The Forty Seventh
Just from watching Elaine made me want to pay more attention to my subordinates in their training. Before I just left them to themselves but now I feel like I should at least observe them in their training every once in a while to make sure they are doing their best and aren't hitting any walls in their training. When I returned home to my room I just laid on my bed and stared at the ceiling. Once this tournament is over there is a lot to take care of even if the majority of the clan will still be in this dimension I will finally have a connection to the outside again. Of course with that comes a lot of danger that needs proper countermeasures to take care of. As long as I prepare myself and my clan we will make it out just fine. There is also the situation with Al'Dae but that shouldn't pose a big problem as long as I can amass enough power to take on the various gods after her. Well it may not be time yet but soon enough it will be time for all the pieces to be put in place.
After I finished breakfast the next day I led everyone back to the colosseum. The halfway point of the tournament was coming closer than expected but it's really because of the rules that I enforced and the nonchalant way I pick matchups. Oh well my subordinates are still training extremely hard so that they can have a fighting chance in the tournament. Even those that lost still continue to train themselves past their limits. Also some of them don't participate in watching the tournament but rather just train. I don't particularly mind this since it keeps them motivated and have a goal in mind. As we were approaching the colosseum I felt something deep down in my body. It was an urge to fight. My blood was boiling and I was unintentionally letting out some of my aura flow outward and my subordinates felt it. For the first time on all of my subordinates' faces I saw a genuine emotion of fear, like they felt that they did something wrong.
At that moment I realized how much I've been holding back myself since I did that training. It brought back my urge to fight something powerful or to let my power flow free. I looked down on my hand and clenched my fist before telling Al'Dae to handle the tournament matchups since she isn't a part of it. She quickly and rapidly nodded her head while beating bullets of sweat. I left everyone at the colosseum and headed to the dungeon, I've been pent up in a different way and need to relieve myself. When I arrived at the dungeon Thetia appeared in front of me and had a similar look to my subordinates and Al'Dae. I didn't have her teleport me to a specific floor or to a training room I just dove into the dungeon starting from the first floor. I completely disregarded the panicking Al'Dae as I ran past her. When I dove into the first floor I could already tell that I wasn't acting how I normally do but I couldn't stop myself. It was as if I had an unbreakable desire that could only be relieved by utterly annihilating some powerful monstrosities. However I don't know if it will be completely removed by then or just go into a dormant state. For now I just have one directive as I destroy orcs and giant slimes left and right. Obliterate.
[Change POV TO Elaine]
For the first time since Lord Nemesis killed that guild leader a while back I felt that unsettling feeling. As much as I want that chilling feeling to turn me on so much and make me fly in ecstasy, when he released his mana into the air around all of us. Every fiber of my being was screaming to run away or bow down at the pressure. I thought that I could handle whatever my master could throw at me since I was the first but I was so wrong. It isn't even a matter that can be messed with, it escalated to an extremely high point from the last time and now, the two can't even be compared. I'm worried about Master Nemesis but at the same time should I take the risk in following him to the dungeon? I wouldn't be his first subordinate if I didn't care about him the most! I need to follow him no matter the dangers that lie with it. As Al'Dae was going to start announcing the next match even though everyone was tense I snuck away towards the dungeon and to my surprise Thetia didn't appear before me. That can't be good at all, I need to put everything into my speed to catch up to him, something is horribly wrong.
As I was running down the floors I saw nothing but bloody corpses of all sorts of monsters like orcs, goblins, oni's, dragons, giant snakes, etc. What bothered me was the fact that the corpses haven't been absorbed by the dungeon yet, let alone respawned. I started to sweat at the thought of what Thetia might be going through right now, she must be going on overdrive to the extreme to try and keep up with him. The further I went down, the more dead monsters I saw. I hoped that at some point he would calm down so that I could catch up. I'm confident that I'm the fastest out of all the subordinates in the Nightmare Clan but I, in no way, can keep up with Lord Nemesis. Is there anything I could have done differently to have prevented this? Wait, let alone prevent this, what is happening to him in the first place? This is the first time he just went on a rampage. At least he had some self control before he went into the dungeon, otherwise I fear what would have happened to everyone if he didn't. I pray that he is ok as well as Thetia.
The next floor I reached there were some monsters left alive but let's just say that they weren't looking for a fight or revenge for their fallen comrades. There were giant ice dragons pissing on the ground in fear of what just passed through. From their perspective it would be as if a monstrosity just appeared and turned their floor upside down In less than a minute. One of the dragons walked up to me and took human form. It was an older man in a blue suit. The suit looked like it was soiled in piss and sweat. He got on his knees in front of me and begged me to run away while I had the chance. This made me think to myself that I probably shouldn't continue to chase him but my body didn't listen and just continued on. Lord Nemesis most likely wouldn't hurt me as long as he has even a fragment of some control of himself. I just need to figure out what is going on with him so I can come up with some measure against it.
Each and everyday I have trained myself to my utmost limit, only to surpass it and find a new one. Lord Nemesis may have given us the [No Level Limit] skill but, that doesn't mean that it will make things any easier for us to become stronger in an attempt to catch up to him. Eventually there comes a point where the growth skill that we have becomes almost irrelevant and in order for me in particular to reach the next level of power I need to discover a different way of fighting or a new way of utilizing my current skills to discover new ones. Although I may have a difficult time in achieving a breakthrough in power now that I have reached a point that I feel comfortable saying I am the strongest subordinate. It's things like these though that make me feel sorry for normal beastkin like Adela and Celeste. They had to work much harder than anyone else in order to even get a fragment of the power that the rest of the clan has. It's times like these that make me think back on what could have gone wrong over the past few weeks. As a matter of fact I wonder what type of training Master Nemesis put himself through here for three days in order to achieve such power? I'll have to ask Thetia about it when this situation is over.