Investigating Melen Part 8

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/Clang!/

"URG!"

'Using the cover of the flames while the enemy was in disarray, Silver cut through his enemy's formation, going straight to their leader, the strong girl in the back.'

'He slashed downwards at the black-haired woman, forcing her to block his attack with her knuckle guards, but that was only a faint.'

/Swipe!/

/CUT!/

'Using his feet, he swiped her from underneath before grabbing his Halberd and shoving its sharp end onto her stomach, pinning her onto the ground.'

"GUAH!"

'Her body trembling, she could only hold onto the Halberd's shaft as she tried to lift it from her stomach, but she could not muster the strength to do so as her own body started to fail her.'

'Due to the flames, her body began to burn, causing her to scream in agony as she tried her best to push the Halberd away.'

"Bastard!" Gran exclaimed as he swung his large sword from the side

/CRUNCH!/

'But Silver only gave him a side glance before he jumped back, slamming the back of his head against Gran's face, breaking his nose instantly and forcing him to drop his weapon as his eyes went white.'

"I told you before..."

That's not how you swing a greatsword!

'To not suffer much from the recoil, Silver shifted the bones in his head slightly, thus he suffered little to no damage from the strike.'

/Grab!/

'Silver then grabbed Gran, throwing him violently against one of the nearby houses, blowing its ceiling and with it, the annoying archer.'

/SWING!/

'Following suit, he grabbed Gran's sword, slashing down at the woman's head, planning on taking her out in one swing.'

'He let her live once, that was the only mercy he would ever give her.'

/CLANG!/

"Don't forget about us."

'Intercepting his attack was a man with a spiky tower shield and another man with a large red spear.'

'Just from the gloomy aura and the distorted appearance of their equipment, Silver could immediately tell that those were curse weapons.'

'He had already been slashed by some, causing his wounds to bleed continuously without stopping or decay into a dark mess.'

'His current appearance wasn't pretty to look at.'

It seems Evilus did put some effort into this operation.

"Get him!" The man with the shield exclaimed as he used all of his strength to push Silver back, trying to injure him with the shield spikes as well

"..."

/Grab!/

/CRACK!/

'But Silver grabbed the spikes, holding them far from his body as he slid across the ground.'

'He was confident in himself but he knew when to stop, since allowing himself to get injured by a curse weapon was by far wise.'

'Like a syringe left in the Alley, who knew where it had been? Who knew what curses had been placed around him.'

'He didn't know if such strong Curses were possible, but what if there was an instant Death Curse on it? Maybe even a Sleeping Curse?'

'Regardless, without the versatility of Plasmids, even if Silver wanted to resist his charge and stand his ground, the rock underneath his foot could not.'

'It gave in almost immediately under the force of the man, causing him to slide across the ground... But not fall.'

/Jump!/

/GRAB!/

'Not willing to be pushed around by his opponent, Silver made a crazy move, jumping onto his shoulders as he grabbed his head, smiling like a demon.'

/SLAM!/

'His fist hit the metallic helmet at full power, causing it to dent inward before he kicked the man in the face brutally, sending the man to the ground where he remained, motionless, but alive!'

'Barely...'

/PIERCE!/

/Fwoosh…/

/SLAM!!/

"GUAH!!"

'Taking this opportunity, the spearman tried to cut Silver's neck as he was immobile in the air, but only managed to brush past air as Silver held onto his spear, pulling the man onto him before kicking his stomach with everything he had.'

/Grab… THROW!/

'Silver was like a machine, continuously attacking his opponents relentlessly, not giving them time to breathe.'

'And even when he was injured, he returned the favor by hurting them even more!'

'With the spear in hand, he immediately lifted it over his shoulder, getting into a stance before it throwing towards the woman.'

'Despite the interjection of the spearman and the shield user, she was still breathing heavily on the ground, still trying to remove the Halberd from her stomach so she could heal herself with a potion.'

'So the moment she realized her two warriors had been taken down, she bit her lips as her eyes opened wide.'

"?! Shit!"

/Grab!/

"?!"

/SPLURGE!/

'It was at this moment she grabbed one of the nearby weaker Level 3 adventurers, using him as a shield so she could save herself.'

/Thud… Splat.../

'She then threw his now pierced body onto the ground, staring at Silver with cold eyes as she removed his halberd from her stomach, throwing it on the ground with an angered expression.'

'This slight impasse also gave her subordinates time to regroup, resetting the situation back to how it was just a few moments before.'

'Silver's advantage was now over.'

"Huff..."

Even with the Curses, our numbers, our strength… Albeit it's not like we're not causing him damage, we'll still end up losing at this rate.

The Hermes Familia's whereabouts are currently unknown, they could be back at any minute, and when that happens, we'll all fall together.

This calls for a change in the plans.

"... RETREAT!" She exclaimed out loud as she drank a potion before using the rest on her tummy

"?!"

Already?!

How gutless... Not on my watch.

'Out of everything she could say, Silver didn't expect her to call for a retreat.'

'This was by far the worst scenario, he didn't expect Evilus to be this gutless...'

'But then again, it was too much to expect anything from anyone who wasn't their direct Commander, God, or Dix.'

'Anyone else was just fodder, though she did manage to coordinate these low-lives into some degree of teamwork.'

'She failed to realize that even if their levels were high, their actual capabilities were far from representing it.'

'Nonetheless, she severely underestimated what he could do, likely placing too much faith in numbers and the Curses, and her own plans now bit her back.'

'Although... Her approach wasn't wrong.'

'It's just that Silver knew, from the very start, that relying solely on his Plasmids wasn't the ideal way of growing stronger.'

'He trained his body and techniques from an early age, so the only way of beating him would be to pull someone just as capable to hold him off and a specialized team to weaken him.'

'She had the right idea, only the wrong people to execute it...'

'She had to minimize their loss, so the best thing they could do was to scatter while Silver was unable to stop them.'

'The problem was... Silver would be having none of that.'

'His expression was dark and his displeasure was sky high, after all, none of his goals had been achieved yet.'

'He still had to confirm their identities, and above all, he was just starting to have fun!'

'To think she would bail out so quickly…'

"... Fine then, this wasn't the time to be playing around anyway." Silver said as the flames around his body weakened before vanishing

People are dying and I had enough of this, if I want to have fun, may it be at the cost of the monsters in the Dungeon and only that.

"Huff…"

/HORN!/

"Wha…?!"

/BLAST!/

'Suddenly, the sound of a horn echoed on the streets, blowing away both sand and debris.'

'The woman was suddenly hit with a wave of an indescribable feeling, a mix of wrath and anger that immediately boiled out of proportions.'

'But just as quickly as the moment came, it vanished, leaving her in a state of shock and confusion as she didn't know where to direct her thoughts to.'

'She had a complete blank...'

/Fwoosh!/

'Before they could react, they were all blasted by a powerful impact wave, knocking many of them onto the ground immediately.'

'None rose back up after that, but the woman was still awakened, her eyes trembling in disbelief.'

"Y-You… How can you… Use Magic?!" The woman shrieked out loud as she looked at Silver 

'Right now, he was oozing an extremely strong Magical Signature! How could that be? She was certain that he had been cursed!!'

'Could it be that from the start... He was never cursed?!'

'Many theories went by her head as she tried to make sense of the situation...'

"Humph."

'He did not reply, merely raising his hand and pointing it at her head.'

I'm a bit surprised also, but not really.

This new Skill is just that good… Albeit tiring.

I feel like I just ran a marathon... Phew.

'Decretum Proficiscor, Silver's first active Skill.'

'It did many things when used, but most importantly… It dispels all foreign Abnormalities at when used due to its nature of creating an Anti-Magic Blast originating from within his body, thus cleansing him of any magical effects.'

'Be them good or bad...'

'Silver did not know the extent of 'all', but since Hestia said so, he believed her.'

'Even though Silver's Plasmids could already help him deal with most things anyone could throw at him, this didn't mean he could deal with Magical originated problems as easily.'

'It had always been one of his weaknesses, because if someone cast a spell on him to poison him, how was he supposed to defend himself?'

'He could protect his body from the poison if possible, maybe detoxify it on the spot, but if the Spell was continuous, Silver had no way of removing it from himself unless he had someone dispel it for him.'

'He had items to help him with that tucked away somewhere, but it was an issue nonetheless.'

'Of course, there was the question of the rarity of such spells, because even if he went on and on about his many weaknesses, it was an entirely different matter to find someone that could make use of them.'

'That was why he trained Cassandra so much, she was one of the keys to his weakness.'

'Silver's strength came from his diversity and how complicated it is to find and exploit something he cannot easily fix or act upon.'

'Magic used to be one such problem, but now it was not, at least not as much as before.'

'Silver was unsure if his Skill had a limit, it had to be, otherwise any magical attack could be blocked by it.'

'But for now, Magic and Curse items were not of his concern... Unless it was one made by a God, Silver didn't dare play around with an item made by an upset God, that would surely not bode well...'

'Alas, there was a major problem with this Skill:'

'Due to its very nature, it affected his Plasmids to some extent, causing them to grow unstable whenever used.'

'It didn't mean much if he wasn't using them, but if the Skill was pulled in the middle of a fight, it could lead to a moment of inconsistency, and that was everything an opponent may need to deliver a blow on him.'

'It was rare to see Skills that could affect their wielder in both positive and negative ways, but Silver didn't know if this could be treated as the latter, after all, it did not negate him from using his own Plasmids, it just affected them somewhat.'

'Which was already quite insane.'

'He would have to experiment with it much more to fully realize its potential, but this only reinforced his previous idea, the fact that Plasmids weren't considered Magical Constructs, they were only things that relied on Magical Power to manifest.'

'It was something he needed to research deeply in the future... If he ever had the time for such that is.'

"THIS IS IT!"

/SMASH!/

'While "distracted", Gran reappeared from Silver's side, punching his face with everything he had.'

"Wh... It can't be..."

'But just when he felt he had delivered a fatal blow, only then did he realize that there was a faint film between his fist and Silver's face.'

"!"

He erected a barrier in that…

/CRUNCH!/

"?!?!?!?!?!"

/Thud…/

'Silver did not give Gran the time to react, he immediately counter-attacked with an invisible bullet right to… Between his legs.'

'The man did not even utter a scream as he fell unconscious.'

"..."

What a crazy bastard.

/Shuaaa.../

'The woman looked at Silver as the world around her went dark, clearly something of his doing.'

'She knew there was little she could do if the Curses had little effect on him, in fact, this meant Silver was unstoppable in most scenarios.'

'They would need a much more refined plan… But would she be able to share what happened here with others?'

Somehow... I need to warn them...

'She didn't even know if she would come out alive from this...'

/SMASH!/

…

/At the same time…/

"Huff… Huff…"

'A man ran through the edges of the lake, running through the shores as if in search of something.'

'Climbing over the many sharp rocks, the man eventually arrived at a small open area hidden within the boulders, following it eventually led him to a cavern which he entered without hesitation.'

'The seaside cavern, however, was empty, having nothing inside it.'

'But the man paid it no heed.'

'He walked with his right hand on the wall, seeking something with his fingers, and eventually, the wall caved in…'

/Click…/

'His hand pressed down on a rock, activating a hidden mechanism that opened the wall, revealing a perfectly hidden passage that led into a completely different section of the cavern.'

'The passage and the cavern were very poorly lit without even a single candle around, the only source of light was a weak oil lantern on the man's hand, making visibility within barely possible.'

'There, a large room full of large metal cages, each containing a large serpentine creature… The Violas, stood.'

'This was where they were coming from, the hidden stash where they were kept before being released into the lake!'

/Lights Up!/

"?!"

"Hands up where I can see them! You're under arrest!" Someone exclaimed from the dark as they lit up a light

'The man turned his head in extreme surprise as his eyes bulged open, not expecting someone else to be within the room!'

"Don't stay put! Get your knees and..."

"... Shut it Keaks, now's not the time to play around." Asfi said out loud as she adjusted her glasses, unphased by her partner's childishness

"Haha…"

I got a bit too carried away... I tried to copy Hermes-Sama, but I'm not that good at it...

'Keaks was a bit embarrassed but he threw away his embarrassment by looking at the side and thinking about something else.'

"As for you, don't even think about running." Asfi said as she turned to the man who was caught red-handed

"Captain of the Njord Familia, Rod."

/Gulp.../

"... Haa… I messed up." Rod said out loud as he swallowed dry, his body trembling silently 

"You've been following us…? Since when? I didn't even realize it."

'He looked around, gulping down nervously as he tried to think of what to say.'

'He looked at Asfi, knowing very well what she was about to say, so he took this chance to say:'

"Well… I… That's right! I was the one that…"

"Shut it, leave the words for later." Asfi said in a domineering tone as she looked at Rod

I know he wasn't the one to release the Violas in the city, he's too shy for that.

Instead...

"Njord-Sama, I'll ask that you follow us also, peacefully at that." She added as she looked at a rock on the side

"..."

/Step…/

"How did you notice me?" Njord asked on the side as he stepped out from behind a rock

"Tracking powder." Asfi said out loud as she took a small bag from within her robe

"It wasn't me who set it on you thought." She added lightly, as if unwilling to take responsibility for it

"!!..."

'Njord finally remembered, when he met Hermes, the first thing he did was tap his shoulder…'

"That bastard, from the beginning… He never treated me like a player did he?" Njord said with a sigh as his expression went down

He's always been like this...

I was but a pawn in his game board, regardless if I was the King or the Queen, I was just a piece in his board.

"We are already aware neither of you two are the culprits behind this."

'She turned to Rod, saying:'

"You were the one that ignited the signal flare, wasn't it? You made it rather obvious."

"..."

"By now Hermes-Sama should be gathering with the others around the Guild Branch, so please, follow us there as well."

"T-The Guild? What does this have to do with this?!" Rod asked in disbelief as he looked at Asfi

"... It's simple." She replied as she took another bag from her robe, throwing it on the ground

"We've already figured it out, there's nothing else to hide now."

'Asfi didn't bother to explain what she meant, from his eyes, Njord already knew what she meant.'

'But Rod couldn't understand what was going on at all.'

'Rod only knew that the Violas were a monster his God used to protect them, he didn't know anything else…'

'He tried to take the blame for setting them out, that was why he was here, to confirm if any had escaped, but when he realized that they were all still here, his body trembled in the fear of the consequences of such a realization.'

'Could it be his God was hiding something from him? From everyone? Something so dire and vile that could potentially incriminate him for life?'

'Rod could not accept it, not from Njord, he was the last God he believed would ever do such a thing.'

'That was why he was in denial, complete refusal of everything around him.'

"You reason for coming here... Is it due to the 'Monster Repellent magic Powder', isn't it?"

"..."

"I won't beat around the bush." 

'Asfi's expression grew cold.'

"Njord, are you part of Evilus or not?"

"..."

"?!"

'A standoff between a God and three mortals began.'

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Notes