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Prince stood over the bound Wayfarers. He had forced them onto their knees.

Gloria’s armour, weapons, and equipment were thrown to the side. It was a big hall and he was surprised to find her family's prized amulet.

He had only heard about it from the Illusive Pirate report. His father’s prized scouting team.

The Wayfarers were quick to surrender after two had died, he had planned on killing them all, but he had to prepare for any retaliation if it was to come.

After all, while out on the ocean, plans usually went awry. It wouldn't be the first time. So hostages were needed.

Leena, a battle maid of the Sinwen family and highly valued by Astrid Sinwen.

Froderick, second son of the Oswald family.

And finally, Gloria Forsythe. The second, and only daughter left of the noble family. She was the prized possession after her sister had died, a frightening talent.

But no matter how talented one was, death was easy to come by in this world.

“It’s a shame I don’t get to see the young lady of Sinwen.” Prince said as he looked at Leena.

She had stopped resisting, she figured that it would save the others, and it was true. If they stubbornly resisted, he would have wiped out more of them.

They were just pesky flies after all, but he was still itching for a fight. After gaining his new movement skill, he wanted to show it off. None here could resist his newly gained power, such a shame.

Prince shook his head in disappointment.

“I wanted to show her the power of a soon to be pirate king,” Prince said. “It won’t be long now until I challenge for my rightful spot.”

“The moment Astrid finds out you have killed two of the first years and that I have been injured,” Leena spat. “You are a dead man.”

Prince just smirked. Astrid was a mage, while he focused on extreme speed. It wasn’t a match that he held much importance on, although it would have been fun to see her face under his foot.

He couldn’t wait to get back, with this much loot, and one of the heirlooms of the Forsythe family, he would be given a chance to challenge one of the kings.

And he already had his target marked. It wasn’t the weakest of the king’s, but the third from the last. Challenging the weakest of them would only show weakness on his behalf, and he couldn’t allow that. Lest he would be challenged next.

No, he had worked far too hard to squander such an opportunity. He rubbed at what was left of his left arm.

Prince could still feel the throbbing pain from a rogue spawn attack. The doctors kept on telling him that it wasn’t poisoned, or infected. But he swore it was true, why else would there be pain?

Prince was about to give the order to head on out, but he felt something from deep within the mine. Spinning around, the enormous hill came into view, along with the entrance of the mind.

Mine carts were emptied of their ore and lay stranded. As he looked at the mine, to the left lay the large warehouse in the distance, and the right was an open field with a verdant tree line at its back.

He could feel a chaotic mana swirl from within the mountain, it was as if a primal beast had awakened. He rubbed at his arm once more. A frown marred his neat brows.

“She’s back.” Gloria smirked.

“I knew she would!” Froderick clenched his fists as he looked at the two dead bodies at the side.

Leena looked at him. “Are you ready?”

“Ready for what?” Prince said, but he unsheathed his sword.

That level of power… he had felt it only when up against powerful warriors above his level.

There is no way… it can’t be Astrid, how long has she been a Wayfarer for? Prince thought.

“For your death.” Leena flashed a wild grin, yet he still witnessed a hint of worry behind those confident eyes.

Astrid appeared and Prince looked at her in utter disbelief.

Her left eye was imprinted with an X. Her right eye looked as if the entire galaxy was swirling within, he had to shake himself from being absorbed into its chaotic, primal nature.

Astrid’s hair was raised, as if electricity was coursing through every golden strand.

But, it was the power that she radiated that was terrifying…

***

Astrid tightly held the badge within the palm of her hand, countless thoughts of worry rattled within her mind.

She connected to the matter within her body, and like turning a dial, turned it halfway. The feeling of raw strength surged throughout her body like an instant acting steroid.

She bolted through the passageways faster than she had ever moved before, then suddenly, a mass of matter emerged from behind the dense Voidbent metal ore. Astrid walked out of the cave.

Astrid glanced at the two dead bodies, then the injuries that were scored into their bodies. For once, she felt oddly in control of her emotions. It was as if she was telling her own mind to calm down for once, for she wanted to be in this moment.

Without the motivation, or push from the voices within her head. She would kill for the first time.

Astrid raised up the people from behind the red haired man as they were the weakest. There was no need to use Identify, she could feel it.

The raw strength that Eye of the Void had brought her was breathtaking.

“Wait… we didn’t want to–”

The person’s screams were cut off. Astrid connected to their eyeballs, and yanked them from their skulls. Then, miniature explosions rang out as their heads exploded into mangled, jagged bone and brain matter.

She separated their arms and legs from their bodies and they began to swirl around like a vortex.

Astrid walked forward.

The man at the front bit his lips and he disappeared in a blinding dash. He was indeed fast, but as he reappeared at her flank it was as if his body entered a glue-like swamp.

His speed reduced considerably. His arm grew, and he sent a sword strike… then nothing.

Astrid felt a dull pain within her mind, then the surroundings vanished.

She took a deep breath as she felt the stat increase from her skills because of Mind Domain. She had multiple skills all stacking on top of each-other, and that transferred into her limbs.

“A mind skill?” He said.

“Don’t talk, there’s no point.” Astrid said.

She wouldn’t wait any longer, her body disappeared in a flash. Her newly gained Voidbent sword cleaved towards him with a wide swing.

Its speed reduced, but even with that, it looked like he activated an ability and blinked away.

Astrid wouldn’t let him rest, she dashed forward again.

They both exchanged a flurry of attacks, but with Astrid gaining an enormous amount of power within Mind Domain, and her Graviton ring, she was dominating the fight.

His sword tore straight for her face, then it slowed and she ducked out of the way. She displayed the magnificence of the Sinwen blade-arts. Every strike was filled with aggression, to the point that she was almost severely wounded several times.

Many called it a psychotic way of fighting, but that was the Sinwen way.

She parried his blade, then snapped her leg forward, she felt it connect. Astrid immediately grabbed hold of the back of his neck as her knee slammed into his face.

However, he used that time and his body suddenly sharpened. A spectral blade pierced into her foot.

Blood seeped down onto the fake floor as she sent a powerful crash to his body. He had managed to get his arms up in time but was blasted backwards, but he retained his speed.

He immediately landed, his sword hand was damaged, but he moved the blade into his fake arm. He dashed forward once more.

Astrid grinned. A heat bubbled up within her heart.

She connected to the matter within her foot, and sealed the wound shut. Astrid could feel every inch of her body, and since she was able to alter her body with matter, repairing it was easy.

Astrid sent multiple crashes through the air, but he was able to dodge them last second and flashed to her flank again.

A gust of wind blasted him from behind, and increased his speed by a lot.

Even with her Graviton field, he appeared right next to her.

Astrid crouched down on the ground, and amassed the matter surrounding her. In an enormous explosion, he was sent hurtling back. But he didn’t get far.

He dashed forward, but suddenly hit an invisible wall.

Astrid had dropped her Mind Barrier completely, and erected it around him instead. She willed the matter around him and [Crashed] it before he could slice through the barrier.

With no dust particles, or mist from her explosion she witnessed the clothes on his body become mangled. His skin was ripped and torn, and dense scarlet liquid dripped to the floor.

It revealed a ghastly body. Gills had formed on his chest. The upper area of his formed arm had iron-like veins, they looked almost solid, until they squirmed like wriggling worms.

Astrid frowned. She had heard of fanatics in the Great Ocean that pursued power at all cost, even resorting to fusing with the spawn. But not many were able to retain their mind, only powerful mages were capable of doing it.

However, the man in front of her was no mage and lacked the intelligence capable of combating against the mind degradation.

His eyes changed, blood-lust had taken over. He snarled and dashed forward again.

His arm grew longer, thicker. The muscles bulged, and bone or something solid seeped out from within. Covering it half in powerful muscle and the other in something solid.

Astrid immediately created tens of major images, all replicating her with pinpoint accuracy. The hair tousled, the skin had the same rosy-pink tinge from exertion, and even the smell of dirt and grime from the void was the same.

She dashed alongside her illusions.

He dashed forward, it was as if his eyes left a red gleam as he tore through the air.

Astrid had to do something about his movement, but thankfully he seemed to have lost a lot of his intelligence. Going berserk must have increased his speed, but decreased his mind.

He tore through a major image with his blade. It only seemed to increase in size as it continued through another behind it.

Astrid took the initiative and cleaved into his side. She felt the bypass of flesh, and immediately hit something solid underneath.

He was quick to react and his sword lashed out like a phantom. She dashed, but it bent and pierced at her throat. Her Mind Barrier groaned in protest, the tip of the blade sliced through but she managed to duck underneath by a hair's breadth.

She moved behind more of her illusions and dexterously swallowed a mana potion. After consuming so many, she had learnt the best way to open them without spending any attention.

The fight went on for a few more minutes. The crazed warrior would tear through her illusions, and she would counter attack. After a few moves, she had picked up on the perfect time to attack right when he had over-extended.

A flash of inspiration entered her mind. If she could heighten the speed of her throwing daggers with [Crash] then the same could be applied to her sword strike.

She waited for the perfect moment, then cleaved down her two-handed sword to his leg. Just like all the other illusions around her, but not every attack from them was the same.

Her mind strained, and some aimed for his head, others struck for the torso, and a few targeted his legs, just like she did.

He didn’t know where to place his attention.

Astrid sliced toward his leg, then with a [Crash] of matter behind her blade it tore through the air with frightening momentum.

At the last second, his eyeballs twitched to her true form, he was about to move when his eyeballs twitched. Astrid glared at his eyes and threatened to pull them out from their sockets.

Blood seeped from the corner of his eyes as Astrid’s blade sliced through his leg. There was a trace of resistance, but she swiftly cut past it.

The momentum of her blade was too fast, she couldn’t hold on to it in fear of a counter attack. She snapped her leg to his chest, then sent a powerful [Crash] to his skull as she sent him tumbling along the floor.

His skull was cracked, and Astrid wasn’t sure if it was blood, or brain fluids leaking from his head. Yet he still stumbled forward with only one leg.

His eyes were crazed, and webs formed in between his monstrous arm. His teeth extended into a razor-sharp form that looked just like a beast.

He leapt forward again, his sword flashed into an illusion, but it was far from hitting Astrid. It looked like he had totally lost his mind.

Astrid connected to the dark matter just behind him, then [Crashed] it. His body was sucked into the black void, moments passed, then an earth shattering implosion sent mangled scraps of human tissue and flesh around the hall.

It looked as if a wild wolf had entered a chicken coop, it was chaos. Astrid cancelled the Mind Domain with a fatigued mind.

The man’s body was whole as it lay on the ground. No wounds, yet there wasn’t a sign of life within him.

Astrid gazed at her friends, and Leena. They were all safe.

***

Hours after.

A hooded man with a crazed mask crouched down within a mine. Black rock was scattered around, and the once formation of a gateway, was ruined and crumbled.

He had one eye that was mottled with vivid red lines that seemed to squirm underneath the gelatinous shell. The other had a fluorescent ring branded around the pupil.

He bent down and touched the gateway debris.

Astrid Sinwen.

He took a deep breath.

Shall die.

Comments

Bob

So is that dude at the end after her because she took his eye?

Hunter8k

Hey, when is the novel resuming?