Chapter 128 - A Nobility's Carriage?
As the element of chaos struck Seven\'s abdomen, his fist sank a little before the light pushed him away, radiating a heat that vaporized sweat. Then, as the blades of light struck at him, Nikolai\'s shield blocked it without any effort.
[-521 DMG!]
Of course, the damage was insane. However, this man wasn\'t the only one who could inflict damage more than his strength stats. As the chaotic energy infiltrated Seven\'s body, he coughed up, and blood leaked out of his mouth.
Nikolai reached out to the chains and pulled his weapons back. They flew in an arch of destruction directly toward the two people. However, Nikolai whipped out his chain and changed the target of one of the blades.
Before the two monstrous pets could stop him, his blade struck the infant sea serpent, ending its life. It gave a dying scream as the blind sea serpent fell to its demise before the Abyssal Art.
"No, no, no!"
Twelve rushed toward the serpent, but it was dead. Nikolai\'s blade gave it no chance to resist, tearing it into two in a second. Even if this monster was of the E-rank, Nikolai\'s darkness and Abyssal Art allowed him to bring destruction.
"You bastard," the voice of Seven was rageful as he struck at Nikolai, striking him squarely in the chest. Nikolai\'s shield stood strong, and he smirked in return as he attacked toward the man\'s neck.
The light prevented him from killing Seven, and Nikolai had to fall back. The cave began crumbling after the scream of the sea serpent which summoned its parent.
The giant sea serpent rushed into the cave, slithering toward the group with rageful agony. When it witnessed the body of its child, torn apart and lifeless, the serpent\'s body began giving a blinding searing light.
The dragon gave a roar that shook the heavens, its intelligent eyes full of grief at the loss of its child. Twelve rushed toward Nikolai to grab him, but the latter disappeared from existence.
There were only Seven and Twelve left in the chamber, and they had to suffer the wrath of the dragon. A heaven-shaking battle occurred that shouldn\'t have happened in Nikolai\'s previous life, and he was the sole culprit for it.
***
"They should be gone now, right?" Nikolai sat on top of the giant machine, studying his art and tending to his pocket dimension. It has been half a day since he slipped into his pocket dimension and waited for the two pets to suffer the wrath of the serpent.
Nikolai could imagine Sergio shaking his head with disapproval as he sat beside him. However, Nikolai tried to explain that he had no other choice. If Lilith obtained the sea serpent, humanity would suffer a bigger blow than a moral one.
As a last resort, Nikolai decided to stick to his methods and kill the monster, making sure it would never end up in the hands of the princess. Furthermore, this was the perfect trap for the two to suffer at the hands of the sea dragon.
After he left his pocket dimension, Nikolai went directly into his stealth. At first glance, he wondered if he was somewhere else, but that couldn\'t be.
The chamber was flattened, and the cave was half destroyed. The space that Nikolai could stand in was barely as big as a small tunnel. As he looked around, there was no one there other than the sizzling mana of light.
Nikolai walked out from between the rubble, and he could see that the ground had been dyed in blood. There were pieces of torn flesh everywhere, and all of them were either scorched or disfigured.
However, the gems were left out. Instead, they were abandoned for a bigger prize. Nikolai made sure that no one was there before he began harvesting the place.
[Absolute Charge: 6968]
As Nikolai picked up the gems and placed them in his dimension, he realized what a devastating battle it would have been if not for his Legendary Skill. First, however, he would need to recharge it because this was only the beginning of such adventures.
The harvesting of gems lasted for two hours, a precious time that he could have spent catching up with Unit 34. However, it was well worth it because, in these two hours, Nikolai gathered more money than he could have in years of his previous life.
After that, Nikolai dived back into the water and swam to the riverbank. The water pooled beneath him as he breathed in the fresh air with labored breaths.
"The army should have gone in that direction," Nikolai muttered within his dark dimension. "Should I follow them or travel alone?"
There was bound to be heavy security at the border, one that Nikolai didn\'t know if he could slip through. But, of course, if he had a ship, it would have been a different matter.
After a few moments, Nikolai decided against following the unit and look for some smugglers instead. There were bound to be human smugglers who had their way into the Rosia Kingdom.
Slave merchants, too.
The trade was sickening to whoever knew of it, but some things were simply a testimony of how corrupted humans were, and Nikolai wasn\'t a human anymore to care.
It seems as if every time he starts feeling like a human, his horns and ears make sure to remind him that he was not. Nikolai walked into the forest before he looked for the tallest tree to climb.
While he ensured he was in stealth, Nikolai looked for a vantage point to look for the nearest settlement. After climbing a tall tree, he looked around the endless mountain ranges, forests, and rivers for anything that resembled a city.
No matter how dangerous it was, there were bound to be cities near borders. After all, not only the army needed supplies, but merchants needed places to rest.
\'There are... none,\' Nikolai sighed as the terrain prevented him from seeing anything resembling civilization. However, as he kept looking around, a shadow passed over him in the sky.
Nikolai snapped his neck upward to witness the loveliest of ships. It looked nothing different from an ordinary vessel, but it signified a nearby city as long as Nikolai followed them.
The only problem was that Nikolai could never match its speed, so he had to make out its general direction to know which direction to take.
After the ship disappeared, Nikolai began running after it. Nikolai had an easy journey despite the E-rank and above monsters since his stealth protected him from being spotted as long as nothing attacked him.
After traveling without rest for a day, Nikolai finally saw another ship going in the same direction. His muscles ached, but he had to keep going.
When he reached the top of a hill, Nikolai finally saw the city walls beside the border. He gave a tired sigh as he slumped down, resting before he began walking.
After taking off his mask, Nikolai wore his headband and removed his cloak. The last thing he needed at the moment was to be suspicious, especially if he was next to the border.
Even if they were enemies, the two kingdoms kept their trade. But, of course, they made sure to exploit the lack of natural resources in their rival\'s kingdom.
As long as it was near the border, humans could be seen commonly. Most of them were traders, merchants, or envoys. Nikolai finally found a trail that he followed toward a road.
The moment he reached the road, a carriage appeared behind him. Nikolai turned back and saw a nobility\'s carriage with several groups of knights surrounding it.
They were human.
They passed by him without slowing down. Nikolai was relieved that they didn\'t try to ask questions, as they seemed to be in a hurry of their own.
However, after he walked another few minutes, he found that the carriage had stopped, and so did the knights. Nikolai wanted to turn back and flee, but he knew that he had no reason to and that it would make the knights pursue him.
The only problem was his inhuman features. Instead, if anyone knew of them, they would be able to tell that he was neither a human nor a beastman.
Beastmen were half-human. So, they could be distinguished from other races. As for Nikolai himself, he looked like the portraits of demons from folk tales.
He kept his pace steady and his bag thrown over his shoulder. A bagless traveler was no different from a fugitive. As he reached the knights, he simply nodded and passed by them.
Nikolai passed by the carriage, hoping that whoever boarded it wouldn\'t be a nosy person. However, against his greatest wishes, the window was thrown open, and two heads peeked from it.
"Hello there," a feminine voice greeted him, and Nikolai turned to see two people staring at him with interest. "Are you a traveler?" the girl asked, and Nikolai knew he was screwed.