6 December Year 2367

Daimon emerged at the top of the cliff and walked towards the hooded figure.

"I don't know who you are but get out. Leave my discple alone."

The hooded figure turned around and swung a fist at Daimon. A pair of purple gauntlets appeared on his hands. Daimon stiffened before pointing at the gauntlets.

"Where did you get them?"

Bloodlust poured out of Daimon as black clouds gathered in the sky. The hooded figure ignored the question and approached Daimon. Streaks of blue crackled against the stormy blanket of grey. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck Daimon.

*RIP*

Daimon's body morphed into a human shaped black cloud. Jagged bolts protruded endlessly within the black cloud which had some semblance of limbs and a body.

"HEAVEN'S FURY!"

Lightning struck the cloud, causing the cloud to take on a blue glow while crackling with electricity. The cloud raised what looked like an arm and lightning cascaded down on the surrounding area. The top of the cliff shattered every time a lightning struck the ground. The hooded figure, however, was unfazed and weaved through the lightning bolts, arriving in front of Daimon. A right fist swung into the cloud, but it was too late. The cloud had already ruptured and dispersed.

"GIVE ME THE GAUNTLETS!"

Daimon's voice resonated throughout the surroundings. The cloud reformed around the hooded figure and promptly sealed the hooded figure within. No matter how the hooded figure struggled, the cloud was not giving up any chance for the hooded figure to escape. The cloud wrapped itself around the hooded figure and threw him into a armbar. Thunder roared and lightning struck the hooded figure. The smell of charred flesh filled the air.

"ARGHHH!"

Blood shot out of the hooded figure's mouth and he swung his free arm at Daimon. The gauntlet seemed to morph and turn in a blade.

"SERVANT OF LIGHTNING!"

Daimon released the armbar and dispersed into a flash of lightning just as the blade impaled empty space. The lightning in the sky gathered behind the hooded figure and Daimon materialized as lightning danced around him. The hooded figure turned around as the gauntlet returned to its normal form. A lightning bolt gleamed on both gauntlets as the hooded figure rained hammerfists on Daimon's raised arms.

"Lightning Emblem."

Lightning struck the hammer as Daimon was forced to defend the continuous blows. Suddenly, Daimon stepped towards the hooded figure and a ball of lightning formed at his fist. If Telfer was here, he would note Daimon's usage of Blink. Daimon swung an uppercut at the hooded figure along with the ball of lightining. As Daimon's fist connected with the hooded figure, the hooded figure seemed to gone have limp. There was nothing under the cloak that had been shredded apart by the ball of lightning. As Daimon got ready to block again, a gauntlet flew straight through the ruined cloak towards Daimon. Daimon disappeared again just as the gauntlet clawed at his previous's position. A blue liquid dripped out of the gauntlet, causing the ground beneath to dissolve. Daimon stared coldly at the black haired youth standing in front of him.

"I repeat, where did you get the gauntlets?"

Daimon hissed at the youth and leapt at him. The youth raised the gauntlets and swiped at Daimon, flinging the blue liquid as it flew through the air. Suddenly, Daimon disappeared from the hooded figure's line of sight. As the youth scrambled to defend himself, Daimon reappeared underneath the youth and swept at one of the legs, flipping the youth into the air.

"LIGHTNING POLE!"

*BANG*

Daimon stomped one of his legs and anchored himself onto the ground before pushing his other leg upwards into the youth's chest. A dragon formed from lightning came from the clouds and raced towards the youth.

"ARGHHHHHH!"

The youth's entire body was charred beyond recognition. Pieces of flesh fell off his body, exposing the bone beneath. As the youth fell down to the earth, Daimon leapt into the attack and unleashed a flurry of attacks.

*CRACK*

The youth's ribcage shattered as Daimon pummeled his body, causing blood to jet out of his mouth. However, Daimon was not done with him yet. As the youth's body floated in the air, Daimon decided it was time to finish it.

"CRUSHING ELBOW!"

Lightning struck Daimon once more. Daimon raised his elbow and took aim at the youth's neck. Suddenly a blue light flashed from the youth's back and any traces of the youth vanished into thin air. Daimon halted the attack immediately and landed on the ground. The youth had truly disappeared. Daimon grinded his teeth and retreated into the Thunder Pavilion. There were many questions that the Ghoul Legion would have to answer to in the future. However, this fight had been too large to keep secret and had taken its toll on Daimon.

Meanwhile, Telfer noted the thunderstorm and sped away swiftly. Unbeknownst to him, his master was heavily injured above him.

"A cave, need to find a cave."

Telfer weaved around the trees. He had no idea where he was going. A small cave entered his vision and Telfer dashed into the cave. There was no sign of the thunderstorm dispersing. Telfer sighed as he rested his back against the wall of the cave. Back at the end of the tunnel, he seemed to have sensed some of his master's bloodlust. However, the intense lightning and thunder had dispersed any thoughts about looking for his master. Telfer wandered around the cave, which was slightly warm. As Telfer wandered around the cave, a system notification appeared.

"Temperature of Host's surroundings is increasing by approximately 3 degrees celsius every minute."

Telfer continued exploring the cave and found various murals on the cave wall. The first mural depicted a group of humans kneeling in front of a figure clad in white. Various offerings laid on the ground in front of them. A second mural depcited the same scene but the figure clad in white was now covered in blood. A red giant was standing behind the figure clad in white. The group of humans that were kneeling down were all torn to pieces. Telfer was slowly drawn in as he walked past the murals.

"Host is currently under external influence, if Host does not stop, Host will face danger."

As Telfer walked past the last mural, a burnt hand reached out of the mural and pulled Telfer into the mural.

A hot arid desert laid in front of Telfer. He was surrounded by many people who were charging in the same direction. All of them had armour and wielded some form of weapon, be it a sword or spear. However, he found that no one noticeed his presence. They could even go through him. Telfer gazed at the direction everyone was charging and a shocking scene was playing out in front of him. A massive figure stood entrapped by an endless sea of humans. Clad in red robes and spurting black flames from its body, the giant towered over the humans, making them look like ants.

"BEGONE EVIL BEING!"

The sea of people roared in unison as chains shot of the sea of people and tied the massive figure down, revealing the giant's face. A completely red face and black lines that ran down from its forehead. However, the most shocking thing was the black fire that burned within the eye sockets in place of eyes. The humans rained attacks onto the giant. The giant's upper body was completely blown apart by the attacks, revealing a massive crystal within the giant's body.

"HAHAHAHA, FOOLISH HUMANS, YOU WILL NEVER KILL ME!"

As the humans cheered, the giant's upper body regenerated at an absurd speed. First were the bones and then the flesh and muscle that emerged from them. After 5 seconds, the giant had been completely healed. A sadistic grin emerged on the giant's face.

*BANG*

The chains wrapping the giant shattered apart and fell to the ground.

"THAT WAS PITIFUL! THAT'S WHY YOU HUMANS ARE SUCH A WEAK SPECIES! MY TURN!"

The giant's voice boomed as a cloud of dust. The sea of humans surrounding the giant started to separate and thin out as everyone started running back. Telfer looked at the people dashing past him. Many of them had tears in their eyes but everyone kept running without looking back. A red arm pierced out of the cloud of dust and slammed into the sea of people. Black flames erupted out of the red arm, incinerating everything around it. When the arm had lifted, all that was left was a mountain of ash. Another wave of chains shot out and dragged the giant back down. The cycle repeated as more and more people were slain under the giant. Eventually, the humans had defeated the giant by completely exhausting it. The giant laid unmoving while being chained down while the humans celebrated their victory.

However, the price paid had been too much. Mountains of ash and a sea of burnt corpses laid throughout the desert. Telfer stumbled back in shock as he met the gaze of a burnt corpse. The corpse's eyes were widened and its mouth hung ajar, as if the man had been screaming for help while he had been alive. His burnt hand reached out at Telfer, as if he was pleading for Telfer to help him. Suddenly, the burnt corpse came to life as it crawled over to Telfer, causing him to stumble back. Strangely, Telfer felt as if the corpse was staring at him in the eye. It croaked.

"Help... me...kill..."

The corpse stilled and the outstretched arm fell to the ground. Telfer rested his palm against his chest for a while before moving again to make sure the corpse was truly dead. As Telfer decided to move, a hand reached out from behind him and pressed him onto the ground.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Telfer squirmed as he looked on in horror. A burnt face appeared on top of him.

"We will... bring you... along with us."

Burnt hands emerged from around Telfer's body and pressed him firmly onto the ground. One of them covered his eyes as he prepared for the worst. A sea of darkness covered his vision before disappearing to reveal the ceiling of a stone cave. Telfer sat up with a cold sweat and touched his face. He whipped his head around. He was still in the cave, sitting in front of a mural, depicting a group of humans slaying a red giant.

What happened? Did I get dragged into an illusion? I was definitely watching the story behind this mural...

Telfer stood up and backed away from the mural. The experience had been too terrifying. The red giant killed people by the hundreds. Humans were like ants to be trampled on. Telfer clutched his still rapidly beating heart and shook his head. What he had experienced was just an illusion and nothing more. There was no need to dwell on it. As Telfer stared into the darkness of the cave, he noticed an entire wall made out of a shiny purple material a little further ahead. Telfer walked over curiously. It was now sweltering hot inside the cave despite the thunderstorm outside. A few words had been carved into the wall.

"To the one reading this, what you have just witnessed in the mural is the terrifying past of the Great Archipelago. The red giant is the Eternal Evil, the most evil being in the Great Archipelago's history. Although it was eventually defeated, we were unable to slay it. Hence, we have now separated the Eternal Evil into 6 parts, namely the head, the 2 arms, the torso and the 2 legs. The Eternal Evil's head is sealed behind this wall. If any of the Eternal Evil's body parts are to be exposed to the outside world, a disaster will befall the world."

Telfer stepped back immediately upon reading the words. He was not going to mess around with such a dangerous entity. Should he continue to stay in this cave? It was still storming outside but if there was the slight chance that the Eternal Evil could break out of the seal, it would be all over.

Damn, I'm not taking any chances, it's better to just seek out another cave. I'm not staying in this creepy cave.

As Telfer turned around to head out, a whirring noise could be heard within the forest. Telfer stood at the cave entrance and observed his surroundings. The thunderstorm was still going on. His eyes swept the forest cautiously as his heart palpitated in anticipation. He was not going to let himself get caught out again. Then he found it, the source of the whirring noise. A black glossy battlecruiser hovered just above the forest canopy. The rain seemed to slide off the battlecruiser. On its side was an all too familiar symbol. A blood red sword held in between the teeth of a skull.

Great. I ran into these fuckers.

Telfer grinned as he eyed the men jumping off the battlecruiser. All the humiliation and suffering he had to go through because of these people, he was going to return it tenfold. He heard someone say, "Why did it have to fucking rain?" The men gathered on the forest floor and lined up. After all the men had gathered up, a hole in the sky appeared above the battlecruiser which it disappeared into.

Spatial Magic? That's pretty cool.

The teleportation technology looked pretty expensive. Telfer wondered how a terrorist group got their hands on such technology. However, his thoughts were broken by the men's activities. All the men wore the cloak and carried a backpack. They stared ahead at a single man who Telfer presumed was their leader. The man at the front spoke.

"The primary objective of this outing is to find a potential S-Class device for the organization. I believe that all of us here know the meaning of top class device and the possible rewards if we can find the device. It appears that the device in question is a skull. The secondary objective is to find a certain person. His name is Telfer Berkley, a ghoul. He has in his possession a precious S-Class sword that the organization could make good use of. If you are to encounter him, you are to signal everyone else immediately. I believe everyone knows of what happened to Bryan's team. 20 people were annihilated by one ghoul. We have 100 men here. I wish that all of us can return back to base safely. If there are no further questions, split into groups of 4 and move out immediately."

The leader finished speaking and immediately led a team out himself. The rest of the men followed suit. Telfer watched the men spread out and licked his lips. If he were to absorb the ghoul cells of a 100 men, how much stronger could he be? He was going to hunt every last one of them. But as Telfer recalled the man's speech, he immediately frowned. It was too coincidental. A skull? They couldn't be looking to unleash that unspeakable terror behind the wall.

Fucking idiots. Where did they find out about the Eternal Evil?

Telfer grimaced as he thought about his options. He had hunt 100 hundred men while making sure that whatever was behind this wall did not get out. Telfer eyed the closest group and smiled gleefully. It was time to hunt.

End of Chapter