"I know where he went" the leader said. "But he won't be there for long"
His subordinates shivered at the disdain in his gaze. "You all couldn't hold down a single master-how disappointing"
"Forgive us for our insolence!" they chanted, bowing as one.
A few seconds passed before the leader averted his glare.
The subordinates sighed in relief.
"So…what do we do?" Naberus inquired.
"A chance like this might not come again. Furthermore, this was an order from the lord; before the end of this day-he must die!"
The leader began floating, "Hold on to me, hurry"
Cautiously, the four held onto the leader's robe.
"Won't this reveal your presence?"
"Not so, but I will inevitably draw attention"
Right after, he flew into the horizon, leaving a streak of red in his wake.
"Hmm?"
"Hmm?"
"Hmmm?"
Fredrick, Raven and Mervida were startled, feeling a similar presence of their level.
But it sparked only for a few seconds.
With the swarms of infected approaching, they had their hands full dealing damage while trying to make sure they didn't destroy the terrain.
The streak of red caught their attention, but they were too far away to make out what it was.
Fredrick narrowed his gaze. "I'll check-
Before he could finish his sentence, he picked up two mana signatures, that of his level.
Two new grandmasters arrived on scene.
Fredrick was perplexed. "Where did all these grandmasters come from?"
The enemy seemed to have gathered them like seeds.
Fighting two enemies of the same level while taking care of infected swarms had their plates full.
Fredrick was unallowed to leave the battlefield.
_______
Meanwhile…
Ezra grit his teeth. 'It's not going away!'
The feeling of danger not only did not subside, but amplified.
'They headed here'
He was sure, somehow, they'd found his location.
'Should I run?' he thought, the memory he had of the attacking grandmaster surfaced.
A man drenched in blood, standing with thousands of corpses all around.
'How many of his attacks can I withstand?'
Ezra wasn't afraid so to speak, but cautious. He took to his heels once more, creating distance while looking for a place to hide.
He runs into a dark cavern. A few swings of his blade sliced the large spider within it into pieces.
Pressed for time, Ezra stretched his palm and the siblings were ejected from his ancient space ring onto the ground in their lotus postures.
The siblings immediately felt the difference and opened their eyes.
They spat out the mana stones into their palms so they could speak.
"Boss, what happened?"
"Where are we?"
With mana vision, Ezra could see that mana in their bodies had increased tremendously.
"The enemy I warned you of has attacked" he spoke. "And he's coming"
"What do you want us to do?" Theron replied.
After seeing the stash within the space ring, Theron had newfound respect for Ezra.
"I need you all to advance in rank, that's the only way we'll stand a chance against the approaching enemies"
"That's risky" said Ashton. "We could die"
"You either die like that or wait for the enemy to come and kill you"
"…Fair point"
The siblings had nervous expressions.
"Don't worry, I'll guide you through it" he clapped. Sitting in a lotus posture. "Theron you first. Sit"
The other siblings excused the cave, such advancements had drastic effects on the surroundings.
Ezra placed his palm on Theron's back.
"This will sting a bit. Are you ready?"
"Huu…" Theron exhaled. "I'm ready"
Theron's chest leaped out as he felt Ezra's mana burst in.
Ezra's tone became calm. "Listen carefully"
"Like a water current, direct the mana throughout your body…
Theron's expression grew unsightly, reflecting the pain he felt as he adhered to the instructions.
Theron had his eyes shut, forcefully stimulating the bloodlines within him with mana to push it to the next level.
Blood spilled through his pores, as did sweat. While his body's temperature climbed ever higher.
Then after a minute of intense stimulation.
Bom!
Theron released an intense heat wave, glowing as it hit all sides of the cave.
"Haaah…Haaaah…Haaah"
He gasped and panted, opening his eyes to the wondrous new feeling of power.
The dead spider had been signed, whereas Ezra seemed unaffected.
Theron's mouth contorted. 'This monster'
But Ezra didn't give him time, chasing him out of the cave immediately. "Start testing yourself. Find your new limits"
Johan was subsequently called in.
A swipe of his hand had all the blood moved aside, and Johan began his advancement as well.
Outside, Theron began testing himself.
On instinct, his hands shifted, growing in size as reddish-orange fur grew on it. His nails changed, extending into short but deadly claws.
Then, the rest of the body.
His legs grew about one and a half times as before, the fur popped out nicely as did the rest of his body.
His black hair turned reddish orange and his jaw slacked and jacked before clicking.
He took his armour, as it was tightening, and brought another from his space ring. Courtesy of Ezra.
This one fits in just right.
With his halberd on his shoulder. Theron was ready to go. 'Let's test this'
With trees all over the place, he couldn't have asked for a better spot.
'Huuu…'
Having mastered aura, lacing the halberd with fire wasn't hard.
Theron moved, extending the halberd's head as it drew an arc, smashing through two rows of trees.
Moreover, the halberd left burns after every hit, lighting a fire on the stumps as well.
The remaining three were shocked.
Even Theron was shocked.
'But…I wasn't even trying'
He wasn't complaining though.
After that, he started testing his agility and reflexes.
At this time, Johan had also advanced.
With the amazing skills Theron showed, the rest were hyped up.
Ashton went forward with enthusiasm.
As the minutes passed, Ezra's chill grew even more, but he couldn't rush it, else the siblings could get crippled.
After Ashton, then Roxanne and Velora.
Once done, Ezra popped a mana stone into his mouth to quickly recover lost mana-as did the rest of the siblings.
While he wasn't sure of how powerful grandmasters really were, he was sure of himself being able to absorb their first strike without dying.
So rather than running into oblivion, Ezra waited.
Using the memories he had of the grandmaster in his past life, Ezra sought to form a plan.
The feeling of danger peaked, Ezra sucked the siblings back into the space ring, with extra effort this time.
A red streak shone in the sky soon after, dusk was here.
Raaz dropped into the city Ezra came through.
'He's not here'
Raaz reported to the leader with their mind link.
'I didn't expect him to be' said the leader. Pushing forward even faster.
'I must not fail the lord'
________
Ezra felt them approaching, and while the pressure hit him, he felt his blood boil.
'Let's not keep them waiting'
He took off his shirt, and on him were the body weights he had built.
In his abdominal region, two short ones on each arm, two on each leg has well.
He had on him for so long Ezra felt like it had become a part of him-which was why he didn't remember to remove it even when being chased in Gattiste.
Now though, limiting himself when against a grandmaster made no sense.
Bam! Bam!
Each weight had the floor caving in.
By the time he took off the last weight, he felt surreal, like a floating feather.
Garbing the black armour Fredrick got him, Ezra burst out with white lightning.
________
The streak of white came alive, and the demon leader's prey was identified.
Only…
It was headed for Raaz.
'Does he dare think me weak?!'
Ezra ran away back in Gattiste but now chose to confront him.
It could only be that Ezra thought Raaz to be an easy opponent.
Enraged, Raaz pulled out his demonic powers, exuding a cloud of red smoke as his robes burnt off.
A streak of red and that of white headed for a collision.
Three feet apart, Raaz began vibrating, taking out two thin long swords as his speed drastically increased.
He circles round Ezra.
"You made the wrong choice targeting me"
Ezra simply stared at the leader holding up in the sky.
'He dares to ignore me in this state?!'
Raaz was furious, but Ezra's lack of movements gave Raaz an ego boost.
"You can't match my speed, and now you have no buildings to hide behind"
His voice came all around, yet Ezra stood unmoved.
Satisfied-
"Now D-
-Raaz went in for the kill.
Well…was about too. When a shiver crawled up his thick skin.
Before he could react.
CHUK!
From behind, a sword, dark as night plunged through his throat like a needle through paper.
"No-Cawk!"
Raaz tried to speak blood only blood poured out.
Right after… Shin!
The sword was pushed out and Raaz's head flew to the side.
Ezra looked at the headless body and simply flung off the blood of Darkane.
The other three wanted to attack, but…
'Stop'
The leader's command had them in their spots.
The leaders landed, fifteen feet from Ezra, with his hands by his side.
"Hello, Ezra"
The voice was frightening yet enticing.
"Who are you people and why are you attacking me?"
Ezra feigned ignorance.
"We are demon worshippers, and we have deemed you a threat"
"How do you know my name?"
"Who doesn't know your name?" the leaders chuckled a bit.
"What is your name?"
"My name…" The man made a light smile.
"Ziltris" he said. "My name is Ziltris"
