Chapter 40 - The Nightmare’s End

The dust of the battlefield fell on the floor, showing the results to everyone and stopping momentarily the battle. Rohan, on the doorstep of the entrance he had taken, could only have seen bits of the duel which had unfolded before him, but now that it was the end, he was rooted on the floor.

Bradley, a rank 5 Beginner Warrior, fell on the floor. A bloody hole on the throat could be seen by all the warriors surrounding them. The last exchange had only taken less than a second, and it was simply too fast for them to see. One second, was the duration of the skill Overload, and it was enough to decide the results of the battle.

It was said that the duel between two Intermediate Warriors had surpassed the limit of normal humans so much that any human standing too close to the fight would die from only the aftershock of the blows. A duel between two Advanced Warriors was much more violent and said to be enough to destroy a large area. But the most horrifying one was of course the duel between two Supreme Warriors which was said to be so fierce that it could even permanently damage a whole region and destroy cities. And this was when the Supreme Wizard wasn't taking into account.

But even without going as far, the duel that Rohan had just watched was the most impressive one he had ever seen. Of course, if he had seen the Old Monster fighting against his father, an Advanced Warrior and an Intermediate Wizard, he wouldn't think as much of this small fight.

Both of these rank 5 Beginner warriors were much stronger than him. Their constitutions were of course more advanced than him, but even if Rohan looked only about their swordsmanship, he was miles away from even reaching their ankles. These two warriors had fought and polished their skills for decades, one participating in a war against the monsters of the north while the other had fought all his life in the street.

Of course, the next war wasn't of actuality for the Humans Empires, and the last one was just before the birth of Rohan. That was why a decrease in the skills of the new warriors could easily be seen. And that wasn't only a problem from the poor lands of the south, but a matter touching all the empires. It was simply the problem when it was peaceful. Without any fights, without their lives being in danger, how could the warrior become better fighters?

That was why this fight that each warrior had seen was a rare one, between two experts who knew how to fight. For Rohan, who had become a rank 3 beginner Warrior in less than two years, it was definitely an eye opener.

Rohan was smart, and he could easily understand his future. He was ranking up and promoted faster than everyone. But that wasn't only a good thing. As he was becoming stronger and stronger, his opponent would all become older and older, until they would all be of the same kind of the Old Monster, who had centuries of battle backing him.

Saying that Rohan wasn't ready for such a fight was just an understatement.

Following the sight of their leader falling on the floor lifeless, all the warriors working for him let go of their weapons before they all surrendered. After all, they were all at least rank 2 Beginner Warriors, they were not stupid, and they knew when it was time to abandon.

Their leader was dead, and the wizard, Jared, was nowhere to be seen. The only result that awaited them was defeat, especially when now there would be a rank 5 Beginner Warrior who would fight against them, with no one able to only defend themselves with more than a few moves.

A silence reigned inside the spacious room after the clangs of the weapons hitting the floor rang inside the room, announcing the end of the fight. Or so they thought.

As Rohan was starting to enter the room, the captain of the guards, whose words were synonyms with law in the city of Blanche, gave his order.

"Kill them all, I don't want to see any of them alive." Then, on this last word, he pounced as if he was a beast throwing itself against its prey and with a quick movement of the wrist, a head flew on the air as a headless body hit the floor. The warrior, without any weapons, couldn't even utter a single noise before he died, just like that.

Rohan stopped on his track, and stood there, rooted on the ground. His eyes were widened as he watched the scene unfolding in front of him. A small handful of the team of warriors who had come with him for this mission were massacring a group of people without any weapon, defenseless, who had already surrendered.

He understood of course that these men were bandits. They had without robbed civilians and merchants, and maybe they had even murdered for that. So maybe it was the right decision. But still, his head buzzed as he was looking at this slaughter happening in front of him.

The once enemies were trying to defend themselves, but the battle didn't even last more than a few seconds. An ax dismembered one of them before cutting him in half at the chest level. The one called Jean jumped like a wolf onto an enemy, only to play with him before killing him by piercing his throat. The one called Mark at least, killed in a single blow his enemy, with a calm expression.

In only a few breaths, the level of the pool of blood seemed to increase as the terrible smell entered inside the mind of Rohan. Guts were floating all around as organs could be seen among them.

For the first time since Rohan had taken the weapons to fight, he couldn't resist the urge anymore. He bent on himself to throw up on the floor.

He couldn't understand it. Were they all crazy people liking that much to see blood flowing everywhere? Couldn't they just capture them, use them as free labor or anything? Couldn't they just break their mana core or something to avoid this madness?

As he felt his head would soon explode under this much question, footsteps splashing against the red liquid could be heard approaching him. He raised his head, only to see the captain of the guards in front of him. He had even forgotten about his name, but right now, he just never wanted to know about it, and make as much distance between this crazy man and himself.

"I see your are coming from this iron door, from the information we have I am pretty sure it is the way where the place of this wizard could be found. Did you happen to find it in any case? I wouldn't want to let this rat flee after all!" A joyful smile appeared on his smile, as if he wasn't currently inside a room filled with dismembered bodies.

"I've seen the wizard." With difficulties, Rohan answered the question, his words shocking the warrior in front of him. "He's dead right now."

These words struck the captain in his mind, and looked at the young man standing in front of him. His black hair was filled with blood, as well as his whole body. There was so much red on him that the captain thought he had plunged inside a whole river of blood. But now that he was observing the warrior clearly exhausted, he could see all the injuries everywhere.

The armor was in fact nowhere to be seen, and only a few pieces of leather were still attached. His arms and legs were full of long scratches, while he could sense a problem with his meridians. A Beginner Warrior couldn't really sense the mana, but once the meridian connecting the brain was fully opened, the warrior was becoming a bit more aware of the mana surrounding him. It was only a bit, but it was enough for him to know that this man had made something very few warriors would do, even if they knew they would die.

The reason for that was without a great control over the mana, launching a skill with too much mana had too much chance to just make the limb explode in a gruesome way, and possibly killing the warrior on the spot.

In any case, the injuries he could see on Rohan was enough for him. He had fought against the wizard. He surely wouldn't believe him easily when he said he was dead, but since he was alive in front of him after an encounter against the wizard, it was a huge probability to be true. And if he remembered correctly, there was also Matthew with him.

It was at this moment that he saw something. Or to be more exact, the absence of something. Why was he alone?

"Where are your companions? weren't you with Halem and matthew?"

"Halem is dead, killed by a rank 4 Beginner Warrior." The more he answered, the more Rohan felt numb and empty inside, as if his soul just wanted to hide somewhere. At least now, he knew that Halem was really his name.

The lifeless body with all the right parts missing came to his mind, inside the room filled with bodies and blood. It was the same scene as this one in front of him, and he couldn't help but shudder. This night, really, was a nightmare.

"Matthew had left on his own after we fought against the wizard."