“The turtle… I..it really is the champion you’ve been talking about,” Alan said sulkily.

He moped for the entire way for the past half an hour of the journey until they met a pair of C ranked Cave Trolls that guarded what looks like an entrance to their lair.

Without a second word, Alan flung himself forward to beat up the two creatures. Unfortunately, his attacks lacked true firepower. Against a human, at least he could strike them down by their weak points, but these armoured trolls are unaffected by weak attacks and quickly recovered from any damage.

The others wanted to help, but Edward, Jim and Kairos stopped the rest.

“Let him. He is stronger than he looks, if we help him now, it will crush his warrior’s pride.”

“Hehe, he is cute. But he didn’t have to prove himself,” Leaf said, and two other girls in their group nodded.

“Really?” Snow asked, “I feel that he is just goofy.”

“Hahhhh, sis! It’s only because you only have eyes on that big oaf,” Leaf chided and instantly Snow blushed and fell silent.

Previously, the path towards the lair was riddled with monsters, and no one could stop fighting. For Alan who was a bad match against these trolls, he couldn’t even vent his frustrations before one of his friends took down whichever creature he targets.

It was only when they arrived at the Cave Trolls’ lair that he found a brief opportunity when the others prepared for the coming battles.

Alan fought furiously; unfortunately, his Tonfas were unsuitable to deal lasting injuries. In fact, he had to depend on the frost and fire runes inscribed on his weapons to actually hurt these armoured enemies, but even those wounds will recover after a short moment.

“What incredible regeneration!” The others gasped.

They had seen how fast Kairos, Jim and Edward killed these creatures and mistaken their foes as easy.

“It doesn’t look like he will be able to take them down, should we go?”

“Let’s wait a little longer. He can still handle it.”

The others watched with their hands clenching their weapons, but at this moment a loud tearing noise followed by shaking and rumbling caused the group to pale.

The entrance that the two Cave Trolls were guarding had been shattered to become wider, as more Cave Trolls dug through with their claws.

In an instant, Alan became surrounded, moreover, the creatures from the lair were stronger at C rank at least.

They thought they have already suppressed the trolls trying to attack them. All they need to do was to wait for Alan to defeat these guards and they could go hunt for the troll king.

Who could’ve guessed that these creatures would burst through their own homes to attack them this savagely, and all higher ranked than the ones they fought before?

Even the smug grin on Calculus’ face is replaced with worry as the situation rapidly worsened:

These are not the D ranked creatures that fall easily, but a large group of C ranks, a few B ranks and even an A rank monster.

“I can handle this!!” Alan shouted from the middle of trolls.

The guys rolled their eyes at his stubbornness, but they did not go forward to aid him.

Having survived situations a hundred times worse, the boys were not concerned, but the others that had not gone through the Silent Lambs Empire battles could hardly keep still.

“Flame reading!” Alan roared fearlessly.

He had almost forgotten about this skill. When he activated it, his iris started glowing orange, lighting up until it became a ring of flames around his pupils.

Then from within his black pupils, a runic symbol of fire was projected outwards and hovered luminous in the air before his eyes.

Looking through it, Alan saw the creatures in shades of orange, the brightness depending on the heat their body gives out.

Making use of Static Reading arts from the Storm Palm manual, and an extensive understanding of flames from his Greater Fire Elemental, Kairos helped him created the Flame Reading ocular technique.

In this state, not only is his vision unaffected by dim surroundings, but he could tell the detailed heat signatures within any creature’s body including its meridian system and energy channelling.

He instantly spotted several dark spots within the creatures’ bodies.

“Death points!” he exclaimed with exuberance.

Though heavily outnumbered, Alan pressed on as though he is the one that had caught his foes in a bind.

The two troll guards that were fighting him from the start suddenly fell in a slump on the side.

He attacked so quickly that only the Origin Users could catch what he did.

And, while Kairos and the rest noticed where Alan struck, they could not replicate what Alan did. It is more than simply attacking different spots on a creature’s body to slay it. The death points only kill when one hit them with precise power and penetrate the Meridians with the right amount of Ki. Only by doing that will the force he applied travel through the target and destroys the body’s system completely.

They know, what they are looking at is pure talent. A gift that Alan discovered in battle and can claim as his own.

He strode forward, fully intent to attack the A ranked Troll among the group. Those that charged at him fall without slowing him down.

They are not dead yet, but it is only a matter of time that a blood vessel within their brain bursts and kills them, unless by their own power they could overcome Alan’s Ki infused strikes at their death spots.

Therefore, Alan intents to take down the strongest troll that could negate his skill.

He could see with his Flame Reading that the death spots on the A ranked Cave Troll is far lesser than its weaker brethren.

“Only three spots. Under the chin, at the ninth point of its belly and the small of its neck.”

The fearless trolls continued throwing themselves against him. They did not understand why their friends had fallen but did not think much about it.

The A ranked Troll did not wait and joined in as well. These creatures are not known for their intelligence, and wouldn’t hesitate to fight to the death. Its speed far outstrips the others, and it darted into Alan’s striking range. The latter met it without the tiniest hesitation, and the two clashed explosively.

“Immobility points!” Alan roared fiercer than the troll and rushed it with a flurry of blows. With overwhelming ferocity, he blew back the enemy and created a lapse in its defence.

The raw, brutal power of the beast is far stronger than most human practitioners of the same rank, but whenever the Cave Troll attacks, Alan will quickly poke it using his Tonfas and the creature will feel all its strength fading away. He had aimed at the exact moment the monster rears back, and by applying an insignificant amount of force the arm prepared for a swing could not move anymore, the head that tries to reach forward cannot bite.

His weapons, despite all its flaws, happened to be perfect for striking an enemy’s meridians.

With the opening, Alan smashed the end of his Tonfa on the throat of the beast, “First point!”

“Second point!” He charged forward, striking it at the side of its stomach while sliding behind the creature.

“Third point!” Reversing his weapon, he hit it at the back of its neck.

The stronger an opponent, the fewer death spots will be on it, but against this creature, even if Alan strikes all three points, he was uncertain if the monster will go down or shrug it off.

His Ki rushed into the body of the troll through the death points. The A ranked Cave Troll roared mightily in pain, forcing its lesser brethren scurrying back in fright.

The creature froze as it sensed the invasive Ki rushing to its head, and instinctively it tried to block it. The great energy of an A ranked monster flowed through its body fighting off Alan’s Ki, and the two energies clashed with neither relenting.

“Looks like it’s not enough to take that one down,” Flora observed, “Truly, the regeneration power of a troll cannot be underestimated.”

Everyone was on edge, preparing for a hard battle as sweat rolled down their cheeks. If the troll survives, the morale of these creatures will raise, and they will soon be swarmed.

Then suddenly, Alan moved.

“Death Spike Talisman!” he cried out and slapped Edward’s talisman on its head and a split second later the A ranked beast lay dead.

“…”

Man or beast, the onlookers were speechless.

“What?”

“T...that’s all?”

They were expecting Alan’s marvellous new technique to overturn the odds somehow and claim victory, but… he didn’t even bother to see it to the end. Well, at least the result was acceptable?

“Let’s charge in now, follow me,” Alan yelled and ran towards the creatures’ lair.

The others were dumbfounded for a moment longer before they followed after him. The group broke past the monster that was stunned by the death of the strongest troll, but when they entered the den, they were floored by a magnificent sight.

As far as their eyes could see, they saw great dirt mounds piled up to the ceiling, and at the same time, an uncountable number of giant stalactites that almost reached the ground, making the place look the mouth of a gigantic creature.

Within those giant spikes were small pockets, each a nest for a family of trolls.

The place buzzled with activity, with the ten thousand trolls that Kairos had mentioned crawling up and down their homes.

“This place is like a city! Just how are we going to find and kill the king?”

By now, many of the Cave Trolls had spotted the group, and the stronger, more battle hungry ones approached.

“A ranks! A horde of them!”

“More than a thousand. And, my god, there are even S ranked trolls.”

“We shouldn’t have come here, I’ve told you all, but you had to trust this idiot,” Calculus yelled as golden scales started growing on his skin. He might not be able to escape all the way to the surface by himself, but trying is better than giving up.

Alan and Jim gave a deep sigh at the same time.

Edward smiled unnaturally and said, “If Tommy is here, it would be better.”

Until now, only the four boys had stayed resolute, but facing a truly threatening situation without Tommy by their side, they felt uneasy. The boy was the pillar that supported the rest in their group, and now especially, he was sorely missed.

“Shields,” said Kairos.

On command, Alan, Edward, and Jim, each took out the defensive artefact they purchased from Fritzgen.

Alan protected by a shield of raging flames, Edward within a barrier made of grey wisps of smoke, Jim encased in the darkness of the blackest night, and Kairos with a floating sphere of pure water that hovered nearby.

With their artefacts, the four of them shielded the rest from the approaching trolls while they blocked off the lair entrance they came through. The wall of flames burned those that came close, the darkness absorbed any and all attacks, the grey smoke was made of swift wind that shredded anything close, and the water orb sprayed out liquid at high speed that tore apart even the bone plated trolls.

The small group stayed at the entrance of the lair without moving.

They know that they could not stay here for long. Even if those shields are the highest-grade artefacts found from Fritzsgen’s Treasures Pavilion, they will eventually break.

With these many creatures and uncountable attacks raining down upon them, it wouldn’t take long for their defence to be cracked open.

But before anyone could ask Kairos their plans, the boy suddenly cried out, “Heed my call, Greater Elementals!”

And, out of the ground, over fifty nature spirits appear by his summon, all of them at least S ranked. It was an impressive amount, and this was after he had sent nearly half of them to protect the members of Snowdrifts.

“Elementals!? How? These are nature spirits that wouldn't follow anyone’s command, how could he command them?!” Snow shouted.

One must know, the Academy could only employ greater elementals because those beings are benevolent to mankind, and the school offers them gifts in return for their help. It was an equal contract that no one could order the other party around. In fact, there is yet anyone who could tame the wild elementals, nor could anyone subdue these proud beings.

Yet, so many of them followed one boy.

“Go forth and destroy our enemies,” said Kairos.

With a simple command, the elementals charged into the troll lair, and the battle turned chaotic all at once.

“No… way…! They really listened to you.”

The trolls immediately surround these incorporeal energy lifeforms with their superior numbers, but no matter what form of attacks they launch, it did little.

“Tempest!” Kairos beckoned once more, and his partnered Elemental spirit appeared as a storm cloud before the boy, “lend me your powers.”

Electricity danced on his skin as the lightning Ki dragon within himself took the cue and sent him wave after waves of power.

The Greater Lightning Spirit noticed the pureness of the energy on its master were overcame by a great shock, “M… master! This is heavenly lightning?”

“The lightning from the Heavenly Lightning Tribulation? No way… how is this possible?” Alucard exclaimed from the side. He is from a high ranking noble house that makes talismans as their family business, and it is unsurprising that they had researched on harnessing something as potent as the Heavenly Tribulation Lightning to be used in their craft.

“Isn’t the Heavenly Lightning impossible to control?” Someone asked

“Yes, I’ve heard that it is untameable.”

Alucard signed, looking at Kairos focusing on gathering power within himself and he said, “Looks like nothing is impossible for him. My ancestors have tried time and time again to develop Heavenly Lightning Talismans and failed. Mainly because, unlike usual lightning, it refuses to be directed. The electric charge seems to bypass natural laws and appears, moves then disappear strangely.

In the first place, no one in Gaia’s history has ever managed to summon this energy except when breaking through their mortal shells and ascending to the upper realms.”

Tempest immediately provided aid to its master by channelling a large amount of electricity. The amperes on him increased by the second, and soon electricity ten times stronger than a lightning bolt crackled on Kairos.

“Are… y…you trying to fry them all?!” Edward asked while shivering, but in return, Kairos only smiled at him.

“Unfortunately, this amount of power isn’t enough. Buy me time to gather more.”

Around them, the fifty elementals started glowing furiously as they no longer reserved their strength. From the outset, incorporeal lifeforms view monsters like these as lesser unintelligent creatures and despise their existences.

The trolls were wiped out in large batches by pure elemental energies, but instead of cowering away, the A ranked, and S ranked trolls started humming in unison.

It was a disgusting mixture of voices, grumbling and hoarse, but it thrummed with power.

“Troll magic!” Snow observed with horror.

A terrible and destructive power poured out from the mouths of those trolls in the form of a repulsive and pungent black fog. Anywhere the mist moved, it brought about decay and rotting, even onto their fellow trolls.

The wisps of black miasma that touches the elementals caused those Greater Spirits to scream in pain, but in return, they struck back with greater power than before.

It turned into a struggle of elemental energy against dark magic, but as more Cave Trolls joined in the humming, the balance began to shift towards the other side. Despite being weaker individually than the spirits, these subterranean monsters covered up the difference with numbers.

Whenever the spells touched them, the elementals shrunk in size, and their power steadily dropped. Soon a few of the nature spirits that were badly wounded were weakened to A rank, and in a matter of ten breaths, they fell once again to B rank.

“Are you ready yet?” Alan called out urgently. In time, all of them will be extinguished.

“Five minutes more!”

…..

“Lord Kairos, pardon our incompetence. The battle with these filthy creatures was more difficult than we expect. Many of my brethren had exhausted their strength, and it will take roughly a couple of months before we recover to our previous strength,” said the leader of the nature spirits apologetically. The Elementals were wiped out, though they are not that easily destroyed.

“Okay, thanks for your hard work. Have a good rest. I won’t summon you guys for a while.”

“Thank you, my Lord.”

Despite being badly damaged, the Elementals can gain back the power they lost with enough rest. For creatures of flesh and blood, this kind of injuries would mean death; it wasn’t odd for the spirits to look down on trolls even with their regenerative power.

…..

The group stared with pure shock as the nature spirits hid themselves under the ground once again. Unfortunately, without their protection, no one can contest the miasma rolling towards them. At this time, Alan made a swift decision and summoned his contract beast once again, “Damnit, black turtle, it’s your turn! Can you do something about those black smoke? Yes..? You sure? Okay, I’ll leave it to you!”

All of a sudden, he reared back his hand then hurled the turtle right into the darkest, most concentrated, portion of the trolls’ spells.

“Ahh!” Leaf gasped in shock. She had seen how powerful the corruption magic of those creatures are, and she couldn’t believe that Alan would just throw his pet right in. Even if the little turtle isn’t an impressive looking Contract Beast, there is no need to cast it away.

On the other hand, Alan screamed valiantly, “Flying turtle attack!”

“Are you stupid? Now isn’t the time for jokes,” Calculus couldn’t help but tell Alan off.

But strangely, he a tiny hope blossomed in him. Somehow perhaps something will happen.

Then, before their eyes, the miasma was sucked to the spot where the turtle landed.

Before long, Kairos whispered with a strain on his voice, “Alright, I’m ready!”

"Finally!"

He lifted both arms in the air, and all the energy he gathered on his body started to flow out onto his palm, creating a small orb of light.

Kairos continued sending all his energy into it, but the size of the orb did not grow.

The air around him heated up quickly and a tinge of energy from the lightning orb created a plasma cloud. It was a beautiful sight with a mixture of many colours glowing almost gently amidst the dark and wet cavern.

When it absorbed enough power, the lightning orb slowly floated upwards, while the cloud shrouding it completely covered the top of the cave.

Then, a swirl of air gathered at the middle part above a small group of S ranked Cave Trolls and with a clap of lightning and a bright flash that blinded them all, a Heavenly Lightning Bolt fell.

What came down was not a thin bolt of lightning but something at the size of a mansion, and it crushed everything underneath, till even the corpses of the trolls were disintegrated by the devastating force, scorching them into glass.

In the aftermath of the explosion, an eerie quiet fell upon them, leaving the only sound in the place being Kairos’ panting.

The Cave Trolls that were attacking relentlessly a moment ago had stopped, and the Greater Elementals were nowhere to be seen.

“T…the King was slain…? But… how did you know where it was?” Alan asked surprised, carrying the tiny turtle that he retrieved. The little thing seemed content from eating the destructive troll magic without any side effects.

“There were a significant number of S ranked Trolls gathered in one spot that was attacking us. I figured that their king is among them.”

“B..but… wouldn’t their leader be at the back?” Jim asked confusedly.

“It’s the opposite. The Troll King must consistently prove itself, and win against all challengers. When another defeats it, that troll will become the next King.”

“So… officially, Kairos is now their king?”

“Exactly! He is now the stupidest troll.”

Kairos slapped his forehead with his palm. He knew this is coming.