Chapter 60: The Level Zero [Hero] Chapter 57

I yawned as I clambered down the stairs and scratched my back. I felt like I had napped for maybe three or four hours at most. But judging by the reddish-orange glow coming from the window, it was probably evening now.

“What’s for dinner?” I wondered aloud, walking into the kitchen.

It was empty, since Garron, Noele, and Nicole were out in Whiteridge. I expected that. But I frowned when I realized Nolan wasn’t there.

“Hello? Nolan? Is anybody home?” I quickly peeked through the various rooms in the house, only to find nothing. “Odd.”

I narrowed my eyes. Something was amiss. Nolan was normally back inside before sundown. However, he was nowhere to be found. I glanced out the fogged windows, before shaking my head.

“Maybe he’s at Wolfwater for groceries or whatever.”

While this was a farm, we still needed to procure the meat from somewhere. There was no livestock here, just crops, and while I wasn’t a picky eater, I preferred to have a balanced diet of both meat and vegetables, rather than just one or another.

Spending ten years in the Fractured Realm with no food did that to a person. Although— I most definitely spent more than ten years there. Time was broken there, and I couldn’t sleep. So I had no way of knowing how long I really spent in that broken world.

Either way, I was getting hungry, so I started out of the farm, searching for Nolan.

“He probably needs a hand,” I murmured.

I stepped outside, and paused. I swept my gaze over the fields at my surroundings, only to see a white blanket covering everything. I realized it wasn’t evening as I thought, but instead there was a light orange tint to this thick layer of mist. A soft heat permeated the air and mixed uncomfortably with the humidity. I sniffed, smelling the scent of smoke.

“What’s going…?” I blinked.

And I heard the galloping of horses. I looked towards the road leading into Wolfwater as a group of riders passed the farm. There were a hundred of them, and they laughed madly, raising burning torches into the air.

I watched with furrowed brows as they tossed the torches into Nolan’s crops.

“I see now.”

With that, I moved.

 

—--

 

Landon laughed as he hurled the flaming torch into the distance.

He didn’t lead the charge. But he was pretty much the second from the front, only behind Ray. And unlike Ray who was normally quiet and meek, Landon could actually shout orders at the rest of the men.

There were only a hundred of them, however they were some of the strongest members of the Miststorm Riders, most of them at least at B-rank. Landon himself was a low A-rank, while Ray was at least as high-leveled as Odell himself.

And that was why Ray was put in charge. He was incredibly talented for his age. They called him the Monster’s Apprentice. For good reason. While he wasn’t nearly as boisterous as Odell, Ray was certainly as callous in his behavior.

The Monster’s Apprentice silently threw his torch towards the nearby field, barely even giving it a passing glance. There was a house in the middle of the farmland, but none of the hundred riders slowed. They weren’t going to personally kill every family living around Wolfwater. They were going to let the fire do its job.

Landon shook his head, chuckling cruelly as he looked ahead. He saw the village in the distance, even through the thick layer of mist and smoke. That was their main target. Their goal was to slaughter every last person there. A terrible smirk spread across his lips, and he yelled.

“Miststorm Riders! Burn down the—” he started.

And a large blurred thing flew past them . It was burning with an orange glow. It crashed in the middle of the road just ahead of Ray. He came to a halt, pulling his horse back as Landon and the rest of the riders slowed. They stared at the large wall of flames blocking them.

“What is that?” Landon looked at the pile of flaming torches.

“You guys dropped those,” a voice said from the side.

Landon frowned, glancing to the right. The other riders turned their heads as well, and Ray narrowed his eyes at the waiting figure.

“A girl?” the Monster’s Apprentice said.

A brown-haired woman stood there, a sword at her side. The weapon wasn’t drawn just yet, kept in its sheath as she strode forward, shaking her head.

“I don’t know who you people are, but I suggest you turn around and get out of here.” She came to a halt right next to the pile of torches and crossed her arms. “Or else I’ll make you.”

Landon stared at her for a moment, wide-eyed. He slowly processed this, and as did the other [Bandits], before finally guffawing. They broke out into laughter as she just sighed.

“I should’ve known it wasn’t going to be that easy,” she muttered.

And Landon nodded at three other riders. “Allard, Kurtis, Moreen— take care of our ‘friend’.”

The three [Bandits] snickered, moving towards the girl. They drew their weapons as they got closer— and she swung up with her sword. Allard, Kurtis, and Moreen collapsed to the ground, sliced into perfect halves in an instant.

Ray raised a brow. Landon paused as he was turning away. The entire blanket of mist surrounding Wolfwater was sliced cleanly in half and fell apart. The group of ninety-seven Miststorm Riders gaped at the brown-haired woman as she sheathed her sword once more.

“This is your last chance,” she said. “Turn around now, or you’ll die.”

Her words broke Landon out of his stupor. He stared at the single woman standing ahead of him, and his jaw clenched. He raised his sword, pointing at her as he screamed.

“Kill that girl!”

And the [Bandits] roared. They poured forth, galloping straight for the lone figure. She closed her eyes as the earth shook with their approach.

“This is really annoying.”

She took a step forward, and Landon blinked. When his eyes opened again, she was standing at the other side of the group of riders. They were frozen in place as she simply flicked a trickle of blood off her blade.

Landon opened his mouth. “What are you idiots… do…ing…”

He tried to work his jaw, only to find his jaw clattering to the ground. His eyes grew wide as he heard the first thud. And more came after. Bodies dropped one after another as Landon himself collapsed, cut into a dozen chunks.

They were some of the strongest members of the Miststorm Riders. But ninety-six of them fell, dead from a single attack. And only Ray remained.

 

—--

 

I turned to the last surviving member of the riders. He looked rather young, and his eyes went round. He sat atop his horse, gaping as his friends fell one after another. I had spared him, only because he hadn’t raised his blade against me. Everyone else did, so I killed them.

I didn’t touch their horses, though. They just continued galloping without anyone on their backs.

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“Alright,” I said as I faced the young man. “You’re the only reasonable one here, so can you tell me why you’re doing this?”

He blinked a few times, before turning towards me. “You’re…”

“Answer the question.” I spoke over him.

He opened his mouth as I eyed him dangerously. After a moment of silence, he just took a deep breath and dismounted from his horse.

“We’re with the Miststorm Riders,” he explained. “I am Ray the Monster’s Apprentice, and I was sent here under orders to burn down the farmlands around Whiteridge.”

“The Miststorm Riders?” My brows snapped together.

I was familiar with them at this point. I had learned a lot about them after killing the Frenzied Five, and Noele had also told me more details after I arrived at Wolfwater. I glanced back towards the vast swathes of burning land as I frowned.

“But why are you here? Why are you doing this?”

“Orders from the boss.” Ray shrugged.

“And where’s your boss?” I asked with narrowed eyes.

“Whiteridge— he’s probably razing the city to the ground as we speak.”

My gaze snapped to the side, and sure enough, I saw the trails of smoke rising in the far distance. I immediately thought of a blonde girl. Noele… I gripped the hilt of my sword tightly as I realized she was in trouble.

But as I stared off into the distance, Ray stepped forward. He shook his head as he began to remove his clothes, and I glanced back at him. A purple aura wisped off him as he grinned at me.

“You know, the boss entrusted me with this task because he believed in me.” His muscles rippled, discoloring into a dark red. He grew taller and cracked his neck. “Odell took me on as his sole apprentice— so that I may be his successor when he eventually retires.”

I watched as Ray towered over me, now three times my height. His lips twisted, the timid expression he previously wore gone, replaced with a maddened gaze.

I recognized this power. Of course I did. It was the very same one Emory had drawn from, except much weaker, almost like it was incomplete. It was what permeated the entirety of the Fractured Realm.

And… I sensed it in the distance too. So faint, I didn’t even realize it was there until now. It came from Whiteridge. The power of the Void.

“Ah.” I raised my head, meeting Ray’s eyes. “I was mistaken. You’re not reasonable either.”

“I’m not going to let Odell’s trust go to waste,” the Monster’s Apprentice said. “So get out of my—”

“I should be the one saying that to you,” I cut him off as I leapt forward, grabbing his face.

“Wha—” Ray’s eyes grew wide, but I shot forward.

I carried him by his head, propelling up into the sky like a slingshot. In a single swift motion, I crossed over a dozen miles and reached Whiteridge.

 

—--

 

A putrid purple mist spread across the city. It slowed Harlan’s movements. The city guard was already injured, but this noxious gas seemed to exacerbate his wounds. Not only that—

He glanced up towards the fighting. He watched as the horde of [Bandits] tore through the ranks of guards and adventurers. The tide of battle had swiftly turned. The defenders of Whiteridge had been putting up a good fight until mere moments ago, when the dark haze reached the Miststorm Riders.

And then they roared with renewed vigor. They charged with an intensity they never had before, empowered by this purple mist. They overwhelmed the city guards, and they struck down the fighting adventurers. Harlan gritted his teeth and raised his spear.

He was an ordinary city guard. He had given up all his hopes of ever reaching a high level a long time ago. But still, he had a job to do. He couldn’t just flee again, when his life had been saved by those A-rank adventurers.

“I-I… am a city guard,” he whispered to himself, even as his hands trembled. “I have to protect the people of the city.”

He resolved himself and strode forward. Even as he walked with a slight limp, and even as he watched a line of other guards get cut down in battle. His legs shook. His lips quivered. But still, he let out a war cry as he charged straight at the Miststorm Riders.

They rode towards him, cackling wildly as he screamed.

“I will not let you go any further, you cursed [Bandits]!”

His weak feet carried him forward, until he was sprinting straight towards his demise. They drew closer and closer as the world seemed to slow around him. This was it. His luck had finally run out. After everything he had survived, it was finally time. He died here—

And a pair of blurred figures shot past him, followed by an explosion of blood and gore.

Harlan stumbled back as the force of the red liquid knocked him off balance. He blinked. It happened so quickly, he couldn’t even process what happened. All he knew was that one moment, an army of thousands of [Bandits] rode through the streets of Whiteridge.

And the next moment, they were all reduced to a stain of blood on the ground.

“Nephilim save me… w-what just happened…?”

 

—--

 

Odell drew closer as Noele watched. The blonde girl wasn’t sure how she was going to defeat him in battle. He had somehow fully recovered from a stab to the heart. Not only that, he was stronger than ever now. She pursed her lips and tightly gripped the hilt of her sword.

He just smirked, dragging his twisted purple broadsword behind him.

“Come now, what happened to all your confi—”

But a figure crashed in between them before Odell could finish speaking. He paused, and Noele blinked. She stared down at the charred corpse lying at the bottom of the smoking crater.

“Who…?” she started.

And a second figure landed on top of the deformed purple body. Noele’s eyes grew wide as soon as she saw the flowing brown hair— the tattered cloak whipping with the wind. The Monster of the Mist eyed this newcomer warily.

“Who are you?” Odell asked.

And Noele spoke softly as she stared at her mentor. “Amelia…”