CHAPTER 14: Raijin's Blessing

The four of them rode in silence, with Lucian being the only one who made any sound. He meticulously cleaned his pistols, ensuring they were loaded before storing them back into the Dimensional Storage. The Silent Death remained in the wooden box, still covered by its black veil.

After approximately half an hour of driving, they arrived at what appeared to be the entrance to a fog-shrouded forest. The trees reached such towering heights that they seemed to brush against the clouds. Or was it merely an illusion? A deception crafted to dissuade people from venturing into the enigmatic forest?

Oriss parked the car carefully near a tall red wooden archway, and the group stepped out, preparing themselves for what lay ahead.

"Be prepared for a storm," Oriss warned Rune and Konstantin before approaching the archway. He glanced back at Lucian and commanded, "Let's go, kid. We don't have much time."

Lucian's gaze met Rune's briefly, as if attempting to convey something. But for some inexplicable reason, the words eluded him, leaving him with a mere nod before he jogged to join Oriss.

"Finally, it begins," Konstantin remarked, closing the trunk of the car after retrieving a peculiar golden case.

"Yes," Rune murmured under her breath, her eyes fixed on Lucian's retreating figure, who had already reached Oriss's side.

As Lucian and Oriss stepped through the archway, a sense of detachment from the real world enveloped them. It felt as if everything before them was illusory, a mere figment of their imagination.

"What the hell..." Lucian muttered under his breath, his eyes scanning the peculiar surroundings.

Ignoring Lucian's question, Oriss pressed forward on a path constructed of simple rocks. The passage, overgrown with grass due to the passage of time, exuded an ancient aura.

"We are nearing the 'Jinshi Temple,' where the Cursed Gold resides," Oriss explained, pausing briefly. "We are currently in a separate dimension. I am uncertain of how they managed to create it, but I suspect it is a characteristic of the temple itself rather than the work of the Black Hand. Or so I hope."

Lucian remained silent, absorbing Oriss's information as they ventured further into the fog-laden forest, passing colossal trees along the way.

After what felt like an eternity of walking, Oriss suddenly halted, knelt down, and began sketching something in the dirt beneath his feet. After a brief period, he stopped abruptly and produced a white dagger that appeared to be made of smoke. With the dagger's sharp tip, he punctured his palm, allowing droplets of blood to fall onto the ground.

"Now listen closely, Lucian," Oriss commanded, his gaze fixed on the dirt below him. "I will perform two ritualistic spells. The first is [Raijin's Blessing], which will heighten your senses and infuse every attack with lightning. It will also grant you the ability to transform into lightning itself for a brief period. Moreover, if lightning strikes in proximity to you, it will amplify your strength."

"That is why I will immediately follow it with another ritualistic spell. The second one is an environmental spell known as [Raiju's Prayer]. It will summon a tempestuous storm upon this ancient forest. Furthermore, since Atlas infused you with that light before his demise, transforming you into something akin to a lesser Ancient and enhancing your luck, thunder will be inexplicably linked to you."

"Alright," Lucian nodded in agreement, not daring to ask what an Ancient even was, summoning the wooden box from his Ring. He carefully placed the box on the ground and opened it, releasing the mysterious smoke once again. With caution, he reached for the Glaive and lifted it, feeling a peculiar sensation of weightlessness and heaviness simultaneously. At times, it seemed as if the Glaive itself was a mere illusion, and he was grasping at empty air. However, the whispers of the Banshee in his ears assured him of its tangible presence.

Standing up and examining the Glaive, Lucian spun it in his hands and sliced through the air several times, seeking to familiarize himself with its balance.

Behind him, Oriss rose to his feet and approached Lucian. As Oriss positioned himself just behind Lucian, a low rumble reverberated through the forest, signaling the arrival of the storm. Oriss placed his hands on Lucian's back and began chanting in an unfamiliar language, unknown to Lucian.

As Oriss withdrew his hands, a peculiar surge coursed through Lucian's body, reminiscent of being struck by a taser. Yet, the sensation wasn't unpleasant; in fact, it carried a euphoric quality that could easily become addictive.

Lucian felt as if he could lift mountains and hurl them into orbit. He had never experienced such immense strength before. However, the most extraordinary aspect was the apparent slowing down of time. His heightened senses allowed him to perceive the world around him as if it were moving in slow motion.

As Lucian gradually comprehended his newfound power, large raindrops bombarded him from above, accompanied by the sound of the intensifying storm.

As if emerging from the depths of a chaotic nightmare, an immense thunderstorm materialized out of thin air, enveloping the surroundings in an electric frenzy. Lucian stood in awe, mesmerized by the sudden manifestation of the tempest.

His attention was abruptly diverted as a thunderous explosion erupted nearby, causing him to stagger momentarily. A bolt of lightning struck the earth mere meters away, igniting a surge of electrical energy that coursed through the ground and up Lucian's body. He felt the tingling sensation as the charged currents permeated his muscles, leaving his fingertips crackling with mesmerizing sparks.

Lucian couldn't contain his excitement; a strange laughter escaped his lips, echoing through the storm. With a fervor akin to a mad conductor, he began spinning his obsidian Glaive once more. Each swift slash he executed generated resounding booms that surpassed the speed of sound, unleashing small explosions with every strike.

Accompanying the explosive power of his slashes, ethereal serpentine forms of pure lightning materialized along the length of his Glaive. They surged and coiled, twisting with an otherworldly energy that heightened the surreal nature of his weapon.

Oriss stood by, his hands clapping together in astonishment, witnessing Lucian's unrivalled mastery over the Glaive.

"Listen I won't be of much help against regular soldiers and the two Specialists, but if a Elite one shows up, you can count on me

"Now go, kid. Unleash your devastation upon them," Oriss encouraged

Lucian's mind momentarily grappled with the paradoxical statement, but he chose to trust Oriss's words, nodding in silent agreement.

Without hesitation, Lucian redirected his gaze ahead, his heightened senses attuning to the presence of a substantial group of soldiers stationed before a foreboding red archway. Around ten heavily armed soldiers stood vigilantly, prepared to repel any intruders daring enough to trespass.

A wide, anticipatory smile crept across Lucian's pale face. His wet hair cascaded over his eyes, momentarily obscuring them from view. However, when his piercing gaze reemerged, his eyes had transformed, their color now completely black—a stark contrast to his pale complexion.

Eagerly whispering to himself, Lucian gathered the strange electric energy surging within him, focusing it around his legs. The atmosphere crackled with anticipation as he harnessed the power at his disposal.

Then, with an earth-shaking detonation that reverberated throughout the forest, Lucian vanished from his previous location, leaving nothing but scorched earth and swirling leaves in his wake.

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Near the archway, the ten soldiers exchanged wary glances, their apprehension magnified by the resounding explosion that originated deep within the forest. The thunderstorm surrounding them intensified their unease, and the subsequent loud bang heightened their sense of dread.

The soldier at the front attempted to speak, but an inexplicable silence filled the air, rendering his words futile. Bewilderment etched across their faces as a swift and unseen force pierced the heart of the soldier in front, rending his body into gruesome halves. Before his comrades could react to the horrifying spectacle, a bolt of lightning leaped from one soldier to another, swiftly extinguishing their lives.

In the span of a few seconds, the entire squad of ten soldiers lay motionless, life extinguished by an enigmatic force.

Lucian retrieved his Glaive from the last fallen soldier, allowing the heavy rain to wash away the blood that adorned his beautiful face. As the cleansing raindrops cascaded down his visage, he let out an uproarious laughter that echoed through the forest, the sound of it muted by the powers of the Glaive.

Taking several deep breaths to steady himself, Lucian surged forward once more, his body transforming into a bolt of lightning. His destination lay another kilometer away, where a larger squad had set up a camp near ancient stairs leading to the temple deep within the forest.

In a flash, before anyone could react to the oncoming lightning, two soldiers fell to the ground, their heads severed by a single swift slash of the Glaive. Panic gripped the nearest soldier as an inexplicable urge to flee washed over him.

"[Hell's Song]!" Lucian's thunderous scream resonated through the air as he impaled a soldier with his Glaive, before flinging the lifeless body at a small group desperately arming themselves.

Exploiting the chaos, Lucian whirled around and charged toward a group of four soldiers behind him, his grin widening with anticipation. As bullets filled the air, he gracefully dodged and weaved, evading their lethal trajectory.

Colliding with a soldier, Lucian swiftly dispatched him, thrusting the Glaive into the soldier's skull between his eyes. The resounding bang of the gunshot was swiftly drowned out by the ferocity of Lucian's assault.

A relentless onslaught of gunfire followed, surrounding Lucian with armed enemies. "[Snake's Embrace]," he whispered, calling upon a mystical ability that granted him an ethereal protection. The bullets pelted against his invulnerable form, causing pain to reverberate through his body, though his skin remained unmarred.

Lucian gritted his teeth, acknowledging the potential danger of broken bones and internal bleeding. Determined to prevail, he surged forward once again, his Glaive leading the charge.

Each swing of the Glaive cleaved through his adversaries with deadly precision, and with every life extinguished, Lucian felt a euphoric surge of life force coursing through him, a testament to the [Soul Rend] enchantment embedded within his weapon.

Undeterred by the barrage of bullets, Lucian moved with unparalleled speed, his Glaive dancing through the air, leaving trails of electrifying sparks in its wake. One soldier after another fell, leaving only two survivors.

Their brief hesitation was quickly replaced by a desperate flight, but it was futile. The Glaive, propelled at hypersonic speed, pierced the skull of the fleeing soldier, disintegrating it into a crimson mist. Momentum carried the Glaive forward, finally halting upon colliding with a towering tree trunk nearby.

The second soldier stumbled and fell, his tear-streaked face bearing witness to the grotesque demise of his comrade. Raindrops mingled with his tears, merging the two streams of moisture on his face.

Closing in on the fallen soldier, Lucian gripped him by the collar, his madness manifesting in a devastating punch to the throat, reducing it to a gory mess. The soldier's head collided with the same tree trunk, ending his life in a gruesome spectacle.

In a matter of minutes, almost fifteen soldiers had met a brutal demise at the hands of a single man. Lucian retrieved his Glaive from the tree trunk, spinning it with a flourish as he surveyed the camp, now a macabre tapestry of blood, severed limbs, and fragments of human flesh.

A resounding laughter reverberated through the forest.

Lucian wanted them to know he was here.