Hero of Darkness

993 The Forgotten Bloodline

Back in Babylon…

Ervalen Baaslark, the 9th Hero of Life finally woke up after a few hours since Omega and the others killed the Legendary Rank golems.

Shing!

Shing!

A golden beehive sharped barrier with a greenish hue encapsulated Lagertha.

And the one tending to her wounded and exhausted figure with his skills and high grade healing and stamina potions was none other than Armin.

"Man, what a bummer. These elves are only good at magic and having a long lifespan.

His regenerative abilities are nonexistent and his body is too weak to tolerate backlash from his skills after he was forced to become a Semi-Saint again.

We would have ended this whole thing a couple of days ago if not for his frail body." said Rudra as he held Atlan, his trident, in his right hand.

Ervalen, who had just woken, heard this remark and looked around with a surprised gaze…

"Report to me about what happened." he commanded.

Soon, Ronin in his Scorpion persona told him everything about what happened ever since he fainted.

Gasp!

"What?! There were 8 of them?!" he asked with a shocked countenance.

To his taken aback figure, Omega in his Raiden persona spoke in solemn tone…

"Yes. The one you attacked was somehow at the center of it all.

After you lost and fainted due to your injuries, all the others woke up from their hibernation from their respective locations spread in these lands."

"Thanks to Loki here, who is good at deciphering magic formations and has a lot of knowledge on Golems… we found a way to defeat them." cited Ronin as he pointed at the mage.

Ceril as Loki Vitkisson, spoke in a nonchalant tone...

"All of them had a Rune written in ancient Elven language that represented a particular number on their cores.

And the one you attacked was number fifth."

"The only way to defeat them completely was to kill all of them in under 10 minutes and start the order from the last to the first." he explained.

"So how did you all manage to attack them individually while avoiding others?" asked Ervalen with a curious tone.

Rudra then smirked and declared confidently…

"We didn't. We killed all of them in order by ourselves in a 1 vs 1 battle."

"What?! That's impossible!

Even the one I fought was as strong as a Legendary Rank monster." said Ervalen, completely stunned.

This time, it was Blackwall in his Sigurd persona who spoke in a stoic tone…

"Yes, and still each one of us killed one of them by ourselves while adjusting our timing.

It was a bit challenging since we were all suppressed as Semi-

Saints."

Flabbergasted!

Ervalen was in disbelief and could not utter another word.

He then looked at Myrienne who sat close to him and all he received in response from the priestess was a nod.

[Did I, a chosen hero, lose to these mercenaries who don't even have a divine ability?] he thought.

Myrienne, who was the secret lover of the deceased princess Eleanor, spoke in a condescending tone…

"What's there to be proud of? You all did what you were supposed to do anyway."

Even the displeasure in her voice could be felt by everyone present.

And this time, it was Oliver in his Icarus persona, who spoke in a pissed-off tone.

"Says the most useless among us. It wouldn't have come to this if he hadn't attacked that golem first instead of letting me and Ronin do a proper reconnaissance to figure out what type of enemies we were facing this time." he openly displayed his hostility.

Ervalen now had a downcast expression because he too understood that it was his hastiness that almost cost his own life.

If all of these warriors from Misthios hadn't defeated those monsters, even he would have died despite his divine abilities.

"We will go and find the God's Altar now." said the Hero of Life and stood up.

However…

"Before we move forward… know one thing." said Omega in a spiteful tone.

"Our job is to protect you and ensure your survival during the Conclave of Heroes.

But that doesn't mean we're going to let down our lives for you." he iterated in a grim voice.

"Remember this 'Lord Hero'....

We're not your dead subordinates and neither do we serve the imperial family of the Zivot Empire.

We're all just hired mercenaries whose job is to make sure you return alive. Nothing more and nothing less.

But don't expect us to act like your loyal dogs." said Omega, not even trying to hide his enraged expression.

"You dare show hostility to me, you damn Mixblood?!"

Ervalen in return, turned furious after he felt disrespected by Omega's words.

"Hmph! Says the Halfbreed." retorted Omega fearlessly.

BOOM!

Ervalen released his hostile aura mixed with his killing intent.

Rudra for the first time, took Omega's side and intervened…

"What? Do you have a problem with our attitude?

Gonna cry about it after putting all of us in danger for the 3rd time ever since we arrived?" mocked Rudra, his voice criticizing the Hero of Life.

[Ah, my blood pressure is rising again.]

"Oye, you delinquent bunch!" shouted Lagertha and meddled in as soon as Armin was done healing her.

"Be nice and respectful or I'll tell the guildmaster about how you almost fought with lord Hero and botched the job." said Lagertha in a patronizing voice.

"Humph! Guildmaster is the reason why we haven't done anything yet." spoke a certain man with his entire upper body exposed and covered in black tattoos.

He had crimson blood-red and waist-length hair, and on his back was a giantsword covered in glowing red runes.

The middle of his torso was like any other human, exposing his ripped 6 pack abs.

But his forearms had black gauntlet-like bones coming out and both of his arms were crimson red just like the hair as if a stream of vibrant crimson red blood was flowing under his skin.

Just his glowing red eyes alone looked like they belonged to a dangerous and terrifying predator.

On his visage, two black demonic horns protruded from both sides of his head.

"It wouldn't have come to this if he wasn't so impatient and weak.

A hero? That has to be a joke.

Even our guildmaster was many times stronger than him when he was a Semi-Saint." said this man who was 6'4'' in height alone.

Bang!

Ervalen banged his scepter on the ground as he was thoroughly pissed off at this point.

"You… What is your name?" he asked with an infuriated countenance.

"Why? You're going to pick up a fight with me later after we leave Babylon?" asked the red-haired man with red irises in his eyes.

"And what if I intend to do so?" said the Hero with an insidious smirk.

"Are you that afraid to even tell me your name?" he taunted, knowing that nobody would dare to go against him because he was the Hero of Life.

When things came to this point, everyone had cowered before him in the past.

"It's Dante Surtersson." spoke the man.

Stunned!

Ervalen was suddenly visibly confused.

"I read your profiles back last month when the imperial family hired your guild.

Wasn't Dante Surtersson supposed to be a 3-meter-tall human?" asked Ervalen as he looked at Blackwall.

"Well, since you never bothered to ask… I'm called Sigurd." replied Blackwall.

Dante on the other side replied in a casual tone…

"Looks like your intel is very old. I used to be that big guy."

"What nonsense is that?!" rebuked Ervalen with a puzzled expression.

"How can your body go from 3 meters to 192 centimeters within a month?

And how did you suddenly grow horns like the demonkins?

Do you take me for a fool?" he spoke in a threatening tone.

"Not my problem. I don't owe you any explanation and neither do I care about your opinion." replied Dante in a carefree tone.

"You have passed the final trial solely because of us defeating those legendary rank golems and Lagertha here fighting those hordes of monsters that attacked you while you were unconscious.

She almost died while that priestess was healing you inside a protection barrier.

But instead of thanking us or showing any form of gratitude, you are picking up fights because we are criticizing your rash decisions and incompetence." declared Dante in a kingly tone.

"I guess your dead comrades never pointed out what kind of idiotic and reckless leader you were just because of you being a chosen Hero of the Elven empire.

But don't mistake us for them since we don't care about all that fancy custom." he iterated.

Dante's voice then turned serious.

"In a world where strength is obsolete… You don't have the right to complain if you're weaker than everyone else." he declared in a domineering tone.

Ervalen has veins visible on his face because of rage but he was holding back. Not because he didn't want to attack Dante but because he couldn't in his current state where his mana was very low.

The same was the case for Myrienne but she could not gather the strength to speak a word under the murderous gazes of the members of the Misthios guild.

Right then…

Lagertha decided to calm the situation and spoke to Ervalen telepathically.

[I apologize on their behalf, my lord. However… You can pick a fight with others, but not him.] she stated.

[Why? Is this red-haired bastard some big shot in your mercenary guild?] asked Ervalen.

[No, not because of that reason.

But because he may not have shown it throughout this entire journey till even the last part of your trials.

And the truth is… He is the strongest among all of them.]

Lagertha explained why even the Hero of Life shouldn't mess with Dante aka Jugram.

[He is a… 5th-stage saint.]

Bewildered!

Even the Hero of Life who was still a 4th-stage saint was left speechless after finding out that the strongest person in the entire Misthios guild was neither Omega nor Rudra… but Jugram.

What he didn't know was that the one before him was no longer someone with the True Demon bloodline.

Currently, he was the only being in the world of Vantrea who had the bloodline of a long-forgotten existence that once made even the Gods fear for the fate of the world.

If one were to put in words... the current Jugram who was the new apostle of Mors, the Deity of Slaughter, could also be titled as…

The new Vajrayaksha.