SWISH

SWISH

SWISH

"Arrrrgh!"

"I'm hit!"

"It's a raid! Everyone ready up!"

"It must be the target!"

Yells of pain lit up the night, underscoring a fierce voice attempting to establish order on a large mountain outcropping on the Normal World of Yafik. It was just past midnight on the planet, several hours into their normal sleep cycle for most of the yelling Shades.

"Enemy attack!"

Yafik was one of the Western Worlds of the Shade Commune. It wasn't one of the Worlds that bordered other Major Powers, but was more than 20 worlds deep within Commune territory. It was very close to the Central Worlds of the Commune, the area directly controlled by the Shade King.

The Western Worlds were typically overseen by the Western Duke of Shadow, Duke Ilka. However, due to the huge ongoing war that the Shade King was waging, the Western Worlds saw a large amount of movement from forces headed to fortify certain worlds or on patrol.

The roughly 400 Shades that were camped out on the mountain outcropping were all members of the official King's Army, the premier force of the Shade King.

Specifically, this was one of the Self Defense Scouting Forces, or the SDSF as they were known in the Commune. These were powerful military groups assigned behind lines to patrol the Worlds controlled by the Commune during the war, to hunt for spies or infiltrated military forces that might seek to cause chaos.

The fact of the matter was: there were simply too many large World Bridges and too many Worlds for any Major Power to realistically block off all access. Therefore, sending out roaming groups full of powerful fighters and Fate Wizards on patrol was the next best option.

Fate Wizards could help narrow down intruder's locations, especially considering almost all inhabitants of the Shade Commune were Shades. The rest of the group was composed of Mystic Martial Artists and various Wizards prepared for combat.

"Only 10 Lord Class Wizards with this group, yet nearly 400 Grandmaster Class experts..."A gruff, manly voice noted this, a quiet observation made as a cloaked figure looked down upon the chaotic campsite from a neighboring mountain several thousand meters away. In his hands was a slim, red wooden bow that glowed with faint red light.

"Shades have to train hard to reach that Class, they aren't like Vampires, though they have it better than Humans. Still, I suppose when your total population exceeds 2 trillion and your natural growth reaches Sky Class, there are bound to be countless experts below Lord Class." The cloaked figure shrugged.

"If you hadn't caught my trail and started trying to hunt me down, I would've spared you. I can't afford to let myself be tracked yet, not when I'm only a few Worlds away from the Shade King. My capture would only result in a horrible death." The cloaked figured sighed and shook his head. He had no illusions that he could match up with one of the strongest beings in all of existence.

The Shade King, Hasith Shanty, ranked 5th on the Recording of Might.

"If I wipe them out with Houye's Final Bow, I won't leave a trail behind and the Shades will be back to square one on tracking me. Even more assuredly if I use my Summoning Magic to enhance my control of it." He nodded,

"Their reaction proves they don't have any final contingencies that could obstruct me. It's time to end this." The cloaked man raised the bow, aiming it down toward the mountain outcropping nearly 5000 meters distant. A rainbow colored Aura began to swirl about him, causing the ground beneath him to crack slightly as he readied himself.

The rainbow Aura that surrounded the man abruptly condensed, clinging tightly to his body. The air around him whipped back and forth as the rainbow colored energy directly began to flow into him, vastly increasing the physical strength of the archer.

This was the 'Super State' of an Inheritor of Pride. The man's strength, defense, and speed were all vastly increased. In addition, his physical presence became overwhelming. He became a virtual Embodiment of Pride, a simple glance from him containing the weight of a thousand kings.

"Allow me, Leader, to test a technique I made just to target large groups like you." Leader began, aiming his bow slightly upward of the camp.

"Summoning Magic: Ruler's Bow. Summoning Magic: Morph." Leader cast two Spells in quick succession. An image of a transparent, wooden bow appeared and superimposed itself on Houye's Final Bow. Immediately, the red bow seemed to grow more noble, gaining a sense of presence that it hadn't had before, becoming easier for Leader to control the powerful Artifact.

Leader raised the bow almost fully upward, pulling back on it. Energy swarmed around the air as a large, meter long red arrow formed, natural energy condensing into it.

He held this pose for several seconds as the Shade's in the campsite began to spread out and prepare themselves. Leader's eyes mentally tracked each and every Shade, marking them.

"Suffer my 'Rain of Pride' attack."

WHOOSH

Leader unleashed the shot.

The red arrow blasted off high into the air instantly, moving incredibly quickly. As soon as it was unleashed, it began to build up a massive amount of energy, drawing upon the Laws of the universe as it moved to grow bigger and bigger.

It sailed through the air until it was several hundred meters above the mountain where the Shades were milling about.

BOOM

The arrow exploded as soon as it reached its apex, directly above the Shade encampment. This explosion was huge, bright light and energy flashing into the night. It caught the attention of all of the Shades as they looked skyward.

And a moment later, from that explosion, came a beautiful rain of death.

There were 406 Shades as part of the force pursuing Leader.

From that explosion, 406 blazing arrows came down, each one rippling through the air at a vast speed. The arrows crackled with energy as they hurtled towards the Shades, leaving streaking trails of light in the sky. It looked like a magnificent, and deadly, storm of bright red light, raining down upon the Shades.

"By the Heavens…"

"Get cover! Get cover!"

"Shields up!"

"No!"

WHOOSH

406 arrows shot down with impeccable accuracy, each one hitting their target with pinpoint precision.

There was no large explosion of energy nor was the Shade encampment obliterated. The arrows rained down full of deadly energy, but they made almost no noise as they swished through the air.

Instead, those arrows almost silently pierced through the heart of each and every one of those 406 Shades, obliterating any Wizard's innate barriers, each one imbued with the Law of Pride and a massive amount of piercing energy.

Plate armor, Magic protections, shields, Artifacts, everything in the way of the arrows was obliterated in one, final impact.

Of all the Shades present, two of the Lord Class Wizards managed to resist the arrow targeted at them for a brief moment. Green and blue light flashed around these two Wizards as they desperately held off the attack for approximately 0.1 and 0.3 seconds respectively.

After that, however, their resistance failed and both joined the rest as the red arrows pierced through their hearts, the hostile, imbued energy from the Law of Pride instantly spreading throughout their body and ravaging them.

THUD

A collective, loud thud rang out as all 406 Shades fell to the ground, weapons and armor falling lifelessly from their hands.

Killed instantly.

"Wow…" Leader muttered, his eyes widened as he looked at his bow. The faintly glowing red bow still had its majestic, enhanced appearance. A faint look of exhaustion could be seen in his eyes, but it wasn't as if he had no energy at all left. He had used roughly 1/3rd of his energy in controlling and firing that attack.

Enough to make him feel worn out, but not enough to drain him dry.

"Houye… your bow really was something else, huh? Even I wasn't sure if I could pull that off… That's an attack that is at least at the Pseudo-Angelic level…" Leader took a quiet moment to look at the scene. The mountain encampment had become a mass grave.

He shrugged.

"War is war." His body vanished as he began to jump and travel towards the encampment, leaving the mountain he was currently on. He had no pity for those that tried to kill him.

In just a few moments, he crossed the several thousands of meters of distance, arriving at the now lifeless encampment. His body maintained its 'Super State' as he readied himself to react to any threats.

Leader quickly picked out all of the Lord Class Wizards, snagging their Spatial Rings. He went through them, snagging anything of value or importance. He avoided taking anything that might be used to track him, only taking general items that might prove useful and reading any intelligence reports or plans.

"Oh? A new intelligence briefing?" Leader finished searching the Spatial Rings of one of the commanding Lord Class Wizards, the apparent Fate Wizard by his belongings, finding something of interest in his ring.

"A new hero has arisen named Lord Inigo? He is on a crusade to wipe out the Ruins of the Demon Emperor and slay all Demons? He is a Holy Avenger, a powerful Swordmaster nearing the level of a Saint intent on vanquishing the Demon Race in its entirety?" Leader read from the report, his tone getting darker and darker. As he finished speaking, the rippling Aura of Pride that swarmed around him caused the air itself to tremble.

"This… this…" Leader's hands shook as he crumpled up the intelligence report, incinerating it with a wave of his hand.

"That absolute VILLAIN! Your existence itself is a blot on reality! How DARE you say you will wipe my kind out. What have I ever done to you?! And if he destroys the Demonic Inheritance before the Great Lord can get there…" His words were dangerously calm, an undercurrent of rage hiding.

"Great Lord, forgive me. I will need to put my mission to find and join you on pause for now." His eyes flashed darkly,

"There is a Shade I must kill first."

.. .. .. .. .. .. ..

Dorian shivered slightly as he rested in meditation, feeling unnerved for some reason. He shook the feeling aside, however, as he renewed his focus.

'Ausra, is it possible to show my progress in absorbing and understanding the Laws of the Universe to me?' Dorian queried. He was sitting down peacefully in a dimly lit wooden room, upon a large, comfortable plush bed. A second bed could be seen across from his, where Helena rested peacefully.

'Scanning… calculating… It's possible I may be able to project field estimates correlated to the amount of energy you have absorbed to project your progress at rough levels. My calculations would only be able to project an understanding in rough figures, and only up to 99% completion. Reaching 100% would automatically promote you to the King Class.'

Dorian's eyes lit up. He hadn't thought about this before, but it made sense. The Soul Spell Matrix Genie in his soul was incredibly useful and could function in a similar manner to the theoretical 'Ai' from Earth. Simply using her calculative power, it seemed it would be possible to estimate his rough progress.

'That's fine! Just show me my progress! I don't care if you can't give anything super specific!'

'Acknowledged. Running parameters now…'

-

Laws Progress

-

Law of Valor: 21%

Law of Mercy: 13%

Law of Greed: 16%

Law of Wrath: 37%

-

'These percentages are rough estimates based on my preliminary findings. More information about each Law is needed if you wish to confirm if these are perfectly accurate.' Ausra informed him quietly.

'I got it, I got it.' He thought, nodding his head as he looked over the figures. They were similar to what he expected. He used the Law of Valor often because of its powers, so it made sense that it was one he understood a great deal. He had only recently gotten the Law of Mercy and his understanding of it was still limited. The Law of Greed he had gotten recently too, but he was a bit better about using it because of its effects on his soul.

As for the Law of Wrath… it was the first real Law he ever obtained. It was obviously the one he would know most extensively.

The Law of Life and Law of Fire were two other Laws that he'd had a tiny bit of experience with, but only through minor amounts of Magic and the innate connections of some of his forms. Without experiencing a full Lord Class Baptism, his understanding in either was negligible.

'But it's only 37%?' He shook his head as he considered this, disappointed. How long would it take for him to reach King Class?

If regular practitioners had heard Dorian complain, many of them might have felt the urge to strangle Dorian. To be someone that was studying multiple Laws already was something few Wizards or Mystic Martial Artists would even dream of. To master a single Law to the extent Dorian had in such a brief amount of time…

It was enough to drive even the staunchest experts insane with greed and jealousy. They might even have a chance to experience enlightenment and understand the Law of Envy solely from the trauma.

'The more you understand a Law, the harder it will be to increase your understanding. The difference between 37% and 47% is not merely 10%. This will increase the closer you get to fully understanding a Law.' Ausra sent him a notification, helping explain how the chart worked.

'Got it.' That was the same as the info he'd gained in regards to reaching King Class. The closer you got, the harder it was to advance.

He took several deep breaths before relaxing. The world around him was silent and peaceful. He took a quiet moment to reflect.

The past couple of days had been incredibly eventful. Things seemed to happen at an extremely fast pace, the progression he made frightening even himself.

With his newfound fame being spread throughout the land, Dorian had become a figure of legend. And, upon learning that he really was being hunted and that the Anomaly Fifteen was going to try and obstruct him, Dorian decided to make use of that fame.

He began to raise an army.

He started out simple. Everyone was aware, apparently, that he was traveling to Moria. The rumors said he was on a mission to reach the Demonic Ruins and save his wife, with most of the other details lost or exaggerated in transmission.

As Dorian boarded the Flying Ship, he began to let everyone know that he was raising an army, a force to help him conquer the Demon Emperor's Ruins. As he travelled across the planet from this Normal World to the World Bridge that exited it, he let everyone know exactly what he was doing. Word was quickly spread thanks to Magic and the many parties interested in him.

And, as a result, powerful Shades began to flock towards him.

Thousands of Shades were ready to throw themselves forward to join the journey of a man they saw as a heroic lord. The Church of Light's skill in spreading news and stories, and convincing the populace of the truth of those stories, was incredible. It was technically propaganda, but Dorian wasn't going to complain about that right now.

Dorian also made it clear that he would accept only Lord Class Wizards and above, largely cutting down on the number trying to directly join. While there could be great use in a large force at the Grandmaster Class, Dorian was well aware that his leadership and strategic abilities weren't suited for large scale command. At least, not without practice and training.

By the time he made it across planet to the World Bridge and passed through to the next World with a new chartered Flying Ship, reaching the next World Bridge, dozens of Lord Class experts were waiting for him at the city he touched down in.

Powerful experts were already swarming towards Moria due to hearing Dorian's tale. Upon learning he was actively recruiting an army, these folks rushed to sign up, pledging their allegiance.

There were even 3 Early King Class Mystic Martial Artists that had joined his team. Dorian immediately placed each of the three as his Captains, serving under him, and leading a third of the Lord Class Wizards and Mystic Martial Artists each.

While Dorian personally had little experience leading such a force, the King Class Mystic Martial Artists were all wizened experts, ready to lead the charge against the 'vile Demonic remnants' and 'cleanse Moria' for the greater good.

His army, which he named the Moria Liberation Force, grew stronger by the day.

As he considered all of this, he saw that morning light was starting to filter in through the shuttered wooden window on the edge of his room. He was currently traveling through the night on a large-scale Flying Galley. The rowdy sounds of the crew working atop the deck just faintly filtered down as they became more active.

A light knock drew Dorian's attention. He stood up from his meditation, glancing at Helena briefly. She was still quietly resting, her full focus on healing.

He opened the door, slipping outside and shutting it quietly as he looked at the person outside.

One of the three King Class Mystic Martial Artists, an elderly Shade named Fabian who was an expert with a long spear.

"Holy Highlord Inigo." Fabian said, bowing slightly. Dorian mentally sighed. It seemed with every title he got, his name became more and more ridiculous. He turned his focus towards the Mystic Martial Artist, examining him. The elderly man was completely bald, with a large brown mustache covering his lips. His skin was leathery, bulging muscles just hidden beneath it.

"We have arrived at the final World before reaching Shaptle, the Border World to Moria!" Fabian continued,

"The Exotic World of Ballians. The mysterious World of Shattered Dreams!"

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