hear was the explosion and loud tremors.

     "They must be at my house, since it is the largest and safest structure in this village. Sylva and others, come with me!"

     Sylva and the village men nodded and followed Silas in haste. Meanwhile, Reika didn't follow them, but she headed towards the source of the disturbance instead.

     She was about to take a step further when Soru confronted her.

     "Where are you going?"

     Reika paused for a bit and continued walking. 

     "I'm going to investigate what's going on ahead."

     Without uttering a single word, Soru followed her quietly.

     Due to the small size of the village, they managed to reach the battle quickly. Finally arriving at the area, a person welcomed them, flying in their direction.

     Both of them immediately moved their bodies in order to avoid the impact. 

     THUD!!

     As the smoke subsided, they saw Aeden stuck on the wall.

     "Cough! Cough! He's too strong..."

     Reika immediately rushed to help her stand. She grabbed her hand and helped her get onto her feet.

     "Are you okay?" Reika asked.

     Aeden, who was struggling to stand up, reached out her hand while groaning in pain.

     "Y-Yeah..."

     Aeden saw the intense battle in the distance. Two people, Völun and a dark-skinned man, were struggling to fight a single person.

     "I must help them... Ghk..!"

     "Take it easy! You must have suffered some injuries from your fall!" Reika told her.

     Aeden sat on the ground while resting for a little time in order to recuperate. 

     Naturally, two against one was a one-sided battle. But what Reika saw was an overwhelming strength that both surpassed the two who fought desperately against one person.

     "That man that holds a giant sword... who was that?" 

     Aeden heard her and stared at the man with an intense gaze.

     "That man that the king and Völun was fighting... is in the Top 40 of the Swordmaster Rankings, Agnar!"

     Aeden held her axe firmly. Her face turned serious as she uttered his name.

     "I can't believe they hired him to end the king's life! Even with us three alone, we struggled to defeat that abomination... He's a monster!"

     Aeden slowly stood up and took her axe.

     "Now that I've rested a bit, I must assist the king!"

     Aeden swiftly dashed towards the battle and landed a blow on Agnar. But he managed to parry the axe and shove it away.

     Agnar distanced himself. Without giving them a chance to defend, he swung his greatsword and shoved it on the ground. A pulse of energy was unleashed from the sword, knocking Aeden and Völun a great distance away.

     "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

     The loud laugh that echoed throughout the village came from Agnar. 

     "Surrender yourself, Ex-King Alguis! Even if we turn this entire village into a pile of rubble, you have no chance of defeating me!"

     The former Dwarven King, Alguis Fellad, coughed up some blood. His figure shows several signs of injury. His brown, muscular body is covered by the wounds and blood he suffered from the Swordmaster Agnar and the fight before they came to this village. 

     On the other hand, Agnar, who had a muscular figure too, only got some minor injuries. He was wearing a torn black shirt while holding his weapon.

     "You coward! Using this village as a hostage in order to restrict me... Your title as 'Swordmaster' doesn't fit on you! Ptoo!"

     The Dwarven King spat his own blood right in front of Agnar.

     "Ha! Who cares about that title anyway? As long as I get a huge sum of money from my client, none of it matters!"

     Agnar picked up his greatsword and pointed its tip at him.

     "Now, let's swing our weapons to our hearts content and see who will emerge victorious!"

     Alguis tightly gripped his hammeraxe "Götheimmer". He took a stance, preparing for the incoming attack from Agnar.

     Agnar, on the other hand, raised his greatsword, named "Mountain Sword," in the air and exhaled deeply.

     《Aural Energy Conversion!》

     The surrounding wind began to gather towards the greatsword. Reika didn't know what was happening, so she activated her ability.

     When her purple eyes began to glow, she saw that the gray fog she encountered before began to gather towards the greatsword.

     The fog began to condense as the sword absorbed it. Seconds later, the sword glowed bright red, which is called "aura". The red substance completely assimilated the sword, imbuing it with heavy aura energy.

     Alguis was shocked by the intense surge of energy in his eyes.

     "That heavy aura of his... such strong pressure!"

     Agnar held the greatsword tightly with his two hands. Preparing to unleash a massive attack, he fixed his stance in order to balance his weight and his greatsword.

     "Fourth Style: Descend!!"

     With a single, giant cleave, the intense energy quickly approached Alguis. Alguis swiftly swung his hammeraxe in the air.

     《Earth Surge!!》

     With all of his might, he smashed the hammeraxe to the ground. The earth began to deform, and waves of soil surged towards Agnar's technique in order to counter it. 

     "YOUR RESISTANCE IS FUTILE ALGUIS!!"

     In an instant, the massive cleave and the surge of soil clashed with each other, creating a large boom across the field. Even though Alguis managed to counter it, large tremors managed to reach the houses of the villagers, destroying them in the process. His attack wasn't strong enough to absorb the impact caused by the sword, but it was enough to keep him and the people around him away from danger.

     "Huff... Huff..." Alguis panted while holding his hammeraxe.

     "Is that all you've got, Alguis!?"

     Agnar raised his greatsword once again.

     "Let's see if you can block the other one!"

     An exhausted Alguis noticed Agnar charging up his greatsword. He looked around and saw the unconscious Völun and Aeden in the distance.

     Damn it! If he unleashes that attack once more, it will destroy the village completely!

     While Agnar was waiting for the sword to begin to condense the fog into an aura for the second time, he noticed something approaching in his peripheral vision.

     "Wha- "

     Without hesitation, he stopped the process in order to block the incoming attack with his sword. His attack was cancelled, and the approaching projectile exploded upon contact with the greatsword's blade.

     As the flame began to subside, he looked around to see who initiated that sneak attack on him. In the distance, he saw two shadows and a weird silhouette floating beside her.

     "I... I did it! I managed to hit him!"

     "I can't believe it! With the help of your ability, you can access all my abilities as well! Uh, what was it called again? Sub...Subjective-"

     "Who are you people!?" Agnar shouted at them. Veylir got surprised and fell silent.

     "Uh..." Reika mumbled in a soft tone.

     Agnar raised his greatsword.

     "You dare interrupt my fight!?"

     Agnar took a stance that was directed in their direction.

     "Since you have the guts to throw a fireball into my face, then it means you're one of his subordinates!"

     Agnar immediately jumped and made a swift run in their direction. Reika panicked at first, but thanks to Veylir's guidance and its ability, she managed to invoke the second attack in time.

     《F-Flame Blitz!》

     In an instant, five fireballs began to appear around her. 

     "Go!"

     At her command, the fireballs began to scatter and began to approach Agnar in quick succession. However, Reika was facing a top Swordmaster on the continent, and fighting one was no joke.

     Agnar stretched his hand towards his greatsword, imbuing it with an aura. Aura energy began to cover the sword, and it covered the whole sword in a second.

     In an instant, all the fireballs began to reach Agnar. But Agnar effortlessly blocked and sliced the fireballs in half with his swift movements. One by one, all of the fireballs were severed, and none of them even managed to hit him. 

     All of her bombardments failed horribly. Even though she managed to hit a target, it meant nothing to Agnar.

     "What the hell was that? It looks like he could see all the approaching projectiles, as if he knew when and where they would land!" Reika exclaimed.

     In the distance, Alguis saw the entire situation and struck up an idea.

     An opening!

     Reika, on the other hand, increased the output of the fireballs in order to outnumber Agnar with her attacks.

     "Ghk! I can't...!"

     "Reika! Don't just stick with just one ability! I have several others in my arsenal that you can try!" Veylir exclaimed.

     "Can't you see what was happening? If I switch another ability in just a mere second, that dude's going to kill me for sure!"

     Agnar released a massive slash, and all of the approaching fireballs began to explode upon contact with his aura blade.

     "Playtime's over."

     Agnar quickly dashed towards her with no sign of halting. Reika couldn't react as she was trying to set up the ability again.

     "Hyaaaaah!!"

     While he was focused on eliminating Reika, Agnar didn't know that Alguis had already caught up to him. For Alguis, Reika's actions are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to defeat Agnar. 

     Without making a sound, he turned his hammeraxe, and by using the head of a hammer, Alguis swung it with all his might, down to the last bit of strength he could exert.

     Agnar was so fixated on her that even though he managed to block it with his blade, the force was too strong to stop the impact, and he managed to break the blade into pieces. 

      When the surface of the hammerhead landed on his face, an intense shock coursed through his body, sending his body flying and rolling several times upon contact with the ground.

     "GHAAAK!!"

     Due to the severe blow he received from Alguis, an intense concussion shocked his head. A huge amount of blood was dripping from the injured area. His ear was ringing, followed by blood spurting out nonstop. 

      Seconds later, the ringing sound began to subside, and he could hear the sound of a dragging footstep. The concussion followed, and he could see the silhouette clearly. It was Alguis, struggling to reach him.

     "This is the end, Agnar! "

     Agnar's eyes began to shake violently. He tried to stand up, but the attack he received from Alguis greatly impacted his movements. 

     "No... I won't let it end like this..!"

     Alguis raised his hammeraxe, tilted it and pointed the axe at Agnar's neck.

     "I know that this is too much, but I can't forgive you for those innocent lives that died in your hands!"

     With a swift swing, Agnar's head was chopped off from his neck.

     SPLAT!!

     In the eerie silence that engulfed the area, his head rolled on the dusty ground. Reika, Soru, and Veylir fell silent as they witnessed the death of a Swordmaster.

     Agnar, one of the strongest sword users on the continent, died at the hands of the former Dwarven King, Alguis.

     Alguis let go of the hammeraxe, which was still being pierced on the ground. He stared into Agnar's lifeless eyes and remained in silence.

     "Hah... Hah... Hah..."

     Moments later, he looked around and saw his unconscious companion, Aeden, who had also received a massive blow during her fight with Agnar. He quickly approached her and opened his pocket, searching for something inside of it.

     Seconds later, he finally found the object that he was looking for and opened its lid. A green substance was found inside a small, elongated bottle. Alguis opened her mouth and poured the green substance slowly.

     Reika tried to help Völun when she saw Silas and several others entering the scene. She approached them, with Soru following her behind.

     "What happened here?" Silas asked.

     "A lot of stuff happened, but that man ended the fight..." Reika told the old man and pointed at him.

     Alguis approached Völun and opened his mouth in order for the green substance to enter his body.

     After a while, Aeden and Völun coughed in unison. Völun opened his eyes and saw Alguis in front of him.

     "M-My king... Cough Cough"

     "Relax, Völun. Take a deep breath and recuperate..."

     On the other side, Aeden groaned in pain while holding the wounded part on her shoulder. She tried to stand up on her feet.

     "Ghk!"

     Alguis noticed her reckless movements and tried to prevent her from moving further.

     "Don't make unnecessary movements, Aeden!"

     Aeden heard the king and slowly sat on the ground.

     After Alguis managed the situation, he approached Reika and bowed his head.

     "Thank you, young woman, for helping me deal with him..."

     Völun and Aeden saw their king bowing down to a human, so they stood up and slowly approached him.

     "My king! You don't have to do that!"

     Alguis tilted his head a little bit on his left side.

     "It's fine. Doing this is an act of courtesy."

     "But my king, you're a person with a high stat-"

     "Being a noble has nothing to do with this. Besides, I am but a former nobleman now!"

     Their expressions changed upon hearing his remarks. Alguis released a deep sigh.

     "Sigh. I couldn't protect this village properly without the help of others. I am unfit as a king..."

     Völun clenched his fist and placed it on his chest.

     "But still, killing Agnar is one of your greatest feats, my king! That's why my loyalty will remain until my last breath!"

     Aeden followed Völun and also clenched her fist against her chest.

     "I agreed! We will follow you till the end of our lives!"

     Alguis just smiled at them.

     "I told you to drop that honorific already..."

     In the middle of the discussion, Reika tried to confront them by asking a question.

     "Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but would you mind telling me what was going on?"

     Alguis heard her question. However, Völun got irritated and scolded Reika.

     "For a human to disturb our king's conversation—"

     Völun didn't utter any more when Alguis raised his hand. He fell silent as Alguis confronted Reika.

     "We were chased by several men who tried to assassinate us, including that person over there. Unfortunately, the village got caught up with this mess..."

     "What did you do to make them go to such lengths to chase you this far?" Silas added.

     Alguis sighed and lowered his head.

     "After my son did a coup d'etat at the palace, the first thing he did was to exile me, never letting me set foot on the Dwarven Kingdom again!"