Chapter 423: Borrowed Mastery.
The first one to jump into the horde of 'Corrupted Lords' was Orion.
'You can't use those weapons anymore?'
Tetra asked as Orion closed in on the enemies.
The army of thistledown began to shake their butts, releasing the magic energy from their bodies in the process.
Lightning strikes began to fall on him. With large strides, Orion dodged the electrical explosions before seeing a volley of fireballs coming down on him.
Then, earthen spikes blocked his path, while bullets of water rapidly pushed through the air.
At last, powerful gusts of wind hindered his progression.
The full combination of elements made it difficult for him to proceed forward.
As he avoided the incoming lightning strike by instantly warping to the left with the 'Second Gear', he slid in the grass to avoid the next volley of fireball.
Orion slithered his way around the earthen spikes with incredible swiftness and jumped over the water bullets before coming to a sudden stop against the intense wind.
'I'm waiting for the next person to share their knowledge.'
The process was quite precise. For Orion to obtain someone's knowledge, they had to share only one consciousness.
He could only use one weapon mastery at a time.
Braving the dangerous wind that caused a few cuts on his cheeks and arms, Orion watched as every element came crashing down on him.
'Fuck...'
Tetra spoke as a bright light enveloped Orion the moment the attacks met with his body.
Orion suddenly felt a powerful feeling he hadn't felt in ages throughout his body, a fraction of a second before receiving the attacks head-on.
An energy wrapped around his legs, and with a reaction time accentuated by the 'Calm Analysis' ability, Orion disappeared from the spot.
*BOOM*
Glancing over his shoulder, Orion observed the ground itself split from the combination of attacks before his gaze went to Noah, all the way to the right.
Since Orion was focusing all the enemies' fire on him, Noah was able to close in on the giant without being hindered by the 'Corrupted Lords'.
While running, Orion looked at his feet briefly. A light energy was covering his legs, spreading this familiar feeling of light magic throughout his body.
He nodded to Noah in appreciation while fighting against the wind with ease now that he had obtained a way to resist it.
The 'Second Gear' plus light magic enhancement was enough to brave this situation straight-up.
'I got it!'
Suddenly, Orion opened his eyes wide, a grin on his face.
'Then go for it! What are you waiting for?'
Tetra urged him to bring the weapon out, which Orion did immediately with a nod.
"Eurian! Share your power with me!"
Jumping over spikes in a cartwheel movement, two long, curved blades appeared in his hands.
His eyes shone with the power of lightning, leaving a trail behind as he landed on the ground.
*BZZT*
A black cloak made of black lightning formed behind him, and a dark hood covered his face entirely.
*
Eurian, the demon assassin. He was part of the previous generation of demons, under the orders of Orianne's father.
After taking the lives of many angels during the many wars, his thoughts about his place in this world began to weigh on him.
Once the peace broke out between the two factions, his stained hands were of no use, and his existence was only a threat to this already fragile peace.
But Orianne, and even Reon, were against his execution. They managed to give the man a new purpose in life.
With a renewed will, he swore to protect instead of reaping lives.
*
With three energies coursing through his body, Orion vanished, leaving behind him a trail of light energy.
His erratic movements corresponded to the savage and violent lightning that fell upon the ground unannounced.
The wasps' heads and legs began to fly and crash on the ground as Orion traversed the entire army in a split second.
Out of the twenty 'Lords', only a handful survived.
Their large bodies, even taller than the first 'Corrupted Lord' Orion had fought in the past, or future in this case, were nothing against him.
'Are you alright?'
Concerned about Orion's situation, Tetra voiced her reservations.
'I am.'
Orion slid into the grass, his back turned to the giant squamate while facing the back of the 'Corrupted Lords'.
With an impressed look, Noah ran past Orion and leaped in the air, catching the attention of the giant in the process.
While Noah dealt with the empowered giant after it had eaten its allies, Orion focused on rapidly killing the stragglers that survived the thrashing of the now-dead giant octopus.
Out of the entire horde, only forty had survived. After Orion's first approach, this number went down to fifteen.
But, the enemies were stupid. They immediately turned around and fired everything at him, even going as far as attacking the other 'Lords' to make sure Orion was under constant fire.
Earthen spikes pierced the closest beasts, fire devoured their bodies, lightning ravaged the spot they were at, water bullets riddled their bodies with holes, and sharp wind blades cut them to pieces.
All the while, Orion dodged through these with such ease that it wasn't fair anymore.
In the end, Orion's level was far past that of the 'Corrupted Lords', even without his trusty elements to constantly support him.
But, without Eurian's elemental and weapon proficiency, Orion would have been struggling. Noah's help was also a big plus.
This only happened because Orion taught him how to use his light magic on others while coming here.
Leaning on his left foot, Orion ripped a patch of grass as he returned to the assault.
Zooming through their ranks, he continued to slash a path through the enemy ranks like a bolt of lightning.
The shrieks of agony from the wasps fell in and out of his ears, as only the crackling of the daggers entered his hearing.
Picking up the pace even more with the 'Second Gear' and the light enhancing his movement, Orion vanished entirely, replaced by a dark light that moved between the long legs of the beasts.
Unable to even focus on Orion's position, they kept firing everywhere, hitting each other's in confusion.
With the help of 'Calm Analysis', Orion was able to keep his vision from being blurry and to avoid the erratic movements of the insects as they tried to hit him.
But his brain was beginning to be saturated from the overload.
'I have to finish this quickly.'
Even Tetra wasn't able to catch his attention, as her voice echoed slowly in his head.
He knew he couldn't stay in this state for long, so he pushed even further, not realizing that his body was morphing into a shapeless and ethereal light.
Even while fighting off the giant sphenodon, Noah could see the plasma in the air.
The smell of ionized particles permeated through the air, and a low rumbling echoed from where Orion was.
This was the beginning of a new discovery for Noah.
Something everyone knew in Orion's time but never existed in Noah's own era.
The 'Elemental Masteries'.
~
"What is he doing?"
Somewhere, in a cave.
"I don't know, but this looks incredibly dangerous, don't you think?"
Henrietta was looking down at a table with a round dent in it, filled with water.
Her arms crossed over the table, she peered inside the water and watched as Orion, in his plasma form, killed the last of the 'Corrupted Lords'.
With a frown on her face, Tetra looked into the water.
"Enri, this man is too dangerous."
"And I keep telling you that you need to stop worrying."
"..."
Tetra frowned even more at her friend's words, making her pretty face a cramped mess.
"Stop being selfish for a moment. Since you've learned that Noah was meant to die and that he already did, you've been a pain."
"You can't be suspicious of him and trust his words only when that goes your way."
The way Henrietta saw it, Tetra was being rash in her decisions, something she needed to avoid at all costs.
"You want some comfort?"
"..."
Pouting on the side, Tetra glanced toward Henrietta.
"His destiny, and his fate."
She pointed at Orion.
"It is the same as Noah."
Finally, Tetra showed some interest.
"Be it past, present, or future, it is nothing for the 'Book of Fate'. Everything will be written on it the moment I meet someone."
With a severe expression, she brought the books out of her core.
"There..."
As Henrietta pointed at a page after opening it, Tetra leaned next to her.
"!"
Her eyes opened wide.
"This is... the same?"
The story of Orion was written. In this era, even if it was four thousand years before his birth, his fate wasn't changed.
His battle with Miasma was meant to be his last, yet he was here.
"I trust your power more than anything, Enri. This isn't falsified, right?"
"Even if I could, I would have no reason to. Lying to you would amount to nothing."
Tetra took those words with gratitude and once again thanked the world for her meeting with Henrietta.
"Is that enough for you to stop worrying about his stance? Noah isn't a stupid boy. He is a grown man with a lot of experience reading others."
"If Orion was a threat to him, he wouldn't have taken him along."
At last, Tetra began to relax at the sight of Orion.
"So... He's just been helping Noah earnestly."
"Most likely. Like he said, he probably just wants to return to his loved ones."
Yet, another frown appeared on Tetra's face.
"That is what's bothering me."
"What is it you felt?"
She knew Tetra wasn't one to normally fuss over nothing. The reason for her suspicion was legitimate.
"I can't feel love emanating from him, like, at all. If he has so many people-"
But Henrietta immediately stopped her.
"You're as dumb as they make them."
"Wha- Excuse me?!"
Her expression was priceless. It was a mixture of disbelief and bewilderment.
"You've forgotten already... That's incredible."
Henrietta smiled while rubbing her eyebrows.
"What have I forgotten, huh?!"
Like a spoiled child, she slammed her hands on the table, creating ripples in the mirroring water.
"What was your first worry when this man appeared?"
"..."
Tetra pondered for a moment, until the memory returned.
"..."
Then, her expression turned to shame.
"Don't you think a potential 'conflict' could have happened?"
"I'm sorry..."
Slumping defeated on her chair, Tetra looked at the ceiling.
"You're right. I'm dumb."
"At least you know it."
The 'conflict' was that Orion also possessed the source of Tetra from his present.
Her 'Love' aspect was cancelled out by his, making it impossible to read his emotions concerning that matter.
Oblivious to the fact that the future Tetra was blocking every piece of
information that could lead to others finding out about her survival, they kept watching the water in silence after that.
Orion was done killing the 'Corrupted Lords' as they spoke and joined with Noah to kill the giant sphenodon, still endangering the beastman village.