Chapter 135: Relentlessness - I

Understanding Vin’seth’s thoughts after I ransacked the 16 Claws’ treasuries, I had to think about the Fruit of Metamorphosis.

As one with the Gaea System, was it a necessary part of my Evolution?

No.

But...

Did I want it?

Perhaps?

I could grab one or two along the way, but wasting my time searching for such fruits would be putting the cart before the horse, no?

My goal was a slaughter. There was no need for me to get involved in appearing like a model civilized existence. All I needed was more blood, more death, and more havoc.

However, I could not deny the advantages wrought by misconception. If my prey still regarded me as someone who needed to maintain a level of civility, they would lower their guard against my ambush.

I needed to keep this in mind moving forward.

Otherwise, the efficiency of my massacre-to-mana expenditure ratio would cascade towards eventual bankruptcy.

I had a feeling that on this path of mine, I could not be caught with an insufficient mana pool. Without the ability to either fight back or observe the world...

That would surely mark my end.

Thus.

Magic circles carved themselves into the air, dyeing my surroundings in a multicolored light.

While my spells were forming, I looked at Gron, who had reawakened after the <Pillar of Incineration> knocked the oxygen out of his brain.

Seeing his questioning look, I waved my hand to plunge him, and the still-unconscious Kuvie and Reazue, into the concealing embrace of darkness. Though this could protect them from most scrying A-Rank abilities, it would do nothing for more specialized techniques or the perception of those beyond A-Rank.

"I need to pay some folks a visit. Don’t move outside this zone of darkness if you don’t want to evaporate into particles of flesh and blood.

Suddenly, the [Power of Death] condensed further, and I watched as Gron’s eyes shrank.

"W-wait—"

But he was still too injured to stand, much less chase after me. All the mana I had carved into the air solidified into a single purple-colored Magic Circle.

6th-Circle Spatial Magic.

[Warp].

***

Vin’seth was still discussing with his daughter when something sharp and heavy pricked his senses.

A powerful force had torn through the barrier in their tower. It was like a needle with a bomb embedded inside its core—first piercing into a weak point before erupting with rending destruction.

"What...?"

Vin’seth’s feline features crumpled into a deep frown as he sought to locate that piercing disturbance. His mana boiled within his body, and with a flap of his wings, he cast a spell.

[Circuit Scan].

However, the invading force exploded with an immense quantity of mana, further shredding the barrier—

And then its source shifted a moment later.

"!!!"

A dreadful premonition struck his heart.

"Father? Is something wrong—?" His daughter froze in surprise, having never seen the panic in Vin’seth’s gaze.

She stepped back, feeling the same dreadful premonition a moment later.

An emerald-green Magic Circle came to life as Vin’seth’s reflexes kicked in before he fully understood what was happening.

[Wind’s Protection]!

A magic spell carved into his heart automatically activated. The surrounding air instantly accelerated to extreme speeds, creating powerful gusts of wind that shielded his daughter first before moving toward him.

Unfortunately for him...

—BOOM!

Accompanied by the ripples of torn space and the sudden displacement of air particles, a human appeared. Fire bloomed the moment the human’s feet manifested on the ground, exploding violently and breaking the initialization of Vin’seth’s <Wind’s Protection>.

"Hah!"

A gasp filled with searing pain escaped Vin’seth as he retreated. Much of the pristine white fur he once flaunted was singed and burned, and patches of melted flesh were exposed to the searing air.

But it wasn’t the end.

—Crackle!

A hiss of deep azure and the smell of ozone agglomerated from the human’s hand. An emerald Magic Circle was carved into the world, and from it, lightning flashed.

—BZZZZT!

Bone-shaking thunder roared, heading straight for the Winged Lion’s head. Luckily, he was able to carve out a bit of magic in the moments between the human’s barrage.

6th-Circle Wind Magic.

[Veil of Heaven]!

Multiple layers of rapidly moving air accelerated into existence, appearing just moments before the lightning made contact.

Hundreds of millions of volts scattered into branching streams after colliding with Vin’seth’s barrier. The human’s lightning was thus redirected around his body and blasted through the stone walls behind him.

A pang of heartache struck Vin’seth just then, lamenting the price of its repairs.

Despite his wounds, he had full confidence in repelling the attacker before him. Arrogance oozed from his bones.

And hatred leaked out of his heart for every ounce of pain he was dealt.

’I’ll devour him alive!’

—ROAR!

See, intelligent pure beasts were usually dual-classed. They were capable of magic, but they were also incredible brawlers. With a body primed with mana at all times, they could erupt with terrifying strength at a moment’s notice.

—Screech!

Vin’seth’s muscles tensed as his entire skeleton screamed. With a roar, he bounded forward, closing the distance between the human and himself in half a second.

His paws left not a single indentation on the waters beneath him, creating an impressive display of magic and Martial Arts.

—Swish!

In the blink of an eye, Vin’seth brandished his claws and slashed. The air whistled from his attack.

Looming two meters taller than the human even when standing on all fours, the Winged Lion was filled with awe-inspiring momentum.

From his posture alone, the grandeur of a powerful race could be seen.

Alas...

"Heh,"

The human just smiled at this sight. A searing-white light suddenly drowned out every speck of darkness, drenching the world with blindness.

"Father—!"

There was a voice.

...Accompanied by the ring of an unsheathing sword.

Two distinct swishes sounded.

A layer of crimson tinged the pure white surroundings.

And two heads fell to the ground, the light in their eyes fading with the white world.

***

"A father and a daughter, huh?" Aventine pursed his lips before shaking his head.

Having just eliminated Jijue and her parents, this wasn’t the first time he targeted a family.

For some reason, <Fate> would always bolster the threads entangling the relatives of those who he’d killed.

It was a manifestation of intelligent life always tending towards revenge.

...And something that Aventine could exploit.

"Truly a cruel world,"

Muttering these words, he placed his hand on the floor, feeling the approaching A-Rank auras. Winged Lions and Dread Wolves were rapidly converging upon his location.

"Haaaaah,"

Aventine exhaled a breath while he used <Perfect Estimate> to measure his current mana expenditure.

’...A 3-second battle cost me about 1600 points of mana.’

On average, he used about 320 points of mana per spell. Warp had drained the most of his mana, having appeared here from far away. Blink was the cheapest, being a mere 5th-Circle spell.

The succeeding Fire Magic and Lightning Magic were close to the average amount he spent.

Finally, the flash of light he used in tandem with the <Sword of Light> filled in the rest.

With 11,020 points of mana, he could fight around seven one-on-one battles against an A-Rank of Vin’seth’s strength.

It was...

’Quite inefficient,’

Thus, Aventine would choose a better method.

—[ YOU F*****CKERRRRRRR!!! ]

Hearing the <Wyrm With No Name> roar in indignation along with a cacophony of mockery and jeers from the souls in <Soul Permanence>, Aventine once again activated higher-ranked magic.

With full focus, he activated a spell he had grown quite fond of. The metallic, bronze-colored Magic Circle bloomed like a rose.

7th-Circle Fire Magic.

[Pillar of Incineration]!

An infinitely heavy pressure assaulted Aventine’s shoulders as the intricate bronze circle beneath his feet continued to spread far beyond the walls of the tower.

Then—

[Blink].

In the same moment an entire skyscraper was blessed with annihilating flames, the perpetrator vanished, appearing outside the range of his own self-damaging spell.

The full force of the surface of a yellow dwarf baptised the tower’s residents with fire.

Stones and metals melted. The tower looked akin to a candle placed inside a bonfire, swiftly reduced to particulate matter in the form of various gases that rose to the sky.

But even those gases were superheated to the point that it could melt steel.

As for Aventine...

[Power of the Sky].

Floating in midair, he admired the gleaming blue notification in his vision.

[You have levelled up!]

[You have levelled up!]

[You have levelled up!]

[You have levelled up!]

His level rose once again after every high-ranking member living in the White Roar Clan’s central tower was incinerated.

More than that, his comprehension of the <Law of Fate> increased as more and more threads entangled his body.

[Law of Fate Comprehension: 0.53% » 0.57%]

Seeing this, Aventine knew he still needed more.

Much, much more.

Therefore!

[Power of the Sea]!

[Power of the Sky]!

Aventine spread his arms as if embracing the world above and below him. A violent typhoon swirled into existence.

Screaming winds and pelting raindrops seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

And <Fate>...

Ah, <Fate> had already begun to respond.

Faintly, Aventine could already feel the Empire’s Guards moving to intercept the destruction he was about to cause.

In fact, just destroying the central tower earlier had long gone past their bottom line.

But Aventine did not care.

He would continue his slaughter, one life at a time.