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Quest Alert!

The Art of War: (4 / 4)

Survive the clash with the Ionian Army and contribute something each day.

Day 4: Keep your sanity

Reward: Ancient Key

The window was the first thing Narlou saw when he opened his eyes, but he had little time to think about the weird quest as two rough hands shook him by the shoulders.

"Wake up, sir! We will begin the battle earlier today." The man above him whispered.

Narlou sat up, stretching his still tired body as he looked around. Beyond the opened entrance of his tent was the still dark sky and a silent mash of whispers from people who tried to be quiet as they ran around the camp.

The man had already left his tent, and Narlou stood up, walking outside while yawning the rest of his sleepiness away. What greeted him was a weary looking Ethron, whose face brightened upon seeing him.

"Hey. Don't be confused, Darius had spontaneously decided to do an early surprise attack today, since we have the upper hand with Sion. Most are already awake, and the rest are being woken up right now."

Narlou nodded, every bit of sleepiness gone from his mind. The quest had said that today was the last day, and by the looks of it, the day where they would either win or be completely wiped out.

"I have to go talk with Darius; I'll be back in a minute." Ethron said, hurrying off.

Narlou nodded, turning his gaze towards the Ionian camp which was completely devoid of any sound or light.

Narlou felt his mana rumble beneath his skin. It wanted to be used in battle, and Narlou wholeheartedly agreed. He craved for the coming fight, excited to test out his new powers.

"Narlou?" The feminine voice of Sonya said from behind him, causing Narlou to turn around.

"Sonya! Are you alright?" Narlou asked, concerned about the woman's pale complexion.

She looked deep into his eyes, as if trying to find something, and Narlou just looked back in confusion, saying nothing. After a few seconds, her face softened.

"S-sorry, I just had a bad dream."

"A bad dream? What happened in it?" Narlou asked, hoping to bring her some comfort by knowing what caused her trouble.

He wished he hadn't asked.

"It's nothing important. I just dreamt that you had gone crazy, as if you had lost your sanity, so I wanted to check on you. But you still look well and sane, so everything's alright, just a bad dream."

Narlou stared at her in horror, his stomach twisting uncomfortably.

It was just a coincidence, right?

He snuck a glance at his quest again.

Day 4: Keep your sanity

'Just what the fuck is going on?!'

"Narlou, are you alright? You look very pale."

"I-It's nothing, don't worry about it."

It was a lie, and they both knew it, but Sonya didn't say anything, and Narlou felt incredibly grateful for it.

"Okay, I have to go to the other healers now, but please be careful! I know it was just a dream, but I'm still worried about you."

Narlou nodded, trying to form a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry. I will be careful."

Sonya nodded once before turning around. She took a step, only to turn around again, walk up to him and give him a tight hug.

She hurried off without another word.

Narlou stared at her retreating back before turning his gaze towards his quest again.

"Just what are you trying to tell me, system?"

"What was that?" Came Ethron's voice from next to him.

"Nothing, just wondering if the Ionians know about our plan."

"No way. Even if they have spies in our lines, no one had been told about this, not even me. This is completely spontaneous."

Narlou nodded, pretending to listen, but his thoughts were still lingering on his quest and Sonya's words.

He had been feeling weird yesterday too, as if his body was warning him, but what was it warning him about?

"Well, let's go to the front. You are fighting at the front too today, right?"

Narlou nodded again and followed behind Ethron.

They reached the front in silence, and Darius was already waiting for them, looking over his army that was shrouded in darkness. Everything was silent except for a few whispers here and there, and Darius nodded in satisfaction.

Suddenly, a low but familiar rumbling could be heard, and Sion appeared behind Darius, facing the Ionian camp. His massive body towered over their leader and the axe in his hands shone in the moonlight.

Darius raised his arm, and everyone got ready.

Narlou tensed his muscles and prepared himself for the slaughter that was about to commence. No matter what happened today, he had to keep his sanity.

Darius lowered his arm and both he and Sion started walking, and within a second, the entire army of Noxus was moving towards the unsuspecting Ionians with the two champions at the front.

Narlou followed closely, but something about this felt wrong. Even with no one talking, they made a lot of noise, yet there was no movement coming from the enemy. Ethron seemed to have realized it too, because he turned to Narlou with suspicion written all over his face.

"Be careful, something about this feels wrong."

Narlou didn't answer, instead focusing on his senses, but it was already too late when Narlou felt it.

"THERE ARE NO PEOPLE IN THE CAMP!"

He was sadly too late with his realization, because Sion charged into the camp just as he finished his sentence, and all hell broke loose.

Countless spells came flying at them from everywhere, bombarding the Noxian army from all sides, and as if that alone wasn't enough already, enhancement fighters came rushing out of the surrounding forest.

It was pure chaos for the unprepared Noxian army.

Narlou raised his hand and cast a massive pure mana barrier above their heads, but it was not even close to being big enough to cover the whole army. His mana was being drained rapidly as spell after spell clashed with it, so he was very grateful when the other magicians also started to counterattack or create barriers of their own.

'I should've put my rank points into pure mana.' He thought as he looked around, trying to gauge the situation with a calm mind thanks to his high mind stat.

They were being surrounded and attacked from all sides, but Noxus still had a much bigger army than Ionia, so the battle was not lost yet.

'Oh well, I put my points into enhancement magic, so I might as well use it.'

With that thought, Narlou let enhancement magic flow through his entire body, and it felt amazing. Every inch of his skin was as hard as stone, every single muscle fiber was packed with the strength of a giant and his body felt lighter than a feather.

'So, this is enhancement magic at rank 20. No wonder those "Powerful beings" are keeping an eye on me.'

Narlou looked up, feeling a spell approach his location, and smiled. It was a perfect opportunity to try out his new powers.

Focusing the magic on his fist, he readied himself to clash with the spell.

The fire missile was smaller than average, but he could feel powerful mana hidden beneath its size.

'Perfect.'

Narlou watched the missile approach calmly at a fast pace and drew back his enhanced fist, his expression turning excited. Before the missile could reach him though, he swung at it with all his might.

The sonic boom that followed was a result of the missile being launched back into the enemy lines faster that the speed of sound. The winds that were created upon impact ruffled through Narlou's hair, and any man without enhancement magic would have been thrown back just by the shockwave.

Narlou gaped at his fist as a massive explosion showed the missile to have reached the Ionians. There was not a single scratch on it.

"Damn, that was cool."

His expression contorted into a dark grin as he cast his gaze towards the enemy again. He would enjoy killing those bastards that dared to stop the Noxian invasion.

He never noticed the concerned look that Ethron threw his way as he charged into the enemy, ripping and tearing people to shreds with a smile on his face. Nor did it ever cross his mind that they were surrounded by the enemy, so even the normally save healers at the back were in danger.

He just killed and killed, slowly succumbing to the powers at his disposal.

Sonya and the other healers were in trouble, big trouble. They were supporters and healers, not fighters, so when the spells came flying and the fighters came charging, there was nothing they could do to defend themselves.

The only reason that they had not been wiped our already was because of the brave soldiers that came to their help, but even they were slowly dying one by one.

The young woman had to watch the slaughter without any power to stop it, and for the first time in her life did Sonya wish to have another magic. Her mana was almost emptied out, her moral was crushed, and her mind was overloaded because of the situation in front of her.

She sat down.

People were falling all around her and drops of blood hit her face every few seconds, but she didn't have the luxury to care about that.

She would die here, there was no doubt about it. She closed her eyes.

"…ya! SONYA!"

Her eyes snapped open as she heard Ethron's voice penetrate the sound of battle. A strong hand gripped her arm, pulling her upwards.

"Sonya! Talk to me!"

She stared at Ethron whose body was covered in blood. Behind him a dozen dead bodies.

She gasped and her eyes widened.

"E-Ethron, your arm!"

"That's not important right now!" The man said, turning his body slightly to hide the stump where his left arm had been from her view.

Tears escaped her eyes, running down her cheeks before hitting the ground that was covered with corpses and blood.

"What do you mean it's not important!? Your ar-"

"Something's wrong with Narlou!"

Sonya immediately stopped talking, staring at Ethron fearfully.

"I think he is going insane. You've felt the breakthrough this night too, right? I think it was Narlou."

Ethron turned around and punched the face of a random man that had tried to sneak up on them in. She did not bat an eye, too focused on what he had just said. She could imagine where this conversation was going, but she hoped, begged that it was not what she thought it was.

"I don't care how he did it, but he has become too powerful in such a short time. You must've also heard stories of people like that right?"

Sonya paled. She had heard stories, a lot of them, and each time someone became too powerful too fast, they succumbed to their power, becoming too greedy for more. In most cases, people would snap out of it because their power was not yet strong enough to take over their minds, but Narlou was a special case.

He had become strong enough to have a real impact on such a large-scale battle in less than half a month.

"We need to find him right now!"

Ethron nodded seriously.

"Can you walk?"

She looked at her quivering legs with shame as she shook her head.

Ethron's one good arm grabbed her by the waist, and before she knew it, they were in the middle of the battlefield, running past enemies and allies in search of Narlou.

Each minute that they didn't find him felt like a lifetime for Sonya. Anxiety made it hard to breath for her, and her mind went amok with possibilities of what was happening to him.

Finally, after Ethron had lost lots of blood from his missing arm and Sonya was about to go insane with worry, they found him.

He stood in the middle of hundreds of dead corpses, and more just kept adding to the number as people were killed faster that her eyes could track. Extremely dense mana was seeping out of his body, making it difficult to breath, and his eyes were filled with greed and excitement.

His body was bathed in the blood of his enemies, and still fresh blood was dripping from his fists. It was a horrible sight.

Ethron slowly let her down without saying anything, just watching the massacre, his eyes full of regret.

"I should have done something."

Sonya shook her head.

"It's not too late yet, Ethron! We can still save him!"

"R-right!"

She didn't wait another second.

"Narlou!"

Slowly, the boy turned towards them, and her blood froze.

She could see it in his eyes.

He did not recognize them.

Narlou was having the time of his life. His powers were amazing! He had never felt as free as now with such power coursing through him.

Each punch killed dozens of people, and he was not even trying!

Killing those people was far too easy though. It was boring as fuck. He wanted to fight someone strong, someone who could pose a challenge to him.

"Weak! Way too weak!" He shouted as his fist blasted off the head of another guy.

"Come at me, all at once!"

They did, but not even the seemingly endless number of soldiers could be a threat to him.

"Is that all you got? I want more! Give me more excitement!"

Blood splattered everywhere as he punched the air with full force, the shockwave ripping through the masses of soldiers, causing body parts and blood to paint the ground red.

"Mhm~ Thanks for your delicious meal!" Narlou taunted as he absorbed their essence. He was close to another level up; he could feel it.

He jumped back, dodging the earth-covered fist of an angry looking guy.

"Damn! Someone's eager to kill me!"

"I'm your opponent now."

"Good luck! Hopefully you are more entertaining that the others!"

He was not.

The guy was way stronger than the first earth enhancement fighter the teenager had fought, being able to cover half his body in thick stone, but he was still nothing in front of Narlou.

One strong punch was all it took for the guy's armor to crumble into pieces.

Narlou paused to enjoy the look of surprise and despair on the fighter's face before he put a fist through his stomach.

"Hmm, that was boring."

It went on like that for some time, only occasionally did someone appear who could actually fight for longer than a minute against the rampaging beast called Narlou.

He never realized just how lucky he had gotten that no rare magic enhancement user had come to fight him.

And then, something unexpected happened.

"Narlou!"

He slowly turned his head towards the person who had dared to shout his name. There, a bit away from him stood two people.

The one who shouted his name was weak, very weak. The second person, however, caused Narlou to lick his lips. He was missing an arm, and yet Narlou could feel unbelievable strength coming from him.

If he still had both arms, Narlou was sure that he would have lost against him, but as he was right now, he was perfect. Not too strong, but also not too weak.

"Oho, who do we have here?"

He slowly stalked up to the powerful guy, not spending a single thought on the weak woman. The man looked him deep into the eyes, and Narlou stopped for a second. Something inside of him was recognizing those eyes, but Narlou quickly shook his head.

Whoever this was, he was a worthy opponent.

"Narlou, please! We are +'*#€! and ^!#´+?-, remember?"

Narlou stopped again, finally looking into the girl's eyes. There was some part of him that was screaming at him, promising that he knew her, but he didn't.

There was no way he knew someone that weak.

"Be quiet, weakling. I want to fight this guy."

He turned to look at the man again, whose eyes were filled with sadness, and Narlou felt something inside of him stir. He immediately decided that he hated that feeling.

"Don't look at me like that! Fight me!"

He didn't wait for a response, charging at the man, but said man didn't move. Narlou's punch rushed past the man's head, the wind ruffling through his blonde hair.

"What are you doing?! Defend yourself!"

Narlou kicked the man in the stomach, but there was still no attempt to counterattack or defend.

"Narlou, please stop!"

Something inside of him stirred again. He hated how his body reacted to the girl's voice.

"Shut up or I'll kill you!"

Why was he even threatening her? He could just take her out. She was weak.

He turned to the man again, who slowly stood up, blood dripping from his mouth.

"Come on! What are you waiting for, huh?!"

His opponent just continued to stare at him silently.

"Fine! If you aren't going to defend yourself, then I'll just fucking kill you!"

Why did he feel so empty saying those words?

A punch followed by a second one threw the man back, but Narlou felt no satisfaction.

What was going on?

He shook his head, a sudden wave of bloodlust causing him to jump on top of the man and punch him repeatedly, each punch ripping flesh and breaking bones.

Wounds and missing chunks of flesh were covering his entire body, but the man didn't react as Narlou threw punch after punch at him.

"Please!"

A weak arm was tugging at his shoulder, and he swung around, throwing the woman away with ease.

Why wasn't he just killing her?

He quickly squashed the weird feeling upon hearing her cry of pain and resumed his beating.

"FIGHT ME! FIGHT ME! FIGHT ME! FIGHT ME! FIGHT ME!"

WHY WASN'T THE MAN FIGHTING BACK?!

He stopped. The man's face was barely recognizable, and his fists were dripping with his blood.

Why was he trying to kill the man again?

A whisper caused him to perk up.

"Who said that?!"

No answer.

Something was talking again, this time louder than before.

Kill them.

Why should he?

Kill them.

He suddenly felt unsure. What was this voice?

"Don't listen to it, Narlou! It's trying to corrupt you!"

He could barely hear the woman's cries anymore. Everything except for the voice was quiet.

Kill them.

He looked at the man under him, still staring at him despite him just hanging at the edge of death.

Kill them.

He looked at the woman on the floor, tears streaming down her dirty face.

Kill them.

Who were they?

Kill them.

Right. They were nobodies.

Kill them.

He should just get rid of them.

Kill them.

He raised his fist, enhancing it with powers that didn't feel like his own anymore.

Kill them.

"NARLOU STOP!"

Kill them. Kill them. Kill them. Kill them. Kill them. Kill them. Kill them.

"PLEASE!"

He punched the man with all his might. The head exploded into pieces, blood splashed everywhere, and the earth rumbled.

Narlou felt nothing.

No happiness as the man's powerful essence was absorbed into his body, no satisfaction upon seeing his work, no sadness for killing the man he felt like knowing and no regret as the woman's shouts of pain and anger filled the air.

Everything was quiet.

Kill her.

He slowly turned to look at the woman.

Kill her.

He stood up.

Kill her.

He walked over to her. No, something made his body walk over to her. He had no control anymore.

Kill her.

She looked at him, her eyes red from all the crying.

"Narlou…"

His hand reached out, grabbing the sobbing woman by the throat.

"Please…"

A crack. Silence.

A thud as the woman's body hit the floor. Lifeless.

He stood there, looking upon the people he killed, and suddenly he realized.

Ethron, his master and friend. The person who had been a steady pillar of comfort in this war.

Sonya, his innocent, cute Sonya, whose words were enough to brighten his day.

They were both dead, killed by none other than himself.

He looked at his fists. Blood was dripping down his knuckles. Blood that belonged to the people he swore to protect.

What had he done?

The power that he had desired to protect them with, had killed them in the end.

A scream of anguish tore through the silence that only Narlou could hear.

Tears of self-loathing and pain were running down his cheeks as the broken man fell to his knees, crawling over to the corpses of his friends.

They were dead. Truly and without a doubt.

He wanted to blame the system, but it was not at fault. It had only offered him the power, he was the one who had taken it.

"What have I done?"

It was a question that kept repeating in his mind over and over as he stood up and picked up the corpses of his dead friends. His legs were shaky, and his breath was ragged.

And then he ran. He ran and didn't look back. He ran deep into the forest until his legs couldn't carry him anymore, but he kept running, ignoring the pain and the fatigue.

Eventually, he collapsed under the shade of a tall tree, deep within the Ionian forest and far away from the armies.

He didn't allow himself to rest though. He didn't deserve it.

So, he started digging with his bare hands as the sun rose above the trees. He kept digging even as his hands became bloody and his nails tore, until he finally created two sizable holes.

He gently picked up their bodies, handling them with extreme care as if they would break upon the slightest touch, and lowered them into the hand-made graves.

The boy's shaking hands filled the graves with earth again, covering their dead corpses with dirt.

But he did not leave.

He stayed there and shouted at the sky until his voice was horse and the sun went up.

He stayed there and cried until he had no tears left when the sun reached its peak, and he stayed there and begged for forgiveness until the sun went down again.

He eventually passed out, and for the first time in his life, Narlou didn't feel like waking up ever again.