Paragon of Death

100 Chapter 99: Speaking with the team

“Only twenty-seven injured, no deaths meanwhile the enemy lost more than five thousand soldiers on their side. Nice one!” Duke Hail shot Damon a thumbs up as he rode his horse back.

From the backlines, Gin, Cyrus, and Klien were gazing at Damon as if they had just seen a ghost. The team was very well aware of Damon’s strength just a month before the internship. The change was too drastic and terrifying for them to understand.

“Are you sure we are all real hosts like him?” Gin couldn’t help but ask.

The last time he checked, he used to be the strongest amongst the team, but now he wasn’t sure he would last five moves against Damon. The change was completely different from what they expected. Making them wonder if the training is what made Damon so strong or something else.

“I barely killed up to a hundred, yet it’s not enough to boost my strength? The requirements have been increased” Damon muttered while walking up to them mechanically in his suit of darkish purple armor!

“The stronger you become the harder it is to level up. You will need to kill far beyond that number to gain anything” Duke Hail said but his face squinted as he saw Damon’s condition.

Just by using the lone Halo for a short amount of time, Damon was bleeding from his eyes, nostrils, and ears. The air around him was solemn and even the soldiers placed under him gazed at him with eyes full of pity.

When Damon speaks, his breath seemed ragged and dragged. He was definitely putting in more effort just to speak.

“You don’t have to worry about my condition. My wounds are already healing. I busted some veins while casting the lone Halo.... I pushed it a bit too far” Damon offered an explanation due to the countless eyes on him.

.....

“You should stay here while we meet with the leaders of the other camps.... I strongly believe this was the enemy testing our strength. The real battle begins soon so I suggest you use this time to rearrange your group!” Tristan Hail said as he rode past Damon who gave a simple nod in response.

With the short battle over, Damon returned to Jean’s side and sat still like an ancient statue. His body made no movement for a long time and anyone who gazed at him from afar would believe he was some sort of statue.

As Tristan predicted, the meeting took a bit longer than expected but the blood clan made no attempts to attack them. Instead, defensive measures were put in place and it was visible to everyone who stood at the foot of the mountain.

The enemy forces were preparing for their attack!

Damon’s face twisted as he noticed the massive formation being drawn atop the mountain. Countless symbols of various types were getting drawn making Damon restless. It was one thing, to lead an army into a battlefield, it’s another thing to lead them into a trap. Unless someone knew much about blood techniques, it wasn’t advisable for them to make a move.

Damon could remember a handful of blood techniques used by the previous death mages but none of them used blood magic as their primary element.

Also, none of them were formation masters.

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

Contrary to what Damon had expected no one attacked that day. They set up camp and waited patiently for close to three days now. Even on the third day, representatives from the other forces could be seen visiting the great general’s tent. Amongst those who visited was a mighty, yet aged orc shaman, a dwarf warrior, and an elf princess!

It was only on the third day did Damon manage to catch a glimpse of her but her image forever remained imprinted in his mind since that day. It was a fair-skinned elf with bright emerald-colored eyes with shiny golden hair and blade-like ears. She seemed like a lady in her late teens but Damon could tell that this lady had lived for almost half a century.

“Elsa Leaf, daughter of the current queen of the Aldrion kingdom.... Getting involved with her will spell a lot of trouble for the humans... don’t think about it!” Gin’s stern voice rang behind Damon catching his attention.

When Damon turned he was stunned to meet all three of his friends together and without hesitation, Damon dragged them into his tent. The first twenty minutes were dedicated to explaining everything he knew, starting from the secrets of the warrior realm to the Knowledge of the past given to him by Sol. Or his plans to save the blood clan if possible or his plans to kill Lucy as soon as this war is over, just to hide their identities.

Either way, none of that mattered because everyone considered his intentions crazy. No one agreed he would be able to pull off any one of his crazy plans.

“Did you hit your head on a wall or something? We are not killing Lucy because of some crazy vision!” Cyrus said without hesitation. He didn’t even bother to look Damon in the face while saying these things.

Meanwhile, Gin and Klien remained silent all through that time as they pondered on the matter in silence. Unlike Cyrus the two weren’t quick to judge, and neither did they make any visible attempts to discourage Damon.

If Damon said it was from the previous user of the death magic then it must be true. If what he says is true then they can’t afford to give the enemy a chance to act. The moment the old gods of this world realize they are the new hosts, having those close to them getting influenced would be the least of their problems.

“We are fighting a losing battle, so we can’t afford to be lenient when making decisions that concern our survival and that of the world” Damon said coldly and the others instinctively nodded in agreement.

In this life, it’s kill or be killed. The only problem now is that the person they are meant to kill is someone important to them.

“Your plans are dumb. Everything is dumb! Killing Lucy will stop us from getting exposed? If they can influence none guardian spirit hosts then shouldn’t Klien be a problem as well? Save the blood clan? We look like the ones who will lose so I think we are the ones in need of saving!” Cyrus rebuked sternly and Damon frowned.

The last thing he needed was an emotional teammate but then what Cyrus said was true. His gaze fell on Klien as he pondered on what to do. Just like Cyrus said, Klien was no host and could put their lives at risk. If they couldn’t kill Klien, then they definitely cannot kill Lucy!

“It all depends on you guys now... if you truly wish to be safe. Killing me and Lucy is the only way” Klien said with a stern look on his face.

He didn’t seem bothered by the possibility of his death, as long as Damon could survive and turn against the empire that killed his sister then he will be satisfied.

Hmph!

Damon snorted coldly as he leaned on his chair for a while in silence. In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to kill Klien since he started this journey with them. Judging based on the look on Gin’s face it was clear, that he too wasn’t too willing to harm Klien for their sake.

“Then what do we do now?” Damon asked.

All this while he has been alone, plotting, planning, and thinking. Now he had these people by his side again, Damon felt more reassured about the future.

“I suggest we drop off thoughts of killing anyone and focus on how to save the blood clan!” Gin said after staying silent for a long time.

His words drew the attention of everyone and amongst all of their capable future plans, that one seemed to be the hardest to achieve. The entire issue was reliant on them reaching the blood clan without anyone noticing.

“Even if we get to meet the first bloods of the blood clan without anyone noticing. What do you think will happen when they see humans or the lone wolf they are meant to kill?” Damon asked with a raised eyebrow. Without hesitation, he signaled everyone to stop looking before casting his cold gaze at the entrance of the tent!

In reality, their situation was as bad as it could ever be.

Knock!

Knock!

Following the two knocks, the tent swung open as Alicia Hail walked in. Her eyes seemed to ignore everyone else in the room and were focused on Damon who sat shirtless, revealing a body covered in strange tattoos.

“Our allies wish to see the new lone wolf. You are the hope of the army after all, so it’s natural for them to request your presence” Alicia explained everything without hesitation. She didn’t even let Damon ask her first.

“Ooh?” Damon muttered with a raised eyebrow. If these people wanted to see him, things may turn out differently than expected.