Swoosh!
A fierce gale swept through the branches of the many trees stretching for several kilometres; they shook and swayed under the wind's force as a beam of silver light shot past at blinding speed.
Ethan could be seen running through the dense overstory of vast greenery within the forest.
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
The silver plate armour around his body crackled noisily with silver lightning as he moved swiftly! The entire scenery of the forest was a blur in his golden eyes as he kept traversing through the forest at an impossible speed.
'Hm?' Ethan narrowed his golden eyes as he could sense traces of magical energy that spread throughout the vast forest for at least several kilometres. "This... so my thoughts were correct, there really was a large-scale summoning magic around here," Ethan muttered to himself.
He was at least 99% certain that the lich was hiding somewhere around these parts of the forest; after all, the closer he got, the denser the magical energy became.
The sound of lightning crackling echoed as Ethan darted through the forest,
[Looks like we have company.] A voice echoed within Ethan's mind. No sooner had it been said than multiple silhouettes became visible in the far distance! "Undead... is it trying to keep us away?" Ethan wondered,
[Heh, who cares? Let's get rid of this trash!] The spirit sword said. Soon, the blade of the long silver sword in Ethan's hand began to emit a bright light; without missing a beat, Ethan swung his sword diagonally sideways towards the army of undead. "!?" A bright slash of light was released from the blade of his sword, easily dissecting the branches of the trees in its path of trajectory as it made its way towards the army of undead!
Without even being able to react, let alone dodge, the bodies of the undead were severed and cut in two halves, with the upper portion of their body separated from the bottom half. However, Ethan didn't let up on his attack!
He accelerated into their midst while turning his body 360 degrees with a horizontal slash. Black blood spewed from their bodies as many of the undead had their heads separated from their necks, while others had their bodies cut in two halves by a slash of his sword.
An undead attacked Ethan by slashing at him from behind. However, as though he had eyes on the back of his head, Ethan leapt smoothly into the air and rotated his body in mid-air while slashing vigorously downwards with a sideways slash, easily dissecting the undead that had just attacked him from behind.
However, more and more undead kept appearing like endless waves obstructing his path; Ethan was starting to get annoyed by the many undead that kept appearing one after another. 'I'll reduce their numbers.' He thought to himself, and with a stance of his sword, he thrust the blade directly into the ground, gouging it open!
Without the slightest hesitation in his golden eyes, Ethan poured his spiritual energy into his spirit sword.
[Hahahaha! Finally, it's time to make some noise!] The spirit living within the spirit sword laughed cheerfully, feeling the surge of spiritual energy being transferred to it.
BOOOOOOM!
A fierce shockwave erupted with Ethan standing in the centre! The undead that tried attacking him were all mercilessly blown away as their bodies decayed from the spiritual energy attacking their already dead bodies.
Ethan pulled out his sword that was stuck in the ground, while standing in a crater that was roughly thirty centimetres wide in diameter.
"Don't you think you went overboard?" Ethan questioned.
[Hmph, of course not! If anything, it wasn't enough. I wanted to completely erase this entire forest.] The spirit sword responded.
"E-Erase the entire forest? What did the forest ever do to you?" Ethan asked incredulously. 'Th-This sword has been getting more and more audacious lately.' He thought. However, the only response he got from the spirit sword was a cold snort.
Ethan quickly scanned the surrounding area in search of any more enemies. However, all that he was able to perceive was undead corpses that were scattered around from his earlier attack.
The corpses were already decomposing as they were losing their structure. Without the magical energy needed to keep them active, it was impossible for their bodies to stay glued together. The scent of rotten flesh filled the air, causing Ethan to furrow his brow in disgust.
"It seems we've got all of them," Ethan muttered to himself, and the tension drained from his body as his shoulders relaxed a bit. However!
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
The ground beneath his feet suddenly started trembling as a fierce sandstorm erupted! Kicking up a dense cloud of dust. Ethan covered his eyes with his hand and instinctively leapt backwards to gather some distance and stood on a tree branch.
Ethan narrowed his eyes to perceive through the dust cloud that had obstructed his vision. From within the cloud of dust, two pairs of glowing red eyes stared back at him! "?!"
ROOOOOOOAAAAAAR!
A loud bestial cry resounded and echoed through the vast forest, as a fierce gale of wind was released, easily dispersing the cloud of dust that was risen to the sky. "Guh!" Ethan gritted his teeth as he braced himself and held his ground; strands of his slightly long golden hair fluttered messily in the wind, and many trees and stones were sent flying in his direction!
Ethan created a barrier made from spiritual energy around his body.
As the wind finally regained its calm and the dust cloud slightly receded, Ethan was now able to see the figure of the creature that had appeared.
However, when he saw the appearance of the creature before him, Ethan's eyes widened, and his pupils contracted to the size of needles.
The creature had a humanoid appearance; it was roughly twenty meters tall with a long tail extended from its rear! Two horn-like protuberances from its head gave it a demonic appearance, and two bat-like wings from its back. Its body also seemed to be covered in some kind of black armour-like exoskeleton. This monster, no... this demon was like the personification of everyone's "nightmares." Ethan felt his hand, in which he held his sword, tremble slightly. The aura emanating from this demon wasn't normal,
'What the hell is this thing?! Can a lich even have summoned or controlled something like this?' Ethan wondered dubiously.
[Hmmm... our friend over there seems to be eyeing us, let's go play!] In contrast to Ethan, the spirit sword seems to be raring to go.
"Hey, Grim, you're not helping," Ethan responded in a shaky voice.
[Hmph, stop wasting time and attack already, why hesitant now? It's not like he will simply allow you to run away. Just fight and persevere to the end.] Grim responded.
"Sigh, after this I'll need to take a good forty-hour nap," Ethan said sarcastically. Without any hesitation, he extended his hand outwards and from his palm spiritual energy gathered there. Ethan shot out a beam of white light towards the humanoid creature.
However, as though such a thing meant nothing before it, it just casually deflected the attack using the back of its arm.
"Hmm... that armour is going to be a huge headache," Ethan responded. However, the humanoid creature's red eyes suddenly shone with a peculiar glint as it moved its body with a speed unfit for its huge build!
Ethan didn't have time to comprehend how it happened, but as he blinked his eyes for a split second, the humanoid creature that was at a fair distance away simply appeared before him instantly as though it had teleported. Realising it was too late to dodge, Ethan took a defensive stance with his sword.
BANG!
The claws of the humanoid creature collided with Ethan's sword, sending his body flying backwards!
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Ethan's body slammed against several trees in the way as the forest behind him became more and more destroyed!
Ethan tried adjusting his body to attack, but "Guh!" The humanoid creature appeared before him and slashed forward with his claws; blood spewed out of Ethan's chest as his armour broke apart. "Tch, divine judgmental slash!" Ethan bellowed as he slashed diagonally forward. However, his attack was met by the thick tail of the humanoid creature!
BOOOOOOOM!
Ethan's body was sent flying from the force, as he was sent deeper inside the forest!
ROOOOOOAAAAR!
However, the humanoid creature didn't seem satisfied with just that, as from the tip of its horn a black beam of light slowly started to rotate there until it was a massive ball of black light. Roughly 20 centimetres in diameter!
However, Ethan gritted his teeth as his body crashed through various tree branches, sometimes tree trunks. His beautiful silver armour now had various cracks in many places.
Sensing the humanoid creature was about to release a big attack, Ethan desperately tried to regain control of his body, as he extended his hand outwards and held onto a rather thick tree branch and twisted his body one-handedly, killing the momentum of his body.
Ethan turned his gaze skywards only to see the once blue sky illuminated by an ominous black radiance that filled the sky as far as the eyes could see!
[H-Hey, partner, I don't think I need to tell you that if you are hit by that attack, there will be nothing left of you.] Grim said in a rather anxious voice.
"Yeah, you don't need to... it seems he is trying to end this quickly, but why?" Ethan frowned as he thought that.
[I have a suggestion, let's use 'spirit possession '; that is the only realistic way we can survive this... even our wide range attacks won't be of any use.] Grim said.
'Spirit possession. Uh, I really don't like relying on that ability, but sigh... what other choice do I have?' Ethan scratched the back of his head and sighed. For a moment, a look of hesitation flashed through his golden eyes before disappearing one second later. "Well, there are no other options available, then let's do it," Ethan muttered in a resolute tone.
[Hahaha! That's the spirit!] Grim replied.
Ethan promptly held his sword upwards and chanted.
"Oh, spirit dwelling within me, I offer this vessel to you, so that you can take on mortal flesh and reveal your brilliance to the world!"
[Spirit possession!]
A silver light suddenly enveloped Ethan's figure; the light easily obstructed the vision of the humanoid creature that kept gazing at Ethan with eyes filled with killing intent!
From within the torrent of light, Ethan's already handsome figure was only getting even more handsome. The strands of his slightly long golden hair suddenly became inky black in colour. And his golden eyes became tinged with a mixture of blue.
The damaged armour around his body slowly started undergoing its own transformation! The armour became a mix of gold and silver, and the damaged parts slowly started repairing themselves.
Once the silver light had receded and had disappeared completely, the figure of Ethan could be seen standing there with a smirk on his face. "It's been a while since I got a physical body," Grim said as he stretched his hand.
Grim looked at the humanoid creature that hovered above his head and said, "It's been centuries since I last performed a 'spirit possession' with my partner. For giving me this opportunity, I shall gladly send you to the afterlife, or rather send you back."