by Unknown
“Gabe, go inside now!” Mathias roared back angrily.
“WHOOSH!” A huge rock nearly two meters in diameter came flying in their direction from far away, headed directly towards the warehouse. Mathias immediately realized that when this giant boulder smashed into the warehouse, Gabe would either suffer serious injury, or even die!
“Quick, Gabe, inside!” Mathias’s eyes were opened so wide as to appear bloodshot, and he howled angrily as he ran towards the warehouse at top speed.
He no longer paid any attention to the raining stones, nor did he try to avoid them. He ran directly towards the warehouse in a straight line.
Troy was facing Mathias, and simply couldn’t see the giant boulder headed towards the warehouse. But Mathias saw everything clearly. When the boulder descended and shattered the room, how could little Gabe survive?
“Young master Mathias?” Seeing how Mathias was acting, Troy couldn’t help but feel shocked.
Three more boulders came crashing down near Mathias, but moving like a panther, Mathias continued to charge forwards, his gaze fixed on little Gabe as he finally entered the warehouse. Troy, turning around, only now became aware of that two-meter long boulder descending towards the warehouse. His face immediately turned white.
“Lie down!” Mathias roared angrily, his face fierce.
Gabe had never seen his big brother look so angry before, and was so terrified that he immediately lay down. His eyes filled with tears, he looked at Mathias and mumbled, “Big brother…” But with a flying hug, Mathias tackled Gabe and covered him with his own body.
Almost just at that instant…
“CRASH!”
The sound of the boulder crashing into the warehouse. That enormous boulder had smashed into the warehouse roof with terrifying power. Although the stone roof of the warehouse was sturdy, when slammed into by such a huge boulder, it still broke apart. Even the floor of the warehouse was shattered apart by the vibrations from that collision.
“Young master- “Housekeeper Troy’s eyes immediately turned red. The battle-energy in his body exploded, and like a bolt of red lightning, he flew towards them. Using his own body as a protective barrier, he also used his two hands to push at a huge piece of the falling roof which was going to fall on Mathias’s body. Troy and that collapsing ceiling arrived next to Mathias at almost the same time.
“Rumble, rumble…”
In the blink of an eye, Gabe, Mathias, and Troy were totally trapped and pressed down under the falling rubble.
Alistair was in the courtyard, wielding an enormous sword, deflecting one boulder after another. But when he turned his head towards Mathias, he saw Mathias risk everything to protect Gabe, and then Housekeeper Troy fly towards them to protect them both. His mind immediately went blank.
The warehouse collapsed, and rubble poured down into it.
“Mathias!” Alistair’s eyes turned red.
Right now, there was no way for Alistair to tell if Troy had managed to position himself in front of Mathias in time, or if the falling rocks had slammed into Mathias first.
Chapter 17 – Catastrophe (part 2)
“Thud! Thud! Thud!”
A few more crashing sounds continued to sound out from within Comox township, but a short period of time later, no more stones fell from the sky. All of the boulders had been thoroughly demolished by the green-robed swordsman. But by now, no one in Comox township had any spare energy left to pay attention to their battle.
“Lord Alistair, Comox township is in bad shape. Just then-…. Lord Alistair? What’s wrong?” Davis rushed into the manor. Just as he was beginning to report on the town’s situation, he saw that Alistair was standing there in a daze, not making a single sound.
Alistair’s body trembled. Only then did he regain his usual faculties. “Mathias.” Alistair charged violently towards the warehouse at an astonishing speed. Seeing this, Davis guessed what had happened and immediately followed Alistair.
“Smash!” Before Alistair had arrived, the rubble covering Troy, Mathias, and Gabe had been blasted apart.
Housekeeper Troy stood up from within the rubble.
“Uncle Troy, what’s the situation?” Alistair’s voice was trembling. At the same time, he stared at the prone bodies. The first thing he saw was Mathias, head covered with blood. The sight of the blood was so piercing to the eye that Alistair felt his head grow foggy, and his body swayed, almost falling down.
Up til now, Mathias’s body was still elevated from the ground, as he had been using his fists in a push-up position, so as not to crush Gabe.
“Father.” A youthful voice emanated from beneath.
Gabe slowly crawled out from under Mathias. His body was small, and he had been fully covered by Mathias, so he didn’t experience any injuries at all.
“Big brother, big brother, what’s wrong?” Gabe tugged at Mathias’s body.
“Mathias. Mathias!” Alistair’s voice was quavering.
Housekeeper Troy said from off to the side, “I was still a little too slow. There was one piece of rubble that I managed to block, but before it struck young master Mathias in the head. Although I believe that the strike shouldn’t have been too heavy.”
“I…I’m fine.” A low, hoarse voice. Mathias forced himself to lift up his head and stare at Alistair, managing a weak smile.
At this moment, upon seeing Mathias’s smile, Alistair’s tears came spilling out.
Mathias straightened his body and sat up. His clothes were covered with blood, as was his face and his hair. When the stone had struck him, it had caused a great deal of blood loss. At the moment, Mathias also felt slightly woozy. Still staring at his father, Mathias said in a weak, low voice, “Father, you are crying.”
“I, I’m fine.” An excited smile appeared on Alistair’s face.
“Gabe? Why were you at the doorway earlier?” Mathias rubbed his little brother’s head and said in a reproving tone.
Gabe also knew that he had made a mistake. Lowering his head, he said, “Big brother, I’m sorry.”
House taker Troy, off to the side, said, “This was my fault. This disaster came too suddenly, and as soon as I had taken Gabe into the warehouse, I saw young master Mathias in great danger, so I immediately rushed forward to help him. I didn’t imagine that in just that instant, a huge boulder would head for the warehouse. This was my fault.”
“RUMBLE!”
Suddenly, a huge tremblor shook the earth.
Everyone’s facial expressions changed as they stared towards the eastern sky. A giant had appeared, hovering in the sky, over ten meters tall, muscles bound tightly, with a ruthless expression on its face. Its entire body was the color of yellow earth. At the moment, this earthen giant was engaging in a fierce battle with the green robed swordsman, and their every exchange of blows created a sound like crashing lightning or roaring thunder.
The sound of the blows alone gave testament to how mighty the earthen giant was. Every single one of its blows was more powerful than the combined force of those countless boulders from earlier.
Mathias stared at this battle in awe. “This earthen giant must have been conjured by the magic of the gray-robed magician.” Mathias could easily come to this conclusion, since the gray-robed magician was a mighty magician, after all.
“Mathias, how are you feeling?” Alistair said with concern.
Mathias squeezed out a smile. “I’m fine. There’s just a cut on my head, is all. I just lost some blood.”
“Young master Mathias, you actually lost quite a bit of blood. If you lose too much, you could die.” Housekeeper Troy immediately retrieved some white gauze from within the warehouse and wrapped it around the injury on Mathias’s head.
Alistair took a close look at Mathias. “Uncle Troy, how does his injury look?”
Uncle Troy smiled at Alistair. “Not bad. Mathias is in excellent physical shape, and he hasn’t fainted. There shouldn’t be too much to worry about. In the coming days, he just needs to eat more m
eat to replenish his blood, and he’ll be fine.”
Only now did Alistair secretly let go of a breath he had been holding.
Just then, when he saw Mathias charge over to protect Gabe, Alistair had truly been scared silly. He had truly been terrified that his sons would’ve died, just like that.
After taking a deep breath, Alistair looked at Davis. “Right, Davis, you were just saying that Comox township was in bad shape. How bad of a shape is it in?”
“I can’t say with exact precision as to how bad the condition is,” Davis said, his face grim. “But from what I could see, some people must have died, and many were injured or even crippled! This catastrophe came simply too quickly. Even though I shouted for everyone to hide, many people didn’t have the chance to barricade themselves in their cellars.”
“It really did come too fast.” Alistair turned his head to stare at the eastern sky.
Guru-level combatants were on a totally different level than the people of Comox township. A Guru-level combatant could wipe out the entire town with the wave of a hand. Earlier, the rain of boulders and the green-robed man’s destruction of said boulders was nothing but the opening gambits of these two combatants.
But even the side effects of just those initial, testing blows were enough to cause an utter catastrophe to Comox township.
“The legendary earth-style incantation of the tenth grade, a forbidden spell – the earth element ‘World Protector’. The power of this ‘World Protector’s extremely terrifying. It’s considered the most powerful offensive spell available to an earth-style magician.” Staring at the earthen giant, Alistair’s face had grown cold as he spoke.
Alistair was a member of the Demonblood Warrior clan. Although the Demonblood Warrior clan had fallen on hard times, their five thousand years of history meant that within their family archives, there was information about all of the most powerful magical attacks used by the most powerful people in history. Alistair naturally could tell what was going on at a glance.
“An incantation of the tenth grade…” Mathias took a deep breath.
Mathias badly wanted to one day also ride a Black Demon and utilize apocalyptic incantations of the tenth grade. His thoughts naturally turned to the magical testing and recruiting event. “The test will only be held in autumn in the capital. There’s still half a year left…”
From the bottom of his heart, Mathias was eagerly awaiting the magical ability examination in half a year.
“Davis, in a little while, accompany me in inspecting the situation of the residents of Comox township.” Alistair said, and then looked at Troy. “Uncle Troy, after these two Guru-level combatants depart, take Mathias home to change his clothes and make sure he gets some rest.”
“Yes, lord.” Troy nodded.
Alistair turned back to look at Mathias, who was enraptured watching the exciting battle between two Guru-level combatants. Laughing, he said, “Oh, Mathias, you little rascal. Even though you are injured, you still want to watch Guru-level combatants fight. Fortunately, given that the Guru-level magician has unleashed the ‘World Protector’, this battle is about to come to a close soon.”
Absorbed in the shocking battle going on off in the distant, Mathias didn’t notice at all that around his chest area….
Since his head was injured, the so-called ‘Red Demon’ ring he wore underneath his clothes had also been stained by blood. But the blood on the Red Demon ring seemed to have disappeared, like water into an endless ocean, as the strange black material slowly absorbed it all.
And then, the Red Demon ring actually began to shine with a faint, dim light.
But since it was being worn underneath his clothes, no one could possibly notice the faint light coming off from the surface of the Red Demon ring.
Chapter 18 – The Red Demon Spirit (part 1)
In the eastern sky, the gray-robed man still stood on the head of the Black Demon which lay coiled in the sky. A self-assured smile was on his face, as he watched the green-robed man battle against his earthen giant.
“Sschhhhwiing!”
A piercing sound split the air as the green-robed man’s sword pierced directly into the earthen giant’s head. “Rumble!” The earthen giant’s head split apart, but the earthen giant didn’t collapse. It’s boulder-like fists directly slammed onto the green-robed man’s body.
“Ah!” Then green-robed man spat out a mouthful of blood, his entire face turning ashen white.
And then, the earthen giant’s shattered head began to reform and regenerate, as though no damage had been done at all!
“Jason, you’d best just hand it over. The World Protector that I summoned isn’t something that you can overcome.” The gray-robed man riding the Black Demon said calmly.
The green-robed man stared coldly at the gray-robed man. He suddenly said in a fierce voice, “Nimu, if I can’t have it, then you won’t either!” A bright green light began to shine from within the green-robed man’s hands. Upon seeing this, the gray-robed man who had previously been standing so calmly on the head of the Black Demon immediately grew startled and anxious. “Stop!”
“Splatter!”
The green-robed man’s arms suddenly shone as bright as the sun. An explosive sound could be heard, and then immediately disappeared.
“Jason, you-!” The gray-robed man pointed angrily at the green-robed man, but couldn’t say anything.
The green-robed man’s face was ashen white as he stared at the gray-robed man, whose face had also turned white. “Now, nobody has it. Nimu, I’ve been injured, but if you want to kill me, that’s still going to be quite hard to accomplish!” With a cold laugh, the green-robed man transformed into a beam of green light as he flew off at a fast speed into the northeastern skies.
The gray-robed man watched him fly off. He only frowned, and did not pursue.
The earthen giant by the gray-robed man’s side also slowly disappeared.
“The ‘Stellar Sword Guru’ Jason? Pity. I can’t kill him yet.” The gray-robed man said in a low voice. And then the Black Demon underneath his feat, as though knowing his master’s wishes, flapped its enormous wings and went flying off into the southeastern direction.
In the blink of an eye, these two Guru-level combatants had disappeared.
But Comox township was still filled with the sight of utter devastation. Nearly a thousand houses had collapsed, and screams of pain, angry curses, and sorrowful, pain-filled cries filled the air. In a short period of time, the previously peaceful township had turned into a disaster area.
…………….
Within the Tulare clan manor courtyard, there was only Alistair.
Alistair was seated at a table, his forehead furrowed. As the controller of Comox township, he absolutely had to think carefully about how to take care of his people.
Footsteps. Uncle Troy emerged from within the living room. “Lord.”
“How is Mathias?” Alistair immediately turned his head and asked.
Troy chuckled. “Lord, please be at ease. I’ve already washed and cleaned young master Mathias’s wounds, then re-bandaged them. I’ve made him eat a big meal, and then change his clothes and go to bed. By the time he wakes up, he’ll be much better.”
Only now did Alistair feel relieved, and he nodded. But his forehead was still furrowed.
“Lord, are you worrying about the people of Comox township?” Troy asked.
Alistair nodded. Smiling wryly, he said, “Uncle Troy, most of the people in Comox township aren’t like us. Comox township’s men won’t be too bad off, as most of them are warriors of the first or second grade, but the women aren’t. For so many boulders to come raining from the skies non-stop, it would be hard for them to block any at all!”
Troy nodded as well.
The number of people in Comox township who were able to utilize ‘battle-energy’ could be counted on one hand. Just now, thousands of rocks had descended from the heavens. If people hadn’t managed to hide in cellars early on, or use
thick shields to block, then as soon as the stones came crashing down…
“There’s nothing we can do now, aside from waiting on Davis’s report.” Alistair felt extremely restless.
After a long time, urgent, rushed footsteps could be heard entering the manor.
Alistair’s eyes brightened. Turning, he saw Davis striding quickly into the manor.
“Davis, what’s the situation in Comox township?” Alistair quickly asked.
Davis let out a pain-filled sigh. “We just ran some calculations. Over three hundred people died, and a thousand were injured.” The entire township only had a population of five thousand. This meant the casualty ratio was about 20%! And this was for those who lived in stone houses. This really was a disaster.
“So many casualties?” Alistair couldn’t help but begin to grow worried.
Food was the lifeblood of any nation, and a small town was the same. For their workforce to suddenly decrease dramatically, but the number of injured and crippled to skyrocket…the economic situation of the town was going to worsen even further.
“Ugh!” Alistair let out a long sigh.
He wanted to lower their taxes, but Comox townships tax rate was already very low. Right now, his own clan’s survival had already become a problem. How could he assist the commoners of the town? The situation was different from those other towns, where taxes were so high that many commoners died of exhaustion and misery.
“Lord Alistair, all the commoners in Comox township greatly appreciate your kindness and generosity. Everybody knows how much you have done for us. Please don’t be too vexed.” Davis said from the side.
Davis himself was born in Comox township.
Based on his status as a warrior of the sixth grade, even in the capital, he could be the guard captain for a noble family. But because Davis felt gratitude towards the Tulare clan due to their kindness and generosity, after Davis retired from his army career, he directly became the captain of the guard for this decaying old noble Tulare clan.
“Davis, lead the guard squad to do some more scouting about the township. Uncle Troy, go and get some rest.” Alistair directly instructed.