- Ed Orves POV -
Since then its been 2 days, I sat on one side in our dorm room while Raelith, Evans, and Jin sat on the other side. The air smelled grim and strange silenced echoed. The atmosphere was tense.
"It's tonight, this will be the hardest battle and longest night," I said, lifting my gaze, locking eyes with my dorm mates.
"Don't worry, we're prepared. A SS+ rank is strong, but regardless, we must prevail," Jin spoke. Unlike his personality, he was dead serious. His hands trembled he clenched them hard.
"Yeah, you're right. The being may have been an SS+ ranked nightmare lord, but was not weak." Evans paid him all attention. The dark, mysterious serpent carving glows with a purple hue.
"I really appreciate it, you guys going this far for me? Killing me off would be easier," Raelith said, his gaze down. Grim expression. His skin had become more ashen, indicating that the process of his transformation was almost there.
"Don't say such sad things, we're going to save you." I took the initiative and spoke my mind. In the past month, I had gathered so much knowledge, but none helped cure Raelith. But I had surely obtained some abilities; maybe I could really defeat with my ability, but my rank was merely a B-ranked, while the nightmare lord would appear at the peak of the SS+ rank.
The task Which befall upon our group was no easy feat. Mere B-rank students facing Nightmare Lord, it was funny. I was totally gambling on Raelith restricting that creature. That way, the techniques it possessed could be weakened or hindered. But it was no easy feat to achieve.
"Yeah, of course," Evans said. We all wanted to save Raelith.
For Evans, Raelith was like a brother in arms. Jin was indebted to him; apparently, Raelith had helped him a couple of times, not expecting anything in return, and to Jin, this was the perfect moment to return the favors. Despite everything, I couldn't gauge Jin's class or the type of magic he used.
Sure, Jin had been bullied, but the reason behind that was simple: Jin didn't like to fight back; he would endure, and if a fight were to break out, without a doubt, Jin would have won. But why? Because from the very moment I encountered Jin, this thing wasn't going out.
[Jin carries the Shadow of High King rank. Vessel of Uncrowned God]
This was the first time the system had revealed information, but at the same time, as I asked more questions regarding him, it restricted me. I was the sole user of the system, but it hid Jin's origin from me.
'Quest'
I thought of opening the system quest interface, and it appeared.
- System -
-Nightmare Lord Transform progress - 97%
-Defeat the nightmare Lord or Devour the soul
-Reward: Soul Adaptation
_
'This is bad,' I glanced at the progress and immediately grimaced. The time was near when the battle would begin. We had merely hours until then. Raelith's hair continued to become paler. Now it was Black, his bright scarlet hair had become as black as void. Like an eternal darkness.
No matter what, if my trump card didn't work were doomed, and we can't expect to survive if that happens. Today, we must prevail; it was do or die.
'I don't want to die at the hands of those creatures,' I mumbled under my breath.
"Did you say something, Ed?" Evans tilted his toward my direction and asked his borrows, who frowned.
"It's nothing," I replied.
-
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-
It was night. We were far from the academy. We were in a plain biome. Knowing the place where the battle would unfold would not be far from safe. It would be a disaster. The night sky was dark blue with a crimson red eye. The moon was overhead. Everything appeared serene. It was not the atmosphere expected. Not an atmosphere where one would think battle would unfold here.
It was as if it were the calm before the storm. The air around us appeared dense and cool. It was a pleasant feeling, but we were not in a place to feel the breeze; it was a situation of great magnitude. The air started to shift its flow as if something from the abyss itself was claiming something. Something long belonged to it.
"It's here," Jin warned.
As soon as Jin warned, the system message followed.
[Danger! Danger! Danger!]
[Filthy aura detected in the atmosphere]
[Nightmare Lord aura]
These messages appeared. Not in purple or blue. It was bright red. The red used for blood itself. It appeared three times. Prompting caution. We were about to face beyond our imagination.
The ground trembled.
Cracks appeared on Earth itself. The earth it self shudered violently.
The moon overhead now appeared Bright Red. This was a blood moon.
-
Ed and his dorm mates were on full alert. They couldn't afford to lose focus. The air howled violently the earthquakes were subdued.
"It's here!" Raelith shouted as he clenched his head. Red veins started to form on his forehead.
"It hurts, ahhh, helpp!!" Raelith wailed in hysterical struggle to contain his pain.
Without warning, a filthy, black, strange substance crawled in the earth. Flowing on Raelith's body.
The black, shadowy thing enveloped Raelith's body. His whole body had changed, twisted into something grotesque.
He had two eyes. Golden eyes glowed with malevolent demeanor. His mouth formed like a twisted maw. Sharp, threatening to tear Ed and his dorm mates to pieces.
His hands turned into sharp claws. The air around Raelith…no, the air around the nightmare abomination was thick, vile, and disgusting. Mnious aura surrounded it.
"Ah, it's been a while, I'm Free hehaaa~" The creature let out an amused, playful laugh.
"I'm quite lucky I get to devour such fine meat scabs hehaa~" The nightmare creature said as it raised its arm.
"I'm Veneol Ard Urtla, rank 54th Nightmare lord," Veneol said.
Without warning, the ground itself erupted as grotesque Black spikes shot toward Ed and Evans.
"Careful, those things are dangerous," Ed spoke as he stepped away and dodged every spike.
"I know!" Evans cut down every spike rushing toward him.
While Jin manipulated his shadows, bending the spikes, making his own.
-
-
-
The battle soon to be known as "The Clash of Shadows" had begun. The fight which probably change everything forever.