Gacha System: Reborn In The Hardest World
Chapter 61: The Celestial

Chapter 61: The Celestial

[A few miles south of the Atlantis Shore]

The remnants of a military camp were left crushed and torn apart; tents completely blown away with craters thundering down across the fields. It looked as though a battle was fought between two armies, yet it remained eerily quiet.

A few dozen armored knights were left as nothing more but crushed tins, leaving only their horses fleeing.

Sitting on a wooden bench overlooking the decimated camp, the Outlander of scarlet hair bit into a loaf of bread.

A sigh left the lips of the black-haired girl beside him, folding her arms over her chest, "Weren’t our orders to lay low, Rowan? I hardly think blowing away a Mastorn camp is doing that."

The brawny man tossed practically half the loaf into his mouth, chewing it before swallowing the rest as he stood himself up, "We were also told to engage if there were no higher mana signatures present. Look at these carriages."

Walking over to one of the abandoned transports, he lifted the curtain on the back, revealing the crates packed with glistening runes.

"Magic stones? So what?" Astrid asked.

"Looks to me like they’re planning something big here, if this is how many runes are just as one outpost," Rowan remarked, letting go of the curtain. "Like blowing up the ocean."

"Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?" Astrid sighed, shaking her head.

"I don’t mean vaporizing it," Rowan corrected her. "Just a hole, large enough to expose Atlantis. Though even saying it, the idea does sound a tad ludicrous."

"At least you can admit that," Astrid remarked, looking over at the dozens of out-of-commission soldiers. "Still...It’s troublesome that the warp spell was off. Do you think somebody interfered with it?"

"I’d say it’s likely, but It’s impossible to figure out. Right now though, we have other things to worry about," Rowan claimed as he presented himself with an eager expression.

It was from the sky itself that a figure crashed into the decimated camp, just ahead of the pair of Outlanders.

Astrid took to the bench herself with a quiet sigh, "Go ahead and handle it. After all, you live for this sorta stuff."

"Maybe one day you’ll learn to appreciate the thrill of a good fight!" Rowan responded, slamming his knuckles together as the wind around him pulsated.

The sudden visitor’s arrival kicked up a storm of dust before casting away at the swipe of a sword far too long, too wide for a normal person to wield.

In knightly armor of an unnaturally bulk shape, like that of a tank given human, chivalrous form, the figure in glistening, cerulean steel stood tall. A majestic cape of golden threads flowed upon the gallant, towering knight’s back as the sky-fallen warrior presented twin, kingly greatswords.

’There’s no mistaking it,’ Rowan observed the form of the swordsman dressed in such brilliant armor.

["Mastorn’s elite knight force, specializing in hunting calamitous monsters: the "Celestials." They’re rarely seen, as they spend every waking second departed on missions, often sent alone to handle beasts even the greatest of adventurers dare not face. Rumor has it, each Celestial are mutant humans, possessing traits like that of half-giants in their abnormal size and strength.]

The one in armor that dazzled beneath the sunlight like cracked ice addressed the Outlanders, "For the crime of attacking Mastorn soldiers, ransacking Mastorn property, and for trespassing into our world, I, Celestial of Mastorn, sworn blade of humanity, Valerius D’Mont, will carry out your immediate execution."

"Nice to meet you, Valerius," Rowan greeted, allowing the mana exuding from his body to clash against that of the knight’s own. "You can just call me Rowan."

The monster-hunting knight seemed to know the name as he responded, "Rowan–yes, the Man-Made Disaster. You’re the most wanted among the Heavenly Kings. I specialize in hunting monsters; you will make for a good hunt."

Rowan responded as he watched the abnormal man raise his impossibly heavy blades, "A monster? I’ll take that as a compliment. May I ask why a slayer of legendary beasts like yourself is here?"

"To hunt," Valerius answered. "And I have found my prey."

"Prey? That’s a first," Rowan responded.

[Covenant System Activated.]

"For the next five minutes, all damage I take is twofold," Rowan commanded.

The perplexing words manifested a black seal on the forehead of the fiery-haired Outlander, bringing his mana to swell in response. Right as the knight prepared to take the first step, Rowan acted first, stomping his boot down as the air rumbled.

Astrid watched quietly from the bench, feeling the rise of magical pressure from her comrade.

["It’s a power fitting for somebody as reckless and foolhardy as Rowan. The "Covenant System"--he can apply any restriction to himself, gaining a proportional enhancement in return. The opposite applies, too."]

With each step, the air trembled around the crimson-haired Outlander; the soil quaked as he approached the knight without haste.

Valerius grunted, "You approach with no blade of your own, nor armor to shield yourself. To approach a Celestial while essentially naked is a foolish endeavor, almost worthy of commendation."

As the greatsword was raised, infused with incredible strength, Rowan responded only by pressing forward, not so much as raising his fists. The blade came down, however was intercepted as though an invisible barrier stood between the Celestial and Heavenly King.

"This magic–it’s–" Valerius remarked in surprise.

Rowan stepped forward, overwhelming the first strike of the towering knight as the armorclad figure was blasted back. As Valerius caught himself, using his blades to dig into the soil as makeshift brakes, the gallant knight erupted forth through the sound barrier.

The Outlander held his ground, pressing his boot into the ground as the air pulsated, humming with an ear-popping intensity. Every particle in the air around the knight violently hummed, erupting against the armored man with pressure from every angle.

["Vibration

Valerius stayed on his feet, dashing with soil-cracking force in his legs, yet he was met with the same result. With no more than clap of the Outlander’s hands, the air hummed in a malicious orchestra, carving out the dirt as the knight was caught in the destructive symphony.

The armor forged of blessed steel was caved in, beginning to crumble like paper beneath the unavoidable force.

"This magic...Impossible," Valerius huffed, bringing himself from one knee. "An Outlander should not possess it–nobody is allowed to possess the affinity for it, especially not you."

"Is that another charge to my death sentence? I guess you’ll have to try a bit harder to execute me, then," Rowan remarked, still standing in the very same spot. In the air, the uprisen specks of dirt oscillated.

["Of all the magical affinities, Vibration is the rarest. It is a purely destructive force, making those few who wield it forbidden by law to practice it. As powerful as it is, however, it tears through the mana reserves of the user quickly."]

Valerius rose back to his feet, expanding an aura of dense, cobalt mana that ran rampant through the wind, "--You merely surprised me with that magic. It changes nothing."

From the massive knight’s back, astral wings unraveled, spreading with an azure grace, bringing forth another layer to the plentiful mana.

Rowan felt the shift in winds from the mere release of the knight’s magical signature, unable to contain his own smile as his upper lip twitched.

"The rumors are true then, I take it? The Celestials don’t only slay beasts, but they form contracts with them," Rowan pointed out. "In exchange for not slaying them, you borrow their power. That sounds a tad cruel to me."

"The comfort of beasts does not move me," Valerius responded as he raised his twin greatswords.

A bestial aura shrouded both blades, extending their length multiple times over with the visceral light. As both of the swords were brought down, the crimson shine ravaged the ground, splitting into the soil with gashes stretching dozens of meters.

Rowan sidestepped the scarlet sharpness, immediately having to duck down as another went right over his head.

"Astrid!" He shouted without looking back while staying on his toes against the swift, far-reaching slashes.

The brunette woman still sat at the bench with a quiet sigh as her name was called, raising a single hand, "Here."

A bundle of darkness opened at her behest, giving way to a massive, black-steel hammer with a scarlet-wrapped handle. It was flung right towards the back of the ex-football player, who caught it in his hand without so much as glancing back.

"Thanks!" Rowan shouted with a burning smile, sliding beneath a wild slash before raising the gargantuan hammer above his head.

As he slammed it down, the impact magnified instantly as the molecules in the air shuddered; the cracked soil rose, vibrating as the force roared through the field. Multiple layers of the land were fragmented into perfect rings, caving in the dirt into many steps.

The quake forced the Celestial’s borrowed wings to flap, lifting the knight into the air, "A trivial matter!"

Rowan looked to the sky, witnessing the monster-slaying blades hover in the air as the Celestial held his gauntlets out–

"Be purged in dragonfire!" Valerius’ voice boomed through the sky.