Alator stared at the man. This was the same man that was asking him questions in the armored vehicle earlier.
"Why did you come here?" the man asked.
Alator was confused by the unexpected question. "What do you mean?" Alator couldn't help but ask. Still standing within the burning flames.
The man chuckled and shook his head. "You are clearly a Dormant, still you choose to come here. Do you really want to die so badly?"
The realization finally struck Alator as he thought to himself, "So he already knew."
"I don't know what gave you the courage to follow us to this place, but I think you need to leave immediately, unless you are planning to die here," the man said and turned to face the Bloodscale Serpent. Meanwhile, the fire surrounding them was beginning to die down as well.
"I will hold them, you leave," the man said. Alator narrowed his eyes as he saw the man walked through the fire without being burnt. Of course, this was his fire after all, hence couldn't harm him. This man was a Late Stage Advanced Tier Mage, just a few steps away from breaking through into Master Tier.
Seeing the man walk out of the fire, the Bloodscale Serpent lunged at him, baring its fangs and aiming to bite off his head.
The man smirked and balled his two hands into a fist and dashed towards the beast.
"Flare!"
Flame suddenly erupted on his two fists as he bolted towards the beast.
..........
The Regent saw that his men had been overpowered by the beasts after entering into a berserk state, causing a lot of casualties on his side. Then, he finally made a move. With the sword in his hand, he kicked off the ground and shot forward.
With a single sweep of his sword, he easily cut through the flesh of a few Three-star Vicious Beasts. His movements were fast, his cuts were clean, and his steps were swift and calculated.
A Two-star Savage Beast dived towards him with its razor-sharp claws aiming for his head. But he didn't stop. Instead, he quickly slid down through the ground with one knee, avoiding the beast as it flew over him. Mana burst apart from his body as he made a deadly diagonal slash with his sword, accompanied by traces of water, splitting the beast apart.
"Swish!"
Blood rained down on him as the half bodies of the beast fell on his either side. Once he got up on his feet, another beast lunged towards him, its jaws split wide, baring its fangs like jagged, curved blades thirsty for blood. Regent Arlen quickly brought his sword forward.
"Clang!"
The beast's fangs clashed against the steel blade of the sword. The beast tightly clamped its teeth on the sword, refusing to let go.
Instead of dragging the sword with the beast, he quickly let go of the sword and suddenly punched the ground.
"Bang!"
Water blasted out from the ground, shooting the beast into the air with blood flying all around. Now, with his sword gone, he made a strange hand movements, casting his Soul Spell, as he spoke.
[ Intent Conception. Mounting Ape! ]
Immediately those words left his mouth, water suddenly burst apart from his body, forming a giant figure like an ape behind his back.
"Roar!"
The figure roared as it beat its chest. Immediately Regent Arlen stepped forward, the ape mirrored his action and jumped into the battlefield.
The ape figure landed in the midst of the beasts with a bang, accompanied by a devastating force, sending several low-level beasts flying.
"Bang!-Bang!!-Bang!!!"
Several banging sounds rang out continuously, and the ground shook as the ape continued to smash the beasts into meat particles.
Alator stood in the distance, watching the whole scene in awe and admiration, almost forgetting he was in a dire circumstance.
Soon the flame surrounding him finally died down. The Steel-Tusk Boar who had been waiting patiently for his meal finally made a move. Looking at the beast, it seemed like it had a smirk on its face. It suddenly made a mad dash towards Alator, planning to ram its tusk into him.
Alator braced himself with the sword in his hand, ready to defend himself.
As the beast was just a few meters away from him:
"Fwup-fwup-fwup!"
The sound of something crashing through the air sounded behind Alator.
"Bang!"
A broad sword struck the Steel-Tusk Boar, sending it flying into the darkness.
The man earlier landed beside Alator again. It seems he has finished off the Bloodscale Serpent. The man raised his hand towards the direction in which his sword had gone. Within a few seconds, the sword flew back into his hand. There were streams of blood rolling down the broad sword. Then, he turned to face Alator.
"What are you still doing here? Leave now," the man said. Just as Alator took a step forward, he noticed the Steel-Tusk Boar which was struck earlier, madly dashing towards the man from behind with its bloody head.
"Behind you!"
Alator shouted. The man turned, but he was a second late. The Steel-Tusk Boar rammed its tusk through his back and the tip emerged out of his stomach. Blood rushed out from the hole in the man's stomach.
"Splash!"
The man coughed out blood and his eyes went wide in shock. Alator was terrified; he didn't know what to do right now. He was just standing there, staring at the man in horror.
The beast tried to shake the man off its tusk, but the man grabbed the head, refusing to let go, and the beast continued to struggle to break free.
"Run!"
The man said with difficulty, causing more blood to splash out of his mouth. Alator hesitated for a while before making a dash towards his right. The man smiled with blood still oozing out from his mouth. As he was still wrestling with the beast, he cast a spell with his index finger and yelled.
"Explode!"
Immediately those words left his mouth, the mana in the surroundings suddenly rushed towards him, accompanied by a loud bang!. Fire exploded in the battlefield, engulfing the man and the Steel-Tusk Boar. The fire didn't just stop there; it swept across the battlefield, incinerating several beasts into ashes.
Regent Arlen noticed the fire exploding in the distance and his face turned ugly. He knew what just happened. Someone has just used the Soul Ruination forbidden spell.
Considering the large scale of the explosion, he was sure this person was a Fire Wielder. However, it's only a Master Tier or a Late Stage Advanced Tier Mage can be able to unleash the spell. With that being the case, he knew he has lost a powerful fighter.
........
In a far distance, Alator was dashing through the forest with all his might. He crashed against stones and tree branches as his vision blurred in the darkness. He didn't even know where he was heading to. Alator was still tightly holding his sword, after all that was his only means of defense.
But, unfortunately, he was being chased by a Shadowfur Bear, a Two-star Vicious Beast, and a Silver-Eyed Wolf, a One-star Savage Beast. Honestly, it was even a bit too much for a Dormant like Alator to be chased by a One-star Vicious Beast, not to talk of a Savage Beast. In fact, it was a death sentence.
Alator barreled through the darkness without looking back. Right now, he was just hoping that the beasts won't use their breath attack, only then will he have a chance of survival. But unfortunately, these beasts weren't as kind as Alator wished.
Just then, the two beasts' jaws parted, mana churned in their mouth, and a terrifying pressure descended in the surroundings. Alator felt the hair on his body rise as he caught the sight of the dangerous white and silver light, shining behind him from the corner of his eyes.
"Damnit!"
Alator cursed as the grip on his sword tightened. He knew that once he got hit by that breath attack, it will be all over for him.
However, just when the two beasts were about to attack, Alator's eyes widened and he suddenly pulled his brakes. He just realized he was running towards the edge of a cliff and he was just a few steps away from falling off. There was no escape route left.
Using the momentum from his sudden stop, he drifted swiftly around on the slippery ground and finally facing the beasts.
"I'm not going down without a fight!!"
Alator yelled as he threw the sword towards the beasts with all his might. The sword flew through the air and pierced into the mouth of the Shadowfur Bear, emerging from its neck and disrupting the breath attack forming in its mouth.
"Bang!"
Mana exploded in the mouth of the beast, blasting its head into pieces and spraying blood all around.
At the same time, the breath attack from the Silver-Eyed Wolf struck Alator square on the chest. Alator felt all his internal organs shook and the bones in his body cracked as he was sent flying off the cliff with blood bursting out of his mouth, ears, and nose. He plummeted down the endless dark abyss and his vision finally turned dark.