Greedy

The sky was dyed red as the sound of swords clashing and magic being cast spread throughout the battlefield.

On the said battlefield, which was once a beautiful castle, a fortress for the humans, was now filled with destruction and blood, as countless humans fought off against the demons.

Most of the demons were humanoid, some had wings and flew to the sky, while others resembled monsters such as goblins, kobolds, and even dragons.

One figure stood out on the battlefield, as the figure waved its hand, light manifests in the battlefield as it proceeded to kill the demons around the figure.

The figure was a girl, she had shining platinum white hair and piercing grey eyes.

The Brightest Star, Marie Elysia.

'Tsk, how did these demons even bypass the barrier of the fortress?!'

Marie thought as she continued manipulating the light to her bidding and killing the demons who stood in her way.

The fortress that was once the strongest stronghold of humanity now resembled that of an ancient ruin.

Marie was still confused about how the demons were able to bypass the barrier magic, it was a foolproof magic barrier that Selena Schwartz herself cast, unless...

"Someone intentionally manipulated the barrier from the inside!"

But Marie's brainstorming was interrupted as a roar resounded and a massive dragon flew towards her, a monster of high caliber that she didn't expect to arrive.

'The demons even have a dragon?!'

"[Taunt]!"

A man shouted as the dragon switched targets and flew towards him, as the dragon used its fire breath which the man blocked with his shield, Marie took the opportunity and immediately rushed towards the dragon.

"[Hourglass of the Genius]!"

The surroundings around her lost their color as everything became monochrome, the dragon slowed down significantly to the point that time almost stopped.

This was Marie's skill, Hourglass of the Genius, a skill that can slow down time around her for a certain duration, while everything seemed slow in her eyes, to the others Marie is moving close to the speed of light.

As the dragon was finally in contact with her, she bent her right leg and extended her left leg, she quickly unsheathed her sword, and then simply sheathed the sword back to its scabbard.

"[Lumina Sword Style]..."

"[First Form: Raikiri]."

A bright slash of light appeared on the dragon as the surroundings returned to their normal flow state, as the dragon then fell down to the ground with half of its body split into two, clearly confused and wondering how it perished just like that.

"Ha, as flashy as ever, Marie Elysia."

"I could say the same to you, as sturdy as always, Sir Mark."

Mark Rocel simply chuckled at her response, and stomped at the dragon's dead body, making sure it was actually dead.

"As you somewhat guess, someone did manipulate the barrier from the inside, that's how these demons are able to get inside the fortress without consequences."

"But who...?"

"Probably someone with high authority within the army, that ungrateful bastard dared to join hands with the demons!"

"Do you know who did it?"

"I'm not sure, but whoever I'm thinking of likely is the one who did."

The atmosphere around the battlefield quickly changed as a warp portal appeared in the middle of the battlefield right in the sky, as demons far stronger than they had faced exited the portal and started wreaking havoc.

"This is bad! I need to go help them!"

"Stop right there, Marie!"

"Wha- why?!"

"It's better off for you to retreat and head back to the Holy Church, it's best for you to request backup fast!"

"But!"

"You do not have the energy to fight right now, let me handle everything from here!"

Mark sternly shouted at Marie who was clearly tired, she had been fighting off the demons for quite some time, and using [Hourglass of the Genius] took a big toll on her body.

"Get out of here now!"

Marie bit her lip in frustration but still complied, as a few soldiers called by her also went together with her, not knowing that this would be the last time Marie would see Mark.

Mark looked back at her silhouette, sensing a familiarity between her and someone else.

'She really is just like you, huh...'

'It truly is a shame, I think both of you would have been great together...'

Mark gazed at the now flickering portal, as a person's feet came out of it, followed by its body, and then finally the person's visage was revealed.

'Looks like we have to settle our score once and for all...'

'My old friend.'

...

'Eugene Moore.'

'Who are you?'

Marie wondered as she stared at Eugene in contemplation.

As someone who has the power to influence one of the two powerful players in the future, Marie must keep a watchful eye on Eugene and try to persuade him to join her side.

Despite her intention to change things, she was aware that the timeline had already been disrupted by unforeseen events, because of Eugene Moore.

Though, by the time she sliced that damned man's head off, the original timeline has already been thrown out the window, as one of the catalysts that led to a major event had been killed.

In the first timeline, Agnus Grey was the one who saved Mari from death and made her join the survivor camp.

Despite her gratitude to him in the first timeline, she could only think of him now coldly.

Agnus Grey had to die.

In the future, as the war between humans and demons began, he showed his true colors, betrayed humanity, and joined in the hands of the demons.

His betrayal was one of the main reasons for humanity's downfall against the demons, which also led to the death of Mark Rocel and Selena Schwartz, further crippling the fighting power of humanity.

She absolutely couldn't let that happen again.

...

As the four of them navigated through the forest, well mostly just Marie leading the way while the three followed her like ducks.

A vast camp appeared before them, filled with goblins ranging from warriors, and archers, not to mention the hobgoblins, and even the goblin shamans.

Eugene motioned to Mark who nodded and carried him on his shoulders as Eugene took a good look at the camp.

'[Insight].'

[Status]

[Goblin]

-[Stats]-

[Strength: 6] [Common]

[Stamina: 6] [Common]

[Endurance: 7] [Common]

[Dexterity: 6] [Common]

[Intelligence: 4] [Fodder]

[Magic Power: 0] [Fodder]

-[Skills]-

[None]

-[Overall Rating]-

[...]

...

[Status]

[Hobgoblin]

-[Stats]-

[Strength: 11] [Rare]

[Stamina: 7] [Common]

[Endurance: 12] [Rare]

[Dexterity: 3] [Fodder]

[Intelligence: 7] [Common]

[Magic Power: 0] [Fodder]

-[Skills]-

[Tribal Call: Lv.1] [Rare]

-[Overall Rating]-

[...]

...

[Status]

[Goblin Shaman]

-[Stats]-

[Strength: 5] [Fodder]

[Stamina: 6] [Common]

[Endurance: 8] [Common]

[Dexterity: 4] [Fodder]

[Intelligence: 15] [Rare]

[Magic Power: 17] [Rare]

-[Skills]-

[Undead Magic: Lv.1] [Epic]

-[Overall Rating]-

[Eugene Moore might be more useful if he would be resurrected using Undead Magic.]

'Undead Magic, that's troublesome...'

If the goblin shaman were just a mere mage type, even with just three of them, without Mari, they wouldn't be having a hard time dealing with the goblins.

'I don't know much about the full prowess of the goblin shaman's Undead Magic, so it would be best to be careful and figure out how that skill works first.'

Eugene tapped Mark's shoulders as he was put down on the ground, and then Selena asked him.

"What now, big brother?"

"There's approximately thirty goblins, ten hobgoblins, and then two goblin shamans."

"Goblin shamans?"

"Goblins that basically use magic."

Marie's attention was drawn because of Eugene's detailed analysis of the camp, while she also observed from the sidelines.

"Me and Mark already know how strong a hobgoblin is, especially when they go to their berserk state, which is why this is our plan..."

Eugene called everyone's attention as he explained his plan, it was foolproof and mostly the safest way to tackle this kind of enemy, and then Mari suddenly asked.

"What's with not killing the goblins?"

Mark and Selena also nodded in agreement, seemingly confused by Eugene's plan that included no killing of goblins.

"Oh, it's because of the shaman, I'm not too sure about its skills and abilities."

"Although there's only two of them, with the goblins counting to thirty, while hobgoblins that are stronger than them are less than ten, there might be a pattern here."

"The weakest are many while the strongest are only a few, so we can't be too sure about these two, especially when we have no idea how strong they are."

"In most cases in the games I played, these goblin shamans are mage-type monsters but there might be a chance that..."

"It's a goblin shaman that can use some magic that can reanimate the dead, something like a necromancer, and turn the dead goblins into undead."

"That's why I think we should avoid killing goblins, and instead let Mari who is stronger out of all of us take down the goblin shamans first before we start killing them off."

Eugene explained while also making up bullshit on the spot, he couldn't just reveal how his skill works, even if they are people whom he trusts.

He already knew how stupidly broken this skill of his is.

While Mark and Selena digested the information Eugene gave to them, Marie looked at Eugene in astonishment, surprised by his wits and knowledge.

'His intellect and planning are quite good, but his guess about the goblin shaman being able to use Undead Magic is impressive.'

'Is it just a coincidence?'

Feeling an intense gaze towards him, Eugene glanced towards Marie who was looking at him, as he felt like daggers were shot at him through her eyes.

'Shit! Did I do something wrong?!'

'No wait, the way she gazes at me intensely...'

'Well, I can't blame her. I didn't think I was also this handsome either, looks like my plan of seducing her is starting sooner than I expected.'

Eugene shamelessly thought to himself as Marie noticed something was off. Her gaze intensified, thinking that he just thought of something stupid now, which made him pour a sweat.

"Umm, is there something on my face, Miss Marie?"

"Nothing, I just thought that your plan was truly amazing."

"Really?"

'Oh my! How good it feels to be complimented by my future wi-'

"But I'm afraid that the three of you won't be fighting."

"Eh?"

Marie started walking towards the camp as her normally black luscious hair suddenly glowed, gaining its platinum white appearance again, while her black eyes turned to grey once more.

She opened the palm of her hands as a beam of light manifested on her hand, changing its shape until it resembled that of a sword.

"And also, please drop the 'miss' from now on."

"Call me Marie, just Marie. Okay?"

She looked back at Eugene with a small smile, making Eugene forget his original objective for a while.

"See you later!"

And with that, Marie rushed to the goblins with outstanding speed as Eugene finally came to his senses.

'Fuck! That greedy woman!'

'Even if you were insanely beautiful just now...'

'I can't let you hog those free stat points all for yourself!'