Chapter 851 The Lone Samurai

In a desolate plain.

A lone samurai stood still in front of a river of corpses. Blood dyed the plains crimson and the rotting smell of bodies created a nauseating revulsion.

The samurai, possessing a cold expression on his face and having his long purple hair flutter with the breeze, breathed heavily as he stared in the distance.

A sense of ruthlessness was in his slanted eyes, but a hint of confusion and frustration could also be felt from them.

The samurai's sword was pointed at the side, blood still dripping from its end. The marks were fresh and hinted that the battle had just been over.

"Why…" The samurai questioned in his deep voice.

For as long as he had consciousness, the samurai found himself at the bay of conflicts. There never was once a time when he had been truly free and without any problems.

'Never?' Thought the samurai.

Was there really never a time?

It had been many centuries since his birth and ever since a young age, there had been constant struggle for survival. It was due to this that when the samurai tried to remember a peaceful day, there was just darkness in front of his eyes.

The samurai's dark life flashed in front of his eyes from birth till date. It was shrouded in darkness and barely contained anything that could make him feel warm or at peace.

Right as the samurai was about to feel dejected, lose all hopes, and have his depression resurface, a small blob of bright light flashed in front of his very eyes.

In the next instant, the dark vision changed to…

"Hello, everyone~"

"I'm Tsuki, nice to meet you all."

A green-haired short girl said in a cheery tone.

"I'm Sebastian. Sebastian Sterling, the one that ascended first among you all."

A blonde-haired guy in a suit replied calmly to the green-haired girl.

Just like that, there was then a red-haired, then a silver-haired, then a white-haired in the scene with their names being Anne, Lith, and Ariel.

'Oh…' Thought the samurai, who was none other than Iki, one of the six Chosen Ones himself!

Iki vividly remembered the day he was pulled into some strange dimension and made to fight alongside five other people.

At first, he was really on guard as he thought of everyone to be his enemy. He remembered that he didn't introduce himself to the others and was cold, but by the end, they all were still happy to have him around them.

It was such a strange thing.

Even till now, Iki did not understand why they would be so warm and kind to him. He had done nothing but stayed at a distance the whole time.

Memories of the days Iki was in the Novolzak's trial began surfacing.

It was for the very first time did these memories came back to him after that event. Iki had almost forgotten about it due to how stressful his life was.

Not a single day passed when Iki wasn't involved in some of the other battles. Things were just this hectic for him.

Remembering that memory now, Iki's cold heart felt some warmth.

That fine day, the silver-haired guy had given him a rectangular artifact that contained magic circles within it. It was so amazing that it showed moving paintings of various things.

Iki had never seen such an amazing thing before and still vividly recalled how fascinating and strange that encounter was.

Reminiscing in his happy memories, Iki closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Right as he did that, the happy memories shattered like a mirror and what appeared in his vision was an army of gladiators running at him.

The battlefield was thumping as hard as the hearts of the gladiators with each forceful step of the army's advancement. The sky was red in agony and the earth was crying in pain for the assault happening over it.

Iki found himself standing alone in front of this army with his blade pointing at the side.

There was not an ounce of fear in his slanted eyes and what was present was mere indifference.

Iki closed his eyes to take a deep breath and the memory stopped surfacing.

That was exactly what had happened when he had left the trial and came back to his world.

Finding himself in a peril, Iki turned to look at the hilt of his sword.

The hilt possessed a diamond shaped red gem in it, which was nothing else but an artifact that could connect him to the other five Chosen Ones.

These five were the only allies Iki ever had till date. These were also the only ones who had saved his life.

The bond Iki shared with them wasn't for long, but it was worth remembering even till now.

All his life, Iki had always thought that he alone was enough. However, in that trial, he realized that if it weren't for the other five, he would've died.

There were some things in life which could not be done alone, no matter what the circumstance.

Still, despite knowing all of this, Iki sighed and put the hilt away.

His current situation was dire and help was very much needed, but Iki knew he was always destined to be alone.

Staring back at the distance, Iki, having his expression softening up, muttered gently, "Live a good life."

Right as he said that, the river of corpses behind him quivered slightly.

The quivering then turned into intense wriggling and the blood, mass, and bones began moving into one single place.

Iki closed his eyes and sighed. He gripped the hilt of his blade firmly and said, "I hope it is death that I achieve by the end of this."

…..

Dushkarbor.

The assessment was done. The results were with Lith.

Turns out, it was only just the people of Dushkarbor in the Nishkavert kingdom that had overall stronger physiques.

The sole reason for that was the Gilmer Forest which was a magical forest consisting of many different things.

Surviving within it was close to impossible and the people here had evolved to have an overall stronger physique to defend themselves and have a better chance at survival.

The rest of the people possessed strong traits as well, but were only half as powerful as the ones from Dushkarbor.

Whatever the case be, Lith could make them all achieve a stronger physique in a short time and better prepare themselves for the invasion about to happen.

The meeting that Lith had asked the maids to prepare for was scheduled properly.

Lith was currently on his way to the meeting from his residential complex, fully prepared.

However, right as he had left, something suddenly irked him.

Stopping in his tracks, Lith frowned and thought, 'What's this sudden feeling of death?'