22 Battle Royale
Looking at Nahza's back, sadness was swelling in Rick's heart.
To push her into surrender, he had cracked her ego, destroyed her confidence, and shattered her self-esteem.
He had made his only friend in this world feel utterly useless. More so, a burden.
Gradually, his sadness started changing into anger at Argus Familia who created the situation where he had to do this.
He turned around and faced Argus Familia and took a sword stance.
He chose an obviously defensive one to let his enemies initiate the battle.
Ring~
[Killing Intent is being directed towards The Player.
Emergency Quest: "Crisis!" has been created.
"Crisis!": The player is facing a great crisis. Muster your courage, defeat your enemies, and overcome your crisis to gain the reward.
Quest Clear Condition: Eliminate your enemies (0/28).
Quest Clear Reward: Gain the Title: "Executioner".]
'Only one reward for this?' Rick wondered about the effects of the Title he would get as a reward for killing 28 persons.
But he didn't have the time to check the effects. Because a team of 6 adventurers charged at him… they arrived a heartbeat later.
Rick swatted away the oncoming axe with his sword before spinning and intercepting a spear coming in from the side.
He sidestepped a slice, dodged a stab, ducked under a sweep. He avoided and blocked their attacks by the narrowest of margins.
The veteran adventurers' formation and movements were extremely well-timed, with the next attack about to hit just as the previous one was deflected.
They were a well-trained and highly experienced team.
Amid all of this dodging, spinning, and blocking, Rick showed off his excellent self-taught swordsmanship techniques.
The elegance in his footwork and the clean movement of his sword as it drew arcs in the air was artistic.
"Even as a veteran adventurer myself, I only got to see few adventurers who can display such perfect swordsmanship.
The way the Apostle Warrior moves his sword is MARVELOUS!" Ibly's voice echoed throughout the city as he conveyed his thoughts.
The audience's cheers were starting to get louder and louder.
They were entranced by Rick's way of fighting. But no one dared to really root for him.
He has been only fighting with a small team. The real players of Argus Familia were still sitting in their chairs smiling arrogantly.
The audience cheering was getting louder, and the fight was taking longer than anticipated.
It irritated some of Argus Familia members. So, they started to join the fight one after the other.
With the increasing number of attackers, avoiding and blocking all the oncoming attacks started to get harder and harder.
Some of the attacks started to get through. Small cuts and bruises started to appear here and there on Rick's body.
It didn't mean that he took them silently, his style started to get more aggressive and he started counterattacking as well.
The more he got afflicted with small wounds the more ferocious his sword became. Wounds started to appear on his enemies.
But the injured ones could easily back down to drink a potion then charge at him again.
"Lord Ganesha! Rick Stark's attacks seem to get faster and stronger after getting hurt… Do you think that this is the effect of a skill?" Ibly asked.
"I think it's-----Ganeshaaaaa!"
He shouted his name as he struck a manly pose out of nowhere.
'"~I am the bone of my sword~"' Rick started loudly incanting.
"Huh?" Ibly was taken by surprise.
'"~Steel is my body, and fire is my blood~"'
The crowd started to get worked up. "What? He can cast magic while he fights!" "Woahhhhhh!"
Normal citizens and Lower-class adventurers only listened to stories about Concurrent Casters.
They could never have the chance to watch it up close.
"'~I have created over a thousand blades~"'
Rick's incantation continued as he avoided, blocked, and countered his enemies' attacks.
Cheers of surprise and excitement erupted all over the city of Orario.
Which made all the members of Argus Familia (except for Lyra and Ickler) attack Rick at once.
"'~Unknown to Death, Nor known to Life~'"
Meanwhile, inside the confines of Babel Tower in Central Park, many gods and goddesses voiced admiration for his exploits.
"Is this Concurrent Casting?"
"But at a battlefield of this level…"
"Impressive!"
"This reminds me of the Gale Wind… Only her could achieve Concurrent Casting at a battle of this speed."
'"~Withstood the pain to create many weapons~'"
The adventurers surrounded Rick in a complete ring.
"Someone, stop this spell!"
They frantically attacked him trying to stop his incantation. But for some reason, their attacks couldn't reach him anymore.
He was elegantly spinning around and blocking every attack they threw.
His movements became something reminiscent of an artistic sword dance being played at x10 speed.
'"~Yet, those hands will never hold anything~'"
Magic users had already finished the incantations for their short-cast magic spells.
They waited for a chance to hit Rick without causing a friendly fire.
But the chance never came. Rick was completely surrounded by their teammates.
And when some of their teammates retreated to make way, Rick would quickly reposition himself in the middle of the fray to render the magicians useless
So, some of them canceled the magic and charged to attack physically. Others decided to keep their magic and stood by waiting for a chance.
"Tsk, tsk!" "What are these idiots doin'?" Lyra and Ickler clicked their tongues as they watched their subordinates failing to stop a mere magic spell.
'"~So as I pray…~'"
'What is happening?' was what everyone in Orario thought at that moment.
It was getting brighter and brighter as they watched the battle.
The sky became so dazzling that the audience stopped watching the battle to look up at the sky and the deities added the view of the sky above the Colosseum to their Clairvoyance Windows.
And the scene shown on these 'windows' made everyone speechless.
A massive golden Magic circle was formed above the battle arena. Inside it, countless swords made of light were formed.
Lyra quickly jumped off her chair to stop the magic from being launched. But it was too late…
'"Unlimited Blade Works!'"
Upon Rick's words, Light Swords started raining from the sky...
Ring~
[Eliminate your enemies (26/28).]
----
Up until a few minutes earlier, he hadn't decided on his strategy for this battle. Because he didn't know the one that could grant him victory.
According to his evaluation of his own strength, he could manage to fight Lyra (the Level-4 captain) alone or to fight the rest of the Familia.
The extent of his capabilities wouldn't allow him to fight them both simultaneously.
But Lyra -along with Ickler- brought chairs and sat down indicating that they would stay out of the fight 'unless something happens'.
Their arrogance gave Rick a clear strategy.
He unequipped the equipment that increased his Stat points and took a defensive stance.
When the lackeys attacked him, he put up a fight; strong enough to be believable and weak enough not to alarm Lyra and make her join the battle.
If he had killed one or two of the lackeys, Lyra might've made a move.
So, he silently cast his magic.
After preparing enough Light Swords to finish off most of the lackeys, he started his fake incantation.
Some adventurers are wary of magic attacks. If Lyra was one of them, then she might have tried to stop him when he started the incantation.
But by then, the pre-prepared magic would've been enough to do the job.
The lack of a visible magic ring gave Argus Familia a less sense of danger.
And when they finally saw the magic ring, it was already too late.
He had already spent all his MP on this one magic attack.
He reequipped the equipment that he had removed then he drank a superior mana potion.
----
Lyra tried to attack Rick and induce Ignis Fatuus, but she didn't have enough time.
She took two steps forward then swords made of light started raining from above.
Her Adamantite Gauntlets were her only armor and weapon. She raised her wrists above her head to shield her body.
Light swords hit her gauntlets hard, she had to muster her strength to be able to keep her arms raised.
The magic attack couldn't destroy Adamantite, but it didn't mean that it left her unscathed.
The gauntlets could only cover so much of her body. Some of the falling light swords grazed different places of her body.
Light swords didn't only cut through her skin, it also made burn injuries around the cut.
Even though, she only received light injuries because her Defense Stat was very high.
From her position, she watched the members of her own Familia being slaughtered under the rainfall of swords.
Swords of light fell down and impaled the weaker ones, killing them immediately.
The swords didn't stop at killing them, they continued to fall and impale their dead bodies even more.
Some magic users who were in the middle of preparing magic spells were impaled. It caused Ignis Fatuus, so their bodies exploded from the inside out.
The Defense-specialized adventurers took it the hardest, they didn't die immediately.
They felt each and every sword hitting them. Eventually, enough damage to kill them was accumulated and they were relieved forever.
Some of them had raised their shields to defend themselves.
But they didn't have enough strength to back the shields against the barrage of falling swords. And they eventually faced the same fate.
Behind Lyra, Ickler had quickly cast a magic shield spell. It continued to defend him for a while, then it was broken through.
Fortunately for him, his magic shield was broken at the end of the shower of light swords.
Only one sword hit him. A bleeding shoulder was the only injury he sustained.
Once the light swords stopped falling, Lyra disappeared from her spot…
A moment later, her golden gauntlet appeared right in front of Rick's face.
He had just finished gulping a potion. Without enough time to react, the punch hit him like a thunderbolt.
BAM!
The impact sent him flying and his sword 'Heartseeker' was thrown out of his hand.
His head started bleeding and his health has fallen by thirty percent.
He didn't have the time to touch the ground, Lyra's fist was already descending on him.
But this time, he anticipated it and used Ruler's Hand to push the ground diagonally and avoid the attack.
Lyra didn't immediately follow up with another punch.
Seeing his body change its course in the air, as if it were a puppet being pulled by strings, surprised her and made her stop in her place.
--
Lyra was confident that her punch could knock down any Level-3 adventurer.
But this one… he wasn't knocked down. He immediately used some strange skill to avoid her next punch.
And his magic attack earlier… at the first glace, each light sword had the power of a Level-3 attack.
But judging by the number of swords and the area of effect, that spell… was at least Level-5!
'False Ranker!' was the conclusion she reached. Lyra didn't know much about Rick since she wasn't the one in charge of the assassination contract.
'No wonder Dian Cecht wanted to kill 'im so badly. Still, the bastard shoulda told us about this. I'll make 'im beg for forgiveness for this!'
She vowed to make Dian Cecht regret even descending to the Lower World after she's done dealing with him.
She was done underestimating Rick. She would do everything right and deal with him as she would do with a high-valued target.
--
Again, Rick didn't have the time to land… This time, it was Ickler.
He came from behind Rick and aimed a kick at him while he was still in the air. But his movements were way slower than Lyra's.
Rick found the leisure to rotate his body mid-air and landed feet first on Ickler's leg.
He used it as a foothold to propel his body further away from his two enemies.
"The hell you're doin'? Start castin'!" Lyra angrily shouted at Ickler.
Ickler immediately followed her order by jumping backward and starting an incantation.
Once Rick finally landed on his feet, he unsheathed his 'Beast Lord' sword and took a firm stance.
-----
Other than the battle sounds inside the Colosseum, not a single sound could be heard throughout the city of Orario.
The audience in the Colosseum held their breaths as they gazed at the battle in awe.
Other people throughout the city glued their eyes to 'Clairvoyance Window' screens as they watched.
Blood seeping from the bodies littered on the ground was a scene too gruesome to be exposed to the public.
The gods avoided showing it as they displayed the battle on their screens.
The Hestia vs. Apollo War was a children's play compared to this... massacre.
No one expected anything like this. Everyone thought that they were about to observe Argus Familia one-sidedly bullying Miach Familia.
But what in the seven hells did they just watch? Most of Argus Familia were annihilated in a matter of seconds!
Even the three gods who bet on Miach Familia didn't expect this…
They pretty much thought that they had lost their money once three members of Miach Familia surrendered.
But then the battle turned from 1vs28 to 1vs2, they forgot about their bets altogether and were taken in by the surprise and excitement.
Even the gods on the thirtieth floor of Babel Tower remained silent as they watched the wondrous battle in front of them.
As for the contending parties themselves; Miach stopped blinking as he glued his face to his screen, and Argus stood up and held the sides of his head in disbelief.
But as the remaining three combatants readied themselves and took their places, everyone knew that the battle was far from over.
They eagerly waited to see how the Argus Familia captains would retaliate after losing all their subordinates.
----
Ickler moved behind Lyra and started incanting, Rick took a sword stance, and Lyra shot forward aiming a punch at Rick's face.
Rick received her gauntlet with his sword.
She followed up with a kick, but she withdrew it and jumped back before her foot connected to Rick's side.
Less than a second later, a sword flew and pierced the air where her neck was a moment ago.
The sword 'Heartseeker' spun itself in the air and attacked Lyra again. In her confusion, she punched the sword away.
Rick appeared in front of her with the tip of his sword 'Beast Lord' aimed at her throat.
She barely avoided it, only to find the flying sword charging at her again.
Rick and his flying sword continued relentlessly harassing Lyra until…
"~Tuleva Tulilintu~!"
Ickler had finished casting his spell. And a giant Fire Bird was shot from his staff at Rick.
Lyra jumped backward to avoid the spell. Rick extended his left hand towards the jumping Lyra.
The flying sword fell suddenly as if it was a puppet that got its strings cut.
Rick closed his left hand and pulled it as if he was holding Lyra with an invisible rope…
Surprisingly, her body was snatched from the air as if she was really attached to Rick's hand.
Rick used Ruler's Hand to fend the oncoming spell off with Lyra's body.
"Arnette!" Shouted Ickler.
The Fire Bird hit Lyra and exploded. Both Rick and Lyra were thrown away by the explosion.
But Lyra had the worst of it since the magic hit her directly.
The 'Heartseeker' was raised from the ground and flew again towards Rick. It ended up floating above his shoulder.
Lyra stood slowly and shouted loudly, "Don't get cocky, you bastaaaaaaaard!"
Two dark blue auras of energy started to form around her gauntlets. They quickly reached their final form of two giant lion heads.
This was Lyra's special skill, 'Raging Lion Hands'. Lion heads formed of dark blue aura would surround her arms whenever she activates this skill.
It increases her speed, strength, and destructiveness. As a side effect, it decreases her intelligence and gets her into a Rage Status.
As soon as the skill was completed, Lyra bolted at Rick.
'Too fast... dangerous!' was what he thought.
He raised his sword with his right hand to defend and placed the back of his left wrist behind the blade to support it.
But Lyra's punch was way stronger than he anticipated. It shattered the 'Beast Lord' sword and threw him in the air.
Lyra jumped above him and sent another punch. This time, she was too fast for him to react. She punched his left arm.
"UaaaaGh!" He screamed from the excruciating pain he felt in his arm as he was slammed to the ground.
Lyra didn't give him the time to recover, she followed up with yet another punch. He lost the feeling in his left arm completely.
She punched him again and again. His arm started to look like a disfigured blue mush under the effect of the punching hurricane.
"Arrows of Judgment!"
Six magic rings appeared around Rick. From each of them, an arrow of condensed light was fired at Lyra.
"Aaaaaaah!" In such a close range, she couldn't evade, and the arrows pierced her body.
However, the arrows couldn't penetrate deep into her flesh and they only caused shallow stab wounds.
But the wounds gave her enough pain to make her stop punching Rick.
[HP: 9,056/81,600]
By the effect of Ruler's Hand, the 'Heartseeker' sword came flying and stabbed itself in the side of Lyra's neck.
But it couldn't pierce through, blood trickled from the tip of the sword. Lyra's Defense Ability was very high.
She swatted the sword away and was about to punch Rick again, but…
"Arrows of Judgment!"
This time the arrows fell on Lyra's back from the sky.
"Arrrrrrgh!"
Rick unsummoned and resummoned the sword 'Heartseeker' in his hand, then used 'Swift Strike' to stab Lyra's heart.
Again the sword didn't pierce through!
'Just how high is her defense?' was what he thought to himself as he infused light magic into the sword.
Lyra raised her fist to punch again. Her punch connected to the side of Rick's head… but without much strength.
Because the magic-imbued sword finally pierced through her heart.
And the light in her eyes was gone.
…
..
"Palopoltin!"
A huge pillar of fire descended from the sky and hit more than half of the fighting arena.
Everything the fire touched was disintegrated. Except for the charred-black two humanoid objects in the middle.
The two objects were once known as the bodies of Lyra and Rick.
Ickler looked at the scene in front of him and shouted.
"JUST FRIGGIN DIE, YOU PIECE OF SHIT! Huh…?"
A green glow engulfed one of the two bodies…
Ring~
[HP is < 5% - All critical wounds are healed. HP is raised to 50%.]
'Sword Strike!' …and Ickler's head rolled on the ground.
Ring~
[You've completed the Emergency Quest: Crisis!
The reward for completing the quest has arrived.]
"""WOOOAAAHHH!"""
Cheers erupted everywhere inside the Colosseum.
"Rick Stark, we are here to escort you to the Guild. You better not resist."
Dozens of adventurers surrounded him holding their weapons. One of them threw a robe at him.
'Why a robe? … uh, I'm naked!'
-------
When the green glow surrounded Rick's charred body, the expressions of every god and goddess in Orario turned grim.
"MIACH!"
Hestia's shout echoed throughout Babel Tower.
But when Hestia turned to look at Miach, the face that met her eyes showed the characteristics of complete shock!
"YA MOTHERFUKKIN CHEATER! MA BOYZ… THEY'RE DEAD!"
Argus screamed as he attacked Miach.
The present gods separated them and detained them both.
Then, they sent word with the Guild employees for Ouranos, asking him about the time and place…
Of which Miach would stand on trial and Ouranos would be the judge.
…
What healed Rick back then was Miach's Divine Power, his 'Arcanum'.
And not any Arcanum… it's Miach's own 'Insignia'.
Arcanum is the deities' divine powers. They come of different types and shapes like skills or magic.
Most types of Arcanum can be used by all the deities.
But each deity has a unique type of Arcanum that's specific for them, and no other deity can use that 'Insignia'.
Rick just used Miach's Insignia in front of everyone in Orario.
Bestowing pure strength upon children 'who didn't have enough excelia' is prohibited for deities. Bestowing Arcanum upon them is taboo.
But bestowing one's Insignia… it's just insane.
Actually, it's something that shouldn't even be possible. It can't be done.
--------
[*Name: Rick Stark *Miach's Blessing (Level: 2)
*Level: 68
*Class: Ruler *Army Status: None (7/251)
*Title: Beast Lord - Transcendent of Predecessors
*HP: 81,600 *MP: 15,094 *Fatigue: 0
*Stats:
Strength: 132 - Endurance: 120 - Agility: 132 - Intelligence: 222 - Sense: 94
(Available stat points: 0)
*Damage Reduction: 47%
*Skills:
- Passive Skills: Unknown (Level: MAX), Advanced Sword Technique (Level: 2), Immunity (Level: 1), Mage (Level:1).
- Active Skills: Swift Strike (Level: 2), Whirlwind (Level: 2), Stealth (Level: 2), Ruler's Hands (Level: 2), Bloodlust (Level: 1).
- Class Skills: Light Magic (Level: 1), Purify (Level: 1).
*Equipment: - Ancient Supreme Helmet 'S' (15%, +20 Strength, +20 Agility), Keeper's Necklace 'S' (+20 Endurance), Koffac's Cloak 'A' (10%), Ancient Breastplate 'B' (12%), Ancient Boots 'B' (5%), Ancient Gauntlets 'B' (5%), Ancient Magician's Ring 'B' (+5 Intelligence).
*Gold: 231,449,030]
