Level Up: Voidwalker

Chapter 79: They Caught Me

[Al-ladh? yursheed al-tareeq- The one who points the way]

***

[The Girl's POV]

Amethyst watched as the Nightowls abducted Atlas. Her heart sank when they turned the corner, and she lost sight of her Amore's mana. 'No! The Achaedmenids have got him. They will try to execute him because they believe he is the Dahaka,' she thought internally.

While staring at the street, she heard a moan, which caused her to look at Estelle, who was coming to. Amethyst moved towards her as she spoke, ''Are you okay? How injured are you?''

The blonde knight grimaced as pain shot through her body, eliciting a yelp. Swiftly, she cast Healing Light upon herself and sighed in relief as the pain faded. Once Estelle was better, she spoke with a frown, ''Where is Azhar'Zul? He was fighting the Nightowls.''

Amethyst frowned before revealing, ''They abducted him once he surrendered when the assassins had knives to our throats.''

When the phoenix said this, the blonde knight was frustrated before speaking, ''Let's find Grishna and Artemis. What about Lilith? Where is she?''

''Azhur'Zul put her in the Monster Vault due to being injured,'' Amethyst replied as the two girls started looking for the others.

It took the duo half an hour to find Artemis and Grishna, who were being tended to by the Argonian healers. Estelle rushed over and spoke, ''Azhar'Zul has been captured by the Achaedmenidians! They will try to execute him for being the Dahaka.''

The orc stared at her while a woman healed a slice across her face; once the healer was gone, she spoke, ''What does that mean? He has dozens of names across Astoria, blondie.''

"Bringer of Chaos," Amethyst disclosed. "The Achaemenidians believe he will topple their realm, overthrow the emperor, and seize control of the empire through blood and fire.''

That's when the three girls looked at her with curious expressions as she continued, ''Azhar'Zul is the Chosen Messiah of my people, and the gods chose him to lead the Great Jihad that will bring the Saharaelians to paradise, but the emperor would want to capture him once finding out he arrived on Valoria.''

Once Amethyst finished speaking, she let out a small prayer, ''Al-ladh? yursheed al-tareeq.''

''Do you think he wants to be their messiah?'' Artemis questioned the phoenix girl.

Amethyst shook her head, ''I don't think so, but when destiny started to mess with us mortals, there's nothing we can do. Just look at the name he picked, Azhar'Zul; the fanatics from the Blue Dune Desert call him that,'' she informed the three older girls.

The group hushed until Grisha said, "Did Azhar'Zul give you the Lovers Band he mentioned? He said they can communicate once a day."

Upon hearing this, the phoenix girl lifted her wrist, beholding the exquisite blue necklace, and silently thought, [Are you alright, my Amore? When you receive this, please send me a message as soon as possible]

Amethyst waited for a while but got no reply, so Estelle stood up and spoke, ''We should head to Honorhall and travel east to the Wyldheart Kingdom. Once Azhar'Zul replies to Little Birds' message, we can tell him to head there.''

Everyone agreed with a nod before heading for the harbor as the Evergladians were defeated and pushed out of the city. While walking down the quiet streets, corpses littered the way.

Grishna covered her nose while speaking, ''I hate the smell of death; I could never get used to it.''

Following that, the girls had to wait for a ship to the mainland but secured passage on a guild vessel once they showed their cards and paid 2 silver.

***

[Back to Atlas]

Atlas spotted an older man with long blonde hair and green eyes who looked to be a noble of some sort. This caught his interest. ''What does Dahaka mean? I heard the Nightowls call me it.''

The man laughed before introducing himself, ''I am Tristan, son of the warrior empress Tomyris of the Graecoria Empire on the Aridonia Continent.''

'A prince,' Atlas thought.

He shook his head and questioned, ''What is a prince of an empire doing on a Nightowl ship in captivity?''

Tristan chuckled, ''They caught me when I was visiting my fiance on Demacia. Our ship was attacked by the Achaemenidian fleet, which overwhelmed our escorts, and here I am,'' he said with an annoyed tone.

Atlas nodded while holding the shackles and wondered what they did; he turned to his neighbor, ''Do these block spells?'' he questioned.

''Yes, Little One, but some skills can be used, but it's hit and miss on what ones,'' Tristen replied before the ship started moving.

Following that, he felt his stomach rumble and tried to pull out some chocolate; when the delicious treat appeared in his hand, he got excited and quickly ate it, which caught Tristan's attention.

''What you eating, boy?''

Atlas handed over more chocolate through the bars, and Tristan scrambled to grab it. Upon realizing it, he burst into laughter but ate it eagerly nonetheless. Then he asked, "Where did this come from? Do you have a storage skill?"

''Yes,'' Atlas answered before eating some as the ship bounced up and down.

Some other prisoners mentioned they were enduring a storm, but the ship seemed durable enough to stand against the waves. Still, Tristan informed Atlas that it would intensify further before the ship reached the Burrow River, which served as the gateway to the Elysian Sea.

From there, Tristan told him their journey would continue southward until they reached an island known as Titan Crest, where they were detained before eventually being transported to the Zarandar Continent.

Upon hearing this, Atlas felt excitement about discovering new lands and seeing new things. Yet, he wanted to be with the girls but found himself alone in this new world that seemed to see him as a messiah or devil.

Atlas would head north once the chance presented itself. He checked his status after killing the Everglade soldiers and some weaker Nightowls.

[Level Up: 63?66]

[Experience: 180/2000]

[Experience Gained: 2800]

[Mana: 1600?1608]

[Strength: 436?446]

[Intelligence: 374?378]

[Core Points: 20600?23400]

[Core Points Gained: 2800]

While Atlas checked on his gains, the ship started to shake due to the stormy sea outside, causing the prisoners to fly all over the cages. However, it soon calmed down as some sailors entered the hold with food.

'Smells like shit,' he mused.

A man dropped a bowl of porridge-looking food, which he didn't grab, but Tristan spoke, ''Boy, can I have that?''

Atlas didn't reply and pushed the bowl toward the prince before sitting down to get comfortable. He pulled out a Forest Boar Meat Box and the fork he bought from the general store back on Volantis and started eating.

The aroma swiftly filled the cramped hold, drawing the gaze of the other prisoners engrossed in their porridge. Ignoring their curious glances, Atlas relished the warmth of his steaming boar meat as the ship swayed on the turbulent sea.

After taking his time to savor every bite, Atlas retrieved a blanket and settled down. Activating his Void Realm skill, he let his consciousness slip into its comforting depths as he reappeared in the forest.

Atlas glanced around and heard no Void Raptors before he started walking. While doing that, he checked the amounts he needed to kill.

[Void Raptors - 600/1000]

[Void Raptor Warriors - 1/4]

[Voidstalkers – 997/1000]

[King Void Raptor – 1/1]

"Three hundred and twenty-nine more raptors to dispatch before I can turn my attention to the Voidstalkers," Atlas pondered. "Perhaps they can lend me a hand once we're ashore."

With that idea in mind, he retrieved his armor from storage. In an instant, it materialized onto his body, accompanied by the Night Blade and Blod Knife appearing at his belt. As Atlas did that, he heard weird chirps and other noises heading in his direction.

Readying his weapons, Voidstalkers rushed out of a nearby bush, causing Atlas to sidestep one of the monster lunges, allowing him to plunge his blade through its skull as another jumped on him from behind before biting down on his shoulder.

This caused Atlas to scream in pain, but he cast Void Wave, which sent an azure blast from his body; the spell sent the Voidstalker flying into the forest. He bobbed and weaved around the creature's claws and bites as they started their gang attack.

He used his Night Blade to slice through the monster's thick hide, causing them to turn into azure motes that floated away. Atlas continued slaughtering the Voidstalkers while taking some of their attacks to his body.

Atlas killed nearly one hundred creatures an hour later, prompting him to check on the total.

[Voidstalkers – 903/1000]

'Hopefully, we can get the total under half by the time I die,' he mused before continuing through the forest. He came to a stop as the Void Raptors' calls rang out through the trees, causing him to prepare.

The first monster burst out from the bush and went to bite down on his outstretched arm, but Atlas cast Void Bullet that slammed into the raptor's head, causing an explosion to erupt, which sent him and the monster flying.

Atlas crashed to the ground with a crash but quickly jumped up to his feet while readying his weapons as another Void Raptor pounced on him. He sidestepped the attack before plunging the Night Blase into the chest of the monster and piercing its heart.

More of the void creatures attacked him without mercy, covering his body and armor with slash marks and blood, but Atlas managed to kill so many that he lost count by the time they stopped coming.