To the eyes of others, it seemed as if the world had slowed down. As Sylvester leapt, the sword started to arch down towards the neck. The words that Sylvester shouted had registered the dread in the minds of all, but the one who needed to hear it was too blinded by rage and jealousy.

But Sylvester was no novice. As he leapt, his extended arms showered an intense beam of light. It was extremely bright–Enough to slow down Sir Anthony.

“Haaaa!” Sir Anthony roared as he continued the attack and swung the sword.

But the blade did not fall on the child’s neck. Sylvester jumped right beside the child and shielded him with his own arm.

Being an Archwizard and a high-ranking Knight, his body was way stronger than what the likes of Sir Anthony could harm. But still, some light wounds appeared, and blood oozed out.

Everyone stopped, and many hearts skipped a beat in fright. First blood was spilt, and it belonged to an influential man from the Holy Land.

“Y-You… Why did you come in front of me?” Sir Anthony stuttered as the graveness of his actions dawned on him. What was he? A little knight in the service of a small Baroness. Sylvester was famous for killing a bloody Duke with his own hands.

Sir Dolorem quickly ran towards Sylvester. “Heathens! How dare you raise your blade against God’s Favoured?”

“Stop!”

But Sylvester’s roar implied something else. There was urgency and fear in his voice as beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

‘Good god! What’s this madness? The scent of death parallels that of when Anti-Light’s chief attacked! What is this thing? Not even Bloodlings are this strong!’

“Fall back! Run as far as you can! We’re too late!”

“What do you mea…” Sir Anthony didn’t complete his words as the ground started to shake.

Woosh!

Sylvester stood up and jumped back, pushing Sir Anthony away so he could run in time. The child Sylvester protected had started to change, as many vines began to grow all over his body, and the beach sand underneath him miraculously grew grass.

Quickly, Sylvester moved far back to Sir Dolorem and Augustus. “Get ready to fight for your lives. The Bloodling, or whatever it is, has awoken.”

“Wraaaa!”

A blood-curdling scream bellowed out of the little child. It was humanly impossible for it to be natural. Soon enough, all the questions were answered as the child’s entire body got covered with vines, and it took the form of some monster, but with two thick legs made of multiple vines joined together.

A

/N: See Here

“Demon! Demon!”

The people shouted in fright. But Sylvester recognised it. “Sir Dolorem, Augustus… Don’t attack it. This looks similar to the idol I saw in the heathen temple. Slowly take steps back.”

“But we came here to kill that thing.” Augustus reminded him.

“I know. I have not forgotten it. But look around. There are nearly a thousand soldiers. That demon, or whatever it is, will first go after them. We don’t want to be stuck in that mess.” Sylvester explained and strategically retreated.

Then, they watched the carnage as it erupted. The little boy’s body was nowhere to be seen now, as the creature had taken over it. It was at least five metres tall, and plants and flowers grew wherever it stepped. But it was still growing and getting stronger as slowly tree trunks started to grow all over it.

“Wraaaa!”

The same mind-numbing screams of the creatures turned many feet cold. It was sharp and high-pitched. Not only that, as if the heavens reacted to it, the weather started turning stormy, dark clouds covered the sunlight, and the sea started raging.

But then, surprisingly, the creature spoke in a somewhat normal, muffled feminine voice. “Rosewoods have broken their vow! Killed my children! Harmed my land! Price is eradication through decapitation!”

Woosh!

“Argh! Help!”

Boom!

Suddenly, a thorny vine erupted out of the ground and caught one of the soldiers. The vine wrapped itself around the man and squeezed him.

Poof!

And soon, the soldier’s entire body exploded as if it were a silent balloon filled with blood and meat. It was a gory mess that worked as a reminder to all there that this could be the last day of their life.

“Wraaaa! Blood for blood!” The creature screamed in its strange feminine voice and continued to wreak havoc.

Boom!

Woosh!

Multiple vines started to come out of the ground, and caught soldiers left and right, making them explode. The beach eventually turned red, and the number of soldiers in the Baroness’ army decreased to half.

“Mother Mirnor! Mother Mirnor!” Meanwhile, the people from the tribe were chanting the name of their goddess. They had already collected the kidnapped kids but refused to leave as their goddess was present.

“Lord Bard! What are you doing there? Help me!” Baroness shouted as she saw her men dying one after another.

Sylvester just shrugged and replied aloud. “I am planning something from here, my lady. Pray in the name of the lord until then.”

“Are you really planning something?” Sir Dolorem asked in concern for Sylvester.

“Not really, but now she at least has some false sense of security. Let’s wait for this rampage to stop before doing something. I feel we’re not dealing with a Bloodling or a demon.”

As time passed, more and more gory mess piled up. The beautiful beach was now just a memory, as it appeared like hell.

Boom!

The thunder started to roar as well. Combined with the screams of the men, followed by them bursting like a bubble, it became too ominous.

“Blood!” The creature roared again and continued to kill the soldiers.

However, the attacks were now coming too close to the people of the tribe, and they refused to move from their place.

“What if it has gone out of control?” Augustus suggested. “That would explain why it is going close to the people it wishes to protect.”

“It’s a possibility,” Sylvester muttered, keeping his spear ready to move at any time.

Shh…!

Ting!

“Duck!”

Sylvester’s roar resounded suddenly as he swung the spear in front of himself. A mysterious arrow collided with the blade and fell down.

Ting!

Following that, a dozen more arrows came out of nowhere, falling straight from the sky.

“Who is attacking me?” He questioned aloud. But Baroness was scared for her life while her soldiers got slaughtered. The Tribesmen were busy praying. That meant there was a third party.

“Get ready for battle,” he commanded.

‘This isn’t good! The sky is also dark, so the Solarium won’t replenish as fast. The creature can kill me with one move as well–And now this attack?’

Woosh!

Ting!

He could almost always feel and hear the coming volley of arrows, so he easily defended himself.

‘Where are they? The arrow has a maximum range of a few hundred feet. So the enemy has to be here on the beach.’ Sylvester muttered and looked around to find the attackers.

“Sir Dolorem–Can you sense any new presence in the area?” He asked.

“It’s hard to feel, Lord Bard. There are too many people and too much chaos.”

“No problem, but please stay behind. Don’t react unnecessarily.” He ordered.

Sylvester gritted his teeth and decided to go closer to the creature as he could feel he wasn’t its primary target. At the same time, he whispered into Miraj’s ears. “Chonky, I want you to throw around unactivated explosion crystals.”

“Aye, Aye, Maxy!” Miraj jumped off the shoulder and got to work. He had no fear of any monster at that point after facing multiple bloodlings with Sylvester.

‘Alright… Who are you? I can smell the scent of excitement.’ Sylvester carefully looked around and kept an eye on the sky and the ground.

Woosh!

“Blood!” The creature screamed again as it exploded a soldier.

“Got you!” Sylvester exclaimed at the same time and made a run for it while maintaining a distance from the mad creature. “Show yourself!”

He leapt vigorously at the hovering stain of blood. It was clear that, somehow, someone was staying invisible through magic or an object. It kept moving around, not knowing that the blood of the exploding soldier had fallen on them.

Bam!

“Here you go!” Sylvester finally made contact and tackled the invisible man to the ground.

“Blood!”

Bam!

“Ugh! Why me?” Sylvester grunted in pain as the creature caught him with a vine. Though luckily, he had his spear to cut it fast and fall back.

However, he could glance at the invisible man since the spell seemed to break. It was a tall, slender person in grey robes, and even the face was covered with a cloth.

“Assassins?” Sylvester wondered for a moment before another attack from the creature came. But the attacks were seemingly not as strong as what others were facing.

“Blood!”

Bam!

The creature tried to slam its huge branch on him. But Sylvester rolled to the side in the nick of time.

‘Fuck! It has gone berserk!’

“Blood!”

Woosh!

This time, the ones to get hit were the people from the tribe itself. But even as they got beaten around, they kept chanting the name.

“Blood!”

‘What’s even going on here? Is everything connected? Who are those invisible people? Why is it berserk? What can I do against a creature like this? Why is it repeating ‘blood?”

Sylvester tried to take a deep breath and think.

Ting!

But just as he tried that, a few arrows came from the invisible men. That annoyed Sylvester to no limit as he felt he was again pulled into a mess that wasn’t his own.

“Blood!”

Sylvester felt helpless. There was no way he could stop the maddened creature by fighting.

‘Blood? Does it mean Bloodline?’

“Maxy! I’m done!” Miraj finally returned.

Sylvester rubbed his chin and glanced at the Baroness, who was helplessly huddled behind a dozen soldiers and the Master at arms. The creature was slowly making its way towards the Baroness, and there was nowhere to escape since the vines from the ground had surrounded her group.

Ting!

‘Fuck! Just stop with these **ing arrows!’ Sylvester annoyedly looked left and right to find the invisible men.

‘Fine! If this is how you want to play!’

“Chonky, close your eyes.”

Boom!

The explosions erupted in their majestic crimson form as if the ground split apart. They not only turned the air red but also melted the desert sand. In total, there were thirty-six explosions all across the beach.

“Wraaaa!”

Sylvester saw the creature stopping and roaring for a few seconds. ‘This is my chance!’

He ran as fast as he could with his spear ready in hand. There were a few rogue veins, but he cut them or dodged them.

In no time, he reached the men surrounding the Baroness and pushed Sir Anthony aside to get to her.

She was ecstatic that he was there and tried to jump at him to hug him. “Lord Bard! Thank you! Thank you… Please take me out of here! Ple–Ugh!”

Slash!

Sylvester’s spear only left an afterimage of a shining arc, and his voice echoed in whispers. “Now I know why it was screaming ‘Blood’, my lady!”

Thud! ．𝗻𝐞𝘁

Almost instantly, every noise died down on the battlefield–the tribesmen with their chants, the soldiers with their roars, and the creature with its cries.

“You bastard!” Sir Anthony was the first to move as he aimed his blade at Sylvester’s neck.

His eyes turned red, seemingly popping out, while his mouth spewed saliva. His voice also shivered in a mad rage as he bellowed.

“Y-You b-beheaded her!”

________________________

1000 GT = 1 Bonus chapter.

1 Super Gift = 1 Bonus chapter.

Ape Together Strong