-Vol 6: Dusk of An Era-

-Murata’s Secret(1)-

“Are we really going to fight with a god here, I am a bit pumped up.” Joy exclaimed as they both, him and Kenshin, went through the deserted village. Joy was following Kenshin’s lead who was following his ever-trustworthy map. That Murata was indeed lying about the village people. there were no one inside the houses, it was totally empty and void of any people.

“Restrain your excitement. Don’t forget how strong that Dilong was! And it was a just a mythical creature; the thing we are going to deal with today was a fully fledged god that stemmed from people’s beliefs from countless years. This was one is going to be hard to deal with.” Kenshin reminded the overly excited Joy who was ready to even wrestle against a thousand bulls.

“I am not afraid of going against a god and I know what I am doing. Don’t worry about it.” Joy first said confidently which Kenshin found rather admirable until he blurted out something else shamelessly, “besides if things go south, there’s always you to save my ass.”

“You!!” the image he had on him instantly broken to pieces by Joy’s shamelessness. He could only shake his head and continue on the path. There was a slight fluctuation on the map which means that Atub was now aware of their presence. He was probably preparing some counter measures against them as they walk closer to his temple. Kenshin even brought out his sword and held it in his left hand for emergency purpose.

The village’s back gate soon came to their sight as a dense forest was visible on the other. They stopped at the mouth of the dense foliage and looked at each other. Kenshin once again looked at Joy and asked “ready?”

“Yeah.” Joy nodded his head, looking determined. He clenched and unclenched his fist, to loosen his muscles on his hands. He already equipped with his full gear of gauntlet and armor given to him by Kenshin. On his waist was a bag filled with HP potions. He was ready and all set to go on a rampage against that so-called god.

“Good, then let’s go. But before that…” Kenshin pulled out his phone and dialed Chiba’s phone. She picked up after just a single ring, “Kenshin, I was just about to call you.”

“Huh? What for?” Kenshin was a bit confused.

“Kenshin, I find something strange with this Murata. Just now while talking with me, he suddenly made a run for it without saying anything. I felt murderous vibe from him when he left here.” Chiba reported unhurriedly. After spending time with Kenshin and Joy, she already knew about their monstrous strength. She wouldn’t be worried for them. And until now she hadn’t seen anyone that could make these two a run for their money. Therefore, she was very confident.

“I see. I was just about to tell you the same thing, to be careful of him while you explore. Alright, Joy and me, we both are going to confront that Atub. You should standby in village in case something happens.” Kenshin said as he narrowed his eyes at the dense forest. He already saw that Murata’s marker on map moving super-fast towards somewhere in the forest. The situation gad become clear to him now.

“Okay, be careful Kenshin. This is a god you are going to face.” Chiba said worriedly. Though she claimed she would be with them and fight by their side, she knew her strength too well. She was aware of this that if she goes with them, she will only become a deadweight to them.

“We will. Don’t worry. You take care of yourself, and don’t get separated from Ena. Whatever happens don’t ever get separated from her.” Kenshin said before cutting off the call and throwing the phone into his inventory. Then he grasped his sword tighter and took a step forward.

Boom!!

As soon as their foot touched the edge of the dense forest, suddenly an explosion occurred as the ground shook violently. The dense trees in the distance started to uproot one by one, as if a stampede was happening.

“What’s this?” Joy asked confusedly with a pinch of nervousness mixed in.

“Looks like…” Kenshin looked around his surroundings, then to the front and to his back, “we are already inside the god’s schemes. Be careful Joy, whatever happening now was an illusion but quite realistic. Don’t let it consume you.”

“Oh! Looks that god made a sneak attack. That’s low. Even though he is a god, he is doing this kind of things.” Joy burst with righteous anger but Kenshin could tell it was his frustration speaking since he couldn’t get to make the first move.

“Shut it. now focus. If I am not mistaken, this is going to be something akin to a beast hoard… don’t let them injure you no matter what.” Kenshin gave the map a look but found nothing aside from a red dot quire far away. There were no markers showing a beast hoard approaching. This was why he was sure that they were trapped in an illusion.

‘Though this god can fool my senses and bypass my WIL, seems like it couldn’t do same with the system.’ Kenshin thought with a sigh, before pointing his index finger towards the shaking forest. A bright purple ball coated in burning red flame conjured, as it rotated in an anti-clockwise direction.

With a flick of his fingers, he sent the ball flying towards the forest before making it explode in a shower of purple flames and a shockwave strong enough to wipe out everything in its path.

When the dust cloud settled, contrary to what Joy thought, there was no damage done to the forest itself. Only the ground shaking and trees uprooting stopped, going back to how it was initially. Kenshin nodded to himself and said, “now we are out of the illusion. Let’s get going. We are the winner of this first contact, but there’s no guarantee that we will be winner every time. Before this god could cook something else, let’s find him.”

“Yeah, let’s get going.” Joy nodded and followed behind Kenshin with a serious look on his face.

…

“What the fuck wrong with these people? They weren’t affected by Nightmare Reflection and even going as far as breaking it with one move!” standing behind a huge tree, Murata the old village leader ground his teeth and muttered helplessly. There were glowing red runes going through out his neck, hands and head, looking quite sinister.

“You better get rid of them before they reach my temple. I have still not completed my descending procedures, if they destroy my holy altar, everything will be for naught.” A very young voice came from the runes of his hand to which Murata respectfully nodded, “please don’t worry my gracious lord. Your humble servant will complete your wishes even if he has to sacrifice his life.”

“Good. I am happy at your devotion, Murata. There is already a space reserved for you in my Dream Scape world. Now go and do your duty to stop them from reaching me.” The voice once again rang from his hands, making Murata smile in a zealous way. he kissed his wrists and said devotedly, “please rest assured gracious lord, it will be done.”