On our way back from our little “scouting” mission, I decided to ask Mia something relating to our town.

“Hey, do you know how many people actually survived this whole thing?” She gave me a contemplative look as if judging my intelligence….

“About one third of the entire town died in this calamity. However, the remaining 10 000 people set up bunkers underground on the outskirts and near the centre of the town. In fact, people like you who stay outside are seen as either really dumb or extremely strong.”

That explained why there weren’t many people on the streets….now onto the more important part.

“Do you know any others with powers like yo- like us?”

“Before I left the bunker I’d overheard a bunch of people talking about the ‘big 5’ trying to protect us. There were 5 teams with 10 people in each, all of them having powers. Yet…..as of two weeks ago, there were rumours of a human that controlled the monsters…..he had ash-coloured hair and red irises surrounded by a dark void.”

….How strong those “Big 5” were would be the deciding factor on whether or not the powerless people survived. As for that other person….they might pose a problem.

We finally got back home, only to be met with the smell of homemade food.

ggggrrroowllllll

It seemed I was hungrier than I thought….must’ve been a side effect of using so much magic-

Either way it was now time for some brunch!

✶✶✶

??? POV

They’re gone……both of them.

Even when I got this power…I couldn’t change anything.

Yet HE just comes back and claims it all! He has his family, his home, a new ally. Why couldn’t it be ME!

If I lost it all…..then he will too.

I looked back at the mindless ants I’d taken under my wing. After 2 months I’d collected hundreds of them, and now was the time to bring this town to the ground….starting with him.

✶✶✶

James’ POV

After we finished our brunch, Mia had left with mom and Ella to check on my father downstairs. He should’ve gained some semblance of consciousness by now yet he hasn’t….

While they were doing that, I decided to study the tome to learn more about how sorcery worked. I had finished studying all the “lessons” regarding basic spellcraft, and now I started delving into intermediate studies. Other than Elemental Rain, I hadn’t been able to create spells that combined different elements with each other. I thought the problem was a lack of inspiration, but it seemed to be something deeper than that.

I needed to blow off some steam so I decided to invite Mia to spar outside. However, in merely a few seconds I felt the mana spike all around me.

BOOOOOM

Thanks to my instincts I was able to raise a barrier to block off most of the damage caused by the sudden explosion and managed to keep everyone in the basement safe….at the cost of my front yard….

“MiSSed MeEeEE?!”

A scathing voice sounded out from beyond the debris and smoke, and with it my navigation sounded out showing me a shocking reality. The house was suddenly surrounded by enemies from every direction….close to six hundred of them-

“yOu THinK onLY i gEt To SUFFER whILE yoU liVE a CarEFRee LIFE?!”

The debris cleared to reveal a jarring figure….one who possessed ash-white hair. I recognized that figure but didn’t want to believe it…

[Analysis Activated]

{Mathew

Health 15 500 Mana 7000

Race: Human

Job: Spirit Warrior Lv 19 Exp 0%

Status Effect: Spirit Madness

Base Status

Strength: 29 (+30)

Stamina: 33 (+30)

Agility: 28 (+30)

Endurance: 27 (+40)

Active Skills: Soul Blade, Manifest

Passive Skills: Sixth Sense Lv 5, Spirit Voice }

{Spirit Madness: The voices of the spirits are so loud they start to corrupt your mind and have you descend slowly into the abyss of madness. In return you get a significant boost to your abilities.}

….It truly was Matthew, but it also wasn’t him. He seemed to be afflicted with “Spirit Madness” and from the description…it wasn’t any good. While it did nearly double all of his abilities…the side effects were clearly seen. However, I couldn’t tell if going mad caused him to spout lies or if this was truly how he felt.

It didn’t matter, he had to be stopped either way.

He seemed to lose his patience and decided to go ahead and attack me anyway. A blade of pure darkness manifested in his hands. For some reason I felt more wary of that blade than the sand dragon from the desert, but I didn’t know why. I couldn’t even find out because he started dashing towards me.

I thought he’d slash when in range, but instead he swung his blades while staying around 10 meters away.

As if manifesting from thin air, a crescent shaped blade was hurtling towards me, closing the distance near instantly. The barrier was still up so it managed to block it, but shattering in exchange for a few precious seconds.

He had me beat in status, but there was something more to his strength, something I didn’t understand. After I’d blocked the slash he sent his army at me. Using Analysis I learned that they were the souls of the damned. I found it ironic that he possessed so many souls under his command, yet at the same time possessed a pair of soulless red irises. I tried using Binding Chains but failed due to the overwhelming numbers charging towards me.

Instead I started forming Elemental Rain. While it drained half of my mana to cast that many arrows, the process was near instantaneous, thereby culling the monsters’ numbers to a mere 100 enemies. Matthew frowned at that and recalled them back to him. I guessed it was time for some close combat.

He charged towards me with his blade and I brought out my Fancy Slicer. I laced my blade with a Power Strike before they clashed. Yet even with that I could hear the creaking of the sword blade, showing it was close to the breaking point. I guess it had about two more strikes left in it. I couldn’t even use Berserk because it disappeared when I evolved for some reason….I felt like I was being nerfed on purpose.

Matthew moved in for an overhead strike, this time using his other ability, Manifest.

A set of armour made of pure darkness adorned his body, seeming like the blade’s twin. I used Power Strike one more time, but I felt my arms ache even more with this clash…I was nearing the breaking point.

“NoT SO StroNG nOW ARe We JAMES!!!”

I needed to play this smarter, so I decided to use my only advantage over him, magic. I activated the Void Cloak spell between me and him while also activating Stealth. My mana was close to bottoming out, the system told me I had about 20 percent remaining yet Matthew didn’t give me a chance to drink a mana potion. I tried sneaking around him but he seemed to sense my rough location.

….Why did I feel that Matthew was more of a cheat than I was?

His Sixth Sense was really handy right now, limiting my options even more. I tried winning without hurting him….but now some blood needed to be spilled. I took out a mana potion and opened it to drink as fast as I could. Yet even that wasn’t enough because I barely dodged his slash, leaving behind a wound on my shoulder, rendering my left arm useless for the rest of this battle.

It WAS worth it though, I could feel the strength slowly returning to me as I got ready to create a new spell. THIS was the push I needed. I wanted a spell that could do enough damage to incapacitate him but also exorcise whatever it was that possessed him. My mind was close to frying out, trying to dodge all his attacks while possessing the lower Agility status.

His endurance was off the charts so blunt weapons wouldn’t work. I needed something sharp and fast….only the charged Astra particles could do the job. They felt electric, giving a similar sensation to lighting.

While lightning was commonly used to exorcise demons I felt that this wouldn’t be enough, it needed just one more thing….and that would be Lumis. The warm feeling these particles gave enveloped me with a bright sensation.

It was decided, what I needed was a needle small enough to pierce a pressure point while possessing Astra and Lumis properties. I started crafting the spell, but it was more complicated than I thought.

It wasn’t helping that Matthew started sending the remaining 100 monster souls. I divided my consciousness into two using parallel thinking and fired off fireballs due to them being the easiest spell to create while causing the most destruction. The needle started taking shape through the use of Entros, and all that was left was bestowing the two other elements onto it. After 10 seconds of what felt like an endless battle, Matthew decided to join the fray again, but this time I was ready. I needed a distraction, and nothing worked better than a big boom.

I formed my strongest, most destructive spell, Hellfire Marble. He must’ve sensed how dangerous it was because he manifested a helmet to complete his armour, but thankfully there existed a gap where the back of his neck was, a gap that glowed, signifying the existence of a critical hitpoint.

I fired the marble from the front and he managed to slash it in half….I didn’t even know that was possible.

“yOU’LL nEeD moRE THan THAT tO STOP M-”

However, little did he know, the real attack had already struck him.

[CRITICAL HIT]

His body paused, then spazzed, and finally….he fell like a puppet with their strings cut. His fall was just the start, because right afterwards, the surviving 50 monsters from this battle also fell.

After one minute of taking my breath…I heard a faint scream:

“NOOOOO, HOW COULD YOU TAKE AWAY MY BODYYYYYYYY….”

[Evil Spirit Vanquished]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Skills, Parallel Thinking and Speed Processing, Deleted]

[Skill Synthesis: Parallel Processing Lv 3]

[All Beginner Masteries 100%]

[Power Strike Deleted]

[Skill Synthesis Initiated….]

[.....]

[.....]

[.....]

[Skill Synthesis: Enchanter’s Right Hand]

[Skill Synthesis: Dragon’s Left Fist]

[Skill Synthesis: Asura’s Spirit]

[Title Gained: Exorcist]

{ James,

Health 9800 Mana 32 900

Race: Mana Being

Job: Player Lv 28 Exp 21%

Title: Rookie Dragon Slayer

Base Status

Strength: 50

Stamina: 38

Agility: 50

Endurance: 38

Intelligence: 33

Allocatable Stat Points: 38

Active Skills: Stealth Lv 4, Navigation Lv 4, Analysis Lv 4, ▛█▚▆ Lv ▪▪▪, Critical Point Detection Lv 1, Taming Lv 5

Mastery Skills: Asura’s Spirit 0%, Dragon's Left Fist 0%, Enchanter's Right Hand 0%

Passive Skills: Status Resistance Lv 2, Laplace Authority Lv 2,

Parallel Processing Lv3 , One with Mana, Mana Control Lv 5, ■■■ (Rank F)

Spells: Hellfire Marble, Elemental Rain }