Chapter 388: Two Versus One

"A massive problem? What do you mean by that, Erudis?" Naturally, both Vytalis and Mannelyn did not know what Erudis was talking about. With that, Erudis asked them, "Have you obtain any new information regarding the problems that are going on within Maerr-viki Continent?"

"Hmm…? Why would you ask us about that?" Vytalis was the one to respond to the question, eventually pondering in silence as he recalled all of the information she had received from her information network, no matter how big or small it was. Of course, Mannelyn did not stand still either. She also had her own information network, albeit a bit smaller than what Vytalis had. Nevertheless, she also rummaged through the information she obtained, asking Erudis a minute or so later, "Is there some sort of specific information we have to focus on or something?"

"News regarding total destruction of a settlement," Erudis responded, his tone filled with indifference. Though, his gaze was still filled with a hint of worry, knowing that every passing second led to more innocent people being killed by the being he saw through the first orb. Fortunately, it only took the two of them half a minute to finally find a piece of information that matched what Erudis wanted to search for, with Mannelyn asking, "Are you pertaining to the matter regarding that guy calling himself 'The Great Calamity'?"

"That's the one," Erudis replied before repositioning the orb containing the image of Aurus in front of the two. Soon after, he sent out a few strands of his own energy to connect the two orbs, allowing both Vytalis and Mannelyn to see through the other orb. In less than an instant, both of them could see the image on the other orb, seeing a being covered in dried-up blood from head to toe.

"Is that person 'The Great Calamity'?" Vytalis could not help but ask. "From the aura he's exuding, as well as that strong killing intent surrounding him, he could definitely someone with that kind of nickname."

"Indeed, that is 'The Great Calamity'," Erudis nodded as he replied.

"So, what does this have to do with us?" Mannelyn asked soon after, only for Erudis's expression to turn solemn as he told them, "Unfortunately, through some unforeseen circumstances, this being is someone we know…somehow."

"Someone we know somehow?" Vytalis did not understand what Erudis was trying to tell them. "Are you telling us that this being is also a Spiriveritas? Or is this being an ally of us Spiriveritae?"

Seeing the solemn expression on Erudis's face, Mannelyn instantly had a bad feeling as to who the being called The Great Calamity was. Deciding to voice out her thoughts, she could not help but ask Erudis, "This being…is a Spiriveritas, right?"

In response, Erudis slowly nodded his head, prompting both Vytalis and Mannelyn to go silent. After a while, Vytalis could not help but mutter, "The Great Calamity is actually a Spiriveritas? If so, who among the Spiriveritae would even be crazy to do such a thing? All of the other Spiriveritae are on the other continents. As for the Spiriveritae in our Maerr-viki Continent, there's you, me, and…oh no."

"Have you finally realized who the being behind those layers of blood is?" Erudis asked, to which Vytalis slowly nodded her head, albeit not willing to do so. After thinking about it, she could not help but find it unbelievable. It was next to impossible for something like that to happen, yet it still happened.

Voicing out Vytalis's disbelief, Mannelyn asked Erudis, "Is Verdante really that being called 'The Great Calamity'? How can you be so sure about that, Erudis?"

"I wish I was joking," Erudis replied, letting out a sigh as he infused a bit more energy into the orb showing an image of Aurus heading to another town. After he applied some energy to the orb, a layer allowing the two of them to see past the layers of dried-up blood finally allowed them to see Aurus, or in their case Verdante, for the first name.

Just like his codename, they were not surprised that Verdante had bark the color of jade, even the texture of jade was not out of possibility in their minds. Although he was exuding an incredibly malevolent aura at the moment, the aura of wind still lingered about him, a dense yet complex type of wind at that. It was only with those findings did the two finally believe that Aurus was indeed The Great Calamity.

Disconnecting the orb from the other orb, Erudis then looked at the two, who now had solemn expressions, before asking, "So, what do you want to do? Do you want to let nature take its course? Or do you want to intervene in this?"

"Of course, we want to intervene!" Vytalis replied, to which Mannelyn nodded in agreement. "A Spiriveritas never leaves another Spiriveritas behind, even if he becomes something like that. Though…how did he turn out like that?"

"Fate." Erudis shrugged his shoulders in response. Seeing as how even Erudis did not know the reason behind it, only knowing that it would eventually happen, Vytalis and Mannelyn instantly took it more seriously. With that, Mannelyn asked, "Is there anything else we should take note of before we try and intervene?"

"Take note that Verdante has fully lost all sense of rationality and logic," Erudis told them. "Not only that, but he would definitely flee if he sees you two getting closer to him. If possible, catch him off guard through an ambush. I want you two to apprehend him so we can find out what's going on with him. Don't kill him, alright?"

"And last but not least," he continued. "Always prioritize your survival over the task. There are only 13 Spiriveritae in this world. I don't want to lose you two because of something like this."

Sensing the concern in Erudis's tone, Vytalis and Mannelyn went ahead and assured him that they were going to prioritize their safety first. "Of course, Erudis. Even we don't want to die in the middle of our journey that easily. Though, we do need to have a fallback plan if we fail to apprehend him."

In response to those words, Erudis exuded a hint of fighting intent as he replied, "Don't worry on that part. Just scream my name, and I'll arrive there at the very instant you do."

Nodding, Vytalis and Mannelyn then told Erudis that they would update him on the task from time to time before ending the communication between the three of them. After the image of the two disappeared from the orb, Erudis could not help but stand up from his seat and do a light stretch as he muttered, "It's been a long time since I've fought against another Spiriveritas. The last time was when Thanandine went berserk after evolving a skill."

"I hope…I don't have to go too far this time around."

…

Oblivious to what was going on in the background, Aurus slowly made his way to the nearest town to Red Juniper Town, which was Darkstone Town. Along the way, he gradually accustomed himself to the greater strength he had access to, noticing that as the level of his comprehension increased, the length of time it took for him to get accustomed to the strength also increased.

With that, he decided to do the acclimation process while making his way to the next town. Sure, it took him far longer to arrive at the next town since he wanted to make sure he could tap into every single ounce of strength in his body. But, on the upside, he would be able to go all out on the next town with his newfound strength the very instant he arrived there.

And so, it took him around 6 hours to get accustomed to his new level of strength, giving Darkstone Town enough time to prepare for his arrival. And prepare for his arrival, they did. Just like what had happened in the villages last night, all of the guards, able-bodied men, and even the town leader was standing near the entrance gate to the town, asking the remaining townspeople to flee for their lives while The Great Calamity was making its way to where they were.

Fortunately, the plan worked, with only those that could fight being left at Darkstone Town while the other townspeople left for other places, most of them deciding to head to the cities. By the time he had arrived at Darkstone Town, Aurus realized this, prompting him to mutter in his grim voice, "What a nuisance."

Whoosh! Bang!

Without even letting the townspeople take revenge for that died before them, Aurus instantly conjured a spear of wind before throwing it at the people that had huddled up near the entrance of the town. After that, multiple blades of wind extended out of the spear, killing all of the remaining people that weren't hit by the spear the first time around. Then, after making sure that all of the people in town were truly dead, he then did the same thing he did to Red Juniper Town, using a large ball of wind to flatten and decimate the town.

By the time the dust settled down from the aftermath of the explosion, Aurus went ahead and checked his progress regarding the comprehension of his Epiphany, incredibly disappointed that he had only increased his progress by 50%, a far cry from the usual progress he made whenever he cleared out a town.

With that in mind, he decided to destroy all of the towns he needed to get stronger first before acclimating to his greatly increased strength for a while. Then, with his newfound strength, he would then head to the cities and do the same thing.

But just as he was about to head to another town, two beings, which Aurus hadn't seen before, appeared in front of him as a barrier of cyan light surrounded him the very next instant.

The first being had skin the color of pink as she exuded the feeling that everything would be healed if she even gave it the slightest touch. Not only that, but her aura also gave anyone who came in contact with it the feeling that they would live for longer. This being was none other than the Vytalis, the Spiriveritas who had the Epiphany of Life.

As for the second being, she instead sported skin the color of cyan, just like the barrier she had conjured around Aurus to make sure he did not escape. When one looked at her, they would feel like they could cast any type of magic due to the sheer amount of mana emanating from her. This being was none other than Mannelyn, the Spiriveritas who had the Epiphany of Mana.

Seeing that they had become successful in catching Aurus off guard, Vytalis and Mannelyn could not help but look at each other in glee as Mannelyn said, "I got him. Let me just compress the barrier."

After that, Mannelyn manipulated the energy making up the barrier surrounding Aurus, gradually turning it smaller as the thickness of the barrier increased. Not only that, but since she wanted to make sure Aurus wouldn't escape from their clutches, she even went ahead and added more layers to the gradually compressing barrier, increasing the layers of restriction on Aurus.

As for Aurus, after realizing what was going on, he eventually punched out towards the barrier, only for the power behind to be negated as the barrier turned thicker. With that, his primal instinct immediately scrolled through the various skills in his arsenal, its goal being to let Aurus get out of the barrier. Eventually, a certain skill fit his needs as a grim voice emanating from Aurus's mouth the very next second.

"[True Semis Regulus]."

"[Dark Universal Blade]."

"[Soul Transcendence]."

"[Supreme Deification]."

"[Sole Entity]."

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Within seconds, the malevolent intent emanating from Aurus had intensified hundreds, even thousands of times, reducing the confidence Mannelyn and Vytalis had in apprehending Aurus. Though, what reduced their confidence even more was the attack Aurus sent out at them.

"[Spellswords of Ruination: Lost Art]."

"[Penultimate Blade of the Chaotic Tempest]."

"[Fragarach]."