Aiden stood his ground, tired and fatigued. The pain remained in his chest, unwilling to leave. His hand clutched at it, grabbed a handful of the fabric of what was left of his coat—as if he could somehow take hold of his own heart.

Around him, the muffled sound of the battle was slowly sliding back into place. Sound was given greater life until it could not be ignored. The explosions grew louder. The flashing sounds of skills as mana came alive in the air were given life.

Through it all, Aiden paid nothing but the armored knight his entire attention. His interface continued to stare him in the face.

[???? has used trait skill Challenger's Declaration]

[Defend Your Void]

He had no idea what his void was supposed to be. His best guess was that it was his manifesting skill. If not that, then it would be something related to his arm.

Aiden took in deep breaths. With them he tried to stave off the pain in his chest, to suppress it. It did not work.

You aren't one to back away from a fight you might be able to win, he told himself, as a scorpion-like creature as tall as a man zipped past him, crushing a random man to the ground.

Aiden's eyes moved momentarily, long enough to confirm that the man was a denizen of Mba-Chukwu.

The knight continued to approach. From the vast distance between them, it walked as if it had all the time in the world and the chaos around did not matter to it.

Aiden pulled himself to stand upright. His manifesting skill was dwindling terribly. With a shrug of will, he pulled up his life stats.

[Health 32%]

[Stamina 39%]

[Mana 29%]

Aiden pursed his lips awkwardly as he read the details in front of him.

Shaking his head, he took a step back. "Yeah… no."

His head snapped from side to side, picking everyone out. He spotted Valdan first. The knight was hacking his way through his enemies. He moved with a purpose, switching through sword stances of Bandiv. His skills worked with him. Aura strikes flashing out at the right time. Yellow, lightning filled blades cutting people off in the distance.

Ted was a swordsman in another part of the battlefield. His sword flashed around. His hands guided it in practiced swings. His feet moved through the motions as he had been taught at the palace. With three summoned creatures beside him, one of them a massive, one eyed wolf, he looked more like someone with the [Beast Tamer] class instead of the [Summoner] class.

Still, every now and again, Ted's attention moved to the knight with the sword off in the distance. The being that was here for Aiden's void—whatever that truly was.

Aiden took another step back as his eyes moved around. He found Zen and his sister in the pouch of a creature that looked like an overgrown demon kangaroo. It had deep red orbs for eyes—five of them.

Zen and his sister looked like they were about to throw up while the creature hopped around the battlefield in a display of high agility.

"TED!" Aiden called out to his brother.

Ted slipped beneath a blast of liquid fire. The wolf beside him rushed the attacker, ripping his head from his body in one move.

Ted's expression brightened when he saw Aiden. Then it turned into worry as his eyes really took him in. Before Aiden could open his mouth to say more, Ted's attention snapped back to the armored knight.

Aiden dragged himself away from where he was. Pain continued to bury itself in his chest. His interface continued to show him as his mana ticked down ever so slowly.

Oh fuck it!

[You have deactivated Manifesting skill Enchanted Void]

He got to Valdan almost immediately. His hand reached for the man's shoulder, and he ducked. Valdan spun on reflex and his sword cut a path where Aiden's head should've been.

"Lord Lacheart."

Aiden stepped past Valdan. His hands came up and snapped shut, stopping the head of an axe as it came down. He turned the weapon aside and spun, leg sweeping upward in a diagonal arc. The heel of his boot cracked the woman in the side of the head, and she crumpled to the ground.

"We've got to get out of here," Aiden told Valdan. "Now! Get Fjord!"

The pain in Aiden's chest lessened. It took him by surprise. Suspicious, he turned to his challenger, the armored knight in the distance.

Standing in place, the creature was looking down at its hands. Aiden could see no expression behind its helmet, but something told him that it was confused. By what, he did not know.

After a moment, it stopped looking at its hands and returned its attention to Aiden. With his manifesting skill deactivated, the world came alive with vibrant colors and booming sounds. The orange of fire. The crimson red of blood. The brown dirt of soil. The pained shrieks of the dying.

Aiden closed his heart to all of it. But his heart opened up to worry when the armored knight started running.

It charged straight in his direction as if suddenly in a hurry.

Aiden turned. "TED!"

Ted glanced at him, then at the charging armored knight. Aiden did not need to say more. Without hesitation, Ted turned and ran.

The ground erupted in front of the knight. A random skill from a random participant in the massacre. It rose high, a mound trying to become a boulder. The knight's arm flickered out, too fast for Aiden to follow. The boulder shattered into countless pieces. Ruined.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

With a speed and strength of that level, Aiden had no dreams of winning a fight against the thing even with full life stats.

Running came easily for Aiden. Valdan was right beside him, keeping pace. With the deactivation of [Enchanted Void], Aiden felt the effect of all the enchantments he'd used in his fight against the steel-boned absent in his body. There was no speed boost or strength boost. There was no boost at all.

He needed to rectify that.

[You have used Class skill Enchanted Weave]

…

[You have used Enchantment of Lesser Speed]

Strength flowed through him. The muscles in his legs seemed to relax even as they tightened. The irony was not lost to him. Aiden paid it no attention as the force of the breeze against his face grew stronger.

"Where to?"

Aiden turned, catching sight of Ted riding the wolf. Valdan kept pace with Aiden but the wolf seemed to be restricting its speed just to remain by their side.

"We need to leave the town," Aiden answered, eyes darting about in search of Fjord.

He spared a glance behind them as well. As expected, the knight was still chasing. The black mist of demonic mana Aiden had seen earlier was gone, though. Now, it was just a knight in dirty armor and a worrying sword.

Something landed right next to Ted. It was the kangaroo-like creature.

"We can't leave them behind," Zen's sister, Feira, said from within the creature's pouch. She seemed to have grown accustomed to her place. She no longer looked like someone on the brink of throwing up.

"We can't," Aiden told her.

Feira shook her head. "We must."

The creature carrying them hobbled forward in awkward steps as it kept pace. It moved like an overgrown penguin.

"His right," Zen said, voice weak. "We can't save them."

Aiden could see the effect of the massacre on Zen's face. The shame of a man who felt helpless when he believed he was supposed to be capable of help.

[Time Walker]s always wish they can turn back time, Aiden thought, but left the words unsaid.

"We can't just let them die," Feira snapped, but her voice was weak. "It's not right that we alone get to survive."

Off in the distance, Aiden finally caught sight of Fjord. The boy was riding his jepat hard, thrusting and stabbing at anyone around him with a poleax in hand. Aiden wondered where the boy had gotten it.

Probably off a dead invader.

"Zen," Aiden said, raising his voice so that he spoke over the din of battle. "We need a way out of the town that is not the front gate."

Zen blanched for a moment before regaining his composure. "The sewers."

"Why does everywhere use sewers?" Ted grumbled.

A large [Basiliker] leapt over him, coming out of nowhere. It landed far in front of them, slamming into a man with a bow and arrow. It engaged him in combat, eating away at his face before eating away at the man.

"Left!" Zen shouted suddenly.

Aiden pointed, and everyone turned. He did not.

"Go!" he bellowed after them, turning right. "I'll catch up to you guys."

A frown marred Ted's face but he did not disobey.

"Lead," Ted commanded Zen. "We'll follow."

Aiden veered off, abandoning them. He ducked a swinging spear, then threw himself to the ground in a roll. The dirt erupted behind him and a wave of heat caressed his back. Ignoring it, Aiden made his way in Fjord's direction.

He angled his charge so that he cut off Fjord's escape.

A roar pierced the air and Aiden's chest tightened.

[???? has used trait skill Challenger's Declaration]

[Defend Your Void]

…

[Void not detected]

[Trait skill Challenger's Declaration does not take effect]

I guess it's the manifesting skill, Aiden thought, looking back at the armored knight.

Six bodies lay lifeless at the creature's feet. Invader and resident alike. It had stopped running and was simply standing in place. Its head was stationary, as if staring. Aiden's best guess was that it was reading its interface.

There's no void here, Aiden thought, taking his eyes off it and focusing them on Fjord. Give up and go back to where you came from.

"Fjord!" he roared as he drew closer to the boy. When Fjord turned, eyes locking on him, Aiden stretched out his hand. "Reins!"

Fjord steered his jepat towards Aiden. He scooted back on the creature, grabbed a handful of its body, and let its rein dangle.

Aiden reached up with his normal hand, intentionally keeping the blackened arm out of sight, and grabbed hold of the rein in one move.

In a fluid motion gained from years of riding, he leapt off the ground. He turned his body mid-jump, twisting it masterfully, and landed equestrian on the jepat.

Aiden kicked the jepat into a sprint even though the creature seemed to be running as fast as it could.

"I lost the others," Fjord called out, raising his voice above the sound of battle, even though he was right behind Aiden.

"It doesn't matter." Aiden looked back, found the knight still standing in place. "I know which way they went."

"The jepats, too," Fjord added.

"Jepats are replaceable."

Aiden whipped the reins, more out of impatience than necessity. The jepat tried its best to run faster, but it was giving it all it had. Behind Aiden, Fjord maneuvered the poleax in hand and stabbed someone who ventured a little too close.

Aiden veered the creature to the side, taking it down the path Zen had led the others. Out of nothing but worry and instinct, he looked back once more.

The knight had gotten over whatever had stopped it and was now running again. It made a beeline in his direction, kicking up dirt and dust as it charged after him.

"By all the dead gods!" Aiden hissed.

Fjord looked back. "What the hell is that?"

"Priority one," Aiden answered, returning his attention to the road in front. "Keep an eye on it and tell me when its getting closer."

"It's getting closer!" Fjord shouted, terror in his voice.

Aiden ignored the terror, shifted his worry while ignoring the pain in his chest as best as he could.

The void's gone, he growled internally. There's nothing for you here.

He maneuvered the jepat between two buildings, bursting out on the other side. He caught sight of the others. The kangaroo like creature hobbled hilariously. If a death knight blessed with demonic mana wasn't currently chasing him through a battlefield, Aiden might've found it funny.

Moving the reins, he turned the jepat towards them. Fjord kept his poleax active, dissuading those who believed they could take down the jepat or claim it for themselves.

Aiden left the boy to the task as they slowly left the chaos behind them. The town grew less noisy. The taste of blood in the air dulled. The din of death and metal and skills echoed quietly like memories of the past.

Fjord and Aiden caught up with the others quickly. They had nothing but the wind in their ears as the noise in the air now.

"Took you long enough," Ted called out as they came up beside him.

"Only because you guys slowed down." Aiden kicked the jepat, spurring it further as he felt it begin to slow. "Now, run! We have to go faster!"

"It's closer!" Fjord cried in a terrified shriek, as if to support Aiden's words.

All heads swiveled, except Zen's and his sister's.

Behind them, the knight was like a moving tank. Its steps broke the ground beneath it, shattering the packed dirt and rocks alike. It was close, but not close enough to be a melee problem.

But if it has a ranged skill…

Worry suffused the thought, and Aiden prayed that it didn't. If it didn't, then the only way it could be a melee threat was if it had something like a [Leap] skill.

The creature threw itself into the air, covering the distance between them in one massive jump. Aiden's jaw dropped as he watched the creature begin to descend on them.

Fuck my life!

"SCATTER!" he roared as the creature came down.

Valdan was already darting to the side. The creature carrying Zen and Feira, his sister, leapt into the air in a hop.

Ted turned, his wolf coming to a screeching halt, and faced the creature head on.

"That's enough!" he shouted, as the knight landed on top of him.

But they did not clash. Instead, the strangest thing happened.

The darkness snatched the knight from the air and swallowed it whole. In the blink of an eye, the creature was gone.

Everybody froze, as if forgetting that they were still on the run.

Aiden pulled the jepat to a stop as the wolf vanished out from under Ted, dissipating into the darkness. Zen and his sister crashed to the ground as the summoned creature carrying them went up in black smoke.

Aiden fixed his brother with an incredulous look. "What the hell?"

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