?1355 Aldred’s Martial State
"Huu…"
Aldred's white breath escaped his trembling lips as his narrower gaze shot straight ahead.
There was a blackish distortion there that oozed nothing short of danger. He furrowed his brow as he kept his focus on the distortion while spreading his senses all around him.
The kids behind him were safe, for now, and their goal was right in front of them—past the distortion.
But Aldred knew better than to be optimistic.
… Especially since his warrior instincts were telling him that the one within the distortion was dangerous.
Far more dangerous than the other small fry he had so easily eliminated.
"You really live up to the intel. I should have expected you to stop that attack."
As a deep, sinister tone echoed within the passageway, a man began to appear from the darkness.
He had a raven black cloak, with a staff on his hand, and crimson energies gleaming from several parts of his body.
His body was lean and pale, and while most of his face was hidden underneath his hood, his wiry smile could not be concealed.
"But, that was only a warning shot. Nothing like the real deal…" The man continued speaking, his legs not even touching the ground that everyone else stood on.
Smoke rose from the Blood Stone that was tightly lodged into the gnarled staff he wielded, and he pointed it towards Aldred in a firm swing.
"Why don't we try that again?"
No one needed to tell Aldred that the malefactor behind this entire invasion was standing right in front of him.
Killing him as fast as possible was preferable.
'I have a lot of questions, but now is not the time!'
Aldred had a mission, and so he recognized nothing was as important as that.
"Haaa…" He brandished his blade and took his stance as the Mage before him cackled in laughter.
"Both of you, stay behind me, okay? It'll be alright…" He whispered, addressing the two adolescents who shouldn't have experienced the horrors that they did.
"I'll end this quickly."
His eyes were now sharp as a hawk, and his body became overwhelmed with power.
It had been so long since he last did this, so he could feel the burden so much energy placed on his aging body.
Still, Aldred clenched his teeth and continued
"Martial State!"
~BOOOOOOMMM!~
Blue energy exploded around him as he uttered those words, with power piercing through the ceiling of the passageway, as it made its way into the sky above.
"That's so much power. Are you sure you can maintain it for very long." The Mage taunted.
Aldred did not let himself get moved by the words of the man before him.
He only had one goal—
"Let's find out."
—Protecting the family he loved and cared about.
~BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!~
The crimson-colored beam of darkness was once again fired at Aldred, but he easily slashed forward, the wave of his attack enough to redirect the entire blast high up into the sky.
The ceiling was crumbling already, but that wasn't the only thing.
Aldred's blade was pretty much shattered at this point—unable to take any more of the energy he currently exuded.
However, that was no problem for the man.
~FSHUUUU!~
Energy gathered around his hand to form a blade, and he wielded the whitish-blue sword with all his might.
'Here I go!' Power burst from his legs as he dashed forward, shattering the surface he stood on just moments ago.
In a second, he was already right in front of the Mage, ready to slice off his head.
Ending this March quickly was his priority, considering the safety of the children behind him, as well as his own deteriorating state.
'This Mage is right. I can't last very long in this current state. I don't know how much he knows about me, but I have to end things now.'
A straight strike to the neck was predictable, but by moving so fast, Aldred intended to slice off the enemy's head before he could even do anything about it.
His blade moved.
The world supposedly came to a halt, and everything held its breath as he made to completely eliminate his target.
However, the closer he got, and the more his sword moved towards the neck of his adversary, the bigger the feeling of unease within Aldred became.
He looked at the Mage's face and saw a wide grin on his face.
At that moment, he realized something was off.
Before he could react to it, or even try to investigate what the issue was, a loud crashing noise echoed from right beside him, and the walls of the passageway shattered apart to reveal a beast that was lunging straight towards him.
'W-what—?!'
It was too late at that point.
Alfred could not jump out of harm's way, as he was in midair. He could not escape the wide area that had been covered by the giant monster's massive jaw.
He couldn't even touch the distortion of darkness that the Mage he wanted to kill had become.
He could only accept his fate and be devoured by the beast…
'No.'
… OR HE COULD FIGHT!
"URAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
Aldred twisted his body in midair and used his sword made purely out of Mana to serve as a barrier to shield him from the ferocious jaw of the beast he still hadn't fully grasped.
The creature could not devour him, but instead resided him up to the ceiling as they both crashed beyond eh passageway and into the night sky.
"Guh!" Aldred felt his body recoil as he used all of his strength to push himself from the monster.
~WHOOSH!~
The night winds echoed as he successfully pulled back, now able to see the monster before him in all of its glory.
The moment he did so, Aldred's eyes widened and his body shook a little.
'T-this…?!'
The creature was nothing more than bones, but it had a cloak of Mana that made it appear to be so much more.
It had wings that were purely constructed from energy, save for the skeletal structure that held it together, and its bony tail swirled about.
Bright red light shone from its empty eye sockets, and fiery red
—flame-like energy—rose from all parts of its bony body.
A bright red orb was transfixed on its chest as it majestically stood—or rather, flew—in front of Aldred.
This was the first time he was seeing one as big and powerful as this, but Aldred could easily recognize the creature based on his knowledge and experience as an Adventurer.
This was an ultimate monster of the dead.
An Undead Dragon.
'Damnit… how did they get their hands on one of these? And they tamed it too?!'
No, that wasn't even the main issue at the moment.
Aldred stared down and realized he had been pushed a long way into the sky, and he was now far away from the Mansion.
If not for his current Martial State, he would have fallen to his death due to his inability to fly.
Even now, being able to float in the air, he had a lot of worries that occupied his thoughts.
'I've been intentionally separated from the kids.'
This had to be the intention of the enemy all along—separating him from Neron and Serah.
'And I fell for it!'
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Thanks for reading!
I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Things have escalated quite a bit, haven't they?
