Matthew and the beast exchanged glares. For some reason, Matthew had a feeling that he had to, or rather, wanted to fight the creature.
Even if his guts tells him to fight, his mind says the opposite. He knew nothing about fighting and he very well knew that it would be dangerous with Rose around. There was only one option left.
Matthew and Rose were in serious trouble upon encountering the wolf-like beast that was three times the size of an average wolf with horns on its head in a pattern of black and white stripes..
"Uhh Rose, what kind of wolf is that?" Matthew, although knew that they were facing no ordinary wolf, still asked that question.
"I don't know, I've never seen such a creature before!" Rose answered in panic.
While they were still talking, the beast leapt towards them with the instinct to kill.
"GET DOWN!" Matthew shouted as he threw himself to the ground whilst pushing Rose from the back with his right arm.
The beast missed them but was able to land on its feet not far from them and turned around facing them.
Matthew who was lying on the ground stomach down shifted his position to face the beast.
The beast, instead of leaping again, it ran towards them.
Matthew, through instinct, grabbed a handful of soil from the ground and threw it towards the beast.
The beast stopped in its tracks. It coughed and wheezed while shaking its head.
Matthew took this chance to run away. He grabbed Rose by the hand and bolted.
"Come on Rose! We need to go while he is blinded!"
Both of them ran as fast as they could even though it hurt their unprotected feet.
The beast, with one last shake of its head. Looked at its prey who were running away from it. With a huff, it howled just like any wolf would.
The sound of the howl reached the ears of Matthew and Rose.
"Was that a howl? But why?" Rose asked.
Matthee kept silent for a moment as he saw more shadows moving through the forest with them.
"Looks like it called its friends" Matthew was even more worried now that there are more of those things chasing them.
"What are we gonna do?"
"No choice, we just need to keep heading towards that smoke. Maybe there is someone there that can help."
As they kept running for their lives, another shadow appeared. But this time, it looked human.
Rose saw that shadow and immediately called for help.
"HEY! Help us! Can you hear me?"
At that moment, one of the moving shadows beside them leapt towards Rose.
Matthee saw what was coming and instantly yanked Rose back and put his left forearm in front of the gaping jaws of that beast.
SHIEK!!
"AARGH!"
Matthew fell down, his forearm still in the beast's jaws. The beast was on top of Matt, pinning him down. Blood was dripping.
Matthew saw a stick nearby and quickly grabbed the stick and shoved it into the beast's left eye.
It loosened its bite and whined loudly, Matthew crawled backwards. He was still bleeding from the open wound, luckily, the wound was not too deep.
"Matt! Are you okay? Oh my god... You're bleeding!" Rose was worried about Matt.
"Ugh..yeah, at least it's not too deep. I don't think it hit the artery."
The beast that was thrashing before finally regained its senses back(aside from its left eye) and growled at the both of them.
It was about to leap into another attack but suddenly an arrow struck right into its other eye. After thrashing and barking a bit more, it slumped to the ground.
Matthew and Rose was confused.
"Is..is it dead?" Rose asked, but no answer came.
Then a voice finally shook the silence away.
"Hey, are you guys alright?"
Matthew and Rose turned towards the direction where the voice came from.
There, stood a woman with dark violet hair which was tied back neatly but part of it was covering her left eye, holding a weirdly shaped bow in her left hand and wearing a scarf that was covering her mouth and nose. Her attire was much like a hunter, with a quiver of arrows on her back and a knife on her right hip.
The woman walked towards them and kneeled down.
"Hmm that looks bad." The woman said.
"Who are you?" Rose asked.
"I am..." The woman was about to answer the question but another howl rang through the air.
"Ugh, we'll save the introductions for later. You head back to my camp near the cliff hanger."
The woman said that as she pointed to the back with her right thumb.
"Eh? But what about you?" This time Matthew asked.
"I'll hold them off, you guys just wait for me there."
"But-"
"GO!" She shouted.
Matthew, without hesitating anymore, ran towards the direction the woman was pointing at along with rose.
"Matt, are you sure we can just leave her?" Rose was also worried about the woman.
"I don't want to leave her either, but at this point we'll just be in her way."
Rose was still worried but looking at Matthew's arm, she felt that he was right. They can't be of any help.
Matthew and Rose ran according to the direction that the woman pointed. Eventually, they reached a campsite under a cliffhanger just as Yuki mentioned."That must be it." Matthew said.The campfire was still lit at the time, providing a much brighter lighting than the moon.Matthew and Rose sat on a log that was placed near the campfire."Let me have a look.""Ow! Damn that hurts." Matthew flinched when Rose pulled his arm."That's pretty bad. We need to stop the bleeding." Rose pulled her hands away and started taking off her jacket.“Are you sure about using your jacket?” Matthew asked.“It’s fine. It can be washed later.”“Ow!”Rose was not hesitant at all and pulled Matthew’s arm closer and started wrapping the jacket around
Dawn arrived on the three people. Matthew and Rose helped Yuki pack up and soon, they were on their way.The sunlight only slightly pierced through the leaves of the forest canopy, granting the three protection. Tweets of birds, buzzing of insects and the rustle of leaves as wind blew by accompanied them.Matthew seemed to have been more aware of his surroundings since now he knew he was in a different world and so, he was lagging a bit behind the group.Rose took this chance and got closer to Yuki.“Hey, Yuki.” She started.“Hm?” Yuki glanced at Rose.“I have a few questions to ask you.”“What is it?”“What are you planning?”That question made Yuki flinch a bit. “What do you mean?”“Why did you sug
“Here you go.” Yuki handed a note of currency to the driver that lent them a ride.“Thank you.” The middle aged man replied.“Safe travels.” Yuki said lastly before the man sped away with his carriage pulled by a dinosaur looking creature.“Even the carriages are pulled by raptors…” Matthew muttered by himself.“Matt, are you really sure about this?” Rose asked him in a whisper.“Yes, don’t you understand how cool it would be to throw fire or water out of your hand?” Matthew said.“I understand, but do ‘you’ understand how dangerous it is?”“Of course I do. I don’t just throw myself anywhere without thinking, you know?” Matthew proudly pointed at himself with his thumb.“I am doubting th
A few days later, in the bustling city of the Northern Omni Kingdom. Matthew, Rose and Yuki stood before a massive structure that was… “The Omni Hunter Academy.” Matthew read aloud the name of the place that was in front of them. The academy ground was huge. There was a vast field to the left and another one to the right. There were also quite a few buildings with signs of different facilities. People of all races can be seen present walking, chatting, playing and training. Both Matthew and Rose were astonished by this scene and almost stopped breathing. “Hello there.” A soft female voice came from behind them. They all turned around to meet who the voice belonged to. “Are you perhaps new here? I’ve never seen you before.” The woman glanced between Matthew and Rose. “Eh ah no, we’re not new, nor are we
Ten months later…The Omni Hunter Academy secondary field. Almost all students were gathered here for a very specific event today.“Attention! Attention students!” The principal, Grandmaster Algernon, spoke on the megaphone to get their attention.The students slowly died down into a silence. The principal cleared his throat before continuing.“Now, I believe all of you have been informed of what you are gathered here today.”“YEEAAHHH!!!” The students yelled in unison.“Today is a special event that we conduct every year, the Annual Quest Completion. About half a year before the annual Hunter exam. It may not be a requirement,however, we will evaluate your skills and abilities and decide whether you are eligible for the exam. This is, of course, for your safety.” The principal said.
The leaves rustled as the wind blew softly. Only a tiny bit of sunlight was allowed to pass through the canopy of leaves as Matthew and Rose quietly moved under it. Their footsteps moved in the same direction as the footprints left behind by the zombies of last night.“In the end, we followed them the next day…” Matthew muttered.“Sh-shut up! It’s your fault for sleeping last night!” Rose strongly retorted.“Yeah yeah, I wonder just who knocked me out last night hmm?” Matthew glanced at her with an unhappy expression.“I already said I’m sorry!” Rose clenched her hands beside her and shouted.“Well, at least they left footprints behind.” Matthew returned his focus to the quest at hand. “By how they were moving, these guys are definitely under someone’s control.”M
Rose stared at the zombie that had a sword stuck in its head.“I can beat this guy no problem.” Rose extended her hand out and casted a spell. “[Greater Fireball]!”A much larger version of the previous fireballs flew out and exploded in the face of the undead.“!!”To her surprise, the zombie was not even scratched.“That was a mediocre level spell. How?” Rose glanced over at the mysterious figure at the furthest back. “Must be his doing. We need to take him out. How is Matt doing…!!”When Rose glanced over at Matthew, she was surprised to see. Matthew was confronting the big zombie along with the smaller ones at the same time. However, the small ones were definitely faster than before and the big one was also definitely stronger. But Matthew was holding his own against all that. 
Matthew opened his eyes to a world of flames. Around him was just simply an endless sea of fire without anything else in sight. "This dream again…" Matthew did move and only stood there idly. Even though he was surrounded by fire, he did not feel pain at all. One would think that this was definitely just a dream if not a nightmare, but for Matthew who had seen this many times already, it was something different. He could not explain what it was. He just sensed that there was something else about this dream that he had. In the far distance, he saw a gigantic figure of a lizard of some sort. Its eyes were glowing bright yellow in the darkness above the fire. "That thing again… What does it want with me?" Matthew asked himself. RINGGGG!! Matthew's head was suddenly ringing. It caused pain inside his temple that it forced him to
At the edge of the pit, it was them. A total of nine of the Scarlett family members.From the right, a woman with long red hair and black and white dress was casting a healing spell on Bilgrae. A male elf in full black armour with a star shaped bang of three red points and two white points and his black hair was split in the middle. A demon with dark violet hair and a pair of horns at the side of her head and wore a jet black skin tight suit which exposed certain parts, Crymillia. In the middle, it was a man with short bright red hair wearing a black and gold robe. Then, a man with black hair in a red and black suit. Another demon with about the same features as Crymillia except that his hair was short and he wore a black cloak over his suit. Then there was a man with spiky red hair in a red robe with a high collar, Crone, the one that Matthew and his friends fought at the Great Sandcastle. Finally, there was the black feathered avian human, Skystorm.Seeing Skystorm in good health, M
Confronting Bilgrae now was what he expected to see from a Dragon Emperor.Matthew was now at maximum output of his astra and all of it was condensed in his body. Bright red scales covered his entire body and he grew slightly in size. His muscles became more toned and also increased in size. A pair of horns of a darker tone of red grew out of his forehead that curved to the back of his head. Both of his eyes were glowing golden as his hair was.“Let’s finish this!” Matthew did not delay any further. He couldn’t maintain this form for long so he must finish the fight quickly.Matthew dashed toward Bilgrae who was ready for Matthew. Their fists clashed again and this time, not only was Bilgrae pushed back, he felt pain in his knuckles. Matthew was much stronger than before and far faster too. Utilising his speed, Matthew went for another punch to Bilgrae’s gut.“Oof!” Bilgrae got the air knocked out of him with the first hit.Matthew followed up with a barrage of punches. Bilgrae truly
After being blown away by Skystorm’s wind, Matthew regained his footing and was met with the big lizardman, Bilgrae Scarlett. Bilgrae had a smirk on his face. Matthew stood up and faced Bilgrae, but his eyes were not on him. Matthew’s eyes fell on Falynx in the far distance.“Are you still concerned about that monster?” Bilgrae asked with his deep voice.Matthew looked at Bilgrae now. “It’s hard to know which one is the monster here.”“Heh, you’re right. All of us are monsters deep inside. It just takes one misstep to turn a person into one. You’ve been there too.”“No I haven’t.”“Maybe not to you. But the whole world saw you as one. Now that monster suddenly turned into an emperor and they suddenly glorified you, while some still hate you of course.”“Hmph.” Matthew huffed.“You’re angry with me, I understand. I purposely did not kill that beast. Out of compassion.”“Don’t lie. You Scarletts don’t know what that means.”Bilgrae wasn’t smiling anymore. “You don’t know how merciful fa
Akame and Skystorm were separated from Matthew and Bilgrae. Akame stood up after being blown away by the powerful gust of wind created by Skystorm. Their eyes met. Both of their irises were bright red and gazed deeply.“I will be your foe, Red Cardinal.” Skystorm said.“What relic will you take? What will you use it for?” Akame asked.“Straight to the questions huh… That’s not any of your business. Why would you care what we take anyway if you’ll die?”“To evaluate whether it’s worth fighting for or not.”“Hmm, a smart choice. If you don't want to fight, then I shant confront you. Sadly, it seems that Lord Dragunov disagrees with you. If he is in the way, then we must remove him. I don’t think that leaves you an option now.”Backing out from this would mean that Matthew will be fighting two people. If they weren’t among the Scarlett Army’s strongest, it probably wouldn’t be hard for him to deal with alone. Both of their foes were really strong and Akame had no expectation of defeating
After their encounter with Falynx, they reached an agreement to conduct an investigation as they intended. Falynx had flown back to the surface on its own. Matthew and Akame headed to the temple and arrived at the front door.For some reason, even though they were underground, it was as clear as day down here. It was not dark and not too bright either, like a cloudy day.There were stairs that led to the door and the walls in the area were already partially destroyed. Some of the stairs were also gone. The giant door was made of stone and seemed to be intact with little cracks around the hinges.Matthew pushed one of the doors open. It was surprisingly heavy so Matthew had to lean into it to move it. Akame went inside first and inspected the place. There was a stage and a podium carved out of stone at the end of the great hall. A mural was carved out of the wall behind the stage depicting a supposed god holding the sun in his hands.Matthew left the door open and joined Akame to look
In the middle of the desert, there were two figures running across the sands. Clouds of sand were left behind in their quick steps. The cloak provided by the minister was really working. No sand was sticking onto them.“We’re getting close.” Matthew informed Akame.Almost two hours have passed since they left the city. Many monsters came their way but they were easily dealt with. It caused a little delay but not enough to affect their momentum. Falynx’s presence was still about 10 kilometres away.“Be ready for battle.” Akame said.“Remember though, don’t kill it.” Matthew reminded her.A few minutes later, a gigantic figure could be seen flying in the sky. The creature had the body of a snake, the head of a crocodile and six pairs of batwings. Its yellow eyes with black vertical slits looked down at the incoming people below.Falynx bowed its head and began descending. Matthew and Akame saw this as an engagement in battle. Matthew called out the Dragoknight to his arms and increased
The sun was already high up in the sky in the Capital City of Kubalt. The weather was hot and dry as usual in San Coro. The street around this particular area was not that busy since it was right in front of the Palace of Al-Jauhara. One would occasionally see knights patrolling the area. Akame was waiting under the intense heat of the sun. She had covered herself in a large black cloth to protect herself from the heat. The guards out here only wore light armour compared to the ones inside, probably because their armour would be too hot to wear outside. Not too long after, she finally saw the one she was waiting for. Matthew was jogging toward her. He wore his long sleeved red hooded jacket and an orange shirt under it and a pair of black pants. He also had his usual travelling backpack with him. “Phew, sorry, did you wait long?” “Not too long. Did you not use a teleportation scroll?” Akame asked. “I did, but the closest one was to Yanbue City. Neither Platinum nor Rose were famil
“What brings you here, Akame?” Matthew asked.Just a few moments ago, Akame had arrived in front of Platinum’s cave. Someone like who was a Coloured Hunter, passing through the Blackwood Forest and up the cold mountain was not a problem. Or not.Akame was hugging herself to keep warm but it was not helping at all. “Achoo! C-can we talk somewhere warmer?”“Oh, come on in.” Matthew invited her inside.Akame went in and they both made their way to the living room. Matthew didn't think that it was alright to bring her to the others directly. The living room had a fire to keep them warm, so here was enough.“Ah~” Akame warmed herself up by the fire and put her hands out.“So, what are you doing here without equipment to survive on a mountain? Certainly you didn’t come to interview us?” Matthew asked.“Queen Cleopatra sent me. We will investigate the ruin she mentioned together.” Akame said with the same emotionless voice as usual.“Cleopatra? Well, I was gonna head there in a few days anyw
Matthew and Rose arrived at the foot of the mountain just by the Blackwood Forest where they dropped off of the carriage while Guinevere headed back to her palace. It was already very late in the afternoon when they got to the forest. Matthew carried Rose's luggage in hands while he also wore his backpack."I can carry my own stuff." Rose said."No, I will carry them for you. Anyway, are you sure you'll be fine?""My magic resistance is quite high. I also know how to disperse mana if it does accumulate inside me. How long exactly is it going to take to get up there again?" Rose looked up at the ledge near the mountain peak where Platinum's abode was."Well, usually only a few hours if you're moving at my usual speed. If we're walking though, a few days at least." Matthew said."But we're not walking, right?" Rose asked."Nope." As Matthew replied, a shadow flew past over them.A jade green dragon circled them as she descended to the ground nearby. Upon landing, the dragon folded its w