novelraw Chapter 175: War’s Already Here
Chapter 175: War’s Already Here
***
Merlin woke up to a changed realm.
Everything around her was destroyed; it was almost as if a natural disaster had come by.
Slowly, her eyes fell on a Demon’s corpse.
It was the same one she and Aurelia had hunted.
How in the Hell did it die?
And how the Hell did they survive?
’Did Ignotus kill that illusion Demon?’
Merlin exhaled a shaky, disbelieving laugh.
"...finally."
With that, she turned to Aurelia, who was now walking up as well, her golden eyes meeting Merlin’s.
"Is it over?"
A small smile was exchanged.
"He took his damn time."
***
Meanwhile, Ulv and Nora woke up the same.
They were confused as all Hell as to what happened, but neither said anything to that effect, preferring to internalize everything first.
Once they had gotten their head on straight, they finally looked at each other.
"Hey, did we..."
Nora couldn’t finish that sentence.
"Did we almost die?"
But Ulv didn’t find struggle in that.
"Yeah."
Nora blinked slowly.
"Hah... he did it... Lord Ignotus must’ve saved us..."
Ulv smiled and stood up, giving her his hand.
"...he took his sweet time."
Nora pulled herself up, exhausted enough not to complain much.
"But still, I’m sure he was incredible."
She smiled as well.
***
One good thing about being knocked out in the presence of those who wield illusions was that you weren’t awake to witness said illusions; in turn, those illusions wouldn’t directly affect you.
Still, it wasn’t exactly safe. The snake wouldn’t swallow you, yes, but the damage that snake caused would certainly reach you.
Thankfully, that distinction was what retained the lives of Lykos and Gaia.
Though they were right next to a battle between monsters, the first few clashes had sent them far enough away that they weren’t too badly hurt by the end of it.
Ignotus didn’t bother to protect them for that reason.
And so, like the other four, the two had woken up.
After fixing themselves up, they rushed to the center of the destruction, finding a bleeding Ignotus kneeling there, right before a floating Rune.
It no doubt belonged to the same Demon that had sent them under.
Noticing their presence, he glanced at them, smiled, and...
"Give me a minute."
Touched the Rune.
***
Ignotus’s world went black.
He was back in his Soul, in the world above Eris’s home.
Her tired eyes were currently trained on him; he could feel it.
The two had yet to talk about what happened in there, and neither felt the need for it.
At least not all of it; there was one certain thing that Ignotus needed to ask, a realization that had widened his eyes back in the Hall of Gods.
But for now, he was focused on something else.
Ding!
—
╔═════════════╗
║QUEST COMPLETE!║
╚═════════════╝
[You Have Hunted A Nullity Demon!]
[You Have Hunted A Divine Demon!]
[You Have Hunted A Strength Demon!]
[You Have Hunted An Illusion Demon!]
[You Have Stepped Closer To Divinity.]
[+ 20 STAT POINTS!]
—
Though it was one quest, he’d gotten five stat points for each.
’That’s what I like to see.’
But, of course, that wasn’t all.
Ding!
—
╔════════╗
║OVERFLOW!║
╚════════╝
╔═════════════╗
║☆ LEVEL UP X 3 ☆║
╚═════════════╝
[You’ve Felled A Lesser Demon X 2]
[SF = 3500]
[Level: 36 → 39]
[+ 9 STAT POINTS!]
—
’Hm.’
That wasn’t bad at all.
Lesser Demons, judging by the last one he killed, didn’t give more than five hundred Soul Fragments. So the fact that he had gotten three thousand for that spade-eyed Demon revealed just how much it was holding itself back from Ascending into a Greater Demon and how strong it truly was.
’Terrifying bastard.’
—
╔══════════════╗
║Heretic Saint System║
╚══════════════╝
{Class: Priest (Class Nine)}
{Ordination: 39}
[• SF: 49 / 1544 •]
{Health}
[• H: 105 / 1145 → 425 / 1825 •]
{Divinity}
[• D: 35 / 1235 → 469 / 1769 •]
{Statistics}
[Strength] 30 → 35 (D → D+) (Academy Avg: C+)
[Intelligence] 40 → 43 (C-) (Academy Avg: C+)
[Willpower] 40 → 46 (C-) (Academy Avg: C+)
[Speed] 35 → 40 (D+ → C-) (Academy Avg: B-)
[Endurance] 35 → 45 (D+ → C-) (Academy Avg: B-)
[Appearance] 70 (B+) (Academy Avg: C)
[Personality] -1 (G) (Academy Avg: C)
[Luck] 70 (B+) (Academy Avg: C)
—
Aside from the nine stat points that had automatically gone to Willpower and Intelligence, Ignotus allocated five to strength, five to speed, and ten to Endurance, boosting his Health Derived Stat greatly.
Though he could be faster and stronger, for now, he preferred to have more endurance.
He knew well that he’d be fighting more and more Demons in the near future, and to keep standing after each consecutive battle, he knew that endurance was a must.
Ignotus couldn’t have today repeated ever again.
Falling before a Demon was a death sentence.
Though thankfully, this one was worth it.
—
[Great Rune: Gambler’s Arcana (Rank 5)]
[Description: The journey from nothingness to the world, bound in seventy-eight echoes. The bearer may manifest a singular archetype of the Minor Arcana. The deck acts as a mirror to the Root; the card’s aligned with the bearer’s intent.]
—
’Minor Arcana? Are those the tarot cards they use up in the Second Stratum?’
Realizing what they were, Malik, of course, began to edit the Rune, courtesy of his Soul Glyph, Dealer. As always, his intent was to bring the Rune closer to his essence, Luck.
—
[Great Rune: Gambler’s Arcana (Rank 5)]
[Description: The journey from nothingness to the world, bound in twenty-two echoes. The bearer may manifest a singular archetype of the Major Arcana. The deck acts as a mirror to the Root; the card’s alignment with the bearer’s intent is determined entirely by Luck. As well as its conjuring success.]
—
’Damn...’
What a Rune it was.
It had nothing to do with illusions, and it seemed almost custom-made for him.
Technically speaking, it was made for him because Ignotus didn’t get any of the Demon’s Runes. No, Demons didn’t drop Runes, and even if they did, no human could bear them.
There was a completely different system at play here, for whenever a Demon died, there’d come a chance that its cleansing would result in a Rune that was made up of the very Divinity that had cleansed it.
In other words, the spade-eyed Demon took Ignotus’s Elements and created a Rune specifically for him, much like the Gods did for those that entertained them in their Trials.
A Rune of Luck and Calamity...
And no Normal Rune either, but a Great Rune, so very worth the effort he’d put in killing it.
Ding!
—
╔═════════════════════╗
║NEW SOUL GLYPH ACQUIRED!║
╚═════════════════════╝
[Demon Hunter]
[Description: House Calamity are hunters of Demons and shall be known as such henceforth. You and your kin are their natural enemy; you shall feel disgust at their sight. Revulsion from their smell. Your might shall increase when facing them, for your Soul screams for their Deaths. May they fall upon your blade and may theirs shatter.]
—
Yet, that didn’t seem reward enough.
The world seemed to acknowledge their actions.
Ignotus and everyone who followed him would forever be known as Demon Hunters.
What a long day this was... and what a productive one it turned out to be.
’YES!’
His calm had all but been extinguished.
This would help in so many ways; it was incredible.
Finally, Luck had smiled upon his efforts.
And finally, he was done checking his gains.
Blinking once, Ignotus returned to the realm.
Ignotus woke to six people surrounding him.
Gaia, Nora, Lykos, Ulv, Mer, and Aur... all alive.
Despite their injuries, they all had smiles on their faces.
"Let’s go."
Standing up, Ignotus patted his people’s backs and took his wife’s hand.
"Great job, everyone... I’m proud of you all."
Gaia tightened her grip on his hand but said nothing, nor did anyone else.
They were all too exhausted to speak, and well, more than that, they simply didn’t want to.
This calm after the storm was too peaceful and quiet... they wanted to breathe that in for a little while. After all, they knew that what came next would be far from quiet.
And so they walked. Going straight through the broken trees, scorched dirt, and half-melted boulders until they reached an untouched part of the forest, the one that was close to the Academy.
Yet as they neared the Academy further, destruction had returned.
Trees were broken, the ground was torn in long trenches, and craters were everywhere... something was so very wrong.
Ignotus stopped walking.
"...What the Hell?"
The slope leading down towards the river was littered with bodies.
’Dammit.’
He believed wrong; there were more, many more damned Demons that had attacked.
There was no denying it: dozens of them, all dead and bent wrong.
Their Corrupted blood ruined the river’s beauty.
But that wasn’t all. Mixed among them were...
’Dammit, dammit, dammit!’
A few Shepherds.
Academy guards who had died defending the gate.
The same ones who waved them through earlier were now lying open-eyed on the ground, their armor crushed, their weapons snapped, and their faces pale.
Dead, and not easily dead, having obviously struggled until their last breath.
’Gods dammit!’
Ignotus was angry.
He had let his guard down and forgotten.
Yes, Luck often visited his Path, but Calamity wasn’t far behind.
Rather, they walked hand in hand...
Dual Fated was his Soul Glyph.
Ignotus stood before the blood-soaked gate, staring at the aftermath.
His plan—all of it—the preparation, the timing, baiting the Demons...
All was for naught.
The truth was clear.
War wasn’t coming.
War was already here.