Chapter 130 Summoner's History
Satoshi felt his energy being drained with every single minor movement he made. Right now, he was totally integrated with Droplet so his whole body can shift into water and revert back to being human as he willed it. It was one of the weirdest feelings Satoshi had ever encountered in his life since he can freely control himself all the while trying to visualize everything in his head for fear that his appendages would flow away. His fright didn't happen though since he continued to move faster towards the Summoner while getting rid of his summons at the same time. No matter how many dragon-like monsters he summoned, or how many buffs they received from the Phoenix, Satoshi easily overpowered them due to his integration with his Droplet familiar.
'Water Armor,' Satoshi said in his mind just when the Phoenix fired another barrage of fireballs at him. In a flash, Satoshi's water-like body hardened and it turned into ice armor, entirely blocking the fireball that came at him. Although the firepower of the fireball was admirable, it didn't even leave a scratch on the 'water armor' that Satoshi created.
"What a neat trick... Summoner... " The Summoner said as it continued to run away, but Satoshi continued closing in on him like a maniac.
As the Summoner watched the throes of death come upon him in the form of Satoshi, he closed his eyes and surrendered. He knew that there was no use resisting. He had prided himself as the most powerful summoner to ever exist and yet the very first summoner he ever fought with was much stronger than him. He was beginning to wonder if his life had been a waste as well, and thinking about the past, he knew that it had been, for sure.
[Satoshi, wait a minute] Dex suddenly appeared out of nowhere, causing Satoshi to abruptly stop his attack. He was already aiming for a finishing blow when Dex seemed to have a better idea in mind.
.....
Quite a few hundred years ago, in another world,
"NOOOOOO!" A man screamed, sweating profusely. But as soon as he opened his eyes, he forgot the nightmare he just had. His arm, for some odd reason, was extended towards the ceiling here a lamp was hanging, its gentle light almost unnoticeable since the first rays of the sun were beaming down through the windows.
"Honey, are you all right?" A woman beside him asked, rubbing him softly on the head, ruffling his black curly hair. "You were having a nightmare, weren't you?"
The man nodded, got up, and wiped the sweat all over his body. He was sleeping without a shirt on, leaving the blanket drenched with his sweat. This happens every time he gets a nightmare.
"Come on, honey, the village chief shouldn't be waking up this late in the morning. Are you all right?" His wife said, kissing him passionately on the forehead before standing up. "Come on, breakfast's ready."
"Yes, I guess I've been slacking off lately." The man said to himself, half-chuckling. "Are there any requests from the villagers?"
"Yes, but you should eat some breakfast before addressing all of them. I know how you are, you'd forget to eat until you finished granting most of the requests. You shouldn't do that to yourself, honey. And that's why I've taken drastic actions!" His wife continued, grabbing the stack of papers by the front door and hiding it behind his back.
Her husband had all the capability to sneak up behind her and get the stacks of paper but he decided not to. He smiled a gentle smile before settling down at the dining table. "You got me there, dear, now let's have breakfast together."
"Oum~ that's how it should be." His wife continued.
In secret though, his wife didn't know that he already released one of his phantom-tiger summons to patrol the entirety of the forest, see if there are any beasts lurking around. With this, he'd be able to take care of the dangers around the village before someone starts complaining. At first, he planned on leaving his phantom tigers on patrol 24/7 but doing so is heavily taxing and he didn't have unlimited energy. Even though he's a powerful summoner, there's only so much he can do. That's why he made it his routine to command the phantom tigers to patrol the area. He has limitations too and he was well aware of that.
"And where are your phantom tigers, honey?" His wife suddenly stared at him with a doubtful gaze.
"Oh, I um, sent them out on patrol??? Hehhe, don't worry about it. They'll be back in a few minutes. Mhmmm, these sandwiches are delicious, what did you put in them?" The man said, chewing on the sandwich with great gusto so he could successfully shift the topic.
"I wonder why I married such a man, sigh~~~ you should take it easy every once in a while, dear." His wife said.
"Look, Plumeria, you know how it is. Our village is weak enough as it is and neighboring villages are having a hard time as well. If I don't do anything in my power to uphold peace and safety in my village, then we're bound to fall sooner than later. Right now, I'm already sensing betrayal brewing amongst my subordinates. If I don't do all I can right now, they'll certainly try to take my position from me and I'm afraid that scenario will plunge our village into destruction. Then there are the neighboring villages to worry about as well. Right now, they're probably conspiring against each other, trying to gain more territory in this beast-ridden land."
"Then, why don't you just get rid of everyone? Why don't you attack the other villages and unite all of us as one? If you're going to overwork yourself, then do so without holding back." Plumeria pouted, facing backward. "I... you know I can't live without you, Gabriel. If something were to happen to you hic~ yesterday was already a warning. You almost died back then!"
"Honey, you know what will happen if I suddenly get rid of my subordinates, right? The people will deem it suspicious and heave an uprising. All I ever do to them, I do for their sake, and yet, they're afraid of me. All of them, each and every one of them wanted to get rid of me."
"Then, why don't we just run away? Get away from this place?"
"We can't survive a day in the forests. I can't fend off hordes upon hordes of beasts every single day. That's why, as much as I hate to admit it, we're stuck here until who knows how long."
"Sigh~ let's just shift the topic into something else lest it ruins our breakfast."
"I acquiesce, these sandwiches are the real deal after all." Even with all the doubts in his mind, Gabriel shifted his expression into his usual cheerful one, pretending that everything was fine despite the pressure placed upon his shoulders.
"VILLAGE CHIEF! VILLAGE CHIEF! THE RASKATWA VILLAGE IS ATTACKING US FROM THE NORTHWEST!"
"VILLAGE CHIEF! THE RASKATWA VILLAGE!"
"WAHHHHH WE"RE UNDER ATTACK!"
"VILLAGE CHIEF!"
In an instant, Gabriel stood up, gulped his sandwich with one bite and accessed the sight of one of his phantom tigers. As expected, he saw a few people from the Raskatwa Village attacking a group of people who were gathering herbs, mercilessly killing them and stabbing them a couple of times more, intending to rile him even more.
"ARGHHH!" Gabriel said, jumping out of the window and summoning a few of his dragon-like summons to keep the other attackers at bay. As for the Raskatwa Villagers who were attacking the herb gatherers, he decided to kill them himself. Unforgivable!
As soon as he jumped out of the window, his phoenix came out and he rode on top of it. His phantom tigers were also going around the village, gathering all the other villagers who were outside the village. At least, if they were all inside, then he'd be able to focus on defending the village without worrying about the loss of another life.
"How dare you!" He screamed, telling the Phoenix to heal every person who was gathering herbs just a moment ago but no matter how hard the phoenix tried to, there was no saving them. He got down from his phoenix and commanded it to fire a couple of fireballs at the group of Raskatwans.
However, just before the fireballs hit, the Raskatwan in front let out a chuckle before swaying his hand. In an instant, a huge emperor penguin appeared beside him, firing a powerful hydro pump attack, negating the fireballs in an instant.
"T-t-that... Aenon?" All the colors drained on Gabriel's face as he realized the person who summoned the emperor penguin. He couldn't believe it!
Before Gabriel could even comprehend what was going on, the person who summoned the emperor penguin pulled his hood down, revealing the face of a man he's greatly familiar with, the only difference was he was wearing a Raskatwan outfit, not his usual outfit as an official under Gabriel.
"You... how could you do this?!" Gabriel still couldn't believe his eyes, a part of him wanted everything to be just a dream but the more he stared at Aenon's evil leer, the more he was certain of his betrayal. It was like the kiss of Judas, a great betrayal worth a couple of silver coins.