Chapter 21 - The First Division Commanders!

(Arthur POV)

I flew towards the direction Erza and Jorris went in before the start of my fight with the three divisions of dark mages.

After a bit of flying I found both of them.

Jorris was on the ground in a small pool of his own blood while Erza was sitting a few feet away from him.

She noticed me flying in their direction and waved her hand at me.

"Heyyyy! Erza! I see things went well on your end!" I said from a distance before landing next to her.

"Yeah, it was a really hard fight though… This guy was strong." Erza replied

"Well, you still won in the end and that's all that matters. By the way… Is he dead?" I asked after realizing the kind of shape the guy was in.

He looks like a corpse with how pale his face had become…

"I ain't dead yet kiddo…!" The 'corpse' yelled out

"Oh… Sweet. Killing you would probably bring trouble later on anyway so that's great.

Lemme patch you up actually, you've got a horrible wound there and I doubt you want to lose any more blood. {Bandage}!" I said and created a bunch of physical bandages to try and help stop the bleeding.

This guy is actually keeping his blood from flowing out by flexing his muscles…

Honestly that's… Impressive.

I wish I could do that!

So anyway after mummifying Jorris both me and Erza were ready to depart for the asylum.

"Well, you should hopefully be fine with that much. I'll take you back to your buddies. {Gate}!" I opened a portal and brought Jorris back to where all of the other dark mages from the three divisions were tied up at.

Right as I was getting ready to go get Rowl and leave through the gate again.

"Hey, boy." Jorris spoke to me.

"Yeah? What is it?" I asked.

"Be careful. Besides the guild master, the first division itself has two monsters as its leaders."

"As far as I could see from the others… You guys don't seem like you pose much of a threat to me. But thanks for the warning anyway."

"Hey! If you think I would be warning you if these people were anywhere near our level then you'd be sorely mistaken! As I said, they're monsters in human skin!"

"So what? You're saying they're stronger than you? Than all of the other divisions put together? That they could wipe the floor with all of you combined and more?

"Ha! So young yet so arrogant! You reminded me quite a bit of my younger self there squirt."

"I doubt that's a good thing..."

"Hahahahaha! I like ya. So I'll give you another piece of information, their appearance and names."

"Go ahead then, at least I'll know who to watch out for in the case they actually pose a threat."

"Those two I spoke of are actually about your age."

"… My age…?" that caught my attention.

"Yes. Now one of them has snow white hair with a bit of light blue mixed in while the other has flaming red hair with some yellow strands mixed in.

The first one is called Krax Hun while the second is named Zult Wylur"

"… And as you said they're both strong like monsters..."

"Anything you can tell me about their magic or abilities?" I asked

"Ha! Now you're interested huh? Well, no can do kiddo… You'll have to find that out on your own!" He said with a grin on his face.

"…" After that I said nothing more. I turned around, took Rowl and dragged his unconscious body through the Gate back to where Erza was.

Just from that description I'd have to say that I'm more than ninety percent sure those two are actually participants.

…

Damn!

Should I get Erza to leave and take care of this by myself?

No, I doubt she'd agree to leave anyway…

I could force her but that would probably ruin any chance I have of her telling me about the tower of heaven's location…

Well, alternatively I could have her stay at a safe distance while I fight those two.

Haaaaa…

I'm going to have to kill them won't I? It's finally time for that.

I have yet to kill anyone in this world, even though I've been fighting allot for the last 4 years and gaining combat experience…

I've never had to. Rarely would I face resistance from an enemy and even then a situation like a life or death battle never occurred.

Deliora was the first time since Zev that I experienced such a predicament.

And even if I had encountered that kind of opponent before, killing isn't allowed and would bring me unwanted trouble with the council…

Thankfully I should be fine here. I have never heard of this dark guild before or seen their guild mark.

They've probably only just recently been established, which would mean that their members shouldn't have been confirmed by the council yet.

I won't make a stupid mistake like letting them live!

I will go for the kill!

Never allowing them the chance to make a comeback!

…

"Arthur, Rowl is still unconscious. Could you wake him up?" Erza asked while pointing at the unconscious Rowl that was lying on the ground with his eyes turned backwards into his head.

"…Sure. {Water ball}" I said after finishing my thoughts, making a water ball fall on Rowl's head.

"GRRLLHHHAAAA!!" A weird scream came out of Rowl and he stood up in shock.

"W-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-wh-eeEEeee--ere A-a-am I?!" He yelled out incoherently

"Eh? Oh right… Wait… No! Shouldn't you two be dead!? What the F*** happened you brutish yellow toads?!" Rowl scream at us angrily

Ahhhh… How I missed those stupid, weird insults of his…

"We've already defeated your friends. Now get up on your feet and walk! Otherwise a kick in between the legs will be the least of your worries!" Erza said

I feel like she's had enough of his sh*t…

"Impossible…! Then… Teacher… and the others… Are they…?" Rowl asked worriedly

"They're alive don't worry, they'll just be going to prison after we deal with the rest of your friends over at the asylum." I replied

"…" He stayed silent for a while, not moving from his spot. Just sitting with his legs outstretched and looking towards the ground.

"Rowl. The asylum. NOW!" Erza said quite angrily after being forced to wait for Rowl's brain to restart.

"Y-yes ma'am…!" He replied while getting up and saluting.

This guy just called an eleven year old ma'am and saluted to her… Wow.

He's scared of her!

It would seem that Erza is already evolving into a badass! Sweet!

But wait, now that I think about it…

I really hope she never gets mad at me…

I do NOT want to experience THE Titania's wrath now do I? Haha..

.

.

.

After Rowl got up he nervously walked in front of us and went in the presumed direction of the asylum.

"You're taking us to the asylum, I hope? {Truth Perception}." I asked him while casting my spell

"Y-y-yes… I am taking you to our HQ… My gods… Oh, no tricks this time…! So don't worry…

Haaaa I am so getting sacrificed for this…" Rowl sighted and muttered the latter half under his breath…

He did not utter a single lie.

Still now that he mentioned it again… A sword that needs Sacrifices… Souls to be precise…

I'm getting quite interested in that sword now.

There was also something about another demon from the books of Zeref concerning the sword...

Guess I'll just have to find out?

.

.

.

After walking for a while we finally passed through a sort of invisible barrier.

On the other side instead of the green forest scenery from a moment ago, we could now see a big building surrounded by walls and other smaller buildings both on the inside of the walls and the outside.

There were also watchtowers that were built on the four corners of the walls.

"W-well… This is our base! Will you p-please le-let me g-go now…?" Rowl asked while seeming slightly terrified

"Well considering you did your job 'half' decently… Sure, you can g-" I was cut off before I could finish

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk. Roooooowl… What have you done? You brought the enemy straight to the one place you shouldn't have!" A child like voice spoke.

"You do know the consequences for that don't you? Rowl-san?" Another child like voice spoke

"Oh gods… Oh no… Please! You have to forgive me I had no choice in the matter!" Rowl started pleading to them.

"I'm so sorry Rowl-san… But you'll have to be sacrificed now. Hehehe" As the same voice said that, two boys appeared in front of us.

One with snow white hair with light blue strands mixed in, the other with flaming red hair and yellow strands.

These two must be Krax Hun and Zult Wylur…

It's safe to say now…

They're most definitely participants of the game.

That black aura that's covering their bodies makes it more than obvious.

"Hmmm? What's this!? Rowl… You brought an interesting friend along didn't ya?" Krax spoke.

"Oh yes indeed he has! Rowl-san you might actually still be redeemable with this…" Zult said while looking towards me.

Obviously they can both see me covered in the same black aura as well.

"Hey you! The boy. What's your name?" Krax pointed towards me and asked.

"Its poor manners to ask someone for their name without first introducing yourself now isn't it?"

"Don't you already kn-" Krax was cut off by Zult who stepped in front of him and said.

"Oh, where are our manners! My name is Zult Wylur and this here is my good friend Krax Hun.

"A Pleasure to meet you. My name is Arthur Wulf, now then… We seem to be in a bit of a predicament huh?" I replied while inwardly thinking that they've been spying on us.

How else would Krax know I knew their names?

"Sure are! To think another one of the 'chosen ones' ended up on this god forsaken island! Hahahaha" Krax said and started laughing.

"Another of the…'Chosen ones'…?" Erza mumbled and looked towards me in confusion.

"Arthur what does he mean? Do you know them or something…?" She asked me

"Nah, this is the first time I've seen these two. But we do have one thing in common that's for sure..." I replied and looked at the two individuals in front of me.

"Seems your little friend over there doesn't know the full story ey?" Zult said.

"Now that's none of your business. Anyway are we going to fight or what?" I was readying myself for battle.

"Fight? Oh no, no, no my good sir! We would much rather that instead of fighting you joined us instead!" Zult replied.

"Join you?" I asked in surprise.

"Yes! What do you say Arthur? We could form a team and win this game together! I'll send you the invitation now… System Team Management: Invite" Krax said and a kind of 'screen' appeared hovering in front of me.

.........…......

System notification! You've been invited to join Team '-UNNAMED-' and become one of its ten members!

Will you accept the invitation?

|Yes!| or |No!|

.........…......

Huh…

Well this is interesting…

So I guess this is how teams are made!

"Well, I'm flattered that you would be so kind to invite me, but I'ma have to say No." I said and clicked the 'No.' buŧŧon on the screen.

"Haaaaaaa… It's a shame…" Krax sighted.

"A shame indeed my dear Krax… A real shame… Arthur-san would have been a fine addition. Not just anyone can take out three of the divisions in this guild by themselves…" Zult agreed.

"We've seen over a dozen or so other chosen individuals so far, and only one other person could do that aside from the two of us after all!" Krax said

"Really now? And who might that be…?" Hearing about that many people had me on guard.

If there are any more participants here this could get really troublesome…

I don't know anything about these two but I shouldn't lose that easily, but if even one more appeared I don't know if I'd stand a chance…

"The captain of our team of course! He's also the reason we've achieved strength beyond our gifts!" Krax said with a smile

"Hoooh? And is he here?" I asked slightly confused about what he meant

"No. The captain has other more important stuff to do. He sent the two of us here in order to supervise this dark guild as they try to obtain the demonic sword over there. Just to make sure they can do their job properly and awaken it.

Well we'd take it afterwards probably…" Krax replied and pointed towards the Asylum building.

Behind it there was a fifth tower. On top of it was a mass of what seemed like 'souls' circling around a beam of dark light!

Sweet! So it's just these two! No lie was detected so I'm probably safe to ȧssume that.

But…

"Don't you think you're a bit too loose lipped?" I asked Krax

"Well there is no problem with that now is there?" He replied and looked at Zult

"Indeed there isn't, after all… You're not getting out of here alive Arthur-san, neither is your friend nor Rowl-san over there." Zult said and pointed to Rowl who was crawling away

"Oh, really now? Guess I expected as much… Erza. I want you to stay back a little." I turned to Erza and said

"What!? Why? I'm going to help you! It's a two versus two we can handle this!" She replied seemingly angry at my suggestion.

"Erza, I'm sorry but you're just not strong enough yet. These two are dangerous and definitely possess either some weird or strong magic. I cannot let you fight them!" I replied sternly.

"… I don't get what any of you were talking about just now, about teams and 'chosen ones' and what not… But it doesn't matter right now! If I don't help you then it would be just you versus two of them!" She argued back

"Don't worry Erza… I've got this! I might not seem it but I think i'm pretty strong!

You just need stand back there and watch from a safe distance with Rowl." I said with a grin on my face

After that I turned towards Krax and Zult and asked.

"So should we move to another place or…?"

"Come to the inside of the walls. We've got a big open area in the center! You can think of it as a ring, hehehe." Krax replied

The three of us then walked through the gates.

There wasn't a single other dark mage to be seen inside, perhaps you'd think I already defeated them all but there should still be one division that these two govern.

Where are they?

{Clairvoyance}!

Oh… I guess I can't look outside of the barrier?

Darn…

I can on the inside though and it's completely empty. Just me, Erza, Rowl, Krax and Zult.

Not even the supposed Guild master is here…

I have a bad feeling about this, but I need to focus on the fight for now.

In the center of the small 'town' surrounded by walls was a big circular 'ring'.

Krax and Zult stood on the other side of it. The side behind which stood the Asylum.

I was on the opposite side. The one where the only entrance/exit was.

"Well then, let us begin Arthur-san!" Zult said and what seemed like Magma started dripping from his body! He was even melting the ground underneath him!

His right hand had been completely covered in magma and was even enlarged by it!

"Yes… Let's begin… Show us what you've got Arthur!" Krax said and was then instantly covered in ice!

I could feel the cold air coming from him way over here… The ground under him had been completely frozen solid!

Damn it!

These two are Devil fruit users!