Vortigern Avalon

PS : Chapter 240 has been updated. You need to read that chapter in order to understand what is going on in this one!!

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Ed's heart raced as he quickly ordered Mehen, "To the east!" Mehen registered the order in an instant and changed his direction, causing those that weren't ready to stumble on his head.

"Ed, does this mean that…?" Emilia regained her balance and moved closer to Ed. Her face showed just how many questions she had, but decided to wait for Ed to finish everything before asking him.

"I don't know if it's him, or if it's someone else. All I know is that for the first time, we finally encountered something friendly in this continent!" Ed smiled as he felt a bit relieved. But, his relieved heart churned as he felt an intimidating power coming from the direction of the green dot.

Ed wasn't stupid to question the Map's accuracy concerning the discerning of enemies or allies. Its previous perfect record along with his system's accuracy proved everything. However, the intimidating feeling that everyone felt was more than enough to make them nervous. It was as if an enemy was trying to warn them not to approach.

'He's considering us as enemies…I should have figured that he wouldn't allow us to get close that easily. We can't even announce ourselves as his grandchildren since we don't even know if he will believe us. He'll need to see us, but in order to do so, we need to close in on him. I guess it's a gamble!'

Ed thought of the possibilities before he said, "Forward, Mehen!"

The intimidating feeling increased as they approached, suddenly it turned into hostility. Ed, still adamant on getting closer, made sure to extend his Telekinesis threads all over the place in order to prepare for an incoming attack.

Less than one thousand meters separated the two of them, and yet Ed couldn't find his grandfather's figure. The thick blanket of trees covered everything under them.

"Sieg, Gobuta! It's an attack!" Just less than 500 meters between them and Ed noticed the sky above them twisting and turning as if it was in pain. He could only think that they were being attacked. After all, they were warned on their way, and only attacking was left.

From the twisting sky, a pure wave of QI descended. Ed notified Gobuta and Sieg since they were the best for this kind of attack.

"Mehen, give us a boost!" Ed asked as he and Gobuta stood at the tip of Mehen's nose. The latter complied, as he lowered his head a little and flung them with his full force. Gobuta and Ed flew towards the QI attack while readying their weapons. Ed clad his with Amaterasu, while Gobuta covered his great sword with Darkness magic.

The two of them swung their blades as their collided with the QI. The usually intangible QI felt like a planet weighing down upon them. They were using their full strength, yet they were still being pushed back. Even Amaterasu couldn't keep up with the colossal amount of QI and failed to consume it all.

'Activate the Berserk skill!' Ed gave an order to his system as he withdrew Ame-No-Murakumo from his Inventory. He used his two swords while clad with Amaterasu flames. His KI exploded after receiving the power-up from his Berserk state. Gobuta, at his left, decided that he needed to do something as well.

His tattoos glowed with purplish dark color, and from them, similarly colored QI oozed out. The QI covered his whole body along with his greatsword, increasing his overall power many times.

"Nitoryu Iai: Rashomon (Two-Sword Style: Thin Life Gate)!" Ed clad his sword in Haki as he drew them from their sheaths. He sent two powerful flying sword slashes that coursed through the pillar of QI above him. The Amaterasu flames surged through the cracks in the QI and started to eat it from the inside.

Gobuta didn't use any techniques. Instead, he stuck to his Enhancer origins and used his full power to slash down, sending a Darkness wave throughout the QI.

The two of them started to float down after destroying the attack. A thin transparent film surrounded them before they could notice it. It was Sieg who used his barrier to protect everyone from the residue of the attacks which were falling down as well.

'System, can you calculate the power of whatever attacked us?' Ed frowned as he noticed how much power they needed to use in order to save themselves from one attack.

[Since it was only one attack, I can't really say for sure. But, by going through my estimates, and the amount of QI that was used…I'd say it is at least Immortal Establishment level 10. But, since this attack was casually thrown at you, I'd say it belongs to the next rank.]

Ed frowned as he listened to the explanation of his system. He was relieved that the one who attacked them was a green dot; otherwise, Ed would have escaped from that place in a heartbeat.

"The hostile feeling is gone…" Ed muttered as he landed back on Mehen's head.

"Ed, should we continue, or…?" Emilia asked him as she stood by his side, ready to tackle anything along with him.

"We'll continue. If this is really my grandfather, then it'll leave us with a little more than a week to go back and prepare for the final war…" Ed explained his reasoning as Mehen moved, this time at a slow pace, towards the green dot.

Even without talking, Ed could tell how nervous everyone felt. It was only obvious, since they didn't have his Map, and couldn't tell if the one they were meeting was an ally or a foe. They only believed Ed's words and had nothing else to base their belief on.

"Mehen, this is far enough, we'll continue on foot," said Ed as he patted Mehen's head. Following his orders, Mehen shrunk back to his smallest size and slithered up to Ed's neck. The group then continued on foot, following Ed's lead.

As they had a little less than 100 meters between them and the green dot, they could hear the sound of a waterfall. They walked, and before long, they caught a glimpse of an elderly fellow sitting on top of the highest rock of the waterfall. In his hand, he held a bamboo fishing rod while enjoying the air around him.

As soon as he saw him, memories started to unveil themselves in Ed's head. That person was his grandfather. That person was the one who started Avalon kingdom. That person was Vortigern Avalon.