Spectral Regalia

Ch 103: Delusional

As if on cue, a large rock troll came dashing out from the nearby shrubbery and charged towards him with it's bare hands.

"Get lost...." He uttered to the creature before he slashed towards it. The air split and five claw blades shot towards the rock troll, which seemed too dumb to know what was happening. The attack wasn't anything special on Asura's part. As his claws retracted, at the same time several thumping sounds could be heard as the rock troll was dismembered, with its limbs falling onto the ground.

Raising his large palm, Nebula Mist surged out, engulfing the troll. He knew the creatures couldn't be eaten normally, but with Nebula Mist, nothing was off the menu. It would be converted to dark matter and used as energy.

Asura grumbled to himself before heading off again. During the two hour travel towards the area Erebus had thought the source of the trolls was, Asura encountered many more on the way, proving that Erebus was right.

"This makes the twentieth one. These bastards are so plentiful here.." He laughed heartily as he absorbed the corpses of three rock trolls that were ripped apart by his heavy claws. He suddenly stopped and sniffed, catching a heavy scent.

"this way it is then..." Leaving the corpses half absorbed, he rushed forward for a minute, before he came across a slight hill where there was a small fortress built upon the side of a mountain.

It was currently being sieged by just over a hundred or so rock trolls, throwing boulders at it from a distance. The moment they got close, they would be shot at by arrows that, although not doing much, still managed to pierce and sting them.

Asura, though, did not come to the aid of the fortress. He watched carefully. He could see from this distance that the fortress had many houses, which also meant people were living here and it wasn't just used as an outpost.

From the hill, as well as with his sight, he managed to catch glimpses of innocent civilians running about frantic and afraid. Women, children and elderly people alike. Of course, during his time with the Spectrals, Asura had grown slightly soft.

"If I help them, will it be the right thing for my people?... Hmmm." Asura began to weigh the pros and cons. He could see the rocks the trolls were throwing were already doing damage to the makeshift stone wall, as well as wooden palisades that had been constructed from the trees in the forest just west of the fortress. Asura's managed to catch onto something.

He could see that the forest had been cleared somewhat, and many trolls were coming out of it. ".. Could they have disturbed those rocky bastards' habitat?.." He considered it. He started to feel these creatures were territorial, but he wondered why they went so far as to go near the mountainous area where the Spectrals were living.

An loud roar shook the air. A towering creature dashed out, followed by many more rock trolls. This figure was indeed a rock troll, but much larger and more menacing. It had rocky protrusions that looked like small hills. A rock troll was a few metres tall, but this rock troll was a stunning sixteen, enough to tower over the walls of the fortress.

Asura's thoughts began to run wild. "-If I let the rock trolls kill them, maybe people will see this area as dangerous, and it will be less risky for the Spectrals...but if I let them live, maybe more people will come visit this area, and there's a high chance people will find us-"

The large rock troll grasped one of the fallen trees that had been abandoned during the troll invasion. It picked it up with ease and brandished it like a club as it rushed towards the fortress. It smashed the palisades in one hit, leaving only the makeshift stone wall to protect the people.

At the sight of their leader destroying the palisades, the other rock trolls roared out in victory, which only caused the humans in the fortress to panic. The guards were riddled with fear and looked as if they wanted to abandon their posts.