Point-of-View: Bell Fairbairn

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  "Killing this body will be pointless, it will simply free you to possess another," I remarked a frown, as I tossed the unconscious Demon aside, having had also slain a few dozen other humans that attempted to attack me.

  I do not see anyone else nearby, nor can I sense any with my lightning……but in the distance, further inside this human nation, the faint echoes of battle rang out, as plumes of smoke rose up, just barely visible from my vantage point.

  Is there any point to me remaining here? I doubt any of the humans will come here, they must all be further in, fighting against our forces that numbered around two million in total.

  I would certainly be able to deliver a more resounding impact to this battle if I joined in the fray, along with the other three Elemental Sages……but doing so would go against Lord Laus's commands, so I must comply with his wishes for now……

  Perhaps I ought to attempt to reach Lord Laus through his telepathic link? No, he permitted us to only contact him like that if we come across Belia Lasmodeus, so it is not an option, I would likely only displease him.

  I do not like this, to be doing nothing in the midst of such a large battle……it is making me feel restless and uneasy, and……I then stiffened as I felt something enter the range of my sensory ability……five figures have entered in total……and they do not feel like Halflings.

  I dropped down from the building I was atop, right as they came into sight, freezing with fear in their eyes as they spotted me. Hmph, it is just a group of humans……and it does not look like any of them are a threat to me……

  "C-calm down, it's just one of them, kill her and keep going!"

  "Yeah, they're not that much stronger than us, we were just outnumbered! But that's not the case here!"

  "Allow me, I would like to kill at least one of them, these accursed creatures!"

  Indeed, the humans in this era are significantly stronger than the humans that we had learnt about, and while their increase in strength may be unnatural and only due to their subjugation of the Demi-Humans and, more recently, Corruption Magic power boosts, it does not change the fact that they are in fact stronger.

  However……these five in front of me……they are of no concern to me. I shall make that clear to them shortly.

  "Let's get her!" Exclaimed one of them, rushing towards me while boosting his speed with lightning, beginning to swing a sword at my neck.

  I blocked his slash with my fingernail, before grabbing his face and slamming him onto the ground, crushing his head and splitting his skull open, killing him instantly.

  "Y-you little bitch!" Screamed another of them furiously, leaping up to my left with a fireball in her hands, while another was to my right, driving a spear towards my neck.

  I coated my left hand in lightning and batted away the fireball as she flung it at me, before grabbing the spear with my right hand and giving it a pull, wrenching it out of the male human's grip and then, with a swift flick of my wrist, decapitated them both with the spear.

  Hmph, what a poorly made weapon, it felt quite coarse as I cut off their heads, not nearly as smoothly as I would have liked……I feel rather dissatisfied. One of the two remaining humans then stumbled back in fear, looking like he was about to start running away.

  Before he could even turn around, I flung the spear straight at him with as much force and accuracy as I could manage, piercing him through the middle of the chest and sending him flying back, pinning him to the wall of a building as he let out a sharp cry of pain, blood pouring out of his mouth and trickling down his chest and back.

  The last of the five humans then collapsed onto their knees with a look of terror in her eyes as I approached her, drawing out a dagger hidden in my arm guard, running lightning through it as I closed in on her.

  "P-please, don't kill me……!" She began to plead, as tears ran down her face.

  "Hmph, how pathetic, face your death with more grace," I responded with a scoff, before suddenly jumping away as a barrage of ice projectiles came shooting towards me.

  What? That is……an Iceman. One of the few monster types that Sylvar and I had come across when we were on our reconnaissance assignment. Why is one here? And where did it come from?

  No, that is the not the most important question……what I should really be wondering is……why am I suddenly surrounded by several, various monsters? Walking Trees, Golems, Hellroaches, to name a few, among several others……what is happening right now!?

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  Point-of-View: Shin Tanaka

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  "Damn it, how are you this powerful!?" Snapped the Earth Sage in frustration, as he sent a wave of earth spikes rising towards me.

  I swiftly countered with a swing of my blade, sending out a slashing shockwave that tore the spikes apart, before slashing a couple more times, firing out sharp, concentrated slashing shockwaves in his direction, which he evaded.

  I don't get why he's so frustrated……I should be the one who's frustrated, I may be holding my own, but I'm mostly on the defensive, he has the clear advantage here, he's way stronger and faster than I am……I just happen to be resisting with everything I've got.

  I need to change things up……I still haven't fully mastered this, but I don't have many more options. I backed away to get some distance from him, before taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly……I then rose up, flying using my Wind Magic and gaining some upwards distance.

  I can hover about with this, but if I try to fly with any speed, I lose control……I've been trying wind blasts against him, but he's blocked them all with his Earth Magic. Just a few exchanges made it clear that there's absolutely no way I can beat him if it comes down to Elemental Magic, that's for sure. I have to take him down with Excalibur.

  Okay, now I've got the high ground, it should give me some sort of advantage……hopefully. He then fired a barrage of earth spikes up at me, which I slashed and knocked away with my blade, before firing out another slashing shockwave down at him, which he sprang back to evade and countered by flinging a sharp, rapidly spinning disk of earth up at me.

  I quickly raised my sword to block it, breaking it in half as it struck my blade, the two halves gashing my arms as they zipped past me. I winced in pain, before shifting my gaze back down towards……wait, where'd he go?

  I then stiffened as I felt a presence above and behind me, quickly spinning around as fast as I could without losing control of my Flight skill, just in time to see the Earth Sage dropping down towards me with a sharp earth spike floating by his hand.

  As he drove it towards my chest, I began to raise my sword to block it, but I was too slow and all I could do was partially deflect it, letting out a stifled cry of pain as it pierced into my left shoulder, before I gritted my teeth and let out a roar as I drove my blade towards his head in retaliation.

  His eyes began to widen in alarm as he let go of the earth spike, a hint of desperation on his face as the tip of my blade reached his left eye and began to pierce it……when suddenly, he vanished, and in the next instant, as I landed on my feet with a rattling impact, a scream of pain burst out from my left.

  He was glaring at me with a pained, furious look on his face, clutching his left eye as blood ran down his face and through the gaps between his fingers, as he trembled with rage.

  "Damn you, human……!"

  "What, is a little scratch like that more than you can bear, Dwarf?" I taunted, doing my best to ignore the blinding pain in my left shoulder.

  I then exhaled slowly and began to charge up my blade, preparing to unleash my finishing move. This fight has dragged on for a while, if it goes on for much longer I won't have enough gas left in the tank to use this attack, so……it's now or never. I winced in pain as I raised my blade with both hands, charging it up while the throbbing in my left shoulder only grew more and more painful……

  "This hurts, damn you……! I will……I will kill you! We Elemental Sages possess power comparable to natural disasters, allow me to show you!" The Earth Sage exclaimed furiously, as the ground began rumbling.

  Can't let myself get distracted by whatever he's doing……I need to focus on charging up my attack……almost there……

  I then looked up as I got close to fully charging it up, locking my gaze on my opponent as the ground between us began to crack and rise up……alright, here goes, all or nothing……!

  "Take this, Final Execution!" I yelled out in a fierce roar, an excruciating pain erupting from my left shoulder as I swung my blade straight down, sending out a devastating slashing shockwave straight at him, right as the ground burst out and several massive earth spikes came rapidly extending out towards me.

  For a moment, time seemed to nearly stand still, as if everything was suddenly moving in extreme slow motion……and then, my attack clashed against his, and whatever happened next overwhelmed my senses……

  The ground shook violently, upsetting my balance, as a dense cloud of dust and rubble obscured my vision and made it hard to breathe, the loud crashes and echoes all around me compromising my hearing, as I felt waves of pain bursting throughout my body, but with no idea what was happening……

  Until finally, it ended. The rumbling stopped, the dust began to clear, things began to quiet down and I got my senses back……and that's when I got a good look at myself. Some shards of earth were embedded all across my arms and legs, as well as some on my torso, with several cuts and grazes all over my body.

  I weakly collapsed to my knees in pain, letting out a sharp gasp of agony as the impact pushed the pieces that were pierced in my legs further in, an excruciating and horrified shudder erupting through my body as I felt one graze my bone.

  I painstakingly lifted my head to see what had happened to the Earth Sage……and my chest tightened as I saw him……walking straight towards me, still very much alive. He was a bit unsteady, with a deep, vertical gash on his torso……looks like his earth attack absorbed most of the impact of my slash, he was bleeding pretty badly but it was far from lethal.

  Still, it should at least slow him down and……my eyes then widened in dismay as he pressed a hand against his wound with a grimace……and the gash began to close up, his breathing easing up as he healed himself.

  "It is……over……for you……now. Honestly, I……do not bear much of a……personal grudge against……you humans, I……I am simply……following orders," He remarked with a blank look on fury his face, before continuing as he caught his breath, "But that is not the case with you, I……I genuinely want to kill you. Not simply because I was ordered to. I will commend you for pushing me as far as you did……but in the end, your efforts were futile. All that you were able to accomplish……was incurring my wrath."

  I guess……this is it for me, huh? I imagine he's going to become insanely powerful once he claims my sword, but you know what……once I'm dead, it won't be my problem anymore.

  So fuck it, get this over with alread……I was snapped out of my 'final thoughts' as suddenly, a couple of monsters popped up out of thin air and attacked the Earth Sage……before getting killed almost instantly.

  "What the……?" I blurted out in surprise, looking around……dozens of various monsters were all around us……and they were all ignoring me, their attention firmly locked onto the Earth Sage……

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