13 Midnight

Mael watched shooting stars fell across the pitch-black sky when one of them landed on the Golden mountains, creating a  crashing sound that startled him, but he decided to ignore it and went to bed beside his mother; falling to the depths of his dreams in a matter of minutes.

"Wake up! Wake up, son!" Erza said in a low voice, shaking him awake.

"I think something is lurking outside the garden, disturbing my sleep. You need to alarm the guards, I think…"

"Okay, mom… I will check it myself. You should alarm the guards for your safety," he said with bravery.

"Okay, I will let you check it out, but promise you'll be careful," she said with worried eyes.

"I promise," he kissed her cheeks, and she went to alarm the guards.

Mael clicked the book in his mini library and the books moved to the side, revealing a  hidden room that has secret mechanisms and it was lit with bluish-white glowing stones. He entered the room and was greeted by weapons that hung on the walls and full of sets of armors that stood still at the sides.

"I need to have great speed and weapons that could reach and defend decently," he thought to himself before equipping a leather armor and a robe. He then grabbed a sword and grinned when he noticed the daggers and chains beside it. "Might as well try it," he said.

He closed the room and exited at the front yard to see what enemy lurks in their garden, scanning outside the front yard and discovering tracks that look like anything but human. He continued to observe and concluded that it was walking on fours and was headed to the backyard, so he followed the trails as slow and as careful as possible to the point that could hear nothing but his weight pressed on the grass.

 Walking farther and farther into their backyard, he continued to follow the trail that led him towards the starting point of their hedge maze. When he was getting deeper into the maze, the trails that he was following started to fade until there is nothing left to follow.  

Rustling noises made him unsheathe his sword from the scabbard, taking a millisecond to feel grateful of the moon that rested along with the stars, illuminating his path; dim but better than no vision at all.

The rustles seemed to travel nearer and nearer, causing his heart to skip a beat. "Playing hide and seek? Want to scare me? Well, I am in no mood to play with you!" Mael said courageously. He managed to relax a little bit although he couldn't help but feel on edge, wondering what enemy hides in the bushes. He wanted to kill it immediately so he could come back to sleep.

"I will make you pay for disturbing my sleep! Come out!" he yelled, when a  skinny human-like creature with claws leaped from a tall bush. The moonlight revealed its rotten face that has wide jaws and saw-like teeth. He remembered the drawings and representations that he saw in the monster bibliography when he was a kid, and his eyes widened. "A ghoul…" he whispered.

Mael evaded its attack by stepping back immediately and managed to cut its hide when he countered. "Quite the hardy type, huh? Well then, let's play some more!" Mael yelled when he realized he didn't cut its flesh.

He swung his sword to attack and the impact threw the monster into the bushes. It was not enough to cut it. He tried to chase it but it disappeared into the dark maze. Mael panicked and exited with haste when he noticed a pool of blood liquid under his feet- the ghoul was already lying dead, headless.

 He looked at their butler Malidic Greenfield, who swung his sword to remove the blood before sheathing it back into the scabbard, "My Lord! I'm glad you're okay. Don't worry about the monsters, they were all disposed of. As of now, the mansion is secured, but I can't help but wonder why these creatures, who, normally stay away had come this far? What is happening?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"I don't know, but this is bad." He said when Erza appeared with the guards from the distance

 "Mael, my son, I'm glad you're safe. I was worried about you! Are you hurt?" she surveyed his body.

"Guards, escort Lord Mael to his quarters," she ordered them.

"Mom, there's no need. If you're worried about me, then, I'm moved, but as the lord of our land, I need to know what is happening. Why are these monsters here in our estate? Is the town safe?" he asked.

"Okay, I understand. You're responsible for the welfare of the people, but don't overexert yourself, you're still young and have a bright future ahead of you. I will give you half of our guards, as well as the elites, but again, I want you to promise me you'll be safe, okay?" she said seriously.

"Okay, mom, I promise." he kissed her in the cheeks.

Mael went back to his hidden room and prepared his sword, armor, and potion belt. He then left and assembled the troops to start a briefing. "Men! We will go to the town of Golden Valley with haste to survey what is happening. Our people will be in greater danger if these monsters are left unchecked. Now, move!" He yelled, when a man covered in blood came running towards them.

"Help! Monsters are attacking the town!" The stranger yelled, grabbing their attention.

Mael verified the person, who had a huge open wound on his stomach; he then applied his health potion on it and gave half of it to be consumed. Immediately, the wound began to slowly close, making the man feel better.

"Thank you, thank you so much, my Lord, please save us! Monsters are killing the townspeople, please, save them!" he cried. The guards were moved and Mael was stricken by anger, so he immediately gave his instructions.

"Form in four groups, each will be assigned to their respective area. We are going spread out to the north, south, east and, west of the town when we reached the town center! We are to give signals about each of the mission statuses, now move!" he gave them the signal lights he created.

Running quickly, Mael and his troops were nearing the town. Patrols as well as other normal citizens were armed with pitchforks and were fighting the monsters with all they got. "Initiate a fight and kill them immediately. Help the people to fend them off!" Mael ordered.

Some wounded civilians lie on the road while some of them were desperately fending off ghouls. Some of his troops beheaded them immediately and Mael beheaded a ghoul that was cornering a girl. "Ella! I'm glad you're safe! Thank you for protecting her!" A lady that had bite marks on her shoulders hugged her. "No need to thank us, we were only doing our jobs," he said.

The troops moved forward, killing the monsters that got in their way until they arrived at the town center. "We're surrounded! Make a defense formation to fend them off!" yelled Mael. "Yes my Lord," they said in unison.

"The monsters are coming from all directions, surrounding and encircling us. Remember that they are drawn to the living, that they could sense us." He said, standing at the center; ready to fight.

Mael then gave each squad their monster attractants. "After you've arrived at the four directions, you have to use the monster attractants to lure them back here. We will exterminate them once and for all!" he said, and they moved.

The monsters who were attacking the four squads when they reached their destinations had stopped and begun ignoring them as they passed through, so the troops had stopped killing them but they realized that Mael didn't stop and kept on finishing their lives.

"Lord!" yelled some of his troops.

"Finish your mission! That's an order!"

The troops were disheartened, but they chose to obey their master, dashing to the streets that were illuminated by street lamps and to the ghouls that were drawn to Mael. They arrived at the four different directions successfully and released the monster attractant where Mael's monster attractant couldn't reach.

The North team leader grouped them and said, "The luring was a success, now we'll fire a signal by the use of a magic device that releases lights in the sky."

Mael saw that the North, South, and East fired a signal of success, but the delay of the west's signal made him worry. As he was battling the enemies, a burst of red light filled the West sky.

'Damn it! West has fired a rescue signal! I must finish this quickly!' he thought, dodging the enemies.

Chased by ghouls, the troops were going back to their meeting place, hoping for their master to hold out until they come.

Mael's sword slashes were deep but the monster's skin could recover fast, so he can only fend them off since their numbers had exceeded a hundred. Mael was pressured and currently fighting alone.

"Aura activate!"

"[Body enhancement] and [Force] active!"

His body emitted an aura that was felt by his enemies. His eyes glowed red and his aura turned into a darker color of his eyes, reflected by the eyes of his enemies.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The enemies were blown with each punch, but it was quite draining. He did his best to fend them off and it worked. His aura damage was working and some who can't resist the pain collapsed, but others were quite persistent and attacked again. However, the west squad was outnumbered and their escape route was blocked.

"The number of ghouls on the west are greater than those in the town square. They keep on getting bigger. It seems that they are coming from the west!" said their squad leader while holding off the defense.

"Don't surrender! Surrendering is intolerable for our lord! Keep fighting!" their leader was cheering them on.

They were on the verge of surrendering after running out of health potions and fighting for an hour, so they encircled the wounded for protection. "We're surrounded! What do we do?" asked one that held a halberd.

"We fired the rescue signal. Better be saved than killed," said the one who was treating the wounded.

"We can still hold them back, but not forever," said the one who held a sword and shield.

"Let's pray that they will come on time," replied the one with a halberd.

The monsters that surrounded them wailed in the night and attacked. The ghouls smashed the one with a shield but were slashed by the halberd. The other ghouls slashed and pierced through the armor of the halberd bearer. He slammed to the ground due to the wound.

"Help him!" yelled their senior.

They dragged him towards the center along with the other wounded. The ghouls slammed through their defense and almost slashed the ones who were treating the others, but a sword flew and pierced through the skull in a twinkling of an eye. They recognized the hilt of the sword and knew that help had finally come.

"It's our Lord!" yelled their leader.

"East squad and North squad, defend! South squad treat the wounded!" Mael commanded them. The west squad almost burst into tears; they had almost lost their hope a second ago and was about to accept their fates, but here they were- alive. Mael then released his aura and rampaged with [Force] applied.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Everyone, attack! Leave no monsters alive!" Mael added.

They felt invigorated and slashed their enemies.

Roar!

The monsters attacked and surrounded the west squad.

"Protect them!" yelled the squad leaders.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Mael was continuing his onslaught and the squads attacked the ones who want to pierce through their formation. "Slash them! Attack! Don't cower on your enemies! Fight to your last breath!" they yelled to cheer their peers.

The ghouls attacked their formation with strength.

Bang!

Their body slammed to their shields and the one who was charged was taken aback. "Cover him!"

Immediately, the monster was pierced with a spear, and the other one was decapitated by a two-handed sword. Another one slammed their body and the others joined the tactic.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Others were holding out but some were slammed to the ground, surprised that the enemies were heavier than they look. "Slash them! Cover those who fell!"

Mael also was having a hard time dealing with damage. 'They are hardy. If I have a lack of damage to finish them before their regeneration, then I need to exert higher damage to eradicate their health. Avoiding half-wit attacks is the key. I need heavier ones.' Mael said to himself.

He suddenly gathered [Force] and activated his [Body enhancement] to his limit. 'More! I need more power! I need to push myself to my limits!' Mael said to himself, when, his father's teachings crossed his mind. "My son, when you are on bind. Don't forget that [Aura] was a [Limit breaker]. Only use it in case of emergency."

Mael smiled at the fact that he was not a fan of instant boost and what he wanted to use was his raw power when handicapped.

'Well there's no helping it,' he said to himself.

[Limit Breaker]!

He pushed himself to his limits and charged at his enemies. The ground concaved due to his step's great force.

Bang!

He smashed the ghoul's face and it popped like a balloon.

"Haaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!" Mael shouted with all he got. His muscles were on their limits and were in pain due to the overexertion of his body.

He drew his sword and slashed them, beheading them instantly. the heat was emitting from his skin like he was burning

Swoosh! Swing! Swing!

They decimated their numbers and slaughtered them all, roaring with their victory shout. Mael nearly cried and immediately collapsed to the ground.

"I'm so glad everyone's safe," he said to one of his guards. They tried to approach him but he was burning like an ember, so they were stopped by the West leader.

"Don't touch him! He will cool down after a few minutes. He just used [Limit Breaker] so it will be dangerous to approach him."

"[Limit breaker]!? The forbidden secret technique of the Kael family bloodline?"