CREEPING DARKNESS

David's pov

"what"

"two..two...two hundred members sir"

"i heard you the first time that's why i said 'WHAT'"

at this the man who stuttered out the status report fell flat on his face and began to apologize furiously

"please sir we've tried everything but the man seems to be highly skilled, he has already undergone synchronisation and grand cosmic awakening there's nothing we can do"

contrary to how one would expect me to feel i was nothing but dumbfounded since when was there such a talent in this city and why wasn't i aware.

Let me start from the beginning, my name is David Braxton and I'm the third Don of trident city and my guild is currently under attack by one person...and were losing, i place my palm on my face at the incredulousness of this situation before saying

"what about the 'four torches'"

"they're facing him now sir"

"all four of them"

"yes sir"

"and he's still holding out"

"it would seem so"

by now i should be exasperated but truthfully i saw this as an opportunity, most people think I'm proud of my guild the way it is but in truth few people are as disgusted at it than i.

A Don is a person who in exchange for unchallenged authority has to use his power to protect the city he lives in, he serves as guardian ruler and protector and hus guild is supposed to exemplify this creed but my guild is filled with nothing but people who want to do harm to the city when i first started the guild i accidentally accepted unsavorables because they met the minimum combat ability due to that even decent people who would get into the guild would leave soon after a clash of morals occurred, the guild sunk lower and lower into depravity and i couldn't do anything about it, as their Don I'm supposed to protect my members at all costs but what am i supposed to do if these people aren't worth protecting no one wanted to tell me even when i first joined up the other Dons weren't willing to answer my questions they would simply tell me to go do it myself so fail and fail i did and now here we are.

"I'll go"

the man in front of put up a grateful expression before scurrying out like a rat, he thought i didn't notice his smile as he left the room, a smile that said 'that bastard is dead now'

I couldn't really blame him someone has gone against my guild they had challenged my rules and so they had to pay so i walked over to the wall where it was placed 'DARUITH' my 6 feet tall war hammer, before i became a Don this girl had always found herself stained with the blood of men and women alike but now she looked as clean as the day my father put it in my hand and told me to smash open the head of an orc he had captured snooping around our village, i remember that day i had asked what he had done and instead of answering my father had slapped the back of my head ever since then i had been averse to asking questions i didnt need to maybe that was why i didn't ask who caused this mess in the first place it still wouldn't change what had to be done.

We ran through the burning streets past unmoving bodies of my men although the fight started at the city gates it seemed a few spell casters had tried to launch a barrage at him from quite a distance but failed the way their bodies were spread out were obvious signs of 'internal mana disruption C' the highest stage of mana disruption A being that the spell beimg manifested will not only fail but produce a small pop instead and B being the spell will simply blow up in their faces but this was C when the mana get reabsorbed into the body and then Detonates itself, usually this would cause a few internal injuries that were still treatable given enough time but these people seemed to have simply put exploded, only one spell could do this 'ignis fatus' a spell that triggers internal mana disruption C, at least 20 people died like this ignis fatus isn't an easy spell to use and its even harder to do so on more than one person hell the user runs the risk of dying in the same manner as the intended victims and he did this on so many people at once, my hammer twitched in my hand at the prospect of a good fight one where i could prove my worth because truthfully i used to be the second Don before i lost the the leader of the 'Frozen Blossoms' and although the fight was close its still bugged me how we were equal in every thing except power while she was slightly above me in, last i heard she went into seclusion in order to beat No:1, good luck i told her that guy is more god than man.

I walked up to the scene with my mouth open, each Don had their own group of elites who served as his hand and feet in a crisis they fought on behalf of their Don answered to none but him and led the guild in his absence mine were called the Four torches, four magis-swords all S-class in power and ability, all four of them lay on the ground with their eyes wise ooen and lethal wounds all over their body i looked up to see their opponent wasn't even winded, my best cards were all dead and their opponent was in perfect condition but still i wasn't angry rather i simply approached him, after a few seconds he turned to look at him and was shocked, he was young around 18 or 19 making him agemates with Don No:2 but this powerful, i wasn't an oldie myself as i was still in my late twenties but that's not what caught my attention, it was his eyes, there was only one word to describe them 'miserable' like they would never know joy or light, when art users reach a certain level they can pick up on emotions and influence those of others as well and Arcanum users are the peak of the arts and right now the only thing i could think of when looking at this boy was dying star, something that would burn out spectacularly while taking out everything in sight he neede help desperately.

"Are you David Braxton"

his words shocked me out of my reverie as i answered

"yes"

"you're...younger than i thought you'd be"

"like you're the one to talk"

under our city was an odity master the arts to its limit and you can live for centuries as such most people go through synchronisation and awakening around the age of 120 but in our city none of the Don were above 32, people like to say its either we were really weak or we were all geniuses but this guy could be even more talentes than Don:2 who was only 18 last i checked.

Even though i knew i shouldnt i asked

"what happened here"

he looked at me for a moment his eyes softening as if he had been waiting for that question all day and instead of talking he lifted his pinky finger to the side of his head, after a few seconds a semi transparent wisp came out still attached to his finger before floating over to mine, i looked at it 'mind wisp' he copied his memories and sent it to me, that was not an easy feat once again u found myself wondering where this guy came from before shurging and sending the information to my brain, it was a lot to take in, how my boys refused to take ownership of their mistake, how they tried to kill him to cover it up and how revealed that they had done worse in an effort to taunt him into making a mistake before eventually having their lives reaped.

I found myself on my knees the men at my back rushed to help me up but instead i roared at them

"DON'T TOUCH ME YOU FILTHY ANIMALS"

"boss what's going on what did you see"

"i saw everything, everything i needed to see, just let me finish up here and i handle you guys later"

i looked up to see him with that same blank expression and bloodshot eyes he had carried since the beginning, i wanted to get on my knees, to beg, to cry about the injustice he had faced but i couldn't instead i said

"if you join me ill make all of this go away"

he stared at me without emotion on his face

"i have to protect these people but if you join me i can make all this go away"

u waited for an answer even though his face said it all but still a man had to hope

"i can't"

but hope and reality don't often go together

"then we must fight"

as i dusted my self up here simply picked up his sword and took a stance.

He blocked almost immediately, he had to i had swung Daruith with all my might and sent him flying beyond the city gates and into an open clearing a few kilometres away but rather than crashing like a rag doll he righted himself in the air and landed with a graceful spin facing my direction, i had charged after him leaping into the air and swung down as hard as i could but rather than side stepping he thrust forward with his slender blade right at the center of my hammer, our weapons clashed, thought to break his sword and arm as penance for such a stupid decision before noticing that the forces were equal and least that what i thought before he straightened his arm and since i was still in the air above him i was sent flying a few metres before righting my self after rolling on the floor ungracefully, before i could come to terms with the fact that i lost in a battle of pure strength he was already in front of me thrusting at my face with my lowered guard, i leaned backwards to avoid the thrust before finding the blade decending towards my face once more, i spun awkwardly while trying to slam him with my hammer but he twirled doged my strike and jumped back, i jumped back as well and launched several spells at him in order to confuse him before i rushed him again but with a wave of his hand he conjurned several barriers before rushing me again

"sorak style"

the fighting style he used, it was a gutsy fight style where one would alternate between fighting in different mania's (area of attack) so as to be able to fight at any range while depriving your opponent of the mania they Favour, the problem with this style was that you had to master fighting in different ranges and switching from range to range was quick and dangerous process as such masters of this style were extremely feeling but difficult to deal with and it just so happens that the one in front of me was even better than me at my preferred mania, hell as my body began to fill willth wounds while he wasn't even sore i realized he was better than me in all aspects strength, speed, agility even mana and spell casting but u had one last trick up my sleeve one he couldn't hope to beat and so i jumped back even further, with the blood dripping off of me in buckets i didn't look the least bit threathing but he either sensed the change in the air around me or had been waiting for this in particular

"Four prounged hell fire"

and as i uttered the name of my Arcanum four different coloured flames appeared around me orange, red, black and green all of my 'edicts', and edict is a special characteristic of an Arcanum, some Arcanum's come with them while others can be added for me i awakened with the Arcanum of fire which was originally orange and possed the edict of 'heat' and 'burning' but i later added 3 more flames each with their own edict, the green flames healed and revitalised my body, the black flames were almost impossible to put out and the red flames didn't touch ones body but rather went after the soul directly.

I looked at him standing with his guard raised looking at me his expression blank but his eyes showing so much concentration i was afraid his head might pop, with a flick of my hand he disappeared and the place where he once stood was engulfed in a sea of multicoloured flames, it seems he doged, i stood looking at him run up and down whillist firing spells that were all swallowed by my flames

"stop you don't have a chance"

he paused for a second before looking me resolution in his eyes then raised up his sword while closing his eyes, i could tell he was planning something but i knew it was futile so i sought to end his struggle while sending him away in a blaze of glory so i gathered a large chunk of my flames and sent it forward in a stream of pure carnage, i kept thinking he would dodge in the last minute or pull something that could help him survive but no i watched as his figure was consumed by it his form no longer visible within the multicoloured haze

"its over"

i said

"indeed it is"

but i didn't answer my self for within the the flames his figure shown and in a burst of force all my flames disipated and there he was standing while surrounded by a black substance, at first i thought it was my black flames simply struggling to burn him but no, these weren't flames, my flames were said to be as dark as night but next to whatever clung to him they might as well been a white canvas it felt like i was looking at an infinite number of nights but what was strangest was that something that dark had a strange aura of holiness on it, it's presence made me want to worship it but before i could make a move he finally spoke

"Darkness incarnate"

that name i didnt think i quickly conjured another round of flames even bigger than the last batch and launched them at him but instead of forming a shield or moving he lifted his hand and said

"Darkness Arcanum first edict infinite consumer"

the darkness rose up right in front of him to the same height as my flames and true to their name swallowed them up leaving nothing left, Arcanum. darkness Arcanum, this bastard had an Arcanum as well!!!!!!!