Chapter 78 - Chaotic Battle in The Ruins

The shadow that had descended was a handsome, young looking man with long purple hair, with feathers on his face and neck, that looked aesthetically pleasant. He was wearing a long dark robe, and had a fair complexion, with deep golden-purple eyes. He also had a third, vertical eye, in his forehead, that was closed. The man was floating in the air and looking directly at Dagan's image. There was a mighty power and confidence being exuded from the man that seemed to look down on everything around him.

"Hmph… A fake god's descent. I'm amused that you actually have the courage to come into the main material world, considering that EON's envoys had destroyed your cult and your standing, you should know that your coming was bound to failure from the very beginning. Well, I can guess that you were desperate from not receiving sacrifices for such a long time." sneered the young looking man.

All the people in the room including Sombra were astonished by the rapid changes in the battlefield. The arrival of this man was completely unexpected, and the power emitted by his energy fluctuations made them shiver from their very core. 'A legend-level expert' was the thought of Oliver, and the rest. He was delighted, since this meant that the fake god's descent could be stopped from its inception.

"Hahahahaha… I guess that I've been separated from this continent for such a long time, that people seem to have forgotten the terror of my power. Even you, a little three eyed raven with a bit of power, seems to think that you can actually fight against the majesty of my divinity. Good, very good, I'll use your blood as the signal of my return." said Dagan in a voice that made everyone feel their heads were about to explode.

"Perhaps if you were at your mightiest, back in the olden days of Gad's Dukedom I would have to fear you somewhat, but now you barely qualify a has-been, having been summoned by some drops of blood,your power is not even 40 percent of your maximum.. Besides, even If I did not arrive, other legends from Ansem and the Temple would have. So your return, I'm afraid was destined from the beginning to be short-lived. I just happened to be around so, why not, get rid of a little fish and earn some merits".

The feathered man was being quite nonchalant about Dagan's power, and everyone was being mesmerized by his words, however, Evelin was looking at the man with wide eyes, and eventually got a little mad and eventually shouted,

"SENIOR BROTHER RAVEN… What are you doing, trying to look all cool? So you were following me all along, and you didn't let me know. I suffered from a lot of grievances and you did not help me even once. Hmph, I won't talk to you anymore, you are dead to me".

Evelin was pouting and crossed her arms while trying not to look at her Senior Brother, whose awe-inspiring demeanor was crushed by the little girl's words. Nerun almost bursted laughing, however he kept it in, he knew better than anyone that mocking a Legend-level Expert was nothing short of suicide. Besides, he couldn't help but think to himself 'What grievances is she talking about? She was eager to participate, and she is so bossy, everyone must do whatever it is she wants.' Nerun actually started feeling pity for the floating man, and he was thinking that the girl was probably even more of a high maintenance back home. The rest of the men also turned their heads not to look at the Legend-level expert, but some were also trying not to laugh.

The man that Evelin called Senior Brother Raven's eyes were twitching, but was feeling a bit helpless as well. The girl was truly used to doing whatever she wanted, and was being spoiled rotten by their master. Well, it's not like she was all bad. She was just very playful and lovely, so all her senior brothers and sisters doted on her the most. Besides, she was just the cutest little doll, thought the Raven.

"Ahem, where were we? Oh right, fake fish god, it's time you returned where you belong."

"Good… Very good. You men, I'll be occupied with this little bird. I'll lend you some of my power, you must kill and offer all of the people inside this room besides you. Do not disappoint me or your end will not be pleasant. The more you kill and shed their blood, the more powerful I'll become. Otherwise you might as well forget about leaving this place alive. Some of you go and kill the children. With their blood I would be able to use a hundred percent of my power and all of this would be over"

When Dagan said that, he unleashed a barrier that sealed the area in a radius of 500 meters. Everyone was trapped inside the barrier, and mighty energy started flowing inside Eren, Carlos and his henchmen. Both Eren and Carlos felt an overly cold, sinister yet mighty energy course through their meridians and forcibly raised their power to the Qi Emperor level. The henchmen, most of them became Qi Praetorians and Centurions. Their power seemed to be a bit higher than their opponents, and they quickly took to arms.

When Serena and the rest saw this, they were a bit flustered, but in the end, they were nobles and officers with experience and quickly assumed formations. They had to fight for their lives. It was as the Raven had said, the power waves would soon be felt by the Legends inside Ansem, and soon help was bound to come. Thanks to the Raven, Dagan stopped his level suppression on them. All they needed was to endure until the Raven finished Dagan.

"Take care. The power used to summon him can barely hold for a few minutes, however if you die, he will be empowered and last longer. Then our doom would be certain. So be careful. Junier Sister, with both Magical Beasts, protect the children back in the dungeon. Otherwise this fish god would become even more powerful. I'll do my best to keep him busy and unable to interfere with any of the other battles. As for you little boy, you better take responsibility as well. You need to destroy the statue of this little fish, whatever the cost. If you manage to do so, he will immediately return to where he belongs."

Everyone took heed of the Raven's order, and since he was the most powerful person present. Soon the chatib battle started. It had become a matter of life and death. For the mercenaries, the Cortana Family and them, it was even more desperate. After all, should this be known they would be persecuted all around the world. They had no idea that the kidnapping had anything to do with the summoning of a fake god, but now it was too late for regret. They just wanted to leave. It did not mean that some of them were feeling apprehensive to say the least, after all, they had believed in EON all their lives.

Oliver was facing Carlos directly, and the battle quickly became ruinous, especially since Carlos used his full power, not caring if the others were injured. He knew that his best opportunity to get out of this alive was to listen to Dagan, and kill as many people as possible. It was too late to go back, he needed to give his all. Oliver was doing his utmost, using his Voluntas in a full defensive way, trying to contain their fight in a closed environment. The rose petals were flying all over the place, stopping Carlos' insidious attack. In the end, Oliver was a true Qi Emperor, while Carlos' power was externally granted. However Oliver was aware that if time passed and people started dying things would be devastating for them.

Meanwhile Rudolf actually confronted Eren. However their fight seemed to be more appearance than anything else, however it was true that Rudolf at the very least kept the battle in check, and there had been no deaths so far. It was unknown what was going through Rudolf's mind, and he seemed to be waiting for something. Eren himself knew that he was in a desperate situation, however he also seemed to be keeping himself in check. His eyes never left his father's and were constantly checking the flow of the battlefield.

Evelin returned, and started strengthening Whitey, who grew to his full size as well and started attacking and defending the entry to the dungeon so the children could be protected from the men who wanted to kill them in their despair. With the power from Evelin he managed to fend off many of the mercenaries, and Little Green also attacked from inconspicuous locations. They were holding their ground for now, however Whitey did receive some injuries here and there. Fortunately, Evelin could heal him.

However, it was the fight in the sky that was the most impressive. The Raven raised his hand and multiple feathers appeared in the air, behaving like flying swords, and started raining upon the figure of Dagan who summoned a water barrier that fended off most of the feathers. Then Raven started to attack with his feets in a rapid succession, which had at some point transformed into talons. The power from the attacks was such that the shockwaves sent tremors all throughout the land, even when the Raven had also used a barrier that limited the extent of the fight, and even forced Dagan into the sky. Otherwise Dagan could kill many of the people below and fortify himself with their blood. Raven had attacked at the very least a thousand times in but a second, and their exchanges made everyone else feel the great inferiority between a Legend and everyone else.

Nerun was also paying attention to all the fights around, however he did not seem to be in a particular rush, as he walked towards the statue of Dagan. Sombra was also quite calm, and was seemingly waiting for Nerun to come towards him, as if there was not a fight to the death around them, but it was an invitation for a spar.

"A fake god. Powerful indeed. And that is only a projection, not even his full might. I can only guess what his full power would be like." said Nerun a bit absentmindedly.

"You are nothing but a kid. Of course you are not familiar with the many powers that lurk in this world. I guess ignorance is true bliss, otherwise you have never gotten involved in a business such as this. It's too late now, though. I'm afraid you have to die. Painfully I might add. Just my personal preference." said Sombra gloomily. It would be a lie if he said that things had gone according to plan. Actually he was also walking on a tightrope. The appearance of the Army and Nerun were already outside of his expectations, what to say about the descent of a Legend-level expert. He was a bit fearful and also angry that all his plans had gone down the drain. Killing Nerun would be a form of catharsis for him.

Even though Sombra was an expert in assasination, and not direct combat, it would be quite humiliating if he could not take care of Nerun, who could barely be considered a Qi Grandmaster.

"There is one thing I can not understand. Not about your involvement, no, a dead man's thoughts are nothing of my concern. It's your power. You seem to be a Qi Grandmaster, but your energy is awfully weak. You also use Magick spells with Mana, but they are weak as well. Are you one of the dumb shits that try to use both energies, thinking they are some kind of genius or something?"

"Care to guess? Don't worry about me. If I were you, I would actually concern myself with being serious. After all, this dumb dumb is the one who ruined your plans, and he will also take care of you when you least expect it."

Both Nerun and Sombra were bantering with each other, trying to get in each other's nerves. Fights were not only about strength and techniques, the state of mind was also important. Suddenly both seemed to vanish at the same time.

- CLASH -

Nerun and Sombra started fighting in the back of the room, exchanging blows all over. Sombra went for the kill from the start, and his punches and kicks went right towards Nerun's vitals. However Nerun's defense was quite solid, and the natural flow of his movements allowed him to parry all the attacks so far, and even send a couple of counterattacks here and there. Even when Sombra was using his dagger, Nerun managed to fend off several of the attacks with his palm covered by energy, and he was not harmed at all.

Soon, the movement of energy by Nerun started to erode the Qi in Sombra, who was feeling as if he was in a quagmire. He was an experienced fighter though, so he quickly extricated himself from the direct bout and started to use his arsenal of weapons and techniques. With the prior exchange, he understood that he did not have a major advantage in a direct confrontation against Nerun, though he was reluctant to admit it. Where could a boy like Nerun have come from, to have such might and technique at such a young age? Even some of the top disciples from the sects in his country were just as good as him.

Sombra blinked from shadow to shadow, and started attacking Nerun from weird and unpredictable angles. Nerun needed to fully focus on defense for a moment, before he quickly made a somersault to get away from the spot he was at. A needle had dropped at great speed right on top of his head and buried itself on the ground. The poisonous gleam in the almost invisible needle made Nerun remember to be even more careful. This enemy of his would use all and any foul means to kill him. He could not give him the smallest of chances.