Chapter 135 - Fear
Chapter 135 – Fear
While watching the battle unfold the two holy maidens were shocked and in awe of Ren’s power and skill. As the battle got even more intense Rachel was having a hard time controlling her urge for battle. It was as if her patron God was whispering in her ear, telling her to join in the battle. The urge to battle was so strong that even in a weakened state Rachel wanted to move and enter the fray.
It took every bit of Rachel’s willpower to stop herself. Joining in a battle like that was suicidal, still, the urge was so strong.
When the battle was at the climax, the two holy maidens saw the undead elder lich looking like a scared little boy. They weren’t really sure but from a distance, it looked like Alfred was backing away from Ren. It was a weird sight since undead beings do not have any emotions to show. Yet here was an undead being and a high ranking one at that showing fear.
It was also weird that the Elder Lich never used its most fearsome abilities. [Life Drain] An ability that literally drains your life upon touch. [Mana Drain] Same as Life Drain but with Mana instead. Also, it doesn’t look like Ren was affected by [Death’s aura] an ability that makes people unconsciously fear the Elder Lich.
While Natasha was thinking about why the Elder Lich wasn’t using its strongest abilities, Alfred started to gather an enormous amount of mana. He then activated a spell that created a mountain of ice. Even at a distance protected by their holy blessings, the two holy maidens felt like their bodies were freezing.
For a second everyone including them though that Ren was dead, but then they saw the mountain of ice alongside the Elder Lich get sliced in half. Ren managed to win and he did it with such ease.
The people who were watching the fight, the people that were saved because of Ren’s actions, didn’t cheer, they didn’t rally towards their hero. Instead, they stood rooted in their spots. At this moment they were experiencing a flow of different feelings, different emotions. Most of them felt grateful, but at the same time, they felt severe fear.
They couldn’t help themselves, Ren was too powerful. If he had a hard time beating the Elder Lich then they would’ve felt that it was just a little bit abnormal. But Ren was able to beat a high ranking undead like he was playing with a child.
Strength brings about respect and admiration, but too much strength brings about fear and anxiety. It was not like humanity doesn’t have someone on Ren’s level of strength. There were humans as strong as Ren there are even some that are stronger still, and if you look at history there are many more that are stronger than that. Yet what was frightening was that these people that were as strong as Ren, they were old masters or heroes. Ren was too young and was also someone with a normal background. He wasn’t a descendant of a powerful family, he wasn’t a chosen hero of any of the temples, he wasn’t even a summoned hero. He was a random boy that came from a small village.
Even his adventurer rank wasn’t high he was just a B rank. Yet here he was doing something that only a group of S rank parties could accomplish and he did it by himself. This mismatch was what brought even more fear. They couldn’t understand how Ren was so strong.
…
Lara with her stoic face looked at everyone in disdain, how could they react like this and to the one who saved them no less. They looked like they were even more scared of Ren that protected them, than Alfred the one that tried to kill all of them. Still, it really didn’t matter to her. If Ren told her to she would have killed everyone in Grenton.
What these people thought of Ren was nothing to her, right now in her eyes the people of Grenton were less than dogs. At least dogs knew how to show appreciation.
…
Valdel who was witnessing the same scene as Lara felt confused as to why no one was cheering. Usually, in the stories, he’s heard, when the hero returns victorious from the battle the town cheers and sings praises for the hero. Yet here was a hero that was not welcomed with laughter and cheers. He was instead welcomed with fear, Valdel could actually feel some of the people trembling. This was not the heroes welcome that Valdel envisioned. This was not the reaction he wanted to see. He wasn’t expecting them to throw a parade but they should’ve at least clapped.
Still, Valdel saw his best friend Ren, the man who was a hero but feared by the people, he didn’t look to be affected by the people’s reactions as he stood still basking in the afterglow of the battle.
Valdel smiled and thought ‘as expected of my best friend.’
…
Iselv who watched the whole fight from a distance was amazed to see how strong Ren truly was. It would seem that his previous estimations of how strong Ren was, wasn’t even close. He felt more confident now that Ren will be able to fulfill his promise to him. 𝙗𝒆𝒅𝒏𝙤𝒗𝒆𝙡．𝙤𝒓𝙜
…
Kithra was shivering in excitement as she witnessed Ren in all his glory. This fight proved once and for all that it wasn’t a mistake to join Ren’s side.
…
While everyone was having different thoughts about Ren, the person himself didn’t really care what they thought as he tried to relish in the feeling of victory against a strong opponent. Ren looked up in the sky and felt great joy that he was given this second chance.
Be it a trick by those Gods, or because of his destiny to fight the Origin, at this moment, it didn’t matter what gave him this chance. All that mattered to him was that at this very moment he was able to relish in victory after a good battle. To Ren, this was the greatest feeling there ever was.
After a few more minutes Ren finally felt the backlash from eating the young dragon heart was happening. The violent mana that a dragon possesses that Ren forcefully taken in, was now rampaging inside his body. Even with the help of the Demon horn Ren wasn’t able to stabilize the violent torrent of mana.
The increase that he gained after eating the young dragon’s heart was slowly fading. But while it was fading it was clashing against Ren’s own mana, which might actually decrease his very own mana pool.
While Ren was trying to control the mana within him, Valdel and Lara approached looking worried.
“What’s happening to you Ren?” Valdel asked as he and Lara supported Ren.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m going to be unconscious after a while. When that happens I want you to hide my body and protect it. I’m sure I’ll wake up in about a day or two. But if I wake up immediately and seem to be acting different do not let me out of your sights, and stop me with all your might.”
After telling Valdel and Lara what to do, Ren fell unconscious.