147 The True Beginning 10

Exodus is a mass departure of people. In this case however, Exodus was not just a term. Exodus was a term used to call the event that unfolded before the Obelisk of Goap's Outbreak.

Tens of thousands of Demons that lived in BA-22 mysteriously disappeared. Because of this, the Kingdom's Royal Mages were sent to BA-22; they were afraid an Outbreak would happen.

However, upon investigation, it was revealed the Demons had massively moved to somewhere else. No one knew where they headed, but this bizarre and confusing event was called Exodus.

It was only after the Obelisk of Goap's Outbreak did everyone know where the Demons had moved to: Death Howl Dungeon. They his themselves there for a few weeks, and showed themselves right after the Outbreak occured.

The army was still concentrated in BA-22, watching over the Obelisk of Astaroth, that was expected to have an Outbreak. Due to this, many areas near BA-32 were occupied by the Demons from Obelisk of Goap.

Of course, Fortescher County was also destroyed by the Demons from BA-22 who were hiding in Death Howl Dungeon. What is worse, there was eventually a passageway that connected Obelisk of Goap and Death Howl Dungeon.

Therefore, the process of solving the matter became even longer due to this. It wasn't until the Kingdom decided to throw away Fortescher County, did the Demons were eliminated, and another Obelisk was conquered after 2000 years.

Despite so, no one could rejoice in their success of conquering the Obelisk: there were too many had fallen.

...

Basil silently looked at the horde of Demons coming his way. He could see, at least, four kinds of Demon with roughly the same amount. The Exodus had just started, so there weren't many of them had arrived yet.

"Caesar."

"Yes, Young Master?"

"This dungeon has no mechanism to hold these creatures off from advancing."

Caesar turned to Basil with quirked eyebrow. "Yes?"

"I need you to build a strong Barrier to block them."

"Why?" Caesar was puzzled. "We can just let them in. As long as the control is in your hands, they will stay here forever."

Basil turned his head slightly to Caesar. "That will be the case for the low class Demons. However, can you guarantee the same thing will happen to the Middle class Demons?"

At that, Caesar couldn't confidently answer like before. A Middle Class Demon was normally stronger than an ordinary Fifth Circle Mage. That means, they were capable enough to get out of the Dungeon.

One might argue Basil still had the Dungeon's control, which meant he could confuse them by changing the structure from time to time. However, that method would only work if Basil had enough Mana to do it in every hour, in which he didn't.

Not even Caesar was willing to waste his Mana doing it. Furthermore, controlling the Dungeon also had limitation. Like Caesar had said, some of the Dungeon parts were immovable.

There was a huge possibility the Demons would reside there, and waited for the perfect moment to slowly slip away.

Then, one might think: "Would not letting them roam the Dungeon freely be the best choice? The only one would be getting away would the Middle Class Demons and above, after all."

While there was nothing wrong with the idea, that would be an underestimation over the magnitude of the problem a Middle Class Demon could cause.

A Middle Class Demon had a high chance of being able to kill someone like Ansley Woster, a Fifth Circle Mage, a Count. Imagine what would happen if there were thousands of them. A scene worst than nightmare would occur.

Therefore, making a Barrier to hold them off until Basil finished Recarving his Fourth Circle was the smartest way.

"That will take me three hours to make, Young Master. I can't be disturbed in that time, which means I can't help you face those things." Caesar gestured at the horde of Demons. "Can you face them alone?"

Basil didn't give a verbal answer to Caesar's question. He merely stepped forward, and said, "I entrust this to you, Caesar."

Caesar only nodded his head. He didn't need to question Basil for his choice. He was sure Basil, as someone who was chosen by his esteemed Lady, a Pacifer nonetheless, knew what he was doing.

He sighed. "Huuh... I need to get it done quickly. I can't waste anymore time." Spreading his hand, his palms soon shone in golden light. Mana gathered around him, before he shouted a Spell, "[Realm Separation]!"

Nine Magic Circles materialized themselves behind Caesar's back. All of them rotated in their place while shining brightly, but one: the ninth Magic Circle. It was there, but it was stagnant, and had a grey color; it was dying.

Although Caesar still had one of his Magic Circles crippled, he could still function properly as a Mage. Therefore, his Spell soon worked, and thin film of golden light covered the mouth of the tunnel.

Of course, this didn't signify the completion of the Barrier. There were still many things he had to do with the Barrier. He needed to empower and stabilize it; he needed to complete it.

Before that, Basil had to stand his ground—basically staying alive. Needless to say, it wasn't hard for him.

Currently, he was stronger as a Knight than he was as a Mage. The only thing he could do as a Mage currently was spamming Mana he couldn't quite control with his three Magic Circles.

That being said, he was still powerful nonetheless. The current him could stand to toe with the Ansley, and had a possibility to defeat him; he was more or less as strong if not slightly weaker than a Middle Class Demon.

However, it was only about raw power. With his experienced and his effective way in utilizing his Arts and Techniques, he could be more than that.

Holding the Sealing Sword vertically in front of his chest, he drew his Qi and activated his Aura. His eyes shone in golden light, and a unique black colored pattern was carved on his iris: his [Eyes of Mana Perception] is activated.

With his Qi drawn, his Aura Ability: [Master of Weapons] was activated. He became in tune with the sword in his hands, as if he had wielded it for hundreds of years, and 20 swords of all kinds floated behind his back.

All of them were pointed at the incoming horde of Demons, and the Demons, in turn, felt threatened by them. Alarm went off in their head, and they naturally developed an urgency.

With a roar, the first group of Demons ran straight at Basil. They had a slender build, three eyes, wide mouth that was decorated with razor sharp teeth, and extremely long claws. They were none other than Gutter, and there were 20 of them coming at him.

Basil, experienced enough to deal with the Lower Middle Class Demons, was still calm despite being merely 20 steps away from them. He merely sent his 20 swords ahead, and assigned each one of them to different Gutters.

The Gutters let out an anguish filled like roar, and sent their claws forward to intercept Basil's swords. However, not only were Basil's swords stronger, but also faster to skewer them.

Not stopping there, after their chest was pierced, they were sent back at the horde that still had some distance away from them. Of course, Basil did it for a reason.

What is the most fearsome trait of a Gutter? Its gut. Their gut can produce toxin when they feel endangered, and they can explode it anytime they want. Not only is the explosion big enough to injure its predator, but also brings them down.

Basil used their trait against their fellow Demons. Therefore, upon reaching the horde of Demons, the 20 Gutters who were intent on exploding their stomach, couldn't stop their natural instinct.

In result, a spectacular scene was produced.

Boom!

Some of the frontmost Demons were blown to pieces due to the explosion, while some of them had a burned skin due to the corrosive liquid the Gutters' stomachs had produced. What they experienced in common though, was the unbearable smell.

To generalize the situation, the momentum of the horde of the Demon was broken.

Of course, Basil didn't mean to stay idle either. Materializing his Magic Circles, he uttered the strongest Fire Element Spell he could use currently; his own made Spell, that no one had ever used.

[Crimson Lotus]!

Basil pointed his palm at the horde. Fire was conjured out of nowhere, and it quickly gathered on his palm, forming a lotus shape. With a gentle push, the lotus was sent forward. The process took barely five seconds.

The lotus flew graciously in the air, and the scene was enough to make one stop to admire. However, despite how beautiful its appearance was, the chaos it brought was simply terrifying.

Upon arriving at the area that was filled with dense toxin gas that was produced by the now dead Gutters, each of the lotus' petals scattered and ignited the gaseous toxin in fire. In result, another explosion occured.

Boom!

The Demons who had survived the first explosion were forced to forfeit their life this time. There was simply no way they could survive the explosion. Even the Demons who had been merely splashed with the Gutter's stomach toxin were set on fire.

The toxin that was produced by a Gutter's stomach is highly flammable. Due to how reluctant the people dealing with Gutter however, no one had ever tested it. Thus, no one knew about it.

The flame was hard to put out. Therefore, all of the Demons who were set on fire were left behind. The horde stopped in their track, and took a step back.

Of course, this doesn't mean the fight was done. This time, the stronger Demons charged forward. Their target was, of course, Basil.

Pointing his sword at them, Basil smirked. "Come. Let my sword be the last thing you see."

The fight continued.