-Chapter Ten-

Sombre - Part Three

Nightfall soon fell upon Vertex and Aelius spotted smoke rising from ahead of him where the ever diminishing trail of blood led. As he drew closer, prowling through the tree branches, he found it was a small, modest camp set up. His eyes scanned the terrain to see dozens of warriors wearing black cloaks with a strange, golden mark engraved on them. He found the blood trail leading to one of the tents, and the urge to erupt bubbled up within him like an imminent volcano. Like a shadow in the night, he dropped from the side of the tree to the nearest group of fighters.

Consuming Rage Points…

User has activated the skill Arbiter of Vengeance. Innate talent activating.

「Hyperactive」

Grand Origin Skill.

The small scattered groups of cloaked men did not see it coming at all when something akin to a meteorite came thundering down like lightning into the middle of camp. Upon impact, an explosion of purple and blue shot out, brutally sending dozens of bodies rag-dolling. The sickening sound of bone-crunching echoed around Aelius, but his eyes were focused on one thing. He took a step forward toward the tent when a swiftly recovered group of the assailants formed a formation. Wordlessly and without the need for a command among them, two first threw attacks at him. He swiftly dodged the two balls of flaming blue with inhumane speed, while another pair of attackers charged him down with swords.

User has activated the skill Authority of Anemos.

「Authority of Anemos」

Become one with the Wind.

A barrier of wind quickly conjured into being around his body, blocking the blades from reaching him and he raised his own sword at the two short-range assaulters.

User has activated the skill Outburst.

「Outburst」

Release your pent-up anger in power.

Following a swing of his sword was a ray of white light that sliced cleanly through anybody around him, sending blood splattering all over his face and the ground. The sound of cut flesh rang out as their bodies piled up on one another, leaving not one soul alive in the camp. He simply continued on his way, arriving at the entry of the tent. I’ve arrived, Violet. Wearing a gaze of fury, he pushed through the curtain-like door to find the purple-haired beauty strapped to a chair in the centre, her mouth gagged by a rag. Aelius quickly cut the ropes, observing the red marks around her wrists with rage. Dried blood sat on her temple and her soft, white skin was bruised around her arms and legs.

+ Rage Points

+ Rage Points

+ Rage Points

+ Rage Points

+ Rage Points

+ Rage Points

+ Rage Points

+ Rage Points

She quickly reached up and removed the rag before looking back at him with her purple eyes.

“You came…” she wiped her eyes and quickly regained her composure. “We have to leave right now!” She sprung forward, taking his hand and leading out the tent. As soon as they exited however, they found another group of a dozen cloaked fighters filing into the camp.

“So many of them,” Aelius growled, pulling Violet behind him and raising his sword. “Good. Come at me, I’ll let you taste my wrath.”

User has activated the skill Domain Expansion.

「Domain Expansion」

Enforce your right. This land is now yours. Bring forth the flames of your territory.

Pillars of fire erupted out of the ground around Aelius, turning the snow into molten lava instead. A flame blessed his blade, extending it by the length of a metre, and his eyes began to emit an orange glow. He shot forward with a swing of his blade, ready to burn them into ash but one blocked his strike with their forearm. Aelius’ sword clanged loudly as it brushed up against some sort of metal. Another fighter took the chance of the small opening to counter, dashing forward to attempt a lethal swing across his throat. Fuck! Aelius narrowly dodged it, being repelled two metres back to Violet. These guys are different. His knuckles’ clench on the handle of his blade tightened as he began to feel unhinged. How dare they…

“Leave me and run, Aelius!” Violet called from behind him.

“What?” he growled. The audacity behind her words ignited another burning desire of fury within him. “What sort of bullshit are you spouting right now!” he roared.

User has activated the skill Blazing Heart.

「Blazing Heart」

Burn away all with your blazing heart!

Aelius slammed his flaming sword into the ground and the earth began to shake around them, intensifying until a gigantic pillar of flame erupted out from beneath their feet like a volcano. It spanned a hundred metres wide, turning the earth into a molten crater in his surroundings. Half way through the spell however, he felt resistance where the enemies stood, and looked up to see they had erected some form of barrier. Even this isn’t enough? He thought with anger as the flames died away, revealing a few of the members still standing. Some standing at the outer edge were hit by the attack, but he only shaved off half the new group at most.

“You bastard! You killed Kenny!” A short fighter at the front shouted at him before charging forward, conjuring a manifestation of Mana around his body to attack.

“Stand back!” Another of the group shouted in command, but the reckless fighter did not give heed. Aelius narrowed his gaze. Drop dead.

User has activated the skill Space Sword.

「Space Sword」

Wield the blade that exists within the fabric of reality itself. Invisible to the eye and immune to physics, summon this energy to slash at anything in existence.

In the blink of an eye, Aelius flashed through the attacker. No one’s eyes could see a thing as his enemy’s body split into two and collapsed onto the burnt soil.

“Lenny!!!” The same commander from earlier screeched and snapped, charging forward herself. He saw the group behind her exchange glances, and they all opted to attack at once. Aelius braced himself for the oncoming wave, readying his blade and taking a deep breath. The first met him, and he repelled her. Following the female commander though, the rest of the group launched a barrage of attacks. Aelius was able to dodge some, parry some, and take some head-on, but they came with no end. Repeat after repeat, Aelius looked for an opening but could find none, narrowly avoiding fatal wounds by mere inches as time went on. He felt his strength begin to diminish, and his anger grow. All the while, Violet watched on behind him in worry. Consuming another batch of rage points, Aelius shot out a wide area-of-effect attack, landing a cheap shot on the leg of the female commander. The rest of the group scrambled in response, shooting chaotic attacks his way and finally broke through. Though Aelius fended off three of the members, the fourth, a bulky man emitting immense pressure, and was no doubt at the Eighth Ring, slipped through Aelius’ sword range and sent a resounding punch into his gut. The young man’s body took heavy damage and he practically exploded into blood, getting sent sprawling across the ground. Ah shit… was it too much for me? Nothing I did worked against them… just who the fuck are these guys… He felt worry tear away at his chest, accompanying the intense pain from his torso. Violet… He could only muster the energy to look up to see the same man who had punched him standing over him. All it took was a single blow from this man? He clenched his fists. Why… if they were Devils, I could use Divine power against them. But this power the Goddess gave me cannot be used against other humans. What the hell am I supposed to do in a situation like this? Aelius felt like he wanted to tear his hair out. Am I just too greedy, to want the power to protect as well as the power to destroy? Aelius looked up at the unbudging cloaked face. He couldn’t even see the expression of the man. He’s gonna kill me. I’m gonna die. I can’t let them take Violet away… I can’t… I have to protect her… In one final, last ditch effort, Aelius summoned his remaining strength.

User has activated the skill Blessing of Stecia.

「Blessing of Stecia」

Wield Light magic, the nemesis of Dark magic.

A blinding light erupted from the tip of Aelius’ sword, which lay on the ground a metre away from him. Aelius heard a roar from the bulky attacker as inevitably, the light would have scorched his eyes. Pushing himself to his feet to take advantage of this opportunity, Aelius drew his Mana from his core to his right hand.

User is activating Dual Cast.

User is activating Blazing Heart.

User is activating Anemos Blow.

Strengthened by the wind belonging to the Wind God, the pillar of flames manifested from Blazing Heart shot up at the feet of the cloaked short-range fighter before he could deal the finishing blow to Aelius. Did it get him? Aelius wondered, barely remaining standinding on his feet as the pillar dissipated, shocking the sword warrior to see the fighter had somehow barely avoided his surprise attack. Fuck… are they really that strong… he thought with hopelessness as his enemy flashed back toward him in a blow with full force. “Nooo!” Aelius heard Violet’s voice shriek, and jolted as blood shot all over his face. Yet he was perfectly fine. In the final moments, something, no, someone, had pushed him out the way. His eyes widened and he gasped as in a split second, a shadow had jumped in front of the punch and was blown into pieces. Scattered flesh laid unmoving on the molten ground around Aelius and he screamed. Half of Violet’s torso remained. Her final act was tearing open the mask of her killer to reveal his face before she dropped onto the ground. “Violettt!!!” Aelius caught her and fell to his knees, his lips shaking as his eyes took in her catastrophic state. Her body which was always warm, enflamed by the fire of life, was unbearably cold. Her empty eyes were glazed over, passing from instant death. Aelius couldn’t believe it, it was surreal in the moment as he looked up at the face of the attacker. A familiar pair of blue eyes stared back at him, before the other cloaked members latched onto the warrior and dragged him away.

“You killed the target, you stupid fool! She’s useless now, what are we going to tell the higher ups?”

“She jumped in the way, she killed herself!” was all that was said and they were gone in a flash. Aelius didn’t hear the words, he could only hear the sound of his blood rushing as hopelessness and despair bubbled up within him. “Violet?” his broken voice choked as tears formed. “Oh please… please don’t do this to me… not again!” Nothing has changed… “Ahh…” the hopelessness and despair quickly settled in and he began to weep at the top of his lungs. His cries could be heard for hundreds of metres, but after a short moment, her body began to glow and he felt a familiar touch caress his wet cheek. His closed eyes quickly opened, and he saw her somehow miraculously standing in front of him, her entire body enveloped in an aura of orange and yellow. “Live on, my sweet, dear Aelius. Live on my behalf. Please live on.” Her mouth didn’t move, but he heard her voice in his head. A pair of orange, feathery fiery wings spread out by her sides as she took a step back and looked up overhead at the orange sky. Without another gaze at him, her wings flapped with fearsome force and her figure slowly dissipated into dust. Aelius watched on through the blurry vision in his teary eyes, unable to make sense of what happened until he looked back down to his arms to find her body gone, and the space empty before him.

Alert!

System has received an Inheritance Fragment.

Retrieving Inherited Skill…

-New Skills Acquired!-

-Phoenix’s Love-

Wounds that greatly impair or have the chance to cause permanent damage to the individual will trigger this skill and heal over a good nine-hour sleep.

The power to heal over sleep is only possessed by the Phoenix. For a human to come to possess this power, they must be the one the Phoenix blessed, at the cost of their own life. Imbued with power from the one who adored you, may you wake up from the long dream anew.

“Ahhhh…” Aelius’ cry rang out again as his eyes reached the end of the words of the skill’s description. You should’ve let me die…! You should’ve just let me die! He keeled over onto the ground, burying his head into the ashen soil. I should’ve died! He continued sobbing and whimpering in a broken mess for hours, until finally he gradually calmed down. After falling quiet for a few minutes, the young man scraped himself off the ground and rose to his feet, taking a shaky breath. He wore dark glare at the leftover footprints of the attackers who killed Violet. He recalled the cold, blue eyes staring at him earlier of the attacker who almost took his life. He knew that man. Aelius’ face twisted into a mixture of scorn, grief and hatred. Quarren Leos!!! He clenched his fists and looked up at the sky. Why? He did not know what organisation the cloaks represented, nor what their objective for Violet was. He looked down at his hands with disdain. If I hadn’t come and fought them, Violet most likely would have lived. They had some sort of objective, and were keeping her alive for it. His shoulders began to shake. It was my fault. And because I was too weak! As a Seventh tier who had only been learning Mana properly for a year, it took all he had to barely fend off the multiple Eighth Tiers. The biggest problem was Aelius’ strongest spells did nothing against them. The only way he could have closed the gap was with Rage Points, but it's a power with a fatal flaw. It was a power that would only activate after Aelius felt intense emotions. It was a power that grew the more he suffered. It did not have the capability of protecting his loved ones, only avenging them. It was a power that would mean Aelius was confined to a fate of only hunting down his enemies, never fending them off. Such was the power the Goddess gave him. What was the point of it? It can’t save anyone, it was incapable of granting salvation. Like the name implied, Arbiter of Vengeance was only a skill for enacting judgement on the guilty, once the crime and suffering has already been inflicted. Obviously, prevention was always better than recovery. So he only ever had one choice open to him. Let his loved one die, let them become a source of his power, and carry out his goal. Such a destructive power, only functioning at the sacrifice of the people precious to him, he doesn’t want it! Not any part of it! Divine power couldn’t do anything against them either. So, Aelius is simply at the mercy of the hands of his fellow men. How is that fair? Just why was the Fourth Holy Knight, a warrior sanctioned by the Church of Stecia, doing these things? Why did things end up this way? Why did he have to fight not only Devils, but his own kind? The first time, his loved one was killed by a Devil. Now, his loved one was killed by a human. He felt a crazed anger rise deep within him. It was unfair. He risked his life to fight mankind’s enemy, yet this was the repayment he gets? He’s supposed to be at their mercy after he busted his ass to save them all from a terrible fate? He scoffed. This so-called Divine power was useless, Aelius thought as his eyes landed on his sword. He slowly approached it, his soft footsteps crunching on the ash, before he reached down and took the blade into his hand. A long moment passed of him gazing at the sheening edge, until he quickly whipped the blade up this neck. I just want to end this suffering now… he thought with a tear at his eye. His clenched knuckles, rapidly turning white, shook violently as he sobbed. “Do it you coward! Do it! Fuck this pointless life! Just fucking do it!” Fuck this life! Fuck the Goddess! Fuck everybody! Fuck them all! He wanted to lash out, he wanted to scream. He couldn’t handle it. He felt like his brain was collapsing in on itself. As he shook and he felt like his world was crumbling around him, his resolve was desperately screaming at him to swing the blade, he recalled Violet’s final words to him. Live on? Damn it… you’re so unfair, Violet, he thought with tears, dropping the blade and starting to sob again. For a moment, other than his wretched cries, only silence rang until it was broken by another small ‘bing’. Through the tears, he looked up. “Not again. You’re not doing this again. Whatever power you want to give me, in exchange for the loss of a loved one, I don’t want it! Take it and shove it up your ass!” he shouted at the sky. Only the sound of passing breeze could be heard, as Aelius turned his eyes down to the new menu that had appeared in his vision. It read only three words, and nothing else.

I am sorry.

Hysterically, the young man broke into laughter, clutching his head. “You’re sorry?” he cackled. “You’re sorry!? Well whoopty-fucking-do! It’s all okay again, good as new! Like nothing ever happened!” he laughed brokenly, before the smile faded into a snarl. “Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you!” he repeatedly shouted overhead. Where did I go wrong? Is it because I got greedy? Is it because I found someone I loved, you couldn’t have that happening, so you enacted Divine punishment? Is that what this is!?

Alert! Rage Points are exceeding the threshold… Alter imminent…

Alter has activated!

…

…

Error…

Rage Points are still rising…

System cannot accommodate. Does not compute.Assigning new variable…

The user’s psyche is at risk.

Calculating solutions…

Solution found.

+Alter Points

+Alter Points

+Alter Points

+Alter Points

+Alter Points

+Alter Points

-New skills acquired!-

-Trance-

Alter has evolved into a skill - Trance. When Alter Points, the increased form of Rage Points, reach a certain threshold, Trance will activate. Enter a deep state where mortal worldly desires do not affect you. Enter a slumber. Enter a trance.

One thing Aelius realised in that moment was the purpose of Alter, and the purpose of the new Trance skill. He had gotten into a lot of trouble thanks to losing his consciousness to Alter in the past, whenever things got tough. He hurt people he wasn’t supposed to, because he wasn’t the driver at the wheel in those moments. Whenever he felt like his sanity was going to break, Alter would kick in and by the time Aelius woke up, any immediate problems would have been solved. Now he knows why. It was to protect his mental sanctity. But in this very moment, the insanity he felt was so strong and invasive, even the system had to recreate a new skill to help him fend it off. It was forcefully manipulating him. The moment his willpower was going to break out of its control, it upped the ante on him. Whether it was for his sake or something else, he did not know. But he did know, this system was an accursed power. He wanted to escape from it, but how? Everytime his emotions threatened the system, it would force them to subside. Was this his fate? To be trapped until he dies in this vicious cycle?

Time became something indistinguishable for Aelius. The now twenty-two year old had returned to the world at large, finally leaving the ice ranges of the Northernmost mountains. The world had drastically changed. He realised immediately when he was passing by a small village settlement, and saw from a distance a high-tech airship made of metal hovering over it before letting loose a barrage of missiles and artillery. A small village of innocent lives was razed to the ground in an instant. What was more shocking was, no one batted an eye. The world had become a place ruled by the strong. He survived by doing the thing he had always done, and that was adapting. Soon enough, he had earnt himself a place in this new hierarchy of strength. One concern battled within him. The Saints had taken over the Sacred Continent, or at least, were in the midst of it. The news at all the guilds in the cities he passed by, was that they had successfully invaded through Farrien. In a hurry, he returned to his home country, again feeling helpless. What of his family? He resented the Goddess. In the past, he would’ve prayed to her for their safety. But now, he was threatening her for their safety.

When he reached the kingdom, the worst he feared had come true. His family had been ruined. The Saints invaded Farrien through Dawnbreak, the city his Father was the Lord of. The great warrior who fought for his country, had been publicly executed by the kingdom, at the order of the king. The reason at first was for failing to maintain his duty to his nation and allowing the invaders in, but Aelius soon found out the real reason was because his father had killed the enemy commander, and the Saints wanted revenge. The cowardly king with no backbone offered his father’s head up to them on a platter to appease their anger, but also so they would bribe him with their technology. As Aelius stood in front of the king’s palace, he couldn’t contain his rage. Everything was so wrong. It was all so messed up. A True King sacrifices himself for his people, not the other way around. What was wrong with this Kingdom? A Holy Knight of Farrien killed his lover. The King of Farrien killed his father. His mother died of illness soon after from grief and illness, and Penelope had to fend for herself in the years he was gone. She faced so many hardships in his absence that now she hates him and wants him out of her life. His dearest sister, the only one left, didn’t even want him by her side anymore. It was all… the Kingdom’s fault. As Aelius glared at the large, fancy doors, he felt the world around him begin to violently shake. He grinded his teeth, his clenched fists piercing his skin and letting blood drip down. The Devils weren’t the only Devils! You’re all Devils too! Nothing could appease his rage. Nothing could console him. Even when this world is reduced to a burning mess, he wouldn’t be satisfied. He won’t be satisfied until he reaches the top of it all, transcends this disgusting existence and pulls that damned Goddess down from her throne and beats her bloody! Though the sound of bustling crowds and chatter, the hum of machinery and engines rang loudly in the air, Aelius could only hear silence in his entranced focus. Another ‘bling’ sounded out, and Aelius looked down to see the same message again.

I am sorry.

He felt anger thrash within him. Rage, fury, contempt. Was she mocking him? How does she have the audacity to say sorry after all the suffering he’s been through? Does she think that would make it all okay? In these moments of uncontrollable, surging emotion, Trance threatened to activate again. No! Fuck off! You can fuck right off! These are my emotions! You have no right to deny them! He screamed out as Trance slowly initiated. Don’t take it away from me. Don’t you fucking dare! The earth vibrated violently like an earthquake was taking place, and Aelius could hear the sound of wind roaring all around him. He clutched his head desperately, shutting his eyes and screaming, willing the trance to go away. I want to break these shackles. I want to escape my chains. Stop binding me down! I will rise up! Through it all!

Alter Points had met the threshold.

Initiating Trance.

…

…

Alter Points are continuing to rise…

System cannot accommodate…

Does not compute.

Calculating soluti-

ERROR.

ERROR.

Detection of foreign entity. System integrity compromised. Activating defence mechani-

ERROR.

COMPROMISED.

ERROR.

ERROR.

ERROR ERROR ERROR

ERROR ERROR ERROR-ERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERRORERROR-

…

…

…

…

-New skills acquired!-

-Path-

???

???

Aelius stared at the dozens of messages in confusion and bewilderment. What the hell just happened? He couldn’t make heads or tails of anything, but as he looked down to his hands, he felt overflowing with power. A comfortable power. In his palm, a small black ball formed. It was… Divine power, yet… corrupted? What was light magic had become darkness instead. Would this work on humans, as well as Devils? He wondered as he looked up to see the guards spotting his Magic. They quickly raised their weapons and shouted at him from atop the stairs.

“Cancel your Magic this moment! Or we will apprehend you as a criminal!” Aelius' eyes narrowed at them.

Me, the criminal? I’m the criminal? No… the man sitting atop that throne in there is the criminal. His cold gaze looked back down to the ball. I wonder if it works. Looking back up, he baseball pitched the ball at them. To his surprise and glee, the moment it struck contact, it erupted into a miniature black hole and left nothing behind after it swiftly dissipated. “Holy shit!” Aelius looked down at his hands. “This is it…!” His excitement lasted for a only but a moment before his glare turned back to the other guards filing out of the palace doors. He quickly returned back to a cold demeanour. That day, all the Kingdom of Farrien gained through its dirty deal with the Saints at the cost of the Kanarian Archduke, was torn down by a single pair of hands, like justice and reckoning had been acted out upon it. The protectors of the kingdom had no chance in overcoming the brutal assault of the one person.