"Is everything ready?" Nirvana asked a group of human like monsters with pale white skin and covered with a blue cloak all the way up to their faces. The male-looking ones were bigger than average human size while the females were significantly taller than average. All were bear feet and the females wore an ankle bracelet that made a rattle sound with every step.
"Was it necessary to bring the white army?" Nephilim asked her.
"Of course. What better way to frighten people than with what they don't understand."
"Wait." Cassius to her. "Someone is approaching. Not a monster." The weather hasn't been doing too good since that day. Now, there was a fog in the area that obscured their vision.
After a few seconds of the warning, a shadowy figure of a man appeared from the fog and walked towards them.
"A human?" Nirvana was shocked.
"Greetings. Apologies for appearing out of the blue. But I have a simple request of you." The man said.
"We're not in very good terms with the humans currently. I wouldn't recommend conversating with us." Nephilim said.
"Who are you?" Cassius asked.
"My name is Shishak. And I have a proposal."
...
With every step they took, more and more people noticed them. An old man, a manly woman, a knight. They were the strongest adventurers' team in the east, Diversity. Why the stupid name? I don't know. They had just returned from completing an S class quest.
Most of the fires had settled down in the holy city. What some people didn't seem to realize was the wavy appearance of the air around the city, as if there was an invisible wall.
The area around the front gate had been cleared. But some still watched from afar. A showdown was about to happen.
It began with a staring contest. No one knew their opponents capabilities. We studied each other, for a while without any words. Then I decided to make the first move. I took a step forward and tried to strike a conversation.
"Who might you be? I'm sure you know who I am."
"Shut up. There's no reason to talk to you." The giant woman said.
"My name is Mona." The old man replied. Isn't that a girl's name? "I am but a mere sorcerer from the Empire's magic academy. A professor, if that's how you wish to refer to me."
"What are you doing?" The woman whispered angrily to him.
"There's no harm in answering his question. You don't have to if you don't want."
Magic academy? Wait... That's it. That's what I needed.
"Now isn't the time for that. Don't you feel it? Something's not right."
"Yeah." Grinda supported the claim. "I'm not very good at using magic, so I'm not sure. But I feel like there's something going on."
The old man looked around curiously. He didn't sense anything, nor did he see anything. So he couldn't understand what they were talking about. And since he was so confident in his skill, he knew that they must just be paranoid.
Huh? I looked around, completely forgetting them. There's another. Here? In this city?
"Look. He's distracted."
"Now's our chance." They nodded at each other signaling some kind of coordinated attack.
Then Mona casted a physical enhancement spell on the woman, I never knew her name. Then she appeared right in front of me at lightning fast speed and hit me in the head so hard I flew right back to the city wall and caused a chunk of it to collapse.
For a while, the people watching were stunned. Dust covered the area where I was, but there was no movement. Then they cheered joyfully.
"One punch?! That's incredible! All it took was one punch. That's the power of the strongest adventurers' team in the east."
"East? They have to be the strongest in the continent! Even the High Priest with the power of the goddess couldn't do what she did in a split second."
"They're incredible!"
The people kept cheering and giving them praises, but the woman didn't seem happy at all.
"Diora..." Grinda called her.
"You don't have to tell me." 'That's never happened before.' She thought. 'A hit like that shouldn't have a knockback, let alone destroy such a strong structure. That was supposed to shred right through him. I was right not to underestimate him.'
They heard movement in the debris.
"Prepare for battle!" The woman, who apparently is called Diora, shouted. Then she drew a large great sword seemingly out of a pocket dimension and stood at a stance. Grinda unsheathed hers, Mona tightly gripped his big wand. The on lookers noticed them and couldn't believe that someone survived something like that.
There was silence as they listened and watched where I was buried. Then one of the big pieces of concrete slid to the side, as if it was pushed. Then my body slowly rose from underneath the concrete.
The people were shocked. To them, a sight like that was not ordinary. As my body slowly rose, they saw my head. It was split into two. Completely unrecognizable. I should've been dead judging by what I looked like, but I wasn't.
I stood there for a second, not doing anything. Then, suddenly, my head began to heal. All the bones, blood, muscle, skin, my eyes, they all came back. This time, even the adventurers were shocked. Completely healing from something like that shouldn't be possible.
Grinda clenched her sword and shouted. "Stay focused! Lets make sure he gets an injury he won't be able to heal from!" Then she charged at me. "Mona!"
The old man prepared a spell, but that entire time, I wasn't focused on them at all. In fact, I wasn't even looking at them. Diora noticed this and became angry, most probably because of her pride.
Grinda had gotten close and was about to hit me. Mona enhanced her sword's sharpness and strength, guaranteeing a massive hit. She swung her blade from the side and aimed for my neck.
Based on the shockwave released, it obviously hit something. My hand. I caught the blade. Before she could process the situation she was in, she felt a heavy blow on her stomach that made her cough out blood.
It was one of Uzzaran's hand. She had hit her in the stomach and was about to get launched into the air when suddenly, her other hand appeared and struck her to the ground with incredible force, so much that even a crater had formed.
The civilians were too scared to stay there after that and began to flee. Meanwhile, I lifted her up and looked at her closely. Then I was disappointed.
"A class? Your only A class? How could an A class have so much confidence? You were doomed to fail from the beginning. Yet you were talking big about making me pay."
I looked at the others, Diora was also an A class. "Seriously? You too?"
I dropped Grinda who had fallen unconscious. Diora had become furious and jumped to me with her great sword. I dodged but the ground didn't. She swung again and missed. Then she span around and did a downward swing but I jumped at just the right angle to stand on the sword when it touched the ground.
Then I leaped off of it and kicked her in the side of the face. I landed on the ground and looked away from her. She dropped her sword and knelt down. Then she completely laid flat on the ground. Her head was facing the other way.
I looked at Mona, who at the moment didn't seem that frightened. It turns out, he's S class.
"What will you do?" I asked him.
"It would seem that I'm doomed to fail. Oh well. We can continue this on a later date."
"What makes you believe that I would just let you go like that?"
"I could tell that it's your intention, though I don't know the reason why. Either way, I'm off now." A teleportation circle appeared beneath his feet then he disappeared.
I sighed and looked up thoughtfully. Then I remembered. Oh right. Its one of them. I need to get to him quickly. But before that, I looked around. I need to finish what I started.
The empress and I had found a room to discuss amongst ourselves. We had talked for a while. You could tell by the empty tea cups.
"Is that all?" I asked her.
"Correct."
"There's nothing you wish to add?"
"Nothing. I only seek peace with you."
I sat there, contemplating what she had said. Then I looked at her.
"Esther, was it?"
"That's right."
"I would like to commend you on your efforts. Your idea was, interesting. And your way of implementing it was unique."
"Thank you for your gracious complements."
"Unfortunately, it won't suffice."
"What?"
"This conversation is over."
She looked at me with a surprised expression. That same expression had stayed on her even as her head was falling from her neck onto her lap.
I stood up and looked outside the window of the room. There, I saw myself walking around and thought about how this day was just filled with disappointments. But in the end, I'll still get what I need.
Clara. What do I do after I've acquired all the souls?
"The next is the most simple but also the most difficult."
Tell me.
"You die."