20 「The Scripture of the Dead」 (2/2)
From the corner of his eye, he saw movement. Yet as he kept count of the group, he noticed someone was missing. There was just an after image.
「Time Stop」
Turning to the side, he set his eyes on a boy in green. It was Turbulence. His rapier was mere centimeters from his back. It would've definitely pierced through this back and through his heart if he had one. He could xonly chuckle as they assumed he was amongst the living.
Taking a few steps to the side, the spell was deactivated and the young man found himself stumbling forward and looking to the side once he caught himself.
”What the?”
The Third Seat of the Black Scripture raised a brow rather intrigued. This individual wasn't dressed as a mage, not a typical one. He looked like a soldier out of armor, or an officer of sorts, than a field operative or a warrior.
”Most Intriguing...” He himself was a mage, powerful in his own right as apparent of his accessories and magical items which surrounded him. Strange orbs which flanked him on either side, and the relic weapon in his hand. ”And what are you?”
”A God, what else would I be?” The seventh seat might as well already had this conclusion as Jack shared it and tilted his head slightly. Though he was just playing on their religion.
Suddenly that's when he felt a poke against his side, a rapier was poking against his Divine class attire, but it wasn't even tearing through it. Jack just glanced on over to the boy who had attacked him again with this dumbfounded expression on his poor little face.
A split second later, a red line appeared across the young man's neck before the head simply rolled off his neck and plopped onto the ground. Blood began to shoot out like a fountain as the body took a few steps back before falling onto the ground twitching and convulsing.
Of course that is just how it appeared to the other members of the scripture. He had once again used 「Stop Time」, to halt all those present and their perceptions of time and cut off the boy's head.
With a hand stretched out to the body, he said one thing「True Death」.
All of their mouths began to open slowly in shock that the second seat fell so easily. However, the Captain wasn't so shocked. He was the descendant of a God, he was sure as this person was a God, they'd be much stronger than anyone of them here.
That's when the Captain stepped forward, his men moving aside like separating the red sea.
He pressed the butt of his pole arm weapon into the ground and stared through Jack for a moment before focusing. His orders were to have his people retreat, but this man was standing in their way.
”You won't let us pass?”
”No. You will die here. Most of you...” Jack's eyes wandered on over to the Seventh Seat, then back towards the Captain.
”I challenge you to defeat me in a one on one duel. If you kill me before they make it to the border, they're fair game.”
”Dutiful until the end it seems...” Jack said as he admired what the man was trying to do. ”But I'm not an honorable person. I am a thief, I am killer. I love to be loved, fear to be feared. Anyone who stands in my way of my interests will perish.”
Just then Jack's eyes noticed the crackling of electricity, followed by an attack
「Lightning Bolt」
The Third Seat, the mage looking fella, fired a single bolt of third tier magic at the man. Just as it reached his skin it fizzled out, hardly leaving a burn mark on his tunic.
However the one thing that was entirely visible to them was the fact that his skeleton was now visible. Jack stood there with semi-transparent skin, his skull and sapphire jeweled eyes were entirely exposed.
”...What are you...?”
They were left speechless as a weapon appeared in his right hand.
It was a staff approximately five feet and five inches in height. Five more inches and it would've been the same height as himself. Its head was in the shape of a draconic serpentine beast bent at the neck, facing forward. Its eyes were glowing a bright blue, and the entire body of the item appeared to look like the scape of the foreign night sky. It seemed to have a glass-like texture.
This item was an overpowered magic staff with modified values known as ”The Lord's Century,” which he had created in game mere months before the servers were supposed to shutdown.
He hadn't had a chance to use it.
Jack then mouthed a single word which caused confusion,「Assimilation」.
This spell was invisible, various tendrils began to slither through the grass at the feet of his prey's feet, hardly noticed due to their close proximity to one another.
They were all looking every which way though as the Third Seat could sense the use of magic, but not what spell it was or what it was going to do.
「Assimilation」was a super-tier spell which could be used only once every thirty days. It had an area of attack and its targets were very selective. The spell itself was used to devour and assimilate the strengths, values and data of other beings and transplant it into the caster themselves by turning them into dark colored potions.
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Originally in the game it could only be used against lesser leveled MOBs, NPCs and players within fifty levels beneath the user. Jack was quite curious though, just how would this work out?
He watched as the Captain changed his stance, getting ready to lunge. He had both hands on his pole arm with the blade pointed towards Jack. Well, until the almost invisible transparent tendril wrapped around his foot and caused him to look down.
”What in the--” The Captain just stared, that's all he could do as he lost the capacity to talk. According to their rankings, this man was the strongest. He'd be the hardest to take down. He wanted to hold him off long enough for the others to escape.
Jack was pretty sure the Captain would be very capable of doing just that with his level of willpower to keep going and resist his attacks. However, he was beginning to wonder, how resistant was he to instant death attacks?
”Captain!?”
Jack's eyes moved to Clementine's brother who was summoning a creature only to freeze in place. His summoning instantly cancelled.
”Wha?!”
His eyes then trailed on over to the Eleventh Seat, a girl with blue hair and a large hat. She was floating a few inches off the ground, though some of her clothing was in contact with the ground.
She looked terrified as she was quickly noticing what was going on. By then though it was too late as all the male members of the Scripture were already held in place.
They couldn't move, they couldn't cast magic and they definitely couldn't talk or make a sound.
”Stop it!”
”It's too late,” Jack said calmly as his eyes rested back onto the face of the Captain who was stuck in an offensive stance. He wore an indifferent expression.
The Tendrils continue to coil over the bodies of the males, distorting them visibly after completely engulfing them and beginning to gain a color of their own. They were becoming a dark crimson red.
”You two have a choice to make. Submit and become imprisoned, or die.”
The Seventh and Eleventh Seats took a slight step back.
The soldiers weren't moving either, but unlike the seated members of the scripture, they were just standing corpses. They couldn't even tell when they had died, but they were bleeding from the eyes and mouth like weak fountains.
Both of them were already estimating whether or not they could run away from him.
The eleventh already figured that he wasn't here the entire time. She had felt that they were being watched by multiple entities using high tier surveillance magic. He must have teleported here without being detected.
Hearing a foot come down on the grass, having moved from where it one was. His eyes narrowed on the Captain who had moved about six inches with so much effort, that he was immediately exhausted.
”Interesting...”
The tendrils were tightening, soon enough those whom were entangled within them, they became shrinking cocoons accompanied by the sounds akin to the crushing and liquefaction of bone.
The girls could hardly move as they watched their comrades and some they'd likely call friends, be reduced to vials of what looked like dark crimson potions. All of which raised from the ground on their own and flew directly into Jack's inventory as he used「Telekinesis」to do so.
A grin formed deeply over his lips, ”So... What shall it be?”
The reason he didn't kill them immediately was because he wanted to give them the chance to live, to survive. Whether or not they ever joined him didn't matter. He just thought it would be a waste to kill them after he already showed his magic prowess.