"Run!"

Liana and Alexander bolted forward, the man behind them cursing under his breath and running after them. "Hey! Get back here!" he called out.

Elite Loretta suddenly opened the door, hitting the man chaser on the face.

The man fell to the ground and Elite Loretta stomped his chest, "What did I tell all of you about eavesdropping, huh?"

"No no no, it's not me. They are getting away," the man explained, pointing towards the escaping duo. Elite Loretta turned to Liana and Alexander.

"Catch them. Now! Make sure to bring them here!" she ordered, her voice firm.

The man got up and went after the duo.

. . .

"Where do we go? We can't let them trace us to our homes, right?" Alexander asked as they got closer to the door.

"We find a way to lose them, you idiot," Liana snapped.

The main doors swung open and two men entered, chatting.

"You better not be thinking about stopping," Liana said to Alexander and he nodded.

The two men finally noticed the two people running towards them and got alarmed.

"Stop them!" their chaser yelled from behind.

Liana ran towards a pillar and kicked off it, climbing onto the shoulder of one of the men, forcing him to the ground.

The other tried to help his partner, but Alexander kicked the man's leg hard. When the man raised the leg, wincing in pain, Alexander swept the man's other leg off the ground.

Liana and Alexander carried on, exiting the building.

They got a little confused after coming out, but thought quickly and pulled Alexander towards a narrow path between two buildings.

Since it was night, the place was really dark and they hid there, hoping they would not get caught. When they saw their chasers run past, they exhaled in relief. They were safe now.

However, the feeling was short-lived, when someone spoke from behind them.

"Not a good hiding place, if you ask me."

A cold sensation went down the spines of both Alexander and Liana. That voice. It was the same one they heard Elite Loretta speaking to. But how did he get there already.

Both of them slowly turned to the source of the voice.

A hooded man stood there, deep in the shadows, wearing an overconfident smile.

"W-who are you?"  Liana asked, sweating.

"Oh, do not fear. I am not going to expose you," the man said, waving a hand.

Liana and Alexander exchanged a look, stuck between surprise and a newfound relief.

"I just want to let you know," the man continued. "that you can run… but you can't hide."

Then he slowly started to disappear, as if the darkness swallowed him whole.

When she no longer felt his presence, Liana leaned on the wall and took a deep breath in through her nose and out through her mouth. "Who are you really, Nolan?" she whispered to herself.

. . .

That Same Night.

Halon Villlage, Kingdom Morg…

"The first gate north has fallen! I repeat! The first gate north has fallen!" A man yelled, atop a watchtower.

Kingdom Morg was the most defensive of all the three Great Kingdoms, but also had the lowest population, all because of the first Crimson Moon. Many lives were lost. The poor and the rich alike. No different with the weak and the powerful.

That day knew no class, and the scar forever remained with them. They endured the most, but never regained a third of what was lost, unlike the other two.

The Kingdom's capital was fortified with mighty walls and gates, but they did not stop there. They carried on with further fortification, until two other mighty walls stood.

The first gates held behind them the military; the second, the markets and some homes; the third and final gate, the main capital itself.

However, not only the capital had towering walls. The few big villages that still stood were also fortified, but with two layers, whereas, the defenses maintained the area behind the first gate and the village and its people remained within the second.

The Star Saints Guild were the royal and only guild in the kingdom, and they were loaded with ability users and magicians, unlike the Cerulean Guardians. They wore black cloaks with a large star designed on the back.

The recent demon attacks have not passed them by, and as it stood, the Halon village was going to be in grave danger if the second gates are breached.

More than a hundred demons, D, C and a few B-ranks, moved in through the fallen gate.

Spells were casted, abilities were used, but the demons were becoming too much to handle, and more and more men fell.

"Make sure the parameters inside are held!" a unit captain ordered. A bald old man with a bulking form and a long gray mustache.

"Yes sir!" One of his subordinates nodded and turned to leave.

"Also," the old man added. "Tell him this one is beyond our capabilities."

"Affirmative," The subordinate replied and ran towards the second gates.

The old man turned to some approaching D-ranks and grinned. "Age failed to put me down, and so will you."

His muscles suddenly expanded, tearing the black cloak of the guild, and his inner shirt. He took a fighting stance and gestured for the demons to hurry up.

He was one the best users of the Body Enhancement ability. Borin Shime.

When a demon finally came within range, he blitzed past it and bashed the heads of two other ones together, then delivered a no-look punch to the back of the first.

A large hole formed in the demon's torso and it fell to the ground.

"I hope I can hold this up until he comes… if he comes," Borin said, looking to the second gate behind him.

. . .

The person Borin sent delivered the message to the ones who were waiting prepared, in case the second gates were breached as well. But the second message required him to go deeper into the village.

He stopped in front of a tavern and opened the door. Inside the empty tavern sat a man, his head down, a bottle of beer in his hand. His long red hair was messy and he wore the same black cloak of the guild.

"We are not sure if we can handle this one, sir," the, messenger said.

The man didn't reply, he just waved a dismissive hand.

. . .

Meanwhile, the demons were already starting to corner most of the defenses.

"DO NOT FALL ALONE, COMRADES!" Borin roared, charging into a group of demons that cornered a lady.

"Not everyone is enjoying the fight, you oversized old man!" Someone yelled back.

"Hahaha! Then die crying, Derick!" Borin replied.

An oppressive aura suddenly washed over the battlefield, and something made them all stop, not excluding the demons.

DING! DING! DING!

A bell. The sound was not so loud, but it silenced the battlefield. To the humans who knew, it was a reason to be relieved; and for the demons, it was a magnet they were attracted to.

"He really did come out. Ha!" Borin grinned.

Everyone looked up, to the top of the second gate. Sitting there, legs folded, was a red-haired man. In his right hand was a bell ring. A special and very rare type that puts a demon's focus entirely on who was ringing it.

The demons left whatever they were doing and started running towards the gate, targeting the man. This time around, no one stopped the demons.

A matter of fact, everyone made way for them, putting them at the center.

The man stopped and exhaled.

He took out a band from his pocket and tied his hair back, revealing his half-lided, unfocused eyes. He then stood up and made a free fall that ended with a graceful landing.

As the demons approached, he looked around and unsheathed his sword. He took a step forward and the blade started to glow a faint blue, same with his eyes.

"Flash, Taste Of Blood," he muttered.

A blinding light shone from his blade and died down after a few seconds. When everyone looked back, the red-haired man was standing in the midst of demon corpses, putting his sword back.

All the demons were slain.

Nolan was a lot of things in his past lives,

"Still insane," Borin confessed.

"Who is that?" A girl who just joined the guild recently asked.

"Head of the Halon Division. Said to be a gift from the gods after the fall. Champion of the Gods, Son of common man, Genius of Unknown Potential. That is Marok," Borin replied.

But one thing Nolan never became… was the strongest of all.

And the strongest in some of Nolan's many lives was standing right there.

Marok of Morg.

"Is that all?" Marok asked, his voice leveled, walking towards the gate.

The relationship between Nolan and Marok had never been one of understanding. Would this regression be any different?

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