Nial was not exactly sure why he ended up like this, but he was suddenly in his office within the Onyx Association's building.
In fact, Nial had never been there, and Melheim, who had been promoted to the position of Vice-Leader of the Association usually resided in the office.
The Royal Princess Evalyne had thrown Melheim out of the office, and she had pulled Nial inside it while telling Nial's followers and her own guards to stay outside.
"You've changed, haven't you?" Princess Evalyne asked while looking deeply at Nial.
Nial didn't really know what she meant but he just nodded his head.
"Isn't it normal to change while advancing in the ranks? I'm still young and learning as well…" He tried to explain but Evalyne just lifted her hand.
She was tense and didn't seem to be in the mood for jokes. Thus, Nial quieted down while waiting for Evalyne to tell him what problem they had.
"Did you hear about the reports of the Heligav race? They have emerged on Jundra, only a few thousand kilometers away from the Forest of Life!" Princess Evalyne revealed in a worried voice, just to see Nial nod his head.
Damian's memories flashed through Nial's mind and the appearance of a race that was just like Centaurs…with the sole exception that their whole body seemed like a cross between a Bull and a minotaur.
Minotaurs and Bulls were essentially a similar race. The only difference was that Minotaurs were half humans and half bulls while bulls were…bulls.
"That's nice, isn't it?" Nial instinctively blurted out as he digested the memories he had received from the Odyssey seed.
He, or rather Damian, knew the Heligav race very well. They had been on friendly terms with the God of Darkness, or precisely, Damian had forced them into submission.
"What the hell is good about them? The Heligav race hates us to the core. They're the Elven's Nemesis and vice versa!" The Royal Princess shouted, which nearly forced Nial to shut his ears with mana.
It was obvious that Princess Evalyne was distressed. She hadn't expected a hostile race to appear so close to the Forest of Life, shortly after the awakening of the Origin at that.
As the Royal Princess she had to make sure that her race would survive and that they would be able to lay their foundation on Jundra. This was her first royal mission and the most important task she had ever been given by her mother.
"Ah, yeah…I remember that," Nial recalled as the memories of what Princess Evalyne had just said emerged in his mind.
Evalyne looked at him with squinted eyes but she ignored his comment.
"You must not be aware of the Heligav race, so I just wanted to warn you. They may look like they're a race that is great at close combat, which is true, especially since they can be considered to be an entire cavalry unit, but they're very good at assassinating others, and backstabbing!" Princess Evalyne explained with a frown.
Her frustration was clearly perceptible which is why Nial stayed quite accepting of everything she was going to say.
"I'm only going to warn you once. Prepare yourself to face their attacks. Tell everyone around you to prepare themselves as well because you never know when something will happen!
The Heligav will definitely try to annihilate the human race the moment they find out that you've formed an alliance with us. After all, they would rather get rid of the easier targets first than us….and you guys are weak…all of you!" The Princess spoke facts rather than beating around the bush.
Nial was a bit astonished that Princess Evalyne had thought of him and rushed to him to give him a warning in advance. He hadn't expected the Royal Princess to be concerned about him.
It warmed his heart and improved her image in his eyes, making him feel nice. He smiled lightly and then took a moment to reflect on her words.
'Is it really necessary to worry about them right now already? The Heligav would probably rather create their own settlement and wait for more of them to emerge before they would attack us… If they attack, the Elves would probably attack them immediately, I guess…' Nial thought as he began to wonder about a few things.
"Why are you not charging at the Heligav to annihilate them? I mean, if you guys are Nemesis, just kill them as long as you have a numerical advantage," Nial pointed out the easiest solution to the given problem but the Royal Princess shook her head.
"First of all, we are not a violent race anymore. If not provoked we won't attack others first…not under normal circumstances at least. And second, the Heligav have created a powerful dome around their settlement, if you can call their place a settlement, to begin with," She began explaining which caused Nial to frown deeply.
The Elves were not willing to attack, which means that they were prepared to see the human race suffer as bystanders. That was not nice to hear, and it decreased the bonus points Evalyne had just gained for her race for warning him about the Heligav race.
"Either way, I will probably be fine. Even if I'm not fine, I can inform my family and friends to move to the Guild, where all the Nightshadow and Dark Elves inhabit.
Furthermore, I have also created a bunch of Tier-2 runic puppets that are equipped with Tier-2 runic armaments. Their combat prowess is on par with Prometheus Originals!" Nial said, calming his worried heart a tiny bit.
He knew that relying on the Nightshadow Elves and Dark Elves to protect his family and friends was implausible. All of them would leave his land once in a while, whether it was for training purposes, to shop or to do something else.
Holding his family back was not something Nial ever wished to do. Thus, he would just warn them and try to make sure that the Nightshadow Elves and Dark Elves would protect them.
It was not as if he could do much more, either way.
"If you say so, it will be fine…probably," The Royal Princess said, hoping for the best. She told Nial about the Heligav because she didn't want him to change too much.
Right now, his personality was perfect to become the Elven's longtime ally. However, if something were to happen to Nial's family, he would change…for the worse, and that was something Princess Evalyne wanted to avoid.
It was obvious that Nial treasured his friends and family. He supplied them with everything they might need to become stronger.
They were important enough to Nial that they turned into his biggest weakness, and the Royal Princess was not the only one who could sense this.
Nial was about to thank the Royal Princess for her help when his heart skipped a beat. One of the bracelets he was wearing began to crack, and Nial's expression changed drastically.
The blood in his face was drained and he instinctively released all the mana stored inside his body, expanding his range of perception to the limits.
His nine Ancient Origin rings rotated rapidly, much faster than ever before as Nial turned in the direction of his home.
"Mom…." He mumbled in shock as he jumped up from his chair.
Shrouding his entire body in darkness, he charged outside the building at a shocking pace. He jumped through the glass on the fifth floor, just to land hard on the ground.
His expression was filled with anxiety and despair. A bad feeling overcame him as he catapulted his body in the direction of his home, where he sensed the remnants of mana with hostile intentions against each other.
'Please be fine…' Nial could only pray as he charged back home. He summoned the Blood Eclipse Moon and used its powers to enhance his physical strength, just to reach home faster.
Meanwhile, Princess Evalyne had appeared next to him. She was much faster than Nial and looked at his expression.
By connecting the dots, including the direction he was headed and his expression, Princess Evalyne's mana shot out in the same direction.
"Fuck…" She cursed out, sensing that there had been a battle in Nial's home while her mind turned into a mess.
'Was I already too late? No that cannot be…the Heligav have just emerged on Jundra…it cannot be them…' Royal Princess Evalyne thought before she sensed what exactly had caused Nial's expression to turn into one of despair
Instinctively, Princess Evalyne changed her direction before she accelerated, turning into a flash, desperately looking for some Elvingar Elves to rescue…those that could still be rescued…
Nial had no idea that Princess Evalyne had been next to him, and even if he were to know about it, he couldn't care less.
He reached his home…or what was left from it.
Nial clearly sensed the mana remnants of his Sister, Hana…and someone else fighting them. The mana remnants of the third being were the strongest and Nial was somewhat familiar with them.
He knew them from somewhere but couldn't exactly pin the fluctuations to anyone he knew. In the end, it didn't really matter. It was not important enough for him to care about it.
Inside the mansion, or what was left of the mansion that had turned into a huge mass of rubble and debris, Nial released his dark energy rapidly, flinging everything that obstructed him dozens of meters away.
His dark energy was nourished by his desperation, moving at his will and it destroyed everything around him.
"Nononono…that cannot be… this cannot be happening!!" Nial cried out in desperation the closer he came to his parents.
His range of perception and [Mana Sense] wouldn't fail him…not this time…the only time he sincerely hoped that he perceived something wrong.
However, everything he perceived was bitter facts, the truth he didn't want to come true, wasn't prepared to witness.
Heavy breathing and painful groans rang through his ear, while the iron smell of blood reached his nose, as a tiny seed of fear began to plant itself.
Nial may have no idea what had happened but he knew very well what was just happening.
Destroying everything around him, he found his injured father under a pile of debris. His body was blocking something…a hardly moving body…his mother's body.
Nial staggered to his mother. He moved slowly, and his legs gave in for the shock was too much to take in.
Her chest was pierced by a huge spear manifested out of holy energy, she could barely breathe and her eyes seemed to be void of vigor.
Even after Nial tried to desperately circulate the overflowing vigor of his body inside her, his mother could barely look at him. Tears trickled down her eyes as she looked at Nial's disheveled and desperate appearance.
"E-everything will be fine…" She mumbled, trying to lift her hand to caress her beloved son's cheeks.
However, no matter how hard she tried, her arms were too heavy to move. Nial instinctively reached for her hand and moved it toward his cheek. He tried to force a smile on his lips to lessen his mother's worries only to fail miserably.
"Please…rescue your sister…" Maline spoke weakly, convulsing and shuddering as her body struggled to take a breath.
"Someone attacked your sister…and she destroyed everything around us…Sabrina and Hana tried to distract the attacker and move the battle somewhere else, but…it was already too late…your mom was hit by an attack of this wicked bitch that went astray…" Miles spoke incomprehensibly while lovingly caressing his dear wife.
She was in pain and Miles would have gladly taken the brunt of the attack to save his dear wife…but it was not as if he could transfer her wound to him… he looked at Nial helplessly while biting his lip so hard that it began to bleed as he said,
"Nial…you have to rescue Sabrina, and Hana…they're not strong enough…this witch played with them…" He could barely say, his eyes in tears.
He didn't want to burden his son, let alone force him to leave behind his dying mother, but Miles knew that Sabrina would face the same fate if nobody was going to help her, right now!
Nial grit his teeth leaned forward and kissed his mother's forehead as a lone tear trickled down his cheek.
"I will come back mom…don't worry…Sabrina won't be missing a single hair…I promise…" Nial said, trying to suppress the emotions in his voice. The effort to contain his rage was too much and his knuckles turned white as he clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging deep into his palms.
Taking a deep breath, he got up from the ground. He sensed that Princess Evalyne and some Elvingar Elves were on their way to help.
His mind was in turmoil and he was trying hard to not let rage take control of his mind surged up from the depth of his consciousness.
"We did a good job taking you in…you're the best we could ever find…" Maline mumbled, not realizing that Nial had already disappeared with a heavy heart before the light in her eyes dimmed. The last remnants of her vigor were deprived of her and she closed her eyes, with a gentle smile on her lips.
She lived a good life, a precious life, and she didn't regret anything. There were only a few things she had wanted him to know, things that she would now take with her to the grave.
'Don't be too angry at us for never telling you…please take care of your father…he will need you, and Sabrina…' She could barely think before her mind shut down.
Meanwhile, the cracked bracelet around Nial's left arm crumbled, while tears trickled down his cheeks.
'I will fucking kill you!!' He promised the being who had attacked his mansion in broad daylight, and both uncontrollable rage and wrath filled his entire being.
He didn't even notice that tears of blood were freely flowing down his cheeks, or that his entire body was turning black, the purest Essence of Darkness seeping outside his body.
**
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