Chapter 399: Overestimating One's Capabilities

Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!

As time passed, the number of dark beams that were shot at Aurus had become more frequent, turning the road surrounding Aurus into a molten mess of materials that would probably be a perfect place to have a barbecue party. Nevertheless, Aurus hastily dodged all of it with small yet quick teleports, allowing him to disappear from his spot for one second, then reappear on the other.

Seeing as to how their enemy had not given them any chance to find out any of its weak spots, Joaquim could not help but look at the three behind him and ask, "Do you have any possible solutions as to how we could tip this stalemate to where it would be in our favor? Krabel, do you have any ideas?"

Krabel, which was actually the name of the commander of the city's military, went silent for a bit before replying with a solemn expression, "There are a few solutions we could possibly employ, but most of them wouldn't work on a being that's on the same level of strength as The Great Calamity in front of us. In the end, that only leaves us with one choice."

As Krabel mentioned the term 'only choice', both Nikolas and Gabriela could not help but look at him with a hint of fear in their eyes. With such a gaze, it was apparent that the two of knew what he was talking about. Sensing the atmosphere surrounding the three of them, giving off the feeling that they did not want to resort to such a move, Joaquim put on a solemn expression as he asked with a hint of hesitation, "Is this solution…possibly going to jeopardize our lives?"

"There is indeed a high chance," Krabel replied with a nod. "If the support team Gabriela chose works with Night Mage Regiment No. 28 as if they were an extension of the regiment's limbs, then there's a possibility that all of them would only be severely injured at most. However, if the two aren't working in harmony and in tandem, then you could say that Nachthexen City doesn't exist from this point onward."

Weighing the pros and cons of the choice Krabel was giving him, Joaquim went silent as he wondered if such a move would be for the betterment of the city. In the end, he decided to just do it as the strength Aurus had shown was already far beyond what the three of them could handle at once. If such a risky move would give them the chance to find out another of his moves, then that alone would be more than enough of a victory for them.

With that in mind, Joaquim looked at Krabel, who could not help but let out a big sigh as he had a feeling that the final decision would be something like this. Scratching his head as he looked at Gabriela, the two of them nodded at each other as they soon sent out the same message to the respective teams they managed.

"Everyone…"

"Initiate the Dark Catharsis Formation."

…

While Aurus continued to dodge the dark beams that just barely missed him with every shot, the primal instinct in his body started to wonder if it could use the dark beams to its advantage. Namely, it was entertaining the thought of having the one shooting those dark beams chase after him, but instead of shooting the dark beam at him, it would instead hit the houses, burning the house and the people living in it into flames.

After thinking about it for a while, Aurus did not think that it was a bad idea, though it would gradually get harder and harder for him to fool the one shooting the dark beams since they would gradually come to realize that he was intentionally making them shoot at him. In any case, he knew that the power contained inside those dark beams would be more than enough to destroy two houses in one go. Of course, two houses might not seem a lot, but with how frequent the dark beams were being shot, it wouldn't be able if Aurus was able to utilize it to increase his comprehension level.

Unfortunately for him, just as he was about to put the plan he had created around the dark beams into action, the dark beams eventually stopped coming down all of a sudden, bringing a rare lull to the outskirts of the city. Then again, after Aurus had killed a lot of people along the way, there was already a lull, though it was more eerie than rare.

Wondering if it was better for him to just teleport to another place and continue killing innocent people to increase his comprehension level, Aurus eventually turned around until he finally felt the presence of a large amount of energy radiating from the skies. With that, Aurus finally knew where the dark beams were coming from, prompting him to slash out towards the skies as multiple blades of dark green light headed towards where he felt the energy coming from.

In an instant, the clouds, which previously shrouded the being who Aurus thought was sending out all of those dark beams, had now dissipated, revealing the true identity of the being…or better yet, beings?

Indeed, instead of a strong individual fighting against Aurus head-on with a bombardment of dark beams, in reality, it was a group of 7 people in pitch-black clothes working in tandem and in order to keep up a high tempo of sending out fire beams. These 7 people made up Night Mage Regiment No. 28, the strongest Night Mage Regiment in the city, as well as the strongest part of the military overall.

Seeing as to how their cover was blown so quickly with just one swift move, the Night Mage Regiment could not help but look at Aurus with a hint of rage in their eyes as he had reduced the advantage they previously had. Then again, after a while, the rage in their eyes disappeared as what replaced them instead was the feeling of multiple bottomless abysses. It was as if one would feel like they were in a large void if they looked at them.

Completely oblivious as to how they had appeared in that place or how they were able to force him to stand on one spot for most of the time, Aurus went ahead and retracted the blade of wind he had made through [Spellswords of Ruination]. In that instant, the members making up the Night Mage Regiment instantly felt that their chances of winning had gotten higher since he was not wielding any weapons at all now.

With that in mind, the members hastily urged those from the support team to hasten the linking process between the two teams. Fortunately, the two teams were able to fully link to one another, allowing both sides to use over 200% of their original power and activate the mode that both Krabel and Gabriela termed the 'Dark Catharsis Formation'.

"From the gates of hell in silence…"

"We cast our spells with explosive violence!"

"[Dark Catharsis Formation: Nebulous Ray]!"

Fwoosh!

Rather than numerous dark beams raining down from the skies to where Aurus was, what instead greeted him was a large dark beam that was being surrounded by smaller dark beams around it. Soon after, these smaller dark beams circled around the large dark beam before fusing with it altogether, increasing the penetrative power of the beam, as well as the force behind it.

Seeing this large dark beam get closer to him, Aurus, or to be more exact, the primal instinct controlling him could not help but become excited as it would allow his original plan of killing the inhabitants of Nachthexen City with a borrowed knife to be done at greater speed and efficacy. With a light yet malevolent smile on his face, Aurus tightly gripped on his blade as he reduced the amount of energy he allocated towards [Dark Universal Blade] as he activated a skill he had not used before.

"[Impenetrable Shield of Nil]."

Whoosh!

In less than an instant, a thin layer of dark haze covered his body, making it give off the feeling that anything wouldn't be able to pass through it, let alone the dark beam that was going to hit him anytime soon. However, rather than letting his body tank the force behind the dark beam, he instead did something else, which made those watching the battle unfold from afar at the tower both happy and appalled.

"[Spellswords of Ruination]."

"[Hundred Sword Embodiment]."

"[Nether Aegis Claw]."

Just as the large dark beam was about ten meters away from where he was, Aurus hastily conjured a hundred blades of wind before imbuing them with the energy radiated by [Impenetrable Shield of Nil]. Not long after that, he increased the amount of energy being used up by the skill as the claw gradually turned dark. With that, he swiped the beam away with the claw, which surprisingly changed the course of the beam to hit the houses that were in its trajectory. 

Not letting the chance pass up, he imbued the now deflected dark beam with a hint of the energy in his blade, allowing the coverage of the beam to somewhat expand beyond what it normally was. With that, two whole streets' worth of houses were destroyed in one go, without Aurus having to exert much effort into doing so.

Seeing as to how one of their strongest attacks was being used to kill the inhabitants of the city, inhabitants that these people may have known, the members making up the Night Mage Regiment could not help but allow their rage to consume them. On one hand, allowing themselves to be consumed by their rage would allow them to unleash a level of power at least twice as powerful as they previously were. But on the other hand…

There was a chance that they would die due to their carelessness.

Nevertheless, they still continued on attacking Aurus with the Dark Catharsis Formation, allowing the latter to capitalize on the sheer power behind the beam as more and more houses near the city walls were destroyed one by one. In fact, utilizing the borrowed blade of the berserk Night Mage Regiment, Aurus was eventually able to demolish all of the houses that were near the city walls, increasing his comprehension level by two levels above what it was before he entered the city.

Naturally, he did not stop just there, continuing onward into the inner sections of the city. With the inner sections of the city housing people that were holders of higher ranks, the amount of Wind energy particles that Aurus obtained from the same number of houses he demolished was at least triple to quintuple the amount he would get from the houses near the city walls.

As for Joaquim and the others watching from afar at the tower, they could only look at the current scene in front of them in silent rage, wondering how such a being would be able to use their own forces against them. Of course, Krabel and Gabriela, the ones managing the Night Mage Regiment and the regiment's support team, respectively, called out to the two teams to stop. But unfortunately, as their minds were clouded with rage, they did not heed their words at all.

With that, Aurus was also able to demolish the entire inner section of the city within an hour, bringing the total amount of time he had stayed in the city to two hours. At that point, only one building remained that stood erect in the city. Unsurprisingly, it was the 50 meter tower wherein Joaquim and the others were in.

Looking at the tower, Aurus could not help but feel the presence of a few beings that were at a level of strength he had never felt before. Wondering as to how much Wind energy particles they would be able to give him, he then reallocated all of his energy towards [Zenith Nihility Dash], disappearing at the spot he was standing on just before the large dark beam could strike him once again.

Whoosh!

Sensing the presence of another being appearing on the tower they were on, Joaquim and the others could not help but redirect their attention as to who this newcomer was, only to freeze up in their places as they looked at the being with great horror and fear in their eyes.

As for the being that appeared in front of him, it only muttered a few words in his hoarse tone, letting out a grim chuckle after that.

"You have truly overestimated your capabilities."

"Hehehe."