Volume 1: Arc 2: Chapter 10

AUTHOR'S NOTE

1 more chapter in Arc 1!

Also, another cliff-hanger. Sorry!

The final chapter to arc 1 may be out sunday.

Please note the small note at the bottom of the chapter.

February 17, 29 R.E.

“Temos,” Rajac said as they walked, straight-backed, swords unsheathed as they readied for the fight, “We must finish this quickly.”

“Indeed.” Temos nodded. “Even though he is a Demi-God,” Temos grimaced at that and spit to one side, cursing their luck, “We must finish this before too many casualties arise. Alberon will have finished transporting all but the elderly very soon and they will have to serve the clans one last time before they move onto the afterlife.”

They had eighteen men at their backs and they numbered twenty in total. Counting the Demi-God, the unit of soldiers fanning out from the tree-line numbered eighteen.

The Demi-God was a tall, strutting humanoid creature. His skin had an obsolescent sheen that contemplated his refined musculature to create a formidable figure. Truth be told, Rajac felt a twinge of fear as he gazed in the Demi-Gods shining, black eyes.

“HUAH!” The Demi-God cried, raising a gigantic war-axe into the sky. Rajac could have sworn the heavens themselves cowed before this behemoth. Birds of all shapes and sizes took flight in fright. They scoured the sky with their flapping wings and cawing beaks.

“Gods above.” Temos breathed. “We have to fight that thing.” He thumbed his sword nervously as his men looked on anxiously, their pace moving to an obvious crawl.

Rajac narrowed his eyes. He did not like the situation any more than Temos but the Demi-God and his men were an obstacle in his path. He had almost completely succeeded in transporting his race to a safer location.

No one would stand in his way. Not even a Demi-God. “Tell me,” Rajac said, as he gripped his sword tightly in one fist, “This Demi-God, do you know him? Is he strong?”

Temos flicked his tongue between his lips as he thought, some of the worry he had been showing dissipated, as he considered Rajac’s question. “No. I don’t know him. But, he is not Lord Gaya. Gaya, even as weak as he is compared to other Gods, has an overwhelming presence. While this Demi-God has a fearsome presence, it is not on the level of Lord Gaya’s.

And his strength,” Temos said considering, “I do not know if I have the ability to judge that. Gods’ strength can be compared to mortals but it is rather difficult. If I had to judge, I would say this Demi-God is a Godly Base Race. Though, he has immortality and a few other racial attributes that have magnified his strength to a level no mortal Greater Race could ever achieve.

“Hmph.” Rajac said scowling. “His strength means nothing if he does not know how to use it. Look at him,” Rajac called to Temos’ men. “He lumbers around like a great ox as he swings that might axe of his. There are no thoughts within his head other than where to shit, what to kill, and how to eat.”

Temos and his men chuckled lightly at that and more than a few perked up. Rajac could see, in their eyes, their fear had begun to wane. Though, some still clutched their weapons too tight as their faces shone with sweat.

“Temos, you and I shall take the Demi-God together.” Rajac said as the Demi-God and his men began to charge towards the Ventros warriors with fervor in their eyes. Temos nodded solemnly as he readied himself in the Cadence of Jin.

“HAHA! MORTALS PREPARE, FOR I KALOS AM YOUR DEMISE!” Kalos, the Demi-God called out as his men, clad in heavy armor, ran after him, shouting triumphantly before the battle even began.

“Men!” Temos called out confidently. Rajac could see a hint of sweat around Temos’ brows as he continued, showing no sign of his nervousness, “Jintac Formation!” Jintac Formation? Rajac raised his eyebrows in surprise. Is this a modification of the Cadence of Jin for group battle?

Rajac decided he would have to investigate the matter as he settled into the Cadence of Jin. “Rajac,” Temos murmured as the Demi-God quickly approached, “Your Sadat? Is it a Greater Artifact? If it is not, I have a spare.”

Temos pulled a gigantic sized Sadat out of his pocket. It was much larger than the one Rajac had once been given by Thron. Smirking, Rajac shook his head.

“I have no need for a Sadat.” Rajac said as he stepped to the side avoiding a blow from the first of the Demi-God’s soldiers to arrive.

Kicking the elf in the back of his knee, Rajac used the leverage to push himself forward straight into the path of the Demi-God, cutting him off from the rest of the Ventros. Stepping directly into Martyr’s Fallacy, Rajac shot a burst of Fire Elemental Magic at Kalos.

Kalos, surprised, took the blow full on in the face. It did not faze him in the slightest this. “OH!” He grinned maliciously. “A MORTAL HAS DECIDED TO CHALLENGE ME EVEN BEFORE I BEFORE THE BATTLE HAS TRULY BEGUN!”

That was not technically true. The Ventros warriors, even now, were beginning to engage the soldiers as Alberon was shooing the reluctant elderly to the forefront of the battle; armed as they were with sharpened sticks and other makeshift weapons, it was surprising to many of the professional soldiers and warriors that the elderly did not, en-mass,

turn in the opposite direction of the blood already being shed.

But, more was at risk than this small border skirmish. The very future of the Ventros race required the warriors to make it out this skirmish alive. And so, the elderly went into the fray, their frail forms striking the battle-hardened soldiers with as much strength as they could muster.

Cries of alarm began to rise among the soldiers as the Ventros warriors and the nearly nine-hundred elderly began to swarm around the seventeen soldiers.

Rajac, however, had little idea of the events occurring behind his back. Rajac and Temos, who had joined him, were fighting a deadly dance with an enraged Demi-God.

Kalos charged, unbidden by the two Ventros facing him. Each had a sturdy wall of earth erected six-paces high directly in front of them as they attempted to impede Kalos’ blow.

However, he was too strong. His mighty axe, a silver-hune weapon that shone like starlight, cut straight through the walls both had erected, cleaving them in two. Rajac and Temos moved together into Martyr’s Fallacy, shooting flames at the opening in Kalos’ defense.

Kalos roared as the flames neared his exposed body and he erected a spinning shield of diamond in mid-air that deflected the Fire Elemental Magic into the battle at their backs.

Neither Rajac nor Temos had the time to look at the epic scale of destruction their fire magic had caused both within the soldiers’ and elderly’s ranks.

“Shit!” Rajac growled. “He has Auxiliary Magic.” Annoyed at this revelation, Rajac called over to Temos who had moved into the later-half of the Cadence of Jin as he avoided a blow from the Demi-God. “Temos! Did you know he could use Auxiliary Magic?”

For a few seconds, Temos did not answer as both he and Rajac attacked Kalos again-Temos with Martyr’s Fallacy and Rajac with Stepping Stones.

As Rajac slammed his blade into Kalos’ war-axe, chipping the iron in numerous places, Temos struck Kalos in the gut causing the giant Demi-God to roar with pain.

Instantly, Kalos slammed a diamond shield between them forcing both Rajac and Temos back. Both were breathing heavily from the skirmish as they once again, readied themselves in the Cadence of Jin.

“Its..because…” Temos huffed. “I didn’t…know. Most…Demi-Gods…don’t have the ability to create Auxiliary Magic.”

“That’s…shitty…luck for…us.” Rajac said just as Kalos, who held a hand to his bleeding wound, twisted his face up into a snarl and said, “YOU WOUNDED ME! I HAVE FOUGHT A HUNDRED-HUNDRED WARRIORS AND NEVER HAVE I BEEN EMBARRASSED SO. ALL OF YOU WILL DIE HERE THIS DAY.”

And with that, Kalos charged forward, his axe to bear, completely bypassing Rajac and Temos who stood stunned with the speed Kalos thundered past.

His objective was made plain only moments later as howls began to emanate from the battle at their backs.

The battlefield was already littered with corpses. Many were from the struggle between the soldiers and Ventros warriors and elderly; however, there were two long scorched paths littered with the bodies of soldiers and elderly caused by the Fire Elemental Magic.

Kalos was making a third path with that axe of his. Roaring his defiance, he chopped this way and that, cleaving any who stood in his path into mushy pieces, be they soldiers, warriors, or elderly.

Even before Rajac or Temos could take a step, a cry rose from above the melee. “Retreat! Retreat! To me! To me!” It was Alberon. He was standing just behind the scrum, his hands to his lips as he repeated his call. “Retreat! To me! Ventros!”

Rajac and Temos looked at each other. They both knew they had to answer his call. He was their only hope of making it out of this mess alive. Both of them raced towards Alberon just as Kalos turned, finally hearing Alberon.

Snarling, the Demi-God screamed, “NO ONE WILL BE LEAVING!”

The Ventros warriors, only ten remained at this point, had already disengaged from the soldiers and were just reaching Alberon as Kalos began to run at the Identity Merchant. He was faster, much faster than either Rajac or Temos.

Kalos quickly outpaced both of them as all three raced towards the Identity Merchant at full pelt who, by now, had a frantic expression on his face as he beckoned to the warriors, Rajac, and Temos to hurry.

The Ventros warriors reached Alberon and relief washed over their faces. As all ten men touched Alberon, they vanished, leaving only clear sky and grass behind.

Kalos howled in frustration as his prey was able to get away and Rajac and Temos stopped their strides, shocked beyond belief that Alberon would abandon them like that.

“What…what do we do now?” Temos asked, a haunted look in his eyes. “All that we can do.” Rajac said, his mood dampened by the fact that there was no escape. “Kalos will try to kill us all.”

And so he tried. Kalos, in a fit of rage, turned on the Ventros elderly and his own soldiers butchering every last one of them. Even as Rajac and Temos tried to incapacitate him, Kalos shrugged off the injuries their swords caused as he attempted to eradicate each and every last one of the living mortals within the clearing.

So it was, like it had been in the beginning, Rajac and Temos faced Kalos alone on the battlefield. All parties were beaten and bloody from the day of fighting; Kalos more than the others.

“HA, TO THINK IT HAS COME TO THIS.” Kalos lamented as he charged once again. He immediately raised his diamond shield to counter Rajac’s thrust as he struck at Temos. Temos danced to the side avoiding most of the blow as the axe struck the ground with a massive impact. Temos was thrown fifteen paces in the air by the impact, his arm a mangled mess. He landed near the forest’s edge and did not rise again.

A groaning, creaking sound arose from beneath Rajac and Kalos’ feet. Both had looks of surprise as the ground caved in completely, leaving them in the middle of space. Gravity took full effect a split-second later as both began to tumble down into the blackness below.

I will not survive this without something to cushion my fall, Rajac thought as he tumbled in midair, a mere hand-span from Kalos. Rajac looked directly into the Demi-God’s eyes and it appeared Kalos had the same revelation.

Both reached out towards the other at the same time. Kalos took a hold of Rajac’s neck with two meaty fists just as Rajac looped an arm under Kalos’. Pulling himself forward with all his strength, he broke Kalos’ hold and twisted himself so his chest was directly on Kalos’ back. He clutched himself tightly to Kalos even as the Demi-God tried to wrench him away with scrabbling fingers.

As Kalos was finally able to get a firm grip on one of Rajac’s hands, Rajac felt a thundering pain, and the world went black.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I wanted to note Auxiliary Magic is very uncommon. Only a few Greater and Epic Races have the ability to create it below level 300 and Demi-Gods usually have a special Tertiary Magic that their race uses. It's only the common and above gods who have the ability to create Auxiliary Magic at a greater frequency. So Kalos having access to Auxiliary Magic was quite a surprise as it made him much stronger than an ordinary Goldy Base race below level 200. Also, Auxiliary Magic was one of the primary reasons Ventros Sword Style masters were so renowned on the continent.

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