Chapter 147 - The True Beginning (10)

Exodus means a mass departure of people. In this case however, Exodus was not just a term. Exodus was a term used to call the event that unfolded before the Obelisk of Goap's Outbreak.

Tens of thousands of Demons that resided in BA-22 mysteriously disappeared one day. Because of this, the Kingdom's Royal Mages were sent to BA-22 to investigate; they were afraid an Outbreak would occur.

However, upon investigation, it was revealed that the Demons had massively moved to somewhere else, and no one knew where they headed. This bizarre and confusing event was called Exodus.

It was only after the Obelisk of Goap's Outbreak did everyone know where the Demons had moved to: Death Howl Dungeon.

They had hidden themselves there for a few weeks, waiting for the opportunity to show themselves right when the Outbreak occured. Needless to say, they were successful in their endeavor.

At that time, the army was still concentrated in BA-22—watching over the Obelisk of Astaroth, that was expected to have an Outbreak—per the King's order.

Due to this, many areas near BA-32 were occupied by the Demons from Obelisk of Goap; thousands of ordinary people became a fodder for the Demons.

In the other hand, Fortescher County was destroyed by the Demons from BA-22 who had been hiding in Death Howl Dungeon prior to the Outbreak.

It was also to everyone's bafflement that there was eventually a passageway that connected Obelisk of Goap and Death Howl Dungeon, makin the process of solving the matter became even longer.

It wasn't until the Kingdom decided to throw away Fortescher County to concentrate on conquering the Obelisk, did the Demons could be exterminated.

Tens of thousands of people were sacrificed in the process, but another Obelisk was conquered after 2000 years.

Despite so, no one could rejoice in their success of conquering the Obelisk. Too many people had fallen, and it just not worth it.

...

Basil stopped reminiscing about the past, and frowned lightly. To say he was surprised by the development would be lying. However, he just didn't expect the Exodus would happen this soon.

If he used the past event as his reference, the Outbreak would occur in two weeks, which was 9 days earlier than the Guide's prediction.

Of course, Basil was a practical person. He prioritized himself in focusing on the things that are crucial first.

The incoming horde of Demons, for example.

Basil silently looked at the horde. He could see, at least, four kinds of Demon with roughly the same amount in each kind. The Exodus had just started, so there weren't many of them had arrived yet.

"Caesar."

"Yes, Young Master?"

"This dungeon has no mechanism to hold these creatures off from advancing."

Caesar turned to Basil with quirked eyebrow. "Yes?"

"I need you to build a strong Barrier to block them."

"Why?" Caesar was puzzled. "We can just let them in. As long as the control is in your hands, they will stay here forever."

They just needed to make the Demons stay away from from them, was what Caesar meant.

Basil turned his head slightly to Caesar. "That will be the case for the low class Demons. However, can you guarantee the same thing will happen to the Middle class Demons?"

At that, Caesar couldn't confidently answer like before. A Middle Class Demon was normally stronger than an ordinary Fifth Circle Mage. That means, they were capable enough to get out of the Dungeon.

One might argue Basil still had the Dungeon's control, which meant he could confuse them by changing the structure from time to time. However, that method would only work if Basil had enough Mana to do it in every hour, in which he didn't.

Not even Caesar was willing to waste his Mana doing it. Furthermore, controlling the Dungeon also had limitation; like Caesar had said, some of the Dungeon parts were immovable.

Once the Demons reached those points, they just had to wait for the perfect moment to slowly slip away, since Basil could do nothing about it.

Then, one might think: "Would not letting them roam the Dungeon freely be the best choice? The only one would be getting away would be the Middle Class Demons and above, after all."

While there is nothing wrong with the idea, that would be an underestimation over the magnitude of the problem a Middle Class Demon could cause.

A Middle Class Demon had a high chance of being able to kill someone like Ansley Woster, a Fifth Circle Mage, a Count. Imagine what would happen if there were thousands of them.

A scene worst than nightmare would occur!

"I still have people I need to protect out there," he muttered softly.

Therefore, making a Barrier to hold them off until Basil finished Recarving his Fourth Circle was the smartest way.

"That will take me three hours to make, Young Master. I can't be disturbed in that time, which means I can't help you face those things, and you have to protect in that three hours." Caesar gestured at the horde of Demons. "Can you face them alone?"

Basil didn't give a verbal answer to Caesar's question. He merely stepped forward, and said, "I entrust the Barrier to you, Caesar."

Caesar only nodded his head. He didn't need to question Basil for his choice. He was sure Basil, as someone who was chosen by his esteemed Lady, a Pacifer nonetheless, knew what he was doing.

He sighed. "Huuh... I need to get it done quickly. I can't waste anymore time." Spreading his hand, his palms immediately shone in golden light. Mana gathered around him, and a Spell was shouted out.

"[Realm Separation]!" A Magic Barrier of the highest grade, which only a few Eight Circle Spellcasters could cast.

Nine Magic Circles materialized themselves behind Caesar's back. All of them rotated in their place while shining brightly, but one: the ninth Magic Circle.

It was there, but it was stagnant. It had a grey color, and it looked like it was dying: it was his ninth Magic Circle, the last crippled Magic Circle.

Although Caesar still had one of his Magic Circles crippled, he could still function properly as a Mage. Therefore, his Spell could work just fine.

Thin film of golden light immediately covered the mouth of the tunnel. Of course, this didn't signify the completion of the Barrier.

There were still many things he had to do with the Barrier. He needed to empower and stabilize it; he needed to complete it.

Before that, Basil had to stand his ground—basically staying alive. Needless to say, it wasn't hard for Basil.

Currently, he was stronger as a Knight than he was as a Mage. The only thing he could do as a Mage was spamming Mana he couldn't quite control with his three Magic Circles.

That being said, he was still powerful nonetheless. The current him could stand to toe with Ansley, and had a possibility to defeat him; he was more or less as strong if not slightly weaker than a Middle Class Demon.

However, it was only about raw power. With his experience and his effective way in utilizing his Arts and Techniques, he could be stronger than that.

Holding the Sealing Sword vertically in front of his chest, he drew his Qi and activated his Aura. His eyes shone in golden light, and a unique black colored pattern was carved on his iris.

His [Eyes of Mana Perception] is activated.

With his Qi drawn, his Aura Ability: [Master of Weapons] was also activated. He became in tune with the sword in his hands, as if he had wielded it for hundreds of years.

Followed by that, 20 swords of different kinds floated behind his back. All of them were pointed at the incoming horde of Demons, and the Demons, in turn, felt threatened by them.

Alarm went off in their head, and they naturally developed an urgency. With a roar, the first group of Demons ran straight at Basil.

They had a slender build, three eyes, wide mouth that was decorated with razor sharp teeth, and extremely long claws. These Demons were Gutter, and there were 20 of them coming at him.

Basil, experienced enough to deal with the Lower Middle Class Demons, was still calm despite being merely 20 steps away from them. He merely sent his 20 swords forward, and assigned each one of them to different Gutters.

The Gutters let out an anguish filled like roar, and sent their claws forward to intercept Basil's swords. Unfortunately for them, not only were Basil's swords stronger, but also faster to skewer them.

Not stopping there, after they got their chest pierced, they were sent back to the horde that still had some distance away from them.

Of course, Basil did it for a reason.

What is the most fearsome trait of a Gutter? Its gut. Their gut can produce toxin when they feel endangered, and they can explode it anytime they want. Not only is the explosion big enough to injure its predator, but also brings them down.

Basil used their trait against their fellow Demons. Therefore, upon reaching the horde of Demons, the 20 Gutters who were intent on exploding their stomach, couldn't stop their natural instinct.

In result, a spectacular scene was produced.

Boom!

Some of the weaker frontmost Demons were blown to pieces due to the explosion, while some of them had a burned skin due to the corrosive liquid the Gutters' stomachs had produced.

What they experienced in common though, was getting their nose assaulted with the unbearable smell. To generalize the situation, the momentum of the horde of the Demon was broken.

Of course, Basil didn't mean to stay idle. Materializing his Magic Circles, he uttered the strongest Fire Element Spell he could use currently; his own made Spell, that no one had ever used.

[Crimson Lotus]!

Basil pointed his palm at the horde. Fire was conjured out of nowhere, and it quickly gathered on his palm, forming a lotus shape. With a gentle push, the lotus was sent forward.

The process took barely five seconds.

The lotus flew graciously in the air, and the scene was enough to make one stop to admire. However, despite how beautiful its appearance was, the chaos it brought was simply terrifying.

Upon arriving at the area that was filled with dense toxin gas which was produced by the now dead Gutters, each of the lotus' petals scattered and ignited the gaseous toxin in fire.

In result, another explosion occured.

Boom!

The Demons who had survived the first explosion were forced to forfeit their life this time. There was simply no way they could survive the explosion. Even the Demons who had been merely splashed with the Gutter's corrosive liquid were set on fire.

The toxin that was produced by a Gutter's stomach is highly flammable. Due to how reluctant people to deal with Gutter however, no one had ever tested it.

Thus, not many people knew about it. Of course, Basil knew about it.

The flame was hard to put out. Therefore, all of the Demons who were set on fire were left behind. The horde stopped in their track, and took a step back away from the burning crowd.

Of course, this doesn't mean the fight was done. This time, the stronger Demons charged forward. Their target was, of course, Basil.

Pointing his sword at them, Basil smirked faintly. "Come. Let my sword be the last thing you see."

The fight continued.