Relentless Hunter

On our way back to join Toshikasu’s group. 

Around 9pm.

The elves have given us days’ worth of supplies, they fixed up the carriage, and they escorted us all the way out of the forest.

We’ll be cutting a path northwest, bypassing the Kingdom of Maghramm. If all goes well, we’ll be meeting them at the border of the Chablis continent – where we currently are, and the Epheron Continent.

Grayson is driving as usual. I also sat at the front of the carriage with him. I couldn’t stand Mercedes and Aidan asking me about my Godhood. Not that Grayson is any different. He glances at me from time to time.

“You should focus on the path in front of us Grayson”

“Sorry. It’s still hard to believe you’re actually Aelius. I’ve been praying to you along all this time. And I can’t help but be…hm… weirded out? You look a lot different than I expected”

This is what I meant by not being able to stand their questions. It’s always denial, disbelief, then telling me I’m not what they expected. I’m about ready to throw Grayson out the carriage.

Iris calls out to me from inside the carriage.

“Aelius. We’re being followed”

“Huh? Are you sure Iris?”

“Just a feeling”

I look to the sides of the carriage. I don’t see anyone. It’s too dark.

“I don’t see anyone as well”

Grayson looks out to his right. Only one way to make sure of things.

“Enhanced Detection”

I focus on the surroundings. 50…90…160…

“Grayson, stop the carriage”

“We’ve got company huh”

He stops the carriage. The others exit the carriage. We’re all wearing our equipment.

I look up at the sky, the clouds are blocking the moonlight. No bonus for us.

It suddenly brightens up a bit, in a shade of red. A figure appears in front of us several feet away. It’s one of the demon generals we encountered back at Rosenburg. His armor is a mix of light plate armor and chain mail.

“Where are the rest of you humans?”

He steps forward. His voice sounds a little gravelly.

“Looks like you split up. Unfortunate that I can’t kill you all in one night, but it’ll do”

He looks at Loralei.

“Found you. Traitor”

Dozens of demon soldiers surround us. Loralei scoffs at him.

“Raziel. You can’t win against me”

He lets out a low growl from underneath his helmet.

“A lot of things have changed since our last fight. I’m wearing equipment now”

Looks like we have to fight our way out of this one. Good thing we’re prepared. A magic circle appears beside him. The demon general pulls out a rod from it, which extends into a flag.

“Using artifacts makes it a little distasteful. So struggle with all your might, make it interesting”

He places it on the ground, and the object emits a huge field over the entire area. The flag itself appears to be…glitching??

“Tch”

Loralei suddenly rushes towards Raziel, scythe in hand. She immediately swipes in a huge arc, aiming at the flag-like object.

Before the blade of her scythe hits the flag, another scythe blocks it, interlocking with her scythe and pulling her to the side. There’s another Loralei. The two clash at each other.

“What the heck?” Grayson rubs his eyes.

“I’m not sure, but I think the flag just made a copy of Loralei” Aidan tries to shoot the flag, but Raziel immediately catches it.

“You lowly humans, fall against your worst enemy. Yourselves”

He snaps the arrow bolt in two.

The flag begins to glitch again, and another Aidan, Iris, Mercedes, Grayson, and Shaun appear. Looks like we’ll have to fight each other.

“Looks like we’ll have to take on ourselves”

Mercedes points her spear at her clone.

The surrounding demons look on at us. So does the demon general. Looks like they’re toying with us. We take a step forward. So do the clones. Loralei continues fighting with her clone. Wait a minute, if that object makes clones, where’s mine?

The flag suddenly glitches big time. Even Raziel seems to be surprised. The other clones suddenly disappear. A figure appears above the demon general, wearing white robes. Oh crap.

It’s me. But not me, at least not the form I’m in right now. He looks like a God. Everyone looks at him for a moment.

“This is not good. Not good at all” Shaun immediately starts chanting spells.

Raziel seems to be dumbfounded. Loralei takes this chance and aims for his head. No!

“No Loralei don’t!” I reach my hand towards her.

A portal appears in front of her and she disappears into it. The portal appears beside my clone, and he grabs Loralei by the neck with his right hand. She tries to break free but is firmly held in place. The clone grabs her scythe and breaks it with his left hand.

Raziel begins to understand what’s going on. He pulls out his swords.

“I see. The artifact is working better than I predicted”

No no no!

The surrounding demons suddenly charge at Raziel. Iris points towards Raziel, lines appear across her body, and her eyes turn into a shade of red – the eyes of Demon Lord Ornaxon.

“Tear him to pieces!” She shouts.

Aidan follows up, shooting at Raziel multiple times.

“Mana Recovery! Mana transfer!” Shaun uses his spell directly on me. He then nods at me.

Raziel lets out a smile.

My clone raises his left hand.

“Light of Judgement”

Multiple Rank 10 Light Magic.

Magic circles appear under the feet of every other demon in the area except Raziel. Columns of harsh light appear from the heavens, turning all the targets into dust. It fills up the night sky, turning into daytime for a few seconds.

Silence fills the area for a moment. The area around us is filled with craters. A huge wave of mana fills my grimoire.

I can’t let the clone cast another spell.

Rank 10 Earth Magic.

“Quantum Pulse”

Everyone slows down to stop.

“I was waiting for this”

Raziel appears right beside me What?!

A kick to the side breaks half of my ribs, sending me flying dozens of meters away from the group.

Rank 7 Water Magic.

“Frozen Tundra!”

Ice spreads out from my feet into the surrounding area, freezing Raziel’s feet to the ground – which only stops him for a moment.

Rank 6 Air Magic, Rank 10 Earth Magic.

“Levitate! Gravity Well!”

I manage to pin the Demon General down. I still have a lot of mana in the Grimoire.

Rank 8 Water Magic.

“Caustic Acid!”

A large blob of corrosive liquid falls on Raziel. It disappears just above his head.

“Ocean’s Tranquil”

Rank 10 Water Magic.

Quantum Pulse, Levitate, and Gravity Well ends.

I fall to the ground. All the magic I just casted disappeared along with any traces. Crap, my clone managed to cast another spell.

A portal appears below me. A hand grabs me by the neck and pulls me inside. It pulls me back towards the clone.

“Aelius!” Iris shoots a bolt at my clone.

“Teleport: Switch!”

Grayson switches places with the projectile and swipes his sword at the clone.

The sword shatters on contact with the clone’s robes.

“What the heck!? Telepo-”

A glowing chain wraps around Grayson and pulls him down to the ground.

“Light Chain”

More chains appear in the direction of Iris and Shaun. Mercedes stands in front of them. She swipes her spear from the ground upwards, creating a wall of ice. The chains make huge dents in the wall, then disappear.

Aidan aims at the clone. Without a word he shoots an arrow bolt, which quickly expands in size as it heads for its target.

Raziel dashes towards Aidan, but is blocked by Iris. The two exchange blows with each other. The demon general has the upper hand, but Iris’ injuries heal quickly each time he manages to wound her.

I need to get out of my clone’s grip. Loralei is struggling as well. It’s ironic, to die by the hands of yourself, literally. The bolt Aidan fired goes through a portal and out behind the clone. He seems to be irritated.

“Quantum Pulse”

“No!”

Before the spell activates, the clone suddenly disappears. Below the ground, Grayson is slashing at the flag with his broken sword.

“Levitate!”

I use magic to make me and Loralei float. She immediately heads straight for the flag. The clone reappears.

“Quantum Pul-”

Oh no you don’t.

“Silence!”

The sound in the area around the clone dies down. I look at Raziel, who’s currently in a deadlock with the others.

“Flame Lances!”

Multiple flaming lances make their way towards the demon general. Loralei has already snapped the flag in half. The clone above me disappears. Loralei then collapses. I go down and start casting Heal on her and Grayson.

Everyone backs away as the Flame Lances make contact with Raziel. He goes up in flames.

“Futile”

Mercedes throws her spear at him, which he immediately catches.

“Frozen Tundra!”

Ice spreads out from the spear, mixing with the fire and creating a smokescreen.

Aidan and Iris head over to me.

“Lightning Storm!”

Multiple lightning bolts strike at Raziel. The lightning strike increase in frequency and start to hit indiscriminately within the fog created by the reaction from the Flame Lances and Frozen Tundra. It’s the first time Shaun tried an offensive spell other than Mana Burst.

Mercedes and Shaun slowly back away from the smoke.

“That’s not going to be enough to kill him, is it?”

She raises her shield.

Raziel appears from the smoke. His armor seems to be charred but is quickly repairing itself. He’s holding Mercedes’ spear.

“Nice weapon. But it’s a little too cold for my taste”

He snaps the 6-foot weapon in two. He takes the gem inside it and crushes it in his left hand. It explodes, encasing his hand in ice – which he quickly destroys just by opening his fist.

“Is that all there is to you heroes?”

His armor already looks like its brand new. Crimson red streaks run through it, changing the style of his armor. Now it looks like he’s wearing full heavy armor. There’s no gaps in it even among the joints.

“I’ll tell you this piece of advice. It’s seems all too unfair if I don’t. I brought three artifacts with me tonight. The armor I’m wearing is also an artifact. All I can say is it…evolves”

A huge halberd forms in his hand. It’s engraved in multiple runes; the blade’s edge seems unreal. He fixes his sights on Mercedes and Shaun.

“You could have at least returned my spear, that was expensive”

Mercedes chuckles, her face a mix of disbelief and disappointment. I guess she was expecting her spear to be at least a little harder to break.

Shaun steps forward.

“Slowing Field”

The area around the demon general slows down. He’s unaffected by it.

Shaun looks at him in disbelief. Raziel points toward me.

“Compared to that brat’s spell, this is nothing”

Aidan aims at the Raziel’s waist.He

A huge arrow bolt hits him, pushing him a couple of feet to the side. Raziel grabs the projectile and tries to throw it at Mercedes, but it quickly disappears.

“Dash!”

Mercedes hurls herself at the demon general, bashing her shield into his side.

“Annoying”

He tries to grab Mercecdes. I point my hand at her.

“Force Wind!”

A sudden gust of wind pushes her out of the way before Raziel could grab her.

“Everyone! Out of the way!”

Iris shouts. She’s not wearing her suit. In her hands is a long-barreled weapon similar to Martin’s anti-materiel rifle but with exposed moving parts.

The front end of her weapon lights up.

*BOOM!*

The recoil shatters the weapon, but it also shatters half of Raziel’s armor. Unfortunately, it seems that he himself is unscathed. The armor already starts rebuilding itself.

“Not even that worked?”

I look at Iris, her right shoulder is completely blown off, but it’s already started to heal.

He swings his halberd downward at Mercedes – who raised her shield to defend, intending to crush her.

The ground underneath Mercedes cracks, the shield takes the blow and doesn’t break. However, the bones in her arms and feet break. As Raziel raises his halberd for another blow, she collapses on the dirt and smashed rocks.

“No!!”

Aidan runs toward the demon general, shooting at him repeatedly.

Dammit. I check the Mana in my book. There’s still a lot of it. Everyone’s attacks so far had little to no effect. I can’t use my other spells because they’d hit my teammates. I try to stand up. My chest hurts like hell, but I force myself to move.

Raziel raise his halberd to strike again.

“Ugh- Mass Teleport!

Magic circles appear under everyone’s feet, except mine and the demon general. I’ll transport them as far away from this place as possible.

The magic circles begin to glow.

Iris begins to realize what’s about to happen.

“No! Aelius, not again!”

Iris tries to step away from the circle, but it already activates. She disappears along with Grayson and Loralei.

“Sorry”

The magic circles under Shaun and Aidan are the next to activate.

Raziel brings his halberd down on Mercedes, who immediately gets teleported away.

He looks around, then at me.

“A sacrifice? It’s pointless”

He walks toward me.

“I’ll catch up to them in a matter of minutes. You’re only delaying their fate”

I cast one more healing spell on myself.

I walk slowly towards him.

“I don’t intend to delay you. I’m going to end you”