Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Adam felt torn as he didn't know how to feel. On one hand, he was relieved that he was not wrong about the beast's weakness, on the other hand, he felt disappointed that the beast was not actually dead. Was he happy or sad about the current state of battle? His difficulty in discerning just grew as the fight continued.

Was he really that weak? Or was the creature of Minas Mar this strong? Should he be glad that they managed to be kind of allies with Minas Mar, or was he afraid that they had these kinds of weapons hidden in their sleeves?

His own struggle suddenly seemed so... vain, as he watched from a distance as the Promethean Eagle dominated the battle. Poison breath and death magic had no effect on the eagle, while the Questing Beast's powerful body could compete with the eagle either!

Every time it tried to jump and bite at the mechanical fiend, the eagle was a step quick and would grasp its long neck with its sharp claws and start trouncing it around. The bird would lift the creature into the air and smack it against the walls or crash it into the ground.

Although the beast only suffered superficial wounds, the whimpers, and cries of pain, like a suffering pack of wolves kept echoing through the facility. So what if it did suffer any great injuries, it was experiencing incredible pain, whenever the eagle hit it with lightning or physically attacked it.

Finally, the beast couldn't take it anymore. It had been evading the attacks of the eagle for a while, but now it decided to run. With a quick and agile jump, it fled through a passage leading away from the facility. It was the first time Adam saw it leave the facility.

“Why are you running!?” Ceres exclaimed incensed and started the pursuit.

The tormentor wasn't going to let the creature escape any time soon. The two powerful creatures vanished into the passage, leaving the group of adventurers behind, to witlessly look after them them. They came to their senses a minute later.

“Where does that passage lead?” Mike asked in the group.

“We closed it some time ago, but that one would lead outside after a while,” one of Adam's followers answered the question, clear about the fact, that the beast would probably break through the fall if it really intended to get away from the bird.

“It's doomed,” Lydia commented aptly.

“Why do you think so? If it gets out, it will have more options to flee and hide,” another man of the group mentioned.

“From what the Tower Master said, Ceres was originally a storm elemental. Do you think a storm elemental could unfold its true power underground? Once they are outside, this fight will only become more one-sided.” Mike explained.

The group gulped, even Adam. It wasn't just them that were surprised about the eagle's power. Mike and Lydia were also clueless about the way it had become so powerful. They didn't know its current level, but it had to be high. How had Ceres managed to accumulate so much Power of Existence, when these golems were usually hidden from the public?

“Maybe we should follow them?” Adam finally suggested

“Yeah, maybe we should...” Lydia agreed and Mike agreed. Awkwardly, the group got on the move and followed the two calamities on their way through the passage and outside.

…

--- Little Sigma---

An explosion disrupted the peace of Little Sigma.

A wild chase with short skirmishes was ensuing across the gaps between the high-rising tree buildings of Little Sigma. A group of figures in white robes was chasing a young girl, barely a woman, across the city.

How had they found her? She desperately thought as he squeezed out every ounce of mana to escape. Just when everything had started turning for the better, why did they have to appear again? Why couldn't they let her go?

“You can not escape us! You have the Mark of Gatris and won't be able to escape!”

Gatris this, Gatris that! She wished she had never met that weird priestess that night. Her family risked everything to help her escape so she could look for help back when they were captured by the weird drug dealers.

Looking back, she had been so naive. He had even cried tears of sadness when she thought that that “nice” old priestess had actually sacrificed herself to help her escape. How stupid she was! When she tried to get help, the priests of Gatris ushered her into their branch in Delta.

How glad she had been, that finally someone was listening to her, only for her childish trust to be betrayed once again. They had captured her, imprisoned her! They did nothing to help her at all, she only fell into their trap.

When the old priestess suddenly returned, she finally understood that, but it was too late. The priests put a curse on her, who was not even old enough to get a class, and together with other children they were let into a wide subterranean mass hall where she saw the face of Gatris for the first time.

Gatris, the Goddess of Dark Mercy was an ugly crone with a ripped open mouth and demonic fangs. Although she had just seen a statue, the aura it gave was one of indomitable power, despite the skinny and emaciated looks of an elderly woman.

The children were forced to go through a ritual where they slit their wrists over a massive cauldron and afterward had to drink the mixture from a golden horn. None of them knew the purpose of the strange ritual, but it was clearly nothing good. She was convinced the only reason she survived, was because a few days afterward, the church was attacked by the weird drug dealers and she managed to escape with a group of other children.

Afterward, things started turning for the better once Minas Mar started interfering everywhere. Her family and friends were saved by the golem Knights and they had migrated to Minas mar the moment they opened their borders.

After that, everything seemed well, until she got her class recently. In the room of the system god, she did not have a choice and was given the class “Lamb of Gatris”. The problem wasn't that it was a weak class.

On the contrary, it was quite powerful. Resembling an assassin class focused on quick kills, it came with many skills that increased her physical stats and attributes. On top of that, she was able to collect additional attribute points through a secondary power earned from killing opponents on the same or higher level with a single attack to the vitals.

However, it came at a price, a Lamp was meant for slaughter. She had just changed her class a week ago, and only two days later these people of the Church of Dark Mercy appeared at their door and demanded that her parents handed her over. Back then they left, only leaving a threat.

Today, they had actually ambushed her at the adventurer school, leading to the current situation of her running away. Behind her, several of the teachers, adventurers from the Pathworks as well and natives, had engaged the group of priests when they realized what was going on.

“Argh!” she heard the cry of one of her professors. Looking back for only a moment, she tripped and tumbled, interrupting her <Sprintgt; skill. Losing the buff of <Sprintgt; the last two priests quickly caught up with her. A hit that felt like it crushed her spine, catapulted her into a restaurant beside the street.

She broke through the big glass windows of the establishment and left a swath of destruction consisting of broken furniture, plates, and spilled food before she finally came to a halt. She was filled with pain and covered with bruises and food.

Miserably she looked to the entrance where the two priests entered through the broken window. It was over, she had no more strength to run, or even move. She was desperately hoping for the city security to finally arrive, had they not bought enough time? It was her only hope. Interpreting her desperate gaze outside, one of the priests sneered.

“Forget it, neither your teachers nor the security will come any time soon. We already made sure there is something more important for them to do,” he said and cackled when her face fell in despair. The two figures stepped closer to her when somebody spoke up.

“Hey, how are you going to compensate me for this? You threw a girl into my soup, that is not acceptable. I have a long journey behind me, and I was really looking forward to this,” a bear of a man rose from his seat and stepped over the broken table, the girl had smashed on her way inside.

The man wore a dilapidated armor, but it couldn't diminish his powerful aura and righteous bearing.

“Don't interfere. This is the business of the Church of Dark Mercy.” the calmer priest threatened the giant man. The next moment all the priest could see was the palm of the hand, so big that it could grasp his whole head. Not that he could really think about what he was seeing, as his mind was filled with pain, as the hand started pressing down on his skull.

“What do you think you are doing?” the other priest asked and quickly attacked the massive man with a pair of sickles he brought out from under his robe. They slashed at the man's arm attempting to sever it, but could barely leave a mark on his flesh.

“I'm Gallwell Ropartz, the leader of Gamma Resistance and Chosen of Tyr”

With that, he crushed the priest's head in his hand like a grapefruit, at the same time his other hand balled into a fist and punched the one who attacked him. The man's chest simply caved in from the force before he limply fell to the ground. Then he turned to the bug that had been thrown into his soup.

“Girl, you better have a good explanation for why I just had to dirty my hands.”