For the everyday crowd, the city was moving like any other day, after the chaos that swept through the city like storm winds.
The last two days would probably go down in history for this city, having taken down the entire underground operation and the apprehension of all the corrupt nobles and officials.
That is, if today does not outdo the last two days, but for now.
You could hear the people still talking about the events that took place yesterday.
"I was so scared when the power supply was cut yesterday. That was the first time I had observed something like that happening. I am glad we can at least enjoy Sunday."
"The entire city was in a state of blackout. Followed by that earthquake, I had just put my newborn to sleep, and that woke him up; it was a nightmare."
Two women talked amongst themselves as they picked up vegetables from the vendor.
"It feels weird, hearing the most basic version of what happened yesterday."
Shin remarked as he took a bite out of a burger.
Raghav hummed, looking around the marketplace. "That is to be expected; none of them were there to know exactly how it happened."
Came the voice of Eldrain from the earbuds, which were set to be audible only to the wearer and no one else.
After Eldrain, another voice spoke, which belonged to Jacob.
"Raghav, can you please ask Shin to chew with his mouth closed. All I am hearing is the sound of him chewing."
In response, Raghav would turn his head to Shin, who began to chew his burger more slowly and with a closed mouth.
"Thank you, Raghav."
Jacob remarked as the call went silent once more.
The weather was brewing for heavy rain, and the clouds began to churn and twist in the sky, gathering over the city.
At an unnatural pace, one might say.
Raghav scanned the sky, his eyes moving left to right.
"What are you looking at?"
Putting his face beside Raghav's, Shin tried to follow his gaze.
"Raghav!"
"An?"
"Someone broke through the first seal in the tunnels; they are heading for your barrier."
"Are they planning on sinking the city, again?" Shin asked Raghav.
"This is their precaution; they want to deplete my Mana reserves. Once they get to the barrier, they will begin to syphon the Mana. They know I would need to maintain its strength."
Raghav explained to Shin as An's voice came through the earbud.
"The second seal is broken; they only have to break through one more before they reach the barrier."
His eyes lowered to the ground as a small pebble vibrated, followed by the continuous blaring of horns on the city walls.
"Jacob, what was that?"
Raghav questioned.
"That is a warning for all citizens to stay inside the walls, and all of the city watch to mobilise and guard the city walls."
"A warning from what?" Eldrain asked as Galreid spoke through the call this time.
"A horde of Monsters. The repetition of horns describes the scale of the horde. Today, they do not seem to stop."
As if things could not get worse, a dark red beam of light rose from the rift.
"Which one of these do we deal with first?"
Shin asked, looking between the city wall and the beam of light, his face scrunched up.
"Raghav?"
He asked, looking at him.
"Raghav?"
As did Eldrain.
"Raghav?"
So did Jacob.
"The third seal has been broken!"
An cried out into the earpiece.
Immediately following her words, Raghav took a deep breath as the syphoning began.
"Raghav?"
Aurelia called out to him as he exhaled through his nose.
"Aurelia and An, you two go out and help deal with the horde. Eldrain, you deal with the barrier and support the city; do not let it down. Shin and I will handle the problem at the rift."
"On it."
Everyone spoke in unison and sprang into action.
Shin and Raghav ran through the streets, and most of the soldiers ran past them heading towards the city walls.
However, some stayed behind to control the public and to reassure the citizens that they were safe.
Screams came from the central bridge, with the people running away.
Carriages, along with the horses, were being left behind by their owners, who all chose their own lives over the lives of their animal companions.
Once on the bridge, Raghav slowed down, walking over to the carriages and rubbing a hand on the shivering horses ' neck. As the shivering stopped, he opened the straps that tied the horse to the carriage.
"Free the horses first. We must get them out of danger."
Shin nodded as he and Raghav began freeing the horses with their telekinesis, running towards the centre of the bridge.
At the foot of the beam of red light, they came across a seven feet tall and slender figure, pure black in colour.
In its torso, a gaping hole, a foot wide.
Contained within it was a pure white sphere that parted open vertically to show a pulsating core of Mana.
Around the beast was a circle of Runes.
"Fuck, that's an Eldreth Beast."
"Language shin, we can still deal with it."
Raghav said calmly as he took a step forward.
"That we can, but where is its other half? The Eldreth always come in pairs. I have hunted them before; they are deadly beasts that can use Magic. One cannot die without the other."
Taking Shin's word into account, Raghav got closer to the creature.
"Hello there, I wanted to have a talk."
A husky, torn and screeching voice came from the Eldreth that could not be taken for anything other than the scream of a beast.
Yet, Raghav and Shin could understand every single word.
"What can we talk about?"
Raghav gestured to his surroundings. "Anything you would like to talk about?"
Another screech as the beast moved its rope like arms around.
"I have work to do, so don't disturb me."
It flicked one of its fingers towards them, blowing Shin into a carriage, while Raghav stood there unaffected.
"I cannot let you do that."
"I know."
Its stomach bloated in size, splitting open. Inside was a portal that shattered into multiple fragments and spread around the Eldreth.
Through these portals, mercenaries emerged with their weapons drawn.
Raghav stared blankly at the men. "If any of you wants to leave, I advise you to do so before I draw my sword."
"Mine is already out."
Shin walked back, cracking his neck. "I suspect the Eldreth is the one syphoning your Mana; that is what has amped this Eldreth to such a degree."
Both of his hands tightened their grip on his Katana as the Black glow of Necroshade surrounded his body.
Slowly but steadily, Raghav's hand made its way to Dharm, clasping the handle in his right palm.
Raghav unlocked it and pulled the blade out in swift motion.
"Raghav!"
Came the voice of An. "Raghav, none of the creatures are responding to us. It is as if they have no control over themselves."
Hearing her words, Raghav's eyes narrowed. "Eldrain, did you find anything?"
"I am sealed off from reaching the cavity. They are using your Mana to maintain this seal and boost the Eldreth."
"Is the other half down there?"
"Negative. I am trying to break through this seal, but it's too strong."
"All right, you stay focused on that. I can fight and maintain the barrier for some time."
His eyes turned to look at the white sphere in the Eldreth's chest. "In that time, I will get the one in front of me to talk and reveal their plan. Meanwhile, An can you find out the cause of the horde of monsters?"
"If it has even the slightest of magic involved, I can not only find it but dispel it."
"Go ahead. I will not be responding for a while."
With their tasks in hand.
Raghav took a step forward, followed by Shin; the two walked in the middle of the mercenaries until they were in the centre of the pack.
Like two Lions surrounded by hyenas.
One of the mercenaries swung his sword forward, reaching for Raghav's neck.
Raghav let the blade strike his neck, raising his left shoulder and squeezing the sword between his shoulder and face.
With a twist of his body, the blade shattered, pulling the mercenary closer, thrusting Dharm through his stomach.
The moment he fell limp, Raghav swung his sword out, throwing the man into his allies.
And so began the incident that would be known as the Central Bridge Blood Bath.
Shin pushed the men back with a blast of air and dashed forward, beheading three men in a single swing.
The blood from their necks sprayed outwards, and Shin used it, moulding it into shurikens using his telekinesis and throwing them at the mercenaries.
His Katana clashed with the oncoming swords, blocking and parrying the attacks, creating an opening for effective counterstrikes.
Unlike Shin, who wielded his sword with two hands, Raghav alternated between hands. Keeping one hand free for moments like this.
A sword swung down towards Raghav, pulsating with Mana.
Sensing the danger, Raghav leaned back, avoiding the strike and with his free left hand, he grabbed the man's neck, folding him back, and driving the blade through his chest.
Using this moment to their advantage, the men distanced themselves from Raghav and attempted to use magic on him.
One of the men sent out a fire blast at him, while the other used the sword of his fallen comrades as projectiles.
Forcing Raghav to either block or dodge the attacks.
The moment the fire blast reached him, Raghav did a split, letting the fire go over him and strike the other mercenaries.
A giant hammer struck him in the back, yet it did not stagger him at all when the hammer was pulled back. Raghav went along with it, stuck to the hammer, like a spider.
When the hammer was up in the air, Raghav twisted his body to the left, plucking the handle out of the man's grip and sliding the hammer around his torso before grabbing it and slamming it down on the man's head.
Now armed with two weapons, Raghav rushed forward as he infused his sword with electricity and enhanced the hammer with gravity magic.
Each strike popped the men like balloons filled with blood instead of water. Shaking the foundation of the entire bridge.
It was at this moment that Raghav looked over at Shin, who, in his fight, had travelled to the other side of the divider.
Taking the moment, Raghav threw the hammer at the men and hurled it around using his telekinesis.
With his left hand free once more, Raghav reached behind himself and pulled out the black gun tucked in the waistband of his pants.
"Take this."
He chucked the gun towards Shin, who freed his left hand and caught the gun.
Without wasting a single moment, he shoved the barrel into one of the mercenary's mouths and shot him.
"Turning my energy into construct bullets. Not bad."
Shin flipped his Katana upside down and began using it in tandem with the gun.
He shot a man in his left knee, and as the man yelled out in pain. Shin swung the sword upwards, from the man's side.
The Katana sliced through the underside of the man's jaw, right at the point where the neck met the jaw and emerged from the top of his head.
The cut was so clean that the man's entire face slid off his head and onto the ground.
One of the men slipped on the face like the peel of a banana, and when he fell on his butt.
Shin bent down, running past him, but in doing so, he made sure to place the gun on the man's forehead and shoot him.
That was when the ground shook once more, causing Shin to turn to Raghav and what he saw made Shin grin.
Raghav was in a full on duel with one of the men, their swords repeatedly clashing.
Both of them tried to gain the upper hand, solely focused on swordsmanship.
To prevent anyone from interrupting their duel. Raghav was moving the hammer in a circle around the two of them, striking anyone who dared to get close.
Finding Shin distracted, one of the men managed to land a solid right hook onto Shin's face.
Sending him flying through the railing between the carriage road and the footpath.
Luckily, the outer railing stopped him at the cost of his chest slamming into the barrier.
He struggled to draw breath as he coughed. "Why did Raghav have to reinforce the bridge. Just let it fall; we can survive the fall.
Finishing his rant, Shin looked towards the bottom of the rift, and that was when he saw a dark red glow directly under the bridge from where the red light truly began.
At its centre was another Eldreth, this one was completely white with a black sphere.
"I found the other Eldreth! It's at the bottom of this rift, directly under this bridge."
Just as he delivered the message, he moved to his left, avoiding an axe strike.
Even unarmed, Shin was still a black belt in several martial arts, having learnt them from a young age.
He formed two fists with the thumbs slightly protruding near the knuckles.
First, he targeted the abdomen, striking the belly button with his left hand; the force of the attack tore the knot open, spilling the man's insides on the ground.
Shin followed it up with a strike to the side of the temple with his right hand.
The man's eyes and nose began leaking out bits of his brain as he limped on the railing, falling over and into the rift.
Taking hold of the man's axe, Shin threw it with both hands towards the man who had picked up his gun.
The axe sliced the man vertically in half and kept travelling until it struck the revolving hammer and was deflected back as Shin slid underneath it.
He caught his gun and grabbed his katana from the ground.
Behind him, Raghav and the man were locked together as they pushed on each other's swords.
It remained a stalemate for a few seconds before Raghav pushed the man back several feet, breaking his stance and lunged forward, driving the sword through his heart.
Without delay, he twisted the sword and carved its way out from the man's head, splitting it in two.
Following it up, he spun to the right and, as he completed the spin, swung his sword, decapitating the two halves of the man's head.
The men outside the range of the spinning hammer began to shake.
"We were told he would be getting weaker. But he just took out the captain like he was nothing."
Cried out one of the men as the hammer stopped spinning and returned towards Raghav.
Who stepped to the side, letting the hammer strike the group of men behind him as it finally shattered.
It was true that Raghav was losing his Mana reserves at an incredible rate. The amount of Mana he had lost till now was more than seven times the Mana that King Belreid used in his Mana Bolt.
'I am at half capacity. I cannot rejuvenate without using my primordial force, and if I do. I will be left wide open.'
However, to all those who were present to witness him fight, yet won't be able to tell anyone of what they saw.
To them, Raghav felt and truly was as strong as when he first walked onto this bridge.
That was the gap between normal warriors and mages, and a Grand Master.
Without wasting any time, Raghav dashed forward and ducked, letting Shin jump over him.
"I dealt with everyone on my side! How many did you get? I got seven hundred and twenty three."
Raghav did not answer; instead, he grabbed one of the men by the jaw and jumped in the air. Throwing him to the ground, where he was impaled by a sword held up by a stiff corpse.
Shin fired a single bullet towards a man; however, there were two more men beside him, and Shin was about to shoot them as well, but Raghav landed behind the bullet and sliced it horizontally in half, and then divided the bottom half into two halves with his sword, diverting the two smaller halves to strike the two men on the sides while the bigger half struck the original target.
Following this, Raghav charged his sword with Mana and spun, unleashing a gigantic Mana Slash towards the city of New Plied, killing everyone left alive.
Now that the blood bath was finally over. Raghav turned around and looked at Shin. "I got twelve hundred and seventy seven."
Haha
Shin let out a laugh as he turned around, and the two of them looked at the Eldreth.
"So you said, you killed them before, how exactly do we do that?"
A smirk found its way onto Shin's face as he pointed towards the sphere in the chest. "We have to shatter both spheres at the exact same moment, even a milimilisecond late, and they regenerate."
"That is a microsecond."
Raghav corrected Shin as Shin nodded. "Yeah, patato potato. The main thing is, this guy is here, and the other one is three kilometres below us. Neither of them will go down without a fight."
"Before we fight, could you tell us what you are doing?"
Raghav's voice reached the Eldreth, who was now floating in the air several feet above the two of them.
The Eldreth looked down at the two men standing in a pool of blood that reached their ankles as the drainage was clogged with severed organs and body parts.
"Of course, Master Mark had asked me to deliver unto you his grand plan. So that you may die with satisfaction that your sacrifice will deliver our Lord unto greater heights."
Raghav's eyes narrowed as he closed his mouth, understanding the meaning behind the Eldreth's words.
Shin, however, was not as quick on the uptake as he frowned. "Care to elaborate?"
"Of course, our Lord the great, venerable Mark will ascend to godhood by sacrificing all the lives in this city, including the monsters that have been drawn here. Two grand masters, thirty one million people and millions of monsters at the city gates."
It spread its arms around in such a manner that from the ground it seemed to hold the sun in its hands.
"With this sacrifice, Mark shall prove to be the superior to even the Planets and the Constellations themselves."
Through the earbuds came the voice of Jacob as he yelled at full volume.
"This ain't a cultivation manhwa NIGGA!"
Shin could not help but snort when he heard that and responded to Jacob.
"Honestly speaking, I was thinking the same thing."
"Focus."
Raghav called out to Shin as the two looked back at the Eldreth, who slowly descended towards the ground.
"We subdue it and then drag it down to the bottom of this rift and finish them both. Do you have any idea how to do that?"
Shin's smirk grew tenfold as he spun the chamber of his gun and pointed his Katana at the Eldreth.
"Let's jump his ass."