Corvin woke, his head aching and the stench of blood in the air assaulting his senses. He blinked, moonlight gently shining across his face, and sat up. Except for the pounding headache, he felt fine.
His demons guarded his body and knelt as he stood.
“Father, you are up. Are you alright?” Nera asked as she slithered over.
“I’m fine. The last skill drained me. That’s all,” Corvin replied with a soft smile.
“Master, I am glad to report that we have won without any casualties. The weapons and armor have been separated from the corpses, and we await further orders,” Brael said proudly.
“Good, thank you, Brael.” Corvin nodded.
“Anyone can take whatever they wish; the rest I will store. Brael, if you need to store some blood, you are free to drain it before I deal with the corpses.”
Brael nodded and stepped away.
“Vex, you did well leading everyone. Good job.” Corvin turned to Vex, who stood with her arms crossed just high enough to accentuate her figure.
Corvin blushed slightly before looking away.
“Hehe, thank you, honey. I did as you instructed.” She smiled and added, “You can look; don’t be shy, sweet Master.” She giggled.
Corvin ignored her, clearing his throat as he walked away toward Graves and the others.
“Baku, Kram, Vanta, is everything good? Do you need anything? Just let me know,” Corvin asked.
“Master, nothing is needed. Just fighting in this battle was reward enough!” Kram replied with a grin.
“As Kram said, I got to test some of my spells freely and even got to witness you fight. Nothing more is necessary.” Baku bowed.
“I ate my fill,” Vanta said simply, his voice still as unpleasant as always.
Corvin nodded and turned to Iris, who sat on the ground with an expressionless face.
“Iris, how are you? We didn’t really get to talk much.” Corvin crouched before her.
“Hello, Corvin. I’m fine. It was just an odd feeling, fighting like this. The more I suffered, the stronger I got. The more the enemy bled, the stronger I got. And the rage, the hunger... It was not something I had ever felt before, and now I feel fine, like nothing happened. I feel full as well, like I overate.” She sounded confused.
“Brael, come here,” Corvin called.
Brael appeared with a simple whoosh and bowed.
“Can you explain what Iris is talking about?” Corvin asked.
“Naturally, Master. The vampiric gift actually merged with her Icon. It was a surprising sight even to me. She can absorb blood through her body and grow stronger the longer she fights.”
Brael then knelt before Iris.
“I’m your father now. This is one of the ways my kin creates children. Though you were human before, I see no reason why you would not be able to have children normally, like humans as well. Anyway, forgive me for moving off topic... As I was saying, if you need anything or have any questions, just let me know. Don’t be afraid. You are much more now than you ever were. You are somewhat free of the Icon’s chains.” Brael patted Iris on the head.
“Father, huh? I never met mine. Let’s see what I’ve been missing out on.” She chuckled and slapped Brael’s shoulder fiercely. “Glad to have you, Father!” She laughed.
Brael shook from the power of the strike before smiling warmly. “Well then, child, why don’t we go store some food supplies? I’ll teach you.” He spoke gently.
Corvin and Nera moved toward Graves while she whispered,
“They are just like the two of us now.”
Yeah, I feed you body parts and corpses while he feeds her blood. What a family. Corvin chuckled inwardly at the ridiculous group.
“Graves, is everything alright?” Corvin asked as he stopped before Graves and Ortho, who were discussing something.
“All is well. I cannot believe that we wiped out the whole Centuria so easily. What now, Corvin? The Empire won’t let this go.” Fury and concern mixed on Graves’ face.
“We will gather everyone we can and move from Trison somewhere far away until we are ready to deal with the Empire,” Corvin said.
“Do you think they will let us? I would love to have my revenge, Corvin, but that is just impossible.” Graves sighed.
“Graves, if we stick with young Corvin, I don’t doubt that we can bring the gift of death to many more bastards! No need to worry so much!” Ortho tried to cheer him up in his own way.
Corvin furrowed his brow at the crazy Ortho and shook his head.
“Look, nobody should know what happened here. I made sure of that. I have some plans to help my party, but besides that, I am already in the process of finding a hidden location for a guild. Who says that we cannot merge our two guilds into one?”
He paused briefly.
“Besides, they only wanted you dead. So, if we hide you and pretend that you died, we should be safe for a while. I’ll talk with your crazy grandpa as well.” Corvin spoke sternly.
“Only me, huh? Damn that Alexius. All this because they stole Marjory. Not like we ever did anything to them. I only tried to save my guildmate, Corvin, nothing else. I swear!” Graves shouted, his eyes teary.
“Graves, if there is one thing I know, it is that life can be unfair. The mighty and the rich do not concern themselves with what is right or wrong, only with what they want and what they think is correct. Can you tell me more about Marjory? Why did they take her?” Corvin asked, confused.
Just as Graves was about to speak, Liara and Mina descended from the hill, their faces pale.
“You actually wiped them all out? How is this possible?” Mina muttered.
“I was about to hear a story. Shush!” Corvin growled at the two and nodded at Graves.
“As I was about to say, Marjory Adente was our strongest member. She possessed the Legendary Icon of Sun-Piercer. She wasn’t even strong enough to be considered a threat. As you know, Legendary Icons are very hard to train because there are no Skill Books for them. You need to learn how to use the power by yourself, and it takes hundreds of years for those Icons to become truly unstoppable. But who knew that what the Empire was after was not the power of her Icon but the power of her bloodline. Alexius was looking for a mother for his children, and only the rarest bloodlines came into consideration.”
Graves inhaled deeply.
“It turned out that Marjory was the last daughter of the fallen Solandor family from the deep south of the Ashara Continent. They carry the bloodline of an Archangel, and the prince had decided to have her by any means necessary.” Graves explained, his voice trembling.
“You almost got us all killed because of her,” Mina muttered coldly.
“You are really getting on my nerves. Do you have any decency? Once we are out of this damn place, you better not show your face before me!” Corvin said coldly.
“She doesn’t mean it. They were good friends,” Graves tried to defend Mina.
“There is being friends, and then there is obeying your emperor,” Mina muttered and moved away from Corvin, whose brow was twitching.
“Anyway, we will figure out a plan once we leave this place. Go rest.” Corvin left him and moved toward the piles of corpses.
He sold them all, including what remained of Linnus, for 26,900 points.
He stored the Uncommon-rarity spears, shields, and swords before picking up the two golden gladii left where Linnus had fallen.
[Twin-Gold Fangs]
Rarity: Epic
Type: Swords
Dual swords forged by August Oakhoof out of Celestial Gold, Mithril, and Alluvium.
Made for Linnus Octos to withstand attacks at immense speed.
Contains triple enchantment: Sharpness, Durability, and Precision.
Increases damage dealt for each 1% of speed gained.
The faster you move, the greater damage you will deal.
Agility +50
He was wealthy enough to be able to have such fine weapons forged. I’m not the best with dual-wielding, so I’ll store them and sell them later.
“Master, the task is finished. There were scouts left behind to report back; I dealt with all of them. There is also a barrier-control relic here. I’ll be disabling it momentarily.” Lucian whispered through their link just as the barrier shimmered and faded.
“Everyone, let’s go. I’ve had enough of this damned place,” Corvin shouted.
“Mud, thanks, guys. You can go now.” He sent the imps back alongside the surviving Runefiends.
Oh, the Imps' skill leveled up as well! Two more imps can be summoned now. Great! He noticed and smiled.
“Uhm, boss, what about these two?” Ortho shouted as he pointed at the two eggs still pulsating in the back.
“I’ll store them away. Who knows how long it will take for them to hatch.”
He turned to Kram and Brael. “Please place them somewhere within the Demonic Plane. Vex, lead everyone back, and thank you all!”
Corvin smiled as he opened a portal to the Demonic Plane.
Iris stopped before the portal and observed it carefully.
“You can go as well, but we might need you here,” Corvin said.
“I was just watching,” Iris said simply and stepped away.
The portal closed, leaving only the members of Triple Shot and Nera behind.
***
They walked for a while until they reached the camp set up by Centuria.
There, Lucian sat on a sofa he had dragged out, and behind him lay a dozen corpses, still warm.
“Took you forever,” he chuckled.
“Not everyone has teleportation abilities,” Nera hissed.
“Well, sucks to be you then.” He mocked her, his tail dancing across the crimson sofa.
“Master, I want this as a reward!” he said lazily.
“Alright.” Corvin chuckled and picked him up onto his shoulder as he stored the sofa in his inventory.
He then got rid of the corpses for 4,000 points and entered the largest tent.
Within the tent, a mirror floated, displaying the battlefield.
“This is the relic. It raises the barrier and allows you to observe everything within it,” Lucian explained, pointing with his small paw.
Corvin nodded.
[Mirror Shell]
Rarity: Rare
Type: Barrier Relic
A relic from a divine realm.
It can raise a divine barrier over an area within a twenty-kilometer radius and allow you to observe the area through the relic.
If left alone, the barrier will fade after five days.
Requires divine energy to activate.
It currently contains enough energy for two more uses, after which it will need to be recharged.
Amazing!
Corvin smiled greedily and stored it.
“How much longer until we can go back?” Corvin asked Graves.
“A bit more than four days. Even though it feels like we have been here for years.” Graves wiped the sweat from his forehead. It had been battle after battle ever since they arrived, and finally, he could catch a break.
“Alright, we rest here for tonight and move toward the shore in the morning. Nobody should know anything just yet.” Corvin paused before adding with a smile, “I call dibs on this tent!”
Graves sighed with a chuckle. “Alright, we shall take the other smaller ones.”
Graves led what remained of his guild’s strongest party toward the empty tents.
“Let’s go rest. You two go to sleep first; I’ll stay awake for a while and guard the area.” Corvin lay down on the nearby bed and activated Spatial Prediction.