Chapter 10:

Chapter 9: Third Apostle

SOLARIS: Journey Through Another World

Arthur was having a hard time against Marelius; his strength was something else, paired with the reach his weapon granted him, which made dodging even harder. Marelius suddenly backed off, only for the abominations to take his place. These ones were larger and faster; their arms were capable of shapeshifting into sharp blades, as one of them had leaped into the air, slamming their arm blade into the ground where Arthur once stood. " Seraphims, my greatest Achievement!" Marelius calls out from the sidelines. Fighting the "Seraphims" wasn't super difficult, but Arthur couldn't help but hesitate whenever he found the opportunity to strike them down. He grits his teeth as he impales one of them, infusing his laser with light flames to incinerate the body immediately; this way, he doesn't need to see who it was. He steeled himself mentally and moved on to the rest of the task. Soon enough, the floor was littered with ash and burn marks; he had also burnt through a good deal of his own magic. The slow regen aspect was nice, but it was too slow. Would he be able to hold out against an Apostle long enough? He'd have to find out, as Marelius had already engaged Arthur in battle.

If he dodged the scythe, he would get hit with a punch or a kick, and if he dodged the punch ot kick, he'd get nicked by the scythe. He had to play too carefully, keep his distance till he could figure something out. For now, he'd rely heavily on his lasers, which had no effect other than keeping Marelius back. Marelius closed the distance and swung his scythe. Arthur threw his blade up to stop it from cutting him in half, but this only allowed Marelius to strike him square in the face, his blade screeching against the sharp scythe as he skidded backwards. Arthur used this temporary distance to blast a light beam at his arm, hoping to knock the scythe away from him; without it, Arthur would have a better chance. Marelius had maneuvered his weapon in such a way that the beam hit the scythe's head and deflected into the ceiling. There was one thing he could do, and that was release his power fully, but then he'd be running on a timer. Arthur had no other option. Marelius managed to kick Arthur in the side as he released his power. One of the reasons why he doesn't do this is cause his body can't handle it yet, which is made evident by the cracks all over his arms and face. Marelius examines him in confusion, allowing Arthur to land his first-ever strike with a stronger version of the laser, as it slams into Marelius and bores a hole in the wall behind him. The light made him stronger and faster for as long as his body could hold it, which was about 10 minutes? He's never done it before, so there's a chance it's less than. Arthur continued fighting back; they seemed to be on even footing, but Arthur had one final move that would fully tip the balance in his favour. He forces distance between them; this would be more than enough time to trigger his final skill. "What's the purpose of these things?" Arthur called out, both out of curiosity and to stall for time. " They were orders from the higher-ups; they needed minions, so I was tasked with doing so. They, however, never said how I should make them, so I took some...creative liberties!" Marelius proudly says with a sadistic smile, Arthur throws back his sword into his subspace before forcing the cracks of light to retract. In return, parts of his clothing shift to a brilliant white along with his hair, as a halo of light spins behind him. " Paragon of Light" was what the skill was called. With this, all he had to do was hold his hand up, and multiple curving lasers would launch, all of them would prove lethal as they slam into Marelius, some of them brushing his arms and body. In a flash of light, Arthur was able to close the distance as he conjured a ball of light in his hand. He closes his fist around it, forcing it to take shape into a sword. His new light sword cut through Marelius' scythe with ease. In the same motion, he severed one of his arms as well, forcing Marelius to back up. Arthur dismisses the sword and once again closes the distance. " You damn brat, getting all cocky just cause you can use that!?" Marelius yells, he flexes his right arm as the stub shakes, only for the bone to regrow before the rest of the flesh follows. The rest of his body ripples as it bulges, getting bigger in mass. With this new physical enhancement, Marelius was almost on the same level of speed as Arthur, and his punches once again hurt. Arthur continues to land blow after blow, though the damage isn't as great due to the sudden enhancement Marelius underwent. This fight would end with Arthur's paragon form running out, so he forces a great deal of energy into the air while defending against Marelius' onslaught of attacks. This allowed him to shape the multiple sparks of energy into swords that impaled Marelius, pinning him in place. By now, Arthur wanted to just drop everything and lie on the floor, but he had to see this through. Despite his every muscle aching, he pours a ton of energy into his fist as he reels it back before throwing the punch. It hits something hard enough for him, but the energy merely dissipates. Arthur's fist sat against the palm of someone else, and he was then promptly pushed back by a point-blank laser, shattering his chest armour. An older man stood aside; he was slightly hunched over, and his bald head shone dimly in the light. He wore a priest's robe, he had an air of authority to him, his expression was slack, and yet Arthur couldn't help but feel afraid. The elder rotates his palm to inspect the bruise Arthur had caused when his attack landed. The elder's eyes drift from his palm to Arthur as he points his finger at him before flicking it. Multiple lasers of light pierce through Arthur's body, causing him to drop to a knee. Arthur's paragon form had ended, leaving him with nothing.

" Elder Cane, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but the boy proved a lot stronger than we had anticipated." Marelius staggered to his feet, Cane didn't seem to care, and the only thing that rested on Arthur's ears was what he said before his name, " Elder". The wound on his legs had closed enough so that he could move around, albeit very limitedly. Despite having absolutely no mana left, Arthur would lunge backward while forcing himself into the paragon state; the cracks of light that normally appear were much larger. Arthur threw his arm up towards Elder Cane as multiple lasers shot towards him. The laser ricocheted off the Elder's body as he closed the distance between the two of them in three steps. All it took was one punch from him to knock the Paragon state out. Cane held Arthur by the back of his collar as he coughed rackingly; his breathing became rapid after that gut punch. Cane dragged him for a little bit before tossing him back to where he was before. Despite what had happened before, Arthur couldn't give up. He forced himself to stand; he rose into a crouching position. And that was all Cane needed to see before his blade pierced Arthur's chest, despite the distance. Cane wielded an odachi made from an unusual metal. Arthur could feel it in his chest, and it was colder than normal. Arthur grits his teeth as blood drips through. Cane stared down at him as he slowly retracted his blade, and blood seeped through his shirt. Arthur's breathing shifted to a ragged type, his hands shakily moving up, which Cane didn't view as a threat. He flipped open a piece of paper before reading what was on it.

"Return"

Arthur reappeared in the church's main lobby, just before the paper could work. Cane had pierced it, causing the location to change ever so slightly. He could hear a prayer, which meant it was early in the morning. Arthur mustered whatever was left in his body and dragged himself to the doors, leaning his full weight on them to get them to open. The door swung open as Arthur stumbled in, drops of blood staining the floor. He'd had to apologize to Kiera for the mess. Arthur's vision was a mess, and his hearing was fading, but he could hear a consistent ring; his legs would give in as he collapsed into someone's arms; he wasn't sure who, but it wasn't Father Rhan; this person had smaller arms.

Arthur woke up still in the church. He was familiar with the room; it was where he slept growing up. His heart still ached, literally. He should've died then. This...power he wields is something he doesn't fully understand, like, for example, despite having used almost all of it during the fight, he can still feel strands of light energy around his heart. His arms still ached from overusing his Paragon form. Arthur exhales softly as he stares at the ceiling, only getting startled when the sound of another person breathing reaches his ears. He slightly turns his head to the left to see that Kiera was here; she had pulled a chair close and must've fallen asleep, her head resting on her arms on the bed next to Arthur's shoulders.

"She's been there ever since you got back; she just fell asleep after having exhausted mostly all her mana despite what the others told her." Arthur turns his head to see Father Rhan seated on the other side, and he looks disappointed.

"I'm sorry."

" Why didn't you run?"

" I had to try; if I'm going to fight against the disciples in the future, I need to gauge how powerful their high rankers are, and I wasn't doing too bad. Plus, I learnt some important things," Arthur explains. Father Rhan just sighs and leans back in the chair,

" Elder Cane," This got Father Rhan to sit back up, " At first it was an Apostle, the third one, and then the Elder showed up, that's when things went wrong." Arthur pulls out the papers he had taken from the lab and hands them to Father Rhan, who looks them over, his expression grim. Arthur went on to explain the "seraphims", as Marelius had called them. Father Rhan let Arthur rest more before they discussed the rest later. Before he left, he picked up Kiera and carried her over to the empty bed next to his. Arthur's gaze returned to the ceiling. He'd have to discuss this with Clair when he got back. He wondered how they were doing with their first commission.

-MAIN OBJECTIVE-

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CRYSTAL OF ENTROPY

DISCOVER THE GOAL OF THE DISCIPLES

Reach Level 900

WHO ARE YOU?

-SIDE OBJECTIVES-

~~KILL THIRD APOSTLE MARELIUS(0/1)~~{FAILED}

PROFILE: Arthur

LEVEL 120

ATK:594

SPD:490

DEF:600