Chapter 63: [063] First Territory Evolution (1)
Floki had not really gotten the opportunity to test out his strength and speed after entering silver-rank.
At this moment, it was clear to everyone that Floki was simply holding back from killing Breeze.
The onlookers could see it. They noticed subtle moments where a simple twist of Floki’s greatsword would have ended the knight. They saw how he held back his attacks whenever Breeze was too slow to meet him.
It left the people confused.
Why was he holding back?
The knight was the right hand of the evil lord he had sworn to kill just now, yet he was letting him live. For what reason?
They were all confused.
But one person wasn’t.
Kellan Blackstone.
Lying on the ground among the debris of his cracked reinforcement, he grinned as he observed the fight.
’I knew that bastard had betrayed me in one way or another. He purposely kept his true power hidden from me, comparing himself to lesser goblins when he has the strength of at least a gold-rank. Unfortunately, your smartness cannot give you freedom. Nothing you do will give you freedom.’
He swore in his mind as he observed the fight.
Only Kellan knew that one of them had to die for the enchantment to be over.
Floki himself had no answer to the questioning whispers he was hearing. He cursed himself for the strange sting in his heart each time his blade came close to taking Breeze’s life.
Breeze, on the other hand, had his breathing become ragged, his movements sluggish, and his eyes reddened with weak bloodlust. It was clear his stamina had been depleted from going all out from the start.
"AHH!"
Breeze let out a battle cry and struck, his blade easily deflected by Floki.
"It seems I have no choice. I would have loved to know more about you, understand your personality, your intents, and your original world eventually..." Floki uttered.
Breeze created a small gap and came back to strike.
This time, Floki simply stepped aside and evaded the slash Breeze had executed with all his strength.
Breeze lost composure, his body falling slowly to the ground.
He was defenseless at this moment.
The crowd saw it and gasped. Their fighter would soon be killed.
Kellan’s grin vanished at once. His eyes gradually widened, along with his mouth, as he attempted to scream at his knight.
But it was too late.
Floki let him fall.
Before Breeze could pick up his sword, Floki lifted his greatsword and stabbed its blade into his chest.
COUGH...
Breeze coughed painfully, his hands letting go of his longsword as they reached for his chest.
He felt the warm liquid with his hand and brought it close to his face. He saw red. His own blood.
It was then his true consciousness returned.
Instead of screaming in pain or crying as death drew near, a bright smile adorned his face.
Floki stood over him. Their eyes met, and for a moment, he could see the gratitude in his eyes.
"You bastard..."
Kellan escaped from near Jabba and Anton and crawled toward the two of them, screaming at the top of his lungs.
The two brothers attempted to catch him, but Floki shook his head at them. Understanding the meaning, they let him go.
Kellan crawled toward his dying knight with anger and desperation in his eyes, ignoring all the looks sent at him by his people. Floki did not interfere. He wanted to see what would happen, if it would reveal anything he was curious about. He would only interfere if Kellan wanted to kill him.
Kellan arrived and his bloody hands grabbed the collar of the bleeding knight.
"YOU!"
He roared, sending shivers down the spines of his own people as they felt his terror.
Breeze seemed peaceful in comparison. In fact, he was amused. He chuckled, choking on a mouthful of blood.
"I won..." he muttered.
Kellan was too furious to speak. He kept pulling on his collar with the strength he had left.
Floki saw the moment rage overtook Kellan and caused him to reach for Breeze’s neck to strangle him. He moved swiftly and kicked the chief away.
Now standing atop Breeze’s dying figure.
"I know you would grow stronger," Breeze said as he stared at the sky.
"Thank you in advance for killing me."
Floki did not know what to reply. Should he say "You’re welcome" to someone he had technically killed?
"Don’t feel sad. Summons don’t permanently die. Maybe if you take that fool’s power, we might get to meet again. Then I would be obliged to answer those questions behind those curious eyes of yours."
Breeze continued to ramble without looking at Floki, his eyes enjoying the peaceful view of the clouds.
He saw Floki hesitating to end him and finally looked at him.
"Come on... you don’t want me to die a painful death, do you? I saved your life before, remember? Now it is your turn to return the favor. End my suffering."
With this, he struggled onto his knees, exposing his neck. He found a dagger nearby and held it close to his chest.
He then looked at Floki, who quickly understood what he was trying to do.
Jabba and Anton looked at him with contemplative expressions when they heard his words.
They finally understood why their chief did not seem defensive around him. He had actually saved his life.
They felt bad.
Yet, they also felt resentment. No matter what he had done, he had still taken their brother away from them.
Floki exhaled deeply and nodded to Breeze’s pleading eyes, causing the knight to smile.
The two of them silently agreed on a countdown.
Floki lifted his blade into the air, and Breeze brought his dagger closer to his heart.
Once the imaginary countdown struck zero, the two moved their blades.
The dagger pierced Breeze’s chest, stabbing through bone and flesh before reaching his heart.
At that precise moment, Floki’s blade came down and detached his head from his body.
Once death was confirmed by the universe, Breeze turned into specks of white light and vanished.
[ You’ve slain a Peak Silver-Rank Knight. EXP +1000, SP +20 ]
[ 50x...
...
Floki ignored the notifications and turned to Kellan, whose hope seemed lost. The man was crawling toward his people frantically, dragging his limp leg behind him.
"Save your chief. Your soldiers have fallen. Pick up their weapons and fight for your village," he barked.
Yet his people did not respond.
They stared at him. None of them held the usual fear or regard they once had for him. The people of Ironside, whom he had enslaved and who once cowered in his presence, now grinned at his suffering.
He barked again and again, but not a single soul moved forward to help him.
Instead, they slowly backed away.
And for different reasons.
Some had realized how dark their chief truly was.
Others were simply too afraid to go up against the three men standing before them.
"How dare you disobey my order!"
"How dare you disobey the great Kellan Blackstone!"
Kellan backed away.
The eyes they gave him now reminded him of how they had looked down on him before he obtained the power of the Crystal of Authority. How they had even wanted to impeach him.
It was the same time all over again.
He was stronger now.
He had achieved more than his ancestors in a short while.
The name of Blackstone was feared by neighboring villages because of him.
And yet, these people still looked at him this way.
"Curse you all!"
"Curse the day you became part of this land!"
"Curse your useless lives!"
"Curse you all for looking down on me!"
He gritted his teeth.
"I will kill you..."
Rage gave him a boost, allowing him to ignore the pain.
He rushed toward them, reinforcing only his hands with magic, ready to claw them to death.
Floki acted immediately.
He could not allow this man to reduce the population of the people he was about to add to his territory.
He grabbed Kellan and whipped his entire body onto the ground like a ragdoll.
He placed him down, sat on him, and began to rain punches after punches on his face until it became unrecognizable, swollen, and brutally disfigured.
Blood splattered on his face, but he ignored it and continued.
As Floki punched, a satisfaction that was not his own blossomed in his heart.
It was as though the original body was reacting, enjoying the feeling of vengeance on the man who had molested him brutally in his pursuit of the Crystal of Authority, eventually killing him.
As the satisfaction grew further, Floki’s punches rained harder until Kellan was on the verge of death.
The chief choked on his own blood as his body spasmed on the ground.
Floki stood up, wiped the blood off his mouth, and turned to the villagers.
They all froze.
Then he spoke in a chilling tone that crossed the boundary of what a human should sound like, closer to that of a demon.
He demanded the Crystal of Authority.
His voice carried absolute authority.
A few elders among the crowd stepped forward and agreed to lead him to it.
He followed them alongside his men. The people of Ironside followed behind with bright expressions, enjoying their freedom once again.
The people of Blackstone cowered behind them.
Kellan’s battered body was dragged across the ground by two women of Ironside whom he had enslaved and harassed.
They reached a sacred room where Kellan had hidden the Crystal of Authority.
The room was locked with a firm lock, making it impossible for normal humans to break in.
Floki, now with gold-rank strength, simply pulled and detached the door effortlessly.
The Crystal of Authority revealed itself.
A smile appeared on his blood-soaked face.
It was time.