419 Apocalypse (1)
“What are these kids doing so late?” thought Arthur, looking at them from the top of the tree.
He heard the brief conversation between the two kids, with one speaking about hearing screams, and the first thing that came to his mind was Jake and Agatha.
So Arthur followed these two kids during the night, and no one noticed a thing. So if powerful mages could not feel his presence, how would two kids?
They moved outside the tribe, inside the nearby forest where the elves usually hunt or the kids used it to play hide-and-seek. The kids moved like they knew the forest well, but it was still easy for Arthur to follow them, considering their slow movements and his keen senses.
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Now that the two kids were there, the screams had stopped, making it look like the other kid was making things up.
“Let’s get back home. It is late, but you can show me tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay…”
Arthur watched from above as the two kids returned to their village, and although there were no screams at that moment, Arthur knew that kid would not tell lies. Something was wrong with that tree, and he would find out.
So, he descended from the tree top, and went in front of that specific tree, trying to hear something similar to a scream, just like the kid said. But nothing happened.
“Let’s see if there’s something different with the tree then,” thought Arthur, moving around that gigantic tree, trying to see if there were any marks or strange things about it.
Nothing. The tree looked exactly like a regular tree, and even after opening up a small hole in it and going inside, it still looked like a normal tree.
“No, this can’t be right. What am I missing here?”
No matter where he looked, the tree looked like a regular one with nothing weird.
“Could the kid mistake the tree? Everything looks the same here, and it’s dark, so that might be the case.”
Arthur was too focused on that tree, but as he looked around, he noticed something weird. Some trees formed a circle, and inside the circle of trees, there were no other trees; it was plain! And the tree the kid said he had heard screams from was one of the trees that formed the circle.
“Maybe it is not the tree, but what is in the middle of the circle.”
With that idea in mind, Arthur went toward the exact place that should be the middle of the circle, and then he used his hands to dig. Considering his body’s power, digging was not difficult for him, but everything would be easier if he knew how to control the earth.
At first, nothing happened, and Arthur dug just ordinary soil, but that changed when his hands hit something more robust. A rock, and one that looked like the walls of a dungeon!
“They built a dungeon underneath this forest? But where is the entrance? I don’t think I am using the right one,” thought Arthur as he saw a small trapdoor near the cobblestone wall he could use to get inside.
He did not know that the trapdoor was the emergency exit of the dungeon in case something happened, and he was using it as a way in.
“What are you doing here?” a voice came behind him.
Arthur was so focused on finding what was in the middle of that strange circle that he had been careless with his surroundings, not thinking someone could show up.
No one should show up indeed, but the person who spoke behind him was one of the people watching his house in the elven village, and for some reason, they found out he was not there! Or it was just a coincidence for that man to be there at that time, but either way, Arthur would have to deal with him, or else things would get out of hand.
Without overthinking, Arthur turned around and dashed toward the man in black, wielding his spear, trying to kill him as fast as he could. It surprised the other party, not because of the sudden attack, but the power behind Arthur’s strike!
The elf tried to block it, casting a wooden spell that created a wall of vines, but the crimson-red spear cut through it quickly, and the only reason the elf did not get hit was that he was fast to move out of the way, avoiding the spear.
“Whoa, you are powerful, I thought you were just a rank two, not a rank three.”
“No talking, more fighting.”
“You will not win against me. Perhaps you can kill me, but all the others will come here and know about you at that time! Haha, you los-“
Before finishing his sentence, a sword passed through the elf’s chest. He looked down and could not believe someone had sneaked up on him.
“How? Who are you?”
He fell to the ground, lifeless. Even Arthur was surprised to see that, but everything became more apparent when he saw the person who attacked the elf.
“Leonard! How did you find me?”
“Brat, are you telling me I am useless?”
“Leonard! How are you rank three?”
“Breaking through the rank 2? Just a few weeks apart, and you are getting dumber.”
“…”
“Let’s go; we must leave this place. Big things are happening, and you don’t even imagine! I had recently visited the dragons. Crazy, right? They are gigantic and majestic and superior, ha. I wish I were a dragon….”
“Anyway, we need to return to the Von Stein family.”
“I still have things to do here. Two people to save, to be more precise, and uncover why the elves are doing black magic.”
“Black magic? The elves? No, no, no, everything makes sense now! Arthur, we have a huge problem!”
“Problem? Why is that?”
“The Von Stein family! They are using a portal to send troops to another continent to start a war! But this is not the worse part. They are also doing black magic, and I bet they are working with the elves then.”
“What? Do you know why they are doing this?”
“Yes, I do, and that is where the problem is. They want to open a temporary portal of the Dream Realm and get all the beasts out to destroy the entire world!”
~~~~
Arthur’s main body was inside the Von Stein family castle, and he left his room to explore it, perhaps finding more about Sybille’s location. At that time, he looked up in the sky and saw how the clouds moved in strange ways, and a gigantic portal of orange color opened up in the sky!
“What is that?”
It was happening as his avatar spoke with Leonard, so he quickly realized it was a portal leading to the Dream Realm!
Everyone was looking at the sky, trying to understand what was that portal which covered the entire sky, but then, many beasts flew out of it, and some had the aura of a rank four mage….