Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Seth was slightly stumped by Senior White's revelation. Even if everyone missing was having a cliche one-on-one fight, that was at most 14. Who else was there? Another enemy or maybe passers-by?

"I see you are confused. Let's go to the one closes and deal with things as they come." Senior white suggested.

She was right. Who was fighting was not important right now. They had to hurry. Everyone agreed, leading to the weird scene of a scaled lady, a bunch of people, and an ever-growing entourage of hopping slimes running through the dim city streets.

The motley crew followed the deity through the misty streets. The snake's face paled when she noticed the damage that her mist inadvertently caused. Despite the smile she would show when she faced the group, Seth saw the signs of sorrow when he looked away from them.

Surprisingly, the blacksmith could understand the emotions the snake was probably going through. Seeing familiar streets and places, the town you called your home, fall apart and change. At the time he did not have the chance to mourn since his life was on the line, but when he thought back to Alpha, he could imagine how she felt.

However, he didn't know how to comfort her. It also was not the time to comfort her. He did not really worry about the hero, the saintess, or the mysterious girl. Seth feared for the ice witch and the fiery swordsman.

"It seems the fight ahead has concluded." the snake informed them.

After a while, they finally came across a blood-covered Hubert leaning on a collapsed wall. At first glance, the demonic merchant looked miserable, but he seemed to have already healed up. Only his clothes were a mess. The person opposite him did not look much better

Her beige uniform was also ripped and burned; it barely covered her important regions. The place bore witness to a fierce battle with collapsed houses, craters, and destroyed cobblestone. It was like a sight from a war zone.

Sitting on a pile of rubble, she fixated on Hubert vigilantly. Her gaze only shifted when the group of newcomers entered the scene. At first hopeful, it turned depressed when she saw that it was not her comrades that arrived to help.

The blacksmith needed a moment to realize that she was probably from another team. He didn't remember her from the ceremony in Chrona. It was her clothes that did not fit the setting of this world that made him realize.

"You have to catch her! She attacked me right after I fell into this city." Hubert hurriedly called out.

"Hey! We had a truce!" she shouted incensed.

Seth ignored the two and checked the surroundings first. He breathed a sigh of relief to find none of the undead he had faced involved in this battle. Other participants were no problem. Even if team members lost to them, they would only be transported back to Chrona.

A cold shower still ran down his spine when he thought of the weapons his two attackers wielded. The daggers they used had a dark aura, that disgusted Seth like the smell of shit and the taste of bile.

<Soul-pinning Dagger

Epic

Phys. Attack: 870

Mag. Attack: 230

1. Soul Sealing

2. Forced Conversion

This malefic weapon fusing the power of dark magic and evil rituals was created by Craftsman Durnham for the sole purpose of empowering his daughter.

Requirements: Subordinate of Durnham Family

>

This weapon could prevent the empire's safety measures, but it was not the primary function. Being killed with this would completely seal one's soul in their body and forcefully convert them into a sentient undead in servitude of the Dunham Family.

His previous attackers were probably victims of the kind of weapons they carried themself. It was just creepy how they could stay almost the same person, except for the addition of undying loyalty to their master.

It was good news that the instigators were not here, but that was separate from the topic at hand. He ignored their previous bickering and acted as if nothing happened.

"Senior White, how are the other fight going?" he asked to make sure.

"They are pretty balanced for now."

Seth nodded and turned back to the two.

"So? Would anybody care to explain what happened?" the man with a snake on his shoulder, a scaled lady at his side, and an army of slimes in the back asked for an explanation.

Seeing him not immediately take action to apprehend her, visibly relieved the woman. Her body that was ready to fight or flee at any time relaxed a little.

Both tried to speak and interrupted each other at the same time.

"Hubert, you first."

The merchant described how a giant creature made of bones had swallowed his beautiful airship. Seeing no other way out he activated the self-destruct function, which ejected all passengers before overloading the engine.

Managing to equip a personal barrier item just before he lost consciousness, saved his life upon impact in the city. He was recovering when that woman suddenly stumbled out of an alley and attacked him using a bunch of weird artifacts.

They fought a brutal fight where they pitted their various items against each other until they finally got to the point of mutual destruction and decided to have a truce instead of dying.

After the merchant ended his epic narrative where he displayed himself as an impeccable and powerful hero of justice, Seth turned to the woman to listen to her.

"I- I only attacked because I thought he was part of the people who attacked us. I'm just an archeologist, I wouldn't stand a chance against a combat class..." she explained unwillingly.

Her name was Megan. She and her group had arrived in this land a few days earlier, through a method she did not wish to further talk about. Following the guidance of one of her comrades leading them north, they faced the sudden assault of the undead.

The party managed to escape, but a group of especially strong undead kept chasing them. In the end, they manage to separate the group when they entered the thick mist to lose their pursuers.

When she found herself alone in the fog-covered desolate city, she found Hubert just standing on the street. The chance that he was just a passer-by didn't come to her mind. Even if he was, he was part of an enemy team, she decided to attack.

Seth nodded to himself in thought, when she finally ended her story. Her information helped him confirm some of his suspicions. There were definitely people after them. People that got their information from outside and knew them and their position at all times. In that regard, he could only suspect that something was going wrong on the broadcasting side.

In light of this insight, he did not care about the little skirmish between the merchant and archeologist. These people were after all of them, and it was better if all participants worked together in that case.

"Okay, you two. We don't have time for this. There are bigger things going on than the evaluation. Now shake hands and makeup. We have to keep going." he said using the <Voice of Seth> to make his words more convincing.

~Yes, be nice to each other and follow along. ~ Tatzel imitated the patronizing tone.

Although both were stunned, they did as told and joined the motley crew in their hurry to the next fight.

"We have to hurry; the fight ahead has taken a turn."

They reached a wide square with marks of weapon skills all over the place.

"Oh no! Urgash..." the archeologist sight when she saw a huge figure standing in the middle of the square.

A crushed figure was laying on the ground, while another opponent standing in front of the giant Ork. He was still standing, holding a massive battle-ax, despite the long sword that was pierced through his chest.

The remaining enemy had already lowered his weapon. The crushed figure on the ground also slowly got back to its feet.

"haha, you came too late." they taunted.

Slowly the tall Ork came back to life and the undead that had laid on the ground went ahead to pull his sword from his ribcage. But when he grabbed for the hilt, he suddenly jumped back to dodge.

Seth had no intention to let this thing grab its weapon and started shooting arrows from a distance. The first one managed to dodge, but the arrow slightly changed its trajectory and hit the second undead in the chest.

"Urgh! What the-?!" the undead who had taunted them kneeled down, groaning in pain.

"Hmm...?" the white snake suddenly halted and looked into a specific direction, ignoring the situation in front.

"What is it, Senior White?" Seth asked as he nocked his second arrow.

"Do you know someone with power over a wyvern?" she mused

A wyvern? Why did she suddenly mention a...?