Odyssey of the Blind God

Gianna could clearly see that the darkness around the eight Originals, who pursued them, was moving.

A moment later, twisted ropes made out of strands of darkness shot out of the walls. Simultaneously, hands manifested out of darkness reached out from the ground, tightly grasping the eight Originals.

They were covered up by robes, just like Nial and Gianna, providing the hands of darkness a bigger range to grasp them.

None of the eight Originals had expected a surprise attack like the one they were currently facing.

The darkness around them was extremely gloomy and nobody could clearly tell what was going on.

Within moments, the surrounding temperature dropped drastically and the cold darkness ropes and hands of darkness that were reaching out for the Originals caused chills to run down their spines.

Nial's Pseudo-Domain worked wonders as the eight robed Originals were tightly restricted by the darkness ropes that held onto the wrists, upper arm, torso, and even their neck as the darkness hands gave them no chance to even move.

Nial was not able to see anything but he could clearly perceive the fear of the eight Originals as the gloominess infiltrated their bodies.

No one was able to think clearly. Even the Original with three Advanced Origin rings was affected by the subtle and barely traceable dark miasma that was constantly released by the darkness ropes, the hands of darkness, and the darkness that covered the ground and walls.

Their mind was influenced and so was their reaction, providing Nial and Gianna with the necessary opportunity to attack the eight robed Originals.

It wouldn't be too much to say that Gianna was shocked by the darkness that loomed over the eight Originals.

However, even if she was flabbergasted, this didn't mean that she was unable to pay attention to what was truly important.

Shrouding her blades in mana, she appeared in front of the closest Original.

He was not only the strongest, but his speed was the highest.

His physical strength was the Original's highest perk. This was also the reason why he could easily free himself from the ropes of darkness the moment he regained his senses.

Even if his senses were still fogged by the dark miasma that shrouded the entire dark alley by now, his combat experience and high rank were clearly showcased.

After letting out a powerful roar, the strongest of the eight pursuers dragged the others out of their fogged state.

Their mind was still blurred but they were finally able to move.

At the end of the day, the darkness ropes and hands of darkness had been created out of the little mana Nial possessed.

He had yet to reach the 10th Origin rank with his enlarged mana core, let alone create his first Superior Origin ring.

Thus, the Originals at the Prym rank were able to get hold of themselves the moment they understood that the darkness around them was merely scary and not as terrifying as they had expected.

For Mid and Late Prym ranked Originals, escaping the grasp of Nial's Pseudo-Domain was not impossible.

It was merely a slight nuisance that took them a second or two to overcome properly.

And these two seconds were more than enough for Gianna to evade the strongest Original, who had come back to his senses.

Her movements were similar to a snake as she made her way through the darkness ropes and hands of darkness before she found her first target.

The female butler's presence was barely traceable but by the time her opponents sensed her, they were already one step closer to death's doors.

Without hesitation, Gianna slashed out with the daggers in her hand. Her actions were devoid of mercy as the daggers impaled the black robe of the Original she had attacked.

The robe got soaked in a bright red color a moment later as she twisted the dagger in the body of her opponent.

Afterward, she finally retracted her weapon once again.

However, instead of retreating or moving aside, it seemed as if Gianna had disappeared from her previous location.

She reappeared next to the strongest Original, whom she had passed by a second before using her second ability.

[Memory Teleportation]

This ability was not only powerful but also quite difficult to use perfectly as one could be teleported back to one of the positions the person had been in one to three seconds before. This ability had a range limit as well but only the user truly knew the exact distance [Memory Teleportation] could teleport them to.

Her daggers were already dyed in the color of the Original's comrade, but it was still thirsting for more.

Thus, Gianna gave her weapon what it wanted- blood! With a decisive strike, her daggers pierced into the strongest Original's back.

He reacted with a lightning-fast speed and twisted his body while manifesting a shield in one hand and a longsword in his other.

Unfortunately, even before he could move around to block the robed Assassin's attack, darkness shrouded his eyes, while more than ten darkness ropes shot out of the ground once again.

Each darkness rope was tightly coiled around the shielded arm of the Original, further slowing him down.

The darkness ropes tore apart into shreds but that was not to Nial's concern.

He had already passed by the strongest Original and Gianna, while clearly perceiving that her daggers had already pierced into her opponent.

'She doesn't kill them… I guess I shouldn't do anything stupid either then.'

Nial didn't feel like killing the eight pursuers from the beginning. It was just not necessary because he could tell that they had been ordered to follow them and to rob him of his stuff.

He also knew that his attitude towards Tier-1 runic armaments had been too nonchalant, which was probably why one could easily assume that he had many runic armaments.

This was the truth but it was actually not something Nial wanted to share with others. It was only understandable that he wanted to avoid others from attacking him in the future.

Thus, making an example out of the first group of attackers should be the best way ahead.

'Well…making them fear me to death will have more effect than truly killing them.

Without hesitation, Nial pulled aside the robe and the mask he had been wearing and revealed what was behind it to everyone else.

Gianna was astonished to see Nial doing so as she turned her body to see how he was doing.

However, even if he revealed what was hidden behind his robe, it was not as if he had exposed his identity.

Darkness shrouded Nial's body like a skin-tight armor. On top of the skin-tight armor, Nial released his dark energy in a gaseous state, shrouding his lower body with it.

In less than a second, Nial's entire appearance had changed and it almost looked like Nial had become one with the darkness that shrouded the part of the dark alley they were in.

He was barely traceable by normal means, and each of his movements was scarier than the one before.

Gloominess and the presence of death and destruction seemed to accompany him on every single step.

This inflicted enough fear within the remaining six robed Originals to freeze them in place.

Their minds went blank for a few seconds and they were not able to do anything.

At that moment, Nial's milky, lifeless eyes that had been shrouded in darkness were revealed to the others.

However, instead of trying to figure out whether the lifeless eyes belonged to a blind person, or a living person, to begin with, the Originals were deeply struck.

If their will had been only a little bit weaker, they would have collapsed at this moment as numerous thoughts flashed through their minds.

'That's the Grim Reaper…'

'Death…we were trying to rob Death itself…'

'This… is that really a living being?'

Even if Nial didn't know anything about the Original's thoughts, he could clearly sense their fear and the desperation that filled their entire being.

None of the remaining Originals was able to control their mana anymore. It was impossible for them to activate their abilities, let alone to circulate mana through their body, at least not in a proper way.

They didn't believe that it was possible for them to feel such a distinct fear, not from an existence that had yet to create its first Origin ring.

However, their current emotions were not an illusion either. They were real and what they saw was extremely terrifying.

When Nial stepped toward the remaining six Originals, they tried to retreat. However, it was only at this moment that they noticed how their legs had been shrouded in darkness.

Numerous hands of darkness were reaching out for the Originals, tightly coiling around to hold them with all their might.

Nial's mana was nearly used up and he felt extremely exhausted while trying to hold them back but oddly enough he felt extremely satisfied after sensing the distinct fear of the Originals, who were ought to be stronger than him.

'Even if you guys trained your mana core and body, it looks like your mentality and willpower need to undergo some kind of training as well!'

Satisfied with everything he was currently sensing, whether it was the precise control of his dark miasma, or the fear he could instill in others, Nial took another step forward.

Simultaneously, he brandished the Dragonflame spear to the side, using the last remnants of mana to erupt into large dark energy flames.

The dark energy flame splashed against the wall where it spread out before dispersing in the dark alley.

However, that was not something the remaining six 'unscathed' Originals were able to perceive anymore because they were already running for their life.

They hadn't even realized that their lower body was not restricted anymore and that they could move freely.

The only thing on the six Originals' minds was to run, to run for their lives, and to never return.

Some even had tears running down their faces as they begged and prayed to all the Gods they could recall, hoping that this 'thing' wouldn't follow them.

Nial stopped moving when he saw that everyone was running for their life. His brain felt as if it was being hammered upon and his mana had been used up completely.

Even retracting the darkness around him was not possible anymore to replenish some of his mana.

Thus, he could only take out a mana replenishment potion to substitute his lack of mana with the potion.

"That felt great." Nial could only mumble after he finished the contents of a second bottle.

He was wearing his robe once again and perceived what exactly Gianna had done to the two other Originals.

They had been the strongest Originals, and also those with the highest mental strength.

However, that was of no concern to Gianna and Nial anymore because they had been knocked out quite some time ago.

Gianna was already being generous by sparing their lives. And upon seeing what Nial had done to his opponents, she truly felt that her actions had been lenient.

'Even killing his opponents would have been better than traumatizing them like this…' Gianna merely thought before taking a second glance at Nial.

He was wearing his mask and robe once again, and the presence he radiated had changed as well.

'Just…what kind of monster did my Master pick up again??'