The summoner's steps were calm, and the forest air was heavy, while the blood of the fallen soldiers stirred Clark's anger.
But what the summoner did was even more terrifying; suddenly, the corpses scattered around Clark, Jean, and the other soldiers exploded, sending blood and debris flying in every direction. Clark and Jean fell to the ground, dizzy and wounded, while Clark's leg suffered deep cuts. The air became dusty and tinged with the scent of blood, and tree trunks were stained crimson. The summoner raised his hands to the sky as if chanting a dark incantation.
A small moon appeared in the sky, and the summoner's frail hand began producing a sound akin to crying. The scene was simultaneously strange and terrifying, and the worst part was that both Clark and Jean had been severely injured by the blast.
The battalion commander rushed toward them, and seeing them wounded, he pulled them to a safer place.
Clark said in pain: "What kind of terrifying power is this?"
His leg was bleeding heavily, and Jean was no better; his left hand was broken, and being left-handed, he relied on that hand for sword fighting.
Everyone hid behind a massive tree.
Jean writhed in severe pain, his forearm bones protruding grotesquely, but he managed to bind his wound with threads from his armor. The pain was unbearable, and he felt a severe dizziness accompanied by flashes of bright light before his eyes.
Jean slipped into a brief unconscious state, finding himself in a strange place with wide streets filled with fast, unfamiliar vehicles and people in foreign attire. Beside him stood a girl and someone resembling Clark. He couldn't make sense of the scene. The sun and the moon moved across the sky at an astonishing speed.
Suddenly, a distorted voice said, "Now we can rest."
"Ah! What is this?" Jean exclaimed, struggling to process the vision. He regained consciousness when Clark pushed him.
Clark alerted him, "This is no time to sleep. We must find a way out."
Jean weakly replied, "Okay."
The commander said: "You've been here for two days. Surely you know something about this monster's weaknesses."
Clark responded: "I haven't chased this summoner before; I was fleeing from him and his army, and he did not follow us. But who exactly are you, and why are you here?"
The commander replied, "I apologize for not informing you. I am Lord Karrez II, sent with my battalion to bring you here and eliminate this Death Curse. But it seems the summoner defeated my battalion instead."
Despair began to take hold of everyone. Suddenly, rain poured heavily, and lightning struck a nearby tree close to the summoner, igniting fires around him. Everyone then heard the summoner's screams as he burned.
He screamed loudly, while the remaining followers panicked, trying to extinguish the flames.
Clark, Jean, and Karrez cautiously returned to the battlefield, all injured and exhausted, but Clark did not hesitate; he suddenly charged at the summoner.
Karrez shouted: "Stop! He's still dangerous!"
Clark replied, "Why hesitate? A clever predator waits for its enemy to falter. The enemy is distracted by the fire—why waste this chance? I'm only wounded in the leg, while you are far worse off."
He continued running toward the summoner, surpassing Jean.
Jean said to Karrez, "If you are just going to watch, I'll fight with him. He's right; one shouldn't miss an opportunity like this."
Clark's mind swirled with questions, but the thrill of combat overwhelmed everything.
He reached the summoner, who was surrounded by a sinister black aura.
Karrez shouted: "Beware! He's not just a monster! He's a malevolent spirit in flesh!"
As Clark attacked with his sword, the summoner blocked him with a thick staff that withstood the blow unharmed.
Clark exclaimed in shock: "How?!"
Yet the strike was insufficient.
Clark thought: If I don't dodge his next strike, the staff would split my side in half. I don't know if I would survive.
Jean shouted: "Duck!"
Jean leapt from Clark's shoulder in an acrobatic maneuver, delivering a strong sword strike despite his broken hand, compensating for his weakness with a full spin in midair, managing to finally break the summoner's staff that was protecting his face.
The summoner retaliated with a strong punch to Jean's chest, sending him flying like a doll.
Clark rushed and caught Jean before he hit the ground.
Jean spat blood and laughed hoarsely: "What power! Watch out."
Jean extended his sword to Clark, saying, "Take my sword! Fight!"
Clark laughed: "No need for a sword. As long as he's unarmed, I can fight him with my bare hands."
Jean, blood still flowing from his mouth, said: "Ha! I want to help, but I think my left rib is broken."
Clark gently placed him on the ground and said: "Rest now."
Clark removed his torn armor and threw it aside, raising his fists in readiness.
Karrez said in astonishment: "Does he intend to fight a superhuman with bare hands?!"
The summoner pulled out a strange talisman from his clothes and said: "I've only used this power twice, and everyone who saw it died immediately. Prepare to perish, humans! You shall die at the hands of the Black Death Saint!"
Clark shouted: "What is he talking about?"
The summoner explained: "I used my ability 'Harvest of the Dead,' reclaiming the souls of my fallen soldiers, which raised my power to the 'Lamiet' level (the lower undead), transforming my face from skeletal to human. In other words, I became almost immortal."
Clark laughed mockingly: "Lower level? And what a grand title—Black Death Saint, lower level?"
A dense black aura spread around the summoner.
Karrez shouted: "Do not underestimate him! His power is real!"
Clark thought: Anger causes you to lose control of your power. I must provoke him to attack recklessly.
The summoner charged Clark again, aiming a direct punch at his head, but Clark bent at the last moment and dodged.
He seized the opportunity and delivered a powerful kick to the summoner's chin, knocking him to the ground.
The summoner suddenly calmed strangely, his eyes glowing with an evil red light.
Clark said: "It seems he regained focus."
The summoner laughed hoarsely: "You are an amusing opponent!"
Clark replied calmly: "Even if you regain focus, you face someone who has survived countless struggles."
Clark's killing intent intensified to the point that Karrez gasped: 'How can this young man have such lethal intent? How many lives has he taken?'
Clark became eerily calm, provoking the summoner: "Attack."
The summoner charged again, but Clark's agility and reflexes allowed him to dodge all attacks.
Clark discovered a flaw in the summoner's movement, twisted his arm around the enemy's, and slammed him to the ground, raining blows upon him.
Clark shouted, "Shut up!" Suddenly, the summoner bit his arm, saying: "Your spirit is too strong! I will absorb it!"
Karrez's face turned pale with fear, everyone felt the weight in the air. Clark was in grave danger; the summoner was truly absorbing his soul.
Clark struggled to free himself, continued striking the summoner with his free hand, pinning him firmly. His eyes became foggy, and his consciousness began to fade.
Karrez observed Clark and was astonished: he looked almost dead!
---
Clark's consciousness gradually disappeared, and he suddenly found himself elsewhere. Darkness engulfed everything, yet his soul radiated a mysterious black light. He stood on murky, muddy waters, with a dark eclipse reflected above him.
Blue apparitions resembling him appeared around him.
The countless spirits charged to kill him, but he realized they were merely manifestations of his negative thoughts, instincts, and the seven deadly sins:
Gluttony!
Greed!
Sloth!
Envy!
Pride!
Lust!
Wrath!
He had to overcome these inner obstacles, known in ancient beliefs as the "Chains of the Soul."
Lust attacked first, but he did not know how to fight an idea.
A thought crossed his mind: Is this my punishment? My conscience coming to haunt me before death?
He received multiple blows from these manifestations, yet accepted the challenge and faced his buried evils.
All six sins dissipated one by one, but "Greed" remained, merging with Clark. He began seeing himself as a semi-transparent spectral form, yet his memories in this spiritual body were shocking.
A soldier in a strange uniform entered, saying: "Sir, we could not locate the lady…" (the name was distorted and unclear).
Clark, in his spectral form, said: "What are these unintelligible words?"
Whenever the soldier mentioned the lady's name, Clark could not hear it clearly, as if a hidden power prevented it.
Clark said to the soldier: "You've accompanied me for years. You always saw me as kind, I never kill without reason, and I abhor injustice. Yet you never objected when your commander ordered the killing or sacrifice of innocents."
The soldier replied: "I am just a soldier, following my superiors' orders."
Clark laughed: "Foolish! You sacrificed for a corrupt world unworthy of protection."
He drew his sword and thrust it into the soldier's mouth, blood spurting. "Fool, you know nothing but blind obedience. Excuse me, but in the end, I will surrender to my greed and do what must be done… I would have protected you if we had grown up together, but now I must act."
He opened a small music box, and his spectral vision began to warp and distort.
He suddenly returned to his previous location in the spiritual realm, seeing a vast sea radiating a pure aura, and a sun with black flames but a white, brilliant light. The place became illuminated, and the water clear and pure.
---
In the real world, the summoner's hand suddenly stopped absorbing Clark's soul.
The summoner thought in astonishment: "What is this immense soul? I cannot contain it!"
A terrifying black aura appeared around Clark, and in front of him, a decorated black panel inscribed with golden letters appeared:
Path: Greed
Level: 2
Power: 5
Agility: 10
Mana: 2
Sturdiness: 10
Chi: 1
Skills:
Black Flame: A spiritual flame of extreme heat, non-material, attacks the soul directly. May harm the user if not controlled fully.
Warning: This skill is destructive and indiscriminate. Its sole purpose is to annihilate the enemy. It extinguishes once the target dies and does not follow if the target escapes.
Grants the ability to control the aura and manifest it as desired.
The celestial overseers are watching. The world itself commands: "Kill your enemy!"
Clark suddenly stood, placing his foot on the summoner's chest, pulling his injured hand from the monster's mouth: "Your game is over."
A massive shadowy phantom appeared behind Clark, striking the summoner's face, but the summoner dodged in the nick of time.
The summoner screamed in fury, retreating ten paces: "What was that attempt to strike me? It was a phantom! No, no! I am the great sorcerer! How can I die at the hands of a mere human who just awoke?!"
Clark asked in disbelief: "What did you try to use against me?"
Clark raised his finger, pointing: "The dead have no right to ask questions."
He unleashed a black fiery beam from his finger, piercing the summoner's body instantly.
The summoner screamed in excruciating pain: "What is this?! It's burning my soul from within! Damn it!"
Clark ignored his screams, and the beam continued until the opponent's body was incinerated.
Karrez asked in a trembling voice: "What happened to him?"
Clark replied coldly: "I burned his physical soul. This means the soldiers he absorbed will vanish, and he himself will perish. When I wake, make sure we are served a good meal."
Clark then collapsed from exhaustion.
---
Clark awoke suddenly, facing a handsome man exuding a joyful aura. The man gently pushed him.
Clark looked around, searching for his sword: "Where am I? And who are you?"
The man replied: "Just rest. You and your friend are important guests here."
Clark said: "What?"
To be continued…