Chương 459: Chapter 429: Unhinged

Thalion decided that it was probably best to switch to his human form with the better fire resistance before Ryan unleashed the skill he was currently fueling with a shitload of mana. The crippled Eclipsari also had the divine passive skill, which gave it very high fire resistance, but the human form had the Sanguis Impera, which had a fire affinity and made him even more robust. The next moment, a fiery shockwave erupted from Ryan, burning everything in close range.

Most of the fighters were burned to ashes, with only one archer making it out alive. Thalion survived the skill behind a wall of vines that greedily absorbed the heat and flames. The moment the flames touched the vines, they turned the color of his bloodline flames. Right… the divine passive also counts for the Sanguis Impera… Thalion realized, but no one should have noticed how the flames changed color slightly.

Before, they only had to deal with the elite team, but now everyone from the castle was coming for them, and the armies on the neighboring islands also readied themselves for battle. Ryan didn't seem to notice anything in his rage as he shot forward. The fiery domain around him was so hot that even the stone beneath his feet began to melt. Thalion decided that he would take his time and let Ryan fight it out for now. He had injuries that needed healing, and there was no real reason to stress himself right now.

Ryan also didn't notice Thalion as he shot past, unleashing four streams of fire at the defenders who tried to intercept him. The flames roared with a power Thalion had only seen once before, and none of the E-grade fighters could stop them—nor Ryan. The Chosen once more didn't bother to jump over the wall and instead punched it with all his might. Part of the wall exploded and was violently thrown inward.

All those atop it tried to jump off or get themselves to some kind of safe zone where they wouldn't be hit by the debris or Ryan's aura. The Chosen didn't seem to care in the slightest about what his enemies did and charged inside. From there on, Thalion could only see flames roaring into the sky while explosions echoed through the castle before him. It didn't take much longer until the whole castle went up in a massive firestorm that left no survivors.

In the meantime, Thalion did some looting, putting equipment into his spatial amulet. Many of the lighter armors had been destroyed by Ryan's fire nova, but otherwise most of the items were intact. Not that it mattered much for leaderboard points, but maybe he could use them for trading in the capital. After gathering everything within the perimeter, he began to watch the neighboring islands, which didn't seem sure whether they should attack now or wait.

No one wanted to risk being targeted by Ryan, who still looked very angry as he stepped out of what had been the castle's inferno just minutes before. Thalion had to admit that it had been a while since he had seen so many fighters killed in one go. Ryan still seemed angry, but without any targets, he slowly began to cool down—literally speaking—as his skin no longer glowed like lava was running beneath it. His demeanor also began to change.

The aura alone seemed to be enough for the other islands to retreat for now. There was still the question of whether they would come back later or maybe fly underneath for a surprise attack, since Ryan and Thalion had no one watching out for that kind of thing. Something like that would hit them out of nowhere, and even though Ryan looked quite dangerous right now, he had said on the island before that he would need time to recover. Healing his wounds so fast had to come with a price.

"That's how you deal with this scum—you gotta burn them all!" Ryan shouted, weirdly enough, at Thalion, who didn't really know how to deal with that. Thalion considered the weird situation for a moment before deciding that the best course of action was to simply ignore the Chosen. Those Chosen always have a few screws loose… Thalion thought with exasperation. Could Eric still be this normal, or was he just hiding it? It could also be that Ryan had never had a fight like this one.

In his tutorial, he had likely killed everyone before even being forced to unleash so much power. Pulling out a chair, Thalion sat down in the middle of a small crater and closed his eyes. He was theoretically fine, with all his resources almost back at one hundred percent again. Thalion didn't like at all how this mission was going. More and more, he got the feeling that they were just being used by the kingdom to get a few extra resources they otherwise wouldn't even fight for.

Without a Chosen, this mission would have been impossible from the get-go, and even with Ryan, he was still uncertain whether it was even viable to get the fruit. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. So far, they had moved in a straight line, but the islands behind them had already closed in with the arrival of new factions. Fighting one faction was okay for Ryan, while Thalion was greatly struggling.

When the lotus finished blooming, they would have to fight at least eight islands. The islands would also fight each other, but it would be one hell of a struggle to get the fruit. The only way Thalion saw them getting the fruit was with Ryan creating a distraction while Thalion used his bloodline skill to teleport directly to it. The huge advantage they had over everyone else was that Thalion could simply put it into his spatial ring, while the others would need to carry it.

This made it possible for them to get the fruit even if they arrived late. Still, this was something Thalion would like to avoid. Chasing someone in a battle between so many factions, all at relatively high E-grade, wasn't something he was looking forward to.

"Those bastards dared to injure me. I will kill them all!!" Ryan raged a few meters beside Thalion, which was quite annoying. If the Chosen came any closer, Thalion's armchair would catch fire. It also made it quite obvious that Ryan had likely never experienced such pain before. To be fair, getting his torso blown open sounded pretty painful. Still, staying angry didn't help. Ryan's aura was blazing like a miniature sun, and Thalion began to frown. When is this maniac going to relax?

Ryan still didn't seem to recognize that he wasn't in danger at the moment and kept rambling.

"Fuck. I'll fuck them all up. What a disgrace to be pushed to such heights by scum like this." With his last words, he kicked the ash around his feet, which could easily have been a former enemy. Thalion continued to ignore the Chosen. Best to stay calm and not interact with the guy until he had to.

"Oh yes, new meat. I will burn them too," Ryan started to growl, which made Thalion perk up. New meat? Wait a second. Was someone about to attack them? Thalion's head shot up to see a group of humanoid crocodilians moving in their direction. The group of six were all wearing very similar metal armor, but when it came to weapons, they differed. Some wielded dual blades, others heavy weapons, and one carried a long staff with a crystal at the top. They were all above level one hundred and forty. What was I expecting?

This trial wasn't getting easier. Ryan was still blazing with rage and slowly stepped toward the crocodilians. It seemed that only now the leader of the crocs noticed what kind of situation they were in and raised his hands in a defensive gesture.

"Hey, hey, we are just here to talk." The leader's voice was very deep as he tried to calm the enraged Chosen. Ryan was still angry and continued to walk toward the six crocs while Thalion started to get interested. They must have realized that they would be next on the chopping block. Striking a deal sounded like a reasonable strategy. They would likely backstab them the moment they got what they wanted, but this was a situation Thalion felt quite comfortable with.

Moving on an island without fighting while also having more fighters to conquer the last island and the golden lotus sounded pretty good, in fact. Yet it seemed the Chosen had different plans.

"You can talk with my fist. Do you think I'm an idiot!? I am Ryan, the Chosen of the Cinder King!" Ryan roared before using one of his movement skills to flash forward in a fiery streak.

"No, wait—what are you doing…?" Thalion exclaimed, but it was already too late. Ryan punched the leader in the armored chest, and Thalion could hear metal plating breaking as the leader was shot backward like a cannonball, burning like a torch. There died the hope of getting to the next stage without fighting… Ryan didn't seem to have heard him as he moved from fighter to fighter, killing every single one with the first strike.

It seemed that being close to Ryan was enough for the reptiles to die, and they probably hadn't anticipated that the maniac would just go straight for their heads. They probably had a really good offer too… Thalion thought, lost for words. Yeah, there was no helping it. The damage was already done, with four fighters dead and two trying to flee. In the end, only one made it out, as Ryan furiously chased the other and caught him, which ended in the tragic death of another crocodilian.

At least now it was clear that Ryan and Thalion—who had conquered the last islands in no time and with a lot of force—were utter maniacs who couldn't be reasoned with. Which meant that from now on, there wouldn't be any more offers of an alliance coming their way.

"Don't even think about trying such a trick on me again!!" Ryan roared, his fist held high at the other crocs on the island before them.

"That's how you show those fuckers who is king here," Ryan shouted at Thalion, who still didn't know what to think of the Chosen. Until now, they had managed to work quite well together. Thalion was itching to really tell the Chosen what he thought of him, but he still needed the guy. With his power alone, he wouldn't be able to do anything. Two million points were everything Thalion needed to ascend to the next stage. That he had to rely on such a labile character was, to say the least, incredibly annoying.

Thalion didn't want to wait any longer for his evolution. It felt so bad not to evolve—almost as if he were crippling himself on purpose. After evolving, he would still need some time to advance in levels and close the distance between himself and the other top-tier powerhouses, but at least then he would have something to fight for. Right now, he only killed for leaderboard points, which felt like a waste every single time. Still, he couldn't allow frustration to cloud his judgment.

He needed to do well in this treasure hunt, or all the stalling would be for nothing. Thalion also hated those high-risk, high-reward situations as much as he loved them. Normally, he lost—but every time he won, the victory felt so much sweeter. He could only hope that this time he would win, because otherwise the loss would really push him down. Now he just needed to find a way to get that fruit and bring it back to claim the first one million leaderboard points—all of this without any kind of alliance. Hmm.

What can I possibly do to make this right?