Chapter 17
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The battlefield only got more and more chaotic, after the initial sneak attack, the Fallen managed to recover. Although they only had 12 members left, they didn't die as quickly as before, now focusing on preserving their lives whilst also attacking occasionally.
After the Quaker Golems had show that they were almost undefeatable, the Fallen and their leader targeted the old man and Arboria instead. They mostly avoided the attacks of the slow golems, whilst also hindering them with magic.
The old man had proved that he was also indestructible, blocking or avoiding any attack that came his way, using both his shield and lance. An orb of light surrounded him, nullifying the majority of force that came towards him. There were already several arrows which were embedded into it.
On the other hand, Arboria was being targeted by the tall Fallen lady, who was making her battle a lot harder. Every time the dragon lady was about to cast some sort of magic, the tall woman's long snake-like whip would shoot in from odd angles, tangling up her arms and stopping her magic.
Although the Fallen's attacks didn't hurt or injure her much, the tall woman's constant whippings infuriated Arboria. The woman didn't even attempt to injure her, only hinder and irritate her.
Aria on the other hand, was being protected by the old man, now that Arboria had no confidence in shielding her daughter. Normally, he would have been able to clear up all of the grunts very quickly, but as he was outnumbered and also had to make sure to protect Aria, the battle quickly became a stalemate.
Meanwhile, in the bushes, Draylen had shut himself off from the battle. He was trying to invoke the strange state which had saved him from death when he fought against the Fallen infiltrator. He kept grasping for that feeling of nothingness, where the world was black and white.
It was like having a word on the tip of your tongue, but not being able to remember what it is.
However, Barong who was crouching next to his master noticed black smoke being produced, seeping out of his skin. The smoke had a strange aura of emptiness, which gave the Lioberus cub strange chills down his back.
Soon, this shroud of smoke became thicker, encasing Draylen's entire body in darkness. This cloud of smoke then began to rise slowly into the air, like a ghost.
'Did it work?'
Draylen opened his eyes and sure enough, every thing was black and white. He quickly lowered his 'cloud' back behind the cover of the trees.
'Although the infiltrator from before couldn't hurt me, these guys are definitely much stronger.'
He was lucky, nobody except his familiar had noticed his sudden ascent. Everyone was too focused on fighting to see a dark cloud which came out from behind the tree. This cloud carefully peeked from behind cover a second time, quietly observing the battle.
There was a single member of the Fallen who was a few metres away from Draylen's cover who was continuously firing arrows at the old man and occasionally, an arrow slipped past his guard. This made him a prime target.
Draylen drifted forward like an incorporeal spirit, before lurking behind the man who was unaware of his presence. Then, the veil of shadows began to engulf the man.
"W-what?!" He exclaimed in shock.
However, nobody turned to assist him, it was as if they couldn't hear him at all. Draylen appeared in the cloud from behind and vigorously thrust his wrist blades forward, stabbing the man in the back. The latter yelled once more, before leaping away and raising his wrist mounted crossbows.
-Pew
In an instant, 10 arrows shot forward in a deadly barrage. The man, who had calmed down slightly realised that the stature of his opponent was very small.
'Could it be? Isn't this the kid which the mistress wants to kill? Maybe I'll get rewarded if I kill him and gift his body to her!' He thought, grinning slightly.
However, this grin turned into a horrified stare as he saw the arrows pass right through the masked boy's body. Wisps of black smoke could be seen spreading from the holes which they made, before the holes disappeared.
An eerie sensation creeped up the man's back. He involuntarily stepped backward, before raising his gating crossbows once more and firing. Soon, he had run out of ammunition. A desperate look emerged on the man's face as he realised that he couldn't harm the boy.
Draylen, on the other hand, felt elated. A triumphant grin spread onto his face.
'So it works, I'm really invincible!' He thought.
'I may as well make the most of this then...'
He slowly drifted towards the shivering man. His legs had been replaced with wisps of smoke, increasing the ghostliness of his appearance tenfold.
"D-Don't! Stay away!" The man shrieked, stumbling backwards.
His back hit an invisible wall which stopped him from leaving the veil of shadows, only making the situation even scarier.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to harm you, I only want to ask a few questions." Draylen said calmly.
The man looked at him disbelievingly, but eventually sighed in relief upon seeing the ghost boy not making any moves. Well, he wouldn't if he could see the mischievous grin on the other side of the black helmet.
"Okay... But if I answer, you have to let me go!" He said, but his voice cracked from dryness, making his serious statement become somewhat comedic.
"Alright then."
"What did you come here for?" Draylen asked casually.
The man hesitated for a moment before eventually giving in.
"I'm not too sure, the only thing I know is that my mistress want's to rob a dragon tomb for some kind of artifact." He said slowly.
Draylen nodded.
"Why does she want this artifact? What's her name?"
"She said something about winning the master's favour, apart from that, I don't know either. I also only know that she's called '4th sister' by the higher ups."
'Winning her master's favour, doesn't that mean that her master is in need of the earthen pearl? Wouldn't that also mean that her master is of the earth element?'
Upon seeing Draylen tilt his head slightly, as if he were pondering over something, the man coughed to get his attention.
"So... May I go now-"
However, he never finished his sentence. At the moment the man coughed, Draylen, who was at least 2 tiers lower than him had shot forward and stabbed his wrist blades into the man's heart. The man stared at him with two dead eyes, before slumping into the ground.
His body then began to decompose at visible speeds, becoming nothingness on the floor. Upon seeing this, Draylen was shocked.
'It seems that when someone dies in this... 'cloud', they get eaten by it?'
'Also, I've killed two people of higher tiers than me now. Although they are technically higher lifeforms, they are still humans in the end. Since the heart is the source of one's mana, that makes it an even bigger weak spot. I should try to only stab my enemies in the heart from now on so that they can't retaliate and even if they manage to survive, they won't be able to manipulate mana any more.'
Draylen's body then began to dissipate into the shadows around him as he looked toward the battlefield once more.
'Aha, a new target.'
Unfortunately for Draylen, his assassination of one of the Fallen did not go unnoticed. Another man who had been standing nearby had seen his companion disappear into thin air. In fact, he had seen the shadows but thought his mind was playing tricks on him.
"Hey, brother White, Did you see where brother Mouse went? He just seemed to have disappeared!" He exclaimed, before firing off another arrow.
'Brother White' turned around to look at his companion.
"Who knows, maybe that coward ran for his life again, or maybe mastered some kind of invisibility spell." He shrugged, before returning to the fray, shooting out an ice arrow which slammed into a Quaker Golem's feet.
The man who had noticed his friend disappearing shrugged also.
'Must have been my imagination. Brother Mouse, when we get back you'll owe me all of your desserts for an entire week for deserting! Well, that's if he isn't executed or branded as a traitor.' He thought, with an amused grin.
On the other side of the battlefield, someone else had also noticed Draylen killing a Fallen. It was the tall woman who was currently fighting hand to hand with Arboria. The dragon lady had gotten fed up with the Fallen constantly disrupting her with the whip and thus used her innate fire breath to set it and the woman using it aflame.
'What was that? I thought that Third brother was going to let me try attacking first before bringing his troops. Wait, although that felt like a portal opening, it was slightly different.'
However, before she could continue speculating, Arboria had rushed forward as soon as she became distracted to land a solid punch into her gut.
-Bleh
The tall woman stumbled backward, clenching her bloody wound.
'Dammit, whatever that portal-like thing was, It doesn't concern me.'
"Not bad." She said, wiping away a trace of blood from her mouth.
Arboria shrugged impassively before shooting out green flames which was extremely hot, in fact, much hotter than that of ordinary dragon flame. The tall woman managed to dodge in time, but the Fallen behind her did not, thus another 5 of the attackers were incinerated.
The tall woman glanced behind her for a moment before returning her gaze to Arboria.
"Good fight, but alas, I'm not here for you."
As she said that, her body began to meld into the surroundings. Arboria let out another jet of flames but the attack didn't make contact. Soon, there were only Fallen foot soldiers, weaklings which Arboria wouldn't even bat an eye at.
"She sure is a slippery one."
However, she then noticed something strange. A ghostly black shadow crept along the edges of the battlefield, occasionally pouncing upon unaware Fallen soldiers and a few seconds later, the soldiers disappeared.
'Is that...' Arboria grinned slightly.
'It seems that boy holds a few surprises.'
She then turned to survey the ongoing fight. The number of Fallen had decreased to under 5, practically ensuring their victory. The only thing that was making Arboria feel uncomfortable was the fact the the leader of these people had managed to escape and might launch another stealthier attack in the future.
The old man who was no longer under the pressure of having to protect Aria, charged forward into the five remaining enemies with a barbaric shout, instantly killing one with his lance and stunning another with his shield bash.
The Quaker Golems, which no longer had to run on a wild goose chase finally managed to land their attacks as well, pulverising the remaining Fallen into red stains on the floor. Then, seeing no more enemies, the golems turned into masses of dirt and returned to the walls of the enclosure.
The old man walked over to Arboria and Aria and grinned.
"Well fought."
"Well fought." The dragoness replied with a relieved look.
"However, their leader managed to escape. A fault on my part."
The old man nodded.
"Of course, the Fallen's stronger players won't die that easily. What truly concerns me is that this means they'll attack a second time. Also, have you seen Draylen by any chance?" He asked hurriedly.
A black shadow that hung in the air drifted next to him, before slowly becoming more corporeal and turning into Draylen, who was clutching the shaken Barong in his arms.
"Hi. I'm here." He said, tapping the old man on the back and causing him to jump back in fright.
"Oh, so you are."
"Mmmnn. Well done, little boy. I saw you take out a few of those Fallen footmen, truly well done." Arboria praised.
Draylen nodded slightly.
"In the end, they're still humans." He said humbly.
Arboria nodded before turning to the old man.
"I truly apologise for having dragged you into this mess. If you want, I'll give you a handsome reward for assisting us."
The old man grinned slyly.
Draylen suddenly interjected.
"Actually, I got one of the Fallen to talk. He said that the tall lady's master wanted the earthen pearl no matter the cost."
Everyone turned to look at him, and Arboria had a strange look on her face.
"Is what you said true?" She asked with wide eyes.
"Yes, I'm fairly certain they are."
The dragon lady turned quickly and sprinted towards the entrance to the tomb. The others followed with puzzled looks and when they arrived, they saw Arboria standing there with a dark expression.
"The seal was broken."
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The battlefield only got more and more chaotic, after the initial sneak attack, the Fallen managed to recover. Although they only had 12 members left, they didn't die as quickly as before, now focusing on preserving their lives whilst also attacking occasionally.
After the Quaker Golems had show that they were almost undefeatable, the Fallen and their leader targeted the old man and Arboria instead. They mostly avoided the attacks of the slow golems, whilst also hindering them with magic.
The old man had proved that he was also indestructible, blocking or avoiding any attack that came his way, using both his shield and lance. An orb of light surrounded him, nullifying the majority of force that came towards him. There were already several arrows which were embedded into it.
On the other hand, Arboria was being targeted by the tall Fallen lady, who was making her battle a lot harder. Every time the dragon lady was about to cast some sort of magic, the tall woman's long snake-like whip would shoot in from odd angles, tangling up her arms and stopping her magic.
Although the Fallen's attacks didn't hurt or injure her much, the tall woman's constant whippings infuriated Arboria. The woman didn't even attempt to injure her, only hinder and irritate her.
Aria on the other hand, was being protected by the old man, now that Arboria had no confidence in shielding her daughter. Normally, he would have been able to clear up all of the grunts very quickly, but as he was outnumbered and also had to make sure to protect Aria, the battle quickly became a stalemate.
Meanwhile, in the bushes, Draylen had shut himself off from the battle. He was trying to invoke the strange state which had saved him from death when he fought against the Fallen infiltrator. He kept grasping for that feeling of nothingness, where the world was black and white.
It was like having a word on the tip of your tongue, but not being able to remember what it is.
However, Barong who was crouching next to his master noticed black smoke being produced, seeping out of his skin. The smoke had a strange aura of emptiness, which gave the Lioberus cub strange chills down his back.
Soon, this shroud of smoke became thicker, encasing Draylen's entire body in darkness. This cloud of smoke then began to rise slowly into the air, like a ghost.
'Did it work?'
Draylen opened his eyes and sure enough, every thing was black and white. He quickly lowered his 'cloud' back behind the cover of the trees.
'Although the infiltrator from before couldn't hurt me, these guys are definitely much stronger.'
He was lucky, nobody except his familiar had noticed his sudden ascent. Everyone was too focused on fighting to see a dark cloud which came out from behind the tree. This cloud carefully peeked from behind cover a second time, quietly observing the battle.
There was a single member of the Fallen who was a few metres away from Draylen's cover who was continuously firing arrows at the old man and occasionally, an arrow slipped past his guard. This made him a prime target.
Draylen drifted forward like an incorporeal spirit, before lurking behind the man who was unaware of his presence. Then, the veil of shadows began to engulf the man.
"W-what?!" He exclaimed in shock.
However, nobody turned to assist him, it was as if they couldn't hear him at all. Draylen appeared in the cloud from behind and vigorously thrust his wrist blades forward, stabbing the man in the back. The latter yelled once more, before leaping away and raising his wrist mounted crossbows.
-Pew
In an instant, 10 arrows shot forward in a deadly barrage. The man, who had calmed down slightly realised that the stature of his opponent was very small.
'Could it be? Isn't this the kid which the mistress wants to kill? Maybe I'll get rewarded if I kill him and gift his body to her!' He thought, grinning slightly.
However, this grin turned into a horrified stare as he saw the arrows pass right through the masked boy's body. Wisps of black smoke could be seen spreading from the holes which they made, before the holes disappeared.
An eerie sensation creeped up the man's back. He involuntarily stepped backward, before raising his gating crossbows once more and firing. Soon, he had run out of ammunition. A desperate look emerged on the man's face as he realised that he couldn't harm the boy.
Draylen, on the other hand, felt elated. A triumphant grin spread onto his face.
'So it works, I'm really invincible!' He thought.
'I may as well make the most of this then...'
He slowly drifted towards the shivering man. His legs had been replaced with wisps of smoke, increasing the ghostliness of his appearance tenfold.
"D-Don't! Stay away!" The man shrieked, stumbling backwards.
His back hit an invisible wall which stopped him from leaving the veil of shadows, only making the situation even scarier.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to harm you, I only want to ask a few questions." Draylen said calmly.
The man looked at him disbelievingly, but eventually sighed in relief upon seeing the ghost boy not making any moves. Well, he wouldn't if he could see the mischievous grin on the other side of the black helmet.
"Okay... But if I answer, you have to let me go!" He said, but his voice cracked from dryness, making his serious statement become somewhat comedic.
"Alright then."
"What did you come here for?" Draylen asked casually.
The man hesitated for a moment before eventually giving in.
"I'm not too sure, the only thing I know is that my mistress want's to rob a dragon tomb for some kind of artifact." He said slowly.
Draylen nodded.
"Why does she want this artifact? What's her name?"
"She said something about winning the master's favour, apart from that, I don't know either. I also only know that she's called '4th sister' by the higher ups."
'Winning her master's favour, doesn't that mean that her master is in need of the earthen pearl? Wouldn't that also mean that her master is of the earth element?'
Upon seeing Draylen tilt his head slightly, as if he were pondering over something, the man coughed to get his attention.
"So... May I go now-"
However, he never finished his sentence. At the moment the man coughed, Draylen, who was at least 2 tiers lower than him had shot forward and stabbed his wrist blades into the man's heart. The man stared at him with two dead eyes, before slumping into the ground.
His body then began to decompose at visible speeds, becoming nothingness on the floor. Upon seeing this, Draylen was shocked.
'It seems that when someone dies in this... 'cloud', they get eaten by it?'
'Also, I've killed two people of higher tiers than me now. Although they are technically higher lifeforms, they are still humans in the end. Since the heart is the source of one's mana, that makes it an even bigger weak spot. I should try to only stab my enemies in the heart from now on so that they can't retaliate and even if they manage to survive, they won't be able to manipulate mana any more.'
Draylen's body then began to dissipate into the shadows around him as he looked toward the battlefield once more.
'Aha, a new target.'
Unfortunately for Draylen, his assassination of one of the Fallen did not go unnoticed. Another man who had been standing nearby had seen his companion disappear into thin air. In fact, he had seen the shadows but thought his mind was playing tricks on him.
"Hey, brother White, Did you see where brother Mouse went? He just seemed to have disappeared!" He exclaimed, before firing off another arrow.
'Brother White' turned around to look at his companion.
"Who knows, maybe that coward ran for his life again, or maybe mastered some kind of invisibility spell." He shrugged, before returning to the fray, shooting out an ice arrow which slammed into a Quaker Golem's feet.
The man who had noticed his friend disappearing shrugged also.
'Must have been my imagination. Brother Mouse, when we get back you'll owe me all of your desserts for an entire week for deserting! Well, that's if he isn't executed or branded as a traitor.' He thought, with an amused grin.
On the other side of the battlefield, someone else had also noticed Draylen killing a Fallen. It was the tall woman who was currently fighting hand to hand with Arboria. The dragon lady had gotten fed up with the Fallen constantly disrupting her with the whip and thus used her innate fire breath to set it and the woman using it aflame.
'What was that? I thought that Third brother was going to let me try attacking first before bringing his troops. Wait, although that felt like a portal opening, it was slightly different.'
However, before she could continue speculating, Arboria had rushed forward as soon as she became distracted to land a solid punch into her gut.
-Bleh
The tall woman stumbled backward, clenching her bloody wound.
'Dammit, whatever that portal-like thing was, It doesn't concern me.'
"Not bad." She said, wiping away a trace of blood from her mouth.
Arboria shrugged impassively before shooting out green flames which was extremely hot, in fact, much hotter than that of ordinary dragon flame. The tall woman managed to dodge in time, but the Fallen behind her did not, thus another 5 of the attackers were incinerated.
The tall woman glanced behind her for a moment before returning her gaze to Arboria.
"Good fight, but alas, I'm not here for you."
As she said that, her body began to meld into the surroundings. Arboria let out another jet of flames but the attack didn't make contact. Soon, there were only Fallen foot soldiers, weaklings which Arboria wouldn't even bat an eye at.
"She sure is a slippery one."
However, she then noticed something strange. A ghostly black shadow crept along the edges of the battlefield, occasionally pouncing upon unaware Fallen soldiers and a few seconds later, the soldiers disappeared.
'Is that...' Arboria grinned slightly.
'It seems that boy holds a few surprises.'
She then turned to survey the ongoing fight. The number of Fallen had decreased to under 5, practically ensuring their victory. The only thing that was making Arboria feel uncomfortable was the fact the the leader of these people had managed to escape and might launch another stealthier attack in the future.
The old man who was no longer under the pressure of having to protect Aria, charged forward into the five remaining enemies with a barbaric shout, instantly killing one with his lance and stunning another with his shield bash.
The Quaker Golems, which no longer had to run on a wild goose chase finally managed to land their attacks as well, pulverising the remaining Fallen into red stains on the floor. Then, seeing no more enemies, the golems turned into masses of dirt and returned to the walls of the enclosure.
The old man walked over to Arboria and Aria and grinned.
"Well fought."
"Well fought." The dragoness replied with a relieved look.
"However, their leader managed to escape. A fault on my part."
The old man nodded.
"Of course, the Fallen's stronger players won't die that easily. What truly concerns me is that this means they'll attack a second time. Also, have you seen Draylen by any chance?" He asked hurriedly.
A black shadow that hung in the air drifted next to him, before slowly becoming more corporeal and turning into Draylen, who was clutching the shaken Barong in his arms.
"Hi. I'm here." He said, tapping the old man on the back and causing him to jump back in fright.
"Oh, so you are."
"Mmmnn. Well done, little boy. I saw you take out a few of those Fallen footmen, truly well done." Arboria praised.
Draylen nodded slightly.
"In the end, they're still humans." He said humbly.
Arboria nodded before turning to the old man.
"I truly apologise for having dragged you into this mess. If you want, I'll give you a handsome reward for assisting us."
The old man grinned slyly.
Draylen suddenly interjected.
"Actually, I got one of the Fallen to talk. He said that the tall lady's master wanted the earthen pearl no matter the cost."
Everyone turned to look at him, and Arboria had a strange look on her face.
"Is what you said true?" She asked with wide eyes.
"Yes, I'm fairly certain they are."
The dragon lady turned quickly and sprinted towards the entrance to the tomb. The others followed with puzzled looks and when they arrived, they saw Arboria standing there with a dark expression.
"The seal was broken."
The battlefield only got more and more chaotic, after the initial sneak attack, the Fallen managed to recover. Although they only had 12 members left, they didn't die as quickly as before, now focusing on preserving their lives whilst also attacking occasionally.After the Quaker Golems had show that they were almost undefeatable, the Fallen and their leader targeted the old man and Arboria instead. They mostly avoided the attacks of the slow golems, whilst also hindering them with magic.The old man had proved that he was also indestructible, blocking or avoiding any attack that came his way, using both his shield and lance. An orb of light surrounded him, nullifying the majority of force that came towards him. There were already several arrows which were embedded into it.On the other hand, Arboria was being targeted by the tall Fallen lady, who was making her battle a lot harder. Every time the dragon lady was about to cast some sort of magic, the tall woman's long snake-like whip would shoot in from odd angles, tangling up her arms and stopping her magic.Although the Fallen's attacks didn't hurt or injure her much, the tall woman's constant whippings infuriated Arboria. The woman didn't even attempt to injure her, only hinder and irritate her.Aria on the other hand, was being protected by the old man, now that Arboria had no confidence in shielding her daughter. Normally, he would have been able to clear up all of the grunts very quickly, but as he was outnumbered and also had to make sure to protect Aria, the battle quickly became a stalemate.Meanwhile, in the bushes, Draylen had shut himself off from the battle. He was trying to invoke the strange state which had saved him from death when he fought against the Fallen infiltrator. He kept grasping for that feeling of nothingness, where the world was black and white.It was like having a word on the tip of your tongue, but not being able to remember what it is.However, Barong who was crouching next to his master noticed black smoke being produced, seeping out of his skin. The smoke had a strange aura of emptiness, which gave the Lioberus cub strange chills down his back.Soon, this shroud of smoke became thicker, encasing Draylen's entire body in darkness. This cloud of smoke then began to rise slowly into the air, like a ghost.'Did it work?'Draylen opened his eyes and sure enough, every thing was black and white. He quickly lowered his 'cloud' back behind the cover of the trees.'Although the infiltrator from before couldn't hurt me, these guys are definitely much stronger.'He was lucky, nobody except his familiar had noticed his sudden ascent. Everyone was too focused on fighting to see a dark cloud which came out from behind the tree. This cloud carefully peeked from behind cover a second time, quietly observing the battle.There was a single member of the Fallen who was a few metres away from Draylen's cover who was continuously firing arrows at the old man and occasionally, an arrow slipped past his guard. This made him a prime target.Draylen drifted forward like an incorporeal spirit, before lurking behind the man who was unaware of his presence. Then, the veil of shadows began to engulf the man."W-what?!" He exclaimed in shock.However, nobody turned to assist him, it was as if they couldn't hear him at all. Draylen appeared in the cloud from behind and vigorously thrust his wrist blades forward, stabbing the man in the back. The latter yelled once more, before leaping away and raising his wrist mounted crossbows.-PewIn an instant, 10 arrows shot forward in a deadly barrage. The man, who had calmed down slightly realised that the stature of his opponent was very small.'Could it be? Isn't this the kid which the mistress wants to kill? Maybe I'll get rewarded if I kill him and gift his body to her!' He thought, grinning slightly.However, this grin turned into a horrified stare as he saw the arrows pass right through the masked boy's body. Wisps of black smoke could be seen spreading from the holes which they made, before the holes disappeared.An eerie sensation creeped up the man's back. He involuntarily stepped backward, before raising his gating crossbows once more and firing. Soon, he had run out of ammunition. A desperate look emerged on the man's face as he realised that he couldn't harm the boy.Draylen, on the other hand, felt elated. A triumphant grin spread onto his face.'So it works, I'm really invincible!' He thought.'I may as well make the most of this then...'He slowly drifted towards the shivering man. His legs had been replaced with wisps of smoke, increasing the ghostliness of his appearance tenfold."D-Don't! Stay away!" The man shrieked, stumbling backwards.His back hit an invisible wall which stopped him from leaving the veil of shadows, only making the situation even scarier."Don't worry. I'm not going to harm you, I only want to ask a few questions." Draylen said calmly.The man looked at him disbelievingly, but eventually sighed in relief upon seeing the ghost boy not making any moves. Well, he wouldn't if he could see the mischievous grin on the other side of the black helmet."Okay... But if I answer, you have to let me go!" He said, but his voice cracked from dryness, making his serious statement become somewhat comedic."Alright then.""What did you come here for?" Draylen asked casually.The man hesitated for a moment before eventually giving in."I'm not too sure, the only thing I know is that my mistress want's to rob a dragon tomb for some kind of artifact." He said slowly.Draylen nodded."Why does she want this artifact? What's her name?""She said something about winning the master's favour, apart from that, I don't know either. I also only know that she's called '4th sister' by the higher ups."'Winning her master's favour, doesn't that mean that her master is in need of the earthen pearl? Wouldn't that also mean that her master is of the earth element?'Upon seeing Draylen tilt his head slightly, as if he were pondering over something, the man coughed to get his attention."So... May I go now-"However, he never finished his sentence. At the moment the man coughed, Draylen, who was at least 2 tiers lower than him had shot forward and stabbed his wrist blades into the man's heart. The man stared at him with two dead eyes, before slumping into the ground.His body then began to decompose at visible speeds, becoming nothingness on the floor. Upon seeing this, Draylen was shocked.'It seems that when someone dies in this... 'cloud', they get eaten by it?''Also, I've killed two people of higher tiers than me now. Although they are technically higher lifeforms, they are still humans in the end. Since the heart is the source of one's mana, that makes it an even bigger weak spot. I should try to only stab my enemies in the heart from now on so that they can't retaliate and even if they manage to survive, they won't be able to manipulate mana any more.'Draylen's body then began to dissipate into the shadows around him as he looked toward the battlefield once more.'Aha, a new target.'Unfortunately for Draylen, his assassination of one of the Fallen did not go unnoticed. Another man who had been standing nearby had seen his companion disappear into thin air. In fact, he had seen the shadows but thought his mind was playing tricks on him."Hey, brother White, Did you see where brother Mouse went? He just seemed to have disappeared!" He exclaimed, before firing off another arrow.'Brother White' turned around to look at his companion."Who knows, maybe that coward ran for his life again, or maybe mastered some kind of invisibility spell." He shrugged, before returning to the fray, shooting out an ice arrow which slammed into a Quaker Golem's feet.The man who had noticed his friend disappearing shrugged also.'Must have been my imagination. Brother Mouse, when we get back you'll owe me all of your desserts for an entire week for deserting! Well, that's if he isn't executed or branded as a traitor.' He thought, with an amused grin.On the other side of the battlefield, someone else had also noticed Draylen killing a Fallen. It was the tall woman who was currently fighting hand to hand with Arboria. The dragon lady had gotten fed up with the Fallen constantly disrupting her with the whip and thus used her innate fire breath to set it and the woman using it aflame.'What was that? I thought that Third brother was going to let me try attacking first before bringing his troops. Wait, although that felt like a portal opening, it was slightly different.'However, before she could continue speculating, Arboria had rushed forward as soon as she became distracted to land a solid punch into her gut.-BlehThe tall woman stumbled backward, clenching her bloody wound.'Dammit, whatever that portal-like thing was, It doesn't concern me.'"Not bad." She said, wiping away a trace of blood from her mouth.Arboria shrugged impassively before shooting out green flames which was extremely hot, in fact, much hotter than that of ordinary dragon flame. The tall woman managed to dodge in time, but the Fallen behind her did not, thus another 5 of the attackers were incinerated.The tall woman glanced behind her for a moment before returning her gaze to Arboria."Good fight, but alas, I'm not here for you."As she said that, her body began to meld into the surroundings. Arboria let out another jet of flames but the attack didn't make contact. Soon, there were only Fallen foot soldiers, weaklings which Arboria wouldn't even bat an eye at."She sure is a slippery one."However, she then noticed something strange. A ghostly black shadow crept along the edges of the battlefield, occasionally pouncing upon unaware Fallen soldiers and a few seconds later, the soldiers disappeared.'Is that...' Arboria grinned slightly.'It seems that boy holds a few surprises.'She then turned to survey the ongoing fight. The number of Fallen had decreased to under 5, practically ensuring their victory. The only thing that was making Arboria feel uncomfortable was the fact the the leader of these people had managed to escape and might launch another stealthier attack in the future.The old man who was no longer under the pressure of having to protect Aria, charged forward into the five remaining enemies with a barbaric shout, instantly killing one with his lance and stunning another with his shield bash.The Quaker Golems, which no longer had to run on a wild goose chase finally managed to land their attacks as well, pulverising the remaining Fallen into red stains on the floor. Then, seeing no more enemies, the golems turned into masses of dirt and returned to the walls of the enclosure.The old man walked over to Arboria and Aria and grinned."Well fought.""Well fought." The dragoness replied with a relieved look."However, their leader managed to escape. A fault on my part."The old man nodded."Of course, the Fallen's stronger players won't die that easily. What truly concerns me is that this means they'll attack a second time. Also, have you seen Draylen by any chance?" He asked hurriedly.A black shadow that hung in the air drifted next to him, before slowly becoming more corporeal and turning into Draylen, who was clutching the shaken Barong in his arms."Hi. I'm here." He said, tapping the old man on the back and causing him to jump back in fright."Oh, so you are.""Mmmnn. Well done, little boy. I saw you take out a few of those Fallen footmen, truly well done." Arboria praised.Draylen nodded slightly."In the end, they're still humans." He said humbly.Arboria nodded before turning to the old man."I truly apologise for having dragged you into this mess. If you want, I'll give you a handsome reward for assisting us."The old man grinned slyly.Draylen suddenly interjected."Actually, I got one of the Fallen to talk. He said that the tall lady's master wanted the earthen pearl no matter the cost."Everyone turned to look at him, and Arboria had a strange look on her face."Is what you said true?" She asked with wide eyes."Yes, I'm fairly certain they are."The dragon lady turned quickly and sprinted towards the entrance to the tomb. The others followed with puzzled looks and when they arrived, they saw Arboria standing there with a dark expression."The seal was broken."
