Chương 374: Reunion, Fateful Encounter

The tension in the air was palpable. Worse, it felt like a solid wall as the two men stared at each other without saying a word for several seemingly stretched-out seconds. Argantis and Atlent looked to be about the same age, and they seemed alike enough in their appearances to potentially pass off as brothers. The only thing that set them apart with just a glance was the grey beard of Atlent, which reached the center of his chest as he stood unusually straight.

The stand-off continued for several more seconds as the hot wind of the desert blew, making their robes and cloak flutter as grains of sand struck them weakly. Argantis was the one to break the silence.

"I thought you never wanted to see my face ever again, and considering that it has been more than a century since then, I figured that you were going to uphold this promise""The situation has changed, Argantis. Can you see the writing on the wall? Mara Maeve Maya Nebulo is going to rise to become a butcher of the same renown as our late master… Do you not understand what this means?" Argantis narrowed his gaze with firm understanding.

"Master Clatamicus always failed each and every instance of all of the possible rituals you could be hinting at, Atlent. We won't be succeeding where he failed. It is crystal clear that we do not yet amount to his knee. Even the two of us can't compare to his skill, knowledge, and sheer talent" Atlent sighed exasperatedly.

"You still think like a regular, measly spellcaster, Argantis""We are but regular, measly spellcasters, Atlent. Black magic or not, we are still bound by the same base limitations. Black magic only allows us to twist or momentarily break a select few rules. It is not as powerful as you think it is""Nonsense…

You truly never understood the teachings of our master""I feel the same way about you" Atlent spread his arms wide, his dark attire making him appear like a bird of darkness spreading its wings due to his wide cloak.

"Black magic is the power to harness the tainted part of existence. Our master only failed because the sacrifices were not in enough despair. They weren't in enough suffering, be it mental or physical! But now? Ohohoh… If our master were around, he would be sending us around to deliver flowers to that Mara Nebulo""I do not know what her powers truly are, but she is capable of invoking the most powerful emotions of despair and fear in people. Her spawns are masters of misery.

Those people she terrifies, they are prime assets for mass sacrifice! We could summon and grant vessels to devils of much greater power than ever! We could force our hands through the veil and bring back our master from the dead! We could do like the legendary Eclipse Mage, and cover the sun with darkness forever!" Argantis shook his head.

"And what would be the point of any of this?" The bearded man shook his head as well.

"Oh, you…

'Why?'

'Why should we do this?' What would be the point of this?' You still don't understand! We aren't the ones guiding black magic… Black magic is the one who chose to nest within us! It is our duty to satisfy its hunger""It is good to see that you have remained just as insane as before""Why, thank you… I do my best in this regard–Listen, I can do this with or without you, Argantis, but I think it is a good occasion for you to redeem yourself. You still consider Clatamicus your master, don't you?

Then it is the perfect time to prove that you haven't forsaken his teachings""I have no need to redeem myself, and I will not help you… Besides, the continent outside the barriers is dangerous even for people like you and me. Many believe some stories to be fabrication or exaggerated, but you must know well that some of Nebulo's spawn are truly creatures of unfathomable power""Is that why you seek her favour?"

"Oh, so you've been watching for a while… I still can't peer through your stealth spells, it seems""Definitely not. I was standing right next to you for weeks" They stared at each other in silence once more, until Atlent shrugged and stepped back behind the great cactus, completely vanishing… Though Argantis knew well that his fellow disciple had merely used his gaggle of stealth spells.

"You worship black magic as superior, but you are a master of the simplistic mana manipulation nonetheless…"

"Are you really in that much of a hurry to jump into your grave, old man? There is absolutely nothing to gain by venturing beyond the barrier, especially when some of the nastiest creatures are said to stick close to the outside perimeter of the great barrier""That's why you are still not a master swordsman, Hardene. You only take necessary fights instead of letting the will of your sword guide you""Your sword has no will. You're just a battle maniac" If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen.

Report the violation.

"That's exactly what I said, just with prettier words. To progress, you have to enjoy battle, and what is a hobby that you only partake in when you are forced to? I hear that some of those anomalies are pretty good fighters""And I hear that some of them are unkillable! You're even going into the area where the thing that slaughtered those elemental champions was last spotted! I know I can't order you around, but don't get yourself killed… I mean, how are you supposed to fight Mara Nebulo if you're dead?"

Salael Vomhargon laughed boisterously at this remark.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't have gotten old enough to qualify as a fossil if I didn't know how to avoid death… Don't worry about me, I know you have your own troubles to take care of" Hardene Vomhargon, current patriarch of the family, sighed as he watched the old man who qualified to be called an ancestor walk away. Hardene certainly preferred to have Salael around, considering that he was widely considered to be the strongest swordsman alive.

His presence alone helped maintain the Vomhargon family as one of the top noble houses of Rootriska, especially after Hardene's idiotic son had run off and gotten himself killed because he was just too stupid to see that marrying Lilou Hulx was a huge boon. Had Hardene been given the same opportunity back in the day, he would literally have worshipped the ground his father walked upon for managing to land such a glorious agreement. … Well, he had done that anyway, but that was beside the point.

The biggest problem for the family was that Hardene had no heir now. It had been a while since Milkard had gotten himself killed, but an idiot son was a son nonetheless, and the matriarch had been quite distraught since then.

"Maybe it isn't so bad for him to go out and kill some anomalies. I've heard talk about potentially trying to clear the areas just beyond the barrier using enchanting heavy-weaponry… The old man is definitely stronger than a mana-enhanced trebuchet…" … … It didn't take too long for Salael to step through the barrier. At a glance, the outside world didn't seem that chaotic. The sun was still shining, and the grass was still verdant, but the wildlife was unusually quiet.

Birds were not chirping or singing, and even with his refined senses, the old swordsman couldn't even feel the motions of insects in the grass. Everything was still and quiet… They were either all dead or had adapted to some new, unique conditions.

"Looks like making noise is a death sentence…" So naturally, Salael's first instinct was to shout some profanities and wait. Why bother walking any further if the enemy could be lured over? The silence was ominous, but throughout this seemingly deafening quietness, the old man sensed an incoming presence. Two hands shot out of the darkness created by the canopy of a nearby forest. Long, thin fingers wrapped nearly all the way around the trunk of two trees, and a misshapen, triangular head soon poked out.

Its maw contorted into a seemingly permanent smile. Two small, bloodshot eyes that were a bad fit for its face. It was as if it had stolen them from a human and just popped them right on. It brought one finger in front of its maw." Shhhh…" Salael took a few moments to assess the horrid creature in front of him. It was abnormally thin. It looked as though it was made out of black stone due to the many uneven and sharp edges its body possessed. It crawled out into the light, standing taller than two meters in height.

The swordsman unsheathed his sword. He detected no danger whatsoever, much to his disappointment. Before the anomaly could react, its body was already split into dozens of separate pieces, falling apart, but somehow surviving for several more minutes before finally dying.

"If even such a weakling of its kind can survive for so long after this… Then it is quite promising for the stronger ones" Salael's smile was quick to fade as he detected a presence walking nearby, having seemingly been lured by the commotion. A bead of cold sweat crawled down his face as he stood perfectly still despite him clearly hearing the approaching footsteps behind him.

The creature was clearly walking on two legs, and the tempo of its steps indicated a build certainly very much akin to that of a human being–The old swordsman had always been very competent when it came to gauging his adversaries. Back in the day, he had been accused of melding some form of future sight or something akin to it with his swordsmanship due to the fact that he had consistently seemed to know the styles and tricks of his adversaries before the fight even began…

To the old Vomhargon, it was nothing but a basic thing. When he felt the presence of an enemy, he was easily capable of guessing many precise things about them. Their strength, their style, and even to guess exactly the sort of things that could potentially trigger anger and thus allow him to perform excellent provocations. Some called it a third eye. He just viewed it as a basic observation, even if it was indeed unusual how much he could glean by just getting a whiff of an opponent's presence…

Right now, this atypical skill was telling him not to engage the anomaly that had been lured over, to stand still and close his eyes when it approached. It was abnormal, but his instincts told him that he had no chance of defeating the creature that was now standing right next to him. If it were just him, he would gladly challenge such an extraordinary foe, but he was still a Vomhargon and thus needed to remain alive and operational for the sake of his family.

He felt the creature looking at him for a few moments, but that's all it did. After seemingly looking at the remains of the other anomaly, it walked away, and only then did the swordsman's instinct tell him that he might look at the retreating creature for a moment. The anomaly was indeed humanoid. It was a hairless being with pale-blue, smooth skin. Its limbs were longer than they should be, and its hands and feet were noticeably larger than should be proportionally wise as well.

It stood about as tall as the triangle-headed anomaly, but walked in a manner that made it seem as though it was lost and just wandering around aimlessly. Despite inspiring images of death in Salael, watching it walk away made it seem harmless.

"I see…" The swordsman turned away from the creature in case it turned around. This was what had massacred the elemental champions with ease. Unfortunately for them, they hadn't had the unusual sense of observation of the elder sword master.

"That thing's very existence is wrapped into a neat little rule. Which probably plays a part in making it so horrifying…" The rule was very simple: As long as you didn't look it in the eyes, you were fine. It even seemed like you could get away with attacking it quite a lot without having to fear retaliation. But Salael could tell that getting free hits wouldn't help anyone in defeating this thing.

"Mara Nebulo created such a thing? What a nightmare of a woman… She might be worse than my late wife… Might…" He shivered at the thought of the woman he had and still loved the most in the world.