The Shepherd

The sun was setting while three figures emerged from the river. They were not moving, in the beginning, scanning the scene. There was no one around so the three people stepped out and one of them whispered " breathing enchantment dispel " and what looked like a black rotating circle covering their nose and mouth scattered into shining pieces and disappeared in the air.

The biggest figure raised his left arm and a ring shined in a faint blue color then weapons, armor and shield appeared on the floor. He started to wear the armor and held his shield and sword before pointing to the other figures. One of them asked while approaching "how far do you think we will go before we find one? " he looked at them and said with a fearful voice "I do not know, but we should end this fast and return as soon as possible, I know we got paid an amount that would let us live like kings but my heart is trembling right now "a small figure approached from their shadow "there is something near, it looks like a Shepherd, the gods smiled on us we can do this don't you think so Eden? "

Eden looked at them and with a worried smile said" I agree, Nina you will approach him from the shadow. I will be in the back and mark I want you to scout ahead just in case it escaped or something else is approaching, we are an A rank team we have to do this perfectly so no mistakes are allowed I want you all to be alive when we return " Nina nodded and then a black circle appeared under her legs, her body started to turn orange matching the sun and the sky color then she disappeared, Eden thought that although he has seen Nina use her magic many times before he is still impressed by her special skills " people who have special skills sure are lucky". he turned to look at mark who was already miles ahead with his incredible speed taking a long circle around the target to position himself in front.

Eden climbed a hill that was next to the river shore and looked at the shepherd who seemed peaceful sleeping on the green grass enjoying the cold air. Eden thought he must be feeling blessed if he can feel anything then he raised his arm and snapped his fingers.

Nina appeared out of the sheep shadow and aimed her finer whispering " sleeping enchantment: rapid darkness " a circle appeared in front of her finger and shined. the shepherd suddenly started yawning and before he moved his hand from his mouth it suddenly collapsed and his eyes closed.

Nina approached and after touching him carefully she waved at Eden to approach who was surprised at how easy this mission is being so far. He looked at Nina in disbelieve saying in a surprised voice " that was easier than I thought" he looked around again and said " we do not need to stay here a second more, let's carry it and get away from her " Eden touched the shepherd and suddenly the shepherd body started to violently shake. Eden shouted at Nina to get behind him. The shepherd's body started levitating and a magic circle started to shine under his shirt where his heart is. He then started levitating and he looked like a doll suspended in the air. Eden said in a trembling voice " God protects us from what is evil and blesses us with your grace. a golden ray started to emit from the shield and surrounded his entire body. He shouted " Nina get ready this will get ugly fast " he held his shield and pointed his sword at the levitating Shepard but before he activated his aura a voice came from the shepherd. It was calm and soothing, not matching the horrific scene of the suspended human " Why are you here ?" Eden's thoughts raced thinking that mark will need some time to return since he must have swept a long distance ahead to ensure no backup is coming before returning to them but was sure that he saw the dark mana pillar and will return fast so he thought to engage the shepherd " you foul creature we have nothing to discuss with you. surrender this body to us and let us return him to the grace of the god " the shepherd looked at them with a wondering expression " is the church teaching you that we are forcing them into this " a sad look appeared on him then he looked at Eden and said " Retreat warriors and go, I wish you no harm. leave our land and do not come back and I promise no retribution" Eden who started to get angry shouted " like I would let this poor soul remain under your unholy control foul creature, death would be a much better option for his soul " the shepherd looked even more puzzled and before it completed its sentence mark appeared behind the shepherd and swung his sword at an incredible speed trying to sever the shepherd's head but what felt like a gravity well activated beneath the shepherd pulling him fast barely missing mark sword which cut a few hairs of the top of its head. Eden pointed to Nina to approach from behind and dashed towards the shepherd " shield craft: holy field" a circle of runes formed around Nina and mark bodies. Mark then launched toward the shepherd with his sword but the shepherd's body emitted an incredible amount of mana causing a mini tornado to form around him and a great magic circle above with the shepherd shouting " let our power flow through me " the shepherd then looked at them and smiled " Full control " the circle shined and a great amount of dark mana descended from the sky then through the magic circle above the tornado basking the shepherd in its power.

Eden signaled to his team to prepare with an alarmed voice " prepare to go all out " Eden then planted his shield on the ground and chanted " Shield craft: Holy Field '' and then a great circle surrounded all four of them with walls made of light " Eden then ran towards the tornado while shouting " mark be ready " then swung his huge sword at the tornado cutting it in half with a magnificent slice causing the shepherd to retreat before he gets in the way of the slash. As the shepherd was retreating mark was already intercepting him with a lightning-speed slash however a mana shield formed where the slash was going to connect causing sparks to fly and while mark was surprised Nina appeared from the shadow under the shepherd and launched an arrow from her wrist and although it was small it stabbed the shepherd who's shield was covering mark slash but not that arrow side. The shepherd looked angry and a huge amount of mana started to emit from his body at an alarming speed. Eden shouted for his team to get behind him before raising his left arm " shield craft: the wall of the righteous '' and although the dark mana emitting and flowing in the form of an aggressive current from the shepherd was eating the green and dissolving the ground around them once it touched the shield it turned into a flow close to that of a gentile river.

The shepherd then started to move towards them " now the real battle begins " and before he reached them he stumbled. Not sure what happened it tried to move again before falling to its knees. it had a look of disbelief looking at Nina while shouting in anger " what did you do to him " Nina had a worried smile "I poisoned him with my arrow using my special skill mana poison" he will die with you foul creature witnessing it and feeling every emotion from the inside'' Eden then sighed in relief while looking at the Shepherd "I know you were stalling for time and on the long run we would never be able to match your mana so we had to use those types of tactics '' the shepherd then fell face down on the ground while blood came out of his mouth and moments later the circle on his heart dimmed and he was on the ground lifeless. Eden said to Nina ``Great job as always, now mark time to …'' Eden stopped the moment he saw Mark's face. It was filled with horror. His entire body was trembling, Mark whispered in horror " we are about to die, why was it so close? I think one of his main avatars is approaching. we have less than a minute " Nina fell to the ground as she knew mark to be one of the best scouts in the holy kingdom and she trusted his mana sense. She looked at Eden who had a sad look on his face. He tried to smile while saying in a sad tone " it looks like this is the end of the road for us, I… you are the best people I could have asked for to accompany me '' Eden then grasped the shepherd. placed him on the floor. He removed what looked like a cross with a circle around it on the corpse and looked at Nina and mark who were already tearing in the eye before they both gave him a nod. Eden then understood their resolve and touched the object " holy craft: move through space " the object then started to shine and the shepherd's body started to flicker out of existence before completely disappearing and the object dissolved into shiny particles in the air. Eden told Nina and Mark to get behind him " now he is sent to the holy city. It was a rare magic object but a sacrifice worthy of the goal "

Almost all three of them suddenly looked in the sky while Eden shouted " shield craft: the wall of the righteous " all of them then started emitting their entire mana while Eden shouted " brace .." and before he completed the sentence a human shape hit the ground with power kin to a meteor sending Eden and his team in the air and at the same moment a sword flew from his back. The moment the avatar touched the ground the sword was already beyond the speed of sound causing shockwaves to move the dust which was suspended in the air slowly like it was suspended in time before a millisecond passed the sword flew through Eden's head exploding it but before his blood and bits splattered on his team the sword was already exceeding the second sound barrier positioning itself on the side causing horrific damage to the ground under it from the incredible shift in direction and the mana raging to control that speed and then it decimated mark's side then Nina's causing their bodies to explode in a grim scene. All that happened in less than half a second the sword then stopped and time started to flow naturally causing an explosion of dust, blood, and bits.

The avatar then looked at the sky " my lord. from the mana residue. I think they used a legendary artifact to bypass our dome and teleport the body. I am not sure where exactly but it is in the direction of their holy city, shall I follow?"