Reincarnated Hero System - Chapter 1159 - 1159: Not-So-Desperate Escape

The Demonic Hand members couldn’t understand what had suddenly happened, but the answer to their questions soon came as Evan, landing on the ground with his sword drawn, cleared his throat and infused magic power into his voice before shouting.

[Aha! This dense concentration of demonic energy! This is definitely their stronghold!]

He charged into the open realm, swinging his sword to send out a shockwave that scattered the smoke, though he kept the flames burning with his magic power.

[Filthy scum of the Demonic Hand, hear this declaration! Today, you shall all fall by the machinations of I, the leader of the Seven Heroes, Eva…n… oh…]

His voice faded toward the end as several Senior Members of the Fifth Division appeared, Level 600 existences led by a Level 750 ‘Veiled Legend’ and his contracted demon.

Seeing them, Evan slowly stepped back, lowering his raised sword as he spoke.

[Ahem… it seems there’s been a misunderstanding.]

He sheathed his blade, spread his wings just as several more Level 600s arrived, and then bowed before saying.

[Sorry to disturb your afternoon. I’ll be taking my leave now.]

With that, he turned around and beat his wings, flying away while shouting.

[Guys! They’ve got Level 700s here!]

“That bastard!”

The Level 750 Senior Member roared, leaping off the building he stood on and dashing toward Evan, the shockwaves from his movement snapping the others out of their dazed confusion at Evan’s loud and sudden entrance.

He closed the distance to the fleeing Evan in an instant, his spear thrusting toward the boy’s back, but before it connected, Evan vanished, leaving the weapon to pierce only empty air.

“What?!”

The man landed on the ground and immediately looked up, spotting Evan as he appeared in front of Laurene and the Deadly Sin Siblings outside, shouting with his magic power-infused voice.

[Damn! There were more of them than I thought! We’ve gotta go back and get the others!]

Of course, there were no ‘others’ to ‘go back and get’, but the Demonic Hand Senior Members didn’t need to know that.

Hearing his words, the male Veiled Legend prepared to charge after Evan, but before he could, his contracted demon appeared beside him, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him back.

“Wait! That’s the Hero boy who caused the mess in Lacertilia, isn’t he?! Didn’t your leader order you not to engage that boy?!”

“So what?! We just let him go so he can give away our location to whoever he brought with him?!” the man snapped back, making the High-Rank demon frown.

The demon glanced toward Evan and the others who were fleeing, and among them, he spotted the Deadly Sin Demons, his expression darkening.

‘That one with the great sword. That’s Greed, isn’t it? This feels suspicious.’

The man was cautious, but his contractor didn’t have the patience to wait for him to finish analysing the situation.

“Squads 1 to 5, follow me. I want a report sent to Lord Fifth immediately. Squads 6 to 11, stand guard in case of any reinforcements, and Squad 12, focus on tending to the wounded.”

The Senior Member pointed toward the Level 600 Squad Leaders as he gave his orders, then turned to his contracted demon and spoke.

“Stay back just in case. Worst case scenario, order an evacuation with as many as can run.”

“You be careful. There’s a Deadly Sin Demon in that group,” the High-Rank demon warned before turning around and dashing back into the broken dimensional realm.

The Senior Member turned toward the direction Evan’s group had gone, kicking off the ground and rushing forward as he shouted.

“Move out! We can’t let him get away and regroup with his allies!”

The Squad Leaders and their contracted demons all responded with a nod, drawing their weapons as they dashed after the group, while their Level 300 and 400 Squad members followed close behind.

◇　◇　◇

As he saw the cloud of dust rising into the sky from the crowd of Demonic Hand members chasing them, Evan nodded in satisfaction and turned to his companions.

“Alright, guys, get ready to split up.”

The Akashic Page appeared in his hands, magic power flowing into it as he wove a spell circle above its pages.

“World Magic: Spell Number 11: Decimation of Blessings.”

A pulse of magic power erupted from his body and swept in all directions, rushing across the land and through the bodies of every living being within miles.

As a reminder, Decimation of Blessings targeted all kinds of support techniques, nullifying buffs, enhancements, and protective spells. It also suppressed the ability to receive them for a short period afterwards, and with Evan’s use just now, the Demonic Hand members chasing them, who had enhanced themselves to catch up, were slowed down.

The spell’s second effect also ensured that the battle ahead for the Spirits and Laurene would be easier, since their enemies wouldn’t be able to buff themselves.

“Factor Mimic.”

Evan skidded to a stop, a layer of energy spreading across his body as an exact visual copy of himself separated from it, containing as much magic power as the average Level 450.

The Akashic Page’s pages fluttered as the Factor Mimic took shape, and, pouring a large portion of his remaining magic power into it, Evan cast another World Magic spell.

“Spell Number 9: Einherjar “

A bright flash of light followed, and his perfect clone appeared, dropping to one knee before him. Evan took the Unforged hanging from his waist and tossed it to the Einherjar as he spoke.

“Incapacitate that High-Ranking demon first, but don’t kill it until I give the order. Support my companions, and make sure to leave nothing else alive.”

The Einherjar immediately stood the moment he gave those orders, kicking off the ground and leaping several hundred meters into the air while holding the Factor Mimic by the collar.

Evan then turned around and used Blink, instantly catching up to the others who were still running ahead.

“Kuro, I marked my Factor Mimic. Take Laurene and Cheisnih through its shadow. Immediately retreat if anything unexpected shows up. My clone will buy you time.”

The cat hopped off Eliza’s shoulder and onto Laurene’s as he spoke, and drawing magic power from Evan, he engulfed his fellow spirits and the two females in his shadows, warping them through space and back to the dimensional realm where Evan’s Einherjar was already facing off against the High-Rank demon left behind.

Evan sighed, pulling out a magic power potion to recover the energy spent on summoning the Einherjar as he spoke to the others.

“We’ll stop for a bit so they can catch up. Prepare for combat.”

With those words, they immediately went into battle mode, drawing their weapons and rousing their energies.

“Ethereal Equilibrium: Support Mode.”

Eliza activated her strongest non-unique Support Skill, a wave of ether bursting from her body and wrapping her in a green cloak of energy that transformed her appearance.

When the light of the energy faded, she was now dressed in a floor-length robe, its grey hue matching the shirt she had been wearing. A silver sash encircled her waist, adorned with golden symbols that glimmered softly, and floating beside her was an orb with a bronze ring around it, from which two pieces of cloth-like material trailed from the ring’s edges.

Slamming the butt of her staff against the ground, she activated another skill to buff all of them.

“Sigil of Sanctuary.”

Her combat strength decreased by 30% while in Support Mode, but in exchange, all her Support-type abilities, like the one she had just activated, received a 100% boost.

A 60-metre-wide ring of light expanded outward from her position, coating everyone in small specks of green light that granted Damage, Speed, and Damage Absorption buffs.

Seeing this light from a distance, the Level 750 Senior Member frowned, his senses warning him of the danger that awaited should he step in unprepared. He filled his spear with earth law energy, leapt off the ground, and hurled it downward.

“Impale them all!”

At his command, the spear struck the ground and released the condensed law energy, splitting the terrain apart as hundreds of similar earthen spears repeatedly erupted and withdrew at lightning speed.

The group immediately scattered in different directions to evade the wide-range attack, while the Level 600 Squad Leaders who had been trailing behind him charged forward with weapons drawn.

The Veiled Legend landed and recalled his spear into his hand before dashing toward Eliza, who was layering buffs on her allies, intending to eliminate her first, but Evan appeared in front of him, summoning his shield just in time to parry the thrust.

“No Demonic Humans permitted near my fiancée,” Evan said with a laugh, clenching his fist and throwing a punch that forced the man to first duck, then dive aside to avoid the follow-up kick.

The force of Evan’s punches tore the ground behind him apart, creating a fissure that collapsed and swallowed two Level 300 Junior Members who weren’t quick enough to dodge.

‘This kid!’

The man’s gaze snapped back to Evan, who dismissed his shield and clenched his fists, orange magic power coating them as he lightly hopped and spoke.

“Come at me, bro.”

Demonic energy poured from the man’s body, mixing with earth law energy that coated both his weapon and skin with stone as he charged toward Evan at several times the speed of sound.

He moved in an arc around Evan and thrust his spear toward the boy’s back, but Evan ducked and turned, throwing a counter punch into the man’s chest that cracked his stone skin and sent him flying several feet into the air.

While the Veiled Legend was still stunned by the power in Evan’s fists, a clear voice echoed from behind him.

“Combat Mode.”

A violent wave of ether slammed into his back, and just as he tried to turn his body, four spears of green energy descended from above at supersonic speed, the first two slamming into his side and flipping him mid-air.

He caught sight of the third and fourth spears coming down and tried to swing his weapon to block them, but a golden chain coiled around his arm and yanked it toward the ground, leaving him open for the two spears that struck the same point Evan had punched, breaking his stone skin and hurling him down to the ground.

Just as his back struck the ground, Eliza’s heel came down on his face with an axe kick that sent a tremor through his skull, disorienting him long enough for her to spring back before he could regain focus and release his law energy.

He pushed himself upright, only for a blazing fist to come crashing from the side, burning so intensely that for an instant his mind mistook it for a second sun.