Sacred Brother

For a long time, the violent rumbling noise continued to spread until no resident of Tegralle could ignore it. Young and old people alike heard with fear and dread in their hearts the menacing sound that no human being should have been responsible for.

Only the people around the mayor on the devastated plain were aware of the truth.

They knew who was responsible for this sound crushing their courage and their determination to intervene.

The mayor's old eyes looked at the forest with worry just like everyone else. However, his eyes were hiding something else.

A small tear at the corner of one of his eyes revealed the nature of this hidden emotion.

The small tear disappeared in the profound wrinkles of his face as if it was never there, but his old and deep voice wasn't the same.

After a deep breath filled with sadness, he softly muttered a single word coming from the deepest part of his old heart.

"Millodas..."

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The terrifying deafening noise scaring all the inhabitants of Tegralle finally stopped. A scene of devastation replaced the once peaceful clearing of the mysterious forest. The burned trees and destroyed earth were enough testimony of the violence of the confrontation that just took place.

Among this disturbing scenery, Seledia and Millodas stood together side by side to confront Vated one last time. None of them were in their best shape, but despite their tattered appearance, they stood straight without faltering.

Seledia had mixed emotions while she stood by the side of her husband as she did so many times in the past. After all these years, they will fight beside each other one more time. In such a desperate moment, this was probably the most reassuring thing she could hope for.

Therefore, despite her injuries, with her loved one beside her, the determination to triumph over this man glowing in her eyes couldn't be any stronger.

"So this is it…" Slowly mumbled Vated.

His brutish face was pale and totally devoid of the dark glow of his strongest magic. A single glance toward him was enough to understand that his weakened state didn't seem to be completely faked. His previous arrogance and mocking smiles were also nowhere to be seen. Only deep regret mixed with the determination to survive this hurdle could be seen in his tired eyes.

Seledia who just suffered a grievous injury was without a doubt the most weakened among them but she stood straight by her husband's side with her last valid hand clenched tightly while she carefully observe her opponent as if it was the first time she was looking at him.

Her beautiful blue eyes suddenly widened in surprise when she finally noticed what she was looking for.

"So this is what you used…"

Millodas followed her gaze toward Vated's thick neck. An elegant-looking white necklace could be seen hanging around it. This simple jewelry gave a mysterious feeling of purity and sacredness. Previously, Seledia carefully observe him to look for his artifacts, and she was sure that there was nothing around his neck at that time. The strange ability of this conspicuous looking necklace to dissimulate itself gave her a really bad feeling.

As if to confirm her bad premonition, Millodas suddenly shouted after noticing the white necklace without hiding the anger and astonishment in his voice.

"Why do you have that? It can't be! My father would never have given that to you!"

"And yet, he did." Calmly answered Vated.

"Lie!" Screamed Millodas unwilling to believe it.

"You seem to underestimate your old man's despair and loneliness all these years." Slowly explained Vated.

His rough voice was unusually soft unfitting of his character. It seemed even more out of place than the elegant necklace around the neck of such a brutish man.

"When you lost everything and everyone around you, your values change. What was sacred becomes ordinary and what was ordinary becomes worthless. This is my story. This was the story of your father and this is also the story of this necklace."

Millodas' face distorted after hearing his words while he silently clenched his teeth to repress his disgust to see this sacred object around the neck of this man known for his violence.

"Millodas…" Slowly muttered Seledia toward her husband.

Without needing any other word, Millodas slowly relaxed and began to explain to his wife.

"This is the only Legend grade artifact of the Waldemar house."

"Legend grade artifact?" She couldn't help but exclaim with shock.

"Yes. This necklace was once the most precious artifact of the Waldemar house. It was the heirloom that my father was the most proud of. It also is without a doubt the strongest artifact of our house. Even to me, my father never clearly explained all of its abilities."

"Even you don't know?" Asked Seledia dumbfounded.

"All I can say is that its main ability is to reflect any magic. This ability is very powerful and rare but I'm not sure if it has any other hidden function."

"This power is already outrageous enough…" Bitterly said Seledia after experiencing it with her own flesh not so long ago.

Her blue eyes were glued on this mysterious necklace because she knew that this would be the decisive factor of their battle.

"However, this kind of ability to reflect magic should be very limited in its number of uses and it will be almost useless if we don't use strong magic directly against him. Moreover, in the end it's still an artifact so it should follow the same rules."

Seledia slowly nodded after her husband's explanations.

As one of the strongest adventurers in the country, she knew many things about artifacts. However, most of the artifacts she ever had were of limited use in battle. Most of them were used in very specific situations.

The kind of artifact that could act as a substitute to save your life at the last moment was incredibly precious and rare. Millodas explained to her that he once possessed this kind of artifact and that it saved his life on his first mission as an Adventurer.

It was a gift from his father and greatly enhanced his earth magic. However, this precious artifact was immediately destroyed after saving his life.

This was the rule of these first-grade artifacts.

No matter the nature of their power of enhancement, it was always a secondary function while their primary role was to act as a substitute to save the life of their wearer.

However, Seledia had already understood that even if the white necklace shining proudly around Vated's neck had the same main protective role and thus followed the same type of rules, its secondary functions weren't limited to some passive enhancement.

The ability to reflect a magic against its opponent was an active ability directly under Vated's control. It was even more precious than the ability to create illusions like one of the artifacts he previously used. Moreover, to be able to counter-attack one of her strongest strikes while remaining in perfect shape was already something well beyond the scope of all the first-grade artifacts she ever saw.

"So this is a Legend grade artifact..." She slowly muttered to herself.

This was the kind of object that only the wealthiest and most influential people in the Kingdom could hope to possess. She could only curse her stepfather for allowing this kind of man to possess such a treasure to hurt his own family.

After sorting out her thoughts about the mysterious artifact, it was easy for her to confirm what had happened earlier. Sensing the tilt of the battle in her favor, Vated faked his defeat to reflect her strongest magic at point-blank range with this hidden artifact.

Without her fast reaction and Millodas' intervention, she would have died. However, even if she escaped death, her wounds were still extremely serious. It was impossible for her to move as fast as before. If she was alone, she would be at the mercy of this man.

However, she wasn't alone this time.

Moreover, all of Vated's cards were henceforth known. With Millodas' previous attack the last of his first-grade artifacts broke apart to protect his life.

Even if this white necklace around his neck was special compared to the other artifacts, this was still the last one. They only needed a single direct attack to force the artifact to act as a substitute, then victory would be within sight.

"Then we will have to first destroy it if we want to defeat him." Slowly concluded Seledia.

After her words, her husband smiled fearlessly before straightening his posture.

"Of course!"

Against him, Millodas didn't have any choice.

He had to go all out from the beginning.

Millodas clenched his sword tighter while his foot silently moved forward. This silent movement didn't escape Vated's trained eyes. He clenched his axe tighter while shouting with the strongest voice he could muster.

"COME!"

Immediately after his words, Millodas disappeared from his previous spot.

Earth Blessing!

With his incredible speed borrowed from the vitality of the earth, he arrived in front of Vated in the blink of an eye. His sharp sword followed almost as fast as him.

*Clang*

Vated's large axe stopped Millodas' strike just before his sharp sword cut his head off. Vated already faced this technique and was able to offset it easily before. However, in his current state, things were different.

The violence of the impact made him take a couple of steps back to fix his posture but Millodas didn't let him the time to counter.

A flurry of fast attacks quickly followed after his initial rushed strike. Even if he used the earth blessing to enhance his strength and speed, these attacks were still devoid of magic. Therefore Vated couldn't use his artifact to repel them.

He could only use the crudest and sole way at his disposal.

He didn't have enough mana to protect his whole body as before but he still covered his muscular arms with his proud earth magic and used them along with his difficult to handle large axe to parry Millodas' attacks. Vated was completely overwhelmed by Millodas' speed and ferocity but his reputation as one of the strongest warriors of the continent wasn't for show.

He let go of his axe that was nearly a burden in this kind of situation and used both of his arms to parry.

Despite the sharpness and the violence of his strikes, Millodas couldn't pierce through Vated's magic. In front of this perfect defense, his initial ferocious assault started to dull.

Vated didn't miss this opportunity and caught Millodas' sword with his right hand. The sword was immediately completely stopped by his monstrous natural strength. Even with his earth magic enhancing his physical abilities, Millodas was far from his match in a direct confrontation of strength.

Vated was ready to use his free arm to punch a hole through Millodas' head when a shadow followed by a strong voice appeared in his field of vision.

"Don't forget about me!"

Seledia who was the last to engage suddenly appeared above Millodas from behind. Small flames around her feet propelled her into the sky just above them.

With her injuries, she couldn't move as fast as before, so she used the opportunity created by her husband to give a violent kick from above toward Vated's head who had no other choice but to shift from attack to defense with his free arm.

*Bang*

The violent impact of her glowing feet and the invincible dark arm of her opponent once more echoed inside the clearing.

For long seconds the three fighters seemed completely motionless with Vated trapping Millodas' sword while using his other hand to parry Seledia's violent strike.

However, this standstill didn't last.

Millodas focused his magic and destroyed the earth under Vated's right feet. His imposing posture immediately crumbled and allowed Millodas to free his sword from his grip. Seledia also used her other leg to propel herself a few meters above Vated before both of them resumed their assault at the same time.

*Bang*

Violent strikes far from the usual noise of flesh colliding continued to echo.

One on the ground.

One in the sky.

A violent confrontation against these two opponents using different fields began for Vated.

Even with his superior strength it quickly became difficult for him to follow their pace. Millodas' strikes were fast and precise combined with his earth magic smartly used to destroy his footing made him a tricky opponent.

On the contrary, Seledia wasn't as violent as before. It was obvious that she was already at her limit. Even so, she was still using her magic to constantly stay above them just outside of Vated's reach and to deliver violent and deadly strikes in his blind spots when Millodas was in trouble.

A single glance was enough to notice their compatibility and experience together.

Moreover, neither of them directly used magic against him making his ability to reflect their attacks completely useless.

*Bang*

Vated once more barely stopped one of Seledia's kick with his arm above his head.

Millodas used this opportunity to violently strike with his sword. Vated once more used his other arm to parry but this time the impact wasn't as strong as he expected it to be.

Millodas faked a full power assault but didn't put his entire weight behind this strike. This feint was enough for Millodas, who let Vated push back his sword, to grab his large forearm with his other hand.

Vated didn't understand what he was trying to accomplish by grabbing his arm especially considering their difference in strength. But immediately after this thought crossed his mind, a sensation of weakness started to assault him.

His dark forearm firmly held by Millodas started to lose its dark color symbol of his invincible defense.

"You!"

This was Millodas' earth blessing.

The ability to absorb the vitality of the earth element to strengthen himself wasn't limited to the earth under his feet. His opponent's earth magic covering his arm was the same for him.

Vated didn't have the time to understand why his magic was disappearing when Seledia once more attacked him at high speed.

He parried with his other arm while violently shaking off Millodas' grip. The violent movement immediately made Millodas take a couple of steps back and gave him enough space to parry the violent strike from above.

*Boom*

However, this time, the sound of the impact wasn't the same.

Immediately after, a sharp pain assaulted him followed by a heat difficult to bear directly transmitted by Seledia's kick.

Vated couldn't repress a scream in front of this unexpected pain. Seledia didn't miss this opening and rotated in mid-air while giving him another violent kick in his c.h.e.s.t with her other leg.

*Bam*

The impact took his breath away and made him take several steps backward but this wasn't the end.

Millodas' sharp sword appeared in front of his face almost immediately after.

"Ahhhhh!!!"

With a sharp instinctive scream reflecting his will to survive, Vated once more concentrated his magic in his arms and crossed them before his face to stop the deadly strike.

However, this time the sharp sword wasn't stopped. It deeply penetrated Vated's right arm before stopping against his bone just a few inches away from his face filled with pain and fear.

Millodas didn't try to cut through Vated's arm. Immediately after sensing his blade stopping against his reinforced bone, he let go of his sword, took a heavy step forward and punched Vated's stomach with his entire strength and magic.

*Bam*

The strike powered by his magic was too fast and Vated's defense was unexpectedly too fragile to withstand this kind of blow.

His muscular body was sent flying backward before he landed heavily on his back several meters away from Millodas.

Seledia who was still flying in the sky didn't miss this opportunity and launched herself as fast as her wounded body could to finish him off.

"Earthball!!!" Roared Vated by reflex at this moment deciding his life or death.

Three small earthballs were shot from his unarmed arm at high speed toward Seledia who had no other choice but to interrupt her assault to avoid the deadly magic.

Vated was on his back with his only valid arm busy firing magic to keep Seledia away.

Seledia and Vated both knew that this was the perfect opportunity for Millodas.

Vated tried to stand up as fast as he could and turned his attention back toward Millodas.

A sword too fast for him to react and forcing his last artifact to protect his life. This was what Vated expected to happen.

However, Millodas' violent sword didn't follow.

Under Seledia's surprised eyes, Vated had enough time to stand up while fixing his posture. The opportunity that they painfully acquired was gone.

For the first time since the start of the battle with Millodas, Seledia landed on the ground and turned her attention toward her husband. Vated also focused his sharp gaze on Millodas while covering his wounded right arm with his earth magic to stop the bleeding.

Millodas was at the same spot from where he struck Vated with his b.a.r.e hands while his sword was still on the ground near his feet.

His usual straight back was crooked and his entire body seemed to shake. One of his hands was put on his face and completely covered his eyes.

His strange posture as if he was wounded surprised Vated and Seledia who both knew that he didn't receive any direct hit.

"Millodas?" Softly asked Seledia with a difficult to hide apprehension in her voice.

After hearing her words, Millodas seemed to regain some of his spirit. His hand almost completely covering his face was slowly put down while revealing his eyes.

"What the?"

Even Vated who was carefully observing the situation while trying to regain his breath was dumbstruck and couldn't help but let out this exclamation.

Millodas' sharp gaze was no more. His eyes betrayed an intense feeling of pain that his entire body, which was constantly shaking, only amplified.

However, this wasn't what snatched an exclamation of surprise from Vated.

Strange and abnormal thin blue lines could be seen around Millodas eyes just like new veins making him look somewhat different. These stigmas that weren't there earlier slowly expanded around Millodas' eyes and seemed to amplify the pain he was feeling in his entire body.

"What did you do, Millodas?" Slowly asked Seledia with her last valid hand covering her mouth in shock.

Her muffled voice when she realized what was happening to her husband couldn't hide her fear and her incomprehension.

Millodas didn't have the time to explain when Vated who finally stabilized his condition suddenly exclaimed.

"I knew it… I should have understood the moment I saw you that there was no way for you to be ready to fight so soon after exhausting your mana and physical strength."

Millodas didn't answer. Only a muffled groan of pain escaped his mouth while he was trying to pick up his sword.

"So there was a hidden mage proficient in healing in this town. He used the water element to forcefully stimulate and replenish your mana pool. This is what allowed you to fight and use magic again."

Faced with Vated's affirmation, Millodas didn't deny. His lack of reaction in front of his own fate seemed to trigger Vated's anger.

"Something is definitely wrong with your head! If you continue to fight and use your magic like that then there would be no return possible for you."

Millodas, who had finished picking up his sword, finally seemed to react after hearing his words.

"I don't need you to tell me that!" He suddenly exclaimed in anger.

He clenched his teeth to bear the throbbing pain assaulting his entire body after his overuse of mana in his previous attack and slowly strengthened his back.

"It's you who forced me to do this!" He exclaimed while releasing his pent-up emotions.

"I'm not as strong as you or Seledia and I will never be. I know it and accepted it. I'm fine with being weak, I never really d.e.s.i.r.ed strength. I only wanted the freedom to live the life that I chose. However, even if I'm weak, even if I can never surpass you, I won't let you destroy my family. No matter what it takes, I will stop you!"

A heavy silence followed Millodas' strong declaration filled with emotions and determination. Even Vated remained silent for a few seconds before continuing with a heavy voice betraying his incomprehension.

"You should have stayed down. Don't you understand already? If we continue to fight like this, I'm not sure I will be able to emerge victorious against the both of you. However, your fate will be sealed. You know what will happen to you, don't you?"

Millodas didn't answer and simply focused his gaze while the thin blue lines slowly swirling around his eyes gave him a ferocious appearance.

In front of his lack of answers, Vated changed the target of his interrogation.

"What about you, Seledia? You're alright with that? You're his wife, you should be the first one to disagree with his choice."

Seledia, with tears on the verge of falling from her eyes, clenched her fist but didn't answer as if she was silently acknowledging her husband's decision and sacrifice.

"To think you would go this far… Is allowing your daughters to live like nobles such a repulsive idea that you have to sacrifice your life for this?

"Explaining this to someone like you who only knows how to destroy is useless." Simply answered Millodas.

There was nothing more to say.

Confronted with this pair of parents both grievously wounded, but animated by an unshakable determination started to worry Vated. After all, there was nothing more frightening in a fight than an opponent who was ready to discard and sacrifice everything for victory.

"Let's go!"

After Millodas' scream, Seledia immediately sent a huge fireball flying toward Vated.

"Idiot."

Vated infused mana in his last artifact to send back this attack. However, before the attack reached him, Millodas waved one of his hands.

A huge wind pressure assaulted the flying fireball which immediately lost its round shape, but despite this, the fire seemed even stronger than before.

Vated could only use the earth element, but this wasn't the case for Millodas. Even if his other elements couldn't directly hurt someone like Vated, in a magical fight, the way you used your magic was what really mattered.

In front of this wall of flames, Vated couldn't use his artifact anymore. Countering a single attack and sending it back was possible but against an area of effect magic, this artifact's power was extremely limited.

He only had the time to cover his arms with his earth magic while putting them in front of his face before this sea of flames engulfed him.

This magic wasn't overly powerful for someone with such an abnormal defense as it wasn't focused on a single point. However, it still deprived Vated of his sight for a few seconds. It was enough for Seledia and Millodas to once more engage him in close combat.

For long minutes, the violent confrontation continued.

Each time Millodas used magic, the blue veins on his face started to twitch and expand immediately followed by an intense feeling of pain but he didn't let it stop him this time.

Vated was strong but he couldn't support the violent onslaught and the coordination of Seledia and Millodas.

His entire body was covered with blood, bruises and burns. His valiant and intimidating appearance was already just a memory.

His defeat was near.

Finally, one of Millodas' sword strike bypassed his defense and went straight for his defenseless neck. Vated didn't have the time to evade, parry or cover his skin with his magic.

An intense light welcomed the fatal sword strike and repulsed Millodas' attack.

Even if he didn't cut Vated's head off, Millodas still knew that his attack succeeded. Seledia also knew it. She landed on the ground with a relieved smile on her face and waited for the blinding light to disappear and for the artifact to crumble.

However, the light didn't disappear.

"What the?"

To answer Millodas' interrogation, Vated who was almost out of breath screamed with anger.

"You made me do this!"

He immediately joined his hands above his head in a forceful clap.

Seledia and Millodas watched together his strange reaction

"Why is the light of the artifact not disappearing?" Asked Seledia with worry.

Millodas couldn't answer but Vated did.

"It's protecting me. Its destruction is a foregone conclusion, but before that, this artifact will continue to deplete its energy to protect me from any harm."

Millodas wasn't aware of this ability, but he didn't really see the value of this power. What if Vated was protected for a few more minutes? In the end, the artifact will crumble and victory will be theirs.

Seledia didn't understand his strange declaration either. As soon as the light disappears, she will resume her attack with Millodas and once more overwhelm him, but she was also painfully aware that she shouldn't underestimate this man so she maintained her guard while carefully looking at Vated.

However, even after a couple of minutes of tense wait, nothing happened. The shield of light around him was still strong and ready to protect him from any of their assault, but likewise, Vated's counter-attack didn't appear.

Just when she was starting to relax her guard, Seledia noticed that the temperature seemed to have lowered. Millodas also noticed the sudden absence of the warmth of the sun on their skin.

By reflexes, they both looked at the sky at the same time.

Their eyes immediately widened in front of this shocking view.

A giant block of earth was silently growing in the sky just above their heads while casting its worrying shadow on them.

"How is something like that possible?" Weakly asked Millodas in disbelief.

Contrary to Seledia, he was a user of the earth element and, even if he didn't develop the same aspects as Vated, he was still aware of the true nature of this element.

It was possible to create earth only with your own mana, but creating something of this size silently levitating dozens of meters above the ground was impossible even if Vated was in his best shape.

It was only by bringing together the already existing earth that this phenomenon could be possible. However, no matter where he looked, the destroyed and easy to manipulate earth around them wasn't used.

While there were dumbfounded and still wondering how something like that was possible, the giant boulder of earth quietly hovering in the sky was still growing.

With her gaze fixed on the sky, Seledia finally caught sight of the responsible for the growth of this magic. Various large pieces of earth hovering around were slowly gathering and fusing together.

In front of this scene, Seledia finally understood. She turned her attention back toward Vated and asked in disbelief.

"You planned this even before Millodas arrived?"

Vated who seemed to be in pain finally showed one of his mocking smiles.

"You surpassed my expectations time and time again. I wasn't sure if this Legend grade artifact and its ability to reflect magic would be able to grant me victory so I prepared this as a last desperate move."

Millodas couldn't understand their conversation because he didn't see Vated desperately firing large earthballs one after the other at Seledia before he revealed his Legend grade artifact and reflected Seledia's magic with it. At that time, she thought that these attacks that flew into the sky were only meant to keep her away, but now she finally realized that he was silently gathering and using another aspect of the earth element to make them float in the sky.

When he faked his defeat with his knees on the ground, he didn't immediately lower his arm because he was still preparing his magic in the sky, far from Seledia's sight.

"I didn't intend to use it but it's always a good move to have a trump card. Now that my artifact is set on the path of destruction, I don't have a choice anymore."

Seledia and Millodas both understood this man's intention. If such a large piece of compact earth fell from such a height then the entire forest would be completely destroyed by the shockwave.

Only Vated with the protection of his artifact would be safe.

"Don't do it!!!" Screamed Seledia without hiding the despair in her voice.

"You want to capture our daughters but they are still inside the forest. If you drop something like this, they will definitely die!"

"I know."

"Then don't do it! My father won't give you anything if you kill them." Continued to plead Millodas as rationally as this situation allowed him to.

"You think something like that matters to me in this situation? I told you that I didn't want to do this, but I don't have any other choice. If I don't act while I'm still protected then my defeat is certain."

"Stop!!!"

"I told you Millodas… You should have stayed down!!!"

Immediately after his words, Vated's large hands above his head were abruptly put down.

Despite Millodas and Seledia desperate screams, the world around them seemed to turn silent as the giant meteor fell and engulfed them with its shadow.