The area was dark and dimly lit, pillars held up a roof despite their old and worn appearance. Many cloaked figures stood around silently, some standing alone, others in groups, they all stood before a stone throne with a large and imposing altar behind it.

The throne was on a large, pyramid-like structure with a flat top, a staircase leading up to the throne at it’s front.

A single man was kneeling before the throne, silent and obeying, but although nobody was sitting up the throne, the man still listened carefully… Until he spoke…

“My lord, what is it you ask of us?”

Silence, not a single word was uttered by the figures nor by the man, there was not a single sound within the area. But suddenly, a voice spoke, a powerful yet gentle voice spoke from the air itself.

“Servants… Faithful ones… Have you carried out my order to find the item…?” The voice asked.

“We have found traces of the item you request, lord Divak, but all of those traces of it are within Unitos, how are we to find it without your guidance?” The man spoke, not lifting his head out fear but out of respect.

“Umbridge… Have I ever failed to rescue you and your followers? Have I ever failed to protect you from harm?” The voice asked.

“No, lord Divak,” The man replied, “But with how fortified the city is, how are we to take such an item most likely guarded by the gods of light themselves?”

The voice chuckled, a set of runes underneath the kneeling man’s cloak began to glow.

“Have you forgotten that I have handed you a portion of my power? Of my dark and raw abilities that contest against my brothers and sisters?”

A dark and pitch-black figure soon manifested behind the man, wielding a rapier with the slight appearance of bandages around its arms and body.

“Did you forget that my divine servants watch over you? That they can shred any mere mortal that opposes you and your cult to me?”

“No, lord Divak, but I fear that your servants may be unable to defend against the united power of that bastard city’s gods…” He replied, the manifestation disappearing.

“Umbridge… I may be unable to directly access you from within my imprisoned tomb, but I chose you because you can do things nobody else can, a reason why I saved you from certain death those decades ago. Few gods still remember my terror and reign, and those who do not remember are powerless before me, Unitos is not a strong as it seems,”

“But what if there is something or someone within that accursed kingdom that could stand up to you?”

Gasps were heard by everyone, though the voice merely laughed at this question as if it were a meagre joke, “Excellent, all those other gods would punish and scold their subjects for asking such a question. But you, Umbridge, you don’t take chances, you take certain victory…”

“Thank you, my lord,”

“If there is truly someone within that city that could stop me, if there is truly something else that could rival me, I would like them to stand up and try to dethrone me and my creations…” The voice snarled, “Go, my chosen one, and send unto them a plague of undead as they’ve never seen before. I have already organized a commander from the deepest depths of the abyss’s damned to lead their charge,”

“Yes, lord Divak,” The man spoke.

“And before you go, Umbridge, don’t hesitate to kill anyone who dares get in your way, no matter who they are!”

“Yes… My lord,”

…

“Armi, look, I know we’re running out of funds so here’s my plan: I go into the council, send in my trait spell and then demand payment for it in the form of a top-class cauldron,” Ark suggested to his sister.

The day had ended and although they were making money, it wouldn’t be enough to come out of the burned cauldron issue without some form of debt repercussion, meaning they needed to find an alternate source of income. And fast.

“Why not just go into alchemy tournament? It's that easy, and with the types of potions you create, you should have no problem,” His sister sipped some relaxing tea while reading the magic study book.

“Hahahahaha, no,” Ark stopped his fake laughter, “I’m a guy who can’t sit still unless I’m dead or severely injured, and although Atra did pay that café bill without me noticing, we’re still taking it from behind in our budget. Meaning I’m thinking about how to earn more money right now,”

“Fuck you, you piece of shit!” Emthrall cursed from the other, more hidden. room, “You false king!”

“Ah, that reminds me, why do you insist on keeping the vampire around? She’s just a nuisance and a pain, plus she always triggers a headache whenever I hear her scream,” The female alchemist rubbed her forehead, resealing the spell that would mute the vampire, “Although as a result I drink more water now and I’m hydrated more often,”

“Your entire world will burn as the armies of the undead raze your pathetic country!” Her voice was getting fainter.

“I always wondered, why not just drink your own water? From your magic and stuff,” Her brother questioned, putting his fingers to his chin and ignoring the vampire, rubbing slightly until he noticed a little bit of stubble growing.

“We’ve discussed this before, it's like drinking your urine, plus magic-generated water isn’t as hydrating as natural water, not to mention it tastes weird,” Armi sighed, watching her brother do some internal calculations.

“Burn you slut! Burn!”

“Well, home is where the water doesn’t taste weird, I guess,” He replied, now ignoring the small hairs, “Anyway, so what’s the plan for tonight? Hot springs then bed?”

“That’s my plan,” She responded, “And it's going to go peaceful-“

The door of the shop opened, and the siblings looked at each other, the spell had just finished up and been renewed, and Emthrall was nowhere near the door, in fact, she was beneath the door in a very secure room that had been built secretly and yet also efficiently. But it took a massive budget toll as well, thus they needed money.

“Didn’t we lock the door?” They both asked, what was stranger was that the bell at the door rang yet the intruder didn’t try to hide, their footsteps were… Wait there were two sets of footsteps…

“Spite…” Ark said under his breath, taking the tea and adding a small dose of sugar to it before he reached under the table, found a powdery coin, crushed it and let it fall into the liquid as he mixed it around with a teaspoon.

The result was the tea started to bubble furiously and became extremely reactive, a few drops of the liquid from a bubble hit the floor and started to melt into it.

Armi looked mortified at this, her assumingly safe drink had just turned into an acidic concoction thanks to her brother. Though she quickly steered herself and activated several magic arrays as well as magic armours and buffs.

Ark went into the main area at the front of the shop, behind the counter, the lights were dim, and he couldn’t see very well but he could tell there were two people there… Approaching him…

One set of steps, they were five meters away.

Two sets of steps, four meters.

Third set, three.

Fourth set, two.

Fift-

“ROSES!” Rekiel screamed right in front of the alchemists.

Armi, who was right next to Ark, screamed and accidentally launched a lightning bolt at the florist, the spell hit directly, and he was sent flying straight into a shelf, hitting the security shield on it before he hit the floor. Small electricity arcs could be seen emitting from his body.

“Rekiel, you idiot…” Atra sighed, turned to Armi, putting her hand on Ark’s shoulder.

“Oh Atra I knew you’d-“ The male alchemist was shoved out of the way with great force and onto the electrified Rekiel, resulting in the rubbing of fabric triggering the lighting spell again, shocking them both.

“Sorry about this, my brother…” The royal alchemist looked over to the currently electrified duo on the floor who were suffering, “Insisted we go over to you guys and visit, so I’m currently as powerful in a say as you are right now, meaning that I’m currently powerless,”

“Kjenhvbjaqjfgvc!!” Ark screamed; his words uninterpretable as he had electricity coursing through his body.

“Getyqfqc offfqwcvq meejvhbec!” Rekiel yelled, pushing the alchemist off of him and into the air.

The lighting stopped and both boys held a glance of hope… Until gravity did its job and they touched again, restarting up the spell.

The sisters watched as their respective brothers screamed in pain for half a minute, both now amused by the scene before them.

“I wonder if this is karmic influence of sorts,” Atra commented, seeing a large bright hit of electricity suddenly appear on them.

“Maybe, I’m kinda glad you guys came over now,” Armi replied with a smile, “Although it was quite sudden,”

Soon the spell calmed down and both boys were on top of each other, both dazed and shocked.

“Euughh, this… That sucked…” Ark said, standing up, rubbing his head.

“Your sister has some power behind her spells… That wasn’t even a damage over time spell…” Rekiel commented, getting up as well, though he fell back down abruptly.

“Well, that certainly was amusing,” Atra went over to help her brother up, which she did successfully without getting shocked.

“Thanks, dear sister…. Though I am sorry I do not regret this next action,” Her brother said, making her confused.

“Sorry for wha-“

She was pushed onto Ark who then fell backwards, the two alchemists now in a pretty… Nice position.

The royal alchemist was on top of the lesser alchemist, her two hands were on either side of his head, just above his shoulders, her face was just centimetres from his and they were both silent, well, Atra was.

“Well, what a position,” Ark mused, “A high and mighty royalty fancies a regular common worker, now that’s a story to tell our kids,”

His face was then grabbed by her right hand and then pushed against the floor as she used it to stand up, brushing herself off as the alchemist cracked jokes.

“Aw? Did you forget a few days ago when you were crying over me?” He joked, the royal alchemist giving him a death glare.

“We already established I was stressed,” She hissed, Ark chuckling to himself as he stood back up.

“Okay fine, what do you guys have in plan?”

“Simple, we just planned to have a night out with you guys!” Rekiel announced, throwing up a hat he had been wearing, actually where did he get that hat from?

“A night out? We just planned to go to bed quietly since the last few days have been quite tiring,” Armi explained.

“Yeah, I enjoy a good party now and then, but I’ve just about had my fill for this week,” Her brother agreed.

“Well… That’s okay too…” The florist’s eye began to twitch, “That’s. Perfectly. Fine.”

Sensing a psychotic aura soon flooding in, Ark coughed and made an offer.

“Um, uh, we were just about to go to the hot springs in the back so… You wanna join us?” The male heterochromia alchemist offered instead.

Rekiel rose a brow, Atra’s eye’s widened in a sudden realization and Armi looked at her brother as if he was insane.

“Ark… That would be…” Atra began.

“Wonderful! Its been a long time since I was in a hot spring!” The florist barged into his sister’s words.

“I- Fine…” The transmuter gave in with a sigh, the other female sighed in defeat as well, this was going to be a difficult night for them.

And indeed, it was a difficult night…

…

Ark was floating in the water, in nothing but a towel tied around his waist, though the rest of the group was still coming.

They had decided on the two staying for the night and leaving in the morning, as easy as it sounded, there were a bunch of other, undecided factors in the plan.

Such as why they were only in towels during the night

“Come in-a, tha water is-a fine!” He called out, the other male appearing with a towel wrapped around his waist as well.

“Hm, its been a while so I wonder how this’ll feel,” The florist said, the vines wrapped around his arm weren’t at all affected by the water’s temperature, definitely sturdy plants.

“So how does the venom in your flowers boost you?” Ark decided to make some small talk with the royal alchemist’s brother.

“Well I made them have a certain reaction with my cells when I bred the plants, I used my tissue to actually create the venom, thus whenever I get stung at all, it’ll recognize my blood and start to benefit me. Though the plants aren’t perfect, and I’ll occasionally get dizzy or injured by them,”

“Eh, make sense. Even if the potion boosts you, it’s the container being smashed over your head that does the damage,”

“Easy to understand I see, you’re a good alchemist,” Rekiel leaned back and looked up, unknowingly looking up Armi’s towel.

Ark’s eye’s widened in a sort of oblivious fashion as the florist’s nose let out a stream of blood, though he kept a blank and relaxed composure.

“Nicely shaved I see,” This comment was what sent an ice spell onto Atra’s brother and sent him shivering in a cold area of water before he was then isolated into an ice dome, he was then placed under a curse of controlled shock, meaning he was going to be shocked within his icy prison every few seconds.

“Sheesh, kinda overkill isn’t it? He just saw your legs,” Her brother commented, waiting for the moment the electricity would shock the other male.

He knew his sister wouldn’t be as foolish to go naked under a towel as she usually did, she was wearing her swimsuit and Rekiel had commented on her legs, though it still angered her since it was easily able to be taken in even worse context.

“I’d say no, and YOU’RE not seeing Atra naked either, I took the liberty of giving her one of my spares,” This reply made Ark cross his arms as she slid into the spring and felt its pleasant warmth against her skin, relaxing her.

“Fine, you win,” Ark huffed in annoyance, the sound of a lighting shock was heard from within the dome, though no scream or grunts were heard from it.

“He has a good pain tolerance,” The female alchemist complimented, “I’ll at least give him that,”

“And a good escaping tendency, you can also give me that,” The florist said from behind her, making her scream and jump away from him, seeing the man laying down on the edge of the spring with a self-satisfied grin.

“Why do you and Ark get along so well?” Another voice huffed, this was from Atra who was wearing one of Armi’s old bikinis under her towel, though from Ark’s perspective, she looked almost naked.

A small bit of blood came from his nose and if you could hear him under his breath, you’d hear a faint whisper of ‘fanservice’ from him as well as a silent thanks to God.

“Well, dear sister, it just so happens we are both gentlemen of culture, although, from different tastes, they can blend into a newer, better taste, such as our conversations of such can lead to better, more interesting conversations,” Rekiel hummed, standing up while his sister slid herself into the spring and groaned as the relaxation seeped into her bones.

“Man, you guys are lucky to be able to rest like this every night, I envy you Armi,” The royal alchemist let her stiff shoulders and muscles loose, how long had it been since he had actually relaxed and sat down?

“Ah yes, I’ve been wondering, why is it we all have names that begin with R and A? Ark, Armi and Atra, while there’s me, Rekiel,” The flower grower stretched his body, “I get the brother-sister thing, but shouldn’t this be an omen of sorts?”

“Nah, she’ll be fine mate,” Ark relaxed, putting his hands behind his head while trying to appear as discreet as possible, looking at Atra’s laid back form with a hidden gaze.

“Okay then,” Rekiel slid himself into the spring, next to his friend’s sister, though she moved away from him instantly.

“Sorry, but no,” She said, moving to Atra’s right and leaning back, leaving the florist a few meters away from his sister who paid no attention to him.

“Well, alright,” The florist made himself comfortable and relaxed as well, the four simply enjoying the warmth… Wait...

“How do you guys keep this thing warm?” He asked, looking up at Ark.

“Easy, hot rocks in the centre keep the water nice and steamy, the vapour simply travels onto the roof, condensates and then falls back down into the spring or pool. Whatever this thing is called,” the alchemist explained, “We can also open up the roof and let the rain in if the water gets too low or dirty,”

“Hm. And you built this?”

“Armi built it, I made the blueprints,”

“I see, and what else does your sister do in this place?”

“Hmm, now, call me sexist or misogynistic but she keeps it all tidy and functional,” He replied, seeing his sister smile, “She also keeps track of the potions, the sales, she calculates the budget and she makes sure I don’t step over the line,”

“Must be a very big line then,” Atra butted in, “Your jail time still needs to be served in my opinion, pardoned or not,”

“Hm, and you’re not famous from these crimes?” Rekiel asked, now trying to see whether he could find a topic worth prying into.

“Well yes, but actually no,” Ark answered, closing his eyes and savouring the warmth, “Most people don’t talk about it since it unnerves them, plus Relziem’s grudge towards me is mainly known due to the various offences. Hell, if you go into the right parts of the city, you’ll find entire communities dedicated to either wiping me out or worshipping me as some kind of god,”

“You have a cult dedicated to you?” Armi asked, surprised, “Why didn’t you ever bring this up?”

“Because they’re a bunch of blind and foolish people, the array protecting Unitos has been hyped up so much to a point that it’s considered ‘invincible’ and ‘unbreakable’ by everyone who knows about it, that only a high god or the servants of a high god can shatter and damage it,” He explained, “The array of Unitos is it’s primary and strongest form of protection, yet a mere commoner alchemist almost broke it when even hundreds of legendary creatures failed to even scratch it? People are bound to think things when the impossible happens,”

“So how did you damage it?” Rekiel asked, he was now very interested in this topic.

“How about no, I keep my secrets you keep yours,” The alchemist declined, “Besides, my sister also has a small group dedicated to her from my infamy, though it’s more of a bunch of perverts who just want to get into her pants than a group that worships me,”

“Is that why so many guys appear in our store and look at me lustfully?” Armi asked, now enraged as she stood up, “How long did you know this for?!”

“Like, a year or two?” Her brother responded, watching her storm over to him and grab him by the shoulders in fury.

“I HAD THE SAME GUY ASK ME OUT FOR FIVE MONTHS STRAIGHT AND YOU WERE THE REASON?!” She yelled at him, “WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU BEEN KEEPING A SECRET?!”

“Uh, that I once brewed a flu potion and accidentally spilled it into your food when I was intending for me to take it so I could skip that test we had at nine,”

“YOU WHAT?! I HAD TO DO EXTRA WORK TO CATCH UP WITH EVERYONE BECAUSE OF YOU!” Rekiel and Atra watched the other siblings’ squabble, the male making bubbles as the royal alchemist blinked a few times at this scene.

“WELL, I GOT PUT INTO THE SPECIAL CLASS BECAUSE OF MY INABILITY TO USE ELEMENTAL MAGIC! ITS NOT MY FAULT THAT WHEN I ATTEMPTED A SPELL IT DAMAGED ME AND THAT OTHER KID!”

“YOU WERE PLANNING TO BEAT HIM UP AFTER SCHOOL BECAUSE HE BEAT YOU AT CHESS!”

“AND?! DON’T ACT LIKE YOU BLASTED ME WITH MAGIC EVERY TIME I TOPPED YOU IN MATH!”

“Guys,” Rekiel said, being ignored by the arguing alchemists, the sounds of screaming could be heard from outside.

“Guys!” He still was drowned out and grew annoyed.

“Listen!” He gave one final attempt but failed again, this time he was definitely frustrated.

He stood up, marched over to the two and used his vines to slap Ark in the face, said person looked at the florist with a pissed-off expression.

“You what mate?” He challenged, holding his hand up to his face where he was slapped.

“There’s a commotion outside and you two are arguing like women over the last item,” Rekiel said, crossing his arms.

As he said that a loud crash was heard and Ark, who was now in a sour mood, stormed right out to the front of the shop in his towel, soaking wet while the others went to dry themselves and get dressed.

And while they stepped out, they were greeted with a gloomy sight, though gloomy was a poor word for it.

Thousands upon thousands of winged creatures flew through the sky, avoiding the barrier but that didn’t deter the fear of Unitos’s residents one bit… Well, almost all of them...

“FIGHT ME YOU DEMONS!” The male alchemist roared, “GO ON! BREAK THAT BARRIER AND COME FIGHT ME!”

“Ark, stop and put on some clothes, you’re embarrassing us,” Armi demanded, her brother ignoring her words while still screaming obscenities.

One creature, just like the others, as black as night but with a slightly visible white spot on it looked down at one of the guard posts.

The guards froze cold once he looked into its cold gaze, not because of its wraith-like appearance, nor the nightmarish wings which held it up in the sky, but rather because its head was a skull and its neck was vertebrae, its empty and hollow sockets having nothing but emptiness within them.

It was a Silence Reaper… And there were thousands of them swarming above Unitos.

The Reapers of this world were interesting creatures, they usually wielded scythes and had a very diverse genetic system going on, all Reapers were genetically compatible even if they didn’t look or seem like it, meaning that an Ice Reaper could have offspring with a Flame Reaper.

They were powerful creatures, being able to manipulate their respective elements with great ease and precision, they were also extremely reclusive, many were intelligent, and they lived for centuries upon centuries, some were even immortal.

Now, Silence Reapers were extremely rare undead-based Reapers, but they were dangerous in the terms of trauma and permanently scarring one for life. If you found a Silence Reaper in your yard when you woke up, you would be VERY quiet, leave it alone and pray to the gods it doesn’t try to enter your house lest it reaps your silence and makes you empty.

An empty person was a zombie but up the scare factor, pale skin, reacts to sound and pursues whatever isn’t soulless by leaping or running after it, yeah… No…

The fact that thousands of them were swarming Unitos wasn’t a good thing, even more so that lots of loud noises were being made that were catching their attention.

Suddenly they all swarmed and condensed together, like a flock of birds in the sky and flew outwards, away from the barrier.

“A-are we safe?” A guard asked with hope in his eyes.

Suddenly the massive swarm smashed in the barrier with a loud boom echoing through the kingdom, the massive array activating and making a large electric dome visible, the energy shocking the Reapers who screamed in pain but kept throwing themselves at it.

“What?!”

“Why are they attacking the barrier?! It’s hurting them!”

“SOME ARE GETTING THROUGH!”

The massive barrier that protected the kingdom did stand its ground, but even so, some Reapers found their way through, albeit injured they still got through. And now they were charging straight at the residential district.

People screamed and then quickly went silent as they locked themselves in their houses, trying to make themselves as quiet as possible.

And as more and more Reapers started to break through the barrier, so did more of them start to swarm around the adventurers and residential district, particularly to the sound of Ark’s voice.

Said alchemist was on top of his house, still in his towel, though he was armed with potions stuffed inside his satchel, he stole and modified the potions from the neighbouring alchemy stores while the Reapers distracted everyone.

“Ark! Get down from there they’ll kill you!”

“I’M PISSED ARMI AND I WANNA KILL SOMETHING!” He roared back; this got the attention of a Silence Reaper which flew straight at him while screeching with its skeletal arms out.

“COME AT ME!” He was hit with the Reaper’s grasp and taken up into the sky, the undead screeching to its kin who responded by swarming even more, those outside the barrier pushing against it even more.

“They’re going to tear him apart!” Atra yelled, “Shit! I knew he was mentally retarded, but I didn’t know that it was to this extent!”

Suddenly Ark, who had a hand free, reached into his satchel and splashed a bottle of holy water into the undead’s face which resulted in it screaming and throwing him up into the air.

The alchemist twirled in the air, making sure nothing valuable or costly fell out as he took out some familiar potions…

A Silence Reaper went straight for his vulnerable form and his eyes glinted with excitement upon seeing its skull screeching for his vitality.

“Rocket Blast potion plus Amplifier potion!” He poured the two together as he fell back down, and the Reaper raced to him. The massive swarm behind it.

Once he was done mixing, he shook the bottle and aimed it straight into the undead’s open jaw.

“This is gonna explode in your mouth,” The potion’s cork blasted right off, and it rocketed straight into the skeletal creature which soared through the sky and into the massive swarm chasing after it.

A few seconds later and another loud blast echoed through the kingdom, the choir of screeches and wails from the Reapers followed as flaming and burning figures came out of the swarm, the ones on fire separating themselves from the ones that weren’t, though this didn’t stop the fiery droplets that rained down from burning the other Reapers

Ark then chugged a Vampire’s Menacing and then another Amplifier potion before stacking it with his strength-based potions that were brewed with the blasphemous potion.

The result was that he was grossly strong, hitting the ground with a loud crack of the pavement and no injury on his part, his trait was also running overdrive as it rapidly scanned the Reapers that now saw him as a threat.

“BRING IT ON!” Ark’s full form came into play as his muscles grew and densified, a Reaper that charged straight at him being punched so hard it slammed into the pavement and dug it up as it slid through it.

“Man, what a good combination,” He mused, feeling the power in his veins, more Reapers charged at him.

This time, the alchemist jumped straight to them and punched right through their skulls, instantly killing them.

[STR: 100,000]

[Status:

[Penetrative (400 seconds): You ignore 85% of all defence]

[Powerhouse (500 Seconds): Your STR is increased by 120%]

[Grand Sure-Shot (400 Seconds): 90% of your physical hits will be critical]

[Vampiric (300 Seconds): You are a vampire and thus, have greater reflexes and strengths than a human]

Currently, Ark’s base strength was 100,000, add the fact that the typical undead Reaper’s defence was 80,000 and that their skulls were their weak spot, further add in the Powerhouse plus the Grand Sure-Shot effect and well… He earned that one-shot

Each Reaper that charged at him was insta-killed, weapon or not, didn’t matter if it was defending or attacking if it got punched in the skull it was killed without question.

“So… This is your brother when he’s mad huh,” Rekiel sipped some tropical juice that he had gotten from somewhere, its soft mix of orange and yellow made it look quite… Tangy…

“Not really… Ark’s always been prone to solving his solutions with… Violent methods…” Armi watched her brother decimate the massive clouds of Silence Reapers which had all fully focused onto him.

“And I’ve suffered the brunt of those methods…” Atra huffed, “Anyway, it seems he’s got the problem under control, and if his potions wear off then Rekiel I give you permission to use your trait, just don’t cause too much damage,”

The florist smiled an innocent, pure smile at this, it was this innocence that scared the two girls.

Suddenly another boom echoed through the sky and the trio saw Relziem and his Paladin companion in the sky, blowing away the Silence Reapers with each swing of their weapons, the numbers soon started to diminish within the barrier, though outside the barrier was a different story.

The massive swarm had become a raging storm of the flying undead, constantly bashing themselves against the powerful magic barrier, taking counter damage from their attacks.

Then the sound of something charging was heard, a large amount of mana could be felt gathering to an area and a large white orb could be seen manifesting over the castle.

“Oh damn, the castle blaster,” Ark said, temporarily getting distracted and thrown to the ground, flying into a random shop and destroying its wall, causing property damage.

“What the… Hell…?” The temporary vampire looked around him and saw a large number of ingredients and flasks around him with a cauldron tipped over.

A woman stared at him in horror, mainly because an overly buff stranger had come flying into her shop only dressed in a towel.

He stood up, brushed himself off and gave the woman a stare while putting a finger up to his lips while grabbing a few ingredients, preparing to make a very, very chaotic potion.

As he did that, Relziem fought against the swarms, swinging his blade and slicing through the monsters effortlessly.

“One, two, three,” He counted the times he swung, reaping the Reaper’s undead lives with each swing of his greatsword.

His Paladin counterpart wielded a powerful great hammer which seemed to shake the sky every time it landed a blow, its user possessing surprising accuracy with such a hefty weapon.

“The one time an attack happens I just so happened to be in the bathtub… Truly this world is fascinating Relziem,” The voice underneath a massive load of armour spoke.

Not much was known about the Paladin’s true form, some said that his summoning failed, and he was bound to his armour, others said he wasn’t human and that the large amounts of equipment covering him were to erase that fact.

Still, some wondered if he was disfigured underneath that armour or if he just liked big clunky things.

“Fascinating as in annoying or fascinating as in self-destructive?” The Berserker replied, cleaving through a massive portion of the swarms with an AoE dark flame skill.

“The first one!” The Paladin used his weight to slam two Reapers into the ground, gaining a small XP bundle from their deaths.

“Godammit! What’s taking the attack so long?!” Relziem hissed, seeing the massive amount of mana still gathering above the castle.

Immediately it blasted towards the swarm’s main concentration, the Silence Reapers screeching and wailing as they saw it incoming, flying outwards.

“No use! It’s going to miss!” The Paladin cried once he saw it was being avoided by the massive swarm.

Then an odd set of events happened, a massive shot of purple lightning surged upwards from a small alchemy shop, hitting the colossal mana pulse and turning it purple as well.

Said mana pulse then split off into several smaller mana pulses that cut through the swarm’s numbers almost instantly, several bolts being fired from the gathered mana in fractions of seconds, like an automatic gun but for magic.

What was even odder was that the bolts would seek out a target, and although onlookers had no idea what was happening, Relziem did.

“Ark!” He shouted in anger towards the small alchemy shop, “What did you do?!”

When he wasn’t answered he grew more pissed and deducing the threat was also under control, he stopped sailing in the air and dropped down to the source of the purple lightning.

He saw the alchemist drinking an effect-cancelling potion as well as a caved-in wall with ingredients strung around the floor, as well as a cauldron that looked destroyed and charred.

“Yo, what’s up edge-lord,” The alchemist greeted, his muscles deflating down to their normal size.

“What did you do to the beam?” The Berserker questioned in a dark and menacing tone.

“Hey, I used a lightning scroll and doused it in a potion of Seek Undead since I can’t use elemental magic, said lightning then went to the massive gathering of mana and changed it to seek out the undead… Though the rapid-fire was a side effect I didn’t count for-“

He was punched in the face and grabbed by the throat.

“Don’t mess with the mana gathering…” Relziem ordered, tightening his grip to the point of near-suffocation.

Ark just pulled both his hands up and gave him a double middle finger as he struggled to breathe, staring his attacker right in the eyes.

“Put some clothes on,” The hero threw him to the ground and jumped off to keep fighting while the alchemist got his air back.

“M-man… E… Even after all… T-this he’s still… Salty…” Ark wheezed, coughing and sputtering, “Though I… Guess its justified…”

He steadily got his breathing back and after making sure his neck wasn’t broken, got back up.

Immediately he felt something was off, like someone was watching him, his instincts screaming danger from all directions despite not seeing anything or anyone, why was adrenaline rushing through his body?!

He set it to seek out undead right? But he wasn’t undead anymore! The mana gathering was set to attack undead and blast them to pieces, and it would find the undead that were hiding as well, even in houses and magic arra- Oh shit.

Two fangs sunk into his neck and the alchemist realized too late what an undead seeking blaster would release from their hidden room.

“Mmm~ Your blood tastes so sweet~” Emthrall whispered into his ear, her voice sending his blood rushing into a frenzy, though that blood was quickly lapped up by her.

He could feel her wrapping around him, or something wrapping around him, restraining his movements, it didn’t matter how motherly or seductive it felt he was still being slowly restrained, utterly helpless against it… Or was he?

“BEGONE THOT!” Ark attempted to throw her weight over his and slam her into the floor, though nothing happened, and he was only restrained further.

“You’re still trying to fight back~? If you weren’t such a valuable tool, then I would’ve already killed you~”

“Oh yeah? What use does a-“ The alchemist felt a massive pain rocket through his throat and into the rest of his body.

“I’ll turn you into one of us~ You’ll lose all ties to humanity and you’ll swear allegiance to your new species~ And don’t worry about that mana gathering killing us as you transform~”

“How about no!” Ark struggled and then noticed something… Peculiar…

Emthrall sounded seductive and sexy, yet not an hour ago she was screaming profanities and death threats, was this a result of hunger or an attempt at something else?

Either way, he noticed she was wrapping up above his waist, and that his hands were quite close to the towel wrapped around his groin. What made this next action count was that the towel was still wet with the slight holy healing properties of the hot spring.

“Hey Emthrall,” He said, reaching towards it slowly as the pain felt greater.

“Hmm~ What is it~?” He could feel her voice through her fangs sunken into his veins.

“Do vampires reproduce like humans do?” He grabbed the hem of it.

“Why do you think we still have those parts~ I can show you when you fully transform~” She whispered as the alchemist took a handful of the towel.

“Really? Because I have a fetish for a certain thing, wanna know what it is?”

“Well, if you m-“

“IT’S HOLY WATER DRENCHED TOWELS!” He tore the towel off himself and pushed it against whatever was restraining his body and touching his upper half.

Emthrall screamed in pain and backed away, Ark suddenly confused as she hissed and tended to her wounds.

“Wait hold on, don’t you create vampires who’re immune to this stuff? Why’re you affected?”

“You…” The vampire hissed, holding her left arm with extreme pressure, “You damn mortal… I tried to give you an easy transformation, but it seems you just want to experience pain!”

“Ooohhhhhh, so that’s what that whole seductive act was about, just comfort- AH FUCK IT BURNS!” Ark held his neck to shoulder area on the right half of his body with pain coursing through it, gritting his teeth as it racked his body with a hot burning sensation.

“But regardless of comfort, you’ll transform either way and then you’ll brew potions for us vampires, how does that sound?” Emthrall mused, seeing her target kneel and curl up in pain.

She squatted down to his level and looked on with glee as the man who had imprisoned her became one of them.

She saw his green eye turn red, she felt his aura become dark, she saw him take out two potions in vain.

“Hm~?” She saw the names of these two potions, “Vampire’s Menacing and Cure Status potions? Do you honestly think that you can escape this fate? This wonderous opportunity given to you by an immortal?”

She watched him stand back up, his fangs starting to poke out, she watched him pull the cork of the Vampire’s Menacing, shaking and breathing heavily.

He pulled the potion up to his lips and drank it, the power flooding through his body.

“You idiot, you can never escape this vampirism! Even if you drink holy water It’ll just burn y-“

[Vampirism failed]

Emthrall stopped in her tracks as she watched her target chug down a Status Cure potion and finish it like a flavoured drink

“Ah! Man, that was delicious!” She looked in utter disbelief, was the guy before her a human or some god in disguise? Nobody in the mortal realm had the capacity to cure her targets, she alone was responsible for raising masses of vampires, yet this guy had cured her vampirism with little to no effort.

He then looked at her smugly and opened his arms as a challenge.

“You mad bro?”

The vampire backed off in horror, he had the capacity to cure vampires… He had the capacity… To end the vampire race as she knew it… HE HAD TO DIE!

She suddenly charged at him, all attacks ready to slash him to pieces in an instant, she was ready to die if it meant this man, this… Calamity in disguise would follow with her.

Emthrall swore loyalty to her species, and she was now ready to put that loyalty to the test.

Bringing a powerful right hook, she aimed it straight at her opponent’s head, if she could punch through it then she could save the entire vampire race.

Then the alchemist ducked, and she felt a pressure in her chest, a very… Painful pressure.

“If you punch a girl in the boobs in hurts, just like a punch to the gut,” Ark said from somehow in between her legs, “But a punch to the groin hurts to matter what gender you are!”

Then the vampire felt a punch go straight between her legs, not only that, but she also felt something else go straight through her foot and into the floor, causing her to scream in pain.

“Get stun-locked!” She heard him slide and then the sound of his footsteps dimming away.

“Oh no you don’t!” She tore the knife, which was in her foot, out of her foot and threw it straight at Ark.

Said knife whizzed straight into his shoulder with a yelp, though he didn’t stumble and fall like she wanted, instead he slammed into another building’s wall and kept running.

She chased after him and with her physical ability, easily caught up to him and in her rage, threw him through a wall, that wall turned out to be a tavern.

Silence was what followed on the other side of the wall as they all saw a naked man laying on the counter with what looked like his wife or someone angrily stepping through the broken wall.

“Ugh, man that was a- No no wait!” Ark’s back was grabbed by the knife’s handle and by her hands before he was shoved down the counter, its contents all hitting him in the face before he was thrown to the floor.

Emthrall was then tapped on the shoulder by a friendly-looking bartender.

“Excuse me, but could you and your… Spouse take this somewhere else…?”

The vampire turned to the bartender and grabbed his face, slowly crushing it with a merciless gaze etched onto her face.

The alchemist stood back up, still a little dazed until he saw a child across from him with a shocked expression, his mother holding him close.

“Uh, don’t do drugs,” Ark said, pulling the knife out of his shoulder before running straight at the vampire and tackling her to the ground, stabbing the knife into her back to hopefully paralyse her bottom half.

The response was that he was thrown through another wall and onto the street, the boy turning to his mother when he saw Emthrall step through the newly broken wall.

“Mummy, is this what love is like?”

“Well… Er…” The mother unsure of how to respond.

The potion-brewer stood up and raised both his fists at the vampire who bared her fangs in return.

“You’re alone Ark, a mere mortal can never fight an immortal and win,” She tore the knife out of her back and crushed it, “So just roll over and die already,”

The alchemist closed his eyes, inhaled and then exhaled, narrowing his focus.

“Fuck you,” He replied, dashing down the street.

The female quickly caught up to him, utilizing a quick slash to slice open his stomach.

She expected the attack to hit and for him to now bleed out, he didn’t have his satchel, he didn’t have his friends, the guards were busy with the massive swarm of undead, the mana gathering was recharging, he was utterly helpless.

She didn’t him expect to suddenly stop abruptly, for her legs to suddenly trip up and for her to go slamming into a wall.

Emthrall quickly retracted herself angrily, looking around to see where the alchemist ran off to.

He had somehow disappeared entirely, in that span of a few seconds he had somehow vanished, just where was he?

She heard the crack of stone and turned to the source of the sound, it was too her left and sounded quite crumbly.

Her eyes locked with Ark’s, the guy had somehow broken off a statue’s hand and was now wielding the massive stone sword with a bit of difficulty.

“Come at me succubus tag!” He yelled, getting the feel of the stone weapon.

The vampire, fed up with his antics and refusal to die, blasted straight towards him, ready to break apart that pitiful stone blade and tear him to shreds.

She charged up a dark ball barrage and sent them all at the alchemist who used the sword to block the various attacks with a decent speed.

She hurled even more spells at him before she met physically against the sword structure.

His strength was surprisingly good, but it was still weak compared to hers, she would easily overpower him in this span of a few seconds.

“Uh, Emthrall, the castle blasters charged!”

“You’re not tricking me this time!” She hissed, pushing her full strength onto him.

“I’m not joking its gonna destroy us both!” Ark shouted, seeing the giant purple core aiming for them.

“Then I guess I’ll see you burn in hell!”

The alchemist inwardly groaned and let her overpower him, feeling her hand penetrate into his stomach and grab a valuable organ before she tore it out of his body, she had now let her guard down.

“HAPPY NOW?!” He pushed her to the ground and stood in front of her, the massive attack being launched at them both while smaller bolts still rapid fired from it to take out the swarms.

The attack met stone sword as Ark spun it skillfully and sent it down to the pavement in front of him, the massive beam pushing the alchemist back, his blood pouring out of his body with each second.

Unknowingly, the surrounding populace watched him tank the colossal attack of the mana pulse, not knowing that the woman he looked like he was protecting was a vampire.

Meanwhile, Emthrall watched this with mixed feelings. She had just torn his liver from his body, yet he had used this moment to save both of them, he could’ve used her as a semi-shield with his sword, yet he didn’t… This… Uncomforted her…

The beam only grew stronger and the sword began to crack and crumble against the energy.

“H-hey Emthrall… I’d move if…” She saw the sword break and the beam consume Ark, and in the split second, she felt helpless, sitting there… She had frozen up in fear…

Her life flashed before her eyes, everything she had done, as a human, as a vampire, it all struck her and she felt regret fill her body… Everything she had done… Everything she had accomplished would all end here… Her humanity had been briefly restored in her final moments…

Suddenly the pulse stopped in its tracks.

“GOD FUCKING DAMMIT! MOVE!” She heard Ark scream from within the beam, “FUCKING MOVE!”

She quickly followed his advice and within seconds, the beam was directed upwards and the alchemist jumped out, his front side completely tanned while his back end was almost the opposite.

Soon the beam directed itself up at the swarm again and them she saw the true horror of the man’s body.

His skin at the front had been completely roasted off, charred and burnt, he looked like some sort of weird flesh abomination, and he was practically bleeding out…

She saw the sword’s remains were in a disc-like shape, its internal area being made of some sort of reflective metal… Had he used the beam to carve out a disc and reflect the attack?

The alchemist himself soon slumped forwards and Emthrall quickly rushed up to him, her brain having an internal argument.

‘He saved you! Heal him!’

‘No! He only saved you in the process of saving himself!’

‘Oh yeah! Then I guess that he stood in front of you and told you to move on accident!’

She could feel his body heat rapidly falling and she made her decision.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

..

Ark woke up, pain aching in his body as he heard Silence Reapers screeching, was he dead?

“Everyone back off he’s waking up,” An old man’s voice said, the alchemist sitting up, noticing he was wearing some clothes consisting of a plain tunic and rough pants.

“Ugh, did I die?” He asked, seeing a crowd around him.

“Andrason, you just took the full force of the mana pulse and lived, all thanks to that mysterious woman who healed you with her blood, weird trait but you’re alive at least,”

He stood up and stumbled a bit but managed to thankfully stand relatively fine.

“Hm, Emthrall healed me huh,” He looked around and didn’t see her, “She probably left as soon as she knew I was fine,”

“Emthrall huh? Say, young lad, you wouldn’t happen to fancy that young lass, would you?” The old man chortled.

“Pen we all know I’ll die a virgin,” He replied, stretching his body a bit before walking off, “Oh, and don’t tell my sister, she’ll be f-“

“ALL HAIL OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR ARK! A TRUE GOD ONLY RESTRAINED BY HIS MORTAL FLESH!” A random person called out with several praises behind him.

“Bruh! Leave me alone! I’m not a god!” Ark screamed at the cultists who appeared within the crowd.

“SUCH A HUMBLE RESO-“ The cultist was hit in the head with a rock the alchemist threw before he stormed off.

He needed to find the rest of the group and get away from this scene… But first, he had to get a rare potion… Just in case something bad happened…

…

“And another few bite the dust,” Rekiel hummed, seeing a group of Silence Reapers be annihilated from his trait as he sipped a martini.

“Whatever’s leading this horde is close by, I can feel its imposing aura on my back,” The Paladin hero spoke, swinging his hammer and letting it fly off to a group of Reapers.

“Well, I know its aware of us,” Atra said, her wrist blade slicing through an approaching undead with ease, “It wouldn’t be focusing the Reapers on us if it wasn’t”

“Guys, I think I see it!”

A massive Silence Reaper suddenly landed in front of them, possessing multiple skeletal arms and a massive, deathly scythe being held in two of the six arms.

It was roughly twenty meters tall and it was monstrous, its aura alone was enough to suffocate the general populace.

“Yeah, that’ll be it-“

The Reaper roared and swung its scythe, though not before it was taken out by stray spells and shattered to dust.

“Tsk, tsk, bigger size means you’re easier to fight,” Rekiel sighed in disappointment, turning around, “I really should stop using my trait, it’s a bad habit to rely on something I might not have all the time,”

“The aura hasn’t disappeared,” The Paladin said.

“Yeah, I know, I can feel it bearing on me even harder,” Armi said, crossing her arms, “Whatever form it took wasn’t the Silence Reaper’s,”

“Then, what about a chicken?” Rekiel asked, his sister turning to him curiously.

“What?”

“You heard me, I think that chicken is the commander,” Atra followed her brother’s gaze to a simple brown farm chicken sitting on the street, pruning its feathers.

“Really Rekiel?” The Paladin walked up to the chicken which didn’t mind his imposing size one bit and patted it, the bird squawking in response before the Paladin walked back to the group, “You think that itty-bitty cute harmless chicken that I just patted is the commander?”

“Eh, one way to find out,” The florist immediately launched a fireball at the bird.

“NO! LIL BIRDIE!” The Paladin cried out in despair as the spell sailed straight towards the bird.

Suddenly a menacing aura erupted from the farm animal and a muscular, shadowy figure with glowing crimson eyes and what appeared to be a hat on its head punched the fireball away with vision-blurring speeds, its size spanning over two meters, towering over the chicken who seemed to now stand aggressively towards the group.

[Sir Cluckens (Lesser Abyssal God)]

[HP: 999,999,999,999/999,999,999,999]

“Holy shit,” Armi was utterly speechless, “That thing’s a god…”

“Fuck yeah! I was right!” Rekiel pumped a fist followed by a little dance, “Now how the hell are we going to take care of this little shit?”

Suddenly Ark appeared on the scene, waving at the group.

“Hey guys you would not believe-“

“ARK STAY AWAY FROM THAT CHICKEN!”

“What Chi-“ The alchemist turned to see a pitch-black muscular shadow with chains wrapped around its wrists to its chest launching a flurry of punches towards him.

His trait immediately activated.

[Sir Cluckens (Lesser Abyss God)]

[HP: 999,999,999,999/999,999,999,999]

[Trait: Chickenized]

[Desc: User becomes a chicken, but their true form becomes a powerful abyssal fighting spirit that possesses x4 of the user’s base stats]

[Trait: Abyssal]

[Desc: This creature is one with the Abyss and thus, can summon and control monsters from the pitch space]

“Two traits?” Ark avoided the punches and got to the group, the massive shadowy entity holding its guard up with the chicken staring at them hatefully, “I mean, it's rare to have more than one trait but damn, a chicken with two traits…”

“Ark, what’s the chicken’s stats like?” Armi asked, turning to her brother.

“Uh…” The man used his trait again.

[LVL 643]

[EXP: 120/934,765,975]

[STA: 70,000,000/70,000,000]

[MP: 50,000,000/50,000,000]

[STR: 9,986,842]

[DEX: 1,835,163]

[AGI: 999,999,999]

[VIT: 3,000,000]

[END: 2,000,000]

[INT: 200,000,000]

[MAG: 5,000,000]

[DEF: 120,000,000]

“We’re fucked is what its stats are,” The alchemist explained, “But Rekiel could use his trait to instantly kill it if we’re lucky,”

“You heard him, step up,” Atra said to her brother who eagerly stepped up to face the god.

[Situational Nightmare has activated]

“Now we wait-“

Rekiel suddenly was blasted back by a mysterious force and flung into a cart, blood spewing from his mouth.

[Situational Nightmare has failed]

The colossal being behind the chicken suddenly roared and charged towards the group.

“Alright, four vs one we got this!”

Atra was suddenly grabbed by the creature’s muscular hands, her blade shattering in its powerful grasp before she was thrown through a wall.

“Sorry little chicken!” The Paladin swung his hammer down onto the bird but stopped mid-way once he saw its cute… Helpless eyes…

“Awww…” The Paladin was punched in the helmet and then pummelled several meters into the ground, groaning in pain.

“Two vs one we still have a chance!”

Armi suddenly found herself restrained by chains and then bound to a wall, utterly helpless as she was silenced, her magic nullified.

“Alright one vs one its an even battle,” Ark said, drawing his weapon which was a rusty nail, “You’d better stay away unless you want some tetanus,”

“Ark Andrason,” The chicken spoke, despite its beak not moving, “You are the only one worthy to face me,”

“Boy I fight plebs with my fists and break backs with my knees, you better hope you’re worthy to face me!” The alchemist retorted.

“Hmm, seems your ego needs some flattening,” The abyssal figure cracked its knuckles, “Allow me to help with that,”

The form then let loose a barrage of punches which made Ark smile as it drew closer.

“GO! CATGIRL!”

The alchemist then hurled the still balled up Ismai straight into the set of punches.

“USELESS!” The chicken cried out as it punched the thief, though each hit was seemingly rendered useless as she neither was crushed nor affected in any way.

[Trait: Ball Up]

[The user balls up and has their moment frozen in time, during this phase they cannot age or be damaged, they do not need to eat or drink and can be frozen for up to 60 years until they un-ball]

As the figure punched and punched and punched, the trait seemingly absorbed the blows with no repercussion, no damage was dealt or returned, she was indestructible.

“What… Wait! Where is he?!” The chicken looked around, not seeing the alchemist anywhere, had he fled? Was he hiding? Did he have a pl-

“Gravity!” Sir Cluckens heard a shout from behind him and looked up to see a statue falling towards him.

Said statue was immediately annihilated with the animal growing more pissed.

“Potion-maker! Fight me with those infamous potions of yours!” He called out in anger, trying to lure him out.

“Traveller, my potions are too strong for you,” He heard Ark say from behind him, the alchemist sitting on a window ledge, “Besides, in a one on one I’d get wrecked, wouldn’t you agree?”

“I heard your trait is Analysis, yet you seem to be able to teleport around… Why is that...?” The chicken questioned; its abyssal form ready to strike out at any moment.

“Why do you think? I’m a potion maker who’s mostly one step ahead of my enemies, I have potions of all sorts, and I’m also curious on how you know about me,” The alchemist went inside the windowsill’s building and yet somehow appeared perfectly fine on the top of a cement cathedral.

“And because you’re immune to most of our traits! I have to make a plan for that! Rekiel can’t use his trait on you, but he can use it on me! I’d say that’s a more preferable situation than this one!”

The alchemist then took out a wooden board, threw it out and made sure it froze mid-air before he jumped onto it.

“What? How did he make it freeze mid-air?” Atra asked, stepping out from the wall and repairing her blade.

“I’ve heard of Ark talking about this theory before…” Armi said, “About multiple possible traits existing in one body but only one trait emerging, like how you get certain features from ancestors…”

“You mean that we have multiple traits in our body but only one emerges due to genes…” Rekiel said, jumping out of the cart, “Yeah, I’ve heard of that theory before, and that people with two traits are genetically superior… Is that what he’s doing? Bringing out multiple traits in his body?”

“No… His demeanour is like he knows what’s happening in all areas… It’s like… He…” Armi watched as Ark snapped his fingers and more Arks appeared from around corners and from shadows.

“Cloned himself….”