by Cobyboy
...
A week has passed
Feihren has been earnestly traveling within the woodlands past the mountain range that the dwarves called home. The path towards the Ranustin Kingdom seems pretty straightforward, aside from the supposedly hard-to-pass mountain range that now has a huge pit on one side. The only hardship one would meet is the thick woodlands before arriving at the Ranustin Kingdom.
Feihren had been focusing on traveling so much that he had forgotten something he had been meaning to ask his Demonic Carbine for a while now. He really wanted to ask about when the Ancient Demon Lord mentioned him being a 'Messiah'.
As he was about to ask, the Demonic Carbine shushed him and said,
"Can you feel that human? Multiple people are coming this way."
Feihren hadn't felt any presences at all due to him being absorbed in his thoughts, but when he started to focus, he could feel the ground tremble slightly. This was not because of something 'big' that was coming, but because a lot of somethings were walking in their direction.
Feihren immediately climbed up a tall tree to see if he could have a better view of what was coming, but to no avail. The trees were wide, and obscured as far as the eyes could see. Feihren switched to his 2nd, yet most effective, way to do this kind of thing. He activated his [Scan] skill as he saw a hundred, no, almost a thousand dots starting to pop up. Enhancing the skill, Feihren could clearly see these people wearing medieval armor and had a uniform emblem on it.
"Ranustin Kingdom soldiers?"
Chapter 20: Reverence and A Random Encounter (1)
"Ranustin Kingdom soldiers?"
Feihren thoroughly checked the scanner In front of him as he verified that these were indeed people from the Ranustin kingdom, but to Feihren's surprise, the entirety of this thousand-man army appeared differently on the radar-like map.
"Gray dots? They mean no harm?"
If one were to meet such huge amount of people that were wearing heavy armor and carrying weaponry, one would immediately think that they are heading to an all-out war! However, oddly enough, it seems that the situation right now is totally different. Instead of high hostility, these people emit an aura of cautiousness. It is almost as if they were looking or waiting for something.
"I don't think they will necessarily harm you human. Besides, they are definitely no match for you now that you have the great Me by your side."
The carbine suggested that Feihren should approach this party to ask them about what was really going on. Feihren immediately began to think up a plan that he could use without raising suspicion on who he was.
Feihren decided to approach the Ranustin Kingdoms army directly as he walked in their direction. To avoid attracting unwanted hostility, he approached them from the front, changing his equipment to a [Rookie] tier armor instead of his usual Assault Rogue armor, and hiding the Demonic Carbine behind his back.
Acting like random passerby, Feihren neared the Ranustin army as he walked up to the leader-looking person at the front section of the formation of these traveling soldiers.
Weird gazes were thrown at the seemingly lost adventurer that was approaching them. They were not the least bit threatened by the seemingly ordinary man approaching them, and just assumed that he was about to ask for directions. As the entirety of the army started to halt, the leader soon approached the man that was in their way.
"Excuse me kind sir, do you need anything? If not, then could you please make way for us?" The leader politely approached Feihren.
'Oh, these are some kind fellows right here. I thought they would be pissed off at me for randomly blocking them. Okay, change of plans!'
And by a change of plan, he meant that he was going to completely change the already built up plan in his head! At first, without thinking about it that much, his plan was to provoke this Ranustin party into attacking him and ending up with a massacre here. It would benefit him by having farmed a ton of general exp in one go!
'I told you that was a terrible plan human!'
The Demonic Carbine then thought to himself,
'Though I agree with the deviously decisive plan revolving around mass-murder, there are right times and places for that. What you almost did was the bad kind of doing "bad"!'
Feihren wasn't necessarily evil at heart, he was just thinking of the "benefits." The people of the Ranustin kingdom weren't necessarily his enemies, but they were also not his friends. Feihren holds no relation to any of their people in the first place.
"A good attitude really goes a long way…" Feihren said those words aloud unconsciously as he slowly nodded his head in satisfaction. "Being an asshole just gets you killed." He continued to mutter.
'What's with this creepy man?' The leader, who had just introduced himself, can't help but wonder what the hell this guy was nodding for all of a sudden!
Feihren finally noticed the weird stares everyone was giving him, especially the leader, whom was quite close to him already. "Ah, I apologize for speaking out those gibberish thoughts. Let me introduce myself. I'm Gama Feihren, I live around these parts. I can see that you guys are from the Ranustin Kingdom, right? I'm heading in that direction, but it seems that you guys are looking for something around here?"
The calm demeanor of the stranger made the leader and the people nearby feel a sense of friendliness. "Ah, I apologize for not introducing myself immediately. I am General Rey Noe of the Ranustin Kingdom. Hmm, you do indeed seem to be from around these parts sir. Would you happen to be familiar with the happenings in the eastern part of the Wolfenstein kingdom recently?"
"Wolfenstein Kingdom?"
...
The entirety of the army halted as the head troop had seemingly stopped for something important. Being in the middle part of the flank, Claire and Matthew were curious as to what was happening that would make their entire group of a thousand people stop just like that. Being the bulkier person, Claire supported Matthew as she boosted him atop the tree as to defeat the height disparity between the other surrounding trees. It looked dangerous and ridiculous, but curiosity would definitely kill the cat if it keeps trying to scratch that itch.
"It's him!?" Matthew exclaimed
"Him? Who do you mean? Damn it Matthew, stop playing the pronoun game."
"No no, the guy back then. The one who transformed into a Titan!"
Without a second thought, both of them rushed towards the front troop. They had to inform the general that he was what they were looking for!
...
"Wolfenstein Kingdom?"
Without another word uttered from Feihren, two people rushed towards Feihren and General Rey. Feihren narrowed his eyes at those approaching figures.
"Oh! It's those guys from back then."
Weirdly enough, Feihren just did a friendly wave, as if they were old.
"You know them?" General Rey curiously asked.
"We've met a couple of times in the past." Feihren said as he smiled, dismissing the curiosity of the general.
Still gasping for air after rushing forward in a hurry.
"S-sir…This man, hu… hu… *cough*" Matthew was still out of breath from running all the way up here.
"This man is the one we are looking for!*cough*" Claire continued where he had left off as she recovered her breath more quickly.
"Him?" General Rey questioned as he started to examine Feihren from head to toe "I admit he has a good physique, even in comparison to a soldier, but someone who could wield the powers of the Titans? I highly doubt it."
"No sir really. He is the one we are looking for. I couldn't have mistaken it!"
"Titans?" Feihren suddenly interjected, "You mean, you saw me while I was chasing off those phony bandits huh…Oh well, I guess I can't really deny it, I am that Titan"
'Smooth move human…' The Ancient Demon Lord wanted to facepalm so hard… If only he had arms and a face...
"But then again, why would you be looking for me, to begin with? If it was about those dead scouts of your king
dom, do I have to apologize for it? They attacked me first you know?"
But as he was asking these questions, the general bowed deeply before Feihren, "Oh great descendant of titans, we humbly seek for your guidance and strength in aiding us on our endeavors."
'What the… what?' Both the Ancient Demon Lord and Feihren were suddenly caught off-guard with what was happening. Moments later, the other soldiers behind the general followed suit after the heard him mention the word 'Titan'.
"Wait, what are you all doing?!" Feihren was now flustered and blushing at the shocking scene that was unfolding in front of him. A thousand people suddenly started bowing towards him. What the hell is up with all this?!
Not even given enough room and time to explain, another event started unfolding, as a very familiar ominous aura started to creep up behind Feihren... 'Ugh, why does trouble come in bundles? Like damn, couldn't they just form a single file line and wait' … Feihren turned towards the source of the familiar aura that had suddenly appeared. The soldiers of the Ranustin Kingdom also felt the ominous aura as they stood up and readied themselves for combat.
...
[Demonized King Ape] (Frenzied state)
"Power Level: (5-star Epic-Grade beast)"
"HP: 1100 (+1,000)"
"Damage: 120 (+100)"
"Status: Frenzied, increases attack speed"
...
"Damn it demon brat, what's with you and these monkeys anyway?"
"They're really smart you know, and they have opposable thumbs, so it helps quite a lot." The Ancient Demon Lord answered earnestly
"Eh, so does this mean we found a random fragment of yours out here? This might be a blessing in disguise then." Feihren excitedly said with a devious grin on his face.
"Want to test out how strong you are against your own consciousness?"
Feihren muttered as he glanced at the gun on his waist.
Chapter 21: Reverence and A Random Encounter (2)
"You do realize that you can't use 'demonic' weapons to kill demonized beings right? I know you're not that dumb human."
"Why do I feel like you made that up just now?"
"Why would I lie to you about this, human? We're basically partners now."
"Partners? As an Ancient Demon Lord, you're acting way too cheesy you know?"
"Fine, but I'm telling the truth though. You have a lot of ways to kill this monkey anyway, no need to use your greatest trump card which is the great Me."
"Hmph, fine. I'll agree, but I have to change the agreement a little bit. Sure, I'll collect all of your fragments, but I won't give all of them to you until I have my end of the bargain?"
"Fine, do what you want human. I don't mind"
Feihren was planning to show off a little using the Titan's armor, but he had something else in mind that he had to ask about first regarding this Ancient Demon Lord. Casually tossing the ruby in the direction of the demon, he summoned Samael. Two huge figures started duking it out as the ground started trembling.
"Ancient Demon Lord, while we were 'negotiating' you mentioned me being a 'messiah'. Tell me everything you know about it, and don't even try lying to me."
"Nah, I won't. First and foremost, I could not sense anything from you. To begin with, I doubt you're even a human in the first place."
"I'll clarify it then. I'm human. Well technically I am."
"I couldn't sense any power or aura in you, hell I couldn't even feel any life force within you, which is technically impossible when you are actually someone who is 'alive'. Therefore, I concluded that you do not originate from this world, simple as that."
"Eh, well, I see your point in knowing that I am not originally from here, but what about you using a specific word such as 'Messiah'?"
"Ah, that. Well long story short, there is someone destined to save this damned world from going to the abyss, that's all. I'll tell you everything about it some other time. Now go pick up my fragment of consciousness, human."
"Ah"
Feihren noticed that the ground had already stopped shaking from the clash, and the dead corpse of a gigantic ape lay there. Samael was sitting on it, seeming to radiate a sense of pride at having killed it by itself. It has only been 12 seconds! Even though they basically have the same level and size, it was never easy to punch a rock in comparison to a rock punching raw flesh. The king ape has fallen and Feihren obtained 1100 general exp and the Demonic Essence, just like last time, but he noticed that the aura that Samael was emitting had changed.
...
[Samael the Ruby Golem] (Sentient Ore)
"Power Level: (1-Star Legendary-Grade beast)"
"HP: 5000"
"Damage: 600-650"
"Title: Messiah's Alpha Familiar"
...
"Eh? What's with that overbearing title? And, Samael leveled-up?" Looking at its great increase in power, Feihren was astonished, as he suddenly found out that Samael is capable of leveling up!
As for the title, it was pretty self-explanatory. But for its effects, Feihren would never know, as he could not read its information one way or another.
...
The entirety of the situation had left the Ranustin army flabbergasted! They didn't see Feihren transform into a Titan, but they saw how he summoned a titan-like giant capable of handling the King Ape without breaking a sweat! Feihren himself was calmly talking to an oddly shaped magic weapon of some sort. That's right, he was talking to his magic weapon! Then he casually walked towards the king ape's corpse as it disappeared into thin air, just like that!
By now, none of them doubted that Feihren was related to the titans, and the people who did not personally witness everything were filled in by the talks from the front about of what had just unfolded. Even though they did not see the Titan they were tasked to bring back to their kingdom, they have witnessed that this person was not someone ordinary. It would bring great prospects if they could convince him to aid their kingdoms goal.
"Sir, let us escort you back to our kingdom!" General Rey automatically approached Feihren.
"Eh? To be honest, I don't really need any escort? And besides, wouldn't it take even longer if I were to travel with your group? Not even mentioning that there are a thousand of you out here?!"
"No sir, we insist. Our mission was to meet and escort you, but as for our excessive number, we apologize. We were just a detached unit from the main force that was planning to attack the Wolfenstein Kingdom, and for that we didn't have enough time to pick out the best people to look for you. But at this point we believe that a thousand people would still not be enough if you had turned out to be hostile, kind sir."
'He's being honest huh. Way too honest…' Feihren could not help but sigh. He was a general himself at one point but this man in front of him is running his mouth too much. Why would he mention that they were originally going to attack Wolfenstein? Talking about how they needed a thousand people just to 'interrogate' a Titan? What's with this guy? Don't tell me… He's afraid of me?'
Soon enough Feihren noticed that this general in front of him was sweating profusely, with an uncontrollable shaking in his knees being evident. 'Yup, he's scared alright…'
Feihren dispersed the thought of refusing them any further as it was evident that these people were not planning to give up any time soon. Besides, it's never a horrible idea to have company when traveling right? Even if it was a thousand people! Right? Right?!
Chapter 22: You Want What?!?
The traveling party of a thousand people took almost 2 weeks to return to the Ranustin Kingdom. It was indeed a perilous task to travel in such large groups. Luckily, the addition of single person had no effect on the amount of provisions they had reserved for travel. As a matter of fact, the soldiers felt even safer when Feihren was with them. The nights seemed a little less scary when a gigantic red golem was guarding the camp as a patrol in the surroundings. As for the morning travel, they do not need to worry as Feihren was at the rear of their troop formation. Having their st
rong General Rey in front and the rumored Titan at their backs, they need not worry about anything at all.
While they were traveling, Feihren had infused the other [Demonic Essence] he obtained into the Demonic Carbine. On some nights during their travels, Feihren would casually sneak out and go further into the forest and tested out the gun while collecting general exp from the surrounding beasts. This has been the reason why their travel was smooth for so long. Feihren was already clearing the path ahead!