Battle of Carne V

"Protect me! Protect me if you want to live!"

Nigun trembled as he pulled a crystal from his bag. It looked like a cluster of blue crystals, and it glowed brilliantly.

Despite their usual vigour, Nigun's subordinates were now slowed by fear. Even the boldest among them hesitated to shield their leader from the monstrous threat. Yet, time was of the essence, and Nigun needed them to act swiftly, no matter their apprehension.

'Is that a Sealing Crystal?!' Raizel's face turned serious because of the appearance of the crystal.

"I am going to summon an angel of the highest order; hurry up and buy me some time!" Nigun shouted as he lifted the crystal up with trembling hands. Once they realized the truth, his subordinates moved swiftly.

"Wait, angel of the highest order, does he mean a Seraph or a Gatekeeper? I can't let him activate that crystal. If he summons a Seraph, I'm in serious trouble."

With determination, Raizel muttered an incantation, casting the 10th-tier spell <Time Stop>. Instantly, the world around him drained of colour, freezing everything from the blades of grass to the breath of the scripture members.

The lone figure in motion was Raizel.

"Hmm, it seems they lack defences against time spells," Raizel remarked softly as he advanced steadily toward Nigun.

Raizel's use of this spell was twofold: to gauge the capabilities of Nigun and his cohorts. In Yggdrasil, high-level Players typically possessed countermeasures against time manipulation. Raizel intended to unleash a Super-tier spell to swiftly end the confrontation if the scripture members had such defences.

While Raizel possessed other means to conclude the battle, such as skills from his Noblesse Racial Class, he opted to reserve them in case of a formidable opponent's arrival. These skills, potent though they were, had cooldown periods. Utilizing them prematurely risked leaving him vulnerable later on—a risk Raizel wasn't yet prepared to take.

He walked close to Nigun and extended his hand to take the crystal.

"I'll be taking that," muttering this, Raizel moved back to his original position and deactivated <Time Stop>.

Before dispelling the spell, Raizel deftly concealed the crystal behind his back, relishing the prospect of witnessing Nigun's despair.

"Behold! The glorious visage of the highest angel! Dominion Authority!" Nigun shouted, yet nothing happened.

Raizel had an amused look on his face.

"Hmm, I can't see anything," Raizel taunted Nigun with apparent sarcasm.

"WHAT!?" Nigun shouted as he looked upward and didn't see the Sealing Crystal. He then haphazardly started looking around for the crystal.

Raizel revelled in Nigun's despair.

"Yoo! Looking for this?" he jeered, producing the Sealing Crystal from behind his back and displaying it tauntingly.

"How? How the hell do you have that?!" Nigun exclaimed incredulously, taking a step back as Raizel approached.

"Oh, I don't know; perhaps you dropped it hastily. But how I acquired it is irrelevant. What matters is, why do you possess something like this?" Raizel advanced slowly, enjoying Nigun's retreat.

"You lot! Attack him, stop him!" Nigun commanded his subordinates desperately.

"Don't fret, I won't kill you," Raizel assured Nigun, his tone chillingly calm. "But first, I need answers. As for the rest..." He trailed off, pointing a finger toward the scripture members.

"<Sanguine Barrage>"

In an instant, a massive magic circle materialized before him. Before anyone could react, hundreds of blood-red arrows shot forth, swiftly dispatching the scripture members.

As Raizel approached the cowering Nigun, he couldn't shake the unsettling thoughts swirling in his mind.

"The sensation of exterminating ants like them... It's undeniably exhilarating. Even though I understand it's wrong, there's a perverse pleasure in it," he pondered, troubled by his own impulses. "I could have easily enslaved them, yet the instinct to eliminate them felt... natural. What's happening to me?"

Dispatching the scripture members had stirred something primal within Raizel, a sensation that defied easy explanation.

As Nigun cowered in fear, chanting "Demon God! Demon God!" in desperation, Raizel approached him with measured steps. With a swift motion, he delivered a kick to Nigun's head, rendering him unconscious. Raizel had purposefully restrained his strength, opting not to lethally harm him.

Moments later, a gate materialized nearby, and Guu emerged from it. Without hesitation, he went to Nigun's unconscious form, lifted him up, and retreated back through the gate.

~Scene Change~

Raizel sat on his throne, with the knights he had transformed into vampires standing before him. At their feet lay Nigun's unconscious figure.

Raizel stood and walked over to Nigun, then crouched beside him.

"Time to convert him into a vampire. I wonder what variant he'll turn out to be," Raizel muttered. He opened his mouth, releasing a small droplet of blood that floated toward Nigun.

Returning to his throne, Raizel instructed one of the knights to open Nigun's mouth to allow the blood to enter and initiate the conversion process.

One knight complied, prying open Nigun's mouth. The droplet of blood entered, and the conversion began.

As time passed, Nigun's skin gradually turned pale. Within about 15 seconds, his complexion had become deathly pale. As the conversion ended, Raizel felt a connection being forged with Nigun. Moments later, Nigun opened his eyes and looked directly at Raizel with his red pupils.

Nigun quickly got up, then knelt and bowed before Raizel.

"I greet you, master," he said. His tone hadn't changed much from when he was human, unlike the knights, whose voices had taken on a dark undertone after their conversion.

"Interesting... His tone didn't change like the Knights'," Raizel muttered before addressing Nigun with a question.

"Introduce yourself."

"Yes, master," Nigun replied respectfully, still bowing. "My name is Nigun Grid Luin. I belong to the Slane Theocracy and am the captain of one of its Six Scriptures, the Sunlight Scripture."

"Now, how do you know about tier magic?" Raizel asked, his tone serious. This was one of the important questions he needed answers to, as the knights didn't possess skills from Yggdrasil. Instead, some of them had Martial Arts, which were similar but felt like cheap imitations.

"I learned it from my teacher at the church. His name was Rugard, and he was able to use 4th-tier spells."

"I meant, where did the people of this world get knowledge of tier magic?" Raizel clarified.

"It was introduced in this world by the Six Great Gods 600 years ago. Then, its influence was increased by the Eight Greed Kings. According to our religious texts, 600 years ago, the Six Great Gods used tier magic to defend humanity against monsters and taught it to the world's people. Later, the Eight Greed Kings also used tier magic to conquer the entire continent, further spreading it."

"Hmm, the Six Great Gods and the Eight Greed Kings are most likely Players from Yggdrasil, but why did they appear 600 years ago? Were they teleported before the server shutdown? However, the more important thing is," Raizel mused.

"Are any of the Six Great Gods or Eight Greed Kings still alive? And are there any individuals comparable to them alive at this moment?" The answer to this question held significant importance. If Raizel were the only Player alive, he wouldn't need to be too cautious and could explore the world or make other plans.

Having already determined that most people in this world were weak, the existence of powerful entities like the Great Gods or Greed Kings could drastically alter his strategy.

He posed this question to Nigun, as he knew that the Six Great Gods had established the Slane Theocracy, making it likely that someone within its ranks would possess information about their fate.

"No, master. The Six Great Gods and the Eight Greed Kings had already died. The only ones comparable to them are Dragon Lords, and they are still alive."

"Dragon Lords, huh? Tell me more about them," Raizel furthered because Dragons had an important position in Yggdrasil's lore. The final boss of Yggdrasil, the Devourer of the Nine Worlds, was a giant Dragon.

Raizel had suspected that maybe one of those Dragons had also been teleported to this world. And if they were, Raizel would need to be cautious of them because they were considered difficult enemies even in the game. After all, they had powerful physical attacks, physical defence, and endless stamina.

Nigun then delved into the topic of the Dragon Lords. According to his information, the Dragon Lords held sway before the arrival of the Six Great Gods. However, the Six Great Gods focused more on protecting and strengthening humankind than dealing with the Dragon Lords.

The arrival of the Eight Greed Kings sparked a conflict with the Dragon Lords, resulting in a war that led to the deaths of many Dragon Lords. Eventually, the Greed Kings fell due to infighting.

Currently, some Dragon Lords still live. There was a distinction among them: those capable of using Wild Magic were deemed True Dragon Lords. In contrast, others were labelled False Dragon Lords.

Regrettably, Nigun lacked detailed knowledge about Wild Magic, the exact number of living Dragon Lords, or their whereabouts. He only knew that some resided in the Argland Council State, where they held positions of authority within the state's leadership.

"Besides Martial Arts, this world has its own magic system. I need to test whether I can learn Martial Arts or Wild Magic," Raizel contemplated.

He then retrieved the Sealing Crystal and presented it to Nigun.

"How did you get this?" Raizel asked.

"It was one of the items left behind by the Six Great Gods," Nigun explained.

"One of them? Do you mean there are other such items?" Raizel inquired.

"Yes, master. The Theocracy has a vault that houses items left behind by the Six," Nigun replied.

Raizel closed his eyes, reclining on his throne as he pondered his future plans.

'Now that I have much information, I am 90% sure that there are no Players in this world other than me. But I have detected a pattern here; every 200 years or so, new Players are teleported to this world. First came the Six Great Gods, then the Eight Greed Kings, and then the Evil Deities, each appearing after 200 years. And now, I was teleported to this world after 200 years of the Evil Deities' appearance.'

He opened his eyes and looked toward the ceiling.

"This means that in 200 years, a new batch of Players would be teleported to this world, and who knows what kind of intentions they would have. I need to be ahead of them and be ready for their arrival. And seeing that I am undead, I shouldn't age, which means I have 200 years to prepare," Raizel concluded, his mind already formulating plans for the future.

To be continued...