Level Up Legacy

The aircraft landed outside the ocean, its floats and anchor descending to ensure they didn't get too close. Selena and Rhys emerged as the latter threw a small device into the ocean. Seconds later, it inflated into a boat. The pair jumped down toward the water as they studied the anomaly.

"It looks bigger in person," said Rhys with a frown. "Are you sure that Oren can stop… whatever caused this?"

No one in the world knew that Arthur was the source of this anomaly, and Selena ensured that her father did not know either. It would harm his reputation further if people knew that he could cause a runic outage throughout the world.

Arthur had a conflicting reputation. Many hailed him as a hero, while others condemned him as a war criminal. The merge of two worlds was a disaster that they had yet to overcome, and Arthur was the one behind it. The armies of the world united against him, but in the end, he won.

Selena herself didn't know if Oren would be fine. According to her boyfriend, Arthur had lost control of this power before, and Oren had to work with the rest of the guild to stop him. At that time, Selena didn't understand the magnitude of this power and why Oren was obsessed with eradicating it from his brother.

"This is… terrifying," said Rhys as he stared at the darkness, which still crackled with lightning. "We might have the firepower to cause a dent, but nothing more. That's only considering this wall to be something tangible."

"Oren entered straight ahead, but I doubt we can do the same," muttered Selena as she took out a device and placed it above her eye, wearing it like a monocle. The latest technology allowed her to make calculations based on real-time events, even measuring mana. "How could this be?"

"What's wrong?" asked Rhys with confusion.

"There is nothing around this dome. The mana percentage in the air is… zero," muttered Selena as she removed the device. "I can't feel anything coming from within, not even air. Whatever this place is, it seems like the end of our world and the beginning of the void."

"If that's the case, we can't be reckless," said Rhys with a frown. "We shall wait here until we see an opening to either help or a sign to escape. Is that understood?"

"…yes, father," muttered Selena while pressing her lips together. Although Oren was inside, she doubted that her existence would help him. If anything, she would be a burden to him in his upcoming fight. But once he leaves this dome, she would be there to help him and heal his wounds.

At that moment, a commotion rose from within the aircraft. Rhys and Selena turned back and climbed up to see what was happening. They walked inside and found that every screen had turned black, and someone was talking through the radio.

"Humans closest to the anomaly," said the harsh, monotonous voice. "We know how to stop it but cannot reach it alone. Follow these coordinates to find us."

"What is this?" asked Rhys with confusion as he boarded. "Are we being hacked? How is that possible? Our systems are isolated from the entire world and have the best defenses."

"We have no idea, sir," replied the engineer as he tried to take control of the aircraft again but could not access the controls anymore. "If we wish to reclaim the aircraft, we need to turn off the machine and erase all information."

"And lose control ourselves?" refused Rhys with a shake of his head before turning to Kody. "Can you do something about this with your ability?"

"I still cannot make it work," said Kody with a shake of his head. His hand was gathering mana, but it scattered like broken glass. "I think we can trust them."

"What makes you think that?" asked Rhys with confusion. "It can be an alien race, for all we know, trying to lure us into a trap."

"I doubt that an alien would need us," said Kody with a shrug. "It's just weird that someone could hack into our systems. Even with a mana-based ability, it's surprising, and not even mana is working right now. If that's the case, then they have a technology that might be able to save the human race."

Rhys was still considering it before another message arrived through the speakers. This time, it was a feminine voice rather than monotone, as if it was a recording near a shore.

"I don't know who you are, but please come and get us. We have accessed the tapes of the aircraft and heard you mention someone called Oren who has entered the storm. You are talking about Arthur's brother, right? Please help us reach Arthur and stop him."

The message ended there, and Rhys was even more confused. When he turned to Selena, he found her surprised. Sensing his gaze, she admitted the truth. "Arthur is the one behind this anomaly. Oren went there to stop him."

"Arthur Silvera? I mean, Netherborne," muttered Rhys as he placed a hand over his chin in consideration. "I cannot turn down the opportunity to introduce myself to the strongest man in the world."

***

A bolt of lightning struck again, and Oren managed to evade it in time. The battlefield was a shipwreck and small pools of water at the bottom of the ocean. His opponent did not seem to care about his existence, seemingly in a daze.

Oren could not call this creature his brother. It was inhuman, powerful, and far from the warm brother he always had. Although the creature looked humanoid, it was covered with black flames, only a pair of white eyes stared toward the sky. Facing the creature, Oren felt he was an ant.

Arthur had this much wrath inside him, and Oren never knew. This was not a disease but the manifestation of Arthur's wrath itself. It was not a wolf of destruction like before, but a cold creature that wanted nothing but to tear down the heavens. Thus, its lack of interest in Oren and his attacks.

Catching a break, Oren tried to restore his energy. His mana was useless here, but his spiritual powers gave him the ability to calm his brother down using the Sword of Tranquility. Although he found the ability to fight against the lack of abilities, his spiritual energy was different than mana.

There was a reason that Oren could ascend to the Astra-rank faster than anyone had ever done in history, not even his brother. His ability, called Mana Affinity, had evolved after he obtained the wisdom of the forest. Instead of affinity, it became Mana Physique. His entire body became a hungry beast that devoured mana. Even if he did not train, his body would keep absorbing mana.

But everything he worked for had been for naught, except his contract with the Abyssal Spirit, Lancelot. It gave him the power to stop his brother, and it was not affected by wrath. Oren looked haggard because he could not regenerate spiritual energy like mana. The sole silver lining was the wrath's lack of interest in attacking him.

"Your sword cannot work against me," a voice whispered throughout the desolate ocean bed as the wrathful creature turned toward him. "I carry wounds within me that no tranquility could heal, only justice," barked the harsh, gritty voice in his ears again.

"I know that already," said Oren with a smile as he raised his sword again, his spiritual energy fueling it to release the soft white light of tranquility. "But I have no other way than to keep trying."

"You are a good brother," said the creature. "The Wrathful King is lucky to have you, but it's enough to stop this. Nothing is enough to stop me."

"And who are you?" asked Oren as he sensed that this creature was not Arthur, but something far more dangerous. It was fueled with Arthur's wrath, but it had a mind of its own. "What are you doing with my brother's body?"

"I am saving it," said the creature as it stared at the sky. "If wrath builds up too much inside a person, they lose their sanity. Your brother has always fought against it, sealing it, just to retain that. Seeing the person that he loves wounded was too much of a shock, and he summoned me."

"Again, who are you?"

"I am the creator, the unfeeling creature that can withstand wrath and command it," said the creature as it turned toward Oren. "Your brother summoned what remained of my consciousness before he lost his."

Oren could not understand what this creature was saying, but he knew that this was no longer about Arthur anymore. The entire world would be torn apart by monsters if they couldn't use their abilities any longer. To preserve the world, he needed to stop his brother.

"You are saying that Arthur cannot control his wrath, and that's the reason he summoned you," said Oren as he raised his sword high. "If that's the case, I just have to slash his wrath apart."

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