Eternal Elysium

Well, things are certainly not going the way I expected them to go.

"Clear the area!"

"This way! Kill it first!"

I could hear sounds from everywhere. They were desperate and filled with dread. And why shouldn't they be, as a legion of monsters— Creatures of beyond—was coming our way? Even I felt shivers running down my spine by just looking at it.

I remained still for a few moments, standing at the top of a desolate hill and silently observed the soldiers fighting the legion of monsters. The last time I had seen such a variety of creatures at the same time was below Greth's Inn. Well, the saving grace at that time was that they were dormant and swiftly dealt with by Morgana.

But right now, right here, a transcendent is not present to deal with them. Only a handful of awakeneds and some dozens of awakeners.

I smiled.

"Looks doable enough."

I muttered and took a step forward, walking toward them. My sword was raised the moment I saw a creature lunge directly at me. I twisted my arm slightly to my left, making an arc with my blade and clashed with the monster's horn coming at me like a tilted spear. For a moment I could feel resistance pushing my blade back, but it didn't last long as the blade gleamed with an eerie glow, cleaving the horn in half.

Like a broken twig, it was thrown in the air. At the same time, the monster—the beast—froze momentarily before getting his head cut off, meeting the same fate as its horn.

I grinned and started to move again. This time a little faster than before.

Following that, the monsters started to move toward me after smelling the blood pooling below me. I clicked my tongue and started to slow them momentarily and started to attack them. I wasn't physically strong enough to cut them down with a single strike; I never was. Each time such things happened, they were under certain conditions. Either the enemy was just too weak or I happened to have the right tools available.

However, I was still more than capable enough to inflict deep wounds and so I did.

Each time my sword moved and struck an enemy, it slowed down and then they started to bleed gruesomely.

I had long ago realized that I was not made for a direct fight; therefore, I would cheat my way to win. Using strong artifacts was one such way; the other was to support others.

Thissss!

From the corner of my vision I saw a sword being raised and then clashing with a monster; with a small sigh I started to move toward it.

A soldier whose name I was unaware of fought relentlessly with a couple of monsters. It was a brave act, a foolish one but still something that needed courage.

His ability soared as he pushed himself forward; his movements were swift, and his strikes came down as if wind itself guided him. However, the monsters, not yet beasts, were more cunning and deadly. They would leap back and make a gap in his attacks, letting the other strike.

"Damn it!"

He yelled, getting pushed back; he looked around searching for help and then his gaze met mine. He opened his mouth to yell, to ask for help. But I didn't move and quietly wore the mask of panoply, making my presence as minimal as possible.

The soldier's eyes widened as he saw my presence vanish.

I didn't react and just smiled behind the mask.

The monster raised its claws; the sharp nails that seemed to have been forged from steel came down like lightning, making the soldier tremble in despair.

He was about to close his eyes but then noticed something—unexpectedly, the strike that should have torn him into pieces had yet to come; the speed from which it had moved back had yet to come his way.

"H-How?"

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The soldier muttered as he saw both the monsters slowed down to a crawl and moved at the speed of a snail.

He didn't wait any longer and raised his sword and plunged the blade directly at the monster's heart; a splash of warm blood covered his face. A confident smile appeared on his face as he struck the next one with the same fate.

"This! Isn't this easy?!" He muttered excitedly, looking around, and saw the same thing happen to other monsters.

The soldiers roared alongside the monsters; a battle frenzy atmosphere rose in the air alongside the scent of blood and charred flesh.

Fire turns out to be a more common element here, as a variety of abilities manifested by awakeners came together to fight a common enemy, a beast.

I quickly rushed to their side and raised my blade toward the monster rampaging in a frenzy of madness. Its body was like a dead bear; a portion of its head was open, showing its inner skull. I gritted my teeth in disgust and dealt a swift strike to its arm raised in the air.

It roared and tried to dig its other claw inside me.

I froze its time the moment it moved.

"Attack now!"

My brows raised together as I saw a burning rock rotating like a spinning wheel with its sharp edge red and molten coming straight at the beast.

'At least tell me when you are attacking!!'

I cursed silently in my heart and moved back while letting go of [Static].

The beast struck the air, unaware of my change in position.

And then—

With a piercing sound, the awakeners attacked and pierced it, drilling a hole in its stomach.

Thud!

It fell on the ground with a loud sound; its dry body remained still, unmoving, as not even a drop of blood left it.

'Is this also a monster under the ghoul category? I have yet to see a real ghoul, though.'

I grimaced as such but then an idea came to my mind. A shocking idea, with almost no clear proof—just a speculation.

What if…? What if I can actually use [Static] as a shield?

After all, it was the power to put anything in an eternal state, to keep it frozen in time. I don't believe it's something like a concept or an absolute power. However, it was closer to it than anything else.

'Sadly, even if it's possible, I can't use [static] on myself.'

I grimaced at such thoughts and then started to move again.

The targets for me were clear on sight—they were the beasts, the creatures that soldiers can't fight by themselves. The number of awakeneds on our side was less compared to the monsters rampaging near us.

In a sense the situation was dreadful.

But I believed that it was still manageable, at least for now.

The creatures had come suddenly and rowdily at that. We were still resting in the camp when that happened.

'I have finally started to rest. Damn you all!'

My blade again flared up, dimming the light as the enemy started to bleed. The more I attack, the more I hit, the more I make them bleed—the deadlier the blade becomes. The wounds on the monster deepened as I struck its limbs and started to move away for the next one.

This way soldiers can deal with monsters without much effort and I can save time to deal with stronger ones.

"This one!"

A woman shouted as soldiers gathered around her, aiming their weapons at a large beast. Its body was shaped like a walking stone, albeit it wasn't one. Its body was covered in a layer of hot poured steel, steam coming out its edges, something that didn't fit this desolate environment.

I looked over it and then at Captain Maira, who stood in front of it; her blue hair moved slightly with the wind as she maintained an unimpressed face. She raised her hand as two strange chains formed midair; they were blue, with a little mix of white and sharp-edged blades made of beams of water. Maira moved a little to her right; a stream of hot wind came from the beast's mouth as if trying to blow her away. At the same time, it moved its massive jaw, trying to tear her body.

Maira reacted instantly, using the chained blades to cut off the beast's mouth and then using them to close it momentarily. The beast huffed, annoyed by this, as then a barrage of attacks followed from all sides.

The soldiers moved restlessly as the beast didn't budge; its body, like armor, withstood all the attacks as if absorbing them. Its resilience was palpable, making the soldiers shudder.

I frowned witnessing this and moved closer, abandoning my initial plan to injure more monsters. No, actually, I already did plenty of that, as behind me some awakeners rushed to kill the injured ones right as I left.

Maira didn't notice me at first as her ability coiled in the sky like two serpents dancing together, and then the sharp edges of blades attached to the water-forged chains struck the beast, creating a deafening sound.

"Tch—" Maira clicked her tongue, as the attack wasn't strong enough to penetrate its body completely.

However, something still happened. A wound was left on its large frame covered in greenish-brown liquid; the beast roared in pain and moved its jaw, pushing one of the soldiers away with its tail, sending him flying off.

Before he could hit the ground, he suddenly slowed down, falling like a feather.

The awakeners watched in shock but noticed the same thing repeating every time a new enemy arrived: it suddenly started to slow down to a crawl.

Oh, how easy it was to hit someone moving at a snail's pace! How tremendous it was that the monsters couldn't even turn their heads to see the impending march of death.

But the steel beast still stood tall on its four legs until a sharp blade struck its tail, pushing it back with screeching yet painful sounds.