On The Other Side: I Quit Being Human

Brianna brought someone along with her–the Grand Paladin, the second strongest Paladin in this world. The Grand Paladin is a big guy with an eternally stoic look on his face. He has light brown skin, attractively manly facial features, and sturdy muscles decorating his body. He is already in his forties. He is attractive but he looks like someone’s father nonetheless.

Nothing is interesting about his appearance as far as I am concerned–I have seen men who are more attractive than he is–but the way Brianna stares at him intrigues me. I am sure she became Jacques’ slut to receive his protection. By default, she has to act like she is infatuated with him. From what I see, however, she is infatuated with the Grand Paladin.

I would have dismissed it if she was acting but she is being genuine–her eyes don’t lie. This is interesting.

“You are trapped in here, Layland Kleinhaus. Your existence is a threat to this world. you shall perish today,” the Grand Paladin remarks.

“A threat? Well, it depends on the lens you are looking at it from.” I wave my hand nonchalantly. “Anyway, care to tell me your name? I know Jacques des Horten the Paladin Master but I don’t know your name.”

“Barnabas Khimness, the owner of the blade that will behead you.”

“That is a bold statement.”

The Grand Paladin, Barnabas Khimness stops speaking and tenses his body as he points his sword at me. The four Heroes beside him follow suit meanwhile Brianna goes behind their backs. This will be a quite troublesome fight. Brianna is a good Healer. I have to either injure these bastards fatally or as many times as I can to exhaust her.

It is not that hard to do. I just have to go all but remain vigilant. I may lose myself in the moment and forget to look at the bigger picture. I can’t let that happen. There is no meaning in winning the battle but losing the war.

Calling Teanosvera, he immediately materializes himself. My opponents are slightly startled by his appearance, probably not expecting him to be that intimidating. I rarely ask Teanosvera’s help during my fight, so no one knows what he is capable of. His fight with Phoebesius the Phoenix is also not known by the public, further encouraging the assholes to think that he can’t do anything.

It is amusing how they reached that conclusion. They know who Teanosvera is but they refuse to believe that someone can establish a Spiritual Contract with such a powerful Spirit, so they change their views on Teanosvera.

“The Relic those bastards are powering lets them control this alternate world on their whim. You know what to do.”

“I shall lock this place down.”

“That is correct, Teanosvera.”

Spreading his wings, Teanosvera’s light-devouring shadow scattered throughout the alternate world before disappearing into thin air. The Heroes immediately frown as the Relic they are powering significantly loses its luster.

Knowing what happens, Barnabas charges at me. That is the wisest decision that someone can make if they ever find themselves in this situation. Teanosvera is occupied by his duty to render the Relic useless but he still can fight. Fighting him won’t bear any result, so fighting me is the answer. With our Spiritual Bond, he will die if I die.

Clank!

Sparks fly off our swords as they clash. The ground below us sinks in, unable to withstand the impact of our clash. Our clash awakens the Heroes from their bemused state. Leaving the Relic to Brianna, they quickly charge at me. Wanting to give the Heroes a chance to land a hit on me, Barnabas retreats.

The first Hero to arrive is a Holy Spear wielder. He has condensed Divinity at the tip of his spear blade which is powerful enough to scratch my face that is three feet away from it. He thrusts his spear at me but not fully. His goal is to discharge the condensed Divinity at me.

𝑶𝑽𝐥xt.𝓒𝗈𝓂

Golden light flashes, blinding my eyes. At that exact moment, I order Teanosvera to move me somewhere. I instantly regain my vision and I am no longer in the course of the discharged Divinity. I can’t relax, though, since another Hero is ready to bisect me with his Holy Sword.

Swoosh!

He missed but it doesn’t matter since his hands and the Holy Sword multiply themselves in the blink of an eye. He now has three pairs of hands and Holy Swords, which means I have to dodge another five swings before he retreats to give his fellows a chance to hit me.

A smirk creeps up my face as adrenaline rushes through my blood. I don’t know how manic it looks and I don’t care. The fight is exciting. Using [Senbonzakura], I create twenty thousand cherry blossom petals. I scatter it in the air before the third Hero reaches me, causing him to stop midway.

As he is caught up by [Senbonzakura], I charge at him and deliver a solid blow to his solar plexus using Rexorem’s hilt. I send him flying by that hit, prompting one of his fellows to charge at me meanwhile the rest catch his flying body.

The fourth Hero is the only woman in the group. You may expect her to be the strongest since she is the only woman in the group but that is not the case. She was chosen because the rest are weaker than her. Among the four Heroes sent to “kill” me, she is the weakest.

I have to admit that she is fast though–incredibly so. She is wielding a pair of chakrams and she utilizes them well. She moves like she is dancing. Every move she makes is gracious and pleasing to the eyes but that is all. I am faster than she is, so she fails to land a hit on me.

It doesn’t mean that I can hit her, sadly. I have to wait for her to slip before I can kick her and send her flying. My kick puts a dent in her armor and sends her to sleep. Another Hero comes at me meanwhile the rest prepare to catch and secure her.

Instead of minding the Holy-Sword-Wielding Hero, I step aside and swing Rexorem downward.

Clank!

“Your tactic is boring. Do you only know how to increase your raw power?” I taunt after blocking Barnabas’ sword.

“A good tactic only works when you have sufficient power to back it up. A mediocre tactic works splendidly when you back it up with overwhelming power,” he retorts.

​ “That sounds barbaric.”

“That is how you Cursed Creations have been fighting.”

Barnabas’ word game is something I can commend. I didn’t expect him to be able to return my snide remark with such wittiness.

Smirking to each other, we discharge the Mana that we have been accumulating in our swords. As the ground is blasted, we are launched a few feet to the back. The dust that rises into the air still covers our vision but paying no mind to it, we charge at each other. Our swords clash, deepening the crater below us and blowing away the dust.

Retracting his sword, he kicks Rexorem. I try to catch his foot but he is fast in his action; thus, allowing him to propel himself away from me. Turning my attention to the Heroes on my left, I frown lightly as I find them aiming their combined Skills at me. Since dodging the attack is impossible and teleporting away from it will be a waste, I land on the ground to get a proper footing.

The attack is launched at me a second after I planted Rexorem into the ground. They must think I don’t have anything to protect myself with but they are wrong. I still have the petals of [Senbonzakura] to create an invisible barrier around me. They won’t work well but they are enough to buy me time for generating a Barrier using Rexorem’s Magic Stone.

Blare!

An ear-gratingly high-pitched sound blasts my eardrums as the golden light orb arrives before the [Senbonzakura] barrier. The barrier instantly disappears, causing me to widen my eyes in surprise. At this moment, I decided to teleport away. Teanosvera does a quick job but not quick enough. Despite being able to teleport away, I still lost half of my body.

Silence descends upon the alternate world as golden light illuminates it. The light lasts for ten seconds before dying down. The Heroes look at my state in satisfaction. They smirk as they watch my blood paint the ground red. That smirk doesn’t last long, though. As soon as my lost body parts regrow, they all look at me in horror.

“The fight from now on will be hard for you Heroes. I suggest you use [Virimisce] to increase your survival odds,” I exclaim as I marvel at how much power the Power-up gives me.

Barnabas is a smart person indeed. Instead of letting me fully recover, he charges at me before my left hand fully regrows. I smirk at him, kick the ground, and surprise him with the power of my one-handed swing.

Ignoring him afterward, I dash at the Heroes who followed my advice. They are connected through Soul Links–they have used [Virimisce]–allowing them to share their power. It doesn’t matter regardless. They have no time to combine Skills and all of them are still too weak to hurt me individually. Therefore, this is a jackpot.

Waking up the slumbering power inside me, I use some of my Demonic Essence. Channeling it into Rexorem, I use my self-made Skill, [Whistle of Death].

Phweet!

I swing Rexorem at the Heroes and darkness overwhelms the alternate world for a few seconds. When the darkness has dissipated, Barnabas is already on Brianna’s side and the Heroes are already bisected.

As their bodies touch the ground, I receive my well-deserved Power-up. Thanks to their decision to use [Virimisce], I reap more power than I should.