Bro, I'm not an Undead!

“Phewww….” Oliviana breathed out a sigh as she plopped to the ground, her short figure not gaining much momentum as she reached the dirt underneath.

“This is the most eventful the city has been for a while.”

Beside the lady, several tutors of the College of Battle Arts much like her who were covered in blood and dirt could be seen breathing heavily.

The entire city was now an tad bit more relaxed as the threat had finally been neutralised within a few minutes.

By a few, this referred to a mere two minutes that it took for Unbreakable to kill every single Bulk Terror that still held in breath!

It had been a bitter fight for most of the combatants within the city as they had not only experienced loss and pain but a gripping sense of impending doom that could have possibly overwhelm them, leaving their efforts meaningless.

From the constant loud booms of a terrible battle that had been happening near the entrance to the city, to the screams that had echoed along with deadly flashes of light, it was hard for normal civilians and the regular combatants to ascertain their fate as it was abundantly clear that it all rested on whoever had been fighting there.

Finally however, the mighty blow that had resounded up above had given assurance to those who knew Unbreakable and the relief quickly spread until the city knew some semblance of peace once again.

Peace enough to mourn and grieve that is.

Now, Oliviana was enjoying this peace with her mates after the fight she had to endure before Unbreakable’s intervention.

“I’m guessing you would prefer risking life like this all day rather than living a peaceful life?” a middle-aged man with a particularly sweaty face questioned Oliviana as he lay flat on the ground.

“You bet. I’m an assassin. Do I look I’m someone who cherishes times of peace and trains in the way of the sword or whatever only a lonely mountain until I attain titles like ‘The Greatest Assassin’ or something? I’m young and I want action befitting my class. Is that too much to ask?”

“For people my age, it is. Then again, it’s a privilege of the young so I can understand,” the man replied before pausing for a bit. “You’ll be leaving soon, right?”

“That’s the plan,” Oliviana said as she looked up into the sky with a soft breath leaving her nostrils.

***

Silrat, Damilla, Erkus and a few Knights were looking over a big piece of the island which had fallen to the city with intense scrutiny as discussions weaved among them.

A blue patch of peculiar vegetation could be seen over the dirt. Grasses of different kinds grew over along with strange plants that looked like blue variants of sunflowers with their petals cocooned over the fruit, the item being covered already being to everyone’s knowledge.

Enriching gems.

Red Enriching gems with hints of green.

(A/N: Reminder. Ranks for EG is purple, red, green and blue).

“So the conjecture is that the creature that attacked was actually a Cluster General that somehow managed to summon a portion of its Cluster to try and… crush the entire city?” Erkus questioned with a strange look over his face, his question directed to Silrat and Damilla.

…

“T…that is the most likely conclusion we have heard, City Lord,” a Knight who was at the side hastily answered after the two who were supposed to entertain the City Lord’s question, both seemed as if they were lost in thought, each in their own world.

Erkus turned to the two who both looked at him as they returned to their senses.

The City Lord cleared his throat as he continued to speak, hoping for the life of him that nothing was wrong with these two.

“There’s a lot of these spread across the city. Silrat, can you organise for the Guilds Association to collect them all? We can then split them between our organisations. They appear to be high level ones so I’m sure none of your mercenaries will be willing to lose out? I also think they will be better suited for the job anyway. If anything happens to…. Did something happen?”

Erkus had tried to stay on the subject but unfortunately, that didn’t seem possible because as he addressed Silrat just now, he couldn’t find the man’s focus anywhere nearby.

Thus, he had decided to ask directly.

Silrat had a visibly worried expression.

Since Erkus had identified that he had something going on, he didn’t hold back.

“There’s something troubling that took place, but I’m handling it,” he said as he tried to maintain his cool.

“Are you?” Damilla questioned as she turned to him with a furious expression. “Admit that you were wrong! Festos’ curse is something you belittled until now. Hundreds are dead because you decided to cradle this cursed man under your protection. You and Tulnas are to blame for this!”

Silrat’s face turned serious as he shot back a gaze at Damilla who remained steadfast.

What the two had witnessed had impacted them deeply as they had been the only ones who understood what had happened.

Silrat’s resolve that had been teetering over morality and fright became steadier as it leapt over to the side that he had always been more supportive of.

Benefit!

Damilla seemed to have the unique power to just cause people enough fury for them to cement their resolve!

This is what Silrat felt in this moment.

Because of Damilla’s words, he found himself questioning why he was afraid at all!

Why was he still frozen from the incident?!

He was way past that point to be honest!

Besides that, he was still alive. He wasn’t dead. With the Tie of Exchange, he was able to remain alive despite saving Festos’ life and helping him many times over!

He was playing his cards right so far… right?

Silrat had risked too much to simply give up now.

Right!

Right.

The man took a breath as his face relaxed somewhat.

“Fine. Hundreds died, so what? They were mercenaries who acknowledged that death was a possibility of the job. My stance won’t change. If you’re so eager to guilt me into this, then strip away my hand in solving the mass Cluster incident. I saved more then than I helped kill today, right?”

One couldn’t dispute that fact… if lives were merely a matter of numbers that was.

Damilla walked up to the man until she was a mere inch away, looking into his steadfast eyes with her flaring own.

“You won’t get away with this with words, Silrat. First let’s find Festos and—”

“Wait,” an aged voice spoke.

It was Terian who appeared from the masses around the area as he donned a plain robe to cover his body.

“I believe I have some much needed input as well…” Terian said.

As Silrat, Erkus and Damilla turned to Terian, they could all tell from the man’s face that he had been through hell, but there was something else.

The old man had finally remembered.

As he heard the bickering between Silrat and Damilla from afar, he had further ascertained the identity of that creature.

And… given what he had experienced during the his fight, he had many thoughts.

Erkus was in the dark as these three individuals seemed to know something he hadn’t been fed yet.

Unbreakable had not showed himself after taking care of the Terrors and thus his report was still pending.

Terian noticed the displeased look on Erkus’ face and promptly acted before the man could speak.

“Each of us will have to give our full accounts to resolve this issue. That includes Festos. Is that good enough?”

There was no way to argue and everyone quickly agreed.

Thus, a stage was set.

***

Fifty seconds before [Bringer of All] timed-out…

Ogwulf sat a short distance away from the city that was haunted by the soon-to-be-deleted from-existence Terrors.

With his unique trait of not being perceivable by others, he was relaxing comfortably by a tree as he looked at the peculiar guidance field notification that was before his sockets.

[The mandatory effect known as RESET for Apostle ‘…’ is about to apply]

[Because of your conjoined nature, this effect has been altered to accommodate the individual known as ‘Skullius’]

[Instead of wiping away all physical experience, accrued personality and cunning ideology adopted from the previous battle, the effect of RESET will now RESET all skill cooldowns belonging ‘Skullius’ and will resume its appropriate function on the Apostle ‘…’]

Ogwulf grinned as he read this notification.

“Heh. Now this is some much needed fortune, with a little bit of unwanted salt. How interesting,” he said as he leaned against the tree, the process of RESET taking place.

—

[Author’s Note]

[Ding!]

[Arcanzer has donated greatly to the novel! I’m hyped! +2 chapters above the daily quota as at 20/08]