Chapter 381: Confrontation

"What I plan on doing next?" Argentum asked in response to the man's question beside him, looking at him as if he was slightly idiotic for not knowing what he would do next. Of course, the man beside him that asked the question was none other than Delmann, the vice leader of the town. On the other hand, Valstra, the newly appointed secretary a couple of weeks ago, was silently listening to the conversation the two were having as he continued to order the townspeople on what to do next.

"At this point, don't you think it's kind of obvious on what I should do?" he continued, prompting Delmann to let out an awkward chuckle as the latter now had an idea on what was going to happen. Nevertheless, he still wanted to make sure his doubts were cleared up, to which Delmann asked, "So, if I'm not mistaken, you shall be searching for the culprit, Sir Argentum?"

"Of course I will," Argentum replied with a grin on his face, making the townspeople around them let out sighs of admiration as they knew that their leader this time around was truly better than the previous one they had, even more so after he had started development projects for the town.

With that, Argentum told Delmann and Valstra the tasks that they had to take over with him not being around. After making sure that the two had not forgotten, Argentum went ahead and activated all of the movement speed buffs he had created through his Sage's Magic skills, deciding to do a blanket search throughout the whole town.

In the meantime, Delmann and Valstra, who had been watching Argentum's silhouette gradually disappear from the fields of vision before heading back to work, decided to hold a conversation as Valstra asked Delmann, "Say, Delmann. Is Sir Argentum going to search for someone strong to take care of the culprit doing all of the killings in this town?"

In response, Delmann slowly shook his head as he looked at Valstra with a smile and said, "Valstra, you underestimate Sir Argentum too much."

"Hmm?" Valstra was slightly confused as to why he was told that he was underestimating Argentum. Though, it did not take long for him to realize what Delmann was trying to tell him, prompting him to open his mouth as he asked, "Then…do you mean…?"

With a light nod, Delmann replied, "You might have not seen him in action before, but I have. The very least I can tell you about him in that regard is that…"

"…he definitely has some tricks up his sleeve that makes sure he doesn't lose."

…

Whoosh! Whoosh!

As Argentum continued to dart over the town in search for the culprit that had decided to kill his town's citizens all of a sudden, he circulated a bit of his energy inside his body towards a certain area, contacting two people that were somewhat close to the town he was in.

"Eleanor? Felix? Can you two hear me?" he asked through the connection that was established, making sure to form a connection that allowed the two to hear each other as well.

"Yeah, what's up?" Eleanor was the first one to reply, sensing the slight urgency in Argentum's tone. As for Felix, he went silent for a bit before asking, "Did something happen to the town?"

"Someone decided to go on a killing spree in the town, but I can't seem to think up of a reason why someone would do such a thing," Argentum replied, to which Eleanor could not help but have her flame for fighting intensify as she asked in response, "Do you need our help in capturing that person? Or perhaps…you want us to kill the person?"

"Well, yes and no," Argentum said in response. "For now, I'm just letting you know of the current situation that's happening in town. If I can apprehend the culprit without needing you two to make a move, then I'll let you know if that happens."

"But if I couldn't apprehend the culprit with the strength I have…" After saying these words, Argentum's aura turned slightly colder as he emanated slight killing intent. "Then, I shall show no mercy for those who dare to harm my people."

With both Eleanor and Felix now being alerted of what was happening in town, Argentum continued to move throughout the town in search of the culprit while maintaining the connection he had with the two. Eventually, after ten or so minutes of constant running, he had finally found a trace of the culprit, hearing a loud shriek resound out from an alley as a dull thud could be heard not long after.

Heading in the direction of the loud shriek, Argentum had arrived there, only to notice that a large amount of Wind energy particles was covering a being from head to toe, absorbing those particles not long after as the aura being emanated by that person gradually intensified with each particle absorbed.

Unfortunately, just as he was about to find out who or what that being was, as if it had noticed Argentum's presence, the being decided to flee away from the scene, leaving Argentum with no choice but to catch up to the being. Though, within a few seconds, he had already lost track of where that being had gone.

Seeing that the being was incredibly quick in its steps, Argentum could not help but scratch his head as he muttered to himself, "Well, this is going to take a while."

In any case, he wasn't dismayed by the fact that he could not catch up to the being at all. In fact, he was taking it as a challenge, deciding to use more of his wits to apprehend the being rather than only relying on his physical abilities to do so.

With that in mind, he continued to give chase to the being that was killing the townspeople, with his expression becoming more grim with every person that was killed. By the time 10 people had been killed in total by the being covered in Wind energy particles, he had met up with the being once more, only for him to lose sight of the being once more with a sigh of slight annoyance.

By the time over 20 people had been killed by the being, Argentum decided to ask Felix to head over to the town as fast as possible, asking him to use a detection skill on the town to track the being wherever it went.

Fortunately, Felix agreed to it, arriving through a rift not long after. After taking on a human form, Felix then went ahead and conjured multiple magic circles on top of magic circles, casting a detection skill that spanned over the entire town. Now having an idea of where the being was going, Argentum and Felix decided to give chase to the being once more, but with increased determination and fervor.

While making their way to where the being was, Felix could not help but notice that the being was heading in another direction at lesser time than before, prompting him to ask Argentum, "Don't you think this guy's slowly getting faster and faster?"

"Hmm?" Hearing this, Argentum could not help but ponder over his previous encounters with the being, eventually noticing that Felix's words were, in fact, true. Realizing this, he could not help but ask Felix in response, "How is he getting faster, though?"

"By the looks of it, he's gaining strength by killing more humans," Felix said in response, only for him to lightly grin soon after as he looked at Argentum and asked, "Want to really surprise him?"

Though, just as Argentum was about to respond to Felix's question, Felix had already made the first move, opening up a rift just before Argentum could stop his momentum.

Swoosh!

In less than an instant, a rift was opened in another part of town, prompting Argentum to look at Felix, who had just appeared beside him, with slight anger and say, "You could've told me that you were about to open…a rift…you…know?"

But just as he was about to get angrier at Felix for doing that, that anger had dissipated in less than an instant after seeing the being that had been killing his people in front of him. At that instant, Argentum was left at a loss for words. Instead, he inwardly screamed in shock, 'Why is he here?'

In front of him was a being seemingly made out of jade, taking on the appearance of a human sculpture that had been exquisitely carved. Every inch of its surface seemed to be brimming with strength, though it felt like it had not reached its limit yet.

Of course, Argentum knew who this being was. It was none other than Aurus, the original version of himself. But for some reason, while looking at Aurus, who would normally seem amicable in front of him, he instead felt an aura of killing intent that even surpassed Eleanor's whenever she went berserk. It was as if…he had become the incarnation of killing itself.

"Aurus?" Still in a dazed shock after seeing Aurus in front of him, Argentum could not help but walk closer towards Aurus, who seemed to be looking at Argentum in silence as he gradually went closer. Unfortunately for Argentum, just as he was about to get extremely close to Aurus, as if a boundary had been breached, Aurus made a move against Argentum all of a sudden, punching out with his right arm as it was covered in the element of Wind, increasing its speed.

With Argentum still oblivious to what was happening, it was only at the very last moment did he realize what was going on, conjuring a shield against the attack at the very last second. Sadly, with the shield not having enough energy, it did not even last an instant in front of it, prompting him to close his eyes in fear.

Thud!

As he wondered why he had not been sent flying yet, Argentum slowly opened his eyes to find out that a barrier made out of water had been conjured around him, only to find out that Felix was currently looking at Aurus with the intent of self-defense. Though, since Felix had noticed that Argentum knew who this being in front of him was, he went ahead and sent a strand of energy to Argentum, asking, "Who's this being? How do you know him?"

Snapping back to the reality of the matter thanks to Felix's question, Argentum instantly went into a fighting stance as he sent back a strand of energy in response, telling Felix, "I'll explain the specifics with you and Eleanor later. But for now…"

"…it seems like we have to defeat him."

Sensing the intent to fight emanating from both Argentum and Felix, Aurus went ahead and made another move against the two, jumping with all his strength as he conjured multiple blades of wind in his surroundings before shooting it out towards the two in a barrage.

In response to this attack, Felix let out a light snort as he conjured a magic circle, forming a circle of water in midair that reflected back the blades of wind towards Aurus. Naturally, with him having great mastery over the element of Wind, Aurus had no problem negating the attack he had sent out, utilizing his movement abilities to dart all over the place until no more wind blades were heading straight at him.

Clicking his tongue, Felix made yet another move, deciding to go all out from the very start. Without hesitation, he conjured a spear made out of water before disappearing in front of the two the very next instant.

As Aurus stood there in silence, wondering where one of the beings attacking him had gone, Felix had appeared behind Aurus at the exact moment he was the most off guard, thrusting his spear with the greatest strength he could muster as he shouted, "[Tsunami Piercer]!"

Bang!

In an instant, a large shockwave had radiated from the collision, prompting Argentum to utilize his control over the element of Lesser Origin to form a barrier over the nearby houses, making sure that they weren't destroyed from the attack. Though, just as he was about to ask Felix how Aurus was, certain that the move had temporarily incapacitated Aurus, instead he was left aghast as another sight had entered his field of vision.

"What?!"

That was because, instead of Aurus falling down to the ground from the attack…

Aurus had instead defended against the attack…with a spear of his own!