Chapter 12: Warrior's troop vs Sunlight Scripture
"Sir Merek, if there is anything I can offer as a reward for your service don't hesitate to tell me." Said Gazef
"Hmmm, at the present time I was lodging in this village so it was only natural to protect where I live… but if you insist. As a traveling merchant I'm planning to go to E-Rantel and set up a store there for a couple of weeks. Is there a way to go about the bureaucracies involved in that?"
"Well, even though I'm a royal guard I don't have much political influence but I'm sure the king would not mind giving a small favor to someone that worked saving his citizens. However it may take a small amount of time considering it would be a royal decree coming from the capital… maybe two or three weeks."
"Ohh, well nevermind, by the time three weeks pass I may have already moved from there… well then there's nothing I can think of."
"I'm deeply sorry sir Merek, but do keep in mind that if you come to the capital you can look for me and I'll see that you are rewarded… can you tell me about the group doing the razes."
"Those? A Slane Theocracy troop disguised as Baharuth imperial soldiers, they wanted to group the villagers in the center, probably to execute them, they were killing whoever disobeyed them."
"Huh Slane theocracy, it seems things are more complicated than what I imagined… Can you tell me what happened to them?"
"Killed some, incapacitated some… the remaining ones are in that tower prison."
"Huh, sir Merek are you sure you're just a traveling merchant? Dealing with a whole troop of soldiers all by yourself, are you not an adventurer or a mercenary?"
"You jest, sir Gazef… it's just that my profession requires me to know how to protect myself."
'Protect yourself? Taking care of a whole troop of soldiers can't be called protecting oneself.' Was what Gazef was thinking but he knew it would be impolite to question further so he left it there.
"Can I see the prisoners, Sir Merek?"
"See them… you can have them if you want, honestly I didn't know what to do with them, and leaving them there to be taken care of by the village would be problematic so if you take care of them it is better."
"Ohhh, right I see. Then I guess I'll go to the tower then. I'll take care of them."
They were about to go their ways when one of Gazef's warriors came sprinting.
"Sir the village has been surrounded by a squad of what seems to be mages." Said the warrior
"So it was indeed an ambush." Said Gazef
"Mages? Maybe it is the scripture that the soldiers were talking about… you must be pretty famous and somewhat disliked if they felt the need to send an elite squad to greet you." Said Merek
"I guess it is something that comes with the job," replied Gazef, putting a hand on the back of his head with an awkward smile.
"Do you mind if I spectate your clash?" Asked Merek as if it was the most normal thing in the universe
"Spectate? I was thinking about hiring you. With your help, maybe we can…" Gazef was saying when Merek stopped him by raising his hand.
"I think you are missing something sir Gazef. I'm a merchant, not a mercenary. I work trading… if you are interested in buying or selling magical wares I can help you but that's as far as I can go."
Gazef thought of forcing Merek to fight by conscription but that was just a fleeting idea that he immediately knew wouldn't work, considering he alone took care of more than 40 soldiers, it might blow on his own face.
With that out of his mind, he went for the second best thing.
"We were rushing out on a mission so I don't have much gold, but maybe there is something that could help us in this situation? What kind of magical wares are you selling Sir Merek?"
"You don't have much gold?... well I guess I can do a favor for a favor and sell you some potions at a discounted price, your part will be to test them as they are rather novel."
"What kind of potions are we talking about sir?"
"Hmmm from your constitution and energy signatures i guess you are not a magic user… so maybe we can try some health potions for when you get injured and stamina potions to help endure the task you are about to perform."
"That… might be of great help."
Merek told Gazef to follow him, when they arrived at Merek's house he told him to wait outside. He had the potions in his [Inventory] and could've pulled them with Gazef by his side but, since Gazef is a royal guard, he didn't want to reveal that kind of information so easily to the monarch of a country.
However, now that he was going through the hassle, he remembered he had taken out and put back his cane from his [Inventory] in front of the villagers and the soldiers that were raiding the village… 'I can probably explain it by saying it is a magical weapon?'
He took out the following potions:
[Lesser health potion]: Heals 10 hp (Yggdrasil reference). 1hr after drinking the user may experience diarrhea.
[Lesser health regen potion]: boost health regeneration by 50% for 30 minutes.
[Lesser stamina potion]: recovers stamina (full for a LV 15 or less, partially for higher level beings). The next time the user sleeps he may experience a semi-comatose state in which sleep will last for at least 12 hours.
[Lesser stamina regen potion]: boost stamina regeneration by 50% for 30 minutes.
[War troll Decoction]: grants the skill Berserker blood for an hour. Very high toxicity (reduces lifespan of consumer by at least 5 years)
[Berserker blood]: Gives incredible regeneration abilities (amputated limbs or even a pierced heart is not a problem), inhumane strength and bravery at the cost of a sharp decrease in wisdom and intelligence.
And waited for about a minute to come outside. Once outside he spoke to Gazef. First he told him the effects of each potions, gave him recommendations of how to use them and when, for example, to only use the [War troll Decoction] as a last resort, and lastly he said
"The price of these potions has not been set yet, but the least expensive will most surely sell for about 3 or 4 gold pieces, while the most, the [War troll Decoction], for about 40 or 50 gold pieces... maybe more. I can give you one of each for… how much do you have on you?"
"22 gold coins." Gazef answered sincerely.
"Hmmm I'm gonna lose a lot… 'sigh' take them for 22 gold coins then. I'll be looking forward to your battle… please do well, it would be a disappointment to lose both, money and the test subject"
"I'll… try my best? Thanks sir Merek. If they work as described, then I'm almost sure I'll be able to take them on." Responded Gazef with a smile a little more sincere than the one before as they made the trade.
"I would like to ask you a favor Sir Merek."
"There is no need to call me sir, you can call me Merek alone."
"Very well, then I'd like to ask you a favor, Merek."
"If it is protecting the village, I don't like to leave unfinished business, since I decided to save them once then I'll naturally protect them until I finish my stay here." Answered Merek
"You have my deepest gratitude, now I can be assured that if I perished in combat the citizens of the kingdom are safe." Said Gazef doing a deep bow afterwards
Carne village (Outskirts)
A man with blonde hair and black eyes wearing some sort of black and white robe. He is engraved with a scar on his face, the reason why he is complaining at the moment, for what seems like the thousandth according to the listening man's face.
"Those Blue Roses sluts dare to defend that beast-men village, they betray humanity for monsters that should be eliminated like pests. If I have the luck to find any one of them alone I'm gonna teach that one who's the boss."
That man's name is Nigun Grid Luin, the captain of the Sunlight Scripture, which is one of the Slane Theocracy elite squad. Usually they were assigned to do dirty jobs like killing beast-men, assassinations and such. This time it was not an exception, their task was to kill Gazef Stronoff, the warrior captain of the Re-Estize kingdom.
"Sir, our men have not come out of the village." Said the man that Nigun was speaking to.
"They were supposed to come out way before Gazef arrived, probably got entertained killing and raping… I swear, if these people were not working towards the greater good of humanity and under Alah Alaf, I would personally kill them… scumbags." Answered Nigun
"Sir, what are the orders?"
"Summon the angels, prepare to attack. He arrived just a moment ago so we must not let them rest, also if they were fighting our men we must use their fatigue to our advantage. Gazef is strong but without his gear as the warrior captain, and fatigued from the travel plus fighting our men this should be easy."
Carne village (inside the chief house)
Merek, Gazef and most of the villagers were inside the barn watching the mages get closer to the village, at one point they stopped moving and summoned angels.
"[Archangel flames]… interesting choice, that one summoned [Principality of observation] though."
For a couple of seconds Merek's eyes turned bright golden and then went back to normal. He inspected Nigun using his [God's sight] and looked at his level
[Nigun Grid Luin]: Captain of… LV32
"Generally speaking that man is a little bit stronger than you Gazef, however since he is a mage your physical capabilities are supposed to be much better than him, the issue is that the terrain he chose gives them a wide advantage… how do you plan on dealing with that?"
"That… I will..."
Carne village (outskirts)
Gazef and his squad were going out of the village, and as soon as they left the gate, they encouraged their horses to gallop as fast as they could towards Nigun and his men.
There wasn't a complicated plan, to cover as much ground as fast as possible. Simple, the mages could summon magical creatures and monsters to fight for them, they could also cast spells from distance, something Gazef and his warriors couldn't, they were locked to fighting in close quarters.
The answer to this was to shrink their distance as much as possible. However the mages wouldn't let them do that easily. Just as Gazef's warrior's horses started to gallop, they started to send wave after wave of angels to attack them.
Gazef quickly drank the regen potions and charged head on. Their distance was shrinking, but there was a problem for Gazef and his men.
When the angels were stricken down, they would become motes of lights, spread and slowly banish, however they were quickly substituted by another angel summoned by the mages. When the warriors were stricken down they would do as humans usually do when stricken down. They would fall down, bleed to dead and die miserably
At first this was not very noticeable, but as the battle drew out this contrast was more obvious.
"I told you guys you didn't need to come out and fight, they only wanted me." Yelled Gazef to his men as he was striking an angel
One of his soldiers replied "You trained us, sheltered us and gave us a reason to carry on. It is only natural that if necessary when we perish we do so as one." Yelled back one of the soldiers that was near him
In the span of a couple of minutes more and more soldiers were striken down, this made that Gazef had to fight an ever increasing number of angels.
When he was facing about 4 angels at the same time Gazef yelled "[Body strengthening], [Flow acceleration], [Focus battle aura]. An aura spread around his body rising from his legs until it covered his whole body.
Now Gazef's attacks were clearly stronger, his reflexes faster and he seemed focused like a laser. One strike, one angel down, sometimes even two per strike. Gazef was getting closer but the number of angels he had to face became so much that they seemed like a swarm.
At that moment he looked around and found that none of his men were still standing. That split second cost him dearly as his horse got struck down there. However it didn't seemed to faze him as he did an acrobatic jump and continued to charge on foot.
"[Full throttle], [Pace of the wind]" yelled Gazef as he kept sticking down angel after angel, sprinting towards Nigun. His sprint became faster as well as his attacks.
At this moment his body was enduring an incredible amount of burden, as each martial art would demand more concentration and stamina from his body. Until today Gazef's maximum number of martial arts he could maintain at the same time were six, and at the moment he was using five.
When a group of angels got near him he yelled [Sixfold slash of light]. He performed one swing of the sword but five streaks of light appeared besides his sword. With that the group of angels was obliterated.
"Send more angels, send them in one big group, he's getting tired." Yelled Nigun and his men followed what he said.
Gazef body was already sore and strained all over, sweat was pouring by the buckets and his mind was getting exhausted from using so many martial arts. If he had the treasures of the kingdom:
[Amulet of Immortality]: Provides health regen
[Gauntlets of endurance]: Provides endless stamina
[Guardian Armor]: Made of adamantite, enchanted with magic, protect its wearer from fatal blows
[Razor's edge]: A magically enchanted sword capable of cutting through armor like paper
This struggle would have been a walk in the park. However some nobles of the kingdom were adamant about not letting Gazef leave the capital with the treasures of the kingdom.
When Gazef thought about it he knew something was fishy. How could a group of soldiers with Baharuth Empire armors get so deep in the kingdom without no one noticing until they started to systematically raze villages going from the center of the kingdom to the borders? And why were the nobles so adamant about him not wearing the treasures?
The answer was simple, one or more of the nobles were working with the Slane Theocracy to eliminate Gazef.
Luckily Gazef bumped with Merek before this battle. While his men have already perished in combat he was still standing, a big part thanks to Merek's regen potions.
At this moment he was about 200 steps away from Nigun. He was alone, being attacked from all angles and exhausted beyond belief. But he had to endure, for the kingdom, for its people, for the king.
"[Sixfold slash of light]" yelled gazef again, dispatching a small group of angels, "[Instant reflex]" he yelled, and his posture forcibly rectified itself. This martial art put a lot of strain in his body but was the only way to dodge the upcoming angel assault.
When he was about 150 steps away the conglomeration of angels around him was so much that his sight was almost completely blocked by them. [Sixfold Slash of…]
When he was about to use another martial art, an angel struck him in the back, then two came by the sides, four by the front… he was almost made a pin cushion.
"If you had just chosen to abandon the villagers in the frontier, then it wouldn't have ended like this. It's impossible for you to be unaware that your life alone is worth more than the lives of a thousand peasants. If you really loved your country, you would have abandoned these villagers." Yelled Nigun toward the mass of angels that were pinning Gazef in place
On the verge of dying Gazef said, starting softly until he was yelling "My strength lies in my conviction, to protect my kingdom, to protect my king, to protect my people. [Sixfold Slash of light]."
The angels that were surrounding him closer got dissolved into light motes. Gazef quickly pulled the [Lesser stamina potion] and the [Lesser health potion] and drank them. Then he proceeded to uncorked the [War troll Decoction].
After drinking the two potions his injuries were halfway healed instantly, and a big portion of his stamina were regained. However he wasn't sure he could win this confrontation in that state. After thinking for one second he also gulped down the [War troll Decoction].
"Attack now. Don't let him heal" yelled Nigun.
A swarm of angels attacked Gazef and once again he became the sheath of lots of swords. The mages also proceeded to throw a barrage of spells towards him, most of them hitting him.
There was no way Gazef could survive that… or so they thought. With swords sticking out of him he shook off the angels that were pinning him down. [Sixfold Slash of light] more angles got destroyed and Gazef figure was now visible.
Bulging muscles all over his body, popped out veins everywhere, blood red sclera and fumes coming out of his skin. In a matter of seconds every injury in his body was healed. He felt as if his inside was hot but it was a comfortable heat.
Energy was cursing throughout his body and strength like never before. His reflexes, his dexterity, speed, and his combat sense increased by leaps and bounds he had become a battle oriented machine.
The spells that the mages threw felt like getting pricked by a needle and the swords felt like pins. They turned from life threatening to small inconveniences.
When Nigun saw this, he got alarmed and dispatched his summon. "[Principality of observation] kill Gazef now"
His summon quickly flew towards Gazef, raising his mace in the air to meet him. When they clashed Gazef decided to take the attack head on and for one second it looked like they were on equal terms but Gazef quickly surpassed it.
Looking at Gazef winning against his summon, Nigun got scared and decided to use his trump card.
"Shit, what did he drink that got him like that…'' Nigun yelled as he pulled a blue transparent crystal. "You made me do it Gazef, better feel good about yourself, to make me use this triumph card you are strong indeed, but this has to end my way, you need to die, for the betterment of humanity. It would have been better to have you by our side, but you are too stubborn. Come forth [Dominion authority]" yelled Nigun as he was shaking.
Just when Gazef killed the [Principality of observation] by skewering it on the floor from the crystal Nigun was holding a bright light was emitted, magic circles started to appear on the sky, and from them an angel came forth.
It bathed the area in holy white-blue light and brought a slight fragrance to the air. It's head and body were obscured, it is covered with numerous glowing feathered wings and is decorated with royal tablets. At the front of its head, a glowing divine magic circle is emitted and he was holding a golden scepter.
Nigun started to laugh like a madman "you made me do it, to summon an angel from the highest order, feel elated for your demise is inevitable but your honor is grand."
Gazef was close and getting even closer to Nigun 80, maybe 70 steps from him but now it didn't matter...
"Do it [Dominion authority], cast [Holy smite]. No one has ever survived that spell jajajaja."
[Holy smite]: A 7th tier spell cast by Dominion Authority. It envelops the target in a column of pure light and inflicts extra damage if they're evil-aligned
The angel held its scepter high above his head. The scepter was disintegrating and just then a streak of light crossed the sky. It was a white ball of fire flying at tremendous speeds. It hit the [Dominion authority] and then, 'kaboom'. The explosion was not less than that of a nuclear weapon.
(Carne village near the gate)
Merek was watching the whole battle from the gate while the villagers and Enri were in the safe house (the barn). He didn't have much opinion on the battle because he already knew the advantage mages had on plain terrain.
Gazef's talent for battle was impressive considering his level. His men were not as impressive though. The Sunlight Scripture… well they just spam summon angels, the correct way to face Gazef's warriors in his opinion.
As the battle drew out things passed as he predicted. But when Gazef yelled some names of some skills and got buffed his interest was piqued. He had inspected Gazef and knew he didn't have mana, so he was using some skills that didn't require mana to activate which was interesting on its own. At that moment he decided he would save Gazef if necessary to get information about such skills.
When Gazef got stabbed by a bunch of angels and hadn't had drunk the potions or decoction he was somewhat disappointed, but then gazef proved him wrong and somehow was able to drink them despite the condition of his body.
The effects of the [War troll Decoction] were impressive to say the least, but when the [Dominion authority] was summoned Merek knew Gazef stood no chance, at that moment he intervened.
"[Grand fireball]" said merek as he pointed with his finger towards the [Dominion authority].
[Grand fireball]: Tier 4 spell, improved and stronger version of the tier 3 spell fireball. Launches a big ball of fire towards the pointed location.
In Yggdrasil the [Grand fireball] appeared as an orange fireball about two meters in diameter, it caused fire damage and had a decent AOE. Merek knew that normally a [Grand fireball] wouldn't be able to kill a [Dominion authority] however, in this world and with his buffs and skills he thought it might be just enough.
He underestimated his power yet again, the ball was white and instead of fire it looked like very hot plasma. The speed of the ball was tremendous and upon impact… Merek knew he f**ked up.
The only word he could think that could describe the thing was nuke. In less than 2 seconds the field where the battle was happening was obliterated along with Gazef, Nigun and everything and everyone there.
On the third second Merek entered "battle mode" and the explosion stopped from his point of view. Before the fourth second passed Merek casted [Time reversal] in the whole field, the mana consumption was huge but Merek had mana that seemed infinite. The explosion seemed to go on rewind and he stopped reversing time at the moment the [Grand fireball] just left his hands.
This time things happened the same way until the ball collided with the [Dominion authority], at that exact moment Merek cast another spell [Greater magic shield]
The [Grand fireball] exploded but the explosion was contained in a sphere about three times as big as the angel. The shield was a magical barrier, bluish in color and transparent. This had as result that what was going on inside was visible.
A small sun in the sky, brighter but no heat could be felt coming from it. Merek felt a little bit proud of his "small sun".
Battlefield (outskirts of Carne)
Blank, the mind of Nigun and his men was empty, devoid of any thought. One second their victory was secured the next one, in place of the [Dominion authority] Nigun just had summoned there was a bright sphere of fire? It looks like a sun but much closer and without giving off heat.
Gazef was puzzled just for a second or two, but he quickly recovered, covering the distance between him and Nigun when no angels or spells were obstructing him was a matter of seconds...
'Slash' before he could register what happened, Nigun's head was flying separate from his body. And before his body fell to the floor, three more mages were brutally slaughtered. From that moment the massacre was reversed. Hands, torsos, heads, arms and legs were flying all over the place. The members of the Sunlight Scripture that were furthest from their captain were the only ones that could react.
Fight? The moment to fight was over a long time ago. They could only run, scattering as far as they could in hope that Gazef chases the others and misses them. A couple of them were lucky enough to reach the woods before Gazef catched up to them and those were able to escape.
Walking back towards the village, Gazef's body started to "shrink" back to normal, his eyes and veins reverted back to normal and his body stopped emitting fumes. When he was getting near the gate of the village he lost consciousness and dropped on the floor. The strain his body had to suffer coupled with the toxicity of the [War troll Decoction] were too much to handle without fainting.
Merek started to walk towards him and at a certain point 'crack' the sky looked as if it was a broken glass.
"Ohhh you've been a very naughty child it is not good to peek into grown ups businesses… Let's see how your life changes from now on." Said Merek towards No one in particular. Then he continued to walk towards Gazef
Once by his side he carried the man as you would do with a sack of potatoes and started walking towards the village.
"You did well, I'm almost proud." Said Merek to the unconscious man.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Master_Vaders
Master_Vaders New chap. first extended battle scene (the previous ones were basically stomps so those didn't count).
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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