A Story of Evil

Time passed quickly for the two and, it was in no way silent. There were a lot of noise and commotion caused by, what Sol suspected to be, titans which found themselves in the same location as where the dead boars were.

He didn't mind because it allowed him and Alice to reach their checkpoint sooner. There was not much obstacle and, what little monster appearance came along the way was easily avoided.

The new base where they would leave most of their items was another devastated looking area. It was a small building filled with rubble all around; with violet vines and grass thriving through some parts of the concrete. The reason why Sol chose it was simple. By just pilling a few pieces of rock over each other, they could cover the entrance of their camp and it would simply look like another mass of rubble within the totality of the ruined city.

Here, the two rested as they waited for the day to close. The next phase of the plan was still reliant on Sol. Specifically, their chances relied on the boy's ability to make logical predictions.

There was no way for Solomon to see everything that was happening in the Culling. Even with his level of intelligence, it would be impossible to make a hundred percent accurate predictions each and every time. There were too many things to think about.

The enemies and their respective powers.

The monsters and their positioning; as well as the potential for them to be hunted.

The terrains that needed to be taken into account.

The conditions to be fulfilled.

There wasn't a single formula to winning. Sol needed to continually rack the gears on his head. He needed to continue turning them. Perpetually. All for their victory to be assured because, as King Jubilee said, the only path left for them is forward.

And at the current moment, the two were living up to this. They closed the cave as soon as the day was about to close. They heard a few stones move from far away but, given the situation of the city, this was only normal.

The two proceeded towards their current goal and, with a few minutes left to spare, was able to reach the entrance of the Eco Park. With their things being left at their new camp, it was easy for both Sol and Alice to move quickly. They each had the aegis shield, a melee weapon, a range weapon, two summoner cores and two lightning cores. With each pair of cores carried by both Sol and Alice; hidden within a single sling sack bag.

"Why does this place look creepy?"

"Every place looks creepy you know."

"Not this one. It looks extra creepy. Like an old man running around naked type of creepy."

There was the ominous hooting of the night owls and the trees were peculiarly haunting. The branches and leaves stood perfectly still under the purple moonlit sky. And although the place was supposed to be safe, Alice couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

"Well we can't just stay here. We need to keep moving Alice."

"You don't need to tell me twice. Don't worry boy genius, I don't plan on moving alone."

With that the two entered into the Eco Park. Although it was named as such, the plants and trees which thrived there have grown to an unkempt look. With nobody sustaining it and, with mana feeding the plants, it wasn't unusual for them to evolve just like every other crop within the plantations.

With the thick amount of it surrounding them from every side, all noise outside was cancelled out. The further they went inside, the louder the silent became. Making them notice the sound of their feet crunching on leaves and twigs with the steps that they made.

The place was dark and, there wasn't much for them to see. The only source of light was the moon and, even this animated the things around them. Making shadows look like monsters surrounding them. Alice was used to the dark. But, a darkness inside a seeming woods, with that much silence, was just too much for her highly sharp senses to take.

"Is there a valid explanation for this?" Sol asked, feeling Alice grab his arm like a hug pillow.

"You still owe me one." Alice said although both she and Sol knew that this wasn't true.

"Right. Don't worry, I'm not leaving you behind."

The two continued moving this way. With Sol reassuring the girl that there was nothing wrong. Yet just as they walked for another minute, Alice suddenly pulled Sol to a nearby thicket of grass.

"Alice what are you – " The girl covered Sol's mouth and, soon enough, the silence was abruptly broken.

The ground began an earth-shaking tremor. With the sound of large chunks of rocks falling from the sky. There were flames pushing away the darkness of the night as fragments of it grabbed on to the nearest tree. Burning it and spreading the fire all around.

Then came the roar of what was unmistakably a basilisk. The flames crackled and more tremors came, leaving the two to the conclusion of who was there at that time. The enemies which Sol wanted to avoid as much as possible. It was the earth titans.

"Why are they here?" With all the commotion, Alice was able to regain her composure.

"I'm not sure but, whatever their reason is, it definitely won't be any good for us."

It was an opportunity that they had to miss. With the earth titans being there and, with all the noise and light being created, other groups of titans would surely come there. It was only a matter of time and, before this could even happen, they needed to run to safety.

"Let's go Alice."

"But what about the basilisk?"

"I'll think of something else. Right now we gotta go."

The two got up and would've moved to safety. But they couldn't.

With eyes widening in shock, they saw a flame closing in on them. It was a sword and everything the blade touched caught fire – revealing the enemy they needed to face. It was the leader of the flame titans. Prince Blaze.

Alice didn't waste any time and pulled the trigger on her gunblade. Yet it was no use. The prince simply burned these through an armor of flames that covered his body. This was a precaution he raised after the fight with the water titans. He was an idiot and, an overestimating fool, but he knew how to protect his pride nevertheless. That included making sure none of the surprises ever worked on him again.

"You know I was actually a bit worried when you entered this place. I was sure I lost track of you." The prince began.

Meanwhile, Sol was already thinking of a way out of the situation. The basilisk and the earth titans were at their back and, with prince Blaze appearing before them, he thought that the other fire titans would be nearby. But something about this part didn't feel tight to the boy.

"Where are your teammates?" He asked.

"Teammates? Do I look like the kind of person that needs helpers in such a petty task?" The prince proudly said.

"So you're all alone."

Sol was smiling at that point. With Blaze being by himself, it would be a lot easier for them to win. In fact, he didn't even need to tell Alice the instructions. Solomon rushed towards the prince, with the aegis shield on one hand and his sword on the other. Alice understood what was going on and proceeded to doing the same.

"So you have chosen death! Come! You will both bring glory back to me and my family's name!"

Blaze shot flames out of his sword. The same thing which has never failed to burn his target that is, until that point. As soon as the flames made contact with the shield, the flame disappeared completely. The momentary shock after this experience was enough for Alice and Sol to close the distance between them and their opponent.

"You think you can win simply because you came close?"

Sol began by launching the first slash aimed at Blaze's neck. The prince easily parried this with his flame sword. Releasing a melee burst of flames which Sol blocked using his shield. Alice came next, attacking from behind and Blaze pivoted his body around, meeting her blade mid swing while kicking Sol away.

He then unsheathed another sword. This surprised Alice who didn't expect that the prince would instead use his fist; refusing to grab the weapon with his other hand. Alice was able to slip away from the impact of course, moving her cheek ever so slightly in order to accomplish this.

One thing was made clear from the short exchange. That their enemy wasn't as easy as they thought he would be.

"Well? Are you not going to entertain me a bit more?" Even though he was a useless flame user, Blaze was still talented with it came to the sword. Yet this in itself was not enough to beat a genius such as Sol.

"Alice, change of plans. Give me your shield." Sol threw his sword to the girl and, she gave him her shield.

The boy understood that he was no match for the prince. In fact, it would be disastrous if he tried coordinating his melee attacks with Alice. That's why he decided to focus simply on defense. While the girl would do nothing but relentlessly attack.

"A double shield and a dual wield using a dagger and a broadsword? Hahahaha! You must be underestimating the future Flame King!"

"Oh just shut up and fight."

"Yeah, we're kinda in a hurry."

Alice was the first to attack, closing in once again in the blink of an eye. Blaze swung his blade at her yet this only blocked the broadsword. Alice took this opportunity and slit the leg of the prince, making him wince in pain as he tried attacking with another fire shot.

Sol came out at this time. Absorbing the attack with the two shields as he continued running. Bashing the weapon on the body of the prince. In that short stun duration, Alice was able to close in again. She spun in mid-air, repeatedly hitting the sword of the prince.

With the onslaught, Blaze lost his grip on the weapon – sending it flying. Sol didn't miss this opportunity and bashed him again while Alice slit both his knees.

"You ready Alice?"

"Yeah."

While in the ground, Blaze was waiting for the two to approach. Within melee range he could simply fire [Blaze Nova] and they would both be burned to crisp. Yet as he looked, the two were not coming at him but instead running away.

"Wha – " The act left him speechless. Even if he was an idiot, Blaze knew no sound reason for his opponents running off when victory was right before them. Not unless, a greater threat was nearby.

"I see that your enemies have run away." Blaze turned to where the voice was coming from. He unsheathed his second sword and coated it in flames. Yet as soon as he did, it was hit by a pillar of rock, flinging the weapon out of his hand.

"An earth titan huh. Are you gonna fight an injured opponent?"

"Fight? No don't be silly." The earth titan snapped his finger.

Blaze looked in horror as he saw spikes of earth piercing through his flesh. He tired moving but more of this simply came up.

"Flame titans are a ticking time bomb. You would have some sort of explosive skill up your sleeve and, I'm not stupid enough to come close and experience it myself." He snapped his fingers again, sending five more spikes which made Blaze scream in pain.

"I'll come back as soon as you bit the dust." The earth titan said, walking away from his prey.

"Oh and don't worry." He paused and turned one last time.

"I'll also hunt down your assailants."