I Reincarnated As A Stick

Chapter 382: Guilt and Regret

Chapter 382: Guilt and Regret

“What?!” Both Argentum and Felix were left aghast after seeing the counterattack Aurus had done to combat against Felix’s [Tsunami Piercer]. The two of them knew that Aurus had only been attacking them with blades so far. And from how he had made the first move against Argentum, they had a feeling that Aurus had the greatest experience with blades or skills that had something to do with blades. Though, even if that was the case…

Why did Aurus decide to retaliate an attack from a spear…with a spear of his own?

Unfortunately for the two of them, Aurus would not give them the answer, nor the chance to obtain the answer as Aurus went ahead and thrust the spear he had conjured in retaliation towards Felix, who had become off guard from the shock he felt.

Bang!

Without even being able to retaliate, Felix was sent flying, only for him to come to an abrupt stop as he forced himself to hover in the skies, accruing slight injuries from the skirmish. For the most part, the injuries Felix had received from the attack were mostly superficial, only skin-deep at most. Though, after Aurus attacked him, he could not help but send another strand of energy to him and ask, “Argentum, did you ever teach him [Tsunami Piercer]?”

“Huh? No? Why do you ask?” Hearing the question, Argentum naturally denied all notions of him teaching Aurus one of the strongest attacks Felix could unleash, knowing very well that the two of them had been separated from each other for quite some time due to him focusing on the town’s development. Sensing that Argentum was not lying to him, Felix scratched his head as he said soon after, “Well, that’s weird. I don’t know how he learned of it, but he has definitely grasped the essence of [Tsunami Piercer] from what I felt through the attack.”

“If it’s that…then there’s a possibility,” Argentum could not help but mutter as Felix swung his spear at Aurus from time to time, waiting to find an opening where he could unleash a strong attack once more. Sadly, Aurus did not give Felix that chance, instead using it to gradually become more proficient with the spear, which Felix could not help but notice as time passed.

Looking at Argentum once more to ask him why Aurus was gradually becoming more proficient with the spear, Argentum went ahead and took the initiative, sending out a strand of energy towards Felix as he said with slight uncertainty, “I don’t know if this makes a difference or not, but if I remember correctly, Aurus has absorbed an All-seeing Comprehension Leaf in the past.”

“An All-seeing Comprehension Leaf?!” Felix could not help but exclaim, only for him to show an opening that Aurus instantly used, utilizing a Wind-based version of [Tsunami Piercer] to attack.

Bang!

Just like before, Felix was sent flying, which he forcibly stopped through the usage of his energy. Nevertheless, even though he was more injured from this attack compared to the first retaliation Aurus did, the expression of shock was still prevalent on his face, making Argentum realize that what he said must have struck a chord somewhere in Felix.

“Er…is there anything wrong with what I said?” Argentum could not help but ask just in case. But instead of responding to his question, Felix simply told him, “Tell Eleanor to come here.”

“A-alright then.” Hearing Felix’s stern tone, Argentum went ahead and utilized the connection he had with Eleanor to ask her to come where the two of them were, making sure to fill her in on what was going on before she arrived. Well, unlike Felix, she did not have any spell or skill that allowed her to create rifts to teleport. Nevertheless, with her being an incredibly strong Pseudo-Animate, it only took a couple of minutes for her to arrive at her fastest speed.

“So, why did you ask me to come here, Felix?” At the very instant she arrived where the two of them were, Eleanor went ahead and asked Felix, who was clashing against Aurus with his spear, making sure to only thrust his spear at Aurus.

In response to her question, Felix looked at Aurus before looking back at her, saying in response, “This guy absorbed an All-seeing Comprehension Leaf.”

“Seriously? An All-seeing Comprehension Leaf?” Surprisingly, even Eleanor was shocked that the being fighting against Felix at this moment had absorbed something as rare as the All-seeing Comprehension Leaf. Nevertheless, rather than look at Aurus with an expression of greed or envy, instead, only a dark expression could be seen on her face as she took on a human form, asking Felix soon after. “So, what’s the plan?”

“According to Argentum, we can’t kill the guy, only defeat him,” Felix hastily said in response as he increased the tempo of his attacks, gradually making Aurus more and more susceptible to attacks from external influences. “Argentum, we’ll need your help here.”

“Got it,” Argentum nodded as he replied, hastily casting all of the buffs he had in his arsenal to both Felix and Eleanor, increasing the pressure their auras emanated in the surroundings. Unsurprisingly, some of the townspeople near them could not help but look at the current situation in awe and fear. Though, for the most part, the townspeople had moved away from the area after looking for a bit, being told by Delmann and Valstra that their leader was currently apprehending a criminal.

Seeing that the area was now more or less devoid of innocent people that might get caught up in the battle, Argentum stopped covering the area in a barrier of Lesser Origin, deciding to use his mastery over the element of Lesser Origin on another thing instead.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Within seconds, a small orb made out of Lesser Origin started to manifest in front of Argentum as Eleanor backed Felix up, attacking at the very instant an opening was made on Aurus. While doing so, the two of them communicated with each other through strands of energy, with Felix telling Eleanor, “If only there was a way for us to extract the All-seeing Comprehension Leaf from this guy, then it would be easier for us to defeat him.”

“Yeah. If he didn’t have the ability to comprehend everything at greater speeds, then it would definitely be easy to defeat him. Then again, from what I’m sensing, it seems he’s only an X-grade Inanimate?” Eleanor said in response, prompting Felix to briefly envelop Aurus in his energy before exclaiming in surprise, “You’re right. He’s only an X-grade Inanimate. And here I thought he was a high-leveled Pseudo-Animate like us for him to move like that and have that much power.”

“For him to be an X-grade Inanimate and have that much power, then there’s only one explanation for that other than his high-leveled skills,” Eleanor could not help but say in response, making the two look at Aurus a bit more seriously as they increased the strength behind their attacks. This time around, they definitely weren’t holding back.

As for Argentum, the orb of Lesser Origin hovering in front of him had seemingly reached the limit of how big it could be, prompting him to inwardly nod in satisfaction as he poked on the orb, popping it as he, Eleanor, and Felix were soon covered in a shroud of gray light that seemed to protect against any attack aimed at them.

“[Lesser Origin Magic: Erudite]!”

“[First Blessing: Eir’s Fortitude]!”

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In an instant, both Felix and Eleanor, who were attacking Aurus in tandem, felt like their bodies could do more and achieve more with same amount of power. Not only that, but they also felt like they would be more or less invincible against attacks at the same level as them, perhaps even greater.

With a hint of surprise and shock on their faces, Argentum went ahead and shouted at them, snapping them back to reality. “I’ve casted a spell on you two that makes you more or less invincible against his attacks. You can truly go all out now!”

“You hear that, Felix? It’s time for us to truly let loose!” Eleanor could not help but say with a chuckle as the clothes she wore in her human form gradually transformed into a long robe made out of gray flames that emanated a feeling of demise and death at the same time. Noticing this, Felix could not help but ask, “Are you seriously going all out like that?”

“Well, if you’re going all out, then might as well!” he said not long after with a chuckle as a layer of dark blue armor made out of solidified water had appeared on top of Felix’s clothes as the spear he held had transformed to take on a more offensive form. Soon after, he covered the entirety of his spear in magic circles that amplified the attack power of his spear before thrusting out once more, not caring at all if he had aimed at an opening or not.

“[Tsunami Piercer: Supreme Leviathan Pierce]!”

Whoosh!

Feeling immense danger from the attack coming at him, Aurus hastily used his movement skill to teleport out of the spear’s trajectory, prompting Felix to slightly smirk as he had a feeling that something like this would happen. After all, since Aurus was an X-grade Inanimate, even though he could fight against beings of other levels through various means, it was harder to improve one’s defense. Naturally, such an attack that did not care for anything other than pure offense was bound to break through Aurus’s natural defense and instantly kill him, leaving him no choice but to utilize his movement skill.

Not being disappointed with Aurus moving out of the way, Felix slightly redirected the trajectory of the spear…to aim for Eleanor instead!

Swoosh!

Loosening his grip over the spear, the spear amplified to insane degrees of power instantly appeared in front of Eleanor, who hastily grabbed onto it before spreading her gray flames all over it, imbuing with the aura of destruction and death. As she imbued more and more of her power into the spear, she could not help but say to Felix hastily, “I can only stay sane for a few more seconds! You better hold him in place!”

“Don’t worry!” Felix eased Eleanor’s worries as the armor he wore instantly expanded in size, transforming into something that looked like the maw of a large beast. Utilizing the rifts he used to teleport, Felix had appeared behind Aurus once more, catching the latter off guard once more as he used his expanded armor to hold Aurus in place. Wanting to make sure he didn’t escape, he went ahead and cast a spell on Aurus that sealed all of his skills and spells, turning him into a lamb that was ready for slaughter.

“Now!” Seeing as how Felix had already done everything to make sure the attack would connect, Eleanor went ahead and dashed forward at the greatest speed she could muster at her current form, thrusting the spear imbued with gray flames as both water and flame intertwined around the spear. At that instant, a large amount of flames were soon expelled from the end of the spear, increasing the penetrative force of the spear.

“[Fusion of Samsara and Chaos: Chaotic Leviathan Rhongomyniad]!”

Bang!

With Aurus being deprived of his ability to move away from the trajectory of the spear, it seemed that his body had decided to make a move on its own, returning Aurus back to his original state as his rationality and logicality took over his body at the very last minute, realizing that his body had moved by itself once more, which led him to this current situation.

Closing his sense of vision as he accepted the consequences of his actions, even if it was not made consciously, he could not help but become confused as he did not feel any pain whatsoever from the attack that was coming at him, even though he knew he would die for sure. With that in mind, he wondered if he died before his body could even transmit the pain…only to remember that he was an Inanimate, which felt no pain in the first place.

Curious as to what had happened next, Aurus slowly opened his eyes, only to notice that nothing was binding him anymore, with the two people seeking to destroy him now hovering at one side, allowing him to move as he liked. As he wondered why the two had not done anything else after that, he took a look around his surroundings, only for him to notice another being that he was not expecting to see at this instant.

“Argentum…?” Aurus could not help but mutter in surprise. It was only at that moment did he recall through their shared memories that Argentum was in the process of developing a town. Unfortunately, the town his bloodlust had chosen was the town his clone was developing.

“Why did you kill all of those people?” Argentum could not help but ask in response, feeling more and more anger welling up in him. “They were innocent, Argentum. Innocent!”

“I…” Knowing very well that his actions were wrong, Aurus did not have the courage to look at Argentum in the eye, facing his head down. In the end, Aurus had no other choice than to teleport out of the town, only leaving the three with words of parting.

“I…”

“…I’m sorry for everything I’ve done.”