Reincarnated With The Strongest System

Hestia Academy…

Thorfinn was busy training the technique that Elliot had taught him when he suddenly felt a very bad foreboding that came out of nowhere. 

He couldn't explain what was happening. All he knew was that he was feeling an ache in his chest that he couldn't describe.

  "... Did something bad perhaps happen to Master?" Thorfinn muttered before shaking his head. "Impossible. How can Master possibly get into trouble? I might just be feeling tired. Yes, I'm just feeling tired."

Thorfinn tried to shake off the feeling of anxiousness that was starting to rise in his heart. However, no matter what he did, he felt as if someone very important to him had disappeared from his life.

—--

William slowly opened his eyes, and found himself wrapped up in a tight embrace, by the Amazon Princess whose tears were trickling down his face.

Just before William could say anything to comfort Lilith, a stinging pain erupted inside his head. It was as if someone was pushing a knife to his skull, and peeling back the pieces of his scalp as slowly and as painfully as possible.

"Khhhh!" William hissed in pain as he endured the painful sensation that he had never experienced in his life before. The soul-stirring pain made him unable to speak, as well as unable to breathe properly, making him shudder uncontrollably.

"Will! What's going on?!" Lilith held William tighter in an effort to stop his body from shaking.

Conan pressed a palm over his chest because he was also feeling great pain, but his pain was nothing compared to what the red-headed teenager was experiencing at the moment.

"He is suffering from a Soul Backlash," Conan said through gritted teeth. "Just give him a bit of time. He will recover in a few minutes."

Sun Wukong's fiery eyes gazed at William and saw the great damage to his soul. Immediately, he took out one of the peaches in his possession and crushed it in his hands. He had already grabbed William's jaw and held it in place, as he allowed the fruit juice to enter his mouth.

  A few seconds later, the Half-Elf's body stopped shaking, but he still had a pained expression on his face.

Conan flew towards him and whispered something in his ear.

"I know that you're in a lot of pain right now, but we don't have much time," Conan whispered as the dome of ice that Ella had erected trembled. "For now, take your King's Legion back inside the Thousand Beast Domain. If you don't, they will die a meaningless death."

William gritted his teeth as he recalled his army back into his Thousand Beast Domain. Due to the scenes that he saw earlier, he already had a general idea of what was happening around them.

The gem on William's chest that had been completely black earlier, now turned dark gray. His army turned into particles of light and flew towards it, leaving Ahriman's Domain behind.

However, some resisted his orders and decided to remain by his side. Among them were Kasogonaga, Erchitu, Psoglav, Jareth (Goblin Paladin), Scadrez (Blood Eagle), Chronos, Aslan, and the others in their demihuman forms, as well as Charmaine, and the rest of the Elves alongside their Winged Horses.

"We're not going back," Kasogonaga declared as it stomped its adorable foot on the ground. "We will make sure that you safely leave this place."

The others also nodded their heads in agreement, and all of them had the expression of not taking No for an answer.

William forcefully opened his eyes to look at his dear friends. However, his breath almost stopped when he saw the three frozen figures that had been placed, not far from him.

A sob escaped William's lips as tears streamed down his eyes. Although he was in great pain, the heartache he felt was greater than the one he was experiencing right now. Biting his lips until they drew blood, he reached out his right hand and forcefully teleported his frozen wives back to his Thousand Beast Domain.

"You can grieve later," Conan patted William's cheeks. "If we don't leave this place, more people are going to die."

Sun Wukong sighed as he nodded his head. "He's right, Will. I will soon disappear also. I used a bit of my life force, and I am unable to remain in this place for long. At most, I can only stay for ten minutes. After that… all of you are on your own."

William's Heroic Summoning had ended the moment he died. But, Sun Wukong burned his life force in order to remain, and protect everyone to the best of his abilities. He was barely maintaining his form, and doing his best to minimize the consumption of his powers.

"Rai…den," William said through gritted teeth.

Immediately, a black beam of light shot out from his gem and materialized as the Black Qilin, Raiden.

"Let's… leave," Wiliam forced himself to utter the words as his face contorted in pain. "Let's enter the red portal that led to this place."

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. Lilith carried William and mounted the Black Qilin, while Celeste merged with Claire, allowing her to grow a pair of green, flaming wings, behind her back. 

Kasogonaga mounted Scadrez's back. Sun Wukong summoned three flying clouds to allow Psoglav, Erchitu, and Jareth, to accompany them on their journey.

"Okay, listen to me," Sun Wukong said. "The moment the dome breaks, all of you will make a run for it. I will hold them back for as long as I can, but remember that I will probably be able to hold them for five minutes at best."

"We will leave this place together!" Kasogonaga shouted. Before looking at his two best friends, Erchitu and Psoglav. "The two of you better not die, okay? I'm going to murder both of you if you do!"

"I'm already dead," Erchitu replied.

"I don't plan on dying," Psoglav answered as his single eye glowed faintly. "Not until I eat that green-haired bastard Prince."

Many of his acquaintances had died in the battle. He could only watch helplessly as their souls were absorbed by the God of Demons, and his hatred for Felix burned brightly inside his chest.

The Demonic Dog knew that it couldn't possibly fight against the God of Demons. Since that was the case, he then chose to vent his frustrations on the only one that he could attack and that was none other than Felix.

It was at that moment when the dome of ice shattered and dispersed into a cloud of white mist. 

Immediately, the Black Qilin pierced through the white haze, alongside several others, flying in the opposite direction of the God of Demons. They only had one destination and that was none other than the red portal in the distance, that would take them to the first level of the Ancient Ruins. 

"Don't even think about escaping!" Ahriman's thunderous voice boomed like thunder. "Get them!"

The Dark Wraith, the Demon Bull King, and the rest of the forces that Ahriman had invited from the Celestial Realm followed behind William's entourage. 

However, they still kept a safe distance from Sun Wukong. They knew that the Monkey King had thrown caution to the wind and was prepared to fight them to the death. If only they knew that Sun Wukong was on borrowed time, perhaps they would have been more aggressive in their approach to capture the red-headed teenager and his entourage.