The Monster Monarch System-Chapter 205: The Changing Ruins (Part 8)

Not all battles were of physical showdowns, there were some that required a great amount of strength and will to overcome – The Assertive battle.

There were no punches or kicks thrown, it was just a battle that pitted the beliefs of both warriors against each other and the one with the most confidence and power would be victorious.

As the Cavalier took a step back, the others did the same in kind... he had been the one to disobey the words of their Captain first and seeing him take a step back out of fear was shameful.

"Besides I was the one attacked first," Rem said with a shrug, "That boy was the first to attack, wasn’t he? So why am I being blamed for self-defense?"

The Cavalier’s lips were squeezed shut, he refused to meet Rem’s gaze cause he knew what awaited him – that sense of inferiority.

’How is threatening to kill someone self-defense?’ He thought inwardly but he didn’t dare speak out his words neither look at Rem in the eyes, both would mean that he was challenging the man and the Cavalier didn’t want to be roasted alive.

Cecilia seeing that the situation has calmed down decided to step forward, her silver light armor glistening in the light that now glowed in the cave.

"Now that we’re complete, we can finally fight against the Monster again," Cecilia said, as soon as she mentioned the name, the others flinched.

"The Monster?" Rem turned to her and asked, that name was extremely vague... it could mean a lot of things.

"In the center of the Changing Ruins, we have been told that a Monster lays in wait," Cecilia said, "It was told to us by the Elders from Ember town ever since we were kids – before the mines became the ruins, workers used to work around freely without a care in the world, there were few Dungeon Raiders assigned to protect them as well but those people barely did anything, well all of that changed on the day a Dungeon gate opened up in the center of the Mines,"

She took in a deep breath, ready to continue and Rem was eager to hear the history... maybe it would help him pinpoint what kind of Monster it was.

"The miners hardly visited the center since there were so much minerals available in the other places as well so by the time they found out about the dungeon gate in the center, it was too late and to top things off, it was nothing less than a B-rank dungeon," Cecilia said, "A dungeon break occurred and most of the miners were slayed, the lucky ones were able to flee and report back to the town,"

"These monsters were far more formidable than any others and we always assumed that it was because they came from a B-grade dungeon, sometimes a pack would attack the town and kill a lot of people, the residents of course got fed up with it and the first ’Changing Raid’ was initiated – powerful Cavaliers and Mages were gathered, some of them even being requested from Orion that was willing to give them power," Cecilia said.

"The first ’Changing Raid’ launched shortly after and the monsters were pushed away from the outskirts of the town, it was meant to be a massive extermination raid which would defeat all the monsters and even the Boss that lurked within the Mines but the Raiders made a shocking discovery – the mines had changed from what it had once been, monsters lurked around every corner, and soul energy filled the air preventing one from tracking a monster by the energy they gave off,"

"The teleportation incident also claimed 3 lives, some others were teleported as well but luckily found their way back to the entrance," Cecilia said, "But several dungeon gates had been opening within the mines, ranging from D-grade to C-grade and if they were left unchecked, the forces amassing within the Changing Ruins – which was the new name that they called it would be enough to even bring about destruction to Orion, Onio and Reifall, even the city would be affected,"

"And so the second ’Changing Raid’ was launched, with much more Raiders than the first time, a large amount of forces coming from each town," Cecilia said, "And my dad, Yokama happened to be one of them. They went into the Changing Ruins and began the raids, killing monsters on the outside and defeating the monsters on the inside of the gates that had begun to open within the Ruins, each Raider was given a storage ring packed to the brink with resources that they would need to survive while they found their way back to the opening,"

"This time, they were able to minimize the losses of lives to a bare minimum," Cecilia said, "Although they discovered something, the closer someone got to the center – the denser the soul energy became around them, it made it harder to navigate their way through the place and once this information reached the higher-ups, a party of strong Raiders was dispatched to head to the center and avoid any gates on the way,"

Cecilia gulped a bit before continuing, she was clearly having fun telling the tale but there was something Rem couldn’t wrap his fingers around – something strange.

"Out of the party of seven strong Raiders, only two returned," Cecilia finally spoke, "One had a dismembered hand and the other got off with lighter wounds with his left eye being pierced but it was clear that the B-grade Boss that lurked within the dungeon wasn’t to be taken lightly, but there was no Fourth Changing raid – nobody wanted to risk their lives in a dungeon where dying was a possibility, bunch of cowards,"

Rem nodded, it could be understood... he wouldn’t be here unless he hadn’t been paid.

"So you guys have seen this monster?" Rem asked.

Cecilia looked up at him, her fearless eyes trembling a bit...

"It’s hideous," Cecilia said, "And ridiculously strong, we barely managed to make it out alive and have been recuperating here ever since, which is why I requested for help from the Mayor and he brought you here,"

Rem gave her an understanding nod, he looked around – the mere mention of the monster had brought such unmistakable fear into their hearts, they wouldn’t be ready to comfort such a fear for a long time.

"Then let me go," Rem said, his words shocking the others.

"G-go? As in go and fight the monster?" Cecilia asked, making sure she wasn’t hearing things but Rem confirmed it.

"Yup," Rem replied, "Cecilia, you and your party are obviously shak-"

"Are you crazy Rem? I just got you back and now you want to die?!" Cecilia yelped out, the words coming out of his mouth sounded anything but human – how could he defeat a Monster that they barely managed to escape from? It made no sense to her.

"I’ll be fine," Rem said, "Let me go and gauge it’s strength and then if I can’t win, I’ll escape,"

Rem spoke his words with conviction; with confidence... it was hard to ignore his claims.

"Fine," Cecilia gave in, it was a lost cause in trying to convince him and she knew it.

Rem walked toward the barrier, his cloak billowing. As Rem reached the front of the barrier, it vanished and soul energy came surging in but it was redirected back outside by Cyrus, Rem had vanished from their sight at that time.

"We didn’t give him any tags," Amelia said and groaned but Cecilia couldn’t hear her, she only raised both her hands to her chest and silently prayed for him to return.

’Be quick, Rem,’ she thought.

#####

Rem navigated his way through the dense soul energy, an hour hadn’t passed so the Monster couldn’t take control of the Soul energy in the air... yet. Rem had witnessed it more than once when the Monster pushed against it’s limits to try and teleport him away. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

’But focusing so much attention on me proved to waste your energy in more ways than one,’ Rem thought as the soul energy remained inactive despite him running straight for another jagged cave.

From the story, he had learned that a lot of sacrifices had been made to put an end to this monster – both human lives and resources, it was something he could respect and now he was going to put an end to it, once and for all.