Surviving as a Broken Hero

Chapter 98 – Back Again (3)

The floating supply wagon hovered forward, and I tried not to look back at the distant shape of Londo’s walls.

A crisp morning breeze swept over the fields just outside the city, carrying the scent of wet grass. I normally would have found the journey to be relaxing, especially since we had the supplies we wanted, but Eve’s warning kept playing through my mind.

If the Lion Guild was truly working with the demons, then just how far had the demon corruption already spread? Even more concerning… what was next?Nôv(el)B\\jnn

I tried to shake the thought from my mind and glanced at Koise, who sat stiffly and silently next to me. We’d waited a bit longer than planned for Eve, but there hadn’t been so much as a message.

In the end, we couldn’t wait any longer. We had people waiting for us back in Karfana, and some people, no matter how influential, left your life as quickly as they joined it, never to be heard from again.

A sigh escaped my mouth. ‘Such is life.’

Koise idly polished his bow, a quiver of arrows sitting beside him. “You’re thinking about Gregor, right?” he asked. “About Eve’s warning.”

‘Am I being that obvious?’

“Yeah… You never noticed anything like that while working for them?”

“No… of course not. What, do you think I would work for demons or something? All he was really interested in was more glory, greater feats, and the like. He could’ve done much worse than simply kick me from the guild. Trust me, he’s not a bad guy.”

I nodded, forcing myself to accept his opinion. He’d known the man much longer, after all.

The gentle hum of the wagon’s enchantments filled the silence for a while as the fields gave way to the expansive forest that ran all the way to Karfana.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” I finally said, “about the Lion Guild. Why even bother returning? You knew you’d be kicked out.”

Koise’s jaw tensed for a moment, and he hesitated before explaining, “I’m glad I didn’t have to kill you, but it ended up worse for me. Had you truly been a cold-blooded killer like I first believed, I might’ve just gotten a slap on the wrist for being reckless.”

He shook his head and let out a slight laugh. “Instead, I just led a bunch of men to their deaths, and for what?”

A frown tugged at my lips. I wasn’t used to seeing that side of him. Usually, he seemed calm and almost methodic. He didn’t seem like the ‘reckless’ type, exactly, but we all had our moments.

“Anyway…” Koise sighed out, “that, the Lion Guild… it’s all in the past. I needed to return for closure, at least. I knew I’d be removed from the guild at minimum, but… honestly? I half-expected to be tossed in a cell somewhere as well.”

“What, and leave me alone and lost in Londo? We need everyone we can get right now. On top of that, you had the items, remember?”

He nodded. “Let’s just say I wasn’t thinking straight.”

From one moment to the next, a fog rolled over the forest from somewhere behind us, moving far faster than it should have.

My eyes drifted over to the road. I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling tickling the back of my head. Was it instinct? A sixth sense?

Something felt wrong. It was like that feeling you get in the middle of the night, alone in a large house. In such moments, you could almost swear something was in there with you.

I felt sure of it then… something was following us.

‘But wouldn’t the System give me some sort of quest?’ Usually, monster attacks were preceded by a System quest, even if at the moment of the attack.

I tried to open my System window.

Instead of the blue, floating panels I was used to, the stretch of the road ahead of us was all that greeted me.

Again, I tried to open the window.

Nothing…

My heart skipped a beat.

“Koise…” I whispered, not wanting to believe it, “Can you open your System window?”

“Is there a new quest or something?” he asked, his eyes unfocusing for a moment as he tried to open his System. Suddenly, he stiffened. “Oh… you can’t open yours either?”

‘What’s going on?’ My mind went back to that strange fog Eve and I had encountered in the mini-dungeon. It’d robbed me of my ability to use the System as well.

Back then, all of my System-derived stats had also vanished, but I didn’t feel any weaker in the fog enveloping the forest—it was just that I couldn’t open my System window.

Koise gripped his bow.

A gust of wind brushed past us, carrying an intangible ripple through the air, and our wagon came to a stop.

Finally, a familiar figure stepped out from behind one of the many trees on my side of the wagon. Slim and elegant, his pointed ears marked him as an elf.

Not just any elf, but a certain elf I’d seen day after day for years—Alikr. His clothes were etched in glowing runes, and a slender longsword hung from his waist.

Confidence gleamed in his eyes. “Aizen…” he softly said, his voice carrying on slight eddies of wind and fog, “I’m glad to see you again.”

He paid no mind to Koise, who’d already notched an arrow into his bow and pointed it at the intruder.

“I’ve been following you since Karfana, you know… Just you and a disgraced member of the Lion Guild. Nobody would bat an eye if two more Awakeners were to vanish in the grand forest. Just another monster ambush gone wrong.”

He took slow, measured steps toward us.

“Stay back!” Koise yelled. “What do you want?! Aizen, is this the same damned elf from before?”

“Yes, it is.” I’d told him of my encounter with Alikr in the demon camp, of course.

Before another word could be uttered, Koise loosed his arrow.

I was expecting the air to rip apart or a loud sonic boom like when he’d been chasing me, but the string merely thwacked forward.

Still, the arrow’s velocity was impressive. However, Alikr drew his blade in a flash of light and smoothly knocked the arrow away.

“Aizen, my abilities aren’t working,” Koise mumbled.

‘So that’s what it is.’ It finally dawned on me—the fog was a lesser version of the one I’d seen in the mini-dungeon. We were still enhanced by our stats, but our abilities were locked off.

A smile crept onto Alikr’s face. “Come on, Aizen… Show me more of that other System you have. One more show of defiance to the Master. It’s caused enough trouble already.”

‘The Master?’ I wondered for a moment. It was a question I would have to delve into later. I had no doubt that whatever ‘Master’ he was referring to was the leader of the demons.

“You’re insane,” I said. “Why are you doing this? You worked for the Association for years, and then you suddenly decide you want to help demons ruin everything you helped build?”

“The Association? That parasitic organization run by fools only interested in gold and status? You’re right, I did help build it—the Association, Karfana. That’s exactly why I should be the one to tear it down. This was a new world to you when you arrived, and it’ll be a new world again by the time we’re done.”

Koise tried to loose another arrow.

Alikr sighed in annoyance and deflected the projectile before countering with a light swing that sent a wave of sword energy forward.

The crescent of energy slid past me and hit Koise, who had just enough time to raise his arms and block it on his vambraces. Still, the impact launched him from the wagon.

Sparing a brief glance to confirm Koise was okay, I launched myself at Alikr.

He could’ve used whatever System abilities he had, such as the wave of sword energy, but joy lit his eyes as he met me in direct combat, holding himself back.

My gauntlet’s blade thunked forward, and I swung the sharp edge at him while an earthen gauntlet formed around my left hand.

Alikr smoothly leaned to the side to avoid the blade and brought the flat of his sword up against my following punch.

‘As I thought, I’ll need to use the Second System.’

He hardly looked fazed by what I could do with my base stats alone.

Again, a smile tugged at his lips. “That’s right, Aizen… Show it to me. That other System.”

‘Fine, if that’s what you want…’ I was happy to oblige.

⟬«Piercing Eruption»⟭

Power surged through me and out of my left hand’s leading jab so quickly that Alikr didn’t have time to dodge. Still, he at least blocked the direct impact to his body.

He slid backward over the earth—leaving a trail in the earth beneath his planted feet—and slammed into a tree trunk on the side of the road.

“Ha!” he laughed, spitting out blood from where he’d bitten his tongue. “Is that all?! All this trouble for that?!”

Not giving him time to recover, I ran forward and pulled my arm back for another «Piercing Eruption».

This time, his sword flicked forward faster than my eye could follow. I would have died if not for the earth sliding around my body to form a thick plate of stone around my head.

As it was, I was sent reeling to the side, dizzy from the blow.

Alikr could have pushed the advantage, but he merely waited for me to regain my bearings.

‘He’s toying with me,’ I realized.