Meanwhile, as the others were heading towards the presidential palace, Erend and Eccar were meditating to restore their drained Magic energy. The burden within Erend's heart had now lifted, having successfully rescued his mother and sister from the Chaos Realm. They were both back in the human world, granting Erend the freedom to act as he pleased in this realm.
He clenched his jaw, his eyes closed as he sat cross-legged on the ground. Eccar was beside him, his expression appeared to be smiling, seemingly pleased.
He was joyful because soon he wouldn't need to restrain himself anymore. Earlier, Eccar had been holding back, fearing that too much chaos would arise during their search. But now, there was no need to be overly cautious and they could both engage in battle with their whole hearts. He knew Erend would do the same, further fueling his excitement.
After several minutes, Erend opened his eyes. There was a swirling combination of red and blue gleams in his eyes. However, unlike the colors in Svaros' eyes, the distinct hues in Erend's eyes were much brighter and clearer, depicting the contrast between his power and Svaros' power.
"You done?" Eccar asked.
"Yeah," Erend replied. "We just have to find the other creatures now."
"Yes. Turns out what you said was true. The three of them are collaborating," Eccar said. "I didn't realize it was possible, but that's what happened."
Erend didn't respond, he simply stood up and gazed straight ahead with eyes filled with rage.
How dare they kidnap his family and put them in danger? Arty and his mother might not have suffered severe injuries, but they had clearly felt fear. And all of it was caused by these creatures.
He had slain one of them, but that wasn't enough. He had to eliminate the other two and thus destroy their domain.
"I like the expression on your face," Eccar commented.
"What? What's with the expression on my face?" Erend asked, looking puzzled.
"You look ready to wreak havoc."
Erend grinned. "Well, when it comes to that, you're right."
And so, they soared into the air after spreading their wings. Eccar then opened another rift that led them out of his domain.
"Do you know where they are?" Erend asked.
"After we disrupted her domain, I think Isadora will return to it soon."
"What if she doesn't go back there?"
Eccar shook his head. "That's unlikely. She'll definitely sense that her domain has been attacked. The gods and goddesses always regard their domains as precious places where they hold absolute power, and we've shattered it. I'm sure she'll return there."
"Alright, then. Let's head back to that vile place."
Eccar nodded and opened a rift directly connected to Isadora's domain.
~~~
They all stepped out of the car. The atmosphere resembled something straight out of a horror movie. The multitude of people seemed to be possessed by vengeful evil spirits or a virus that turned them into mindless undead, driven solely by the purpose of devouring whoever their targets were.
"There's too many of them," Billy remarked. "Their minds seem to have been taken over by those creatures. Do we... have to kill them?"
Adrien appeared hesitant as he surveyed the throng of people gathered in front of the presidential palace. Julius, or rather the creature inhabiting him, was undoubtedly using them as a shield to block their entry. This strongly suggested that he was currently involved in a significant activity within.
Adrien turned to the Elves, Conrad, and Thomas, asking, "What should we do?"
They couldn't provide an answer as swiftly as he hoped, given their puzzlement over the situation.
"We can't kill them all, can we? If we do, we'll be wiping out about eighty percent of Ascan's population," Thomas stated.
If Aerchon were to be honest, he wasn't entirely opposed to the idea. Although he had eliminated the notion of considering humans as lesser beings, it's not that he regarded them as equals either. In fact, deep down, Aerchon still harbored thoughts that anything other than Elves were inferior creatures. Yet he knew he couldn't voice this as an answer to Thomas at the moment.
"Let's create some kind of barrier to move them elsewhere," Aerchon proposed. "I'll be the one to do it, and you can go confront your leader."
Aurdis glanced at Aerchon suspiciously. "You're going to do it?"
"Yes," Aerchon replied curtly. In reality, Aerchon simply didn't want to get too involved in that affair. Battling a ruler possessed by that creature would undoubtedly be quite burdensome. Compared to that, restraining all these humans would be much easier.
"Even though my magic power is limited in this world, my magic is still sufficient to restrain all these humans," Aerchon added. "Rest assured."
Aerchon stepped forward, his body enveloped in a silver glow. As he drew nearer to the people, they collectively emitted a sound.
""You've come.""
Aerchon was slightly taken aback, but he didn't respond to their words. Instead, he focused on concentrating on the spell he was about to cast.
""Elves?!"" the people exclaimed in a shocked tone. ""What are you doing here?""
They once again disregarded Ozynk's words, which came from the mouths of the people. Aurdis said, "We should also be prepared."
Aurdis turned to Saeldir and communicated her intent through a glance. Saeldir, understanding the look, nodded in agreement.
The two of them began to envelop Adrien, Billy, Thomas, and Conrad in a silver light.
"Adrien, Billy, and Conrad can already use magic, whereas you, Thomas, still cannot. So, you better step back for now," Aurdis advised.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Thomas said with a relieved expression.
Aurdis provided additional protection for Thomas. After finishing her magical protection, Thomas reentered the car and turned on his camcorder.
"I can't let this event go unrecorded."
Thomas wasn't sure what would happen next, but perhaps these people and President Julius would lose their memories. He couldn't let what was happening now fade away. It was for the purpose of his documentation and research.
Suddenly, the possessed individuals screamed, causing Thomas to almost drop his camcorder.
"HAAAAAAARRRGHHH!!!"
They shouted at the top of their lungs, their eyes blazing with swirling red and black colors. Shortly afterward, they all lunged at Adrien, Billy, Aurdis, Saeldir, Conrad, and Aerchon.
Aerchon, who had been prepared for this, immediately lowered his palm to the ground. Subsequently, a silver light emanated from his palm towards the people. When the light made contact with them, they abruptly stopped, as if their feet were nailed to the ground.
The radius of Aerchon's spell was incredibly wide, encompassing all the hundreds of people.
All the people whom Ozynk had possessed immediately froze in their tracks. This infuriated Ozynk, yet the spell was not without its consequences.
"Urghh!"
Aerchon felt considerable pressure as he held all of them in check. He hadn't anticipated they would exert this much force against him.
'I guess I can't underestimate the power of a Chaos Realm creature.'
"Are you sure you can handle them?" Aurdis asked. She felt a bit anxious as she approached, observing Aerchon's expression.
Aerchon sighed and then replied, "Yes, I can handle them."
After regaining his composure and better controlling the flow of his magic, Aerchon felt confident that he could restrain them.
"As long as I don't get external disruptions, I think I can manage them easily," Aerchon added.
In the distance, the figure of someone floating became visible. Conrad, the first to notice, said, "It's President Julius!"
They all turned to see that Conrad was correct. Julius was suspended, enveloped in a black and red aura that resembled tendrils of malevolent energy around his body.
While his face still bore the visage of Julius, the black energy creeping across his features made him appear vastly different. His expression looked sinister, like someone who desired to witness the world's destruction.
He, Julius-Ozynk, regarded them with those malevolent eyes. He was angered that the Elf had managed to halt his corrupted army of humans. However, that was not a significant concern.
A grin began to snake across Ozynk's face, making it appear even more malevolent than before. 'I still have the Dragonborn's family as hostages in the Chaos Realm. I just need to—'
Ozynk's inner monologue was interrupted by a telepathic call from Isadora.
"Ozynk! The Dragonborn has found my castle and he's destroying my domain!" Isadora sounded stressed, angry, and upset. Ozynk immediately knew that this was bad news.
'What are you saying?!' Ozynk asked.
'He has also killed Svaros.'
Isadora's subsequent response only frustrated Ozynk more; he gritted his teeth.
'Where is the Dragonborn's family now?'
'I don't know. I'm... still searching for them.'
*BWOOSHH!*
A black-red magic shockwave radiated from Julius's floating body, reflecting his growing rage.
'Keep searching until you find them!' Ozynk commanded.
Suddenly, as his attention was diverted towards Isadora, a spear of light shot towards him.
*BOOM!*
A dazzling light was created in the aftermath of the attack. The spear of light that Aurdis had thrown exploded upon hitting Julius-Ozynk.
~~~
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