Reckless and Without Care

"HAHAHAHA!"

Laughter could be heard in the depths of Tyrm's Gate. Magnus was doing something he could only do within Tyrm's Spirit Energy-filled air.

It was fighting as if he was in a game.

He fought, and he fought, and he fought. Even at the cost of his and Restiel's lives, he battled until his opponents bled all throughout their bodies.

Boom!

Magnus lobbed a particularly large fireball at the giant snake right in front of him. It sent a shockwave and singed the snake's wounds dry.

"Water!"

Magnus then sent water blades out like a slicing rain. They poured onto the injured snake like crazy, forcing it to loosen its grip on him and allow him to breathe for a moment.

Crackle crackle!

The sound of electricity sparking and buzzing rang out as Magnus sent a high voltage current through his body and into the snake.

Bzzzzzzzzt!

Magnus himself, as well as the snake, were fried. The former's hair stood straight up as his eyes rolled back into his head.

Magnus fainted.

But that was when Restiel came slashing in with his scythe drawing a trail of white light.

Blood spewed like a fountain as Restiel buried the blade of his scythe within the snake's wounds.

HISSSSSS

Enraged, the snake turned the human in its grasp into meat paste. Magnus' original body had died once again. The snake then turned to Restiel and lunged, instantly swallowing up the angel and sending venom coursing through his veins.

In the distance, Klaris opened his eyes yet again.

"One more push and he should be dead, right Magnus?" He glanced at Javelin who was dining on Spirit Beast meat beside him.

Meow!

( "Yes, it has always taken about four deaths to isolate and kill a single one of those reptiles." )

Klaris nodded. He then invoked the familiar set of Blessings and Restiel and Magnus once again reappeared.

They looked no different from the time they started their battle. What was new was that they smelled like iron. After bathing in the blood of both their enemies and their own so many times, it was an occurrence bound to happen.

And thus, the battle resumed.

The snake saw the two enemies it had just defeated and fear could be seen in its eyes.

Hisss!

It seemed to plead, ( "No more!" Please!" )

But Magnus was not going to stop.

The snakes and their nest were hindering his advance. And Magnus needed to continue deeper into the Gate so as to find a way to start a Gate Overflow.

Of course, there was the option of never letting anyone near the Gate so that it would eventually overflow, but Magnus did not have the strength to do so, let alone the manpower.

He also did not want to spend so much time on such a boring task.

Fighting like this was much better. He could feel his adrenaline boil within his blood.

His senses were heightened and his mind was clear.

The repeated torturous deaths were nothing to the Master of the Hivemind. Losing one's sanity due to an overload of senses was not a problem to a superior mind.

Sssssshuk!

After one last slash, Restiel completed his job. The giant snake was now dead, lying in a pool of its own blood.

Magnus then moved on to the next target. He sacrificed even more of his 'lives.'

Dying and killing were all that he basked in throughout the days.

He cleared the snake nest, and then a hive of wasps, and he even slew some kind of young snake-dragon hybrid.

'A wyrm, perhaps?' Magnus prodded the dead body of the wyrm as he breathed in relief.

He then moved on.

Killing more monsters on his way.

At one point, he came across a 4-star threat.

He could not even attempt a battle as he was instantly slain by some kind of power he was unaware of. His foe was another wyrm. One much larger than the younglings he had slain so far.

It was then that Magnus realised that perhaps his approach was wrong. He could not enjoy his thrills whilst executing this Trial.

With those thoughts, Magnus climbed out of the Gate at an appropriate time and returned to Quarteridge.

He accessed the MagiNet and searched for information on nearby Gates.

"Indeed... the nearest ones are the ones I created in Midseer," Magnus muttered as he tore apart a One-Time Transport Scroll and reappeared in the Tokyo-esque city.

He walked out of the bathroom stall he was in and headed towards Hellia Park.

But the Hellia Park now was very different from what Magnus remembered it as. Even if only a week or two had passed.

It was still a pocket of green among concrete constructs but there was an array of 2-star soldiers patrolling the area. A long line of people queued up for the Gate. They were patient in the presence of a large number of 2-star threats.

A booth that stood between the tall, newly-erected fences sat in the distance.

It was the registration booth.

Magnus pursed his lips as he saw all this. He glanced around and realised that sneaking in was much harder than the one in Tyrm.

The scale of the faction guarding the two were worlds apart despite Tyrm being a very prosperous Pocket World and Gate.

Magnus glanced at the crest,

"Still the Interstellar Trinity, huh..." He mumbled as he fell in line. "At least they still have it open to the public, unlike those guys guarding Tyrm. I'm so tempted to spread the news..."

Just to see the chaos that would ensue and join said chaos.

The hour passed by.

Finally, it was Magnus' turn.

"Going in alone?" A man asked as he raised a brow at Magnus.

"Yes sir," Magnus replied, confidence lacing his tone.

"Rating?"

"2-stars."

"At that age? Show me." The man demanded in doubt. "Punch my palm will all you've got,"

Wham!

Magnus did as he was asked, and his fist hit something reminiscent of a brick wall, but with a 2.5-star rating.

"Ow," Magnus shook his hand as the man nodded.

"Physical Attributes are definitely at the 2-star rating. Everything is a-ok. You may go in now." The man shooed Magnus out as he laboriously dealt with the next visitor.

Magnus walked up to the Gate and information surged into his mind.

[ Gate to Hellia ]

[ Generic. 1-star rating, poison-attributed. Field-type Gate with venomous monsters and poisonous plants. ]

[ Environment: Mainly swamplands ]

[ Highest monster rating: 3.0 ]

.

.

.

Restiel was flying over the swamplands of Hellia. The poisonous monsters below him could only look up in envy. The venomous ones couldn't fly as high as he did.

He was in a league of his own. When it came to flight and when it came to—

WHOOOOM!

Power.

His raw power right now could eat up anything that approaches him.

A huge pulse of Divine Energy thoroughly purified an area of the swamp, allowing Restiel to land and rest. With Hellia being only a 1-star Pocket World, its corresponding Gate wasn't all that strong as well.

Restiel could freely do as he wished without anyone bothering him.

He was using this freedom to search for what he needed.

[ There should be some core somewhere right? ] Restiel spoke into the Hivemind.

[ According to the novels I flitted through, yes. ] Magnus replied, [ If not, then I'm stumped. ]

Restiel closed his eyes as he heard those words. He felt the frustration that Magnus also felt right now. They had no clues, no leads, and nothing to act upon.

[ Sometimes I wish it was The Jester who gave me this Trial. ] Magnus said.

[ Agreed, ] Restiel sighed as he took to the skies once again.

It could be seen here just how vital it was to have a good Scribe.

The Jester loved her guess working and her little hints. She had a good feel for those things, as opposed to the Eye of Alias.

[ It's like these Scribes have everything automated by bots. It doesn't feel as lively as The Jester's works. ] Magnus said.

[ Honestly, with how many Personal and Event Trials there are, it is possible. ] Restiel replied.

Those thoughts ran through the Hivemind as Restiel flew. They conversed with each other, having ideas clash and theories discussed.

Up until they came up with the idea,

[ Why don't we see if Archangel of Divine Judgement has any sensory abilities? ] Klaris was the one who gave this thought.

Although Mirror World Thief was silent, Master of the Hivemind frequently gave out intuitive hints speaking of its abilities.

Perhaps Archangel of Divine Judgement had the same function just in a different manner. From its execution to its results, Magnus had never used Restiel in that regard.

[ That's a good idea! ] Magnus had exclaimed as he praised Klaris' insight, [ Try searching for... hmmm... something to purify? ]

[ Alright, ] Restiel replied.

Restiel then closed his eyes and clasped his hands in prayer. He whispered to himself,

"I wish to purify this land of filth... Where is the place where the filth gathers? Which site is it where all this foulness originates from?"

He asked himself, and as if answering his requests, a pulse of Divine Energy surged outward from where Restiel stood. It travelled a great distance in the blink of an eye before returning to him like a sonar.

"This..." Restiel gasped as he felt the return of his Divine Energy.

"I think I found it!"

[ WOOO! ] Magnus could be heard celebrating inside the Hivemind. [ Let's go then! What's the letup? ]

With haste, Restiel burst through the air, sending a powerful gust of wind behind him. He shot forward like a homing missile.

His target was the point of greatest filth as his Blessing designated.

He flew over a lot of swampland and even over a vast expanse of marshland right after. When he arrived at what seemed to be a wide lake, Restiel felt something within him react.

[ We're close, ] Restiel spoke in the Hivemind.

After a short invocation, Magnus, Klaris, and Javelin all appeared in the air with a flash of light.

"Let's see it then," Commanding gravity, Magnus brought all the Hivemind members closer to the water's surface.

"Hm?"

There was movement under the seemingly calm waters.

ROAR!

Something suddenly broke the surface and charged into the air.

"Oh wow..." Magnus couldn't help but mutter as his eyes shrank...