My fear and anxiety are still increasing. Those four skeletons surround me from every direction. I take another step back and look through them. Everyone is still fighting, but they're struggling. The battle has drained their stamina. One orc is still alive, around thirty goblins remain, and nearly twenty skeletons have joined the battlefield.
Dammit!
I thought, angrily.
How can we able to handle the mysterious "Boss" that killed me from the future vision?
I charge toward them and swing my sword. This time, it feels less heavy with every swing. I can finally feel the proper way to use a sword.
My blade strikes one of the skeletons, but it deflects its bones instead of cutting through them.
"Tsk... I can't kill them."
I mutter under my breath as I take another step back.
"It's not sharp enough..."
The skeletons immediately counterattack, swinging the bones of their companion. I narrowly dodge each strike, thanks to the [Basic Swordsmanship] skill.
"Lucky for me, I have this skill."
I said, eagerly charging toward them.
I grip my sword tightly and swing it again. This time, I aim for the neck.
They'll collapse if their heads are gone... Time to die.
I smirk with an arrogant expression.
A system message suddenly appears in front of my face while I charge toward the skeletons. The sudden appearance catches me off guard, blocking my view, throwing off my swing, and making me trip over my own foot.
I quickly get back up and glare at the message.
"What?! Disabled?!"
I shouted angrily, completely forgetting about the battle.
I drop my sword and hold the system message. My grip tightened.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN DISABLED?!"
I shook the system violently for a reasonable answer.
The system suddenly disappears, as if it senses the threat coming from me. Its sudden disappearance makes me lose my balance.
The skeletons notice my distraction and immediately use the opportunity to attack. When I finally realize I'm still in the middle of the battle, I turn my head just in time to see a skeleton swinging one skeletal arm at me.
The arm hits my stomach.
"Agh!"
The hit is far stronger than I expected. I don't remember that skeletons are that strong from my knowledge. My body is sent flying backward, and I slam into a nearby tree.
"Damn you!"
I coughed, struggling to get up.
The skeletons charge at me again. One of them raises a skeletal leg and swings it at me. I notice it just in time, throw myself to the side, and barely dodge the attack.
Dammit! Without a skill, I can't... defeat them.
I thought as I noticed that my sword was lying not far away.
I struggle to crawl toward it as fast as I can, but the skeletons keep closing the distance.
As soon as I grab the sword, I throw it at one of the skeletons.
The blade spins through the air before striking its skull. The skeleton immediately collapses into a pile of bones.
"Got one!"
I said happily as I dodged another attack from the remaining skeletons.
I quickly stand up and charge past them to retrieve my sword. I turn back to the skeletons, gripping the sword tightly, ready to fight them again.
"Three left..."
I grin evilly.
My eyes glow as the cold night wind brushes through my hair. My hair briefly covers my glowing eyes.
Just as I charge toward them, a powerful rumble shakes the ground.
The sudden tremor surprises me, forcing me to stop in my tracks. My eyes narrow at the interruption.
Suddenly, my eyes widen as I see something horrifying.
Deep within the forest, where the monsters are coming out, two glowing purple eyes silently stare at the battlefield from a faraway bush.
W-wait... Could it be?!
I thought.
A massive aura suddenly erupts from the bushes, catching everyone on the battlefield's attention. A giant light adds to that aura and shines through the forest, looking like it's aiming toward me.
W-wait...
I panicked.
My legs are not able to move because of fear devouring me.
The King shouts as he realizes something.
"EVERYONE! DODGE!"
Everyone senses the danger. The mages quickly retreat from the battlefield. The archers jump down from the trees and also retreat with others.
The adventurers and knights are still on the battlefield. Some immediately dive away, while others are still fighting against the skeletons and goblins. They quickly change their strategy, kicking the monsters into a place where the incoming attack from the light and flee away.
As soon as everyone moves away, the light inside the bush fires a massive purple beam across the battlefield to erase everything.
The beam pierces through the battlefield, catching every goblin and skeleton in its path. Even the last remaining orc is erased, its upper body.
Someone suddenly realizes that I'm still on the battlefield, and also right in the middle of the incoming beam.
"This is... Bullshi—"
I said, but then smirked.
"Hah... I guess I'm dying..."
The beam consumes me completely; many people are shocked as I, the chosen one who will help them save this world, just die in front of them.
"Kid?!"
The King said, shocked.
Many people are in disbelief about what happened in front of them and are speechless. Some of them look away so they don't witness the scene. And a few others charge toward the place where the beam's coming from.
Among them, Alice stands there with her thoughts.
Zin... No...
She thought, her eyes widen with surprised.
***
Inside the beam, I can barely see my surroundings because of the brightness from the beam. Everything turns completely white. A little surprise hit me when I feel that my body is not disappearing in the beam, just being pushed back by it.
I'm not dead yet?!
I let out a long, exhausted sigh.
I have been getting into this kind of... deadly situation too much...
I'm struggling to open my eyes; from my point of view, I freeze in surprise.
W-what the?! Who is that?
I thought. covering with the back of my arm from the brightness.
A shadow figure stands in front of me, blocking most of my view.
"W-who are you...?"
I asked, but my voice grew weaker.
My vision is getting blurry; I feel myself getting weaker.
Am I... fainting?
I finally lose consciousness, unable to stay awake.
***
"Ugh..."
I slowly open my eyes and clutch my head with one hand. I sit up and look around.
The light of the beam is now gone; the ground where I stand is now visible as a large straight line. I see many people are attacking something not far away.
"W-what's happening...?"
I asked, looking around, seeing that many monsters that had gotten inside the beam were now disappearing, leaving only a trace of dust.
"What a miracle..."
The King's voice comes from behind me.
I turn my head and see him standing nearby; his horse is nowhere in sight.
"You... somehow survived a direct hit from a strange giant toad that can shoot a deadly beam."
I turn my head to the King with confusion.
"Toad???"
"Yeah, I'm kinda impressed..."
The king answered.
"...But there is something strange; those giant toads I've seen before never shoot a giant beam."
"This one is different."
Those word from the King hits me, making me incredulous.
I hurriedly stand up and run toward the fight. The King slowly follows me.
My eyes widen as I see the monster clearly.
In the middle of the battlefield, surrounded by every knight, adventurer, mage, and archer, a giant dark pink toad is in the middle of the battle. It has black lines and dots on its body. Its eyes are purple as it's using its tongue as a weapon and whipping everyone near it. The thing that makes me incredulous is someone on its back.
A figure stood on the giant toad's back, wearing a charcoal gray cloak. The hood covers their face completely, revealing only their mouth. That person is holding an orb that I think is an artifact.
A system appears; this time it's purple.
—— Info ——
Monster: Giant Toad
Rank: E —> D
Type: Beast
Status: Controlled
—————
I knew it...
I thought, confirming.
Another system appears, but this time it feels insecure.
The red system's appearance surprised me, but it's also making me have a bad feeling.
I smile as I see the last message of the system.
"Don't worry, I will be careful."
I said with determination.
I notice the King approaches behind me. I turn to the King and tell him about important information.
"Your Majesty, I think this is not the ordinary giant toad..."
I said, with caution.
"What do you mean?"
The King said, searching for any expression on my face.
"Someone is controlling it; we need to stop it."
I said, my eyes starting to glow.
The King sees the determination through my eyes and nods.
"I understand."
I notice a spear on the ground and grab it, charging toward the boss.
I need more puzzles to fully confirm this...
I thought, getting into position.
Show yourself, you bastard.
I rush toward a large rock near the battlefield that I can stand on. Tightening my grip on the spear.
The moment I step onto the rock, I throw the spear.
The spear, with my new strength I leveled up, flies over everyone and grazes the hood of the mysterious figure. The hood gets a small cut and falls back, revealing the person's face.
He has gray hair and looks to be somewhere between thirty and forty years old. He has light tan skin. He looks thin and weak, but his sharp eyes carry a cold, terrifying intensity. His eyes glow just like mine, except they are purple.
He glares at me, making me have a cold shiver. I can sense the bad feeling about it.
"How dare you..."
He finally speaks up, but it's a little quiet for everyone to notice.
He suddenly shouts as the aura surrounds him and the toad is getting increased.
"HOW DARE YOU, A KID DISTURB OUR LORD PLAN!"
The aura from them is pushing everyone far away. I restrain myself from that insane aura. I drop a sweat and gulp at that overpowering aura.
"Who are you?!"
I shouted.
That person looks at me with an evil smile after my question.
Everyone who takes a step back from the overwhelming aura looks at me.
"I am Adrian, a member of the Herald's Covenant. By the call of our Hero... our Savior... I shall be the one to bless you..."
He said proudly, pointing at me to signal the toad to charge a beam toward me.
"...With this."
My eyes widen. Without realizing it, I stroke my chin, completely ignoring the danger before me.
Herald's Covenant?! I think I've known this name before.
In my head, I imagine an item, but somehow it's blurry.
What could it b—
I stop my thought as the Giant Toad finishes charging the beam.
My instincts suddenly kick in.
I look up and notice they're charging an attack. I throw myself to the side just as the massive purple beam destroys my standing on the battlefield.
The explosion of the beam even makes a hole in the middle of the battlefield.
As I stand up with my body covered with dust and stare at the beam's destruction, something snaps inside me.
My eyes widen.
"I remember now..."
—— PROFILE ——
Name: Zin Fortis Title: None
Age: 15
Gender: Male
Race: Human
----
Authority: Unknown
----
Stats:
STR: 4
AGI: 2
END: 1
STA: 2
----
Skills:
Basic Swordsmanship: Disabled
——————