Runemage

<Nelio>

"To think this was the end of a man who was considered the strongest, it was pathetic." Odysseus spoke with a condensing gaze as he looked down on Achilles' corpse.

The corpse was wrinkled dry as if hollowed from the inside.

Suddenly the forest outside Nelio shook. Odysseus stared at the forest and opened his mouth, "Paris also seems to have succeeded."

The Seafolks were running towards Nelio while killing every human on their path.

Odysseus crouched to pick up Achilles' corpse, "It's the end for Nelio and everyone….!"

A shadow jumped in between and swiped Achilles' corpse away.

The moonlight revealed the shadow's visage.

"Why are you taking that corpse away, Helen?" Odysseus asked.

"This was not our deal." Helen answered. Her gaze was fixed on the seafolks who were mercilessly trampling on human lives.

Odysseus chuckled, "What can you do if I broke the agreement? Can you save your country when you couldn't even protect the throne that belonged rightfully to you, princess?"

Helen bit her lips. Karnok was her fiance who gained the right to throne thanks to the marriage agreement. Because of her powerlessness, Helen lost everything to that parasite in human skin.

"Are you trying to stop me? You don't even have the Rune tower with you anymore."

Odysseus' words stung Helen. He slowly moved his hand towards his sword while speaking poisonous truths.

"You seduced Paris so that you could escape to Troy. When that failed you teamed with me and dumped everything on Noah. And now you are betraying even me? You truly are loved by the Goddess of Discord."

Helen clenched her fists tightly and spat, "At least I'm not trying to end the world."

"Ahahaha, so what is wrong with my goal? Isn't this shitty world….!?"

Odysseus' stopped speaking. His eyes reflected confusion at the scene happening in front of him.

A gigantic magic circle appeared on the ground with Achilles' corpse at the center. The corpse levitated and the golden light flowed into Achilles.

Ba-dump!

Achilles' fingers twitched. His eyes snapped open while the pulse returned to his body.

Odysseus' eyes widened. He attacked instantly but couldn't reach Achilles on time. He saw Helen carrying a pebble with a rune engraved on it and understood what was happening.

"A resurrection rune? Where did you get something like that?" asked Odysseus.

Helen didn't answer. She was the Runemage in charge of handling the Rune Pagoda Noah stole. When Noah used Inverse Resurrection to eliminate the two Lv.90 warriors, Helen copied those spells into two runes.

She wasted the first rune, thinking that it could one-hit kill anyone.

For weird reasons, the rune Helen made from copying Noah's guaranteed one-hit kill attack didn't kill the target and instead revived a corpse near it.

Helen then used the 2nd and last rune to revive Achilles.

"Achilles, you need to stop the seaf…!?"

Achilles growled, his eyes turned red and he ran on all fours, attacking Odysseus before Helen could complete her sentence.

His nails grew into claws. He attacked like a savage uncontrolled beast.

A sigh escaped Odysseus' lips, "I was worried for nothing."

Grrrrrr!

Achilles stood on all fours. Even after pouncing on Odysseus, Achilles was still standing at his initial location. He hadn't moved an inch since the start.

Achilles crouched, coiling his muscles, he released the tension like a rubber stretched to its limit and jumped. The ground beneath him cracked.

However, Achilles was in the same location. The distance between him and Odysseus hadn't reduced at all.

Achilles tilted his head. He stared at the ground like an infernal beast. The loss of blood had caused Blood hunger and Achilles lost control over his actions.

He attacked Odysseus to regain blood. But if that wasn't possible…

"Wa..wait, Achilles!?" Helen's pupil shook as fangs of the silver-haired kid grew.

Slash!

A long wound appeared on Achilles' back. Growling, he turned around and saw Odysseus' blade covered in his blood.

Odysseus was still standing far away. He had, however, landed a hit on Achilles…. And injured him

Helen saw a rune engraved on Odysseus' chest. 'An Ancient Rune? When did Odysseus find it?'

Odysseus ignored Helen and spoke to Achilles.

"Do you know Achilles why you were called the strongest warrior?"

A red hue covered Odysseus' sword and he slashed. Nearly fifty meters separated Achilles and Odysseus, but Odysseus' attack ignored the constraint of space and struck the berserk Achilles.

"Because I couldn't be bothered to take it from you."

***

<Erebus POV>

Today was the weirdest day in my 26 days 11 hours 56 seconds of life. I was born prematurely. Yet, I wasn't weak or malnourished.

When I broke out of the confines binding me, I saw 'him'.

What should I call 'him'? If I take a reference from the knowledge I absorbed from 'him' during incubation, he should be my dad… or maybe mother?

…I should ask 'him' later.

Soon after my birth, I saw 'him' preparing to fight me.

Why? Was 'he' afraid of my lineage?

Did 'he' not know that my Abyssal lineage came from 'him'?

'He' was dying. His soul was corrupted by the poison of Abyss… or maybe not? Why was I aware of such knowledge when I was born a few minutes ago?

My confusion grew when a grotesque creature attacked 'him'.

That thing was disgusting. It was a remnant of a once powerful being. A corpse brought to life by fusing it with the living.

'He' lost.

I should've helped 'him'. However, his beautiful martial arts captivated me and I was unable to do anything but watch in a daze.

Warrior blood flowed in me. It was telling me that 'his' potential was untapped.

I could tell. 'His' moves were a little sloppy but that was because something was binding 'him'. As if his body was refusing the very notion of attacking.

Why did 'he' have such restrictions on him?

I stood before 'his' corpse and opened my palm towards 'him'.

[ Activating skill 'Death Steal' ]

I wanted to watch him more.