NOVPUB
Chapter 77: The Predestined Fate [3]
In the very jungle that Akon went to hunt, Rugen also went in there hunting for a few creatures, including the very Damp Serpent Akon was hunting for. He was a proper 3-star Berserker with battle prowess almost comparable to a 4-star warrior, for a short while at least.
And unlike Akon, only another simple local unaffiliated 1st circle mage was accompanying him, as a guide, since the forest was quite large. As such, a knowledgeable guide was needed to get him to the right spots; otherwise, he would get lost, and even a powerful and talented warrior like him could lose his life for going too deep, where he wasn’t supposed to.
It was one of the major disadvantages of the warriors against mages, which is in their utility and the use of various artifacts and specific abilities. So, the need for a guide for various reasons.
Walking through the forest, he realized that the mage despite being a 1st circle one, and being weak, she still knew her way around, and was extremely knowledgeable about all the beasts, their abilities, their weakness and strengths, in numerous occasions, they were about to stumble onto a wrong path or a laid trap but the female mage saved Rugen from that hassle, for which Rugen was thankful for.
Still, it was pity, Rugen thought, that the poor woman had to take on these dangerous jobs as a guide into this dangerous forest. Who knows how many times the woman had faced near-death experience to have that amount of expertise and still choose to come back here every time, it must take an incredible amount of courage and determination to do so.
He made a mental note to pay her extra. Soon they reached near the place where the cave of the Damp snakes should be, but both of them heard sounds of fighting in there. Rugen’s expression changed, and so did the woman’s.
The woman turned towards Rugen, she stated in a serious voice, "Sir Rugen, it seems a group of people had already reached here beforehand."
"I think we should be careful and see first who the other party is and...." but before she could finish her suggestions.
Rugen ordered, "Sorry, mage. But I must get that specimen. It doesn’t matter who the other party is, I’ll apologize or compensate them, but I need the body of the Damp serpent before anyone else."
The mage nodded obediently listening to his serious tone, and they both rushed forwards without a moment of hesitation. But what they saw left them stunned for a moment, 4 powerful mages were striking down one large and hideous looking Damp Serpent with countless flurry of powerful attacks as well as careful co-ordination.
But just like how Rugen noticed them, the 4 mages who were the companions of Akon also noticed them. Looking at the two unknown individuals, Korr frowned. They were already in trouble dealing with the serpent alone. However, he noticed a small detail, being the smart one in the group.
It seems the powerful warrior was protecting the woman, he shielded the mage woman who was only in the 1st circle. Thinking of a quick but somewhat risky idea, he sent telepathic messages to 3 of his present companions, with some back and forth they agreed in the end.
Even if they did take down the snake as soon as possible, which would in turn deplete all of their strengths, they would basically be a lamb for slaughter. They decided to take a different approach.
But Rugen did have similar thoughts himself, let the mages take down the beast, he would try and negotiate with them peacefully, but if that doesn’t work, he would take it by force and leave.
Korr changed the battle style while communicating with his companions, and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, they launched a barrage of attacks at the strong-looking warrior instead of the Snake. Rugen easily defended from the combined assault with relative ease, but that only made him frown.
Soon, he discovered why their combined attack seem so weak, their purpose was not to harm him, but to cause another effect, which was painting him the target of the snake, the disgusting looking snake ignoring the 4 it was fighting against, attacked Rugen out of nowhere with a newfound strength and fury.
Rugen hurriedly defended himself against the beast with his overwhelming physical prowess. But the beast wasn’t weak; it also had extreme amounts of physical strength, and in some ways, it was fighting better against Rugen than it was faring against the mages.
As such, being a berserker, Rugen lost himself in battle with the snake, with a devious smile on his lips. However, something happened, right in next moment, the young female mage that accompanied Rugen, was abruptly thrown at the wide open jaws of the poisonous Damp Snake.
But Rugen’s mind was in a battle-crazed state, not exactly a mindless ravager, but close nonetheless, and in that mind, they only cared about battle, blood, and killing your enemy regardless of the price. And before his mind could return to normal, 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝔭𝔲𝔟.𝖈𝖔𝔪
"Ahhhhh.......noooooooo....ahhha huh ahhhh......."
The harrowing screams of the female being eaten alive, crushed by the bloody jaws of the snake, reached his ears. And that.....
Completely awakened his mind, as he realized the implications of what happened. He had a stupefied look on his face. For a moment, Rugen felt like the snake was giving him a mocking look. His head slowly turned towards the mages. They all had a somewhat mocking look on their faces.
He was filled with rage, but unlike the normal berserker’s he had one unique trait to him. The greater his rage was, the calmer he became, the deadlier and sharper his mind became. With a chilling, calculative, and ruthless gaze, he put on his metal armor engraved with powerful enchantments made by the runic tower. His whole set of weapons and armor was gifted to him by his most respected older brother, Ashborn, the man who saved his life and was the supreme genius of the rune tower.
A silent pressure descended into the area the moment he put on the armor and brought out his large sword. Looking back at the large snake, which opened its disgusting maw filled with viscous poisons, trying to put him into its mouth, with a violent gale of sword attacks that would make it look like a madman swinging the sword randomly.
But in just a few seconds, the snake was cut into countless pieces, mangled and torn apart by the uncoordinated sword attacks. The snake howled in unbearable pain in the last moments of its death.
Seeing that gesture of power, the companions of Akon finally realized the gravity of the situation and their faced turned pale. The warriors strength was far above their league. Korr gritted his teeth, he did not know that the other party was actually so strong.
Seeing the ruthless expression of the warrior they prepared all of their powerful spells and attacks and launched at him simultaneously, but it was to no avail, seeing that their strength did not work even in the slightest.
They resorted to other methods and tried to talk, then proceeded to reveal that they were companions of the direct disciple of the Sage Tower’s vice master. But their threats and pleas all landed on deaf ears. Rugen was furious, since he was from the streets himself, his whole warrior path and belief were based on the fact that he would never tolerate injustice and he vowed to become as strong and kind as the very hero who once saved him.
Thus, no matter what the other parties’ status was, they had to die. As a direct disciple of the Berserker sects vice master he wasn’t afraid of anyone, his master always told him to uphold his values, no matter what, even it means going against the world itself. And he was going to do just that.
He butchered all 4 of them without a single shred of mercy, and they stood no chance as well. He had already blocked out all teleportation or escape mechanisms in the area, or any outside interference with a special relic.
The 4 had threatened him continuously about how their team leader would butcher him, one even died at the end, gloating about how his misfortune would come at the hands of the sage and his genius Akon.
And thinking of the acts of the 4 mages, he only expected the leader to be even worse. Since, things have already turned out like this he would not spare the one called Akon. His status as a direct disciple did little to affect him.
Going into the sidelines, sitting on the side of a tree, wearing his full set, covered in the blood of the mages he killed, he simply waited, determined to give ’Akon’ even a worse death that would be a reminder to the world that there is someone who would fight, for the rights of the weak people of this world.
Rugen kept looking at the entrance of the snakes cave waiting for the said person to come out, the person came out and he saw how Akon vomited seeing the butchered state of his companions, and Rugen walked forward, only then did the other party’s attention landed on him, for some reason, Rugen felt that Akon’s looks felt somewhat familiar but couldn’t recall.
Which was understandable, since Akon’s older brother currently looked far different, even though they did look similar in facial features when they were kids. And Rugen had only ever seen Akon from afar once, and he never knew what his savior, Ashborn’s little brother’s name was, or ever met him in person.
{Rugen saw Akon from afar holding Axel’s hand on Chapter 53....}
He heard the furious roar of his opponent and the immense magical power within him, and the arrogant promise filled with unshakable resolve.
What a twist of fate that put their lives against each other and made them each other’s enemies, despite being intertwined with each other without even knowing. One was saved by kindness and luck, the other was saved by the sacrifice and determination of his kin.
One wished to become as great as his hero, and the other wished to become strong to help his brother. One wished for the greater good of the common people, and the other only wished for the good of his brother and nothing more.
Both were fated ones, chosen ones, in their own way. But fate would dictate only one winner. And their battle began as an entire part of the forest was covered in a blinding white light, but soon another power emerged, a reddish aura filled with killing intent in their purest form, fending off the blinding radiance.
Their clash continued as Akon moved at almost electric-like speed, covering his entire being with absolute light that scorched anything and everything. While he landed hundreds and thousands of powerful attacks on his enemy. Without holding back, Akon brought out an innumerable amount of artifacts with various effects and buffs, despite his own strength, the one he was fighting was not a normal 3-star warrior rather an extremely strong one able to fight against even 4th-tier beings.
Which is why he had to use all of his artifacts one after another to keep up and he was indeed keeping up and even holding an upper hand on the fight slightly, but that might not last for long, as the maddening assault filled with killing intent continued to destroy his radiance furiously.
Not only that, he could feel his light being tainted by the madness of the mighty berserker warrior.
His light expressed purity, gratitude and all the positive emotions in general. Because he only received nothing but kindness from his older brother, his older brother shielded him from all the shit that he himself went through.
While Akon himself continued to rain down his attacks, melting down an entire section of the forest, Rugen himself was like an impenetrable fortress, because of his superior physique and powerful armor, his defense was off the charts. Maybe Akon would be able to do something to him if he was in the 3rd circle but he was simply lacking as a 2nd circle mage.
Rugen, without caring much about his own safety, continued to hack away at the blinding light and kept tainting it, and every attack of his was charged with boundless power and it dealt extreme amounts of damage to his enemy. So, he was continuously gaining upper hand, albeit in a bit slow manner.
Eventually, at the end of it, their battle reached a brutally bloody state, Akon ran out of energy and had engage in melee in which he obviously was not match of the berserker, but he wasn’t too worried, he had his brother’s artifact, if truly something life threatening occurred to him, the artifact would save his life, he knew very well how protective his brother was of him.
But something that was never expected happened, out of nowhere, a powerful slash made by the warrior severed his entire right arm. Akon howled in pain and rolled on the ground, then his leg bones were crushed, and his other hand was ripped apart.
Rugen stomped his foot on Akon’s stomach, a gut-wrenching scream resounded in the forest, and the warrior stated ruthlessly,
"This is what you get for seeing the lives of the weak as worthless."
But Akon barely heard his words and did not understand what the warrior was talking about or why he killed his friends. Was he sent by an enemy of his older brother? Blood came out of his mouth, nose, and eyes. His internal organs were crushed. He did not understand what was going on, why? Why was the artifact not activating? Was there some malfunction?
Then Rugen raised his foot one last time and said, "Remember me in hell, and do good in your next life."
With a loud stomp, Akon’s skull was entirely crushed, and only disbelief and regret were written all over his face. How prematurely his life had ended without ever being of help to his brother or being of use to him.
But the very moment the one named Akon died, a terrifying wave of unknown terror flashed through Rugen’s heart. Thunder flashed in the bright sky above, and the clouds gathered; the entire world darkened. His heart began beating even louder and louder in fear.
