Hero of Darkness

After Ceril took care of the succubus enchantress, one of the stronger ones among their party… the rest of the members including the 4th stage saint had a gloomy expression as their countenances turned worried. Because now, all three of the 2nd stage saints among their group were killed off by people who were only 1st stage saints themselves. 

20 kilometers in the southeast end of this wide battlefield, was a different scene. Because in this skirmish, there were three people involved unlike the first four. 

However, one side that had only a wolfkin archer was repeatedly attacking and oppressing two opponents who took a defensive stand from the very beginning of this battle. 

At this moment… Armin was facing a 1st stage saint Wolfkin archer from the hero's party. This wolfkin was the same archer who had tried to attack the Oakenshield company's main building when the Hero's Party visited their company grounds more than a year ago. 

Back then, under Tamak's instigating, Volka attacked the building's entrance but before the arrow could even land a hit, it was frozen in the air by Omega's gravity law skills. 

Armin was hiding in the company building back then under Kahn's orders and had revealed his aura with others to ward off the hero's party. Thus, his face was unknown to Volka and now, the latter was engaging against this Healer general of Kahn's group.

A Healer vs an Archer in an open battle… Everyone knew the obvious results. However, the blue wolfkin had a sullen expression after seeing 4 of his allies getting killed mercilessly. 

Tamak, the 2nd stage berserker, fell against a human who suddenly turned into a demonic warrior. Rodan, the long-range and wind elemental expert mage, fell in a battle against a tank; completely opposite of how the battle was supposed to go. 

Mikaela, someone who was a 2nd stage archer and a rank above him… was killed by an assassin who had no advantage against her during the fight in any way. 

And lastly… Edna, the strongest among the 3 of them, was killed by a mage who could use the forbidden dark magic. 

Even though Volka was in an advantageous position… he was also cautious at the moment. Winning wasn't his first priority but rather surviving this whole ordeal was more important because their side had already lost the advantage of numbers. 

The only thing that stood between him and certain death was Hero of Fire and Azerog, both of whom were 3rd stage & 4th stage saints respectively. Under their protection and assistance, Volka believed he could come out of this situation alive.

As for sadness, anger or pain of losing his comrades… he didn't care about that in the slightest. In the past 5 years alone, he already knew that he was just a side-character in the party who nobody gave a fuck about. 

There were already 5 people stronger than him in the group and one of them was an archer at that. He was just a substitute to fill the quota of team members. And the worst part was that he couldn't even leave the party at this point. 

It was always team members bootlicking the Hero of Fire every chance they got and even someone like Edna, whom he once developed interests in, was lovestruck after Axel despite him being a human. 

The popular guy always gets the girl even if that guy is a textbook asshole while the calm and quiet person gets looked down on just for existing. Volka had become a background character for their group but even he had to resort to the methods of praising the Hero to maintain his relevance in the group for the sake of it. 

"No! I'm not dying a useless death like those fuckers." thought the blue wolfkin who was 3 meters in height and had silver armor and gear for archers. 

But the next moment, Volka started at the 2nd person behind this healer who was currently standing inside a green-colored massive sphere made of wood, vines and green leaves, having a thin transparent layer like glass which made it easy to look at what was inside.

Even though he wasn't a mage, he could feel that inside of this spherical construct was highly condensed and enriched life force that appeared as green aura from outside. 

And the person being healed and protected inside this massive sphere that floated in the air was none other than Venessa, the princess and their main target herself. 

After Kahn and his band of saints suddenly showed up, he ordered Armin to heal Venessa who was riddled with wounds and had lost all of her fighting capacity because she faced 8 saints on her own and got heavily injured after using her primordial bloodline for an entire hour. 

The backlash on her body along with the injuries while having all of her world energy used up had put her in a pitiful state. Thus, Kahn let Armin heal and recover her condition as the rest of the group handled their own opponents. 

At this point, many of Venessa's visible wounds had healed but still, her mana and world energy reserves were completely depleted because she expended all of it during her primordial bird transformation. 

[Ha ha ha! Idiots… leaving the queen under the protection of a weak guard. If I capture her now… we might as well get an upper hand. 

If worse comes to worst… I could use her to escape outside of this barrier in case our side loses. It's better to have a contingency plan.] thought Volka as he looked at the only weak guardian who flew in between him and Venessa. 

A brown-haired human with green archaic runes spread across his forehead and arms looked silently at Volka. 

The moment Armin received Kahn's transmission, he too asked for his current strength to the system. 

[Following are the statistics, abilities & skills of general Armin :

Name : Armin

Species : Erdtree (Variant Yggdrasil) 

Job : The Pathfinder (Legendary Rank Class) 

Rank : Legendary Rank 

Level : 291

Strength : 7381

Agility : 4983

Dexterity : 23750

Defense : 5782

Mana : 24709

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Following are the skills and abilities : 

Telepathy Link (SSS Rank) 

Life Force Restoration (SSS Rank) 

Roots of Nature (SSS Rank) 

Nature Control (SSS Rank) 

Monarch of the Forest (Saint Rank) 

Flora & Fauna (SSS Rank) 

Atonement (SSS Rank) 

Restoration (SSS Rank) 

Guardian Spectre (SSS Rank) 

Chain Heal (SSS Rank) 

Elixir of Life (Saint Rank) 

Brewing (SSS Rank) 

Infusion (SSS Rank) 

Resurrection (Saint Rank) 

Soul Reformation (Legendary Rank) 

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Bloodline : Edenmir

Bloodline purity : 32%] reported the system. 

"Good. I guess I can handle this guy on my own." spoke Armin and quickly summoned his new armor set and healer staff. 

And without waiting for another second, he infused his bloodline in it and the whole appearance changed in a dozen seconds. 

Now, Armin was donning a lightweight armor with green hood, gauntlet and greaves while on his torso was a black vest that appeared like it was made with dragon's hide. On the whole attire, were dozens of white archaic patterns here and there, giving it more mysterious and refined look. 

In reality, his entire set was made of dragon's hide and only his staff was made with its horn. 

[Following are the effects of the Nirvana Armor set : 

Balance of Life : 

Allows general Armin to gather life force from the plant life and wood elemental creatures regardless of their species and structure within 10 kilometers radius in order to replenish the general's life force reserves. This effect will greatly increase the user's health and will help in healing thousands of allies at once without needing external sources such as mana cores and ores. 

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Price of Salvation : 

Allows general Armin to forcefully steal vitality from targeted enemies; by restructuring its composition, the general can use it to replenish his own mana and world energy reserves.

Note : Resurrection, Soul Reformation, Monarch of the Forest, Guardian Spectre, Elixir of Life skill can now be used by general Armin without transforming into his true Erdtree form.] informed the system. 

"Great! Means I'm no longer at a disadvantage in terms of lifesaving skills. I will be able to survive even facing an army on my own as long as there's a forested area in 10 kilometers vicinity." he spoke in an elated tone. 

Because at this moment… the entire battlefield was actually a vast forested region. 

As for the 2nd effect, it was less useful but would help greatly in an open war with thousands of enemies. 

Then, he looked at the Hermes staff that had big and green jade crystal on the top, surrounded by brown vines all around its body and was exuding life force constantly after Armin infused his bloodline. 

[Following are the effects of the Hermes Staff :

One for All : 

Allows general Armin to use his life force to create living creatures by merging the life force with trees and wood elemental beings. All of these creations can be transformed and reconstructed based on the user's choosing and imagination. 

As long as the general can provide an ample supply, there's no end to how many creatures he can create.] informed the system. 

"Amazing! The Nirvana armor and Hermes staff greatly complement each other in terms of use. 

The armor's effects can help me create an endless supply of life force, mana and world energy and the staff's effect could help me create an army of my own on the spot." said Armin in an exhilarated tone. 

Because although he could control wood elemental creatures and plant life… they had to exist there first. He couldn't create lifeforms out of nothing. 

But now, Hermes allowed him to do just so by using his own life force as a driving medium to create and control such creatures. And Nirvana Armor would not only protect him but also work like a personal power generator by stealing life force from the surrounding. 

Volka nocked an arrow, ready to attack this harmless and weak enemy of his. However, little did he know that Armin was neither helpless nor alone. He was…

A One Man Army.