Chapter 358: Observation

While events for going in a strange direction back in the shadow of the city, a bit outside in the seemingly empty plains to the west, a group of four youngsters in the middle of a heated battle against a large horde of fish-like humanoid, bipedal monsters.

While they seemed weird and horrendous to the rest, for the long black-haired boy, they were already familiar. He was already quite antiquated with them after all, these primitive monsters, called Sahuagins were the bane of the young, inexperienced adventurers.

While they were barely the size of a young child, with a matching physique from a first glance, they often surprised the uninformed with their speed, strength, and ferocity that was kept tucked away in their fragile-looking frames. 

Their small, slender fingers that had a thin layer of membranous skin between them all ended with small but ominous-looking black claw-like nails that could cut through most leather armors with relative ease, and even make dangerous dents in mail.

Also, apart from the explosive strength they usually shocked their prey with, they rarely came in small numbers. They liked to encircle and surround their opponents, charge and attack them from all sides.

Even if their enemies managed to defeat a few of them, these vicious little creatures didn't seem to mind. Their numbers were endless, their lifespan was much shorter than the average human. The fact that coming from a fish-like origin, their rate of reproduction was much higher. A single female could spawn hundreds of spats, eggs, from where at least a dozen would eventually give birth to a new infantile sahuagin.

Anyway, just as mentioned before, under the scorching sun the four youths were in the midst of a heated battle. Countless light grey scaled little fish-men were rushing towards the small quartet, keeping their encirclement up not giving them any chance to turn tail. Not that they would have done so even if they were given a chance…

"Hyaaa!" A bright blade sailed across the air horizontally, tearing through not one, but two necks, severing their thyroids, engorging, bathing the wielder, Drake with another coat of blood over his face and upper layer of clothing.

At his sides, his sister's fiery red hair swayed madly in the air, as the hot-tempered girl's dagger was plunged into the chest of a third creature. Its wailing, clicking cry was suppressed by the loud, desperate gargles of the other two that were doing their best to cover the ripped flesh, and stop the life escaping through the grave wounds, albeit futilely.

In just a few seconds, their lifeless bodies thumped on the ground, their fates were clear, as their own brethren stepped over their bodies without care, to have a chance to strike at the hateful human. 

If one would look carefully, he or she could already see countless mutilated, dead bodies carpeting the ground, yet the monster's numbers didn't seem to falter, they were akin to an endless sea of greyish disaster.

On the other side of their little clearing, a streak of gold could be seen flashing with fast speeds. Each time it stopped, a blonde-haired young girl appeared sending out a kick, a chop, a strike before it jumped to the second beast. 

Each of his attacks was deadly, causing the suffering or in some cases the end of these horrible little creatures' lives straight up. At her sides, two vicious growls could be heard, as two black war hounds ripped through the bodies, ripping flesh and limbs with ease. Their eyes bloodshot, they were relentless.

Still, despite the large group's ferocious attacks, the opponents' numbers didn't seem to lessen, they kept coming endlessly, emerging from below the close by riverbed only to snarl madly and join the fray.

"Brother… Are you sure about this quest of yours? These things keep coming, their numbers are endless!" Plunging her blade into the neck of another one and snuffing out its life, the red-haired girl at the front, Scarlet cried out.

Truth be told, she couldn't be blamed for her question, after all, they have been in this situation for more than half an hour now with seemingly no rest in sight in the near future. Another thing that irked him was the fact that the black-haired, golden-eyed boy, Aiden was still yet to join in the battle, he was standing still behind them, with that annoying nonchalant, calm disposition of his.

As if their situation wasn't dire enough, he hasn't even moved a finger and told them that he wanted to observe each of their battle prowess instead.

Unable to take it anymore, Scarlet scowled as her eyes wandered to the side and looked at the boy again. With all the helpless anger weighing her words down, she cried out.

"And you… you! When will you decide to help us out?! In case you can't see it, we are SURROUNDED!" 

"Sis, calm down…" Although he himself wasn't sure what his friend's reasoning was, after all, they had been through, he trusted Aiden's judgment. He was aware of how much he cared about his own family, he was sure that Aiden would never do something that could possibly endanger his sister. 

Sure enough, just as Scarlet was about to scoff again and vent his pent up rage whilst blocking another swipe from the nearest monster, Aiden smiled at him calmly, before his figure suddenly vanished from its spot, only to reappear above Lily and crash way behind the front lines in an instant later.

In the next moment, a loud explosion echoed in the bloodied field, violent torrentuous energy erupted from where the boy landed, throwing a dozen or so sahuagins up in the air. 

Before the first release of his could die down, another wave was released, twisting the air and sending visible, transparent ripples into the surrounding. The sound it released was also strange, low-toned distorted reverberations rang in the group's ears, mangling the flesh of the closest monsters in the process. 

Mangled, bloodied carcasses, flesh, and gore remained, creating a dark red island in the midst of the endless gray sea.

In the next moment, before the rest of the creatures had a chance to react, the source of countless deaths, the reaper of these monsters flashed again, vanishing from his spot, only to blink into existence in his previous spot, behind the royal siblings a few seconds later. 

Shocked about this brutal display of power, Scarlet couldn't help but glance at the boy once again with a complex look in her eyes. What surprised her the most, wasn't even this display of strength at all, but the fact that despite all the carnage he had just achieved in a couple of seconds of time, he was still clean, no drops of blood or gore stained his figure or clothing. 

A smug smile appeared on his stupidly handsome face that continued to annoy the crap out of Scarlet. He didn't say a word, but there wasn't even a need to. His look told more than what simple words could do so. His smile was a clear message to the girl, a challenge, an invitation to dance.

Surprised at first, a moment later a smile emerged on her face, as she slid the throat of yet another pesky fish man. A grin appeared on her face, as her hands went without her needing to pay much attention. She turned her head to the side, matching the boy's gaze.

With the grin that easily matched the blonde amazons when she was slowly getting lost in her own craving during fights, Scarlet nodded, expressing herself in only a few meaningful words.

"Challenge accepted! Let's see who has the highest count at the end!"

With that, she didn't wait for any response, she jumped forward, throwing herself into the dance of death. Her hands playing to the tune of carnage, they sailed across the air with dizzying speeds, slicing through flesh and skin with newfound vigor. 

Blood sprayed everywhere, bathing the girl completely, the suppressed memories of her slave years unlocked, she slowly but surely began to change. A thick, and cold air began to surround her, a chaotic wind engulfed her entire self, a thick killing intent, something that could only be honed through life and death battles surfaced once again. The princess was now completely gone, leaving only this bloodied angel of death behind.

Behind her, Aiden simply smiled at this scene, not disturbed by this transformation into an incarnation of Asura. He was already aware of her latent potential and the experience that she had. His system, which was currently still undergoing the maintenance, has long informed him about the power that she tried to keep locked inside her frail-looking body. 

One of the reasons that he agreed to the quest that Drake presented, was that he felt it was the perfect opportunity to see her potential showcase itself. He was certain that while the quest probably looked hopeless, there would no real danger. These fish-men, these monsters couldn't possibly pose a real threat to them, and even in the case if something unexpected were to happen, he was certain he could escape with them.