King Of Limbo

"Begin."

Once Aron muttered these words a larger silhouette flashed past him at an incredible speed.

*crack!*

The surface of the docking area cracked under the pressure as Jagu made a fierce landing before turning his ferocious gaze towards the gathered defenseless Veldra.

Unlike the Aethelians, Veldra had very low synergy with mana. So much so that it was rare for someone of their kind to be a pure mana focused mage. Because of this they focused their efforts on augmenting their bodies and created runic weapons to support their lacking abilities.

With these in mind, Aron's approach left them no better than sitting ducks. Because no matter how good their augmenting was, it paled when compared to the augmentation of Komi like Jagu.

*grr…*

Jagu heaved a heavy growl that dispersed the mist and hat surrounded him, revealing his figure to the shocked Veldra.

"What's happening!?" The Veldra couldn't help but be shocked by the sudden emergence of Jagu and some tried to react quickly but Ariel and the few elves she brought along would not let this happen.

[ Binding Technique: Restrictive Chains ]

Ariel and the other elves all stretched their hands forward in unison and brought forth the same technique. In the next instant chains seemingly appeared out of thin air and bound all the Veldra.

The technique they employed was a common one normally used to restrict criminals or even low tier beasts. It's principles were simple and it fell under the category of "Alteration", the technique simply molded surrounding mana and solidified it before causing it to restrict the enemy.

Why it took the form of chains was because of the visual images in the mind of the caster and as for it's efficiency, this all depended on the victim. If the victim wasn't as good as the caster in controlling surrounding mana then they would struggle to this simplistic technique.

"Why are you doing this!?" The leading Veldra just couldn't understand what was going on and so he questioned the situation in a panicked manner. However the only answer he received came in the form of a figure flashing past him and causing wind to violently hit his body.

This figure was none other Jagu who had began his attack, without using any weapon and only his claws Jagu had flashed passed the leader and began slaughtering the workers behind.

His attacks were precise and vicious as he only aimed the throats of his victims. Because they couldn't escape they tried to harden their bodies by augmenting but this proved useless in the face of Jagu's augmented claws that were already frighteningly durable when normal.

"Please-!! arck!"

"No-arck!!"

One after another the Veldrea began to fall to the ground as their thick blood shot out from their throats like a chicken once beheaded. The leader looked behind at the horror before him while gritting his teeth with widened eyes.

Why? Why was this happening? What did he do wrong?

He continued to think just what could they have done to anger the Aethelians so much. The answer to his looming questions soon revealed itself as Aron slowly descended from the deck and his appearance was seen.

"A human?!" The leader called out hatefully as he now began to understand that he was no more than a victim to some treacherous plot occurring against the Aethelians.

"You! How could you betra- Arck!!" Before the old Veldra could vent, he found that his voice could no longer come out. Instead only the sound of him gurgling blood could be heard before he soon collapsed, leaving only Jagu standing triumphantly behind him with bloody claws and some stains on his body.

With the final Veldrea dead the elves no longer needed to keep their technique up and so they released it.

Aron who had just descended the platform glanced at them in the corner of his eye and saw that not a single one looked like they pitied the now dead Veldrea.

"Cruel but expected." Before Aron could comment on the scene, Lady Rose appeared beside him and muttered this.

In the next moment she performed a gesture with her fingers causing her scouters to flash past her and go forward into the scattered looking forest not too far ahead.

"Ironic how they discriminate the Veldra worse than humans discriminate each other." Aron added bringing a chuckle out Lady Rose. "Veldrea are seen more as tools than beings in the eyes of many, not just elves. Such a pitiful race." Lady Rose observed the many dead bodies before walking forward to inspect the fortresses.

She was curious as to what sort of runic devices they may hold. On the other hand Jagu didn't look very happy about his victory, after all the opponents he had just defeated where bound and helpless to do anything against him.

In that moment memories of the short war he partook in resurfaced making him feel even worse. He vividly remembered himself killing indiscriminately, be it child, female or old. What bothered him about this was that he had poisoned his enemies prior and weakened them before crushing them, something that went against every thing he believed.

On the surface even he thought he wouldn't be bothered by it overtime but then why did he feel so empty when he won this way?

"Jagu? Call for the others and tell them it's time we move." Aron saw the dazed Jagu and instructed this bringing him back to his senses.

Most Komi would never take orders from a human but Jagu was no more than a shell of his former arrogant self, although many couldn't see it on the surface Aron and Jin could tell.

…

A little while after the incident, Jagu had called for Henry and the others to gather at the docking area where Aron awaited them.

The mist Jin had brought about hadn't yet dispersed fully since they still needed it's cover for the time being. Once they descended the platform however they could clearly see the many bodies that laid on the ground.

"You killed everyone?" Henry asked with surprise written all over his face. Despite he and the others having experienced much more compared to when they first joined the academy they were still lacking and so the scene of numerous dead bodies covering the ground made them feel… off.

The only exceptions to this were Jin and Juliet who didn't look the least bit surprised by what they saw.

"Sparing them leaves loose ends, it was necessary." Aron didn't bother going into detail with an explanation and only said this as he felt it was enough. It was moments like these where Aron's inexperience when it came to interaction shined, on the surface one would think he was cold hearted and cruel but the simple fact was Aron only did it out of necessity.

This was a characteristic about him some were beginning to understand so even Henry could only sigh and shake his head. "Ok I suppose you're right but if everything is done why aren't we making landfall? Is there a ruin nearby that needs us to explore?" Henry inquired after being told everyone should gather outside.

However Aron had different plans in mind. "We are about to but we can't travel with an airship that large into their territory, there's too many variables so it's better we proceed on foot and part with elves here."

"It's better they use the airship to travel to another point and enter the continent properly as it would be far too suspicious if they traveled with humans. As for the airship I believe Ariel can come up with a reasonable excuse. So gather what you need from the airship and we can proceed forward." Aron cleanly explained what he was going for and many could see the sense behind it.

Either party would only experience problems if they were to arrive together. Anastasia only needed to ponder on this matter shortly before agreeing to it. "You're right, this works far better." She said briefly but seemed to dislike the fact he had a point.

Without any disagreements even from Juliet who owned the airship the Galos group took what they needed from the airship and descended the platform once more but this time for good.

As for the elves lead by Ariel, they quickly gave their sincere thanks to Aron for everything he had done for them thus far and also promised to help anyway they could should he need it. However just as the two groups were about to go their separate ways Mirai and Sharla descended the platform and walked over to join Aron's group.

"I have no place for me in Aethel anymore so if it's not any trouble I'll continue to travel with you." Mirai explained in a low gentle voice while standing in Aron's direction.

"That's fine, as a native you can help us navigate more easily." The one to grant permission was Lady Rose who had just returned from checking the metallic fortresses.

Although Lucas hadn't commented on the situation the entire time, he was relieved to hear Mirai and Sharla would be joining them.

,m …

And so the journey towards Aethel on foot had begun for the Galos group whilst the elves aboard the Astroda couldn't wait to make it home. However later that night a strange occurrence happened just as Aron and the others were making their way through hot and dry valleys that covered most of the Veldra Community.

"It's about time don't you think?" Aron who was walking ahead with Rose and Evanora by his sides muttered this to which Lady Rose gave a small nod. "I suppose now is fine, what a waste of my precious books." She muttered before a glyph on the glove she wore began to glow dimly.

At the same time aboard the Astroda, it's large circular mana crystal core had a similar glyph appear on it's surface before making the entire airship tremble vigorously.

In the next instant and without warning a large explosion erupted as it cracked and broke with tremendous force. Many the of the unsuspecting elves aboard the airship could only hear a loud ringing noise before they were engulfed by a bright white light.

Ariel had no words as the light came towards her at frightening speed, in that moment she used all her strength to bring forth the strongest form of protection she could muster but all it did was buy her a few moments longer. "Aron you…"

That was all she could mutter before the light completely engulfed the Astroda and brought forth a gigantic explosion.

A/N: Veldrea; plural for Veldra

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