A Story of Evil

Large ice pillars rose from the ground. Snow began falling on one part of the eco park. Various water tentacles sprouted, slamming down on the trees as rain began pouring down. There were the extreme changes in weather caused by the water and frost titans who have entered into the battlefield.

Thanks to them, most of the fire has died down. The smoke that the burnt trees sent off was all that they needed to worry about. But even this seemed irrelevant to all the danger that was around.

Direwolves began looking for prey. Ravage Vultures flew in the sky, looking for a chance to strike. Monstrous plants began entangling foolish creatures that dared step on their vines. Deadly mushrooms released spores.

It was not a rain after a forest fire that everyone smelt. No. There was a much stronger scent that invaded their sense of smell. It was death. The stench of rotting corpses. Burnt trees. Blood. The cries of the dying. Everything was mixed into the uncaring moonlit night. Observing everything as an idle spectator to the suffering of the sacrificial pawns.

Meanwhile Sola and Alice were still patiently bidding their time. Hiding until the boy figured out a way to get through the wall.

As Sol observed, everyone got in by going over it. He and Alice clearly saw this through all the spells that suddenly fired from the sky. This meant that, the attempts of these titans at taking down the wall was futile. Furthermore, as they left the scene of the fight, Alice was able to see that some frost titans were already wounded. Strengthening Sol's hunch that the wall had a way to fire back.

"We need to be as far away from the wall as possible when creating an opening. Unlike the other titans, we have no way of just jumping through the wall."

"I mean, even if we did, the part about falling back to the ground would hurt as hell, right?"

"Yeah. So that leaves us with two options. Forcibly destroying the wall or searching for the [Core] they used to make it."

"Ahhh I knew it! That's why it's not going down despite the range being this big huh." Alice said in reply, already having this idea lurking in her head.

"Yeah. The only logical explanation to this is that, the core of their ally which we killed was planted to the ground and turned into a wall. How they ensured that the mana harvested would turn into this is still a big blur to me. But, if we find it, then we can destroy the wall altogether."

"Wait aren't you forgetting about one big problem in that plan?"

"Oh? What would that be exactly?"

"Okay a prelude to my real question. How do we know where the core is?" Alice asked, wanting to make sure that her assumption was correct.

"That's easy. It's with the three earth titans."

"Ahh I knew it." Somehow Alice was not happy that she was right because, that already entailed a lot of headache.

"So three versions of the dude we fought…PLUUUUS the basilisk; if it is still alive. You want us to fight all of that? Aren't you the one who told me that we should be running away from danger right now?"

"I did. But our resources are limited Alice. The only things we brought with us are stuff to hunt down the Basilisk. None of this was supposed to happen. Not the earth titans figuring out how to tame a monster, nor the flame prince tailing us. These variables were too loose and unpredictable." They stopped for a while. Hiding in a thick bush as two ogres passed by.

"In an all-out war, with what resources we brought, we would definitely lose. It doesn't matter how long we try to hide, by daybreak we would be visible to the remaining titans and it'd be game over then."

"So instead of fighting all of them. You want to focus what ammunition we have left on the three earth titans, is that it?"

"Yes. Just enough to impair them momentarily and to destroy the [Core]."

Sol never mention that they could beat the three earth titans. It was impossible. But the plan he had in mind didn't involve their death. That would only be a lucky coincidence if it came to it.

"Haa…Well, for what it's worth, your decisions always get us out of a pickle. I'm not even gonna question this one anymore. Let's just take them down."

Hence the two continued on their way. Heading for their new targets and feeling the strain on their body from having to continuously move.

The Eco Park, although said to simply be a park is actually a vast plot of land. It is roughly two hectares in length and with all the plants surrounding it, one could even say that it has turned into a mini jungle. It was not that difficult to keep on hiding as Alice mentioned but, if they truly wanted to survive, getting out was still the safest option.

They crouched their way through a pack of rabid apes. Ran through the steel titans which faced these. Had an unfortunate encounter with two corrosive vipers. But Alice was able to handle this perfectly well. Killing both without breaking a sweat.

Slowly but surely, they were nearing their destination. Back to the area where they were supposed to go to. The same place where the earth titans and the basilisk were. The same area where they needed to figure out where the core was.

It was simple. Sol would activate his [Analysis] once again in order to identify everything in the area. Although humans and monsters could have information hidden due to their power level. Sol could nevertheless still get the names of everything. Through this, they would effectively pinpoint its location and destroy it.

But as they moved, they felt a battle that was unfolding. Through the vibrations of the land they stepped on. The strong gust of winds and the waters that rose too high. The screams of skills activating. All of this mixed up along with the monsters that ran away from the center of danger.

"Of course they'd be livelier." Alice commented.

"Yeah well that would be better for us."

They were still far from the range of their opponents. With all the commotion, Sol was sure that he could find an opportunity to execute his plan. They didn't need to join in, nor put themselves in danger. All they had to do was to wait for the perfect opportunity to strike, break the core, and get out before it was too late.

"Let's proceed."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Alice said, following Sol's lead.

They slowly got closer to their target. It was a three-way matchup but, the focus seemed to be on the earth titans which dominated their enemies despite only being three. Razor sharp wind blades collided with rock solid defenses. An army of water soldiers advanced only to be met by holes on the ground where they sunk. Every move had a counter and every attack met an impenetrable defense.

But there was something peculiar about the three. No matter how one looked at it, they were the ones being pressured. With the attacks coming in every second, they couldn't hope to keep their defenses up that long. Yet, they didn't move from their location and Sol understood why.

Behind them was the body of the basilisk. Dead and uncaptured. The other titans probably arrived a few seconds before the three could perform what was needed on the monster. With that being said, they retained their ground and protected it. Probably thinking that, they would turn it into their pet later on.

"Alice, how much closer before they can detect us?"

"Well my [Danger Sense] has been going haywire already but, a few more steps wouldn't hurt."

"Okay. Let's get this over with and escape this place."

"Oh I'd be more than happy to comply with that."

The two proceeded to getting just a bit closer before Sol used his [Analysis]. He scanned the whole area. It took him thirty seconds and, this was enough to strain his eyes. Making him close them from the pain. It was still far from being a usable skill after all.

"Did you get it?"

"Yeah, but…" Sol rubbed the back of his neck.

"But what?"

"The location is a bit difficult. It's under the basilisk." Sol's tone was burdened and heavy.

"They're really being extra careful this time around huh?"

"Well, we're to blame for that part." Sol said, thinking that the extra amount of caution being displayed by their enemy was due to the headshot they made before.

"So can we hit it?"

"Not with the basilisk; no. But, staying here like this also places us in a pretty tight spot."

Sol began thinking of a way out of their current predicament once again. It was one problem after the other at that point and, quite frankly, he was getting exhausted trying to figure a way out of every possible danger.

"Okay I have something now."

"Really? Let me hear it then."

"We're gonna use of one lightning [Core] we brought."

"And?"

"Well place the [Aegis Shields] beside the core. That'll ensure that they take in all the lightning. As soon as we do that, throw my sword in the middle of their battlefield and turn on the element disperser. With the water titans being in the battlefield, there would be more ways to supercharge the lightning inside the core and, even getting wet just a bit ensures that they'd get an absurd amount of damage from the blow."

"Now that is a good plan."

With this, the two Voids continued in their path. The plan was simple enough to follow through and, without missing a heartbeat, they were able to set up everything that they needed. The shield, the core, and Alice who was just waiting to throw the sword.

"Are you ready?"

"Is that even a question? Just say when I need to throw it."

"Okay."

Sol released the detonation placed on the core. Lightning began going haywire, distracting the earth titans and the other two groups that faced them. The [Aegis Shield] began absorbing all that it could, beginning to shatter from the immense amount of mana provided by the [Cores].

With the distraction set, there was finally a short gap created in the fight. And Sol didn't miss this opportunity as he said:

"Now!"