Chapter 26: The raid [11]
Lucian continued to observe the situation, and one thing was certain. All of this was a sort of test. But was it a test for him or the humans?
If this was a test for him,
the enemy's aim would be to force him to use the helmet, so they could ascertain his abilities.
But, this was also some kind of selection process, Lucian speculated. But for what purpose did they need to select some humans? There was a specific objective behind all of this. But as to what it was, Lucian wasn't yet capable of narrowing all of the possibilities down to a single answer.
Still, at that moment, the only reason why he was there and not somewhere else was because he could use this situation to his advantage.
Humans were simple, yet complex, but what was sure was that they had not yet reached their full potential.
Lucian made a promise to himself, and to that person, a long time ago. He would not give up on believing in humans' potential, that was what he promised. No to save them. Not to guide them. Not to become their hero. Not to become their God. Just to believe in them. And he believed in himself. So everything he did was to achieve his goal. After all, he was a human too.
His main plan didn't change and wouldn't change. It was the perfect plan.
But depending on the circumstances, he would change the means that he would employ.
He would bring humans to their despair, and send them to their death. And when they fell into despair, he would give them hope. It was easy to control humans that were on the verge of despair by giving them hope.
In the end, he wasn't going to save anyone. If they didn't understand that in the end, if they didn't understand that no one could save them apart from themselves in this world, then they would just die.
Lucian believed. But he didn't expect anything.
And sometimes, simple plans were enough to obtain the result required if used at the right time in the right place, and by the right person.
Now, it was time to move to the next step. This was a plan that he could only execute after certain conditions were met. Mostly the appearance of a traitor.
He had already thought about several backup plans just in case things took a different turn, after all, humans were very unpredictable by nature.
Now that things were proceeding as how he expected, all he need to do was to wait for the right timing.
Still, Lucian knew that the mastermind must have also anticipated his moves. If they didn't, they weren't even worth considering.
To begin with, this was too simple for a provocation, and he could just ignore it. It wasn't as if he was obliged to save these adventurers or this city.
But Lucian acted based on the thought that they were competent enough to surprise him, expecting that they planned something that would affect him directly if they wanted to test him.
As these thoughts crossed his mind, Lucian glanced in Rita's direction and at the little dragon girl. Without a doubt, this girl had something to do with it.
Nonetheless, Lucian was also testing his opponent. He wanted to see what exactly were they capable of.
Lucian knew that no one could beat him in a one-on-one fight, but that didn't mean that he couldn't die.
One of his desire was to meet the one and only real God. The only being that he could never beat. And if this was the work of that being, it was something to look forward to. But that was unlikely. God didn't exist in this world.
In any case, what he had to do didn't change, and everything he did was for the sake of achieving one thing. Something that was located at the end of everything.
But for the time being, he continued to observe a few individuals.
"We can't let these monsters get out of here!"
Caesar and his companions were on them. He was still cool-headed even in this situation. Most of his supporters had already fled or got massacred but he was still calm. He was thinking about the damage that these monsters would cause if they wreak havoc in the city.
He understood that the monsters need to be contained within these walls even if it means that some adventurers were to be sacrificed.
Swoosh! One of the monsters rushed in his direction but suddenly, a gigantic boulder appeared in front of Caesar.
Boom! The monster crashed against the boulder, breaking it apart.
This was Caesar's ability. He could change the size of everything he touched.
"AAAAA!" Zoe screamed, taking her long black sword, jumping in the air, and swinging it vertically at the monster. Boom!
The ground shook, but Zoe's swords couldn't penetrate the monster but crushed the monster under its weight.
This was Zoe's ability. Everything that she touched c became extremely heavy when it was activated. In that instant, the sword was as heavier as the building itself, but so were her clothes and armor.
"HELP ME! AAAA!" The monster struggled and used his tentacle to attack Zoe while she was using her sword to pin the monster down.
Thud! Thud! However, Boris used his spear to deflect the monster's attack.
Although his ability to absorb damage and turn them into strength wasn't that practical, he was nonetheless an extremely powerful and outstanding fighter.
Still, the black monster could alter its body and manage to separate into two to free itself from Zoe's sword.
"Tch…" The monster was about to counterattack, so Zoe and Boris took bolted backward to avoid its tentacle-like arms. "Why is this thing so tough?"
"Both of you, watch my back," Caesar said, taking something from within his clothes. He then displayed multiple round objects in between his fingers. "It seems like this thing requires something more extreme!"
"PLEASE! PLEASE! HELP ME!" The monster rushed as Caesar while begging for help. It was extremely unsettling.
"Shut up!" Caesar said, tossing one of the round objects at the monster. However, right before it left his fingers, the object increased in size, and become as large as the monster.
Boom! Moreover, when it came in contact with the monster, it exploded, producing steam that froze everything around.
But Caesar wasn't done yet, he threw another one at the monster. However, when this one exploded, it caused intense flames to run havoc, carbonizing the frozen monster. Boom!
Zoe and Boris watched Caesar in awe.
Caesar already knew his weakness. If he could touch his enemy, he would be able to reduce their size. However, everything would be finished if his enemy was faster and stronger than him.
As such, he spent many years refining his ability, coming up with various solutions to his weakness. These orbs were one of the fruits of his labor. He had various orbs that produced different kinds of efeffectshen they exploded. And when he increased the size of the orbs, the explosion was more destructive.
"A way to overcome his weaknesses, huh?" Lucian muttered, thinking about how the orb that Caesar created. It was pretty interesting.
Since Lucian was observing everything that was happening at the same time, from the corner of his eyes, he saw two people wreaking havoc, battling the monsters head-on like mad beasts.
"Filthy creature! Your form of violence is really disgusting!" It was none other than Yvanski who used his bare end to hit the monster and sent it flying against the wall.
Still, no matter how much he punched the monsters, they didn't go down, almost as if they were immortal.
"Hahaha! In that case, I should show you damned monsters the true beauty of violence!" Yvanski's muscles grew even bigger, and his body was surrounded by what appeared to be an aura.
"Violence!" He hit the monster with his punch. The power and the shockwave created by this single punch obliterated the monster.
Boom! The building shook violently and a huge hole was left on the wall and the on the ground that went on for a couple of meters.
Lucian was wondering what exactly his ability was. Super strength. Although it appeared simple, this man's ability had infinite potential if it was what Lucian thought it was.
And the other person was none other than the red-haired woman who rode on top of a tiger. Lucian had already seen her at the gate. Her name was Manou.
Manou held a black battle axe, but there was something out of the ordinary about the axe.
"IT HURTS! MOM, SAVE ME!"
One of the black monsters rushed in Manous's direction, but at that moment, several women rushed in front of Manou.
"Hmph... Stand back..."
Manou, however, ordered them to stand back and came down from atop the tiger. She could see that this monster was the worst matchup for them, knowing that none of them possessed a relic.
"AAA!" The monster used its tentacle to attack. Swoosh!
The monster was already fast, but when it attacked, it was even faster.
However, before it could land a hit, Manou threw her battle axe at the monster. Swoosh!
The axe spun and hit the monster. Thud!
The impact was strong enough to lift the monster backward and tore its body open.
After that, the axe returned back to Manou's hand.
Lucian squinted his eyes, wondering about the nature of her battle axe. No, it wasn't her axe that was special, it was her ability. The axe and both her hands were covered by an extremely rare and exceptional metal. Something that only existed in the deepest part of the universe, where light couldn't even reach. The Voidium.
It was said that this metal was heavier than a black hole and had various characteristics that defied the law of nature.
"IT HURT! WHY AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS TO SUFFER?!!"
Suddenly, the monster began to utter more words and increased its speed.
But Manou's expression didn't change. She parried all of the monster's attacks with her axe, and the monster's tentacles got destroyed once they came in contact with the axe. Her ability was one thing, but her agility and reflexes were almost on par with Lucian's.
Manou continued to throw the axe at the monster while avoiding its attack. And after the axe pierced the monster's body, it came back, piercing the monster again from behind, before it came back to her.
Swoosh! Swoosh! She did this multiple times, in an extremely fast motion, using the space around her to show her acrobatic skills while receiving the axe every time it came back from every angle possible.
She left no time for the monster to breathe, tearing apart its body until it got completely obliterated.
But from what Lucian could see, it looked like she could only cover her axe and her hands with the Voidium. That wasn't surprising, considering the energy that she needed to maintain her power active, even if it was just temporary.
Still, if she could cover all of her body with the voidium, she would be almost invincible.
Moreover, she could also cover everything she touched with it.
Looking at her, Lucian could see a lot of possibilities, and ways to exploit her abilities to the fullest. She could become even become one of his trump cards.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone