24 A Difficult Enemy
"You can come out, I know you're there" I said calmly.
I had been feeling it for quite some time now, but chose not to say anything and merely focused on my slave's battle. But now that it was over, it was better not to leave any loose ends. Besides, our stalker was most likely behind this little mishap.
"My, my, looks like you're more capable than I gave you credit for." The mystery person said, walking forward.
He stepped out of the darkness and drew closer to us. Of course I already saw him clearly before he stepped out, but now he was visible to everyone. He had a sadistic smile and a confident look, as though we were at his mercy.
He looked like a young man, mid twenties at most. He had brown hair and similarly colored eyes. He also dressed in an exquisite and flashy apparel, even more so than mine.
"You are..."I said slowly in reflection.
I recognized his face. He was the royal.
"The person you humiliated and stole from." He said, his face turned intense as he let out a frown.
"I don't remember stealing from anyone, or even embarrassing anyone. You must have me mistaken for someone else," I shrugged.
"Oh, I doubt it. You are the one who dared to defy my bid and stubbornly coveted my wings. How dare you humiliate me?" He said scowling.
I knew it. He was the one I saw while using my enhanced sight in the other royal members' private bid room. Don't tell me, he sent attackers after us for such a petty reason?
"If I remember correctly, you were the one who bid higher than your capacity. Besides, if the wings were truly yours to begin with why would they be on sale?" I retorted.
Okay, that last statement was me shooting myself in the leg since that was kind of my case.
"Shut up! Do you know who I am? Who do you think you are?!" He yelled in anger.
This man was starting to piss me off.
"Hey, don't you think that's enough!" Talia suddenly spoke up against the man.
"What? Who the hell are you?" He asked.
"None of your concern. But you should stop now. It's not too late to turn back" Talia said to him.
I smiled.
I noticed what she was trying to do, but she was wrong about one thing, it was already too late for him. It was already too late the moment he attacked me with such small fry, an insult to me.
"Shut up bitch! I didn't ask for your opinion!" The man said.
Well, served Talia right for trying to play peacemaker.
Now it was Talia's turn to get upset. From her expression I could tell that she was also getting pissed off by this guy. As for my shadow shifter, he remained quiet and seemed exhausted. Well, that was enough fighting from his end for tonight. As for Talia, without her wings she was also useless to me in combat.
"I didn't want to do this, but, It looks like I'll have to personally take care of the trash," I said to myself.
"I take it you're the fool who hired those other fools to attack me?" I asked the idiot before me.
"F-Fool? Me? How dare you!!!" He yelled.
Good grief, the man was an eyesore. I couldn't stand his presence. It would be best to just kill him off instantly, and the fact that he was alone made him a cheap target. However, something seemed off.
Why did he seem so confident when he obviously appeared to be alone. He just witnessed dozens of people die by my slave yet he showed no fear. Perhaps he had a relic he could rely on, or he was a user of arts.
No, art users were not usually of royal blood. He must have a relic on him, I could sense some on him, but none of them were worth any attention. These were what he was so proud of?
"Pathetic" I muttered.
To finish this quickly I had to use Hex, one he had no chance of stopping.
"Hex #89 Blast of Destruction" I said, raising my hand.
As I raised it, from it came an intense surge of energy. The blast rushed to my target, who seemed nervous at this point but still smiled with both anger and bloodlust.
As the blast drew nearer, immediately someone appeared beside the foolish royal and stretched their hands. The hand stopped the blast and redirected it upward, preventing any substantial damage around them other than the charred path of the energy surge.
"Another person?" I asked.
"Hehehehehe" He chuckled.
"Are you unharmed sir?" The new person asked the royal.
This person wore a white hooded robe, with golden designs on it. They also emanated some form of aura that seemed... Different.
"Yeah, thanks to you" He smiled.
My eyes widened at the sight.
That was strange. The person seemed to have appeared right beside the man when the Hex was about to hit him. Not only that, but I didn't sense their presence until they appeared. Was it teleportation? No, it didn't seem like it. It felt more like the person had been there all along, I just hadn't notice them.
"Is that even possible?" I asked myself.
I had enhanced senses. No human should be able to hide from me, especially in plain sight. But, was I even sure this person was human? Judging by the way they easily countered my Hex.. There's no way this one was ordinary. I could sense it though. This person was human, but there was something else.
I could now understand why the man looked so confident earlier, it was because he has someone competent as his guard.
Well, no matter. It was just a little power anyway. There was no need to get worked up over it.
"Who are you?" I asked.
The person kept quiet. That irritated me.
"Hehehehe, do you understand your situation now? Your slaves don't seem to be much of a threat, leaving only you to fight. But I'll tell you this now, you can't beat this one" He smiled cockily.
The kind of thing I hated the most.
"Huh, this fool is getting pretty confident just for blocking a single Hex. Let's try this again shall we?" I said.
"Hex #89 Blast of Destruction" I said again, increasing the power by a large extent.
The output was more than double of the previous one and twice as fast. It destroyed the neighboring buildings and charged for the royal and his hooded friend.
The Hooded person stretched forth both hands and they glowed. Immediately, the Hex began to disperse as soon as they came into contact with their hands, and it dissipated.
Not just once, but twice now. How unbelievable. To think that there existed a human who could counter my Hex. This was a first for me. Who was this person?
"Evil. Your power is evil" The hooded person finally spoke up.
Evil? What did they mean?
"You, you're using the art of the evil one, aren't you?" They asked with a tone of disgust.
"Wow, you could tell?" I said dryly.
But indeed I was surprised. She dissipated my Hex with just her hands. And what was with that glow? Was it a relic? No! What else could it be?"
"And for this reason, it is only natural I would be able to stop you. For you see. I have been chosen by god, the holy one, to bring down the works of evil and to subject it to divine power." The person declared, putting down the hood and allowing me to see her face.
The woman looked quite young, with deep blue eyes and white hair. Her face remained cold and expressionless as she stared at me. I could initially tell with the voice she used that she possessed an effeminate attribute, but I couldn't be too sure since I was having difficulty reading her.
More importantly, what did she just say? Chosen by god? Divine power? Don't tell me...
"You're using divine power? How?" I asked her.
The woman glared at me and walked forward, leaving the royal behind her.
"I am the sword of god, chosen to purge all that is evil from this world and destroy his works. I have been bestowed power from the heavens for this very reason. Do not think your worthless and evil art can harm me in any way, for before you is an even more superior art!" She said, raising her hand which glowed with white light.
She was using another art? There were two types of arts. Hex, and the other. That was what she was using? But she mentioned being chosen by god and her art being more superior to Hex. No way, did that mean...?
"So you guys also had the same idea, uhn? Who would've thought you would resort to this" I said to myself.
And those whom I was referring to were none other than the gods.
It seemed that this girl's ability was somewhat related to the divine power used by gods, though it was considerably weaker. Nonetheless, it was genuine divine power. And thus, this only meant one thing.
"The gods are granting their powers to humans. That is the nature of this second art" I said, looking at the girl in front of me.
"Correct. Now, tremble and vanish before the sight of the invincible art.
"Grace!" She declared, causing her lights to shine even brighter.
This could mean trouble.
