Shades of the New World

Chapter 42: The armored toddler

"Elashin?" Evin recognized them.

"Yes. We've told you we were searching for something near your town. We've been searching that weapon for a long time, and finally, we found a clue that it was near this area,"

"Tell me more?" Evin asked in response.

"It is like this; our country found some ruins which depicted the drawing of that sword and some other writings. We weren't able to understand the words for a long time, but we managed to decode it a month ago. Thanks to that, we found the location of the sword, which was this forest," Elashin made up some story randomly.

He did not bother to think of something elaborate or believable.

"Doesn't that mean that this sword belongs to no one? Since I found it first, why should I give it to you?" Evin asked.

The question irked Elashin, and he said threateningly.

"We have our orders, I don't want to hurt a Child to accomplish it, so it would be best advised if you return it without resistance," Elashin talked while getting close to Evin.

Strangely, Rith and Ssatsko were silent throughout the conversation, letting Evin talk for the group. Rith, because she was judging Evin, and Ssatsko, because he felt that Evin was older than them, so he didn't feel that much superior to the child.

Evin did not feel threatened by the three. He knew that they could leave at any time thanks to Rith.

Evin smiled and grabbed the Sword. Just as he grabbed it, the sword seemed to become mad as it hurriedly engulfed the child with silver armor. At his hands, a small silver dagger formed, its edges coated with crimson. With the armor and the weapon, and with the fact that Evin looked like a two-year-old, the child looked like some fucked-up war's designated mascot.

'Brave warriors of the kingdom! Participate in the war, so this child doesn't have to!' a passionate voice seemed to echo in Evin's mind.

Aside from managing to find a joke in this situation, he also got some enlightenment on how to utilize the armor and the dagger.

"You brat!" Elashin screamed and jumped towards the child.

The easterner was met with Ssatsko, who deftly managed to block the mage's sword. But for only a second. Elashin utilized his racial talent and became invincible. Elashin's clothing and even his sword became permeable like a spirit.

The Easterner phased through Ssatsko and ran towards Evin with his sword raised up high.

"Shit!" Ssatsko let out and ran towards Evin.

But just before he could hit him, the armor moved on its own to block the attack. The impact shocked the child, but Evin managed to get hold of himself and started floating away from the Easterner and flew towards Rith. Elashin wanted to give chase, but was stabbed on his back by Ssatsko and then a flaming arc cut off his arm. He grunted in pain. He did not expect the Northerner to be this brutal, but it was not the first time he was injured in such a way. He promptly took out his lodestones and began healing himself.

Elashin's subordinates were running towards the battle, while shooting rock pellets towards Evin. A few dozen fist-sized rocks flew towards the kid, but Evin utilized the wind to swerve most of the attacks aside. For the few that managed to still hit him, armor's protection was enough to protect him. Thankfully, the armor could detach itself from Evin's body, so that the impact from the blows did not affect the child itself. Ssatsko was also helping by blocking some rocks for the child.

It was a powerful attack, but it seemed a bit underwhelming, considering the opponents should've been at least quarter-core mages. Evin could argue that even he, with his stilted talent, could do better than that with a bigger core.

'Is that the reduced talent with other Worlds of other races that Aran was talking about? I thought that the mages would be able to do so much more, considering the amount of lodestones they're using'

Evin then noticed that the amount of mana in the air became much more abundant than before. He realized that the two mages' attacks spent a lot of lodestones, but they still wasted a lot of mana. Evin shook his head and shouted at Ssatsko to come to his side, so they could teleport away from the place, but his armor said otherwise.

[KILL THEM!] a voice raged inside Evin's head. It spoke fluid Imperial.

"Who the fuck are you?!" screamed Evin, startled by the sudden voice roaring inside his ears.

[SHUT UP AND JUST KILL!] the voice shouted back.

"What's happening?" Rith asked Evin.

"There's a voice in my head or something! It's telling me to kill those Easterners!" Evin explained the situation as best as he could.

"That means it's a metal-skinshifter that's also a Child of the Empress! You have to fulfill its wish!" Rith exclaimed hurriedly.

"How the fuck do you expect me to kill three mages, when you three fuckers taught me jack shit about magic!" Evin was obviously talking about Rith, Aran and Ssatsko. Everything Evin knew was self-taught. He could hold his own against commoners, but mages were a completely different thing.

"I'll hold the two mages, you two somehow kill Elashin," Rith said with confidence.

"Can't you just get us out of here!" Evin asked

"No, you have to fulfill its wish. Just trust me!"

Evin looked at the three mages and could see Elashin grabbing his hand and reattaching it to the cut. His stab wound on his back seemed already healed. Evin could not see the man taking on a pink hue, like he would expect, since the enemy was wearing something to hide their World energies.

Evin realized he was seeing the abnormal healing abilities of Easterners. He also realized he saw the man become literally invincible, when he phased through Ssatsko to run at him.

"Fucking bullshit racial abilities!" he cursed and glanced towards Ssatsko. Evin expected to see worry on the old man's face, but the latter just nodded back with a smile, clearly confident in their victory.

Evin didn't know why he was so confident. There were three mages on the other side, most likely trained professionals, while on his side, there was a magical cat, an old man who wasn't even a proper mage and an armored toddler. Not to mention the armored toddler had someone screaming inside his head.

"Kill them already!" the voice continued, but it seemed more calm and less loud than before.

"Shut up for a second, I'm trying to think," Evin murmured.

Evin gave up on resisting the flow and thought about winning the battle.

'If I trust Rith, and if she could take care of the two other mages like she said, then we really do have a chance of victory,' Evin thought.

He got some lodestones out of his pocket and channeled the World of Fire.

He was afraid he couldn't focus on his flight properly, since he was using three Worlds at the same time, but thanks to his constant flight training, the mental pressure was manageable.

He summoned his blue flames and willed them to float above near his hand, ready to shoot them at a moment's notice. He looked quite valiant, along with his silver armor and blue flames surrounding him.

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