The Runic Alchemist

Chapter 497: Darkness or Light ? Part - 2

Slicing through the massive leg of a towering green monster, Alex dodged the stomping of its other foot and quickly rolled out of its field of vision. In the next second, a glowing golden figure clad in armor and wielding a massive longsword cleaved through its head, splattering the distracted beast's purple blood all around them.

This was the tenth beast they had killed today. The 47th—or maybe the 49th—in the past five days. Every morning, they were pulled up from their cage, situated right below the massive arena. Every day, they had to survive a bloody battle, and their reward? Another day of fighting in the scorching heat.

The quiet, dark underground cage.. Alex couldn't believe it, but it had become the best thing about their situation. They had been twenty-four once, but day by day, fewer and fewer returned alive. The Highsword knights were divided into two groups, fighting together, but Alex couldn't even keep track of which ones were the good ones. He could trust neither. The pig-people mostly fought alone or in small groups of two or three—those were the ones who died first.

Alex had Maelor, Karl, and Evante, and thankfully, all of them were strong enough to keep up with each other and survive. There was also one pigman prisoner with them—he had saved Karl's life from a monster once, and ever since then, they had included him in their small group. So far, they had only faced monsters up to King-rank, so it was still manageable. When too many monsters surrounded them, they just ran, dragging others into the fight without a care. That's what everyone did anyway.

Alex and Maelor had thought of countless ways to escape, but not a single one would work. Leaving was easy—if only the black chains slithering around their necks didn't shock them the second they tried to reach for the audience platform.

They were entertainment.

For creatures who looked like pigs dressed in human clothes.

Alex gritted his teeth, looking at their ugly, excited faces while his own was covered in sweat and blood, his sword raised high. There was no glory in a battle like this. It was a disgrace to the refined art of combat.

"Look out!" Maelor yelled, charging toward Alex, panic clear on his face.

Alex realized he had messed up. A momentary lapse in focus would cost him his life. He tightened his grip on his sword with one hand, his other hand reaching for the runic bracer his father had gifted him. No time to run—he'd have to use it.

But before he could, the massive, bull-like beast charging toward him—its razor-sharp horns meters long—suddenly veered off course. A deafening wave of sound erupted from the side, the sheer force of it pushing the towering twenty-meter-high beast off balance. It didn't stop, though—just changed direction and trampled a group of pigmen fighting in the distance.

Alex, surprised, turned toward the source of the sound and found Evante clutching his mouth, blood trickling between his fingers.

An Esper!

That goddamn Damian knew it.

At first, seeing the "elites" Damian had gathered, Alex hadn't taken them seriously. But time and again, every single one of them proved why Damian had chosen them. Evante was already a strong fighter with his aura blades, but an Esper ability like that.. That was a talent any lord would go to great lengths to nurture.

Alex pushed aside his thoughts, and the five of them closed in, standing back to back, ready to support each other at any moment.

It was just another day. Just like many after that one.

A week passed. Then another. Then another. They were never given medicine or food. Thankfully, Maelor had a supreme-grade spatial storage full of long-lasting food and healing potions—enough to last a year. Alex, Karl, and Evante had some too, but only Grand and High-grade ones, barely enough to last a few weeks to months.

It was strange—they were left for dead, yet their captors hadn't stripped them of their spatial storage. These pig-like people didn't seem to have such things. Their clothing, weapons, and mannerisms were far more primitive, but when it came to building massive structures and raw physical strength, they excelled. Even their mundanes fought magic beasts head-on. They often died, but they still fought bravely. Alex had to give them that much.

Weeks turned into a month.

Then months.

They fought. Again and again. Tired. Desperate.

Maelor kept telling them Damian would come for them. It was the only hope they had left. Alex didn't have the heart to tell them to stop believing in that bastard. He had tried hundreds of ways to escape, receiving dozens of shocks from the pitch-black chains around his neck. But it was all fruitless.

Even if they broke free, they couldn't leave this world without Damian's help.

It was all that bastard's fault.

No.. Who was he kidding? He was the one ensnared by the greed of earning rare dungeon relics for his house. His family had encouraged him to join, but ultimately, it was his decision to come.

The Highsword and Land Breaker mess, though? That was entirely on Damian. Then again.. the guy was only trying to put back together the shattered organization and the four kingdoms in chaos. Who knew life would fuck them so mercilessly..?

Their audience was getting bored.

They wanted to see them die, but they kept surviving.

They had fought so many monsters that all four of them had become Second Rankers. They had no luxury to wait and ascend later—every bit of strength mattered. Even the two Highsword groups had eventually merged after suffering too many injuries and fighting while enduring hunger and scorching heat. Their group had cooling potion containers each, the pigmen seemed to be doing fine under the sun.

Once, Karl and the pigman had been badly injured, but the healing potions worked miracles. Even the highest-healing mage in Faerunia couldn't have treated those wounds so quickly, yet the damned potions of the Morph Vialist were something else entirely.

And then, after six months, the monotonous routine finally changed.

Only their black cage was lifted into the arena that day.

And only one monster stood before them.

Alex recognized it immediately.

The Chitinous Juggernaut. The emperor rank boss monster.

A massive, beetle-like monster with impenetrable armor.

The same damned monster they had fought in the desert level before.

>.>

[In the Middle of the Ocean, Unknown Planet – Damian's POV]

It had been too long. Over three days had passed for Lumi and Elias before he had arrived. Somehow, they had managed to survive. But..

Reize.. had been bedridden the entire time. And she was burning up with insanely high temperatures for a human body. Even though Lumi and Elias had skillfully cleaned her wounds, even disinfecting it with alcohol, it wasn't enough. The lingering foreign mana had seeped deep into her system, merging with her core and had already become a part of her.

"Maximus.. I am so sorry.. We tried.. We tried so much.." Lumi sobbed uncontrollably. Elias held his emotions better than she did, but the sorrow in his eyes was the same.

Damian patted both of their heads, smiling warmly. "You did good. You fought and survived—that's more than enough. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to her."

>.>