BANG—!

Amelia could heard loud sound verberating throughout the forest. She widened her eyes in shock, as it was not the sound of Raun's body exploding into chunks of meat, but rather—

"Theodore?"

—It was the sound of the all too familiar orangish-red [Lightning spear] impaling the bear, pinning its hind legs to a nearby tree.

Having seen this spell a lot more times than she would have liked to, Amelia could immediately identify the caster.

"Haah, it's the second time I've made a heroic entrance today", she heard Theodore, who had just rushed out from the forest, sigh in self-deprecation.

"Watch out!", Amelia shouted as she saw the [Lightning spear] slowly dissipated, freeing the bear from its constraints. 

She saw Theodore turned his head towards the monster, but he just snorted upon seeing the bear's pitiful state. An air of arrogance and superiority exalted from him, oozing from his slow but heavy steps.

"Take care of Raun", she could hear Theodore's cold command. Her entire body felt the impulse to follow each and every of his commands. That was not to say that Amelia wasn't already running towards Raun to stabilize his condition.

Although she couldn't use Life magic right now, she was still adequately trained in basic first-aid. Thus, she could easily stop Raun from bleeding to death, at least for now.

After giving Raun first-aid, she turned her gaze towards Theodore, only to see the bear beheaded, and Theodore was already walking towards them, covered in black blood.

"W- was that a—"

"Void beast", Amelia's shuddered as Theodore's cold voice confirmed her suspicion. She couldn't believe that Void beasts were here.

However, she was soon woken up from her stupor by the sight of Theodore feeding Raun a healing potion.

Amelia sighed in relief. Even if Raun couldn't fight after getting healed by the potion, he could at least walk on his own when he woke up

'It's finally over', she thought as a huge sense of relief washed over her. That was, until a loud noise startled her.

CLANG—!

---

***

'Shit, this is really bad', I was hitting myself in the head for forgetting something this important.

I let Marie... a main character... go alone in this kind of situation. I was too blind-sighted after seeing Raun almost dying.

Although her strength was probably sufficient enough to protect herself and Emily, I couldn't help but get worried. After all, she was almost killed by an <E-> ranked wolf not even an hour ago.

"Amelia, can y—"

WOOOOSH—!

CLANG—!

A throwing knife suddenly flew from the behind me, aiming for my life; But luckily, my perception allowed me to sense and deflect it with my sword before it was too late.

"Hoh, you noticed it? As expected of someone who killed one of my strongest beasts", a man in black robes said as he walked out from behind a tree.

I eyed him warily and scrutinized his strength. He was at <D-> rank, much to my dismay.

The man also gauged me. Upon seeing through my rank, he laughed mockingly.

"AHAHAHA! YOU'RE JUST AN <F+> RANK? I WAS WORRIED FOR NOTHING". His laughter only intensified as time passes. "BOYS, NO NEED TO HIDE! COME OUT!"

Immediately after, 5 similarly dressed man appeared beside him. 

I broke into cold sweat. They were hiding their presence so perfectly that I wasn't able to detect any of them at all. Furthermore—

"<E> rank?", I widened my eyes in surprise. Individuals ranked <E> and above were valued in the organization. And here they were, fighting me instead of Arthur.

The man laughed again upon seeing my reaction. "HAHAHA! Surprised? You should be! What shitty luck you had kid. Running into this great vice-leader of all people!"

Upon hearing that he was the vice-leader, I didn't know what to make of the situation.

On one hand, there was only 1 vice-leader in the novel, so Arthur was probably safe. On the other hand, I was thoroughly fucked if I couldn't defeat him here. Even one of his five henchmen outranked me in power.

Luckily, he didn't see me as a threat, as he abandoned the idea of using his subordinates to ambush me as soon as he saw through my <F+> rank power.

Going through every other options, I sighed as I had no choice but to use that.

"You know..."

The vice-leader perked his ear up in intrigue to hear what I had to say.

"You're too arrogant for your own good"

"Hah? What the fuck is this snotty brat sayi—"

<[S - Monarch of the Storms]>

Thunders rumbled throughout the forest, torrents of Lightning and Wind mana rushed towards me. 

Mana flowed into my body at an absurd rate, turning my hair ash-gray. I could feel a surge of power running through me, increasing my rank to peak <E+>.

Ignoring Status notifying me that my profession had temporary changed, I focused on the battle.

The vice-leader, upon seeing that my strength was risen, stiffened for a moment, but he still had that arrogant smile on his face.

"Heh, you think that meager boost in power could do anything?"

"BOYS, GET HIM"

Instantly, his 5 subordinate rushed forwards; I braced myself for an intense fight, as it was not easy fighting 5 <E> ranked individuals at once, even as an <E+> rank. 

[Lightning spear], I chanted. An orangish-red spear of lightning shot towards the men. The spear impaled 2 in the guts, killing them instantly.

Or, that was what was supposed to happen.

"W- what?". I widened my eyes in surprise, as out of nowhere, the men threw themselves to the side and dodged my lightning spear, despite them only having <E> ranked agility at most.

I shot several more [Lightning spear], but they were all evaded. Clicking my tongue in annoyance, I decided to engage in close quarters combat.

<[Splice]>

My vision turned red and I appeared right beside the man closest to me. However, I was too close to him for my sword to be effective. Thus, with my fist raised, I punched in the face, knocking him away.

Suddenly sensing danger, I raised my sword to my left to block an attack. 

CLANG—!

'SHIT', I cursed inwardly, as 3 other men had me surrounded from all sides.

I tried to use [Splice] again to get out of this dead-lock, but I couldn't afford to use the spell consecutively, lest I wanted to stop attacking and vomit in the middle of a battle.

'I should've practiced with [Splice] more'

Gritting my teeth, I met swords with the robed men.

CLANG—! CLANG—! CLANG—! CLANG—!...

The clashing of cold, hard metal rang out through the scream-filled forest. The fight was every bit as intense as one might expect. However—

'What's with their movements?'

Their movements were erratic. They attacked wildly, while their footwork made them seem like wild beasts.

It was definitely strange. Even the lowest ranked member of the Darkest night had the basic understanding of combat. It was almost like the robed man picked up monsters from the side of the road as subordinates.

'Don't tell me...'

CLANG—!

"Hey!", I called out to the vice-leader.

"Huh? You should focus on your fight, brat. It's no fun if you die without struggling more"

"I don't fucking care! Did you manage to turn Void beasts into humanoids already?". I sweated in anxiety. If that was indeed the case, the plotline was fucked beyond reparation.

CLANG—!

"What bullshit are you sprouting brat? How dare you compare my lovely subordinates to those beasts? Besides, turning beasts into humanoids? You're more delusional that I thought"

He didn't seem like he was lying. After all, the vice-leaders and leaders of the Darkest night behaved exactly like third-rate villains; Blabbering about their plans while fighting the Heroes.

As the men's movements were more like beasts, their attacks were straightforward, containing no feints at all. As such, I could easily fend them off while gauging the vice-leader for answers.

CLANG—!

"Then why are your henchmen fighting like fucking goblins? Has the Darkest night ran out of idiots to entice?", I provoked, hoping to get an answer out of him.

"Don't talk as if you know anything about us!", he snorted. "Since you're going to die anyways, I might as well humor you", his words contained absolute trust and pride in his organization.

"My subordinates willingly ingested Berserker potion. What do you think? Aren't they loyal?"

CLANG—!

"B- berserker potions?", I was flabbergasted. Using Berserker potions against someone like me was—

"That's right. We could afford to use those expensive potions that can raise one's power and make men fight like beasts against weaklings like you! Are you still doubting our power now, boy?"

—Extremely stupid.

"HAHAHAHAHAH!", I laughed like a mad man upon realizing the obvious flaw.

"What? Had he gone insane already?", the vice-leader sighed in disappointment. I guessed that he really wanted to toy with me. After all, speaking from my own experience, torturing someone who was out of their mind was not enjoyable in the least.

I kick one of his subordinates in the face, using his body as a foothold to jump back a couple of meters.

"Do you know the difference between sentient lifeforms and beasts?", I said with a wide smile.

"What the fuck are you saying?", the vice-leader raised his eyebrows in confusion.

Ignoring him, I continued my speech while putting my left hand on my sunglasses. "You can overcome fear with rationality. But a beast that only relies on instinct can't"

"...", the vice-leader kept his silence, trying to figure out what I was getting at.

Sighing at his stupidity, I slowly removed my sunglasses. "Thus, the best way to deal with beasts is—"

"Ah, he had gone crazy from despair. Boys, get hi—"

<[A - Authority of fear]: Death>

Not letting him finish commanding his subordinates, I channeled mana into my eyes. A gray hue enveloped my body as I took off my sunglasses.

Beasts only moved for their own survival. Thus, in the face of death, they could do nothing but to freeze in fear.

"WHY ARE YOU NOT MOVING! KILL HIM, BOYS!"

Hearing the vice-leader's command, the men started to move, albeit reluctantly.

Knitting my brows together, I channeled even more mana into my eyes. I could feel immense pain in my eyes, blood ran down my cheeks from my eye sockets. But I persisted nonetheless.

Alas, I succeeded. Seeing the previously ferocious members of the Darkest night lying on the ground with foams coming from their mouths, I heaved a sigh of relief and deactivated the skill.

Although my eyes were throbbing in pain, I ignored it and instantly turned my focus towards the vice-leader. 

<[Splice]>

Not waiting for him to wake up from his surprise, I used [Splice] and immediately closed the distance.

CLANG—!

"UGHHHHHH!", the vice-leader groaned in pain as I thrusted my sword in his stomach.

Even though I was only at <E+> rank, my power was akin to a peak <D> rank. Thus, he stood no chance against me, even more so when I employed a surprise attack.

After twisting my sword to rip his insides apart, I kicked him down to the ground and pulled the sword out.

"STOP! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO YOU'RE MESSING WITH? LET ME GO R—"

"Shut up", I coldly said as I stomped on his face repeatedly; The vice-leader soon fainted from concussion and blood loss.

'Guess I couldn't torture him after all'

I brought my sword down on him again, and again, and again, and again,...

Spurt—! Spurt—! Spurt—! Spurt—!...

Coldly staring at the disfigured corpse beneath my feet, exhaling, I sat down on the ground, put my sunglasses back on, and deactivated the skill.

Looking back at the corpse of the vice-leader, I was surprised.

'Why did I do that?'

Although I had no qualms killing him, mutilating his corpse like that just wasn't what I'd do normally. I was strapped for time after all.

Sighing, I decided to not care about it for now.

I quickly turned behind as realization struck me. Amelia's and Raun's existence completely slipped my mind as I was fighting.

I wanted to check on them as soon as possible, as they were surely in range of my Eyes.

As expected, Amelia was passed out on the ground with a terrified expression. However, perhaps unexpectedly, Raun was awake and was staring at Amelia in confusion.

"Raun!", I called out to him.

He looked in my direction with surprise. "Theodore! Are you and Amelia dead too? Is this heaven?"

Holding in my urge to just knock him out and preserve my mental health, I sighed. "No, and no. Besides, if you're dead, then you would be in hell. Let's stop with the jokes now. Can you move?"

Raun jumped up and stretched his legs for a second, before nodding. "Yes. More importantly, why is your hair gray? You look similar to that g—"

"That's not important! Carry Amelia right now and follow me!", I cut off his sentence as I didn't want him to find out the real identity of Lyran Myrsky.

Furthermore, I've wasted enough time fighting the vice-leader already. I needed to find Arthur as soon as possible to make sure that he was saf—

FWOOOOOOSH—!

Suddenly, a large surge of Holy mana could be felt in the distance. It was so intense that I was overwhelmed by its pressure for a moment, even from here.

'It must be Arthur!', I didn't know whether to be glad or not. On one hand, I could vaguely tell where he was. On the other hand—

'What could make him use his Skill?'

I decided to not think about it for now, and quickly rushed back into the forest. "Raun! Follow me!"
...

I could feel my mana draining to keep [S - Monarch of the Storms] active as I ran through the forest. I couldn't deactivate the skill, as I would be in a state of extreme vulnerability if I did so.

I could feel that we were getting closer to the source of holy mana. But suddenly, I saw a faint shadowy figure stalking us from the corner of my eyes.

"Come out!", I pointed my sword towards the direction of the presence.

"What are you doing here?", I spoke in confusion as the shadow revealed its identity.

It was Lucy. 

Her hair was disheveled. Her weary eyes full of worries was the complete opposite of her usual childish expression. "H- help! Arthur's in danger!"

I furrowed my brows. I've already defeated the vice-leader, and the leader was probably fighting the professors. There should have been no one who could challenge Arthur.

"Lead me to him", I urged her.

Lucy pointed to the North. "He's in that direction, hurry!"

She then ran to the East, where the entrance of the forest was.

"Where are you going!", I shouted.

"To call the professor!"

Though I could let her go, I didn't want to leave Lucy's safety to chance. After all, she was a main character.

"You can't! The professors are busy fighting. You'll only be deadweight if you go!"

Lucy pondered for a moment before nodding her head. "Follow me then!"
...

CLANG—! CLANG—! CLANG—! CLANG—!...

I could hear metals clashing in the distance. Straining my eyes to see past the sparse tree lines, I was surprised by what I saw.

Marie was leaning against a tree, her right arm was mangled. Her bow was broken in half and she looked absolutely exhausted; Emily was besides her, trying to stabilize her wounds.

Arthur, who was supposed to be fighting, was bleeding profusely and supporting himself with his sword.

I could sense that his strength right now was lower than an <F> rank. [SSS - Goddess descent]'s duration probably ran out, so his power was no different from an <F> rank. 

[Light beam]

I could hear a chant.

Turning my head towards the voice, I saw a beam of light materialized above Eleanor, the Imperial princess. It then shot towards the man, but he just took the hit without any concern at all.

Eleanor then dashed at the man again, aiming her rapier at his neck. However, the man parried it easily... with his hand.

That's when I realized, the sound wasn't from swords clashing, but rather, from Eleanor's rapier and the man steel-like body.

The man then grabbed her rapier and broke it in half with ease.

He kicked Eleanor in her stomach, sending her sliding a few meters back to where Arthur was. She fainted shortly after from the shock.

It was at that time that we finally entered the scene.

Immediately, the man gazed briefly in our direction. His eyes paused on a Lucy. "Oh? The rat that ran away called her friends?"

He laughed as he moved his gaze to scrutinize me and Raun.

Instantly, I felt my body getting heavier. Almost like someone had just sapped the energy out of me.

"L- Lucy? Why did you come back!", Arthur shouted upon seeing us.

Lucy closed her eyes in contemplation, before slowly opening them again with a look of determination, and stepped forwards. "I'm back to help you Arthur!"

"Help? HAHAHA!", the robed man suddenly laughed. "You weak little shit ran away as soon as your friend told you to. And now you came crawling back?"

Arthur shouted at Lucy again. "Lucy! Just run! I've already told you that he's a <B-> rank. You don't stand a chance!"

My pupils dilated and my body froze in horror as I heard Arthur. 'So that's why I can't sense anything from him'. 

It wasn't because the man was weak. Rather, he was too strong for my sense to pick up anything.

It was then that the Imperial princess regained consciousness. She slowly got up, using Arthur to support herself. She turned her head and looked at us.

"...ll alive?". I could barely make out what Eleanor muttered under hear breath, but I assumed that it had something to do with me or Raun, judging by the confused look she gave us.

But I didn't have time to mull over it in this situation.

The man, much like the bandit leader that killed Alicia's father, had skin as hard as Mithril.

Judging by the fact that Eleanor's spell did nothing, and that he could deflect her rapier with ease, it was safe to assume that he had a high degree of magic resistance. However—

'I can't sense any mana protecting his body'

—It seemed that his hardened skin was the result of his Skill. Thus, if I could land even one hit with [V- World splitter], victory could be achieved.

Confident with my assessment, I slowly focused spatial attribute mana on my sword. The sword dimly glowed with an astral-blue hue. My mana concentration speed was slower than usual, but I just shrugged it off to my exhaustion.

I bid my time, waiting to use [Splice] as soon as the concentration completed.  However—

"You think I don't know what you're doing, little shit?"

—The man put his right hand forwards and made a grasping motion.

However, his target was not me. Instead, it was Lucy, who was presumably also planning something.

"AHHHH!". She coughed out blood, holding the left side of her chest in pain. 

"That was close, little rat. You're trying to stop my blood flow aren't ya? If I didn't have information about you before, I would have died"

Seeing this, I instantly dispersed the mana on my sword. 

'So that's why', I immediately realized why my body felt so heavy earlier. It wasn't because he exalted his <B-> rank pressure to suppress me. But rather, he was disrupting the mana flow of whoever he sets his eyes on.

It also explained why he could cancel Lucy's spell, and why Eleanor's Aether-based spells weren't affected.

Thus, I came to the simple conclusion that—

"We're fucked", I muttered out loud.

Seeing the despair on our face, the man nodded in satisfaction. "If you're going to die anyways, how about considering my offer?"

"Offer?", Arthur spoke up with suspicion.

"That's right. You all have good talents, it would be a waste to kill you all". He rubbed his hands together as he continued. "I will spare whoever joins me. In fact, I'll make sure that you won't be treated badly if you do"

I quickly used [F - Emotionless] again.

Arthur's face instantly flushed red in anger as he shouted in a righteous tone. "There's no way we're joining you, blasted Void f—"

CLANG—!

I swung my sword down at Arthur, but Eleanor, who was right besides him, managed to quickly block it with her broken rapier.

"What are you doing!", shouted Arthur.

Ignoring his confused shout, I retreated back and kneeled in front of the robed man. "Allow me to serve under you, my new master"

The man scrutinized my breathing, heart beat, and facial expression for any falsities, before nodding in satisfaction. "At least one of you brats is sensible enough"

He then placed his hand on my shoulder and smiled at me. "Very well, prove your worth by beating the shit out of them. Only then will I take you in"

"This humble servant will flawlessly carry out your command, master."