The Achievement Junkie 119 Life on the Line

"I won't let him summon more demonic energy!" yelled Arnole. "Men, attack now! Magic Corps, step forward!"

"Everyone, stand your ground! We haven't done anything and we are no threat. Why are you forcing things, Arnole? Do you think the people are stupid and can't understand how desperate you're acting?" stated King Leodoro.

Arnole didn't say anything else. He jumped into action as the wind to go crazy around him. Blades of wind fell continuously to Jack.

Not waiting, Zariff and King Leodoro both stepped forward. As a tag team, they proved more than capable to hold off the enraged Arnole.

As the first wave of soldiers dashed for Jack, Maynard remained in front of the hero. He shouted to the incoming enemies, "Step forward and ya will die. My sword is for killing, not mercy."

Some people hesitated and halted their advance. Most, however, disregarded those words as an empty threat. They thought too much about their advantage in numbers.

"Bloody Massacre." A soft whisper left Maynard's mouth, but all the surrounding soldiers still heard it clearly. Just then, a red light streaked through soldiers' charge, quicker than lightning. Before they could grasp what happened, each of the soldiers that kept attacking fell to the ground. First, their chests fell and then their legs, due to the red light cutting them all in half.

"A warned ya. I don't enjoy killing, but if ya force my blade, that's all it knows."

Chills ran down each of the regular soldiers' backs as they broke out in a cold sweat. Such confident words were bone-chilling. None of the regular soldiers dared to approach Maynard. 

"Fools! Magic Corps, handle the lv. 30's and kill the demon where he stands!" ordered Arnole. At the moment, he wanted nothing more than to kill Jack where he stood. Jack had warned him that he knew the truth, and when Arnole pushed further, Jack proved capable of ruining everything he had done. Arnole wondered how Jack could ever know that incantation!

The soldiers stepped back for a moment as the Magic Corps bombarded Maynard with all kinds of sorcery.

But as the Magic Corps entered the battle, more adventurers charged in as well. Some people in the crowd recognized some faces, two, in particular, stood out in the new group.

"Wait, that's the old Captain Darmut! The Champion of the sea!"

"If that's the old champion, then that has to be his son, Trevor Darmut, the youngest captain in the city!"

"But why are they with the association and not the Royal Court?"

"Didn't you know? The young captain stood up for the association and was court-martialed. I guess he and his father prefer the association to the current Royal Court."

The crowd's banter meant nothing to those on the battlefield. For the time being, the fight appeared to be even. Neither side held the advantage and the adventurers focused on defense as if they were stalling.

"By the fire in hell and the chaos in the earth, I call upon thy power to show me thy follower's birth!"

Some familiar words started to ring in people's ears and the frightening black clouds reappeared. Arnole showed signs of panic. The hooded man's smile just grew wider with each word.

Jack was now sitting cross-legged in front of the association building. He paid no attention to the battlefield and focused solely on the ritual he was performing, showing complete trust in his allies.

"As turmoil and blood wash the world over, let my blood guide thy signs as they crossover!"

"Slash!" To the shock of the crowd, they saw Jack cut himself, starting from his palm to the bottom of his forearm. Blood was falling down his right arm in a frenzy.

Just when everyone thought Jack had gone insane, Jack started drawing a circle with his blood.

"STOP HIM!!" Arnole pushed himself as hard as he could, but the tag-team of Zariff rock-hard bodily defenses and Leodoro's electrifying offense was not easy to overcome.

Finally, a handful of soldiers rushed to Jack. When the adventurers pushed to block one, the man vanished and reappeared behind the adventurer. He had an opening to kill the adventurer, but he didn't take and kept running to Jack.

The same thing happened with three other soldiers, startling the adventurers. No one was able to stop them. It seemed like it was only a matter of time until they would reach Jack.

Maynard activated his Sudden Death skill and reappeared elsewhere, successfully blocking two of the four assailants. Sadly, no one else was able to stop the remaining two.

Unaffected by the battle, Jack had finished drawing his blood circle and was writing some strange, archaic symbols within it.

The first of the two men to reach Jack lunged with full force. Just when he was a meter away, a glowing cutlass pierced forward, nearly killing the man in a single strike. Pushed back and unable to reach Jack, the soldier started facing Tomas head-on.

The final man was attacked by Trevor, but he decided to receive the attack in order to reach Jack as soon as possible. Had it been Tomas or Maynard, he wouldn't dare take the blow, but he was lucky that only Trevor attacked him. That was his last thought before he fell dead.

"Thud!"

Of the four soldiers that broke through the adventurers' defenses, the only one who was killed, let alone injured, was the one facing the lv. 26 swordsman.

The other three were shaken. While defending themselves, they sneaked a glance at there fallen comrade. When they saw only a superficial sword wound they were confused, at least until they noticed the arrow lodged in his head.

Arnole was stunned. How could they fail, they were so close?! Looking for the source of the arrow, soldiers weren't able to find a culprit. Only after they looked beyond the soldiers' encirclement and into the crowd did they see a man holding a bow, and another arrow was nocked and ready.

"Rydel!" Arnole and the captains instantly recognized the hunter in the crowd. 

"Go!"

Suddenly, nine other figures rushed out of the crowd. Four brandished knives and blades as they carved their way into the soldier's encirclement. Three pulled out swords as they hacked any soldier who dared stop them. One brandished a pair of brass knuckles as he pummeled his way toward the adventurers.

The last one stood just outside of the crowd, like Rydel. They wore a hood over their head, but it wasn't able to cover the glow in their eyes. Both arms rose as fire formed around their palms before it blasted into the soldiers.

"Aaaahhh!!"

Cries of pain and agony filled the air. Suddenly, just when the soldiers had appeared to turn the tide of battle, the adventurers' hidden forces started a slaughter.

Jack continued to draw with his blood. His face was pale and he was visibly trembling from blood loss, but his determination was immovable. 

Soon the final symbol was drawn and Jack let out a huge sigh. Pure, healing energy encompassed Jack. That was when everyone noticed the cleric through the window of the association building.

"Skaryn, reveal thy intent and let the world behold thy servant's work!"

"Crack! CRACK!"

Thunderclaps finally appeared in the air as the blood circle began to glow for all to see. It took a moment for the crowd to look away from the blood glow but their attention was quickly grabbed by the lightning in the sky.

"What… What is that?!"

Everyone froze where they stood, including most of the soldiers. They were in a trance as pitch-black lightning started to crawl and coil in the dark clouds. The air was tinted black as the black static energy filled the area.

"STOP HIIIM!!!" belted Arnole. He was fed up and veins were bulging on his neck. No matter what he did, he couldn't break free from his opponents.

Seeing that Jack was finally about to succeed, Arnole desperately launched himself toward Jack.

Leodoro and Zariff saw his fiendish expression and immediately tried to stop him. Zariff swung his crude war axe at full strength, but he was amazed to see Arnole take the attack without a single block.

The king also launched an overwhelming attack, trying to fry Arnole alive. Like Zariff, Leodoro was astonished to see Arnole let the lightning strike his body directly as the crazed sorcerer found an opening to attack Jack.

"DIE!"

A gigantic blade of wind was created and thrown at Jack. No one was able to stop that attack, not even Zariff or Leodoro.

"Thy deeds shan't remain hidden…" Jack tried to quickly finish the incantation and activate the ritual, but the sharp wind was already crashing against his body.

"And they hands…"

Pained groans were leaving Jack's mouth as he forced the words out of his collapsing lungs.

Some adventurers hurried to Jack, trying to take the attack in his place. But how could they be as fast as one of Arnole's most powerful killing spells? They couldn't even keep up with their eyes.

Jack shut his eyes, making sure to finish the chant with his dying breath. Before he knew it, the tip of the wind blade had entered his chest as he yelled the final words. 

"Shan't go berserk!"

Chapter end