Chapter 184: Divine Punishment

"Come on, you can do better than that," I encouraged half-heartedly. 

"Yes, sir!" Responded Lusk, before firing a couple of water bullets at me, which I easily evaded. 

It was currently the first week of July, in the year 1675, a few months after the battle against the Vampires. Things had been pretty peaceful lately, all things considered. The damage done to the Rustlands during that battle was all but gone now, repairs had progressed at a steady pace, and the nation was back to normal. 

Silvland has shown no signs of going back on their move to cut ties with us and Bronztan, but they also hadn't shown any signs that they were gonna be our enemies...well, right now, they're the weakest nation in the world, so it'd be pretty stupid of them to provoke us. Guess the asshole prince-...or, technically, asshole king, was smarter than I thought he was. Or at least, he wasn't as dumb as I thought he was. 

As for Bronztan, I had made sure to have no involvement in any official matters with them, and after a tentative few months of negotiating, the Rustlands established a relatively amicable alliance with Bronztan on equal terms. And considering what their queen is like, that's quite the accomplishment. 

When I got to this world, the three strongest nations were Platinberg, Goldway and Silvland...Platinberg was a glorified Vampire prison now, Goldway had been eradicated over two years ago, and Silvland was a shell of its former self, nearly all their high-ranking Adventurers were dead, and of the few survivors, two had moved to the Rustlands, along with their royal princess. It's pretty safe to say that the Rustlands is currently the strongest nation in the world, a fact that even the incredibly stubborn queen of Bronztan couldn't ignore. 

Oh, and I'm no longer a student...since nearly all the instructors had been killed in the fights against the Vampires, the entire third year class were promoted to full-fledged Adventurers, with the condition that they serve as temporary instructors for the incoming batch of new students until more permanent replacements could be found. 

Raedal Yiserir retired from his post as headmaster, since he was in charge of most of the dealings between us and Bronztan, not to mention that he was also running the Guild. The new headmaster was...Lidui Uensh. It seemed a very strange choice at first, but I then realized that it was her punishment for running away during the Vampire attack...still, if you ask me, I definitely feel like she was getting off way too easily. 

Oh, and as for the Goldlands, the second-base the Rustlands constructed in the area where Goldway and The Valaque Empire had once been, it was thriving, we were getting plenty of resources like seafood, meat, gemstones, herbs, you name it, all the surrounding areas were ripe for the plucking and we were making full use of them. As a result, the overall quality of life in the Rustlands had improved a lot, and we also had a steady stream of income by exporting some of the new goods to Bronztan. 

Getting back to the part about my entire class being promoted to Adventurers, I managed to weasel my way out of becoming an instructor, temporary or not...but only on the compromise that I train the third years, the batch of students that had been one year below us, once a month for a full day, for a few months. The others had already served out their temporary terms as instructors, though Tuck, Lamasa and Niski stayed on as permanent hires. Misen also remained as an instructor, and any other remaining vacancies had also been filled. 

Then there was the matter of the Retribution Tier members that we had captured and imprisoned. Aurich had wanted them executed, with the reasoning that even if they weren't directly responsible for the destruction of Goldway, they were still complicit in the deaths and zombification of his people. 

I didn't voice my own opinion this time, I decided to maintain a neutral stance, because I genuinely didn't care either way...the three that we captured weren't obsessively loyal to Valaque like Hacte was, not even close, so I doubted that they'd try to get revenge or something if we let them live, so either way, it shouldn't really matter. 

While Aurich's suggestion was considered, Erhtaph and Agatha brought up a good point that couldn't be ignored...plenty of powerful Adventurers had died in the battle against the Vampires, and with the revelations that the other Forbidden Zones could also shatter within the next few decades, it'd be foolish to kill off such potentially valuable assets. 

And so...they were spared, after I spoke to each of them and determined that they wouldn't be a threat to us...it was easy, all I had to do was mention Valaque's death and whatnot, and then see if I could feel any bloodlust...and there was none. Rion seemed a bit bummed out by the deaths of Valaque and the other Retribution Tier members, but he was definitely more torn up about the latter than the former, and I felt no malice or bloodlust from him at all. 

Azeria was pretty indifferent too, in fact, she seemed like she was expecting to go through a miserable time and had resigned herself to it...and Rex shrugged the whole thing off, saying he'd barely known Valaque for a few months, and had mostly found him annoying. I then gave each of them a proposal...become Adventurers of the Rustlands, live as you please so long as you don't disrupt anyone else's lives, but if any danger threatens the Rustlands, you'll be expected to help...that, or get executed. 

All three accepted the proposal, which I confirmed was genuine by secretly using the truth serum that Princess Cusnai had been able to recreate, spiking their drinks with the serum, and now...they were all S-Ranked Adventurers. In total, the Rustlands had sixteen S-Ranks now; myself, Elina Fenegus, Ekai Zabel, Persia Gerit, Azyl Roake, Azeria Folix, Rion Xester, Fuo Wesroh, Yuur Ganroh, Einn Olbaw, Rex Archer, Selesa Jeule, Les Jeule, Misen Ragiu, Siert Huet and Gela Sorr, in that order. Rai and Key hadn't made it to S-Rank, but were currently among the top five A-Ranks. 

Yeah, Az had all but given up on trying to hide what he was capable of, but to his relief, since there were suddenly so many powerful Adventurers in the Rustlands seemingly out of nowhere, he managed to fly under the radar to an extent. Elina had held onto her number two spot since her importance when it came to spell creation was as invaluable as ever...she was constantly improving the protective barriers surrounding the Rustlands, creating spells that made Quests easier for weaker Adventurers, and now even making spells that make everyday life more convenient.

Regarding the remaining members of the Retribution Tier, there was one variable that was unaccounted for...Hacte Routh. He had been nowhere to be found after I defeated Lazarus, and since he was probably using a Stealth barrier, searching for him would have been a waste of effort. The rest were all dead. 

After the Vampires all moved to Platinberg, the state of the snowy area slowly returned to normal, the monsters were once again territorial, and didn't appear in massive groups anymore. And I was currently in the snowy area, training the third year class. Specifically, I was letting them take turns sparring with me while I'm in Karma Mode. Naturally, they couldn't touch me. 

It had been nearly six hours since we began, and thankfully, it was almost time to end it. This'll be the last time that I have to do this, so I was making sure to do it properly, but on the inside, I had zero motivation or interest, so I was mentally half-assing it.

"Okay, who's next?" I inquired, as my bout with Lusk ended. 

"Um...w-we've all had our turn for this round, and I don't think there's enough time for another round," Answered Prato with a slight stutter. 

There's about five minutes left, and there were nine of them, definitely can't fight them all again in that much time...one-by-one, anyway. 

"Huh, in that case...the final round is a free-for-all, all of you will attack me at the same time...I'll be powering up though. Any objections?" 

After a brief moment of silence... 

"Uh, Mr Black, sir...do you mean you'll use your Vampire powers?" Asked Arts with a nervous look. 

"First off, don't call me that...just Kuro is fine. In fact, I insist that you don't call me by my last name. And second...yes, I'll be using Vampire Mode. Is that a problem?" 

"Excuse me, sir, but...we don't stand a chance, do we?" Remarked Rygar Tatmer, the guy who passed my entrance exam by exploiting a loophole in my rules and erasing the circle I drew in the ground using his Earth Magic. 

He had closely trimmed black hair, thick eyebrows, light brown eyes, a horizontal scar on his nose and fought using spells, tools, explosives and liquids like tranquilizers and paralysis, since his Earth Magic was pretty weak. 

"Eh, it'll be a good learning experience."

"This doesn't seem safe," Said Kusu Omack, one of the girls who had passed Instructor Dile's entrance exam. 

She had short, fuzzy black hair, gray eyes, was on the short side, and had Lightning Magic. She had a bee Anima, with a stinger on the back of her left hand with black and yellow fuzz around it. She primarily used a small axe, Lightning Boost at x1.5 and her bee stinger to attack. 

"Yeah, I think so too," Agreed Zubu Abook skeptically, another girl who had passed Instructor Dile's entrance exam. 

She had long red hair tied in a thick, single braid, black eyes and had Wind Magic with a large capacity of Mana. She was highly agile and used powerful wind blasts to attack. 

"It's not like I'm going to go all-out against you guys, I'll mostly be evading while you attack me," I explained, some of their expressions easing a bit. 

One of the main reasons I relented and agreed to train this group once a month for the last few months was because we had lost too many Adventurers in the aftermath of the battles against the Vampires. Three students of this class had been killed back then, and as for the nine that were still alive...well, what didn't kill them made them stronger. 

Lusk Cotuid was probably the strongest, his tentacles gave him a lot of options, and he was formidable at close-range, while also being highly accurate at long-range with his water shots. 

Arts Stuwen didn't have the best offensive capabilities, but had highly effective support skills to Fire Magic users. He had Wind Magic but it was on the weak side, in fact, it was almost non-existent, at best he could create a weak breeze with it. However, his Retractable Anima, a pair of hummingbird wings, could generate powerful gusts of wind and also made him highly agile in mid-air. I had advised him to train at kicking while flying, which would give him a weapon against an opponent that could also fly. He'd taken that advice and equipped himself with a pair of shoes that had two metal claws at the tips of each shoe. 

Prato Cichudde didn't have a lot of confidence and was also self-conscious of his feminine appearance, but he had easily the most destructive attack in his class. He fired flames in concentrated beams and rays of heat, which could melt through concrete like a hot knife through butter. He had a high Mana capacity, but his concentrated flames drained Mana at a rapid rate, so I had him carry multiple Mana Orbs. He was good at close combat too. His Anima was a frilled lizard, and he could expand the layer of skin around his neck, but that didn't really do anything, it was just for show. 

Riefe Elrurs was highly agile and nimble, thought he mainly used ranged attacks with explosives and spiky metal spheres using a slingshot to launch them, the speed and trajectory of his projectiles were enhanced and manipulated by Wind Magic, though it was rather weak and therefore limited. He had messy brown hair, dark brown eyes, freckles and a bushy squirrel tail. 

Ida Rowmaet, who I had dueled in the last Brawl of Glory about a year ago, had a very playful and easy-going attitude, but her skills were pretty serious. She used a staff that could expand to double it's length, and her Earth Magic was pretty limited, but she used it well within those limits. She was highly skilled at close combat with that staff. She had medium length dark blue hair that framed her face, a lip ring on her lower lip and dark blue eyes that matched her hair. 

And then there was Necola Witniar. She wasn't as strong alone as she was as a duo with her twin brother, and after he'd died during the Vampire attack, she had been in a slump. Mainly due to her lack of drive and confidence, I'd say that she's the weakest in this class at the moment, she has better skills than a few of the others, but her efforts were somewhat half-hearted. 

"Okay, then, let's begin on my signal...," I declared, giving them a few seconds to prepare, before entering Vampire Mode, "Ready...come at me!" 

Ida and Kusu were the first to charge at me, the former swinging her staff at me and the latter slashing her axe down at me. Decent coordination, but in my current form, they were way too slow. I evaded their attacks, and as soon as I did, they sprang away as Prato fired a powerful beam of flames straight at me. 

I coated my palm in intense lightning, flames and wind and deflected the beam upwards with a swing of my hand...oh, wow, I got slightly burnt, a bit of the bone in a couple of my fingers was visible...that meant that the intensity of his attack was greater than mine, even in Vampire Mode...not bad at all. 

Lusk then sprang up behind me and drove his tentacles towards my limbs, I swiftly used Teleport to get out of his reach, Necola blasted out flames towards me as I reappeared, Arts flying above and behind her and flapping his wings rapidly, creating a powerful gust of wind that magnified the flames coming towards me. 

I held my palm out in front of me and activated Repulsion, sending out a powerful pushing force. In the blink of an eye, most of the flames got canceled out, but not all of them, forcing me to use Teleport again. The instant I reappeared, Riefe and Rygar fired a barrage of explosives and other projectiles at me. The latter had even flung some vials of acid. 

Right before they all converged on me, I activated Quintuple to split myself into two copies, my body glowing red and turning intangible before splitting into two, the real me splitting out to the left and the copy to the right, right as the projectiles all landed in the spot where I had just been, the mini-bombs exploding upon impact. Arts swooped down towards my copy along with Kusu racing towards it, while Ida, Lusk and Necola shot towards me. 

Without skipping a beat, I swiftly rejoined with my copy, re-merging into one right above the three that were headed for me. Whenever I used this Cross to make copies of myself, I don't let the copies stay for too long...if they go for more than five minutes without rejoining, they'll start to become self-aware and rebellious...I really don't want to have to deal with something that could be so messy. 

Anyway, the instant I became one again, I fired Repulsion at the ground in front of them, kicking up a snow cloud as they got sent crashing away along the ground. Arts zipped up and above me before swooping down with the metal claws on his feet pointed at me. I pointed my palm at him and used Beckon to pull him towards me, causing him to lose control of his descent. 

I grabbed his ankle as he neared me and flung him down towards Zubu as she fired a couple of wind blasts up at me, striking him instead, as he let out a gasp of pain. I flew out of the way with a flap of my wings as Prato fired another heat ray at me, before descending back to the ground as I realized that most of them didn't have an effective-enough way of attacking me while I'm airborne. 

"Come on, is that all you've got? I mean...this isn't even my final form!" I remarked triumphantly...yes! I've always wanted to say that! 

I sparred with them for a few minutes longer, but even after I stopped using the Crosses and Elemental Magic, I was still having an easy time of it, despite their best efforts. To be fair, they did manage to somewhat keep me on my toes, but so long as I kept my guard up, they didn't stand a chance of landing a decent hit. And so, I ended it a bit early and let them head back. 

I used Teleport to get back quickly, though it took several uses to get back to my place from here...it's not totally accurate to say that I can use Teleport to warp anywhere within my sight, more specifically, I can use it to instantly move to anywhere within two hundred meters of my sight...so in other words, if I'm staring straight in a direction and try to Teleport to a spot that's three hundred meters away, even if I can see it clearly, I'll only Teleport two hundred meters in that direction. 

So I'll use Teleport to get to the nearest teleportation booth and use the teleport spells to get home from there. I had planned to go out drinking with Persia and the others tonight, so I should get home now, it was almost 6 PM currently. After the seemingly non-stop trouble over the past couple of years or so, it felt really nice to have several uneventful months in a row like this, I was enjoying how peaceful things were. I know it can't last forever, but it wouldn't be too much to ask for it to just last a while longer...right...?

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Point-of-View: Hacte Routh

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"Who are y-...no, what are you?" I inquired, backing away cautiously. 

Somehow, I could feel it...the being standing in front of me was far too powerful for me to even think about fighting them. I had been wandering aimlessly after I ran away from Silvland, I am not even certain of exactly where I am right now. And tonight, as I'd searched for food and water, I was approached by this being... 

"Just someone who can grant you the power that you crave, in order to fulfill your desire for revenge," Came the reply. 

It sounds like a female voice...as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I got a better look at her. She had long, flowing light blonde hair that almost looked like it was gleaming, her eyes were dark blue and glittered like jewels, she had an attractive figure, and...she had black-feathered wings on her back, as well as a glowing black ring that was floating above her head... 

"Are you some type of monster?" 

"How rude! That's like asking a chef if he's a type of food," She scoffed in reply.

"What do you mean?" I asked with a frown. 

"Isn't it obvious? I'm saying that I created the monsters, so I'm definitely not one myself. My name is Belia Lasmodeus, but you can just call me Belia..Hacte Routh."

How does she know my name? 

"Hah, you declare yourself the creator of monsters, do you take me for a fool? I cannot believe such a wild claim without proof!" 

"Hm, fair enough. I used up most of my divinity when I created the monsters, and there are only three forms of Divine Magic I can use without further depleting my divinity...what to do..."

Divine Magic? What is that? 

"Ah, I know! A weak Divine Magic spell should be fine," She declared, before walking over to me and touching my right shoulder. 

"What are y-...," I began, before trailing off as, in an instant, my missing right arm was back, "Is this a healing spell? No, that can't be..." 

I-Impossible...I did not feel it regrowing at all, I just blinked and there it was, fully intact. And my body, it feels...lighter and less fatigued. 

"It's a type of Divine Magic known as restoration, it rewinds time on a target. I simply rewinded your body to before your lost your arm...it took a bit more divinity than I expected, I won't be able to expend even a tiny bit more except for emergencies. If I use up all my divinity, I'll cease to-...oops, you don't need to know all that. Anyway, now that I've proven my claims...do you accept my offer of power?"

There was no doubt that she did not use any ordinary magic just now, there was no spell that could restore a missing limb like this, and in an instant, no less. In which case... 

"Will I...will I be able to avenge Lord Valaque?" 

"There's only one way to find out, isn't there?" 

"I do not understand...why are you helping me?"

"Oh, don't read too much into it. You see, I've been on the sidelines, observing this world for centuries. And save for the occasional bit of interference when I want to give things a little push, I've mostly been a spectator even since I created the monsters. I've caused, witnessed and enjoyed plenty of chaos, sure, but...it's not enough anymore, don't you see? I want to be at the heart of the chaos, I want to be directly involved!"

What a ridiculous objective...and yet, it does not seem like she is lying. 

"As for why I'm helping you...you've piqued my interest, that's all...I think that your immense rage and hatred would be fine ingredients to groom and cultivate into my recipe of chaos. You see, the Forbidden Zone containing the Demons will be the next to shatter, and when that happens...I will be able to grant you incredible power!"

Hm, some of what she said concerned me a bit, however, if she could truly grant me the power I need to kill Kuro, then... 

"I gladly accept your offer of power, Belia. What do you require in return?" 

"Hm, didn't I just tell you? I want more chaos in this world, anything less would be boring. Let's make our way to the Demon Forbidden Zone, shall we? I'll be able to make it shatter sooner, which will give you the power you desire sooner. I'll remain in the background for a short while longer, before revealing myself when the time is right. There's no rush, after all, I have a lot of plans for-."

She was cut off as suddenly, our surroundings turned to white as far as the eye could see...what is this!? Wait, I have heard of this...Lord Valaque and some of the other Retribution Tier members mentioned this, the being that they blamed for their strife upon reincarnating in this world communicated to them in a dimension of pure white. 

"Belia Lasmodeus...it has been a long time."

"Well, this is a surprise...how interesting, you haven't spoken to me in over fifteen hundred years...Samsara."

That must be the name of this being...Samsara is the being that Lord Valaque so despised... 

"Indeed I am."

He can read my thoughts? How unpleasant. 

"So, what's this about, Samsara? Are you finally going to punish me for breaking your taboo? I thought you couldn't interfere in the living world."

Taboo? Living world? This is all rather baffling... 

"It is not that I cannot, it is simply that I set myself a rule stating that I cannot. If I truly want to, I can break that rule with ease...after all, I am the one who made the rules. After recent events in this world, I have decided to finally break that rule, and for the first and last time, I will directly interfere in the living world. And yes, I suppose I shall punish you while I am at it...I should mention that the primary reason for my decision had very little to do with you. No, the main reason is because my existence has become common knowledge, and that, I simply cannot allow."

"Wow, so I'm just an afterthought? Talk about cold. Then I'm guessing you'll erase your existence from everyone's memories and tweak said memories so that they won't realize it, am I right?" 

"Indeed you are. But that is not all, I will also take another measure to ensure that no one will ever think about revealing my existence again...someone will have to atone. Originally, I had considered either Tirayze Valaque or Arturo Lagusa...but both are dead now. Of those still alive, the one that would be most suited for the atonement would be..."

"So, what about me? What's my punishment?" Inquired Belia, showing no fear whatsoever. 

Why is she so confident? She is certainly powerful, but this being is beyond fighting...we are completely at his mercy. 

"Not even I have enough divinity to kill another divine being, even if it is one of my own creation...no, instead, I shall seal you away in a pocket dimension. It is unlikely to hold you for long, since dimensional Divine Magic is one of your specialties, however...you will not be able to view any of the occurrences in the material dimension while you are trapped, so until you escape, which I imagine will take about a year at the very least...you will suffer the greatest of boredom. I shall also seal away this one with you, but I shall make it so that you will not be able to communicate with him until you free yourself."

"What!? Why must I be consigned to her punishment!?" 

"Because I find you to be a rather deplorable specimen of a human being."

Lord Valaque, I share your resentment of this being... 

"Hah, just a year? After I've been waiting around for centuries, you really think one measly year is going to scare me?" Laughed Belia, though she seemed a bit shaken. 

"I can read your thoughts...you are simply pretending to not be bothered by this, but in reality-." 

"Yeah, fine, you got me! Now shut up and get it over with, Samsara. Heh...manipulating the memories of millions will cost you a lot of your divinity. By the time I break free of your little prison, you'll be weakened to the point where I will never have to worry about you again, and I'll be able to simply pick up where I left off!"

"I would not be so certain, Lasmodeus. You see, this dimensional prison cannot be broken simply with your dimensional magic alone...you will have to use at least some Divine Magic to fully break it."

"What? No, wait, I barely have any left to spare-!" 

"Farewell, Lasmodeus, let us never meet again...as for you, Hacte Routh, do not worry, you will not feel hunger nor thirst while you are trapped with her. All you will need...is patience."

"This temporary isolation won't hold me for long, I'll break out sooner than you think!" 

Damn it...I cannot escape this...tch, no matter, it will not keep me trapped forever, and when I am finally free...I will obtain the power promised to me, and I will use it to kill Kuro... 

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