Last "Best" Gift (Part 2)

CHAPTER 6 Part 2: Backlash

Before everyone went home, all of them gave their gift to me for my birthday.

A wand came out of the neatly ribboned box they gave me, mana radiating from the normal-looking stick. I'm not fond of carrying staffs and wands, but this wand is special, like any other wand it boosts a mage's power output with less mana input, and what makes the wand they gave me unique is that the holder can store it in a separate dimension and summon the wand at any given time, meaning that I don't need to remember bringing it everywhere I go and help Griffin exterminate monsters that roam close to Gadvell. Ophelia also mentioned that it requires blood for it to bond to someone, a good thing my body is already full of wounds and scratches.

I immediately performed the ritual excitedly, making a bonding magic circle with the help of Ophelia and drawing blood from my wounded arm. As the drop of blood touched the magic circle, I started to feel nauseous, I experienced an extreme case of vertigo as I struggle to hold my ground. The wand that was placed in the middle of the circle came flying to my hand, indicating that the bonding process was complete. I conjured magic, listening closely to Ophelia's instruction, opening a tear in space in front of me, an ominous sound came from the tear in space as it opened wider, a dimensional rift with the color of black and red swirling as the portal forms an oval shape, a portal for storing my weapon.

After the ritual, Aishita walked Ophelia and Yuna home, I offered to come as well but they insisted that I should rest and let my wounds heal for now, so I stayed at home. After some time, Griffin finally went inside but it seems that Mary went out to catch up with Aishita to accompany our guest to their home.

And then…

BOOOM!!!!!

The ground trembled as a loud explosion suddenly came out of nowhere

Alarms in the village went off one after another

"KYAHHH!!"

People started panicking outside. Curious, both Griffin and I rushed outside to check the situation.

"Nooo..." I said, eyes wide as my heart broke

The scene both of us saw terrified us, we froze in place.

DEMONS! Demons were murdering one person after another. The once peaceful village is now on the brink of destruction, chaos filled the air sending shivers down my spine. Everywhere we look, all we saw was blood, ash, fire, burning houses, corpses, demons chasing people killing on sight. Screams were heard from all directions, the smell of blood, embers, smoke, and burning corpses linger in the air overpowering the fresh scent of flowers usually present in Gadvell.

Griffin looked serious, he stepped in front of me, went down on my eye level, and spoke.

"Sura, I'm only going to say this once.

Find your mother and your sister, head to the kingdom of LouwenDale, and find Tiffany Fareas. Now GO!"

"Wait aren't you going to go wit~"

Griffin suddenly hit me backhanded in the face, it wasn't that strong, but I felt the emotions he was trying to convey. He again said that I should go now, no questions asked, then with his sword and dagger went out to helped with the other remaining guards.

I never saw my father look like that before, even in the forest against the Lygnicans, he was never that… desperate, like nothing mattered. It was the first time my father hit me.

THIS IS SERIOUS!

And so, I ran, I ran as fast as I can, without even realizing that I can use wind magic to go look for Aishita and Mary, I was panicking, the world that I came to love was falling apart, my second chance with my family...

I ran faster trying not to get swallowed by my thoughts. Without knowing where I was or where I was heading, people were panicking, people were getting sliced, gnawed, thorn apart, or burned alive. Blood was everywhere, fire, smoke, bones, ash…

and then.

*THUD*

I ran and collided with Yuna who was also alone, maybe she got separated from the others.

She quickly stood and held my hand then ran for cover. Her usual cheerful demeanor was replaced by a surprisingly reliable atmosphere, her outfit was full of holes, burns are seen from the holes of her outfit, her tip burnt hair fluttered as we race through the burning chaos trying to seek shelter.

***

We managed to hide by creating some sort of cover underground near the fields.

With time to think, I was able to gather some insights regarding the demons that I saw invading our village. Unlike their counterparts on Earth, these demons aren't red and won't tempt you to do bad. They're black with some black mist coming out from their body, but just like the story before they had differences among each other, some were beast-like, some had humanoid features that wore armors and hold swords, staffs, or spears. I managed to see a winged demon on our escape, I remember reading about these creatures before, besides from the novel from Earth, where did I read about these creatures who had the same characteristics...

[ASHURA!]

Indeed, Ashura the author of the book entitled "Learning the Arts of Necromancy", I remembered that a Shadow Necromancer's summons, takes the shape of the corpse that the necromancer wished to resurrect, however, the Summon does not maintain their original appearance once they become one of the Necromancer's 'henchmen', they become one with the shadows but still maintain the physique they once had, jet black mist coming out from their body.

Maybe, the story about the Arcane Sorcerer leading an army of demons was altered for some reason.

"I'm glad you're safe…" Yuna said breaking my silent thinking and breathing heavily.

"I'm glad you're safe as well, but… where are the others?"

"I don't know… I got separated from them when a winged demon fired a high-tier spell in our direction, blasting everyone away and that demon snatched me."

"What?! Were you able to see if the others were, okay?"

"Mom noticed the blast in time and quickly countered it with Aqua Sphere, but it was not enough to completely nullify the spell. I just hope they're safe."

"I hope so, but how did you get away from the grasp of the demon who snatched you away?"

"2 wolves suddenly came out of nowhere and attacked the demon, for some strange reason they look similar to those demons, jet black mist also enveloped their bodies. After the wolves got the demon's attention, the demon was shot by an arrow and dissipated away. I ran away as fast as possible and crashed into you."

"Ow…"

***

About 10 minutes passed and Griffin suddenly came out of nowhere with an army of about 20 Shadow Summons following behind him. He stopped for a moment then traveled in a blink of an eye, 5 knight-like summons who had shields defended against Griffin. 6 beast-like summons came from behind the shields, they vary from large bears and panthers, Griffin dodged their pursuit, however, 4 knight-like summons who had spears and long swords jumped from behind him, he was able to dodge, block, and parry about 50 strikes from those demons in quick succession, the dagger that had an inscription on it began glowing, then he became a flash, he was so fast I could only see an afterimage of him, he managed to beat 3 of the shadow knights who had a spear or sword in just moments.

These Shadow summonses are weaker compared to the A-class monster we fought against a while back, however, even if that's the case they're still considered S+ class monsters because they form in groups and grouped monsters are classified based on their impact as a group.

Griffin ran away to create some distance, there were still 17 summonses surrounding him, I tried to come out of hiding to help him but Yuna prevented me, saying that I couldn't help, that I would only hold my father back. But I couldn't let them kill Griffin, he is family, as I was about to run in the open Yuna knocked me out with an earth magic-enhanced punch in the stomach.

"I'm sorry… dad..."

[I don't know what will happen, but I pray for your safety.]

"I'm sorry Sura, but you can't go out there and kill yourself. Your father is a guard of this village, and guarding you and your family is his duty if we go out there… we would only be a hindrance to him" she whispered in my ear, she was equally as frustrated as I am.

--Yuna's POV--

I knocked Sura and laid him down on the ground, I know what he feels because I had always blamed myself for not being strong enough to protect my parents. I need to protect Sura, Griffin's son, someone Griffin happily protects with his life, someone I liked since he first visited our house, remembering my first time seeing him through the gaps of our hut and asking Mother to go together and meet him.

I know even with Sura and me, we can't help Griffin, we will only drag him down and so I remained hidden in this hole we made with magic, seeing my parents in the brave man in front of me.

Griffin launched multiple strikes and stabs against the largest beast-like demon in front of him, which were ineffective against the large behemoth. 4 humanoid mage demons unleashed fire attribute spells towards Griffin, he managed to dodge one spell after another.

I don't know if he noticed us but I managed to meet him eye to eye.

Then he was hit at the back and his injuries began to reopen, blood starting to rush down from his wounds, indeed the wounds inflicted by the Lygnicans were healed but not entirely, the cleric in the village didn't have enough mana to completely heal wounds as serious as Griffin's.

The cleric class is the rarest branch among all 4 classes, that's why only a few have become full-fledged clerics, and the ones that do, need mentors to teach them. But with how rare clerics are, only people who can study at Manasophy Academy can learn in-depth about the branch and not everyone has the money or influence to study at the best school on the continent.

Griffin started slowing down as blood began to drip from his back, the demons were smart for targeting his wounds, but he didn't give up. He again used the dagger that lit up moments ago, he engulfed his dagger with raging flames. Again, he moved in a blink of an eye, holding his flaming dagger and his sword, he threw his sword at the shoulder of one of the mage demons, then swung the dagger, unleashing a crescent flame beheading the distracted demon, retrieved his sword and leaped to safety, the headless body then went up in flames.

The other demons began to attack altogether, circling Griffin, they had some sort of formation, the shield demons are at the very front, on the 2nd row was the beast demons with the single humanoid demon tightening his grip to his sword, on the last row was the 3 mages.

At the very back was another demon who never attacked griffin even at the very start, just spectating the battle. It had a humanoid figure, it wore a robe just like the other mage demons, however, he's different, he had a human feel to him, maybe, he's the leader of some sort, nevertheless, he makes me feel anxious.

Griffin launched an attack, lowering his stance, putting both his blades on his left side, then sprang towards one of the shield demons, the shield was quick, both the sword and dagger collided and shattered the shield of the demon. He used the dagger that now seems to glow a greenish hue and unleashed the wind spell, Ventus, which beheaded the shield demon, one of the beast demons, and together with the 2 mage demons far behind.

He managed to defeat another 4 opponents, only 12 remaining, 4 shield demons, 5 beast demons, 1 sword demon, 1 mage demon then the 1 at the very rear. The 5 beast demons began to run on all fours then pounced towards Griffin, he jumped as well, kicked one of the beasts by the nose, and sent it flying crashing down towards the field, using the momentum from his kick before, he spins in the other direction rapidly and sliced the jaws of the other 2 beasts near him. The 2 remaining beasts still in the air were the biggest among the 6 beasts that came with him, vulnerable in the air, Griffin tried to use the momentum of the 2 to his advantage, however, before letting that happen, the 2 moved out of the way. It was a trap, the remaining mage demon was casting a high-tier fire spell, Infernal Scorch, a spell that unleashed hell on earth, fast-moving geysers of flame erupted from the ground headed towards Griffin. On the spur of the moment, Griffin used his dagger now glowing a blueish color, he conjured water magic, like how Sura blocks with water, he tried to use currents of water that came from his dagger to stop the A tier magic, however, all it did was weakened the spell, and it still blasted Griffin.

Griffin came crashing down and his back collided on some rough surfaces, spewing blood everywhere, smoke coming from his body, heated by the A tier spell.

He painfully stood back up as the smoke clears up, panting, breathing heavily.

[He's getting tired, how much Ki and mana has he consumed? How much can his body take?]

The cornered Griffin raised his dagger and sword once again, crossing the blades together facing his remaining opponents. 8 demons stood in front of him, while the other one was still inactive.

Desperate, he used his strongest move, he squats down, inhaled, then he traveled so fast, it seemed that he teleported behind the shield demons, he beheaded them all one after the other, appearing and disappearing each kill.

He disappeared once again, only to reappear in front of the sword demon, Griffin somehow was scary during this fight, he had a red light that traced his eyes, he perfectly displayed how much strength an A rank Weapon God had, he destroyed the sword of the demon as it desperately tried to parry him, killing the demon.

He again disappeared and reappeared from above one of the beast demons, slicing it down effortlessly. The mage demon fired multiple Fireballs at Griffin, which he deflected towards the mage, unable to destroy its own spell, the mage burned to death.

Only one demon remained. The beast let out a roar then stood on its hind legs then slammed his forelegs on the ground, the earth below tremored from the force, he ran towards Griffin. Griffin blinked behind the demon and I witnessed the beast's body explode from Griffin's powerful strike.

Having to use his strongest ability against 8 opponents continuously, Griffin falls on all fours, gasping for breath, some sort of backlash was evident on his now busted legs. I can only imagine his pain as he teleported from one shadow to another.

Then Sura began to wake up.