Requiem Of A Failed Hero

At this point, killing became so boring because he gained nothing out of it. Every time the golems went down, they just went down and it was a whole desert swarming with golems. The more he killed them, the more they erupted.

He did play dying scenarios a few times, but it was not enjoyable to willingly throw himself at death like that.

He needed a drive

They had to be something.

Something that he desperately wants to overcome.

‘…That guy…Thard-Harl…’ Raith covered half of his face as the corner of his lips arched up upon mentioning his name.

‘Damn, Thard-Harl really did a number on me…’

[You have died]

[Level Up!!!]

[You have gained +4 stat points]

[Due to the title effect of One Who Devours Death, you will be revived]

He stood up slowly, all his clothes were tattered, especially that last attack where the golem smashed its leg on his back and his spinal cords broke right before he died.

Raith turned and looked around.

No doubt the numbers were not getting any smaller. To make it worse, bigger and other different kinds of golems were beginning to appear.

Taller ones, that stood over 10ft tall, variants with dark stones and a round gem in the middle of their chest which might have made it easier for them to be killed but it made them very different.

Golems are generally slow monsters because of their amazing defense, and sturdy and big bodies. But these ones, although they were shorter than others, even with all that sturdy, stocky body, they were crazily fast and their reaction speed was crazy. If Raith didn’t have the Lavaration skill, he just might have died a hundred times over and over again. 𝗼𝘃𝗹.𝗼𝐫𝗴

But even though they were fast. They still couldn’t match up to a

the speed that came from over 100 stats– Raith was mad fast.

When he added [Instant Move] to his already crazy speed, he just goes off, disappears, and appears at his location.

The strength and speed synchronization was also another reason why his blows were very effective.

[Your Dark Energy has been refilled]

“Ah, finally…” Raith sighed, raising his face to truly thank the lord if there was any in that orange sky he was looking at.

“Come forth.”

The darkness rose around him and materialized into humanoid and stocky soldiers each with their hack-and-smash type weapons, surrounding Raith, all except Fenrir and Cheche the Orc Chief. Each of them with a name tag on them and their level indications.

[Dark Foot Soldier level 3]

[Dark Foot Soldier level 2]

[Dark Foot Soldier level 3]

[Dark Foot Soldier level 3]

They all stood around Raith, dauntless and ready for action.

The golems gathered together in front of the dark soldiers. The two sides stand apart from each other like a battlefield between kingdoms. Raith took the lead and brought out Ba’al’s sword from his inventory, swirled it a few times before shouting at top of his voice.

“Armies of darkness!!! Attack!!!”

Words could not capture how much embarrassment overwhelmed him the moment he did that. But it turned out to be good.

[The Army Of Darkness has heard the voice of their monarch]

[Their Morale has increased]

[All shadow soldiers have gained +1 level]

‘Right’ Raith wore a satisfied smirk as he and his army shot forward.

The clash was fierce, the golems crushed through the elongated, dark masses like paper before them, but the shadows immediately regenerated and relentlessly hacked and slashed at the golems that were within their grasp.

They were visibly full of energy even in the way they moved, all their movement surrounded Raith, it was like they were looking at him and fashioning their styles into his. He just went on ceaselessly and using the sword, slice off the head of several golems in one go.

‘Wow… this sword is another thing…’

Raith had thought that the sword would be ineffective against golems because of their rock-hard defenses. But this blade was cutting through their stone as it it was cutting through bread, Raith was astonished and continued to grow more funding for the sword.

Not to say with his favorite skill [Way Of The Sword] everything just came by so easily.

He would have loved to say ‘I don’t want to get addicted to the skill, I want to be strong on my own… bla bla bla bla…

But there was one thing Raith learned from his fight with the Ogre. And it was the power of reflexes and muscle memory. If he truly wanted to be strong on his own, he had to use the skill so much that it starts feeling like he is doing it himself.

That was the answer he found.

The skill was already amazing enough, but it was incomplete. Thinking of how complete it would be left Raith in the awe of expectation.

The shadow soldiers relentlessly pressed on the golems and were successfully bringing them down one by one, even Raith was astonished, there was a behavioral change pattern before they were all mindlessly charging but now Raith could see two, three of them working to bring down one golem.

He couldn’t help that proud smile that crept unto his face, like when a mother sees her child walks for the first time.

‘Their improvement is astonishing.” He mumbled as he watched them.

But the golems retaliated with more ferocity, swinging their fists and the taller golems smashing the dark soldiers but thanks to their master’s shadow energy, they could instantly regenerate, the flames of darkness didn’t go out and immediately would converge to reform.

The shade soldiers darted around the golems, striking with incredible speed and precision. The battlefield was a chaotic mess of clanging and shifting shadows.

[Dark Foot Soldier level 6]

[Dark Foot Soldier level 5]

[Dark Foot Soldier level 4]

[Dark Foot Soldier level 6]

[Dark Foot Soldier level 5]

[Dark Foot Soldier level 7]

[Dark Foot Soldier level 7]

Raith was getting happier and happier with their improvement. The more they died the more they grew stronger. But they were still unable to defeat this set of golems that set a difference on the battlefield.

They were the same ones that Raith had an issue or two with, nothing that he didn’t have control over.

Those thick and stocky legs propelled them forward with an incredible speed that caught the dark soldier unaware. And as if the golems were backing them up, they slammed their fist into the ground, sending shockwaves that put the shadow soldiers in further imbalance making it so easy for the stocky golems who smashed into the soldiers. But they still held their ground regardless.

But Raith could see that they were struggling to keep, their attacks were falling short as the golems ran around them with ease.

“Fuuuuu…” He breathes out as he finally decides to change the tide of the battle.

SNAP

“Dismiss”

With a snap of his fingers, all the dark soldiers faded into the clear light of the sky as if they were never there, to begin with.

“Fenrir”

He had seen what Che, was capable of, now it was time to test out Fenrir’a skills.

The large black wolf as it materialized out of the dark smoke that surrounded Raith, bowed its head.

‘…I’ve felt this before… but Fenrir is different.’

The wolf showed a higher rate of loyalty compared to the rest. Of course, Raith was sure that they are as loyal to him as Fenrir but with Fenrir, there was this unexplainable feel, it was always looking forward to paying obeisance to him with every opportunity it got, even now when they are surrounded by enemies.

The Fenrir stood over 7ft tall and its eyes were blazing with purple flames that showed a bit of likeness to the purple streaks that subtly flowed out of Raith’s helmet.

“Go.”

With that single-word command, the wolf shot forward, using its speed and agility to dodge the golems’ attack. Despite Fenrir’s incredible size, its quickness could not be undermined, even the stocky golems that boast of amazing speed found it hard to keep up.

The sand of the desert danced around as the ground shook with every step Fenrir took, shooting around and across them as they endlessly shot fists at it. The golems were relentless, slamming their massive fists into the ground over and over again in order to reduce the wolf’s speed. But Fenrir looked like a powerful wolf that was playing around with its dinner.

With every strike, he would hop into the air and jump back.

Raith covered half of his face with laughter.

“How can I forget how crazy this wolf is.”

Fenrir was like that then too, the way it danced around trying to throw Raith off its back and would slam into the wall, slam itself on the ground. Raith chuckled as he watched the wolf.

‘…this bastard, is he a menace?’ Raith didn’t have the answer to those questions that came up in his mind yet.