88 Ruined King's Envoy
As Hans spoke those words, the man raised his eyebrows. The smile on his lips grew wider even further.
The darkness enveloping the surroundings seemed to have come into life as it slowly fluctuated in colors until the place became a blood-filled battlefield.
The scent of an unpleasant iron aroma assaulted his senses as the wind breezed it through their noses.
Hans' face crunched and he glared at the man. The killing intent surged like an unstoppable damn filled with the water of resentment. The accumulated amount of memories shaped his murderous aura into the realm far surpassing any Awakened on Earth.
The white nimbus clouds above the battlefield parted as if the world recognized his existence.
Even the sun and the moon's brilliance weakened under Hans' otherworldly killing aura.
But, even then, the man remained seated. His calm demeanor hasn't faltered even for a bit. The smile on his face made it seem like Hans' unconcealed emotions didn't even feel like a threat.
"Why are you angry at me when you're the one who consumed the [Tears]?" The man said.
Hearing his words, Hans' forehead wrinkled. Indeed, if there is someone to blame, it should be him for attempting to use an SSS-rank item without proper knowledge.
He should have predicted this when the word [Envoy] was in its description. Withdrawing his killing intent, the surrounding atmosphere began to loosen until calmness enveloped the area once again.
Hans sighed heavily, raised his head, and asked.
"Are you… the Ruined King?"
In fact, this was only his mere guess. If there is someone that should appear in an item, who's more obvious than the owner?
Thus, Hans came to this conclusion.
The man looked at the skies and his eyes seemingly reminisced some things before his gaze shifted back at Hans.
"You're good at guessing." Then, the man shook his head and continued, "Unfortunately, I'm not him."
"Then who are y—?"
"It doesn't matter who I am, what matters is… who are you?"
At the man's response, Hans was taken aback. His face full of bewilderment glanced at the man as if asking for clarification.
Sensing Hans' confusion, the man leaned forward and his eyes sharpened. The whirring winds did not even dare to come closer around them as that area was already filled with a razor-sharp aura.
His rough yet warm voice echoed throughout the world.
"I am astounded and frightened by how you managed to reach this far, Hans."
Hans attentively listened. He didn't even bother to ask about how the man knew his name.
"What do you mean?" Hans asked. A look of puzzlement crossed his face.
The man straightened his back and playfully asked, "Have you ever wondered how many times you experienced rebirth?"
"I don't know."
"Come on, take a guess." The man crossed his arms.
Hans lowered his head and began to recall every rebirth he could remember. After a brief pause, he raised his head and stared at the man.
"50?"
Hans was pretty confident in his answer. Even if it's not 50, the true number should still be closer to what his initial guess was.
However, the man chuckled at his response.
"What? Is it higher?" Hans asked.
The man leaned forward and raised one finger. Before he spoke, Hans immediately cut him off.
"Oh, a hundred?"
In fact, Hans wasn't even surprised. It might be possible that he really rebirthed at least a hundred times. However, due to his jumbled memories, it was just hard to recall those unimportant ones like the one where he was a worm.
Yeah, pretty embarrassing.
"No, Hans…" The man grinned.
Hans clicked his tongue. "Just tell me already."
At that moment, a rather surprising answer escaped from the man's lips.
"A million."
.........
A million rebirths.
An enormous number that might even put anyone into endless insanity and madness. Living with 10 different memories was already hard, let alone a million.
Hans remained silent, still flabbergasted at the man's unexpected answer. He didn't sense any lies so it should probably be true.
"I won't pry into your life. The fact that you could withstand a myriad of lives means that you shouldn't be an ordinary existence. That alone is enough for an answer."
"So what now? Can I already leave?"
His true memories already resurfaced the moment the man appeared. His memories of his rebirths were also gradually fading.
He could sense it, his body was already calling his subconscious. Hans felt it slightly trembled and quivered as if his physical body was on the verge of danger.
Even then, Hans did not hurry. The man in front of him was surely the most dangerous of them all.
"To become an [Envoy], one must pass a trial. This trial would decide if you're worthy of that power or not."
The man waved his hand and a projection of Hans' 100th rebirth surfaced.
In this life, he was the son of a human and an elf. However, the moment he reached the age of 8, a terrible disease struck his body, making him weak until eventually leading to his demise.
"The moment you completed your 100th life, you already passed the test but… an unexpected thing happened."
Hans was slightly mad but he quickly suppressed it as he heard his last words.
"What is it?"
"I couldn't stop it, your 101st rebirth. It's as if… they were rejecting my command." The man looked at the skies and a tear fell on his eyes, "I cannot tell you any further information, I'm sorry."
"It's alright."
At that moment, extremely mystical energies whirled around the surroundings and pulsated in the palm of the man.
Hans stared at it. He could feel the terrifying destructive energy that orb possessed.
"This is the Symbol of Envoyance."
The man flicked the orb toward Hans and it shot through the center of his heart before it blended around his mana.
"Unfortunately, the [Tears] wouldn't be enough to make you a permanent Envoy. What's more, 'he' also wouldn't want someone like 'you' to become one."
Shrummm—
The world began to shake as if it was reaching its final breaths. The ground was uprooted and the chilling winds howled throughout the land.
Amidst this phenomenon, the two men continued conversing. The man's eye swept around the battlefield and it stopped at the humongous silhouette looming around the planet.
"I will send you off now. To be honest, you shouldn't be here in this timeline."
The man swiped his arms and particles of light seemingly escaped from Hans' body.
He was gradually fading.
"What does that mean?"
"Soon, you'll know. But for now, you can rest assured, it's not dangerous."
Hans' mouth twitched.
Not dangerous?
This was the first time he had seen something like this. The largest monster ever spotted was in Antarctica. Its size comparison is Burj Khalifa according to the witnesses.
But now…
That giant silhouette was even larger than a planet!
In the end, Hans could only sigh and watched the spectacle as he slowly turned into light particles.
Suddenly, as the final lights gradually crumbled his face, a thought came to his mind.
"Hey, where can I find the coffin of the Ruined King?!"
Hans has been curious until now. Since this is a tomb, the coffin must be somewhere around, right?
Maybe asking this guy could give him valuable information.
"Coffin?" The man tilted his head before a chuckle escaped his mouth, "The Ruined King is not dead, why would he have a coffin?"
"Huh? But I thought I was in the Ruined King's Tomb?"
Unfortunately, Hans already vanished after he asked those questions. The last thing he saw was the man's bewildered expression as if looking at a crazy guy.
Silence—
After Hans left, the man was left alone in the dream world. He was confused.
Why would Hans say that he was in the Ruined King's Tomb?
The Ruined King is not dead yet. A King has no concept of time so basically they're immortal.
What's more, he just talked to the said guy yesterday!
To confirm his suspicion, the man closed his eyes briefly and contacted someone. A few moments later, his eyelash fluttered and the shaking world entered his vision once again.
But this time, his expression has become grim.
In the wind, he whispered, "Hans, it looks like I'll trouble you again."
At that moment, a white streak of mana followed where Hans's soul was currently at.
.........…
Darkness enveloped the Baru Empire. The people already realized that their homes were on the verge of destruction.
The citizens prayed to the almighty to bring forth a hero that could save their land.
And their prayers did not go unanswered as a man holding a chained scythe in his hand fought the vampire who seemed to emit constant destructive energies.
Unfortunately, they didn't even realize that the hero they are calling is the accomplice of the one who started this mess.
Swish—!
Clang—!
Two sharp weapons collided in mid-air. Sparks were generated between their weapons as the two fighters pushed their strengths to their weapons.
Swish—!
Clang—!
"I just wanted to know your name and you just lashed your weapon at me, do you have no manners?" Count Vlad complained.
On his hand, he was holding a sharp fan entirely made of red material which seemed rich in blood mana properties.
However, instead of an answer, a scythe arrived at the back of his neck.
"You really didn't want to be friends with me?" Count Vlad said as he effortlessly dodged the incoming attack. He continued, "I'm rich."
Gab maneuvered the chains and unleashed a barrage of slashes toward the vampire's heart.
[Scythe Technique: Mutilating Cleaves]
Swoosh—, swoosh—, swoosh—!
Gab twisted the chains around his head, increasing the momentum of every strike. Count Vlad was seemingly surprised by the sudden increase of Gab's attack. Thus, seriousness surfaced in his face.
Hum—!
Count Vlad opened the fan and unleashed a blow of his own. By weaving the fan, a giant wind force gathered around his weapon.
"Why don't you take mine instead?"
Count Vlad swung his fan.
[Mirrored Gale]
Shu—
Booom—!
The wind particles burst around Count Vlad, blocking the scythe slashes with little to no effort.
However, the surprise didn't end there.
Instead of stopping, the winds pushed everything around the vicinity, causing Gab's attacks to lose their momentum.
Baaam—
The ground exploded. The heated floor immediately melted every dirt that came along its way. Gab tried every possible way to control his weapon but the strong gust of winds made it tough to manipulate.
Click—
His weapon was trapped in the wind dome. Gab pulled it with all of his strength but to his dismay, his struggles were futile.
If this goes on, he might just let go of his weapon and retreat.
'Shit.'
He didn't think that this vampire could unleash a force like this. Looking at Count Vlad, it didn't even seem like this skill took a tax on him.
'I could use [Switch] but that would mean I would be trapped inside that dome of wind.'
His battle IQ wasn't as honed as Hans's. While he has also been killing monsters, almost every time, he was accompanied by his father's hired Awakened.
Thus, fighting alone wasn't truly his forte.
Even Amador scolded him for that reason. Because the chain scythe is hard to maneuver, every attack must be precisely aimed. Once dodged, an enemy could take advantage of this and close the gap immediately, rendering his weapon useless.
'Amador…'
Gab called.
Amador, whose eyes were shut, slowly opened. He looked at the outside world through Gab's eyes and determined the problem.
Amador clicked his tongue, "That's why I told you to practice. Your proficiency with that weapon hasn't even entered the 'okay' level."
However, Amador's next words caught Gab by surprise.
"I won't help you this time, I'm afraid."
"Wait, why?" Gab grumbled.
"Well, this should be a lesson to you."
At that moment, Gab was pushed out of that mental place. He pulled the weapon back once again but in the end, it didn't budge.
"Now that your price weapon is gone, what would you do?" Count Vlad covered his mouth with his fan and sneered.
Gab glared at the vampire with an unpleasant gaze. The mana in his body was ready to attack anytime. Although he wasn't accustomed to close combat, he had to try everything.
After all, this is… his test.
[Trial Of Mind]
.........
Under the shade of an abandoned house, blue cerulean pupils shone. The fiery red lights streamed through the house gaps and hit his unblemished cheeks.
As his eyes blinked, a voice awakened his sleeping thoughts.
[Welcome back, Hans.]
"Plundy…" Hans smiled.
Tri-ring—!
[You have passed the Test of Ruination.
Mission: Experience 100 lives without losing your mind (COMPLETE).]
[Tears of the Ruined King resonate…]
[Congratulations…]
[You have received the title, 'Ruined King's Envoy'.]
