Book 9, Chapter 70

A New Military Force

Back in Faelor, Richard had just annihilated another of the reaper squadrons before falling headfirst to the ground. He panted endlessly, lacking the will to force himself back up. Nasia walked towards him and kicked his rear, “Get up and drink your potions, you still need to melt this scrap metal so we can go kill the next batch!”

He remained motionless on the ground, refusing to move as he struggled to lift his hand and stretch it out, “Five minutes! Please, even three is enough!”

“I’m not giving you one. Get up, or I’m stabbing you!” she said as she poked his butt with the tip of her longsword. While Richard’s skin was tough, it parted immediately and started leaking drops of blood.

When he still didn’t move, she dropped all hints of friendliness. Pulsing with killing intent, she pulled her sword back at stabbed straight for his anus with flames lining her blade. Richard jumped from the ground in shock, barely turning around to see the deep hole that had been stabbed in the ground. The lining had been completely crystallised; if he had taken the hit, even his demonic blood wouldn’t protect him from being blunt.

Each one of Nasia’s swords was as powerful as all three of his combined. Richard didn’t want a taste of it even if he reached level 36 in the future, let alone now. His expression turned especially ugly as he heard a gentle laugh nearby, and he turned to glower at the offender who looked away in a panic. Waterflower’s shoulders were still bouncing as she tried to restrain herself, but in that one moment he saw a sense of nostalgia in her eyes.

Before Richard could even curse, a handful of potions were thrown his way. He downed them all in one go, sitting down to meditate. Everyone around couldn’t help a smile, but their gazes towards him were filled with veneration. He had been heavily injured this time, giving them the chance to enjoy the boosts Nasia could grant, but they realised this pinnacle of buffs came with a painful price. It took a huge toll on one’s energy, and when it wore off the fatigue could turn someone insane. One felt like they had been hollowed out, every bone itching so hard that they felt like mutilating themselves. Ironshield even had to cut himself a dozen times before he managed to calm down.

And this was all from War King. Nasia explicitly told the rest of them that the Projection of Ruin was Richard’s specialty; even legends couldn’t handle its power and could tire themselves out to death. In a similar case, most saints only enjoyed a brief period of War Fanatic before they started to dry out. Knowing this, the fact that Richard had Nasia cast the Projection of Ruin every battle was frightening. Even worse, he couldn’t simply rest like the other powerhouses when they were done; he still needed to drink mana potions and recover, using his blue flames to refine the wreckage. The inhuman determination this needed garnered more respect than any words or killing ever could.

For some reason, Nasia seemed to have it out for Richard as well, driving him like a tyrant as she refused to give him even five minutes of rest. Moreover, her threats were the only ones that actually got him moving. Everyone present squeezed their buttcheeks when she brandished her sword; what had been instinct for Waterflower so long ago had been weaponised by the paladin.

Only ten minutes later, Richard was done with meditation and had finished off the reaper remains. Everyone then flew back to Bluewater and offloaded the energy cores before resupplying and heading off to their next targets. The broodmother could have handled this herself, but with the prior sneak attack on the capital, Richard would rather spend as much time as he could close to the city just in case. The broodmother didn’t actually believe they would attack again— in her opinion, the ocean had much more flesh to offer now than the few people that remained— but he refused to take the risk.

However, Richard was met with two unexpected visitors upon his return to Bluewater Oasis: Mountainsea’s mother and father.

“We’re here to participate in the reward point battlefield,” Greyhawk explained with a smile.

“Huh? Which one, the dragons or the demons?”

“The reapers.”

“The what… Oh, right,” he shook his head, trying to regain some clarity. He had almost forgotten that there was a reward mechanic for fighting the reapers. Despite the three divine weapons on offer, even epic beings like Ruben didn’t want to take the risk. Returning to his senses, he looked at the two with suspicion, “In that case, I hope you can give me a good reason to accept you.”

Asa was an epic being, while Greyhawk with his now jet black hair was somewhat of a mystery even to Richard himself. The addition of the two would definitely be a huge boost in the battle against the reapers, but knowing what he did about the Prince’s background he simply couldn’t take on the risk.

Greyhawk flashed a dry smile, “I’ve come here for knowledge. The reapers hold many secrets of the universe.”

“Spoken like a true High Scholar,” Richard’s eyes narrowed.

“I know you want all Scholars dead. I was indeed in their order in the past, even a potential successor to the castle lord, but I have withdrawn and am a free individual. My thirst for knowledge is far more pure, the same as your desire for power.”

“Why did you leave?” Richard pressed on.

Asa frowned at this insistence, snorting as she pulsed her bloodlust into an aura. However, Richard smiled calmly as a red glow shot out from his own body, crushing her aura immediately before fading away. The barbarian’s eyes went wide in surprise; his killing intent actually surpassed her own! How could someone so young have more combat experience than her?

Greyhawk allowed the tiny contest to play out before tapping his wife’s hand, calming her down as he turned back to Richard, “I understand why you are so resentful; I would be the same. Of course, I have my own ways to deal with them, but that doesn’t affect you. I left Soremburg because I found something more important than chasing the root of existence, something more meaningful.”

The Prince lifted Asa’s hand as he said this, his gentle expression immediately melting the heart of the cold warrior as she pulled him in for a hug. Richard found himself speechless at the sight, but after a moment of consideration he decided that their involvement would be a benefit to Faelor. The two would need no support, capable of hunting down reaper squadrons all on their own. He would only need to assign messengers to them.

“Do you want to meet Mountainsea?” he asked, “We can be there in a few minutes.”

“No need,” Asa shook her head, “We will have other chances after we deal with the enemy. Is there anything to take note of?”

“A lot, actually, but… Tell you what, I was about to head out for a hunt in a bit. Let’s act together, you should be able to assess the enemies in one fight. You two can then act independently afterwards, I’ll leave you with a contact for any supplies you need.”

“Alright. I also heard there are three divine weapons we can earn from this battlefield,” Asa suddenly said.

Richard was taken aback by the forthrightness, but he still managed to respond, “Yes, but they are already in the reward point system with a fixed price. I have some other divine weapons if you still want some.”

Greyhawk raised an eyebrow in surprise, “There are five divine weapons in the exchange system, and you still have more on hand? Are you a divine weaponsmith as well?”

Richard sighed, “Heh, I’m not even the person with the most divine equipment here.”

Nasia, who had been standing nearby all this while, suddenly changed to an elegant stance. A blinding glow emitted from her body as all of her divine equipment was activated in tandem, forming a field of white light around her. Asa and Greyhawk froze in astonishment as they noticed the current of divine symbols in the light, losing their speech for a moment in the face of her power.

The two exchanged looks before Greyhawk forced a smile, “Alright Richard, I have to admit that you surprised me. But we’ve already seen the list and are interested in all three of those weapons; I have some items to exchange for points.”

Richard was handed a simple leather pack with a dozen items within, and as he started looking through it his heart started to race.