After he moved with great speed, the particles of many trees split as his body collided with them. Aric regained balance by somersaulting and using the soles of his feet to stay in a slanted position on a tree close by. As a result of the sheer force, the tree broke too.
Simultaneously, swiftly navigating through the leaves, he noticed the imminent fall of the tall tree and quickly flipped to land on the next one beside him.“That was close!” he let out regaining his momentum.With momentum regained, Aric continued his relentless pursuit through the treetops. The massive trees in the forest made it extremely easy for those who had Awakened to maintain balance on the treetops.As Aric arrived on the tree beside him, he twisted his feet tying to gain advantage to propel him forward.Immediately, he took his stance and leaped out of the tree. The gigantic tree fell down moments after as he flew with a breathtaking speed.He launched himself forward with great momentum towards the direction of the demon leader.After propelling himself forward, Aric flew through the air with breathtaking speed, his body blurred as he closed in on the demon leader. The force of his movement caused the trees to tremble and the ground to shake beneath him.Aric moved at an incredible speed, causing destruction in the environment due to the impact of his force.The demon leader advanced to meet him too. Both of them brandished their weapons and screamed.*Hhhhhhhhhhhh*As the blow landed it shook the entire forest. They began to exchange blows midair.“You think you can defeat me? What gives you this courage? You’re barely in the S rank class, fighting against an SS Class. Do you really think you can defeat me? Hahahaha!” the demon leader taunted, easily countering each of Aric's attacks.The S- Rank Class is a rare achievement, but it pales in comparison to the higher SS- Rank class. The difference is not even considerable.“No matter my rank, I will fight and defeat you. I don’t care if I die in the process. No one will harm my baby and my wife while I’m alive… Ahhhhh!” Aric declared, he was determined to fight till the end.In an instant, he disappeared into a mist, blending with the dark night. Reappearing behind the demon leader, Aric aimed a swift strike at his head, his daggers poised to strike with deadly precision. But the demon leader was no ordinary foe. The demon Leader smirked, as if he had anticipated the attack, and effortlessly countered the strike with his swords, not even bothering to look.“Divine Shadow and their petty moves,” the demon leader smirked, countering with his swords without even looking. It seemed as if he didn’t care about the ongoing fight.Aric spun rapidly and aimed his daggers at the demon leader’s neck.The demon leader easily evaded the blow by bending. Aric persisted in his attack, moving swiftly on the treetops. He flipped backward, preparing for his next move.“I told you, your attacks mean nothing to me. While we speak, my men are closing in on your wife. Stopping me won’t save you from losing the baby,” the demon leader taunted, laughing as he looked at Aric.The words of the demon leader filled him with anger and the sense of helplessness, knowing he couldn’t prevent the harm that could come to his wife and baby.“As long as I’m here, you won’t lay a finger on my wife,” Aric responded.“Mystic Arts!” he exclaimed, his hands moving in a mysterious manner.The Mystic Arts were typically employed by Divine Sentinels as a self-destructive measure against stronger opponents…..“Are you mad? How could you use the mystic A…” Before he could finish his sentence, a golden energy radiated from Aric.The golden light transformed the dark night into a bright afternoon-like environment.Meanwhile, Stella who was heavily pregnant, had managed to escape the dense forest, running far away from the demons.As the night brightened, Stella turned to look in the direction where her husband might be. Realizing the Mystic Arts signature move, she screamed out,“Noooooo!” Stella clasped her hands on her stomach, crying bitterly, knowing that her husband had just activated the mystic arts self-destruct technique.******Without wasting any more time, the demon leader dropped to his knees, preparing to vanish. However, the man’s body became engulfed in radiant gold energy, expanding rapidly. In the nick of time, he exploded, the energy spreading across a wide distance, obliterating all life forms around.The echoes of the self-destruction reverberated through the devastated forest, leaving a profound impact on its surroundings. Even a lesser-ranked self-destruction has the potential to eliminate a higher-ranked opponent.The only factor that affects the strength of self-destruction is if the person is three ranks higher. The chances of anyone surviving the attack was low.********After the destruction of the entire forest region, Stella was fortunate enough to have survived. Her husband had sacrificed his life to protect her and their baby.Now, she found herself in a nearby town, one of the few that had remained unscathed by the demons.The houses in the city were simple floating structures, resembling bungalows rather than luxurious buildings. This was one of the reasons they had managed to evade detection by the demons.Dehydrated and exhausted, Stella arrived at the residence of midwives at the perfect moment, as her water broke.“Push! The baby is coming… Push! We’re almost there,” the midwife urged, her hands was near Stella’s body as she held the head of the baby that was out.“Hmmmmmm! Eeeerh! I can’t bear it anymore… Hmmmmm!” Stella screamed, feeling as if the weight of the world was on her.“The baby is almost here. Just one more push… Push!!!” the midwife encouraged.“Hmmmmmmmmmmm…!”“Eya! Eya! Eya!”In the midst of pain and exhaustion, Stella pushed through, and the cry of a baby filled the room.“Congratulations, you have given birth to a boy,” one of the midwives said, holding the bloody baby in her hands.Stella, visibly exhausted, smiled as she looked at her baby in the midwife’s hands, then closed her eyes.Overwhelmed by pain and fatigue, Stella fell into a deep sleep.“Wake up and leave… The demons are here… Take the chosen one out of here. My sister and I will stall for time…”Stella immediately sat down on the bed which she was lying. She couldn’t believe that she had finally given birth to her son. She stared at him and tears of joy streamed down her cheeks.“No time for explanations, leave now. I guess you’re in the A-rank class?”“How do…” Stella couldn’t complete her statement as they immediately handed her baby to her arms. “Yes, I am,” she was completely shocked again.“That means you’re capable of moving. I guess most of your injuries have healed. There is an underground basement, follow there and take the path that leads to the teleportation array. But it’s quite far, keep following that path to get to the array.” One of the other lady explained to her as she went and opened the floorboard that would lead to the basement.“What about you guys? Aren’t you coming with me?” Stella asked, staring at them with a sad expression.“Don’t worry a
“Well, well! We’ve finally found the lost sheep!” a voice echoed from behind. It belonged to the assistant demon leader, accompanied by other S-Class Ranking demons. The two S-Ranking ladies had reduced the number of S-Class Rankers, dealing a heavy blow to the demon clan. The town had been burnt to ashes, killing everyone in it.“Thought you could run, but you were still found. Guess you’re not so lucky. Just the fact that your husband killed our master will be your death sentence. I thought you were still pregnant. I would have ripped the baby out of your womb if you were,” glared the assistant demon leader, giving a wicked smirk to Stella.“Take the child away, drain its blood, and kill the mother too,” he ordered. The remaining demons approached Stella, each wielding different weapons, some with guns and arrows.“I wouldn’t let you guys harm my baby! Not now, not ever!” Stella exclaimed. As the words left her mouth, her baby levitated in the air, her eyes glowing gold like a torch
High above the clouds, beyond the expanse of the sun and galaxy, amidst an endless void, a being sat upon a golden throne. The radiance emanating from its face made it nearly impossible for anyone to catch a glimpse.“I can see her faith in me. And for that, I shall save her child’s life,” declared the godlike being, its voice echoing through the golden surroundings. “Talon come forth! Your are answering the same name as the child. I want you to take the body of the lowborn. You will loose all your memories too.”Talon, who was once a human, ascended to Godhood, becoming a demigod. He had faithfully served God and witnessed the annihilation of mankind. Due to his unwavering faith, he was granted the opportunity to ascend to Godhood and enter heaven.“His mother was faithful to me. I will grant her son the chance to ascend to Godhood someday,” declared the heavenly being.“You will inhabit the body of this child, and all your memories will be erased. You will have no recollection of y
Ten years later.October 12, 2093. Phoebe and Denim wanted to take care of Talon, but they couldn’t. They couldn’t risk being outlaws or jeopardize their high-paying jobs. Their line of work was too dangerous to bring a child into. In this era, finding a well-paying job was challenging due to the ongoing wars between demons and humans. The only lucrative jobs involved hunting monsters, demons, or working as a healer.Becoming a healer wasn’t easy, though. It required possessing the rare virtues of a holy mage. If you weren’t born into a mage bloodline, acquiring the Divine Virtues was nearly impossible. Talon had been left in the Safe Zone as a baby, a camp for refugees. The camp housed over 20,000 displaced individuals, but despite its size, it struggled to accommodate everyone.Although it was called the Safe Zone, its security relied heavily on S-Class Rankers, making it almost impenetrable to demons. However, the Alliance, despite being capable, didn’t provide the refugees with e
It was a scorching hot afternoon, the sun at its peak. Talon found himself cornered by Arion and his gang at the street corner where his shanty was located.“I’ll show you the strength of my Arcane Energy, something you’ve never witnessed before. Once I’m done with you, you’ll be nothing but my tool!” Arion shouted, his bulky body trembling with anticipation.To accumulate enough Arcane Energy, it typically takes about two years of training. Before awakening, children usually spend that time building up their energy reserves.Arion charged at Talon, unleashing his Indomitable Charge, a basic -F Class Ranking skill for Sanctifiers in the Order of the Divine Sentinel. Sanctifiers were like warriors who fought demons in one-on-one combat, relying on brute strength rather than weapons.As Arion charged, the other two boys, Divine Guardians, followed suit, wielding small, broken shields. It was clear that their parents could barely afford shields made by a Heavenly Artificer.Talon felt he
After a while, he managed to stand up. He sobbed bitterly, as not having parents had always been a challenging burden for him. He had never experienced the privileges that children with parents enjoyed.He surveyed his small shanty, now distorted from its usual shape. Clutching his stomach, the rumbling noise it made was audible. Desperate, he searched for somewhere to find his next meal. Suddenly, a black hover van appeared out of nowhere. Strange, bulky men wearing masks emerged from the vehicle.They approached Talon with the intention of taking him. “Hey! Please… I’m…” Talon tried to speak, but they swiftly covered him with a black sack, sedated him, and loaded him into the van before speeding away.There had been recent cases of missing children, but the alliance did not take it seriously. They had no concern for the low-born. A mysterious organization conducted research on children aged ten to twelve. Their sole purpose is to find a way to ascertain the Divine Virtues even tho
Talon and the boy exchanged conversations. This was the first time in Talon's life that he had talked to someone for such a long time. They both felt like they could understand each other very well."My name is Talon… so what's your name, if I may ask?" Talon asked, waiting for a reply from the boy."I don't really have a name. I just go by the name people around call me… Small." Small said his name because whenever he told people his name, Small, they would always have a laughing reaction."Small… that's a cool name..It's different from the usual names I've come across. I like it." Talon smiled warmly at Small.Small was quite surprised not to see Talon laugh at his name and he didn't see any ill intent in Talon's words."I've never had someone to care for me, but the only thing I was fortunate to have was this medallion," Talon said as he stared at the medallion he had worn since childhood. "It was left by my mom. She was killed by demons, and I vow to eradicate the entire existenc
Two years later…January 10, 2095Immediately after Talon saw his stats, he was shocked to find that he had 150 points without having done anything. God was truly faithful to him. Talon and Small moved on to the next phase, which was the training. Two years had passed like a fleeting wind.In a grand hall stood two boys who were approximately 5 feet tall. They were dressed in black leather outfits with a blue stripe at the corner. They wore black shiny combat boots. Maneuvering through androids positioned at every corner, they ran towards a red line that was 150 feet away from them.They exchanged blows with the androids, their strikes barely visible to ordinary people.“Small, you’re not as fast as me. You’re too slow. You need to do better,” Talon said as he backflipped, avoiding a strike aimed at his face. The sharp metallic blade extended from the android’s arm barely missed Talon’s leg as he spun backward, legs wide open in the air.Small was running too, watching Talon’s moves a