TBATE Volume 7
Author: Unknown
Date: 2020-06-23T18:00:00+00:00

This book will include all the chapters for volume 7 on the internet,

they will later be edited and released on Amazon as official eBooks.

-EyezOnly

Chapter 195: Next Stage

STEFFAN VALE

“Oh, Great Vritra,” I muttered under my breath, watching a shield lose his footing, almost getting trampled in the process.

“Shields, keep up those defensive panels! Don’t let any of the beasts stray off,” I barked out before looking down at the mysterious black ore I had been ordered to break once the beasts were all inside the Elshire Forest.

I watched as hundreds of corrupted beasts were herded through the walls of translucent panels casted by teams of shields. It was a peculiar sight as monsters that would normally be nowhere near each other walked sluggishly abreast. hound-sized spiders, large wolves and even serpents with heads on both ends ‘marched’ together, unaware of what was going on. Several unads served to protect each of the shields just in case any of the beasts broke free.

Even unads have their purposes. Better one of them dies than a mage.

I cast my eyes on the ironclad unads wielding ordinary weapons of steel, unable to even strengthen them. Pitiful.

I turned to the sentry assigned to my force, a lanky man with bangs that covered his eyes. “Can you get a read inside the forest?”

He put his palms to the ground before clicking his tongue. “My range is cut to a fourth inside there.”

“Looks like you’ll have to go in with us,” I sighed.

He stepped away from me. “W-What? That’s not what—”

Before he could finish, I grabbed the ‘precious’ sentry by the scruff of his neck. “Look. I don’t care if you sentries think you’re precious because of your perverted voyeuristic magic. You’ll be safe with my personal shield and caster.”

“A-All right, but if anything happens to me…”

The boy’s idle threats were laughable by his trembling.

Merciful Vritra, how can he even see himself as a soldier if he’s scared to go anywhere near a battle.

“You’ll be fine,” I stressed, letting go of his collar. “Now form the mental link with me, and me only. Something tells me you’re not very good at multitasking.”

The sentry nodded, placing two fingers on my temple and concentrating.

‘C-Can you hear me?’ a familiar voice rang directly in my head.

How is it that you stutter even inside your head, I thought.

‘Just so you know, I can only do a one-way line of mental communication so I won’t be able to hear back from you.’

“Okay,” I said aloud, holding back the urge to roll my eyes. Despite his shortcomings, having a sentry is a big bonus in that my shield and caster won’t have to stay as close to me and rely on feedback from the sentry.

Turning my attention back to the task at hand, I watched as teams of mages stood on standby as more and more of the corrupted beasts disappeared into the thick, hazy forest that was home to the elves in Dicathen. As soon as the last of the monsters herded out from the Northern Beast Glades were deep inside the dense array of trees, I held up the black ore.

“Una—nonmages, front line positions with weapons out. Strikers, behind them with your shields and casters nearby. Prepare to charge at a given notice!” I ordered as everyone shuffled into place.

I didn’t know how those corrupted beasts were sedated but the artifacts entrusted to me seemed to work like a charm. As soon as I shattered the ore, releasing the effects of my control, vicious growls, snarls, and roars broke out from within the forest.

Several unads carrying supplies began handing out the vials of rancid liquid for everyone to spray on their clothes. Expensive and temporary, but it was the only way the corrupted beasts would not attack us.

Moments of tense silence ensued as everyone waited for my signal. I flexed my hands, eager to get in some action with my newly unlocked crest. It had yet been even a passing of a season since I had trained my initial mark to form my crest—truly praiseworthy for someone that had just turned eighteen—yet I found myself thirsting for more. Just like my father, I also wanted to be granted the privilege of entering the Obsidian Vault to hopefully acquire an emblem.

I looked forward to returning to Alacrya. I knew my father would survive the trials the Obsidian Vault gave to those that entered and I wanted nothing more than to see what sort of emblem he would come out with.

Perhaps he’ll be blessed with a legendary regalia! If that happens, our House of Vale will soar within all of Vechor, perhaps even within all of Alacyra.

I knew that my father wouldn’t be able to get a regalia. While considered young, he was still only a mid-tier mage after all—the same as me, albeit twice my age. While I respected his strength and talent, he was still a shield. I allowed myself a faint smile that only lasted but a brief second when a loud crash resounded from the distance. With my basic senses enhanced by my crest, I was able to hear faint yells from what could only be by the elves patrolling the area.

Taking a glance behind me to make sure that the signaling artifact was in place to guide us back out of the forest, I readied myself.

“Charge!” I roared out cladding my whole body in mana—another perk of my newly acquired crest.&nbsp;

The nonmages charged without any doubt or reluctance while even the mages strode forth with unusual vigor.

Taking just a quick moment to look down, I realized it was probably the soft glow emanating from my body that filled my troops with confidence. Confidence that stemmed from both my strength and mentality. It didn’t matter if the Dicathiens had strange, versatile magic. For me, this was just a mission to succeed in and to receive more achievements—achievements that will further my blood waiting for me back home.&nbsp;

I weaved through the maze of trees, unable to even see my own feet because of the dense fog. However, it was easy to spot the battle between the elves and the corrupted mana beasts we had let loose on their land.

Though outnumbered, the elves were holding their own fairly well against the rabid beasts. Glowing arrows shot with astonishing accuracy fell beast after beast, small or large. Several elven soldiers were even able to control the trees around them to trap and choke several of the larger beasts.

One enemy mage stuck out. An older female with blonde hair that flowed out of her helmet. She had no weapons but from her hands came out deadly blades of wind that were able to splice several beasts at once.

That was my target.

“Seren, focus shields on me and stay at a distance with Mari. Sent—Ashton, stick close to them and relay my position in case I’m in danger,” I ordered, picking up my pace. Polygonal panels of mana hovered around me, ready to defend against any projectiles while a faint hum sounded from behind as Mari began charging her magic.

I channeled mana through my crest, an action that was as natural as breathing by now. Unsheathing my sword, strengthened by a famed instiller, I ignited the weapon with a jagged fire that tore and seared rather than burned.

I circulated more mana through my crest and out to the rest of my body to strengthen my limbs. Power rushed through me as I dashed forward into the thick of the battle like a true striker. My sword buzzed, glowing brightly like a beacon to my troops as I neared the first elf in my path.

The lean elf with short hair and stern brows turned to me, eyes widening. His mouth moved and wind began gathering around his dual daggers but it was too late.

I guess it’s true that mages of Dicathen, while versatile, were slow. How inefficient and primitive.

My sword tore through the daggers that he had crossed together to defend himself with before slashing into his torso. Unexpectedly, I felt my sword go through a layer of mana.

So even weak mages like him were able to clad himself in mana. How odd.

I didn’t waste another breath as I finished off the impaired elf. Taking a quick moment to look around, I saw that many other of my mages had already engaged with the enemy elves. As predicted, the tides were rapidly turning in our favor. The corrupted beasts were deadly in that they didn’t care for their own safety and viciously attacked anything in their way.

As I neared closer to the elf using wind-blade magic, Ashton’s voice rang once more in my head.

‘Her mana readings are a bit different, b-but she should be around the lower end of a mid-tier mage. &nbsp;Your caster is readying her spell to single-target. Proceed with caution, and I’ll let you know when to get out of the way.’

So this is what it’s like to have a sentry—even a half-baked one—accessible. No wonder they’re considered valuable despite not having a single form of offensive or defensive magic.

The flame magic that had been unlocked through my mark after the awakening ceremony allowed my flames to take on a jagged quality that tore away at anything in its path. A rare, upper mid-tier mark. However, after I had mastered this magic to the point that I could evolve it to a crest, I was able to utilize it in a whole new way.

Dropping my speed, I sheathed my sword and circulated more mana through my crest. My body erupted, covering me in an armor of fire while releasing four floating sickles of jagged flames. They orbited around me, ready to strike with a very thought as I concentrated entirely on controlling them.

The female elf clad in armor let loose another blade of wind, killing yet another two beasts before turning her full attention on me.

Unlike the previous elf I had just killed, her mouth didn’t move while she let loose a blade of wind at me.

‘S-Shield prepared to guard the attack. Proceed,’ the sentry informed.

I stepped off, my movement empowered by the flames enveloping my body. The polygonal shields layered in front of me, prepared to take on the wind blade. The first panel broke upon impact and the second one cracked, but withstood the attack before wind dissipated.

Using that opportunity, I was able to get in range to send my sickles out to my opponent.

‘A arrow incoming from left. Duck!’

Without hesitation, I fell to the ground. That broke my concentration in controlling the flying sickles of flame, but I was able to dodge the mana-clad arrow as it whizzed above me. Just by the sound it made, I knew that relying on the shield was a risk better not taken.

I need to end this fast. I don’t want to waste too much mana on just a single enemy.

The drawback of using the full form of my crest was that it took a lot of mana to keep up. Not to mention that each of the three sickles took up additional mana to maintain; something I need to improve upon if I want to be able to control more sickles.

Pushing off with both my hands and feet, I dashed toward the elf, who was just about to release another blade.

I sent a single sickle down on her gathered hands. Despite the speed of my blitz attack, she was able to dodge my sickle in time to save her hands from getting sliced off. However, that allowed me to bury a flame-clad fist right into her breastplate, shattering it and sending her flying backward and into a tree.

Releasing my flame-clad form to save mana, I drew my blade to end the elf when a terrifying presence gripped at my very soul.

‘S-S-Steffen. G-Get out of there. Now!’

I wanted to. I wanted nothing more than to get of here, but I found myself on my knees, clawing at my chest because I couldn’t breathe.

What in Great Vritra’s name is this suffocating presence?

I tried to crawl away—that was all I could manage. I cared not to save my appearances. If I didn’t get out of here, I knew that I wouldn’t even live to feel shame.

That was when a person landed in front of me.

I looked up to see the boy, his long auburn hair tied messily behind him with striking blue eyes that radiated power. He gazed down at me with an annoyance that wasn’t even directed to me.

I was the son of Karnal Vale, heir to the House of Vale, yet in front of this boy that appeared no older than me, I was nothing.

My body trembled and convulsed as a palpable power radiated from him and weighed down on me.

Just then, however, I heard a slight hum before a beam of pure frost bombarded the boy. I flinched and tried to roll away to not get caught up in the blast.

A fleeting sense of hope allowed me to get back on my legs as I tried to run away, but before I could even get in two steps, a searing pain radiated from my right arm and the ground slid out from under me.

I toppled forward, unable to get up. Looking behind me, I could only see a pool of crimson spreading from where my arm used to be. Desperate, I used my only able arm to try and crawl, somehow unable to get up. My eyes searched for my teammates, only to see Seren, Mari and Ashton fleeing away.

My vision dimmed as I found myself eye-level with the roots sprouting from the ground, my last thoughts being how it wasn’t supposed to end like this.

ARTHUR LEYWIN

I surveyed the surroundings. The once lush green forest was splattered with blood and corpses. Even the thick fog did little to cover up the aftermath of the battle.

“Thank you, General Arthur, for your aid,” the female elf that I had barely saved said, her voice hoarse and in pain.

My eyes fell to the elven soldiers that had died trying to protect their home. “I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner. This could’ve all been avoided had I arrived before the beasts were herded into the forest.”

The elf shook her head. “Please don’t apologize. The outcome of this battle would’ve been very different had you not come at all. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to help and gather my men.”

Keeping her armor on, the elf ran off, checking for any signs of life while more elves arrived to help.

Is this what Agrona meant when he said the war is progressing to the next stage?

This marked the first attack on Elven territory, and even if this particular strike had failed, it had done its job.

Until now, only Sapin had taken the brunt of the attack, which made it easy to allocate resources to a central place, but now that our enemies are striking elsewhere as well, how will the Council choose to handle this?

I’ll have to check up on General Aya to see if she needs help, I thought before looking down at the Alacryan that I had managed to keep alive. I had severed his dominant arm but otherwise kept him able. The healthier he is now the longer he’ll last during the information extraction.

“You. Soldier carrying the weapons,” I called out to a nearby elf who had been assigned to collect his fallen comrades’ belongings.

The young elf looked down at weapons in his arms before realizing that he was the one being called to. “Y-Yes, General Arthur?”

I pointed down to the Alacryan on the ground. “Bring this one to the camp and wrap up his wounds so he doesn’t bleed out.”

There was a look of disdain that passed through the elf’s face, but he quickly hid it and dipped his head in understanding.

“Oh, and make sure he doesn’t kill himself before I interrogate him,” I added as the elf picked the wounded enemy up.

“Yes sir!” he said with renewed vigor, knowing that his enemy will perhaps have a fate worse than death.

Chapter 196: Questioning

Letting out a sigh, I sank down on deep moss and leaned back against a tree. I pulled out a water skin and took a long sip, letting the cold water sit in my mouth before I gulped it down.

There was a faint glow now as the sun came up. Looking at the sky covered in trees, I took in the view of lush green with specks of orange peeking through to provide a little warmth in this damp and cold forest.

Distracting my mind from thinking of the upcoming task that I would have to undergo, I thought back to a few days ago. Despite the weighty conversation that I had with Agrona, things seemed to be getting better.

My core had advanced to white, and every moment my body acclimated to the change, I felt stronger. The scars around on my neck and wrist hadn’t disappeared but had become noticeably lighter. My legs that had endured several substantial injuries felt lighter than before.

I knew that my body hadn’t physically changed. This meant that I still couldn’t use any sequence of Mirage Walk, including Burst Step, without accruing damage to my lower body, but using organic magic, magic that was didn’t have a set purpose predisposed by gestures or chants, had become infinitely more natural and with it a method of becoming even stronger.

Sylvie, on the other hand, didn’t have it as easy. While she looked younger than my sister in her new form, she had the coordination of a toddler.

Her frustration was visible as she frequently tripped over her own foot or lost balance for no apparent reason while standing still. Perhaps even more amusing than her stumblings was her attempts at using her newly-acquired thumbs. More than once did a maid have to clean broken plates and shelf decors in the room.

I let out a chuckle, still clearly able to picture the faces of everyone when they saw Sylvie in her human form for the first time. Everyone had taken it a different way.

Kathyln’s eyes had widened as she bolted away from my door while repeatedly apologizing for the intrusion, leaving Hester with an amused grin as I tried to explain.

My sister had pointed at me with a trembled finger, asking when Tessia and I had a child together. While I didn’t blame her since Sylvie did have this sheen wheat-colored quality to her hair that might have been a result of a shade of brown mixing with gunmetal silver, but I responded as any older brother would. I smacked the back of Ellie’s head and asked her how Sylvie could’ve been my child if she looked only a few years younger than her. At the mention of Sylvie’s name, my sister turned ecstatic and the two have been spending more time with each other ever since.

Virion’s reaction had been relatively muted; he seemed to have sensed it was Sylvie the moment he walked into the room. That didn’t mean he was going to pass up the opportunity for a witty remark though. Rubbing his chin in thought while muttering that he now knew my preference counted as such.

Surprisingly, though, Emily’s reaction had disturbed me the most. The way she turned beet red and covered her mouth was reasonable enough, but she just stood there in the doorway, her curved lips peeking out from behind her hands.

It was a duly noted reminder to me to introduce a boy to the poor lonely artificer.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I let out a deep breath. I had left Sylvie behind since she was still getting used to the changes to her body in her new form now that the seal her mother had placed on her was broken, and while I felt isolated here despite the activity going around from the aftermath of the recent battle, I knew I made the right decision.

I didn’t want her—I didn’t want anyone I knew—to see what I would have to do to the boy I had kept alive.

I just hope that things are better on General Aya’s side, I thought.

The two of us were ordered to confirm and aid in the defense against the attacks of the Alacryans assuming that the messenger’s news was correct.

With my eyes still closed, I took in the symphony of sounds. Birds sang in varying notes while insects harmonized with their chirps and drones, all accompanied by the background of rustling leaves.

“Maybe it’s actually more peaceful here than in the castle,” I muttered optimistically, imagining the chaos in the meeting room right now as the members of the Council fought for the proper distribution of soldiers and mages now that significant attacks weren’t just happening on Sapin’s doorsteps.

“General Arthur!” a familiar voice called out from a distance, prying my eyes open.

It was the elf that I had ordered to carry the Alacryan. He ran toward me deftly, never missing a footing despite the unevenness of the ground. “The Alacryan has awoken!”

I rose to my feet, patting the dirt off of my clothes. I prepared my mind, reaching out for the emptiness that would help me interrogate the enemy without remorse or sympathy, all the while trying to bury the memory of my past when the situation was reversed. “Strip the prisoner and remove everyone else from the room.”

***

The encampment of the elven troops was in the middle of a small clearing that seemed unnatural just a few hundred yards north of the battle. Or so I thought. My senses even at white-core weren’t fully accustomed to the direction-disturbing effects of the Elshire Forest.

By the holes in the ground that had been packed with fresh dirt and the trees that seemed to be unusually dense just outside the camp, it seemed like the elves had a mage with strong wood affinity to manipulate the trees like this. Tents of thick fabric filled the clearing while elven soldiers moved about in activity.

A few bowed when our eyes met, while others glanced wearily at the human kid that was perhaps several times more powerful than the entire camp combined.

The elf pointed ahead. “This way, General. The Alacryan is in the tent at the rear. Our head is waiting just outside.”

I saw the large canopy made up of twisted roots and branches and a thick cloth draping over it. A swirling dome of wind covered the wooden tent and waiting with her attention to the entrance of the tent, arms out and mana continually circulating inside her, was the same armored woman that I had managed to save from the prisoner himself.

Upon seeing our arrival, she visibly relaxed and held out a hand. “I forgot to introduce myself earlier. My name is Lenna Aemaris, head of the southeastern unit in Elenoir.”

“Arthur Leywin.” I shook her hand before turning to the tent. “He’s able to talk?”

A look of disgust traced Lenna’s face. “He’s been screaming and yelling since waking up, which is why I had to put up a wind barrier. It’ll also give you some privacy.”

“Thank you.” I took a calm breath, dissociating myself from the events about to unfold as I walked through the sound protecting barrier without disrupting the spell—a feat that was much harder than it appeared. I wouldn’t think of myself as Arthur right now. I was an interrogator from this moment.

Inside, my ears were already filled with an angry boy shouting idle threats.

“My arm! Where’s my arm? If you primitive beasts know what’s good for you, you’ll untie me. I am of blood Vale, a distinguished family of the—”

My hand cracked across his face, snapping it back with the force of the blow.

The boy looked at me, stunned. “Y-You… You slapped me! What’s your name? I’ll have you—”

I bent forward after slapping him once more to lock eyes with the boy. “I don’t think you truly understand the gravity of the situation you are in, so allow me to enlighten you.”

I stepped down on his pinky toe until a sharp ‘crack’ could be heard.

The boy screamed and flailed but the chair he was tied to never faltered.

I stared, deadpan, as he struggled to cope. A few moments later, I could feel him cycle mana to his broken toe, trying to heal and alleviate some of the pain.

Good. The boy will last a while.

Despite strengthening his body with mana, I broke another one of his toes. Again, a shrill cry tore out of the boy’s throat as his eyes watered.

I removed my foot from his toe and waited another moment. Then, I stepped on and broke another one of his toes.

His shouts and curses soon turned to sobs and pleas to stop, but he wasn’t completely broken yet.

I moved my foot from his toes, just below his ankles, and stepped down. A series of ‘cracks’ and ‘snaps’ resounded along with the boy’s piercing shriek.

“Pl-Please. Why are you doing this? What do you want? I’ll give you anything,” he muttered in between sobs as he stared at his mangled left foot.

“Your name,” I demanded without emotion.

“Why do you need to know—” the boy let out another howl as his left fibula snaps in two. “Steffan! Steffan Vale. Please… no more.”

“Steffan. Even from a glimpse, I know your family—or blood, as you call it—is distinguished, meaning you are as well. Unlike the other soldiers we’ve captured so far, you’ve made no attempts to kill yourself and wish dearly to live. Am I correct so far?”

“Yes!” he blurted. Not giving his interrogator an excuse to break another bone.

I chose my words carefully before speaking. “I won’t kill you if you cooperate. In what condition you make it back home, however, will depend on how helpful you are and how honestly you answer my questions. Do you understand?”

He nodded fiercely.

“A few of your troops have survived and safely escaped, but I strongly advise you get rid of the hope that the number of forces they can muster up and bring back here will not be strong enough to aid you.” The mana that I had grown accustomed to restraining was set loose.

The thick roots and branches making up the tent cracked and snapped under the full weight of a white core mage letting loose. The ground splintered as rubble shook below our feet.

As for Steffan, he was having a hard time breathing even while meager amounts of mana cycled profusely throughout his body. His bloodshot eyes bulged as his mouth gaped like a fish out of water until I withdrew my mana back.

“I-I under… understand,” he stammered, unable to even muster up the strength to be embarrassed by the foul, acrid stench emanating from between his legs.

“Good.” I nodded, taking a step away. I thought of going straight to the more pressing questions, but I wanted to see if he was actually telling the truth.

“List all of the males in the Vale house and your relationship to them.”

The boy looked fearful for a second, most likely thinking that I would use this information to kill off his entire house, but with a quick reassurance that killing his family wasn’t my intention, he succumbed. Steffan rattled off a list of names that had no meaning to me besides that they were some distant cousin or uncle until one name that I could verify came up. “... Izora Vale, my mother. Karnal Vale, my father. Lucia Vale, my sister.”

I put up a hand to stop him.

“What is the awakening process?”

“The awakening is the ceremony that unlocks the children their first mark so that they can become a mage,” Steffan answered, his voice hoarse.

“What is the difference between a crest and a mark?” I asked, remembering the terms from my glimpse into Uto’s memories through his horn.

The boy recited his reply like he’d memorized it out of a textbook. “A crest is stronger. Symbolizes a greater understanding of the specified route of magic that the mark enables the mage to utilize...”

My curiosity was beginning to win over me; I wanted to learn more about Steffan’s continent, but I could tell he was starting to withdraw. It would be a lot harder to get him motivated to answer my questions the longer this went, and without an emitter to keep him alive, it was a risk I couldn’t take now.

Again, I chose the words very carefully for this question. I wanted Steffan to think I had a partial idea and only wanted him to confirm. That was the best way to get truthful answers out of him.

“What stage is above marks and crests?” I said, gripping his leg in warning as his eyes began to shut.

“A-After crests are emblems, and then regalias,” he said hurriedly.

“How strong are mages with regalias compared to retainers?”

“I-I don’t know! My family’s highest power is my grandfather, and he’s only an emblem mage—I swear on the name of Vritra!”

“Swear on the name of Vritra,” I echoed distastefully. I’ve heard a saying similar inside the cavern in Darv. It seems the Vritra are considered almost like gods in Alacrya.

“Do you know how many emblem and regalia-holders are on Dicathen currently?”

He shook his head. “My commander is is an emblem mage but I know that he answers to a regalia-holder. I don’t know the exact numbers.”

I let out a sigh. This boy is too low in rankings to be of any use. From the sound of it, the House of Vale that he so proudly proclaimed wasn’t even very high up in Alacrya either.

Asking a few questions pertaining specifically to the orders that had been given to him, I found out that several other troops were heading north to Elshire Forest just like I had feared.

The last question I asked was more for my own curiosity, but it turned out to be the most useful knowledge that I had gained from Steffan.

“Please… let me go now. You promised. I answered every one of your questions truthfully!” The boy’s shoulders sagged, and the stump that used to be his right arm was bleeding through the bandages.

“Like I said. I won’t kill you.” With those last words, I left the tent.

Waiting for me was Lenna, the elven woman that led the troops here. I took in the sights of the encampment. Waves of elven soldiers were arriving, some carrying bloodied allies, while others moved what was left of their comrades’ corpses.

I stepped forward, stopping beside her. She flinched when our eyes met, but she remained silent, waiting for my orders.58

My gaze remained cold, not wanting even a shred of emotion to get in my way as I spoke.

“I’m done. Feel free to dispose of the Alacryan how you see fit.”&nbsp;

Chapter 197: Torn

My eyes shot open from a sharp sting on my cheek, only to see a blinding light aimed straight at my face.

Immediately, my heart started to pound as my mind scrambled to make sense of what was going on. I tried to get up, but both my hands and feet were bound to the chair I was sitting on.

“Grey. Can you hear me?” a dark silhouette behind the fluorescent light used in hospitals asked calmly.

“Where am I? Wh-Who are you?” I managed, my throat dry and burning.

“What is the last thing you remember?” a different shadowed figure growled, ignoring my questions. He had a larger frame than the one who had asked the previous question, but I couldn’t make out any other details aside from that.

My head throbbed as I tried to recollect the memories, but eventually I was able to sort them out. “I… I had just won the tournament.”

I was slowly adjusting to the light, able to make out more details of the room I was in and the figure standing in front of me.

“What else?” the man said calmly.

“I accepted an offer to be mentored by a powerful person,” I let out, hoping my ambiguity would go unnoticed.

“What is the name of this powerful woman and what is your relationship with her?” the man asked. The fact that he knew she was a woman made me think he was either testing me, or he already knew the truth.

I pulled at what felt like a thick metal wire tied around my wrists. Seeing as even my strength reinforced with ki did nothing, I answered. “I only know her as Lady Vera, and I just met her.”

“Lies,” the larger man, that I now could make out had long slicked-back hair, hissed. He raised a hand, as if to strike me, but the thinner man stopped him.

“What happened after you won the tournament, Grey?” he then asked, his voice never showing any signs of emotion.

I winced, trying to remember. “I think I headed back to my dorm room, right after.”

Lady Vera had said before we parted that she’d contact me once things settled down, but better to not tell these men more information than they ask for.

I was jolted out of my thoughts when the larger, long-haired grasped my entire neck with a single hand and lifted me—and the chair—off the ground.

“Again, lies!” he said, his face now close enough to mine to make out more details. He had scars all across his face, making his already-intimidating face even more frightening. “It’d be wise to just tell us the organization that sent you to protect the legacy.”

Organization? Legacy?

I couldn’t make sense of their accusations but with my throat unable to even gasp for air, I was left gagging in the man’s grasp until his thinner companion smacked away the hand that was choking me.

Anchored down by the chair I had been tied to, I fell helplessly on the ground. I lost consciousness for a split second when my head snapped and hit the cold hard floor.

When I came to, I had been put back upright, face-to-face with the thinner man that somehow scared me more than the large scarred abomination.

He had short cropped hair and eyes that looked more hollow than a dead fish. A single look into his eyes made me doubt that the man even had emotions to hide.

His eyes remained locked on mine for a split second before his lips curved up into a smile that didn’t quite reach his dead eyes.

He turned around and walked away. “Strip him while I get the white phosphorus.”

The larger man sneered as he tore off the old shirt I had worn to bed and the goose-print pajama pants that Headmaster Wilbeck had gotten me as a joke for my birthday.

“I believe you have some information that we need. Fortunately for you, this means that we need you alive for now.” The thinner man came back, wearing gloves. In his hands was a small metal cube. “If you’re truly who we suspect you are, then you might have prepared for this. If by some mistake, we’ve made an error and everything that we considered as evidence was simply coincidence, then…well... you’ll be experiencing something that you’ll never forget.”

“What? What are you talking about?” I said, still bleary from the recent head trauma.

“This will be easy,” the thin man smiled as he dipped a gloved finger into the metal cube. “I won’t even ask you any questions yet.”

He smeared a line of shiny silver paste just below my ribs, and brought out a lighter.

“W-Wait. What are you doing? Please,” I begged, still unable to even process how everything was unfolding.

The man didn’t talk. He just lowered the small flame onto the silver paste. As soon as the fire touched the substance, a pain that I didn’t even know existed erupted.

A scream tore out of my throat as my body convulsed from the searing torment that remained concentrated to where the paste was smeared.

I had gotten burned before, but compared to the sensation eating away at my skin right now, those memories actually felt pleasant.

It seemed like hours as the pain somehow seemed to grow worse. During this time, my screams turned hoarse and the tears that flooded down my face had dried and crusted.

Finally, the pain began to subside, only for the thin man—the demon—to apply another line of the silver paste on a different section of my body.&nbsp;

“P-Please,” I wept. “Don’t do this.”

The man remained silent and lit another hellish fire on my body.

I screamed. My mind screamed.

Every part of my body spasmed and twitched, doing whatever it could to expel this torment but all for naught.

Thoughts questioning whether I was going to die soon turned to thoughts hoping I’d die.

I couldn’t tell how many times the demon sauntered back to me with that wretched silver paste of his, but this time he stood still. He didn’t immediately smear my body with the paste again, but rather just locked eyes with me.

I jumped at this chance. If it meant that I would be free of the pain, I would do anything.

“I-I’ll tell you whatever you want. Anything. Everything!’ I pleaded, my voice barely coming out as a whisper.

“That’s better,” he smiled sincerely, somehow making his face even more twisted than before.

“Now, I’m going to paint you a little story and you’re going to help fill in the gaps for me. Any attempts at lying or withholding any truths will unfortunately lead me to put this in places more… sensitive. Am I clear?” The thin demon held up the container of what he called white phosphorus and waved it in front of me.

Without even the necessary saliva to swallow, I simply nodded.

“Your name is Grey, with background checks confirming you to be an orphan under refuge by one of the many institutions of this country. Headmistress Olivia Wilbeck had been taking care of you since infancy and the orphanage was what you considered home. Am I on track so far, Grey?”

I nodded again.

“Bring the boy a glass of water,” the thin man replied, seemingly pleased by my obedience.

The larger companion held a dirty cup against my mouth. The water was stale and musty, as if they’d wrung a wet dog, but it still felt like bliss against my parched mouth and throat.

The bulky man pulled away the cup when I had only finished half, making me crane my neck forward to try and suck as much water before he pulled it completely out of reach.

“Moving on—and this was where I was hoping you’d start filling in the gaps…” he said as if I had a choice. “What military institution trained you to be the legacy’s protector, because there wasn’t anything on official records.”

I furrowed my brows, confused. “I’ve only barely finished my second year at Wittholm Military Academy. I’ve had no previous training before.”

“So you’re telling me that you managed to defeat two professionally trained ki combatants without prior training?” the thin man asked, his voice getting dangerously low.

“I had help from my friends, but yes,” I said, mustering up as much confidence as I could.

“And so you’re telling me Olivia Wilbeck, that calculating shrew, allowed the legacy to simply walk out in public with two children that had no prior training?”

“What is this legacy you keep saying? I’ve never seen that thing in my life!” I pleaded.

The thin man regarded me silently for a moment. “There are just two things I really want to know, Grey. What organization sent you to protect the legacy, and to what extent is the country of Trayden providing assistance to you and the legacy by publicly announcing Lady Vera as your mentor?”

My mind spun for answers. I had no idea what organization he was talking about and what the country of Trayden had anything to do with whatever this legacy was.

Before I could answer, the man let out a sigh. He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he walked toward me. “I really hoped you’d stay true to your word and cooperate. If you hesitate like this, I can only assume you’re trying to make up an answer.”

He dipped his gloved fingers in the cube and smeared a line of the silver paste on the inside of my bare thighs.

“P-Please. I don’t know,” I pleaded once more, fresh tears rolling down my cheeks once more. “I don’t know!”

Hellfire ignited on the soft flesh of my thighs, the heat reaching up to my crotch.

I couldn’t tell if I was screaming after a while. My ears seemed to have tuned out my own yells. I thought the pain was unbearable, but I guess my body didn’t think so. No matter how badly I wanted to lose consciousness, I stayed awake, enduring the full brunt of the controlled flames.

But that wasn’t even the worst part. It was the part where the thin demon would come after a while and pause before wordlessly igniting another part of my body on fire.

Every time he walked toward me, I was both afraid and hopeful. Afraid that he’d induce more pain, and hopeful that this would be the time that he’d finally talk again and relieve me from this hell.

Time seemed so foreign to me. I couldn’t tell whether it was going by fast or slow inside this dark, windowless room. The bright light aimed constantly at my face didn’t allow my eyes to make out details of the room. No distraction to help me ease the pain.

What snapped me out of my stupor was the sound of footsteps approaching me. I readied myself to plead, to beg at the thin man, but I realized a third person had come inside the room.

“What th—”

The large man slumped after taking a quick strike from the third figure.

The thin demon lashed out with a weapon I couldn’t make out but was suddenly sent flying back.

The third figure walked toward me, turning off the light.

The world splotched white until my eyes were able to adjust.

“You’re safe now, kid,” the figure said, kneeling down.

It was Lady Vera.

ARTHUR LEYWIN

Gales of wind tore past me as I flew above the clouds. Reaching white core had come with an abundance of perks and manipulating ambient mana effectively enough to take flight was one of them. Had I tried to do something like this while still in silver, I would’ve drained my own core minutes into a journey.

Now, I was filled with the surreal feeling of the mana around me lifting me up into the sky. Still, while the sensation was exhilarating, my head swam with thoughts from last night’s dream.

I had assumed that interrogating the Alacryan was what brought out that unwanted memory, but with how frequently I’ve been having these detailed memories of my former life, I couldn’t help but grow worried and frustrated. Still, I had made a vow when I was born into this world that I wouldn’t live a life like my previous one. And until I could get a better explanation of why these memories were coming back, I decided to just consider them as reminders of my failures.

Besides, it wasn’t like I could see a therapist here.

I mustered a smile at the thought of myself laying on a couch, talking about my problems to a professional with a clipboard, when I looked back at toward Elshire Forest. A tinge of guilt surfaced in my stomach for leaving them so hastily.

Lenna and her soldiers are better off with General Aya staying behind since she can actually navigate within the forest, I reassured myself. After meeting up with the elven lance, we exchanged our findings in-depth. We had decided that I was to report back to the Castle while she remained as support until further orders by the Council.

I didn’t exactly report back to the Castle, but I did send a brief report through a transmission scroll that Lenna had on hand and informed Virion that I was going to make a small detour.

The transmission scroll will give them enough to work off of and the information I learned from the Alacryan will be more useful here, I thought as I stared at the snow-capped peaks of the Grand Mountains jutting out of the clouds.

Even this high up, I could hear the distant echoes of battle raging beneath. Muffled explosions, hums of magic, and the faint cries of various undistinguishable beasts resounded, muddled by the screams and yells of people fighting them.

For some reason, I was nervous. The lances rarely came to the Wall because there has yet to be any sightings of any retainers or scythes. The day-to-day battles that raged on by the wall were mages and soldiers alike facing corrupted beasts that mindlessly tried to charge through and break the line of defense.

I’d read many reports coming from the Wall and even made some changes to their fighting structure. Yet, this would be the first time I’d be there in person. This was where battles were going on almost daily, producing seasoned soldiers out of new recruits that were still wet on the nose—if they survived.

More importantly, this was where Tess and her unit were stationed. They were part of the assault division responsible for infiltrating dungeons and getting rid of corrupted beasts below and wipe out any teleportation gates that the Alacryan have been planting to transport more soldiers.

Reaching the Grand Mountains, I slowly descended through the sea of clouds until I got a full aerial view of the battle ensuing below me. Streams and bolts of magic in various colors rained down from the wall while soldiers below fought of hordes of beasts that had managed to live through the elemental assaults.

Some stronger beasts unleashed magical attacks of their own, but its number and volumes paled compared to the collective efforts of all the mages in the Wall.

I continued my descent toward the Wall, concentrating on the numerous types of beasts on the battlefield that was dyed in shade of red darker than normal blood when I sensed a spell approaching me from behind.

Looking back over my shoulder, I saw the blast of fire as large as my body in diameter shooting toward me.

A tinge of annoyance was all that I managed to muster up before swatting at the spell, dispersing it effortlessly before speeding my descent to the upper levels of the Wall.

Softening my landing with a cushion of wind, I was met with a crowd of soldiers kneeling.

Closest to me was a barrel-chested man clad in full armor that was dented and dirty from obvious exposure in battle. He knelt down a few feet ahead of me, his hand holding down the head of a man that looked to be only a few years older than me.

“General! My sincerest apologies for my subordinate’s grave blunder. As we had not received word that a lance would be blessing us with his presence, he assumed you to be an enemy. I will reprimand and see to his punishment immediately,” the man clad in armor stated. His voice wasn’t loud but carried a presence that told me his battered armor wasn’t the only thing that showed he was a veteran.

I pried my gaze off the man that I assumed was the leader and looked at the boy whose head was forcibly pushed down into a bow. He was trembling while he gripped at his staff with enough strength to whiten his knuckles.

It’s been a while since I’ve been treated like this, I mused, taking a moment to savor the heads bowed in respect and probably fear.

It grew old after a few seconds.

I cleared my throat and walked toward the large man in armor. “No need. I came unannounced and from the Beast Glades so I can see how your subordinate thought I was an enemy.”

I paused, and bent down to match my gaze to the conjurer that had fired the spell at me. “But, next time when you see an unidentified and possible threat, you should immediately notify your superiors so that they can make the judgement. Understood?”

“Un-Understood, General!” He bolted upright into a salute, nearly clipping my chin in the process.

With a grin, I turned back to the armored man.

“Name and position,” I stated, walking past him toward the stairs.

“Captain Albanth Kelris of the Bulwark Division.” &nbsp;He trotted close behind.

“Well then, Captain Albanth Kelris, let’s talk strategy.”

Chapter 198: A City Within

VIRION ERALITH

I took a seat on the cushioned chair of gnarled wood, casting a weary gaze at the two royal pairs already poised to lash out at each other; the only thing keeping the four of them silent was their respect for me.

In front of me was a transmission scroll that held the contents of today’s meeting sent to me by Arthur. A creeping suspicion that the boy in question had decided not to come straight back in order to avoid this meeting bubbled inside my head, but I let it go with a sigh.

I forgive you, Arthur. I don’t want to be here either, I thought, taking a moment to appreciate the luxuriously decorated room.

With a cozy fire burning in the hearth and several light artifacts set in gold sconces along the walls, the room was cast in a warm, friendly atmosphere—as if to mock the subtle hostility surfacing from those present inside.

The last shred of natural light from the window to my left dimmed as the sun dipped below the clouds. I took that as my cue to start the meeting. “Take a seat. Let’s begin.”

There was a moment of silence while the four in the room with me looked at one another before the head of the Glayder family cleared his throat.

“Well, we’ve all been briefed on General Arthur and General Aya’s report, so I say we get right to it. I believe we should keep our forces as is and send reinforcement to the Elshire Forest on an as-needed basis,” Blaine said. Despite the human king’s sunken cheeks and unshaved state that covered the lower half of his face with the same crimson color as his hair, he spoke resolutely.

I remained silent and neutral, as was my job until all sides—which in this case, two—have explained their arguments.&nbsp;

“Councilman Blaine. Sending reinforcements on an as-needed basis to the border between the Beast Glades and the Elshire Forest suggests you don’t see the elven territory worthy of defending,” Merial intoned coldly.

Years of being part of the Council had shaped my once lively daughter-in-law into a sharp and cold diplomat.

“Oh, don’t twist my words, Councilwoman Merial,” Blaine rebutted. “The report stated two separate attacks, but it was coordinated to happen at the same time. This means that, so far, only one attack has been made into the elven territory. Compare that to the near-daily attacks happening on the Wall, shouldn’t it be obvious that protecting Sapin’s borders takes precedence?”

“No one is saying that the defense of the Elshire Forest should take precedence over Sapin,” Alduin said, composed. “However, much like how there are elven soldiers stationed at the Wall to help protect Sapin, there should be at least some form of defense on the Forest border’s, don’t you think?”

“The Elshire Forest is a form of defense,” Priscilla Glayder added, pointing with her finger to the lower portion of the forest on the map laid out in front of them. “The mana-laden fog itself has been a form of deterrence to everyone but elves since its existence. Even the attacks attempted yesterday would’ve failed eventually if you chose to ignore the intruders. The Alacryans and beasts would’ve gotten lost and starved themselves to death long before they reached any outskirt cities of Elenoir.”

“The forest itself is a part of the kingdom of Elenoir, and there are still tribes of elves housed outside of the cities,” Alduin stated, his voice growing louder. “With that same reasoning just now, Sapin would also be better off abandoning the wall and the small outpost cities near the border so that there’s less land to protect.”

“How can you even call that an adequate comparison!” Blaine roared, slamming his palms down on the roundtable. “The easiest way to the major cities of Elenoir is through the northern range of the Grand Mountains, from Sapin. If Sapin goes down, even the outer cities, the Alacryans will have far easier access to your lands as well!”

“Watch your tone, Councilman,” Merial snapped, her bright blue eyes growing dark. “You act as though the elves are in your debt when we have sent plenty of mages to help your forces fend off the Alacryans from your waters. If even a fourth of those soldiers were stationed to guard the forest borders, we wouldn’t even be needing this meeting.”

The former human queen spoke, her chilling voice soothing the heated argument. “The truth remains as it is. While you can say that the Elshire Forest is part of your kingdom, no cities or even towns have yet to see battle. Until such a need grows, sending troops will only weaken the borders that are continuously facing battles.”

Alduin rubbed the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. When he opened them, his emerald eyes locked into mine. “All we’re requesting is sending some of our men back to Elenoir so that they can defend their home.”

“There is no your men. Did you forget? The Council was formed to unite the three races because we predicted an outside threat. Our job is to stay impartial and lead the entire continent into a victory over the Alacryans, not just Elenoir,” Blaine rebutted before turning to face me. “I implore Commander Virion that he remains impartial for the sake of this war.”

“You talk of impartiality when you’ve been single-mindedly focused on what’s best for your kingdom!” Alduin argued, the tip of his ears turning red. “And if the whole sake of the Council was to unite the three races, yet one of the three races isn’t even present, doesn’t that defeat the whole point?”

“Enough!”

Those present in the room felt the palpable pressure that I cast on the place. Even Priscilla, with her core on the verge of turning silver, paled as she struggled.

“I’ve heard both sides, and before you further degrade yourselves by arguing like spoiled children, I’ll inject myself.”

Both Blaine and Alduin flushed with anger and embarrassment but remained silent.

I cast a sharp gaze to everyone inside before speaking again. “Based on the number of attacks, Sapin remains a priority for the Alacryans. As Councilman Blaine mentioned, the easiest way to the major cities of Elenoir is from crossing the northern range of the Grand Mountains from Sapin, and since there have been small strikes near that area, we are to proceed under the assumption that the Alacryans know this as well. We’ll send more troops to solidify that area’s defense.”

“That still doesn’t—”

Another pulse of mana sent Alduin’s jaw to snap shut.

“As for the defense of the southern borders of Elenoir, we’ll have several units of the Trailblazer division stationed to only make expeditions down the dungeons nearby so that they can resurface and act as additional support in case of more attacks in the forest.”

The room remained tense, but everyone seemed satisfied—just barely.

“Good,” I nodded. “Now. As for the biggest issue. Our alliance with the dwarves has remained neutral at best the best of times, and hostile for the remainder. Even with the formation of the Council, the dwarven representatives have always had their own agenda and priorities, but I’m hoping that will soon change.”

I turned my head toward the single door, and everyone followed. After a moment of silence, I cleared my throat. “You can come in now.”

“Oh, damn, I missed my cue!” a gruff voice sounded from the other side of the room.

I could feel a smile forming on my lips.

The ornamented knob shook harshly before a brawny dwarf with a thick white beard and a decorated robe that seemed a few sizes too tight walked inside.

With a childish grin, he took a seat in the empty chair closest to him before introducing himself. “Buhndemog Lonuid. Pleasure to meet y'all.”

ARTHUR LEYWIN

Walking down the neverending flights of stone stairs, I remained entranced by the bustle of activity all around us. I couldn’t help but think how misleading the name ‘the Wall’ was—it was so much more.

Each flight of stairs led to a different floor within the Wall. The highest stories remained relatively minimal with reinforced metal and stones continually being maintained by human and dwarven mages. There were also teams of conjurers and archers stationed on these upper floors, responsible for firing down at the enemies below through the numerous embrasures.

Adjacent to the multiple staircases spanning the entire height of the Wall were dozens of pulleys that hauled arrows, provisions and other supplies to the upper levels.

The sound of tools clashing against stone and steel was actually drowned down by the footsteps of soldiers and workers alike, that never remained still for even a moment.

“Please excuse the noise, General. I’ve been told it’s quite overwhelming for those that aren’t used to it,” Albanth shouted, his voice barely audible from the clamor.

“Overwhelming indeed,” I drew in a breath. “I regret taking this long to actually visit the Wall. It’s amazing!”

“While I’d like to take the credit, I’m fairly new here myself. The senior captain that I, along with a few others like myself, report to is the one responsible for the whole system and structure of this place,” he explained, waving at a few workers that saluted to him.

We continued our walk down the stairs until we reached a gate accompanied by two soldiers standing guard.

“The floors from here on out are accessible to civilians as well,” Albanth explained, flashing a badge at the guards.

“Captain!” the two saluted before turning an uncertain gaze toward me.

“Fools!” Albanth barked. “Were you taught to stare in the presence of a lance?”

The armored guards’ eyes widened, their faces paling.

“General!” they immediately bowed in unison.

The captain scratched the back of his neck. &nbsp;“My apologies, General. Some of the lower soldiers still can’t recognize the lances on sight.”

“It’s fine,” I smiled looking at the soldiers. “And a salute is enough.”

“Yes sir!” the soldier on the right replied, standing back upright in a salute.

The other one followed his companion. “It’s an honor to meet a famed lance!”

“Just open the gates,” Albanth sighed, shaking his head.

The two scrambled to unclasp the metal hinges, and we continued our descent. By the next floor, I found myself sweating and my eyes stinging slightly. “Is there a fire somewhere?”

“In a way, yes,” the sweating captain said, tugging at the neckline of his gorget to cool himself off. “We’re arriving at the level that contains our main forge.”

Another flight of stairs and I was able to see the full glory of the forge. Smoke was ventilated through the narrow slits near the ceiling, but the floor was still covered in a dense dark cloud. &nbsp;A thick layer of heat constantly radiated from the multiple forges spaced out evenly amongst teams of blacksmiths. Tools hung in racks as dozens of brawny men hammered down on their anvils.

A few dwarven metal mages I spotted actually molded ingots like they were made of putty. Apprentices ran around busily, some holding buckets of water while others carried crates of finished weapons to deliver to other floors, while workers continued to maintain the back wall that protected them from the enemies on the other side.

“Please bear with the heat for just a bit longer,” Albanth chimed in. “We’re almost there, General!”

The further we traveled down the more people there actually were. Aside from the soldiers and different types of workers were a fair amount of merchants and rogue adventurers present as well.

“There’s an entirely separate economy here,” I mused.

“Absolutely, Albanth agreed, wiping his sweat away with his gloves. “Because there is no law mandating service for the war, we’ve set out rewards for adventurers who clock in time out on the field or on the upper levels. It’s easy money for them, and we get an almost never-ending supply of able-bodied mages and fighters. The only drawback is that there are sometimes quarrels between the soldiers and the adventurers, but it’s fairly rare since any problems get the adventurers banned from taking jobs here.”

“And the merchants are here because of the adventurers?” I guessed surveying the lines of stalls and tents set up on the ground floor.

“Yes sir. They’re restricted from the main route where our soldier’s supplies come in from, and they’re also taxed quite heavily for doing business here, but they still come in droves,” &nbsp;Albanth chuckled. “A rather brilliant idea by the senior captain, if I do say so myself. Because of that, most of the adventurers that take on jobs here are actually paid for by the money that the merchants pay to do business here for the adventurers!”&nbsp;

“Brilliant,” I echoed, nodding to the guards that bowed deeply upon recognition. It was a resourceful idea that spoke volumes about the senior captain in charge of this entire city-like structure.

Albanth led the way, parting the crowds on the ground floor for me. “I’m sure flying down would’ve been much faster, but I hope this little tour helped you become familiar with the Wall.”

“I appreciate it, Captain Albanth.”

The captain smiled, his crow’s feet deepening.

We walked for several more minutes until we reached a more quiet area. An unusually large canvas pavilion stood out against the mountainside, several mages standing guard. Albanth gestured toward the lavish white tent. “This is the room that the captains and heads use to hold meetings. You came at a good time since there’s a meeting going on right now. I was actually about to head down just before you arrived.”

“I’m glad everything worked out,” I replied.

“Funny how things work that way,” he chuckled, flashing his badge once again at the guards. “Senior Captain Trodius, along with the other captains and several heads are inside.”

Trodius? I thought, vaguely recognizing the name from somewhere.&nbsp;

The guards opened to flap, and I walked inside behind Albanth. Inside was a large round table with a detailed map of what looked like the Beast Glades. On the map were several wooden figures shaped differently to indicate various positions of the dungeons and troops.

There were seven people seated around the table, all in battered armor and disheveled robes and currently in discussion.

At the far end of the circular table sat a man that I could only describe as the perfect image of a traditional gentleman. Handsome, with shiny black hair meticulously cropped, dressed in a flawless military-style suit that looked like it had been made just this morning. His eyes were sharp and deep-set his irises glowing with a slight tint of red.

The man stopped mid-sentence upon noticing our arrival and stood up. He dipped his head after looking directly at me. “General Arthur Leywin.”

The rest stood up and bowed as well upon hearing my title. Captain Albanth saluted at the man who had just greeted me. “My apologies for being late.”

“Given the nature of the task, it’s of no consequence,” the man said, showing no emotion. “Please, have a seat and allow me to introduce myself. I am Trodius Flamesworth, senior captain in charge of the Wall.”

Chapter 199: Return

“Currently, there are five units in this region and another three further east approximately in this vicinity based on their last transmissions,” the captain of the Trailblazer Division reported, pointing to the relative markings with an outstretched finger.

Jesmiya Cruwer—her name given to me via a brief introduction—was the captain of Tessia’s unit. She was a beautiful woman… in a terrifying sort of way. With long blonde hair that draped over her shoulders in waves and a figure that her tight-fitting armor only accentuated, I could only imagine how many men have tried to court her once they worked up the nerves to do so. The captain always had one hand resting on the pommel of her saber, as if always ready to strike, and her surly expression never seemed to soften.

I had imagined that the captain leading its division into the dangerous wilds of the Beast Glades would be tough, but Captain Jesmiya looked as though she could frighten away mana beasts with just a sharp gaze in their direction.

Trodius shifted his gaze from the map to a sheet of paper he was holding. “Captain Jesmiya. The log sheets for clearing the dungeons; how accurate is this timeline?”

The captain of the Trailblazer Division straightened her back before speaking. “Fairly accurate. Even taking into account the number of Alacryan mages surrounding the teleportation gate and how much the corruption process has taken over the dungeon levels, my unit has never taken longer than a week.”

“A week is too long,” the senior captain stated coldly. “The number of corrupted beasts attacking the Wall has yet to decline. Have your units on a strict deadline of four days for each dungeon.”

“But sir!” Captain Jesmiya bolted up from her seat. “Rushing the expeditions to that degree will only cause more casualties. Some of these dungeons have never been cleared before, and extreme caution has to be taken, or an entire unit can get wiped out!”

“That’s an order, Captain Jesimya Cruwer. “The Wall is the last form of defense on the eastern border of Sapin. If a soldier from your unit dies out in the Beast Glades, that soldier’s family isn’t in danger. However, if the number of beasts becomes more than this fort can handle, those monsters and the Alacryan mages controlling them will have free reign on the civilians of the towns nearby.”

Captain Jesimya’s expression as she returned to her seat was even more sour than it had been before. The brawny Captain Albanth, on the other hand, had all of the intensity of a bear cub sitting across uncomfortably from the blonde-haired bundle of seething fire.

Despite his warrior-like build, most of the captain’s division comprised of workers and blacksmiths responsible for maintaining and further constructing the Wall. He himself had been a retired A class adventurer that opened up his own forge in Blackbend City.

With the continued success of the Wall under his direct guidance, Albanth had been recently promoted from his position as a unit head.

However, with a relatively new captain mostly overseeing the development and maintenance of the Wall and with Captain Jesmiya hardly staying in one place since most of her troops are constantly in different parts of the Beast Glades, Trodius Flamesworth had been assigned to this area as the senior captain that both Jesmiya and Albanth directly reported to.

I continued listening silently as the two captains continued their reports to Trodius as the few heads present in the meeting occasionally chimed in to give more detailed accounts when asked.

Trodius looked up from his notes. “And what is the progress on the new routes for our Trailblazer Division?”

“We’ve just finished securing the fourth tunnel. It’s the longest one yet, and the entrance is hidden in a small crevice along a riverbank. A team of earth mages is still reinforcing the tunnel, but it should be accessible to units within the week,” Albanth explained, drawing a line with his fingers that indicated the rough layout of the tunnel.

“Pull back a fourth of the workers and have them work nights instead,” Trodius stated. “ We were forced to flood another route just last week because its location had been compromised by the Alacryans. Securing more underground routes is priority.”

The senior captain then turned back to Captain Jesmiya. “Are there new updates on finding any transportation gates?”

The captain shook her head. “I have only a single unit working on locating it. I’ll need more time.”

“Teleportation gate?” I asked, my interest piqued.

“Yes,” Trodius answered, his red eyes shifting to me. “With the constant attacks on the wall, the best way for our soldiers to access the Beast Glades are through our underground channels. However, with the new mode of transportation that is being built to connect the Wall to Blackbend City—a ‘train’ is what I believe they’re calling it—we would have far better access to the city’s teleportation gate. If we are able to locate and connect that gate to any gates in the Beast Glades, then troops wouldn’t have to waste &nbsp;hours marching through underground tunnels.”

My eyes focused on the map. “How are you certain that there are even teleportation gates in the Beast Glades?”

“We’re not,” he replied matter-of-factly. “Which is why I’ve limited the resources into finding it. Many of the ancient texts we have on the gates point to some being hidden within the Beast Glades but whether it’s true or not remains a mystery.”

The teleportation gates were an interesting subject for me. Along with the floating castle and Xyrus City, the gates were another relic left behind by the mages of the old. It was always fascinating for me to read how these ancient mages used magic to do things that even the strongest mages of the present couldn’t even fathom replicating.

The stone arches engraved with indecipherable runes looked so simple, yet entire cities were built around them and relied on them as modes of transportation. Presently, artificers have only unlocked how to connect teleportation gates to each other and change their destinations. As for actually building on themselves, it was a distant dream.

“What sort of method is the unit using to track down the gates?” I asked. “Assuming that you do not just have them blindly wander around.”

A faint smile cracked open on the lips of Trodius Flamesworth. “I prefer not to waste even the smallest of resources on ventures like that. The gates constantly emit a faint fluctuation of mana particles. Normally, this wouldn’t be detectable to even the best trackers, but these fluctuations occur throughout the whole spectrum of elements.”

“Interesting,” I accidentally said aloud. I thought back to my time trying to track mana fluctuations in Darv. It was hard, but that was because I had blindly searched for any deviations in the ambient mana through Realmheart. If it’s to find fluctuations of all the elements, then finding it would just be a matter of flying over… all of the Beast Glades.

Nevermind, I thought. A waste of time considering there might not even be any gates.

My thoughts were interrupted by Trodius, who began stacking away his notes. He spent a good few minutes meticulously organizing and perfectly setting his piles of papers before meeting my gaze. “My apologies for having you sit through this meeting.”

The senior captain of the Flamesworth family stood up, motioning for the rest of the people present to leave before I stopped him.

“It’ll be better for them to hear this as well,” I stated, still in my seat.

It didn’t take too long to explain what I learned from interrogating the Alacryan. That, and with the scene from Uto’s memories filling in some of the gaps, I was able to give an in-depth analysis that had even Captain Jesmiya furiously scribbling on a piece of paper.

“Intriguing,” Trodius mused. “General. You say that the Alacryan mages have a very limited, specialized form of magic manipulation, but what is stopping a ‘striker’—for example—from blasting out his mana into a ranged strike?”

“It’s as the senior captain says. I can’t exactly give this information to my troops, only to have them injured or killed because a striker launched a ranged spell or a shield was able to conjure a mana blade,” Jesmiya added.

“I won’t tell you to be entirely confident in this information. Better yet, don’t tell your troops or only inform the heads and have them observe. Our enemies use magic very differently from us, but that doesn’t always mean it’s better. Study and exploit the flaws,” I stated. “The Council will be expecting reports based on the information that I’m giving you now.”

The Council wasn’t actually aware of this information yet, but they will soon, and they’re undoubtedly going to want reports back.

I told the ones present in the meeting the rest of what I knew about the marks, crests, emblems, and regalias.

“More captains will be given this information and be expected to contribute reports on what you find out in the battlefield.” I stood up. “That’ll be all.”

I took my leave, not wanting to stay inside any longer than necessary. Throughout the entire meeting, I paid careful attention to Trodius Flamesworth.

Growing up with his daughter helping my family and me so much, I couldn’t help but resent the Flamesworth family after hearing first hand from Jasmine how she was discarded by her family.

My animosity had narrowed down to only Trodius Flamesworth after getting to know Hester and hearing about the relationship between Jasmine and her father from her, but after meeting the man today, all I felt was a weary callousness.

After my initial surprise in running into the head of the Flamesworth family, I had tried to stir up as much animosity for the man as I could. But I had come here as a lance, not as Jasmine’s friend. He may be a piss poor father, and he may be cold-hearted to a certain degree, but his leadership was solid.

Not long after I had left the tent, my surroundings had become loud and busy. The ground wasn’t paved so a layer of sand and dust constantly dwindled in the air from the myriad of footsteps. Workers, caked in dirt and grime, mingled with merchants and adventurers, some still holding their shovel or pickaxe after being recently relieved from their shift. Tents and carts of various vendors that have traveled a long way shouted out their products while entertainers performed in the intersections on platforms with either an instrument case or an upturned hat in front of them to collect tip.

A drone of chatter between buyers and sellers blended into the clamor that came from the Wall. The whole fort felt almost autonomous; every person here had come for a reason and their steps and actions portrayed that.

More than once was I called over to a stall by a merchant so that they could sell me something.

“Oy! Lad! Your shoes look mighty thin for someone in these parts,” a burly man in a leather apron called out. “Might I interest you in a pair of fine leather boots for your poor feet?”

The man waved his arm at the array of leather footwear displayed in wooden racks. Feigning interest, I leaned forward and touched a few of the boots that looked my size.

“The section you’re looking at all have a layer of compressed wool inside. I swear you’ll feel like you’re walking on a cloud,” he said excitedly.

Curious, I slipped out of my thin turnshoes and edged my feet into a pair of the merchant’s boots.

I hopped a few times before taking them back off. Placing them back on the rack, I gave the merchant a grin. “I’ve walked on a cloud before and this wasn’t quite the same. Nice shoes though.”

It was fun walking through the busy streets of the fortress. Dressed in nothing but a loose robe with minimal decorations and no weapon, most regarded me as a merchant’s son.

Biting into a skewer of charbroiled meat that had the texture of chicken thigh, I stopped by every stall that caught my interest. There were merchants carrying more mundane items like cloth, furs, spices, and alcohol—which was unsurprisingly popular with how many overworked soldiers and workers there were—while some, more interesting, vendors carrying enchanted armors and weapons. A merchant tried very hard to get me to buy an enchanted handle that shot out a blast of fire and smoke from a small nozzle, mainly used for self-defense by weak nobles until I conjured a sphere of fire from my finger close enough to singe is front hair and gave the man a wink.

As the sun began to set, I thought of maybe spending a night at an inn that catered towards the visitors of the Wall when a deep horn sounded from a distance.

Turning my gaze, I saw a large metal gate about twenty feet high where the horn had come from.

I wonder what’s happening? I thought just before another horn blew.

Following behind a group of uniformed workers as they marched toward the gate, I saw it sliding open with a groan.

A crowd had already formed around the gate as carriages pulled by mana beasts began filing in with mages and warriors walking beside them with weapons unsheathed. Their exhaustion was evident in their posture and expression as the workers took over and started slowly taking crates out of the carriages. I stepped forward to get a better look when out of the corner of my eyes I saw my father.&nbsp;

Chapter 200: Responsibilities

I knew it was possible to see them when I got here; I even anticipated it to a certain degree. But when I saw my father help my mother out of the carriage, I stopped in my tracks.

For some reason, my feet remained anchored to the ground as I watched more familiar faces appear beside them. Jasmine, Helen, Durden, and Angela, came into view one by one. The whole team still looked the same—only, they were missing Adam.&nbsp;

My parents and the Twin Horns all wore the same exhausted and grim expressions that matched their ragged appearance as they trudged through the gates alongside their carriage.

“Close the gates!” a soldier roared, prompting the towering gates to close behind the last carriage.

More and more uniformed workers started filing toward the carriages. Some unmounted the beasts pulling the carriages and led them away to be fed while others lined up and began passing the boxed supplies in a line to be sorted.

A soldier carrying a notebook began talking to the driver of the carriage that had come in first. Imbuing mana into my ears, it was easy to hear their conversation even amidst the clamor of the people gathered.

“There are two less carriages than what was reported to have left from Blackbend,” the soldier said gruffly.

“We ran into a small team of Alacryan mages near the middle of the route just a mile north of the southern border,” the driver said, taking off his helmet that was covered in dents and scrapes. “Lost two of my carriages to those bastards.”

The guard looked behind the wiry man he had been speaking to, studying the carriages and then let out a sharp breath. “After the carriages are unloaded and your men accounted for, come to the main tent. You’ll need to do a full debrief.”

The driver didn’t wait, already beginning to shed his layers of battered armor, dropping it on the ground, before walking back to his carriage.

The fact that the head of this expedition spoke of being attacked as if it was a common occurrence sent a sharp pain through my chest.

Without another thought, I plowed my way through the crowd, knocking aside men twice my height and weight with ease before stopping just in front of my parents. I was scared for a split second as my eyes locked into theirs. We had reconciled but my relationship with them was no longer as innocent as it once was.

My mother’s mouth opened in surprise, and she looked like she was about to say something, but her weathered melted into face a soft smile.

“Arthur!” my father called out, dropping the sack he had slung over his shoulder.

I smiled back. “Hi, Mom. Hey, Dad.”

My father wrapped his thick arms around me, lifting me off my feet. My mother patiently waited for my father to release his embrace before she pulled me in for a hug.

“It’s good to see you doing well,” she whispered, her face against my chest.

She was covered in a layer of dust from travels and she probably hadn’t had a proper bath in a while but she still gave off a familiar scent that smelled like… home.

The Twin Horns came in next, unable to wait any longer. Durden took off his dirty cloak before giving me a hug. Helen and Angela squeezed me tightly, saying how much I had grown like aunts said to their nieces and nephews every time they visited.

“You got bigger,” Jasmine muttered with a half-smile as she tousled my hair. Seeing as she was shorter than me and she had to go on her toes to reach my head made her actions seem a bit more amusing.

“Are you sure you didn’t just get smaller?” I teased, pulling my old teacher and friend into a hug.

After letting go of Jasmine, my body turned, expecting one more hug; a hug that never came. That’s when it actually hit me. That Adam was really gone. The rude, harsh, and often selfish spear-wielder of the Twin Horns would never shoot me that snide smile of his ever again.

Gritting my teeth, I mustered another smile and we walked together to the nearest inn.

The large decrepit house that had the audacity to put a sign that advertised it was the most popular inn for miles stood just a few blocks away. Because the inn served as a restaurant and bar as well, it was packed with workers and soldiers replenishing themselves and getting away from the biting cold that was getting worse as it got darker.

“I-It’s a l-l-lance in the flesh! Here at my inn! O-Oh my.” The owner of the inn that happened to be working at the front desk with a young girl that obviously looked uncomfortable squirmed like a puppy as he tried to shake my hand, get our forms signed and call a waiter for a table all at the same time.

“I’m just looking for a quiet dinner and a room for my family and friends after,” I said with a smile.

“Of course, General Arthur! Jives, clear the patio seats upstairs! Hurry!” the old man barked out.

“Looks like there are some benefits in knowing you after all,” Helen chimed, nudging me with an elbow.

Durden looked back at the crowd waiting for a seat. “Mmm. We probably would’ve had to wait for a while otherwise.”

We were led to a flight of spiraling stairs to a balcony that faced away from the Wall. There was nothing but flat plains out in the distance, but it was still a beautiful view. There was a fire crackling in a metal furnace just beside our table for warmth and already a plate of warm bread and some broth for us to start our meal with.

“How have you been, Arthur?” my mother asked after we settled around the table.

“I’ve been good,” I lied. It wasn’t as simple as that. So many things had happened in the span that we hadn’t seen each other, but looking at my mother and father, I didn’t want to give them anything more to worry about.

My mother aged significantly since the last time we met. Compared to the comfortable life she had in Xyrus, being out in the road with the possible threat of death looming around every corner meant beauty and self-management wasn’t exactly considered a priority.

My father still cropped his hair short, but now also sported a full-on beard now that covered most of his face below his nose. There were dark bags under his eyes, but my father still had a lively expression.

“I can’t even feel your core anymore, Arthur,” my father added. “How strong have you gotten?”

“I hit white core not too long ago,” I smiled.

Helen let out a whistle as Jasmine nodded in approval.

My father gave shot me a smirk. “My boy.”

As the food came and the more we talked, the more comfortable everyone became. My mother began smiling more, even reprimanding my father when he made a crude joke—just like old times.

It turned out that my parents still kept in touch with Ellie. It wasn’t as often as they wanted it to be, but every trip to the wall and back to Blackbend City, they’d go out of their way to send a transmission to the Castle.

“Really?” I replied, taking a bite out of a piece of grilled fish. “Ellie never told me about that.”

“Your sister is in her rebellious stage,” my father sighed, shoving a broth-soaked bread in his mouth.

“She just replies with ‘I’m okay.’ or ‘I’m alive’ most of the time,” my mother added, worry laced in her voice. “She’s okay, right? She’s eating well? She’s making friends?”

I set down my fork. “If you’re so concerned, why don’t you go visit the Castle? I’m sure that’s what Ellie wants.”

“Security into the Castle has tightened recently. Only heads and above have access to the teleportation gates to there, and even they can only go on official business,” Helen explained, wiping her mouth with a cloth.

“I can take you myself. Sylvie’s not with me, but we can go to Blackbend and get the clearance to make the jump to the Castle,” I replied, hopeful.

My parents looked at each other for a moment before looking back at me. My mother spoke in a reassuring tone. “A new mode of transportation is going to be built underground. Once that’s made, we’ll be able to visit you and Ellie much more often.”

“That’s good and all, but I’ve heard reports that the journey here from Blackbend is getting more and more dangerous. Ellie worries about you guys. I worry about you guys!”

My mother nodded. “I know, and I don’t blame you guys if you think of us as bad parents for doing this, but we have our duties here. People, that need our help.”

“It’s not only your burden. There are other soldiers that can take your place.” My voice came out sharper than I had intended.

There was a moment of silence surrounding the table when Angela suddenly sprang up. “Oh dear. Helen, we never took our belongings out of the carriage!”

A look of confusion flashed across the leader’s face before she realized what Angela was doing. “Y-Yeah. Let’s get it before it gets stolen. Come on, guys.”

The two of them dragged Durden and Jasmine away with them. Angela looked back and gave me a meaningful glance before disappearing.

Whether the conjurer wanted to avoid the tension set in this table or just give our family some privacy, I didn’t know.

My mother cut in, her voice serious. “Arthur. Our responsibilities here may not be on the scale of what you do as a lance, but your father and I believe what we’re doing is for the sake of winning this war faster.”

“You’re putting yourselves in danger,” I sighed.

“Everyone is in danger during war. You as well, Arthur,” my mother replied unrelentingly.

My blood boiled and I had to concentrate on restraining my mana. “Yes, but I can handle it.”

My father slapped down his utensils on the table, drawing my gaze. “Do you realize how hypocritical you’re being? So you’re saying it’s fine for you to put yourself in danger, as long as Ellie, Alice and I are locked away someplace safe? Abandoning our responsibilities to our kingdom?”

“I’m fighting this war to protect all of you, but I can’t be next to you guys all the time. What if something were to happen to you or Dad, while I’m on a mission? Even Ellie… she’s been so engrossed in training because she wants to join you guys! What if she dies too, like Adam!”

“Enough, Arthur!” My father snapped. He got up from his seat and stared at me fiercely. “Keeping my family safe is my priority, but I also want my family to live happily. That’s why we’re doing this. Dicathen may not have been your only home, &nbsp;Arthur, but it’s the only home that we know and if it means dying so that Ellie can live with a better future, then so be it.”

My father stormed off and my mother followed. She looked back at me solemnly but didn’t say anything as I sat alone in silence.

Getting up from my seat, I reached into my robe and pulled out several gold coins. I left the coins on the table and flew off the balcony.&nbsp;

My mind muddled with emotions, I flew up high enough to look down on the Wall and took a seat on the edge of the mountain adjacent to the fortress. I let the sharp winds bite into my skin, enduring the slight pain as punishment for my earlier words.

I did all I can to avoid rethinking of my conversation earlier at the inn. I wanted to shoot down a few corrupted beasts but unfortunately the night was quiet. I started counting the torches along the Wall and the number of archers and mages stationed. I even saw a pair of soldiers behind a wooden pillbox spending their night a bit more ‘passionately’, not expecting anyone to be looking down on the highest floor of the Wall from above.

After I ran out of things to count, I extended my vision as much as I could, trying to sense any mana beasts headed toward the Wall through the thick of night. I didn’t sense any mana beasts, but I did sense someone approaching me from below.

“There… you… are.” a voice sounded from below a few minutes later. A hand shot up into view, grabbing hold of the ledge that I was sitting on.

I pulled Jasmine up by her arm. The adventurer leaned back against the mountain cliff and caught her breath before speaking again. “You should have some respect for… those who can’t fly.”

I knew Jasmine was trying her best to be lighthearted. I smiled. “Sorry about that. How did find me, anyway?”

Jasmine puffed proudly, which sounded more like a wheeze since she was still recuperating. “Don’t underestimate your mentor.”

I managed a chuckle. “I never have.”

The two of us sat in silence for a while, watching as the night got darker.

“How long have you been at the Wall for?” she asked, shivering.

I wrapped us in a layer of fire-imbued mana to keep both of us warm before answering. “Just a few hours before you guys came.”

“Thank you,” she muttered, her gaze distant. “Did you get the chance to meet my father?”

“I walked in on their meeting,” I answered. “Have you?”

Jasmine shook her head. “Not once despite the many trips back and forth here. Looks like we both have family problems now.”

“Seems like it.”

Another moment of silence passed before the adventurer spoke again.

“I won’t pry into what happened at the inn. Just know that your parents do care about you and Ellie. Whenever your father meets anyone new, he always tells them about how his son is a lance.”

“I know that they care,” I sighed.

“Rey… and especially Alice. They both feel a lot of guilt. No matter how much we told them otherwise, the fact that they weren’t there to help us when Adam died made them feel like it was their fault.”

Jasmine continued speaking when I didn’t reply. “You know what happened with your mother before she had you. She was traumatized after what had happened to Lensa, and for a while, she could hardly use her magic for anything more than a scrape or bruise.”

“I know,” I huffed. “Which is why I thought they would stay at the Castle until the war was over, not throw themselves to dangerous lands.”

Jasmine put a hand on my arm. “I’m not sure if this makes sense, but I think what they’re doing now to contribute to this war is as much for themselves as it is for you and Ellie. They’re trying to overcome their past mistakes and fears so that they can become better parents for the both of you.”

“I know I was being selfish too,” I admitted. “But I think all three of us need some time.”

“Just don’t let your relationship with your parents become like me and my family,” she said tersely. “I’m sure there was time when we could’ve reconciled, but I chose to keep running and my father’s pride kept him from reaching out.”

I turned to Jasmine, who was sitting down, hugging her knees. She didn’t look like she had aged a single day since when I had first met her except her eyes, that shone with more deeply with a sense of maturity. “Thanks, Jasmine.”

“You better be. My jaw is sore for speaking so much.”

Despite her complaints, we kept talking. I talked to her about some of my missions and she told me some of hers. Her greatest surprise was when I told her that Sylvie had a human form now, but I wasn’t entirely sure that she really believed me. Either way, we enjoyed each other’s company well through the night up until the sun came peeking back up.

“I should get back now,” Jasmine said, getting up to her feet.

“Do you need a lift down?”

She shook her head. “It’s okay. Going down is the easy part and you look like you need some more time alone.”

“Thank you,” I smiled. “For everything.”

“Of course,” she replied, patting my head.

I watched her hop down the side of the mountain, a gale of wind surrounding her and softening her landings until she was gone.

Chapter 201: Allocation

The Castle appeared overhead within a sky of solid gray. Rain had yet to form within the thick clouds, but I could feel the moisture on my skin and clothes and the dense water mana around me as I neared the flying structure’s base.&nbsp;

The soldiers on flying mounts guarding the floating fortress gathered around me.

“General Arthur!” they saluted in unison before making a path in the sky leading to the landing dock.

I mustered a terse nod at the squad before landing, taking one last look back in the direction of the Wall as the gates rolled shut.&nbsp;

The workers that were in charge of keeping the dock and all of the artifacts in place to keep it functioning and properly warded in defense stopped what they were doing and immediately scrambled around me in salute.&nbsp;

“Proceed with what you were doing,” I stated, motioning them away. I continued walking, my clothes and hair dripping with water from the clouds until I spotted two familiar girls that appeared close in age. A smile tugged at my lips a the sight of them.

Ellie stood tall with chestnut eyes glowing with confidence. Her ash brown hair that flowed just past her shoulders was a sore reminder of our father, who I had just met and argued fiercely with.&nbsp;

Standing next to my sister was a girl more unique. She looked a bit younger than Ellie, but her glimmering yellow eyes radiated a sense of maturity. A curtain of pale wheat hair draped over her slender figure which was shrouded in a black dress shining like fine obsidian. Matching her attire were two jagged horns that jutted out from the side of her small head. What made her unique wasn’t the fact that she had horns, but the fact that she was actually an asura, a dragon, and—most importantly—my bond.&nbsp;

My sister waved before trotting happily toward me with Sylvie in tow. My bond took hesitant steps, but her movements had become much more fluid in the few days since we’ve been apart.&nbsp;

“Welcome back,” my sister greeted. “Seeing as how your entire body is drenched, let’s just pretend like we hugged.”&nbsp;

“I’m not one for pretending,” I said deviously before pulling my sister into my arms.&nbsp;

“Gah! I just bathed!” she protested, struggling from my grasp.

After soaking my sister to a satisfying degree, I let her go and turned to my bond. I tousled her light hair, which felt almost sharp to the touch. “I see that my fearsome dragon is growing up to be a healthy young girl.”&nbsp;

Despite my light-hearted jokes, Sylvie’s large eyes only narrowed as she regarded me with concern.&nbsp;

We’ll talk about it later, I sent to her, cursing the inconvenience of our telepathic link at times.&nbsp;

My bond let out a sigh and patted my arm. “Welcome back.”&nbsp;

“It’s good to be back,” I said to both of them.&nbsp;

“So how was your mission? I want to hear all about it,” my sister asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement.&nbsp;

As Ellie improved her skills in magic and archery, I could tell she was yearning more and more to be out on the field to prove herself.&nbsp;

“I’ll tell you all about it later,” I promised. “But first, I need to report to the Council.”&nbsp;

After conjuring a simple wave of heat to dry myself off, the three of us left the crowded room that had become uncomfortably silent due to my presence.

As soon as we stepped out, I could almost feel the workers relaxing as they began picking up where they left off.

“I broke into light red stage while you were gone,” my sister declared proudly. “That, and because of my daily training regimen with Boo, probably makes me a pretty competent conjurer for my age. Even Commander Virion complimented me on my skills, saying that I might even be able to skip the mandatory training for the soldiers.”&nbsp;

Every time my sister brought up her enthusiasm in joining the ranks of the army, I felt immediately inclined to intercept her. This time, though, I gave her a friendly smile and nodded—the most supportive response I could give.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, my bond walked silently beside me, her concentration still on the action of walking bipedally. I could feel mana practically bursting out of her small body as she used magic as a crutch until she has full control over her body.&nbsp;

Still, Sylvie’s acclimation to her human form had vastly improved since the last time I had seen her, which was just a few days before. I could tell she was doing her best so that she could join me on missions as soon as possible.&nbsp;

“You know, Princess Kathyln has been really helpful too. She’s been sparring with me and helping me out with some intricacies of mana manipulation,” my sister chattered on, skipping ahead and walking backward to face me as she talked.&nbsp;

“Oh, really? You know I could always help out with teaching magic when I’m free,” I replied. “I was an official professor at Xyrus Academy after all.”&nbsp;

“For like… a semester,” my sister reported with a smirk.

I waved her snide comment away. “A professor is a professor.”&nbsp;

“Thanks for the offer, but I feel like learning from you will just discourage me more,” she chuckled.&nbsp;

“What?” I blurted, surprised. &nbsp;“Why would you be discouraged?”&nbsp;

“I know we’re five years apart, but we still share the same blood,” she answered, turning around, so her back was to me as she walked properly. “Seeing as how you’re already a white core mage on top of being a quadra elemental, I’ll probably just start comparing myself to you every time you teach me magic.”&nbsp;

My sister’s chirpy attitude dampened and I found myself staring at Sylvie in hopes that she had a way to solve the mess that I just created.&nbsp;

My bond raised a brow at me before walking up to match pace with my sister.&nbsp;

Sylvie patted Ellie on the shoulder. “It’s okay. Your brother’s talent is considered an anomaly even amongst asuras. Don’t compare yourself to a freak like him.”

I scratched my cheek. “Freak is a bit much, isn’t it?”

My sister looked back over her shoulder with a smirk. “No no, I think ‘freak’ describes you perfectly in this regard.”

***

We reached the meeting room after parting temporarily with my sister. I wanted some time to talk more with my bond—about the changes in her body now that the seal had been broken—but some obligations that had to be fulfilled. &nbsp;&nbsp;

I locked gazes with the two guards standing on either side of the entrance and they, in response, clicked their heels together and saluted at our arrival before letting us in.&nbsp;

Sitting directly in view of the entrance was Virion, who turned eagerly in our direction. His face lit up as he got up from his seat. “Arthur, you’ve finally arrived!”&nbsp;

“Commander,” I greeted, keeping formalities in public. Sylvie opted for a slight dip of her head.

“Sit,” he motioned, looking off to the side with a grin on his weathered face.&nbsp;

I turned to see what he was looking at to see the rest of the Council and one familiar face that I hadn’t expected to see.&nbsp;

Twiddling his beard—looking bored out of his mind—was Buhndemog Lonuid, my former dwarven magic teacher.&nbsp;

“Ho. If it isn’t the young lance,” he greeted monotonically.

“I see the meetings have been taking a toll on you,” I replied with a grin that mirrored Virion’s.&nbsp;

“Never has my ass been so sore since the days I got whipped by my mother as a child,” he groaned, stretching his stout body.&nbsp;

I let out a laugh and turned my attention to the rest of the Council.&nbsp;

“Ki—Councilmen” I greeted with a respectful nod. “Councilwomen.”&nbsp;

“General Arthur,” Priscilla Glayder replied. “You’ve come at a good time.”&nbsp;

“Yes,” Blaine agreed. “We were still going over your report.”&nbsp;

“Arthur!” Alduin Eralith exclaimed, his expression brightened. “Take a seat, you two.”&nbsp;

“Welcome back,” Merial Eralith chimed in with a warm smile, a sense of gratefulness in her voice.&nbsp;

“Thank you,” I replied. I walked passed the former king and queen of Elenoir, taking a seat with Sylvie next to Buhnd.&nbsp;

Virion sat back down and rolled the transmission scroll in front of him. “Seeing as the rest of the lances are out on missions, we’ll proceed with the meeting, but before we say anything, I’d like General Arthur to give a full debrief on what happened at borders of the Elshire forest.&nbsp;

After taking a sip from the glass of water in front of my seat, I explained all that had happened, leaving nothing out from the interrogation of the Alacryan mage. It took the better part of an hour to get the rest of the Council, and my bond, up to date on what had happened.&nbsp;

“It seems we’ve been underestimating the Alacryan mages’ level of abilities,” Virion replied thoughtfully.&nbsp;

“Underestimating?” Blaine furrowed his brows in confusion. “If anything, learning that those Alacryan bastards are so limited and specialized in their magic makes me think we’ve been overestimating them.”&nbsp;

“I’ll have to agree with Councilman Blaine on this one,” Alduin added. “I think this is a clear weakness to their fighting tactics.”&nbsp;

“I don’t think it’s as simple as that,” Buhnd argued, rubbing his beard in thought.&nbsp;

“If we look at it surface level, their specialization can be seen as a weakness,” Virion agreed. “But from what General Arthur found out, their method of awakening and training magic to their people seem a lot more advanced than Dicathen’s own way.”&nbsp;

“How so?” Merial asked curiously.&nbsp;

Buhnd spoke up again, a tinge of excitement on his face. “This is me just speculating at this point, but with the system of marks and crests and what not, the mages of Alacryan seem to be hyper-focused on a spell and its alterations and evolutions. That means, while mages of Dicathen focus on various spells of their attributed element, or elements“—he looked over toward me—“these Alacryan mages spend their lives honing a single spell and building off only that.”

“What Elder Buhnd says adds up to what I’ve seen on the field,” I added. “One of the &nbsp;‘strikers’ that I had battled against, only used one spell, but from the cast time to the durability and potency of the magic in combat, I had mistaken him as a mage around the level of a yellow core. And the fact that these specialized mages work in small teams that negate their weaknesses, I’d say that only our veteran mages of light-yellow core and higher can actually exploit their ‘limitations’.”&nbsp;

“Duels are one thing; In the forefronts of war, versatile mages aren’t as useful as specialized soldiers that are damn-well good at one thing,” Buhnd concluded grimly.&nbsp;

“Looks like we’ll have to send this information to all the captains as well as the guilds and military academies so they can develop better ways to fight against these ‘specialized mages’,” Blaine grumbled in frustration.&nbsp;

“I stoppedd by the Wall and told the captains there,” I informed.&nbsp;

“Good. Now let’s discuss plans on how to best spread our forces,” Virion said heavily. “I had originally wanted to discuss with Lord Aldir about this, but seeing as him and the rest of the asuras have ceased contact with us, we’ll need to go forth on our own for now.”

The mention of Aldir and the asuras brought a sharp throb to my chest and I wanted to speak of what Agrona had told me right then and there, but I held my tongue.

This discussion won’t get far if I say it now, I thought.

‘You’ll need to tell everyone eventually,’ Sylvie sent back before she paused. ‘But maybe once the discussion is over.’

True to my expectations, even without dropping the bomb, ‘‘the gods are no longer with us’, the meeting had soon turned into a full-blown debate as the members of the Council argued with one another where to most heavily fortify with soldiers and mages. The main problem was that there was just too much ground to cover.&nbsp;

What Agrona and the Alacryans had done well—as much as I hated to admit—was keeping their goals nearly unreadable. From the battles so far, we knew that that the Alacryans were spending quite a bit of resources into getting through the Wall so that the corrupted beasts would have free reign over the eastern borders of Sapin.&nbsp;

The Alacryans have also been able to utilize some of the tunnels in the kingdom of Darv to transport their forces from the southern coast all the way near the borderline of Darv and Sapin. From what Buhnd had told us, there seemed to be a faction of radical dwarves so discontent with their positions and lives in Dicathen that they actually wanted the Alacryans to take over in order to reap the benefits. Buhnd made it clear that he and his loyalists were taking charge in eradicating this group as soon as possible.&nbsp;

As if it wasn’t enough, there were still Alacryan ships being sighted all along the western shores that forced coastal cities like Telmore, Etistin and Maybur to build defenses on not only the eastern side—in case the Wall doesn’t hold—but their western borders as well.&nbsp;

The Council had reasonably concluded that the brunt of the Alacryan attacks would be devoted to Sapin, but my last two missions proved otherwise. Towns as north as Ashber, which had the fastest access to the Grand Mountains and to Elenoir’s main cities within the Elshire Forest, had Alacryans hidden within them.&nbsp;

We had thought that their goal was to march south and join their allies coming in from the western shores, but with these last attacks directed toward elven territory coming from the Beast Glades, the Alacryan troops up north could actually have been aiming east toward Elenoir.

Alduin and Merial’s main concern was for their kingdom, while Blaine and Priscilla argued against sending troops into Elenoir and spreading even thinner the already lacking forces stationed all around Sapin.&nbsp;

And with Buhnd and much of the dwarven mages focused on their own civil dispute with the radicals trying to aid the Alacryans, the debate was getting nowhere.&nbsp;

Throughout the debate, I could tell Virion was trying to be the diplomat and remain neutral. He was silent throughout the entire meeting that took us well into the night, only weighing in his thoughts on specific scenarios that could happen.&nbsp;

“This is why I wanted to wait until Lord Aldir was here!” Blaine huffed in frustration. “He’ll know that it’s foolish to spread our forces even thinner than it already is.”&nbsp;

“Commander Virion, you mentioned that Elder Camus had gone back to Elenoir after my training with him was over,” I said, ignoring the former king of Sapin.&nbsp;

“Yes,” his latest transmission scroll had him in the northern city of Asyphin.

“Does he know about the attacks that had broken in the south?”&nbsp;

“He was made aware, of course,” he said, understanding where I was going. “Perhaps it’ll be in both his and our best interest if he helps survey the south for any suspicious movement.”&nbsp;

“The Elshire Forest spans hundreds of miles. No matter how powerful Elder Camus is, he’s just one man,” Merial rebutted.&nbsp;

“And General Aya,” Virion added, turning to Blaine and Priscilla. “With your two lances as well as General Mica being mostly in Sapin, It’s acceptable that I keep a lance in Elenoir, right? She can be pulled if absolutely necessary and we still have General Arthur.”&nbsp;

Blaine looked like he was about to say something, but Priscilla intervened. “That’s fine.”&nbsp;

“It’ll have to do as a temporary solution,” Alduin stressed after Virion turned his gaze toward him and his wife. “If attacks escalate toward Elenoir, we’ll need to send troops capable of navigating through the forest back to defend.”&nbsp;

“Don’t sugarcoat it. Just say you’ll take the elves back because defending Elenoir is more important than defending all of Dicathen,” Blaine shot back.&nbsp;

“Enough!” Virion snapped, shooting a deadly glare at both parties. “If that’s all, we’ll end the meeting he—”&nbsp;

“Actually,” I interrupted, gathering the gaze of everyone in the room. “We have one more topic on the agenda that I feel we should address as soon as possible.”

Virion raised a brow while everyone else looked at me with similar curious expressions. “Oh? And what is that?”&nbsp;

I looked at Sylvie one last time and she met my gaze with a resolute expression. Letting out a deep breath, I began, “It’s about the absence of Aldir and the asuras…” &nbsp;

Chapter 202: Traitor's Request

The meeting room had fallen eerily silent as I finished reporting what Agrona had told me—minus a few details. I withheld some information that I felt were unnecessary to say at this point and, to be frank, was uncomfortable with the Council knowing.

Making my conversation with Agrona seem more like a unilateral declaration from the Vritra leader for us to surrender allowed me to tell everyone present in the room about how the asuras had tried using our war to attack the Vritra in Alacrya… and had ultimately failed.

“Damn it!” Virion swore loudly, slamming his hands down at the table. The commander’s usually controlled expression was twisted into a scowl as the tips of his pointed ears were red. “Those conceited sons of… as if it wasn’t bad enough that they used us and this war for their own plans, they didn’t even succeed!”

Virion got up from his seat and began pacing, muttering curses under his breath until he finally looked back at me. “Arthur. What else did Agrona say in his message?”

“Just that Epheotus’ attack on Alacrya failed. Agrona leveraged the failed attempt to further push the Asuras from taking part in this war by cutting off all communication between us and Epheotus,” I answered.

Virion gnashed his teeth but remained silent.

“At least that explains why we haven’t seen more scythes and retainers yet, besides the ones we’ve already gone up against,” Buhnd chimed in. The dwarven elder was the least shaken by my news since he had never actually met the asuras in the first place. “Agrona must’ve kept his powerhouses in Alacrya along with the actual members of his Vritra clan in case something like this happened.”

“That makes sense,” Merial replied, her brows furrowed in thought. “But that leads us to the next question. Are we to expect the rest of Agrona’s scythes and their retainers to come to Dicathen now that the asuras of Epheotus had attacked them and failed?”

The atmosphere in the room grew heavy, as if a weighted blanket fell down all of us.

“I’m sure this battle between Epheotus and Alacrya wasn’t as one-sided as Agrona led Arthur—and all of us—to believe,” Alduin responded.

“That’s right. I’ve experienced Lord Aldir’s power firsthand! No way Alacrya got out of a full-blown assault by the asuras of Epheotus without experiencing some casualties themselves. Hell, their home might be in shambles right now!” Blaine added, speaking as if he was trying to convince himself rather than those in the room.

“That’s all sunshine and peaches, but from my experience, nothing good happens from expecting the best in situations like this,” Buhnd added grimly.

“He’s right,” I agreed. “We should make several contingencies assuming that retainers and scythes are headed this way now.”

“The gates that the Alacryans had laid down in the dungeons of the Beast Glades,” Merial suddenly exclaimed. “What if the retainers and scythes are already here?”

“According to Captain Trodius’ reports, there hasn’t been a teleportation gate sighting within months after the last one was destroyed,” Priscilla answered. “From what I gathered, the constructs were of poor design that failed after a few Alacryan troops made it through and there was even a report where a soldier witnessed only half of an Alacryan mage coming out through the portal before it broke. That mage died within seconds. Right now, the Trailblazer division is mainly wiping out corrupted beasts and their controllers before they’re able to make it up to the surface. ”

“That adds up to what I’ve seen,” I muttered, recalling how even the scythe that had saved me from Uto had arrived via teleportation gates through the Kingdom of Darv before traveling by land through Sapin.

“We’ll just have to hope that’s true,” Virion let out a sigh, still pacing.

“Then are we to expect them to arrive from the western coast by ship?” Blaine asked, his face pale. “If that’s the case, no amount of wall building is going to hold up against an assault from them.”

As the Council continued batting ideas and assumptions at each other, my mind shifted to my previous life during the rare occasions where disputes between countries had actually escalated into wars rather than Paragon Duels. I thought of Lady Vera and her strict teachings of leading wars, despite them being so rare, &nbsp;as we went through endless rounds of strategic board games when a loud clap drew my attention away from my thoughts.

“While we have a lot to think about, I suggest we take time to rest. Some of us have been here for over a day, and it does no good to have sluggish minds,” Virion said in a defeated tone. “We’ll meet back here at sunrise.”

I looked out the window to see that night had fallen and began calculating just how much time I had to finally rest.

Not enough, I thought, walking out of the room behind Buhnd.

The dwarven elder let out a groan as he stretched his back, muttering, “I wonder if it’s not too late to just throw myself out into the field and fight alongside the soldiers.”

Sylvie and I made it back to our room in silence, the few communications done through mental transmission.

After shedding out of everything but my inner shirt and trouser, I sank down into the couch. My vision had been glazed, hardly focusing on anything until the sight of Sylvie changing her clothes caught my eye.

The simple black dress she was wearing swirled around her as if alive. Her sleeves receded while her dress elongated, reaching past her knees until her attire had turned into a nightgown.

“How’d you do that?” I asked sheepishly, more curious than impressed.

“I can mold my scales into clothes in this form,” she said quietly, fashioning the bottom half of her gown into pants to prove her point.

With my interest piqued, I leaned forward in my seat. “What else can you do?”

Sylvie took a seat from the couch across from me. “So far, I’ve been focusing mostly on how to function in this bipedal form. But apart from the lack of stability in walking with two legs, I’ll have to admit that I’ve begun to understand why the asuras choose to stay in this form more than their original.”

“Oh?” I raised a brow. “Do tell.”

“Mana manipulation and even using aether is somewhat easier in this form,” she acknowledged, curling and uncurling her fingers.

“Interesting,” I replied. “Speaking of which, what are your magic capabilities like after the seal was broken?”

“Because the Indrath Clan are aether users, most of my mana manipulation abilities are centered toward strengthening my body,” she answered. “But I am able to dispel a large amount of my mana at once.”

Suddenly, mana began gathering into her open palm, casting a bright light all around the room. The light artifacts hanging from the walls and ceiling flickered and dimmed.

My eyes widened as the orb of concentrated mana began growing in size. “S-Sylvie? Please don’t destroy this room… or this castle.”

My bond’s stoic face broke into a smile as she looked at me. “Is the mighty lance scared of a little girl now?”

“Your jagged horns kind of negates every ‘girly’ thing about you,” I said uneasily, scooting farther into my seat as the charged sphere of mana began pulsing with power. “But seriously. You still stumble over your own feet, Sylv. Let’s not endanger everyone in this castle.”

The glowing orb slowly faded, dispelling into tiny particles as Sylvie let out a deep breath. “I’m glad that I was able to break the seal since I’ll be of better use out in the field, but there’s a part of me that feels foreign now.”

“Well you are still getting used to your human form,” I comforted.

Sylvie shook her head. “It’s not like that. It’s more… internal, like there’s much more to my abilities than what I thought before.”

“Well. You’ll have a lot of opportunities for self-discovery. You heard in the meeting too; I feel like things are only going to be more hectic from now on.”

“At least we’ll have one another to count on,” she replied with a determined gaze. “After getting better control of this form, I feel that the two of us defeating a scythe isn’t impossible.”

“Isn’t impossible,” I echoed with a laugh. “Not the best of odds, but much better than before.”

“Maybe we’ll have some time to spar before going on a mission,” Sylvie said hopefully. “I’d like to test out the extent of my control over aether in this form.”

“We’re lucky if we can actually have the whole night to sleep without being disturbed,” I mumbled, heading over to my bed.

The two of us continued talking from our beds. Despite my lack of sleep, speaking with my bond had rejuvenated me more than I thought it would. Having Sylvie in human form just made it seem as if I got another younger sister, albeit one with large intimidating horns.

‘Speaking of sister,’ Sylvie chimed in, reading my thoughts. ‘Wasn’t Ellie waiting for us?’

“She’s probably asleep by now,” I mumbled, slurring my words as my drowsiness began taking hold of me.

‘I’m not so sure about that, Arthur. Ellie’s been looking forward to having you back… however briefly that might be.’

“I’ll… try to spend time with her… tomorrow,” I replied, about to fall asleep until a firm knock on my door startled me awake.

“What!” I snapped, my annoyance practically oozing out of my voice.&nbsp;

“I apologize for the disturbance, General Arthur, but I have a message from Commander Virion to meet him in the dungeon,” a deep voice sounded from behind the door.

I shut my eyes, refusing to part ways with the fluffy feather-stuffed pillow molding to the shape of my head. This is just a dream, Arthur. No need to get back up.

“G-General Arthur?”

With a growl, I rolled out of bed and put on a robe. “Come on, Sylv. Let’s go.”

‘Must I?’ she sent back, not even bothering to speak. ‘I just made myself comfortable, and the guard only asked for you.’

“Traitor,” I grumbled, heading toward the door.

I followed the guard down the dim hallway, going down the flights of stairs until we reached the lower levels of the castle.

“Did Commander Virion tell you any details about why he wanted to see me?” I asked.

“Unfortunately, no. I am just the dungeon guard currently on duty.”

We walked in further silence as we neared the reinforced doors leading down into the dungeon. In front of it were several figures that I recognized as the Council. They were still all in their sleepwear, apparently having been disturbed from their slumber.

The last figure, right in front of the door, was a hulking man a head taller than Blaine and twice as wide. It took me a moment to remember that he was the assistant to the old man that was in charge of interrogating the prisoners.

“Arthur, do you know what this is about?” Virion asked as we approached, his expression just as annoyed as mine was.

I jerked a thumb toward the armored guard. “I came here because this guy told me you called for me.”

“We just arrived as well. What is going on?” Alduin asked worriedly, his eyes bloodshot from exhaustion.

“I called for you all because this man”—Virion turned back to face Gentry’s assistant—“What was your name again?”

“Duve,” the burly man grunted.

“Because Duve said that Gentry finally got one of the prisoners to talk,” Virion finished.

“Who? The retainer?” Priscilla queried, her arms crossed.

“I’m not sure,” Virion replied, shooting another gaze at the burly man.

“And where’s Gentry now?” I asked, looking behind the interrogator’s assistant in case he was hidden behind him. “Shouldn’t we go inside instead of waiting out here?”

“Master Gentry will be here soon,” Duve replied, standing his ground as if guarding the door.

Hardly a minute longer had passed and my patience was growing dangerously thin when the dungeon door slid open and the hooked nose elder trotted out.

“Gentry!” Blaine barked. “What exactly is going on!”

“My apologies to the Council and General Arthur. I was just finishing up the maintenance on the restraining system of the retainer when things suddenly unfolded this way. Still, I didn’t want to take the small chance of my beloved prisoner to break free while we were all down there,” Gentry said, cleaning his wrinkled hands on a cloth.

Virion rubbed his temples. “Please just tell me you were able to get something important out of the prisoners.”

“Unfortunately, no,” the hooked nose elder rasped. “Well, not exactly.”

“Then for what reason did you find the need to pull us down here at this godforsaken hour,” Merial quipped, her eyes narrowed.

Gentry let out an uncomfortable cough before speaking again. “I have yet to break the retainer, but the traitor, Rahdeas—I think that was his name—has finally spoken for the first time.”

“What did he say?” I asked, getting up from my seat. “Did he give you any information?”

“Well, no, not exactly.”

“On with it, talking corpse!” Buhnd snapped, talking for the first time. “Stop talking in riddles and spit it out.”

“Talking co—”

“Gentry,” Virion said, his voice frighteningly low.

Gentry winced but took a step forward, puffing his chest in confidence. “Thanks to yours truly, the traitor has finally spoken and he has requested to speak”—his crooked finger pointed toward me—“but only to General Arthur.”&nbsp;

Chapter 203: A Poem

The hallway was quiet as everyone’s gaze followed the long crooked finger to me.

I furrowed my brows. “Me?”

My mind spun trying to think of why Rahdeas would want to speak to me and what he could possibly say to me in this situation.

“After basically splitting up the entire dwarven kingdom and leaving me to clean up his unwiped ass, who is he to declare who he wants to speak to,” Buhnd growled.

“Do you think he’s aiming to make some sort of deal with General Arthur?” Blaine asked.

“I doubt it. If he wanted to strike a deal, he’d have a much better chance of doing so with Commander Virion or anyone else in the Council,” Merial answered.

“Perhaps it’s because of your ties with Elijah?” Virion wondered.

“That’s… what I’m afraid of,” I sighed.

In the midst of the discussion, Gentry let out a cough to gather our attention. “Councilmembers and lance. It would be an understatement to say it had been difficult for me to get the traitor to talk. Perhaps it’s best we capitalize in my—this achievement and talk to him while he’s still able?”

“Lead the way, Gentry,” I said, walking through the reinforced doors.

Bearing through the familiar musty smell of the castle dungeon, I walked silently behind Gentry while the rest begrudgingly stayed behind. Gentry motioned for the two soldiers guarding the lower levels where Uto and Rahdeas were held to open the door.

Taking a deep breath, I waited for Gentry to carefully unlock the cell barely the size of a shoe closet.

“I will be on standby just outside the door, General Arthur. I’m sure you already know, but please refrain from touching anything else, ” Gentry warned before stepping aside as he opened the cell door.

I waited until the old man left before shifting my gaze to the kneeled man in cuffs. “Rahdeas.”

The man twitched at the sound of his name before a smile formed.

“My gratitude for your time and presence,” he dipped his head respectfully. “Allow me to begin.”

“Begin?” I asked, but the man kept his head and gaze lowered.

I kept my guard up, uneasy because of his odd behavior.

“A lad of humble origins, born wrapped in rags for a towel,” he began, finally lifting his head. “Within, however, he was more. Just like the unassuming ashes of a particular fiery fowl.”

“And as with all heroes-to-be, the lad had the looks and the lad had the might.” Rahdeas stretched out an arm while his other hand laid over his chest. “His mother taught him the world, his father taught him to fight.”

I watched, dumbstruck, as the tortured man continued his epic.

Rahdeas’ voice got deeper, darker. “That is, until the day came,

When the lad knew that there was a larger stage to tame.

“His blood knew as well that they could no longer contain,

The lad’s fire that wished to reign.”

“So they took up their bags and wished their small town good luck,” Rahdeas let out a breath. “But woe, as all stories go, tragedy struck.”

“Rahdeas,” I called out, but was silenced by a raised finger.

The man continued. “But never fret, never doubt, because as all stories go, a hero never drops out.

“So he grows and grows,

Through his heartache and his death throes,

Never ceasing, overcoming.”

Rahdeas looked up at the dim flickering light above us. “Alas, every light needs a shadow,

Every hero needs a foe.

“The brighter the light,

The darker its night.”

Finally locking gazes with me, he shoots me a grin. “But I ask you this, hero-to-be.

What happens when your foe, who has crossed both time and space, is actually brighter than thee?

“Perhaps a fair maiden’s shining knight,

Is another one’s deadly blight,

And the side of dark and the light,

Is just a matter of who wins the right?”

An uncomfortable silence lingered as he finished his—for a lack of a better word—performance and just when I thought things couldn’t get weirder, Rahdeas, his arms chained to the ground, &nbsp;reached out and grabbed my hand with his blood-crusted fingers.

His glossy soulless eyes turned into crescents as he smiled up at me and nodded. “Ah good, you’re real. I was afraid you were just another illusion and that my performance had gone to waste.”

I stared down, not really knowing how to react as Elijah’s guardian continued to hold my hand.

“Hmm. I’ve forgotten how warm a person is.” His gaze remained afar as he stroked my hand like he would a house pet.

I jerked my hand from his grasp. “It seems that your time spent here has made you… unbalanced.”

“Out of all of more accurate words out there, you chose ‘unbalanced’? Not ‘crazy’ or ‘insane’ or ‘mad’, but ‘unbalanced’?” Rahdeas snickered.

“I’d rather not waste my time with lectures on my word choice, especially from someone unbalanced,” I stressed, narrowing my eyes.

Rahdeas shrugged. “Regardless, it is of your own free will whether you choose to ignore my words or not, poetry or prose alike.”

“So that poem you just recited…”

“Well, I thought a heart-to-heart conversation was a bit boring. And though I’m not very versed in the art of poetry, I had to do something to pass the time here,” Rahdeas replied seriously for a second until his eyes twinkled. “Or… you know; this might just be the rambling of a man ‘unbalanced’.”

A sigh escaped me as I shook my head.

“Be honest, though. My rhyming may have been a bit elementary but it was catchy, was it not?” he grinned, wrinkles lining his ghastly skin.&nbsp;

Annoyance bubbled up, showing on my face. “I don’t think you understand the gravity of your situation, Rahdeas. You’re going to be here for a long time and it’s going to be unpleasant. Revealing anything that might be of help to the Council—to Dicathen—will ultimately decide how unpleasant. Now is not the best time to worry whether your rhymes are catchy or not.”

He matched my gaze, unaffected, before suddenly falling flat on his back, resting his head on his hands like he had no care in the world. &nbsp;“I know precisely what sort of position I’m in and I’ve told you exactly I wanted to. Again, what you gain from it is none of my concern.”

I gnashed my teeth in frustration and waited in silence for a bit longer, hoping that he might change his mind. In the end, the traitor shooed me away with a wave of his hand as he began humming in the rhythm of the poem he had recited to me.

Letting out a scoff at the traitor’s attitude all the way until the end, I called for Gentry and had him lock Rahdeas’ cell.&nbsp;

I turned to leave, frustrated and speechless, when my gaze landed on another cell—one even smaller than Rahdeas’. Despite the mana-inhibiting qualities of the mysterious material that the cell was made of, an ominous aura constantly seeped out.

For a moment, I was tempted to open the cell.

In a short amount of time, I had grown and broken through to a stage that rivaled the top mages of Dicathen. The fear that I had felt when facing Uto, even with the help of Sylvie, left a deep impression on me that I wanted to get rid of. And I thought that confronting the retainer again would do so.

As silly as it sounded, especially since he was bound and severely weakened, I caught myself walking toward Uto’s prison.

There’s nothing to gain, Arthur, I scolded myself, shaking my head.

I left the dungeon, greeted out by the sound of Rahdeas humming that made me replay the bits and pieces of the poem that he so theatrically recited.

***

The members of the Council were still waiting for me by the time I came back out. Their gazes bored into me, waiting for me to say something—anything.

I shot a thumb back at the withering, hook-nosed interrogator behind me. “Gentry’s interrogation tactics seemed to have made Rahdeas lose a bit of his mind. The only thing he did was recite a poem to me.”

“Poem?” Blaine said incredulously.

Everyone knew Rahdeas as a mild-mannered dwarf that was intelligent and someone who always strived for a collaborative effort and solution. Hearing me say that he was basically babbling like a madman raised some eyebrows.

“What… was the poem about?” Virion asked hesitantly.

“It was a story about a boy on his way to being a hero,” I replied. “He said he made it up, but some of it didn’t really make sense.”

“My tactics do sometimes leave the prisoners in a less-than-desirable state,” Gentry said with a cough. “My apologies for the false alarm. I sincerely thought that he would be confessing something important.”

“Seeing as nothing substantial has been revealed, how about we discuss this more in our next gathering?” Alduin suggested.

“I second this,” Buhnd grunted. “We can choose whether to decipher his… poem once we’ve got some sleep in us.”

“If Rahdeas’ state-of-mind is as you suggested, his words most likely don’t hold any weight,” Merial said, already turning to leave.

Like that, the impromptu gathering of the Council in the dead of night in the lowest floors of the castle was brought to an end.

I got back to my room, and despite my lack of sleep and rest, I was wide awake. For some reason, what Rahdeas said kept me thinking.

Dimming the light artifact on the desk to its lowest setting so I didn’t wake up my bond, I began jotting down the parts of the poem that I remembered.

While my memory recall wasn’t perfect, I was able to get a lot of it down on paper with the help of the rhymes and simple structure of the poem.

Leaning back in my chair, I read through the poem again, frustrated at some of the parts that I couldn’t remember because I had been so confused at Rahdeas’ behavior.

The main message I got from this poem was about a hero… that much is true, but there was something more to it than that.

Under the assumption that Rahdeas wasn’t out of his mind, he explicitly said that the poem was what he wanted to tell me. This led me to think that maybe this ‘hero’ had something to do with me.

I was positive that the poem started off with something about a lad of poor origins, and how he was wrapped in a rag… or maybe a towel. but I couldn’t remember what he used to rhyme with towel.

Owl? Growl? Foul?

I clicked my tongue and moved on. Assuming that this lad was me, how did Rahdeas know details of my childhood? It wasn’t just the fact that I was from a rather modest upbringing in Ashber, but the poem also said that the lad wished the town luck before a tragedy struck.

It probably wasn’t too hard for Rahdeas to have done a background check on me using his resources while he was still part of the Council, but even then, this whole thing just didn’t sit well.

Frustrated at Rahdeas for the needlessly cryptic message and at myself for dismissing his poem for the jabbering of a madman, I moved on.

At least I started paying a bit more attention here, I thought.

The latter half of the poem was a bit more ambiguous as it began to sound more and more like an overused prophecy foretold in nearly every hero story I’ve read throughout both my lives.

Lines like, ‘the brighter the light, the darker its night’ most likely had something to do with my foe being more powerful the stronger I became—as if I chose my enemies by their strength relative to my own.

Regardless, the last few lines were a bit tricky and I felt like I might of misheard or remembered incorrectly. “...knight being someone’s blight?”

I went through the incomplete poem for another half hour before I gave up.

I’ll just ask Rahdeas to repeat the poem one more time tomorrow.

I was still skeptical of whether the poem even meant anything, which was probably why I hadn’t bothered to even listen carefully when the dwarf said it, but I was still curious.

Sliding into bed I tried to get rid of my thoughts of the poem, instead focusing on what I should do to best help out in this war.

Still, even as sleep overcame me, I found myself trying to piece the poem back together by trying to remember all of the words that rhymed.

Chapter 204: Lost Words

GREY

I stepped back as Lady Vera positioned her thin metal stick she called a ‘foil’ for a horizontal swing. Still, somehow, the foil managed to slap my left arm.

“How?” I hissed, rubbing the fresh wound. “I thought I dodged that.”

“You’re too focused on my weapon,” Lady Vera answered, keeping her body still. “Your vision should encompass your enemy—or enemies—as a whole. What do you see differently right now?”

I looked down at the foil still pointed at me. “Aside from the obvious?”

That earned me another smack with her weapon. “Don’t get smart with me, kid.”&nbsp;

“Okay, okay!” I yelped. “And I have a name, you know.”

“I’m aware that you were named after a rather boring color,” Lady Vera said bluntly. “Now, answer my question.”

Afraid of getting hit again, I scanned the tall woman. She wore a dark shirt and tight-fitting black pants, which only emphasized her long, curly red hair.

After saving me from my captors several months ago, I began my lessons a few weeks back after completely healing from my injuries. While her methods were brutal and her personality was about as warm as a block of ice, they were effective.

“Well?” she pressed, jolting me out of my thoughts.

I let out a breath and pointed at her foot. “You pivoted using your lead leg, bringing your back foot forward for longer reach.”

“Good,” she nodded in approval. “Although, if you weren’t able to see that from the track mark on the ground…”

“Yes yes. Then I don’t deserve to be your student,” I finished. “Now, how do I get better?”

My mentor muttered something under her breath before walking over to the manmade pond she had in her yard. The entire ‘training ground’ we were in, which stretched out for fifty yards in both length and width, was her backyard.

The simple fact that she even had a backyard in a city where high rise building took up about every available plot of land spoke a lot about her wealth and power. Adding to the fact that her entire backyard—which looked like something out of an old nature magazine—was also blocked off from the outside world by a twenty-foot wall made me wonder what sort of position she actually held in Wittholm Academy, the military school I was still enrolled in.

As we reached the clear pond that had fish in it—actual, live fish—Lady Vera sat down at the edge and motioned me to join her.

“Try catching a fish with your hands,” she said. “Without using ki.”

“What? Won’t they die if they come out of the water? I-I don’t think I can afford to replace a living fish like this.”

She gave me a rare smile. “Don’t worry about that and just try.” &nbsp;&nbsp;

Gazing warily at the aquatic animals that I’ve only seen in a frozen and processed form, I reached in and tried to scoop one up. Just as my fingers barely touched the water, however, the gold and black fish darted off to the other end of the pond.

“So fast!” I exclaimed, marveling at its speed.

She snapped her finger to get my attention. “Again.”

It only took about a dozen more tries to realize that there was a message that I was supposed to be getting from all of this. Frustrated and wet, I swiped my hand without a care whether I’ll hurt the fish or not, only to slip on the wet stone and fall inside the water.

“Gah!” I flailed out of the water, letting out a gasp as my mentor just laughed.

Barely managing to climb back out of the deep pond, I laid back on the grass. “What’s the point of this, anyway? It’s impossible to catch one with just your bare hands.”

“Is that so?” my mentor said in a haughty voice.

“Yes, it’s imposs”—I lifted my head, only to see that she was holding a fish in her hand—“what? No way! Do it again!”

Lady Vera shrugged and threw the fish back into the pond. “Sure.”

I scrambled back to my feet and watched closely in case my mentor tried to pull a fast one and use ki or cheat in some other way.

Leaning forward, Lady Vera waited with her hand close to the surface. Just as another fish was about to swim by, she dipped her hand slowly into the water and came out with the fish in her hand.

She shot me a smug grin, tossing the fish back in. “Now do you believe me?”

“I don’t get it. You did it so slowly…” I mumbled. “Wait! Did you train these fish to just go into your hand?”

“Do I look like someone that’d spend the time to do something as useless as that?” My mentor looked at me, deadpan.

I scratched my head. “I guess not… but I still don’t understand the point of this, unless it was for you to just show off.”

My mentor splashed water on my face at my remark. “I did it to show you that you and these fish—the ones that were able to make a fool of you—are similar.”

I furrowed my brows. “What?” &nbsp;&nbsp;

Lady Vera’s hand suddenly shot out toward my face, causing me to whip my head to the side.

“Your reaction speed is fast, frighteningly so,” my mentor explained, patting my shoulder. “But it’s instinctual, not tamed, just like these fish.”

“I don’t understand. What do you mean tamed?” I asked.

“You might not be aware of it but, through of this ‘ability’, by the time your opponent’s arms flex in order to throw a punch, your brain has already sent a signal to your body in order to react. Now, if your opponents are on the level of students here, you hold a large advantage over them. However, if left like this, stronger opponents can easily predict how you’re going to dodge, just like how I predicted the fish would try to dodge when I grabbed it.”

I thought for a moment and realized that what Lady Vera said was pretty spot on. “So how do I ‘tame’ this ability?”

“By responding, not reacting,” she answered, getting up and taking an offensive stance.

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

She shook her head. “One is intentional, the other is instinctual. We’ve focused on basic conditioning for the most part, but I think you’re ready to start learning how to start responding.”

My eyes shined in excitement at the thought of finally learning to fight from Lady Vera. “The fun part!”

“Fun for me,” she replied with a dark smile, swinging her foil in a figure eight. “But lucky for you, your next class starts soon so we’ll start with this exercise tomorrow.”

I let out a groan and rubbed the welt on my arm from where she hit me earlier.

“There’s a car waiting for you to get back to school,” Lady Vera said while shooing me away. “Now scram.”

“Thank you for the lesson,” I grumbled before picking up my uniform and backpack that were hung by the door before leaving.

***

While the ride back to school took less than an hour, I still managed to fall asleep deep enough for the driver to have to shake me awake after arriving.

I took a deep breath as I stepped out of the sleek black vehicle, prepared for the sharp gazes of my peers at the mere luxury of being able to ride a private car. However, the outer courtyard that was usually filled with students either lounging around in between classes were all gathered around the entrance of the administration building on the left. Blocking off the perimeter were several fortified vans that looked a bit different from the usual city’s police force.

“What is going on,” I muttered to myself, making my way toward the crowd.

Armored guards in black, with their customary straight sabers strapped to their hips, kept all the curious students from getting any closer from the building doors. These weren’t normal police officers; they were enforcers.&nbsp;

I grabbed the nearest student. “What happened? Why are enforcers here? Was there a break in or an attack?”

“Did you just get here?” the boy scoffed. “You missed the huge explosion that happened out in the training grounds.”

“Explosion? Do you know what caused it?”

“Apparently, it was a student.” The boy smirked. “Now, outta the way. I want to try and get closer.”

The boy disappeared in the sea of students, leaving me dumbfounded.

How big of an explosion was it for enforcers to have to come, I wondered, looking at the soldiers clad in thin armored uniforms that were designed to strengthen when imbued with ki.

I couldn’t help but remember how Nico had gone on and on about how revolutionary the material those uniforms were made of was… vein fiber was the name. He had also mentioned how expensive vein fiber was to produce, which was why they were only provided for kings and elite soldiers, either for the special operation soldiers going on international missions or enforcers of the counter-terrorist squads.

Speaking of Nico, if anyone knew what was going on, it would probably be him, I thought, my eyes scanning through the crowd in hopes of finding him or Cecilia.

Unable to get a good view, I turned back and climbed up one of the light post until I spotted a familiar dark-haired boy. He was at the very front, just beyond the perimeter that the enforcers had set up, but I wasn’t sure if it was Nico. I narrowed my eyes, focusing on him until he finally turned around.

“There you are.” I jumped down and made my way through the crowd of students. After bumping shoulders and fighting my way in for a good ten minutes, I was able to squeeze and get to the front.

“Nico!” I called out.

My friend turned around and the first thing I noticed was the trail of blood running down his lips. That was never a good sign.

“Grey!” He exclaimed, making my way to me.

“Your lips are bleeding, Nico. What’s going on?” I asked, my eyes shifting between Nico and the enforcers just a few feet away behind the red warning tape. “Some guy told me there was apparently an explosion caused by a student.”

“I don’t know what happened. The ki restrainer must’ve malfunctioned. But I checked it just a few days ago and it was fine. I don’t know what happened! It’s all my fault!” he said, chewing on his lips again in worry.

“Slow down, Nico. You’re not making any sense,” I answered.

Nico buried his face in his hands. “It’s Cecilia. She had one of her accidents.”

ARTHUR LEYWIN

I opened my eyes, letting out a deep breath. It’d only been a few days since my last ‘dream’ and this one was a particularly bad one. It was a memory that I would never forget, dream or no dream. Along with Headmaster Wilbeck’s death, it was that day that caused my life to unfold the way it did.

I looked outside the window to see that the sun had yet to fully rise, which meant that I had at most only a two or three hours of sleep.

With a groan, I got out of bed and washed up, hoping cold water will help wash out the fatigue that seemed to have made a permanent home in my body.

‘You’re awake?’ my bond asked, not bothering to speak.

“Yeah. I don’t think I can fall back asleep anyway. Want to join me in a morning stretch outside?”

‘As enticing as that sounds, unfortunately, that requires me to get out of bed,’ she replied pulling the covers over her head.

“Growing children do need their sleep,” I agreed with a chuckle, drying my hair with a towel.

‘That immature retort speaks volumes about who the child actually is between us,’ she replied casually.

I let out a laugh. You got me there.

After dressing in a plain loose shirt and dark trousers, I headed out, passing my desk. Looking down at the messy paper filled with bits and pieces of the poem that I tried to remember, I changed my plans.

On second thought, I’ll give Rahdeas a short visit. Hopefully he’s functional enough to repeat the poem.

I greeted the few maids and workers that were just finishing up their night shift as I made my way down toward the dungeon.

Walking through the long, dimly lit hallway leading to the entrance of the first level, I spotted a familiar face guarding the door… using the term ‘guarding’ very loosely.

Albold, the elf of the Chaffer family that Virion had introduced was currently nodding off to sleep as he stood guard beside the large metal door.

With a smirk, I erased my presence and softened my breath. I coated my footsteps in mana in the same precise manner that I did back when I was training alone in the forests of Epheotus.

I quickened my speed as I got closer to the sleeping guard but as soon as I was within a few yards of the door, Albold’s eyes shot open and a thick layer of mana covered his body and swords as he swung out.

I easily caught the two blades with my hands, but I was still surprised.

“General Arthur?” he said incredulously, quickly sheathing his dual blades. “Sorry about that, I swore I felt someone sneaking up on me.”

“I was sneaking up on you. Weren’t you asleep?” I asked, suspicious.

“Ah… I got caught.” Albold scratched his head in embarrassment. “Please don’t tell Commander Virion. I barely have a few days left doing guard duty! I can’t stay here any longer!”

“Relax, I was just impressed,” I chuckled. “Virion was right, your senses are good.”

“Haha, saved my ass more than a couple times in my life,” Albold responded. “So, what can I do for you, General?”

“I need to speak to a prisoner,” I replied. “Is Gentry inside?”

Albold nodded as he opened the door. “I can’t think of a time where he hasn’t been inside.”

The two of us walked in and soon found Gentry sleeping on a cot in one of the cells of the upper-level dungeon.

“Who...Wha-What’s going on?” Gentry muttered as we shook him awake. “G-General? What can I do for you?”

“Can you open Rahdeas’ cell for just a moment? There’s something I want to ask him,” I explained.

The interrogator rubbed his eyes as he began unlocking the entrance to the lower level of the dungeon. “Of course. And my apologies again for the trouble I caused by calling the entire Council. I was certain that the traitor was going to reveal something important.”

After a few clicks, Gentry motioned for Albold to help and the two of them heaved the doors open.

My eyes widened at what I saw. Gentry’s assistant was splayed out on the floor with several black spikes pierced through his body. Seeing the spikes, my gaze immediately veered toward the cell that Uto was in, only to lock eyes with the retainer.

I immediately imbued mana around me, fearing that Uto would leap out, but the retainer was completely still and silent—no signs of life in his glossed eyes. he smiled.&nbsp;

Albold let out a sharp gasp as he strengthened his body as well and drew his swords.

“Shester!” Gentry cried, oblivious of the retainer out of his cell.

“He-He’s dead,” I muttered, eyes focused solely on Uto. Because of his black body, I didn’t notice the spikes pierced through his chest and stomach as well with blood still leaking out.

“Rahdeas!” I stepped inside the dungeon and the restrictions of magic in the room could immediately be felt. Jumping over the assistant’s corpse, I swung open the door to Rahdeas’ cell that had been unlocked, only to see that the old dwarf had met the same fate as Uto and Shester.

He was dead.

Chapter 205: Enemy Territory

CIRCE MILVIEW

Alacryan

“How much longer?” Fane hissed, his head constantly darting left and right. His voice was hardly louder than a whisper. None of us dared to be any louder than that.

I held up two fingers, turning my focus back on the tree in front of me. The crest on my back flared as I grit my teeth to keep my powers under control while mana coursed through my arms and into the tree itself.

“My veiling barrier isn’t going to last much longer on such a wide range,” Cole muttered through gritted teeth.

I wiped a bead of sweat running down my cheek. “Done.”

Maeve grabbed my arm and we were already on the move. I turned back one last time to make sure the three-point array I had just finished was in place.

It’s in place. I allowed myself a breath of relief as we began making our way through this forsaken forest.

We traveled at a frustratingly slow pace with Maeve and myself in the front. Only by using my crest did my senses extend to about thirty yards—much too restricted than I was comfortable with. It didn’t help that, because of this mysterious fog that only seemed to exist in this forest, I was the only one that could see past a few feet around us.

“Do you see anyone around us, Circe?” Fane asked for the fifth time.

I whipped my head back and shot him a glare. “I said I’ll tell you if I see anything out of the ordinary.”

He narrowed his eyes, discontent, but didn’t say anything further.&nbsp;

After about an hour of practically crawling through the fog-laden forest, I signaled for everyone to stop. “We need to place another array.”

Everyone got into position. Maeve hopped onto a nearby tree with her hands poised to fire. Cole stuck beside me and enveloped the area in a veil to help mask mana fluctuations while I worked. Fane circled the perimeter with wary eyes as our first line of defense.

After everyone was in place, I continued in our most important—and quite likely our last—mission.

Activating my crest once again, I began setting up the first part of the three-point array. With my control as a mid-tier sentry, it wasn’t hard setting it up. The tricky part was making sure it was all but undetectable until I finally activated it. There could be no trace, no leakage, of mana or the elves lurking around the forest will sense it. If any of the arrays that I had made were discovered, the whole plan was ruined.

Pushing aside the burden weighing down on me, I controlled the mana coalesced in the tip of my fingers as it began seeping into the first tree. A rustle sounded to my left and I jerked.

Were we discovered?

By the time I turned my head in the direction of the sound, Fane was already there. &nbsp;He shook his head, holding up a rodent whose neck had been cleanly broken.

As expected of a veteran emblem holder. The striker’s attitude was foul, but he was a reliable teammate to have.

Turning my focus back on the old tree, I controlled the passage of my instilled mana until it buried itself deep into the core of the tree. After it was in place, I had to cover the tracks and the mana fluctuation at the site of the ‘wound’.

For this moment, my attention had to be concentrated. I wasn’t able to afford to spread my senses around us in case an elf sneaked up on us.

Minutes crawled at the pace of hours as I blinked away the tears trying to get inside my eyes. The mana imprint left by my spell had to be manually obscured with surgical precision so that no one could sense that magic was used in the area.

Done, I mouthed at my teammates before moving onto the next point.

Kneeling down on the ground a few feet away from the tree, I repeated the process until finally I was on the last part on a tree on the other side of the array I had made on the ground.

After this three-point array had been completed, we were once again on the move. Luckily, Cole’s veil barrier didn’t leave any mana fluctuations. Neither did Fane or Maeve’s magic.

Truly a team specialized for this mission, I thought, feeling out of place. Afterall, I was a sentry. I wasn’t built or trained for this.

My only source of comfort was that we weren’t the only team.

Maybe one of the other teams have already succeeded in securing a route, I hoped, knowing how unlikely it was. Out of all the other teams, I knew that we were the most likely to succeed… because of my newly acquired emblem.

Suddenly, an arm shot out, stopping me in my tracks. It was Maeve.

She locked gazes with me and then looked down. Hidden underneath the fog was a small ditch with spikes of wood.

My heart thumped at the close call.

“The spikes weren’t sharpened, it was twisted into this shape,” Maeve informed in a whisper.

“Plant magic,” I breathed. My heart dropped at what this meant.

“We’ll have to find another route,” Fane said from behind, still on the lookout.

“Then we’ll have to stop in a bit for me to scout another route,” I replied, disheartened.

With a solemn nod from Maeve, we continued our hellish march.

My legs throbbed in pain and my sore back made me feel older than my grandma, but I continued on without complaint until the sun was about an hour from setting.

“Merciful Vritra,” I mumbled as we finally settled down for the night on the thick branches of a tree.

Cole passed around strips of salted dried meat and a candied root to each of us.

Tearing smaller pieces from the dried meat, I let it sit in my mouth so my saliva would soften it before I chewed it down. The four of us ate silently, relishing the first small break in two days.

After sucking the sugar off of the candied root, and taking a sip from my flask, I got back to work.

Igniting my hard-earned emblem, I activated True Sense. The unsettling sensation of my consciousness leaving my body felt as if I was undressing amidst a snowstorm, but I endured through it by relishing the breathtaking sight of the forest beneath me.

Like a ghost floating through the sky, unabated, I narrowed my True Sense to lock in on a single element. My head, figuratively speaking since my actual body was sitting comatose below on a tree branch, throbbed terribly.

I’ve read that true mastery of this ability will come when my mind is able to see all four elemental mana particles in the atmosphere. If that’s the case, I still have a long way to go.

Despite the numbing pain, I was soon rewarded as particles of ambient mana lit up green. Hurriedly, I scanned throughout the horizon, desperately searching for large clusters of ambient wind mana that would lead us to the hidden kingdom of the elves.

As I extended my True Sense, the throbbing grew unbearable.

Just a little long—there!

Immediately my non-physical form was sucked back into my body that had been anchored by the powerful emblem. The last twinkle of green flickered out of my vision as I returned to my physical visage with a gasp.

“Were you successful, Circe?” Fane immediately asked, true to his impatience.

My body still felt cold, like I had gotten into a fresh set of sheets, but my lips curled into a smile. “The kingdom is still too far away, but I was able to find a larger area of mana fluctuations about a day’s travel from here.”

“Larger?” Maeve echoed with a twinkle in her eye. “That means it’s a bigger settlement, or maybe even a town.”

Cole let out a sigh. “At least we’re going the right way. Nice to know all of this so far wasn’t for nothing.”

“As expected from a member of the Milview blood. Your skills as a sentry hold true,” Fane complimented as he tore off a piece of his dried meat.

Accepting his rare praise, I continued. “I won’t be able to use my emblem for another day but after I’ve fully recovered, I’ll want to do another scan honing in on water attribute mana.”

“Smart,” Maeve agreed. “From our reports, these elves are adept mostly in either water or wind.”

After finishing our modest meal, we got as comfortable as we could within the branches of the ancient tree deep within enemy territory. Either Cole or I had to be on watch in case something approached but since I had just expended a lot of my mana activating my emblem, Cole and Maeve took first watch.

The weathered shield about the age of my father shot me a smile before erecting a small veiling barrier around us while Fane and I slept.

Despite the cold and hard branch pressed against my back and the fear of falling down—even after tying ourselves to the tree—I soon fell asleep.

I must’ve barely closed my eyes when I was already shaken awake by Maeve.

“It’s been two hours,” she whispered, signaling me to take over before waking up Fane.

There’s no way it’s been two hours already, I groaned internally.

Noticing that I was awake, Cole extinguished his spell before rolling up his cloak and using it as a makeshift pillow to sleep on.

Even with the ever-looming threat of being discovered and killed, I still had to pinch my cheeks to fully wake myself up. Coursing mana into my second crest, the one that I had received after fully comprehending the spell while it was still just a mark, my awareness spread to a forty-yard radius around us. Normally, I’d be able to stretch my sphere of awareness to over a hundred yards no matter what the terrain, but the mysterious magic encompassing this endless forest restricted everyone’s senses.

If our trek during the day seemed to be going slow, the night on watch was endless. I entertained myself by focusing on a nocturnal bird feeding its newborn blood a dozen yard away when I felt bodies enter the scope of my range.

Elves!

I whipped my head and locked gazes with Fane. Before I even mouthed the word, he seemed to know something was wrong by my expression.

‘How many?’ Fane mouthed.

I held up three fingers and pointed in the direction they were coming from.

With a nod, the two of us quickly shook Maeve and Cole awake, covering their mouths while doing so in case they made a sound.

After being caught up, Cole quickly erected a two-layered barrier that dampened sounds and veiled our presence. After erecting barriers all day and barely getting any sleep, the shield was struggling to maintain his spells but he endured. He had to.

“About a dozen yards away,” I whispered solemnly.

“If we’re lucky, they’ll pass by or go a different way. If they suspect something near us, I’ll take Circe while Maeve and Cole hold them off,” Fane declared.

My eyes widened in panic. “We can all stay and fight. We outnumber them!”

Cole rubbed his stubbled chin. “Even if we stay and fight, we’ll have to do so with magic that’ll leave traces. It’s too risky.”

“Cole is right,” Maeve added. “We’re expendable in this mission. You’re not.”

The gravity of her words shook me but I knew it was true. Out of all the teams trying to create a route to the elven kingdom, I was the only sentry with an emblem powerful enough to navigate effectively in the Elshire Forest. Still, the thought of abandoning my teammates sickened me.&nbsp;

“W-What if we ambush them and take one as a hostage? We can use the elf to—”

“You know what happened to the other team that tried that,” Fane interrupted harshly.

I nodded. The captured elf had killed himself and the team was tracked down by its brethren.

“Luckily, they were close to the southern border of the forest and it didn’t happen long after the initial beast raid, or else they would’ve become suspicious,” Maeve muttered.

The four of us stopped whispering, afraid the elves might hear us even with the two-layered barrier around us.

By the time the footsteps below us were audible to our bare ears, we were holding our breaths. I clamped my mouth shut with my hands, praying that they’d just keep walking.

Chapter 206: Brother’s Consent

The unexpected deaths of Rahdeas and Uto would be enough to cause a mass panic within the echelons of noble families both living in the castle and out in various fortified cities. Having two major figures of the enemy side in the Council’s palms created a certain semblance of power and control to the people of Dicathen.

To prevent chaos, the Council did what countless leaders—regardless of time, race, and world—do when faced with setbacks. They covered it up.&nbsp;

Gentry, Albold, and I all had to be questioned by the Council since we were the ones present at the scene.

Because of the black spikes left skewered on all three corpses almost like a postcard, it was obvious that it couldn’t have been done by any one of us. Still, a majority of my day had been taken up by this. Eventually, Gentry was left to grieve over his assistant that he apparently cared very much for and Albold being relieved of his guard duty so he could be sent back to Elshire Forest to assist as a soldier.

As for me, I was standing in front of Virion in his private office as he sat behind his desk with a grim expression.

“Cynthia Goodsky died this way as well, right?” I confirmed.

Virion nodded, his eyes unfocused.

I continued. “You must be worried about everyone’s safety. Three people have been killed in the most secured location of a flying castle that has existed from ancient times.”

“Do you think I’d allow people to still be here if I was worried about their safety?” Virion retorted. “I’m not in the mood for tests, Arthur. I know you noticed as well. It was the same with Cynthia.”

“It’s good that you realized,” I smiled.

No one had infiltrated the Castle—no matter how much I thought over it, it just wasn’t possible. The layers of defense that one would have to go through in order to reach the insides of this castle, only to kill two prisoners just didn’t add up. If I was sent on a mission to infiltrate this castle, it’d be much simpler to assassinate as much of the Council as I could. It just didn’t add up, which led me to the answer that the attack had to be done from within.

Not within our side, but within Rahdeas and Uto’s bodies. Just like Cynthia, who had a powerful curse embedded inside her, it made sense for Rahdeas and even a retainer to have that as well in case they were caught. From how the black spikes seemed to almost ‘bloom’ out of Rahdeas and Uto’s bodies, I felt that their curse had been activated.

As for the Shester—Gentry’s unfortunate assistant—it seemed, by the random spikes lodged into not just his body but his extremities as well, he had just been caught in the explosion of spikes that shot out from within the two prisoners.

That had to be the case, it doesn’t make any sense otherwise.

Agrona had made it clear that the whole point of this war was to take over this continent with as little casualties as possible so that he could conquer and utilize the resources—living and nonliving—available here to strengthen his power and become a threat large enough to attack Epheotus head on. Dicathen was merely a stepping stone for him so wouldn’t make sense for him to only kill the prisoners if he had the power to send someone inside the castle.

Does that mean what Rahdeas said was something important? It was too much of a coincidence that he died right after telling me that poem. This led me to think whether Rahdeas purposely said in the form of a poem to try to bypass the curse. I remembered Cynthia having a curse where she was restricted to reveal or even think about revealing anything relevant.&nbsp;

Forcing myself out of the neverending speculations in my head, I spoke. “Any plans for what to do next?”

“For now, consolidating the priorities of the councilmembers come first. They were already restless after the attack on the southern borders of the Elshire Forest, but even this…” The old elf let out a breath that seemed to contain a bit of his weathered soul. “To be honest, Arthur, I’m at quite a loss at the moment. This war… the scale is so unlike any war this land has faced, yet—”

“Things have been too quiet,” I finished. “I agree. Even with the death of Uto and Rahdeas, I feel like something big is about to happen. I’m just not sure what.”

The room grew quiet as both of us mulled over our thoughts until Virion let out a cough. “Well, no use worrying right now. There are things that must be done. Arthur. You’re on standby as of now, correct?”

“Yes. General Aya is currently stationed in Elenoir, General Mica is assisting in the investigations of the radical group in Darv, General Varay is helping with fortification of major cities throughout the western coast and General Bairon, I believe, is scouting the northern ranges of the Grand Mountains for any signs of retainers or Scythes since there was that base we had cleared out nearby,” I reported. I had wanted to help out but because the Alacryans have been so quiet despite the seemingly random attack on the outskirts of the Elshire Forest, there was nothing that needed my attention.

“Okay. For now, stay in the Castle and get used to your new core. You’ll be sent out immediately if any of the cities report anything unusual so I need you to be in top condition,” Virion declared.

I turned to leave when Virion’s voice called out from behind. “Oh, and Arthur?”

Looking back at the commander over my shoulder, I responded. “Yes?”

He smiled. “I know you don’t care for this kind of thing, but as a lance, don’t you think you should go around dressed a bit more appropriately?”

Looking down to see the loose shirt and dark trousers I had on, I let out a chuckle. “Perhaps I should.”

Returning to my room, I was greeted by not only Sylvie, but by my sister and her bond as well.

Arriving in front of my room, I could hear faint mutters from a voice that sounded like my sister.

“...have to help me, okay? Promise?”

Sylvie must’ve told her I was here because my sister stopped talking.

Opening the door, I was greeted by Ellie and my bond, who were sitting on the couch. Boo, who was lying on the ground with his giant head propped up on top of my bed like a pillow, acknowledged my presence with a snort before closing his eyes.

“H-Hi, Brother,” my sister smiled weakly.

Sylvie greeted me with a simple wave of her hand.

That’s not suspicious, I thought.

‘You’re overthinking,’ my bond immediately replied back, making it more suspicious.

“Anyway, what happened for you to be gone for so long?” my sister asked, a bit upset that I hadn’t had the chance to really spend time with her since I came back.

“Just more meetings that I had to attend,” I said vaguely. “Anyway, I’m free now.”

Ellie cocked a brow. “Does that mean you’ll finally spend some time with your precious sister?”

“Yup, if you’re okay with the training ground that is. Sylv and I both have things to test before an actual fight.”

“Of course that’s okay. That’s exactly what I was about to suggest!” my sister exclaimed, grabbing her bow that was propped up against the wall beside her.

After changing into a more ‘socially appropriate’ attire, which was just a high-collared military tunic that covered the red scars on my neck, and a more fitted pair of trousers. Compared to the rest of the lances, I was dressed rather casually but at least I didn’t look like some farmer’s kid.

“Your hair is almost as long as mine. When are you going to cut it?” Ellie asked with distaste as I was tying my back hair.

I shrugged. “When I feel the need to.”

We made our way to the training room that was guarded by pair soldiers arguing over something.

“I’m telling you that it’s not the—General Arthur!” The armored man on the left clicked his heels and saluted while his companion on the right side of the entrance did the same.

“There are currently several mages practicing inside. Would you like us to clear them out?” The guard on the right asked as the two of them opened the entrance.

Because of the sheer power that can be generated from a white core mage, most of the time, the training room was completely emptied and walls were additionally fortified when a lance came in.

“No need. The one training isn’t me,” I informed, walking in after my excited sister. Sylvie and Boo followed along as we stepped into the loose earthen terrain.

The large room was lively with various nobles in well-adorned robes and tunics around my sister’s age or slightly older testing spells while guardians oversaw and gave pointers to their students. The ones training here were all of status with privileges that extended from family members that were of high rankings within the army. Being able to live and train in the Castle meant that they were safe, a luxury that only the top houses and families of captains had.

Seeing the large entrance open, a few turned their heads my way and the private instructors and adults all immediately recognized me. Bowing in respect, they quickly shushed their children when some of the younger ones asked who I was.

A woman that looked a few years older than my mother walked up to me with an amiable smile. “It’s an honor to see a lance like this. If you are here to train, I will take son and his friends elsewhere to learn.”

“It’s okay,” I smiled back. “Just here to stretch a little. Don’t mind us.”

“Hurry up!” Ellie exclaimed, already several yards ahead.

“If you’ll excuse me…” I followed after my sister with Sylvie and Boo in tow.

“Your sister really wants to impress you,” Sylvie said with a smile. “Don’t be too hard on her.”

“Aww, that’s no fun,” I smirked before turning my gaze to my bond. “Get ready to ‘stretch’ as well. I want to see what you can do before we get into an actual battle.”

“Is that okay with all of these people here?” she asked. “We’ll tone it down a bit. If we really wanted to go all out, we’d have to find a large valley somewhere.”

My bond chuckled. “True. Very well, I’m also curious to see how well I’ve adjusted to this new form.”

Making our way to the far end of the training grounds near the pond, I launched a slab of earth at my sister.

“Incom—” I stopped my warning as three arrows of mana lodged itself into the slab.

Ellie turned her head back at me with a smirk. “You’re going to have to do better than that, Brother.”

Sylvie and I exchanged glances.

“Looks like I might not get the chance to be hard on her,” I chuckled.

Time passed quickly in the training grounds despite the fact that all I basically did was create targets for my sister. It gave me the chance to really test the limits of what organic magic I could create with my white core. Freeforming spells into odd and sometimes intricate shapes seemed to fascinate the children that had gathered around us to watch the show.

The noble kids would ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ as I conjured birds made of ice to skirt around in the air while my sister attempted to shoot them down. Some of these spells weren’t very applicable in battle, but like a pro athlete learning to juggle a ball intricately, it helped me metaphorically stretch my abilities and see what I could and couldn’t do in a set amount of time.

I tried raising earthen soldiers like Olfred was able to do, but after raising about three simple humanoid golems, my control over them faltered to the extent that they began mimicking each other’s movements. Memories of my time with Wren popped up. He was able to control his golems to the point that they acted like sentient beings. Even Olfred, while not as precisely as the asura, was able to conjure and control an army of golems, albeit not as precisely as the asura.

A shame one is forbidden to help while the other is… dead. Not that either would have offered to help had they been here. The thought of them left a bad taste in my mouth.

Rather than dwelling on the past, I focused my attention on the task at hand. It felt rude to train Ellie so half-heartedly when I saw how concentrated she was.

Let’s try kicking things up a notch.

With a wave of my arm, I conjured a current of fire that began twisting and shaping itself into a beastly shape. The ground where its ‘legs’ touched sizzled from the heat as I willed my creation to walk toward Ellie.

Boo, who had been watching beside me, tilted his head in curiosity at the flaming beast that mirrored his form.

“Your offense is good, Ellie, but what happens when a spell that you can’t just shoot down with arrows comes at you?” I called out.

Some of the noble kids a few yards away let out gasps as the instructors let out murmurs of praise.

Ellie’s lips just curled up into a confident grin as she drew her bow. A shimmering arrow manifested, glowing white due to its elementless nature. Just before she let go of the string, however, a slight undulation rippled across the shaft of the mana arrow.

The arrow quickly approached my ‘fire Boo’ with a shriek. I had expected Ellie’s spell to simple pierce through harmlessly, but as the point lodged itself into my spell, the entire arrow exploded in a ray of light, dispersing the flaming beast I had conjured.

I blinked. “That was…”

“Impressive? Superb? Jaw-dropping?” my sister finished, her eyes twinkling.

“Not bad. It was not bad,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Mhmm.” Ellie sniffled, trying to hide her smile.

The day went on with me moving on from conjuring various elemental targets for her, to testing her body’s defenses. Though I hated to admit it, her ability to conjure a protective layer of mana over her body was flawless and fast enough to rival some of the upperclassmen I had seen at Xyrus. Due to her unnaturally intricate control over her mana, she was able to layer mana in specific portions of her body almost instantly and create a fairly durable panel of mana.

I put the scabbard of Dawn’s Ballad that I had been using to spar with Ellie in close range back inside my ring. “Did you learn close quarters combat with your bow from Helen too?”

My sister fell down on the ground, sweating and panting. “Yup… I read a couple books too that helped, although there weren’t that many.”

“Most archers carry around a dagger or even a light sword around for close combat,” I informed. “But since your archery doesn’t depend on you taking out an arrow from your quiver and nocking it on your bow before firing it, learning how to fend off a few attacks in order give yourself some space for a quick shot was the right decision.”

“Your compliments seem… somewhat dull,” my sister said in between breaths.

“Because that wasn’t a compliment. Don’t get ahead of yourself,” I smirked. “We’ve been drilling for only a few hours. Your stamina needs improvement.”

“That’s… not even fair,” Ellie huffed.

“What your brother means to say is that he’s very proud of your growth,” Sylvie comforted with a smile.

“Woah, no verbally expressing my thoughts!” I protested.

“This was rigged from the start, anyway.” Ellie stuck out a tongue. “I mean, how do you even dodge an arrow shot at point blank—repeatedly.”

“A lance has to be able to do at least that much, right?”&nbsp;

My sister narrowed her eyes, discontent by my reply. “You didn’t even break a sweat.”

“You’ll get there with enough training and experience,” I replied.

Ellie shot a glance to Sylvie before looking back at me. “Speaking of getting enough experience, I was wondering if I can maybe… you know…”

I raised a brow. “I know… what?”

“N-Nevermind,” my sister muttered.

“Ellie,” Sylvie chimed in, shaking her head. “Just say it.”

“Does this have anything to do with what you guys were talking about before I got in the room?” I asked.

“I-I want to start helping out in the war!” my sister said, unable to look me in the eyes.

Even though I saw this coming, my heart still sank.

‘Arthur…’ Sylvie sent, feeling my emotions.

“You said it yourself, or rather you thought it yourself, that I was a lot better,” my sister continued when I didn’t answer. “I’m confident that I’m better than a lot of the soldiers that have been assigned to squads and I’m okay with being in the reserves and since I’m an archer, I’d be in the backline anyway so—”

“Ellie,” I interrupted, kneeling down so I was eye-level with my sister.

With a wave of my hand, a barrier of wind surrounded the four of us. I didn’t feel comfortable having others listening to family conversations.

“I’m not saying no, but I’m not sure if I’m allowed to make this decision for you. Mom or Dad aren’t here and to be honest, we haven’t exactly been on the same track these days,” I said.

“You guys still haven’t made up since before you left to go train?” my sister asked, concern laced in her voice.

“You knew?”

“I’m young, not dumb,” my sister frowned.

“Right. Sorry.”

I looked at my bond, who simply gave me an encouraging smile. Letting out a sigh, I gave in. “How about we go on a mission together once? If you do well, I’ll give you my blessing. I can’t speak for Mom or Dad but I won’t hold you back on it.”

“Okay!” Ellie beamed. “You promised.”

‘That was very fair of you,’ my bond approved.

I shot Sylvie a smile before getting back up. “Anyway, since that’s out of the way. Sylvie, it’s your turn.”

Chapter 207: Coordination

Although my bond had the appearance of a little girl that was even younger than my sister—if you disregard the two horns sprouting out from her head—she was still an asura.

After having the guards evacuate the small audience that had no intention of continuing their training regardless, I began pouring my mana into the large mana crystal responsible for powering up the defensive mechanisms within the training grounds. A low hum resounded in response and the cavern walls and rounded ceiling glowed dimly. Emily wasn’t here to power up the plate-like sensors she had installed for my previous training so the only functionality available was that of the barrier.

My sister was the only other person still inside the training room, but I had her stay near the entrance behind Boo in the rare case that one of our spells accidentally hit her.

“Do I really have to stay this far when you two are just practicing? I can hardly see you guys even with mana-enhanced sight!” Ellie shouted out a complaint as she peeked her head out from behind her bond.

Ignoring my sister, I continued to stretch out my body, making sure to be extra diligent while stretching my legs.

“Are you not going to stretch? Better yet, do you even need to stretch?” I questioned my bond, who was standing perfectly still while watching me.

“Considering I can barely use this body for basic daily functions, I’m a bit hesitant to try anything more,” Sylvie replied, frowning.

“Better to practice now than in the middle of battle, right?” I countered, balancing on one leg as I stretched my aching thigh.

Sylvie let out a sigh. “Very well.”

My bond attempted to mirror my pose, only to stumble. &nbsp;After a few more minutes of her violently swinging her arms to try and keep her balance as we went through a series of stretches, we began our training.

“So, how do you want to go about this?” I asked. Having only seen her use her superior body to fight alongside me or use vivum to heal me, I had no idea as to how she planned on fighting in her humanoid form.

“Stay there for a bit,” she replied, raising her arm and pointing an open palm in my direction.

Without warning, a missile of light shot toward me.

My eyes widened in surprise but I quickly reacted by coating my hand in mana and swatting the missile away.

“A mana arrow?” I looked at the shallow cut on the side of my palm. Despite the spell being similar to Ellie’s mana arrows in a way, her attack was much denser—almost solid.&nbsp;

“Ellie’s use of elementless mana provided me with a few ideas on how to best take advantage of my traits,” she answered, sending another arrow of mana my way after a moment of preparation.

This time the ‘arrow’, or more accurately a harpoon, judging by the size of the shining projectile, shot in a slight arc towards me rather than in a straight line like the previous one.

Wanting to verify my curiosity, I made no attempt to block or dodge the incoming spell. Instead, coating my hand in a thick layer of mana, I grabbed Sylvie’s mana harpoon.

The speed of her spell jerked my arm back but I held on firmly. I had expected it to disperse immediately, but it remained in my hand even while I was gripping down on it with sufficient force to shatter a rock.

After becoming a white core mage and practicing organic magic, I could tell that although Sylvie may have gotten the idea of her attack from watching Ellie, but the composition of the two spells couldn’t be any more different.

The raw power of her attack isn’t that high but in order to pack so much mana so densely into this form so quickly…

My mind wandered off as I contemplated all of the possible applications of my bond’s magic. By the time I looked back at my hand, the mana arrow had disappeared.

“Mana manipulation for dragons is limited to pure mana only, right?” I confirmed.

“If you don’t take into account my race’s ability to manipulate aether, yes,” Sylvie said. “Although there’s something else…”

“What is it?” I asked, curious.

“I’m not quite sure myself. After being in this form, I’ve been able to get a better grasp of my core, yet there’s a part of it that I can’t seem to access,” she answered.

“Maybe you’ll be able to access it once you get stronger,” I said. “For now, let’s see how versatile your control over pure mana is.”

I launched a dozen fire arrows with a swing of an arm. The streaks of fire spread out before converging back into a single target directed at my bond.

Before my attack landed, a shimmering barrier of light enveloped Sylvie, covering her in fire and dust from the ground around her.

“Try to create individual panels to block each projectile,” I barked out, sending out another wave of fire arrows.

Sylvie’s brows knit in concentration as she managed to conjure a large sphere of pure mana from her palm that separated into multiple panes to block my spells.

By then, though, I had already closed the distance between us and had the broken blade of Dawn’s Ballad pressed against her arm.

However, rather than flesh, my blade had met a patch of black scales that appeared from beneath her skin.

Despite my attack’s failure, Sylvie seemed to have been genuinely surprised by my follow up.

I sheathed my broken sword back into its scabbard and gave my evaluation. “Your control over pure mana is excellent and considering how dense your spells are, it seems your mana reserves are quite big. Your innate body provides good physical defense even if you are a bit slow.”

Although Sylvie held in her smile, I could tell through our bond how proud she was feeling.

“Still, I don’t think your attacks are strong enough to threaten retainers and scythes,” I continued. “What else have you noticed about this form compared to your draconic form?”

Sylvie thought for a moment. “My innate defenses are a bit weaker in this form. You held that strike back but if you had attacked me seriously with Dawn’s Ballad, I would’ve lost a limb.”

“Good to know.” I nodded. “Anything else?”

“My control over mana is better in this form, but my dragon form allows me to utilize more of my mana in a single breath—albeit a more unrefined form,” my bond explained, twirling several orbs of mana around her hand as if to emphasize her point.&nbsp;

“I see,” I muttered taking a few steps back. “There are a couple more things I want to test out, Sylv. Can you conjure a square pane in front of me?”

I could feel her curiosity flare up but I hid my intentions from my bond.

With a twitch of her wrist, the spheres of mana that had been orbiting her hand shot out and converged into a bigger orb before flattening out into a flat square.

“Keep it stable,” I ordered, reeling my fist back.

I punched Sylvie’s panel of mana and while it trembled from the impact, it stayed where it was.

“What about distance? How far can you conjure a spell and keep control over it?”

She didn’t answer, instead, she stretched out a hand and willed the panel of mana that I had just punched away. The spell changed into a spherical form as it hurled toward the back wall of the room. Sylvie then closed her outstretched hand into a fist, suspending the orb in midair.

“Move it left,” I ordered, concentrating on the shining orb.

Upon Sylvie’s direction, the orb easily darted left and stopped just before it hit the wall.

I gave another order. “Bring it back, change the shape of it into an arrow.”

I led Sylvie into a series of exercises, gradually adding more orbs and having her manage them until there were ten orbs, five of which I had instructed Sylvie to change into a flat panel. By the end of the drill, Sylvie was sweating profusely, but I had a pretty good idea on how we were going to coordinate in battles.

***

Four days had passed in the blink of an eye. I spent the majority of the day in the training grounds, drilling with Ellie and Sylvie until the two of them were mentally and physically drained. It was a great change of pace for myself as well and I felt my control over my white core steadily improve. While Sylvie had yet to ‘unlock’ more of her abilities hidden away in her core, and we hadn’t had the chance to attempt at any sort of coordinated fighting together, she and my sister had still improved greatly under my scrutinizing tutelage. After our morning drills of target hitting for my sister and multitasking with ten or more mana spheres for my bond, we took a break.

Sylvie, Ellie, Boo and I rested near the grassy patch beside the pond, eating the sandwiches brought to us by a hulking woman that was apparently a chef inside the castle.

“Hey, Art,” my sister called as she absentmindedly picked the vegetables off her sandwich. “What would you say are the biggest drawbacks of fighting using pure mana? From what I’ve seen while you and Sylvie were practicing these past few days, her spells seemed really versatile, even against all of your elemental attacks.”

“Stop picking them out and just eat it,” I chided, gently slapping her hand. “And to answer your question, I can think of three big reasons why most mages prefer to use magic of their elemental affinity rather than just pure mana spells. First reason is that it uses up a lot of your mana reserves.”

“More so than elemental spells?” Ellie interrupted.

“Pure mana can only come from your mana core, which—as you know from experience—is often time consuming to gather and purify. Elemental magic also uses mana from your core but it’s also powered by the ambient mana that consists of all of the elements,” I explained.

Ellie’s brows furrowed as she tried to wrap her head around the concept. “I’m not sure I follow.”

I thought for a moment, trying to come up with an appropriate analogy. “Ah, so it’s kind of like this. Imagine I’m on top of a snowy hill and I’m trying to hit you, who’s at the bottom, with a snowball.”

“Why am I the one getting hit?” she frowned.

I looked at her with a deadpan expression. Sylvie chuckled beside me as she tossed a sandwich to Ellie’s drooling bond.

“Okay, okay. Please continue.”

“A mage using elemental magic would first make a snowball with his hands but instead of just throwing it, he would roll it down the hill so that the snowball picks up more snow from the ground. By the time it hits you, we’ll say the snowball turned into the size of Boo,” I continued.

Boo let out grunt upon hearing his name but quickly turned his attention back to Sylvie, who was the only one feeding him.

“Now, a mage using a pure mana spell of the same ‘power’ will have to make the snowball and pack it with more and more snow until it’s the size of Boo before throwing it down at you. See the difference?”

“That sounds like a lot of work,” Ellie admitted. “Okay, what are the other reasons?”

“It’s harder to effectively control pure mana once it’s been expelled from your body, and”—deciding it’d be easier to just show her the last reason, I willed a field of stone spikes to shoot out from the ground a few dozen yards from where we were—“unlike what I did just now, pure mana spells must originate from the caster.”

Just by looking at my sister, I could see that the proverbial light seemed to have lit up in her head.

“Anyway, since we’ve taken a break, why not continue a little longer?” I suggested, getting up.

“Yes!” Ellie agreed, bolting up as well. “Hey Sylvie, can you do what you did earlier and make those moving panels? I want to try to hit them!”

“Sure,” My bond smiled. “Shoot some mana arrows off course so I can practice reacting as well!”

A smile escaped my lips as I watched the two run off when the doors to the training room opened once more. A single guard came running in, and just by his expression, I knew it wasn’t good.

Sylvie and Ellie’s eyes followed the guard that stopped in front of me and saluted before speaking.

“General Arthur! News of a massive corrupted beast horde has come from the Wall. Commander Virion is currently waiting for you in the dock with a team of mages to go with you as back up.”

Chapter 208: Enemy Territory II

CIRCE MILVIEW

Alacryan

“Please… Maeve! I need a break,” I begged the caster in between ragged breaths.

Looking behind me, I saw Cole just a few paces away running desperately to keep up with us. Suddenly, Maeve, who had been pulling me by the arm, stopped. I barely managed to avoid colliding with her when she let go of me and pointed up at large tree. “Let’s take cover here.”

Fatigue weighing down my body, Maeve hoisted me up the tree while Cole barely managed to push himself up onto the lowest branch. The strenuous task of climbing up high enough on the tree to stay hidden took the better half of an hour.

Finally satisfied, Cole leaned back against the trunk of the tree, her legs dangling in the air. I peeled out of Fane’s oversized silver breastplate so that my sweat-drenched shirt could dry off a little.

The three of us remained silent, each doing whatever task they deemed more important to them. After eating a few strips of dried meat, Cole immediately set a barrier around us while Maeve cycled mana.

As for me, I knew what I had to do, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Instead I turned to where Cole and Maeve were and asked hesitantly. “D-Do you think Fane made it out?”

Maeve opened one eye—just one eye—but the anger that exuded out of that eye made me wince. Cole shuffled over and sat between Maeve and I so we weren’t in direct eye contact of each other. “Circe. Focus on the mission. Can you use True Sense yet?”

Cole’s voice was soft and gentle, yet his expression had hardened to a point where he looked like a different person compared to when I had first met him back in Alacrya.&nbsp;

I nodded my head and prepared myself, but when I closed my eyes, the scene from earlier today still flashed like it was still happening right now.

It was all my fault. If I hadn’t gone off from the camp.

There was no one there when I checked. I just wanted to wash my clothes in the stream.

I rattled on more reasons in my head. The stream we had passed by was less than a hundred yards from where we were hiding. I double—no, triple—checked using my crest to make sure there was no one within my heightened range of awareness. Throughout our journey, our whole group made extra precautions to hide our trail. We had even dug holes into the ground every time we did our ‘business’ and covered it back up with dirt and foliage.

So, how? How did I get caught on my way back to the camp?

If I hadn’t kept my crest active, I would’ve led the elves straight to where the rest of the group was hiding.

I thought that I was in the clear after throwing them off. I ran for over an hour in the opposite direction before circling back to where Fane, Maeve, and Cole were.

Still, by the expression on everyone’s expression after I had told them what happened, I knew it wasn’t as simple as that.

Fane immediately ripped off my outer robe and gave me his silver chestplate for me to wear. Maeve cursed and turned away while Cole slumped, crestfallen.

I didn’t know what was happening back then. It was only Fane that gave me a gentle smile and said goodbye. The same Fane that had the personality of a poked snake tousled my hair and told Maeve and Cole to protect me.

Draping my robe over his shoulders, he dropped down from the tree we were hiding in and ran off.

Confused, I had almost called out after the veteran striker of our team, only to have Maeve cover my mouth with her hand. ‘We can’t have the elves suspecting that someone is out there. Do you understand? That’s why Fane has to go pretend to be you,’ Maeve had hissed into my ear.

***

I snapped back to reality when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Cole mustered a smile and mouthed for me to hurry.

Gritting my teeth and praying that Fane would survive, I closed my eyes again and ignited my emblem. For a split second, as I felt my consciousness leaving my body, I was tempted to focus my limited time in this form to search for Fane.

Snap out of it, Circe. The mission. Focus on the mission.

I navigated through the perception-debilitating fog that was native to this area using True Sense and locked in on multiple elements this time.

My heart thumped at the sight of the rich ambient mana particles in the distance.

We’re almost there!

Unable to keep True Sense active for much longer, I released the spell and let out a deep breath. Slowly opening my eyes, I saw both Cole and Maeve staring at me intently.

Despite the guilt and fatigue pressing down on me, I allowed a small grin. “We’re almost there. Just a few more days away at our pace now.”

With my words boosting the overall morale of our small team, we decided to make haste. I put Fane’s silver chestplate back on despite its weight restricting my speed. Without Fane with us as our vanguard, I knew I’d need every advantage I can get. After all, I’ve been drilled enough by my team members to know that everything we’ve done so far would’ve been for naught if I were to die.

Still, dangerous thoughts of assuming that another sentry would succeed invaded my mind. I wasn’t a hero. I wasn’t like Fane or Maeve that had trained for years to handle these sort of situations. Even Cole, while only a few years older than me, had quite a bit of experience hunting beasts in the scouting teams back in Alacrya.

Me? I had barely graduated before I was recruited for this mission. A few weeks ago, before stepping through that highly unstable portal into this continent, I was still packing up my belongings in my assigned school housing so I could go back home to my blood.

Stumbling on a tree root snapped me out of my thoughts. Thankfully, Maeve was able to grab my arm and stop me from actually falling flat on my face on the ground.

The caster shot me a glare but didn’t say anything. We weren’t running particularly fast and the sun had yet to go down so she knew I just wasn’t paying attention.

Gnashing my teeth together, I did my best to push away any useless thoughts as we hastened our pace in the direction I was leading them.

I have to survive. For my younger brother.

I repeated those words in my mind like a mantra. The great Vritra will be able to save my brother and bless him with magic so that he could lead a prosperous life if I succeed.

A mental ring that notified me whenever a new presence entered my range of perception roused me out of my reverie. I stopped in my tracks and held out an arm with two fingers to stop Maeve and Cole as well.

They immediately understood the signal and we immediately climbed up the closest tree. Unable to strengthen my body like Cole and Maeve, I scrambled for the lowest branch. In my rush, my foot slipped on a moss-covered root.

My head hit the trunk with a dull thud that sounded like an explosion within this quiet forest. I didn’t even care about the pain. The huge blunder that I had caused made my heart drop.

Did they hear that? Is it over?

A thousand more thoughts flashed through my mind until I finally noticed the translucent tint around me and the blurred view on the other side of Cole’s barrier.

Great Vritra, that was close! I breathed, making a mental note to thank Cole for the nice save.

“Hurry!” Maeve urged while Cole focused on reinforcing his barrier.

I quickly grabbed the caster’s outstretched hand and used her help to pull myself up onto the branch. My heart felt as if it were about to break out of my ribcage as my breathing grew more erratic, but I didn’t have the time or luxury to gather myself.

Maeve had already climbed up a few feet higher. I followed close, using the same handholds and footholds she had used to climb up the tree while Cole took the rear.

The three of us had to be extra careful as we traversed up the giant tree. Going too fast meant that we might shake leaves off the branches which might give away our position.

My arms ached and my legs trembled, half out of fatigue and half out of fear. I desperately wished my mark had allowed some form of body enhancement but I knew hoping for that now was stupid.

Finally, Maeve stopped at a particular branch and helped me up. The branches this high up were too thin for all of us to be on one altogether, so we each sat on our own tree limb and hugged the trunk in order to lessen the burden on our seats.

Cole, who was about to strengthen his barrier stopped on my signal.

“I’ll tell you when they’re close enough,” I whispered. We needed his barrier at its full power if they got near.

The two presences were heading toward us but were still a few hundred feet away. I narrowed the focus of my second crest and with it, I was able to faintly hear the two elves talking.

“We should head back, Albold. We’ve already strayed far enough from our survey route,” one voice said.

“Just a second,” the second voice, Albold, replied lightheartedly.

“You probably just heard a forest hare or something,” the first voice said.&nbsp;

“It wasn’t really a sound,” the elf named Albold said as he continued approaching where we were hiding. “It was more like an inkling.”

“I swear, if you weren’t a Chaffer, I would’ve just left,” the first said. “Either way, it’s good to have you back—quirks and all.”

“Thanks. Double thanks for promising not to tell our head about this little ‘detour’,” Albold said with a soft chuckle as he continued to lead his partner closer to our location.

“We can only afford a little detour,” the partner stressed. “That damned Alacryan is still on the loose. How are they even this far up north, anyway?”

I bit down on my lips but a smile still managed to escape. He’s alive!

“If I knew, we wouldn’t be out here like this,” Albold scoffed.

Prying myself away from the perceptions of my crest, I turned to Cole and nodded. He nodded back and tightened his veiling barrier to barely encompass the three of us. Tightening the area of effect strengthened his magic allowed him the spare mana to add two more layers of barriers

I ignited my crest once more and focused my entire magic on the two elves approaching. They were less than fifty feet away now.

Please, Vritra, let them just pass like the other scouts.

I wiped away the sweat rolling down my face every several seconds in fear that the drops might fall down and wet the ground.

I held my breath as well. I knew it wasn’t necessary. I knew the barrier would mask most of the noises made but even Cole and Maeve were as still as the tree we were perched on.

Holding up both my hands, I mouthed ‘ten feet’ to my teammates. Cole swallowed hard and Maeve’s expression turned even more fierce.

I looked down at the base of the tree, hoping—praying for them to not to come into view.&nbsp;

The snap of a twig nearby made stiffen. I looked at Cole and Maeve but both of them were focused intently on the ground below us.

Then we saw them. The two elves. One had long hair tied tightly behind his neck while the other one had cropped hair and ears slightly longer than his comrade. Unlike the long-haired elf that was looking around aimlessly, the short-haired one kept his head down as he walked.

The latter slowed his pace, his head still dipped down like he had lost a coin on the ground.

Please, just keep walking.

Please.

He was now adjacent to the tree we were on.

I let out a sigh when suddenly, the elf’s head jerked left. He looked at the base of the tree.

More accurately, he was looking at the moss on the root. The moss that I had stepped and slipped on.

The fear that I had been pushing down bubbled up, threatening to swallow me.

Please.

The short-haired elf stopped walking and his head turned up until I could make out his face… and his eyes… that seemed to be looking directly at me.

Chapter 209: Deployed

ARTHUR LEYWIN

“I’m going with you!” Ellie’s voice sounded from behind.

I stopped in my tracks and the guard beside me halted as well. Turning back to lock eyes with my sister, I struggled to hold down the words, ‘it’s too dangerous.’

Sylvie had already read what I wanted to say but she stayed quiet beside me.

“You promised, remember?” Ellie’s gaze remained resolute as she walked to me.

“A massive horde of corrupted beasts,” I muttered softly.

“You’ll be with me,” she answered immediately. “And I’ll have the protection of the Wall.”

‘I understand your dilemma but this is a good opportunity,’ Sylvie chimed in. ‘I’ll be with her as well and casting arrows from the top of the Wall is little more than target practice for her.’

But what if the beasts break through?

‘I know you won’t let that happen,’ she answered with a soothing wave of confidence.

The guard beside me scratched his head and kept shifting his gaze toward the exit impatiently. “General Arthur…”

“We’re going,” I stated as I began walking toward the training ground exit once again.

Looking back over my shoulder, I called out to my sister. “What are you doing? Let’s go.”

Ellie visibly brightened as a contagious smile blossomed on her face. She followed after me in a full run. “Come on, Boo!”

Immediately outside of the training grounds there was an unfamiliar mage with a large sparrow-like bird perched on his shoulder, stood, waiting. After making eye contact, he respectfully inclined his head. “Greetings, General Arthur. I am Officer Julor Strejin. A member of my squad surveying the Beast Glades was the one to spot the horde. I will be briefing you of the situation at the Wall.”

“Officer Julor,” I acknowledged with a nod. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Without wasting any time, the officer began informing me of everything that I was expected to know. Two other mages—both highly-accomplished adventurers before joining the army—would be accompanying us as additional support to the Wall. The best estimate on the size of the beast horde was somewhere close to twenty thousand. Although a majority seemed to be from D-class to B-class, there were several A-class and even quite a bit of S-class mana beasts spotted.

“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get too close because of the Alacryan mages, but we spotted at least a dozen S-class mana beasts,” Julor stated solemnly.

I looked back at Ellie. “A dozen S-class mana beasts. And the fact that they’re corrupted means they’ll be even stronger and more fierce.”

Ellie’s face paled but her expression remained firm. “I’ll be okay.”

My determined, talented, yet sheltered, sister has definitely never seen a mana beast besides the tamed bonds in Xyrus when she was younger. I doubted she could even fathom how scary an S-class beast was but here I was, leading her straight into not only one, but a dozen… along with several thousands of other beasts.

‘They’re only mana beasts, Arthur,’ Sylvie comforted.

Right, I responded back mentally.

I turned to Julor. “Any signs of retainers or scythes, Officer?”

“None,” he replied confidently. “Which was why Commander Virion deemed that just sending a single lance was necessary.”

“Okay. How many days do we have until the horde reaches the Wall?” I asked.

“By the pace that they’re marching, we expect them to arrive in no more than two days time,” he answered before shooting a glance at where Sylvie and my sister were. I could tell he was about to say something but he held his tongue.

We walked in silence for the remainder of our small walk until we reached the docking room. It was relatively quiet inside the usually-bustling space. Besides the several workers strapping saddles on giant hawk-like mana beasts, I could only see Virion with a small entourage when we had arrived.

“Arthur!” Virion called out, his once-cheerful disposition had faded, instead replaced by war-weary eyes. Beside him were two mage soldiers and a few maids behind them.

“Commander.” I saluted before walking up to the old elf.

“I’m sure Officer Julor informed you of the situation so let me quickly introduce you to the two mages I’ve chosen to support you at the Wall. “This is Callum Hembril. He’s young, barely past thirty, but already &nbsp;an accomplished fire conjurer in the solid-yellow core stage.”

The chestnut-haired mage stepped forward, his long coiled bangs covering his forehead. He had an inquisitive look on him that he quickly covered with an amiable smile. “Callum, as introduced by the commander. Pleasure.”

Virion stuck a thumb back at the figure a few feet behind Callum. “This big lug here is a dark-yellow core augmenter, but he’s been out on the fields of the Beast Glades for over forty years.”

The barrel-chested man that stood almost a foot over me and twice my girth was covered from the neck down in heavy plate armor that glowed dully. He had short hair and his lower face was dark with stubbles. &nbsp;With a piercing gaze that seemed to be assessing every inch of my body, he stretched out a hand toward me. “Gavik Lund.”

I shook his hand that seemed almost as wide as Boo’s paws, before turning back to Virion. “So, what’s the plan?” By those mounts getting ready, I’m assuming we’re traveling by air?”

“Mhmm. Those are Callum’s and Gavin’s mounts,” Virion informed. “The closest teleportation gate is in Blackbend City and the train hasn’t yet been fully finished. It’s fortunate that the Castle’s location is relatively close to the Wall.”

I turned to my bond. “I can fly myself. Do you think you’ll be able to carry Ellie while holding Boo?”

Finally grasping the situation, Boo let out a moan of protest.

“If the trip isn’t too long, I’ll be able to manage,” Sylvie answered, ignoring my sister’s giant bond.

“Wait, the little kid and her pet cub is coming along?” Gavik asked with a scowl. “Commander, is that wise? There will be a massive army of mana beasts.”

“She’s an adept conjurer that’ll be valuable to have stationed on the wall,” I cut in. “And since when was it okay to refer to a general’s sister as a ‘little kid’?”

Gavik, despite being about three times my age, blanched.

“My… apologies,” he muttered. “Didn’t know she was your sister, General Arthur.”

Virion’s expression was laced in worry, but he didn’t comment on Ellie going with me. Instead, he waved over the attendants that were standing behind him. They walked up carrying a large wooden chest with runes etched into its entire surface. “Anyways, before you leave, I prepared a little something. It’s not much, but I think wearing something a bit more eye-catching might help with the level of morale at the Wall.”

Virion placed a hand on the lid and the runes lit up before opening with a click. Several compartments popped out of the chest to reveal an entirely new outfit for me.

“Jand, Brune, help the General get dressed,” Virion ordered. Before I could protest, his attendants had grabbed me and led me to the side of the room where a dressing stall had been conveniently set up beforehand.

The male immediately began undressing me while the lady attendant started working on my hair. After brushing it, she tied the back neatly and trimmed my bangs.

I should cut my hair soon, I noted mentally. My hair had gotten long enough to reach past my shoulders. If it wasn’t for my height and relatively broad shoulders, I could easily have been mistaken for a girl from the back.

‘And from the front,’ my bond added, her thoughts invading into mine. ‘You’re prettier than some of the noble females I’ve seen in the Castle.’

I groaned internally. Yeah… I should definitely cut my hair soon.

As soon as my hair had been tamed, they got to work on the outfit. I wore a black high-collared shirt that conveniently covered the burn marks on my neck that I had gotten from the first retainer that I had fought against. Trousers that felt surprisingly thick despite its lightness fell tight below my knees, which were designed intentionally so that the thin dark-gray greaves could comfortably slip over my shins.

The attendants then equipped braces of the same material and color of my greaves over my arms before slipping on tight, fingerless gloves over my hands.

While the appearance of the outfit was a tad over the top with its intricate trimmings and engraved armor on my shins and forearms, Virion knew precisely what sort of armor would best suit me. While protection was minimal, the braces and greaves would allow me some form of defense while leaving my movements unimpeded.

“The last touch, General Arthur,” the male attendant announced as he carefully draped a waist-long mantle over me that was lined in white fur.

I walked out of the dressing stall, and despite the thicker layers of clothing I had changed into, my body felt freer and lighter than it had before. Callum and Gavik had already hopped onto their mounts, ready to depart.

“Ah! Much better,” Virion said with an approving nod.

“Where’d my brother go?” my sister teased as she looked around the room.

I rolled my eyes, making my way back to the commander, who was wearing a gray fur-lined coat that fell just below his ankles over his usual loose robe. “You really like your furs.”

“That mantle is an old piece of mine that I wore back when I was younger,” Virion said, his eyes growing softer as if he was reminiscing of the past. “Although it doesn’t look as good on you as it did on me, I’ll let you have it.”

I raised a brow in surprise. “Thank you for the outfit.”

He smirked. “Thank me by keeping the Wall from falling.”

“Will do.”

The large bifold doors that took up an entire wall opened, letting in a constant rush of air as the floor below us slowly slid out toward the large exit. I motioned for Sylvie and my sister to follow as I made my way toward the edge of the castle. My bond soon caught up, walking behind me with Ellie and Boo in tow.

I relished the beautiful sight of the sky below us. “I forget sometimes how high up the Castle is in the sky!”

“Tell me about it! At least we can’t see how far up we are because of the clouds below,” my sister shouted over the sound of the wind.

I let out a laugh. “Just be sure to hold onto Sylvie tightly!”

“I won’t drop you,” my bond reassured.

Boo let out another groan.

Sylvie shook her head. “I won’t drop either of you.”

The sight of Callum and Gavik on their mounts whizzed by. The tamed mana beasts dove off the edge of the dock before reappearing into view with wings spread out.

“Let’s go!” I shouted as I ran toward the edge.

Sylvie began glowing as she transformed into her draconic form. “Jump, Ellie!” she shouted, her voice a pitch deeper than it was before.

I watched the obsidian dragon sail above the clouds with Ellie on her back and Boo in her clawed hands.

Using the sound of Ellie’s screams as the cue, I jumped off the edge as well, following the rest.

***

How are you holding up? I asked my bond, whose speed seemed to be getting slower.

‘It seems that, despite all of my magical and physical capabilities, I wasn’t designed to be an efficient mode of delivery,’ she replied, looking down at the large bear that had fallen asleep while dangling in Sylvie’s arms.

Several hours had passed since our departure and besides the gorgeous views of the sky and clouds, it was a boring journey. We had settled into a comfortable speed heading southeast with Callum and Gavik leading just a few dozen yards ahead. After my sister’s initial excitement—and Boo’s terror—of flying had died down, the two had fallen asleep, one on Sylvie’s back and the other in her hands.

Ahead, Callum conjured a bright flare and signaled that we were descending. The two mages then led their avian steeds below the sea of clouds, both disappearing from view.

Looks like we’re almost there. You’ll be able to get some rest once we land, I conveyed to my bond before following after Callum and Gavik.

The shroud of wind I had cast over my body kept all of the moisture from the clouds away from me but Ellie wasn’t as fortunate. As I watched Sylvie descend through the thick layer of water vapor, I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of my sister awake, drenched and grumpy. Boo’s thick fur was drench and matted down to his skin, making him look scrawnier than what I had imagined.

I shot a smirk at my sister, but her gaze was glued below, jaw agape.

‘Arthur. Look down,’ Sylvie sent along with a wave of concern.

I peered down, the layer of mist thin enough for me to finally see through. And what I saw was truly a sight to behold.

I could only describe it as a sea. A sea of black and gray that was made up of what could only be the corrupted beasts. We were several miles above ground and the beast horde was still more than a day away, at the least, but already my chest clenched in suspense.&nbsp;

Callum and Gavik had both stopped their descent to behold the sight below, exchanging concerned glances with one another every few seconds.

The Wall, the fortress housing close to several hundred mages and soldiers, responsible for keeping this beast army at bay, looked tiny—insignificant—in comparison. &nbsp;&nbsp;

I could feel heart speeding and my blood boiling to the extent that my hands were trembling.

Sylvie’s presence seeped into my mind, snapping me out of my reverie. ‘Arthur. You’re smiling.’

Chapter 210: Awaiting the Horde

We arrived at the ground level of the Wall, where a small welcoming team was waiting for us around the designated landing podium.

Sylvie, after dropping Boo on the ground, transformed back to her human form.

“Ahh—oof!” my sister let out as she fell into my arms. “Couldn’t you have used wind magic to like… I don’t know… gently float me down to the ground?”

I looked down at her with a smirk. “I thought all girls wanted to be carried this way at one point in their lives.”

“Gross,” Ellie groaned as she rolled out of my arms, landing deftly on her feet. As she dusted herself off, she looked around for the first time, only to start blushing as her eyes scanned our surroundings.

‘Arthur,’ Sylvie nudged mentally from beside me.

I pried my gaze from my sister to realize that there was a crowd forming, silent and expectant. Callum and Gavik had already handed their mounts off to the beastkeepers and were awaiting orders.

“L-Let go of me, idiot brother!” Ellie whispered.

Dropping her on her feet, I teased, “Are you embarrassed of your brother?”

“General Arthur,” a familiar voice called out. I turned to see Captain Trodius Flamesworth with both Albanth and Jesmiya on either side of him. Upon making eye contact, the three of them inclined their heads respectfully.

Rather than addressing the captains first, I swept my gaze through the crowd. Most of the people appeared to be the merchants or workers who worked within the Wall, rather than the soldiers.

You should’ve stayed in your draconic form, Sylvie.

‘They’re staring at you, not me,’ my bond responded with a faint smile.

To keep the morale high, &nbsp;the soldiers most likely did not inform them of how large the enemy force was, but even then, their eyes were filled with worry. It seemed that having a boy the age of many of their children as backup didn’t particularly fill them with confidence. Some of them were even mumbling to their neighbors about whether or not &nbsp;I was really a lance.

I let out a heavy breath and ignited Realmheart. Power surged through my limbs and the world shifted into a colorless scene aside from mana particles that lit up around me. While the runes glowing on my body were covered by my clothes, it was obvious that the change in my hair and eyes stunned the crowd.

There were gasps that could be heard even from where I was standing and many of the people in the crowd buckled, unable to bear the pressure of my aura—even with me holding back.

“While my presence in this fortress may be unnecessary, my only wish is to expedite our victory with as little loss to our forces as possible,” I stated with my head held high.

The people in the crowd erupted into cheers and shouts as I walked toward Trodius and the two captains beside him.

Suppressing my dragon will, I returned to my normal auburn-haired form to greet the senior captain in charge of the Wall.

“Senior Captain Trodius Flamesworth.” I held out a gloved hand. “I didn’t think I’d have the pleasure of meeting you again so soon.”

The senior captain shook my hand with a tired smile and waited as I repeated the same gesture to the other two captains.

“General,” Jesmiya said curtly.

Albanth removed his armored gauntlet and shook my hand. “General Arthur. Pleasure to have you here.”

“Let’s head to the meeting room,” I declared, matching my pace with the large armored man in charge of the Bulwark Division, whose main duty was to defend the Wall. “My younger sister would like to contribute in this battle. Her skills as a magic archer should be of use to your troops. If you’d like to test her out…”

“No need for that, General. A lance’s word is plenty enough for me and my men,” Captain Albanth responded resolutely. “I’ll also have my most capable soldier guiding her.”

“Benjamin!” Without stopping, Albanth beckoned for a messenger and had him fetch the guard.

“I don’t need a babysitter, you know,” my sister complained, walking up to me. “I still have the pendant you gave me and Mom, remember?”

Ellie pulled out the phoenix wyrm pendant I had gotten her and Mother on Ellie’s twelfth birthday.

“I’ve let you come on this mission as I promised, but you’re not allowed to say anything about me taking extra precautions,” I chided. “That pendant only works once and it’s not something I can easily acquire again.”

By the time our small group had arrived at the familiar meeting tent, the soldier that had been beckoned for by Albanth was already there.

“Stella,” Albanth called out. “This is General Arthur’s younger sister…”

“Eleanor Leywin,” my sister finished with a salute.

“Eleanor Leywin. She’s a capable magic archer that I’ll leave under your direct care,” the captain of the Bulwark Division ordered. “Make sure she’s properly equipped before taking her to the top level.”

If the woman named Stella was discontent with being stuck protecting my sister, she did a great job of hiding it. Her scarred face was expressionless as she held her helmet in one hand and a mace in the other.

“Yes, Captain,” the soldier barked, clicking her armored heels. “Please follow me, Lady Eleanor.”

“Please. Just Eleanor, or even soldier, is fine.” My sister scratched her head in frustration as she followed after Stella.

“My apologies for having one of your soldiers guard my sister like this. She was rather adamant about serving and I thought the Wall would be a safe place to start.”

“Normally, I’d agree with you. But with the size and strength of this beast army approaching, I can’t say that for sure,” Albanth responded.

***

After everyone had settled into their seats around the table, we started the strategy meeting. Those present were Senior Captain Trodius, Captain Jesmiya, Captain Albanth, Callum, Gavik, Sylvie and myself.

“While discussing battle strategy is important, I believe getting a better understanding of our troops currently at the Wall, out in the Beast Glades, and those arriving should take precedence,” Trodius began.

With a silver croupier’s rake, the senior captain began sliding markers around the large map spread out on the table.

“Each large marker represents a thousand troops and small, a hundred. Does this look about right?” Trodius confirmed with Jesmiya and Albanth.

“Not including the freelance adventurers currently under my wing, we have just bit shy of two thousand,” Albanth confirmed.

Jesmiya used her sheathed sword to move around a few smaller pieces around in the territory of the Beast Glades. “One of my scouting units returned a few minutes before General Arthur arrived. The head will be joining us shortly to report.”

“Thank you,” Trodius said with a nod. “We have a few more adventurers making their way here but their numbers won’t be greater than a hundred so these will be what we have to make do with. General Arthur, I’ve heard many praises from Commander Virion about your strategic abilities. Would you like to offer a plan of action?”

Both Albanth and Jesmiya regarded me with surprise, most likely at the fact that I was not only proficient in combat but in military tactics as well.

I shook my head. “I’m unfamiliar of the inner workings of the Wall and its residents. I think it’d be best if you take charge, though I may offer some suggestions here and there.”

“Noted,” Trodius replied promptly before moving on to his plan.

While I bore little fondness for the man that had tossed his own daughter aside like a broken toy, I had to admit that Trodius’ efficient and callous nature adapted well into his position of power.

The basic premise of his plan was to slay as many of the corrupted beasts as possible before they reached the Wall. This meant that there would be several units sent out as cannon fodder out of range from the mages stationed on the Wall.

Trodius continued on with his plan, moving pieces around the map to indicate four units that would take a more roundabout way in their approach toward the beast horde.

“I believe our main advantage against the approaching enemy is that they do not appear to have a strategy, outside of marching through the doors with a few Alacryan mages to herd them in place.” the senior captain voiced, moving two large pieces on either side of the Wall. “Thus, while we send in a steady stream of normal soldiers and augmenters from the Bulwark Division to impede enemy movement, two units of the Trailblazer Division will move out early and get in position to flank on either side.”

The senior captain paused for a moment before speaking again. “With enough rounds of concentrated attacks on both the front and the sides, by the time the beast horde is in range of the mages at the Wall, the conjurers stationed with the help of General Arthur should be enough to finish it off.”

Captain Albanth looked blatantly dissatisfied with the plan of sending in his soldiers to their death while even Captain Jesmiya was thoroughly studying the map for a better alternative when I spoke up.

Something feels off.

‘While the lives of the soldiers sent out aren’t cheap, this plan seems fairly reasonable,’ Sylvie rebutted, staring at the map as well.

No, not that.

“General Arthur? Is something the matter?” Trodius asked.

“Huh?” I looked up to see all three of the captains, as well as the mages that had I come with staring at me.

“Your finger.” The senior captain pointed at my right hand. Unknowingly, I had been tapping my finger on the table.

“My apologies. I was just thinking.”

Trodius’ brow twitched. “If you are dissatisfied with the plan that I have offered—”

“No it’s not that.” I interrupted, raising my hand. “Whether this is a good or bad strategy, I’m not quite sure yet. However, I feel like this attack will most likely be their last on this front.”

“What do you mean?” Captain Albanth asked.

“The Alacryans have been sending a steady stream of corrupted beasts to the Wall along with their mages, and while effective, thinking from a strategic standpoint, that isn’t a feasible long-term strategy,” I answered.

“Captain Jesmiya.” I locked eyes with the blond-haired division leader. “You’ve stated that your troops have wiped out most of the dungeons that the Alacryans used to hide their teleportation gates in, correct?”

She nodded. “Yes. The few gates that my troops have been finding recently were those already broken.”

It was common knowledge that the Alacryan teleportation gates in the Beast Glades were rather limited in the number of times that they could be used. Even some of the more stable ones that the Trailblazer Division had found were deemed too unstable to safely cross. The fact that the Alacryans had to take a gamble each time they wanted to send their troops to our continent spoke volumes of their leaders’ ruthlessness.

“Having little to no gates available for the Alacryans to slip into Dicathen through, it’ll be nearly impossible for the Alacryans that have made it through into the Beast Glades to receive supplies,” I continued.

“With how untamed the lands are there, they’d be busy just trying to survive once they run out of supplies, let alone plan an attack,” Gavik spoke.

“Which is why I feel they might be devoting everything they have into this last attack,” I finished, my eyes studying the map with furrowed brows.

“Not that I don’t agree with you, General Arthur, but how does that change our current predicament? Trodius asked, his tone impatient.

I circled our current location on the map with my finger. “It means that we might have to rethink our plan of sacrificing soldiers to keep the Wall fully intact.”

Albanth spoke up. “If it means not having to send my soldiers in a single-file line to their deaths, I’m all ears, General Arthur.”

“As am I,” Jesmiya agreed.

“A moment, please,” Trodius stated flatly. “While I am all for preserving as many of our men as possible, I’d like a plan that isn’t based on a ‘feeling’ or ‘hunch’.”

“Fair.” I nodded. “This is speculation on my part as well but my stance is that, in this phase of the war, keeping more men alive is imperative. We can rebuild a wall, Captain. We can’t rebuild people.”

Trodius’ eyes narrowed. “That’s a rather crude oversimplification of the situation, General. What happens if an Alacryan army attacks shortly after the beast horde if the Wall is in shambles?”

“Would a fortified wall hold off mages better than mages themselves?” I retorted. “Captain, I’m not saying we should just freely forfeit the Wall. I’m suggesting we sacrifice parts of our fortress as opposed to our men.”

After a moment of silence, Trodius let out a sigh and slid the silver rake he had been using to maneuver the pieces on the map. “Please continue.”

Accepting the gesture, I stood up and began moving the pieces around, all eyes following my me. “So here is what I had in mind...”

Chapter 211: Awaiting the Horde II

“Your movements are too stiff,” I reprimanded as I thrusted the pommel of my practice sword into my opponent’s wrist. “You need to loosen your shoulders and wrists until the last moments of your swing. &nbsp;If you can’t do that, the sword you’re using is too big for you.”

The sharpened longsword clattered on the ground as the young soldier shook his armored hand with a grimace. “Thank you for the advice.”

“Next!” I called out to the few dozen soldiers standing in line a few yards in front of me.

A burly woman clad fully in plate armor, holding a buckler in one hand and a shortsword in the other, walked up and dipped her head before getting into a stance.

A dense layer of mana enveloped her body while tendrils of wind swirled around her blade.

“Same rules apply,” I said, raising my thin sabre-like sword at the woman. “Attack me with the intent to kill.”

Any sort of hesitation had been wiped clean on the armor-clad brunette’s face after watching her predecessors fail in even touching a hair on the fur-lined mantle that I hadn’t bothered to remove.

With a determined nod, she dashed forth with a tremendous amount of speed for someone weighed down by a full set of armor. She attacked with a simple horizontal swing, the reach of her blade extended by the wind magic imbued within the weapon.

Rather than dodging, I parried, deflecting her sword upwards which opened up her defense enough for me to fit an open palm into her chest.

The woman was quick enough to raise her buckler in time to block my strike, but she still ended up stumbling back a few steps.

I let out a sigh. “If you’re already hesitating, this match is over.”

“I’m not sure what you mean, General. I was able to block your counter successfully!” the woman responded, her brows scrunched together.

“It doesn’t matter. Even if you had landed that initial slash on me, it would’ve barely made a scratch on an augmenter or a mana beast.”

Anticipating her question, I went on. “ Why? Because your weight was already on your back leg before you even swung.

“Again.”

She approached me once more, this time with careful steps. With a sudden stamp of her feet, she advanced with a lunge, extending her blade’s reach once again.

I dodged with a simple sway of my head but by that time, the armor-clad soldier had already reeled back her sword. The stab I had expected was a feint in order to bash me with her buckler.

Letting the full force of her buckler hit my arm and lift me off my feet, I tried to see what she’d do but rather than continue her assault, she stepped back and raised her guard.

“Why did you stop?” I asked, dusting off my mantle. “You had me in the air where I’d be more vulnerable. You have your armor and buckler to make up for small mistakes.”

The soldier stood quiet for a moment before speaking confidently. “I was wary that you were preparing for a counterattack.”

“If I wanted to counterattack, I would’ve done so before you hit me with your shield, not after,” I retorted. “Your equipment and your fighting style are total opposites of each other. Your footwork, attacks, movements and feints all point to a speed-type augmenter, but your armor, shield and even sword says otherwise. I’m not sure if you’re doing this to confuse your enemies or confuse yourself, but pick a side, because you’re going to get tired real fast out in battle if you try to fight the way you are with all that on you. Next!”

Quite a few soldiers that had been relieved of their posts to take a break had lined up to spar against me. A small crowd of merchants and people not currently preparing for the beast horde had gathered as well, excitedly wondering if any of them would land a hit on me despite all of the limitations I put on myself.

So far, I had barely exchanged two or three moves before stopping my blade just short of a fatal blow and giving a few unadulterated pieces of advice to the soldiers about to face the horde of corrupted beasts.

Just as a new soldier stepped up into the stone ring I had conjured, Sylvie’s voice chimed in my head. ‘I thought you said you were going to try and get some rest before setting out?’

I looked back to see her descending the stairs with Gavik and Callum on either side of her. I couldn’t fall asleep so I figured I’d warm up my body and train a few soldiers while I’m at it. How was your trip up to the top of the Wall? Is Ellie doing okay?

My bond cracked a grin as she walked up to me before speaking aloud. “Ellie is adjusting pretty well. When I went to see how she was doing, she was busy practicing shooting from the edge with a few other soldiers. One looked around her age too.”

I looked up at the towering wall, surveying the bustling activity within it as everyone prepared for the plan I had suggested. “That’s good.”

Gavik spoke up, approaching the ring I was in. “Captain Albanth and his troops are following through and tearing down most of the support beams holding up the underground passages. &nbsp;Captain Jesmiya is reallocating her troops around the ends of the Wall but…”

The burly iron-clad adventurer shifted his gaze for a moment. “Is it really necessary for you and Lady Sylvie to go by yourselves?”

I raised a brow. “No offense to you or Callum, but are you confident in fighting alongside us without me having to worry about actually killing you?”

Gavik looked back at the curly-haired conjurer behind him before turning to face me. Both he and Callum steeled their gaze and nodded. “Yes.”

“You know, Commander Virion sent you out here to assist me in the Wall’s defense but I doubt he meant it in this way. Just stay here,” I dismissed, waving the two of them off.

I could hear Gavik grit his teeth even from where I was standing, but the two of them turned and left, weaving in between the mages and shovel-holding workers all filing towards the underground passages.

“We could’ve used their help,” Sylvie said after the two adventurers had gone off. “And they seemed really determined to go with us.”

I motioned for the soldier on the other edge of the ring to come and held up my blunted sword.

Gavik has a daughter that looked to be about my age or even younger, if the picture on that pendant is recent. I saw him sneaking in a kiss after the meeting, I stated to Sylvie while redirecting my opponent’s thrust.

I could hear my bond letting out a stifled laugh from behind before she spoke back to me telepathically. ‘And here I was beginning to think how cold my bond has been to these poor soldiers. It seems like you’re getting better at keeping your thoughts from leaking into mine.’

A man’s got to be able to keep a few secrets, I joked as my sabre proceeded to press against the nape of my opponent. “If I’m not wrong, you’ve had a big injury on your right side in the past, which is making you focus all of your defenses to that side. You’re leaving your left side too open because of that. Next.”&nbsp;

“Mind if I go next?” a familiar voice called out to my left.

Sylvie and I both turned towards the source of the voice and I could feel a flood of elation leaking from my bond as she dashed off.

With gunmetal-gray hair, a shade darker and still dripping with water, and bright turquoise eyes that seemed to nearly glow on their own, I saw my childhood friend wave in our direction.

“Tessia!” Sylvie cried as she basically ran straight into the elven princess.

I smiled, taking in the sight of the two of them. While Tess hadn’t physically changed much since the last time we met, I could tell at glance that she had grown due to manning &nbsp;the fields.

The princess shifted gazes between me and the child currently wrapped around her waist. It wasn’t until her eyes focused on the horns protruding out of the girls head that she made the connection. “S-Sylvie?”

“No more sparring for today!” I called out to the crowd of soldiers and adventurers waiting in line with weapons in their hands before I made my way toward my childhood friend.

For a while, I stood silent and listened as Tess and Sylvie talked. My bond had always had a deep fondness for Tess, even calling her ‘Mama’ at one point in her life. I could tell Tess was still trying to wrap her head around how the dragon and fox she had cuddled with like a pet was standing in front of her as a human.

From the conversation I overheard, Tess and her team had gotten back an hour ago after receiving orders from a messenger sent out by Captain Jesmiya and went straight to the inn to wash up and rest. Much like myself, my childhood friend couldn’t sleep and decided to walk around the market area of the Wall when she ran into me.

I let the two of them catch up, walking a few paces behind, when Tess looked back over her shoulder and raised a brow. “What’s so funny?”

“Huh? Oh, I didn’t even realize I was smiling,” I replied, touching my mouth. “It seems like Sylvie’s emotions are influencing mine.”

“Hmm, if I take that the wrong way, it comes off as you saying that you’re not happy to see me,” Tess teased.

“Unlike Arthur, I will wholeheartedly admit that I’m happy to see you,” my bond replied before her expression dampened a bit. “I just wish it was under better conditions.”

“I agree, but I’m glad I was able to see the two of you before I leave. You look much more charismatic in that sleek new outfit, General Arthur, but Sylvie! I can’t get over how cute and pretty you look in this form!” Tess comforted.

My bond’s chest puffed from the compliment as she replied, “Back when we were in Epheotus, my grandmother did tell me that I would grow up to be a very pretty dragon.”

“I’m not sure if you’d describe a pitch black twenty-foot dragon with gleaming yellow daggers for eyes as ‘cute,’” I responded back with a smirk.

“Is this how you two always talked inside your heads?” Tessia asked with a chuckle.

“We’d been getting along fairly maturely until you came, Tessia,” my bond replied. “Your presence must be affecting Arthur.”

I rolled my eyes. “And there’s that snide little attitude I missed.”

Sylvie simply shrugged as the three of us walked aimlessly around the lower levels of the Wall. Workers, blacksmiths, artificers and soldiers alike went out of their way to greet Tess as we passed by them.

“You’re looking prettier than ever, Princess! A sight for sore eyes in these parts!” a bald blacksmith shouted as he waved in our direction with a pair of tongs he had been holding.

“I’m going to tell your wife you said that,” Tess replied with a mischievous grin.

Sylvie and I chuckled as the old blacksmith paled and quickly got back to work on the set of arrowheads spread out on his anvil.

“Head Tessia!” a young girl covered in soot called out as she ran toward us. Catching her breath, she said, “My master has a new set of armor for you that she’s been working on in secret.”

Tess’ face visibly brightened at her words. “Oh! Tell Senyir that I’ll go visit her later tonight! Thank you for the message, Nat.”

“Anytime!” The little girl beamed, her white teeth glowing brightly against her blackened face. Seeing me and Sylvie, she tilted her head. Giving us a slight nod, she scurried off.

“As expected of Tessia,” Sylvie chimed.

“Since I’m part of the Trailblazer Division, I don’t get to spend as much time here as I’d like, but I still got to know a few people here and there,” my friend explained as we continued on.

Sylvie followed beside her. “Still, they treat you so kindly. Most of the people that we meet regard Arthur with either awe or fear.”

“Well, seeing the head of a unit is one thing. Seeing a lance as young as Arthur would elicit a different sort of feeling,” Tess chuckled.

“Still,” Sylvie sighed. “He can make do with some improvements on his interpersonal skills.”

“You know I’m walking right behind you two, right?” I cut in.

Tess laughed, and by the warm fuzziness growing inside me, I could tell that Sylvie was having as much fun as our childhood friend.

When we reached the steep set of stairs leading all the way to the top of the Wall, Tess stopped and stole a glance at me before turning to my bond. “Hey, Sylvie. Do you mind if I steal Arthur away from you for a bit?”

Chapter 212: A Promise

Hugging Tess one more time, my bond headed up the Wall as we waved her off. The guards let her through the gate to the upper levels, and she walked out of sight.

‘Don’t think about other things and try to have some fun while you’re with her, Arthur,’ Sylvie sent.

“It’s surprisingly easy to get used to Sylvie in that form,” Tess said, turning to me.

I smirked. “Well, if it weren’t for those huge horns on the sides of her head, she’d just look like an unassuming little girl.”

“Those horns are pretty adorable though. But anyway”—Tess pointed in the direction of the merchant area and gave me a warm smile—“shall we head off as well?”

I smiled back. “Sure.”

It was an odd feeling as we walked through the crowds of people. My legs that had ached and felt so heavy without the aid of mana were light as I trotted alongside Tess. I watched as her head turned left and right and her expression changed from curiosity to amazement to delight as she took in the sight of the various booths and stands that merchants had set up along the street.

It was a rare feeling where, next to this girl that I had spent so many years of this life with, thoughts of my responsibilities as a lance and general in times of war weren’t priorities.

That was when it struck me.

This role that I had accepted for the sake of Dicathen had been slowly turning me back into the man I was back in my old world. There were some differences, of course. I had people I truly cared for, but in a sense, that made it worse. I felt like I had to be better—to make no mistakes—if I wanted to keep them alive as well.

“Has being apart from me for so long finally made you realize how pretty your childhood friend actually is?” Tess teased, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Actually, yes,” I replied earnestly.

Not expecting that sort of reply, Tess blushed all the way to the tips of her ears.

“I-I see. Well, it’s good that you know now,” she said with a cough, her gaze avoiding me.

I surveyed the crowd around us, finding mostly adventurers garbed in chainmail or hard leather armor and the occasional off-duty soldier, still wearing the insignia of their rightful division. “Is it always this busy here?”

“Mhmm. Having so many mercenaries and adventurers here taking jobs and missions at the Wall brought about an influx of merchants and peddlers hoping to make money selling goods and services to them,” Tess explained quickly, grateful for the change in topic.

“This place really does have its own separate economy,” I uttered, admiring the bustling activities around us.

“Speaking of goods and services, there’s a place that I always wanted to try!” Tess pulled me by my arm and weaved through the tide of pedestrians until we arrived near the end of a line that wrapped around a single isolated cart.

Before I could even ask what could possibly warrant waiting in such a long line, a smoky scent crept up my nostrils. My stomach became almost as impatient as my watering mouth as the thick mixture of herbs and spices mingling alongside the savory aroma of grilled meat continued to bombard my senses.

“Doesn’t it smell fantastic?” Tess asked excitedly as she craned her neck to try and get a better view of the cart.

I nodded. “If it tastes as good as it smells, maybe I should make your grandfather hire him as a chef inside the Castle.”

“Tempting, but I’d feel bad for all the people here that look forward to eating here,” she replied.

That’s when I noticed the gazes of all the people around us. Some whispered to the friends they were waiting in line with while others saluted or bowed.

Thankfully a disturbance ahead in the line caught the attention of the people around us. It seemed like someone was trying to make their way to the back of the line.

“Out of the way! Move it!” a gruff voice boomed.

Finally, a man a head shorter than Tess appeared through the sea of people ahead of us. He was carrying a small paper bowl filled with a steaming stew of meat and vegetables in each of his hands.

Locking gazes with Tess and then me, the stout man held up the bowls toward us. “It’s not much, but here. Even a lance shouldn’t fight on an empty stomach.”

“Thank you,” I said, reaching down for the piping hot stew while Tess did the same. “But how did you know we were even back here?”

The stand owner jerked his thumb back to point at the line. “It didn’t take long for news to travel all the way up to the front of the line.”

I let out a chuckle. “Regardless, thank you for the treat.”

The portly old man clicked his heels and saluted, which brought up his shirt to reveal a bulging stomach. “No. Thank you.”

His actions had a chain effect, causing all the people in the line to salute. Tess stifled a giggle and joined them, shooting me a wink while saluting as well.

After returning my respects to the people waiting in line, Tess and I went on our way to our next undecided destination.

“Looks like coming with you does have its perks,” Tess said as she used a wooden pick to skewer one of the charred meat dripping with sauce. “That place is always so busy, even the captains here don’t get that kind of treatment.”

After taking a bite, her eyes closed and a smile pulled at her lips. “Mmm, so good!”

“You’re probably the only person who’d regard a lance as a ‘perk,’ Tess,” I said, taking a bite as well. Needless to say, the stew was delicious enough to make the extravagant dishes served in the Castle pale in comparison. Despite my restraints, the flood of flavors on my senses were strong enough that even Sylvie felt my delight.

‘I hope you’ve saved enough for me,’ she sent with a tingle of curiosity laced in her voice.

Sorry, I don’t think I can promise you that, I replied while taking another bite.

Despite the constant din of people around us, I felt more at peace now than I ever had these past few months.

I was grateful to Tess, who kept me engrossed in the present. She pulled me aside toward every stall that interested her without a second thought. She laughed and smiled at the smallest things, but I found myself constantly looking forward to her reactions.

In a way, her bright and sometimes childish personality seemed so admirable. She had the responsibility to look after an entire unit. She spent days, sometimes weeks, out in the Beast Glades in conditions far from desirable. Yet, she was able to produce such a radiant smile that it infected those around her.

Tess’ hand slowly approaching the stew that I was holding brought me back to reality. &nbsp;“If you’re not going to eat that…”

I snapped the dish out of her reach just as the skewer in her hand attempted to fish out one of the few remaining meat cubes I had been saving. “You wish.”

Tess let out a frown. “As expected of a lance.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, because it’s imperative for a lance to learn how to defend his or her own food from treacherous allies.”

Skewering a meat cube with the pick in my hand, I held it out for Tess. “Here.”

My childhood friend’s eyes visibly brightened as she got on her tippy toes to snatch the meat with her mouth. “Sho good!”

I blinked as I stared at the empty pick in my hand.

“What’s wrong?” she said. “You’re kind of red. Do you have a fever?”

“It’s nothing!” I said, quickly turning around. “My body hasn’t been in the best condition these days.”

We walked in silence for a while. Tess looked a bit guilty because of what I said, even though I just said it to cover up a lie. Hoping to lift her mood, I pointed at a confectionery where several colorful dough-like desserts were displayed. While the line wasn’t long, there were quite a few people holding or eating the dough nearby. “That seems like a popular stall. Do you want something from there?”

“Oh! That’s a pretty popular dessert stand,” she said. “I’m okay, but Caria loves these. I’ll go by myself; just wait here, okay?”

“Okay.”

I smiled, watching her struggle with deciding which flavors to get while the old lady waited patiently on the other side of the stand.

Suspecting it would take a bit longer, I walked over to a smaller booth a few yards away.

“Interested, I see. You have a good eye, Sir,” the little boy attending the stand exclaimed. “What can I get for you?”

“I’m just looking around,” I answered, not taking my eyes off the display of trinkets and accessories laid out on top of the white cloth. “Actually, can I purchase this?”

“Of course! It’ll come out to be one sil—ouch!” the kid yelped, looking back. “What gives, Mom?”

“What do you think you’re doing?” an older woman huffing for breath chided. She looked at me apologetically. “I’m so sorry, General. My boy here is a bit ignorant of the world.”

“General? You?” the boy said, dumbfounded. “But you’re like the same age as my brother!”

That earned him another smack from his mother before she handed me the item I wanted to purchase. “Please take this as an apology for my son’s rude behavior. Again, I’m so sorry.”

I let out a laugh. “No problem at all, and please let me pay.”

She waved her hand in dismissal. “Oh no! Please, how can I possibly take money from a lance!”

“Since it’s a present, I’d feel more confident in giving it to the person if I actually earned it,” I admitted.

“Is it that pretty lady over there with the silver—ouch! Mom!” The boy rubbed the spot on his shoulder where he’d gotten hit.

Chuckling, I tossed the kid a coin and thanked the two of them before walking back toward Tess.

“Wait! This is a gold coin!” the mother called from behind.

Looking back over my shoulder, I held up the charm that I had just bought. “I just paid what I thought this was worth. It’s very well-made, ma’am.”

The lady stared at me for a second, stunned, before she bowed. “Th-Thank you.”

I walked over to the dessert stand just in time to see Tess devouring some sort of stretchy dough in one bite. She looked at me with a guilty expression before holding one out for me as well. “Do ooh wunt shom too?”

“What happened to just buying it for Caria?” I teased with a laugh.

As the sun quickly set, the streets began to empty. We made a quick stop by the inn, where Tess dropped off the desserts she had bought for Caria. Unfortunately, she—along with the rest of her teammates—were still asleep, so I didn’t get to greet them. &nbsp;&nbsp;

“When do you leave for your next mission?” I asked, almost afraid of the answer.

“Later tonight,” she replied with downcast eyes.

“There’s a place I want to show you before you go then. Is that alright?” I asked with a smile.

***

Tess let out a breath as she took in the sight around us. We had climbed to the spot on the cliff—the same place I had come to after fighting with my parents. With the sun inches away from the horizon, a warm light cast all over the Beast Glades.&nbsp;

“The view here is even better than from the Castle,” she said with another sigh.

“I agree.” I nodded. “Although I’ve only been here once before and found it by chance.”

There was a moment of silence as the two of us sat side by side, close enough where our shoulders just barely touched. Tess shifted her gaze away from the scenery below us and looked at me. “I wanted to say this earlier, but it’s been a while, Art.”

It must’ve been the way the red sun mixed together with her shiny gray hair or how she was tilting her head slightly so that the nape of her neck was exposed, because my heart felt like it was about to break out of my ribcage.

Unable to meet her eyes for any longer, I turned away. “Wh-Where will you be heading off to for your next mission?”

You’ve led a country in your previous life and even in this life, Arthur. You have no reason to be stuttering next to Tess. I continued berating myself until she answered.

“My unit along with a few other elves from the Trailblazer Division are going to head off toward Elenoir tonight,” she answered.

“Does it have something to do with attacks from the Alacryans?”

“Yeah. We’ve been getting reports from the troops stationed on watch throughout the forest that there have been some recent sightings of Alacryan stragglers. It didn’t sound too serious but they’ve been requesting backup for a while now and Captain Jesmiya finally relented,” she explained, resting her chin on her knees.

“It must’ve been a hard choice, especially with the beast horde approaching,” I said. “Although I’m sort of happy that you won’t be here for this battle.”

Tess cocked a brow. “While I may not be a match for a lance, I have recently broken through to the mid-silver stage.”

I never thought to check her mana levels so her words caught me by surprise. “Congratulations. Truly.”

Tess’ shimmering turquoise eyes studied me for a moment before she let out a sigh. “I wonder when the mighty General Arthur, who is, in fact, younger than me, will actually begin to treat me as someone who can take care of herself.”

“You can take care of yourself. I’m sorry if my words came off the wrong way, but I really believe that. Spending time with you today made me realize how much older you’ve gotten,” I quickly amended.

Tess regarded me with an unamused expression. “Am I supposed to take that as a compliment?”

“Uhh.” I scratched my chin. “What I meant was, you give off a different aura now. I’m not talking about mana, although your core has improved, but more like—”

“I’ve gotten more mature?” Tess finished with a smirk.&nbsp;

I let out a soft groan. “Yeah, that…”

Chuckling, my childhood friend replied, “Thank you,” before turning back to watch the sun set.

Memories of the last time I had talked to Tess came to my mind. It wasn’t that long ago but she seemed so different now—more mature, like she said.

That’s when I realized. The feelings of elation and joy as soon as I saw Tess today wasn’t because of Sylvie’s emotions flooding into mine… because I still felt it even now.

I reached into the inside pocket of my mantle where I kept the charm I had bought earlier with a realization in mind:

I liked Tess.

I probably always liked Tess.

If it wasn’t for the fact that I was born with memories of my previous life as an adult, I might’ve confessed to her long before.

But what would her feelings toward me be if she knew my secret? Would she react the same way as my parents? Would she feel disgusted like I had when I first realized I liked her?

Doubt weighed down on me, and suddenly, the tiny little charm in my hand felt like a lead anchor.

“Thank you for showing me this place,” Tess said as she looked afar. “I always considered the Beast Glades to be such a dangerous and bloody place. I didn’t realize how beautiful it looked.”

“It was actually the same for me as well,” I admitted, my hand still gripping the charm. “Although I love the view here, this place is tied to a bad memory, so I thought coming up here with you would make it better.”

“I see,” she uttered. “Has it? Made it better, I mean?”

“It has,” I said as I finally summoned the courage to pull the trinket out. It was a simple silver charm of two leaves laid over one another to make the shape of a heart. “I got this for you.”

“It’s so pretty!” she said, holding the charm in her hand. “Is this, perhaps, for the great tour service I gave you today?”

“No.” I let out a breath. “It’s because I like you.”

“Oh… wai-what?” Tess eyes widened, more out of disbelief than out of surprise. “Did I hear you wrong? I swear I thought you said—”

“I like you, Tess,” I finished with more conviction, pushing down the doubt still growing inside me.

Tess stood up. “What do you mean by ‘like’? I swear, Arthur, if you say you like me as a friend or as a sister, I’m going to...”

I got up as well and reached for the hand holding the pendant. “I like you as a girl. And what I mean is that I wish to start a relationship with you and that I hope that you feel the same way.”

Tess’ lips were trembling as she tried to contain her emotions. “You’re lying.”

“I’m not.”

She sniffled. “Yes, you are.”

“Do you want me to be?” I asked with a slight smile.

“I-I don’t know,” she said, her head down. “It’s just, I imagined things going differently.”

“Differently, how?”

“That I’d have to get stronger and prettier and older to wow you and swoon you off your feet,” she said, hitting me in the arm.

I chuckled. “Can I still look forward to you swooning me off my feet?”

“It’s not funny!” she snapped, finally looking up so I could see her two tear-brimmed eyes glaring at me. She held up the leaf pendant up to my face. “Put this on for me.”

I took the pendant from her but rather than undoing the chain clasp, I clicked together the two ends of the leaves. With a ‘click,’ the heart shape that the two silver leaves had made became undone into two normal leaves.

Removing one of the leaves, I wrapped the silver chain around her neck. “Here. Let me keep the other one.”

Tess stared down as her fingers clasped the single silver leaf hanging down just above her chest. She then pulled out a long leather string that had been wrapped around her arm and took my silver leaf.

“Here, turn around,” she ordered as she weaved the leather string through the silver loop that made up the stem of the leaf pendant.

She put the new leather necklace around my neck and tied it so that the leaf dangled loosely over my chest as well. Before I could turn around. however, I felt Tess’ arms around my waist as she embraced me from behind.

“I like you too, idiot. But we’re at war. We both have responsibilities and people that need us,” she said in a solemn whisper.

“I know. And I have things I want to tell you as well, so how about we make a promise?”

“What sort of promise?”

“A promise to stay alive… so that we can have a beautiful relationship and a family that our entire country can come together to celebrate.”

Her arms trembled, but she answered firmly. “I promise.”

Tess pulled her arms away, but I didn’t turn around. I stared off at the Beast Glades, almost missing the cloud of dust approaching behind a large hill a few dozen miles away.

“Arthur?” Tess’ voice sounded from behind.

“It’s… too soon,” I muttered. Whatever peace and warmth I had finally managed to grasp, fell apart.

Tess saw it as well as she gasped.

The reports were wrong. They were coming. Less than a few hours away, from the pace they were approaching. The beast horde was coming.

Chapter 213: Enemy Territory III

CIRCE MILVIEW

Alacryan

I ran. It seemed all I had been doing these days was running through this cursed forest. Low-hanging branches scraped my cheeks and arms while thorny shrubs tore through my clothes and legs.&nbsp;

I sprinted in the direction my magic guided me. Without it, I was blind. Even if there was a moon tonight, I doubted its pale rays would be able to penetrate the dense canopy and fog above.&nbsp;

Every so often, I would see flashes of light from Maeve’s magic behind me, illuminating the trees and casting eerie shadows on the forest ground.&nbsp;

Maeve. Cole. Please make it out safely, I prayed to Vritra without breaking stride.&nbsp;

I continued to run, making sure to lift my knees high and step with my heel first while kicking off with the ball of my feet. This was the best way to run in the uneven terrain filled with broken branches and knotted roots.&nbsp;

Running until the magical flashes of battle were barely visible, I skidded to a stop and crouched beside a thick shrub. The thorns and prickly leaves pressing against me gave me comfort from the open. I covered my mouth as I gasped for breath, afraid that I’d be heard.&nbsp;

Paranoia had long since set in, filling my mind with endless doubts and hopelessness. Choking back sobs, I tried to calm myself.&nbsp;

You’re okay, Circe. You’re doing great. I wiped away at the stream of tears that didn’t stop flowing.&nbsp;

I have to survive. For my brother. For Seth. I recited this over and over. It was my mantra. It was what was keeping me going.&nbsp;

After finally catching my breath, I ignited my crest. Immediately, I could sense the location of the closest three-point array I had formed. Unfortunately, it was farther away than I hoped.&nbsp;

Unable to even curse aloud, I grit my teeth in frustration. With this much distance between the rest of the arrays, just using mana wasn’t enough.&nbsp;

Digging a small hole in the soft ground with my hand, I bit down on my thumb until blood was drawn. Carefully, I let my blood drip into the hole while instilling the mana from my crest.&nbsp;

It was by pure luck that I had found out that using my blood as a medium for mana would amplify the effects of the array. Perhaps finding out why might even one day evolve my crest into an emblem.&nbsp;

After my mana-infused blood had seeped into the small hole I had made, I covered it up and moved onto a nearby tree.&nbsp;

Taking out the small knife that Fane had practically forced me to keep, I began carving a small hole underneath a low branch.&nbsp;

I was about to put my bleeding thumb up against the hole when a sharp snap made me whirl around. I held the knife with both hands, pointing it toward the source of the sound as I activated my first crest.&nbsp;

My senses expanded, covering a twenty-yard radius, only to sense that it was just a small forest critter. I lowered my knife, frustrated at my own pathetic self. I was trembling, my back up against the tree, with tears in my eyes.&nbsp;

All I wanted was to curl up and cry, but unfortunately, I didn’t have such luxury. Not if I wanted to live.&nbsp;

I knew that the noise had been caused by an animal but I couldn’t focus. I was wasting time, but for some odd reason, I really didn’t want someone to kill me from behind. It was odd to think, but I’d rather look at my killer as I died.

***

After several minutes trickled by, I let out a sigh and turned back to my task.

If someone was here, they would’ve killed me already, I said to myself. It wasn’t a very comforting thought, but it was true.&nbsp;

I was a sentry. Widely respected and valuable but severely defenseless compared to strikers like Fane, casters like Maeve, and even shields like Cole.&nbsp;

After the second point had been finished, I moved to the final tree to finish the three-point array. I knew that using blood as a medium for the array would take its toll, but I was still surprised by how weak I felt after the final point had been finished. Despite the brisk winter air that seemed even colder within this fog, I was sweating and my knees were close to giving out.&nbsp;

Got to move. Almost there, I said to my legs. Without bothering to mask my mana trail, I moved on to the next point.

Fortunately, with the three-point array imprint that I had just finished, I wouldn’t have to use my blood again. I just needed to make sure I didn’t set the next imprint too far away.&nbsp;

I managed a half-jog while panting. I didn’t think it was possible, but the forest seemed to be getting even darker. The low hanging branches snagged at my tattered clothes. Without the strength to just shrug them off, I had to stop and pull off the branches, costing me precious time.&nbsp;

I stumbled more times than I could count on the roots and tree limbs that seemed to be growing more in numbers, but I finally made it.&nbsp;

This location should be okay.&nbsp;

Falling forward on my knees, I got to work once more. Igniting my crest, I began trickling mana into the first point of the array when something crashed into me from the side.&nbsp;

Without even the chance to be surprised, I was suddenly looking at Fane, who was on top of me. Fane wasn’t looking at me, but out in the distance—his face contorted into a fearsome scowl. It was dark but even then I could make out how bloody he was.&nbsp;

“Can you run?” he asked, pulling me up to my feet. His eyes were still surveying our surroundings, searching for something.&nbsp;

“I think so,” I stuttered, my gaze shifting down at a glimmering arrow buried in the ground… right where I used to be.&nbsp;

Fane ignited his emblem. His entire body glowed and visible gusts of wind surrounded him, lifting him off his feet. In his hand was a spear, its length about twice my height with a sharp point that spun like a drill, sending gales around us. “Then run. I’ll hold them off.”

Without even the chance to greet my teammate, I turned and ran. I didn’t know who the ‘him’ that Fane was referring to was but from the way he had immediately ignited his emblem to its full power, I knew he couldn’t be good.&nbsp;

It wasn’t long before I could hear the echoes of battle behind me. The ground shook and the trees seemed to shudder in sorrow and pain for their brethren caught in the fight. More than once I was almost blown off my feet by the gales but even then, I resisted the temptation to look behind me. I could only pray to Vritra that Fane would be okay.

Again, I ran. I continued to run in this forsaken forest until my legs felt like lead. Every step seemed harder and harder to make, as if I was wading in a pool of tar.&nbsp;

No matter how desperately I wanted to keep moving, my body had had enough. Barely able to lift my feet off the ground, my toes got caught on a gnarled root. &nbsp;

I toppled forward and I soon tasted the dirt and foliage of the forest in my mouth.&nbsp;

Fane’s silver chestplate kept me on the ground like an anchor. Giving up on the thought of getting back up, I rolled to my side and ignited my crest. With the distance I had gone, I knew it was safer to strengthen the array with blood.&nbsp;

The wound on my thumb had already scabbed over, but as I wiped my mouth of the dirt, I was able to make out a streak of red.&nbsp;

What my sleep-deprived and crazed brain conceived as ‘fortunate’ was the fact that the fall to my face had torn open a wound on my lip.&nbsp;

Perhaps the most unladylike action I had performed in my entire life, I spat a mouthful of blood on the ground and dipped my fingers in it to imbue mana.&nbsp;

If I can’t run, I might as well create one more imprint for the army waiting. Maybe this will be close enough for them. Maybe they’ll still save Seth.&nbsp;

The crest on my back began burning—a telltale sign that I was overexerting myself. It didn’t matter. My legs couldn’t even carry my weight. I was prepared to die.&nbsp;

“Idiot! Didn’t I tell you to keep running?” I never thought Fane’s rough voice would sound so pleasant, but I was wrong.&nbsp;

I spotted Fane’s figure rushing toward me with a sphere of wind surrounding him. Without stopping, he picked me up by the chestplate and held me under his armpit. That’s when I saw it.&nbsp;

“Fane. Y-Your arm!” I huffed, wide-eyed.&nbsp;

“Not important,” he snapped. “I need you to focus on guiding me.”&nbsp;

I had so many questions for Fane, but now wasn’t the time. Pointing in the direction that True Sense had shown me, I directed the veteran striker through the fog-infested forest.&nbsp;

***

Fortunately, the sun was coming back up. We had been running non-stop throughout the whole night and it was evident that Fane was close to collapsing. He had concentrated much of his mana on the stub where his left arm used to be in order to keep blood from spilling out. The rest of his mana was spent on maximizing our speed.&nbsp;

“We’re almost there!” I said excitedly, pointing at an opening in the woods a few dozen yards away.&nbsp;

“Just a bit more, and you need to focus everything you have on the three-point array. Do that and our mission is a success,” Fane huffed. “Can you do that?”&nbsp;

“I can.”&nbsp;

We skidded to a stop and Fane dropped me on the ground. I assumed that the striker wanted me to start on the array—I was only half right.&nbsp;

I could see Fane’s emblem glowing brightly underneath his shirt as he stood in front of me. The spear once again formed in Fane’s hand as he aimed it at the elf slowly approaching us.&nbsp;

Even at first glance, I knew who he was. It was the same elf that had spotted us up on the tree. It was the same elf that Maeve and Cole had stayed behind to fight against.

“N-No. That can’t be…” I muttered as the elf named Albold continued closing the distance between us. He looked injured and tired, but he was alive. And if he was alive, that meant…&nbsp;

I heard a faint whistle but before my brain could process what that noise meant, Fane’s wind spear had already moved. The arrow that was meant to take my life lay on the ground.&nbsp;

“Damn it, there’s more of them. We need to run,” Fane hissed. “Now!”&nbsp;

Fane lifted me &nbsp;up to my feet and pushed me back. “Go!”&nbsp;

Even with the strength I gathered while Fane had held me in his arm, I could only manage an awkward stagger. Fane continued to push me towards the opening in the woods, towards what I assumed to be one of the entrances to the elven kingdom.&nbsp;

I tensed every time I heard a sharp whistle but by the fact that none of the arrows had managed to hit me, I knew Fane was doing his job.&nbsp;

I still had to finish mine.&nbsp;

Igniting my crest mid-stride, the imprints of the three-point arrays lit up like a map in my head. The closest one I had imprinted was too far away though. I needed time, which was something we didn’t have.&nbsp;

“We’re close enough. Set up the array!” Fane groaned behind me.&nbsp;

I dropped to my knees and began setting up the first point in the array. While doing so, I took a peek behind me.&nbsp;

Fane towered over me just a few steps behind with shafts of multiple arrows jutting out from his body. A trail of blood leaked down the corner of his mouth.

“Array!” he snapped without looking back.&nbsp;

I nodded frantically and ripped open another wound on my thumb.&nbsp;

The muted hum of weapons clashing startled me, but I refused to look back.&nbsp;

Another whistle from behind. &nbsp;

Fane let out a groan.&nbsp;

My hands trembled as I started the array.&nbsp;

Damn it! It’s not strong enough. &nbsp;

I tried to imbue more mana but, out of the corner of my eye, I could see the trees around us swaying.&nbsp;

Another pained grunt resounded from behind, but it wasn’t Fane’s voice.&nbsp;

The sharp pain radiating from my crest grew more and more unbearable as I imbued more mana into the small pool of blood that had gathered on the ground in front of me.&nbsp;

I heard another whistle but almost immediately after, I was knocked down as a pain shot up my arm like fire. My head exploded with a blinding whiteness. I could barely get back up to my knees, dizziness overwhelming me.&nbsp;

Despite my brain screaming at me not to, I looked at my injured arm. It was mangled beyond recognition.&nbsp;

“The… array,” Fane’s voice croaked from behind.&nbsp;

“I… I can’t,” I mustered. I couldn’t even think straight as it felt like every inch of my right arm had been jammed through the skin with serrated blades.

I watched, dazed, as blood began to pool beneath me.&nbsp;

I knew it wouldn’t be long now until I died. I almost wanted to die, but in this near-dead state, I couldn’t help but think of Seth. He was waiting back in Alacrya in a hospital bed.

He was almost dead as well. Even if I couldn’t live, shouldn’t he be able to?&nbsp;

Through sheer willpower, I got back up to my feet. Blood continued to flow freely out of my mangled arm but it was okay. I knew what I had to do.&nbsp;

“I hope you can forgive your sister… for not being able to make it back home,” I mumbled.

I took a step to the side, creating a trail with my blood. The pain was beginning to subside a little as my arm grew numb, which was good.&nbsp;

Fane came into view, but he was barely standing as well. He was dripping almost as much blood as I was.&nbsp;

With neither of us able to even muster a word, Fane continued to protect me as I made the array, strengthening it with the sheer amounts of blood I was spilling.&nbsp;

I took another step, but I must’ve lost consciousness because I found the world turned on its side. Fane was still on his feet, holding off Albold and another elf.&nbsp;

Almost there.&nbsp;

I crawled, dragging my maimed arm on the ground to continue the bloody trail, but the loss of blood must have affected my vision.&nbsp;

An entire row of trees had moved and bent out of the way to reveal a towering wall. And on the top of the wall were hundreds of elves, each armed with either staves or bows. The staves were glowing in all sorts of colors, some green, some yellow, others blu—&nbsp;

“Circe!” Fane screamed, snapping me out of my daze.&nbsp;

A desperate scream tore out from my throat as I ignited every ounce of mana I had left through my crest. My vision blurred and I fell to my side, but I didn’t care. I knew it had worked.&nbsp;

Every imprint I had left in the forest was now connected and displayed to every sentry waiting outside the forest. I had created the trail for our army.

I managed to crack a smile as I faced the wave of spells and arrows almost upon us. I hoped they could see me my expression so they’d know…

Even this damned forest won’t keep you safe anymore.&nbsp;

The Alacryan army is coming for you.&nbsp;

Chapter 214: Welcoming Gift

ARTHUR LEYWIN

“We need to go warn the others!” Tess stressed, mana enveloping her body as she prepared to jump off the cliff.

I grabbed her wrist. “I’ll warn everyone. You need to go get your teammates. You have a mission.”

“That beast horde is more than a day early, Art! The people here aren’t prepared for this. I should stay and—”

“That’s what I’m here for, Tess,” I cut in firmly. “You have your orders from your commanding captain. I won’t go as far as to order you to leave, but if things are looking bad here, I suspect the troops requesting for backup in Elenoir might be having it worse.”

There was a tense moment of silence. Tess’ brows furrowed and her jaws tightened in frustration, but she finally relented. “Fine. I’ll gather my team and report to Captain Jesmiya before leaving.”

“Good. Even if you are at an advantage in the forest, be careful,” I replied with a gentle smile.

“That’s what I wanted to say, dummy,” she said before grabbing me by the scruff of my mantle and pulling me into a kiss.

As she let go and walked toward the edge of the cliff, I found myself subconsciously touching my own lips in a daze.

Tess smiled at me, her flushed cheeks betraying her bold move. Tugging on the chain of her leaf charm, she locked gazes with me. “Remember the promise.”

I smiled back, all too aware of how hot my face had become. &nbsp;

“I promise,” I replied, holding up my half of the charm dangling around my neck.

And like that, Tess jumped off the cliff, sailing down like an emerald comet. &nbsp;I watched her go while convincing myself that what I said to her was for the best. I didn’t want her to stay here. Even if she was one of the few mages in this continent that wouldn’t slow me down, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to go all out without worrying about her.

At least in the Elshire Forest, she’d only have to be careful of stragglers lost in an environment that she could freely navigate through.

“It’s for the best, Arthur,” I mumbled to myself. After a moment, I reached out to Sylvie and informed her of the situation before leaping off the cliff.

***

Despite the bombshell that was thrown, the people of the Wall handled the news rather well. That didn’t mean they didn’t panic, but with the tight leadership and the fact that most of the people present were either trained soldiers or veteran adventurers, they were quick to adapt.

Trodius was especially quick to think on his feet. Quickly gathering the mercenary adventurers, he assigned them to help out at different parts of the walls that needed fortification.

Workers continued their efforts inside the underground routes leading out from the Wall with the help of some of the soldiers. Jesmiya immediately sent out orders for each of the units making up her Trailblazer Division to be dispatched into appropriate positions in preparation for the horde.

The Bulwark Division, composed of a bit less than two thousand soldiers, had complete confidence and trust in their captain. Perhaps it was because we were on the defense and had the massive wall to protect us, but even knowing that they were vastly outnumbered, they were ready to march outside the Wall without hesitation. &nbsp;

In the span of an hour, archers and conjurers were positioned on every floor of the Wall behind arrowslits. Melee troops—both warriors and augmenters alike—were being filed into formation just behind the entrance leading out into the Beast Glades, prepared to advance into battle against the approaching beast horde.

As for myself, I waited inside the meeting tent with Sylvie. Trodius was buried behind several stacks of paper on his desk, leaving me with a blissful few moments of peace as I checked the contents of my dimension ring. The only useful thing I had in it was Dawn’s Ballad, cracked and broken but still better than any other weapons I’d used.

I took it out, inspecting the cracks and splinters scattered across the translucent teal blade.

I really wish this damn weapon inside my hand would manifest already, I cursed in my head.

‘Now would be as good a time as any,’ Sylvie agreed.

“General. Please, reconsider. Allow us to accompany you,” Gavik’s deep voice resounded.

I looked at the burly adventurer and the curly-haired mage beside him. “As I said before, your job will be to support the troops here.”

Callum spoke up, frustration evident in his voice. “Commander Virion had personally picked the two of us to assist you in battle. If something were to happen after sending you by yourself—”

“I’m not looking down on you two, but the chances of something happening to me and Sylvie only increases if you two come with us,” I stated, not taking my eyes off Dawn’s Ballad.

“Please excuse the intrusion. Father, I brought the weapons you asked for,” a clear voice rang.

I looked up to see a tall woman with bright red eyes and dark skin that seemed even darker with the splotches of soot. In her toned arms were two swords, one longer than the other.

“Ah! Come in, Senyir.” Trodius waved the woman over, a rare smile on his face. “Arthur, this is Senyir Flamesworth. My daughter and the master blacksmith of the Wall.”

Tess had referred to a little girl’s master as Senyir back when we were touring the Wall together. Tess even seemed to have a good relationship with her, but even so… &nbsp;

The very mention of the word ‘daughter’ coming from Trodius’ lips annoyed me. Memories of Jasmine as she told me her life story resurfaced, leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

Still, I kept my personal feelings of the senior captain down and introduced myself to the woman.

“Arthur Leywin. Pleasure to meet you,” I said, sheathing Dawn’s Ballad.

“Senyir here is one of the finest blacksmiths in Sapin, on par with even the master smiths of Darv due of her excellent control and implementation of fire magic during the forging process,” Trodius boasted.

‘Your anger is leaking onto me,’ Sylvie conveyed gently.

I can’t help it.

“I heard from Tessia that you prefer thinner blades,” Senyir said as she handed me the longer of the two swords. “I’m sure it’s nowhere near the same level compared to your weapon but my father informed me that you’ll be in battle for an extended period of time. Having multiple backup weapons won’t do you any harm.”

“Thank you,” I replied, drawing the sword from its unadorned steel scabbard. With a sharp ring, a pale gold blade about the width of three fingers came into view. After testing its balance with a few swings, I began channeling mana into the blade.

The thin sword hummed as fire, wind, water, and earth all began to swirl around the blade in harmony. I continued injecting mana into the sword until I could see the blade beginning to deteriorate.

“Not bad. I think it’ll suffice,” I mustered, expunging the magic surrounding the new sword and putting it back into its sheath.

Senyir couldn’t hide the disappointment in her face as she accepted my words with a bow. “I’m honored.”

Putting the longer sword into my ring and fastening the shorter one onto my hip alongside Dawn’s Ballad, I turned to Trodius. “Have the ground troops ready to advance as soon as I leave.”

“I’m aware of the plan, General. Don’t worry about us and come back in one piece,” Trodius replied. “We’ll be waiting for the signal.”

Without another word, I walked past Senyir Flamesworth and stepped out of the tent, only to be met with a thunderous cheer. Around us were soldiers, merchants and adventurers alike clapping and roaring my name.

“Your presence is what is holding this Wall together, General,” Trodius said as he stepped just behind me.

It was overwhelming, to say the least. But rather than feeling joy or pride at being the center of attention, I was overcome with horror because within the crowd, I spotted my father.

He wasn’t supposed to be here. If they were down here, that meant the rest of the Twin Horns were somewhere around here as well.

No. They were supposed to be in Blackbend City, away from this battle.

Sylvie squeezed my hand. ‘Arthur. Everyone is watching.’

I didn’t care. I wanted to run to my father right now and tell him to leave—leave with Mother and the Twin Horns who were surely here. &nbsp;

But I couldn’t. One look from my father stopped me in my tracks.

The man who had raised me alongside Alice stood amongst the unit of soldiers that would be fighting outside the protection of the Wall.

He had such a determined expression that, even as a general, I couldn’t dare stop him. I feared that if I stopped him and everyone here, they would never forgive me.

It’s okay, Arthur. If everything goes to plan, most of these soldiers will make it out alive and your dad is one of the stronger ones out of them, I said, hoping to calm myself down.

Swallowing the angst and the dread building up inside me, I saluted the crowd, locking gazes with my father.

He saluted back and, despite the fight that we had not long ago, he smiled at me.

I exchanged glances with Sylvie, and with a nod, she shifted into her draconic form. This spurred on another wave of cheers as I got on.

My hands were trembling as I finally felt the gravity of the situation. I had brought my sister here. My parents were here as well as the Twin Horns. They, as well as the lives of everyone here cheering, depended on me.

‘You’re not alone, Arthur,’ Sylvie said as she spread her obsidian wings. ‘Nothing has changed from when you made the decision to bring Ellie along.’

She was right. Despite the beast horde arriving a day earlier, the preparations had been made on-time. Both my mom and sister had the Phoenix Wyrm pendants to keep them safe and I had even given Ellie a transmission scroll to reach out to me. But even then, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

Was it because of the promise I had made with Tess? The pendant hanging around my neck seemed to weigh down on me, but it wasn’t just that. The timing of everything happening seemed… off.

Focus, Arthur. You’re going into battle.

Gripping the spikes on Sylvie’s neck, I muttered, “Let’s go.”

My bond reeled her head back and let out a deafening roar, shaking the entire ground. Some of the merchants stumbled and fell to the ground but it only rose the morale as the crowd responded back with a cheer of their own.

We ascended with a single beat from Sylvie’s broad wings, clearing the height of the wall in just a few seconds. I had a view of both the approaching beast horde as well as the people below us that we were responsible to protect.

‘Are you ready?’ Sylvie asked, her excitement flooding into me.

Not as ready as you are, I sent back with a chuckle.

Sylvie’s laughter rang in my head before the world around us turned into a blur. With her seal released, every inch of her body was brimming with power. Each stroke of her wings made gales behind us until we were soon approaching the army of beasts.

With mana enhanced vision, I could make out the Alacryan mages scattered within the beast horde, riding the larger beasts.

“How about we send them a little welcoming gift?” I suggested.

‘My thoughts exactly,’ she responded, arching her wings to hover. Space began to distort as mana gathered into Sylvie’s open maw.

A golden white sphere formed and grew larger with every passing breath until it was even larger than me. &nbsp;

The sphere erupted into a beam of pure mana. There was no sound to be heard from the attack, only pure destruction as the blow marked the start of the battle.

Chapter 215: Two Versus An Army

I watched as the hole that had been formed from Sylvie’s attack slowly disappeared—covered by the sea of mana beasts steadily marching toward the Wall. &nbsp;

Despite the devastation the blast had caused, any signs of the damage had soon become swept away.

Sylvie released another blast of mana, but this time several shields compounded upon one another, taking the brunt of the attack before shattering layer by layer.

Looks like we won’t be able to comfortably just rain spells down on them, I mused.

‘We would run out of mana long before even making a dent anyway,’ Sylvie responded.

‘After you,’ she transmitted, giving me a toothy grin.

Try to keep up, I sent back.

Falling head-first from several thousand feet in the air into an army of magical beasts should’ve normally caused some sort of fear or anxiety, but that wasn’t the case. My heart beat against my ribcage not out of fear, but excitement.

As if feeding off my emotions, mana flooded out into my body as I continued my plunge. Wind gathered around me, swirling and condensing as I collided into the center of the beast horde.

The layers of wind surrounding me burst into an explosion of gales, shredding and pushing away the hundreds of beasts caught in the blast.

I stood up in the center of the crater I had created as thousands of monstrous eyes glared down at me from above.

There was a breath of silence as I waited with Dawn’s Ballad in my hand. Mana surged around me, itching to let loose.

That’s when the first battle cry was unleashed. It came from a bipedal canine that appeared at least three times my height with claws and fangs that glowed menacingly.

It let loose a howl that spurred the others surrounding me, as if waking them up from their stupor. The zombie-like mana beasts that seemed almost drugged all spurred to life in a concert of cries, roars, and jarring screeches.

But piercing through the cries of the corrupted mana beasts was the thunderous roar of my bond as she landed. She immediately ripped out the bipedal canine’s throat with her fangs and slammed four other mana beasts with a swipe of her tail.

‘Try to keep up,’ Sylvie mocked as she continued tearing her way through the ocean of beasts.

With a chortle, I leaped out of the crater and on top of a reptilian mana beast with three tails. Before the beast could even make a sound, its head was already cleanly separated from its body and I was onto the next beast.

Disoriented and furious at our arrival, the mana beasts clumped together as they all tried to get their claws, talons, or paws on me. I constantly used wind magic to create space for me to swing my sword.

For some time, I limited my mana, using my battle prowess accumulated through my two lifetimes and Dawn’s Ballad to cut down the enemies that never ended. Killing one beast meant that two or three replaced it, but we had prepared for this. After all, this wasn’t a battle I was supposed to win; this was a battle of attrition.

In the chaos of battle where dozens of razor-sharp fangs and talons swiped at you from all directions, there was no time to communicate with each other. Sylvie and I relied on reading each other’s mental state in case one of us needed help.

Time crawled—or was it that time was flying by? It was impossible to tell as the debris from the battle had long since covered the sky. Swallowing my impatience, I limited mana usage to body strengthening and weapon augmentation as Dawn’s Ballad drew crescents of teal in debris-filled land.

A pack of wolves, each the size of Boo, carefully circled around me. Other mana beasts cleared the way, obviously fearful of the creatures clad in lightning.

These ones seem to have some brains, I thought. It was obvious by their murky black pelts that the wolves had been corrupted, but unlike the other beasts that had marched mindlessly toward the Wall, these ones remained alert and kept their formation.

The one leading the pack—a larger wolf with a spikier mane and horn—let out a bark and instantly, the twelve others pounced at me with crackling thunder glowing their surroundings.

Rather than waste energy dodging and killing them one by one, I cast twelve spikes of earth from the ground with the stomp of my feet. The thunder wolves were skewered mid-leap, giving me the leisure to go after the leader that had managed to dodge my spell.

Baring its teeth as tendrils of electricity gathered around him, the leader attacked. I dodged its mid-air slash, but the lightning surrounding its claws struck me in the shoulder.

More annoyed than in pain, I shrugged off the wound that had been mostly blocked by my aura and stabbed the wolf.

However, the tip of my teal sword had long since been broken, and was unable to pierce through the wolf’s thick mana-imbued fur.

Imbuing mana into Dawn’s Ballad and condensing it into a sharp point, I dashed forward and struck again. Blood was drawn this time and the thunder wolf struggled to get back up, but there was no time to celebrate my little victory.

Almost immediately, a flock of bat-winged birds swooped down with their sharp metal beaks homed in on me.

Putting Dawn’s Ballad back into my ring, I spread a blast of lightning into the air. The metal beaks dropped like flies, their wings still spasming from the shock as I quickly moved onto my next list of neverending targets in sight.

Despite our competitive banter earlier, Sylvie remained close as she continued to fight the onslaught of mana beasts. She fought with her wings tucked in, a flurry of claws and fangs as she dyed the ground in crimson.

Sylvie’s voice rang in my mind. ‘Arthur. These beasts seem off. Most of them aren’t even retaliating and just keep marching toward the Wall. Only some of the stronger ones and their packs are actually putting up a fight.’

I feel it too. I’m not sure what the Alacryans did. &nbsp;They must be controlling the beasts to get to the Wall no matter what, I replied, continuing to kill as many mana beasts as I could.

Giving my limbs—heavy from slashing through the tough hides and exoskeletons of the mana beasts—some reprieve, I began casting more spells. Spheres of fire, water and lightning orbited around me, burning, slashing and electrocuting beasts that came close enough while I cast spell after spell.

The terrain had become a domain of all elements; some parts of the ground had become scorched, with corpses still in flames, while other parts of the ground had become a garden of stone and ice spikes.

The metallic odor of fresh blood alongside the smell of burning fur and flesh mingled in the air, causing the devastated landscape to be even more unbearable to endure.

Navigating around the remains of my own spells and the corpses of fallen mana beasts—some of which were about the size of a small house—had become another challenge.

However, the turning point was when the S-class mana beasts began coming. The first one was a humanoid feline just twice my height made of pure muscle, fur, and claws.

Its speed and agility was on par with Kordri, my martial arts master from Epheotus. However, its major flaw was that it relied on only its speed, its attacks leaving it wide open.

“Come on!” I barked, dodging its clawed kick while nicking its neck. Blood rushed to my head, drowning out everything other than the opponent in front of me. The beast that had the ability to kill its victims long before they could even fear it hissed and dashed toward me. Its muscular hind legs left imprints on the hard ground, its body barely visible, but its attacks were linear.

“Thunderclap Impulse,” I murmured as the sensation of electricity coursing through my body left me even more focused. Withdrawing my teal sword once more marked the beginning of our second round.

The world around us blurred as I relished the battle. Each swipe of its mana-infused claws left deep gashes in the earth and oftentimes mana beasts nearby. Each failed attack of the S-class feline was a successful attack of mine as Dawn’s Ballad left its mark on the beast’s elegantly striped fur.

I had almost forgotten my objective as I dominated the S-class mana beast even without relying on Realmheart Physique. My legs ached from old wounds and the scratches left by the S class beast stung, but I was in much better shape than the panting oversized cat.

Heaving for breath and blood matting down its fur, the S-class beast warily backed away. It didn’t even manage to take four steps before I caught up and slashed its neck.

Picking the dead S-class beast by the scruff of its neck, I let out a roar. The mana beasts around me, no matter how deranged and feral they had become due to the Alacryans corrupting them, began to tremble in fear.

It would be easy to say that this is what war did to everyone. Part of it was true—fighting countless beasts slowly turned me into a beast myself. However, another part of it was that I enjoyed it.

Being surrounded by death, yet never being able to kill freely myself might have had something to do with it. The countless duels I had fought in my previous life had all been supervised and restricted by rules and laws. Here, it was different.

‘Arthur. Don’t lose yourself. Remember that this is a battle to protect, not a battle to kill.’

Sylvie’s words were like water splashed to my face. I had indeed lost myself, high on the freedom to wreak havoc. I had acted like a wild beast let loose from its cage.

Finally sober, I could feel the aches and wounds I hadn’t even realized existed began to take their toll.

That’s when I felt the next one. Before I could even see or hear it, I felt it. Even amongst the drone of countless mana beasts marching, the footsteps of the particular mana beast shook the earth.

It didn’t take long for me to see the towering monstrosity that trampled other its fellow corrupted beasts like they were insects.

Even as it stood on four legs, it was about three stories tall and every inch of its body was covered in a metallic hide. Spikes sprouted along its spine and at the end of its trunk-like snout was a dented metal orb the size of Sylvie’s head.

‘Do you need help?’ Sylvie asked, sensing my fear as I watched the colossal beast advance.

Not yet, I conveyed, putting Dawn’s Ballad back into my ring.

I threw out an arc of lightning at the beast but it didn’t even flinch as it continued making its way toward me. It swung its snout like a flail, bludgeoning mana beasts left and right. The mana beasts fortunate enough to evade its snout were soon trampled by its thick hooves as it charged at me. That’s when I saw him—a human.

The Alacryan mage, who had been riding between two of the spikes on the S-class beast’s back, was desperately holding on for his life. At this distance, it was easy to tell that this was not part of the plan.

That’s when it clicked. The weaker mana beasts appearing almost sedated and mostly ignoring Sylvie and I even as we killed them, the higher-tiered mana beasts seemingly possessing their own will even against the Alacryan’s struggles.

A plan began to bloom in my head as I watched Alacryan mage struggle with what appeared to be a black stone in his hand.

I cast a ball of fire at the towering beast, hitting its face. The flaming sphere splashed across its metallic hide without so much as a mark, but it did its job.

The beast bellowed and raised its front legs in anger. The Alacryan mage was barely able to hold on but the mammoth beast didn’t stop there.

Making it its life goal to flatten me with its flail-like snout, the beast charged relentlessly. I, on the other hand, continued throwing spells just barely strong enough to annoy it while flying through the beast horde.

The mammoth beast created a path paved in decimation and crushed corpses as it continued to chase me. I used every creative method my brain could think of in order to get the beast as furious as possible while slowly whittling it down. I drove earthen spikes into its hooves, I layered the ground in ice so that it’d slip, but my half-assed spells weren’t doing anything.

Fire seemed to work best in annoying the beast, but when I shot another spell at it, a translucent shield flickered in its path, blocking my spell before it could hit.

I need your help now, Sylvie, I sent leisurely as I led the beast to where I could sense Sylvie was fighting.

‘Wow, how did you make it so angry?’ she replied, leaping into the air with a beat of her wings.

Pin the beast down for as long as you can, I instructed.

With a mental confirmation, Sylvie flew up into the sky before dropping back down in a nose-dive.

‘Keep it steady!’ she transmitted, showing the general range she’d be able to land.

Clearing the beasts around me with a gust of wind, I waited as the mammoth beast rushed toward me. Taking a deep breath, I waited for the moment just when the beast’s front legs were about to touch the ground as it charged. Precision, timing, and distance compounded made the spell that much harder, but as a white core mage, it felt natural, as if I was shaping clay.

At my behest, the ground just below the beast’s front feet splintered, sending the beast crashing on the ground. However, with the speed it had built up, its momentum continued to carry the beast and the mage riding on its back toward me.

Pummelling through every earthen wall I had conjured in its path until it was only a few yards away, I cursed in frustration.

Damn it, no choice.

Preparing my mind and body for the toll about to come, I waited until just before the beast was close enough before I activated Static Void.

With my control over both aether and mana making leaps and bounds during my ascent into the white core stage, I confined the time-pausing mana art into just the beast and the mage.

Even with the reduced range, the sheer size of the beast made my mana core protest. However, I persisted, biding time right up until Sylvie was about to crash into the beast.

‘Now!’ she screamed mentally.

I immediately released Static Void and leaped out of the way, almost crashing into the open jaw of a reptilian mana beast.

The force of Sylvie’s descent onto the beast sent a shockwave of wind and debris all around them. If I hadn’t erected a stone wall from the ground, I would’ve gotten blown away along with all the other beasts in the vicinity.

With no time to rest, I dashed toward the mammoth beast that was dazed but still alive and struggling to get out of Sylvie’s grasp.

Don’t kill it yet, I said to my bond.

‘I’m not confident I even can. Its hide isn’t as strong as my scales but it’s a lot thicker.’

Leaping up on top of the beast’s back, I picked up the unconscious mage and threw him on the ground.

The oblong black stone fell from his grasp. After picking it up, I formed an ice spike in my hand and drove it into the mage’s thigh.

The Alacryan, surprised at first to be awake and seeing me, quickly succumbed to the searing pain radiating out of his bleeding thigh.

Before he could even get the chance to speak, I held the black stone to his face. “Does this control the mana beasts?”

His eyes widened and he made a desperate swipe at the stone.

I conjured a stone nail, impaling his hand to the ground.

He let out another scream, and the mana beasts that smelled the blood of prey began drawing closer.

‘Hurry. I can’t keep him still for much longer,’ Sylvie conveyed.

I was about to ask again, when I realized that the mage was about to bite off his own tongue. Quickly, I held down his tongue, burning and searing his wound.

The mage let out another muffled wail before I froze his mouth shut. &nbsp;

“What is up with you Alacryans and killing yourself,” I sighed. “Well, if you won’t tell me, I might as well find out myself.”

The oblong stone wouldn’t react with any type of mana or even aether, so I did the only other thing I knew. I crushed it in my hand.

Chapter 216: Battlefield

The mage stared at me with panic-stricken eyes as the crumbled fragments of the black stone fell from my grasp.

There was a tense moment as I waited for something to happen amidst the war zone besides the already-ensued chaos raging on. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Suddenly, as if a switch had been turned on, every mana beast in the vicinity seemed to have become provoked by my action.

The once glazed and lifeless eyes of the mana beasts now burned with fury. It wasn’t just at me though; the mana beasts began growling and hissing at each other, baring fangs, claws, and horns at one another.

It didn’t take long for hell to break loose. Beasts pounced on one another without even a semblance of sanity left amongst them. They leaped at me with reckless abandon, often getting caught by one another in the process.

Quickly drawing the two swords I had received from the Flamesworth blacksmith, I turned into a flurry of blades. I slashed and stabbed at the vitals of the mana beasts that attacked me until a mound of bloody carcasses accumulated beneath my feet.

However, despite the massacre that befell those who came close, the mana beasts continued to attack and throw their lives away as if possessed.

‘Arthur! I can’t hold on anymore!’ Sylvie’s struggling voice pierced through my mind.

I turned back to see the mammoth beast break free, eyes locked on me as he pawed the ground in preparation to charge while the pile of corpses continued to grow.

However, I didn’t fail to notice the subtle difference in the mammoth beast’s behavior. The way the beast glared down at me still indicated rage, but the very targeted, threatening act of scruffing the ground showed some level of intelligence.

It showed that it wasn’t thinking of blindly charging like before, but waiting for me to react somehow to its act of aggression.

As for me, rather than having the luxury to react to the mammoth beast, I was occupied by the neverending mana beasts that seemed hell-bent on ripping my limbs off.

“Enough!” I roared, releasing every ounce of murderous intent I had pent up over time.

To the naked eye, nothing had changed, but for anyone that had an ounce of sense, they felt it. Even the beasts, as deranged as they were, froze in their tracks and began trembling out of instinct.

This may not have worked while they were in their stupor moments ago, but now the beasts around me shrank back out of fear while some of the weaker ones even collapsed.

With finally some space to breathe, I took a step toward the mammoth beast. A path opened up as I walked, the mana beasts unable to bear being too close. &nbsp;

I locked eyes with the colossal S-class monster that stuck out above the sea of mana beasts wreaking havoc amongst one another, directing the entirety of my unabated bloodlust. It was a primitive thing to do, much like flexing your muscles in front of your opponent to discourage them, but it did its job.

The colossal monster broke eye contact with me, its body slackening. Finally, with a mournful bellow, the S-class beast turned and left, trampling smaller mana beasts with each step.

‘It’s been a while since I felt your bloodlust. A good reminder not to tease you too much,’ Sylvie said as she joined me at my side.

I cracked a smile before replying. It seems to only work on the more intelligent and powerful beasts, though.

The mana beasts that had been temporarily paralyzed by my intent had quickly broken free and resumed their mauling spree.

Turning around, I saw the Alacryan mage. Despite being bloody and incapacitated, he was still alive. None of the beasts seemed to even want to go near him.

Seeing how the crazed beast acted, it couldn’t have been out of pity or even out of loyalty to their supposed master.

“Now…” I peered down at the frightened mage. “I wonder how you’re still alive.”

Sylvie craned her neck and began sniffing at the mage I had nailed to the ground. ‘I’m not sure if it has anything to do with it, but there’s a rather repulsive stench coming from this human.’

The Alacryan mage let out a muffled whimper as my bond bared her fangs at him, but there was little else he could do.

As I contemplated whether to take the mage in for questioning or killing him on the spot and continue whittling down enemy numbers, the mage let out a slightly more coherent sound.

“Ah h-hell ooh, ah hell ooh,” he muttered through the melting ice binding his mouth shut.

Exchanging glances with Sylvie, I melted the ice around his lower face. “Speak. Any useless words and I’ll kill you on the spot.”

“I-I’ll tell you why they won’t attack me. Just promise you’ll let me live.”

I let the tip of my new sword rest on the mage’s mouth, just barely nicking the corner of his lips. “I hate making promises I know I won’t keep.”

Tears rolled down the mage’s cheeks as he glared daggers at me. “Then why should I tell you anything?”

The dirt and blood on his face did little to mask how young the enemy was, but it would be sloppy to show mercy. I pushed the blade just a little deeper; the mage let out a pained cry. “Because… a quick painless death is better than a long painful one.”

Using fire magic to heat the blade of my sword, I pressed it against the mage’s cheek. While the mana beasts around us were creating havoc, the majority of the beast horde was still making its way toward the Wall. I couldn’t waste too much time on this.

“All right! Please, just stop!” he screamed, stretching his head as far away from my sword as his neck would take him. “W-We have a serum that the corrupted beasts can’t stand during their frenzied state.”

“Where did you get it? Who else has this serum?”

The Alacryan shook his head vigorously. “I-I-I really don’t know this! I just know it’s precious so everyone who even gets it only gets a little bit of it to spray on themselves.”

With a terse nod, I stabbed my sword down into the Alacryan mage’s heart. The young mage’s eyes bulged but what surprised me was his lips that curved up into a smirk.

“It’s useless…even if you know,” he sputtered, blood leaking out of his mouth. “Long… live…”

Unable to even finish his sentence, the mage fell unconscious from the shock. He’d most likely die within a few minutes, painlessly in his sleep.

I pulled out my sword with a quick jerk and moved on. There was a lot more work to be done.

I spent the next hours on the ground, hacking, stabbing, and shooting mana beasts with swords and spells. My guidance under Kordri had honed my body to last for days with the help of mana arts and martial technique. There was no wasted effort in my movements and attacks as mana beasts, whether in a stupor or in their frenzied state, fell lifelessly beside me.

Even the time spent training with Kathyln, Hester, Buhnd, and Camus bore fruit. Having experience battling against multiple opponents really helped knowing how to best react to the unceasing waves of mana beasts—some of which were even able to cast long-distance magic—without overexerting my mana. Coupled with the mana-measuring discs that Emily had test out on me, I was able to limit the strength of my spells to its utmost efficiency.

How’s everything on your end, Sylvie? I asked while letting out a grunt. I pulled my lightning-clad sword out from inside a giant mana beast’s scorched eye socket. Much like the S-class mammoth beast I had scared off earlier, this one had a hide strong enough to put a chip in my new sword.

The beast crashed into the ground, flattening a few unfortunate mana beasts below it. Its lifeless body still crackled with arcs of lightning while its limbs spasmed.

‘A bit tired, I’ll admit, but I’m fine,’ she responded, her mental voice clear even from the distance between us.

Tired already? It’s only been like four hours of nonstop fighting, I teased, stabbing and pulling my sword out from the ribcage of a large primate mana beast.

The shortsword I had received as a set with my longer sword &nbsp;quickly became unusable, leaving me with only Dawn’s Ballad and my thin longsword that had already grown dull.

While the two of us continued our onslaught, my main focus had shifted to finding the other Alacryan mages. The serum that the enemy mage had told me about capable of basically concealing the user from corrupted beasts was an enticing bounty, and I already knew what to use it for.

However, even after the hours of searching, our efforts were fruitless. Just the sheer number of mana beasts alone made it almost impossible to even distinguish larger mana beats, let alone a human.

“Damn it,” I cursed, thrusting both my blades into the thick neck of a reptilian mana beast. “We’re running out of time.”

‘The Wall is getting closer, Arthur. The conjurers and archers will be in range to attack soon. It’ll be even harder to find the enemy mages then,’ Sylvie informed.

You’re right. And once the beast horde reaches the Wall and the trap that everyone set up activates, it’ll be impossible to find them, I responded back as I slashed through another pack of frenzied canine beasts.

‘What do you suggest?’ my bond asked as she fought her way through the hordes of beasts between us to get to me.

There’s no choice but to rely on Realmheart to search for the mages. &nbsp;

There was a moment of silence in our minds as I felt Sylvie think over her next words.

‘I want to keep your family safe as well, Arthur, but is it wise to deviate from your obligations as a general and lance? Using Realmheart will take a big toll on you and even then, we run the risk of it being for nothing.’

Gritting my teeth, I jumped up on Sylvie’s back. Memories of my fight with my parents during my last trip to the Wall flooded out of my mind and into my bond’s. It was faster letting her know this way than trying to explain.

It’s not wise, Sylv. I know that. But please, just for a little bit. I need to be able to tell myself that I’m giving my all to keep my family safe, and finding a serum might just do that.

Assuming everything went according to plan, we’d have to sacrifice parts of the Wall and the underground routes, and it’d be much safer for our melee troops to fight. But, even then, with so many people I cared about participating in this battle, it was impossible to not be anxious and afraid for them.

‘I understand,’ Sylvie sent empathetically as her powerful wings beat down. With a blast of wind, the two of us soared up into the sky, shooting past any of the aerial mana beasts before they could even react.

“I’m going to be relying on you to fight off any mana beasts while I focus on searching for the mages,” I said aloud.

Taking a deep breath, I ignited Sylvia’s beast will from deep within my mana core and let its power flow freely out into my body.

I felt the physical changes to my body as the warm surge of power filled me from the inside. Long white bangs obstructed my view while the runes covering my body and extending out to my limbs grew brightly, even through the thick clothes I wore.

Soon, my vision turned into shades of gray before flecks of colorful light began emerging out of thin air.

No matter how many times I had used this skill, it was breathtaking every single time. No matter how many spells were flung by mages and beasts, it was when I was able to physically see the very substance that made up all magic in the atmosphere that it felt like I had truly fallen into a magical world.

‘Focus, Arthur. Can you distinguish any of the Alacryan mages?’ Sylvie said with a hint of envy. My bond had yet to grasp this ability despite breaking out of the seal that her mother had placed on her before birth.

“Not really,” I replied, narrowing my gaze to try and pinpoint mana fluctuations that seemed different from the magic that the beasts were able to cast.

Sylvie continued flying across the length of the army, avoiding or killing any flying mana beasts that got in her way, while I scoured for any signs of the Alacryan mages hiding amongst them. It wasn’t until I pried my gaze from the sight below that I &nbsp;noticed something odd up toward the Elshire Forest.

Sylvie, can you take us higher for minute? I asked my bond, trying to make out what was happening up north.

Sensing my confusion and worry, we immediately ascended until it was impossible to make out the individual mana beasts below us. But as expansive and threatening the beast horde appeared, my focus was on a much bigger threat.

It wasn’t only the mana fluctuations that seemed to be made up of tens of thousands of mages, it was the trail—a bright trail of mana—leading from the army of what could only be the Alacryans straight to the heart of Elenoir Kingdom.

Chapter 217: Decisions Made

TESSIA ERALITH

Darvus stepped up beside me, his knuckles white from gripping his dual axes for dear life. The smug grin that he always wore was nowhere in sight, replaced by furrowed brows and a tensed jaw. “This doesn’t look good, Tessia.”

I looked over my shoulder to see Stannard and Caria, and the two hundred-odd soldiers that made up my unit along with the ragtag squads of elven soldiers that had been placed under my command. Mixed amongst them were civilian elves garbed only in cloth or a leather apron for protection as well as whatever thin metal they could find and strap on. These were the men that stayed behind to protect their home and their fleeing loved ones.

Every one of them wore grim expressions. The soldiers gripped their weapons while the civilians anxiously clenched their kitchen knives and gardening tools, as the steady drone of marching grew louder and louder.

The once lively elven town just behind us had long since evacuated, but we knew with the many children and elders amongst them, if we fled here—if we couldn’t hold out long enough—they would all die. This wasn’t a matter of protecting an abandoned town in the outskirts; this battle would determine the momentum in the fight for Elenoir.

My heart pounded against my chest and my knees felt weak. No matter how strong my mana core was, no matter how much I had trained, I felt nothing but fear in this moment.

Yet, I couldn’t show it. I wouldn’t.

Because then, the morale of every one of these people behind me, relying on my strength as not just a mage and warrior but as a leader, would collapse.

Holding my feelings in, wearing a mask of confidence and strength—this was my burden.

I conjured the wind to carry my voice as I unsheathed my sword. Projecting a wave of mana, not only to convey power to my subordinates but also to reassure myself, I spoke.

“You all know of the report we received a few hours ago. You all know why we rushed here without rest.”

I turned around to face my allies despite the fear of leaving my back open to the army approaching. “We’re here because of the Alacryan army approaching Elenoir Kingdom. Not everyone here can call this land ‘home,’ but behind us are the children and elderly, fleeing for their lives after being forced to abandon their only home. The enemy marching toward us now will kill them and take over Elenoir, and if they succeed in this, Sapin will be next.”

Murmurs of consensus rang throughout the crowd.

“Our numbers are few but I, for one, am honored to be the first line of defense in keeping that from happening,” I declared, raising my voice just a notch louder. “Lance Aya, along with every able-bodied elf, are marching down here to aid us as we speak, but the question is this…”

I held up my sword. “Will you join me in not just fighting this battle, but protecting the weak and helpless from the Alacryans?”

There was just a breath of silence where I was afraid my pounding heart would be heard by all of the soldiers in front of me until a roar of cheers and battle cries resounded.

At my signal, a line of defense formed around me and the rest of my ranged troops. “Conjurers, archers, ready your weapons!”

The foreboding thrump, thrump, thrump, thrump, of the Alacryan soldiers marching grew louder and louder within the dense veil of the fog and trees between us.

I pointed my sword forward. “Prepare your attacks!”

With my heightened senses and familiarity with the Elshire Forest, I knew rather than saw as the enemy vanguards came in range.

I thrust my weapon, sending out condensed bolts of wind. “Fire!”

An array of colors dotted my line of sight. Arcs of lightning, blades of wind, blasts of fire, and sharp shards of earth flew toward the enemy alongside dozens of arrows.

I held up my sword for everyone to see before signaling another flight of spells and pointed steel. “Fire!”

Another volley of colors rained down on the enemy, still mostly obscured by the forest environment. Shimmers of light shaped like shields and walls deflected or even absorbed our attacks, but that wasn’t the only problem. The thick trees and jutting branches of the Elshire Forest were against us.

“Another flight?” Stannard proposed hopefully, gripping his artifact in preparation for another spell.

“Ranged spells and arrows won’t win this battle.” I turned to Vedict, the one in charge of the front line. “Order the warriors and augmenters to break their line for the rest of us.”

With a nod, the steel-clad elf raised his shield and ran forward, relaying my decree. Gallant soldiers in both leather and metal armor ignited their cores and charged forward into a battle where we stood vastly outnumbered. They vanished from sight into the thick fog, but I could still hear the thunder of their magic-infused charge.

Steeling not only by weapon and body but my will, I looked at Stannard, Darvus, and Caria—my closest friends, and most trusted aides. None of us said a word, but with our time spent in battles, our gazes long since spoke volumes to each other and we all seemed to be saying the same thing. ‘Let’s get out of this alive.’

I reached for the necklace Arthur had given me around my neck. I mustn’t cry.

Kissing the pendant, I tucked it into my cloak, vowing to keep it—and our promise—safe. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Reaching deep into the pit of my stomach, I let out a guttural cry. “Charge!”

ALBANTH KELRIS

“Captain,” a concerned voice sounded from my side.

Prying my eyes off of the beast horde slowly gaining ground, obscured by the blanket of dust, I looked down at my assistant. “What is it?”

Sinder, the well-toned man, who I had trained and groomed since he was just a kid, pointed down toward my hands.

I now realized that the reinforced railings built to keep soldiers from accidentally falling off the top of the Wall had become bent out of shape.

“Ah.” Readjusting my grip, I twisted it back into its proper form before letting go.

With a gentle smile, my assistant placed an armored hand on my pauldron. “I know it’s in your blood to worry and overthink, but look at the mayhem General Arthur is causing to our enemy.”

We, along with everyone else positioned at the Wall, were watching. With how large the enemy army was, it was almost impossible to keep track of where the young lance was within that sea of mana beasts. But every now and then, we’d notice the small changes occurring within their ranks, like small nuts and bolts becoming undone, causing the larger pieces to become more unstable.

I let out a sharp breath. “I know, Sinder. But it just pains me to be standing here twiddling my thumbs while the lance has been tirelessly fighting for hours.”

“Our time will come. No matter how strong the general is, he is only one man. He will need our support soon,” my assistant reassured. “Now please, Captain, broaden your shoulders and don’t let the soldiers see you faltering.”

“Since when did you become all grown up?” I teased, smacking Sinder’s back and almost throwing him over the edge of the Wall.

The soldiers around us laughed at our little show. Sinder, nearly killed by his own captain, wasn’t as amused but his expression softened after noticing the atmosphere lightening.

I continued making my rounds, walking the length of the Wall to make sure everything was in place for when our battle would begin. It wasn’t a job that a captain should be doing, but seeing my men and encouraging them when need be was something that helped me as well.

These soldiers that I had trained, lectured and sometimes even sparred with, relied on me, and in this moment when we’d be facing an army of beasts much larger in number, they needed my presence.

“Wess! I’m not seeing you shake, am I?” I called out to a middle-aged conjurer gripping his staff. Patting his shoulder, I shot him a smile. “After this fight, let’s have your wife make us one of her mean crumbled pies, okay?”

The conjurer let out a laugh, his body visibly relaxing. “It’s just like you to be thinking of food at a time like this, Captain. Very well, Maryl will be delighted to know that you like her pie that much.”

I gave him a wink before continuing my stroll. It wasn’t much—wave here, a joke there, making a plan for the future—anything to get the soldiers’ heads out of the dark hole caused by the looming battle. &nbsp;

That’s when I saw General Arthur’s little sister… Eleanor was her name, if I wasn’t mistaken. The little girl was hard to notice with the large mana beast beside her. Stella, the soldier that I had assigned to her, was nowhere in sight, replaced by a dark-haired archer with bright eyes. She seemed to be teaching her the basics of firing from higher ground.

“Miss Leywin,” I greeted. “What happened to the soldier I had assigned you?”

The little girl stiffened into a rather clumsy salute. “Ah, yes! Hello, Captain…”

“Albanth.” I smiled before turning to the woman that was teaching her. “And you are?”

The sharp-eyed woman saluted gracefully. “Helen Shard, Captain. My apologies for the confusion. I’m this one’s longtime instructor so I relieved Stella of her duty to watch after her.”

“I see,” I smiled. I was relieved that the general’s younger sister wasn’t the one to shrug off her protector. “In that case, I will leave her in your care.” &nbsp;

“Yes sir!” she said, brimming with confidence.

“Miss Leywin.” I turned to face the approaching beast horde that appeared to be getting even larger than I imagined. “Do you still feel up for helping us out even after seeing that?”

“Yes.” The little girl’s expression hardened as she gripped her intricate bow. “My brother is fighting out there with only Sylvie to help him. The least I can do with all the training I’ve been getting is help him and my parents, who are here as well.”

She couldn’t have been older than twelve or thirteen, yet here she was, with little traces of innocence and youth left. &nbsp;I wanted to ask whether her parents knew she was here and if they would approve, but it wasn’t my place to do so. Giving her and the archer named Helen a salute, I continued my walk until I spotted a messenger running toward me.

Seeing how hard he was breathing, people would think that he had climbed the entire height of the Wall with his bare hands. The messenger dipped his head before speaking to me. “Senior Captain Trodius has called for a meeting and has requested your presence immediately.”

“Got it. Thank you,” I replied before immediately heading to the main tent.

By the time I arrived, Captain Jesmiya was leaving the tent with a rather particularly sour expression. She bumped my shoulder while muttering a string of curses under her breath.

“Captain Jesmiya,” I called out, grabbing the captain’s arm. &nbsp;

The blonde-haired captain whirled around, her free hand already holding her saber before realizing who I was.

“Captain Albanth,” she nearly spat out while sheathing her sword.

Surprised by her venom, I asked her what was going on, only for her to shrug me off with a cold shoulder. “Ask Trodius,” she hissed before striding away.

I opened the entrance to the tent to see Captain Trodius going through some paperwork in that eerily impeccable posture he always had.

The captain knew I was here but he continued on with his work as if to make a statement. This went on for a few minutes before I couldn’t wait any longer and cleared my throat. “Senior Captain—”

A raised finger cut me off. The man didn’t even look in my direction until he had finally finished whatever it was he was doing, despite the fact that he had sent a messenger for this ‘urgent’ meeting.

Finally, after meticulously filing his papers into three even piles, he looked up and locked eyes with me. “Captain Albanth.”

“Sir!” I saluted, my armor clanging loudly.

“Have your melee troops prepare to march,” he stated. “They will be confronting the beast horde in the terms that we dictate.”

“Excuse me?” I asked, confused. “My apologies, Senior Captain, but it was to my understanding that the melee troops would enter combat only after we’ve lured a majority of the beast horde into the trap we had—”

“Captain Albanth,” the senior captain interrupted again. “Do you know how many resources we’ve expended excavating the underground passages for our trailblazer divisions to safely explore the Beast Glades? I won’t go as far as to weigh the value of lives between the efforts spent on this fortress, but just realize that it doesn’t make sense logistically to detonate the underground routes.”

“But, Sir.” I took a step forward only to be met with a blazing glare from Trodius. Taking a step back, I continued. “With General Arthur’s plan, we’ll be able to immobilize the majority of the beast horde. This will give our melee forces a much better chance to sur—”

“As I have stated before, Captain Albanth, I won’t go as far as to weigh the value of lives…” The senior captain let his sentence trail off, letting me know that was exactly what he was doing.

“Besides, the lance said it himself—it was only a suggestion. I said nothing at the meeting out of respect for his position, but he’s but a boy that’s ignorant of war. It’d be in your best interest to realize that as well.”

Clenching my fists behind my back, I stood silent.

Trodius took the silence as my answer and gave me that fake smile that seemed to work so well with the people who didn’t truly know him. “Good! Then we’ll have your melee troops advance immediately. You and your troops will do whatever it takes to hold your ground until Jesmiya’s forces are ordered to come around the flank to assist you. By then, the archers and conjurers in position will be in range to fire freely at their backline.”

Gritting my teeth in anger, I was barely able to respond with a nod before turning around to leave. Suddenly, Jesmiya’s mood back when we had run into each other seemed too pleasant after hearing this conversation.

“Oh, and Captain Albanth?” the senior captain called out. “I realize that through this, the death toll will be higher, but know that our victory will be that much greater for having kept this vital fortress standing after all of this.”

ARTHUR LEYWIN

‘Arthur.’

My gaze shifted from the Wall, barely visible over the dust that hung in the air, back to the sight of the Alacryan army well within the forest.

‘Arthur!’ Sylvie’s voice rang louder.

“I don’t know!” I snapped. “I don’t know what to do, Sylvie.”

My role was to stay here, to help the forces of the Wall defeat this beast horde. Even if all of this was nothing but a diversion, my family and the Twin Horns were still here. What if something happened to any of them after I had left? On the flip side, what if Tess was in danger? With so many elves stationed around Sapin, it would be almost impossible for Elenoir to properly defend against an army of that size.

‘I know it’s a hard decision,’ she responded, her soothing voice calming me just a tad. ‘Rest assured that I will support whatever choice you make.’

The gears in my brain turned tirelessly while I debated. After my emotions had quelled a bit, my logical side stepped in. It reassured me that the traps already set for the beast horde once they got to the Wall would greatly lower the chances of the melee forces getting killed in combat, let alone a skilled augmenter like my father.

Pressed for time as both the beast horde and Alacryan army advanced relentlessly toward their destination, I made my decision.

“Sylvie. We’re going to Elshire Forest.”

Chapter 218: From Leader To Soldier

TESSIA ERALITH

Digging my feet into the ground as I leaped forward, I used a mana vine to pull myself to the nearest enemy mage.

The surprised Alacryan didn’t even have enough time to turn toward me before my swordstaff sunk deep into his waist. The blood rolled right off as I pulled out my weapon, leaving its pale blade spotless.

“Tessia, duck!” the familiar voice of my teammate rang from behind.

I immediately shot back, giving room for Caria to dive down on another Alacryan from the tree she was on.

“Nice!” I shouted back as I released a bolt of wind to knock back an enemy gaining on Stannard.

“Thank you!” he shouted. His artifact had finished charging, unleashing a blast of mana directly at an approaching mob of enemy soldiers.

Darvus came into view, his dual axes creating sparks and trails of fire as he cleaved both flesh and steel to support our small conjurer.

“We can’t let them get past this point!” I reminded them as Caria flew into action as well, her gauntlets enveloped in thick mana.

We can do this, I reassured myself, watching my teammates battle alongside our other unit of mages. Hachi, one of our new recruits, stood out even from this distance as he stood a head taller than everyone else with his flame-clad fists.

Suddenly a bright beam of ice shot down from a tree nearby. Caria managed to dodge it and Hachi was barely able to dive out of the way, but a nearby elf from his team wasn’t as lucky.

Damn it, I cursed, watching as &nbsp;my ally fell.

With a mana-infused leap, I landed on the branch that a long-range mage had been perched on. Before she could even let out a noise, a fatal wound had already been made. The body slumped and fell off the tree.

Letting out a sharp breath, I surveyed the battlefield below, making sure there weren’t any other enemy conjurers in range to hurt my teammates. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Instead, what I saw was chaos. With the foliage blending in with the trees and ground as well as the thick blanket of fog ever present, it was hard to tell exactly how many enemies there were and how many of my allies were left.

A scream pierced through my ears. It came from nearby. Not knowing whether it was friend or foe that made the pained cry, I whirled toward the source.

It was an elf. From the leather apron fashioned clumsily with a metal sheet on the chest—most likely a baking pan—I could tell instantly he was a civilian that had chosen to stay and defend his town. &nbsp;

The elf crumpled lifelessly to the ground while a puddle of blood formed around him. The killer was an Alacryan mage that had a spinning ring of wind surrounding his open hands. He wore a proud sneer while trampling over the elf’s body.

My blood burned with righteous anger at the sight. Landing deftly on the ground, I sprinted toward the enemy, fully intent on removing him from this battle.

“Tessia! Where are you going?!” I heard Darvus’ voice behind me.

“I’ll be right back!” I responded, not bothering to turn back.

My vision narrowed on the enemy mage as I easily cleared the distance between us, but just as I was about to drive my blade into the unsuspecting enemy mage, a golden pane of light flickered between us. The barrier shattered but it gave the mage enough time to scurry out of my path.

“Sneaky little thing,” the enemy mage spat. A chill ran down my spine as I noticed the man’s eyes quickly scanning my body as if the armor and cloth I wore was nonexistent.

He licked his lips while the whirling blades of wind surrounding his hands grew larger. “You’re lucky we’re in a rush, otherwise I would’ve taken my time with you.”

“No,” I replied coldly, honing in my killing intent and the first phase of my beast will into the enemy. “You’re lucky that I’m in a rush.”

It wasn’t my first time using my beast will, but I had never used it on another person. Regardless, beast or man, the mage knew how outclassed he was.

“Sh-Shield!” he screamed as he dashed toward him, reaching past his guard in the blink of an eye.

Once again, a golden light flickered into existence, but before it could even fully manifest, the sharp tendrils of mana surrounding me had already pierced several holes into the mage’s body.

Without thinking, I looked down, my gaze was drawn toward the dead elf beside me. His empty eyes seemed to be looking back at me, blaming me.

I can do this, I repeated through gritted teeth.

“Tessia! We need you back!” a familiar voice rang nearby. It was Caria, facing against a group of Alacryans. Her expression was grim but she wasn’t losing her ground even against three enemy mages.

“I’ll be right there!” I shouted before augmenting my sight. I peered through the layer of fog to try and find any of the so-called ‘shields’ hiding. With my mobility and senses, I had the best chances of knocking down their defenses.

Just as I spotted a shield conjuring a panel of light around a group of Alacryans, an enemy mage charged at me.

I don’t have time for this! I easily dodged his flame-clad spear and carved a bloody line through his neck when I spotted another ally in need of help.

There was a human soldier backed up against a tree with two enemy mages closing in on her. I knew my main job was to reinforce my teammates to stop the Alacryan troops from advancing but my body moved without thinking.

With a flick of my wrist, roots shot up from below the two Alacryans, anchoring their feet to the ground.

Wind Cutter.

Compressing the air around my swordstaff, I launched a translucent crescent of wind.

This time, an earthen wall launched up from the ground. My spell left a scar on the stone shield but by the time I could get past their defense, the human girl was already on the ground with a frozen spike jutting out from her chest.

I cursed inward, angry at myself for being too late. Meanwhile, the enemy mages managed to free themselves from my shackles of roots and prepared their next attack—this time, at me.

With a manic cry, the mage dashed toward me, his entire right arm enveloped by a lance made of ice.

It took a little less than a single thought to command the emerald vines of mana to knock aside his feeble attack and puncture a hole through his stomach and chest.

My eyes shifted toward my dead ally that was still leaning against the tree.

I cursed again. I needed to take down all of these mages. The more I brought down, the better chances my allies had. That was my duty.

I kept my mana usage constantly in check as the emerald aura surrounding me shot out more translucent vines that whipped, wrapped, and pierced enemies nearby. My thin blade whistled and sang through the air, drawing arcs of enemy blood wherever it landed.

Constantly reminding myself that each enemy I eliminated was an ally saved, I persevered and continued fighting.

This is the right thing to do.

While the forest was a handicap to many, the endless rows of trees worked to my advantage. Not only did I control the emerald vines of mana constantly protecting me, but every tree around me also beckoned to call.

“Focus the gray-haired girl!” a shout sounded from afar. Seconds later, a condensed beam of fire came into view from the top of a tree.

Rather than dodge it and hope none of my allies would get hit by the blast, I waved my swordstaff and channeled a spell through the mana-amplifying gem on its hilt.

Thick roots from beneath my feet rose from the ground, sacrificing themselves by taking the beam of fire.

Thankfully the fog makes it hard for fires to spread here, I thought as the burned roots withered away. &nbsp;

“Head Tessia!” a desperate cry rang nearby.

I whipped my head back. On the ground just a dozen yards away was Hachi.

The burly man was laying on the ground, his hand desperately reaching out for me just before a stone hammer crushed his head.

His arm dropped to the ground, crimson spreading from where the earthen hammer had dropped.

“No!” I yelled, seething in anger. However, the source of my rage didn’t last much longer as a glowing axe promptly separated the Alacryan’s head from his neck.

Darvus appeared behind the Alacryan’s corpse, his eyes fierce. “Are you out of your mind? Why the hell did you break formation and go off on your own like that?!”

“It’s not like that!” I retorted. “I was saving our troops!”

“Yeah?” he scoffed, “Well because of that, Hachi died. You were supposed to be in position to back him and his team up!”

I shook my head, my face burning from being blamed. “Y-You don’t understand, there were—” &nbsp;

“We all had our positions assigned—that you assigned. Because you ran off, two others are critically injured and their right flank is completely exposed! In what world is that ‘saving our troops?’” he cut me off.

Before I could respond, Darvus dashed off, taking out his anger on the unfortunate enemies nearby.

Snapping out of my daze, I tried going after him when, suddenly, a searing pain spread from my back.

The protective aura from my beast will kept me from toppling over and the damage felt minimal, but it still felt like cold water had been dumped on me.

If the attack had been stronger, I could’ve died.

The promise I made to my teammates, the promise I had made with Arthur, would’ve been broken because I was so caught up in trying to save as many of my troops as I could.

Snap out of it, Tessia! Darvus is right, we need to stay in formation.

I made my way back toward my initial position, exerting more mana into the emerald aura protecting me. I mowed my way through the waves of enemy soldiers wielding weapons of steel and conjured elements that attempted to advance forward to my team.

Turning into a whirlwind of blade and magic, I fought through but we were vastly outnumbered. Even after part of their force had broken off toward Elenoir, the difference in numbers were obvious, but I could only hope that General Aya’s army would take care of them.

Damn it, why am I not getting closer?! I cursed, trying to find Stannard, Caria, and Darvus.

It was impossible to tell how much time had passed since the battle first began, but one thing was painfully clear: I wasn’t fit to be a leader.

It didn’t matter that I was a silver core mage with an S-class beast will. Getting emotional over every ally death I encountered justified that I was incompetent to make rational decisions for the betterment of the whole.

The guilt that I felt manifested itself into a voice in my head, constantly reminding me that I was the one that led every one of my allies here to their death.

I continued making my way toward my initial position, when I finally spotted one of them just a few dozen yards away.

“Stannard!” I yelled, hoping the conjurer could hear me over the chaos.

However, my voice attracted someone else’s attention—a person that looked different from the rest of the enemies around me.

Cutting me off was a brightly armored human riding on a corrupted wolf-like beast.

He looks like someone important, I convinced myself as I watched his long blonde hair billow, unobstructed by any form of protection on his head.

Guards of a different caliber than the rest of the Alacryan soldiers surrounded me, obstructing my path, but as I prepared to confront them, the man spoke.

“Leave the girl to me,” he asserted.

I kept my face impassive as the armor-clad man jumped off his mount and unhurriedly approached me. Even from this distance, I could see that his black armor was a finely crafted suit of both plate and chainmail. Hanging on either side of his waist were two ornate-looking swords embroidered with fine jewels on the hilt.

He unsheathed his swords. “As expected of Tessia Eralith. To barely have any wounds. It’s an honor to meet you like this.”

Keeping my swordstaff pointed at the man, I cautiously stepped forward. “How do you know my name?”

He smiled politely. “You can call me Vernett.”

The translucent green vines thrashed wildly around me as if portraying my anger. I hated when they talked. It made them seem less like savage enemies that we had to kill.

My voice lowered into a threatening growl. “You didn’t answer my question.”

Vernett shrugged as he got into a fighting stance. “Perhaps beating me in combat might make me talk. Afterall, you Dicathians seem to love interrogation.”

That’s how you want to play it.

The hardened soil beneath my feet cracked as I dashed toward the blonde-haired Alacryan, getting in range before he could properly react.

Yet, as the mana tendrils I shot forth approached the man named Vernett, they slowed drastically, coming to a complete stop before even reaching him. &nbsp;

The Alacryan had a smug grin on his face as he used that chance to swing his blade. The attack was fast but after training under so many elites, it was easily dodgeable.

I followed up with my sword this time, only for it to feel as if I was swinging through a thick viscous liquid. By the time my blade reached Vernett’s unprotected neck, the speed had diminished so greatly that it couldn’t even draw blood.

The battle continued, but we were at a stalemate. I was clearly stronger, faster, more adept in combat, but because of his unique variant of defensive water magic, I couldn’t land a solid hit.

It didn’t help that this ‘leader’ constantly moved around the battlefield. He weaved through other skirmishes, never staying in one place long.

“After all your talk, you’re scurrying around like a mouse?” I spat, unable to keep the venom out of my voice.

Vernett let out a laugh. “Why bother butting heads when I’m clearly at a disadvantage.”

I launched a crescent of wind in the feeble hope of getting through his defensive aura, but the man didn’t dodge, rather, he grabbed a nearby soldier—my soldier—and used him as a shield.

The man’s chest spurted blood despite his silver chestplate. His eyes, wide with shock, locked onto me before his head drooped lifelessly.

“Bastard!” I roared, dashing toward him.

The filth of a man threw the body he had used as a shield at me in order to keep his distance.

“What good is your position when you’re nothing but an infant wearing a shiny badge?” he gloated as he sliced off the leg of another one of my soldiers, purposely leaving him alive and in agony.

“Shut up!” Imbuing more mana into my beast will, the emerald vines surged with power, extending up toward the trees and killing two of the long range Alacryan mages.

Using the gap in their offense, I propelled myself toward Vernett.

He dodged the vines I threw at him, his smile never wavering as he used one of his own troops to block another one of my attacks.

Scurrying further away, he shouted, “You should’ve kept the tiara on your head, little princess. Leading with a sword doesn’t suit you.”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” I screamed. Succumbing to my rage, I activated the second stage of my beast will.

Suddenly, the world around me turned a hue of green. Sounds of battle became muffled while my body seemed to almost move on its own.

Finally, the blonde Alacryan seemed fazed. Concern showed on his face but it was too late. I reached out and a hand of translucent green held Vernett in a tight grip while the trees around him formed a cage around him.

“Call off your troops,” I growled, my voice coming out distorted.

Vernett coughed out blood from the air getting squeezed out of his lungs. I could feel his ribs cracking through my magic, but a smile blossomed on his face. “Take a look around you. What troops?”

For the first time in what seemed like our entire battle, I pried my eyes off the scumbag in my grip and looked around. The battle had moved forward—no, I had been led back.

Afar, I could see my troops getting bulldozed without me, more and more of their corpses scattered around the forest floor. Perhaps it was due to my beast will’s second stage, but I could clearly see how much the numbers on my side had dwindled… because of me. Because I had prioritized playing to this man’s tunes.

“I’m happy you think so highly of me, but like yourself, I’m merely a distinguished soldier,” he gurgled, blood leaking out from the corners of his mouth. “The difference between us is that I know I’m only pretending to be one.” &nbsp;

As my vision swam from rage and other indescribable emotions, a piercing pain shot through my chest.

I found myself looking up at the forest sky, my body frozen and cold. Vernett’s pained but arrogant expression soon came into my view as he looked down on me.

What had happened? Another enemy mage?

Vernett clicked his tongue in disapproval. “My my, were you so mad at me that you couldn’t even see the mage hiding in the tree straight in your line of sight?”

I closed my eyes, waiting to die, with nobody to blame but myself.

That was when the horn blared from the distance. And when I opened my eyes, Vernett was gone.

Replacing him stood General Aya, looking at me with an expression so cold that I half wished that I had died.

Chapter 219: Army Approaching

ARTHUR LEYWIN

Compared to the rate of my thoughts and worries speeding by within my mind, the hours in the sky crawled by.

If I wasn’t looking back towards the fading sight of the beast army out of sheer guilt that I was leaving the troops—and my family—at the Wall behind, I was focusing on the bright path of mana that made a road straight to what I suspected was the heart of Elenoir Kingdom.

‘What sort of spell is capable of such a thing?’ my bond asked as we followed along the path shining even through the thick layer of fog above the forest.

I’m not entirely sure but seeing as how the trail sort of zig zags around various points leading up North, I don’t think it’s a single powerful spell but an accumulation of the same spell creating a path.

It was just my speculation—rather, it was my hope. The thought of an enemy mage being able to basically nullify the ambient magic of the forest with a single conjuration scared me.

Snapping myself out of the pessimistic thoughts, I urged Sylvie to fly just a bit faster. It was already worrying enough thinking about something happening to my family or one of the Twin Horns, but thinking of not being able to make it to Tess in time left me trembling in sweat.

After about another hour of scouring above the forest, following the crooked path of mana almost palpable even without Realmheart, I finally spotted signs of a battle in the distance.

Mana fluctuations were apparent even above the thick canopy of trees below us but what worried me was the fact that they were old. This meant that the battle had ended, and it was impossible to tell from this distance which side had won.

Sensing my shift in emotions, Sylvie dived down closer to the forest, fast approaching the location that I had imprinted into my mind and into her as well.

As we approached closer and closer to our destination, however, a figure hovering over the blanket of trees and fog soon caught our attention.

What worried me more than his familiar appearance was the fact that he leaked no mana. Compared to the oppressive tidal wave that was Uto, this man was the eye of a terrible storm—just like his master.

Sylvie stopped about a dozen yards away. This time, it was her fear and anxiousness that was leaking into me.

“Cylrit,” I greeted the Vritra clad in black armor as he stood in the air, his purple cloak billowing behind him.

The retainer dipped his head before responding back with a brusque expression. “Lance.”

Despite my impatience, I exchanged a glance with Sylvie, who had transformed into her human form.

I was at a loss.

My instincts urged me to fight him; he was an enemy. But at the same time, the scythe above him had saved my life and the reason Sylvie and I were able to advance past our respective bottlenecks.

Imbuing mana into my voice, I asked hesitantly, “Are we to fight?”

“I have been instructed to keep you from advancing further,” he replied simply without a single change in his expression.

“And if I were to say that I have to advance?” I pushed, getting ready to release Realmheart once again.

Cylrit’s sharp eyes narrowed, but his voice was still calm as he answered. “It is for your benefit, Lance Leywin. My master wishes for you to be in optimal health before the final battle and partaking in the defense for the elven kingdom will make that difficult.”

“Seris said this was for my benefit?” I blurted.

“My master’s name isn’t something you should speak so casually, human.” Cylrit’s voice didn’t change, but a sharp bloodlust surged from him at the mention of the scythe’s name.

Matching the pressure he emanated, I spoke back, unable to keep the venom out of my voice. “Watch your tone, Cylrit. I chose to exchange words with you out of courtesy for your master.”

“Courtesy?” the vritra’s expression darkened, changing for the first time. “Master Seris saved your life. I suggest you heed her words and clean up the mess happening in your fortress.”

My eyes remained locked with his. “We’re going to Elenoir.” &nbsp;

“Knowing how to sacrifice is a part of war,” Cylrit said, still trying to persuade me. “Wasting your efforts here won’t help you even if you manage to succeed in defending Elenoir.”

“You don’t think I know that?” I growled, unable to hold back. The wind stilled and the air grew so thick it was almost tangible.

Beside me, I could feel the worry from my bond, but at this moment, I didn’t care. Coming all this way was me already sacrificing the soldiers that would get injured or killed in battle from the beasts that I failed to kill. Who was he to preach about something I’d had to experience for two separate lives.

The vritra’s brows furrowed in frustration. “Go back, lance. If you want a chance of saving Dicathen, you should worry about bigger things.”

I silently approached Cylrit. “Move aside. You’re mistaken if you think you can keep us both here. A lot has changed since our fight against Uto.”

Seris’ retainer clicked his tongue before holding out his arm. A thick black fog swirled around his outstretched hand, manifesting into a pitch black greatsword almost twice the owner’s height. “Very well. If you insist on fighting, allow me to prove you wrong.”

CURTIS GLAYDER

Lanceler Academy, Kalberk City

“Keep your formations!” I barked as I followed closely behind the group of students riding my bond. “Vanguards, keep your shields up! Trust in your mounts to protect your legs. That’s it!”

The twelve students followed the marked path for this particular drill while the archers a few dozen yards away were already in position to fire.

“Release!” I shouted at the archers.

A volley of blunted arrows struck the line of students riding clawed equines owned by Lanceler Academy. As practiced, the students shrugged forward on their mounts, raising their shields and using their left knees to help support them against long-range attacks. &nbsp;

Some of the students were slow in raising their shields while others weren’t able to augment their bodies in time to withstand the volley of projectiles. Those unfortunate students were knocked off the mana beast they were mounted on and tumbled on the dirt trail.

Grawder, my bond, let out a disappointed grunt as he trotted towards the students groaning on the ground.

“Tanner, Gard, Lehr,” I called.

The three students bolted up from the ground and saluted. “Sir!”

Stroking my world lion’s deep red mane, I passed by them. “Each of you owes me twenty sets of shield press without using mana.” &nbsp;

The three new recruits’ faces blanched at my words. Letting out a sigh, we trailed behind the remaining students still riding their mounts.

The practice ran for another two hours as we reviewed a few more formations. Eventually, the clawed equines had to recoverst, bringing the session to a brief rest.

“All right, walk your mounts to the lake and take an hour break!” I called, hopping off of Grawder.

Beneath the hundred-year-old tree, I leaned my back against Grawder, enjoying the cool breeze in the shade. One of my favorite things about this school was the fact that it was so close to Mirror Lake.

I took out some dried beef and fresh bread from my dimension ring and watched as the students separated into their respective circles of friends. Tanner, Gard, and Lehr squatted by the edge of the lake, raising their steel shields above their heads.

Some of the other students had already finished their light meals and began sparring with the blunted weapons used for training.

“As expected of Lanceler students,” a familiar voice sounded from behind me. “Even as trainees, they can never stay still.”

I looked up, not bothering to standget, and shot the retired knight a smirk. “What does that make me, then?” &nbsp;

“A lazy fool,” he retorted, taking a seat beside me in the grass.

I ripped off a chunk of my bread and passed him the side of the old man’s favorite broth that I had stored in my ring as well. “A student is only as good as his teacher, Instructor Crowe.”

“Ex-instructor,” he scoffed but accepted the snack with a smile. “And it seems like growing up as royalty only taught you how to talk well.”

The two of us sat silently, enjoying the glittering view of the lake. We’d let out a chuckle or a laugh here and there while watching the students make fools of themselves either while sparring or playing in the water. The few girls present were always flocked by the males students doing whatever they could to try and impress their female counterparts. &nbsp;

“Looking at these youths frolic without a care in the world, it’s hard to imagine that we’re in the middle of a war,” Crowe said softly.

“Definitely,” I agreed. “Hearing the stories coming from the eastern border of Sapin, I’m frustrated in one sense because I’m not there helping out, but I’m also relieved because I don’t think my students are anywhere near ready to face Alacryan soldiers.”

“You know, I remember being pretty discontent when I heard the news of you coming to Lanceler. I remember thinking of you as another spoiled noble that found a position here due to your connections.” My former instructor turned his gaze to me. “I was wrong about you, Curtis. You were hard-working from day one, and you were happy to hear your mistakes because that gave you room to improve.”

Not used to hearing compliments from the strict ex-knight, I felt my cheeks starting to flush. “Well, being an adequate mage and fighter iwas one thing, but I didn’t know anything about teaching.”

“Exactly! So why is it so hard for some of you nobles to admit that you don’t know something, or you’re not good at it? It still baffles me to this day.”

I let out a chuckle. “Think of it as an inferiority complex. Nobles are taught to either have no weakness or, if we haved one, to never show it.”

“That’s one good thing about when you’re in battle. At that moment when you’re one of the countless soldiers in the front line, there is no strategy,” the old knight huffed.

“Is that your excuse for never trying to go into leadership or strategic positions?” I smirked.

“Why you little—” Crowe hooked me with his arm and began grinding his knuckles on my head while Grawder groaned in protest from being woken up.

“Okay, okay! I surrender!”

The two of us continued bickering as we laughed. Despite the rather short time I had come here to teach students, there was an abundance of stories to exchange to one another on a perfect day like this.

After the short hour of break time had passed, the two of us got up.

“Back to the training grounds in full armor within fifteen minutes!” I yelled.

The students stiffened at my voice and scurried back up the hill where we had practice.

“They listen to you well,” Crowe commented, smiling as he saw some of the students that he had once taught greeting him with a hurried bow before running up.

“Their graduations depend on it.” I shrugged before patting the old knight on the back. “Come on, Instructor Crowe, it’s time for spear lessons and you’re still the best. I’m sure they’d love to learn from you.”

“I may be retired, but I’m still expensive.”

“Think of the bread and broth as payment.”

“Why you little…”

Crowe stopped. He raised his head, peering up at a figure in the sky.

“Isn’t that a messenger?” I asked, squinting my eyes to try and see what sort of beast the flying mount was.

The beast, along with its rider, descended, landing on the highest balcony on the metal tower. The tall, pointed structure in the shape of a colossal lance was not only the symbol of our academy but the building where our headmaster resided.

“That’s a blade wing,” Crowe muttered, his tone serious. “There are only a few mages bonded to those beasts. If they were hired as messengers, that means it’s serious.”

I hopped on Grawder and gestured to my former instructor. “Let’s see what it’s about.”

After passing by my confused students and riding through the paved school grounds, we approached the tall lance-shaped tower.

Grawder couldn’t fit in the staircase so we left him with the guards stationed outside before making our way up the tower. Even with mana, the journey up the spiraling stairs was a bit hard on the old knight but we made it fast enough to still hear the mutters of conversation going on on the other side of the headmaster’s door.

After the two of us traded glances, I turned the golden handle and opened the door.

Seated behind his desk was the giant frame of our headmaster slumped forward with his head buried in his hands. Beside him was the messenger, his expression a mixture of fear and angst.

I spoke up. “Headmaster Landon? We saw the messenger and—”

The headmaster raised a hand, not bothering to look up. “Gather your students, Instructor Curtis. Better yet, maybe it’s best you just make your journey to Kalberk now and use their teleportation gate to go back to the Castle.”

“I’m not following, Sir. What’s going on?” I shifted my gaze from the headmaster to the messenger.

“An envoy arrived at Kalberk from Etistin this morning,” the messenger started, his voice trembling. “A watcher flying a few miles off the coast of Etistin spotted roughly three hundred Alacryan ships approaching.”

Chapter 220: The Weight Of A Choice

TESSIA ERALITH

Whether it was from the relief that a lance had arrived or because the backlash of overusing my beast will had finally set in, I passed out.

The sun had nearly set, casting a red hue to the thick blanket of fog when I woke up. I found myself on top of a small wyvern with several soldiers stationed around me with weapons drawn, but the battle had already ended.

My body ached and the very act of keeping my eyes open sent sharp waves of pain to my temples. But I couldn’t stop staring at the scene.

The battle had ended; we had won. However, what I was focused on were the injured soldiers in my unit being carried off while the dead were buried on the spot. Bodies that should be taken to their families for a proper ceremony were left in the very spot they were killed.

I scrambled off the winged reptile, alarming the soldiers on guard. They tried to help me back up, thinking I fell, but I waved them away.

Anger rose in the pit of my stomach and had I succumbed to the impulse I might’ve actually begun lashing out at the soldiers burying our fellow allies.

But I stopped myself, taking my frustrations out on the dirt below my hands. Even if it wasn’t proper, I knew there was no choice. There was an army of Alacryans still marching their way to Zestier City, the very heart of my kingdom. There was no time to spare for the dead when every bit of time and effort would be needed in defending against the siege.

One of the guards gently pulled me up to my feet and gestured toward the wyvern. “Head Tessia. Please remain on the mount in case anything happens.”

Even then, what right do I have to get angry? Aren’t I the one to blame for the deaths that happened here? If it wasn’t for my selfishness, how many of those being buried right now would’ve survived?

I knew it wasn’t healthy to fall into this pit of self-blame and ‘what ifs’ but with Vernett’s taunts still echoing in my head, it was hard not to. Regardless, I began climbing back onto the mount when something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention.

Shaking off the guard, I started running.

It can’t be.

I made my way through the medics helping the injured and the emitters making their rounds to the soldiers in more serious conditions. It was hard for me to breathe as my eyes remained glued to the emitter kneeled on the ground and the patient she was helping.

It was Caria, unconscious. I fell to my knees, but before I could get any closer, a hand blocked my path.

I looked up to see a stoney-eyed Darvus staring at me with an expression that I’d never seen before. “She was just barely able to fall asleep with a sedative. Don’t wake her up.”

Stannard was also nearby, disheveled and covered in dirt. After seeing me, though, he looked away.

Neither had any injuries besides a few scratches and scrapes, but the same couldn’t be said for Caria.

I watched, dumbfounded, as the emitter began closing the wound on her left leg… or rather, what was left of it. The man had his hands clasped over the mangled stump, applying pressure, but blood still gushed between his fingers, forming a crimson pool.

I stared, both awestruck and horrified, at the sight of Caria’s wound rapidly healing. The skin around her open wound began closing in together to form a lumpy knot of flesh.

I knew before that emitters couldn’t regenerate new limbs, but seeing the wound close over the bottom of her thigh made it seem irreversible.

That’s when it hit me.

The bright and energetic Caria, whose talent as an augmenter was only outshined by her love for martial arts, would never be able to walk on her own two feet again.

“H-How…” I muttered, my vision blurring from the tears welling up.

“How?” I heard Darvus retort. “You leave us to go on your own solo crusade and—”

“Stop, Darvus. People are watching.” Stannard pulled him away and locked eyes with me before dipping his head in a bow. “I apologize for his outburst, Head Tessia.”

The blonde conjurer that was normally shy and kind-hearted, regarded me coldly.

I shook my head. “Stannard…”

My two teammates ignored me, huddling close by Caria and asking the emitter how the wound was healing.

Darvus was right. It was my fault. I had a role that I was supposed to fill, but I chose to go off on my own, thinking that I could help more with my strength.

No. To be honest with myself, I probably thought at one point that being a silver core mage entitled me to greater battles than merely defending a position.

And because of that, I abandoned my teammates. No amount of convincing myself that she could’ve still incurred the injury even if I was there helped alleviate the terrible pressure weighing down on my chest.

“It’s time to go,” a familiar voice said from behind.

I didn’t look back—my eyes remained locked on Caria’s peaceful slumber. How would that change when she woke up. Would she blame me like Darvus and Stannard? Would she hate me?

I wiped my tears with the back of my hand. I had to stay strong. This was just the beginning. The battle to defend the capital of Elenoir would be where I could make up for my mistakes.

“Tessia Eralith.”

The voice snapped me out of my thoughts. Turning around, I saw General Aya clad in light armor with several guards close behind her.

“The rider is ready to depart. You’ll be going back to the Castle immediately, Head Tessia,” the elven lance stated as she turned around.

“The Castle?” I replied. “I don’t understand. The Alacryan army is marching towards Zestier right now. There’s no time to visit—”

General Aya looked back over her shoulder, her sharp gaze cutting off my words. “Perhaps I haven’t made myself clear. You will be withdrawn from battle until further notice.”

I quickly scrambled back up to my feet. “Wait, General! I-I can still fight! Please.”

The lance’s usually inviting and charming demeanor was laced with impatience but she kept her voice polite. “Please be wary of your position as an Eralith. Taking into consideration your current state of mind, I have already told the Council that you are unfit for battle.”

No. No. I needed to fight. I needed to make up for my mistakes. I needed to make it up to Caria and everyone else by doing well in the coming battle.

Aya began to walk away, her dark wavy hair billowing behind her, when I latched onto her arm. “General, I’m one of the few silver-core mages ready to fight. I can’t just hide in the Castle when I know the entire elven kingdom is under—” &nbsp;

“Your job was to remain in formation and hold off for the short period it would take for reinforcements to arrive, yet the death toll of your unit reached over half because of your selfish ambitions.” The lance pried my fingers off and regarded me coldly. “The remainder of your unit that is still fit for battle will join under the rest of my division.”

“It’ll take too long for any more reinforcements to arrive, General! Even General Arthur is occupied with the beast horde attacking—”

“What happens from now on is no longer your concern. You’ve done enough, Princess.” &nbsp;

The lance’s words hit me like a brick of reinforced lead, leaving me frozen as General Aya handed the soldier standing beside the wyvern a scroll. “Take her straight to the castle and get this to Commander Virion.”

Making my way towards the mount as its rider tightened the saddle, I allowed myself one last glance back at Darvus and Stannard.

Neither could look me in the eye. With pleading eyes, I continued to stare, hoping they’d at least meet my gaze. However, up until the very end, neither looked back.

And the agony and hollowness I felt at that moment hurt more than every injury I had ever incurred as a fellow soldier fighting by their side.

VIRION ERALITH

The Castle

It was chaos. Live updates—a majority from Zestier City—were being branded onto the transmission scrolls faster than we could sort and read them. Despite the cost of these communication artifacts, piles of them were littered all over the meeting room as members of the Council continued to read through them.

The dire and hectic situation added oil to the flames of tension that had already built up in the room.

A sudden thud turned everyone’s head towards Alduin, who had thrown a stack of transmission scrolls on the ground. My son grabbed Bairon Glayder, former king of Sapin, by his collar and slammed him against the wall.

“You’re reading the reports from Elenoir as well, right?” he hissed. “Are you happy? Are you happy?!”

I gestured away the guards that were about to interfere.

For the first time, the proud head of the Glayder family looked… ashamed. “It was impossible to predict something like this could happen.”

“Impossible?” Alduin spat, bringing his face closer to the human’s. “An army of Alacryan mages is currently approaching Zestier, the very heart of Elenoir. Even with the evacuation strategies being implemented, the death tolls are already rising from soldiers trying to stop the city from being sieged and you’re saying it was impossible?”

“I understand your anger but please, this isn’t the time or place to do this,” Merial soothed as she pulled back her husband’s arm.

Jerking his arm free from his wife’s hold, he swung a wild fist that was still clutching onto the transmission scroll sent by General Aya, landing squarely on Bairon’s jaw. “My daughter nearly died because of your greed!”

Priscilla Glayder stood off to the side, watching the whole scene with gritted teeth and clenched fists, unable to aid her husband out of guilt. Buhnd sat idly, the usual look of amusement replaced by a grim frown.

Alduin fell to his knees. He slammed his fist into the marble ground until his entire hand was covered in blood. “How many times did I ask for our own troops to be placed back in Elenoir? How many times did I plead because I was afraid this exact scenario would occur!? How are you going to take responsibility if this leads to the entire fall of the elven kingdom!”

Not a sound could be heard aside from the howl of rage and despair that my son let out. His wife gently wrapped her arms around him, comforting my son in a way that I couldn’t.

I had no right. After all, the weight of his words didn’t just fall on the Glayders, but to myself as well. I was the one that had ultimately agreed with Bairon on keeping the elven troops in Sapin. I was the one responsible for what was happening to Elenoir.

I was overconfident with the magical defenses of the Elshire Forest. Just like the Glayders.

I was wrong. Such a simple acknowledgment was stuck deep in the back of my throat; I didn’t have the strength to say it aloud.

As the commander, I led the entire military forces of Dicathen. While I didn’t want this position, I had been confident in the decisions I made and the orders I gave. I felt like acknowledging this mistake now would be forever casting doubt in my mind no matter what commands I gave.

I stared at the transmission scroll sent from Etistin.

Now isn’t the time to doubt my decisions.

I quickly flipped the scroll and tucked it into another pile nearby before speaking.

“Enough! Now is not the time to be pointing fingers. Get out and cool off, all of you,” I stressed.

The members of the Council looked at one another, still emotional but more hesitant. “Councilmember Alduin and Merial, Tessia should be arriving at the Castle soon. Take some time and be there for her.”

Shifting my gaze towards the Glayders, I gave them each a nod. “Take a break, and just know that what happened is no one person’s fault.”

I waited for the guards to escort the members of the Council out. Alduin and Merial were the first ones gone and from the way my son’s sharp eyes flashed with indignation and anger, I knew he blamed me as well. Perhaps the only reason he didn’t voice it was because he knew how much I also cared for Elenoir.

Bairon, before he was taken out of the room, looked back. “I know you swore your oath to be impartial in leading Dicathen in this war, but I won’t blame you if what you decide to do next is for your home kingdom.”

He didn’t wait for me to reply as he walked out with his wife in hand.

It was an answer I had never expected from the former human king, and it made my very decision to escort the Council out of this room seem like I was avoiding the confrontation I would eventually have to face for my choices.

Buhnd was the last to leave; he shot me a look that I couldn’t interpret, but I didn’t have time to ponder. I was now alone.

The room that had been so lively just a few moments ago seemed so unsettling. The messages written in the transmission scrolls seemed to create a cumulative pressure that was almost suffocating.

Letting out a sigh, I retrieved the transmission scroll from Etistin and read it again. The content of this scroll, and the many more soon to come, would stun the rest of the Council as much as it was paralyzing for me right now.

I couldn’t let that happen. At least one of us needed to be in their right mind, which was why I hid it from them—even if it was for just a few hours. I needed that time to decide on how to proceed.

There were now over three hundred ships filled with Alacryan soldiers approaching our western shores and there would undoubtedly be scythes and retainers amongst them. Taking into account the intensity and timing placed into their attacks, I couldn’t help but fear that this war was reaching its turning point.

Fortunately, Bairon and Varay were already close by, but just having those two wouldn’t be enough—Even having all five of our lances might not be enough. Getting Lance Mica to the western coast wouldn’t be too difficult and Arthur should’ve been nearly finished with his role at the Wall.

That only left the elven lance.

Would I withdraw General Aya from Elenoir and deny them reinforcements? Would I essentially abandon Elenoir by taking the lance away or risk allowing another even larger army to step foot on our land?

Chapter 221: Backtrack

ARTHUR LEYWIN

Near the southern end of the Elshire Forest

The three of us stood aloft the canopy of trees. I gripped Dawn’s Ballad in my hand while a thousand thoughts and worries ran through my mind.

Despite Sylvie’s recent growth, she wouldn’t be able to handle the retainer by herself. And even if I were to hold Cylrit off myself, Sylvie wouldn’t be able to find Tess within the magical fog spread over Elshire Forest.

The best option was to end this battle as fast as possible in order to make it to Tess. However, expending too much energy and mana in a fight where the opponent was just stalling could be detrimental for the real battles soon to come.

Sylvie. I’m pretty confident I can beat Cylrit on my own, but not if his aim is to just stall for time. Let’s wrap this up quickly together.

While the speed of my flight was by no means slow, fighting was another story. It was difficult to utilize my fighting style, which consisted of sharp movements and bursts of speed, in the air.

‘I agree,’ she confirmed as mana already began gathering around her at an extraordinary rate.

Opening my mind entirely to my bond, Sylvie formed a solid panel of condensed mana beneath my feet at my request.

Cylrit’s expression didn’t change at my sudden approach. He merely lifted his greatsword into a defensive position.

I focused on a space about three paces in front of Cylrit, sending a quick thought to my bond. The timing was just a tad behind but another translucent panel formed beneath my right foot as I stepped on the space in the sky I had shown to Sylvie. This allowed for another quick change in direction as I pushed off Sylvie’s conjuration.

The retainer’s eyes calmly followed my movements but his greatsword remained frozen in place. Still, I didn’t let down my guard.

Dawn’s Ballad whistled as its sharp edge cut through the air toward Cylrit’s chest, but something felt off.

The closer my blade got to the retainer, the more I felt a weight ‘pulling’ on it. Dawn’s Ballad almost seemed to be sucked in by Cylrit’s behemoth of a sword as the teal blade arced off course and straight into its pitch-black blade.

The sensation disappeared as soon as our blades clashed, but as soon as I swung again, Dawn’s Ballad was once again attracted to his mysterious sword.

With only the thought of ending this quickly, I activated the first phase of my beast will.

Static Void.

The colors around me inverted, freezing everything but myself in place. I quickly brought the broken tip of Dawn’s Ballad against the motionless retainer’s stomach before releasing Static Void.

However, even at point-blank range, my sword veered away from Cylrit’s torso, barely drawing blood while leaving me drained.

Damn it! I cursed.

Sylvie reacted quickly to my failed attempt by conjuring another platform beneath my feet for me to quickly gain distance from Cylrit.

I let out a heavy breath. Static Void was a spell passed down to me from Sylvia that wasn’t compatible with my mastery of aether. Even as a white core mage, just using a few seconds of the aether arts made me feel like I had been fighting for several hours.

“I was taught of the various mana arts that asura clans had forged, especially the ‘aether arts’ of the Indrath Clan. Experiencing it in person, though, I could see why it’s to be feared,” Cylrit said, looking down at his wound. &nbsp;

Having no intentions of exchanging frivolities with him, I mentally nudged my bond.

Sylvie, fire a few shots behind him.

‘Got it.’

Just as arrows of mana manifested in the air behind the retainer, I launched a blast of frost and an arc of lightning. The ice blast spread into a cone while the lightning spell branched off to completely cover our opponent but to no avail.

With a single sweep of his sword, our spells were sucked up and completely eaten away by the black blade.

My bond conveyed her annoyance with a quick glance in my direction. ‘What a troublesome ability.’

Impatience welled up inside me as I watched Cylrit maintain his stance, not bothering to attack. Rather, he pulled out a small scroll and began reading it.

The retainer looked up, shifting his gaze from Sylvie to me before saying, “one of my scouts has confirmed that elven princess has been withdrawn from battle.”

“Do you honestly expect me to believe you and walk away?” I spat.

Withdrawing Dawn’s Ballad, I conjured two frozen blades like Varay had done—condensing layer upon layer of ice to reinforce its durability—before rushing towards the retainer.

Cylrit’s cold eyes narrowed in scrutiny, well aware of Sylvie preparing a spell from a distance as I quickly approached. &nbsp;

My two blades of ice clashed with his sword, generating a blast of pressure. Even with mana coating my weapons, cracks were already visible.

Mending the scarred surface of the weapons, I swung again, quickly turning into a flurry of blades. It was an odd feeling as my swords were unwillingly forced into a direction different from where I willed it.

It got to the point where I would purposely abandon the ice swords and quickly conjure a new one, hoping that there would be a bit of a lag in between the gravitational pull from his sword.

“If your master is really on our side, this is a meaningless battle, Cylrit,” I growled, releasing the eighteenth conjured sword from my hand and shooting a blast of fire at his legs.

That’s when I saw—or rather, sensed it. Something within his weapon changed. Not visibly, but it happened just after the sword I had let loose was pulled into his sword and I had shot the fire.

Immediately, I activated Realmheart, surprising both Sylvie and Cylrit. I tested it out once more, throwing my other ice sword at Cylrit while simultaneously shooting an arc of lightning.

The mana fluctuation within his greatsword—now visible to me with Realmheart—changed in the middle of his swing as he blocked both the solid composition of my ice sword and the mana-fueled spell of the lightning.

His sword can only attract one or the other at once!

By his annoyed gaze, I knew Cylrit noticed my revelation, but it didn’t matter. I knew his weakness.

Sylvie, capitalizing on our discovery, quickly casted the spell she had been preparing. Like a brilliant firework display, hundreds of sparks spread with blazing trails. Rather than fade, though, the sparks of light remained suspended in the air all around us.

A wave of fatigue leaked onto me from my bond, but she remained determined to finish this quickly.

‘I need to concentrate fully on maintaining this mana art. Don’t let Cylrit near me.’

With a mental nod, I burst forward, using a condensed blast of wind to aid my acceleration. I was doubtful whether we could pull off the sort of coordination we would need to follow through with Sylvie’s plan, but I followed through with her intention.

Cylrit was obviously wary of the gleaming sparks of light surrounding him but his attention remained focused on me as I was the more immediate threat.

I conjured a single blade of ice as I approached the retainer. The spark of light beneath my right foot turned into a panel for me to push off of, allowing me to sharply change my direction. Another spark turned into a platform, and another, until I was dancing around Cylrit fast enough for him to lose track of me briefly.

‘Now!’ Sylvie expressed.

I pushed off one of the many platforms of mana my bond had conjured directly behind the retainer.

Even without his powerful vacuum ability, however, Cylrit’s reflexes were on par or even above mine. He whirled around, bringing his large sword around at a speed that made me believe his weapon was a hollow toy.

I saw the mana composition changing within his weapon before feeling my blade of ice being sucked in towards the black sword.

As I resisted the force pulling at my conjured weapon, Sylvie triggered one of the sparks of mana hovering nearby.

A blinding beam of pure mana shot out towards Cylrit just as my blade clashed with his. The retainer, unable to alter his weapon’s ability in time, was forced to dodge out of the way.

Sylvie’s attack still managed to glance off his black armor, leaving its mark alongside the small wound I had inflicted on his torso.

We didn’t stop there. I abandoned the ice sword for the countless time and concentrated mana into my fist before swinging hard at my opponent’s face while sending a blast of lightning with my other hand.

Cylrit opted to absorb the blast of lightning while using his own arm to block my fist. While he was pushed back from the force, I conjured a new—even larger—blade than the last one and striked.

Unable to change his ability fast enough, he took the full force of Ice Sword Mach Twenty-something. The mana around his body negated the brunt of the attack, but by the blood leaking from the corner of Cylrit’s lips, I knew we had landed our first successful attack.

We continued to stay on the offensive, mixing spells with conjured swordplay or attacking with my own hands and feet.

It’s working, I sent to Sylvie.

My bond triggered another spark to release a blast of mana while I purposefully shattered my latest ice sword. Being a white core mage, molding the dozens of ice fragments into spikes was instantaneous while they hailed down on the retainer.

However, before either of our attacks could reach Cylrit, the retainer spun towards me. I barely managed to dodge the kick aimed at my face but his foot still scuffed me on the shoulder.

Tumbling back in the air, I tried to regain my balance when a spotted a black object advanced directly at me. It was Cylrit’s sword, along with the barrage of icicles that were being pulled towards it.

I grabbed on to one of Sylvie’s suspended sparks to stop myself from tumbling. Four other sparks in between me and Cylrit’s thrown sword lit up and connected to form a large barrier.

The pitch-black sword pierced through Sylvie’s mana barrier but managed to stop the ice shards.

I dodged Cylrit’s weapon easily enough but the retainer followed up with another kick.

Barely managing to duck out of the way, I imbued my fist with lightning, but as I tried to strike at him, a force pulled the spell surrounding my fist back behind me.

This gave Cylrit enough time to land a solid punch to my jaw. The mana protecting me soaked up some of the force from the impact but my vision still swam.

I dodged the next hit and tried to gain some distance from him but he stuck closely to me. The sparks around us glowed threateningly, a sign that Sylvie was waiting for a chance to fire once more.

Now was the time—while Cylrit’s sword was set to attract physical spells.

“Do it!” I roared.

A note of panic and confusion bloomed from my bond’s mind, but I expressed my confidence and determination.

My bond abided and fired everything she had.

The sky lit up as every single spark fired a bright beam of mana directly at us.

My body begged me to move out of the way. It wasn’t too late. But instead, I grabbed ahold of Cylrit.

‘Arthur!’ Just from hearing Sylvie’s voice in my head, I could feel how horrified she was.

The retainer struggled to break free from my grasp, his attention focused not on the spell but on his sword behind me. It was obvious that he was trying to get his weapon back, but I didn’t make it that easy. Unable to even risk releasing a single limb from Cylrit, I smashed my forehead into his nose and repeated until the heat from Sylvie’s mana beams could be felt on my skin.

Static Void.

The world grew still again just as the cluster of beams were inches away from us.

I tried prying myself away from Cylrit, but the retainer had been grabbing onto the fur-lined mantle that Virion had passed down to me.

I slipped out of the piece of outerwear and dropped down out of harm’s way before releasing Static Void.

The world’s color shifted back to normal and I watched from a distance as Cylrit’s figure disappeared within the beams of mana.

Damn. So much for not wasting my energy, I cursed myself.

Cylrit’s abilities made it a bad match-up and there was still much to be desired from the coordination between Sylvie and me, but we managed to win without any serious injuries—a large improvement considering we got our asses handed to us by Uto last time.

I saw Cylrit’s figure plunging down into the canopy of trees and fog below but with Realmheart, I knew he was still alive.

I looked at my bond, both of us prepared to finish our journey, when I felt a mild shock pulse from within my pant pocket.

It was the transmission scroll linked with my sister. I quickly unrolled it and read the short message now inscribed on the vellum.

My hands trembled as I read and reread the content of the scroll. I fumbled with the scroll as I tried to shove it back into my pocket. But even after that, I remained still. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t decide.

A beat of silence passed before Sylvie’s voice echoed in my head. ‘Arthur. Let’s go.’

I could tell by the angst from Sylvie that she had read my thoughts that I hadn’t bothered to hide. She quickly shifted into her draconic form, swooped underneath me and scooped me up.

‘We’ll assume that the retainer was telling the truth for now. Right now, your sister needs us back at the Wall.’

Chapter 222: Future’s First Step

GREY

A lot changed after Cecilia’s accident at school. Things weren’t as drastic as Nico had feared after our friend’s secret was exposed—at a glance, at least. Despite the crude oligarchy we were in, we still had basic rights.

The enforcers couldn’t just take Cecilia and keep her for whatever purposes they had in store, but they were able to basically force Cecilia to attend sessions at a nearby government facility for “tests” under the guise of helping her “control her abilities.”

Another problem was that Cecilia was an orphan like Nico and I were. With no legal guardian available after Headmaster Wilbeck passed away, more than once did a supposed wealthy or powerful individual extend their desire to adopt her.

I’d like to say that I was there to help my friend as she endured the stresses and hardships that came from being under the spotlight, but that would be a lie.

With Nico by her side, being the shoulder to lean on for Cecilia, it was quickly apparent that they had become more than just friends. While I thought my initial reaction to this would be discomfort at the fact that my two childhood friends were on the path to becoming lovers, I was actually happy for them. It was hard for me to show that, though, since I was hardly ever there with them.

Training with Lady Vera became even more intensive as I met and even exceeded her own expectations. She had the authority to allow me to skip most of my classes since her own training regimen was several times more intensive than the academy so my social life and youth was compromised. If I wasn’t training or sparring, I was learning etiquette and basic knowledge required for the exam to even qualify to be a king. As it turned out, you couldn’t only be a good fighter—you needed the intellect and charisma to appeal to your country’s citizens.

It was while under the full tutelage of Lady Vera and the team of tutors dedicated to making sure I had a fighting chance to become a king that I learned the role was more akin to a glorified mascot than it was a leader.

Still, I needed the power and voice that came with the position. I still hadn’t forgotten about the assassins that were responsible for Headmaster Wilbeck’s cruel death.

I also used that reason to justify my absence with Nico and Cecilia. Days and sometimes even weeks would go by without even being able to see their faces, and while I felt bad, I fooled myself into believing that becoming a king would solve everything. Whether the government was running shady tests on Cecilia to get a better grasp of her abnormal ki levels or the politicians trying to use her as a tool to further their gains, becoming a king would get rid of all of those problems.

I wasn’t sensible or emphatic like Nico was, nor did I have strong enough feelings for Cecilia to dedicate my time being there for her like my best friend. If anything, there was still a small part of me that blamed Cecilia for Headmaster Wilbeck’s death. The woman that was basically my mother was killed protecting her.

It wasn’t fair for me to blame her—I knew that. I swallowed those unjustified resentments long ago because Cecilia had taken her death hard as well, but it still left a small chasm in our relationship.

Perhaps that’s why I could never reciprocate the feelings Cecilia once had for me. Whatever the reason was, it didn’t matter. I barely had time to sleep since my current schedule was planned down to the minute of every day by Lady Vera.

She wasn’t completely heartless, though. She would still give me time to hang out with Nico and Cecilia every once in a while, and although many of the times Cecilia couldn’t come because of her own “training,” talking and joking around with Nico was one of the few joys in my life.

We were almost eighteen, and would soon legally become adults, when Nico brought up his plan with Cecilia while on one of our now-monthly hangouts.

“You’re going to run away?” I asked incredulously.

“No… well, I guess, in a way.” Nico let out a sigh. “You make my well-thought-out plan sound like some sort of prepubescent rebellion.”

“Because it sort of is,” I scoffed. “Do you think the government will even let you run away with Cecilia? As far as they’re concerned, she’s basically a national asset.”

“Trust me, I know. But after Cecilia and I no longer need a guardian, we can drop out of school and go to a different country. The new prototype of the ki limiter I made is already several times more stable than the previous one and that accounts for the growth in her ki levels.”

“How much has her ki level grown?” A part of me didn’t want to know the answer.

Nico leaned back against the seat. “According to her latest report, more than double.”

“What?!” I yelled, instantly drawing the attention of the other students in the cafeteria.

“Yup. Apparently, it’s not just her inherent ki level that’s monstrous but its growth as well. At this point, I just hope the team of researchers watching over her know what they’re doing—I’d expect any form of explosive growth can’t be perfectly stable.”

“Still, that’s ridiculous,” I said, lowering my voice. I couldn’t help but imagine myself having a ki level so high. A majority of my training with Lady Vera consisted of compensating for my levels of ki despite the endless resources she had spent on medicine and supplements.

With my combat abilities and Cecilia’s ki level, becoming a king would have actually been just a matter of time. I could see why the government wanted to control her so much.

“Training still rough?” Nico asked his routine question once again.

I nodded, barely able to raise a grilled piece of chicken breast to my mouth. “It’s getting a bit more bearable now, but yeah.”

Nico usually didn’t pry for details, but I guess he couldn’t hold it in any longer. He set down the fork and looked at me with his sharp eyes. “Why are you doing this to yourself?”

I continued to carefully chew my food, answering only with a raised brow.

“I barely see you nowadays. Hell, Cecilia isn’t as busy even with the government training sessions and politicians hounding her. When I do see you, you’re either bloody to the point that it’s seeping through your uniform or you’re so sore you can hardly stand. Is being the king that important that it’s worth throwing away your body and youth?”

“You know it’s not as simple as that,” I said with a threatening tone.

Nico rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I know. It’s apparently the dying wish of Headmaster Wilbeck for you to avenge her by wasting away your life.”

I slammed my utensils down on the table. “Are you done?”

There was a beat of silence between the two of us as we locked eyes. Nico relented, letting out a breath. “Look, I didn’t mean to come off like such a jerk. I just wanted to say that Headmaster Wilbeck wouldn’t have wanted this for you. She would’ve wanted you and Cecilia to live as normal students and be happy with normal lives and families.”

“You know I can’t let it go that easily. Not after her whole murder was covered up as an accident. Those assassins are part of a bigger organization, I just know it.”

“So you become a king and then snuff out the organization that killed Headmaster Wilbeck. Then what?” Nico pressed.

“Then I retire. Find a quiet place and ‘be happy with a normal life and family,’” I replied with a smirk.

My friend shook his head helplessly. “Let’s hope it’s that easy.”

I chuckled, wincing at the pain it brought to my sore chest. “What about you and Cecilia? Do you have a particular country in mind or are you just content with going wherever the wind blows like gypsies?”

“Engineers never ‘go wherever the wind blows,’” he scoffed. “I have pretty much the whole plan set. And it’s all legal… just, low-key.”

“Well have you told this masterplan to Cecilia?”

“Not entirely, but—oh, speak of the devil. Cecil! We’re over here!” &nbsp;Nico suddenly called out, practically bolting up from his seat. It irritated me how his voice went up a pitch every time he talked to Cecilia. It wasn’t over-the-top but still a bit cringy.

Nevertheless, I turned my head and waved to our friend with a smile. My greeting was casual and laid back, but my eyes scanned Cecilia with scrutiny. She had gotten taller, and her posture much more straight and confident despite the exhaustion shown on her face. It was easy to say that, objectively, she had gotten much prettier. Whether this was because her strict training was shaping her body into a more feminine figure or because of her inherent genes coming to fruition with age, she attracted the gazes of most of the male students around her.

She was dressed in a similar uniform to mine, indicating to the students and faculty that we had mentors and were exempt from showing up to class or school. It was a more extravagant version of the ones normal students wore, embellished with gold trims and buttons to match. I thought it always looked odd on me, but on Cecilia, it made her look like a noble straight out of a fairytale.

Cecilia smiled back at us before taking a seat across from me next to Nico.

“It’s been a while, Grey,” she said, smoothing out her blazer. She looked at me with weary eyes. “How is training going for you?”

“It’s been going well,” I replied awkwardly. “How are you?”

Cecilia had always been a quiet girl, but seeing her less and less made our interactions even more strained than usual.

Still, she was a gentle and selfless girl—selfless enough to say she was doing good when, despite her improved physique, her psyche seemed to be at the cusp of shattering.

“Here, Cecil. I saved some of your favorite foods before they were all gone.” Nico pushed the tray of untouched food toward her and I watched as she forced a smile and practically shoved the creamed seafood medley down her throat.

For someone so smart, Nico was pretty clueless.

I watched for a while as the two of them conversed; Nico did most of the talking. Cecilia mostly listened but responded genuinely to all of Nico’s questions while she finished off the platter of food.

Despite the change in dynamics between the three of us, things seemed normal for a while. We were three students sitting and chatting over a meal in the dining hall of our school. While my drive to become a king grew more and more while training, I still missed spending time like this.

It was only when Nico mentioned his plans about fleeing the country that things started going south. Cecilia’s expression hardened, to a point where she almost looked… afraid.

“N-Nico. I don’t think we should be talking about that here,” Cecilia said, looking around.

Nico cocked a brow. “Come on, Cecil. It’s not like we’re actually running away. We’re legally allowed to go to other countries, you know.”

“Still…” Cecilia’s voice trailed off as she continued to survey our surroundings.

I looked down at the watch strapped to my wrist and got up from my seat. “My time’s up. I better get back to Lady Vera’s estate before she doubles my regimen for the rest of the day.”

“We’ll walk you to the car.” Nico got up and Cecilia followed.

The three of us walked out of the dining hall and into the foyer still packed with students on their lunch break. Eyes were drawn towards Cecilia and me because of our uniforms but the three of us ignored the envious gazes around us and walked outside to the murky afternoon that seemed to reflect how I was feeling.

Nico was probably the only one out of the three of us that remained normal and somewhat ignorant. I never told him about getting captured and tortured, and I was sure Cecilia was withholding quite a bit of her experiences in the government training facility that didn’t allow any outsiders.

Still, the two of us probably needed someone like Nico in our group. Despite being an orphan like the rest of us and losing Headmaster Wilbeck, Nico was still Nico. Despite his sharp features and his cleverness that often led us both into trouble, he was bright and optimistic.

“I’ll see you both again soon… hopefully,” I said as I got into the black car waiting for me just outside the academy gates. I wasn’t lying—and I really did want to see them soon, but I just wasn’t confident. &nbsp;&nbsp;

After getting back to the estate, my training resumed. Lady Vera was waiting for me with her team of specialists hell-bent on making sure I was both physically and mentally sore.

All in all, it was a rather normal day. The little time I was able to spend with Nico and Cecilia was what I needed to get me through another few grueling weeks. It wasn’t until I sank into bed that I got a call from a number I didn’t recognize.

I answered the call. “Hello?”

“Yes, this is Etharia National Hospital. Am I speaking to Grey?” a pleasant female voice asked.

“Yes, this is Grey.”

“Hi, the reason for this call was because you were listed as Nico Sever’s emergency contact. He was taken into urgent care a few minutes ago and is being prepped for surgery. We’ll need you to come and—”

I hung up the phone and ran down the stairs as fast as my aching body would allow. Luckily, I just barely avoided running into one of the many butlers in the estate, and he arranged a ride to the hospital for me.

Everything was a blur until I reached the room where Nico was being held. I could barely recall filling out the proper forms and waiting for his surgery to finish. What I could out, though, was the pair of ki-disrupting handcuffs chaining his wrist to the hospital bed.

“G-Grey?” Nico’s groggy voice snapped me out of my daze.

I kneeled beside his bed, careful not to even touch the blanket on top of him in case I aggravated his broken ribs.

“Nico! Yeah, it’s Grey. I’m here,” I said, bringing my voice down to a whisper. “What happened, buddy?”

Nico’s glazed and half-closed eyes snapped open at my question. “Cecil! They took her! I just dropped her off and was on my way back when I remembered I forgot to give her the new prototype.”

“What?!” I blurted, accidentally shaking the bed.

My friend winced and took a moment to catch his breath before speaking again. “I saw them shove her into a car. She was unconscious.”

“Who took her, Nico?”

Nico, who tried to adjust himself, finally realized he was handcuffed to the bed. He bit into his lip as he cursed under his breath. Covering his eyes with his forearm, he let out a quivered breath. “It was a team of enforcers. It was our own government that took her.”

Chapter 223: In Her Element

ARTHUR LEYWIN

‘Arthur. Take a look.’

Sylvie’s voice resounded in my head, pulling me away from the memories of my previous life that only seemed to get more vivid.

The sun had set, enveloping the undeveloped lands of the Beast Glades in a blanket of darkness. However, even from the tens of miles we were away from the Wall, we could clearly see the battle that was currently ensuing.

But it wasn’t the fierce battle that had the two of us perturbed—it was the location of where the battle was being fought.

They didn’t collapse the underground tunnel or even let the beast horde get close to the Wall. I gnashed my teeth in frustration.

Sylvie beat her powerful wings once more as we slowly descended towards the Wall.

Despite how thickly the moon was covered behind the clouds, it was easy to tell where the battle was going on. With magic involved, there were always spells lighting up the vicinity. It may have been a fierce and blood-filled battle from the ground, but from up in the sky, it was a beautiful—if not a little chaotic—show of colors.

I did my best to swallow and contain the rage building up inside me. After all, the plan I had set in motion was a suggestion that had been accepted by the captains.

But my decision to leave the beast horde and help Tessia was based on the fact that my suggestion would be implemented. It should’ve been implemented. Even before I left, the plan was already being implemented.

Ellie’s note was vague but it felt rushed, and urgent—desperate, almost. I took deep breaths, doing my best to submerge the rage that was beginning to evolve into a threat. The words ‘if anything happens to my family’ was on the tip of my tongue, itching to be said aloud to whoever was responsible for this deviation.

‘Arthur, we’re almost there,’ Sylvie’s voice sounded, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I gave her a mental confirmation as I activated Realmheart once more. Using it shortly after my fight with Cylrit sent sharp waves through my veins but I ignored it. The dark evening’s muted colors were washed away, replaced by motes of colors. Some of these wisps and specks were floating freely while others were being absorbed and clustered in preparation for a spell to manifest.

Homing in on the Wall, I scanned the top line where rows of archers and conjurers were stationed in search for Ellie’s distinct form of magic. This was the fastest way to find her in all of the chaos that came with large-scale battles.

I could only hope that my sister hadn’t run off somewhere.

We hovered high above the Wall enough for us not to be potentially shot at by alarmed soldiers, but it didn’t take long for me to find my sister. Not many mages were able to shoot such well-structured arrows of pure mana like she could, making the mana fluctuations around her fairly distinguishable.

There, I indicated to my bond, directing her to a battlement situated near the left edge by the conjoining mountain. I released Realmheart as we approached where Ellie was stationed.

Bolts of fire and ice drew arcs in the air as they rained down on the battlefield a few hundred feet further away from where the ground was supposed to collapse from under the beast horde. Alongside the the various spells and mana enhanced arrows were streaks of pale light shot out by my sister.

Sylvie quickly shifted into her human form as we neared our destination as I continued to take deep breaths in a losing fight against the anger building up in me.

It helped that my sister was still able enough to be consistently firing spells from her bow, but that couldn’t be the same for the rest of my family and the Twin Horns, who were hopefully somewhere behind the protection of this enormous fortress.

The two of us landed softly but still managed to alarm the soldiers around us, including my sister.

The soldiers, however, were all capable mages—mages that were able to clearly sense when they were outclassed. None bothered to raise their weapons, only barely able to slink away from the two intruders that fell from the sky.

It was only when I stepped closer to a nearby illuminating artifact that Ellie ran into my arms.

“You scared the hell out of us!” my sister said in a strange mixture of annoyance and relief. “The plan that was supposed to happen with the ground and the explosives—it didn’t happen! At first I thought that they were delaying the plan in order to draw more beasts toward the area where we set up the trap, but the soldiers that were sent out aren’t coming back.”

I pried my sister away, partly to talk to her face to face, partly to not let her hear my heart beating against my chest. “Ellie. Where are the others? Do you know who’s out there?”

Before my sister could answer, though, an officer in charge of this section came running toward me. With a salute, he hastily showed his respects. “G-Good evening, General Arthur. My apologies that we weren’t able to give you a proper welcoming. I am Officer Mandir, if there’s anything I can—”

“I’m fine, Officer Mandir.” While I didn’t mean to be rude, cutting him off along with the impatient expression made him flinch and shuffle away.

I turned my attention back to my sister. Sylvie had a consoling hand on my sister’s shoulder, calming her down enough to give us some solid answers.

“We’re required to stay in our positions but Helen, who was watching over me, was able to leave. She never came back, but before the beast horde arrived, I saw Mom in the medic camp set up on the ground level. Durden and Dad…I haven’t seen either of them,” my sister sputtered.

“It’s okay, Ellie. Don’t worry, your brother will handle the rest,” I comforted, forcing a reassuring smile.

“W-What should I do? How can I help?” Ellie replied.

I shook my head. “Stay here. You’re a soldier now and this is your post. You wanted experience in a real battle, right?”

“Okay.” My sister’s gaze hardened. After giving Sylvie a quick hug, she bolted off back to her station. &nbsp;

“Is it safe for her to stay here?” my bond asked, unable to pry her gaze from my sister.

“If they’ve decided to forgo my plan, it means that they’re trying to keep the Wall as intact as possible. That means it’ll be safer for the soldiers on this side of the battle.”

I leaped off the edge, ignoring the surprised shouts of soldiers and workers around us. The two of us landed deftly on the ground level behind the fortress and made our way towards the medical tents.

***

I pushed aside a tent flap for the fourth time before I was finally able to spot my mother inside one. She had her hands hovered over a patient, brows knitted in determination. She barked out orders to some of the other medics nearby to have the patient moved and properly taken care of before another gurney rolled in front of her with another injured soldier.

Her expression, her presence, her demeanor made me freeze in my tracks. The mother I knew and grew up with was gone, replaced by a strong and level-headed medic carrying the weight of the countless injured and dying brought to her.

I thought back to the words she had said the last time we met… and fought. She mentioned her duties here and the people that needed her help. Then I looked at the countless patients slowly recovering thanks to her abilities and imagined how many of those would be dead already if it wasn’t for her.

“Are you okay, Arthur?” Sylvie asked, concern laced in her voice as she stayed by my side.

I continued to stare at my mother. Her white uniform was stained with blotches of red and brown and her face was grimy with dirt, blood spatters and sweat, but she looked so… admirable.

The patient she had been treating gained consciousness, and while his face was knotted in pain, he reached up to my mother and gently placed a trembling hand on her arm. Despite the frenzy of activity going on around us, I heard his words clearly.

While shedding tears of pain and whatever mixture of emotions he was feeling, he smiled at my mother and thanked her for saving his life.

“Oof! Sir, you’re blocking the passage. Unless you’re critically injured, please—” The nurse that had bumped into me stopped mid-sentence and scanned my body in concern. “Sir. Are your injuries bad? You’re crying.”

“No. I’m fine.” I looked away, letting my bangs cover my face from her prying eyes. “My apologies. I’ll get out of the way.”

I walked back out of the tent to gather myself.

Sylvie stood by me, tears welled up in her eyes as well from the emotions that had leaked from me.

“She was right—they were both right,” I breathed, looking up at the starry night. I could still hear the angry shouts from my father as he called me hypocritical and as the two of them tried to explain that I wasn’t the only one that could contribute to this war.

“It’s good that you’ve realized,” Sylvie answered.

I turned to my bond, watching her as she looked up at the sky as well. “So you thought so too? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Sylvie looked me in the eye and shot me a smirk. “I’ve been connected to you since I was born, Arthur. I know by now how stubborn and sometimes irrational you get when it concerns the wellbeing of your loved ones. Would you have listened to my words if I had told you back then? Or would you have played the ‘I’ve lived two lives’ card and say you know best?”

I opened my mouth to speak—to argue—but no words came out.

Sylvie’s smirk disappeared, replaced by a somber smile as she squeezed my arm. “Age isn’t always wisdom, Arthur. You’re learning that slowly.”

I shook my head, letting out a scoff. “I’m such an idiot. An arrogant, hypocritical idiot.”

My bond leaned her head against me, letting me feel the warmth radiating from her horns. A wave of tender comforting emotions radiated into me as she spoke. “Yes, but you’re our idiot.”

We spent another minute or so, taking a small break from the world and what it was throwing at us, before going back into the tent.

“Arthur?” My mother’s voice was a mixture of confusion and worry.

I held up a hand, “Hi, Mom.”

Sylvie mimicked my gesture and greeted her as well.

She flashed a smile at the two of us before focusing back on the task at hand. “Arthur, hand me a pair of pliers.”

Finding the bloody pliers in a metal tray, I handed it to her. Without looking up, she snatched the tool and used it to carefully set the snapped rib bone jutting out of the patient’s side back in place. The patient—different from the one we saw earlier—let out a gut-wrenching scream.

Unfazed by the howls of pain, she continued her spell, and I could slowly see the exposed bone mend together. I realized that she had narrowed her spell to only release from the tips of her middle and index fingers.

Minutes slowly passed as both Sylvie and I watched, entranced, at my mother working.

Despite the trauma that had haunted her all these years, I couldn’t see any traces of hesitation now as she worked tirelessly on these patients.

It was only after she had finished that she shifted her attention to us. “Sorry, Arthur. There are just so many soldiers that need my attention. Hopefully once the traps go off, it’ll be easier for our Rey, Durden and the rest of the soldiers out there.”

“Wait, So Dad and Durden are both out there right now, fighting?” I asked, a bit of panic rising in my voice.

“Not so much fighting but luring them towards the Wall,” she answered, confused. “Wasn’t that the plan? Bury the beast horde by sacrificing the underground passages?”

No one had told her. It made sense—medics didn’t need the most up-to-date information to continue doing their job. If anything, having them know might hinder their focus.

“What about Helen? Didn’t she visit you?”

“Mhmm. She stopped by earlier but left a bit after saying to keep it up.”

Helen hadn’t told her either, most likely due to the same reason that nobody else had told her. It was better if she didn’t know—there was nothing she could do about it anyway. &nbsp;

“What’s going on, Arthur?” Her liquid brown eyes peered into me as if searching for an answer. It was the same look she always gave our family when she knew we were hiding something from her.

“Mom…” I began.

There was nothing she could do about it, but she still had the right to know.

“The troops are a lot farther away than planned and there hasn’t been any signs of our soldiers backing down.”

“What? That can’t be right.” My mother’s brows furrowed. “What about all of those explosives placed throughout the underground passages?”

I shook my head. “It seems like one of the captains decided against the plan and switched back to their original strategy.”

My mother’s knees suddenly buckled. I caught her in time before she hit the ground but whether it was from her tirelessly using her magic to treat the soldiers or because of the news, she suddenly looked ten years older.

“Don’t worry, Mom.” I smiled as bright and reassuring as I could.

No response.

“I’m here now—we’re here. Sylvie and I are going to go out there. I’m sure the two of them are still kicking ass right now. I’ll make sure they both get back safely,” I urged, trying to get her back up on her feet. “I promise.”

Chapter 224: Carried Back

Sylvie and I left the protection of the Wall and looked out at the battle that had long since reached its climax. Archers and mages, whose ranges weren’t as long as the ones up on the Wall, were positioned on the ground, closer toward the bloodshed.

I looked back once more at the thick metal gates of the Wall closing behind us in both rage and regret.

‘We’ll find out who was responsible for this later,’ my bond comforted, her eyes locking into mine. ‘Right now, it’s our duty to find your family and help as many soldiers as possible.’ &nbsp;

Giving her a nod, the two of us walked forward. I tuned out the shouts and cheers of the soldiers around us.

I wasn’t a hero, nor did I wish to be. It was impossible to be everyone’s hero. It’s inevitable that I’d let some people down—hell, I’ve already let a lot of people down. &nbsp;

Not every human, elf, and dwarf were equally important to me, and that’s a fact that I had accepted long ago. I was here to serve my role to help end this war. It wasn’t for world peace or to save mankind—it was to lead a comfortable and happy life with the people I loved and cared for.

Walking through the lines of bowmen and conjurers either firing at the backline of the beast horde or resting and replenishing their mana reserves, I could hear mutters around us. Soldiers nudged their colleagues nearby for their attention as hundreds of gazes turned towards us.

“You should at least acknowledge them,” my bond said, noticing the stares.

“Focus, Sylvie,” I admonished. “Let’s do what we came here to do first. We can worry about troop morale after.”

The dry cracked grounds of the Beast Glades felt like wet tar, gripping and pulling back my feet as I trudged forward with my bond by my side. I couldn’t shake off the unsettling feeling that made my chest tighten. The veil of night and the crowd of beasts and man alike hid the answer to a question that I grew more and more afraid to ask.

Brandishing Dawn’s Ballad, Sylvie and I dove into the thick of the battle underneath the shower of spells and arrows. My bright teal sword became the beacon for our soldiers within eyeshot, giving them hope and the strength needed to unleash one more strike. &nbsp;

Sylvie kept her distance away from my sword range while shooting precise bullets of mana perfectly timed to save an unguarded soldier.

Of course, neither of us were simply wildly attacking. As I sliced apart smaller foes and brought down gargantuan beasts without discrimination, my eyes were always on the lookout for signs of any large-bodied earth conjurer that resembled Durden or brawler with a fire-affinity that looked anything remotely like my father.

While sweeping my eyes throughout the barren glade, I saw the silhouette of a massive worm towering over the rest of the beasts around it with soldiers in its maw. Occasionally, blasts of fire tore out of its tip, eliciting faint screams from the soldiers before more were consumed by the familiar worm-like beast.

Gritting my teeth, I tore my gaze away, trying once again to spot my father and Durden through the dirt, smoke and debris filling the gaps of the chaotic battlefield.

It was then that I caught sight of another group of soldiers trying to bring down a giant monster. This one, however, was a midnight grizzly.

That particular breed of mana beast ranged from B class to AA class—when it wasn’t corrupted—depending on their maturity and the density of their metallic pelt that they obtained from consuming precious ores.

By its twelve-foot height and the glimmering sheen its spiked fur carried, my guess was that this particular midnight grizzly ranged towards the latter. What drew my attention wasn’t the beast itself, though. It was the broad back of a soldier that fought with thick armored gloves taking the brunt of the grizzly’s attack while the others made futile attempts at bringing the corrupted beast down.

Before my eyes could even deduce whether that person was my father or not, my feet were already moving towards that battle.

Within two mana-infused steps, I was already within range to strike down the grizzly, but my focus turned to the brawler.

I clicked my tongue in frustration. The soldier was in a full set of armor, including a helmet that covered his face.

Flashing beside the soldier that was taking a momentary breather while the beast was occupied by the other soldiers, I took off his helmet.

“Hey! What the hell—” &nbsp;

It wasn’t my father. Suppressing the urge to just crush the flimsy helmet in my hands, I shoved it back on the brawler’s head without a word.

“Move,” I ordered. It wasn’t just directed towards the man I mistook for my father, but at the other soldiers circling and striking at the midnight grizzly as well.

Being mages made them sensitive to mana, and the mana surging out of me immediately put weight to my words—or rather, word.

I knew Dawn’s Ballad wouldn’t be able to cut through a near-S rank mana beast, especially in the condition it was in. Putting away my sword, I took a step toward the giant metallic, six-limbed bear.

That single step carried me just below one of its razor-sharp claws as the beast struck down. Grabbing ahold of one of its claws that were as thick as my forearm, I shifted my weight and imbued mana at the very last minute.

The result: a 6,000-pound beast was tossed in the air and sent slamming into the ground by a mere teen.

The ground shattered from the impact and the beast—as feral as it was—let out a deep wail in pain.

“Holy crap,” a soldier that had been fighting the beast exclaimed. His giant war hammer was dented and its shaft slightly bent from multiple collisions against the midnight grizzly’s armored pelt.

I wanted to end it quickly but the beast recovered faster than I had expected it to. The grizzly rolled back up to its feet and immediately lashed out with its four clawed arms.

‘Arthur, do you need help?’ Sylvie’s voice sounded in my head. &nbsp;

No. Keep looking out for Durden or my dad. This won’t take much longer. &nbsp;

I swayed, sidestepped, and pivoted, cleanly dodging the barrage of claws that created divots in the dirt around me.

Frustrated, the midnight grizzly attempted to hammer down its two top arms. Rather than dodging it, however, I held up a palm.

Utilizing the technique that Elder Camus had shown me, I created a vacuum just above my open palm and received the full extent of the attack. I couldn’t disperse the force of the midnight grizzly’s powerful claws completely. My feet sank into the ground and my whole body shook.

Still, it was plenty enough to throw off the beast’s center of gravity and leave him wide open. In the time it took to take another step, I had tethered the midnight grizzly’s back legs to the ground so it wouldn’t fly and cause casualties on our side, and condensed several layers of swirling wind around my right fist. The torrent in my hand was enough to make the trained soldiers nearby recoil but when my fist landed squarely in the metal beast’s abdomen, the ground shook from the impact. &nbsp;

A shockwave resonated from the blow, sending some of the weaker soldiers &nbsp;and beasts sprawling on the ground, but it was enough to kill the high-ranking beast.

‘Wasn’t that a bit excessive?’ my bond chimed, obviously feeling the impact from where she was.

The grizzly’s coat seemed to have been affected by the Alacryan’s corruption. I wouldn’t have been able to kill it without at least doing that much.

Unable to even spare the time to gather my breath, I continued my search for Durden and my father.

Despite the lack of conjurers in the frontline, it was hard finding my giant friend. Because of how much more useful earth mages were closer they were to the ground, it wasn’t just one or two earthen spells that I spotted in the distance. And knowing Durden and his unruly strength despite being a conjurer, I knew he wasn’t back near the Wall with the other casters and archers.

Damn it, I cursed. My patience grew thinner with each passing second. Every scream and cry for help made me flinch, afraid that the next one might be either Durden or my father.

Sylvie and I continued on separately as we searched for them as well as killed as many beasts as we could. Not once did I find an Alacryan mage amongst the chaos, but that was a good thing. There were no mages to cast shields to protect the beast horde from our conjurers.

In the blink of an eye, the sun had come up, highlighting the turmoil that stretched out as far as the eye could see.

‘What about using Realmheart again to try and find your father like you did with Ellie?’ Sylvie suggested, her voice weary even in my head.

Don’t you think I’ve thought of that? I snapped. Ellie’s magic is unique enough for me to spot with the ambient mana fluctuations. How am I going to differentiate my father amongst the other hundreds or so soldiers that have a fire-affinity? &nbsp;

‘…’ &nbsp;

Letting out a deep breath, I apologized to my bond. The frustration and desperation building up inside me made it hard to tamp down my emotions.

‘It’s okay,’ Sylvie consoled. Her voice was gentle, but I could still feel a tinge of sadness leaking out.

Promising myself to make it up to my ever-faithful bond after this was all over, I continued my search.

Smoke, fire, debris, abandoned weapons, and the corpses of both men and beast decorated the once barren field. As limited as my vision was, I kept my eyes wide and ears open. I knew it was hopeless trying to discern my father amidst the roars of beasts, the cries of soldiers, the hum and crackle of magic and the sharp ringing of metal, but there was little more that I could do.

The number of beasts had dwindled tremendously, but not without loss. Humans, elves, and dwarves alike lay sprawled out on the ground alongside the beasts that they had either killed or were killed by as if highlighting the point that, in death, there were no sides.

Because of the change in my plan, so many soldiers had died. Behind me, unscathed, the Wall stood up high as if mocking us. The ground in front of it was intact despite the explosives we had placed underneath.

My gut told me it was Trodius that had rescinded my plan, since the other two captains were transparent in valuing their troops over the Wall.

It was only the thought of finding my father and Durden—making sure they were okay—-that kept me grounded. I had to remind myself over and over that what I had suggested was only that… a suggestion.

Hours flashed by until the sun was high up in the sky. &nbsp;Soldiers too wounded or too tired to continue fighting were carried off by their comrades as the next batch of soldiers marched forward to replace them.

The beast horde was slowly being pushed back as their numbers dwindled down to the hundreds. It wouldn’t be long now until this major battle would turn out a major victory in the eyes of Dicathen. Still, to the soldiers out here still fighting, each minute that trickled by was another minute that they could easily get killed. To them, this victory would be tarnished by the death of their friends that fought alongside them.

After hours and hours of fighting and searching, my body was moving autonomously. I killed beasts wherever I passed and helped soldiers in distress if they were on my way. I couldn’t save them all, but I couldn’t ignore the ones right in front of me.

It was when I was helping a soldier that had his right leg mauled that I was hit with a wave of panic and worry.

“You! Carry this man back to the Wall,” I said after encasing his bleeding stub in ice.

Sylvie! What happened? I sent, cold sweat dripping down my neck as my bond’s emotions still carried over to me.

I was already heading towards Sylvie’s location. She wasn’t far, less than a mile southwest toward the southern end of the Wall. But why wasn’t she answering?

Despite the scenery blurring past me as I flew, time seemed to slow like a thick viscous fluid. Sounds were muffled and I could hear my heartbeat thumping against my eardrums louder than anything else.

As I got closer and closer though, my vision came in flashes. If felt like I was watching the world through a thick glass jar as I barely made out Sylvie as she held me back in her embrace. I could hear her worried cries but I couldn’t make out the words she was saying.

Her teary eyes as she shook her head and stopped me from going closer registered in my eyes but I couldn’t make out her expression because my focus was on the man dragging his feet towards the team of medics running towards him.

He was missing an arm and half of his face had been burned past the point of recognition, but I still knew it was Durden. And slung over his wide back… was what was left of my father.

Chapter 225: Shared Affliction

SYLVIE

I should’ve stopped him from coming the moment he reached back out to me. The panic that leaked onto him couldn’t be taken back but I should’ve kept him from seeing it.

The moment I saw Arthur approaching, his eyes begging me to be wrong before his gaze fell onto a sight that no one—man or child—should have to experience, my gut clenched and I felt tears threaten to take over. Seeing the horrified expression of my bond before he let out a breath and began chuckling in wide-eyed denial at what he was seeing, I wanted to disappear.

I wanted to be anywhere but here. I would’ve rather faced another horde of deranged mana beasts by myself than endure the sight of my lifelong bond staring hopelessly at his own father’s bloody corpse.

Arthur staggered forward. He pushed everyone aside and knelt over his father’s unmoving body, and for a moment, it seemed like all was silent.

Beasts and soldiers alike seemed to have sensed the heavy veil that descended onto the entire area, but none could feel my bond’s state of turmoil as much as I could.

It hurt.

It was excruciating… it was unbearable.

I didn’t know my heart could hurt this much. I clutched my chest and sank to the ground, unable to endure the self-destructive state of his emotions. &nbsp;

Tears streamed down my cheeks and blurred my vision. I couldn’t breathe as the torrent of emotions continued to surge out of my bond and into me. Rage that blazed like a forest fire, grief that flooded and drowned everything in its path, a gnawing guilt that trembled the very earth, and regret that destroyed and knocked aside years and years of hard work and development like a hurricane. &nbsp;

I could feel these emotions, that felt like natural disasters wreaking havoc inside my heart, tearing away at Arthur’s very sanity.

Yet, on the surface, Arthur was as silent and still as a statue.

I crawled towards him, gasping for air in between my sobs as my heart wrenched in my chest. It was only then, when I embraced his back—his broad, lonely back—that the thin wall that he had built around himself finally crumbled.

With a guttural, primeval howl that tore through me like shards of glass, my bond broke down in tears.

The very earth seemed to lament for my bond as his sobs and wails filled the air. The ambient mana all around us shook and surged at times to match his anger, while at times undulated rhythmically, sympathizing with his despair as Arthur mourned, clutching his father’s unmoving body.

I continued to cling to my bond’s back as the fiery claws continued to grip and twist my insides. I tried to do more, anything more to help, but I couldn’t. The lump in my throat blocked any words of consolation I could possibly say, so I did what no one else could do; I empathized through the connection I shared with my bond.

This prodigy, that had become a lance, a general, a white core mage, was but a boy that had lost his father right now.

The world continued to move on, even as Arthur and I remained stuck in this time of grieving and loss. The battle that had gone on for two nights had come to an end.

We had won, but not unscathed. The Wall loomed over us as if it were a king, pleased with its own health despite the sacrifices that had been made for it.

It wasn’t Arthur’s anger that made my insides boil like this…it was my own.

Time trickled on until the sun had set. It was only then, that Arthur rose to his feet.

Whether his emotions had been expended or locked away, I didn’t know, but his state of mind mirrored the frozen tomb that he conjured and encased his father’s body in.

Nearby stood Durden, dejected. He had remained silent throughout Arthur’s mourning, never showing any signs of pain or discomfort despite the blood leaking from the bandages hurriedly applied over his face and residual limb.

“Durden. Please take my father’s body to my mother and sister.” My bond’s voice was icy and hollow. He rose to his feet and walked towards the Wall like a reaper of death out on his hunt.

CAPTAIN ALBANTH KELRIS

“Following through with my original plan has led us to victory with minimal losses to the Wall and the underground passages,” Senior Captain Trodius boasted, a rare smile on his usually-stoic face. “Your obedience will not go unnoticed, Captain Albanth, Captain Jesmiya. Well done.”

Jesmiya bowed, receiving the applause of the other unit leaders present in the large meeting tent.

I glanced down at the picture in my hand—worn, ripped, and crinkled around the edges. It was a picture I had found in the chestplate of one of my soldiers before cremating him.

“Captain Albanth?”

Looking up, I saw the senior captain with his brow raised. Beside him were soldiers and nobles that had invested in the Wall, all sharing the same puzzled expression.

“My apologies,” I respond quickly, shoving the picture in my pocket before inclining my head and silently accepting the commendation with gritted teeth.

Coming here after cremating several dozens of my men, many of whom I had shared drinks, meals, and laughs with, it felt wrong to accept any form of praise.

“While a proper celebration is in order, we are at war and there is much to clean up,” Trodius said. “Continue your good work. I will have someone send a small gift to the fallen soldiers’ immediate families.”

“As expected of the head of the Flamesworth House. Your leadership is impeccable,” a portly man standing to the senior captain’s left beamed. “It was the right decision to invest in this fortress.”

Meanwhile, Jesmiya and I exchanged a quick glance, both of us obviously hung up on Senior Captain Trodius’ use of the phrase, ‘clean up’. Surely he wasn’t referring to cremating and burying our allies as ‘cleaning up’, right?

After the other soldiers had trickled off, Jesmiya and I turned to leave when the senior captain called my name.

“Captain Albanth, I’ll need a moment of your time,” he said, waiting for Jesmiya to leave.

After all but the senior captain and three nobles—based on their gaudy and spotless attire—were left, Trodius gestured toward an empty seat.

After sitting on the foldable wooden chair, one of the nobles raised an embellished metal wand and soundproofed the room using wind magic.

“Captain Albanth. You’re home is in Etistin, correct?” the senior captain asked, crossing his legs.

I nodded. “Yes sir.”

“And that means, with the entire city being fortified, your family has been evacuated,” he continued matter-of-factly.

“Yes sir. Fortunately, my position and contributions allowed my family to be able to secure a home in a fortified shelter nearby the castle.”

“I see,” Trodius muttered before turning to a lanky bespectacled nobleman to his right.

Receiving a nod from the senior captain, the nobleman spoke as he slid an unbound scroll toward me. “This is information that Senior Captain Trodius Flamesworth received during the beast horde attack.”

I read flawless writing, cold sweat forming and fingers trembling as I mumbled what I read. “Elenoir Kingdom… Alacryan ships approaching from western coast. Three hundred ships…”

“After discussing with the Council, we’ve surmised that this will be the biggest battle. And it’ll take place in the western shores just above Etistin.

“Also, because of the manpower needed to withstand the Alacryan army, the Council has decided on abandoning the elven kingdom. A majority of the elven troops will be transferred to Etistin while citizens will be evacuated before the Alacryans in Elshire fully take over,” Trodius explained without a shred of emotion.

“Th-This…” the parchment slipped out of my fingers that were slick with sweat. “Why am I the only one to be notified of this? We should tell Captain Jesmiya and spread the word. Our remaining troops need to be transferred to the west if we want to stand a chance! General Arthur was right!”

Senior Captain Trodius’ expression turned sharp. “Had my objective been the same as the boy lance, I too would have proceeded with sacrificing the Wall. However, this fortress will soon become an invaluable location.”

I furrowed my brows. “I don’t understand.”

The portly noble from earlier spoke this time, eagerly leaning forward. “As my family always says, war is a big ol’ bag of money waiting to be open—”

“Sir Niles, please refrain from such insensitive talk,” Trodius admonished.

“R-Right. My apologies.” Niles let out a cough. “Anyway, with the war drawing to an end and so much land being either destroyed or taken by the Alacryans, it’s only a matter of time when people will desperately seek a safe haven.”

“What about Xyrus City? It was to my understanding that the flying city is currently the safest location next to the Castle,” I responded.

The petite nobleman sporting a mustache that had stayed quiet the entire time finally spoke, grumbling in annoyance. “That floating rock is a timebomb waiting to explode.”

“Xyrus City is inherently in a safe location, but the city is not built as a fortress. Once access into the flying city is overridden by the Alacryans—which is entirely plausible from the portals you’ve seen in the dungeons of the Beast Glades—the people there will be sitting ducks,” Trodius clarified.

“Which is why it was so important that the Wall and underground routes remained in one piece. These two aspects will serve as the foundation of a great new city,” the portly nobleman chimed in. “That general is smart, but shortsighted. He wants to destroy this magnificent structure which could potentially become the new capital of Dicathen, or better yet, the only safe haven against the Alacryans!”

“I apologize if I come off as rude, but from what you’re saying, it seems like you’re expecting or even desiring for the Alacryans to win this war,” I seethed, barely able to control my anger.

“How dare you! That is a dangerous accusation you’re making, Captain,” the fat man barked.

Trodius raised an arm, shutting him up. “It’s easy to shine a negative light on this picture, but what we’re merely doing is capitalizing on the inevitable circumstance. I am in no way rooting for those filthy intruders, but it would be foolish to ignore their military might. Even if we do manage to win this war, Dicathen will not come out unscathed. Elenoir has been abandoned, Darv is hiding in its own shell, and attempts to fortify smaller cities in Sapin have been left to the city officials.”

The senior captain let out a sigh before continuing. “What we seek is to build a new safe haven for citizens to come to. There will be a new society reforged by the Flamesworth House and its patrons.”

I shook my head and laughed out of sheer incredulity. Getting up, I opened my mouth, prepared to risk my position so that I could tell him off.

“Think hard before you let loose your tongue,” Trodius warned with a faint smile. “Did you not say that your father, mother, wife and kids are all in Etistin?”

My eyes widened and my mouth snapped shut.

This was wrong. What they were doing was wrong, but my mouth wouldn’t come open.

“Your reputation and presence here among the soldiers and workers here are great. Stay here, work for our cause and I will ensure you that your family will be brought over here immediately. This wall will continue to be fortified and expanded, utilizing the underground routes. Your family will be safe here and your position here will be much higher and meaningful than being a mere captain.”

“I-I don’t…wh-what about the soldiers here? I thought that you had received a letter ordering you to transfer all able soldiers to Etistin?” I managed to say. I clasped my hands behind my back, unable to keep them from shaking.

“The battle against the vicious beast horde was hardfought. We lost many—too many, in fact, to be able to send west…that is what I am planning on sending as a reply,” Trodius answered simply. “I doubt that the Council will come to check with all that’s on their plate.”

My chest tightened and my breathing came out short. “Then y-you purposely sent out these soldiers to their deaths so that you can—”

“The soldiers here fought to defend the Wall, as originally planned,” Trodius interjected. “No need to overthink.”

“You’re right. There’s no need for me to overthink,” &nbsp;an icy voice resounded from behind me.

But it wasn’t his words that made me shrink. It was the presence that spread out from the voice that hung like a thick shroud in the air, forcing me to my knees and sucking the very breath from my lungs.

I tried to turn around, to at least verify the source of what might very well kill me, but I couldn’t move. I was stuck watching the nobleman froth at the mouth, lose consciousness, or both. And I saw an expression on Trodius that I had never seen on him before… an expression of fear.

His attempts at appearing collected failed as sweat rolled down his face and the barrier of fire that he had conjured fizzled away.

In a voice that seemed practically squeezed out of his windpipe, Trodius spoke.

“General… Arthur.” &nbsp;

Chapter 226: Punishable Actions

ARTHUR LEYWIN

Rage warred with grief in me for the longest time as I mourned my father’s death.

I cried and I cursed all the while refusing to believe that all of this was real.

As a prodigy, as a mage, as a lance, I just wanted to protect the few people most important to me—to let them be happy and healthy.

I abandoned the thought of being a hero to the people of Dicathen. I’ve filled that role before, and I learned that the price of saving those faceless citizens are the people most important to me.

And despite my efforts, I failed to protect them. My hands were stained in the blood of my father—stains that, I feared, would never come off no matter how many other people I saved.

After my tears ran dry and my throat locked up, all that was left inside me was a raw pit of emptiness.

As my father’s corpse was carried off and Durden was guided to the medic tents, I got up and headed inside the Wall.

Applause and cheers erupted as soon as I crossed the fortress gate. Soldiers, smiths, and laborers alike stopped what they were doing. Some bowed, others clapped, but they all looked at me with gazes that made me wince.

I couldn’t take it. Not the people, not the appreciation, not the expressions of relief from having someone to lean on. I couldn’t be here.

Sylvie. Get my sister and take her to the medic tent where my mother is. She’s going to need someone to be there for her, I conveyed while I strode past the cluster of tents that made up the medic ward.

My bond tugged the sleeve of my shirt. “I’ll go get your sister, but Arthur… your mother will need you as much as she needs your sister.”

I don’t bother responding to her aloud like she did for me.

I’m the last person she’d want to see. She no longer sees me as a son and any semblance of affection she might’ve had for me even after I told her the truth… will be gone now that I failed to keep my promise in bringing my fath—Reynolds, back alive.

I brushed her off and made my way towards the main meeting tent.

***

“General… Arthur,” Trodius wheezed, his body involuntarily shrinking back in his seat.

I took another step toward the senior captain, eliciting panicked responses from the nobles beside him.

“M-My spell! How did you even…” the lanky one stuttered, pointing his wand at me after regaining his consciousness.

The portly man to Trodius’ left was a bit more courageous, despite the acrid stench emanating from his freshly-soiled pants.

“Stay back! You are in the presence of nobility! How dare a dog of the Council intrude on an important meeting,” he threatened.

The small-framed noble sporting a thick mustache still lay sprawled on the ground, unconscious after my initial ‘greeting.’

I remained wordless as I took another step. The lankey one let a squeal in response while the fat one flinched. Only Trodius remained unfazed as I slowly approached.

The sea of rage and grief that churned inside me as I wept for my father had been drained, leaving a hollow void that allowed me to think clearly for the first time in a while.

No longer were the screams of panic and worry in my head clouding my judgment, making me irrational and emotional in the vain hopes of keeping all of my loved ones safe.

Now, there was only silence to my soul—a ghostly lull. The fire of rage and the other cacophony of emotions had been extinguished, leaving only a sharp chill in my blood.

It was comforting, in a sense.

If it had been just ten minutes ago, I would’ve done to Trodius what I had done to Lucas.

Except I realized, in this numb and logical state of mind, that Trodius wasn’t as simple as Lucas. I would gain nothing by killing Trodius and he would be able to take what I dished out with that same constipated expression he always had.

I couldn’t use pain. I knew that now. I couldn’t treat Trodius the same way I could Lucas.

It was when I took another step that Trodius finally spoke. Straightening his posture and clearing his throat, he looked me in the eyes and asked, “to what do I owe the pleasure of a lance gracing me with his presence?”

His scrutinizing gaze and the ever-so-slight sneer that tugged on the edge of his lips told me what I knew. He wasn’t afraid of the pain that I could afflict or even the death that he might face.

With his resourcefulness, he was confident in being able to escape, and he would relish the chance to be ‘the one that withstood the fury of a mad lance.’

“D-Don’t come any closer!” the portly man said as he withdrew his own toy-like wand.

“Settle down,” I said, causing both the conscious nobles in the room to stiffen.

“Even as a general, respect must be shown in the face of noble blood,” Trodius admonished, shaking his head.

Another bait. He was edging me to do something so that he could retaliate.

I walked around the table, leisure shown in my face and steps. Arriving in front of the fat noble, I gestured with a finger. “Move.”

“M-Move?” he echoed, flabbergasted as the wand still trembled in his hands.

Anger must’ve triumphed over his fear, or maybe the cornered mouse finally decided to strike, but it was over before it even began.

The spell that threatened to manifest at the tip of his embroidered wand never came, fizzling away like his pride after wetting his own pants.

Before the portly noble could even react, a current of wind hammered down on top of him, slamming his face down into the puddle of his own piss.

I used his wide girth as a footstool while taking a seat on the meeting table just inches away from Trodius.

The senior captain’s mask of indifference faltered, traces of anger flaring before disappearing just as quickly.

“General Arthur,” he spoke calmly. “The noble beneath your feet is Sir Lionel Beynir of the esteemed Beynir House. You will show him and Sir Kyle—”

I leaned forward, grinding my heels more into the unconscious Sir Lionel Beynir. “You see, Trodius, I care little for people, regardless of wealth, fame, and prestige they have when they fail to meet the minimum threshold as a person.”

Trodius’ eyes narrowed. “Excuse me? I don’t exactly know how much you heard from outside but to blatantly sully a noble will not be tolerated no matter what sort of position you hold in the military.”

“You keep referring to yourself and these fools as nobles but all I see are four weasels trying to capitalize on their own country’s loss and using soldiers as tools to step on and bring yourself higher.” I looked down at the noble beneath my feet to further my point.

Trodius’ eyes flared with indignation. “Revoking the plan that you suggested is no sin, General Arthur. The loss of the soldiers are regrettable but for the sake of preserving this fortress, their deaths are not in vain.”

“That would’ve only been true if your goal for keeping the Wall wasn’t to try and build yourself your own little society where you and your minions will have free reign.”

“N-Nonsense! My goal was to create a safe haven where the citizens of Dicathen have a place to sleep without fear. For you to twist my wor—”

I grabbed ahold of Trodius’ tongue and pulled it out of his mouth. “To my understanding, twisting words is what this thing seems to do best.”

A flicker of blue flames danced on the tip of the senior captain’s tongue as I pressed firmly down. Trodius’ eyes widened in pain as he tried to imbue his own fire affinity mana in hopes to shield his body against my flames.

The smell of burning flesh filled the tent as I continued to brand his tongue with my ignited fingers.

Still he held strong, unable to let go of his pride enough to even let out a sound.

I pulled the senior captain close, my fingers still sizzling on top of his burning tongue. I let the malice drip from my voice as I hissed into his ear. “You see, Trodius, one of the soldiers that died out there because of your selfish plans was my father.”

I felt the hiccup drop down in his throat as my fingers continued to sear his tongue.

“So believe me when I say that I’m going to see the actions that you took to get to where we are right now as personal.” I released my grip on his blackened tongue. The tip had become completely burnt off, without even a trace of blood.

Trodius immediately snapped his jaw shut, clamping his hands over his mouth as if he could protect himself from me.

“Don’t think that my relationship with your sister and estranged daughter have anything to do with why I’m keeping you alive,” I muttered, grabbing the fine parchments in front of him as I got up. “Killing you here would be showing mercy. Instead, I’ll let you stew in the consequences of your actions here today by taking what you value most.”

I turned to Albanth, who had been quietly and fearfully observing the situation. “Seeing as you’ve witnessed everything here today, send a message to the Council stating that for betraying his kingdom and perjury towards the Council, he and the rest of the Flamesworth House will be stripped from their titles of nobility.”

“Gno! You hab no wight!” Trodius screamed, his voice raw with unrepressed emotion.

“I believe I have every right, and the Council will surely agree once they find out you were planning on lying to them in order to keep soldiers here for yourself,” I replied coldly, waving the papers in my hand.

Trodius scrambled towards me, tripping over his unconscious investor before desperately launching a ball of fire at the papers in my hand.

“Add attempted assault of a representative of the Council,” I said to Albanth, blocking the sphere of flames with a conjured pane of ice.

“Y-You ca’t do dis!” he yelled, rushing to me and clinging to my feet. “The Fwameswoth house—”

“Will be nothing but a commoner’s surname,” I finished. “The precious legacy that you prided yourself in and tried so hard to raise, going as far as abandoning your own daughter, will have been the cause of the Flamesworth family’s downfall.”

I turned my attention back to Albanth. “I believe you have a message to send? Unless you’re still considering Trodius’ proposal?”

“Of c-course not!” Albanth straightened and took the parchments out of my hand. “I’ll get this to the Council along with your message to my fastest and most trustworthy messenger.”

“Also, get Captain Jesmiya and a few of her men in here to round these gentlemen up,” I added, sending the captain off, leaving Trodius and I as the only ones left conscious in the tent.

Behind me, still on the ground, was Trodius. The man who had been the pinnacle of nobility and pride had been reduced to a trembling sack of bones as he glared daggers at me.

“Like I said, killing you here would be a mercy.” I stepped out of the tent, taking one last glance back. “I hope you live a long life where you’re reminded of me every time you utter a mispronounced word from your deformed tongue.”

***

Sylvie and I stood atop the familiar cliff of the mountain overlooking the Wall. From this high up, the remnants of the battle could barely be seen under the blanket of night and the fortress seemed to be peaceful.

I knew all too well that the Wall was in a flurry of activity; mending the broken, feeding the weak, burying the dead, but I pushed down the emotions that threatened to build back up again.

It was so much easier the way it was right now, the comforting emptiness that numbed my emotions—both good and bad.

“Ellie is with your mother right now. They’re going to cremate him,” my bond said, her voice almost lost amidst the howling winds.

At her words leaked thoughts and emotions I had desperately tried to avoid. I saw my weeping sister and my mother on her knees, bloody fingers clawing at the ground in indignation.

I felt the pain my bond had felt as my mother’s eyes narrowed eyes burned with accusation and resentment. Would she have looked at me like that as well, had I been there? That was the only thing I could ask myself.

“It’s best that I’m not there,” I replied, placing a gentle hand on Sylvie’s head.

Sylvie turned to me, her large yellow eyes wrinkled in concern. “Arthur…”

“I’m fine, really,” I said, but my voice came out deadpan. “It’s better this way.”

My bond’s expression dimmed and just from that I could tell she could feel the emotions from me, or rather, the lack of emotions.

This was what I did in the past as Grey. I knew that suppressing my emotions and locking them away wasn’t healthy but I had no choice.

I had no confidence in being able to handle what I was trying so hard not to feel. I know that doing this was burying a time bomb deep inside me, but I just needed it to last until I finished this war.

Maybe after this war was over, I’d confront all of this and be able to face my mother, but for now I couldn’t bear looking at her or my sister’s face.

‘Do not fall back to your old ways. You know best that the deeper you go into that pit, the harder it will be to climb back out.’ Rinia’s words came to mind and I began to think of the other omens she left me before shaking my head.

Looking at my worried bond, I shielded my thoughts. I didn’t want her to know—I didn’t want anyone to know—that I was beginning to sincerely deliberate Agrona’s deal.

“Let’s go see, Sylv.”

Chapter 227: Above Limitations

GREY

“Hey. It’s me, Grey. Just thought I’d try this phone again. Anyway, the King’s Crown Competition is starting in our city and Lady Vera already got me a spot to compete. I’ve been just training ‘til now so going out in the official competition really makes it feel… real.

“Did you know that Jimmy Low—you know, that cocky overweight guy in our class with the lisp—is also a contestant too? When Lady Vera told me that, I thought of the time when you sold him that fake contraption that was supposed to help him lose weight while he sleeps. I bet he’s still mad that you conned him like that.

“Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I told Lady Vera to save a spot for you in her family’s private viewing room. It’d be great if you could come by and watch me kick everyone’s asses… I miss you, Nico. I don’t know what’s happening to you but just know that you’re not alone in this. I’m here for you.

“You know where to reach me. Hope to hear from you soon, man.” I ended the call after hearing the monotonous confirmation that my message had been sent and let out a sigh.

“Damn it, Nico. What the hell are you up to?” Rubbing my temples, I leaned my head back against the reading chair and waited for the pain to subside.

The last time I had seen my friend was the night we had fought. It had been a few weeks after Cecilia was taken and my training was becoming harder as the competition dates drew near.

I would train from dawn until sundown and then sneak out of Lady Vera’s manor in order to help Nico put up fliers and ask around local police departments for any information. Half the time it was us getting scolded or kicked out of their offices.

Tired and fed up with the lack of progress, I suggested we call it a night. That’s when Nico blew up on me. He accused me of being callous and uncaring because I was prioritizing my training with Lady Vera over finding Cecilia.

I couldn’t hold it in anymore at that time either. I had tried to reason with him before, saying that if the enforcers were really the ones who took her, the two of us were way out of our league. Still, my stubborn friend couldn’t sit still knowing that his girlfriend was somewhere out there.

I didn’t blame him but that didn’t mean I agreed with him. Needlessly insisting that two kids barely out of highschool—military or not—could make a difference in an investigation that no one was investigating, was optimistic at best.

With the promise of making sure Lady Vera’s best investigators would help, I called it an early night.

That was the last time I heard from Nico.

I did the right thing, I assured myself, sinking back further into the chair. Right now, winning the competition is the most important. The city tournament shouldn’t pose much trouble and I’m fairly confident even for the county tournament.

Even if I won’t become a king right away after I win the entire King’s Crown Competition, I’d still have influence from the Council. My two biggest goals were to get to the bottom of Headmaster Wilbeck’s murder and then finding and protecting Cecilia so she and Nico could go live a happy little life together. Despite Nico’s urgency, I knew Cecilia wouldn’t be harmed, assuming that the enforcers had taken her—she was too valuable of an asset to kill.

That’s why I have to win. Just a few months… then I can make everything right once I become a king.

***

“Cadet Grey…” a soft mellow voice sounded nearby. My eyes flickered open, my vision still a blur. It was only when I felt someone touch my shoulder that I snapped awake. The results of my instincts and training kicked in, and by the time I was truly conscious of what I had done, a maid was sitting in the seat that I had fallen asleep in and my right hand was pressed slightly against her throat.

“M-My bad!” I quickly let the maid go, helping her back on her feet.

“No… my apologies, Cadet Grey. Lady Vera had informed me not to make contact with you when you were sleeping. I must’ve forgotten,” she quickly amended, dipping her head lower.

She then gestured to the training uniform that she had laid out neatly on my unused bed. “Lady Vera has instructed me to inform you that today’s lessons are cancelled in light of the upcoming tournament. Instead, you will be sparring with the other king candidates sponsored by Lady Vera’s family.”

“Will Lady Vera be there?” I asked, already changing into my training clothes.

The maid shook her head. “Unfortunately, she will be busy with meetings. She has assured me, however, that she will still make it to your rounds for the city competition tomorrow.”

I was disappointed but I didn’t let it show as I nodded in reply. After the maid excused herself, I found my hand fiddling with the small trinket that Lady Vera had given me after she saved me from those interrogators that tortured me. It was the insignia of Lady Vera’s house. The Warbridge name that Vera carried distinguished themselves with the emblem of two crossed swords supporting a golden arch.

Whether it was the reassurance it gave me, proving I had a house that I belonged to, or the fact that it was given to me after one of the most difficult times in my life, I couldn’t go anywhere without it. I stuck it back into my pocket before heading down.

As I walked through the unique-looking buildings and structures placed in between the &nbsp;flawlessly groomed garden and lawn of the Warbridge estate, I was reminded of how different this place was from the usual places I’d been to.

It might’ve had to do with the fact that being in a named house’s estate for the first time, or the fact that the Warbridge House members were &nbsp;actually citizens of a different country.

I had learned fairly early on was that, while they were not from my homeland of Etharia, their home country—Trayden—had had an alliance with Etharia for over ten years now. This made them eligible to be sponsors for Etharia’s kings, and vice versa.

I wasn’t too interested in the politics involved in all of this, but since the king still did have a weight in meetings of the Council, I was required to take extensive lessons about the different countries and their diplomatic alliances toward one another.

By the time I arrived in the Warbridge dueling arena, there was a flurry of activity and noises coming from within.

Aside from the five government-approved dueling platforms with proper safety features added were a variety of training equipment. Some of the older—but still efficient—contraptions used lead weights while other more up-to-date tools utilized the user’s own ki to power and train.

Normally, there would be quite a few cadets on various training machines but today was different. Family members of the cadets being sponsored here were cheering on their children or siblings that were duking it out in the arena while the cadets that weren’t able to make the cut to participate in the city competition had been expelled with their contracts cut off.

I was just in time to see a facilitator I hadn’t met before mark the start of a mock duel. Keeping to the back, I watched with curiosity as to how the other candidates under Lady Vera were doing.

Having the privilege of being taught by her personally, I had never actually seen the others, much less knew their skills.

The one to initially catch my interest was the one without a weapon. His expression and the way he held himself told me he had some level of confidence against the sword and shield cadet.

As soon as the mock duel began, the one without a weapon held out his empty hand and shouted, “Form!”

What fizzled into his hand was a glowing yellow spear.

Immediately, the crowd formed around the spar roared with surprise and pride.

“It’s an actual ki weapon!” an older gentleman exclaimed.

“And he formed it so fast,” another man beside him added.

If it had been a year ago, I would’ve reacted just like the ones in the crowd, perhaps even more because of my disability. It didn’t just take a lot of time and effort to form a ki weapon, but a sufficient amount of ki as well.

However, I knew from my many lessons with Lady Vera regarding the types of opponents I would face—and even seeing her manifest her own ki weapon—that this cadet’s spear was no better than an embellished plastic stick at this point.

I had been taught that true masters of ki weapons spent years physically crafting the type of weapon that they wanted to materialize in order to be able truly visualize how their own weapon would manifest. From there, they would start by slowly enveloping their own ki around the type of weapon they wished to form. It was only after they had truly mastered this step that they transitioned into forming a weapon with just their ki.

This cadet, who couldn’t be more than a year older than me, had obviously skipped out on a lot of steps. It was obvious from how his weapon materialized and how simple the design was. The generic ki spear had almost bubbled into existence unlike the videos of true ki weapon masters I’d seen.

Still, I couldn’t help but feel a pinch of envy at the fact that he could do something that I would never be able to do. Unlike regular weapons, that had to be inspected and constantly kept within regulations by the World Committee to prohibit cheating by using technology, ki weapons did not have restrictions in competitions. This included even Paragon Duels that happened amongst kings over political disputes.

It was an advantage that many kings utilized… one that I could never even dream of doing.

Putting aside my self-pity, I peered with a watchful eye. While most of these cadets were chosen through various talent agencies, they were still here because they met the Warbridge family’s standards.

“Begin!” the facilitator barked, taking a step back.

The look on the sword and shield cadet’s face told me the initial shock from the ki weapon had faded. Steeling himself, he charged forward with a ki-infused step. He feigned a shield bash and pivoted to the spear user’s left side. Keeping his shield up in defense against the spear, he swiped down towards his opponent’s open thigh with his shortsword.

Caught off guard, the ki weapon user stumbled back but managed to at least dodge the attack to his leg. By how the spear user quickly regained his balance and wits and kept the shield cadet out of range showed that he had some sense of fighting.

Through superior range and the advantage of weapons, the spear cadet won. It wasn’t a one-sided battle though, and I could tell by how pale the winner’s face was by the end that if his opponent had managed to break his ki weapon, he wouldn’t have been able to materialize another.

Still, that didn’t keep the winner from forming a nasty sneer on his sweaty face and kicking the shield away from his opponent.

Rolling my eyes, I made my way towards the arena to let the facilitator know I wasn’t skipping out.

“Oh look, it’s Lady Vera’s favorite pet,” one of the spectating cadets that had yet to spar spoke up.

Everyone turned towards me, giving me different expressions… none of them particularly pleasant.

Ignoring them, I walked up and waved at the stout and muscular facilitator. “I was told to do a few rounds before my ki meditation this afternoon.”

“Mmm, I was told you would be coming but I don’t have a cadet assigned to be your sparring partner yet,” he grunted, lowering the barrier generated around the arena before looking around.

I stepped into the elevated platform without a word, immediately stretching and getting the kinks out of my body that came from falling asleep on the chair.

“I don’t think I’d be able to pair you up accurately with someone since I’m not familiar with the level you’re at. Anyone in particular you want to spar with, Cadet Grey?” the facilitator asked.

“Anyone’s fine,” I said, not bothering to stop stretching.

“Let me go, Mr. Kali. I’ve been curious how good Lady Vera’s crippled pet is,” a familiar voice jeered.

I looked up to see that it was the cadet that just sparred using his ki spear.

“Mason. Keep your tongue in check while you’re in my dueling arena,” the facilitator admonished before turning to me. “Are you okay with him?”

I stood up, looking at the boy named Mason while stretching my arm. “I’d prefer a cadet that’s in better condition.”

Mason slapped his palms on the hard arena floor. “I can beat you silly with both feet anchored to the floor! Mr. Kali, let me teach this cocky brat a lesson!”

There was a beat of hesitation before the facilitator jerked his thumb back, signaling Mason to come up onto the arena. “Put on your protective gears. Cadet Grey, pick out a weapon.”

After putting on the chest and head piece infused with ki, I picked out a single-edged short sword from the rack. After checking its balance like Lady Vera had taught me and swinging it a couple of times, I walked backed to the center of the arena.

“Did you forget your shield or other sword, Cadet Grey?” Mr. Kali asked, looking at my single blade.

“No. This is fine,” I replied.

Mason looked to be waiting for me to appear fully in view before he materialized his ki weapon. Raising his hand dramatically while locking gazes with me, the spear glowed into existence, albeit a little slower than the first time.

After getting a nod of confirmation from the two of us, he swung his hand down. “Begin!”

While I didn’t want to drag this battle out, I knew that I couldn’t just rush in like the previous cadet had. Thinking critically was something I had long since gotten used to because of my lack of ki. I wouldn’t be able to create that burst of speed like the sword and shield cadet had done, so I stood my ground.

In fact, I didn’t even take a stance, going as far as leaving my neck wide open.

“Is this a joke?” Mason scoffed, pointing the tip of his glowing spear at me.

“The duel has already begun,” I replied simply, cracking a smile.

“Don’t blame me if you wind up physically crippled as well, no-name,” he snapped before bursting forward in an explosion of ki.

I had to admit that his charge was impressive, especially considering how much ki he had spent the last round as well.

Still, to my eyes, his movements seemed almost telephoned. Over a year of training under Lady Vera and her team of coaches had honed my untamed instincts into an almost unfair technique.

At the last moment, I dodged his thrust and struck up at his right hand fingers gripping the spear in the front.

I could sense the thin protective aura of ki shudder, absorbing the impact. Mason still winced in pain though, and more importantly, he was still in my range.

I sidestepped and brought my sword back down on the same hand, but from a different angle.

Sensing my intent, Mason shifted his movements to block but even the slight twitch in his shoulder told me where his next move was going to be.

By the time he positioned himself to block my strike, my strike had already shifted course and landed on his gloved fingers. &nbsp;

This strike didn’t end with just a wince.

“Gahh!” he belched from the pain. I had to give him credit for not letting go of his weapon, despite the crack that resounded from the blow.

It took all of two more moves to finish the spar, and another half hour to finish the rounds against the remaining cadets.

By the end of my warm up, the looks of pity that some of them had given me for being a cripple were wiped clean.

***

“Ahh!” I breathed out after taking a long chug from the soda bottle I had kept hidden from Lady Vera. It was lukewarm but the sugary carbonation helped me in ways no amount of training and healthy foods could.

After drying myself from the shower and changing into more comfortable clothes for my meditation, I walked down the halls when I heard a familiar voice in the floor below by one of the studies.

I ran down the stairs, excited to greet Lady Vera. It had been more and more difficult to even see her face, but I stopped in my tracks when I saw an unfamiliar man with her by the door. He was facing away so all I could tell about his appearance was that he had short trim hair and dressed fashionably in a military-styled suit.

“Yes. Yes, I understand. I’ll let him know that he’s qualified,” Lady Vera said to the man softly. “He might get curious but he’s not too greedy about actually competing so I don’t think he’ll press me too much,” she continued.

His voice was low and hard to understand but I could hear bits and pieces of Lady Vera speaking before she escorted the man inside the sound-proofed study.

“Of course. Yes, she won’t be mentioned. I understand. Thank you. You’re right. He’ll have to fight at least once in order to appease the mass. We’ll prepare Grey for the district…” &nbsp;

Chapter 228: Anchor

ARTHUR LEYWIN

I let out a groan, barely able to hear my own voice over the wind blasting around us. Propping myself back up on Sylvie’s spiked back, I scanned my surroundings.

I could see the flying castle nearing in the distance, filling me with a mixture of emotions. The strongest of them had to do with seeing Tessia. It was actually probably the only reason why I didn’t go straight to Etistin where the real battle would be happening soon.

The castle guards, noticing Sylvie, split apart to form a path while the landing dock opened soundlessly.

I had to hand it to the artificers of the olden days—the wise and powerful mages that were responsible for not only lifting an entire castle up in the sky but an entire city as well and connecting each major city with a teleportation portal. The constructs left an awe-inspiring feeling every time I saw them.

It begged the question of what really happened to them. But at the same time, finding out the answer to that wasn’t exactly top in my priorities list.

Let’s get this over with quickly. I need some scythes or retainers or any Alacryan soldier to kill, I conveyed, hopping off my bond.

Surprisingly, the landing dock, which was usually filled with activity and noise, was completely empty aside from the lone figure by the door. It was Virion.

It took me a moment to realize who it was because of how different he looked. &nbsp;

The powerful confidence that the old elf usually radiated alongside his lighthearted smirk was gone, replaced by a grim expression complimented by the layers of bags weighing down his eyes.

His silver hair was unbound and the robes he wore looked a tad too big on him. Still, seeing me and Sylvie, his face softened into what I assumed was a smile of relief.

Walking up to me in a graceful gait that couldn’t be diminished with just age, he immediately wrapped his arms around me.

I was stunned. My body flinched from the unexpected physical contact, and for a while my mind went blank.

“Welcome back. You did everything you could, Arthur… you did great,” he said softly, in a voice that seemed unfamiliar yet so familiar at the same time. &nbsp;

The frigid shell of apathy that I had kept myself encased in—away from the anger, grief, loss and other emotions that were trying to claw their way inside—had melted.

It could’ve been the warmth of his embrace, or the warmth of his words, but I found myself crying once more. Tears streamed down my cheeks, unabated and warm.

My shoulders trembled as I tried all I could to keep myself from breaking down once again, but Virion’s words continued to echo in my mind.

I did all I could. I did great. &nbsp;

Sylvie remained silent but I felt her soft touch conveying just as much emotion as Virion’s embrace.

Commander, lance, and asura… the three of us stood there alone in the large empty room, forgetting just for a moment who we were.

***

I held my fist just in front of the door, reluctant to knock.

I don’t think I can do this by myself right now. Are you sure you don’t want to see Tess with me? I asked my bond who was in another part of the castle.

‘She needs you right now. Just you,’ she replied coolly before intentionally blocking off our mental connection, leaving me stranded.

Virion had said the same thing after hours of trying to comfort his granddaughter. She had locked herself in her room, refusing to see everyone that wanted to help.

If her own parents and grandfather couldn’t get to her, how could I?

That was my excuse, anyway. I couldn’t call myself the most empathetic individual and my emotional mindset wasn’t any better than hers right now, it was just that having almost two lifetimes of experience kept me at least functioning.

But still, she needed my help, just like I had needed Sylvie and Virion’s.

I pushed down the darkness, all of the bad thoughts, and put them away for now. I’d deal with my own losses in my own time. For now, Tess needed me.

Holding my breath, I knocked on the door.

No answer.

I knocked again. “Tess, it’s Arthur.”

She didn’t answer but I could hear her light steps approaching the door. After a moment, the wooden entrance to Tess’ room slid open and I locked eyes with the girl on the other side.

I had seen so much in those vivid turquoise eyes of hers… laughter, joy, anger, determination. But this was the first time to see such utter despair. It hurt me to see her like this, so much so that I wanted to turn away.

Instead I thought of when she had been there for me, comforting me when I was vulnerable. Clearing my throat, I stepped into her room and pulled her towards the shower.

“You don’t need help washing up, right?” I teased, hoping for some sort of response.

Without a word, she began stripping, throwing me off guard. Through sheer determination, I managed to turn away before I could see anything and I waited anxiously outside on the couch.

After what seemed like an hour, Tessia stepped out of the bathroom with a towel barely slung over her chest and her dark gray hair dripping pools of water behind her.

Getting up, I grabbed another towel and sat her down in front of the small vanity in the corner of her room. My chest ached at the fact that Tessia couldn’t even bring herself to look at her own reflection.

Virion had told me what had happened after reading the report from General Aya. I knew the choices she had made and the consequences that had resulted from them. She blamed herself much like I did but even I knew that consoling her wasn’t as simple as saying, ‘hey, I know how you feel.’

So, I didn’t say anything. I gently patted down her long hair with the spare towel I brought. After that, I created a warm soft breeze from all directions to completely dry her hair.

After her hair was sufficiently dried, I grabbed the brush from the wooden vanity. While combing her hair, all I could think about was how small her shoulders looked. They were shoulders that had so much burden and expectations placed on them. It was easy to forget that before this war, she had just been a student. Despite the similar physical age we shared, she didn’t have a past life to rely on for experience and mental fortitude.

“You’re really bad at this.” Tess’ voice was soft and hoarse, but it still made my heart skip a beat.

“I-It’s not like I have experience doing this sort of thing,” I rebutted, embarrassed.

I was about to put back the brush, but a glance back from Tess stopped me. “I didn’t tell you to stop.”

“Yes, Princess,” I replied. Normally, she’d be pouting from a response like that. Tess had always hated it since the first time we met whenever I referred to her as ‘princess,’ but not even the slightest hint of emotion could be seen on her face.

Still, it was just good to hear her voice.

For a while, I just absentmindedly talked while slowly brushing her hair. I told her stories of my childhood—silly stories of our misadventures back together in Elenoir when we were kids. While we had spent a lot of time training, and me assimilating with Sylvia’s beast will, that didn’t mean we didn’t relax and have fun.

The memories of simpler times made Tessia titter on occasion and correct my story.

“I was the one that had told you we shouldn’t go down that ravine, not you, wise guy,” she chortled.

“Really? I’m sure I was the smart and cautious one when we were little.”

She rolled her eyes. “Smart, I’ll admit, but I wouldn’t exactly say you were a cautious one. Ugh, I still remember finding the moss leeches on my body even hours after we made it back home.”

I stifled a laugh, remembering clearly how grossed out she had been at the harmless wriggling leeches that stuck to our skin. She didn’t even have the courage to slap them off, resorting in a spastic flail of limbs that made her look like she had been shocked by lightning.

“Why are you laughing?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

I didn’t answer, instead doing my best impression of her get-these-leeches-off-me dance.

“I was eight!” she protested, hitting me in the arm.

“Finally, you show some spirit.” I smiled, rubbing my arm.

She glared at me, but when I raised my arms up in submission, she turned fully towards me and wrapped her arms around my waist.

Tess remained still, her face buried in my chest. Even as the towel around her fell, leaving her completely bare, she didn’t react.

Suddenly, I was all too conscious. I was conscious of her soft pale flesh, the intoxicating smell that emanated from her.

When she looked up, her captivating eyes met mine and despite the shade of pink rising up in her cheeks and ears, I could see the longing and need for affection.

She closed her eyes then and pursed her quivering lips and it took all I had to stay sane. I reminded myself of the days after I had become a king. The days of loneliness where I questioned my self-worth. The days where I indulged in physical intimacy to get a semblance of what being loved felt like—not as a political figure, but as a person.

I lowered my head, and for a second, I was tempted to meet her lips with mine. We had done so before, afterall.

But I knew that given the circumstances, it wasn’t the same.

I placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, feeling her flinch under my touch.

She pulled away. “Why? Am I not attractive enough? Is it because you still see me as a kid? I’m already eighteen. Or…is it that you blame me for what happened too?”

“Do you blame yourself?” I asked back.

Tess lowered her gaze and nodded. “I-I was selfish and I thought that—”

“Then you’re growing,” I cut her off, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “We all make mistakes, but the hardest part is admitting them and moving forward so they don’t happen again.”

Her shoulders trembled as she sniffled. “So it’s not because I’m unattractive?”

It took a second to realize what she was talking about. Immediately my face burned as I took in her exposed figure. “No, it’s not because you’re unattractive. I just want to do it properly, when neither of us are doing this as a way to escape.”

Prying my unwilling eyes away from the sight in front of me, I turned away. “You should get dressed. There’s one more thing I wanted to do for you.”

***

The kitchen was empty when we arrived, but thankfully there were plenty of ingredients stored in the chilled containers to make a quick midnight snack for ourselves.

“You wanted to… eat with me?” Tess asked, looking around the kitchen.

Taking a wrapped slab of meat from the storage, I held it up. “I wanted to cook for you.”

“Cook? Why?”

I shrugged, gathering the rest of the ingredients and laying them out to prepare. “You’ve grown up with meals made for you by the chefs in the castle.”

Rather than use magic, I pulled out a kitchen knife and I began dicing and mincing the ingredients. “Back in Ashber, when I was a kid, my mom used to cook all of our meals. She poured her time and energy just to see a smile on my and… my dad’s faces while we ate.”

My hand trembled but I continued cutting. “Sitting at the dinner table…laughing and joking over good food. It was one of those things that I never truly appreciated—not until it was… too late.”

I hurriedly wiped away a tear. “Ah, s-some of the spices must’ve gotten into my eyes. Sorry about that. Almost forgot about the water.” I turned away from Tess and lowered the fire beneath the boiling pot of broth.

Through gritted teeth, I held back the sobs forming in my chest, but the tears wouldn’t stop. My hands shook and my breath came out in choked bursts.

Flashes of memory from my time as a child growing up in Ashber pierced at my head like hot iron stakes, but I held firm. I needed to comfort Tess.

“It’s okay. I’m okay, Art.” Her voice was gentle, and her soft caress was enough to drive me to my knees.

I fell to the cold hard floor, clutching my chest as heaving sobs tore out from my throat. I didn’t remember much throughout the rest of the night. Maybe I didn’t want to remember being bogged down by the unfamiliar and raw emotions clawing away at me.

What I did remember, was the warm touch of Tess’ hands keeping me anchored and sane.

Chapter 229: Field of White

Alduin slammed the door as he stormed off. The room still shuddered slightly from the impact.

“That didn’t go too bad. I didn’t think he’d give in so easily,” Virion breathed, sinking back in his seat. These past months had done worse for the weathered old elf than all the years I’d known him combined.

“Neither did I,” I mused, my eyes still on the door that Alduin had exited through.

The Council meeting had finished more than an hour ago, but Alduin stayed to protest the decision Virion had made. Even General Aya, who never voiced her opinions regarding orders, pleaded with Commander Virion to reconsider earlier.

I didn’t blame them. Virion had ultimately decided to evacuate forces from Elenoir and focus troops on the western border to defend against the Alacryan ships coming from the ocean. For the elves, this meant that they were basically being abandoned.

By the end of their discussion just now, Alduin was still angry, but he relented.

“Seeing that he wants to lead the strategy for evacuating our people, it feels like he’s finally understanding that we’re fighting to protect Dicathen as a whole, not just Elenoir.” He let out a sigh, rubbing his temples. “This will at least give me more time to focus on the fallback scenarios.”

I nodded. Forming strategies for battles was only half the task during times of war. Thinking of various contingencies and getting all of your troops to know what to do when things didn’t work out as planned was just as, if not more, important.

The two of us stood wordlessly in the room for a moment before Virion cleared his throat. I knew the question that was coming. It was the question that Virion had struggled to ask me when I had arrived back at the Castle.

“So, Arthur. Have you thought about my request?” Virion said, cold determination in his eyes.

I met his strong gaze. “I have, and I’m afraid that I’m going to have to respectfully refuse.”

“And what if I change my request to an order?” he challenged.

“Then I’d have no choice but to do it.”

After a beat of silence, Virion let out a deep sigh, shaking his head. “If your father hadn’t died, would you have said yes?” &nbsp;

My jaw tightened and I struggled to keep calm but I managed a response. “Most likely.”

He waved his hand in dismissal before continuing. “Fine. I won’t push anymore on this topic.”

“Thank you,” I said consolingly. “Besides, I’ve heard that General Bairon is fairly knowledgeable in war, anyway.”

“The Wykes’ family tradition is always to teach their younger generation the art of war and battle,” Virion replied. “But his knowledge stems from books of theory and old teachings.”

“Compared to my knowledge… as a teenager?” I rebutted with an amused smile.

Virion chortled. “If I thought you were a normal teenager, I would treat you the same as my granddaughter and put you both, along with the rest of your family, in protective custody.”

“Maybe I’ll take you up on that offer,” I teased.

“There is no offer, brat. Speaking as the commander, I can’t afford to lose you, so toughen up,” he growled. “If you’re not going to lead, then at least get your hands bloody.”

“Aye aye, commander,” I saluted. “Just have that early retirement package waiting for me.”

“Will do,” he chuckled.

The two of us talked a bit more, mostly Virion telling me what to expect once Sylvie and I arrive at Etistin, but also bringing up stories from our past.

After all, this might be the last time we would see each other.

“My mother and sister should be arriving at the castle in the next day or so. Please take care of them in case I don’t make it back,” I said, holding out my hand.

There was a part of me that wanted to personally say goodbye to my mother and sister, to see their faces one last time in case I really didn’t make it out of this battle alive, but a bigger part of me was scared.

I was more comforted by the fact that, even if I died, my remaining family might &nbsp;mourn for me, rather than look at me with faces filled with hatred, disdain or apathy.

If that made me a coward, then I would embrace that title. At this point, I was fighting this war more to escape than I was to save our people from the Alacryans.

Virion clasped my hand and pulled me into a hug. “You know I’ll treat Alice and Eleanor as if they were my own blood. They’ll be given the same priority for retreat as Tessia and the Council.”

“Thank you.” I let go of his hand and walked towards the door. I turned back one last time to see Virion with a clenched jaw and stiffened neck as he did all he could to keep composed. “You’re one of the few people in this world that made this life worth living and this continent worth fighting for.”

“Are you sure you don’t need any armor?” I asked my bond, concerned to see her just wearing a long black cloak over a pair of pants and a long-sleeved tunic all fashioned out of her own scales. Her long wheat-colored hair was pulled back and tied into a braid, accentuating her large horns.

“My scales are strong enough. Besides, conventional armor would be useless when I shift between forms,” she answered as we continued our way towards the teleportation room.

The doors were already open with only one guard stationed in front. Because many of the soldiers in the Castle were sent off to Etistin, the lack of personnel was definitely noticeable.

I could see a few a familiar faces, waiting to send us off amidst the workers bustling about, making sure the teleportation gate was functional and set to the right location. Aside from Tess and Elder Buhnd, Kathyln and Elder Hester were here as well.

“Looking quite dashing there, young hero,” Elder Hester smiled. “Clothes really do make the man.”

“It’s good to see you again, Elder Hester,” I greeted, holding out a hand. “I hope you don’t take what I did personally.”

Hester Flamesworth accepted my gesture with a wry smile. “I heard about your father and what Trodius was planning. The Flamesworth prestige isn’t nearly as important for me and I hope this will serve to humble my… brother. At this point, all I can say is thank you for allowing him to live.”

I nodded, letting go of her hand before turning to Elder Buhnd. I gave the old dwarf a pat on the shoulder. “I could tell from the meeting we had earlier that you’re just itching to go out into the field. What do you say, wanna just book it out of here with me?”

“Bah, and get my arse dragged back by Virion? I’ll pass. Besides, it seems like he needs a hand with everything going on these days,” he replied, looking up at me. “Be careful over there. I know it may not feel like it right now, but there are people that care about you and are waiting for you to come back.”

Again, I just nodded. The promise I had made to my mother—that I would make sure my father was okay, turned out to be empty. I didn’t want to say or promise anything I couldn’t keep.

My gaze eventually fell on Kathyln, who had been silent.

“Thank you for seeing me off,” I told her, holding out my hand.

Kathyln hesitated before grabbing my hand. She looked up, concern knitted in her brows. “I wish I could fight alongside you and my brother.”

“Your mission is just as important, if not more, for the future of Dicathen. Don’t worry,” I comforted with a smile. I could feel her anxiousness and frustration at being unable to fight in the main battle.

Councilman Blaine and Councilwoman Merial had ‘ordered’ her to be sent to the Wall to help the remaining soldiers there scout the area and make sure there weren’t any stray beasts heading towards the fortress. After Trodius had been taken away and many of the soldiers were sent to Blackbend City in order to be transported to Etistin, the Wall was severely lacking in capable fighters.

Kathyln’s parents probably thought being at the Wall was much safer and at least gave their restless daughter something to do.

Finally, I turned to Tess, who was already hugging and saying goodbyes with Sylvie. The two had always been close and the scene in front of me felt more like sisters saying goodbye.

When it was my turn, I gave Tess a long hug as well. “I heard you’re going to be with my sister and mother. I’ll leave them to you.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to them,” she muttered, before pulling out the leaf pendant she had under her shirt. “Just remember to keep your promise.”

“I’ll do my best,” I answered, pulling out my own pendant. We stared at each other silently for a moment before I pulled my gaze away. I couldn’t keep the image of my father’s corpse out of my head while looking at Tess.

I was the one going into battle, but somehow I was still afraid for Tess. I knew it was childish and irresponsible to think this, but the thought of her being carried over to me in the same state as my father and being unable to do anything despite all of the power I had made me want to run away—not just with her but with Ellie and my mother.

A firm squeeze on my arms pulled me out of my thoughts. In front of me was Tess with the same smile she had last night, long after I had broken down in the kitchen. It was a smile that carried both loss and hope and it was just enough to give me the strength to step through the teleportation gate.

“I’ll see you soon. All of you,” I declared before stepping through with Sylvie by my side.

After the unsettling sensation of teleportation wore off, the two of us stepped down the raised podium that held the gate. Heavily armored soldiers stood on either side of us, heads inclined in a bow.

“General Arthur, and Lady Sylvie. General Bairon is waiting for you in the castle,” the soldier to my left announced.

“Will you be guiding us?” I asked.

“Actually, that’ll be me,” a familiar deep voice resounded from below.

It was Curtis Glayder. Despite all of the events that had transpired, the years had treated him well. His clean shaven face and sharp military crew cut made Curtis the dashing white knight he always aspired to be, with polished armor and swords strapped on both sides of his hips.

Behind him was Grawder, his world lion bond.

“Curtis,” I greeted.

“I thought you’d prefer a familiar face since you’ve never really been around these parts,” he said with a picturesque smile. “And even if you have been here, so much has changed that I doubt you’d even recognize it.”

“I’ve never actually been here, but you’re right in that this place doesn’t really seem like a city,” I noted, taking in the strange sights.

Aside from the shops that had been converted into workstations for professional blacksmiths and atillators, the city plaza before us was also filled with tents. Inside were women, the elderly and even children helping out by either washing and folding cloth, tying arrowheads to wooden shafts, or packaging rations. No one was idle, with everyone either making something or transporting it.

Soldiers practiced marching in their platoons with their respective officers barking commands. Off to the side were two archery ranges that spanned over thirty yards each. There, archers stood positioned almost shoulder to shoulder, launching volleys of arrows at the wall fashioned out of haystacks.

“A lot to take in, right?” Curtis asked as he guided us towards the large brick tower that stood in the distance. “The entire city has been sort of rearranged to be the stronghold and production center for the battle that’s going to happen on the coast.

We followed behind the prince, not staying in one place for too long since we’d just draw attention.

I appreciated the brief tour though, and Curtis’ lively commentary helped both Sylvie and I relax. Aside from the soldiers doing physical training and combat drills, the mood was light and overall happy.

“I was expecting a very serious and intense atmosphere,” my bond chimed, her head always turning and taking in the new sights.

“Well, we’re still a few miles away from the coast where the actual battle will be happening,” Curtis answered, pointing to the thick walls that seemed newly made. “We’re mainly fortifying the western edge of the city with the help of carpenters and earth mages and digging up some tunnels for the civilians that are left here to escape.”

As we got closer to the edge of the city, the more soldiers we would see. Carriages would be pulled towards the gated entrance facing the coast, carrying weapons and other supplies.

“Come on, up this way.” Curtis pointed at the imposing castle that had been stripped down and refortified into its own fortress. Some parts were still being constructed as slabs of earth were being floated up by mages. The castle was situated on a small hill that overlooked the rest of the city, with only one tower that peaked above the large walls that easily towered over fifty feet.

“You said General Bairon was waiting for me, right? Any idea where General Varay might be?” I asked, looking up at the tower.

“She’s still helping out with the construction off the coast,” Curtis explained briefly, greeting the soldiers guarding the tower entrance.

Sylvie and I looked at each other, confused. “Construction?”

Curtis shot me a grin. “You’ll see when you get up there. Come on.”

Thankfully, there was a mana-powered crate and pulley system that was able to hoist us up to the top in just a few minutes.

“Courtesy of Artificer Gideon, who should be somewhere in this city, working the other artificers and carpenters to their bones,” Curtis explained. “The main room is just up those stairs but there’s a window on this floor as well. You should take a look.”

Curious, Sylvie and I walked towards the far end of the circular room that only had a lounge-like area with another soldier guarding the base of the stairs.

The two of us peered out, and at first we didn’t know exactly what we were supposed to be looking at. My eyes scanned the small mountains that made up most of the area north of Etistin and went further south until my gaze landed on the Etistin bay shore.

Without a doubt, that was what Curtis wanted us to see.

Sylvie let out a small gasp as my jaw dropped.

Filling up over half of the entire Etistin bay that stretched out longer than a mile was nothing but a field of white.

An expanse of ice and snow had been created to meet the approaching ships.

“Amazing, isn’t it? This is what General Varay has been working on.” Curtis leaned forward next to us. “The largest battle of Dicathen will be held on this glacial field.”

Chapter 230: Resounding Horns

Sylvie and I remained entranced by the snowy white field that extended from the shore out into the ocean. It was amazing to see the conjuration of such a vast phenomenon made from one person. Surely, General Varay would be exhausted by now until she could recover her mana, but the job had been well done.

Aside from the aesthetics provided, I was curious as to the sort of strategy Virion and the rest of the Council had to utilize this ice field. I was given minimal information on the specific formations, deployment and maneuvering of troops and the actual line formation that we’d be using to face the approaching Alacryan army.

“Ready to go up, General?” Curtis’s voice rang from behind.

I pried my eyes away, turning to the single set of stairs leading to the floor above. Sylvie was right behind me and despite appearing even younger than my sister in her human form, I could sense the excitement of battle leaking from her.

Climbing up the stairs and entering what I assumed was the strategic hub for the battle here, I was surprised at how… efficient everything was.

‘Efficient’ might not have been the best word, but the activities going on inside the room reminded me of the strategy rooms during my time as Grey back on Earth.

There were rows of desks with people sitting in front of large piles of transmission scrolls instead of computers. They were all faced towards the center of the circular room with a view of General Barion, standing on an elevated podium that was looking over a large earthen table with an uneven surface and a large glass orb perched on top of an intricate artifact. Surrounding this artifact were over twelve mages on standby.

While I was curious about the purpose of the clear orb, it only took me a second to realize that the earthen table, with a dwarven mage hovering his hands over it, was a rough depiction of the soon-to-be battlefield.

General Bairon Wykes, older brother of Lucas Wykes, was currently discussing something about the march before he finally turned to look at me.

His expression was controlled but the slight twitch in his eyebrows told me that he hadn’t exactly forgotten what I had done to his brother. Still, compared to how he acted when we had me for the first time, his impulse control had gotten a lot better.

“General Bairon,” I greeted curtly, walking up to the earthen war table.

“General Leywin,” he replied, not bothering to step down from the podium he was standing on.

I studied the layout of the war table, noticing the small earthen figures that most likely represented the troops.

“I’m assuming this information isn’t real-time, right?” I asked.

“No it isn’t, General Arthur,” the dwarf answered respectfully. “I’m only able to roughly gauge and track the progress from the reports through the transmission scrolls sent in by the captains.”

“And what is this giant orb?” I asked, looking at Bairon this time.

“It’s an artifact that can be better used as a medium for the diviners present,” he answered.

“How are the diviners getting information from the battlefield?”

“Those other mages you see beside the projection artifact are elite deviants capable of scrying by sharing senses with their bonded beasts. The diviners will be able to link the images from the scryers’ minds and project them into the orb for the strategic general of this battle to see,” Bairon replied, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“Don’t worry, I came here after declining your position. I’ll be joining the other lances on the battlefield,” I quipped, annoyed by the lance’s attitude.

“At least you had the brain to decline it. Tens of thousands of soldiers’ lives rest on the choices made in this room,” Bairon retorted. “If you can’t even keep your own family alive, how will you keep the soldiers out there from dying needlessly?”

I whipped my head back, rage flairing. “What did you say?”

Bairon smiled smugly. “You heard me.”

“Both of you, stop,” my bond said, pulling on my sleeve. “And retract your mana.”

Looking around, I could see that the killing intent infused with mana that had leaked out were straining the people present in the room. Calming myself, I shot Bairon a glare and held up a hand. “Give me the debrief papers you got from the Council and we’ll be on our way.”

Bairon reluctantly handed me the folder. In it were dozens of pages highlighting relevant information along with several transmission scrolls.

Not wanting to stay in this room any longer than necessary, I made my way to the exit, stopping just short of the doorway leading to the stairs with Curtis and Sylvie beside me. “And General Bairon? If one of the requirements to have this role was to ‘keep your own family alive’, then I might just argue that you’re in no position to be up on that podium.”

I crossed the high city walls that marked the edge of Etistin perched on Sylvie’s back as I read through the notes outlining the various phases of this battle. The drumming of footsteps resounded below from the soldiers marching through the hills that led down to the Etistin Bay. &nbsp;

To make things even better for those struggling on their march, the gray clouds hung low, and the air was moist. It looked like the battle would be done under the rain.

Something’s not adding up, I said to myself, my eyes scouring over the estimated numbers of the Alacryan forces approaching.

‘What’s wrong?’ Sylvie replied, noticing my concern.

It’s just that… if I was the Alacryan general, there is no way I would initiate a full scale battle like this. &nbsp;

I could sense the confusion from my bond, so I elaborated what was on my mind.

From what we’d gathered, Alacrya had been preparing for this war for many years now, from smuggling spies like Headmaster Goodsky to poisoning and corrupting the mana beasts. They’d taken extreme and careful measures by colluding with the secretive dwarves and bridging gaps by installing teleportation gates deep within the dungeons of the Beast Glades.

This all happened under our noses while Dicathen barely knew that another continent even existed!

So to me, it seemed counterintuitive for them to abandon all of the strategic prowess that they’ve demonstrated and face us head on like this.

Based on the numbers, their forces were huge and any of the attacks we’d already tried had been easily blocked by their specialized defensive mages. However, they were still coming by ship—their resources were limited. The journey here must’ve already drained their food and water supply by a considerable amount. If we played a war of attrition, their forces would soon die of thirst or starvation.

Of course, one could argue that Alacrya’s strengths truly shined in large scale battle, since their specialized mages were much more of a well-oiled and cohesive military force compared to our soldiers. But still, we vastly outnumbered them even if it would take time to mobilize all of our forces.

Was I overthinking things? Perhaps the Alacryans just wanted to wrap this up. I knew that Agrona wanted to avoid an unnecessarily high death count on either sides for his goals against the asuras in Epheotus, so maybe he thought that obtaining victory in a formal battle like this would end the war cleanly?

‘Maybe you should’ve taken the strategic general position,’ Sylvie chimed after absorbing all of the thoughts I had practically vomited onto her.

No. Bairon is a dick, but he’s right. I don’t have a stable enough mindset to dictate the lives of the soldiers when I know that each of their deaths would be caused by the decisions I make.

I didn’t want to play chess using the lives of our soldiers as pawns when I already felt responsible for the death of my father.

“Focus, Arthur. We have a war to finish,” I said aloud, slapping my cheeks.

With General Bairon under the helm of leadership, I was now but a soldier assigned a mission. In a way, this was easier. My hands would get bloody instead of my soul.

Fly a bit lower, Sylv, I sent to my bond, closing the folder Bairon had given me.

Sylvie folded her wings and dived down so the endless line of soldiers no longer looked like faceless ants.

With a wave of my arms, I released a blast of fire, intertwining tendrils of lightning and blades of wind in a spectacular show of elements up into the sky.

Catching onto what I was doing, Sylvie raised her head and opened her large jaws to let out a deafening roar.

Hearing the whoops and shouts immediately from the troops below, I couldn’t help but smile.

‘That was a bit childish of us, no?’ my bond asked, chuckling a bit as well.

Not at all. Morale is one of the most overlooked but important aspects of large-scale battles, I replied as the two of us slowly approached the nearing ocean.

We made our way to Etistin Bay.

The first thing we noticed was the temperature. As we got closer to the conjured field of snow and ice, I felt a biting chill permeating through my skin.

Varay was truly on another level compared to the rest of the other lances. While I’d like to confidently say that I could beat Varay in a one-on-one battle, I couldn’t. While I had the advantage of being able to manipulate multiple elements and had Sylvia’s dragon will, they seemed like cheap parlor tricks in the face of the absolute power and control that Varay had.

Even if I managed to beat her, I’d be lucky if I only lost an arm or a leg. But having her as an ally was incredibly reassuring.

The two of us landed just on the threshold where the coastal beaches became ice—an odd sight to see. Here, it wasn’t only the temperature that had changed; the atmosphere from the infantry was tense and dark.

Even with the captains shouting and trying to boost morale, I could almost see the weight of death that they carried on their shoulders. With eyes drawn towards me, I remained impassive, but my stomach churned, seeing the soldiers lined up front. With the weight of their own armor making them slouch forward and their gazes that held no hardness trained soldiers would have, it was easy to tell that many of them were civilians that had been called to arms.

How many of these people staring at me would die, being the first to face the enemy lines? I tried not to dwell on it. I tried to bring back that detached, emotionless state I had relied so heavily on during my life as King Grey.

I ignored the teens, some even younger than me, staring at me as I stood beside the large black dragon that towered over them.

Sylvie and my presence did give many of the soldiers hope. I could hear whispers amongst each other of the good news that there were now two lances to fight by their side.

“General Arthur, welcome.” The frigid smooth voice cut through the steam, and the silhouette of an armor-clad woman could be seen with billowing hair just past her shoulders.

“General Varay,” I greeted with a genuine smile. The very presence of this lance seemed to shift the atmosphere. She carried herself lightly and elegantly like a gazelle but her gaze and poise spilled confidence.

She stretched out her hand, making it a point to show our composure and leisure in front of the quadrants of infantry troops. I accepted her gesture and Sylvie, who remained in her draconic form, lowered her head to let Varay gently touch her snout.

We walked together towards the back while the white-haired general explained the basic formations and maneuvering they had planned. Most of it I had already read about but it was another thing seeing the sheer size of the force that would be fighting on our side.

The first line consisted of armed warriors serving as the first point of contact against the enemies. They would charge and do as much damage until given the signal to retreat behind the second line, who were composed of trained soldiers—a mixture of both regular warriors and augmenters.

Finally making up the last of this first ‘wave’ was basically the barrier troops. These were the elite soldiers that were all augmenters, many of whom had elemental affinities.

“There will be a gap of about thirty paces where the conjurers will make up the next line along with another line of barrier troops to fall back on,” Varay explained, gesturing to the armored mages donning staves.

It was when we walked past the line of conjurers that I saw some familiar faces. One of which I wasn’t too fond of.

Captain Auddyr, standing tall behind his troops consisting of elite augmenters. The captain that I had met back near the town of Slore when I was deployed on my first mission was wearing a conspicuously extravagant set of armor. The two of us exchanged glances and the only greeting I was shown as a slight bow before he turned back to his troops.

The second familiar face was Madam Astera, the one and only head cook that I had sparred against in that very same mission. Appropriately, however, she was donned in armor and wore two longswords across her back with ease.

Looking closer at her soldiers, I was able to make out a few of them underneath all of their armor as well. The girl that I remember as Nyphia and the bully of a soldier named Herrick, both of whom tried to best me in a duel but failed.

There was a small sense of pleasure that I got from seeing their awestruck faces when our eyes met. Madam Astera, on the other hand, shot me a grin and mouthed the words, ‘looking good’ at me.

I shot Nyphia and Herrick a playful wink, eliciting a blush from one and a visible shrinking of shoulders from the other, before moving on.

We climbed the stone stairs that followed the steep incline of the terrain just east of Etistin Bay.

This was another strategic advantage that our side held. The ascending elevation gave our archers and conjurers, that were able to cast at longer ranges, a field advantage without having to waste time and resources building platforms for them to shoot from. Walls for defense had been made by earth mages, and many of the archers were stringing their bows.

We reached the top of the hill just in time for me to feel the first raindrop on my cheek. It only took a few seconds before a heavy downpour ensued. Sylvie was about to lift up a wing to shield us from the rain, but I stopped her.

We’re all soldiers here. We’ll all fight under the rain together anyway, I said, my eyes focusing on the field of ice. Rain and fog impeded our vision, and the sound of our soldiers still marching towards the shore could be heard amidst heavy thrumming of rain.

“We will stay behind for the first wave. Scryers will have eyes on the field and General Bairon will relay information on the enemy forces for us soon after,” General Varay said beside me. “There are additional forces that are on their way, some of whom are silver-core mages.”

And so, we waited. I could feel the tension building and more than once I could hear a captain peptalking their troops.

‘The wait is more agonizing than I imagined,’ my bond sent, her bright hazel eyes trying to catch a glimpse of anything within the fog above the icefield.

I nodded, barely restraining myself from flying over and breaking hell by myself. During this time, more and more troops arrived. Some were sent to either side of the bay in order to flank, while others remained back as reserve forces.

It felt like hours had passed, all of us standing in the rain with white knuckles gripping our weapons.

Finally the horn rang.

I could see our men stiffen as the deep brassy note told them the enemies had landed.

The second horn rang, and it was then that tense air dissipated followed by the mana-enforced roar of General Varay.

“Charge!”

Chapter 231: Following Orders

The quiet yet palpable tension had dissipated, replaced by the guttural roars of our soldiers and the rumble of the earth as they charged forth with fervor.

Even with all of my knowledge and experience in the battlefield, both in this life and the previous, my heart still quivered in excitement.&nbsp;

Sylvie felt it, and she was in a similar state as well. The rush of adrenaline leaking from her mixed alongside my own barely-contained anticipation as we gazed down at the approaching enemy forces.&nbsp;

We leaned forward, watching expectantly as our forces collided with theirs. Our front line was an organized wave of soldiers with allies ready to back them up and provide cover, but it was different on their side.&nbsp;

At first, it was hard to notice. The mist that had shrouded the battlefield obscured everyone from looking at fine details.&nbsp;

Even the scrys behind us were barely able to give us any news or readings aside from the fact that our enemy troops all wore little to no armor of various colors. &nbsp;

Despite knowing what was happening below, I couldn’t make out the clashes of metal and screams of soldiers from a distance. It was different. During battles on a scale this large, sounds weren’t as distinct. They sort of blended in together in such volume that tremors could be felt all the way up here.&nbsp;

Can you tell what’s going on? I asked Sylvie.&nbsp;

My bond responded by shaking her head.&nbsp;

I turned to Varay. “Maybe we should get rid of the mist, General. I can’t tell what’s going on down there.”&nbsp;

The white-haired ice mage refused. “We know what’s on their side. We have to keep them from knowing what’s on our side. Deviating from the plan at this stage is impossible. Wait for Bairon and the Council’s orders.”&nbsp;

I was irritated but held my tongue. She was right—and more than that, it wasn’t my place to make suggestions like this. I was the one that refused the position because I couldn’t handle the responsibility. Who was I to come here now and do as I please just because I felt uneasy?

Choosing to trust Varay, Bairon, and the Council that were still receiving information realtime, I watched, waiting for my time to come.

Flashes of light followed by a wave of cries and screams soon caught my attention.&nbsp;

It looks like the Alacryans have already sent in their mages, I conveyed to my bond.

It was a little disconcerting that they’d deploy their mages so early on in the battle. However, I remembered what Agrona said about how Alacrya had so many more mages due to experiments that he had performed since generations before.&nbsp;

‘Their mages seem to be spread out inconsistently, though,’ Sylvie pointed out.&nbsp;

She was right. There were areas on the field where flashes of magic were close together or clustered, while in other areas, there would be spells going off several dozens of yards away from one another.&nbsp;

Again, a sense of unease filled me, but I remained quiet, My eyes scanned across the battlefield through the shroud of steam emanating from the icy ground, trying to find any signs of a retainer or scythe.&nbsp;

Suddenly, shadows stretched above me. Looking up, I saw a fleet of mages riding on various winged mounts.&nbsp;

“The aerial fleets are here,” Varay announced as the dozen or so mages sailed overhead and into the battlefield.&nbsp;

There would be three main forces against the Alacryans during this battle. First were the infantry, responsible for making first contact and keeping a constant pressure forward, away from the Etistin Bay. Next were the aerial forces responsible for creating disarray to the Alacryan’s backline by dropping spells on them from above. Finally, there was us, the lances.

The aerial forces lit up the foggy backdrop with their spells. One of them rained down motes of fire on the Alacryans while another utilized the mist itself and formed the water droplets into sharp icicles.&nbsp;

The cries and screams that were so jarring at first were beginning to blend in with the other background noises of battle. Seeing Varay’s gaze as she studied the battlefield intently, I could almost see the burdens of their deaths weighing down on her shoulders.&nbsp;

The battle continued for more than an hour before I finally lost it.&nbsp;

“General Varay. Let me go down there too,” I requested.&nbsp;

“No. It’s too soon,” she replied, still gazing down at the battlefield. “Wait until after the other infantry divisions flank from both sides. That’s when you’ll go down.”

I was itching to go down there, to feel useful. After the recent battles and losses, I needed a win.&nbsp;

‘It’s okay. We’ll have our time to contribute, Arthur,’ Sylvie comforted. ‘Besides, it looks like the tide of battle is in our favor.’&nbsp;

This was true. I had to admit that for how little experience our side had with large-scale battles, we were holding up fairly well. I could make out the vague outlines of formations from where we were standing. With three lines that interchanged positions constantly to give each other a break, our forces were able to maintain their intensity. &nbsp;

Varay turned her piercing gaze to me. “You’ll go in and target only their powerful mages. You will only be in the field for an hour at a time.”&nbsp;

I nodded in understanding. Varay and I were the only white core mages on this side. I couldn’t be too tired in case a retainer or scythe—perhaps both—showed up. That was our most important duty. &nbsp;&nbsp;

“Get ready,” Varay instructed.&nbsp;

I hopped on top of Sylvie’s back, cladding myself in mana.&nbsp;

Another horn trumpeted out in the distance, followed by another one on the other side of the bay.&nbsp;

“Go!” Varay ordered. “And don’t die.”&nbsp;

I thought she was joking, but her severe expression said otherwise. Giving her a stern nod, Sylvie beat her powerful wings, sending gusts of wind below us.&nbsp;

The two of us stayed low, barely hovering over the next line of soldiers charging forward until the ground changed to snow.&nbsp;

Fight in human form and focus on helping our troops. I’ll handle picking off the Alacryan mages, I sent to my bond as I jumped off her back.&nbsp;

‘Got it. I don’t sense any retainers or scythes, but be careful, Arthur. Always be careful,’ she replied before flying off to the side in her human form.&nbsp;

I landed hard on the icy ground, spurring a cloud of frost. Behind me, I could hear the thunder of armored boots as our augmenter troops charged forward into battle.&nbsp;

Ahead, I could already see our first wave of troops trying to withdraw. Much of the white field was covered in blood and corpses and only more would come as the battle progressed.&nbsp;

Withdrawing and imbuing Dawn’s Ballad in pale blue fire, I held my sword aloft for those behind me to see.&nbsp;

“For Dicathen!” I roared, charging forward alongside the line of battle mages clad in armor and mana.&nbsp;

Our strides kicked up more snow, obscuring our field of vision. Perhaps it was a good thing, since I wouldn’t be distracted by the sight of my allies dying in the distance. &nbsp;

On the other side were the Alacryans. Many of them were already bloody and sweaty from the wave before. It was odd seeing some soldiers clustered together while others were off by themselves.&nbsp;

There were no front lines, no division of forces to utilize their specialized magic like I had expected.&nbsp;

Casting aside my worries and doubts, I continued leading the charge with fervor, reinforcing confidence and morale into my comrades by cladding myself in lightning and fire.&nbsp;

The charge forward may have been an awe-inspiring sight, but the the clash was dreadful. I felt it just as much as I heard it.&nbsp;

Metal shrieked and rang while men screamed in pain. The faint hum of magic was always present as both sides took damage from one another.&nbsp;

The carefully formulated line consisting of augmenters quickly digressed into chaos amidst the snowy field. My first opponent fell instantaneously as he had approached, with a single slash from my sword.&nbsp;

The following enemy soldiers fell just as quickly under my attacks, but it wasn’t just me. The division of mages that had charged alongside me swiftly mowed down the average soldiers, a few only getting injured by the occasional lone mage that struck them by surprise.&nbsp;

I felt uneasy once more, but I pushed the feelings aside. Hesitation was useless in a battle like this. With Dawn’s Ballad in one hand and a spell always ready in the other, I left a trail of Alacryan corpses with every unabated step.&nbsp;

The first enemy mage that I found was by himself, surrounded by Dicathen soldiers on the ground. His shoulders were hunched forward and his entire body was terribly thin with a sickly pale tone. His hands were clad in tendrils of lightning.&nbsp;

Our eyes locked, and he peered into me like a starving wolf—desperate and deranged. &nbsp;

I abandoned my curiousness and rushed forward. He was an enemy I needed to kill. The more of them I killed, the more allies I saved.

I swung my free hand, conjuring a blade of ice clad in lightning. With the addition of wind manipulation, the crescent cut through the enemy mage’s torso before he even had a chance to strike me with his lightning whips.&nbsp;

Without batting an eye, I moved on to my next enemy. I tried to focus amidst the chaos of battle, tuning out the cries for help from allies and the high-pitched ring of metal on metal as weapons clashed. It was hard to ignore as enemy weapons cut through the flesh of our soldiers. Stains of pink from snow-mixed blood could be seen more often than white itself, and in some desperate places, the ground had turned into dark crimson.&nbsp;

Severed arms still clutching onto weapons, chopped off legs, and split-open heads littered the battlefield as I ran around, targeting the flashes of magic that appeared in the distance.&nbsp;

Had it not been for my previous life experiences, and the adrenaline coursing through my veins, I would’ve knelt down and retched on more than one occasion.&nbsp;

About an hour had passed, Sylvie and I regrouped and headed back to the camps where Varay waited.&nbsp;

I could feel the grief and horror emanating from my bond, and my state of mind wasn’t any better. The two of us were welcomed into the camps by soldiers applauding and cheering, but it only made it worse. Most of the same soldiers were injured, many unconscious.&nbsp;

I couldn’t help but think that, out of these dozens of soldiers, how many of their missing limbs had I run across out in this battlefield?&nbsp;

Medics ran around carrying supplies while the few emitters available in this particular camp were on the verge of backlash from overusing their mana. But despite all of the activity and noise around us, I felt like I was watching everything through a thick foggy lens.&nbsp;

“Good work,” Varay said, patting me on the back.&nbsp;

I mustered a nod before taking a seat below a tree on the far edge of the camp. Sylvie sat beside me and the two of us silently gathered ourselves.&nbsp;

I wasn’t tired. My mana reserves weren’t drained despite the near fifty mages I had killed in that hour. But my body still felt heavy. It wasn’t like fighting against the beast horde. These soldiers that I had killed were people—people that had families.&nbsp;

Despite my brain screaming at me to not think about this, it was hard not to. The only small consolation I had was that I was just following my orders. It was that small difference that differentiated a soldier from a killer.&nbsp;

I was just following orders.&nbsp;

The day stretched on with the end of the battle nowhere in sight. During this time, more and more of our troops had arrived as support.&nbsp;

Large formations of soldiers stood ready to charge at a notice down below near the shore. The campsites had become more and more packed with injured soldiers who were being patched up and carried away in carriages back to Etistin.

During this time, Sylvie and I had gone down to the battlefield four times and we were getting ready for our fifth run.&nbsp;

“Are you okay, Arthur?” my bond asked, gripping my arm gently.&nbsp;

“I’m hungry but feel nauseous just thinking about food,” I replied quietly. “Let’s get this over with.”&nbsp;

Sylvie nodded. “We’re doing a good thing though. We’ve saved hundreds, if not thousands of allies by taking down those mages.”&nbsp;

“I know, but it’s just… nothing,” I sighed.&nbsp;

Reading my thoughts, she said aloud, “Are you still thinking something is off about them?”&nbsp;

“I do. I tried not to think about it because we’re winning, but it’s still on my mind. I haven’t studied the Alacryans indepthly or anything like that… but this—them,” I said, gesturing out to the field. “They’re not the organized troops that Agrona had created. Not in a way that I had imagined them, at least.”&nbsp;

“Maybe the troops that we’ve fought against before were elites,” Sylvie replied.&nbsp;

“Maybe you’re right,” I sighed.&nbsp;

Maybe I really had overestimated Agrona and the Alacryans. Despite all of the planning that they’d done over the years, the enemies were still trying to invade an entire continent. It’s only normal for us to have this much of an advantage.&nbsp;

That was when I overheard one of the injured soldiers talking.&nbsp;

I whipped around and ran to the legless soldier lying on a table with a medic wrapping new gauze around his injuries.&nbsp;

“What did you say?” I asked, terrifying the man.

“G-G-General! My apologies. I shouldn’t have said something so outrageous like that!” he exclaimed, eyes wide with fear.

“No. I just want to know what you said just now. Something about ‘freed’?”&nbsp;

“I-I just said that I felt a little… bad for them,” he answered, his voice dropping to a whisper. “One of the Alacryans, just before I killed him, begged me not to kill him. He said something about being granted freedom if he lives.”&nbsp;

“They would be granted freedom?” Sylvie echoed, turning to me with an expression of concern. “Do they enslave their soldiers?”&nbsp;

Thoughts accelerated in my head as I processed and connected everything: how untrained the soldiers seemed, how spread apart their specialized mages were, the disunity amongst their troops that made them seem more like they were fighting a free-for-all, and even the lack of uniform and armor that helped them tell each other apart from their enemies.&nbsp;

“They’re not soldiers,” I muttered, looking at Sylvie. “Those are just their prisoners.”&nbsp;

Sylvie’s eyes widened in realization before asking the question that really mattered. “So then, where are their actual soldiers?”&nbsp;

Chapter 232: Tainted Blood

ALDUIN ERALITH

I watched as Merial gently stroked our daughter’s hair, tucking in loose strands behind her ear while she slept soundly. Pale columns of moonlight enveloped the two of them, casting a serene atmosphere inside the quiet room.&nbsp;

How long has it been since we were last together like this? I thought.&nbsp;

Too long to remember. We’d spent the better half of the night talking, like a real family, until Tessia finally fell asleep.&nbsp;

She had grown so big, so beautifully. She was the spitting image of her mother, yet she had my stubbornness. And hearing her talk—hearing her really talk—about how she was doing and what her plans were for the future… it was what I needed.&nbsp;

It reaffirmed my decision.&nbsp;

I made my way towards the door, taking one last look at my two girls. Merial looked up at me, giving me a determined gaze. Her eyes were lined with tears and her flushed cheeks could be seen even in this dimly-lit room. She was gently holding Tessia’s hand as she gave me a nod.&nbsp;

Nodding back with a hardened expression, I stepped outside the room. I’d been in the Castle for several years now, but never before had it felt so large and barren. The sconces lighting up the hallway flickered wildly as I passed, almost like they knew and were rebuking me.&nbsp;

I only made it a few steps before I relented under the pressure weighing down on me. I leaned back against the wall for support as the tension grew in me, spreading through my face and limbs like a wildfire. The wave of panic didn’t stop there—it merely came in erratic pulses, driving me mad as my mind imagined the consequences of what I was about to do.&nbsp;

My breath came in stuttered gasps and my heart hammered so fiercely against my chest that I feared my ribs would crack. The empty corridors tottered and spun with every little movement I made, rendering me to the floor. I buried my face in my knees, clutching at my hair with trembling hands as I thought back to the words spoken to me last night.&nbsp;

It was Arthur’s bond in her human form.&nbsp;

Her demeanor was casual yet refined as she approached me.&nbsp;

“What is it now?” I snarled, taking an involuntary step back. I knew exactly who it was. It was obvious just by the way she carried herself and the expression on her face that it wasn’t actually Arthur’s bond—it was Agrona.&nbsp;

“How very curt of you, King Alduin,” she, or rather, he, replied. “I thought we were closer than that.”&nbsp;

“Close? I did what you asked, but my daughter still almost died out there on the field! If it wasn’t for General Aya—”&nbsp;

“If my soldiers purposely avoided her like some sort of plague, your daughter wouldn’t be merely bruised by her own inadequacy,” he interrupted, expressionless. “She’d be suspicious, and that isn’t something you want.”&nbsp;

I grit my teeth in frustration. “Why are you here? I’ve done what you’ve asked. I smuggled in your men so that they could kill our prisoners.”&nbsp;

“I’ve come for a different matter, King Alduin,” he said. It frustrated me more than anything else how relaxed he was. “Currently, our sides are engaged on the western shore. For you—for your people—that means you’ve abandoned your kingdom.” &nbsp;&nbsp;

The emotional side of me wanted to lash out at him. How dare he come in here and talk as if he had nothing to do with it, but years as a political figure had trained me to keep silent and mask my expression.&nbsp;

“I wanted to hear from you,” he continued without missing a beat. “Where does your loyalty lie?”&nbsp;

“What do you mean? Letting you kill prisoners that have no use is one matter, but if you’re suggesting even the remote possibility that I betray my people—”

“Not ‘betray your people.’ You already did that,” he cut in. “I’m asking if your loyalty lies with all of Dicathen, from the barren deserts of the Darv all the way to the outskirts of Sapin—whose men capture and sell your people as slaves even today, or your kingdom.”&nbsp;

I didn’t answer. And that moment of hesitation was all he needed to know—that I could be wavered.&nbsp;

“I will cease the attacks on all of your elven territory. As long as they do not attack any Alacryans, your people will be guaranteed safety along with you, your wife, and your troubled child.”&nbsp;

Our eyes remained locked as he waited for my answer.&nbsp;

“What do you want?” I finally asked.&nbsp;

“Similar to last time, I need you to grant a few of my men access into the Castle as well as Xyrus City.”&nbsp;

After staring blankly for a moment, I laughed. I laughed at an asura that was capable of potentially wiping away my existence with a flick of his finger.&nbsp;

But Agrona remained calm. He let me laugh and ridicule the very idea until my office was silent.&nbsp;

Suddenly, he snapped his fingers as if he just remembered something. “I forgot you always need that little extra push, King Alduin. How about this, then. Your daughter will die if you don’t. Not only will she die, she’ll also most likely kill quite a few people around her in the process.”&nbsp;

“W-What?”&nbsp;

Agrona tapped his sternum. “You know those corrupted beasts that has caused so many problems for you? Well, just like them, your daughter’s core is also poisoned.”&nbsp;

Anger flared up inside and I grabbed Agrona by the collar. “What did you do to her?”&nbsp;

He laughed jarringly in the body of Arthur’s bond. “I didn’t do anything. Ironic as it is, you can blame your daughter’s boyfriend for this.”&nbsp;

It took me a moment to realize what he meant. It was the beast will of the elderwood beast. The S class beast that my daughter had assimilated with.&nbsp;

My hands lost strength and I released Agrona before falling back onto my chair.&nbsp;

“I’d give you a demonstration, but that might put a little hiccup to our little plan. Besides, I think you know by now that I don’t lie.”

I shook my head, trying to force the memories out of my head before continuing forward.&nbsp;

I stopped in front of another room on the same floor. It was the room that was currently occupied by Arthur’s mother and sister. A mixture of emotions rose in me as I stared at the closed door. I felt bad for them, I really did. The whole Leywin family served by helping the Wall against the beast horde. What happened to Arthur’s father was truly unfortunate, and I pushed adamantly for Trodius Flamesworth’s imprisonment for his actions.&nbsp;

However, I couldn’t help but still blame the young lance. All of these years, I had thought that meeting Arthur and being able to have close relations with him through my father and my daughter was a blessing. He was both a genius intellectually and in magical prowess, on a level that couldn’t be measured. On top of that, he had a bond with an asura—an actual deity.&nbsp;

Yet, if it wasn’t for Arthur—if he hadn’t given Tessia that core…&nbsp;

I rubbed my temples, letting out a sigh while continuing forward. There was no point in regretting now.&nbsp;

My steps grew heavier the closer I got to the teleportation room. As if my boots were made of lead, I found myself stopping often. I looked back over my shoulders every few steps, guilt and fear dragging me down.&nbsp;

The usual soldiers that stood guard on either side of the gate were absent as planned. It wasn’t hard to do since the gate was shut off for security purposes soon after the lances in the castle were all sent to Etistin.&nbsp;

Exerting mana throughout my body, I heaved open the thick iron doors. Taking one last look around in case anyone was nearby, I closed the doors behind me.&nbsp;

The circular room appeared a lot larger now that it had been emptied, with the only real feature being a podium that held the control dock and an ancient stone arc riddled with runes that were incomprehensible even to this day.&nbsp;

Without wasting any more time, I stepped onto the podium. My hands trembled as I raised them over the control panel, and for another second, I hesitated. What I did now would change the entire course of this war, but for me, there was no other choice but this.&nbsp;

Shutting my eyes, I pushed down on the panel. Immediately, I felt mana being sucked out of me, but I held firm until the runes began glowing.&nbsp;

A pristine golden hue emanated out of the mysterious carvings before a multi-colored light enveloped the inside of the arc to form the portal. The once quiet room was filled with a deep hum as the ancient relic came to life.&nbsp;

Minutes passed as I stood, waiting for someone to arrive.&nbsp;

“Where is he!” I whispered, running a trembling hand through my hair as I paced back and forth within the room.&nbsp;

I continued cursing under my breath, doing anything to keep myself from thinking. I couldn’t think. If I did, I would only doubt myself even more.

No. I’m doing the right thing. For once, I’m doing what’s in the best interest of my people—my people. Agrona wasn’t wrong; humans had been capturing both elves and dwarves for centuries. I had almost lost my own daughter to them. It didn’t matter if Agrona won the war—it might even be better if he did!&nbsp;

I shook my head. No. No. Agrona was still a demon, I can’t forget that. &nbsp;

But the humans had always had the upper hand. With my father taking the helm of leadership during this war, I thought that would’ve changed, but it hadn’t. In fact, my father was the one who had abandoned Elenoir in favor of the human kingdom.&nbsp;

I would be the one to save it. With my actions now, I would keep my people safe.

Looking down at my hands, I noticed that they were still trembling. Was I just lying to myself? Was I just trying to justify what I was about to do?&nbsp;

It didn’t matter. At the very least, I needed to save Tessia. What kind of father would I be if I couldn’t keep my only daughter safe?&nbsp;

Again, rage bubbled inside as I realized how my emotions have been toyed with by Agrona’s words. He was right; Tessia was that final push I needed.

A deep thrum snapped my attention towards the teleportation gate. They’re here! &nbsp;

Within the multi-colored glow of the gate, a silhouette slowly came into view, focusing until an actual figure stepped through and arrived inside the circular room.&nbsp;

“Are you the elf called Alduin?” the man spook in a deep booming voice as two scarlet eyes peered down at me. Intimidating as they were, his eyes were almost pleasant compared to the two serrated horns casting a menacing shine. &nbsp;

I straightened myself, trying to appear as tall as I could in front of this seven-foot giant that was twice my width at the shoulders. “Yes.”&nbsp;

He held up a glass vial filled with a murky green liquid.&nbsp;

Even without him saying, I knew exactly what it was. I stepped forward and made a grab for it, but stopped short when a smokey black flame erupted from him.&nbsp;

I reeled back in fright before anger set in. “That’s mine! Agrona and I had—”&nbsp;

His hand a blur, I found it closed around my neck. His grip became tighter and tighter, severing my breath as he lifted me off the ground. “Lord Agrona has shown mercy by lowering himself to communicate with a lesser like you.”

My body fought back instinctively. Mana circled my body and into my hands as I tried to pry open his grip, but I couldn’t focus as my consciousness faded.&nbsp;

Dark spots splashed across my blurring vision when he finally let go. Immediately, my body buckled forward as I heaved what little food I had consumed this morning.&nbsp;

“This Commander Virion of yours does not suspect anything, correct?”

I quickly nodded my head. “I told everyone that I’d be in charge of leading the evacuation of Elenoir.”&nbsp;

“Then bring your blood to this room and exit through this portal,” he stated. “I will have left the vial here by the time you return.”&nbsp;

“M-My blood?”&nbsp;

“What your people call ‘family’,” he said impatiently. “Also, bring Arthur Leywin’s mother and sister along with you.”&nbsp;

I stood up. “What? Why?”&nbsp;

His sharp gaze was all that was needed to drive home his point—that this wasn’t a negotiation.

“Okay,” I breathed, turning to leave. I pushed open the doors slightly, once more before taking a weary glance back at what could only be a retainer or even a scythe.

I had brought a demon into the very home of this continent’s leaders. Prying my eyes away from his looming figure, I stepped out of the teleportation room. “I’m sorry, Father.”&nbsp;

Chapter 233: Treason

ARTHUR LEYWIN

“We have our orders here, Lance Arthur,” Varay stated with an icy glare. “We are to continue engaging against the Alacryan troops.”&nbsp;

I gnashed my teeth in frustration. “General Varay, even you’ve noticed by now that the enemies we’re fighting against aren’t the Alacryan’s main force. They’re disorganized, desperate, and a lot of them are even malnourished and downright ill!”&nbsp;

Varay stood firm, masking her emotions. “Are you forgetting that we are soldiers? It’s not up to us to decide what we do with this information. I’ve already sent an update to General Bairon and the Council. We will act according to their orders, but for now we will continue to do as we are told.”&nbsp;

“Then let me and my bond go back to Etistin—no, the Castle. I’ll talk to Commander Virion and come up with a—”&nbsp;

“Wasn’t the whole reason you’re out here because you didn’t want these responsibilities?” the general cut me off. “You wanted to be a soldier because you didn’t want to carry the burden of making decisions.”

My mouth opened, but no sound came out. She was right. I was the one that chose to be here, to fight mindlessly and not have the weight of other people’s lives in my hands.&nbsp;

With my neck tense and jaws clenched, I gave General Varay a stiff bow before turning to walk away.&nbsp;

My thoughts wandered until I found myself back to the isolated area where I had set up camp. There, I spotted Sylvie replenishing her mana. She peeked open an eye, sensing I was near. “How did it go?”

“Nothing’s changed,” I grumbled, sitting down on a large rock next to her. “We’ll continue fighting them.”&nbsp;

“Well, prisoners or not, we still can’t let them advance,” Sylvie said with wave of empathy.&nbsp;

“But this”—I gestured to the thousands upon thousands of soldiers below, resting, and the thousands more out in the field, fighting—“is overkill. We have way more troops than necessary if all we’re up against are a horde of uncoordinated and desperate prisoners.”&nbsp;

“True,” Sylvie agreed. She got up, and stretched her human limbs before shooting me a glance. “So. What are we waiting for, then?”&nbsp;

I raised a brow. “What?”&nbsp;

“Please, Arthur. I could read your thoughts even without our link.” She rolled her eyes. “I know you’ve already decided to leave.”&nbsp;

Again, I found myself with an open mouth but with no words spilling out of them. Shaking my head, I gave my bond a smile and tousled her wheat-colored hair. “Then don’t say I didn’t warn you. We’re technically committing treason by disobeying orders and leaving during a battle.”&nbsp;

Sylvie’s body began glowing until her form shifted into that of a towering black dragon. “Meh. This isn’t the first time we’re committing treason, and it probably won’t be the last.”&nbsp;

“I raised you so well,” I chuckled, hopping onto my bond, my spirits lifted. I had lost a lot, but I still had those I dearly cherished.&nbsp;

We shot up into the sky, clearing the hills that stretched out from the Etistin Bay.&nbsp;

‘Did you want to stop by Etistin City before making our way to the castle?’ Sylvie asked.&nbsp;

There’s no point. Bairon isn’t the type to listen—especially to me—and the Castle severed all links to the other teleportation gates. The only way to get inside is by flying directly there, so we don’t have any time to lose.&nbsp;

I had almost expected General Varay to come after us, but after the first thirty minutes had passed, I knew we were in the clear. In the meantime, I nodded on and off, struggling to stay awake as the peaceful and quiet journey continued.&nbsp;

Scenes of my previous life began resurfacing like a vivid dream. Emotions that I had felt back then surfaced alongside the old memories.&nbsp;

I remembered the feelings of confusion I had towards Lady Vera when I heard her talking about the rigged matches to that man in the uniform. A part of me had been angry at her for not trusting that I’d be able to win the matches by my own strength.

Even as I had continued competing in the matches where my opponents withdrew immediately, I never confronted Lady Vera or asked any questions. Who was I to question my mentor’s decisions? She had practically given me a new life, training me to the extent where not only could I make up for my impaired ki center, I had the opportunity to become king.&nbsp;

While my pride had been hurt that Lady Vera hadn’t trusted in my abilities enough to let me fight squarely, I had accepted the hollow victories until the day of the final rounds. I, along with every other contestant that had won their state’s tournament, had traveled all the way to the capital of our country, Etharia, for the chance to become the next king.&nbsp;

There was no consistent schedule for when the King’s Crown competition would be held, though. It was purely at the discretion of the Council, who would come to a vote when they thought the current king wasn’t performing to their expectations. Some frequent reasons may be when the reigning king lost a Paragon Duel against another country, incurred a debilitating injury, of if he or she was simply getting too old.&nbsp;

Our current king had lost an arm from the last Paragon Duel, which incited the current King’s Crown competition. The victor would gain the opportunity to fight the current king, and if the challenger won, he or she would become the next king. If the king won, he would remain in his position until the winner of the next King’s Crown would challenge him. It was a vicious cycle that the Council would put a king through if they deemed him unfit.&nbsp;

Memories of Lady Vera and the group of trainers and doctors responsible for keeping me in top condition for the duration of this tournament flashed in my mind. I remembered all of us pushing through the crowds of spectators as everyone tried to make their way into the stadium. Once we had arrived at our assigned waiting area, I could feel the difference in atmosphere.&nbsp;

I vividly remembered the palpable tension in our waiting area as some contestants stretched or warmed up while others meditated their ki centers. The lingering pressure in the room had stemmed from the fact that, during the last stage of the King’s Crown, it was legal for contestants to deal lethal blows to their opponents.&nbsp;

All of the contestants, including myself, had known that they could die today. Lady Vera and the other trainers had done their best to keep me from thinking about that, keeping me focused through various exercises.&nbsp;

I still remembered all of the contestants I had fought against, both young and old, small and large, every fighter at the top of their class. Most importantly to me, none of them had been bribed by Lady Vera to forfeit the match.&nbsp;

I remembered trying to convince myself how great Lady Vera was. I had reasoned that she had purposely cleared the road of obstacles for me not because she didn’t trust in my abilities, but because she wanted me to be at my best for the final rounds.

If only I had known then, what that day would entail. I still thought to this day, what I would’ve done differently if I had gone back to the past on that very day, if I had known the truth about Lady Vera.&nbsp;

‘Arthur!’ Sylvie’s voice pierced through my head, snapping me awake, just moments before she jerked her body to dodge a giant arc of lightning. Another arc of lightning soon shot at us from below, piercing through the clouds.

By this time, both Sylvie and I knew who was responsible for this.&nbsp;

“Bairon!” I roared, amplifying my voice with mana as I jumped off of Sylvie. “What is the meaning of this?”&nbsp;

A figure rose from the layer of clouds below us, along with several soldiers mounted on giant armored birds.&nbsp;

“You disobey direct orders and run away from battle, then ask the meaning of what I’m doing?” Bairon boomed, his voice emanating mana as well. “While my orders remain verbal, I advise you to return to your post, Arthur.”&nbsp;

“Verbal?” It was Sylvie that replied, her husky voice laced with anger in her draconic form. “You fire spells capable of destroying buildings at a lance and an asura?”&nbsp;

There was a moment of hesitation before Bairon answered. “We are at war, and your human bond has chosen to take orders rather than give them. I’m merely enforcing my duty to my subordinates.”&nbsp;

“Enough!” I snapped. “You’ve received the updates from General Varay as well. The enemy forces that we’re engaged with at the bay are all prisoners of Alacrya. We need to reorganize our troops and scout for the enemy’s main force before—”&nbsp;

“Those decisions are up to me and the Council to make,” Bairon interrupted, drawing in closer with his soldiers surrounding him. “You were the one that forfeited the burden of responsibility.”&nbsp;

I gritted my teeth, frustrated more at myself than at Bairon for all of this. It was true that I was the one to run away. Even now, I would hesitate to take a position of leadership, but I couldn’t just stand by while I watched as we played right into Agrona’s hand.&nbsp;

“Please stand aside. Don’t waste your energy on this and let us go to the Castle. I’ll get Commander Virion’s approval as soon as I arrive if that’s what you want,” I said, calming myself. “Let’s go, Sylv.”&nbsp;

The mounted soldiers fanned out, preparing their spells as Bairon floated, aiming a lightning-clad hand directly at us.&nbsp;

“I assure you that this one won’t miss, General Arthur. This is the last warning to get back to your post.”&nbsp;

“What is with you and your brother always resorting to violence?” I spat out, annoyed.&nbsp;

With a rage-filled roar, Bairon charged, his entire body engulfed in lightning.&nbsp;

Bringing up Lucas might not have been the smartest choice, but it was too obvious that this show of power had less to do with me leaving my post, and more to do with proving he was superior to me.&nbsp;

Cladding myself in mana as well, I utilized the moisture from the clouds below and conjured an arsenal of ice lances.&nbsp;

Sylvie unleashed a beam of pure mana from her maw directly at Bairon while I launched the ice-spears at the mounted soldiers.&nbsp;

The formation broke easily as Bairon’s soldiers swerved to avoid my spell. Bairon himself had to stop to defend against the wide cone of pure energy, giving us the brief window we were looking for.&nbsp;

Sylvie. Let’s go! I sent to my bond. I grabbed ahold of her leg as she flew past me and in a mere second, we flew past Bairon and his soldiers.&nbsp;

Just when I thought we would get away, Bairon launched his cape at us. It was a magic artifact, no doubt, because the cape soon dispersed into a large net composed of metal wires which he was able to control with his lightning.&nbsp;

Human form, now! I ordered.

My bond’s body shrunk to that of a little girl just as the net encompassed us.

Sylvie immediately formed a barrier of mana around us, but that gave the other soldiers enough time to regroup.&nbsp;

It was growing more and more frustrating trying to deal with them without actually hurting them.&nbsp;

‘Are we allowed to hurt them, yet?’ Sylvie asked impatiently while keeping the lightning net from closing in on us.&nbsp;

The mounted soldiers released their spells as well, and their combined power was enough to put cracks in my bond’s mana barrier.

I nodded. Just don’t kill them.&nbsp;

Sylvie responded by conjuring dozens of mana arrows outside of her barrier and launching them at the soldiers while I manipulated the clouds below us.&nbsp;

With a wave an arm, I withdrew Dawn’s Ballad and sliced through the lightning-charged metal net. With Bairon distracted by the mana arrows, his artifact didn’t stand a chance, and the two of us were free.&nbsp;

As Sylvie toyed with the soldiers by launching a never-ending assault of mana arrows at them, I conjured a little present for Bairon himself.&nbsp;

Fashioning a compressed sphere of wind in my hand, I combined it with fire and lightning, creating a swirling blue fireball the size of Sylvie in her dragon form that crackled with trails of electricity.&nbsp;

Bairon retracted his net and was already preparing to defend against my attack when an unusual glitter of light in the distance attracted my attention.&nbsp;

Everyone stopped what they were doing as we stared at the source of the red and black blaze miles away. We looked at one another in search of someone who knew what was going on, until a wave of shock and realization leaked onto me from my bond.&nbsp;

I turned to Sylvie to see her eyes wide in horror. She turned to me and spoke aloud for everyone to hear. “That’s… the Castle.”&nbsp;

Chapter 234: Remembrance

“Seth, report back to General Varay. She’ll be in charge of the battle,” Bairon ordered, gesturing the soldier away.&nbsp;

He turned to me and we locked gazes for a second before he nodded, saying to me, “The rest of us will head straight to the Castle.”

I nodded back and Sylvie transformed back into her dragon form before we immediately took off.&nbsp;

Taking deep breaths, I tried to remain level-headed. Trusting that Elder Hester, Elder Buhnd, and Virion were enough to deal with whoever had intruded.&nbsp;

Those black and red flames billowing in the distance were an ominous sign that it was what I had feared—either a retainer or even a scythe. I steered my mind clear of the ‘what ifs’ by thinking up of a strategy upon entering. I tried not to think about my mom and sister, as well as Tess, who were supposed to be safe there.&nbsp;

‘It’ll be okay,’ Sylvie conveyed to me, but even she couldn’t keep her worry from leaking onto me.&nbsp;

I didn’t respond, and instead, manipulated the wind around us, lessening the air resistance pulling Sylvie back. Whatever I needed to do to get us there even a second faster.&nbsp;

I continued manipulating the wind, cycling mana through my body as well, preparing for battle as soon as possible. Taking a peek back, I could see Bairon and the other mounted soldiers slowly trailing behind, but we didn’t slow down.&nbsp;

Please, everyone, be okay, I prayed, until the Castle was almost upon us.&nbsp;

The barrier protecting the flying fortress from the sky had been destroyed, allowing the raging winds to fan the dark flames.&nbsp;

Sylvie easily blasted a hole in the closed loading dock and we landed inside. Thankfully, the layer of mana I had enveloped myself in kept the harmful smoke from entering my lungs. Still, there was a thick blanket of black all throughout the loading dock.

“Let’s go,” I said to Sylvie, who had turned back to her human form.&nbsp;

Taking no chances, I ignited the dragon will inside me. Under Realmheart, my vision became monochrome, highlighting the ambient mana around me. With my enhanced vision and unparalleled mana acuity, it would be impossible for any enemies to sneak up on us even under the heavy smoke and fierce winds shrieking through the openings of the damaged castle.&nbsp;

We spread out about five yards apart, our teamwork seamless through our bond, as we searched collapsed rooms and dark hallways of the lower floors.

We inched through the fractured floors, sidestepping any debris that had been either dislodged from the walls or fallen from the ceiling.&nbsp;

Crashes echoed from above and even around us while the howling winds filling in the gaps of silence made it almost impossible to find any sign of live battle that we could assist in. The only thing we could do was search the premise carefully, taking it a step at a time.&nbsp;

‘Over here,’ my bond conveyed from an adjacent room.&nbsp;

Inside, I could see Sylvie on the ground, hunched over what seemed to be a person partly buried underneath a mountain of rubble. My chest immediately clenched and a wave of panic rose from my stomach until Sylvie reassured me that it wasn’t anyone we knew.&nbsp;

By the fine garment interwoven through thin layers of chain-mail on the corpse’s body, along with the wand just a few feet away, it was easy to deduce that this unfortunate victim was one of the few guards left here.&nbsp;

I rubbed the bridge of my nose, embarrassed and frustrated at how fragile I was, mentally. After taking a moment to compose myself, I inspected the corpse. Through Realmheart, I was able to tell that the fallen mage had died by fire.&nbsp;

With a flick of a wrist, I blew the rubble away to get a closer look at the corpse.&nbsp;

“What the…” I muttered, lifting his clothes.&nbsp;

‘What is it?’&nbsp;

I continued searching but couldn’t find anything. “There aren’t any burn marks.”&nbsp;

“He died from fire?” she said aloud, surprised.&nbsp;

Hearing another crash in the distance, I got up. “Come on, let’s keep moving.”&nbsp;

The two of us continued down the hall, scouring every room in the lower floors, searching for anyone that might still be alive. All we had found were corpses, all burned to death with no apparent wounds to show for it.&nbsp;

‘I don’t understand. Perhaps it’s a fire that burns from the inside?’ Sylvie suggested.&nbsp;

It doesn’t matter at this point. All we need to know is that our opponent uses a fire that doesn’t actually burn the victims physically, I sent back, lifting a fallen wall in search of anyone that I might know.&nbsp;

With the stairs nearly unusable from the destruction, the two of us climbed the levels of the Castle through the various holes in the ceilings. Even with my Realmheart Physique able to spot nearly anything that normal eyes would miss, we were tense. Every corpse we came across, my chest squeezed in angst until we were able to verify it wasn’t anyone we knew.&nbsp;

After searching for several floors, Sylvie and I came across signs of a large battle. Intricate spears of stone jutted from the floor and walls while earthen golems lay scattered on the ground like petrified knights.&nbsp;

‘This…’&nbsp;

Yeah, I know, I interrupted, signalling for her to keep close.&nbsp;

Because of the mana coalesced into the rock spears and conjured soldiers, it took a while to finally find the source responsible for all of this.&nbsp;

I knelt down in front of the elderly dwarf, trying to find a pulse when he suddenly coughed.&nbsp;

“Elder Buhnd!” I exclaimed. I fashioned the ground beneath him into a chair, sitting him up so he didn’t choke on his own blood.&nbsp;

I turned to my bond. “Sylv!”&nbsp;

“On it.” My bond hunched down, laying her hands on my mentor’s chest. A soft light emitted from her palms, absorbing through the dwarf’s clothes and skin.&nbsp;

After ten painstaking minutes of life aether being transmitted into Elder Buhnd, we finally got another reaction.&nbsp;

“Elder Buhnd—hey, come on, stay with me,” I roused, patting his cheek as the dwarf furrowed his brows.&nbsp;

“Arth…ur?” His eyes opened but shut back after a few seconds.&nbsp;

“Yes! It’s Arthur. What happened? Who did this to you?”&nbsp;

He let out a pained groan. “You gotta… get out of here, kid.”&nbsp;

“Don’t spout heroic crap like that, Buhnd!” I snapped impatiently. “Tell me the situation. I need to know what we’re going up against.”&nbsp;

Buhnd, tugged on my mantle, pulling me close. “Listen. The Castle, the Council—it’s finished. If you want to do something for Dicathen, you do so by staying alive.”&nbsp;

“Okay, okay. I’ll be careful, but to do that, I need to know what happened. Was it a retainer? A scythe? What sort of magic was used to put you in this state?”&nbsp;

Feeling the strength in Buhnd’s hand loosening, I turned to my bond. “Sylvie, what’s happening? Why isn’t he getting better?”&nbsp;

Sylvie’s arms trembled as beads of sweat dripped down from her face. “I-I don’t know, but I can’t keep this up.”&nbsp;

I took a step back, inspecting the injured dwarf. Like all of the other corpses we had passed, his body was riddled with motes of red. The wisps of purple that had been emitted into his body by Sylvie were currently combating whatever fire spell that was eating away at his life, but the aether wasn’t healing him. No, it was keeping the spell under control, but the fire spell looked like cancer cells, multiplying and spreading fast.&nbsp;

Unable to hold in my frustration, I let out a guttural scream while smashing a stone spike that Buhnd had conjured. Kneeling back down in front of the dying dwarf, I grabbed his hand.&nbsp;

Once Sylvie stopped her healing magic, Buhnd would start dying again, and my bond knew that as well.&nbsp;

Buhnd put his large hand over mine, squeezing it gently. “I-It’s okay.”

Prying open his eyes once more as if it took every ounce of strength to do so, Buhnd turned his gaze to Sylvie. “Little Asura, can you keep this up for just another minute? I think that’ll be enough to tell you what you need to know.”

My bond nodded, her brows furrowed in concentration.

Ignoring the tears rolling down my cheeks, I pressed my forehead against Elder Buhnd’s forehead. “May you be at peace wherever you are.”&nbsp;

In this life and my previous one, the concept of religion had always eluded me. But as more of my loved ones died, whether that be Adam, my father, or Elder Buhnd, I found myself wishing that I was wrong; that there truly was an all-powerful god and an afterlife where everyone I knew would be at peace, waiting for the rest of us. At the very least, I hoped that they would meet a similar fate as me, reincarnated into a different world to live a new life. If that was the case, I hoped that they would be spared the memories of their past life.&nbsp;

“I’m sorry, Arthur,” my bond whispered, putting a hand on my back.&nbsp;

I shook my head. “It’s not your fault.”

After spending a few minutes conjuring an earthen tomb worthy of an individual such as Elder Buhndemog Lonuid, the two of us moved on.&nbsp;

My dwarven mentor had told me what little he knew about the opponent’s power—the opponent being an actual scythe. Apparently, he wielded a smokey black fire that corrupted whatever it came in contact with. It seemed like another deviant like the black metal spikes that Uto was able to conjure or the black poison that the witch was able to use.&nbsp;

Whether a good thing or not, Elder Hester and Kathyln had left for the Wall before the scythe had infiltrated the Castle, but Alduin and Merial Eralith, along with Tessia and my family, were nowhere to be found when all of this had happened.

It was somewhat of a relief that they weren’t here, but another part of me was even more anxious. Questions rose in my head—if they did escape, where did they go? How did they know that they would be attacked? Or was their timely disappearance just a coincidence?

‘I know it’s hard, but you shouldn’t think about all of that right now,’ my bond sent, conveying her worry. ‘Take this one step at a time. We’ll get through this together, Arthur.’&nbsp;

I gave her a terse nod. I didn’t thank her—I didn’t need to. I was grateful that she was with me throughout everything that I had gone through. I couldn’t even imagine where I would be if I didn’t have her, and she knew that.&nbsp;

The idea of someone knowing almost every thought and emotion that crossed my mind would’ve been disconcerting to me if I didn’t realize how grateful for it I was. Maybe it was just because it was Sylvie, and not someone else, but I was thankful for the link that I had with her.&nbsp;

‘Arthur!’ my bond called out.

Yeah, I know. I saw the mana fluctuation in the near distance. Even without Realmheart, it’d be impossible not to sense the powerful auras clashing.&nbsp;

Bairon’s currently engaging with the scythe, I deduced, seeing that the deviant magic was most present in the atmosphere.&nbsp;

‘What should we do?’&nbsp;

I’m going in. Stay behind and cover me with mana shields.&nbsp;

After receiving the ‘okay’ from my bond, I withdrew Dawn’s Ballad from my dimension ring and coalesced mana through my limbs. I could feel the warmth as the runes running down my arms, legs, and back shined a golden hue. Strength filled every fiber of my body as I dug my heel into the floor.

I knew that using Burst Step would strain my body, but with my experience fighting against Agrona’s personal soldiers, I knew that I had to end it fast if I wanted any chance at winning.&nbsp;

‘Okay. Go!’ Sylvie signalled, layering mana around my body.

I willed the mana to flow down my legs, timed to the millisecond to maximize the burst of strength that I’d receive.&nbsp;

The world blurred before me with that single, mana-enhanced step, as my eyes and brain struggled to collect, translate, and sort the influx of images. If it wasn’t for my reflexes heightened through the usage of internal lightning magic, I would be more likely to kill myself by running into a wall than actually hurt my enemy.&nbsp;

Ignoring the searing pain that ate away at my lower body, I dashed forth, honing in on the towering scythe.&nbsp;

It took me all I could to stop myself short.&nbsp;

The jagged tip of my teal sword stood inches away from the scythe’s throat. I could’ve killed him. I was so close, but I couldn’t.&nbsp;

I stared at the scythe, a flurry of emotions emerging as he looked down at me with an amused expression and spoke.

“You’ve grown.”

I heard Bairon’s voice scream at me from behind but my ears weren’t able to register what he was saying over the blood pounding in my ears.

I tightened my grip around Dawn’s Ballad, unable to pry my eyes away from the piercing red glare of the scythe standing in front of me.&nbsp;

From the two serrated horns curled underneath his ears, the same bloody cape that mirrored his bright red eyes, it was unmistakable. It was him.

It was the same scythe that had killed Sylvia.&nbsp;

Chapter 235: Wavering Pillar

In my mind flashed scenes over ten years old, when I had first met Sylvia. The few months we’d spent together had formed a bond between us that wouldn’t usually be possible in that short period of time.&nbsp;

Perhaps it was because it hadn’t been that long since I had first come to this world, but to a grown man born into the body of an infant, Sylvia had become my solace. In front of her, I could truly act like myself, and to her—even combining my age from both lives—I was still just a child to her.&nbsp;

To this day, one of my biggest regrets was leaving Sylvia. I was young and weak then, but I still thought about it—what would’ve happened if I had stayed. Would Sylvia be alive today? Would she still be with me now?

At first, I wanted nothing more than to get revenge for her. The message she had imparted onto me about enjoying this life did little to dampen the rage I felt towards the ones who were responsible for all of this. However, as more and more time passed, the thirst for vengeance had slowly quelled.&nbsp;

I had lied to myself in the beginning, thinking I could do nothing about it because I was too weak. So I trained, and trained. I went to school to train and learn, and I even went to Epheotus to learn amongst the asuras. However, being face to face with the one responsible for all of this that very night when Sylvia pushed me through that portal, I felt a stronger sense of guilt than anger.&nbsp;

I was more angry at myself, for how little I thought about Sylvia these days, than I was angry at the scythe in front of me now—the one responsible for Sylvia’s death.&nbsp;

“It’s you,” I seethed, doing everything I could to keep my hands steady. “That night! You were the one that…”&nbsp;

The next words froze in my mouth as I looked behind the scythe against the far wall. It was then that I realized in my spurt of anger, I didn’t even see Virion—deathly pale and sprawled over a pile of rubble—and Bairon, who was flitting in and out of consciousness beside him. &nbsp;

“They’re alive, for now,” the scythe spoke.

I took another step forward, pressing Dawn’s Ballad closer against the scythe’s pale gray throat. An aura of frost surrounded my blade along with compressed gales of wind and electricity as I fed more and more of my mana into my spell.&nbsp;

The scythe remained unfazed as the elemental auras radiated from my weapon just below his sharp jaw, instead, studying me with interest. “It’s impressive to see you wielding mana to such a proficient degree, even if it was due to Lady Syl—”&nbsp;

He shifted slightly, dodging the elemental energy released from my blade with inhuman speed and precision. The castle rumbled once more in protest as its mana-reinforced walls cracked and splintered.

“Don’t you dare say her name,” I growled, preparing to strike again.&nbsp;

Tendrils of mana coiled around me, their intensity mirroring my emotions. The ground underneath me crumbled from the pressure as I swung once more. A teal arc flashed as I swung at breakneck speed.

My opponent stood still though, letting my blade slice right through him—or so I thought.&nbsp;

The gash that my sword had made through his neck smoldered in flames before closing the wound as if it didn’t exist.

Through Realmheart, I was able to tell that he was able to manipulate his black flames to such a high degree that he could become almost intangible.&nbsp;

‘Arthur!’ Sylvie called out through our telepathic link, just arriving.&nbsp;

Sylv! Help Virion! I ordered, my gaze shifting back and forth between Tessia’s grandfather and the scythe just a few feet in front of me.&nbsp;

‘What about you? You can’t beat him alone!’ she replied.&nbsp;

He’s going to die if you leave him like that! I sent, continuing to attack him using not just my sword but every element I had in my arsenal. I launched blades of wind, arcs of lightning, blasts of blue flames, but none of them did anything.&nbsp;

Thankfully, my bond heeded my words. After a moment of hesitation, she ran towards Virion and Bairon.

I did my part as well, at least stalling for time while my bond healed the two of them. I weaved both the ambient and my own mana around my hand to ignite an icy white flame. With the power and control I had gained from my white core, I unleashed the spell, freezing the scythe and everything else within thirty feet.

The seven-foot-tall scythe, clad in gleaming black armor, stood encased in an ice tomb. His pose, even frozen, remained arrogant and nonchalant.&nbsp;

Casting aside any doubt creeping from his attitude, I discharged a ray of lightning at our frozen opponent until the entire premise was covered in an icy mist.&nbsp;

If it hadn’t been for Realmheart, I wouldn’t have been able to see the scythe strike directly at my face.&nbsp;

Damn it! It didn’t work, I cursed.&nbsp;

Still, I was hopeful. Each fight against one of the retainers had left me and Sylvie almost dead. The fight against Uto would’ve killed us if it hadn’t been for the scythe, Seris. But this time was different.&nbsp;

Even against a scythe, beings that were able to use the mana arts only asuras from the basilisk clans were able to do, I was capable of holding my own.&nbsp;

Dodging the scythe’s fire-clad fist, however, made me realize that he seemed to be holding back. There was no time or leisure to think why, only that it was true and I had to capitalize on it.&nbsp;

The world shifted from monochrome into its negative version as I ignited Static Void and time stopped. I ignored the painful stress caused by using this ability and repositioned myself so I was behind him.&nbsp;

I knew this wasn’t enough though. It didn’t matter if he couldn’t dodge my attack when he didn’t need to.&nbsp;

The mana particles in the atmosphere had all been colorless, unable to be used within the void of frozen time, but what did glow all around me were the motes of purple.&nbsp;

Lady Myre had told me that while I could sense aether due to my affinity for all four elements, I might never be able to consciously control them outside of borrowing the power of Static Void.&nbsp;

Still, I tried. As crazy as it sounded, I called out to the floating specks of aether to help me somehow. I shouted, I pleaded, I prayed within the frozen realm and just when I thought nothing would work, some of the particles began congregating around Dawn’s Ballad, coating its blade in a hue of purple.&nbsp;

Afraid that this power would soon dissipate, I immediately released Static Void and swung my aether-clad blade.&nbsp;

Despite stopping time, the scythe had little trouble knowing where I was, as if expecting that I would use Static Void.

What he didn’t expect, however, was that my next attack would be infused in aether.&nbsp;

Dawn’s Ballad flashed in a purple crescent. The very fabric of space seemed to warp around my blade as it passed through the scythe, leaving a large, hollow gash.&nbsp;

The scythe’s look of indifference turned sour as he grunted in pain. He clasped his chest which soon burst out blood.&nbsp;

With that one attack, my mind swam and my arms felt heavy. A chilling pain radiated from my mana core, but I was able to lift my sword just in time to block a strike from a hand clad in black flames.

The scythe gripped the blade of my sword in his blazing hand while his eyes lost all trace of leisure.&nbsp;

I tried to pry my sword away from him to no avail. I didn’t have the strength to use aether again, and even if I did, I wasn’t confident that I could replicate what I had just done.&nbsp;

The bright teal blade of my sword dulled as the black fire spread from the scythe’s hand onto Dawn’s Ballad.&nbsp;

‘Arthur!’ Sylvie screamed in worry. She cast her vivum aether onto me, giving me strength, but it didn’t matter.&nbsp;

I couldn’t do anything as the black flames enveloped my sword and shattered within the scythe’s grasp.&nbsp;

“That is for the injury,” he said quietly, his voice dripping with anger.&nbsp;

I stepped away, putting some distance between us as I gripped the broken hilt of my beloved sword.&nbsp;

To my surprise, however, the scythe didn’t pursue. Instead, he turned to where Sylvie, Bairon, and Virion were. “Your aether arts aren’t strong enough to heal their wounds yet, Lady Sylvie.”

“Shut up!” I snapped, conjuring and condensing multiple layers of ice to craft a sword.&nbsp;

“While I’m confident that I’ll be able to defeat you, I fear this flying castle will collapse in the process of doing so,” he stated, glancing sideways at me. “Relinquish this fortress and I will retrieve the soulfire currently eating away at their lives.”&nbsp;

My body tensed, unwilling to believe him. “You’re just going to let us go?”&nbsp;

I was confident to be able to hold my own against him with Sylvie, but not while Virion and Bairon were here.&nbsp;

“I have already completed my orders, and it has been a long time since a lesser managed to wound me.”

‘Arthur. He’s right. I can’t heal them and I used up a lot of strength earlier trying to save Elder Buhnd.’&nbsp;

Despite my bond’s words, I didn’t lower my guard. With Realmheart still ignited and my sword poised to strike at the scythe, I asked him the question I had been too afraid to hear the answer to. “Are Princess Tessia Eralith, Alice Leywin, and Eleanor Leywin still alive?”

The scythe revealed a smile that sent chills down my spine. “The princess, along with your mother and sister are safe. You’ll find out more later on if you choose to accept my offer.”&nbsp;

The ice sword dissipated in my hand while I released Realmheart. My shoulders slumped from the weight of his words and my chest tightened. Every ounce of strength I had left was used to keep myself up on my feet, instead of on my knees, begging.&nbsp;

My greatest fear had come true. I had never gotten close to anyone in my past life was for this reason. &nbsp;“W-Where are they? What have you done to them?!”&nbsp;

“It’s not my place to tell you,” he said as he made his way over to Virion and Bairon.&nbsp;

***

I flew in silence next to Sylvie who was carrying Virion and Bairon on her scaled back. The Castle got smaller and smaller behind us as we headed back in defeat.&nbsp;

‘Arthur. Your family is going to be okay,’ Sylvie consoled gently.&nbsp;

I clenched my fists to keep them from trembling. I have to save them, Sylv. No matter what, I can’t let what happened to my father happen to them.&nbsp;

‘I know. We’re going to do everything we can.’&nbsp;

We made camp in a remote area a few miles northeast of Etistin by the Sehz River. I knew that if the sight of two lances and the very commander leading the war against the Alacryans were spotted in the state we were in, it would create mass panic.&nbsp;

Getting to work, I built a fire and conjured a stone tent for us while Sylvie began healing Virion and Bairon again. After about an hour or so, both of their breathing had become regular until they were simply asleep. Sylvie and I sat next to each other in front of the fire, lost in the flame’s dance.&nbsp;

It had been a long time since it had been this peaceful, yet I struggled to keep calm. Sitting, doing nothing and waiting made me restless, but we were both at a loss.&nbsp;

Neither of us said anything for a long time. The sun had set, with the fire our only source of light. I prodded at it with a stick, not because I had to, but because I would go crazy if I wasn’t doing something.&nbsp;

“What do we do now?” my bond asked quietly, reading my thoughts.&nbsp;

“Find Tess, Ellie and my mom,” I answered.&nbsp;

My bond turned to me, her bright topaz eyes reflecting the light from the fire. I could feel her uncertainty and despite her best efforts in keeping her thoughts from leaking, I could hear the question she wanted to ask: ‘Is the war over?’

There was a muddled mixture of emotions leaking from her but she was doing everything she could from letting me know what those emotions were.&nbsp;

A pained groan stirred our attentions, turning our heads back towards the tent.&nbsp;

It was Virion. He rubbed his head for a moment before bolting up to his feet. A sinister aura enveloped him as his beast will ignited.&nbsp;

“Virion! Virion! It’s okay!” I consoled, holding up my arms.

Disoriented, the commander took a moment to inspect our surroundings before finally realizing we weren’t at the Castle.&nbsp;

“What… what happen—the scythe!” he gasped. “My son! Tessia! Buhnd! We have to help them!”

I wrapped my arms around Virion, hugging him tight. He struggled, trying to break free from my grasp as he continued frantically telling me that we needed to go back.&nbsp;

And once he had calmed down, Virion wept. The Commander of this war and the very pillar of Dicathen, broke down.

I thought about Sylvie’s unasked question as I embraced Virion, tears lining my eyes as well.&nbsp;

If it wasn’t over, it sure felt like it was. It felt like the Alacryans had won. Not only did it feel like they had won, it felt like Agrona had us practically running into the palm of his hand. I had been arrogant.&nbsp;

What was a mere two mortal lifetimes of experience compared to an ancient asura’s lifetime of intellect and wisdom?

Chapter 236: Darkening Grey

GREY

“Here.” Lady Vera took a seat beside me, opening a bottle of water before handing it to me. “Drink this and try to calm down.”&nbsp;

I nodded before gulping down the clear liquid. Immediately, my worries, my jitters, and accumulated stresses faded.

“Is something wrong with the water?” she asked, worried.&nbsp;

“N-No. I was just so nervous that it went down the wrong pipe,” I said, taking another gulp.

“Oh, I see. Good, keep drinking. You’ll feel better after drinking all of that and doing some breathing exercises. At this point right now, it’s best you keep your body in top shape.”

I stared blankly at Lady Vera—my sponsor, teacher, mentor and someone akin to an older sister to me. She looked back, smiling in that confident manner that made you feel so safe being on her side.&nbsp;

“You’re almost there, Grey. Just win one more duel and you’ll be the heir apparent until you’re of age to take on the title of king,” she said, leaning in close. “With your skill and talent, this tournament is only a stepping stone for greater things.”&nbsp;

“You’re right.” I steeled myself, thinking back to Director Wilbeck.&nbsp;

To this day, it enraged me how quickly her case had been closed despite the gravity of the situation. It made me suspect that something was going on but in order to confirm this and get to the bottom of everything, I would need the authority of a king.&nbsp;

Like Lady Vera said, this tournament was merely a stepping stone for me to become king and gain Etharia’s backing to launch a full international investigation. I’d find whoever did this and use my full authority as king to make sure that they paid for her death.&nbsp;

“You know that my home country of Trayden and Etharia have signed a treaty recently, but things have been shaky as with all new alliances. I have faith that you’ll become a great king that truly bridges our two countries together, Grey.”&nbsp;

I looked at Lady Vera, hopeful. “You really think so? Even with my background?”&nbsp;

“Your background is under the Warbridge family name, just like mine,” she chastised before her expression softened into a warm smile. “I’ll make sure no one doubts that.”&nbsp;

My chest tightened as tears threatened to surface. Swallowing and sitting up straight, I replied with newfound determination. “Thank you. I won’t let you down.”&nbsp;

“Of course you won’t.” She placed a firm hand on my shoulder. “You’ve guessed by now who your final opponent is going to be, right?”&nbsp;

My fists tightened. “Of course.”&nbsp;

“I know she’s an old friend and you two grew up together, but don’t forget that she threw away everything for this. Forget the rumors surrounding her; no one has forced her to fight—and with her powers, no one can.”&nbsp;

Just as she finished speaking, Lady Vera’s phone chimed.&nbsp;

“Hello? What! Okay, I’ll be there soon,” she said, her voice stern.&nbsp;

“Sorry, Grey, a business partner of mine is here and I need to go outside since he’s not allowed in here. Be sure to finish that water and focus on calming yourself.”

I held up the water bottle. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”&nbsp;

With a tight nod, Lady Vera began speaking again to whoever was on the other side of the phone. As she reached for the door to exit my waiting room, the door swung open, surprising both of us.&nbsp;

“Watch it!” Lady Vera growled at the janitor pulling a cleaning cart.&nbsp;

The thin bearded man dipped his head before stepping out of the way. “My apologies.”&nbsp;

Clicking her tongue, she stepped forward to take a closer look at the man when apparently the person on the other line spoke again.&nbsp;

“I’ll be right there! I want footage pulled up from all angles!” she snapped as she strode away.&nbsp;

The door closed behind the janitor who walked in, his head still lowered beneath his navy uniform cap.

“You really should be more careful, sir,” I warned. “There are a lot of important people in these halls that you don’t want to accidentally anger.”&nbsp;

The janitor didn’t speak. Instead, to my shock, he looked straight at me as he ripped off his thick grizzled beard. What surprised me more was the fact that the janitor’s face began to warp slightly to reveal a face that couldn’t be more familiar.

“N-Nic—”&nbsp;

The janit—no, Nico—clasped his palm over my mouth. “Don’t speak too loudly.” &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

His hand remained until I confirmed to him that I had calmed down. Wiping my mouth, I spoke to my friend that had been ignoring me for the past few months. “Where have you been? You look terribl—that fake beard… is it an altering artifact? Aren’t those illegal?”&nbsp;

Nico ignored me as his eyes darted around the room. It only took a single glance to tell that these past few months had not been easy for him. His cheeks were sunken and his lips were cracked, showing how little he had cared for his health.

“We don’t have much time before your match against Cecilia,” he said, fumbling through the sanitation cart before pulling out a palm-sized device. “I need you to listen to this right now.”

I pushed the device away. “What is going on, Nico? I know you’re worried about Cecilia but you’ve been ignoring me for the past four months and now you march in here right before my match and distract me like this? What are you trying to do?”&nbsp;

“Please,” he asked, desperation evident in his voice. “Just listen.”&nbsp;

And so I did. Despite having less than an hour before my match against Cecilia, I put on the earbuds together with Nico and began listening.&nbsp;

“Is this… Lady Vera?” I asked, hearing her voice through the device.&nbsp;

He urged me to continue listening and so I did. And as the audio clips continued, it became harder and harder to listen.

“Bullshit,” I spat, pulling the chords out of my ears. “Plans to capture Cecilia during this tournament? What sort of sick joke are you playing at, Nico?”&nbsp;

“It’s not a joke—how could I ever joke about Cecilia?!” he urged, tears lining his tired eyes. “I know Lady Vera has been good to you but this is why. Everything was for this day.”&nbsp;

“Have you gone crazy these past few months?”&nbsp;

“This is where I’ve been these past few months.” Nico pulled up his uniform sleeves and pant legs, showing deep red scars that ran around his wrists and ankles. “I’ve been locked up by our own Etharian embassy because I was trying to break her out of the government facility she’s been held in. I’ve been starved and tortured, but I managed to escape. Since then I’ve been gathering evidence around Vera Warbridge to get you to help me.”&nbsp;

My eyes widened before I shook my head. “No. No, you’re lying. It makes no sense. First of all, why would Lady Vera need to take Cecilia? Trayden and Etharia have an alliance now!”&nbsp;

“That’s specifically why they want it now,” he explained impatiently. “Whoever has control over Cecilia, or what the Traydens refer to her as—The Legacy, has control over the entire two governments.”&nbsp;

I was shaken by the familiar term. The Legacy… that was what that man had called Cecilia as he was torturing me. But I never told Nico that.

“Okay, then how do I play into this? Why would Lady Vera need me specifically rather than any other genius king candidate?”&nbsp;

“Our government has been confining Cecilia for her own protection until she’s officially crowned as a king. The only time she’ll have to appear in public is during the tournaments,” he responded immediately. “And Lady Vera needed you because you’re an orphan. There are strict rules to who can be allowed in the King’s Crown tournaments, especially the final rounds. Lady Vera was only allowed in here because she’s your legal guardian, something that can’t happen with another candidate from an affluent family.”&nbsp;

I mulled over his words for a moment, lost in thought when suddenly, a knock on the door made both of us jolt up.&nbsp;

“Candidate Grey? I’m one of the facilitators here. Lady Vera Warbridge has asked for me to check up on you,” a gruff voice sounded.&nbsp;

I looked at Nico who was panicking. He looked at me with wide eyes, his entire body trembling.

“I’m fine. Please let her know that I don’t want to be disturbed until it’s time for the duel,” I replied loudly.&nbsp;

The facilitator acknowledged my words and dismissed himself, but the two of us waited a few more minutes. I peeked out the door to make sure no one was outside before turning back to Nico. “Look. You’re crazy, but it’s obvious you’ve been through a lot. I’m not going to turn you in, so get out of here safely.”&nbsp;

“Grey,” Nico pleaded, clasping his hands over mine once more. “I’m begging you. I was able to set up a plan with a few friends after I broke free a few weeks ago. Everything is in motion but I need your help if we’re going to escape with Cecilia!”&nbsp;

“Escape with Cecilia?” I echoed. “Do you even hear yourself right now? We’re competing against each other for the King’s Crown! You’re telling me to throw that all away because you think that there’s some sort of crazy conspiracy going on right now? I saw Cecilia’s last fight; she’s completely fine and healthy!”&nbsp;

“Y-You don’t know what the Warbridge family is going to do to Cecilia once they get their hands on her!” he cried desperately while fumbling through his pockets. “Look! I didn’t want to show you this but this has to prove it.”&nbsp;

I snatched the crumbled picture from his hands, skeptical of his words until I saw who was in &nbsp;the picture. While blurry and hastily taken, there was no doubt that it was Lady Vera talking with a man with a scar running down his face.&nbsp;

“Do you remember him? He’s the one that tried to kidnap Cecilia!” he said, pointing frantically at the blurred man.&nbsp;

“Th-That can’t be… no, it’s not. Nico, this is too blurry to tell. I won’t—I can’t throw out everything I know of and believe in Lady Vera because of one blurry photo,” I responded, handing the photo back to him.&nbsp;

My hands trembled and my heart thrashed against my ribcage. I needed water.&nbsp;

I fumbled with the cap of the clear bottle and took a large gulp. Instantly, I could feel myself calming down, feeling better—stronger, even, and more clear-headed.&nbsp;

Lady Vera was right. I needed to take care of my body by staying hydrated. Taking a deep breath, I turned to Nico. “If what any of what you said to me today is a lie, you could be sentenced to life in prison. As a friend, I’ll pretend this never happened, but you’re out of your mind if you want me to participate.”

Nico fell to his knees, looking up at me in desperation. “Grey! Plea—”&nbsp;

“I’ll help you, Headmaster Wilbeck, and Cecilia the way I’ve been trying to all this time—by becoming king,” I cut him off as I walked towards the door. “Now if you’ll excuse me. My match is about to start.”

The referee—a slim, middle-aged man with a well-trimmed gray beard—was dressed in a formal black suit. He kept his hands behind his back as he spoke sternly. “Will the two finalists step up onto the stage?”

My footsteps echoed as I walked up the marble steps leading onto the square dueling platform, and I could hear her footsteps from the other side as well. The limited audience allowed to be ‘witness’ to this event had been quieted and were anxiously waiting for the next representative of Etharia.&nbsp;

Using the very breathing technique that Lady Vera had taught me, I calmed myself as I stepped up onto the reinforced platform. However, taking one look as my opponent and old friend came up as well, I couldn’t help but shudder.&nbsp;

The very air around her seemed to be filled with electricity as my skin tingled uncomfortably. An aura of pure ki was visible and condensed so densely that I feared not even the sharpest blade could penetrate it.&nbsp;

All it took was one glance to realize how outclassed I was. One glance and I knew that no one in this entire tournament but her ever had a chance to become the next king. Cecilia seemed to know that, as her gaze exuded confidence. She was paler than usual—more sickly—and the dark bags under her eyes showed how tired she was, but her demeanor still spoke of her arrogance.&nbsp;

“In honor of the competition, the two finalists will pay their respects to the reigning king of Etharia, King Ivan Craft,” the referee announced, gesturing towards the highest podium.&nbsp;

I bowed deeply in the traditional manner that Lady Vera had taught me before turning back to my opponent. Cecilia, on the other hand, barely dipped her head before locking gazes with me.

For a moment, time seemed to slow as we exchanged glances. Nico’s words echoed in my mind, wavering my already-diminished confidence. Nico had said from the beginning that Cecilia had been captured by our own government, but I couldn’t believe him. Just from her attitude, Cecilia looked as if she’d chosen to leave him in order to pursue the route of a king… kind of like what I had done.&nbsp;

The referee stepped between the two of us. “Finalists. Show your respects to one another.”&nbsp;

He walked back and I bowed in respect—respect I was never shown back as she kept her chin high and looked down at me. The referee ignored it and signalled for us to ready our weapons.&nbsp;

I unsheathed my weapon, swiping the sword deftly through the air before pointing its gleaming tip directly at Cecilia. I couldn’t afford to lose focus—she was another opponent I had to defeat.&nbsp;

Cecilia’s expression remained unchanged as she elegantly raised an empty hand. In that hand formed a ki weapon in the shape of a rapier. Unlike other ki weapons that I had seen however, its manifestation was near-instant and flawless in detail.&nbsp;

I could hear stifled gasps and murmurs from the audience from just this display. The referee maintained his professionalism by displaying no change in attitude before signalling the technicians to raise the ki barrier.&nbsp;

As soon as the translucent dome soon fully encased the arena, the referee swung down his hand. “Let the duel commence!”&nbsp;

Throwing aside the hesitation clouding my mind, I burst forward, brandishing my ki-clad sword. Years of training with Lady Vera had strengthened my ki pool to an extent that I thought wasn’t powerful enough. While I still staggered just below the average practitioner, with my powerful instincts and sharp reflexes, I was able to utilize every drop of ki I had in my arsenal.&nbsp;

Those same reflexes made me stop mid-dash. Every fiber in my body screamed at me not to get any closer to Cecilia as she remained unmoving.&nbsp;

I felt a bead of sweat roll down the side of my face as I switched tactics, choosing instead to carefully circle around her.&nbsp;

Two things happened near-instantaneously. First, a grimace crossed Cecilia’s pale face. Second, she released a flurry of piercing ki strikes with one stroke.&nbsp;

My eyes widened in shock at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. This wasn’t some fairy tale or fantasy game, but real life. Still, gathering my wits, I managed to weave through the barrage of long-range energy strikes. My legs carried me through Cecilia’s casual onslaught as scores of piercing strikes launched from her ki weapon until I was in range to strike as well.&nbsp;

I feinted a downward strike before pivoting and spinning behind her, catching Cecilia behind her knees.&nbsp;

The attack that was supposed to buckle her and send her to the ground, however, sent a sharp wave of pain down my body instead.&nbsp;

“Weak,” Cecilia muttered under her breath.&nbsp;

I refused to let that get to me. Repositioning myself, I struck Cecilia with a quick set of sweeping attacks faster than the eye could follow.&nbsp;

But none of them could make a dent in the thick shroud of ki enveloping her tiny body.&nbsp;

Cecilia responded, stabbing her translucent rapier down at my feet.&nbsp;

The attack was easy enough to avoid, but what followed was the reinforced ground shattering from the impact of Cecilia’s strike.

Seriously? How is this even fair! I cursed, trying to escape the cloud of debris formed around us. Before I could react, a hand grabbed my wrist and anchored me in place with a strength that seemed nearly impossible for such a small body.&nbsp;

“Is this all that you’ve amounted to even with all of the training you received?” Cecilia taunted, practically sighing in disappointment.

“Shut it!” I spat, jerking my hand free from her grasp. Nico’s statements about Cecilia being held against her will and being forced to compete sounded more and more like bullshit as the duel continued.&nbsp;

Her attitude was just like those candidates from affluent families—haughty and arrogant.&nbsp;

I moved away from the dissipating cloud of debris with rapid steps, just in time to duck under a blast of pure ki.&nbsp;

The barrier surrounding the dueling arena trembled from the impact, widening the eyes of the referee that remained close by.&nbsp;

Moments later, Cecilia shot forward, both hands gripping her ki weapon that was poised to strike. I dodged her first piercing blow, but the aura surrounding her ki weapon was sharp enough to draw blood on my neck.&nbsp;

Cecilia moved in a flurry, her glowing blade turning into an indistinguishable blur of light as she recklessly attacked me.&nbsp;

My first few attempts at parrying her ki weapon resulted in chips forming on my blade—and that was with me reinforcing my weapon with ki.&nbsp;

I ducked, spun, weaved and pivoted at a speed that only I could pull off with such accuracy and timing.

Her attacks her monstrously strong and fast, but her swordplay wasn’t on the same level as mine.&nbsp;

Suddenly, Cecilia’s weapon blinked out of sight as she positioned her now-empty palm directly at my face.&nbsp;

Once again, my body screamed at me that I was in danger, and I reacted by grabbing her outstretched arm and pulling it away while leveraging it to position myself to her side.&nbsp;

Just in time, a cone of glowing energy was released from Cecilia’s open palm, right where I once stood.&nbsp;

“Can all you do is dodge and run away?” she said, her voice apathetic. &nbsp;

Cecilia’s ki-clad elbow struck directly at my sternum, launching me several feet off the ground and knocking the wind out of me.&nbsp;

Before I could even hope to get back up to my feet, I spotted Cecilia sprinting towards me with her newly-formed ki weapon ready.

I desperately tried to reach for my sword, but it was a few inches out of reach. Still, I struggled, trying to claw at the ground to drag my aching body to my only chance at coming out of this alive.&nbsp;

It was too late as Cecilia’s shadow swept over me and I spotted the glimmer of her weapon.

There was nothing more I could do except close my eyes and wait as I was defeated—or in the worst case, killed.&nbsp;

However, the pain never came. Cecilia’s ki sword buried itself into the ground, inches away from my face, and the impact once again destroyed the reinforced ground beneath me.&nbsp;

My opponent smiled, her face close to mine. “That’s once that you would’ve died.”&nbsp;

“Enough!” I yelled. Grabbing hold of my sword that had fallen into reach, I struck Cecilia at her waist using every ounce of ki I could muster at the moment. My blade couldn’t cut through the protective shroud of ki wrapped around her body, but the force did manage to push her away from me.&nbsp;

Cecilia twisted her body, landing nimbly on her feet with a smirk on her face. She was no longer the friend I had grown up with. Nico really was delusional, thinking that everything was forced onto her by the government.&nbsp;

I gripped the sword in my right hand, withdrawing the ki that had been protecting my body. If I wanted to defeat her, I wouldn’t be able to do so by wasting my precious ki on defense.&nbsp;

Noticing this, Cecilia withdrew her weapon, letting the glowing rapier fizzle out of existence.&nbsp;

She got into an offensive stance and gestured for me to come. She didn’t say anything, but didn’t need to. She didn’t even see me as a threat, igniting in me an anger with newfound determination to defeat her at all cost.

Letting out a roar, I imbued ki to my legs in explosive pulses, matching it to my stride. I reached her in three steps at a speed that even caught her by surprise. I swung my sword upward, hoping to at least throw her off balance, but Cecilia stood still and let her ki barrier soak up the brunt of my attack.&nbsp;

Her hand, coated in a thick layer of ki, actually managed to grip down on the sharp edges of my reinforced blade.&nbsp;

She pulled on the sword, pulling me along with it, and slapped me across the face with the back of her hand.&nbsp;

I had managed to protect my face at the last minute but I was still sent tumbling on the ground and my vision swam. Getting back up on my feet, I was immediately met with a barrage of attacks from Cecilia as she swung my own sword at me.

“My trainer was right. You two were dead weights holding me down, especially Nico,” she whispered. “I’m glad I managed to get rid of you both.”&nbsp;

The mention of Nico’s name brought forth another explosive wave of anger. Despite how crazy his conclusions had been, he had done everything because he cared about Cecilia—loved her. For her to spit on those emotions made me mad, despite all of the accusations he had spouted towards Lady Vera. &nbsp;

“Shut up!” I roared. Enveloping my hand in ki, I sidestepped her next downward slash—the end of her attack pattern—and parried the blade so it would get buried in the ground. &nbsp;

Even with my chipped sword, the ki she had embued around it was a strong enough attack to split the reinforced ground and get stuck.&nbsp;

I immediately followed up, delivering a powerful punch across her jaw and another just below her ribs.

My knuckles felt like they had hit a concrete wall, but I managed to make Cecilia stagger for just a split moment. That moment was enough for me to pry my sword out.&nbsp;

At that exact moment, an explosion resounded around the arena, surrounding the entire dueling platform in clouds of dust and debris. I noticed the translucent barrier surrounding the dueling arena quiver before disappearing as screams and shouts of surprise filled the area.&nbsp;

I stood still for a moment, confused at the turn of events until a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eyes.&nbsp;

“This duel is over!” she cried out as she dashed towards me.&nbsp;

She let loose a flurry of swings with her newly-formed ki weapon, unleashing sharp crescents of energy. The attacks bombarded the ground around me, raising even more dust and debris in the already-chaotic situation unfolding. However, I remained focused, wanting to end this duel just as much as she did.&nbsp;

Gripping my sword with both hands, I infused the remaining ki I had left into its blade and prayed for it to endure one more attack. Within the smokescreen of dust obscuring my vision, I managed to spot the faint shadow of Cecilia mid-air.&nbsp;

Her plan to use those flashy attacks to obstruct my view of her might’ve worked on most, but my sharp senses and instincts allowed me to guess her next move.

I let out a primal roar, raising my sword and driving its sharpened tip straight into Cecilia’s shadowed figure with all of my might, clenching my jaw for the impact to come.

Yet the recoil I had expected from clashing with her protective shroud never came.&nbsp;

Instead I watched as my sword slid itself deep into Cecilia’s chest and come stained red out of her back.

I felt her weight falling into me; the warm viscous fluid spilling down my hands and down my arms.&nbsp;

“They… wouldn’t let me… kill myself. I’m sorry… this was… the only way,” Cecilia mustered, her breath ragged.&nbsp;

I let go of my sword, my hands trembling fiercely. “W-Wha—why? How?” &nbsp;

“As long as… I live, Nico will be… imprisoned… used against… me.”&nbsp;

I stumbled back, and Cecilia fell on top of me. To my horror, the blade sunk deeper into her and she let out a pained gasp.&nbsp;

“N-N-No… this can’t be…” I sputtered, unable to even form the rest of the sentence as I choked back sobs forming in my throat.&nbsp;

The dust from Cecilia’s last attack and the explosion around the arena had dissipated as I continued clutching Cecilia. Despite all of the action movies I had seen at the orphanage of the main character dying dramatically, Cecilia’s death was nowhere near the same.&nbsp;

She simply stopped breathing and fell limp. That was it.&nbsp;

“No! How? What have you done!?” Lady Vera’s voice screamed out from the side.&nbsp;

I turned my head towards the sound of the voice, more out of instinct than as an actual response. To my left were two figures, one male and one female. Both were in military armor, faces covered behind cloth masks. However, the male had taken off the goggles covering his eyes, revealing two different colored eyes.

Perhaps if it had been under any other situation, I would’ve reacted differently. I had found one of the men responsible for Headmaster Wilbeck’s death. I had also just heard Lady Vera’s unmistakable voice behind the mask of the female assailant beside him.&nbsp;

Nico had been right, but that didn’t matter to me right now. I had killed a friend—no, I had killed the woman my best friend loved.&nbsp;

The world turned silent as I stared blankly as the assassin with a scarred brown eye and a green eye pulled Lady Vera away and escape.

I watched as the referee and the judges frantically made their way towards us while guards ran around, trying to control the mayhem.&nbsp;

And from the corner of my eyes, near the very entrance I had come from, I witnessed Nico as his expression crumpled into that of horror and despair.&nbsp;

Chapter 237: Expired Arrangement

ARTHUR LEYWIN

Long after the sun had set and night crept in, bringing a bitter chill along with it, I sat mindlessly by the fire. Above me, the stars that seemed the same in my previous world and this world glimmered like crystal dust across the horizon.

Virion, like a feeble infant, had fallen back asleep after crying. His body was in a severely weakened state and his mana core had been on the cusp of shattering. Bairon still hadn’t woken up, his injuries from the scythe much more severe than I had originally expected.&nbsp;

Hours must’ve passed since I last moved from my seat as my whirling vortex of thoughts digressed into an empty void. After the anger had fizzled out, the plans to save my family and Tess—the plans for revenge and justice—had all faded.&nbsp;

So I sat on the ground, running my fingers idly through the soft dirt beneath me, no idea where to go from here. The Alacryans now had control over the Castle and with it, the controls to the teleportation gates throughout the continent. It didn’t take a genius to guess that they would plan on taking Xyrus City next before slowly wiping away the forces of Dicathen.&nbsp;

With Virion in the state he was in right now, our side didn’t even have a leader. The lances were scattered and it was only a matter of time before they would be picked off one at a time until Dicathen had no hope of ever retaliating.&nbsp;

The crunch of leaves drew my attention behind me. Sylvie had come out from the earthen shelter I had conjured, but one glance was all it took for me to realize that my bond wasn’t who she appeared to be.&nbsp;

“Let’s take a walk, shall we?” she said, and her voice was the same, but the cadence and pitch were all off.&nbsp;

My heart quickened and I found myself trembling with rage but I wordlessly followed. For five minutes we walked, accompanied only by the snapping of twigs and the crush of foliage under our feet. A flurry of emotions passed through me as I stared at the back of the one responsible for all of the deaths and misery our people had to endure.&nbsp;

My mind raced to think of something to say, to think of something to do.&nbsp;

“Whew!” Sylvie breathed, taking a seat on a fallen log. “Controlling this body even for simple things like walking is hard work.”&nbsp;

I stared at the leader of the Vritra Clan and ruler of Alacrya and fell to my knees in front of him.&nbsp;

Agrona furrowed ‘his’ brows, contorting Sylvie’s face into an expression of surprise and frustration before he quickly relaxed.

“My, what an unexpected turn of events,” he said as I lowered my gaze to the ground beneath him. “Has the hero, and once mighty king, admitted defeat?”&nbsp;

“Agrona,” I said through gritted teeth. “You’ve made your point. Please, let Tessia and my family go.”&nbsp;

“Why?”&nbsp;

I dug my fingers into the dirt. “Because… I accept your deal. I’ll remove myself from this war.”&nbsp;

A chortle made me look up, only to see Sylvie cackling while covering her mouth. “You think our deal still stands, Grey? You were the only unpredictable variable that had even the slightest chance in hindering me, but as you said so yourself, I’ve made my point. Even you—with all of your inherent gifts and advantages—only amounted to this much.”&nbsp;

Sylvie’s eyes, laced in displeasure, stared down at me. “The very fact that you haven’t even told your bond that I’m able to possess her body tells me that even from the very beginning, you were always expecting to lose.”&nbsp;

“Then what… what do you want?” I demanded. “Why did you appear in front of me again?”&nbsp;

“Again, asking questions I have no obligation to answer.” Despite his casual words, his expression was knitted in what seemed like worry. “I don’t expect to have the pleasure of meeting like this again, so… goodbye.”&nbsp;

I scrambled to my feet. “W-Wait, what about my—”&nbsp;

And like that, Sylvie slumped back, unconscious.&nbsp;

Screaming in resentment, I slammed a mana-clad fist into the ground, waking the forest and its inhabitants.&nbsp;

“A-Arthur?” Sylvie called, weary and disoriented. “What’s going on?”&nbsp;

I let the mental barrier—that I had grown increasingly better at fortifying—fall, allowing my bond to read my thoughts and memories unabated.&nbsp;

Still, I made it a point to tell her the truth verbally. “Ever since you broke the seal that Sylvia had placed on you, Agrona was able to take over your consciousness for short periods of time.”&nbsp;

I watched as Sylvie’s skin paled and her expression distorted into disgust. Her mouth opened, as if to ask me a question, then closed because she had found the answer in my mind.&nbsp;

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

Sylvie walked up to me, her thoughts and emotions blocked, and slapped me across the cheek. My head whipped to the side at the force strong enough to break a normal person’s neck.&nbsp;

“There. We’re even now,” she muttered before wrapping her arms around my waist and burying her head in my chest.&nbsp;

The tears that hadn’t even fallen while Virion mourned for his family spilled down my cheeks as my body trembled. I gripped my bond back tightly, afraid to lose her as well.&nbsp;

I had not only lost, but I had also begged to my enemy on bent knees. Sylvie knew the anger, guilt, sorrow, and humiliation tearing apart my insides and the very fact that she knew and accepted them was enough for me to move on.&nbsp;

Biting my lip until I could taste a warm metallic bitterness, I cried silently, the crystal dust above us shaky and blurred.&nbsp;

Sylvie and I had eventually returned to our camp later that night. The two of us stayed together outside, guarding the shelter that Bairon and Virion were sleeping in.&nbsp;

At one point, I must’ve fallen asleep because Sylvie sent a sharp mental probe, telling me to wake up. My eyes snapped open and I got up, only to see Virion and Bairon having a heated argument while Sylvie put herself between them.&nbsp;

“We have to go back! Our troops need us, Commander!” Bairon growled, struggling to stay up on his own two feet.&nbsp;

“And do what? It’s too late,” Virion snapped, leaning against the earthen tent for support. His eyes turned towards me, noticing that I was awake. “Good, Arthur, we should get ready to leave.”&nbsp;

“Leave? Where?” I asked, confused.&nbsp;

“Our Commander says that the war is lost,” Bairon retorted. “Most likely, the injury from fighting the scythe had rendered him incapable of leading.”&nbsp;

Virion cast a harsh look at the lance before speaking. “The war is lost. With the Castle in their hands, they have access to all the teleportation gates throughout the continent. It’s only a matter of time before they’re able to figure out how to fully control it.”

“So what did you have in mind?” I asked Virion.&nbsp;

&nbsp;Virion’s knees buckled, toppling forward until Sylvie caught him.&nbsp;

“Thank you,” he said to my bond before turning to me. “Camus, Buhnd, Hester, and I, along with a few other trusted friends constructed a shelter to take refuge, just in case disaster fell—although no one would’ve expected an outcome like this.”&nbsp;

The thought of Elder Buhnd sent a sharp pain through my chest but I swallowed it. “Where is it?”&nbsp;

“You can’t be serious,” Bairon interrupted. “You are a lance. We have a duty to uphold for our people. Are we going to abandon them and leave them all to die by the Alacryans?”&nbsp;

“We’re not abandoning anyone!” Virion snarled, his patience wearing thin. “But going back into battle and risking the death of myself and any of you three would leave no hope for the future!”&nbsp;

“The future…” my bond echoed.&nbsp;

“Yes! The future. We need to recoup if we ever want a chance to take back Dicathen,” Virion continued.&nbsp;

Bairon’s shoulder slumped and for the first time, the lance seemed fragile and vulnerable. “So… there’s nothing we can do right now to win this war?”&nbsp;

“Our best chance is for us to stay alive and gather the lances,” Virion replied, looking sincerely pained.&nbsp;

‘What do you think we should do?’ Sylvie asked, knowing that my thoughts were still filled with Tessia and my family.&nbsp;

I let out a sigh before staring at the two of them with a hardened gaze. “Sylvie and I will take the two of you to wherever this secret shelter is but after that we’re going to look for my mom, my sister, and Tess.”&nbsp;

“Arthur… “ There was a tangible distance in Virion’s voice as he said my name, a hollow and almost pained sound.&nbsp;

I shook my head, holding up my hand. On my middle finger was a plain silver ring that Vincent had given me and my mom. “This is an artifact connected with a ring that my mother has. It’s my only hope and I can’t leave her knowing that there’s still a chance she’s alive.”

I had kept it off during the war, but through the connection between the two rings and the fact that she and my sister both had the Phoenix Wyrm pendant, it was possible. And that the ring hadn’t activated because she was still alive… not because she had taken it off.&nbsp;

“I’ll direct Dicathians that I meet back to the shelter during my search, but I need to do this,” I finished.&nbsp;

“I understand,” Virion whispered, closing his eyes.&nbsp;

Quietly, I got to work, destroying the earthen shelter and erasing all signs that we had ever stopped here to rest.&nbsp;

“So… where is this shelter, Commander Virion?” Bairon asked.&nbsp;

Virion used a nearby twig to draw a rough map of Dicathen, indicating our position with a circle. “The refuge that we had found is near the southern coast of the Kingdom of Darv, just along the Grand Mountains—”

“Found?” I cut in. “I thought you said you and the elders had built it.”&nbsp;

“Most of what seemed like a man-made cave already existed. We just built on top of it and hid it more thoroughly,” he added.&nbsp;

“Well, how are we going to traverse the near-thousand miles it’ll take to reach this shelter? We can’t fly; it’s too dangerous,” Bairon noted.&nbsp;

“You’re right. And it’ll be just as risky to try and take a teleportation gate to a city within Darv. Should we wait until nightfall?”&nbsp;

“How about this,” I suggested, drawing a jagged line running through Sapin. “We’re about an hour hike away from the Sehz River that flows all the way down through Darv and into the ocean. We’ll take the river down until nightfall and travel the rest by sky.”&nbsp;

“There are cities built along the Sehz though,” Sylvie countered. “Won’t we be a bit noticeable traveling on the water?”&nbsp;

“Who said anything about on the water?”&nbsp;

***

“This is… fascinating,” Virion marveled as we watched various aquatic animals and mana beasts pass by from the top of Sylvie’s back. We surged through the water, away from discerning eyes, while I concentrated on the multiple layers of spells I had to continually manage in order to make all of this possible.&nbsp;

I had to create two pockets of air, one over Sylvie’s back to allow Virion, Bairon, and I to breath and stay dry, and another encompassing Sylvie’s large draconic head. While we weren’t submerged deep enough to have to worry too much about the water pressure, it did mean that keeping the air pockets stable was quite a bit harder.&nbsp;

With the aid of water magic to push us faster and a fin made of mana that Sylvie had fashioned at the end of her tail, we were making great distance.&nbsp;

Virion was able to take this new mode of transportation in stride, but the same couldn’t be said for Bairon. The poor lance had latched himself so tightly onto Sylvie’s back that, even through her tough scales, she complained to me about the pain.&nbsp;

“How did you even think of such an idea as traveling underwater?” Virion asked, twisting left and right to see all around him. For a moment I was able to see the old Virion that I had grown up with back when I had first shown up in Elenoir with Tessia.&nbsp;

“Did you forget that I’m pretty smart?” I asked, avoiding his question.&nbsp;

We stayed fairly deep in the water except for the times that we had to replenish our air pockets. After the initial amazement had worn off, the four of us traveled in silence, brooding in our own minds with little desire to converse. Sylvie and I still conversed telepathically but even those conversations dwindled as each of us succumbed to our own thoughts of the bleak future.&nbsp;

The water around us began to darken as the sun fell, indicating to us that we’d be able to resurface soon.&nbsp;

Without taking a break, the four of us launched out of the lake and into the purple and deep blue sky.

Will you be okay flying with them on your back? I asked Sylvie, jumping off of her back. Virion and Bairon were both still barely able to use mana after their fight against the scythe.&nbsp;

‘I’ll manage,’ she replied, beating her powerful wings to accelerate.&nbsp;

I followed alongside them, flying on my own to lessen her burden. I watched as the land below us began turning into the desert as we crossed the border into Darv. I took one last look back, trying not to think about the battles going on and the chaos spreading for our troops as they were left without their commander.&nbsp;

Chapter 238: Hidden in Sand

“Here! We have to land here!” Virion cried out as we hovered over the vast deserts of Darv.&nbsp;

“There’s nothing here though!” Bairon argued, his head turning left and right.&nbsp;

Even I looked around, shielding my eyes from the sharp gusts of wind, but below were just a few odd boulders and lots and lots of sand.

Back when we had been flying above the clouds, it was easy to spot our relative location using the various peaks of the Grand Mountains as our compass, but now it was impossible to see the range of mountains because of the thick sand-carrying winds.&nbsp;

Sylvie descended and I followed behind them until we landed on the soft ground.&nbsp;

“Flying through that was… tough,” Sylvie muttered after switching to her human form. She wore all black like she usually did, but her scales had turned her outfit into a thick shawl that covered most of her face and body to combat the harsh winds.&nbsp;

“You did well, Lady Sylvie,” Virion said as I quickly covered his body in a thick layer of mana. “Most aerial mana beasts can’t last against the winds this far south.”&nbsp;

“Well I’m not a mana beast,” Sylvie rebutted with a raised brow.&nbsp;

“Ah—My apologies…” Virion replied. &nbsp;

“Come on. Let’s find this refuge of yours,” I said to him, gesturing for him to take the lead.&nbsp;

Virion pointed at a tall boulder that looked almost like an ancient column of some sort. “We have to head over there.”&nbsp;

“That thing?” Bairon pointed, his expression muddled with confusion. “It’s a bit conspicuous for a top-secret refuge shelter, isn’t it?”&nbsp;

“That thing isn’t the shelter, it’s the landmark Buhnd had to make to keep track of the shelter’s location,” Virion corrected, walking forward.&nbsp;

The rest of us followed towards the giant pillar that was riddled with scars from the sand-infused winds that were so prevalent here.&nbsp;

“We start from here,” Virion stated, pointing to a deep gash in the center of the pillar. “With your heel against the pillar, we take 35,651 steps forward.”&nbsp;

Bairon, Sylvie, and I exchanged glances before looking back to Virion. “Really? This is the only way to find the shelter?”&nbsp;

“For now, yes,” Virion answered. “The shelter itself branches off into various tunnels that haven’t been explored, though, so I’m hoping that more entrances can pop up.”&nbsp;

Sylvie nodded in agreement. “If this is the only way to get to the shelter, it’ll be almost impossible to bring normal civilians here discreetly.”&nbsp;

Virion let out a sigh with downcast eyes. For him, this shelter was most likely his last chance in having any hope at redemption against the Alacryans. If this plan only amounted to us and a few others being able to make it to the shelter, there was no point.&nbsp;

“Well, we’ve come all this way. Let’s go to this shelter first before we come to any conclusions,” I interjected, putting on the most confident expression that I could muster.&nbsp;

And so we began our trek through the desert. Unable to fly or use any shortcuts with magic, Virion was forced to walk heel to toe while I kept count.&nbsp;

It was a rough journey that usually would’ve taken days of preparation to even try. However, in a group with two lances, a silver core mage, and an asura, we were able to get by.&nbsp;

Fresh water, that would’ve been impossible to come by, was extracted from the clouds every so often to replenish ourselves, and our near bottomless pit of mana was able to keep us safe from the cold desert air and sharp winds.&nbsp;

“I can take over from here, Commander,” Bairon said on step 10,968.&nbsp;

“No. Your foot sizes are different,” I cut in. “It’ll throw us off.”&nbsp;

Bairon shot me a quick glare in response to my curt interjection, but I ignored him and signalled Virion to continue walking. We travelled in silence and with my concentration solely focused on Virion, even Sylvie blocked her mental link so she wouldn’t have to hear me monotonously counting numbers in my head.&nbsp;

Our journey was a long and tedious one, but the counting helped my mind from wandering and overthinking. I focused on keeping track of our steps, slowing my pace to be just behind Virion’s heel-to-toe gait.&nbsp;

We did stop every now and then so that Virion and Bairon could stretch and rest. The two were still recovering and while their bodies had healed, the trek through the sands were still taxing for the two of them. With our feet sinking almost shin-deep with every step, it took a lot more strength to walk here than it did on flat ground.&nbsp;

Sylvie checked the state of their damaged mana cores every now and then to make sure they were okay, but it seemed like the only way they’d be able to recover would be by giving them time to rest.&nbsp;

Virion had come to terms with his injuries, but I would hear Bairon grunt in frustration every now and then after failing to use mana to the degree that he had grown used to. Virion could barely even coat his fist in mana, while Bairon was only able to shroud his body. Neither of them were able to utilize elemental magic.

After another ten thousand steps had gone by, I noticed that Virion had gotten slower. Looking up, I noticed that his body was shivering.&nbsp;

“Virion,” I called out, gripping his arm. I immediately sent a wave of heat and I could see blood rushing back to his pale face. “Let me know when you’re getting cold.”&nbsp;

“T-Thank you,” he replied with a weary smile. “And don’t worry, I’m okay.”&nbsp;

I watched as he walked on. His once broad shoulders seemed so narrow and weak as he hunched forward. For the first time, Virion actually appeared… old.&nbsp;

We continued marching through the desert, illuminated softly by the pale moon and stars. Afraid to even cast a light in the off chance that a scythe or retainer was nearby, we walked in darkness for hours on end until finally, I had reached the last number.

“We’re here,” I announced skeptically. Around us was only sand, as far as my mana-enhanced vision could see.&nbsp;

Bairon, Sylvie and I all looked at Virion. Our commander was bent down, sweeping his arm that was holding a white pentagonal medallion etched with designs that I couldn’t make out from this far.&nbsp;

“What is that?” I asked, curious.&nbsp;

“I’m not sure exactly what it is, but we found several of these inside the Castle when we first discovered it. It seems to be a relic from the wise mages of the past,” Virion answered, not taking his eyes off the sandy ground.&nbsp;

Bairon let out a gasp. “You mean the same ancient mages that had built both the floating city of Xyrus as well as the Castle?”&nbsp;

Virion nodded as he continued to walk in circles, waving the white medallion in his hand as if it were a magnifying glass.&nbsp;

I raised a brow at Bairon’s unusual tone of admiration, but said nothing. I’d heard about the ancient mages now and again. Much of the previous artifacts that helped the Dicathen civilization grow came from the ancient mages. It’s safe to say that without the teleportation gates, and the mana-rich atmosphere of the floating city of Xyrus, much of Dicathen’s lands would’ve been untamed.&nbsp;

Across my readings back when I was a child in this world, artificers and researchers all believed that the ancient mages had either discovered the technology to transport themselves to another world, or had wiped themselves off the face of the world while conducting a large-scale experiment of some sort.&nbsp;

Based on the lack of evidence that suggested either of these two things, it seemed that the researchers of Dicathen had more or less given up on finding out what had happened to our ancestors and slapped on a reasonably logical conclusion.&nbsp;

After a subjective hour of searching, Virion let out a frustrated grunt. “It’s not here.”&nbsp;

“What do you mean it’s not here?” I asked. “You said that taking 35,651 steps straight while facing away from that gash on the boulder would lead us to the shelter.”&nbsp;

“I know what I said!” he snapped.

“Well, maybe the wind blew the boulder back from its original position,” Bairon suggested, impatience laced in his voice.&nbsp;

“Not likely.” Virion shook his head. “Buhnd exhausted almost all of his monstrous mana core to make sure the boulder was large enough and was buried deep enough so that the sand and wind wouldn’t shift its position.”&nbsp;

I scratched my head in frustration. “Then what do we do?”&nbsp;

“I don’t think we have a choice… but to start over again,” Virion muttered.

Frustration turned to anger as my patience reached its limit. “No. We just wasted the better half of a day counting our footsteps because you wanted to find this refuge shelter. There has to be another way to get in.”&nbsp;

“Well there isn’t!” he shot back, walking towards me with a piercing hot gaze. “You think I want to be out here after my entire family was taken from me? Huh? If it was solely up to my wants, I’d much rather march with my men, face a scythe and die in battle—then, at least I would feel like I’d done what I could to avenge them. But that’s not what a leader does, Arthur. When everyone else has given up, I’m the one that has to hold onto any semblance of hope and fight for the future!”

He stabbed a long, fragile finger into my chest as he snarled out his last words. “So don’t you dare say this is what I ‘want’.”&nbsp;

I stood there, speechless, as Virion walked weakly away. Bairon’s expression mirrored my own while even the howling winds quieted.

“Wait,” Sylvie said, breaking the silence. My bond turned to me. “I noticed this earlier but I couldn’t quite figure out what I was feeling. I think the artifact that Virion is holding influences… aether. Arthur, can you activate Realmheart?”&nbsp;

I did as she asked, thrilled at the prospect of not having to take this arduous hike again. Igniting Sylvia’s dragon will, I felt a sharp pain spread out of my core and through my body and limbs from the backlash of overusing my mana and even using aether arts during my battle with the scythe.&nbsp;

However, as my vision shifted to monochrome and specks of color began lighting up the world around me, my heart thumped in excitement. Amidst the tiny motes of yellow, green, blue, red, and purple, I found something in the distance.&nbsp;

We must’ve shifted off course during our hike here because just less than a mile to my left was a clump of purple that shone like a beacon.&nbsp;

I felt my lips curl up into a crazed grin. “I found it. I found it!”&nbsp;

Sylvie’s eyes brightened at my words and thoughts. She immediately transformed into her draconic form and plucked both Virion and Bairon from the ground with her front claws.&nbsp;

I flew ahead just above the ground, blasting a trail of sand behind me as Sylvie followed close behind.&nbsp;

With our destination locked in sight, it only took a matter of minutes to reach the circular array of purple motes that represented aether.&nbsp;

“It’s here,” I said, pointing directly to the center of the array.

Virion hurriedly scrambled to me, holding the artifact tightly in his hands. He arrived and immediately knelt down, placing the white artifact over the sand with an expression of relief.&nbsp;

“You’re right. This is the place,” he said, looking at the white medallion on top of the sand.&nbsp;

Bairon arrived too, his brow raised in doubt. “Nothing is happen—”&nbsp;

Cutting the lance off mid sentence, the medallion began to vibrate. Even more amazingly, its vibrations caused pulsating waves in the sand around it, spreading several yards out in all directions. The pulses got stronger until the rolling sand soon formed small waves.&nbsp;

Sylvie and I exchanged wary glances but before we could do any more, the ground below us sank until we fell through the sand.&nbsp;

Chapter 239: Passage Of Time

Instinctively, I shrouded myself in a sphere of wind, keeping the sand away as I gently floated down to the ground. Sylvie did something similar as I saw a black sphere slowly melt to reveal a petite girl with two large horns.&nbsp;

Virion and Bairon, with their cores damaged and their magic widely unusable, didn’t fare as well.&nbsp;

Fortunately, Virion was at the epicenter of our descent so he slid down the large mountain of sand that had accumulated below him. Bairon, a figure whose lightning magic was so powerful that it heightened his reflexes, rolled down the sand dune in a fit of desperate screaming and coughing.

He flailed his arms like a drowning puppy before he realized he was on solid ground. Virion shook his head while Sylvie turned away to hide her laughter.&nbsp;

Bairon spat out a mouthful of sand while glaring at me with dagger-like eyes. “You! Should a lance be so selfish as to leave his… commander to plunge down into unknown dangers like that?”&nbsp;

“The only one that thought they were in danger was you,” Virion countered, dusting the sand off of his robe.&nbsp;

It was the first time I saw Bairon’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment. He quickly bolted up to his feet, wiping his sandy mouth and tongue on his sleeve as he coughed. His spiteful glare never ceased as he did this but Bairon and I both knew that he couldn’t do anything about it. With the state he was in right now, I could kill him with a slap—not that I’d want to, of course.&nbsp;

“Everyone,” Sylvie said, her voice echoing slightly. “Look around.”&nbsp;

Her words brought our attention to the mysterious underground tunnel we were in. I looked around and I finally realized that for a place without any sources of light, it was surprisingly easy to see.&nbsp;

“Are those glowing symbols runes? I’ve never seen anything like them,” Bairon muttered in wonder as he hovered his hand over a rune that pulsed with faint light on the wall. “It must be runes, but I don’t sense any fire or lightning affinity mana around them.”

Sylvie brushed her hand over the runes that seemed too perfect to be engraved by hand. “That’s because it isn’t powered by mana.”&nbsp;

Bairon furrowed his brows. “What? That’s impossible.”&nbsp;

“No, she’s right,” I said, cycling Realmheart Physique through my body once more. Sylvie’s thoughts had leaked onto me and I just had to verify it for myself. And to my utter amazement, the entire cave lit up like a starry night, basking the area in purple. “It’s powered by aether.”&nbsp;

My mind spun as I tried to make sense out of this revelation. I ran the conversation I had with Sylvie’s grandmother, Lady Myre, in my head again. Everything she had told me about aether being an entity that couldn’t be manipulated like mana—but rather, influenced or coaxed into action—went against what was going on in front of me. Aether wasn’t something that could be confined and used so permanently like this, yet it was clear as day that someone or something had figured out how to do so.&nbsp;

“Let’s continue walking,” Virion announced, taking the lead. “There’s more of this down here.”&nbsp;

Prying my eyes away from the runes that filled these walls, we continued to walk. Much like in the desert above us, the air here was dry and stale. The only sounds came from our footsteps echoing through the tunnel that led out of the cave we had arrived through.&nbsp;

It couldn’t really be called a tunnel, though, as the smooth, polished floors and light coming from the runes made it seem more like a narrow hallway. The ceiling above us continued to rise as we made our way down the hallway, soon reaching so high that it became lost in darkness.&nbsp;

Despite Virion’s familiarity with this place, I couldn’t help but be cautious. My eyes darted left and right, looking for anything odd, but except for the unusually high concentration of aether gathered here, there was nothing off about this place.&nbsp;

‘You’re feeling uneasy here as well,’ Sylvie noted, sticking close to me.&nbsp;

I think it’s just because of all the aether here, and the runes that are practically trapping them to use as light. I thought aether only influenced time, space, and life?&nbsp;

‘I suspect that the walls aren’t just made of stone but some sort of living thing,’ she responded.&nbsp;

I carefully touched the walls for the first time, and realized that Sylvie was right. It wasn’t stone, like I had assumed—it felt more like a smooth tree trunk. &nbsp;

So aether is giving this… tree… life? I guessed.&nbsp;

‘Your guess is as good as mine at this point. I may be able to utilize aether but you can at least see the ambient mana; I have to go by my gut feeling.’&nbsp;

We continued walking in silence. The straight passage seemed to go on forever, with no end in sight. Despite the scores of runes on the walls, the lack of variation amongst them made it impossible to tell how long we’d been walking.&nbsp;

“How far away are we from reaching the actual shelter?” Bairon asked, unable to hold in his impatience any longer.&nbsp;

“I’m not sure. It hasn’t been long since we arrived so be patient,” Virion replied.&nbsp;

Bairon’s eyes widened. “Not long? Commander, It feels like I’ve been walking for nearly the entire day! I think the journey to find this underground tunnel was shorter.”&nbsp;

“Bairon, aren’t you exaggerating too much? I’d hardly be this fine if we had to walk that long without using mana,” Virion argued.&nbsp;

I tilted my head in confusion. He was right; Bairon might’ve been exaggerating but it did feel like I had been walking for quite some time. Yet, Virion, the one that was the weakest amongst us was doing just fine.&nbsp;

Sylvie, how long have you been walking for? I asked, turning on Realmheart once more.&nbsp;

‘Not more than an hour… wait, a few hours has passed for you?’ she asked, surprised.

I nodded. Sylvie, can you try utilizing aether?&nbsp;

Reading my thoughts, she replied, ‘But I can’t use it to control time.’&nbsp;

I know. I don’t think you have to, though.&nbsp;

Taking a deep breath, Sylvie began calling upon the ambient aether. Her body began glowing in the faint purple light she gave off while using vivum to heal herself and her allies.&nbsp;

Immediately, the surreal sensation akin to falling in your dream tugged at my body. And then, as if I had really woken up, an indescribable clarity spread through my vision.&nbsp;

‘Arthur, look behind you,’ Sylvie said, shaken.&nbsp;

I looked back to see that our hike of varying length down this hallway had only taken us thirty steps forward from the cavern we had arrived in.&nbsp;

Noticing the change in my expression, Bairon turned around. I couldn’t see his face, but judging by how his shoulders tensed and he took a step back, I knew that he was even more shaken up than Sylvie and me.&nbsp;

“Th-That’s impossible. I’ve been walking for hours. How—what is going on?” Bairon demanded, turning back around and shifting gazes between me and Sylvie.&nbsp;

“My best guess is that these runes carry in them the power of aevum and spatium,” I explained, my eyes turning to the mysterious and intricate runes carved into the walls.&nbsp;

“Aevum and spatium?” Virion asked.&nbsp;

“Time and space aether arts,” Sylvie answered, her brows knitted in confusion.&nbsp;

Bairon shook his head. “No, that makes no sense! Shouldn’t these time and space ‘aether arts’ affect us all the same way? How is it that Commander Virion only felt like he’d walked for an hour while it feels like I’ve been journeying for more than a day!”&nbsp;

I thought for a moment, looking around until my eyes landed on the white medallion.

“Because of that.” I pointed to the ancient artifact in Virion’s hand. “This ‘trap’ seems more like a precaution used to give whoever built this place enough time to react to intruders, rather than a full-on measure to stop them. And I’m guessing that having the artifact is enough to make passage a little easier.”&nbsp;

“That doesn’t explain why you two weren’t affected,” Bairon retorted, obviously upset.&nbsp;

I looked at my bond. “Most likely, it’s because Sylvie is naturally inclined to aether that she experienced only minor effects. For me, I can only guess it’s because I’m sensitive to aether that I was still affected but not nearly as much as you.”&nbsp;

After a long moment of silence, Bairon accepted the answer with a click of his tongue.&nbsp;

“Come on. Let’s continue,” Virion urged. “With Lady Sylvie using aether, the effects of the time and space aether doesn’t seem to affect us.”&nbsp;

We continued walking cautiously with Sylvie in the lead as she continued utilizing aether.&nbsp;

My brain pounded against my skull as I tried to wrap my head around what exactly had happened. It was easy to deduce all of the things that I had said, but so many more questions popped up in my head.&nbsp;

How had the ancient mages succeeded in harnessing aether arts to such an extent that they could devise traps like this? Was the time and space manipulation isolated to each person individually, or were we in some contained area?&nbsp;

Were the Indrath Clan’s teachings about aether wrong? Did these ancient mages originate from the Indrath Clan—and like the Vritra Clan, flee from Epheotus due to a difference in beliefs? Or were these ancient mages actually lessers that had learned how to harness aether?&nbsp;

As my mind swam in these questions, I continued to look behind us to make sure we were actually making progress. Bairon did so as well, even more on edge than everybody else. After a while, something luminescent appeared in the distance. A bright glow that didn’t pulsate like the glowing runes around us grew larger as we approached it.&nbsp;

“Finally!” Bairon muttered from the back.&nbsp;

He wasn’t the only one relieved. With the hope of an end finally within sight, our strides became longer and our steps more confident until we finally reached the end of the corridor. The hallway opened into a massive cavern with an elegant coved ceiling carved from the natural stone and sanded down to perfection. Pillars, the width of at least three grown men linking arms, supported the huge underground structure. Bright orbs of warm light lining the walls exposed the awe-inspiring expanse in front of us.&nbsp;

On the one hand, it reminded me of the cavern systems that the dwarves had made for their underground cities, but at the same time, those crude structures couldn’t even begin to describe the splendor and architectural meticulousness of this place.&nbsp;

My eyes immediately took in the cavern large enough to hold a small town and the various tunnels that led out of the cavern. Running through the entire expanse was a large stream that glimmered, reflecting the lights of the cavern. There were several multileveled structures on either side of the stream and bridges that crossed the width of the stream at various points along the cavern.&nbsp;

What caught my attention, however, was the flickering light that I spotted in the second level of one of the buildings just by the stream.&nbsp;

Sylvie and I exchanged glances, understanding each other with just a thought. I turned back to Bairon, who was still taking in the sight in front of us, and Virion, who was catching his breath.

Without saying a word, I got their attention and pointed to the only building with a light. Virion and Bairon’s expression both grew fierce, all signs of fatigue replaced by a guarded grimace. &nbsp;

Being the strongest of the group, I took the lead as we descended the set of stairs leading to the ground. We weaved silently through the empty stone structures that seemed like a home.&nbsp;

I took a mental note for myself to explore these buildings later on if I had the chance to see if I could find any sort of clue on these ancient mages. However, our goal was to find out who had lit a fire this far below the ground in a secret location.&nbsp;

Arriving at the building, I could hear the quiet mutters of several voices but the windows were covered by glass and even with enhanced hearing, I could barely make out how many voices there were.&nbsp;

Gesturing everyone to lean in close, I whispered to them. “I hear at least three different voices, but assume there are more than that.”&nbsp;

After receiving a nod from Sylvie, Bairon and Virion, we circled the perimeter until we found the entrance to the building. There wasn’t a door so we inched closer, keeping our backs against the wall until we were just beside the opening that led into the building.&nbsp;

I held up five fingers and slowly counted down. Once my last finger fell, I pivoted to face the entrance with mana coiled around my body.&nbsp;

I had expected to meet a guard keeping watch, and I was right… mostly.&nbsp;

My eyes widened and my jaw fell. “Boo?!”&nbsp;

Chapter 240: Reconciliation

The towering dark-brown bear fur, the tuft of white on the chest, along with two spots of white just above two intelligent eyes—it was unmistakable. This was Boo.&nbsp;

Boo must’ve been thinking the same thing I was, because the thousand-pound bear charged at me on all fours, letting out a happy grunt.&nbsp;

With unabated force, the gigantic mana beast tackled me, lifting me off my feet and tossing me to the ground. Looming over me, Boo revealed a toothy grin before slobbering me with his tongue that was actually larger than my face.&nbsp;

I struggled under the mana beast’s weight as he pinned me down to the ground and continued to show his affection. “Boo—Ack! Stop! Okay! Enough!”

“I think he’s had enough, Boo,” my bond said, her voice calming the excited beast enough for me to escape.&nbsp;

“I feel violated,” I groaned, wiping off the thick and slimy mask of saliva that had accumulated over my face. It wasn’t until halfway through that my brain clicked. If Boo was here…&nbsp;

I grabbed Boo’s large, furry head and turned him to face me.&nbsp;

“Boo! Is Ellie here? What about my mom?! How did you get here?” I asked, as if he could speak to me.&nbsp;

Fortunately, he didn’t have to. My questions were answered when I saw Virion rush past us in a blur.&nbsp;

“Tessia!” he called out, his voice brimming with emotion. My grip around Boo loosened at the mention of that name, and I immediately followed after Virion.&nbsp;

I didn’t have to go far before I was able to see four figures at the base of the stairs near the far wall of the building. It was my mom, sister, Tessia and… Elder Rinia.&nbsp;

My long and hurried strides slowed as my vision blurred. Tears struggled to break loose as I saw Tessia fall into Virion’s arms. The sight of Ellie running towards me was enough to break me and I found myself arm in arm with my baby sister, my face buried in her short brown hair.&nbsp;

My sister’s entire body shook as she bawled into my chest. Hitting me weakly with her tiny, trembling fists, she blubbered in between sobs about how scared she was and how I wasn’t there.&nbsp;

It felt like a cold hand was gripping down on my chest as I watched my sister in this state. I felt guilty for making my sister, who had grown up so bright and strong, cry this much.&nbsp;

“I’m so sorry, Ellie. I’m so sorry. I’m here now, everything is going to be okay,” I said, tightening my grip around her frail body and kissing her on the crown of her trembling head.&nbsp;

“W-We almost died and you weren’t there. Y-Y-You’re… never there! Not at the Castle, not at the Wall, not even when Dad died!” She wailed, her fists still pounding my body. “You’re my brother, you’re supposed to be there! You were supposed to comfort me when Dad died! I-I needed you… Mom needed you!”&nbsp;

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Ellie,” I repeated, doing all I could to stay strong. “I’m so sorry…”&nbsp;

Ellie slowly calmed down as her head remained buried in my chest. Her trembling shoulders now only occasionally shook when she hiccupped. During this time, I didn’t look up. I kept my focus entirely on my sister until she pushed herself away. Staring at me with swollen red eyes, she jutted a finger behind her. “G-Go apologize to Mom now.”&nbsp;

I looked up to find our mother only a few steps away from us, her expression hollow and empty of any emotion. Her warm and tender smile that I found even in the hardest of times was nowhere to be found.&nbsp;

I walked up to her, unsure of what to do or where to begin.&nbsp;

“M-Mom…”&nbsp;

My mother’s cold eyes cut me off as she took a step forward. “Arthur, your sister and I almost died. If it wasn’t for Elder Rinia saving us, we wouldn’t be here right now.”&nbsp;

My gaze turned to Elder Rinia, who was talking with Tessia and Virion, before landing back on my mother. “I-I…”&nbsp;

“But throughout that entire situation, when I thought that surely we would die—soon, if not now—do you know what I was thinking?”&nbsp;

I shook my head.&nbsp;

“I was thinking…” My mother paused a moment, her mask of stone wavering. Tears welled in her eyes while she bit her lower lip in an effort to keep it from trembling. She turned away from me, quickly wiping away her tears, trying to compose herself before turning back. “I was thinking the entire time how sad and guilt-ridden your father must’ve been to leave this world without even getting the chance to make up with his only son.”

Her words weighed down on me like a thousand tons, making my knees buckle and my entire body falter. Just as I lost strength in my legs, my mother wrapped her arms around me and supported me against her chest.

Her trembling hands gripped me as she whispered. “It doesn’t matter who you were before. I raised you when you were little, I nursed you when you were sick, and I watched as you grew into the man you are today. Your father and I talked for a long time, and we can say with certainty that the Arthur now is so different from who he was when he was born, and that’s when we realized that you are our son.”

The strength left my feet, crumpling me to my knees. I gripped my chest as my breathing came out in strained gasps. I couldn’t breathe, I could only gag out the neverending sobs as my mother kept her arms around me.&nbsp;

“I’m so sorry that it took us so long to realize that. I’m so sorry that you couldn’t come to your own father’s funeral because of me. I’m so sorry, Arthur.”&nbsp;

***

It took a while for us to gather ourselves and get settled up on the second floor of the building. During this time, I noticed that the atmosphere was a bit tense between Tess and Elder Rinia.&nbsp;

The rest of us newcomers had picked up on this as well, exchanging wary glances at each other while Tess ignored any efforts by Elder Rinia to start a conversation.&nbsp;

Once we got upstairs, Elder Rinia pulled aside Virion with a grave expression and disappeared into another room. After some time spent talking with my mother and sister, I properly greeted Tess and the two of us embraced silently for a brief moment.

Tess, however, seemed to have something else on her mind and I didn’t blame her. While I didn’t have the courage to ask directly, just based on the hollow expression that Tess had, I suspected something had happened to her parents. As for why she was so angry at Elder Rinia, I could only speculate.&nbsp;

Tess, not long after we sat down, excused herself, telling us she was a bit tired. Bairon was next, telling us he wanted to spend some time meditating to recover.&nbsp;

I told him that because of the lack of the ambient mana here, it would be almost impossible to go further than trying to recoup the mana he would naturally gain from his mana core, but I suspected that he left more to give me and my family some space. While my impression of Bairon had never been good—and I think he could say the same for me—the lance had come a long way from the prideful hotheaded noble he was before the war. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Finding myself with just my family, I couldn’t help but crack a smile. Before today, I would’ve sworn that being in a situation like this would’ve rendered me catatonic, but it was… peaceful. &nbsp;

“You’re so pretty, Sylvie,” Ellie commented, combing my bond’s long wheat hair with her fingers.&nbsp;

“I think you’re very attractive yourself, Eleanor,” Sylvie responded in kind, her eyes closing softly at my sister’s soft touch.&nbsp;

“Another thing I regret was not spending much time getting to know your bond,” my mother said to me, watching Ellie and my bond by the fire. “But I’ve always been glad that Sylvie is by your side.”&nbsp;

“I’m glad as well. I’m not sure where I would be if it hadn’t been for her,” I replied.

My mother’s expression was a mixture of emotions as she looked at me and nodded.&nbsp;

A sharp ‘pop’ crackled from the firewood, interrupting the brief moment of silence. Unable to hold in my question any longer, I asked my mother, “How did you, Ellie, and Boo get here?”&nbsp;

She looked at me and then at the exit that Tessia and Bairon had left through, and shook her head. “I’ll let Elder Rinia tell you. It’s better that way.”&nbsp;

“Okay,” I responded. The four of us talked for a while, catching up, making light jokes and laughing, until my sister and even my mother began nodding off to sleep.&nbsp;

“Sorry, we hadn’t been able to sleep well these past few days,” my mother said, rubbing her eyes.&nbsp;

“Don’t worry. Get some sleep—both of you,” I said, turning to my sister.&nbsp;

The two of them retreated to a bed of blankets that had been laid out in a corner of the room.&nbsp;

“Good night,” Sylvie and I said to the both of them.&nbsp;

They responded in kind before laying down. I caught my sister lifting her head every now and then, checking to see if the two of us were still here, until the soft rhythmic breathing eventually melded together with the cackling fire.&nbsp;

I smiled, my eyes unable to pry themselves away from the sight of my mother and sister sleeping peacefully. A lot of unexpected events had occurred in the last few days alone, but one of the moments I had dreaded the most was confronting my family after everything that had happened to them. I was so caught up in blaming myself for my father’s death that I avoided Ellie and my mother out of guilt.&nbsp;

When I saw the two of them today, my mind immediately expected anger and blame from the two of them. Instead, I learned that my mother had blamed herself all this time. She said that her inability to properly deal with the secret of my past life had caused me to miss my own father’s funeral and she apologized for that.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized how…mature that was. Surely I was in the wrong as well. I was the one that avoided confrontation and I had been the one to keep it a secret from them for so long, yet she ignored my mistakes and pointed out her own shortcomings instead and asked me for forgiveness, which was something I wasn’t quite sure I deserved.

Even with the experience of two separate lives, I learned something today. I was once again humbled by the fact that while my past life had given me a lot of advantages, it was foolish of me to equate years lived to maturity.&nbsp;

‘It’s not like I didn’t tell you this a few times already. I guess you needed to arrive at that conclusion yourself,’ Sylvie sent to me, also conveying a mental eye-roll along with it. ‘Mark today on the calendar as the day Arthur Leywin realized he wasn’t the mature man he thought he was.’&nbsp;

Shut up, I sent back, smirking at my bond seated next to me. You’re just trying to use this fact to say that you’re more mature than I am.&nbsp;

‘I am more mature than you are, but a true mature person wouldn’t say it out loud,’ she replied, her lips curling into a smile as well.&nbsp;

You just said it out loud, I pointed out.&nbsp;

Sylvie looked at me with a raised brow. ‘Well technically…’&nbsp;

I playfully nudged my bond with a shoulder, feeling good for the first time in a long while. My sister and mother were alive and while we had a lot to work on if we wanted to be how we were in the past, the important thing was that they were safe.

Sylvie was the next to fall asleep, her head resting on my lap. The two horns jutting forward from her head dug into my legs but I sucked it up and let my bond get the sleep she deserved.&nbsp;

Staring at the fire in front of me, I became lost in thought. The thoughts that I had held off resurfaced. I had originally wanted to leave a bit after bringing Virion and Bairon here in order to look for Tess and my family. Seeing that they were here already, I immediately thought about the possibility of staying here for some time. There weren’t many supplies available here, but there was a stream of freshwater and I noticed a pile of large fish where Boo had made his nest on the lower floor of this building which I could guess came from the stream.&nbsp;

We might need to make a few trips to civilization eventually—maybe the Wall—but for now, I pondered at the thought of just… resting for a while.&nbsp;

I was tired, Virion was tired, and Bairon was tired whether he admitted it or not. During our trip here, we had all come to a silent agreement that we had lost this war. Coming to this realization didn’t warrant any mind-numbing revelation—maybe I was growing used to winning our battles but losing the war. Agrona utilized his limited resources to their utmost potential and didn’t hesitate to sacrifice his troops for a bigger plot. Dicathen had been only reacting, and Agrona knew that all too well. Like Virion said, maybe the best thing to do was buckle under and wait for a new chance to fight back.&nbsp;

My thoughts were interrupted by the soft footsteps approaching me. I turned around, greeting Elder Rinia with a nod.&nbsp;

The old diviner smiled back, wrinkles tugging at the edges of her eyes. Taking a seat next to me with a weary groan, she lifted her hands to warm them in front of the fire.&nbsp;

“You’ve grown older since the last time I saw you,” she mentioned, her eyes staring blankly at the dancing embers.&nbsp;

I chuckled quietly. “Well I am a growing teen.”&nbsp;

“No teen would be wearing the expression you have,” Elder Rinia scoffed. “But I guess that’s what comes with war and having so many responsibilities.”&nbsp;

My hands unconsciously stroked down my face as I wondered what sort of expression I wore, and what Rinia meant. Too tired to think deeply of it, I looked back, wondering why she had come back alone. “Where’s Virion?”&nbsp;

“He said he’ll check up on Tessia to see how she’s doing.”&nbsp;

There was a beat of silence as I gathered the courage to ask the question I knew she was dreading to answer by the look on her face. “Can you tell me everything that happened?”&nbsp;

Chapter 241: Hope and Trust

There was a long silence that followed after I asked my question, and when she did speak, I expected a long and convoluted story of how she managed to get into the castle and save Tessia and my family.&nbsp;

Instead, she started off by saying something I didn’t expect. “Arthur, I knew of your identity the first time we had met, back when you came to me to get in contact with your parents.”&nbsp;

My eyes widened. “What? How?”&nbsp;

Rinia held up a finger. “These old eyes see much more than you can imagine. However, much like how I had feigned ignorance of your past life and kept it a secret, there are also parts of this story that I can’t quite reveal yet.”&nbsp;

I didn’t respond, letting her continue talking.&nbsp;

“I had known for a while now that an attack would occur at the Castle following the betrayal of Virion’s son.”

“Virion’s… You’re telling me right now that it was Alduin who was responsible for letting the scythe in? That’s not possible, you can’t seriously be saying that he was trying to get his own father killed, right?”&nbsp;

“My knowledge doesn’t extend to his intentions, but yes, he was the one that connected the scythe, as well as the rest of his forces, directly to the castle teleportation gate,” she answered.&nbsp;

My hand came up to my gaping mouth. I couldn’t believe it. Despite any disagreements the two of them had, Alduin had always looked up to Virion. After a moment, I spoke again.&nbsp;

“Was Alduin guaranteed the safety of Merial and Tessia? Was that why he betrayed everyone? But then…” I dropped my voice to a whisper so my sleeping family wouldn’t hear. “Why did they take my mother and sister?”&nbsp;

“That’s what Alduin believed, yes,” she said. “As for your family, it’s easy to surmise that they wanted your mother and sister as hostages.”&nbsp;

Rubbing my temples, I thought about what she said until it clicked. “Wait, you said ‘that’s what Alduin believed.’ What do you mean by that?”&nbsp;

Rinia smiled wearily at me. “We’re venturing into the area where I can’t give you an answer. All I can tell you is that if we want to keep any chance of taking back our country, we have to keep Tessia safe and far away from Agrona and the Alacryans.”&nbsp;

My head whipped toward the elven diviner. “Wait, so we do have a chance at taking back Dicathen?”&nbsp;

She nodded. “It’s slim, but it does exist.”&nbsp;

The two of us fell in silence until I spoke again. “If you knew about the attack on the Castle, did you also know that Buhnd was going to die?”&nbsp;

The fire in front of us popped, spraying a small shower of glowing red ashes at the ground.&nbsp;

“Yes,” she finally said. “But had I tried and diverted the entire attack, there was a much larger chance that Tessia would’ve been captured.”&nbsp;

I opened my mouth to say something, but I couldn’t quite get the right words.&nbsp;

“I know what you’re thinking, but I couldn’t risk the chance of Dicathen losing everything on the slim chance that I could save everyone.”&nbsp;

“But, if you knew everything beforehand, you could’ve made countermeasures. You could’ve told Virion, or told me!” I argued.&nbsp;

“Time doesn’t work that way. Changing things like that alters the course of the future… a future that I wouldn’t be able to see,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

Gritting my teeth, I dug my fingers into the cement floor to try and calm down. I knew I was being selfish… if it wasn’t for Elder Rinia, Tessia and my family would’ve been in the hands of Agrona by now, but still… &nbsp;

“How were you able to save Tessia and my family though?” I asked.&nbsp;

“I was able to intercept them while they were on their way back to Elenoir,” she said nonchalantly.&nbsp;

I nodded at her answer but my mind spun trying to imagine a scenario where Rinia succeeded in doing this. How did she manage to pry Tessia and my family away from Alduin and Merial? Was it just Alduin and Merial there? Rinia specifically said that while Alduin believed that they were safe, they really weren’t. Most likely, after Alduin, Merial, Tessia and my family stepped through the portal, they would’ve been met with a trap.&nbsp;

Did Elder Rinia know everything that was going to happen? Were her diviner abilities able to influence time that well?&nbsp;

Time!&nbsp;

Without any warning, I directed a surge of killing intent over Elder Rinia, and just as I saw her react with an expression of surprise, I ignited Realmheart and immediately used Static Void.&nbsp;

The world around me turned monochrome except for the motes of purple trembling in place. But my eyes weren’t focused on the particles of aether around me; they were focused on Elder Rinia.&nbsp;

Her eyes regarded me in shock as she watched my eyes narrow in realization. She shifted her gaze to look around her before her eyes fell back on me.&nbsp;

“Clever,” she sighed.&nbsp;

“So you can utilize aether,” I muttered, seeing the specks of purple hovering around her, as if protecting her.&nbsp;

“You’re not an asura, I know that for sure,” I started. “Are you… one of the ancient mages?”&nbsp;

Despite the apparent strain that Elder Rinia endured, trying to keep her aether arts active, she let out a chuckle before answering. “No, I can tell you with absolute confidence that I am not an ancient mage.”&nbsp;

“Then who… what are you? Even I can’t control aether without relying on the dragon’s will an asura had given me.”&nbsp;

“While I’m not entirely sure, I believe that my diviner abilities stem partly from aether. As for how I learned, I’m sorry but I can’t tell you that.”

“I don’t think that’s a good enough answer anymore,” I challenged, staring intently at the elf shrouded in so much mystery.&nbsp;

“I can tell you—I can tell you everything. But Tessia and your family might die because of it,” she answered, her face turning more ghastly. “Please, have a little patience and I can assure you that you’ll find out for yourself.”&nbsp;

She wasn’t threatening me with my loved ones—no, she truly believed that her telling me all of this could lead to their deaths. Gnashing my teeth in frustration, I released Static Void, allowing Elder Rinia to release the aether arts she had used to keep her from being frozen in time.&nbsp;

She let out a ragged breath. “Thank you… for believing in me.”&nbsp;

“You saved Tessia and my family,” I said, taking a glance over to where my mother and Ellie were sleeping. “The least I can do is trust you—at least until you give me a reason not to.”

The two of us continued talking, albeit a bit more calmly this time. I asked every question I had. Some she answered, and some she didn’t, but I didn’t press her for details.&nbsp;

What I did find out was that there were teleportation gates here—several, in fact—that could only be utilized with control over aether. That’s how Elder Rinia was able to get here so quickly and without having to physically make a cross-continental journey with Tessia, my mother, and my sister in tow.&nbsp;

“You learned aether arts while I was more or less given the ability to borrow it at times. Tell me, is it something that I can learn as well?” I asked, trying to hold onto the sensation I had when I utilized aether on my own to injure the scythe.&nbsp;

“Yes, and no. Your ability to experience a taste of aether arts through your dragon will, as well as the fact that you can see aether gives you a great advantage. However, my advantage, compared to yours, is much greater. I had even discovered a location to train in aether arts with aether much more abundant than here. But even then… it took me eighty years to learn something you can do with a simple thought,” she explained.&nbsp;

My gaze dropped as I thought about spending eighty years, perhaps more, trying to grasp aether arts. Eighty years was a long time, and while my white core extended my lifetime, I couldn’t hope for the same thing for my mother or my sister. “I see.”&nbsp;

“It’s too early to lose hope. We’ll continue to gather forces slowly, and with you and Lady Sylvie here, we’ll have three people able to access the teleportation—” Elder Rinia stopped abruptly and I knew why. I turned my head back, brows furrowed at the erratic sound of footsteps drawing closer.&nbsp;

My sudden shift in emotions caused Sylvie to stir awake as well.

‘What’s going on?’ she sent, lifting her head off of my lap.&nbsp;

Virion is coming and… something’s wrong, I replied, standing up.&nbsp;

I sent out a pulse of wind mana, trying to sense whether anyone was chasing after Virion, but it was just him. It only took a few seconds for him to appear through the small hallway leading to the room we were in. The old commander was disheveled, tired, and had a look of panic.&nbsp;

“T-Tessia… ran away,” he huffed, catching his breath.&nbsp;

“What?” I blurted. “How did this happen? Where did she go?”&nbsp;

Elder Rinia cursed under her breath and grabbed my arm. “Tessia can’t leave this place, Arthur. There’s something wrong with her core, and if she leaves the protection this place provides, the Alacryans can track her.”&nbsp;

My eyes widened in horror. I turned to Virion. “What direction did she go?”&nbsp;

As soon as Virion lifted his finger, I shot off in that direction while immediately activating Static Void once more.&nbsp;

The color drained from the world as I bolted out the window. Igniting Realmheart to better search for mana fluctuations from Tess, I rushed forth.&nbsp;

My mana usage was limited while in Static Void because I couldn’t manipulate ambient mana, but seeing as there wasn’t much ambient mana in this underground town anyway, I figured Tessia couldn’t have gotten too far anyway.&nbsp;

With the limits of my spell slowly gripping down on my core, I endured until I eventually found traces of mana that had been used.&nbsp;

I was right. Tess had used magic to forcefully run away from Virion, who was still injured and unable to utilize most of his mana.&nbsp;

Following the trail into a different tunnel than I had come from, I spotted Tess. She was frozen in place, her eyes determined, her hair billowing… and drops of tears suspended in the air behind her.&nbsp;

I rushed past her a few feet to give her time to stop before withdrawing Static Void and Realmheart. The motes of purple and green faded while color rushed back into the world.&nbsp;

Tessia resumed running until she spotted me. After immediately skidding to a stop, she stared at me, eyes and mouth both frozen wide.&nbsp;

“How did you…” she started before she shook her head and her eyes narrowed. “I have to go, Art. I have to save my parents.” &nbsp;

I hadn’t thought about what to say to reason with Tess once I caught up. I didn’t even know what she was going to say, but I sure didn’t expect this. “Tess… your parents betrayed us.”&nbsp;

“Don’t say that—Don’t you dare say that!” she snapped, eyes glaring. “You don’t know anything!”&nbsp;

“What I know is that your parents colluded with Agrona, let in a scythe into the Castle and got almost everyone killed,” I said calmly.&nbsp;

“It’s not that simple,” she argued, hurriedly wiping away a tear. “They had no choice…”&nbsp;

“Tess… your father and mother basically sacrificed Virion—your own grandpa—for the hope that Agrona would leave Elenoir alone. Now please, come back with us. Let’s talk about our next steps and—”&nbsp;

“Stop. I know that you’ve disagreed with my parents while you participated in meetings with the Council, but don’t make them out to be so selfish like that. They had no choice!”&nbsp;

“You keep saying that, Tess, but they had plenty of choices,” I quipped. “They could’ve ignored Agrona’s offer and trusted in Virion to win this war.”&nbsp;

“Then I would be dead, Art!” she screamed. “Is that what you wanted?” &nbsp; &nbsp;

My brows furrowed in confusion. “Dead? Wh-What are you talking about?”&nbsp;

Tess marched forward until she was just inches away from me. “I would be dead. My parents had no choice but to accept the deal with Agrona because of the beast will that you gave me years back. Do you remember?”&nbsp;

My thoughts veered back to the elderwood guardian I had defeated. “No, that’s impossible. You only had problems assimilating with it. Once you managed to control it…”&nbsp;

“The beast will you gave me was from a corrupted beast,” Tessia interrupted, shedding tears. “A beast corrupted by Agrona. With that thing inside me, I was basically a living bomb that Agrona could detonate on a whim.”&nbsp;

My knees buckled and I faltered back, barely managing to keep my balance. “N-No…”&nbsp;

“So don’t you dare say that my parents betrayed all of us,” Tessia seethed. “They did it to save me, and even if everyone here won’t give them a chance, I will.”&nbsp;

‘Art! What happened, are you okay? I’m coming to you now,’ Sylvie transmitted, her worry leaking onto me.&nbsp;

No, it’s okay. Stay there while I try to convince Tess, I replied.&nbsp;

“Tess… I had no idea that this happened because of the beast will I gave you,” I muttered. “If I knew…”&nbsp;

She shook her head. “I know it’s not your fault, but I have to do something, Art.”&nbsp;

“I understand, Tess. But once you step out from this shelter, the Alacryans will be able to trace you. You’ll die.”&nbsp;

Tess gripped my shirt with trembling hands. “They’re my parents, Art. They did everything they could to save me.”&nbsp;

A flurry of emotions stirred inside me as I looked down at Tess: frustration, sadness, fear… and guilt. It was easy to feel responsible for what had happened, especially when I knew that something was wrong with the elderwood guardian. But because of the excitement of reaping the rewards from such a strong monster, rather than being cautious, I fed it to one of the people I cared most about in an attempt to keep her safe.&nbsp;

Mad at myself and the sick irony of it all, I pulled Tess away. “Is there nothing I can do to convince you to stay?”&nbsp;

“I’m sorry.” Tess bit her lip and steeled herself, looking at me with determined eyes.&nbsp;

I let out a sigh. “Then I’m coming with you.”&nbsp;

Chapter 242: Two Loves

Tess’s eyes lit up. “Really? You’re coming with me?”&nbsp;

“But… you have to reconcile with Virion first,” I said sternly. “Whatever you argued about with him, remember that he didn’t just lose you back at the Castle, he lost his son.”&nbsp;

“I-I know. What they did was wrong, but they only did it—”&nbsp;

“To save you. Yeah, I know,” I finished. “Which is why if we’re going to save them and bring them back here, you’re going to want to be the bridge that’ll mend things between your &nbsp;grandfather and parents. You won’t be able to do that if you just leave like this.”&nbsp;

Tess opened her mouth, as if to argue, but simply let out a sigh. “You know, most girls don’t like guys who are always right like this.”&nbsp;

A smile tugged at the corner of my lips. “Do you want most girls to like me?”&nbsp;

Narrowing her eyes, Tess punched me in the arm before turning back towards our camp. “Come on. Let’s go back.”&nbsp;

***

“I’m sorry—I really am—but we can’t risk it,” Elder Rinia said resolutely. “Your mana core has been corrupted by the beast will inside you. If you leave—”&nbsp;

“But the potion cured me! That’s why my parents did all of that—so they could give it to me!” Tess argued.&nbsp;

“The potion that Agrona gave you, Tessia. You may be fine now, but we don’t know if that was a permanent solution or if it’ll only give you a period of respite. It’s too soon to tell and if something does happen to you on that journey and you’re taken by the Alacryans…”&nbsp;

“Why does it matter whether I’m taken by the Alacryans? How does my death affect the future of an entire continent?” Tess demanded.

“Tessia!” Virion snapped. “Don’t talk like that!”&nbsp;

“It’s true though,” she continued. “I’m not anywhere near as strong as the lances, nor am I influential enough to rally people together like either of you. Why does my death matter?”&nbsp;

I took a step forward when Sylvie put her hand in front of me.&nbsp;

‘Don’t, Arthur. It’s not our place to interfere. Not now,’ she sent, a wave of solemnness leaking from her.&nbsp;

As Tessia, Virion, and Elder Rinia continued to argue, I shifted my gaze to the others around us. Bairon was leaning against the far wall of the room by the door with his arms crossed. My sister had left the room some time ago with Boo while Mother quietly listened.

“So are you saying that I can’t even go find my own mother and father?” Tess asked quietly, her eyes brimming with tears.&nbsp;

Virion’s gaze softened as he grabbed his granddaughter’s hand. “We’ll bring them back. Just give me and Bairon some time to recover.”&nbsp;

After a long silence, Tess finally nodded in acceptance. “…I’m sorry, Grandpa.”&nbsp;

Virion pulled his granddaughter into his arms. “It’s okay, Little One. It’s okay.”&nbsp;

My mother walked over to us, gently patting Sylvie on her shoulder. My bond and my mother exchanged a warm smile before my mother’s gaze shifted to me. “Your sister is outside. You should go talk to her.”&nbsp;

After taking a quick glance at Tess to see how she was, I turned back to my mother. “Okay.”&nbsp;

As I turned to leave, I was grabbed by the wrist. I saw my mother’s eyes red and glistening.

“Mom? Is something wrong?”&nbsp;

She smiled at me and shook her head. “It’s nothing. I’m just glad you’re staying,” she said quietly, just barely enough for me to hear.&nbsp;

My mother let go of my wrist and waved me away with a smile, but my chest still tightened from guilt.&nbsp;

‘Go. I’ll watch over your mother,’ Sylvie comforted.&nbsp;

I passed by Bairon, who shot me a quick glance and nodded, before heading down the stairs to the ground floor.&nbsp;

Damn it.&nbsp;

I berated myself as I walked out of the building. It made sense in my head to go with Tess since my mother and sister were safe here, but I didn’t think about how they’d feel about me leaving.&nbsp;

Spotting my sister and her giant bond by the stream, I walked over. Boo was curled up into a furry ball, sleeping, while Ellie was throwing rocks into the stream.&nbsp;

“Mind if I join you?” I asked.&nbsp;

“Why? Aren’t you going to leave soon, anyway?” she asked bitterly.&nbsp;

I picked up a flat rock. “We decided not to go until Bairon and Virion are both fully healed.”&nbsp;

Ellie chucked another rock, making it splash into the calm water. “That’s too bad. You were probably looking forward to going off on your little romantic adventure with Tessia.”&nbsp;

“You know it’s not like that,” I said calmly, snapping my wrist as I tossed the flat rock. The two of us watched as the smooth stone skipped four, seven, ten times before it finally sank. “Bringing back Tess’s parents is something that has to be done.”&nbsp;

“Why?” my sister retorted. “Because your girlfriend wants you to?”&nbsp;

“Ellie,” I replied.&nbsp;

“Don’t ‘Ellie’ me!” my sister snapped, throwing the rock in her hand before turning to me. “I overheard Commander Virion talking to Tessia earlier. I know that the four of you almost died fighting that one scythe! And now you’re telling me that you’re going to go back there to bring back the elves who basically sold us all out?”

“It’s not that simple, you know that.”&nbsp;

“It sounds pretty simple to me,” she said sharply, looking down to search for another rock. “Our family—what’s left of it—barely got back together but you’re already eager to leave us.”&nbsp;

My insides knotted as I saw the drops of tears stain the rocks on the ground below her lowered head.&nbsp;

“I’m never eager to leave you guys.” I let out a sigh. “I’m one of the few mages powerful enough to turn the tide in this war, and one way to do that is by bringing back Tess’ parents. Only then will we be able to muster up the forces necessary to eventually take back Dicathen.”&nbsp;

My sister paused as she held onto a fist-sized rock on the ground, her face still covered by her hair.&nbsp;

I continued. “I love Tess. But you, Mom and Sylvie are my family.”&nbsp;

Boo let out a deep groan from the side.&nbsp;

“And you too, Boo. You’re family too,” I added, smiling as Ellie stifled a laugh. “I’d do anything to keep you all safe, and if that means I have to be away from you all to do it, that’s the price I have to pay.”&nbsp;

Ellie quickly wiped her tears before getting back up. She turned around and threw the stone in her hand. “I know. It’s just… I wish you were around more.”&nbsp;

I picked up another flat rock and threw it. “I wish I was too. More than anything. But I don’t want you and Mom living in an underground town below a desert for the rest of your lives, and to do that, I need to get off my butt.”&nbsp;

“I don’t mind it. I know Mom won’t wouldn’t mind it too,” she said, watching my rock skip on the water. “I know you’re doing this to keep us all safe, but it works both ways, you know.”&nbsp;

Ellie turned around, pouting with red eyes and flushed cheeks. “We just want you safe.”&nbsp;

I smiled. “Do you know what my dream is after this is all over?”&nbsp;

“What?”&nbsp;

“For us to live together in a huge house by the ocean. Me, you, Mom, Sylvie, Boo, and Tess.”&nbsp;

“Wait, why do you get to live with your girlfriend? What about my future boyfriend?” she protested.&nbsp;

I looked at her blankly. “You won’t have a boyfriend.”&nbsp;

“What? Why not?”&nbsp;

“Because if you do, I’ll get rid of him,” I said matter-of-factly.

“That’s not fair!” she huffed.&nbsp;

I shrugged. “Big brothers are never fair.”&nbsp;

Ellie puffed her cheeks for a moment before she broke out into laughter, causing me to laugh as well.&nbsp;

“Fine,” she relented. “But in exchange, you have to teach me how you do that.”&nbsp;

I raised a brow. “Do what?”&nbsp;

“That thing where the rock bounces on top of the water! Are you using magic?”&nbsp;

“I’m not using magic at all,” I said, skipping another rock.&nbsp;

Ellie tried as well, mimicking my motions and failing. “Lies. You’re totally using magic.”&nbsp;

“No, I’m not, just watch…”&nbsp;

Three days passed by in the blink of an eye. During this time, Tess came to terms with Virion and the two had made up. It was good to see everyone—except for Bairon—smiling and laughing in this dreary underground town.&nbsp;

When Virion and Bairon weren’t resting, they were meditating and trying to cycle mana throughout their body to hasten their recovery. It was a slow and arduous process for all of us to meditate in this place due to the absence of ambient mana.&nbsp;

Despite the disadvantages of having little to no ambient mana, this underground village built by the ancient mages had a large benefit for me and Sylvie.&nbsp;

“Happy training,” I teased, sitting cross-legged on the hard ground.&nbsp;

“It’s amazing how you haven’t gotten sick of this,” Sylvie said, sitting down across from me in the same hallway we had arrived from. “I’m making progress, but you’ve yet to even take a step forward. How are you not discouraged at all?”&nbsp;

I shrugged. “I’ve had things too easy up until now. Besides, if these damn ancient mages were able to learn it to this extent, I’m sure I’ll eventually get the hang of it.”&nbsp;

“Your optimism is leaking over to me,” Sylvie said, shuddering as she closed her eyes to concentrate.&nbsp;

Still seated, I ignited Realmheart. Color flushed away from the world, leaving only motes of purple either swaying rhythmically in the air or cluttered together on the walls to produce the soft light around us.&nbsp;

At the same time, my bond opened up her consciousness completely to me so I could sense every little thing she was doing. This was the training system that I had devised.&nbsp;

Both Elder Rinia and Sylvie had agreed that it was impossible for them to teach me how to use aether. While Elder Rinia was limited in what she could tell me, for my bond, it was more so that the act of using aether was too natural for her.&nbsp;

Just like how a bird didn’t need to be taught how to fly, Sylvie teaching me how to use aether was akin to a bird teaching a fish how to fly—me being that fish.&nbsp;

So, for these past few days, I had endured hours of watching and listening to my bond’s thoughts as she meditated and slowly grew her control over the aether arts as well.&nbsp;

But from what little I’d learned through this process, it felt like the aether was more or less teaching Sylvie; it was nothing like mana at all.&nbsp;

Shaping and controlling the power within my body had been ingrained in me since my previous life, while learning to utilize aether seemed as if it would be going against everything I had worked for.&nbsp;

What didn’t add up, however, was the fact that the ancient mages had managed to trap aether into these artifacts in order to light them up. The very nature of this was paradoxical to what my bond was doing.&nbsp;

Hours passed with no sign of progress to show for it. Frustrated and impatient, I once again walked back to our camp alone while my bond continued to strengthen herself.&nbsp;

On my way back, I stopped by one of the adjacent hallways where Elder Rinia was working.

“How’s the teleportation gate coming along?” I asked as I walked in on the old elf with glowing purple hands drawing what looked like runes on the inner mechanisms of the old portal she had used to bring Tess and my family here. “Maybe you should take a break.”&nbsp;

“I’m nearly finished! I think I should be done… in a few hours,” she said in between heavy breaths.&nbsp;

It was obvious that utilizing aether was taking a large toll on her body. “We need you to take care of your health, Elder Rinia. You look like you’ve aged another century since you got here.”&nbsp;

“If I wasn’t so tired, I’d take the effort to walk over to you and slap you, but… meh,” she said, not bothering to look at me. “Besides, Lady Sylvie has been helping me out a lot by providing me with the raw power to power this old thing up.”&nbsp;

It was still jarring to hear anyone, especially someone as old and distinguished as Elder Rinia, refer to my bond as ‘Lady Sylvie’.&nbsp;

“Should I call her over?” I asked.&nbsp;

“No, no. Just a last bit of tinkering with the runes to set the return point,” she replied, waving me away.&nbsp;

My curiosity getting the better of me, I stuck around for a bit, watching her draw runes in the empty center of the teleportation gate.&nbsp;

The rune was a complicated shape stemming from a center pentagon that branched out into sharp angles creating a rigid vortex-like pattern. I found myself following her hand movements as she carefully traced over the rune until the faint purple shape faded and spread out to the outer structure of the gate.&nbsp;

“You should get going. Tessia came by earlier. She was asking for you,” said Elder Rinia.&nbsp;

“Oh.” I scratched my head. “I wonder what she wants.”&nbsp;

After reminding the old elf not to overdo it one more time, I walked back, reaching the main base. Near the flowing stream that cut through the abandoned town with rows of empty buildings, I saw Ellie and Tess playing with each other. Tess was conjuring tiny orbs of water above the stream while Ellie shot them down by firing mana arrows from her bow.

I was about to call out to them when I had a better idea.&nbsp;

Just as Tess raised another sphere of water, I flicked my wrist, willing the orb to dash left. The glowing arrow of pure mana whizzed by, missing its mark entirely.&nbsp;

Hearing Tess exclaim in confusion made me snicker, but I continued to mess with my sister. I dodged Ellie’s arrows, maneuvering the orb of water with ease and even squirting a stream of water at her face, until finally my sister screamed out in frustration.&nbsp;

“We know it’s you, Brother!” my sister yelled, stressing our relationship as if it were a curse.&nbsp;

“How were you not even able to land a single hit on it?” &nbsp;I laughed aloud, unable to hold it in.

Ellie fired a mana arrow directly at my face, but I continued laughing as I easily caught it in my hand.&nbsp;

“Ellie! Don’t fire arrows at your brother!” my mother’s voice echoed from the second floor of the building just behind Tess and my sister.&nbsp;

“Arthur started it!” Ellie retorted, pointing her finger at me.&nbsp;

Tess let out a chortle, covering her mouth while trying to stifle her laughter as my sister turned more red.&nbsp;

The three of us eventually headed inside. I continued to make fun of my sister as she, in turn, continued to throw fists and conjurations of pure mana at my face.&nbsp;

“Oh yeah, Elder Rinia mentioned that you were looking for me earlier?” I asked Tess while dodging and deflecting my baby sister’s attacks.&nbsp;

“O-Oh, uh, it was nothing. I just wanted to check in on how everyone was doing,” she said, quickening her pace to beat us up the stairs.&nbsp;

When we arrived upstairs, I could see a row of flame-grilled fish skewered on branches.&nbsp;

“Wow!” I said, my mouth already beginning to salivate.&nbsp;

“I managed to catch quite a few fish today,” my mother grinned proudly, tapping her flexed arm. “Eat up while I go bring Commander Virion and General Bairon back from their meditation.”&nbsp;

I immediately grabbed a skewer and took a bite, only to have a richly-seasoned flavor burst into my mouth. “How is this fish salted?” I asked amidst my chewing.&nbsp;

My mother turned back as she was leaving through the door. “Elder Rinia packed it in one of her dimension rings.”&nbsp;

“‘One of’?” Tess repeated, handing a skewer to Ellie before taking one for herself.&nbsp;

“Mhmm. Elder Rinia has at least eight dimension rings full of things necessary to live here. She’s even brought various seeds so that we can start growing our own fruits and vegetables down here,” my mother answered, smiling. “All of you will have to help out so we can start accommodating a lot more people here.”&nbsp;

Tess and I exchanged glances as both of us were no doubt wondering the same thing: how far back had Elder Rinia prepared for all of this?

It was almost impossible to tell how much time had passed without a sun above us, but eventually everyone had gathered back together. Bairon and Virion, while still incapacitated, were looking better everyday. Sylvie joined us for food as well while talking and smiling with Tess and Ellie. Elder Rinia had come back and, after a quick bite to eat, immediately fell asleep in her bed.&nbsp;

My mother had done a fantastic job of making the desolate building seem more homey. Most of us only got a blanket in order to save resources, but with the curtains set up in front of the doorways of each room and small decorative touches in each of them, this place didn’t seem as much of a refuge shelter anymore.&nbsp;

I found myself comfortable and happy as I drifted off to sleep. In a way, being here with the ones that I cared about the most—this was what I had hoped for. I wanted to quickly bring the Twin Horns down here as well; I knew my mother and sister would be happy at that.&nbsp;

I was eager to start the new day.

If only I knew what I would be waking up to.&nbsp;

Chapter 243: On the Surface

TESSIA ERALITH

I looked back at the softly-lit corridor stretching back into the darkness before my gaze lowered to the white medallion in my hand.&nbsp;

“Sorry, Grandpa,” I muttered under my breath, clutching tightly onto the artifact. “I swear I’ll return this.”&nbsp;

I turned my back to the path I had come from and faced the ancient gate in front of me. Letting out a deep sigh, I prepared for whatever would happen once I crossed.&nbsp;

I was being rash and emotional. I knew that.&nbsp;

Even after what happened at my last battle in Elshire Forest, where General Aya had to rescue me, I still chose to do this. Even after how much I had berated myself—hated myself—I couldn’t sit still like this.&nbsp;

Grandpa had already killed off Mother and Father in his mind. No matter what he said, I knew that look he always had when I mentioned them. I knew what that look meant. To him, my parents were no longer family, but traitors.&nbsp;

Grandma Rinia wasn’t as bad, but I knew that she had given up on trying to save my parents. Just from overhearing the plans she and Virion made together with General Bairon on who to save, I knew that my parents were nowhere on that list.&nbsp;

But they didn’t know. They weren’t there like I was. They didn’t know how hard Mother’s hands trembled as she held onto my hand and pulled me away. They weren’t there to see Father with tears rolling down his face as we stepped through the portal.

Pulling the hood over my head, I steeled myself. Whatever anyone thought of my actions now, it didn’t matter. My parents deserved a chance, and if their own daughter won’t give that to them, who would?

My mind wandered and I thought of Arthur. I had been tempted to ask him to help me, but that was too selfish. I knew the dangers that this mission entailed and if anything happened to him because of me…&nbsp;

I’m dispensable, he isn’t.&nbsp;

Holding the medallion out in front of me, I walked through the glowing gate in front of me. The soft purple light undulated at the medallion’s touch and I felt a slight pull. Rather than resist the foreign sensation, I accepted it and stepped further into the gate until my entire body became immersed in soft purple.&nbsp;

Immediately, my body was pulled across a whirling funnel of light. It felt different from the normal teleportation gates, more… nauseating.

I stumbled out the other side on a paved ground, still a bit disoriented from the trip. It wasn’t long before someone yelled out, “Hey! Someone used the gate!”

Peeking up, I saw four Alacryans standing guard around the teleportation gate that I had crossed through.&nbsp;

“Get on your knees and take off your hood!” the guard to my right ordered, aiming a condensed sphere of wind in my direction. “Now!”&nbsp;

I dropped low and slammed my palm on the ground. Before the spells from the Alacryans could reach me, however, a thick gale of wind surged around me.&nbsp;

Keeping one hand on my head to keep the hood in place, I muttered another spell. I willed the protective barrier of wind to expand, pushing away the enemy mages caught off guard.&nbsp;

Using this brief window of opportunity, I dashed forward to the nearest alleyway a hundred feet north.

Orders were barked out to their allies further out, and soon another pair of Alacryans were coming at me from either side.&nbsp;

Keeping my hood down, I rushed towards the Alacryan to my left, shooting a blade of wind at him.&nbsp;

Almost immediately, an armor of ice enveloped his body, protecting his neck from the sharp crescent of wind that I had sent his way. My initial instinct was to be surprised and intimidated by the deviant mage before I reminded myself that the Alacryans used magic differently than we did. But a higher form of magic didn’t necessarily equate to a stronger mage in their case.

I focused on the opponent at hand. The ice-clad Alacryan had managed to defend my attack but the force of my wind blade managed to knock him off his feet. Before his companion could come to his aid while he stood back up, I sped up. The temptation to use my plant magic or beast will quickly grew—it would be so much easier to get away—but I resisted. Using deviant magic like that would be telling everyone that the former princess of Elenoir was here.

Conjuring a condensed surge of wind below my back foot, I propelled myself within arm’s length of the enemy. He brought up his longsword to block whatever attack he thought I would hit him with but instead, I grabbed his arm and used a classic overhead toss that my grandpa had taught me.&nbsp;

With the aid of wind magic, I tossed the Alacryan a few dozen feet in the air which opened up the path to the nearest alleyway.&nbsp;

“Don’t let him get away!” a voice screamed from afar.&nbsp;

Comforted by the fact that they thought I was a man, I sped forth and got away with another gust of wind aiding me.

I sped through the narrow passage. Buildings towered over me on either side, the road barely wide enough to allow two men to walk shoulder to shoulder. Despite how old the buildings and paved road were, not a single piece of trash sullied the alleyway.&nbsp;

Most of the human cities looked so similar to one another that it was hard to tell exactly where I was until I had a better view of the city as a whole, but I knew that I had at least arrived in one of the major cities of Sapin.&nbsp;

My eyes constantly scanned the road and even nearby rooftops in case an Alacryan was keeping track of my whereabouts from above. Taking a quick look at the sky confirmed that I hadn’t landed in Xyrus City. The clouds were well overhead and there was no translucent barrier that could be seen protecting the floating city.&nbsp;

After some time had passed and I carefully made my way towards one of the larger roads. I peeked out from the narrow passage I had wedged myself through to see that there were quite a lot of people still walking the streets.&nbsp;

Still, I kept out of sight and studied the pedestrians passing by just to make sure. While there were mostly adventurers and soldiers dressed in armor or protective leather, I spotted quite a bit of children and housewives that wore dirty aprons. Strangely, though, everyone seemed to be moving in the same direction.

They all have such lifeless expressions, I thought to myself, my chest knotting in guilt. It was stupid to feel responsible for everything happening, but a part of me still thought that maybe it was largely my fault for how the war turned out.&nbsp;

I shook my head, snapping myself out of the hole that I would dig myself into if I started this train of thought.&nbsp;

After wrapping the cloak tightly around me and making sure that most of my conspicuous hair color couldn’t be seen, I jumped out of the alleyway. &nbsp;Blending in with a horse-drawn carriage that passed close by, I walked in sync until a rather clustered group of pedestrians offered me a more natural veil to hide amongst.&nbsp;

A few gave me passing glances but because of my smaller physique, no one seemed to take too much notice.&nbsp;

“Do we really have to go?” a middle-aged woman a few feet ahead of me whispered to what looked like her husband.&nbsp;

The plump man answered in a hushed tone. “Those damn Alacryans are already beginning to chase people out of their homes. If we don’t go now, it’ll only make things worse.”&nbsp;

The woman looked at her husband as if she was about to say something but looked down. I could see her shoulders droop while she held tightly onto the hand of her daughter.&nbsp;

Confused, I continued following everyone until I spotted a few stands on the side of the street. Most were almost finished wrapping up their goods and putting down the tarps that hung over their stands, but I managed to find a clothing stand that had yet to be completely packed up.&nbsp;

In one quick motion I swiped a long leather cap and a matching mantle and pant set hanging on a rack.&nbsp;

“Hey! That’s…” the shopkeeper’s voice trailed off. Taking a quick peek back, I could see her looking wide-eyed at the few silver coins I had left on the table.&nbsp;

Sliding into another nearby side alley between an abandoned bakery and butcher shop with broken windows, I hurriedly changed my clothes with the ones I had just bought.&nbsp;

I tied up my hair and tucked it into the leather cap that ran down past my neck, making sure most of my silver hair couldn’t be seen. After putting on the mantle and pair of pants, I ran my fingers on the dirt ground and slid it messily across my face.&nbsp;

“This should be enough,” I muttered under my breath. I thought about maybe taking out the practice bow I had borrowed from Ellie to complete the adventurer’s ensemble, but I decided otherwise after noticing that no one was carrying their weapon.&nbsp;

I blended in with the tides of people all walking solemnly in the same direction. Despite how much more crowded it had become, there was still an eerie silence lingering.

“Excuse me. What is going on?” I deepened my voice and avoided eye contact with the man I had just asked.&nbsp;

The man ignored me and sped up.&nbsp;

I tried again, this time to an elderly woman, but was met with the same response until finally, a younger lady—just a bit older than me—finally responded.

“I-It’s over,” she choked back a sob. “Those invaders told us to move to Etistin centre if we didn’t want to be hunted down.”&nbsp;

“Hunted down?” I said quietly. “What about the Dicathen army stationed in Etistin?”&nbsp;

The woman’s pace quickened as she looked back nervously.&nbsp;

I followed after her, matching her pace, and asked again before answering in an even quieter voice. “They… left.”&nbsp;

“Left?” I said a bit louder than I had intended.&nbsp;

The woman’s eyes bulged like a startled stray and she zipped off, clutching tightly onto the drawstring bag in her arms.&nbsp;

I let out a deep breath as I tried to repress the frustration and anxiety building up inside me. Talking to that woman left me with more questions than answers and it seemed like everyone was too scared to talk.&nbsp;

Adjusting my leather cap, I walked on. The only way I’d get some answers was by going to Etistin. Judging by the fact that we were moving away from the Grand Mountains, we were going west.&nbsp;

I must’ve crossed through the eastern gate of Etistin, which makes sense seeing that it’s the least used teleportation gate and the furthest one from the castle. Elder Rinia must’ve set it to come to this one in order to smuggle some of the key figures she had written down on that list.

The more &nbsp;I continued walking, the denser the crowd around me became. It got to the point where we all had to shuffle forward, our shoulders pressed against each other. The cries of children could be heard over the nervous shushing made from their parents.

The tall ornate buildings making up the inner portions of the capital city of Etistin blocked the view of the city centre, but it was just before then that I spotted Alacyans.&nbsp;

They weren’t any different from the humans of Sapin, but they all wore the same gray and black uniformed streaked with blood-red. They were also the only ones with weapons and they used them to herd the people up ahead into the pathway leading into the city centre.&nbsp;

That’s when I heard it. The first scream.&nbsp;

That was only the beginning—that first scream triggered more as the crowd in front reached the open area of the city’s square.&nbsp;

I pushed ahead through the crowd, trying to squeeze my way toward the front. I was in the middle of the dense line of people squeezing into the open area that was once the hub of commerce and trade.&nbsp;

As I got closer, I noticed the change in the air—from fear and worry to despair.&nbsp;

I could make out the more subtle reactions now alongside the screams that resounded. I could make out the gasps and groans and even the quiet sobs from the people up ahead.&nbsp;

As I got even closer, I could see the people: a broad man pointing a trembling finger to my right; a woman with both hands covering her mouth, eyes wide and tears flowing freely; another man &nbsp;with a hardened fixed expression, looking the other way.

That’s when I reached the front.&nbsp;

I turned my head to face the sight that everyone was reacting so strongly towards, not caring about the Alacryans nearby.&nbsp;

And I finally saw it. My gut clenched and a lump in my throat threatened to suffocate me as I saw the four figures.&nbsp;

Two men, two women, with black spikes pierced through their bodies high up in the air for all to see.&nbsp;

Two were the leaders of this kingdom, and the other two were… my parents.

Chapter 244: Day of Rebirth

I stumbled back, barely able to stay on my feet. My breathing quickened to the point that my head spun. Everything was blurred out of focus except for my parents—the one sight that I couldn’t bear to watch.&nbsp;

But my eyes remained glued to their corpses hanging in the air with a black spike jutting through their backs. Their arms and legs hung limply high up in the sky as blood trailed down the spikes that scaled over three stories high, dying them in crimson.&nbsp;

The worst part, though, was the fact that I could see their expressions. Their eyes were wide and bulging, while their mouths hung open. It wasn’t just my parents, it was the king and queen of Sapin as well. They had all been positioned for everyone arriving to clearly see the pain that they had been in before their deaths.&nbsp;

Blood rushed to my head, pounding against my ears, and I felt power leak from my mana core. The primal strength that I knew all too well as the elderwood guardian’s beast will threatened to break free and wreak havoc on the Alacryans here.

Control yourself, Tessia, I begged to myself. It took every ounce of strength left in my body to resist the beast’s tantalizing power.

Despite how everything turned out, my parents took me away believing that they were keeping me safe, and for that very fact alone, I needed to make sure that I didn’t throw their efforts… and lives away in vain.&nbsp;

A sob reached my throat and I couldn’t bear it any longer. Falling to my knees, I wept quietly amidst the crowd, mourning for different reasons. To most of the people here, they cried because their deaths meant that Dicathen had lost. They cried because their deaths meant grim futures filled with hardships and uncertainties.&nbsp;

For me…I cried for my parents—I cried for all of the things I couldn’t do with them, for all of the things I said to them, and all of the things I couldn’t say to them.&nbsp;

“Citizens of Dicathen,” a soft, honeyed voice rang. Despite how loud it had been, the crowd quieted. On the top of a stone pillar that had just been conjured stood a woman donning the gray and red military uniform of Alacrya. Her red hair billowed like a dancing flame as she looked down at us with her hands clasped in front of her.&nbsp;

I found myself waiting for the next words of the female Alacryan, curious as to what she’d say.&nbsp;

The Alacryan spoke again with her alluring voice. “Your kings have passed, your armies are fleeing, and your most powerful warriors are in hiding. The Castle is ours, Xyrus City and Elenoir City…are ours, and now, Etistin City is ours. But do not fret, for we did not come here as pillagers.”&nbsp;

There was a still silence as everyone waited for her next words. Finally she spoke, making a subtle but welcoming gesture with her arms slightly raised.&nbsp;

“We came here as agents of something greater—of someone greater. Mighty asuras, the deities that you have worshipped all this time, thinking—believing—that they are watching over you. Those days are no longer. The alacryans have won this war, not by our own power. We won because our sovereign is no lowly human or elf like the ones you see here.” Her voice quieted, but somehow her words could be heard even more clearly than before. “We won because our sovereign is an asura. Our victory was the will of a deity himself.”&nbsp;

Murmurs could be heard throughout the large crowd, but the Alacryans didn’t stop it. They let the chatter and hesitance amongst the crowd grow until finally the woman on the pedestal let out a sigh.&nbsp;

She only let out a sigh, but I could hear it as if she were next to me in a quiet room.&nbsp;

She used earth magic to raise that stone pillar, and she’s been manipulating sound to spread her voice. How powerful is she? I couldn’t help but doubt what I had learned. In the face of someone capable of not only manipulating multiple elements, but also being a deviant like myself, I began to wonder how many mages as powerful as this person, or even more, existed amongst the Alacryans.&nbsp;

“Your disbelief is reasonable, and what I say or do here will only fan the flames of doubt growing within you. This is nature, and this is why we had to do what we did. Because of stubbornness, because of pride, because of greed, and because of doubt, peace can only be achieved through war,” she said solemnly. “You may feel like prisoners of a defeated country now, but I assure you that as time passes you all will feel like a part of something bigger, a citizen of a godly kingdom.”

“My name is Lyra Dreide. Today, I have stood above you as victor of this war, but I pray that the next time we meet, it will be as equals, and as friends.”

The Alacryan’s words lingered like a sweet candy after medicine. She didn’t just stop there; she then raised the stone pillar even higher and gently pulled the bodies of my parents and the king and queen of Sapin from the black spikes.&nbsp;

After setting them down one by one on the ground, she created a pit around their bodies before conjuring a flame in her hand.&nbsp;

“Our sovereign has decreed today, the twenty-fith sundown of Spring, as the day of rebirth.” In a single motion, she lit the pit on fire.&nbsp;

I pressed my hands over my mouth, physically restraining myself from screaming as I watched the flames burn higher. The thought of not even being able to properly send off my parents clawed at my insides making it harder to control my raging beast will.

“This is not a time for mourning and reflection of the past. Today is the start of a—”

The Alacryan’s speech was cut short.

It was then that I felt the subtle shift in the air.&nbsp;

My hair stood on its end, and I could feel the primal instincts of the elderwood guardian inside me tremble. Every fiber of my body told me I should get out of here.

I watched the bright flames dance in the pit as if mocking me. Rage and indignation bubbled in the pit of my stomach but I knew it was too late.&nbsp;

Biting my lower lip, I took one last look at the Alacryan named Lyra Dreide. I knew she wasn’t the one responsible for those black spikes that had killed Kathyln’s and my parents, but I wouldn’t forget her.&nbsp;

I found the Alacryan talking to a figure that wasn’t there before. With short black hair and a rather thin body frame, I swore I recognized him but he had his back turned toward me. Regardless, my body screamed at me to run away the moment my gaze turned toward the familiar man, and with how much was at stake, I followed my instincts.&nbsp;

Staying low, I weaved through the forlorn crowd, burying my own feelings from getting in my way. Wiping the tears from my face, I headed towards the buildings in the hopes that I’d be able to squeeze through the alleyway to escape.&nbsp;

There were two Alacryan soldiers guarding the path that I had come from. It would’ve been smarter to wait for at least one of them to leave, but behind me, I could feel the threatening presence growing closer.&nbsp;

Barely able to think over the sound of my own heart trying to break out of my ribcage, I ran past the Alacryan guards, blasting both with a gale of wind.&nbsp;

However, unlike the guards I had first met upon arriving through the gate, these Alacryans seemed ready.&nbsp;

The female guard to my right repelled my attack with her own blast of wind while the male guard to my left had managed to anchor himself to the ground, his entire body covered in reptilian scales made of stone.&nbsp;

The earth mage swung his arms, launching a barrage of the stone scales covering his body while the female guard sent a gale of wind from above, pushing me down to my knees.&nbsp;

With no choice and little time, I ignited my beast will and shrouded myself in the protective green aura of the elderwood guardian.&nbsp;

The stone scales were repelled and the wind had become manageable. Conjuring a translucent vine of mana in either direction, I killed the wind mage and injured the earth mage before running off.&nbsp;

Despite my victory, the dread in my heart grew. The threatening presence that made me fear for my life followed behind me like a shadow even as I reached the outskirts of the city. My first plan had been to try and make it back to the gate that I had crossed from, but even from a distance I could already see Alacryans heavily guarding all three gates of Etistin.&nbsp;

“Damn it,” I cursed under my breath. I leaped off from the building I was on top of and made my way towards the southwestern border of Etistin.&nbsp;

The closest city with a teleportation gate was Telmore city, which was just off the western coast. If I could make it there and use the medallion, I could still make it back to the refuge shelter. What worried me, however, was that the Alacryans would expect this.&nbsp;

With that in mind, I didn’t go directly to Telmore, but made my way toward the shore that the last major battle had occurred in. From what I’ve heard, General Varay had managed to build a massive field of ice off of the Etistin bay shore. This was the battle that both General Varay and Arthur had participated in. I wanted to see the spectacle for myself, and hopefully find some help.&nbsp;

After hours of nonstop running with wind magic through hills and dense arrays of trees, the sky had turned a deep orange from the setting sun. I knew I wasn’t too far from the coast, but I needed to rest.

I’ll head to the coast in a few hours and see if there are still any Dicathen soldiers still in the area. I didn’t believe the Alacryan named Lyra. There had to be soldiers on our side still fighting out there.&nbsp;

My mana-enhanced senses picked up on the slightest movement, making me stop mid-step. I knew as soon as I did that, that I had made a mistake. I shouldn’t have made it known that I could sense someone.&nbsp;

“Get on your knees and show your back.” a clear and authoritative voice rang from my right.&nbsp;

I immediately got on my knees and lifted up the bottom of my tunic to reveal my lower and mid-back.

“Clear,” a deep voice grunted from behind me.&nbsp;

Suddenly, a figure walked slowly into my line of sight, her hands held over her head in a sign of peace. She was thin and a head shorter than me, but her weathered face and toned body told me not to judge too quickly. Her expression was knitted into a suspicious scowl as she studied me. &nbsp;

After taking another few steps, she turned around slowly and removed her leather vest and lifted her shirt, revealing a tanned but otherwise clear back without the markings that Alacryan mages had.&nbsp;

She turned back around but kept her distance.

“Nod for yes, shake for no. Are you alone?” she asked quietly, her gaze constantly flitting left and right.&nbsp;

I nodded.&nbsp;

“Okay,” she replied, walking closer and stretching out her hand. “I am—was the head of the third vanguard unit. You can call me Madam Astera. What is your name?”&nbsp;

Looking around uncomfortably, I leaned in close and whispered. “Tessia Eralith.”&nbsp;

Madam Astera, who looked a few years older than my mother, flinched and she looked at me carefully before her eyes widened.&nbsp;

It only took a second for her to regain her composure and send me a nod. “We’ll talk later.”&nbsp;

With a quick gesture of her hand, I could hear several pairs of feet shuffling closer until her entire group joined us.&nbsp;

“We’re going back to our base,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.&nbsp;

The rest nodded and I found myself trailing right behind Madam Astera.&nbsp;

“Are you all Dicathen soldiers?” I asked, catching up to her.&nbsp;

She nodded in reply, her head constantly moving, watching out for something amiss.&nbsp;

“How many of you are there?” I continued, making sure to keep my voice low.&nbsp;

Madam Astera shot me a cold glance. “You’ll see soon enough, Princess. For now we need to keep moving.”&nbsp;

I bit my lip, frustrated at her lack of proper response. “I’m on my way down to Telmore City. If we can rally up more soldiers from the battle of Etistin bay shore, then I can take—”&nbsp;

“Rally?” Madam Astera cut off, her gaze sharper than a dagger. She let out a sigh and held up a hand above her head.&nbsp;

The other Dicathians around us stopped in their position, most hidden behind trees, some crouched in shrubs and hollow logs.&nbsp;

“Follow me,” she muttered, climbing the steep hill that we had been at the base of.&nbsp;

I followed after her, using the jutting roots and rocks as footholds. Madam Astera got to the top first and I saw her looking out, her expression solemn. Finally reaching the top, my eyes looked up, taking in the sight of the setting sun. It was when my gaze dropped further down that I felt the blood drain from my face. From the twisting knot in my stomach to my trembling knees on the verge of collapsing, my entire body reacted to the sight as a sharp gasp escaped my throat.

Out on the Etistin bay shore, where one of the last large-scale battles had occurred, the icefield that I could only assume had once been white, had been turned into a traumatic scene.

Blood—so much blood—dyed the ice varying shades of red, from light pink, all the way to a deep maroon where I could see scores of corpses. Scattered amidst the field of red were eerily dark flames that looked more like smoke, and the same obsidian spikes that had killed my parents.&nbsp;

“Princess. You asked if we could rally more soldiers…” Madam Astera breathed. “I don’t think there are any more soldiers to rally. At least not here.”&nbsp;

Chapter 245: Walking Catastrophe

“She really is a princess,” the balding bear of a man named Herrick muttered in a deep voice as he studied me intently.

“You’re making her uncomfortable you big oaf,” the girl called Nyphia berated.&nbsp;

“Sorry… I’ve just never seen a real princess before,” Herrick mumbled.&nbsp;

I held back a smile as I watched the two bicker before my eyes shifted to Madam Astera. She was talking to a thinner man—not much older than me—huddled over, hugging his knees as his entire body trembled. Jast had been here since we arrived, and judging by the condition he was in, I knew why; the guy was a mess.&nbsp;

Jast hadn’t said a word since we arrived, only muttering a string of incoherent words as he rocked back and forth.

“He had it the worst,” Nyphia commented, her steeled expression softening as she watched him. “He watched his entire unit slaughter each other in front of him.”&nbsp;

“Slaughter…each other?” I echoed, horrified. &nbsp;

Nyphia leaned close and whispered, “Yup. Even the girl we all knew he was ‘secretly’ dating.”&nbsp;

“Nyphia,” Madam Astera said, her voice sharp.&nbsp;

At the mention of her name, Nyphia’s body stiffened. “My apologies, Madam Astera.”&nbsp;

I watched as Nyphia scooted back over to where she was normally sitting. I found myself staring at her and Herrick, their bodies barely visible over the dim light artifact between us. While not as blatantly obvious as Jast’s state of mind, both Herrick and Nyphia were riddled with injuries.

Most notably, Herrick was missing his left hand, and by the blood spreading even over the thick bandages wrapped around his wrist, I could tell that the wound was fairly recent. Nyphia didn’t seem to have any injuries aside from the bloody gash running down the side of her face, but every time she moved her body, she would wince ever so slightly.

I felt a knot in my chest looking at them. On one hand, I pitied the state they were in, but on the other hand, I admired the fact that they were still able to smile despite their situation.&nbsp;

After Jast had fallen asleep with his head buried in his knees, Madam Astera walked over to the back of the cave where we were sitting around a dim light artifact.

She sat across from me, her gaze boring holes into my very soul. Both Nyphia and Herrick had stopped talking and it seemed like minutes until Madam Astera spoke again, and when she did, it wasn’t what I had expected her to say.&nbsp;

“F*ck!” she cursed, pounding the hard ground with her fist.&nbsp;

Nyphia, Herrick, and I were all taken aback by her sudden outburst. Combing back her bangs with her fingers, she stared at me and let out a sigh. “It doesn’t bode well to see you out here, Princess.”&nbsp;

That’s when I realized the reason for her outburst. I wasn’t hurt, but I was running away in disguise. My very presence all the way out here meant that something was very wrong, and she couldn’t have been more right.&nbsp;

I nodded. “You’re right, it doesn’t. But before I explain the situation out there, can you tell me what happened? To my knowledge, we were winning the battle at the Etistin bay shore.”

“We were and we weren’t,” she said cryptically. “My knowledge is filled with gaps since my unit was positioned towards the outskirts of the battle, but I’ll explain to the best of my abilities.”&nbsp;

And so, she told me what had happened while the rest of us silently listened.

The Bloodfrost Battle is what the soldiers had dubbed the massacre that occurred at the Etistin bay shore. During the time General Varay and Arthur were there, the battle was one-sided—Alacrya didn’t seem to have a chance. But as the battle progressed, it became more and more obvious that something was off.&nbsp;

The enemy soldiers threw themselves into battle without formation, fled or even begged for their lives, and sometimes, they’d even see soldiers sacrifice their comrades to save themselves.&nbsp;

Despite all of this, the higher ups continued the order to push forward. They wanted to take over the Alacryan ships docked at the other end of the ice field.&nbsp;

It was on the third day that the situation flipped. Madam Astera couldn’t tell me exactly how it had started, but it was when the new vanguard line that was supposed to relieve the current frontline’s position didn’t arrive that the soldiers knew something was wrong.&nbsp;

Then, Alacryan soldiers—actual soldiers in formation and tight teams that clearly knew what they were doing—came from behind. The majority of the Dicathen forces that were on the field were now suddenly pincered, and everyone could see the battle occurring above us in the sky.&nbsp;

General Varay was fighting an enemy capable of holding his own against the strongest lance. The Dicathen forces held strong though, and the reserves that had been fighting against the real Alacryan soldiers were slowly regaining their footing after their initial surprise.

Despite the major setback, once Lance Mica joined the battle, the Dicathians were hopeful to come out of this battle victorious… that was, until that man arrived.&nbsp;

Madam Astera’s expression darkened as she continued speaking, both Nyphia and Herrick trembling just at the mention of that person.&nbsp;

With the arrival of this new figure, the already-bloody battle had turned into a scene of hell. Scores of obsidian spikes shot out from the ground, skewering allies and enemies alike. Clouds of murky gray mist slowly spread, rendering affected troops into deranged monsters that attacked our own. But the worst were the black flames enveloping entire units of soldiers and growing larger despite the entire ground made of ice. In its wake laid only blood and soot.&nbsp;

It was just one man, but it was more accurate to call him a walking catastrophe. It only took several hours for the battle to be rendered into a graveyard.&nbsp;

“H-How did you guys survive that?” I asked, my voice coming out hoarse and shaken.&nbsp;

“Because the black fires, spikes, and smoke weren’t aimed but just spread randomly, Dicathians and Alacryans alike were affected. Those that hadn’t died from that deadly magic were able to escape since even the Alacryans were in a state of chaos,” Madam Astera explained, her gaze falling on where Herrick and Nyphia were. “There are definitely other survivors hiding out here if they hadn’t already gotten caught and captured, which is why we’ve been going on these runs—we’ve been trying to find more allies.”

“We found Jast as he was getting attacked and saved him yesterday,” she continued, taking a quick glance back at the sleeping teen curled into a ball before turning to us. “These two are what’s left of my unit, but there are a few more out there who were there when we first found you. We’ve worked out a system where one group comes back while the other circles around just in case we’re followed.”&nbsp;

I nodded, unable to come up with any sort of reply appropriate for this situation.&nbsp;

“How are your supplies looking?” I asked after a long pause.&nbsp;

“We can split the rations for four more days at the maximum between us five and the other three that’ll be here soon,” she said. “Besides sustenance, however, we have nothing. The emergency medical kit I was carrying in my dimension ring was used to patch up Herrick’s injury.”&nbsp;

At the reminder of his wound, the large soldier dipped his head, looking at the stump where his left hand used to be.&nbsp;

“Now, Princess. Tell us the situation out there. Is the war over? Have we lost?” Madam Astera asked, her large piercing eyes focused on me.&nbsp;

I shifted my gaze to Herrick and Nyphia; the two of them were staring back intently, hopeful—desperate. &nbsp;

I sat up and kept my expression stern and confident. “We lost this war, but it isn’t over.”&nbsp;

“Please elaborate,” Madam Astera insisted, leaning in closer.&nbsp;

And so, I showed them the medallion and told them about the refuge shelter that not even the Alacryans would be able to find, let alone break into. I told them that Commander Virion and General Bairon were both there, along with General Arthur, a powerful diviner, and even an emitter. I told them about how the diviner had prepared supplies in advance and that all the necessary components are there to sustain hundreds, if not thousands, of people.&nbsp;

But by the end of my hope-filled message, the three of them stared back at me with looks of indignation.&nbsp;

“So the outcome of this entire war had been predicted? We were doomed to lose from the start?” Nyphia muttered, horrified.&nbsp;

My heartbeat quickened. “What? N-No! I mean—”&nbsp;

“Did the Commander, General Arthur, and General Bairon run away from this battle to save themselves?” Madam Astera asked, her voice seething with controlled rage.&nbsp;

“Of course not! They had been attacked by a scythe at the Castle. They barely made it out of there alive,” I reasoned, not expecting this sort of reaction.&nbsp;

Madam Astera’s head sunk as she buried her face in her hands. Her shoulders bobbed up and down as she took deep breaths, until finally she looked back up with a hardened gaze.&nbsp;

“Last question, and please answer honestly,” she said, sending a chill down my spine. “Did they know?”&nbsp;

My brows furrowed. “Excuse me?”&nbsp;

“Commander Virion. General Arthur. General Bairon. Did these three people know what was going to happen here?”&nbsp;

“No!” I snapped. “No one but Elder Rinia, the diviner, knew! No one was more angry than those three for not being told about all of this. They blame themselves more than anyone for how this war ended, but they’re still there because they know it’s the only chance we have in taking back Dicathen!”&nbsp;

After long minutes of tortured silence, Madam Astera let out a breath. “I understand. So what’s the plan? Did you travel here because the diviner knew our location?”&nbsp;

I bit my lip, unable to answer. It was the opposite…I had snuck out here alone on this selfish quest to bring back my parents, only to fail and be chased away and found by Madam Astera’s group.&nbsp;

“I’ve come to find Dicathians and bring as many as I can back with me to the refuge shelter,” I lied.&nbsp;

The only consolation was seeing Herrick and Nyphia smile at each other, excited at the fact that they’d be safe once they were there. Even Jast raised his head, his gaze sober and hopeful.&nbsp;

Madam Astera nodded but I couldn’t read her expression. Regardless, they had agreed to go with me to Telmore City, where we’d either sneak in or fight our way to the teleportation gate there. All we had to do was wait for the rest of Madam Astera’s group to arrive.&nbsp;

An hour trickled by as we waited impatiently for more people to come, but no one did.&nbsp;

“They shouldn’t be out there for this long,” Madam Astera growled as she paced back and forth inside the cave. “I’ll go take a look alone. Stay here.”&nbsp;

“Wait,” I called out. “It’ll take too long if you go out and search for them by yourself, then come back. We travelled north to get here from where we were all at, if we go together and meet up with the rest of the group further down, it’ll be en route to Telmore City.”&nbsp;

“It will shave off at least half a day, depending on how fast we’re able to locate them,” Nyphia chimed in.&nbsp;

“I don’t like it, but you’re right. Princess, do you have any experience in tracking or scouting?” Madam Astera asked.&nbsp;

“I’ve had some training from my previous teacher on using wind magic for scouting but my actual experience is minimal,” I responded, tightening my leather boots.&nbsp;

“So you specialize in wind, good. That’ll be useful out there,” she replied, turning to Jast. “How do you feel? You had another one of your episodes again.”&nbsp;

The boy named Jast stood up slowly, slinging a sack over his shoulder. “I’m a bit better now. Thank you Madam Astera.”&nbsp;

“Then let’s get moving,” the leader said curtly.&nbsp;

We left the cave through the small entrance we had covered in foliage; from the outside, the little hideout was nothing more than a slope at the base of a hill.&nbsp;

Staying low and several yards apart from each other, we made our way south through the forest. The forest here weren’t nearly as dense or lush as the Elshire Forest—even the wildlife was scarce and timid.&nbsp;

I missed home, more than I ever did in the past. I had spent years in Sapin while I was at school, but the fact that I might not even have a home to go back to now really hit me.&nbsp;

Even if the castle that I grew up in was still there, what was the point? My parents were gone.&nbsp;

No. Not now, Tess. I swallowed and took a deep breath. I didn’t have the chance to properly mourn for my parents despite seeing their corpses put on display to send a message. Now, even their bodies were gone.&nbsp;

I took another breath, trying to calm myself. There would be a time to grieve once we’re all safe. For now, I needed to focus on getting everyone back to the shelter.

Distracting myself from my own thoughts by searching for the missing members of Madam Astera’s group, we continued backtracking our route.&nbsp;

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but suddenly, Madam Astera let out a trilling whistle like a bird. This was her signal for all of us to stop and lay low.&nbsp;

It only took me a few seconds to catch on to what the leader had seen and heard—just a few yards southeast from our position was the shuffling of shrubs and snapping of twigs. It was too large to be a rodent or hare, and it seemed too clumsy to be a deer.&nbsp;

We waited for Madam Astera to slowly stalk whatever was there, barely catching the reflection of her thin sword. She moved with ease, as if gliding through the trees and foliage as her presence was barely detectable even as I was watching her.&nbsp;

Despite the situation we were in, I couldn’t help but admire her prowess. She would be a powerful ally that could help smuggle away more people away from the Alacryans once she got settled.&nbsp;

I continued waiting—observing—my entire body tensed, as Madam Astera was almost upon the thing, when she jolted to a stop and gestured for us to come.&nbsp;

With a sigh of relief, we all hurried over to where she was, only to see her crouched over a figure I couldn’t quite make out.&nbsp;

Getting closer, my eyes widened at the sight of the injured soldier. He was a mess with his armor and clothes basically dyed with his own blood.&nbsp;

Beside me, Nyphia let out a gasp. “That’s Abath.”

She ran towards the injured man and I followed until I got close enough to hear the last part of what he was saying. “…was killed…a boy.”&nbsp;

Before I could even get the chance to interpret what he had said, my beast will suddenly ignited and every fiber in my body stiffened.&nbsp;

It was as if a heavy blanket of this carnal and unabated bloodlust had fallen over me. I was barely able to remain on my feet. Both Herrick and Nyphia fell on their knees, trembling while Jast had curled up into a fetal position, shaking violently.&nbsp;

Desperate, I turned to Madam Astera, only to see her staring behind me, wide-eyed, and lips trembling as she muttered, “Y-You…in the battle.”&nbsp;

I knew—my entire body knew—that unlike at the city center, it was too late to run away this time. Willing myself to turn around, I saw a person that I hadn’t seen in years. A person that I thought had died and had almost forgotten, but a person that couldn’t be more familiar.&nbsp;

His name escaped my lips as I stared at him. “E-Elijah?”&nbsp;

Chapter 246: Dear Old Friend

Even as I said his name and knew who he was, Elijah had changed tremendously. Aside from the fact that he was now a head taller than me with skin as pale as alabaster, his short jet-black hair and sharp eyes made him look almost completely different.

Elijah let out a chuckle, his gaze fixed on me. “Long time no see, Tess. How’s Arthur doing?”&nbsp;

I shuddered as a sharp chill ran down my spine. Elijah and I had gone to school together—he was Art’s best friend. So why were his words so threatening?&nbsp;

“He’s doing fine,” I mustered, trying to stand taller as the pressure Elijah gave off continued to weigh down on me.&nbsp;

“Of course he’s doing fine. That fool has been as resilient as a cockroach for as long as I’ve known him.”&nbsp;

My brows furrowed at the unfamiliar word. “Cock…roach?”&nbsp;

“Guess you wouldn’t know yet,” he smiled, taking a step closer to me. “Come. Let’s go.”&nbsp;

“Go? Where?” I asked, my heartbeat quickening. “Elijah, what happened?”&nbsp;

Elijah flinched slightly at the mention of his name. “I’ll explain on the way. For now, it’d be best if you come with me.”&nbsp;

“Don’t!” a voice croaked from behind. I looked back to see Madam Astera back on her feet, her sword in hand.

“Impressive that you can talk despite the pressure I’ve put on you especially,” Elijah said. “But I advise you not to speak again.”&nbsp;

Madam Astera raised her sword, hands trembling. “H-He’s the…one…battlefield.”&nbsp;

I barely had time to think when I sensed danger. The instincts embedded into me through assimilation with my beast will caused me to tackle Madam Astera.&nbsp;

Glancing back to where she was standing before, there was an all-too-familiar black spike, jutting from the ground with blood dripping from its point.&nbsp;

Madam Astera groaned in pain, but my eyes remained glued to Elijah. “Y-You? How…”&nbsp;

We were told that the only ones able to conjure those black spikes were some of the scythes and their retainers. So why—how—was Elijah able to use it?&nbsp;

“A-Are you with the Alacryans?” I asked.&nbsp;

Elijah’s expression turned serious. “The Alacryans and I both have something we want to get out of this war. That is it.”&nbsp;

Realization dawned on me. “It was you—you were at Etistin. W-Were you the one that…”&nbsp;

Elijah took another step toward us. “Step away from the woman, Tessia.”&nbsp;

“I refuse,” I said through gritted teeth.&nbsp;

“G-Get out of here, Princess. It seems he can’t kill you,” Madam Astera whispered. “We’re no match. He’s the one that slaughtered scores of soldiers at the bay shore battle. There’s no mistaking it.”&nbsp;

“I’ve trained and suffered, waiting years for this, Tessia. Come with me and I’ll leave the others alone.”&nbsp;

I tightened my grip around Madam Astera.&nbsp;

Elijah let out a sigh. “Okay. I really didn’t want to leave any distasteful memories, but you leave me no choice.”&nbsp;

Another chill ran down my spine, signalling danger.&nbsp;

With just the faintest rustle, another black spike was conjured, piercing through the wounded soldier we had just found.

But it was too late.&nbsp;

Madam Astera jerked within my grasp, trying to reach her fallen comrade, but I kept her down.&nbsp;

“Come with me, Tessia,” Elijah repeated.&nbsp;

My mind spun as I tried to think of a way out of this. I knew I couldn’t go with Elijah. He was purposely keeping me alive for something. My first thought was that he was going to use me as a hostage, but then Elijah said he didn’t want to leave any distasteful memories…

Another chill ran down as I felt the fluctuation of magic. This time, there was only a surprised grunt in the distance before I saw it.&nbsp;

Jast had been pierced through the chest and hoisted into the air…just like my parents had been. The traumatized soldier’s expression wasn’t of pain but of surprise and confusion as blood dripped from the corners of his mouth.&nbsp;

“No!” Madam Astera screamed, trying to pry herself away from me.&nbsp;

“Now…” Elijah held out a pale hand. “Come. With. Me.” &nbsp;

My gaze shifted from Jast’s corpse to Madam Astera and to Nyphia and Herrick.&nbsp;

I was caught between two choices: relent until everyone but me was killed, or go with him.

Desperation sunk in, and I decided to make my own third option.&nbsp;

Grabbing the blade of Madam Astera’s sword, I held it by my throat. “Don’t.”

A look of surprise skirted across Elijah’s face before he revealed a smirk. “You’re not going to kill yourself.”&nbsp;

Without another word, I pressed the edge of the blade against my throat until I drew blood.&nbsp;

This was a dangerous gamble, one that could get myself and the people around me here killed, but I knew I couldn’t go with him—I knew something far worse might happen if I went with him.&nbsp;

Fortunately, the gamble paid off. Elijah visibly stiffened and his brows knitted in frustration before he snapped. “Stop.”&nbsp;

I held the blade in place, keeping my expression firm despite the sharp pain radiating from my self-inflicted wound.&nbsp;

Fear bubbled up in the pit of my stomach. I didn’t want to die now. I didn’t want to die.&nbsp;

The hand holding the blade trembled, and it barely lowered because of my hesitation, but that was all Elijah needed.

Instantly, a thin spike shot through Madam Astera’s sword, knocking it out of my hand.&nbsp;

“I’m sorry I had to risk your life like that, but I’ve waited too long,” Elijah said sincerely as he walked towards me.&nbsp;

I fell back and scrambled desperately away from the man that was once Arthur’s friend. What had happened to him?&nbsp;

I hated myself for being so weak. Because of me, everyone here was going to die and I couldn’t do anything about it.&nbsp;

Elijah flicked his wrist, and another black spike shot up from the ground…through Herrick. I closed my eyes, unable to watch as Nyphia’s scream pierced through my ears.&nbsp;

My heart hammered against my ribs as my breath turned shallow. I tried to keep calm, but I was suddenly reminded of the battle in the Elshire Forest—all of the deaths that had been caused by me. I opened my eyes again to see the world spinning and tipping. I felt like I was drowning underwater as the only noise I could hear was my frantic heart beating and the short desperate breaths coming out of my mouth.&nbsp;

Then, suddenly, a hailstorm of golden white light rained down on Elijah. Clouds of dust enveloped the entire area as trees fell and the ground crumbled.&nbsp;

A dragon as black as the conjured spike a few steps in front of me appeared. Moments later, even through my blurry vision, I could make out the all-too-familiar figure with a head of long auburn hair, holding someone. Faint golden markings glowed just beneath his eyes as he appeared. As he looked at me, a mixture of emotions washed over me as my vision darkened: embarrassment, guilt, but most of all, relief.&nbsp;

“I’m sorry,” I said, not even able to hear my own voice.

I could make out more of Arthur’s face as he got closer. He was sweating and his usual composure was nowhere to be found. His mouth moved but I couldn’t hear what he said as the world faded into black. &nbsp;

ARTHUR LEYWIN

I dropped Nyphia, who I had practically pried away from her dead friend, and caught Tess as she fell unconscious. Slinging her over my shoulder, I snapped my fingers to get Nyphia’s attention.

“Help Madam Astera onto my bond,” I said sharply, jutting my head over to Sylvie, who was walking towards us.&nbsp;

Nyphia, who had been staring at me blankly, snapped out of her daze and nodded. She slung Madam Astera’s arm over her shoulders and helped her up onto Sylvie.&nbsp;

“What is this?” Madam Astera marveled as she got on top of my bond, her right ankle bleeding profusely.&nbsp;

Wordlessly, I handed Tessia to her and made sure all three of them were secure before I withdrew Static Void. I ignored the tight grip of fatigue around my mana core and jumped onto Sylvie’s back as we took off high into the cloudy skies.&nbsp;

How easy would it have been if I had full control over Aevum like Lord Indrath; I could’ve kept time frozen as I took everyone to safety. Of course, if I had the powers of an asura, things would never have escalated to this point.&nbsp;

‘Are you okay? You used borrowed aether arts for much longer than you’re used to,’ Sylvie asked, her concern emanating onto me.&nbsp;

I’ll be fine. Were you able to get a close look at that Alacryan though? From those black spikes and the pressure he gave off, he was at least a retainer and one we haven’t seen before.

‘I wasn’t able to make out his face either,’ she answered. ‘But he’s already approaching us.’&nbsp;

I sensed it too. We had already reached above the thick blanket of clouds and had already cleared several miles but I could feel the Alacryan’s presence not too far off.&nbsp;

Madam Astera was the next to sense our enemy’s approach. She jerked back, her face pale and expression grim.&nbsp;

She and I both knew that as soon as we landed, a battle would be inevitable. But that didn’t matter. I just needed to hold this person off until Madam Astera and Nyphia can get Tess through the portal safely. With the artifact she and I had, the portal would take us to the refuge shelter where the rest of them were waiting.&nbsp;

‘We’ll make it back,’ Sylvie assured. ‘We’re much stronger than we used to be.’&nbsp;

Without Dawn’s Ballad and the fact that I barely managed to wound a scythe out of sheer luck, I couldn’t help but feel a lingering doubt. Still, there were people waiting for me.&nbsp;

We continued flying through the air silently. Nyphia, who was around my age, was coping with her loss, trembling as she clutched something in her hands. I found myself staring at Madam Astera’s back as she held onto Tess. I didn’t think I’d meet the old soldier again after seeing her briefly at the battle of Etistin Bay… or even before that as a cook.&nbsp;

A sharp influx of mana behind me snapped at my attention. Immediately, I whirled around, conjuring a dome-shaped barrier of ice. Not a second later, sharp cracks resounded, cutting through the howling wind as black spikes embedded themselves onto the ice barrier before it shattered.&nbsp;

I utilized the dense clouds below us to fuel another frost barrier but the barrage of black spikes continued unceasingly.&nbsp;

Sylv. Dip lower into the clouds, I conveyed while manipulating the dense clouds to cover our movements.&nbsp;

‘Got it. We’re almost at Telmore City,’ my bond informed.

We picked up speed during our descent, giving me enough time to prepare an attack. Unable to use lightning effectively because of the abundance of moisture around us, I readied a barrage of ice shards in the general direction of the approaching Alacryan, adding a deadly spin and boost in speed using wind magic as well.&nbsp;

My spell tore through asunder, punching dozens of holes through the clouds. My confidence wavered as I spotted the black dot approaching, unabated by my attack.&nbsp;

Soon after, the black dot multiplied and I found myself facing another two dozen black spikes the size of spears.&nbsp;

Faster! I snapped, unwilling to waste any more mana right now when a battle on the ground seemed inevitable. At this point, I could only pray that there wasn’t another retainer or scythe waiting for us by the teleportation gate.&nbsp;

Finally, after speeding down through an endless visage of murky gray, we burst through the cloud floor. Below, the city of Telmore exploded into view, its buildings and the surface they were built on fast approaching.

Even with the wind magic I had cast around us, Madam Astera and Nyphia had to clutch tightly around Sylvia’s back spine to keep from falling off.&nbsp;

‘Arthur! Help me with the landing!’ Sylvie pleaded as we approached the paved clearing in the middle of Telmore City. My gaze shifted back and forth between the approaching black spears and the ground, my ears popping from the change in pressure.&nbsp;

“Hold on!” I roared as I ignited Realmheart and cast a powerful updraft just in time for Sylvie to spread her wings.&nbsp;

Simultaneously, I cast another barrier of ice over us as the black spears began raining down. The spears were different this time though—they burned right through the ice barrier.&nbsp;

“Damn it,” I cursed. Curling my hand into a fist, I dispelled the frozen barrier over us, shattering it before using the same updraft I had conjured to slow our descent to redirect at least some of the black spears.&nbsp;

Just how much mana does that retainer have to constantly churn out spells like this? I wondered in frustration as we neared the ground.&nbsp;

I could barely make out the screams and shouts from the people below as they scattered below us.&nbsp;

Suddenly, Sylvie let out a cry and we jerked to the left.&nbsp;

‘I was struck on my right wing,’ Sylvie sent painfully as we started spiraling out of control.&nbsp;

It took a few minutes for Sylvie to be able to coat her wing in mana and slowly close her wound before she regained control. The problem now was being able to slow down our descent fast enough to land safely instead of crashing like a meteor.&nbsp;

With my attention split between creating the updraft as well as fighting off the scores of black spears that didn’t seem to be stopping, however, I couldn’t help but prepare for the worst.&nbsp;

We plummeted down, Sylvie’s wings spread wide to catch as much of my updraft as possible.&nbsp;

Just as my fears were about to come true, a green light emanated from around me.&nbsp;

I spared just a glance back to see Tess awake and back up on her feet.&nbsp;

The light had spread from Tess and onto Sylvie as green translucent tendrils of mana shot out from underneath my bond, embedding themselves into the ground and buildings around us.&nbsp;

Most of the translucent vines ripped apart as they tried to counter the speed of our fall, but I could feel us slowing down.&nbsp;

Trusting Sylvie and Tess to handle the fall, I focused my attention back to the approaching Alacryan speeding towards us like an ebony comet. &nbsp;

Utilizing both fire and water, I conjured a blast of thick steam towards our enemy in order to obscure his vision before releasing an arc of lightning. The blast of steam served as a powerful conductor for the lightning, creating a lightning-cloud that lit up the darkening sky in brilliant flashes of gold. &nbsp;

At the last moment, Sylvie cast a barrier of mana around us, and with Tess’ beast will slowing our fall, we were able to land on the ground without a scratch.&nbsp;

“Let’s go!” I snapped, picking Nyphia up by her waist as Tess and Madam Astera hopped off of Sylvie.&nbsp;

I glanced down at Madam Astera’s right ankle. She had enveloped a thick layer of mana just around the wound to keep it from bleeding. It was only a temporary solution but a smart choice with how little time we had.&nbsp;

“I-I can run!” Nyphia said, her face red froms she struggled underneath my arm.

“Good.” I let her go and we all began racing towards the podium only a few hundred feet east with Tess and Madam Astera leading the way.&nbsp;

Sylvie changed into her human form and followed closely behind me when Tess suddenly looked back at me over her shoulder.&nbsp;

It was only for a split second and no verbal exchange happened but the expression she made as she looked at me lingered.&nbsp;

With our mana-clad bodies, we quickly approached our destination, but so had our enemies. There were Alacryan soldiers lined up in rows between us and the teleportation gate, but they weren’t the reason that every hair on my body stood on its end.&nbsp;

I glanced back to see a black fire burning away at the lightning cloud and a figure merely standing on the ground where we had landed.&nbsp;

My eyes widened at the sight of the same power as that scythe I had fought against in the Castle.

With Realmheart still active, I could see the horrifying amount of mana coagulating, not just around him, but on the ground below us as well.&nbsp;

My mind whirled as I debated whether to risk using Static Void once more. Encompassing our entire group long enough for us to make it to the portal without the help of mana would take a minute, maybe more.&nbsp;

My gaze landed on Nyphia and Madam Astera. Could I abandon these two and lessen the burden?&nbsp;

“Arthur!” Sylvie shouted, urging me to do something—anything.&nbsp;

I cursed under my breath and decided.&nbsp;

I used Static Void… only on myself. I whirled back, digging my heels into the ground and dashing back to where the Alacryan was preparing his devastating attack, hoping to withdraw Static Void in front of him and dispel his magic.&nbsp;

But as I got close enough to make out who my opponent was, my concentration wavered and Static Void shattered out of existence.&nbsp;

There was a look of surprise at my sudden appearance just a few yards away from him, but his lips curved into a smirk.&nbsp;

His arms lowered but the umbral energy still swirled around his hands as Elijah greeted me. “Long time no see, my dear old friend…Grey.”&nbsp;

Chapter 247: Not Alone

Air seized in my chest as I struggled to process what was going on. Elijah, who had been taken by Draneeve during the invasion of Xyrus Academy, was alive and standing in front of me.&nbsp;

“Elijah? W-What’s going on? How are you…” my voice trailed off as the two of us exchanged gazes. The expression he held was tense and he looked older for some reason. He was definitely Elijah, but everything about him seemed just a little off.&nbsp;

With a sneer, Elijah leaped back, his arms swirling with a black aura.&nbsp;

I responded in turn, igniting Realmheart Physique to its fullest extent. I needed to. Just from what he showed me, his spell formations were almost instant. If I was going to get out of this alive, I needed to know where and how his spells were going to form beforehand.&nbsp;

I could see my bangs turn white while golden runes began pulsating on my skin. As the otherworldly power of an asura coursed through my veins, I felt myself calming down—becoming more detached—as a cool blanket draped over my mind.&nbsp;

With a thought, I withdrew the only sword I had left in my dimension ring—the remaining sword of the pair that Senyir, Trodius’ daughter, gave to me.&nbsp;

The golden sword slid out of its scabbard with a soft hum. Tightening my grip around its handle, I faced Elijah, a whirlwind of ash-like mana converging around his hands, ready to be unleashed.&nbsp;

I need to stop him. I’ll pry the answers out of him after that.

I dashed forward, closing the gap between us in three steps. I aimed for his midsection but a black spike erupted from the ground between us, parrying my swing.&nbsp;

“Why are you doing this, Elijah?” I seethed, repositioning myself. I didn’t let him rest. The physical training I had done with Kordri kicked in. My feet blurred in a series of complicated footwork maneuvers designed for sharp directional changes.&nbsp;

“After what you’ve taken away from me, don’t you feel bad asking me that, Grey?” Elijah replied, voice laced with anger.&nbsp;

His eyes couldn’t keep up but the spikes that could be conjured from thin air and even faster from the ground seemed more like an automatic defense system rather than a willful conjuring.&nbsp;

Meanwhile Elijah continued to try and back away, his face tense but controlled as he continued preparing his spell.&nbsp;

I could see through Realmheart the form that this massive spell would take, pressuring me to move faster and hit harder. My initial plan was to confront him in close combat in order to conserve my mana and to exploit his weakness, but as our clash went on, I had the feeling more and more that it wouldn’t be as easy as it had been in my head.&nbsp;

Even while integrating elemental magic into my blade, the black flames swirling around his hands ate away and even got larger after consuming my attacks. I was able to slice through the black spikes that seemed to endlessly conjure and protect their master, but not without my blade sustaining damage as well.&nbsp;

With a blast of black fire, Elijah propelled himself back, putting distance between the two of us as I quickly discarded my outer robe, which caught on fire.&nbsp;

In that short span of time, a trail of the ash-like mana accumulated in a path from where Elijah now stood, all the way to the portal. Tess, Sylvie and everyone else all stood in that path.

Sylvie, I called out in my mind, sharing with her the path of Elijah’s spell. With a mental nod of confirmation, I turned my attention back to my friend.&nbsp;

“Damn it, Elijah,” I whispered. Dropping the steel scabbard on the ground, I imbued more mana and swung the sword at Elijah. &nbsp;

Not a sound was made as the blade sliced through the air, but the effects were shown immediately. Dozens of thin paths carved themselves like intertwining snakes on the ground as a flurry of crescents honed in on my old friend.&nbsp;

Elijah finished his attack prematurely. His spell was three-part—the first part made the ground crack and crumble, the second part raised chunks of the ground into the air, and the third part…

Thrusting his palms forward, Elijah unleashed a score of obsidian spikes from the ground and from the large chunks of stone floating in the air. Like the inside of a large tunnelworm’s mouth, rows and rows of sharp fangs shot out, tearing apart my spell.&nbsp;

Receiving a mental signal from Sylvia telling me that the three of them were at a safe distance away, I concentrated ahead.&nbsp;

Realmheart allowed me to see the locations where the spikes would shoot out from and even how large they were before the spikes even manifested.&nbsp;

I took a sharp breath, as electricity filled my body, stimulating and forcibly enhancing my reflexes. I tuned everything out and focused solely on the path leading me to my opponent.&nbsp;

Now.

Blood pumped through my limbs and the muscles in my legs and core tensed. I pushed off with my feet, feeling the paved ground beneath crumbling from the force.&nbsp;

I shot forward, trusting my body and instincts to take me to the exact location I wished.&nbsp;

Like a well-orchestrated performance, a black spike shot out from the ground just where my feet were, giving me another foothold to push off from.&nbsp;

Despite the seemingly random pattern that the black spears exploded out from the ground like deadly pistons, I was always at the right place at the right time.&nbsp;

I weaved through the jungle of black fangs as more and more spikes shot out in all directions before nearing Elijah.&nbsp;

Stabbing my golden blade forward, I released an arc of lightning that glowed black under the influence of Realmheart Physique.&nbsp;

Three black horns jutted in front of Elijah, conducting and redirecting the blast of lightning. The black tendrils of electricity spiraled down the thick black spikes that Elijah had conjured, destroying the ground.&nbsp;

Elijah’s lips quivered in a snarl as mana gathered around his lower face. A black fire roared to life from his mouth as he bellowed like a dragon.&nbsp;

The hellfire grew stronger as it approached, consuming the black spikes as fuel.

Under the influence of Realmheart, I stayed calm, calculating the best possible scenario out of this.&nbsp;

The cold whisper in my mind told me to activate Static Void, to close the distance and finish it cleanly from behind. I almost listened—even if I couldn’t land a killing blow, I could injure him heavily enough to change the tide of battle.&nbsp;

But Sylvie’s voice pierced through.&nbsp;

‘Block the attack or the teleportation gate is going to be destroyed! We can’t afford to travel to another one!’ Sylvie screamed.

Sharing our thoughts, I could sense Sylvie shifting back into her draconic form while Tess, Madam Astera and Nyphia fought off the remaining Alacryan soldiers.&nbsp;

Trusting her, I held my ground and released Thunderclap Impulse. The tinge of electricity around my body faded and I devoted my mana into my next attack.&nbsp;

I held my sword close to my body with its tip pointed at the approaching fire. A white fire ignited on the blade, shining brightly like liquid pearl as I imbued more and more of my internal mana as well as manipulated the mana around me to fuel my attack.&nbsp;

During this time, a concentrated blast of pure mana shot out from behind me, enveloping Elijah completely and creating another crater.

With the spell interrupted, the size of the hellblaze stayed constant, but continued its fast approach.

Gathering more and more power into my spell, I waited until the last moment before thrusting my sword forward, releasing the white flame that had covered my clothes in a layer of frost and had frozen the ground around me.&nbsp;

A swirling cone of white frostfire ripped out of my sword and clashed against the raging black inferno.

A shockwave of force as my spell continued to drill through the black fire pushed me back on my feet even as I used wind magic to keep me steady. The golden blade of my sword shattered from the stress of conjuring the spell, but the two spells managed to cancel each other out.&nbsp;

Is everyone okay? I asked my bond.&nbsp;

‘Yes. No one was hurt…on our side.’

Confused by her words, I glanced back to see the scope of damage from Elijah’s spell. The black fire wasn’t able to reach past me, but the spikes made it all the way to where the teleportation gate was.&nbsp;

Even more horrible were the bodies of Alacryan soldiers that were guarding the gate stuck on the black spikes.&nbsp;

I didn’t have time to dwell on them.&nbsp;

Can you guys reach the portal? I asked.&nbsp;

‘No. I can break the black spikes but even then, it’ll take some time to make it to where the portal was buried.’

As I cursed under my breath, my mind spun trying to make sense of everything and—more importantly—getting Sylvie, Tess, Madam Astera, and Nyphia out of here.&nbsp;

If I shot out a spell powerful enough to clear the forest of black spikes, I would also destroy the teleportation gate, but I also couldn’t just wait for more Alacryans—perhaps even a retainer or scythe—to come while we tried to fish the gate out.&nbsp;

Suddenly, a blast of black fire exploded into view from the crater where Elijah was.&nbsp;

With a hand clad in frostfire, I parried the sphere of hellfire, only for it to hit and bring down an entire building nearby. The fire ate away at the structure, growing bigger until everything was consumed.&nbsp;

Elijah walked out of the crater, unharmed.&nbsp;

“Who are you?” I asked, remembering what his first words to me were.

The corner of Elijah’s lips curled into a sneer. “You’re smarter than that. I guess the years of living comfortably in this world have made you soft.”&nbsp;

Elijah lifted his hands, but before his spell could manifest, I was already within arm’s length of his face.&nbsp;

Weaponless, I swung my fist down, wind spiraling from the speed of my punch. Another black spike jutted out to protect Elijah’s face from my blow but I didn’t stop.&nbsp;

With wind speeding my swing and pure mana strengthening the force of my blow, I crushed through the damned spike and landed the punch right on Elijah’s jaw.&nbsp;

The sound of crashing thunder resounded from the impact of my blow and Elijah’s body was buried into the ground.&nbsp;

“You’re not Elijah so I’m going to ask this one more time. Who the hell are you?”&nbsp;

Elijah stood back up from the hole his body had created in the ground. His jaw had been shattered and most of his teeth were gone but as a smoky black ember burned through his face, the injuries he had sustained were recovering.&nbsp;

Of course he has regenerative abilities, I thought, grimacing at the radiating pain stemming from the knuckles I had fractured from punching through the black spike.&nbsp;

My frustration grew as I saw scores of Alacryan soldiers rushing towards us from both sides. If things progressed like this, I’d have to fight hundreds of soldiers as well as Elijah.&nbsp;

“Arthur!” Tessia’s voice echoed from behind. Sylvie and Tess were running towards me.

“Stay back!” I roared, my voice coated with an otherworldly power as Realmheart Physique’s effects got stronger. I released an arc of lightning at Elijah before he could fully recover, trying to keep him from coming out.&nbsp;

‘Elijah won’t kill Tessia,’ Sylvie stated. ‘He could’ve killed her multiple times before we arrived but he didn’t.’&nbsp;

There are more Alacryans coming. It’s still too dangerous—just get her out of here!&nbsp;

As if a burning rod pressed down on my brain, Sylvie’s anger exploded.&nbsp;

‘No! Why must you always go about life-threatening situations on your own?! I am your partner, not some gopher to escort your princess to safety.’&nbsp;

Sylvie, I pleaded. I couldn’t let either of them get hurt, and Sylvie knew that.&nbsp;

‘We fight together, and get out of this together,’ she said resolutely, her uneasiness leaking through.&nbsp;

Giving up, I shifted my gaze to Madam Astera. A deep crimson aura encased her sword as she and Nyphia slowly but surely began hacking down the hundreds of black spikes that stood in the way between us and the teleportation gate.&nbsp;

Damn it, Sylvie. Fine, you and Tess keep the Alacryans away from us.&nbsp;

‘Good plan.’ My bond sent me a mental smirk.

‘Elijah’ and I were roughly equal in terms of power. I was faster and stronger physically, but he was more than able to make up for it using the same unique magic that Uto was able to use, alongside an even more powerful black fire—the same as that scythe who killed Elder Buhnd.

And while it wasn’t appropriate, I was admittedly worried about Tess finding out about who Grey was after this. &nbsp;

Shaking away my concerns, I dashed towards Elijah. Close friend or not, I needed to stop him.

Seeing me approach, Elijah conjured another rally of obsidian spears and fired them at me.&nbsp;

I can do this, I thought. Elijah’s control over the black spikes and the speed at which they were formed weren’t on the level of Uto and I had gotten stronger since my fight against him.&nbsp;

With mana pumping through my veins and coalesced around my body, I easily dodged the spears with minimal movement before a wave of black fire shot out from Elijah’s palms.&nbsp;

Not willing to waste mana on confronting the hellfire head on, I leapt over it.&nbsp;

Mid-jump—out of the corner of my eyes—I could see the fight going at the edge of the crater we were in. Golden lights flashed from Sylvie’s attacks while tendrils of green whirled and whipped in a blur.

Comforted by the fact that they were doing fine despite the overwhelming numbers against them, I focused on my opponent.&nbsp;

Rather than going for raw power like him, I used my mana efficiently. With the control I had gained from reaching white core, I molded mana, coalescing different attributes together to form several condensed bullets of varying colors. With a burst of blue fire, aided by wind magic, the five bullets pierced through the air in streaks of light like multicolored lasers. &nbsp;

Three were blocked by the black spikes but one grazed his leg and another hit him squarely in his arm, burning a hole through his limb.&nbsp;

Following up, I dashed toward Elijah, frost accumulating around my arm.&nbsp;

“You’re not a match for me in this world, Grey,” Elijah stated as he jumped backwards and conjured a thin layer of smoke.

With Realmheart active, I could tell that this spell was similar to the very first retainer I had fought, who was able to conjure and manipulate deadly toxins and poisons.&nbsp;

“Don’t let that gas touch you!” Tess shouted from the edge of the crater.&nbsp;

The gas wove together and shot forth like a serpent striking at its prey.&nbsp;

Skidding to a stop, I used the ice-attuned mana surrounding my arms and slashed at the air. A shimmering crescent-shaped blade of white fire tore free from my swing, cresting through the air while leaving a trail of frost in its path.&nbsp;

The spell sliced through the snake-like spell, freezing it. The icy crescent nicked Elijah in the shoulder. Even as the effects spread, freezing his left arm, Elijah thrust out a palm at me.

Four black spikes erupted from the ground around me, only two of which I managed to avoid. One had pierced through my ankle and the other grazed my side.&nbsp;

I buckled as I felt a throbbing burn radiating from my wounds.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, Elijah’s arms, one frozen and another with a charred hole through it, were both healing.

Damn it. He’s just sacrificing his limbs to give me injuries.&nbsp;

My injuries were healing as well but the spikes that had pierced through me were coated in poison and it was interfering with my own regenerative abilities.&nbsp;

I looked for an opening to use Static Void once more—I needed to end this quick—but Elijah seemed to be conscious of my abilities. He had positioned spikes around himself at all times to keep me from getting into direct range without him being able to react. His black fire directly countered a lot of my spells while his spikes were able to conduct and redirect my lightning.&nbsp;

His weakness was confrontational combat, but he was smart and shrewd. Elijah was playing a game of tactics, keeping me in range while slowly whittling me down despite my superior speed and strength.&nbsp;

I have to assume that our mana pool is around the same, mine maybe even lower. If I want to win this fight soon, I need more power.&nbsp;

As I gritted my teeth, mind whirling to form a plan, a cool and comforting sensation resonated from my core. It was from Sylvia’s dragon will.&nbsp;

It told me to let it take control—Sylvia was telling me to let her take control.&nbsp;

Chapter 248: His Name

Frustration, anxiety, doubt, and fear—all of those emotions faded as a shroud of black lightning crackled around me. I let myself sink deeper into the cold embrace of Realmheart. The feeling reminded me of when I had talked to Lord Indrath, Sylvie’s grandfather. He had that lofty, detached air around him as if he wasn’t a part of this world, but above it. I started to realize why.&nbsp;

As aether continued to coalesce around me, weaving its ethereal tendrils into my body, I could see the runes spreading and connecting with one another around my body. I felt calloused, numb as the power from Sylvia’s dragon will flowed freely. It was an intoxicating feeling.&nbsp;

I was a king in my previous life, and I stood as one of the pinnacles of strength throughout an entire continent in this life, but what I felt now was true—divine—power.&nbsp;

‘Arthur! Stop! You’re hurting yourself,’ Sylvie begged in my mind, but I pushed it aside. I was tired of losing battle after battle. Uto, Cylrit, the scythe that had taken Sylvia—I had lost to all of them.&nbsp;

Not today, especially not against this fraud who had possessed the body of my closest friend. &nbsp;

The tendrils of lightning shifted in color as they coiled around my body. I could see the aether being drawn to me and the black lightning soon had a faint shade of purple mixed in.&nbsp;

‘Arthur!’ Sylvie said, her voice farther back now.&nbsp;

Confident and ready, I took a step. That earth-shattering step managed to carry me past Elijah fast enough that he was still looking at where I stood before.&nbsp;

I extended an arm and the aetheric lightning shot out like a whip. Elijah barely managed to shift his black spears in the way of my attack, but he flew back from the impact, crashing on the dented ground a few dozen feet away to where the other Alacryans were.

Taking another step, I cleared the distance and hung in the air. The shroud of lightning around me lashed out in all directions, arcing and forking towards the Alacryans closest to me and piercing through their armor and bodies as if they were made of paper.&nbsp;

A few Alacryans who managed to keep their wits retaliated with spells of their own, but it was useless. I ignored the blasts of fire and let the shards of ice and stone shatter against the lightning protecting me.&nbsp;

My eyes gazed down at the hundreds of Alacryans looking up at me like a god.&nbsp;

‘…hurting…sto—’ my brows furrowed in annoyance.&nbsp;

Suddenly a black inferno roared outward, enveloping me in a shadowy vortex.&nbsp;

The shroud of lightning and aether around me grew, striking out at the whirling darkness around me. Embers clung to some of the lightning tendrils and to my body but they didn’t bother me.&nbsp;

With another thought, the shroud of lightning was replaced by a nimbus of white fire tinged with aether. The black fire this time weren’t able to burn through and sizzled out of existence at the frostfire’s touch.&nbsp;

Slashing my arms out, a ripple of white flames undulated outward, freezing and shattering everything in its path.

With another flick of a wrist, a pulse of white aetheric fire burst forth, hitting Elijah and &nbsp;smashing him back into the frozen ground. As the mist and dust subsided, Elijah came into view, clothes and hair disheveled, and arms crossed as the remains of frozen black spikes lay scattered around him.&nbsp;

He looked back up at me, brows furrowed, sweating… biting his lower lip in a grimace.&nbsp;

I winced at the familiar sight. I tried to dig through my memories at why Elijah looked so familiar, yet so unfamiliar at the same time.&nbsp;

But the veil of apathy that had enveloped me clung on, pushing away the urge to question my opponent and focus solely on killing him.

As more and more of Sylvia’s dragon will pumped out of my core and through my veins, the stronger I heard the old dragon’s voice. Memories of my time with her in that cave after falling off the cliff began to surface, and I began to trust in that voice more and more.&nbsp;

I let the otherworldly power take control over my body and my mind for the sake of killing Elijah and getting Tess and Sylvie to safety.&nbsp;

Had I broken through past the white core stage? Was this Sylvia’s message to me—to destroy anyone and everyone for the sake of those precious to me?&nbsp;

That had to be it. There was no other reason why I would be hearing Sylvia’s voice right now. There was no other explanation for this sudden influx of power.&nbsp;

‘Arthu…plea…stroying…ody…’&nbsp;

I pushed away my bond’s voice. She didn’t understand; she didn’t know. She didn’t know of Sylvia’s promise to me—that she had a message for me once I had broken past the white core realm.&nbsp;

My vision swam in a tinge of lavender as aether gathered around me. The motes of purple danced as if celebrating my ascension to the throne.&nbsp;

I truly felt like a deity…like an asura.&nbsp;

Shifting my attention back to Elijah, I noticed his gaze flitting off to the side as if he was waiting for something…or someone.&nbsp;

I let out a breath and the motes of aether fluttered in front of me. Raising an arm completely enveloped in a golden aura, I flicked my wrist.&nbsp;

Aether heeded my call, molding around the blade of wind that I had shot at Elijah.&nbsp;

My opponent, his legs injured from my previous attack, chose to block my attack. Rows of black spikes, lit aflame in that hellfire capable of eating away at even water and mana, erupted from the ground in front of him, but the silvery crescent tinged purple that I had released mowed through the rows of black spikes like they were made of butter.&nbsp;

Elijah, realizing that his defenses were useless, barely managed to throw himself out of the way but not in time to get out unscathed.

He let out a howl of pain while clutching what was left of his severed arm. Even then, he dared to launch another attack at me.&nbsp;

A smirk rose from my lips as I took a step in the air. With control of spatium, the motes of aether converged into a bridge in front of me, and that single step cleared the dozens of yards instantly and without using strength. It was the very world that had folded in front of me.

Elijah only managed to widen his eyes in shock before I held out a hand. Aether converged around the stub of his right arm where his hellfire was currently regenerating the lost limb.&nbsp;

Under my influence, however, the black fire turned purple and rather than heal him, it was eating away at him.&nbsp;

“Not a match, you say?” I mocked, my voice tinged with an ethereal timbre.

Elijah bit his lower lip harder, stifling a scream.&nbsp;

With blood streaming down the corner of his mouth, Elijah scoffed at me. “I knew you’d show your true face. Whatever name and appearance you take on, you’ll always be the same, Grey.”

My eyes narrowed but the cool blanket of apathy abated the message of his words. The only thought that throbbed in my mind was how this person—Elijah, my once close friend—was trying to harm Tess.&nbsp;

“Goodbye,” I muttered, raising a hand to finish the job.&nbsp;

‘Arthur! Dodge!’ Sylvie’s voice suddenly screamed in my head.

Pure instinct took hold and I kicked forward, pushing myself back just as a blazing pillar of black erupted from the ground where I had been standing.&nbsp;

I berated myself for hyperfocusing on Elijah to the point where I didn’t notice the fluctuation of magic even through Realmheart.&nbsp;

The black flame barely managed to graze my left foot but the difference in power was evident. Even with the protection of aether currently surrounding my body, I felt a scalding pain radiating from my foot.&nbsp;

The intensity and speed of conjuration was on a different level from Elijah’s black flames.&nbsp;

Following the trail of mana fluctuation, I shifted my gaze to my right and up in the sky. As soon as I confirmed who it was, I couldn’t help but smile.&nbsp;

I could feel Sylvia shake in anger and anticipation inside me, as if even her will knew who was responsible for her death.&nbsp;

My body, bathing in an aether-tinged golden light, glowed brighter and stronger. This time would be different from the Castle.&nbsp;

The scythe arrived beside Elijah, his face a mask of indifference and poise.&nbsp;

He laid a hand on the purple flame eating away at where his arm used to be and it was replaced by a smoldering black flame that began slowly, but visibly, regenerating Elijah’s arm.&nbsp;

Rather than rushing in to fight, I kept my distance while healing my foot as well using life aether. I could also feel Sylvie’s healing touch as she continued keeping the Alacryans at bay with Tess. They were at a standstill, both sides not sure what to do in the presence of Elijah, the scythe, and myself.&nbsp;

“You made it clear to me that you’d win against your friend,” the scythe said.&nbsp;

“I can—I was, until he entered that form,” Elijah grimaced.&nbsp;

“No matter. The fault is mine. I let him live in exchange for keeping the Castle in one piece as Lord Agrona had ordered.”&nbsp;

The nonchalance that the scythe showed as he disregarded my very presence festered like an itchy sore until I wasn’t able to hold it back any longer.&nbsp;

The aether around me formed into a bridge once more, connecting me to where Elijah and the scythe were standing.&nbsp;

I stepped forward and the world folded in front of me, carrying me to them.&nbsp;

Aetheric lightning flashed I pummeled the scythe in the stomach.

A shockwave blasted outward from the impact, blowing Elijah back as well as many of the other Alacryans in the vicinity.&nbsp;

Cracks webbed out from where my fist clung to the scythe’s armor, but he hadn’t even needed to take a step back.&nbsp;

“We’re no longer in the Castle so it’s acceptable for me to be a bit excessive,” he stated, a smirk drawn across his face.&nbsp;

A chill ran down my spine as he swung his hand. A shadowy wave of fire erupted from his hand, engulfing me and everything behind me.&nbsp;

Aether swirled around me, protecting me from the hellfire that ignited even the air and paved ground.&nbsp;

Despite the cone-shaped devastation —that left every Alacryan in its way dead—I was still standing. However, the scythe wasn’t my only opponent.&nbsp;

I spotted Elijah flying over toward Tess.&nbsp;

The thought of Elijah reaching Tess was sobering. The cold blanket of apathy that had covered my mind shattered and the single-minded thought of killing the scythe and ‘winning’ faded until I could think more clearly.&nbsp;

Vision and mind renewed, I was deeply aware of everything going on around me, from Alacryans burning to ashes around me, to Tess, Sylvie, Nyphia, and Madam Astera fighting for safety rather than victory, and finally, myself. I was aware of the change in my body, and also the current state of my body. I chose not to fear the inevitable, instead, using it to fuel my motivation to get the rest of them back to the shelter. I guarded my mind so Sylvie wouldn’t find out, and I let out a sharp breath.&nbsp;

I was clear-minded and had control over the full, unrestrained, power of Realmheart. I could do this. I had to do this.&nbsp;

I immediately went after him. Spatium carried me to where he was in another single step. My fist struck him on his side and I could feel his ribs shattering under the force despite the wave of smokey fire that attempted to block some of the damage.&nbsp;

Elijah fell from the air, his body whirling out of control before creating a crater on the side of a building.&nbsp;

Mana fluctuations rippled in the air all around me, and I knew what was coming.&nbsp;

Pushing myself away with a compressed blast of fire, I narrowly dodged a series of sudden combustions in the air.&nbsp;

I was barely able to dance away, dodging as hellflames bloomed in the air like deadly black flowers.&nbsp;

The black conflagrations suddenly stopped as Sylvie launched a shockwave of pure mana from her serpentine jaw at the scythe.

Pushing aside my worries and trusting my bond, I flew over where Tess was still fighting the Alacryans.

Even while surrounded, the translucent green vines surrounding her acted as if they had minds of their own. Whipping, striking, piercing her foes, it was hard to tell who was actually at a disadvantage.&nbsp;

Deciding that she would be fine for now, I made my way to where the teleportation gate had been buried beneath a tide of black spikes.&nbsp;

There, I spotted Nyphia slow chipping away at the black spikes while Madam Astera held off several dozen Alacryan mages by herself.&nbsp;

Immediately, I closed the distance and unleashed a blast of frostfire at the Alacryans, freezing half of them in a single spell.&nbsp;

I ignored the rest, letting Madam Astera handle it while I got to work on the black spikes.&nbsp;

While half-tempted to release a torrent of lightning, I was too afraid that the gate would be damaged so I clad my fists in lightning and charged forth.&nbsp;

“Nyphia! Help Tess and get her here!” I ordered.&nbsp;

“G-Got it!” Nyphia scrambled out of the way as I punched through the scores of black spikes jutting from the ground and blocking the teleportation gate.&nbsp;

My lightning-clad fists shredded through the layers as I kept my senses clear in case Elijah or the scythe was nearby.

A piercing scream suddenly invaded my thoughts.

Sylvie! I called out as her mind clouded in a sea of pain that even I could feel through our shared minds.

‘Just keep… going!’ she sent with whatever was left of her sanity.&nbsp;

I could feel the ground shake with every explosion of black flames and pure mana in the distance, but I continued to push forth until I could see the faint glow of the teleportation gate.&nbsp;

Almost there!&nbsp;

Suddenly the sky darkened and a shadow cast just above me. Realmheart continued to cycle through me, burning away at my own body but I relied on it once more as I layered aether over the frostfire surrounding my two hands.&nbsp;

I pushed, sending out a shockwave of aetheric ice straight at the black hellfire descending on both myself and the teleportation gate just beside me.&nbsp;

As the two forces clashed, a shockwave rippled, shattering some of the black spikes. The teleportation gate also quivered and groaned, threatening to break and leave us stranded here.&nbsp;

Still, the ancient portal held strong and now there was a path directly to it. Tess, Nyphia and Madam Astera were running towards me as well. They’d be able to make it back.&nbsp;

“Hurry through the portal!” I roared as the three of them ran past me.&nbsp;

Tess turned back, facing me as she continued racing for the portal. “What about you?”&nbsp;

“I have my own medallion. I’ll meet you back at the shelter with Sylvie. Now go!” &nbsp;

“Grey! You can’t do this to me, not again!” Elijah shouted from above, desperately trying to get here in time. “Not after what you did to me and Cecilia!”&nbsp;

Elijah’s words struck like thunder, and I almost let him get to the portal.&nbsp;

With aether under my command, I closed the distance, just as he was about to fire a black spear at the gate, and intercepted him.&nbsp;

Wounded and tired, Elijah wasn’t a match anymore while I was in this state.&nbsp;

I gripped his neck and squeezed just hard enough so he could barely talk.&nbsp;

“How do you know that name?” I growled.&nbsp;

“Looks like you’re finally…sober,” he wheezed. &nbsp;“If you weren’t…under the influence of that power that’s…killing you right now, you might’ve already figured it out.”&nbsp;

I squeezed harder, making him gag, before loosening my grip. “Who are you.”&nbsp;

Elijah spat on my face before smiling, revealing his blood-stained teeth. “I was your best… friend, and the one whose fiancée you killed in front of me.”&nbsp;

My grip loosened and I felt my strained heart clutch. My mind swam and my entire body felt like it was submerged in tar. My throat tightened and choked as it tried to keep me from muttering the single word that pressed against my brain like a smoldering brand.&nbsp;

“Nico?”&nbsp;

Chapter 249: Gone

Explosions of black and gold from Sylvie and the scythe’s battle resounded in the distance but I was focused on the man I had in my grasp.&nbsp;

“I-It can’t—no, it’s impossible. There’s no way—”

“That I’m…Nico?” Elijah coughed as he pried my fingers apart just enough so he could speak. “If you’ve reincarnated into this world, Grey, why is it impossible for anyone else to as well?”&nbsp;

The hand currently wrapped around Nic—no, Elijah, trembled uncontrollably. I squeezed harder. I didn’t want him to talk. I wanted to deny everything. I couldn’t bear whatever it was that he was about to say. &nbsp; &nbsp;

“Art! Watch out!”&nbsp;

Tess’ scream jolted me out of my thoughts, but I couldn’t fully dodge the back spike that Elijah had launched from the ground.&nbsp;

My grip around the black-haired traitor’s neck loosened and Elijah took advantage of that moment perfectly, prying himself loose and punching me square in the jaw with a hellfire-clad fist.

I swayed, nearly losing consciousness as the runes coursing down my face protected me from the black flames. I nearly fell from the sky but a hand grabbed my wrist.&nbsp;

As my weakened body struggled to counteract the otherworldly toxins that had entered my body from the black spike, Elijah grabbed my collar and pulled me close. His piercing dark eyes glared down at me while the venom-coated black spike hovered over his shoulder, tip pointed at my face.&nbsp;

“Art!” Tess shouted. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see her aura flaring as she prepared to attack.

“Focus on the gate!” I roared.

Elijah looked back as well, but just as he was about to go to Tess, I grabbed his arm.&nbsp;

“What did Agrona do to you, Elijah?” I groaned. “Did he make you say all of this?”&nbsp;

Elijah spun his head back, anger dripping from his voice. “Do you think even Agrona would know how you and I used to steal and sell whatever we scrounged to the pawn shop? And that we’d use the earnings to keep our orphanage funded without Wilbeck knowing?”&nbsp;

“That… doesn’t mean—” &nbsp;

“Do you think Agrona knows that deep down, you had feelings for Cecilia?”&nbsp;

I stiffened and the world that had been spinning because of the toxin in Elijah’s spell suddenly came back into focus.&nbsp;

Elijah smirked but his eyes remained cold. “Cecilia liked you for a time as well, but she gave up because you kept your distance emotionally ever since you found out that I had feelings for her.”&nbsp;

“Stop,” I whispered, anger flaring up the mana inside me. The runes spread throughout my body pulsed as I focused on gathering strength.&nbsp;

“And even when I told you everything I uncovered about Lady Vera, you turned your back on your best friend for that bitch,” he seethed, black flames spreading from his hands. “And as if that wasn’t enough, you killed her! You killed Cecilia in front of me!”&nbsp;

My runes and his flame clashed in a constant battle to keep my body from igniting.&nbsp;

“Stop, Nico!” I cried, tears burning as they rolled down my cheeks.&nbsp;

Another explosion resounded from the distance, the shockwave creating a gust of wind that blew all the way here.&nbsp;

At that moment, a translucent-green blade of mana shot from the ground below.&nbsp;

Even though Nico was unaware, the black spike managed to block the green crescent that Tess had undoubtedly fired, but that gave me the opportunity to let out a blast of frost right at Nico’s face.&nbsp;

From the shoulder up, Nico was frozen for a second until a black flame started melting the ice. Still, I managed to kick myself free from his grasp and launch an arc of lighting at my disoriented foe.&nbsp;

Nico crashed to the ground, a mushroom of dust covering the area he had landed.&nbsp;

Are you okay? I asked my bond, checking up on her after that last explosion.

‘I’m…fine. It’s weird, he’s definitely attacking me but it feels like he’s…holding back,’ she responded. ‘How are things going over there?’

Not so…good, I admitted. But I’ll be able to hold my own. I just need to get Tess and them through the gate.&nbsp;

Just as I finished that thought, I turned my attention to the crater to see a large fluctuation of mana from where Nico had landed. &nbsp;

He was preparing a spell—a powerful one—but it wasn’t aimed at me.&nbsp;

I immediately burst through the air, landing on the ground right between Nico and the teleportation gate.&nbsp;

A concentrated beam of hellfire barely thicker than the width of a wrist pierced through the cloud of dust and debris, targeting just the teleportation gate.&nbsp;

Squeezing mana from my core and begging the aether around to aid me, I countered with a swirling barrier of aetheric wind. While ice would’ve been a better choice to effectively negate Nico’s attack, the toll of sustaining Realmheart for this long was becoming more and more evident.&nbsp;

Flickers of hellfire that had managed to make its way through my wind barrier burned through my skin like acid while even my regenerative abilities were hurting me, as if my body was begging me to stop getting injured.&nbsp;

Sustaining the barrier, I looked back over my shoulder, snapping impatiently at Tess. “He’s trying to destroy the gate! Hurry up and activate it and escape!”&nbsp;

“It’s almost done! But what about you and Sylvie?” Tess shouted as she continued to hold the ancient medallion up against the center of the glowing ring that was almost filled with purple.&nbsp;

“Just go! Please!” I begged.&nbsp;

“No!” Nico shouted. He withdrew his concentrated spell and burst forward to try and get past me. However, despite the poor state of my body, my reflexes were a lot faster than he assumed.&nbsp;

I pivoted and launched myself, tackling Nico.&nbsp;

“Let go!” he roared as he flailed, trying to escape my grasp.&nbsp;

Small embers of hellfire ignited throughout Elijah’s body but I held strong with the help of aether.&nbsp;

“Hurry up!” I warned, feeling the black flames slowly burn through the layer of aether and mana protecting me.&nbsp;

Nico suddenly stopped trying to break free. His shoulders trembled as he gritted his teeth before shouting, “You owe me, Grey. You owe me for killing Cecilia!”&nbsp;

“So that’s what it is? Cecilia died so you have to have Tess to make it even?” I spat out. “I didn’t mean to kill Cecilia, but even if I had, she wouldn’t have wanted this, Nico! Taking Tess isn’t going to bring Cecilia back!”&nbsp;

“What if it is?!” Nico shot back.&nbsp;

Caught by surprise, I didn’t answer. However, I saw the mana fluctuation in Nico’s hand as he willed another black spike from the ground.&nbsp;

I quickly spun, using Elijah as a shield against his own spell. He was able to stop the spike from piercing both of us.&nbsp;

A guttural cry of frustration ripped out of his throat as he tried desperately to break free from my grasp.&nbsp;

Just then, another explosion resounded from where Sylvie was fighting against the scythe.&nbsp;

What’s going on? Are you okay? I asked, my concern bleeding onto my bond.&nbsp;

‘I’m…fine, but the scythe is heading your way,’ she replied, even her mental voice pained.&nbsp;

It took less than a second for me to feel it—the presence of the scythe approaching. And it took another second for me to see the rapid fluctuation of mana right where the teleportation gate was.

I hurriedly initiated Static Void, but this time, I felt the cost of its use.&nbsp;

Along with the inverted colors of the frozen world, I felt a cold grip clutching my innards, warning me that death was inevitable if I continued to exploit this powerful aether art.&nbsp;

Ignoring my body’s warning, I released the frozen Nico and made my way toward Tess, Nyphia, and Madam Astera.&nbsp;

My body grew heavy and nauseous with each step I took but I couldn’t afford to release Static Void and risk the scythe’s spell go off.&nbsp;

My body was drenched in sweat and I was gasping for air by the time I reached the gate.&nbsp;

I grabbed Tess’ waist with one arm and released the time-freezing aether art.&nbsp;

A cold chill ran down my spine as my body instinctively knew that danger was just behind me, where the gate was.&nbsp;

Tess flinched in my grasp.“What th—” &nbsp;

I picked her up by the waist, cutting her off, while I shouted at Madam Astera.&nbsp;

“Grab Nyphia!”&nbsp;

Immediately, the former knight professor and soldier bolted to her student and tossed her over her shoulder just in time for me to flash past them and grab Madam Astera’s free hand.&nbsp;

I tried to bend space once more with the help of aether, but the translucent purple bridge &nbsp;wouldn’t form. Without even the time to curse, I gritted my teeth and expended what mana I had left to gain some distance when a horrible explosion of fire resounded behind us.&nbsp;

Unable to even look back, I could only imagine how close the conflagration was by the sound of the roaring fire and its heat scalding my back.&nbsp;

A green aura suddenly surrounded all of us as Tess activated her beast will to protect us while I focused on getting us out of range, but the heat only grew stronger.&nbsp;

To make matters worse, the scythe was within eyeshot just up ahead. Even if we were able to somehow make it out of the hellfire explosion, we’d be facing the scythe as well as Nico.&nbsp;

Suddenly, Madam Astera let out a scream of pain, but I couldn’t afford to slow down as I could see the tendrils of black flames in the air.&nbsp;

My very thoughts of surviving molded itself into the elements. Gales of wind coalesced beneath my feet as even the uneven ground smoothed out in front of us to make a clear path.&nbsp;

It didn’t matter though. The sky darkened as the black flames were about to engulf us, but neither the scalding burn nor the searing pain came.&nbsp;

I peeked back just over my shoulder to see Nico using his own black flames to block hellfire that the scythe had unleashed.&nbsp;

“Get them out of here!” Elijah shouted as he struggled to keep the powerful explosion at bay.&nbsp;

“Hold onto me tight!” Tess exclaimed as she withdrew her beast will and conjured a condensed orb of wind in her palms.&nbsp;

I squeezed her waist tightly as she unleashed a gale of wind behind us, propelling us forward. I stumbled and nearly fell forward by the sudden force but Madam Astera actually stabbed her sword into the ground, allowing me to regain my balance.

Continuing to run until I couldn’t feel the heat any longer, I toppled forward from sheer exhaustion. Still, I made sure to cling tightly onto keeping Realmheart Physique active. I knew that once I released it, the backlash would hit me—hard.&nbsp;

Ignoring the dull, radiating pain that was growing stronger by the minute, I inhaled more ambient mana like a drug addict on the cusp of his crash.&nbsp;

I couldn’t even cycle and purify it through my mana core, which made the mana poison to my body. Realmheart Physique would’ve helped with purifying the poisonous mana but I had taken in too much during this battle.&nbsp;

But what’s a little more poison for my already deteriorating body? I just needed to hold on and get the rest of them out of here safely.

“Stay with me!” Tess said to someone from behind, voice shaky but strong.&nbsp;

With the ambient mana temporarily boosting the functions of my body, I wiped a stray drop of blood that fell down from my nostril and turned around.&nbsp;

My eyes widened and in my head I was already starting to calculate the odds of their survival…and it just got a whole lot worse.&nbsp;

It was Madam Astera. She was missing her right leg from the mid-calf down and Tess was doing what she could to soothe her wounds using water magic while Nyphia was preparing bandages made from ripped strips of her own inner robe.

“My foot got caught in that explosion. I knew I couldn’t put out that black fire so I cut it off,” she grunted. For a split second, I admired the fact that, for such a petite woman who had just lobbed off her own leg, she was barely even grimacing.&nbsp;

Then, reality sank in as I felt the tremendous pressure of the scythe fast approaching.

“Damn it!” I cursed, already turning my gaze from the disabled soldier and to the scythe almost upon us.&nbsp;

To my surprise, however, Nico marched past us, a smoky nebula surrounding him as if illustrating his anger.&nbsp;

“Tessia almost died because of your attack, Cadell!” Nico roared. “I’m sure Agrona made it clear to you that she is to stay alive!”&nbsp;

I finally knew the name of the scythe that had killed Sylvia when I was a child in this world.

Cadell landed deftly on the ground as if he had just stepped off the sidewalk. His stride was leisurely yet confident, each step demanding your attention.&nbsp;

I made sure to position myself between Cadell and my allies behind me while taking note of the rising tension.&nbsp;

‘Arthur! I’m almost there,’ Sylvie relayed. I could already see her large figure in the sky above some distant buildings.&nbsp;

Cadell noticed as well, his gaze flitting behind him for a second before he focused on Nico.&nbsp;

“If I had not acted in the way that I did, the vessel would have escaped,” he responded apathetically before turning to me.&nbsp;

“That doesn’t justify you risking her life! We had a deal,” Nico snapped, a tendril of black smokey aura flaring out at the ground and creating a large gash.&nbsp;

“You would’ve failed on your own. Why? Because of your past with the boy. If you weren’t so fixated on getting your revenge against your old friend, then the vessel would have already been in your possession.”&nbsp;

Sylvie was almost here, and while it would’ve been smart to leave them alone to buy ourselves time, &nbsp;I couldn’t ignore what they were speaking about. Even though I knew I would regret it, I just had to know.&nbsp;

Cadell and Nico fell silent and turned to me as they felt the sudden pressure I released. Straightening my back and hiding any signs of weakness, I stood tall and let my pressure weigh down on the surrounding area.&nbsp;

Cadell raised a brow as he studied me. “Looks like you still have some fight left in you.”&nbsp;

“Explain what you meant when you said vessel,” I demanded, my voice carrying with the help of mana despite the near-whisper of a volume that I spoke.&nbsp;

“You said taking Tess isn’t going to bring Cecilia back, right?” Nico replied, his voice a lot calmer than it was before. “Well, what if it will?”&nbsp;

“Then I would say you’re out of your mind,” I retorted, staying strong despite the burning needles stabbing every inch of my body.&nbsp;

“This is what Agrona has been researching and perfecting over the past few hundred years, Grey, and your reincarnation was what allowed everything he had worked for to turn the gears into motion,” Nico explained. “And that was how I was able to reincarnate into this world. After al,l if someone deserves a new life, it isn’t you…it’s Cecilia and me.”&nbsp;

“Bullshit,” I spat, the word leaving a trail of pain throughout my lungs and throat.

I took a deep breath and let the anger fester inside me in order to mitigate some of the pain coursing through my body. Once more, I desperately tried to move the aether, but the motes of purple wouldn’t budge. The pain grew stronger with each attempt and I could feel my body deteriorating.&nbsp;

To make matters worse, the gate was destroyed and there wasn’t another one nearby.

It wasn’t fair. No matter how much stronger I became, why did I always just barely lack the power to win?

Damn it. Damn it. Come on, now would be a great time for a weapon! I pleaded, clawing at the palm of my hand where that bastard asura, Wren, had stuck that acclorite.&nbsp;

Tess suddenly gripped my wrist. “Arthur, stop! What are you doing to your hand?”

Just then—as everyone’s eyes were on me—I felt hot liquid pour down my nose, spilling on my hand.&nbsp;

“Art? Your nose…” Tess gently touched my shoulder, worried.&nbsp;

I hurriedly wiped the blood running down my nose and lips and looked back up to see Cadell’s lips curved into a smirk. “You’re body is breaking down, isn’t it, Lance?”

“What? Is that true?” Tess asked. “How bad is it?”

“I’ll be okay,” I lied, shrugging her away. I couldn’t even look her in the eye. Instead, I kept my eyes focused on the opponents ahead.&nbsp;

Talking was pointless now and whatever that asura jabbed into my hand wouldn’t help me now.&nbsp;

Whether it was Elijah or Nico, it didn’t matter. He was an enemy trying to take Tess, and they wouldn’t stop there.

I infused mana into my legs and prepared to make whatever desperate attempt of an attack I could make, but a small girl stood in the way.&nbsp;

“Sylvie. Don’t try and stop me,” I muttered, cladding my degrading body in mana in preparation for one last battle.&nbsp;

“Would you stop even if I tried?” my bond asked solemnly. She took a step to the side as a golden-white aura flared to life around her. “If you’re so bent on killing yourself, We’ll go together.”&nbsp;

Cadell and Elijah clad themselves in their dark mana as well. The ground cracked and splintered around us as whoever was left from the Alacryan side had all run away.&nbsp;

“Nyphia. Take Tess and Madam Astera as far away as possible,” I said, looking back over my shoulder. Shifting my gaze down at Madam Astera’s stump, I forged a prosthetic leg out of stone before turning back. “And don’t stop.”

“Elf Princess,” Cadell said his smirk widening. “If your dearly beloved stays in that form any longer, whether he wins or loses this battle, he’ll die.”&nbsp;

“Leave her out of this!” I shouted but by the time I turned around, Tess had already shrugged off Nyphia.&nbsp;

Tess didn’t speak to me, though. Instead, she gripped Sylvie’s wrist and asked her, “He’s lying, right? Tell me he’s lying, Sylvie!”&nbsp;

Sylvie looked at me, but didn’t respond.&nbsp;

“I’ll be fine, Tess,” I lied again, but my words were met with a venomous tear-filled glare.

“You always do this. You’re always ready to give up your life to save me,” she shot back.&nbsp;

“Tess…” I grabbed her arm.&nbsp;

“Do you think I’d be grateful if you died to save me?” she asked, her lips quivering.&nbsp;

She wrapped her hand over mine and peeled herself from my grip. She touched my forehead with hers as she closed her eyes, chest heaving erratically as she held back sobs.&nbsp;

She let out a whisper after placing her lips against mine. “You idiot.”

Then she tore herself away from me and walked off, straight towards the enemy.&nbsp;

“No!” I stepped forward, ready to sprint after her, when Sylvie held me back, wrapping her arms around my waist.&nbsp;

“Sylvie! No! You can’t do this to me!”

“Arthur, please…” Sylvie begged, her small body trembling. “I don’t want you to die.”&nbsp;

I watched helplessly as Tess walked away, the sound of blood pounding in my head muting every other sound. I couldn’t even hear my own shouts as I begged Tess to stop, to let me fight, to let me die.&nbsp;

I watched as Tess turned back and smiled at me before saying something. I couldn’t hear it though. They may have been Tess’ last words and I couldn’t hear them.&nbsp;

No. I couldn’t let this happen.

My gazes flitted down to my bloody palm as I checked once more with the faint hope that the weapon would appear.&nbsp;

It didn’t, and I didn’t have time.

As Sylvie hugged me tighter, forcing me away from Tess as she walked towards Nico and Cadell, I wedged my hand inside my protective chest plate and pulled out the medallion that Elder Rinia had given me to bring Tess back—a reminder that this entire world and countless others would fall to Agrona if Tess was in his hands.&nbsp;

It all made sense now. For whatever reason, Tess was meant to be the vessel for Cecilia. Maybe it was because of our relationship in this world that created the bridge, but that didn’t matter.&nbsp;

If both Nico and I became this strong after reincarnating into this world, how strong would Cecilia, the ‘legacy,’ be if she reincarnated into Tess’ body?&nbsp;

“Sylvie. You know what Rinia said,” I pleaded, studying the ancient relic in my hand. “We can’t let them have Tess.”&nbsp;

Sylvie shook her head, her face still buried in my chest. “We’ll both get stronger. As long as we live, we have a chance.”&nbsp;

I felt my insides churn as I stood on my last few minutes of Realmheart, but I continued to study the medallion. Something about it that I hadn’t noticed before now stood out to me within this fully assimilated state of Realmheart Physique.&nbsp;

The recent memory of Rinia drawing the aetheric runes on the gate resurfaced and the hours I spent in that ancient cave watching Sylvie meditate while influencing the aether around her connected together instinctively in a way that my mind couldn’t fathom but my body could.

Sylvie sensed the change in the air as I got to work.&nbsp;

“A-Arthur? What are you doing?” my bond cried desperately, her gaze shifting around as she witnessed my act.&nbsp;

“I’m sorry,” I whispered as a metallic taste filled my mouth.&nbsp;

I dispersed the gathered aether I had influenced. I reached out with my arms, one pointed at Nyphia and Madam Astera, the other directed at Tess.&nbsp;

And suddenly, we were in a separate space. This was different from Static Void where I was in the same space as the rest of the world.&nbsp;

No, I had created a separate pocket dimension and brought everyone along with me.&nbsp;

With no time to waste, I threw the medallion that had the coordinates engraved in it and created a teleportation portal of my own.&nbsp;

“Into the portal, now!” I shouted as I struggled to keep the portal stable.&nbsp;

Madam Astera was the one that made it work. Wasting no time, she picked up Nyphia and sprinted towards the portal with the prosthetic leg I had conjured for her. After tossing Nyphia into the portal, she ran after Tess, who was a few paces away still.&nbsp;

I restructured the size of the pocket dimension, bringing Tess closer to Madam Astera and the portal.&nbsp;

Without even the chance to get a word out, I saw Tess get sucked into the portal. Madam Astera looked at me for a second before giving me a nod and jumping through the portal herself.

“Sylvie… it’s t-time to go,” I said, my bond just looking at me in horror.&nbsp;

She reached up and wiped the tears streaming from my eyes, only to see her fingers covered in blood… my blood.&nbsp;

“A-Arthur, you’re not going to make it,” Sylvie said as I felt her consciousness go deeper into mine. I couldn’t shield my thoughts from her in my state anymore, leaving me an open book.&nbsp;

“The portal isn’t…going to stay stable for much longer, Sylv. P-Please, I can’t have you die too,” I said, smiling while trying to keep blood from leaking out of my mouth.&nbsp;

A wave of blinding pain hit me and the pocket dimension rippled like a bubble about to pop. Disoriented, I tried to force Sylvie into the portal when she began glowing purple.&nbsp;

“Sylv? What are you—” My eyes widened in horror as I realized what she was doing.&nbsp;

The light spread until an all-too-familiar dragon was standing in front of me.&nbsp;

“Try to keep yourself alive while I’m gone, okay?” Sylvie said as she gave me a toothy grin.

“Sylv, no! Don’t do this!” I screamed. Desperate, I tried to push her to the portal, but my hands went through her.

Sylvie’s body was turning ethereal and she was fading as motes of lavender and gold began leaving her and attaching themselves to my body.&nbsp;

My body writhed in unimaginable pain at the sudden change it was going through, but I held on, unwilling to pass out. My vision faded as I screamed out to Sylvie, but her last words were cut off as she pushed me through the portal with the last remaining corporeal limb she had left.&nbsp;

My bond had left me with one word before she faded: ‘…again.’

Table of Contents

- Chapter 195: Next Stage
- Chapter 196: Questioning
- Chapter 197: Torn
- Chapter 198: A City Within
- Chapter 199: Return
- Chapter 200: Responsibilities
- Chapter 201: Allocation
- Chapter 202: Traitor's Request
- Chapter 203: A Poem
- Chapter 204: Lost Words
- Chapter 205: Enemy Territory
- Chapter 206: Brother’s Consent
- Chapter 207: Coordination
- Chapter 208: Enemy Territory II
- Chapter 209: Deployed
- Chapter 210: Awaiting the Horde
- Chapter 211: Awaiting the Horde II
- Chapter 212: A Promise
- Chapter 213: Enemy Territory III
- Chapter 214: Welcoming Gift
- Chapter 215: Two Versus An Army
- Chapter 216: Battlefield
- Chapter 217: Decisions Made
- Chapter 218: From Leader To Soldier
- Chapter 219: Army Approaching
- Chapter 220: The Weight Of A Choice
- Chapter 221: Backtrack
- Chapter 222: Future’s First Step
- Chapter 223: In Her Element
- Chapter 224: Carried Back
- Chapter 225: Shared Affliction
- Chapter 226: Punishable Actions
- Chapter 227: Above Limitations
- Chapter 228: Anchor
- Chapter 229: Field of White
- Chapter 230: Resounding Horns
- Chapter 231: Following Orders
- Chapter 232: Tainted Blood
- Chapter 233: Treason
- Chapter 234: Remembrance
- Chapter 235: Wavering Pillar
- Chapter 236: Darkening Grey
- Chapter 237: Expired Arrangement
- Chapter 238: Hidden in Sand
- Chapter 239: Passage Of Time
- Chapter 240: Reconciliation
- Chapter 241: Hope and Trust
- Chapter 242: Two Loves
- Chapter 243: On the Surface
- Chapter 244: Day of Rebirth
- Chapter 245: Walking Catastrophe
- Chapter 246: Dear Old Friend
- Chapter 247: Not Alone
- Chapter 248: His Name
- Chapter 249: Gone